The Masterpiece!

Title: The Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist

is like a consuming fire, 2003 ~~~ Artist: Elizabeth Wang

"We must continually remind ourselves that the greatest need in the world today is to centre our lives more and more in the oblational aspect of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass; for today, when the whole world is galloping away from the very shadow of the Cross, we must embrace it and cling to it ever more firmly, in union with Jesus Christ.... We should never come to Holy Mass without preparation, and it is for this reason that, in Religious Houses, the Community Mass is celebrated after the Spiritual Exercises of the morning.  Of all the works of the Sacred Heart here below, Holy Mass together with Holy Communion is the Masterpiece." 

Excerpt from The Living Pyx of Jesus by 'A Religious,'

Pelligrini, 1941, p. 443

Hat tip: The Cloistered Heart - http://www.thecloisteredheart.org/

Guardians of power and love

   Feast of Archangels

St Michael~St Gabriel~St Raphael

 

 September 29

 

 

 

"O, angelic spirits,

who guard our tabernacles,

whereinlies 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 of the 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."

 

St Michael, St Gabriel, St Raphael,

pray for us and defend us in battle!

 

 

 

 "Michael and his Angels battled against the dragon...

Satan, the seducer of the whole world, was driven out."

Revelation 12:7,9

Live the Eucharist

 

 

"Set the Eucharist at the center

of your personal life and community life:

love the Eucharist,

adore the Eucharist and

celebrate it ...

live the Eucharist

by testifying to God's
love for every person."

 

Pope Bl John Paul II
World Youth Day 2000

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

 

 

 "Humility and charity are the two master-chords: one, the lowest;

the other, the highest; all the others are dependent on them.

Therefore it is necessary, above all, to maintain ourselves in these

two virtues; for observe well that the preservation of the whole

edifice depends on the foundation and the roof. "~ St Vincent de Paul

 

   St Vincent de Paul, ora pro nobis!

Life well spent

   

 

"Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is half my life.

The other half consists in loving Jesus

and winning souls for Him."

 

St. Mary Hermana Grivot

Martyr and Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Nun

Made new !

"Go, stand in the temple courts," he said,

"and tell the people the full message of this new life." ~ Acts 5:20

 

  

 

"My children, we know when a soul has worthily

received the Sacrament of the Eucharist,

it is so drowned in love, so penetrated and changed,

that it is no longer to be recognized in its words or its actions. . . .

 

It is humble, it is gentle,

it is mortified, charitable, and modest;

it is at peace with everyone.

 

It is a soul capable of the greatest sacrifices;

in short, you would not know it again."

 

St John Vianney

 

 

 

Ready for a change?

Attend holy Mass TODAY!

The heart stirred to action

 

 

"When you have received Him,

stir up your heart to do Him homage;

speak to Him about your spiritual life,

gazing upon Him in your soul

where He is present for your happiness;

welcome Him as warmly as possible,

and behave outwardly in such a way that your

actions may give proof to all of His Presence." 

 

St. Francis de Sales

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)

Recalling Feast Day - Sept. 23*  

*Since today is SUNDAY, it is the fundamental feast to celebrate.

In the words of a fourth century homily,

the "the Lord's Day" is "the lord of days".

 

 

 “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

 

St Padre Pio, ora pro nobis!

A place of heart - and home

  

 

"Going through the street and

passing before any church,

I will enter there...

to make a devout genuflection

to the Sacramental Jesus

and send Him an affection of the heart." 

 

Ven Germano Ruoppolo

Passionist priest,

Spiritual Director of St Gemma Galgani

Renewal !

 

Prayer after Communion in today’s Liturgy 

Sharing in that saving joy, O Lord,

with which Saint Matthew welcomed the Savior

as a guest in his home, we pray: grant that we may always

be renewed by the food we receive from Christ,

who came to call not the just, but sinners to salvation. 

Who lives and reigns for ever 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!

Woven round - like a robe!

Christ at Last Supper - Tapestry - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts ~ Richmond, VA

"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

 

The wealth of silence

"The LORD your God is with you, He is mighty to save. 

He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love,

He will rejoice over you with singing." ~ Zephaniah 3:17 

 

 

“Once you feel the attraction to remain in the silence of adoration in God’s presence, you must give yourself entirely to the Holy Spirit and remain there in pure faith.  If God gives you no feeling, no sentiment, no distinct thought, just be there before Him in silent love.  During such moments He operates insensibly in the soul and does more for her perfection than she could in a lifetime by her own thoughts.” ~ Blessed Columba Marmion

Prospering the day...

 I rejoiced with those who said to me,

"Let us go to the House of the LORD." - Psalm 122:1

 

"Hear Mass daily; it will prosper the whole day.

All your duties will be performed the better for it,

and your soul will be stronger to bear its daily cross.

The Mass is the most holy act of religion;

you can do nothing that can give greater glory to God

or be more profitable for your soul

than to hear Mass both frequently and devoutly.

It is the favorite devotion of the saints."  

St Peter Julian Eymard

 

Invite someone to pray the Mass with you -

and together reap the eternal benefits!

Food for the journey...

 

"The Holy Eucharist is offered to us on our pilgrimage as food so that we do not faint on the path to the fatherland, especially at the time when, tired by a long journey, our forces are apt to wane…The Lord left His Body in the Eucharist as a pledge of heavenly beatitude." ~ “Comments on Aquinas’ O Sacrum Convivum”

St Robert Bellarmine

 Italy ~ 1542-1621

Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal

Key voice and action in Counter-Reformation

"Prince of the Apologists"

Doctor of the Church

Patron of Canon lawyers, catechists, students

FEAST DAY - September 17

 

 

 

 "Charity is that with which no one is lost,

and without which no one is saved". ~ St Robert Bellarmine

 

 

Click here: St. Robert Bellarmine

 

St Robert Bellarmine, ora pro nobis!

DOCTORS of the CHURCH

St. Gregory the Great · St. Ambrose · St. Augustine · St. Jerome · St. John Chrysostom · St. Basil · St. Gregory Nazianzus · St. Athanasius of Alexandria · St. Cyril of Alexandria · St. Cyril of Jerusalem · St. John Damascene · St. Bede the Venerable · St. Ephrem · St. Thomas Aquinas · St. Bonaventure · St. Anselm · St. Isidore · St. Peter Chrysologus · St. Leo the Great · St. Peter Damian · St. Bernard of Clairvaux · St. Hilary of Poitiers · St. Alphonsus Liguori · St. Francis de Sales · St. Peter Canisius · St. John of the Cross · St. Robert Bellarmine · St. Albertus Magnus · St. Anthony of Padua · St. Lawrence of Brindisi · St. Teresa of Avila · St. Catherine of Siena · St. Thérèse of Lisieux ·

Joining the celestial hosts...

 

 

"Go to Jesus. He loves you and is waiting for you

to give you many graces. He is on the altar

surrounded by angels adoring and praying.

Let them make some room for you

and join them in doing what they do."

 

St. Mary Joseph Rosello

Foundress - Daughters of Our Lady of Mercy

Comfort through sorrow...

 

“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 

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15

 

Our Lady of the Seven SorrowsAdriaen 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.

 

"At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful mother weeping,
Close to Jesus to the last.
Through her heart, His sorrow sharing,
All His bitter anguish bearing,
Now at length the sword has passed."
(Stabat Mater)

Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows

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

Giotto - Assisi

"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

 

“With a boundless and blazing love get up

and take a bath in Christ’s blood,

hide in the wounds of Christ crucified….

Keep living in God’s holy and tender love.”

 

St. Catherine of Siena 

 

"On the Cross human misery and divine mercy meet. ...The Cross is planted in the earth and would seem to extend its roots in human malice, but it reaches up, pointing as it were to the heavens, pointing to the goodness of God. By means of the Cross of Christ, the Evil One has been defeated, death is overcome, life is given to us, hope is restored, light is imparted. O Crux, ave spes unica!…"

— Pope Bl John Paul II - Excerpt from homily 09/14/03

Heaven bound!

 

Statue from the "Angel Bridge" -  Roma

 

St John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in a homily on the words of Eucharistic institution at the Last Supper in Matthew 26, speaks most powerfully on the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ. ... Imagine the great bishop standing in the cathedral church of Constantinople before the altar and saying the following:

"How many there are who still say, 'I want to see His shape, His image, His clothing, His sandals.'  Behold, you do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him!  You want to see His clothing.  He gives Himself to you, not just to be seen but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within.  Let all of you be ardent, fervent, enthusiastic.  If the Jews stood, shoes on, staff in hand, and eating in haste, how much more vigilant should you be. They were about to go Palestine; you are about to go to heaven."  (Homily 82 on the Gospel of Matthew)

Excerpt from In the Presence of Our Lord: 

The History, Theology and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion

~ Fr Benedict J Groeschel, CFR, and James Monti

 

 

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!

 

DOCTORS of the CHURCH

St. Gregory the Great · St. Ambrose · St. Augustine · St. Jerome · St. John Chrysostom · St. Basil · St. Gregory Nazianzus · St. Athanasius of Alexandria · St. Cyril of Alexandria · St. Cyril of Jerusalem · St. John Damascene · St. Bede the Venerable · St. Ephrem · St. Thomas Aquinas · St. Bonaventure · St. Anselm · St. Isidore · St. Peter Chrysologus · St. Leo the Great · St. Peter Damian · St. Bernard of Clairvaux · St. Hilary of Poitiers · St. Alphonsus Liguori · St. Francis de Sales · St. Peter Canisius · St. John of the Cross · St. Robert Bellarmine · St. Albertus Magnus · St. Anthony of Padua · St. Lawrence of Brindisi · St. Teresa of Avila · St. Catherine of Siena · St. Thérèse of Lisieux ·

O name of Mary!

"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

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

Click here  to find and pray the Litany of the Holy Name of Mary.

"The invocation of the sacred names of Jesus and Mary is a short prayer which is as sweet to the mind, and as powerful to protect those who use it against the enemies of their salvation, as it is easy to remember." ~ St. Thomas a Kempis

 

Eyes of faith

I will not leave you desolate; I will come to you.  Yet a little while,

and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me;

because I live, you will live also. ~ John 14:18-19

"O blessed Host, enchantment of all heaven,

though Your beauty be veiled

and captured in a crumb of bread,

strong faith tears away the veil."

St Faustina Kowalska

Lifting our hearts...

Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven.  ~ Lamentations 3:41

St Rose of Lima Catholic School - Simi, California

“In the Bible, the heart is the hidden center of the person from which one’s thoughts, emotions and actions originate.  All intentions and commitments flow from the human heart.  Therefore, when the priest at Mass says, “Lift up your hearts,” he is summoning us to give our fullest attention to what is about to unfold.  This is a “wake-up call” to set aside all other concerns and focus our minds, wills and emotions - our hearts - on the sublimity of what is happening in the Eucharistic prayer.  ….

St Cyprian (d. A.D. 258), a North African Church Father, explained how this prayer draws our attention away from worldly distractions and is meant to lead us to ponder the awe-inspiring action taking place in the Eucharistic prayer:

When we stand praying, beloved brethren, we ought to be watchful and earnest with our whole heart, intent on our prayers.  Let all carnal and worldly thoughts pass away, nor let the soul at that time think on anything but the object only of its prayers.  For this reason also the priest by way of preface before his prayer, prepares the minds of the brethren by saying, Lift up your hearts, that so upon the people’s response, We have them before our Lord, he may be reminded that he himself ought to think of nothing but our Lord.

Another Church Father, St Cyril of Jerusalem, made a similar point and warned believers of the seriousness of this moment.

Lift up your hearts:  For in this sublime moment the heart should be lifted up to God, and not be allowed to descend to the earth and to earthly concerns.  With all possible emphasis the sacrificing priest exhorts us in this hour to lay aside all the cares of this life, all domestic worries, and direct our hearts to God in heaven who hath so loved men. … Let there be none among you, who shall confess with his lips:  We have lifted up our hearts, and allow his thoughts to remain with the cares of this life.”

Excerpt:  A Biblical Walk through the Mass - Understanding What We Say and Do in the Liturgy (Pgs 96-97). ~ Edward Sri - 2011 (Ascension Press)

 Sursam Corda