Monday, May 25, 2026

Mary, we have recourse to thee...

 The Blessed Virgin Mary, 
Mother of the Church
Memorial
Instituted in 2018 for celebration on Pentecost Monday
_____________________
 
"The veneration of the Virgin Mary has accompanied 
the path of the Church from the beginning; 
Marian feast days began to appear already 
in the fourth century: in some the role of the Virgin
in the history of salvation is exalted; in others the 
principal moments of her earthly life are celebrated." 
Pope Benedict XVI


Prayer After Communion (Today's Liturgy)
Having received the pledge of redemption and of life, 
we humbly pray, O Lord, 
that, with the Blessed Virgin's motherly help,
your Church may teach all nations
by proclaiming the Gospel and, 
through the grace of the outpouring of the Spirit, 
fill the whole earth.
Through Christ our Lord. 
___________________________________________
 
"May the mother of Jesus and our mother, 
always smile on your spirit, 
obtaining for it, 
from her most holy son, 
every heavenly blessing."
St Padre Pio
(Today is the birthday anniversary of St Pio)
_______________________________

“In an instant the Holy Spirit overshadows her, 
making her a living ciborium privileged 
to bear within herself for nine months 
the Guest who is the Host of the world.” 
Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen



 MEMORIAL DAY - 25 May 2026
Let us HONOR and REMEMBER
Eternal remembrance and gratitude for the innumerable, 
generous, courageous, self-sacrificing and heroic 
acts of service – seen and unseen.
We don't know them all, but we owe them all.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord.
And let perpetual light shine upon them.
May their souls and the souls of all of the faithful departed 
through the mercy of God rest in peace. AMEN
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Sunday, May 24, 2026

Solemnity of Pentecost - Wear RED today to Mass...

     Solemnity of Pentecost
Fifty days after Easter
In honor of the Holy Spirit - wear RED to holy Mass today!

Today is Pentecost. It is not merely a reminder of a past event, but a continuation of the Spirit renewing the face of the earth (Psalm 104:30). Today's Pentecost will not be a shadow of the first Pentecost, rather the first Pentecost is a shadow of today's Pentecost. God's grace is abounding all the more (Romans 5:20). The Spirit is not diminishing His work in our world, but increasing it. It will not be only thousands who come to Jesus today (Acts 2:41), but millions. The waters of the Spirit become deeper as they flow further around the world and into history (Ezekiel 47:5). 

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!

The Spirit of the Lord has filled the whole world and that 
which contains all things understands what is said, alleluia
-Entrance antiphon, today's liturgy


"The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. 
This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, 
but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. 
In a variety of ways she joyfully experiences 
the constant fulfillment of the promise: 
“Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age” (Mt 28:20),
 but in the Holy Eucharist, through the changing of bread and 
wine into the body and blood of the Lord, she rejoices in this 
presence with unique intensity. Ever since Pentecost,  
when the Church, the People of the New Covenant, 
began her pilgrim journey towards her heavenly homeland, 
the Divine Sacrament has continued to mark the passing of 
her days, filling them with confident hope." (Introduction, 1)

Pope St John Paul II
Encyclical Letter, Ecclesia de Eucharistia
On the Eucharist in its relationship to the Church

  Pentecost image above: Juan Bautista Maino, public domain


https://crisismagazine.com/opinion/feast-weeks-significance-pentecost
Christ the Giver of the Spirit - The Catholic Thing
_______________________

In the Pantheon in Rome, thousands of rose petals are dropped
from the oculus after the celebration of Pentecost Mass!



  
The Pentecost Sequence, Veni Sancte Spiritus

Come, Holy Spirit
Come, Holy Spirit, come!
And from your celestial home
Shed a ray of light divine!

Come, Father of the poor!
Come, source of all our store!
Come, within our bosoms shine.

You, of comforters the best;
You, the soul’s most welcome guest;
Sweet refreshment here below;

In our labor, rest most sweet;
Grateful coolness in the heat;
Solace in the midst of woe.

O most blessed Light divine,
Shine within these hearts of yours,
And our inmost being fill!

Where you are not, we have naught,
Nothing good in deed or thought,
Nothing free from taint of ill.

Heal our wounds, our strength renew;
On our dryness pour your dew;
Wash the stains of guilt away:

Bend the stubborn heart and will;
Melt the frozen, warm the chill;
Guide the steps that go astray.

On the faithful, who adore
And confess you, evermore
In your seven-fold gift descend:

Give them virtue’s sure reward;
Give them your salvation, Lord;
Give them joys that never end.

With the Holy Spirit within us, "it is quite natural for people
who had been absorbed by the things of this world to become 
entirely otherworldly in outlook, and for cowards to become
people of great courage." - St Cyril of Alexandria

Come, Holy Spirit, Come!
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Saturday, May 23, 2026

The grace which she followed...

“O Mother, Virgin, purest of all lilies, Your heart 
was Jesus' first tabernacle on earth.”
St. Maria Faustina 


“Mary lived in the divine Eucharist,
the center of her love.
All her thoughts, words, 
and actions sprang from It 
like the rays from the sun.
The Eucharist was the oracle
which she consulted, the 
grace which she followed.” 
St. Peter Julian Eymard
 Painting:  Raul Berzosa
__________________________

Day 9
Novena to the Holy Spirit
GOODNESS
 
 

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Friday, May 22, 2026

He made her heart His...

 ...the LORD is my portion ... He is good to those 
whose hope is in Him...  Lamentations 3:24, 25
 
 jesus_MORE.jpg (296×343)

"Christ Jesus had stolen the heart of Rita –
He alone possessed it. 
He made her heart His heart;
and under the white veils of the Eucharist 
He was for her soul, as He is for all loving hearts, 
heaven upon earth.


 How sweet is the moment in which poor humanity, 
wearied and afflicted, may remain alone, 
with Jesus alone, in the Sacrament of Love;
for there the Lord, with His flaming heart open, 
calls unto all, 'You that are burdened and heavy 
laden, come unto Me and I will refresh you.' "
Fr M.J. Corcoran, OSA
Our Own St Rita:  A Life of the Saint of the Impossible
_________________

St Rita of Cascia
 Italy ~ 1381-1457
Wife, Mother, Augustinian Nun
Stigmatist, Incorrupt
Patron of Impossible Cases* 
*especially matrimonial difficulties
Feast Day - May 22


"The saint of Cascia belongs to the great host 
of Christian women who "have had a significant 
impact on the life of the Church as well as of society" 
(Apostolic Letter Mulieris dignitatem, n. 27).  
Rita well interpreted the "feminine genius" 
by living it intensely in both physical and 
spiritual motherhood. " - St John Paul II
_______________

St Rita's emblem in art is the rose 
(miraculously bloomed in the winter of her death)
"Rita offers her rose to each of you: in receiving it, 
spiritually strive to live as a witness to a hope
that never disappoints and as missionaries of a life 
that conquers death." - St JP II

National Shrine in South Philadelphia, PA
https://www.saintritashrine.org/

St Rita of Cascia, pray for us!
________________

Day 8
Novena to the Holy Spirit
SELF-CONTROL
 
 
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Thursday, May 21, 2026

The most fruitful daily habit...

"If it is "daily bread," why do you take it once a year?
Take daily what is to profit you daily." - St Ambrose

Holy Card on left:  "Nothing is sweeter after having 
received Jesus than to give and spread everywhere 
the fragrance of His virtues." - St Francis de Sales

Holy Card on right: "What have I in heaven and 
what can I love upon earth, but Thee, O my God, 
the God of my heart."
_________________

Day 7
Novena to the Holy Spirit
GENTLENESS

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