Morning has broken!

O Lord, in the morning Thou dost hear my voice
in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for Thee, and watch.  Psalm 5:3

 

 

"In the Christian tradition, time has always had a sacramental significance because God entered into time and hallowed it, just as He entered into matter and space and hallowed them. Time means something. And God has ordered the rhythms of our lives so that this awareness is built into our bones.

Morning, for instance, carries with it the sense of promise, of renewal, of freshness, of second chances. Morning is as old as the world, yet every morning feels new. Even as tragic a book as Lamentations picks up on this theme and reminds us that the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, that His mercies never come to an end and that they are "new every morning."

Not surprisingly then, the Church takes over the tradition of morning prayer from our elder brothers, the Jews, and urges us to pray like the psalmist in the morning and to offer the coming day to God, who gave it to us. Today, offer morning prayer to God, make your life a living sacrifice, and watch."  ~ Mark Shea

Hasten to offer the perfect morning prayer -

the sacrifice of the holy Mass! * Morning has broken!

Remember to wear RED to Mass for PALM SUNDAY !

Holy duo...

 

 

"Ask Jesus to make you a saint.

After all, only He can do that.

Go to confession regularly

and to Communion as often as you can."

 

St. Dominic Savio

 

 

 

“There is no shame so great that God’s mercy cannot shine forth from its midst. … Jesus is not afraid to go to the core of our shame to heal us.  Sins and secrets do not scare Him.  The serpent causes shame and hiding; Jesus invites us to mercy and communion.” ~ Fr Richard Veras

 

"When you go to Confession, know this, that I Myself am waiting for you in the confessional; I am only hidden by the priest, but I Myself act in the soul.  Here the misery of the soul meets the God of Mercy.  Tell souls that from this fount of mercy souls draw graces solely with the vessel of trust.  If their trust is great there is no limit to My generosity.”  ~ Our Lord to St Faustina

Housing our Lord

 

"By our little acts of charity practiced in the shade

we convert souls far away, we help missionaries,

we win for them abundant alms;

and by that means build actual dwellings

spiritual and material for our Eucharistic Lord."

 

St. Therese of Lisieux

Doctor of the Church

 

Eucharistic fire...

“…I urge you with all the strength of my soul to approach the Eucharistic Table as often as possible. Feed on this Bread of the Angels from which you will draw the strength to fight inner struggles, the struggles against passions and against all adversities, because Jesus Christ has promised to those who feed themselves with the most Holy Eucharist, eternal life and the necessary graces to obtain it.

And when you are totally consumed by this Eucharistic fire, then you will be able more consciously to thank God, who has called you to become part of His family.  Then you will enjoy the peace that those who are happy in this world have never experienced, because true happiness, oh young people, does not consist in the pleasures of this world, or in the earthly things, but in peace of conscience, which we only have if we are pure of heart and of mind.”

Bl Pier Giorgio Frassati

Heart full of reverence

 

  

"Our own reverence for the Eucharist is the key to going out into the world and letting everybody else know that Jesus present in the Eucharist is the only Savior of the world; and the only way they're going to believe that is if they see it in our own behavior all the time...

Let's rejoice in being the Body of Christ, and let's renew our loving devotion for Jesus Christ present in the Eucharist by giving Him the gift today and every day of a heart full of reverence."

Bishop Robert Morlino 

That generous word..."be it done"

The ANNUNCIATION of the LORD
Solemnity

"The Virgin Mary utters that generous word, "be it done"

...Immediately the Heart of Jesus, ever to be adored,

has begun to pulsate with love, divine and human."

Pius XII, On Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 63

Annunciation ~ John William Waterhouse (1914)

"The Wisdom of God creates poets. How evidently this is so can be seen by considering Mary of Nazareth. When she had given to the Lord of Hosts the Flesh that would become our Bread, Wisdom caused her to break into a poem of praise, a song repeated by more people than probably any other ever composed. The Presence within stirred her to exult and proclaim the One 'who has filled the hungry with good things'. And the praise owed to the Presence of embodied Wisdom among us has never ceased in the Church from that day until this."

James T. O'Connor

The Hidden Manna

Mystical Rose

“When the Divine Child was conceived, Mary’s humanity gave Him hands and feet, eyes and ears, and a body with which to suffer. Just as the petals of a rose after a dew close on the dew as if to absorb its energies, so too Mary as the Mystical Rose closed upon Him Whom the Old Testament had described as a dew descending upon the earth. When finally she did give Him birth, it was as if a great ciborium had opened, and she was holding in her fingers the Guest Who was also the Host of the world, as if to say, ‘Look, this is the Lamb of God; look, this is He Who takes away the sins of the world.’”

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Life of Christ

 

More on the ANNUNCIATION, incl liturgical readings, history and family activities

http://www.wf-f.org/Annunciation.html

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,

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

 

He draws us

And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all things to Myself.  ~ John 12:32
(Gospel ~ today's Liturgy)
Fifth Sunday of Lent

"I spend every free moment

at the feet of the hidden God [in the Blessed Sacrament]. 

He is my Master; I ask Him about everything;

I speak to Him about everything. 

Here I obtain strength and light;

here I learn everything;

here I am given light

on how to act toward my neighbor."

St. Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament
Divine Mercy Diary, 704

A Prayer of Offering for Lent

 

"The world is content with setting right

the surface of things;

the church aims at regenerating

the very depths of the heart."

Bl John Henry Newman

The Idea of a University (1852), p. 203

A Prayer of Offering for Lent

My God, I know well, You could have saved us at Your word, without Yourself suffering; but You did choose to purchase us at the price of Your Blood.  I look on You, the Victim lifted up on Calvary, and I know that Your death was an expiation for the sins of the whole world.  My Lord, I offer You myself in turn as a sacrifice of thanksgiving.  You have died for me, and I in turn make myself over to You.  My wish is to be separated from everything of this world; to cleanse myself simply from sin.  Enable me to carry out what I profess.

SOURCE: A Newman Prayer Book

Editor VF Blehl, SJ (1990), p. 23

To be content always

 "The only One necessary to have
to be content always
is to have our Lord."

St Turibius de Mogovejo

Nee Spain ~ 1538 - 1606

Layman to ordained Archbishop of Lima! (see UTube below)

Patron: Peru, Latin Am. Bishops, Native Rights

Incorrupt

Feast Day - March 23

MORE on St Turibius, incl 2 min UTube by Fr James Kubicki, SJ

http://adeaconswife.com/2011/03/23/saint-of-the-day-toribio-de-mogrovejo-bishop/

St Turibius, ora pro nobis!

The Soul after Holy Communion

“Souls that eat My flesh possess God, the Author of life and of life eternal.  That is how they become My heaven.  Nothing can compare with their beauty.  The angels are in admiration and, as God is with them, they fall down in adoration. 

O souls, if you only knew your dignity! … Your soul is My heaven; every time you receive Me in Holy Communion, My grace augments both your dignity and your beauty.”

- Our Lord to Sr Josefa Menendez

The final word...

"What is this work of grace? The transformation of our souls into Jesus through love. St. Thomas shows us, after St. Augustine, that the Eucharist transforms our souls into Jesus through love.

It is there that I find the definition of sanctity, the final word."

Pere Jean du Coeur de Jesus D'Elbee

Everyday graces

 

"When you think of going to Mass on working days,

it is an impulse of the grace

that God wills to grant you.  Follow it."

St John Vianney

Let us go to Joseph!

 FEAST of ST JOSEPH 
Patron of the Universal Church
Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Protector of the Divine Infant and Mary
March 19

“He was chosen by the eternal Father as the trustworthy

guardian and protector of His greatest treasures, namely,

His divine Son and Mary, Joseph’s wife. He carried out this vocation

with complete fidelity until at last God called him, saying:

‘Good and faithful servant, enter into the joy of your Lord.’ ”

St. Bernardine of Siena

 

“We all have in him [St. Joseph] as a model and a protector.  As adorers of the Sacramental Jesus, we continue near the Blessed Sacrament his service, his adoration and his love.  He will watch over us and give us his spirit and virtues. Leading us to Jesus, he will say to Him:

‘I cannot be on earth any longer to watch over You and serve You, but bless these adorers who are replacing me; give them the graces You gave me, so that their service may recall and replace mine.’

How happy St Joseph is to see us crowding about Jesus in His Sacrament, feeble, abandoned, persecuted, more in need of defenders and servants than in His Infancy.  St Joseph, be my protector, my model, and my father in my service of Jesus Eucharistic.”

St. Peter Julian Eymard

 

"St Joseph, your life and office were of a priestly function and are especially connected with the Blessed Sacrament.  To some extent you were the means of bringing the Redeemer to us -- as it is the priest's function to bring Him to us in the Mass -- for you reared Jesus, supported, nourished, protected and sheltered Him. 

You were prefigured by the patriarch Joseph, who kept supplies of wheat for his people.  But how much greater than he were you!  Joseph of old gave the Egyptians mere bread for their bodies.  You nourished, and with the most tender care, preserved for the Church Him who is the Bread of Heaven and who gives eternal life in Holy Communion."  From Fifth Day of Novena to St Joseph 

 

"When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine, Pharaoh told his people,

Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph! (Genesis 41:55)

So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord and take Pharaoh's advice; let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled." 

St Alphonsus de Ligouri

St Joseph, ora pro nobis!

Bringing eternal remedy

Fourth Sunday of Lent

The fourth Sunday of Lent is called " Lætare Sunday", taking its name from the opening words of the Mass, the Introit's "Lætare, Jerusalem"— "Rejoice, O Jerusalem".  In celebration, the priests wear rose-colored vestments.  The point is to provide us encouragement as we progress toward the end of the penitential season.  The day is a day of relaxation from normal Lenten rigors; a day of hope with Easter being at last within sight. Instrumental music is permitted, and the altar may be decorated with flowers.

Lætare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. (Psalm) Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Gloria Patri.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. (Psalm) I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord. Glory be to the Father.

 

  

  Prayer over the Offerings (Today's Liturgy)

 "We place before You with joy these offerings,

which bring eternal remedy, O Lord,

praying that we may both faithfully revere them

and present them to You, as is fitting,

for the salvation of all the world.

Through Christ our Lord."

  

A bit more on Lætare Sunday:

Lætare Sunday is also called Mothering Sunday in Europe, which is similar to the celebration of Mother's Day in the United States. The name Mothering Sunday came about after the Epistle of the day from Galatians 4:26, which states, "But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." The Epistle calls Jerusalem the mother of us all and this Sunday all mothers, the Blessed Virgin Mary and especially “mother church” are honored. People frequently try to attend Mass at the nearest cathedral, their mother church.

Tradition also holds that on Lætare Sunday, English children who lived away from home returned to visit the church in which they were baptized or raised. Children also visited their mothers, bringing flowers or a type of fruit cake. The occasion led to the old saying, "He who goes a-mothering finds violets in the lane."

I arise today...through Christ!

St. Patrick is said to have written this prayer to strengthen himself with God's protection as he prepared to confront and convert Loegaire, pagan high king of Ireland and his druid priests. Through the prayers and pleas of St Patrick, the power and might of God came upon this druid land and that day a broken king knelt before God.

This confrontation between Patrick's God and demonic forces marked the beginning of a thirty-year mission to Ireland. Danger and hardship remained Patrick's constant companions. Many sought his life. Twice he was imprisoned by his enemies--once for two full months. Intimidated? Not Patrick. "Daily I expect murder, fraud, or captivity," he wrote, "but I fear none of these things because of the promises of heaven. I have cast myself into the hands of God Almighty who rules everywhere."

St Patrick's Breastplate

I  arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through the belief in the threeness,
Through the confession of the oneness
Of the Creator of Creation.

I  arise today
Through the strength of Christ's birth with his baptism,
Through the strength of his crucifixion with his burial,
Through the strength of his resurrection with his ascension,
Through the strength of his descent for the Judgment Day.

I  arise today
Through the strength of the love of Cherubim,
In obedience of angels,
In the service of archangels,
In hope of resurrection to meet with reward,
In prayers of patriarchs,
In predictions of prophets,
In preaching of apostles,
In faith of confessors,
In innocence of holy virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I  arise today
Through the strength of heaven:
Light of sun,
Radiance of moon,
Splendor of fire,
Speed of lightning,
Swiftness of wind,
Depth of sea,
Stability of earth,
Firmness of rock.

I  arise today
Through God's strength to pilot me:
God's might to uphold me,
God's wisdom to guide me,
God's eye to look before me,
God's ear to hear me,
God's word to speak for me,
God's hand to guard me,
God's way to lie before me,
God's shield to protect me,
God's host to save me
From snares of demons,
From temptations of vices,
From everyone who shall wish me ill,
Afar and anear,
Alone and in multitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and those evils,
Against every cruel merciless power that may oppose my body and soul,
Against incantations of false prophets,
Against black laws of pagandom
Against false laws of heretics,
Against craft of idolatry,
Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,
Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ to shield me today
Against poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against wounding,
So that there may come to me abundance of reward.
Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,
Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ on my right, Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down, Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I  arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through belief in the threeness,
Through confession of the oneness,
Of the Creator of Creation.  AMEN.

 

St Patrick

Bishop, Patron of Ireland

381-461

FEAST DAY - March 17

 St Patrick, ora pro nobis!

More on St Patrick, incl 2 min Utube by Fr Kubicki, SJ:

  http://catholicfire.blogspot.com/2010/03/saint-of-day-st-patrick-apostle-of.html