Sunday, October 31, 2021

Ending well...

   But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom
and will possess it forever - yes, for ever and ever.  
 Daniel 7:18 
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Solemnity of All Saints*
November 1
We are called to remember all of the saints, known and unknown,
whose lives have served as holy examples for us.
 
"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus...” … “This, then, is the meaning of today’s Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God’s friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family…” Pope Benedict XVI

 

            "Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY: 
            Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing, 
who still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord 
hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we too 
will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.
              Gather around us here in His Eucharistic Presence to strengthen us with your prayers and to enrich our feeble worship with the mighty chorus of your praise.  
Teach us by your example to love Him above all things, 
so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God, 
who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship 
of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." 

Paul Thigpen
From Jesus, We Adore You,
Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament 

Image above: Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven, Fra Angelico - 1428-30

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"Make up your mind to become a saint." 
St. Maria Mazarello 
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"Never say, 'What great things the saints do,' but,
'What great things God does in His saints.'"
 St. Philip Neri
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"The saints did not all begin well,
but they all ended well."
 St John Vianney
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"The saints were as weak as we are; grace sustained them.  
Why should we doubt that we, too, 
will be sustained by grace?" 
 Bl Clelia Merloni

 

 “O blessed souls, who knew so well how to profit 
by the gifts of God, and to purchase with this precious ransom 
so delectable and enduring a heritage, 
tell us how you won through Him such an eternal blessing!
Assist us, since you are so near the Fountainhead.
Draw water for those of us on earth who are perishing with thirst."

St Teresa of Jesus - Exclamations of the Soul to God,13
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Traditionally...

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) 
any of the faithful,
by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed,
can obtain a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),
applicable to the poor souls in purgatory,
(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

HOWEVER>>>
THIS YEAR the indulgence has been 
extended through the ENTIRE MONTH!!

The best prayer...

  "The best prayer is the one 
in which there is the most love." 
 Bl Charles de Foucauld


 Prayer of Abandonment 
 Bl Charles de Foucauld

Father, 
I abandon myself into your hands; 
do with me what you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you:
I am ready for all, I accept all.
Let only your will be done in me, 
and in all your creatures.
I wish no more than this, O Lord. 

Into your hands I commend my soul;
I offer it to you
with all the love of my heart,
for I love you, Lord,
and so need to give myself,
to surrender myself into your hands,
without reserve,
and with boundless confidence, 
for you are my Father. 

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Excerpt from the writings of Fr Rene Voillaumeon
on the Blessed Sacrament and Charles de Foucauld:
"You will always be right in imitating the attitude of soul—which is so simple, so logical, so full of love—of Frere Charles of Jesus towards the Blessed Sacrament. Our devotion to the Eucharist must be profound, honest, totally embraced as essential. When one has acquired the disposition of receiving this gift of God with the soul of a child, one is upset by the reasoning of certain people... who dispute the devotion towards the Eucharist and sometimes question its legitimacy on liturgical or historical grounds... Why not, in the simple logic of faith, love the Eucharist with all the love with which we love Jesus himself? That is what filled Father de Foucauld with the spontaneity of a child."