Thursday, March 23, 2023

To be content always...

But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. - Psalm 3:3

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"The only One necessary to have
to be content
always
is to have our Lord."
 
 
 St Turibius de Mogrovejo
Nee Spain ~ 1538 - 1606
Layman to ordained Archbishop of Lima!
(see YouTube below)
Started First Seminary in the Americas
Patron: Peru, Latin Am. Bishops, Native Rights
Incorrupt
Feast Day - March 23
IMAGE above:  At Prayer ~ F Schurig, circa 1890
 
When Turibius undertook the reform of the clergy
as well as unjust officials, he naturally suffered opposition.
Some tried, in human fashion,
to explain God's law in such a way
as to sanction their accustomed way of life. 
He answered them in the words of Tertullian,
"Christ said, 'I am the truth';
he did not say, 'I am the custom.'"
 

St Turibius, pray for us!
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+Prayer+Fasting+Almsgiving+

Wednesday, March 22, 2023

Bearing Christ - fully...

  O God, you are my God,
earnestly I seek you...  Psalm 63:1

  

 "Bear Christ in heart, mind, and will.
Bear Him in your mind 
by His teaching.
Bear Him in your will 
by your observance of the Law.
Bear Him in your heart 
by the Holy Eucharist."

Ven Pope Pius XII
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+Prayer+Fasting+Almsgiving+

Tuesday, March 21, 2023

Same Body broken, same Blood flowing...

 “Our way of thinking is attuned to the Eucharist, 
and the Eucharist in turn 
confirms our way of thinking.” – St Irenaeus

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"The Mass is that which 
makes the cross visible to every eye
it placards the Cross at all the crossroads 
of civilization; it brings Calvary so close 
that even tired feet can make the journey 
to its sweet embrace; every hand may now 
reach out to touch its Sacred Burden, 
every ear may hear its sweet appeal, 
for the Mass and the Cross are the same.

In both there is the same offering of
perfectly surrendered will of the beloved Son, 
same Body broken, the same Blood flowed 
forth, the same Divine Forgiveness.

All that has been said and done and acted 
during Holy Mass is to be taken away with us, 
lived, practiced, and woven into all the 
circumstances and conditions of our daily lives."

Venerable Fulton J Sheen
Calvary and the Mass: The Ite, Missa Est

The Sick Child - Edvard Munch
+Prayer+Fasting+Almsgiving+

Monday, March 20, 2023

Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph!...

  Solemnity of St Joseph
+ Patron of the Universal Church +
+ Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary +
+ Protector of the Divine Infant and Mary +
March 19
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Grant, we pray, almighty God, that by Saint Joseph's 
intercession your Church may constantly watch over 
the unfolding of the mysteries of human salvation, 
whose beginnings you entrusted to his faithful care.
Collect ~Today's Liturgy


 "The same divine hand which fashions each man's heart
gave a father's heart to Joseph and a son's heart to Jesus, so that 
Jesus obeyed Joseph and Joseph did not fear to command Jesus.  
It was because Christ's true Father had chosen Joseph to act 
as father to His Son in this world.  And in so doing God had,
as it were, charged Joseph's breast with some ray or spark 
of His own boundless love for His Son.  
It was that that aroused a father's love in Joseph; 
so much so that, feeling a father's heart burn within him, Joseph 
also felt that God was telling him to use a father's authority." -  Bossuet

"Saint Joseph believed unhesitatingly in the mystery
of the Incarnation, in the fruitful virginity and in 
the divine maternity of Mary. He believed without 
seeing the miracles that were to fill Judea with his glory 
and renown of his holy name.
We too should recognize Jesus in the frail Host 
that is offered to us at the altar. Here He is even smaller than
at Bethlehem, more hidden than in Saint Joseph's workshop.
Still it is He, 'I believe all the Son of God has spoken,
than Truth's own word there is no truer token.'"
  Bishop Pierre-Anastase Pichenot



“He [St. Joseph] nourished with the greatest solicitude
Him whom the faithful were one day to receive as the 
Bread of Life on their homeward journey.” - Pope Pius IX  

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"Saint Joseph  joined with Mary in adoration and 
united himself to Christ, Whose heart surged with sentiments 
of adoration, love and praise for the Father and of charity for men. 
St. Joseph’s adoration kept pace with every stage of our Lord’s life
drawing upon the grace, the spirit, and the virtue of each mystery.
In the Incarnation he adored the self-annihilation of the Son of God;
at Bethlehem, the poverty; at Nazareth, the silence, the apparent 
weakness, the obedience, and all the other virtues of Christ.…

Because his faith was so strong, Joseph’s mind
and heart bowed in perfect adoration. Imitate his faith 
as you kneel before the humble Christ annihilated in the Eucharist. 
Pierce the veil which covers this furnace of love 
and adore the hidden God.” - St Peter Julian Eymard

"To other Saints our Lord has given power to help in one sort
of need, but this glorious saint, as I know by experience,
helps us in every need." St Teresa of Avila
 St Joseph, pray for us!

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"When Egypt was laid waste by the great famine,
Pharaoh told his people,
Ite ad Joseph! - Go to Joseph!... (Genesis 41:55)
So if we are in trouble, let us listen to the word of the Lord
and take Pharaoh's advice;
let us go to Joseph if we wish to be consoled." 
St Alphonsus de Ligouri

Sunday, March 19, 2023

Rejoice - Be encouraged: Fourth Sunday of Lent...

  Fourth Sunday of Lent

The fourth Sunday of Lent is called " Lætare Sunday", taking its name from the opening words of the Mass, the Introit's "Lætare,Jerusalem" — "Rejoice, O Jerusalem".  In celebration, the priests wear rose-colored vestments.  The point is to provide us encouragement as we progress toward the end of the penitential season.  The day is a day of relaxation from normal Lenten rigors; a day of hope with Easter being at last within sight. Instrumental music is permitted, and the altar may be decorated with flowers.


Lætare Jerusalem: et conventum facite omnes qui diligitis eam: gaudete cum laetitia, qui in tristitia fuistis: ut exsultetis, et satiemini ab uberibus consolationis vestrae. (Psalm) Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt mihi: in domum Domini ibimus. Gloria Patri.

Rejoice, O Jerusalem: and come together all you that love her: rejoice with joy, you that have been in sorrow: that you may exult, and be filled from the breasts of your consolation. (Psalm) I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord.
Glory be to the Father.



  Prayer over the Offerings (Today's Liturgy)

 We place before You with joy these offerings,
which bring eternal remedy, O Lord,
praying that we may both faithfully revere them
and present them to You, as is fitting,
for the salvation of all the world.
Through Christ our Lord.

   

A bit more on Lætare Sunday:

Lætare Sunday is also called Mothering Sunday in Europe, which is similar to the celebration of Mother's Day in the United States. The name Mothering Sunday came about after the Epistle of the day from Galatians 4:26, which states, "But Jerusalem which is above, is free, which is the mother of us all." The Epistle calls Jerusalem the mother of us all and this Sunday all mothers, the Blessed Virgin Mary and especially “mother church” are honored. People frequently try to attend Mass at the nearest cathedral, their mother church. 

Tradition also holds that on Lætare Sunday, English children who lived away from home returned to visit the church in which they were baptized or raised. Children also visited their mothers, bringing flowers or a type of fruit cake. The occasion led to the old saying, "He who goes a-mothering finds violets in the lane."