Drop by drop...

 "I place my trust in You,  O adorable Blood, 

our Redemption, our regeneration. 

 Fall, drop by drop, into the hearts that have

wandered from You and soften their hardness." 

 St Albert the Great

"Today the war is being waged against religion 

as such and against Christ Crucified. 

We need, therefore, to reemphasize the 

glories of the Cross and of our Crucified Redeemer, 

to reopen the fountains of mercy just when 

the devil would make us the victim of wrath. 

Now, more than ever, it is opportune to tell people 

at what price our souls were redeemed.

We must let it be known how the Blood of Christ

cleanses the souls and sanctifies them, 

particularly by means of the sacraments. 

We must arouse them from their insensibility

by reminding them that His Blood is 

offered up every morning upon the altars 

and that instead of blasphemy and insult, 

we should give it adoration and praise."

St Gaspar del Bufalo (+1837)

"Apostle of the Precious Blood"

Image above:  Angel collecting blood of Christ (detail) - Lorenzo Fiorenzodi

July: dedicated to the Precious Blood


Fr Spencer Howe - St Anthony parish - Atkinson, IL  - Photo courtesy Aunt Juliette Carter

Union with Christ, family, friends...

"St John tells us that God is Love.  

Thus, God can never reveal Himself without love, 
because love is Who God is." - Fr Richard Veras

"As medieval Christians came to seek union with Christ in abiding before the reserved Blessed Sacrament, they likewise began to discover in the presence of their God a deeper union with their family and friends, as did St Elzear of Sabran, a Third Order Franciscan (1286 - 1323), who, in a letter to his wife, St Delphina, wrote: 

'You desire to hear often of me. 
Go often to visit our amiable 
Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Sacrament.  
Enter in spirit His Sacred Heart. 
You know that to be my constant dwelling. 
You will always find me there.'"

From In the Presence of Our Lord 

The History, Theology, and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion 
Fr Benedict J Groeschel, CFR and James Monti

_________________________________

The Lord's Day is the lord of days....

but also remembering... 

St Joachim and St Anne
Parents of the Virgin Mary 
Patron of Grandparents

Feast Day - July 26

Click here: Reflection on St Joachim/St Anne - Grandparents of Jesus - YouTube (5 mins)

https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/july-26st-anne/

St Joachim and St Anne, pray for us!

Ever present, as He said...

  Going  from there, he saw two other brothers, 

James son of Zebedee and his brother John.  

They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing 

their nets.  Jesus called them, and immediately 

they left the boat and their father and followed him. 

Matthew 4:21, 22

"And just as He appeared before the holy Apostles 

in true flesh, so now He has us see Him in the Sacred 

Bread. Looking at Him with the eyes of their flesh, 

they saw only His Flesh, but regarding Him with the 

eyes of the spirit, they believed that He was God.

In like manner, as we see bread and wine with our 

bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is 

His Most Holy Body and Blood, True and Living.  

For in this way our Lord is ever present among 

those who believe in Him, according to what He said: 

"Behold, I am with you all days even to the 

consummation of the world" (Mt. 28, 20). 

 St. Francis of Assisi

Painting above: Christ calling the Apostles James and John ~ Edward Armitage

Saint James (the Greater)

Apostle and Martyr

Son of Zebedee and Salome

Brother of apostle John

Dubbed 'Son of Thunder'

Patron of Spain and laborers
Shrine: Santiago de Compostela

+42 AD 

Feast Day - July 25

 

"Accept the help that the Virgin 

and the saints offer you.

Promise that you will press forward on 

your way to join them." - St Francis de Sales

Click here: St. James the Greater - YouTube (2 mins)

St James, pray for us!

Complete offering, in imitation...

 "Nothing created has ever been able

 to fill the heart of man. God alone can 

fill it infinitely." - St. Thomas Aquinas

"In 1875 Fr Sharbel was granted permission to live as a hermit nearby his monastery at St. Peter and Paul hermitage. His 23 years of solitary life were lived in a spirit of total abandonment to God. Sharbel's companions in the hermitage were the Sons of God, as encountered in the Scriptures and in the Eucharist, and the Blessed Mother. The Eucharist became the center of his life. He consumed the Bread of his Life and was consumed by it. Though this hermit did not have a place in the world, the world had a great place in his heart. Through prayer and penance he offered himself as a sacrifice so that the world would return to God. It is in this light that one sees the importance of the following Eucharistic prayer in his life: 

Father of Truth, behold Your Son 

a sacrifice pleasing to You, 

accept this offering of Him who died for me... 

On December 16, 1898 while reciting the "Father of Truth" prayer at the Holy Liturgy Sharbel suffered a stroke. He died on Christmas Eve at the age of 70. Through faith this hermit received the Word of God and through love he continued the Ministry of Incarnation."  

From  http://www.catholicculture.org/

 St Sharbel Makhluf

Lebanon ~ 1828-1898

Priest and Hermit

Perfume of Lebanon

Incorrupt

More miracles attributed to his intercession 

than any other saint

Feast Day - July 24

When Sharbel was canonized (1977), Bsp Francis Zayek, 

head of the U.S. Diocese of St. Maron, wrote a pamphlet 

entitled “A New Star of the East.” Bishop Zayek wrote:

“St. Sharbel is called the second St. Anthony of the Desert, 

the Perfume of Lebanon, the first Confessor of the East to be 

raised to the Altars according to the actual procedure of the 

Catholic Church, the honor of our Aramaic Antiochian Church, 

and the model of spiritual values and renewal. Sharbel is like a 

Cedar of Lebanon standing in eternal prayer, on top of a mountain.”

____________________________

Click here: St. Sharbel Makhlouf - YouTube (2mins)

How St. Charbel attracts pilgrims across the world (Photos)

https://saintcharbel.net.au/miracles/st-charbel-heals-people-from-various-countries-religions-and-backgrounds/

St Sharbel, pray for us!

***************************************

Lord, infinitely Holy and Glorified in Your Saints,

You have inspired Charbel, the saint monk,

to lead the perfect life of a hermit.

We thank You for granting him the blessing

and the strength to detach himself from the world

so that the heroism of the monastic virtues of poverty,

obedience, and chastity, could triumph in his hermitage.

We beseech You to grant us 

the grace of loving and serving You,

following his example.

Almighty God, Who has manifested

the power of St. Charbel’s intercession

through his countless miracles and favours, grant us ...

[Mention your intention here]

through his intercession.

Amen.

*********************************************

Remedy and consolation for our souls...

    "Blessed may you be, my Lord Jesus Christ. 

For our salvation you allowed Your side and heart 

to be pierced with a lance and from that side water 

and Your precious blood flowed out abundantly 

for our redemption.” - St. Bridget of Sweden

"Oh Jesus! Sweetness of hearts,

delight of the spirit, by the 

bitterness of the vinegar and gall which

Thou didst taste on the Cross of Love for us,

grant us the grace to receive worthily

Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life

and at the hour of our death,

that they may serve as a remedy

and consolation for our souls.  Amen.”

St Bridget (Birgitta) of Sweden

Wife, Widow, Religious, Foundress

Mystic and Visionary

1303-1373

Patroness: Sweden.  Co-patroness: Europe

Mother of eight, including St Catherine of Sweden

Founded religious order, Brigittines*

*distinctive skull cap over veil

Feast Day – July 23

Artist unknown for sketch

 

"The world would have peace if only 

men of politics would follow the Gospels."

- St. Bridget of Sweden

Click here: St. Bridget of Sweden - YouTube (2 mins)

TOP 9 QUOTES BY BRIDGET OF SWEDEN | A-Z Quotes

St Bridget of Sweden, pray for us!