He provides, we trust...

"Catch, then, O catch the transient hour;

Improve each moment as it flies!" - St. Jerome

"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

 

St Jerome

c. 331- 420

Early Church Father, Doctor of the Church 

Brilliant and thorough scholar and writer 

Translated Scripture into Latin (Vulgate) 

Consultant to Popes and Bishops 

FEAST DAY - September 30

Bartolomeo Cavarozzi ~ St Jerome

 "Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ." - St Jerome

Click here: St. Jerome - YouTube (2 mins)

St Jerome, pray for us!

Guardians of power and love

Feast of Archangels

St Michael~St Gabriel~St Raphael

September 29

"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 

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

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

Revelation 12:7, 9

A Sermon of Pope Saint Gregory 
From the Third Nocturne of Matins of the feast of Saint 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."

Click here: The Archangels - YouTube (1:30 mins)

St Michael, St Gabriel, St Raphael, pray for us

and defend us in battle!

This death is our life!

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait
for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ
to bring you to eternal life. - Jude 21

 

"Come and participate
in the Body and Blood of the Victim
immolated for us;

come and remember 
that this death is our life."

Jacques Benigne Bossuet (+1704)

Bishop of Meaux in France

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."

Remembering ....St Vincent de Paul

1580-1660 ~ France

Priest, Co-Founder of Daughters of Charity

Founder - Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians)

Patron - Charitable societies*

*Society of St. Vincent de Paul, founded 1833 
by devotee, Blessed Frederic Ozanam

Incorrupt

FEAST DAY - September 27

 

"We should take as a maxim never to be surprised at current difficulties, 

no more than at a passing breeze, because with a little patience 

we shall see them disappear. Time changes everything."
-  St. Vincent de Paul

Click here: St. Vincent de Paul YouTube (6:45 mins)

St Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

Life well spent

Teach us to number our days aright,

that we may gain a heart of wisdom. – Psalm 90:12

"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

Divine economy

There is a time for everything, and a season

for every activity under the heavens…. Ecc 3:1

"The best way to economize time

is to 'lose half an hour'

each day attending Holy Mass."

Frederic Ozanam

Like the dew fall...

 “Make holy these gifts, we pray, by sending down 

your Spirit upon them like the dew fall." - Eucharistic Prayer II

 

“You must open a little,

or rather raise on high your corolla

so that the Bread of Angels may come

as divine dew to strengthen you,

and to give you all that is wanting in you.”

St Therese of Lisieux

Fitting posture

  "Everything begins with prayer, spending a little time on our knees."

- Bl Mother Teresa of Calcutta 

Handmaids of the Heart of Jesus ~ New Ulm, Minnesota ~ USA

“Kneel down and render the tribute 
of your presence and devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. 

Confide all your needs to Him, along with those of others. 

Speak to Him with filial abandonment, give free rein to your heart,

and give Him compete freedom  to work in you as He thinks best.”

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Priest, Stigmatist, Mystic

Italy  ~ 1887-1968

Patron of Eucharistic Adorers

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

Click here: St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina - YouTube (2:30 mins)

Click here: St. Padre Pio - YouTube (2 mins)

St Padre Pio, pray for us!

Choice paths...

"God dwells in our midst, in the Blessed Sacrament

of the altar.” – St Maximilian Kolbe

“When there are two roads

which will bring me to some place, I take the one

with more churches so as to be nearer the Blessed Sacrament.

When I see a place where my Jesus is,

I could not be happier,

and I say, “You are here, my God and my All.”

Venerable J.J. Olier

Always renewed...

For I came not to call the righteous,

but sinners, says the Lord.  - Matt 9:13

Prayer after Communion (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.

Remembering... St Matthew

Nee - Capernaum

"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)
Symbols associated w/St Matthew:
 Gospel, human/angel, sword (in re: martyrdom)

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).

 

His life is somewhat shrouded, and  ... There are not many facts ... But Matthew was a publican ... Who gathered in the tax ... Until that wondrous moment in ... His native Galilee ... When Jesus came upon him, and ... He told him, "Follow me" ... And Matthew followed Jesus then  ... Wherever Jesus went ... Ignoring Pharisees and all ... The Roman government ... With eloquent sincerity ... This good apostle preached ... In distant lands wherever there ... Were souls that could be reached ... And he composed the gospel that ... Inspires us today ... To follow Jesus Christ and live ... According to His way.

From Poem Portraits of the Saints - James J Metcalfe (1956), pg 6

Click here: Web Gallery of Art, searchable fine arts image database

(see Calling of St Matthew - Carrevagio)

 St Matthew, pray for us! 

In His light we see light...

For with you is the fountain of life;

in your light we see light. - Psalm 36:9

“If the Blessed Sacrament is Jesus all for us,

is it not the most legitimate of conclusions that we should be all for Him?

We should be all for Jesus, if Jesus is our all.

And what does this mean?

Surely, among other things, that the Blessed Sacrament

should be to us just

the single overpowering fact of the world.

Our hands hold Him; our words make Him; our tongue rests Him;

our body compasses Him; our souls feel Him; our flesh feeds upon Him,

Him, the Infinite, the Incomprehensible, the Immense, the Eternal.

Must not all life be looked at in this light,

just as the whole Church lies in this light and has no other?"

Fr Frederick W Faber

Photo image credit - Michael McGlothlen - Ireland

An altar within...

 For you, LORD, have never foresaken 
those who seek you. - Psalm 9:10b

 

"How do I prepare myself to receive the Host? I draw near with my soul, from the moment when I wake up.  I call our for it with my lips, I attract it with my sighs, I long for it, I love it, and with a thousand acts of discipline, I prepare ... for it.

My chalice is full to the brim with this lowly blood, drawn and extracted out of love to mingle with His blood on the altar, my Immaculate Lamb, and together they are offered up to God’s throne, asking for grace.

Is it not an undeserved happiness and favor to have an altar within and the freedom to be able to do this for my Jesus without anybody knowing?  My soul’s blood, its life fluid, is also for Jesus.  Power, feelings, and my life, I place them all at the foot of the tabernacle.”

Venerable Conception Cabrera de Armida (+1937)

Excerpt:  Irresistibly Drawn to the Eucharist:  Conchita Cabrera de Armida’s 

Most Beautiful Writings on the Eucharist, Fr Juan Gonzalez Gutierrez, M.Sp.S., 

Society of St Paul, Staten Island, New York, 2002, pg. 12

Sole soul satisfaction...

"The soul also must be fed.

Where, then, is its food?

When God desired to give a food to our soul

to sustain it in the pilgrimage of life, 
He looked upon creation

and found nothing that was worthy of it.

Then He turned again to Himself, 
and resolved to give Himself...

O my soul, how great you are,

since only God can satisfy you!

The food of the soul is the body and blood of God.

O glorious food!

The souls can feed only on God; only God can suffice it;

only God can fill it; only God can satiate its hunger.

Its God is absolutely necessary to it."

St. John Vianney

Food of the pilgrim...

"The school of Christ is the school of charity.  
On the last day, when the general examination takes place, 
there will be no question at all on the text of Aristotle, 
the aphorisms of Hippocrates, or the paragraphs of Justinian.  
Charity will be the whole syllabus." - St Robert Bellarmine

"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."

 St Robert Bellarmine, “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,
those with Down's syndrome

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."

Click here: St. Robert Bellarmine - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: St. Robert Bellarmine

Click here: Fr. Hardon Archives - St. Robert Bellarmine,

St Robert Bellarmine, pray for us!

Sure foundation!

"It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun

than to do without Holy Mass." - St Padre Pio of Pietrelcino

 

"I believe that were it not for the Holy Mass,

at this moment the world would be in the abyss,

unable to bear up under the mighty load of its iniquities.

Mass is the potent prop 

that holds the world on its base."

St Leonard of Port Maurice

Image: Archbishop Alexander Sample,  March 2014, Priory of Our Lady of Consolation in Amity , Oregon ~ USA

Gift of the Queen...

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O Lord, supported me. 

When anxiety was great within me,

your consolation brought joy to my soul. - Psalm 94:18,19

 

“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 

Remembering...

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15

 "In martyrs, the intensity of their love mitigated their sufferings,

but with Mary it was different; the more she loved, the more she suffered,

and the greater was her martyrdom." - Richard of Saint Victor (+1173)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary:

* at the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:35);
* at the flight into Egypt (Matt 2:13);
* having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem (Luke 2:48);
* meeting Jesus on His way to Calvary;
* standing at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25);
* Jesus being taken from the Cross;
* at the burial of Christ. 

Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows

Click here: The Seven Sorrows Rosary - YouTube (21:30 mins)

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above;

Make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;

Make my soul to glow and melt

With the love of Christ our Lord.

(Excerpt: Sabat Mater sequence)

Click here: Stabat Mater dolorosa (full text)

How splendid the Cross of Christ!

"Blest is the wood through which
justice comes about." - Wisdom 14:7

Exquisite mosaic ~ Tree of Life, Holy Cross (detail) ~ San Clemente - Roma

 

“The event of the Cross and Resurrection

abides and draws everything toward life.” (CCC 1085)

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." ~ St Theodorus the Estudite

"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

"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!…" ~ St John Paul II, homily 09.14.03

Click here: Exaltation of the Holy Cross - YouTube (3 mins)

Click here: Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Roodmas)

Click here: Crucifixes and Crosses

 

Crucifixes on rosaries, worn around one's neck and in one's home
serve as enduring and endearing reminders of the magnitude

of Christ's love and serve as focal points for private prayer.

 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen summarized the reason
for using a crucifix instead of an empty cross when he said,
“Keep your eyes on the crucifix,
for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission,
and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever.”

Fatherly advice... holy wasting...

"To visit the Blessed Sacrament is ...

a proof of gratitude, an expression of love,

and a duty of adoration toward Christ our Lord."

- Pope Bl Paul VI, Mysterium fidei, 66

"Adore. We, in the world of efficiency, have lost the meaning of Adoration, 

including in prayer. It’s true, we pray, we praise the Lord, we ask, we thank ... 

However, Adoration, that being before the one God, of that which alone

has no price, which is not negotiated, which is not changed ...

And everything that is outside of Him is a cardboard imitation, is an idol.

To adore. In this stage, make an effort to grow in this way of prayer. 

Adoration. Adore, adore God.

It is a lack in the Church at this moment, because of lack of pedagogy 

(method/practice of education)-- that sense of adoration

that we see in the Bible’s First Commandment, to adore the one God.

'Remember, Israel, have no other God other beside the One.'

To adore, 'Him alone will you adore.'

That 'wasting time' without asking, 
without thanking,

also without speaking,

only adoring with the soul prostrated."

Pope Francis

11 September 2015

Address