He ascended into heaven...

Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord*

*All worldwide and ecclesiastical U.S. provinces of Boston, Hartford, 
New York, Newark, Omaha and Philadelphia have retained its
celebration on Thursday, while all other US provinces have transferred
the Solemnity to the Seventh Sunday of Easter.  This year: May 17

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...the fortieth day after Easter Sunday, 
commemorating the Ascension of Christ into heaven, 
according to Mark 16:19, Luke 24:51, and Acts 1:2.

In the liturgies the day is meant to celebrate the completion of the work

of our salvation, the pledge of our glorification with Christ,

and His entry into heaven with our human nature glorified.

"Let our hearts ascend with Christ."  

 St Augustine

 

“Ascending once again 

to the Inaccessible Light…

You remain still in the ‘valley of tears,’

hidden beneath the 

appearances of a white host.”

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

PAINTING:  The Ascension of Christ - Rembrandt - 1636

 

Fr Antoine Thomas, CSJ, celebrating Holy Mass

"...Christ's Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope 

of the Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has 

gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy 

and delight in the loyal paying of thanks.  For today not only 

are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have 

also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and 

have gained still greater things through Christ's unspeakable 

grace than we had lost through the devil's malice."

Pope St Gregory the Great - Sermon LXXIII

The Feast of the Ascension marks the beginning 

of the FIRST NOVENA, or nine days of prayer.  

Today, Catholics recall that first novena by praying the 

Novena to the Holy Ghost between Ascension and Pentecost,

asking for the gifts of the Holy Spirit. 

BEGIN the NOVENA FRIDAY!

Click here: Pentecost Novena PRAYERS 
(PrayMoreNovenas: prayers sent to your email daily)

OR simply pray each day ...

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful,

and enkindle in them the fire of Your love.

 Send forth Your Spirit, and they shall be created,

And You shall renew the face of the earth.

O God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, 

did instruct the hearts of Your faithful, 

grant that by that same Holy Spirit,

we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His 

consolation, through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

Click here: Introit. Feast of the Ascension.Gregorian Chant.Australia (3 mins)

Click here: Scott Hahn - Ascension: Underrated Mystery - YouTube (3 mins)

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Remembering also today:

St Matthias

Apostle (replaced Judas Iscariot)

Martyr (stoned and beheaded)

Feast Day - May 14

Statue at St. Matthias Abbey in Trier, Germany, where relics of the Apostle are kept

Click here: St. Matthias - YouTube (2 mins)

St Matthias, pray for us!

Heaven's Peace Plan...

 Feast of Our Lady of Fatima 

May 13

The Fatima apparitions are a call to reparation through

Mass, Eucharistic Adoration and praying the Rosary

for the conversion of sinners.  Again and again, 
Our Lady reminds us: this is Heaven’s Peace Plan!

    

Dec 25, 2012 - Nuns pray during Catholic Mass ~ Church of St Catherine, Bethlehem ~ Israel

"A great crisis today around the Eucharist is not

just a crisis of faith, but a crisis of love 

- of a love rooted in obedience to the love revealed to us by our God.  Some people want to have the Eucharist without conversion; yet that is not the way of the Lord. Some people may miss Mass on Sunday, they may be taking money illegitimately, they may be engaging in sexual relations outside of marriage, they may vocally support abortion, euthanasia, homosexual activity and homosexual unions, they may fail in the just treatment of their neighbor by gossip or prejudice, or they may commit some other serious sin and go to Communion. ...Others perceive that they "do not get anything out of Mass" and simply view it as one more event in a busy weekend, sometimes leaving it as the last thing to fit into a full schedule of activities. Others complain that Mass is too long or simply do not come. ...This is a tragedy because the Eucharist is about Jesus Christ and His saving works on our behalf.  In the Mass we share in the feast that the Lord Himself has prepared for us."

 Bishop Samuel Aquila - 10.14.05  

"The message of Fatima is an appeal to conversion. 
In her motherly solicitude, the Blessed Virgin came here, 
to Fatima, to ask men not to offend God any more. 
It was a mother's sorrow that obliged her to speak."

St John Paul II

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, 

that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 Our Lady of Fatima - Azulejo, poychrome, painted tin-glazed ceramic tile, Portugal, seconf half 20th century - copyright Alamy

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

Patroness of First Communicants...

 "We are born to love, we live to love, and 

we will die to love still more." - St Joseph Cafasso

Remembering... 

"Today is the historical feast of Blessed Imelda Lambertini.  The daughter of a noble family, Blessed Imelda was born in 1322 in Bologna, Italy.  She was an only child and grew up going to Mass frequently with her family.  When she was nine, Imelda entered the Dominican Convent in Val di Pietra.  As the youngest one there, she prayed with the others and wore a modified Dominican habit, but was unable to receive Communion, which was not permitted by Church law until the age of twelve.  This hurt her very deeply.  She prayed that Jesus would grant her wish and allow her to receive Him sooner. She even asked the convent priest, but he refused to make an exception.  To receive Jesus in Communion became the consuming desire of her heart.  She would even sometimes exclaim: "Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?"

When Imelda was eleven years old, on the eve of the Ascension, she remained behind after Mass, praying silently in the chapel.  As the other sisters began to leave the chapel, a great miracle occurred.  Suddenly, a heavenly fragrance filled the air and a luminous host had emerged from the tabernacle and was hovering above Imelda's head.  The sisters told the priest and upon seeing the host, he knelt in adoration and received the host on the paten.  He immediately gave Communion to Imelda.  Upon receiving Jesus, Imelda was so overcome with joy that she had died in a loving state of ecstasy. In 1910, Pope St Pius X began to allow children to receive Holy Communion at age seven." (Excerpt from Catholic Fire)

"Tell me, can anyone receive

Jesus into his heart

and not die?"

Bl Imelda Lambertini

Italy ~ 1322 -1333

Virgin, Dominican

Protectress/Patroness of First Communicants

Incorrupt

(Historical) Feast Day - May 12


Church of San Sigismondo, Bologna, Italy

Click here: Love In The Holy Eucharist (A story of Bl Imelda Lambertini)

Bl Imelda, pray for us!

A Bethany - for you and for me...

 "Is any pleasure on earth as great as a circle 

of Christian friends by a good fire?” – CS Lewis

 

The sun sets the sky on fire behind St John the Baptist Catholic Church, Jordan, Minnesota - USA.  
The Son sets a fire on the inside! 

"I cannot see how anyone could live as a Christian and not feel the need for the constant friendship of Jesus in the word and in the bread, in prayer and in the Eucharist. ... And so we learn to thank our Lord for His kindness in not limiting His presence to the time of the sacrifice of the altar. He has decided to stay with us in the host which is reserved in the tabernacle.

For me the tabernacle has always been a Bethany, a quiet and pleasant place where Christ resides. A place where we can tell Him about our worries, our sufferings, our desires, our joys, with the same sort of simplicity and naturalness as Martha, Mary and Lazarus.

That is why I rejoice when I stumble upon a church in town or in the country; it's another tabernacle, another opportunity for the soul to escape and join in intention our Lord in the Sacrament. 

St Josemaria Escriva

Christ is Passing By, 154

More oneself...

"Help me to journey beyond the familiar 

and into the unknown. 

Give me the faith to leave old ways 
and break fresh ground with You." - St Brendan

"The Mass is not only about

God becoming man,

it is about Man

becoming more himself."

GK Chesterton

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Painting:  Man receiving Communion before Battle

 in the Thirty Years War by Nils Forsberg 

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Blessed Mother’s Day to all!

"A partnership with God is motherhood.

What beauty, what love, what self control

must belong to her who helps God

fashion an immortal soul!" (Author Unknown)

Some have had kings in their lineage,

Some to whom honor was paid.

Not blest of my ancestors - but,

I have a mother who prays.

I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

Oh what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Some have worldly success

And trust in riches they've made - 

This is my surest asset,

I have a mother who prays.

My mother's prayers cannot save me,

Only mine can avail;

But mother introduced me to Someone - 

Someone who never could fail.

Oh yes... I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

O what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Author Unknown