Saturday, April 30, 2022

Liturgy: above all, adoration...

Blessed be the LORD! ... The LORD is my 
strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts;
so I am helped, and my heart exults, and with
my song I give thanks to him. - Psalm 28:7

 

"The liturgy is, above all, adoration. 
The Church is the work of God, God's action; 
it is recognition of what God does for men.
And the adoration that the liturgy expresses, 
especially the Eucharist,
is the acknowledgment of God,
that everything comes from Him,
that everything that belongs to us 
must find Him." 

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares
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Pope Pius V tirelessly worked to promote the true faith
and Divine Worship.  He standardized the Holy Mass
by promulgating the 1570 edition of the Roman Missal.

Pope St Pius V
Italy  ~ 1504-1572
Dominican*, Church Reformer
"Pope of the Rosary"
*His decision to keep wearing his Dominican habit
led to the custom of the pope wearing a white cassock.
Feast Day - April 30

 

"All the evils in the world are due to
lukewarm Catholics." ~ St Pius V

St Pius V, pray for us!
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More on St Pius V: 
Click here: St. Pius V - YouTube (2 mins)

Probably the act for which Pius V will be longest remembered is his exemplary and unparalleled leadership at the time of the Battle of Lepanto.

In 1565, the Knights of Saint John defended Malta against a tremendous attack by the Turkish fleet and lost nearly every fighting man in the fortress. It was Pope Pius V who sent encouragement and money with which to rebuild their battered city. The pope called for a crusade among the Christian nations and appointed a leader who would be acceptable to all. He ordered the Forty Hours Devotion to be held in Romeand he encouraged all to say the Rosary.

When the Christian fleet sailed out to meet the enemy, every man on board had received the sacraments, and all were praying the Rosary. The fleet was small, and numerically it was no match for the Turkish fleet, which so far had never met defeat. They met in the Bay of Lepanto on Sunday morning, October 7, 1565.  After a day of bitter fighting, and, on the part of the Christians, miraculous help, the Turkish fleet - what was left of it - fled in disgrace, broken and defeated, its power crushed forever.

Before the victorious fleet returned to Rome, Pope Pius V had knowledge of the victory through miraculous means. He proclaimed a period of thanksgiving, placed the invocation, "Mary, Help of Christians" in the Litany of Loreto and established the feast of Our Lady of Victory (later changed to Our Lady of the Rosary) in commemoration of the victory.


Victory of Lepanto 01.jpg (597×397)
Also worth noting ...
St Pius V inserted the Adoro Te Devote among the prayers of preparation and thanksgiving for the Mass into the Missal reformed by him in 1570.  (Prior to that, the text had remained unknown for two centuries since St Thomas Aquinas penned it.) From that date, the hymn was used in the universal Church as one of  the most loved Eucharistic prayers of the clergy and the Christian people.  Spend some time today meditating on its beauty and truth and express your gratitude for its preservation. 
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This hymn is the inspiration of the TITLE 
of this Apostolate (begun in 2005) - see verse two
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GODHEAD HERE IN HIDING /ADORO TE DEVOTE
Words: St Thomas Aquinas, Translation: Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J.


Adoro te devote, latens Deitas,
Quæ sub his figuris vere latitas;
Tibi se cor meum totum subjicit,
Quia te contemplans totum deficit.



Visus, tactus, gustus in te fallitur,
Sed auditu solo tuto creditur.
Credo quidquid dixit Dei Filius;
Nil hoc verbo veritátis verius.



In cruce latebat sola Deitas,
At hic latet simul et Humanitas,
Ambo tamen credens atque confitens,
Peto quod petivit latro pœnitens.



Plagas, sicut Thomas, non intueor:
Deum tamen meum te confiteor.
Fac me tibi semper magis credere,
In te spem habere, te diligere. 


O memoriale mortis Domini!
Panis vivus, vitam præstans homini!
Præsta meæ menti de te vívere,
Et te illi semper dulce sapere.

Pie Pelicane, Jesu Domine,
Me immundum munda tuo sanguine:
Cujus una stilla salvum facere
Totum mundum quit ab omni scelere.

Jesu, quem velatum nunc aspicio,
Oro, fiat illud quod tam sitio:
Ut te revelata cernens facie,
Visu sim beátus tuæ gloriæ.
 Amen

 Godhead here in hiding, whom I do adore,
Masked by these bare shadows, shape and nothing more,
See, Lord, at Thy service low lies here a heart
Lost, all lost in wonder at the God thou art.

Seeing, touching, tasting are in thee deceived:
How says trusty hearing? that shall be believed;
What God's Son has told me, take for truth I do;
Truth Himself speaks truly or there's nothing true.

On the cross Thy godhead made no sign to men,
Here Thy very manhood steals from human ken:
 Both are my confession, both are my belief,
And I pray the prayer of the dying thief.

I am not like Thomas, wounds I cannot see,
But can plainly call thee Lord and God as he;
Let me to a deeper faith daily nearer move,
Daily make me harder hope and dearer love.

O thou our reminder of Christ crucified,
Living Bread, the life of us for whom he died,
Lend this life to me then: feed and feast my mind,
There be thou the sweetness man was meant to find.

Bring the tender tale true of the Pelican;
Bathe me, Jesu Lord, in what Thy bosom ran
Blood whereof a single drop has power to win
All the world forgiveness of its world of sin.

Jesu, whom I look at shrouded here below,
I beseech thee send me what I thirst for so,
Some day to gaze on thee face to face in light
And be blest for ever with Thy glory's sight. Amen.




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Day 8
Novena to St Joseph
 

Feast Day:  May 1 (Patron of Workers)
St Joseph, pray for us!

Friday, April 29, 2022

Each drop: precious...

   "Love does not stay idle."
- St Catherine of Siena, Letter T82

http://maldart.tumblr.com/

Precious Blood,
Ocean of Divine Mercy:
Flow upon us! 

Precious Blood,
Most pure Offering:
Procure us every Grace! 

Precious Blood,
Hope and Refuge of sinners:
Atone for us! 

Precious Blood,
Delight of holy souls:
Draw us! Amen.

Prayer of
St Catherine of Siena
Italy  ~ 1347 -1380
Doctor of the Church
Reformer, mystic, writer
Third Order Dominican
Incorrupt
Feast Day - April 29

  
 "I treasure your knowing how to give 
the world a kick." ~  St Catherine of Siena

"Be who God meant you to be and you will 
set the world on fire." - St Catherine of Siena

"Proclaim the truth and do not be 
silent through fear." - St Catherine of Siena


"Do not be satisfied with little things, because 
God wants great things!" St Catherine of Siena

St Catherine of Siena, pray for us!
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 Day 7
Novena to St Joseph
 

Feast Day:  May 1 (Patron of Workers)
St Joseph, pray for us!

Thursday, April 28, 2022

A holy trifecta of good counsel...

Eucharistic thoughts from three
'family members' on their FEAST DAY today...

St Louis de Montfort used to remain after Holy Mass for thanksgiving
at least a half hour, and he would not permit any need or assignment
to serve as a reason for omitting it.  He said, 
 "I would not give up this hour of thanksgiving
even for an hour of Paradise." 

St Louis de Montfort
France ~ 1673-1716
Priest, Marian devotee
Author: Secret of MaryTrue Devotion to Mary
Founder ~ Sisters of Divine Wisdom
Feast Day - April 28

 

"She (Mother Mary) is an echo of God, 
speaking and repeating only God.
If you say 'Mary' she says 'God'." 
 St Louis de Montfort

St Louis de Montfort, pray for us!  

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"Our body is a cenacle,
a monstrance:
through its crystal the world should see God."

St Gianna Beretta Molla
Wife, Mother, Doctor, Martyr
Italy (1922-1962)
Feast Day - April 28

 

“The life of Mamma was an act and a perennial action of faith 
and charity; it was a non-stop search for the will of God for 
every decision and for every work, with prayer and meditation, 
Holy Mass and the Eucharist,” explained St. Gianna’s husband 
to their children after her death.

St Gianna Molla, pray for us!

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 When called upon to justify his conversion, 
one of Chanel's catechumens had said of him,
"He loves us. He does what he teaches.
He forgives his enemies. His teaching is good."

St Peter Chanel
Nee France ~ 1803-1841
Priest, Missionary, Protomartyr of Oceania
  Within two years after his death,
the whole island became Catholic and has remained so.
Feast Day - April 28

   
   
"No one is a martyr for a conclusion, 
no one is a martyr for an opinion;
it is faith that makes martyrs."  
 St John Cardinal Newman

St Peter Chanel, pray for us!

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Day 6
Novena to St Joseph
 

Feast Day:  May 1 (Patron of Workers)
St Joseph, pray for us!