Like the Host... transformed!

“…if there be anyone who, by his very mode of life and vocation, seems called to a life of identification with Christ, it is certainly the priest.  Exteriorly his life is that of Jesus Christ.  Are not all his official functions, the Mass, the administration of the Sacraments, the prayers of the liturgy – the essence of a life lived in Christ’s Name? 

Every priest faithful to his vocation will readily admit this.  Then why should he not aspire to conform his interior to his exterior life?  Why not desire with all his soul to put on Jesus Christ as fully as possible, to be Christ “within,” to become, as we said before, like the Host which each morning he transforms into Jesus Christ?  Such a form of spirituality is bound to appeal strongly to him, since it sums up the whole life as a process of transformation into Christ by identification to Him.  This would seem to be the very form of spiritual life most befitting the priestly soul.”

Paul De Jaegher, SJ

One with Jesus (1929)

First American printing 1946

Under watchful care of angels

Feast of Archangels

St Michael~St Gabriel~St Raphael

  September 29

 

About the artwork:  Victorious Michael flanked by Raphael and Gabriel. Michael (“Who is like God”) comes to our aid with the might of his arms and extends over us the protection of his radiant wings.  Lucifer falls headlong into the pit of his own passions.  The invisible, spiritual conflict that sets angel against angel plays itself out at the heart of our lives as well. ... At his right stands Gabriel (“God is strong”).  He comes to reveal for us the benevolent plan of God and to gather up our “Fiat”.’ At his left Raphael (“God heals”) comes to heal our vices and to take us by the hand, guiding us over the perilous passes along the steep path of salvation. ~ Comments by: Pierre-Marie Dumont

 Artist:  Marco d'Orggiono

Earth's liturgy joins us to that of the angels in heaven.  Not only do we "make their hymn of praise our own" (Today's Preface in the Mass), proclaiming that the Lord is holy, but in offering the sacrifice of bread and wine we ask God "that your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in heaven" (Eucharistic Prayer I).  (From Magnificat Vol 13, No 7, Sept 2011)

PRAYER after COMMUNION - today's Liturgy 

Lord, hear the prayers of those you renew with the Bread of life. Made strong by the courage it gives, and under the watchful care of the angels, may we advance along the way of salvation.  We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord.

St Michael, St Gabriel, and St Raphael

pray for us

and defend us in battle!

 CLICK HERE for more on the Archangels:  http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2011-09-29

Christ liveth in us

Jueves Santo

 

"All these thoughts on the Eucharist make it clear to us that in this Sacrament, in which He not only gives grace to us but also gives Himself, we are led to a supreme peak of spiritual fulfillment.  This Sacrament is not given to us merely in order that we do something, but that we may be someone:  That we may be Christ. That we may be perfectly identified with Him.

Comparing the Eucharist with confirmation, St Thomas says that confirmation brings us an increase of grace in order to resist temptation, but the Eucharist does even more:  it increases and perfects our spiritual life itself, in order that we may be perfected in our own being, our own personality, by our union with God...

In other words, by our union with Christ in the Eucharist we find our true selves. 

The false self, the "old man" is burned away by the fervor of charity generated by his intimate presence within our soul.  And the "new man" comes into full possession of Himself as we 'live, now not we, but Christ liveth in us.' "

Thomas Merton

The Living Bread

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

Patron - Charitable societies

FEAST DAY - September 27

 

  "Let us love God; but at the price of our hands

and sweat of our face." ~ St Vincent de Paul

   St Vincent de Paul, ora pro nobis!

Cure for sagging faith

  

"The only cure for sagging or fainting faith is Communion.  Though always Itself, perfect and complete and inviolate, the Blessed Sacrament does not operate completely and once for all in any of us. 

Like the act of Faith it must be continuous and grow by exercise.  Frequency is of the highest effect.  Seven times a week is more nourishing than seven times at intervals."     

JRR Tolkien

God's reliquary and tabernacle

“Among the hours which are most timely for prayer,

I find none more fitting than after a servant of God

has finished receiving his most holy Body, which is

truly contained within the holy sacrament at the altar,

because then he who has received the Host

has become God’s reliquary and tabernacle.” 

St Thomas of Villanova

Heavenly possession

"I am so glad that you are receiving Communion

more often.  It is there, my little Mama, that you will find strength.  It is so good to think that after Communion we possess all of Heaven within our soul except the vision!"

From a letter of Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity

to her mother, Aug 13, 1901

From I have Found God:  Complete Works

of Elizabeth of the Trinity : Vol 2: Letters From Carmel

No longer two, but one

  

 

“When Mass ended I remained with Jesus to render Him thanks.  My thirst and hunger do not diminish after I have received Him in the Blessed Sacrament, but rather, increase steadily. Oh, how sweet was the conversation I held with Paradise this morning. 

The Heart of Jesus and my own, if you will pardon my expression, fused.  They were no longer two hearts beating but only one. 
My heart disappeared as if it were a drop in the ocean."

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Priest, Stigmatist, Mystic

Italy (1887-1968)

Patron - Eucharistic Adorers

Feast Day - Sept. 23

“If some spiritual languor comes upon us, let us run to the feet

of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and let us place ourselves

in the midst of the heavenly perfumes, and we will

undoubtedly regain our strength.”  ~ St. Padre Pio

St Padre Pio, ora pro nobis!

Family reunion

“Make every effort, therefore,

to assist every day at Holy Mass…

The choirs of the Church triumphant

and those of the Church militant

are united to our Lord in this divine action,

so that with Him, in Him, and through Him

they may ravish the Heart of God the Father

and make His mercy all our own.” 

St Francis de Sales

Follow Me

Prayer after Communion in today’s Liturgy 

Father, in this Eucharist we have shared the joy of

salvation which Saint Matthew knew when he welcomed

your Son.  May this food renew us in Christ, who

came to call not the just but sinners to salvation

in His kingdom where He is Lord forever and ever.

 

St Matthew

"And he got up and followed Him" (Mt 9:9b) ...

"leaving everything behind" (Lk 5:28)

Apostle and Evangelist

"the son of Alphaeus" (Mk 2:14)

FEAST DAY - September 21

 

 

 

Imitate St 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).

 

 

St Matthew, ora pro nobis!

 

Before the Blessed Sacrament

 

 

Before the Blessed Sacrament

 

                        I adore You hiding behind this mask

                        this shroud of appearances wrapping the Substance

                                this cloud of wheat that cloaks the Sun

                                this veil of bread upon the Face

                                all creatures long to see.

 

                        I worship You waiting within this portal

                                this skylight open to shimmering Heavens

                                this doorway down to silent Depths

                                this darkened window dim and foggy

                                with the breath of Love.

 

                                For You gave Yourself to me in this Token

                                this Locket hung on the breast of heaven

                                this modest Medal of celestial mint

                                this poor plain Penny in the purse of God

                                that purchased a world.

 

 

Paul Thigpen           

 From Jesus We Adore You

(Servant Books) 

 

 

Eucharistic life

 

Terminally ill hospice resident Evelyn Breuning, 91, prepares to receive communion in her bed

at the Hospice of Saint John on August 20, 2009 in Lakewood, Colorado.

 

 

"The Eucharist sustains and transforms the whole

of daily life.  As I reminded in my first encyclical, 

'Eucharistic communion includes the reality

both of being loved and of loving others in turn,'

for which reason 'a Eucharist which does not pass

over into the concrete practice of love is

intrinsically fragmented' ("Deus Caritas Est," 14)."

 

Pope Benedict XVI

Homily - 9/11/11

Ancona, Italy

 

Fortified

O living Host,

my one and only Strength,

Fountain of love and mercy,

embrace the whole world,

fortify those who are weak!

St Faustina Kowalska

(Diary, no. 223)

Go, then, and partake

 

"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 St Robert Bellarmine's 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!

One...by Our Lord's Voice

"There is one God, and one Christ, and one Church,

and one chair, by our Lord's voice founded upon Peter.

To set up another altar, or to constitute another priesthood,

besides the one altar and the one priesthood, is impossible.

Whosever gathereth elsewhere scattereth.

It is adulterous, it is impious, it is sacrilegious,

whatsoever is instituted by man to the breach of God's disposition.

Get ye far from such men:

they are blind, and leaders of the blind..."

St. Cyprian

Bishop of Carthage, Martyr

Patron of North Africa

+ 258

FEAST DAY  - Sts Cornelius and Cyprian -

September 16

 “You cannot have God for your Father if you do not have the Church for your mother.... God is one and Christ is one, and his Church is one; one is the faith,

and one is the people cemented together by harmony into the strong unity of a body.... If we are the heirs of Christ, let us abide in the peace of Christ; if we are the sons of God, let us be lovers of peace.” ~ St. Cyprian, The Unity of the Catholic Church

 Sts Cornelius and Cyprian, ora pro nobis!

...like Mary Most Holy

"You can call happy those who saw Him.

But, come to the altar and you will see Him,

you will touch Him, you will give Him holy kisses,

you will wash Him with your tears,

you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy."

St John Chrysostom

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15

Our Lady of the Seven Sorrows
Adriaen Isenbrant ~ 1518-35 (O.L. Vrouwekerk, Bruges)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary:

* at the prophecy of Simeon;
* at the flight into Egypt;
* having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem;
* meeting Jesus on His way to Calvary;
* standing at the foot of the Cross;
* Jesus being taken from the Cross;
* at the burial of Christ.

“Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, reign over the afflicted;

become their consolation through this consecrated Bread,
the gift of the Queen of Sorrows.”

Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey 

Recognize and Receive

"Blest is the wood through which justice comes about."

Wisdom 14:7

 

FEAST of the
EXALTATION of the CROSS

September 14

 "How splendid the cross of Christ! It brings life, not death; light, not darkness; Paradise, not its loss. It is the wood on which the Lord, like a great warrior, was wounded in hands and feet and side, but healed thereby our wounds. A tree has destroyed us, a tree now brought us life."

 ~ Theodore of Studios

"Recognize in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this chalice what flowed from His side... whatever was in many and varied ways announced beforehand in the sacrifices of the Old Testament pertains to this one sacrifice which is revealed in the New Testament.

Receive in this bread that which was hanged on the cross; receive in this cup that which was poured from Christ's side. For he will gain death, not life, who thinks Christ is a liar." ~ St Augustine

O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross

when I think of yours!"

St. Bernadette Soubirous

You also know...

 

  While the assisting priest places the reserved Sacrament back into the tabernacle,

 the celebrant continues to genuflect at the altar.

"The wise men adored this body when it lay in the manger;...

they prostrated themselves before it in fear

and trembling. ... Now you behold the same body that

the wise men adored in the manger, lying upon the altar;

... you also know its power."

St John Chrysostom

Chrysostomos - 'golden-mouthed'

Syria ~ 347- 407

Archbishop of Constantinople

Doctor of the Church

Patron of orators

FEAST DAY ~ September 13

 

"The bee is honored more than other animals, not because she labors,

but because she labors for others."  ~ St John Chrysostom

St John Chrysostom, ora pro nobis!

Ave Maris Stella

"O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth,

melody to the ear of Her devout clients!" ~ St. Anthony of Padua

Feast of the Most Holy Name

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

September 12

In accordance with Jewish custom our Lady's parents named her eight days after

her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary

 follows that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas.

Our salvation begins when an archangel speaks the name of Mary. 

To be Christian is to carry on that Annunciation unceasingly. 

 "I want what is good for myself; I beg the same for you. Now there is

no other way to bring this about than to ask the Virgin Mary constantly

to come to you with her glorious Son. Be bold! Ask her to give you her

Son, who in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar is truly food of your soul. 

Readily will she give Him to you, still more readily will He come to you,

giving you strength to make your way fearlessly through this dark wood.

In it large numbers of our enemies lie in wait, but they cannot reach us

if they see us relying on such powerful help."  ~ St. Cajetan

"This most holy, sweet and worthy name was 'eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea,

 the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter

sea to the demons; to men She is the Star of the sea; to the Angels She is illuminatrix, and to all creatures She is Lady ." [St. Bonaventure +1274]

"God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the

seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called

it Mary or Maria . . .This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom

the Saints call the 'treasury of the Lord.' From Her fullness all men

are made rich;" [St. Louis de Montfort +1716]

 

On this day dedicated to the Holy Name of Mary let us repeat that wonderful prayer of Saint Bernard, responding to Pope Benedict XVI 's invitation to “invite everyone to become a trusting child before Mary, even as the Son of God did."

Saint Bernard says, and we say with him:

'Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary … in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart … If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination”'(Benedict XVI, address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007). — Luciano Alimandi

 More on the Name of Mary...

http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/marys-name.htm

http://www.themostholyrosary.com/appendix8.htm

Daily bread...

"Freedom is not just something with which we 

are born; but something we achieve.  America did

not just receive a perpetual endowment of freedom;

it has had to struggle and fight to preserve it. 

Freedom is not an heirloom or an antique;

it is a life that must fight against the

corrosive powers of death and nourish itself

on the Daily Bread of goodness and virtue." 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen

 

Remembering - September 11

2001-2011

Prayer of Pope Benedict XVI

from his visit to Ground Zero

 "God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:  peace in

the hearts of all men and women and peace among the nations

of the Earth.  Turn to your way of love those whose hearts

and minds are consumed with hatred.

 ...God of understanding, overwhelmed by the magnitude of this

tragedy, we seek your light and guidance as we confront such

terrible events.  Grant that those whose lives were spared may live

so that the lives lost here may not have been lost in vain.  Comfort

and console us, strengthen us in hope, and give us the wisdom and

courage to work tirelessly for a world where true peace and love

reign among nations and in the hearts of all."

Final answer!

 

Someone once asked St. Bernadette Soubirous:  

 

"What would please you more:

to receive Holy Communion,

or to see the Madonna in the grotto?"

 

The little Saint thought for a minute, then answered...

 

"What a strange question!

The two cannot be separated.

Jesus and Mary always go together."

Nothing but Him

"To love God as He ought to be loved,

we must be detached from all temporal love.

We must love nothing but Him,

or if we love anything else,

we must love it only for His sake."

 

 

St Peter Claver

Native of Spain ~ 1581–1654

Jesuit, missionary to South America

Apostolate to Africans on slave ships,

sailors and traders 

Estimated to have baptized 300,000 +

FEAST DAY - Sept 9

 

 

Peter said of the slaves, "We must speak to them with

our hands by giving, before we try to speak to them with our lips."

The aurora of the Eucharist

  "She is an echo of God, speaking and

repeating only God. If you say "Mary"

she says "God".  ~ St. Louis de Montfort 

 

 

 

Feast of the NATIVITY

of the BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

September 8

  

This is, in fact, the day on which the Creator of the world constructed His temple;

today is the day on which a creature becomes the preferred dwelling of the Creator.

This perfect fruit from the trunk of Jesse through the branch of David became

the living tabernacle, the living ark of the new covenant. Through her our

Salvation was born into the world.  Later as Christ our Lord hung on the Cross,

He gave her to all of us and all of us to her to be mother of us all.

Hence, all creation sings with joy, exalts, and participates in the joy of this day. ...

 

 

 The Birth of the Virgin Mary - Esteban Murillo (Louvre, Paris)

 

"From the day of her birth we salute her as the

aurora of the Eucharist, for we know that the Savior

of mankind will take from her the substance of

that Body and Blood which He will give us in the

Adorable Sacrament of His love."

 

St Peter Julian Eymard

 

 

Mary, aurora of the Eucharist,

ora pro nobis!