Our lives: a Magnificat !

FEAST of the VISITATION

May 31

Blessed is she who believed that what the Lord

has said would be fulfilled. ~ Luke 1:45

"O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all, O Ark of the Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the Ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which Divinity resides." ~ St Athanasius

Jacques Daret ~ Visitation (detail)

 

"Carrying the recently conceived Jesus in her womb, Mary goes to visit her elderly cousin, Elizabeth, whom everyone considered sterile, and yet she had reached the sixth month of a gestation gifted by God.  In a certain sense, we can say that Mary’s trip was… the first Eucharistic procession in history.

When she enters Elizabeth's home, her greeting is brimming with grace: John leaps with joy in his mother's womb, as if perceiving the coming of the One whom he will have to announce to Israel.The sons exult, the mothers exult. This meeting, full of joy of the Spirit, finds its expression in the canticle of the Magnificat.

Is not this also the joy of the Church, which receives Christ incessantly in the holy Eucharist and takes Him to the world with the testimony of active charity, full of faith and hope?

Yes, to receive Jesus and to take Him to others is the true joy of the Christian! Let us follow and imitate Mary, profoundly Eucharistic soul, and our whole life will become a Magnificat."

Pope Benedict XVI

May 31, 2005

Blessed Mother Mary and St Elizabeth, ora pro nobis!

"He whom I carried likewise carried me."

 Solemnity of Corpus Christi*

Traditionally ~ Thursday after Trinity Sunday

Now ~ also celebrated Sunday after Trinity Sunday

 

Corpus Christi Procession ~ Spycimierz, Poland (2012)

 

"The climax of the Cure's (St John Vianney) ardent love for the Eucharist came on Corpus Christi … He had already encouraged as many homes as possible to build altars of repose so that the parish would be blessed by a multiplicity of Benedictions.  There were altar boys, flower girls, and a huge procession of all the people … Never did he weary of carrying the heavy monstrance. “Why should I tire?” he questioned a sympathizer.  ‘He whom I carried likewise carried me.’  The only joy that could approach that of Corpus Christi was the joy of Holy Thursday, when he used to remain all night on his knees in silent adoration.”

~ The Cure of Ars, Fr Bartholomew O’Brien

 

 

 

*Pope to Lead Corpus Christi Procession in Rome

ROME, May 29, 2013 (Zenit.org) - On Thursday, May 30, Pope Francis will preside over the Eucharistic celebration, on the Solemnity of Corpus Christi in the courtyard of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran. At the end of the Mass, the traditional procession will take place to the nearby Basilica of Saint Mary Major, from where the Pontiff will impart the solemn Eucharistic Blessing.

“This celebration is of particular importance in this Year of Faith, during which we are called to give witness of our Faith in the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament as well as on the streets of our city,” said Cardinal Vicar Vallini.

A special plenary indulgence is available for Corpus Christi:

Grant #7.1.3

Eucharistic Adoration and Procession

Plenary indulgence

The faithful who piously participate in solemn Eucharistic procession, either inside or outside of a Church, especially on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, may receive a plenary indulgence.

Apostolic zeal

 For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven

and gives life to the world. ~ John 6:33

"Be apostles in spreading

an eager devotion

to the Divine Sacrament

particularly among the children,

the aged, the sick, the chronically ill."

St Louis Guanella

Novena to SACRED HEART begins Wednesday

 

 

Tomorrow (Wed, May 29) begins the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

This year the Feast is Friday, June 7...

 

Pope Bl John Paul II named the Feast of the Sacred Heart the

"World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests" -

so in addition to praying the devotion to the Sacred Heart,

let us also include this intention for priests in our prayers.

 

Consider this...

Daily prayers for this novena 

can be delivered to your email inbox!

 

Sign up here:

Click here: NOVENA to the SACRED HEART of JESUS PRAYERS

Christ's Triumph

Christus vincit, regnat,  imperat; ab omni malo plemem suam defendat.

Christ conquers, He reigns, He commands.

May He defend His people from all evil.

Pope Sixtus V had these words engraved on the obelisk which stands in the center of Saint Peter's Square in Rome. These magnificent words are in the present tense, and not in the past, to indicate that Christ's triumph is always actual, and that it is brought about in the Eucharist and by the Eucharist. 

Radiating Christ prayer

 “The minutes that follow Communion

are the most precious we have in our lives.”~ St Magdalena de Pazzi

 

 

Dear Jesus, help me to spread Your fragrance everywhere I go. Flood my soul with Your spirit and life. Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly, that my life may only be a radiance of Yours. Shine through me, and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with may feel Your presence in my soul. Let them look up and see no longer me, but only Jesus!

Stay with me and then I shall begin to shine as You shine, so to shine as to be a light to others. The light, O Jesus, will be all from You; none of it will be mine. It will be you, shining on others through me. Let me thus praise You the way You love best, by shining on those around me. Let me preach You without preaching, not by words but by my example, by the catching force of the sympathetic influence of what I do,the evident fullness of the love my heart bears to You.  Amen.

 

Beautiful prayer by Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman. This Prayer was recited daily after Communion by Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta and continues to be so by her Missionaries of Charity. It known as the Radiating Christ or Fragrance Prayer. Cardinal Newman was as an Anglican priest, who converted to Roman Catholicism in 1845 at the age of 44, and was subsequently ordained a Catholic priest. He was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI on 9/19/10.

All Three in a great dynamic of love

“The Best ideal is the true and other truth is none.

All glory be ascribed to the holy Three in One.”

Gerard Manley Hopkins

 

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

"All three in a great dynamic of love,

are so close that they are One God." ~ Fr. John Foley, S. J.

 

Trinity Sunday, officially "The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity," is one of the few feasts of the Christian Year that celebrates a reality and doctrine rather than an event or person. On Trinity Sunday we remember and honor the eternal God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Trinity Sunday is celebrated the Sunday after Pentecost, and lasts only one day, which is symbolic of the unity of the Trinity. The Eastern Churches have no tradition of Trinity Sunday, arguing that they celebrate the Trinity every Sunday. Westerners do as well, although they set aside a special feast day for the purpose.

 

 

“The veil of mystery has been torn asunder.

He is there, my God, infinite Unity, adorable Trinity,

under the appearance of a small piece of bread."

 

Bl. Dina Belanger

 

 

All glory be to the Father

and to the Son

and to the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Happiness can be yours!

  

As he was giving out Holy Communion

that priest felt like shouting out:

“This is Happiness I am giving to you!”

St Josemaria Escriva

The Forge, 267



ORDAINED to the Holy Priesthood of Jesus Christ TODAY*

Saturday, May 25, 2013

*My son among them!

Oh, day of all love excelling!

An Old German saying:

It is worth wearing out a pair of shoes to walk

to receive a priest's First Blessing!

Rev Mr Leonard Andrie ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls (Minnesota)

Rev Mr Andrew Brinkman ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr John Drees ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr Joah Ellis ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

*Rev Mr Spencer Howe ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr Andrew Jaspers ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr Luke Marquard ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr Brian Park ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr James Peterson ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Rev Mr Andrew Stueve ~ Archdiocese of St Paul/Mpls

Cathedral of St Paul ~ 10 AM Mass

Rev Mr Michael Benz ~ Archdiocese of St Louis (Missouri)

Rev Mr Raymond Buehler ~ Archdiocese of St Louis
Rev Mr John Nickolai~ Archdiocese of St Louis
Rev Mr Charles Samson ~ Archdiocese of St Louis
Rev Mr Christopher Seiler ~ Archdiocese of St Louis
Cahtedral of the most Blessed Sacrament ~ 10 AM Mass

Rev Mr Nathan Haverland ~ Diocese of Topeka (Kansas)

Rev Mr Daniel Schmitz ~ Diocese of Topeka
Rev Mr Quentin Schmitz ~ Diocese of Topeka

 St. Matthew ~ 10:30 AM Mass

Rev Mr Juan Acosta ~ Diocese of Bridgeport (Connecticut)

Rev Mr John Connaughton ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Rev Mr Joseph Gill ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Rev Mr Matthew Krankall ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Rev Mr Krysztof Kuczynski ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Rev Mr Damien Pielesz ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Rev Mr Ralph Segura ~ Diocese of Bridgeport

Cathedral of St Peter - 10:30 AM Mass

Rev Mr Peter Heasley ~ Diocese of NewYork (New York)

Rev Mr Lorenzo Laboy ~ Diocese of New York

Rev Mr Sandro Leyton ~ Diocese of New York

Rev Mr Jeffrey Pomeisl ~ Diocese of New York

Rev Mr Kenneth Riello ~ Diocese of New York

Rev Mr Esteban Sanchez ~ Diocese of New York

Rev Mr Marek Wasilewski~ Diocese of New York

St Patrick's Cathedral ~ New York ~9:00 AM Mass

 Rev Mr Jeffrey Todd Nance ~ Diocese of Tulsa (Oklahoma) 

Cathedral of the Holy Family - 10 AM Mass     

 

Rev Mr Joseph Laracy ~ Diocese of Newark (New Jersey)

Rev Mr James Platania ~ Diocese of Paterson (New Jersey)

Rev Mr Thomas MacDonald ~ Diocese of Boston (Massachusetts)

Let us hold them in prayer and offer thanksgiving for their 'YES'!

"The work of the priest is eternal. ... There are many commendable things

many people can do - and do do... but the work of the priest is to keep people

out of hell ... and get them into heaven ... that is an eternal work. " 

 Fr.  George A. Welzbacher (class of 1951)

Archdiocese St Paul/Mpls

Stripped of everything...

 

  

"In His risen life on earth Christ often made Himself recognized only by the characteristic of His unmistakable love, by showing His wounds, by His infinite courtesy, by the breaking of bread. He would not allow the sensible beauty and dearness of His human personality, His familiar appearance, to hide the essential Self that He had come back to give.

Wholly consistent with this is Christ's return to us in the Host. We know that in it He is wholly present: body, blood, soul, and divinity. But all this is hidden; even His human appearance is hidden. Because this is the way of absolute love, He insists on coming to us stripped of everything but Himself."

Caryll Houselander

Rivers of grace...

 

 

"...we need to seek out confession regularly and stay close to the Eucharist. We can't lose hope when we know we're forgiven. We can't starve to death when we're being fed with the Bread of Life. And the stronger we get in the Lord, the more we have to give to others. The sacraments are literally rivers of grace. They bring us new life. They have real power."

 

Archbishop Charles J. Chaput

Philadelphia ~ May 17, 2013

 

 

 

Full text of Archbishop Chaput's May 17th remarks:

Click here: The Birthday of the Church and the Path We Chose

ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome 

Christ made her heart His...

 

"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

Wife, Mother, Augustinian Nun

Stigmatist, Incorrupt

Patron of Impossible Cases*

*especially matrimonial difficulties

Italy (1381-1457)

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. " ~ Pope Blessed John Paul II

Click here: Saint of the Impossible - YouTube (2 mins)



 St Rita, ora pro nobis!

Devoted!

  

 

...Let us ask our Lord then to make us souls devoted

to the Blessed Eucharist, so that our relationship

with Him brings forth joy and serenity and a desire

for justice. In this way we will make it easier for

others to recognize Christ; we will put Christ

at the centre of all human activities."

 

St Josemaria Escriva

Quote to honor today's Feast ...

 

Fr Magallanes wrote and preached against armed rebellion, but was falsely accused of promoting the Cristero Rebellion in the area. He established a clandestine seminary at Totatiche, Jalisco. Magallanes and the other priests were forced to minister secretly to Catholics during the presidency of Plutarco Calles (1924-1928). Arrested on May 21, 1927, while en route to celebrate Mass at a farm, he gave away his few remaining possessions to his executioners, gave them absolution, and without a trial, he was martyred four days later.  

St. Christopher Magallanes and Companions*

Mexico ~ 1915-1937

*22 priests/3 layman

Memorialized in movie, For Greater Glory

FEAST DAY ~ MAY 21

 

St Christopher Magallanes (2nd row, second from right) and Companions.

When imprisoned by the government authorities, St Christopher 

was heard to shout from his cell: "I am innocent and I die innocent.

I forgive the authors of my death from my heart, and I ask God

that my blood would serve to bring peace to divided Mexicans".

 St Christopher and Companions, ora pro nobis!

Prayer: the best prep

 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the LORD. ~ Psalm 134:2

 

St Catherine's Church ~ Bethlehem

 

"Prayer is the best preparation for Holy Communion. Prayer is the raising of the mind to God.

When we pray we go to meet Christ Who is coming to us.

If our Creator and Savior comes from heaven with such great love, it is only fitting that we should go to meet Him. And this is what we do when we spend some time in prayer."

 

 

St Bernardine of Siena

Franciscan priest, itinerant preacher, theological writer

Italy ~ 1380-1444

Known as "Apostle of Italy"

for efforts to revive faith in 15th century 

FEAST DAY - May 20 

 

 

Especially known for his devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus,

Bernardine devised a symbol—IHS, the first three letters

of the name of Jesus in Greek, in Gothic letters on a blazing sun.

 

 

 

"Jesus, Name full of glory, grace, love and strength! You are the refuge of those who repent, our banner of warfare in this life, the medicine of souls, the comfort of those who morn, the delight of those who believe, the light of those who preach the true faith, the wages of those who toil, the healing of the sick. To You our devotion aspires; by You our prayers are received; we delight in contemplating You. O Name of Jesus, You are the glory of all the saints for eternity. Amen." ~ St Bernardine

 

Click here: Discovering our Saints - St. Bernardine of Siena - YouTube

 

St Bernardine, ora pro nobis!