Thursday, September 30, 2010

He provides, we trust




"If Christ did not want to dismiss the Jews without
food in the desert for fear that they would collapse
on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to
try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven."

St Jerome
Father of the Church, Doctor of the Church
Biblical scholar and translator
c. 331- 420
FEAST DAY - September 30




"Catch, then, O catch the transient hour;
Improve each moment as it flies!"~ St. Jerome

Ste Jerome, ora pro nobis!

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Feast of Stes Michael, Gabriel and Raphael




"O, angelic spirits, who guard our tabernacles,
wherein lies the adorable treasure of the
Holy Eucharist,defend it from profanation
and preserve it for our love."
St Josemaria Escriva

 
 

A Sermon of Pope Saint Gregory
From: Third Nocturne of Matins -
feast of St Michael the Archangel

We speak of nine orders of Angels, because we know, by the testimony of Holy Scripture, that there are the following: Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Dominations, Thrones, Cherubim and Seraphim. It must be realized that "Angel" is the name of their office, not of their nature. For the holy Spirits of the heavenly homeland are always Spirits, but they cannot always be called Angels; they are Angels only when they are announcing something. Those who announce less important things are called Angels, and those who announce the highest things are called Archangels. And so not any Angel but the Archangel Gabriel was sent to Mary; for this ministry, it was fitting to have the highest Angel, since he was to announce the greatest news of all. These Archangels are also given special names to describe their particular virtue. For Michael means "Who is like to God?" Gabriel means "Strength of God," and Raphael "Medicine of God."
Whenever something is to be done needing great power, Michael is sent forth so that from his action and his name we may understand that no one can do what God can do. Hence that old enemy who through pride desired to be like God is shown at the end of the world, left to his own strength and about to undergo the final punishment, as destined to fight with Michael the Archangel, as John says, "There was a battle with Michael the Archangel." Similarly, Gabriel was sent to Mary; he who is called "Strength of God" came to announce Him who deigned to appear in humility to conquer the powers of the air. And Raphael is interpreted, as we said, "Medicine of God," for when he touched the eyes of Tobias to do the work of healing, he dispelled the "night of his blindness."


 
Stes Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels -
pray for us and defend us in battle!

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Making amends...


Lord, I am not worthy to receive You,
but only say the Word and I shall be healed.

 

"I am Yours, O Jesus.
You have good reason to complain about me,
yes, because I have offended You.
And, undeserving as I am, I should be obliged
to give back to the Altar so many stolen Breads,
and so much precious Blood.
But I promise You that I will make amends."

 

St Gemma Galgani

Monday, September 27, 2010

Going to Jesus from Jesus


St Vincent de Paul was praying before the Eucharist one time and,
after a man told him about a poor person on the street needing help,
Vincent said:
"I am going to Jesus from Jesus."

 

St Vincent de Paul
Priest, Co-Founder of Daughters of Charity
Founder - Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians)
1580-1660 ~ France
FEAST DAY - September 27



“Extend mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need
whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us
if God should withdraw His mercy from us?” ~ St. Vincent de Paul


 Ste Vincent de Paul ora pro nobis!



Sunday, September 26, 2010

Peace and Balm


 


"O heavenly bliss!
Delight past all expression!
How consoling, how sweet,
the presence of Jesus
to the longing, harassed soul!
It is instant peace and balm
to every wound!"

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Nowhere more welcomed, more loved





“Through Mary, the cause of our joy,
you discover that
nowhere on earth are you more welcomed,
nowhere on earth are you more loved,
than by Jesus, living and truly present
in the Most Blessed Sacrament . . .
He is really there in Person
waiting just for you.”


Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Friday, September 24, 2010

The Living Heart




"Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament
is the Living Heart
of each of our parishes."

Pope Paul VI

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Marvelous effects


 

"Every Holy Mass, heard with devotion,
produces in our souls marvelous effects,
abundant spiritual and material graces
which we, ourselves, do not know...
It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun
than without the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass!"

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina
Priest, Stigmatist, Mystic
Italy (1887-1968)
Feast Day - Sept. 23


 “When I am close to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament,
I feel as if my heart is bursting out of my chest.” ~ St Padre Pio

Ste Padre Pio, ora pro nobis!

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Holy Preparation, Holy Fruit

 

“The Hour of Adoration prepares one
for Holy Mass and Holy Communion.
Frequent encounters and
familiar conversation with Jesus
produce friendship,
resemblance, and identity
of thought, of feeling
and of willing with Jesus.”

Blessed James Alberione

[Resurrected-Christ.jpg]

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

The convincing power of Truth




 

"Let us continue our vigil of prayer
by preparing to encounter Christ,
present among us
in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar.
Together, in the silence of our common adoration,
let us open our minds and hearts to
His presence, His love,
and the convincing power of His truth."

 Pope Benedict XVI
Hyde Park Vigil
September 19, 2010

 
St Matthew
"And he got up and followed Him" (Mt 9:9b)
Apostle and Evangelist
FEAST DAY - September 21

 
Ste Matthew, ora pro nobis!

Imitate Matthew - get up and follow Jesus.
Then invite sinners to meet Him.
"What reason can the Teacher have for eating with tax collectors
and those who disregard the law?" —Matthew 9:11
Cause heaven to rejoice (Luke 15:7).

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Eucharist makes the Church




"It is not sufficient to say that the Eucharist is
at the center of the Church, because actually,
the Eucharist makes the Church!  It builds it from
within and weaves it round itself like a robe. 
It is said that two sacraments in particular
"make" the Church:  baptism and the Eucharist. 
But whereas baptism makes the Church
grow quantitatively, as it were, in size and number,
the Eucharist makes her grow qualitatively,
in strength, because it transforms her ever
more deeply into the image of Christ, her Head."

Raniero Cantalamessa
The Eucharist, Our Sanctification

Sunday, September 19, 2010

The Great Presence



“A cloud of incense was rising on high; the people suddenly all bowed low; what could it mean? 
The truth flashed on him, fearfully yet sweetly; 
it was the Blessed Sacrament – it was the Lord
Incarnate who was on the altar, who had come
to visit and bless His people.  It was the
Great Presence, which makes a Catholic Church
different from every other place in the world,
which makes it, as no other place can be – holy.”


Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman,
Loss and Gain:  The Story of a Convert


Beatified - September 19, 2010

Bl John Henry Newman, ora pro nobis!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Love alone



"In the evening of this life,
we will be judged on love alone."

St John of the Cross

Photo:  St Michael's Catholic Church, Stillwater, MN

Friday, September 17, 2010

Go, then, and partake


 
 
 
[corpuschristipainting.jpg] 
 
 
"The Bread of Life, the Bread of the angels,
is not offered only
for our adoration and homage,
but was given to us as food. 
Let us go, then, and partake of this Food
to nourish and fortify our souls."
 
 
St Robert Bellarmine
 Italy ~ 1542-1621
Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal
Key voice and action in Counter-Reformation
Doctor of the Church
FEAST DAY - September 17
 
 
From his treatise On the Ascent of the Mind to God:
 
 "May you consider truly good whatever leads to your goal
and truly evil whatever makes you fall away from it."
 
 
Ste Robert Bellarmine, ora pro nobis!
 

Truth Himself


GODHEAD HERE IN HIDING /ADORO TE DEVOTE
Words: St Thomas Aquinas, Translation: Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J.

Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit,
Quia te contemplans totum deficit.

Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur.
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius;
Nil hoc verbo veritátis verius.

In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et Humanitas,
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens.

Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor:
Deum tamen meum te confiteor.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere. 

O memoriale mortis Domini!
Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini!
Præsta meæ menti de te vívere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine:
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud quod tam sitio:
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beátus tuæ gloriæ.
Amen
 Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;

What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there's nothing true
.

On the cross Thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here Thy very manhood steals from human ken:
 Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.

I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican;
Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what Thy bosom ran
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with Thy glory's sight. Amen.