"Verso l'alto"...

  ...everlasting joy will crown their heads. 

Gladness and joy will overtake them, and 

sorrow and sighing will flee away. - Isaiah 35:10

"I urge you with all the strength of my soul
to approach the Eucharist Table
as often as possible.

Feed on this Bread of the Angels
from which you will draw the strength
to fight inner struggles."

St. Pier Giorgio Frassati

Italy ~ 1901-1925
"Man of the Eight Beatitudes"
Patron of World Youth Days
Incorrupt
Motto:  Verso l'alto - "To the heights!"
Feast  Day – July 4

“To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend,

without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living,

but merely existing; we must never just "exist". 

St Pier-Giorgio

*To this day, Frassati's body remains incorrupt:   

"When they opened Pier Giorgio´s tomb in 1981, 

his body was perfectly preserved,"recalled one witness. 

"He had a smile on his face and a rosary in his hands.

It was like meeting him for the first time."

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Click here: OFFICIAL USA WEBSITE  BL PIER GIORGIO FRASSATI

Click here: Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati (July 4) - YouTube (6 mins)

Click here: Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: The Prayer of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati - YouTube (4 mins)

Click here: Pier Giorgio Frassati: A commentary by Fr. Barron - YouTube

St Pier Giorgio Frassati, pray for us!

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4th of July: Blessed Independence Day:

Let freedom ring !

250th Anniversary !!!

1776-2026

 

Today we make again our own

The hope which Christ, our life, has sown:

In fertile fields and streets of stone,

Let freedom ring!

Where Justice works amid the weed

Of rampart want and choking greed,

To loose the voice of human need,

Let freedom ring!

Where Mercy's fingers, slashed and torn,

Untangle love from twisted thorn

Of anger, disbelief and scorn,

Let freedom ring!

Where hearts imprisoned toil and weep,

Our founders' dreams still trouble sleep

With harvests we have yet to reap:

Let freedom ring!

In Christ, we tend what God has planned,

With justice, mercy, truth in hand

Till joy sings out through all the land:

Let freedom ring!

" I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, 

as the great anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, 

as the Day of Deliverance by solemn Acts of Devotion to God Almighty. 

It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade...

Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent 

to the other from this Time forward forever more."  - John Adams

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"Everyone has the right to Freedom of opinion and Expression.

This right includes freedom to hold opinions 

without interference and to seek, receive and impart information

and ideas through any Media and regardless of frontiers.

My dream is of a place and a time where America will once again

be seen as the last best hope of earth."  - Abraham Lincoln

"My Lord and my God"...

   How right they are to adore you! 

 Song of Songs 1:4

“Is not this gazing upon the Eucharistic Saviour

a magnificent profession of our faith in the

Divinity of Christ, such as was made by the 

incredulous Thomas?  When St. Thomas said,

‘My Lord and my God!’ (see John 20:24-28)

we may be sure he did not keep

his eyes cast down, but looked with open

and sincere gaze into the eyes of his Master." 

Servant of God, Fr. Lukas Etlin, O.S.B. (+1927)

Detail - The Incredulity of Saint Thomas (Caravaggio)

St Thomas the Apostle
Apostle, Martyr (+74)
Carried/fearlessly preached the Gospel to India
SW coast of India call themselves: 

"Christians of St Thomas"
Martyred in India: pierced from swords of four soldiers
Feast Day - July 3

Besides tradition, we have the witness of Saints and Fathers of the Church that St. Thomas preached in India. The following powerful quote is from St. Ephraim the Syrian, in a writing on the devil. He discusses the power of the Apostles through Christ from the devil's perspective:

"The evil one wails, "Where then can I flee from the righteous? I incited Death to kill the apostles as if to escape from their scourges by their death. More than ever now I am scourged harshly. The apostle I killed in India (has come) to Edessa before me. Here is he and also there. I went there, there he is. Here and there I found him, and I am gloomy. Did that merchant carry the bones? Or perhaps, indeed, they carried him!"  

Click here: St. Thomas the Apostle - YouTube (2 mins) 

 St Thomas the Apostle, pray for us!

O Balsam beyond all price...

 You know that you were ransomed from the futile ways 

inherited from your fathers, not with perishable things 

such as silver or gold, but with the Precious Blood of Christ, 

like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. - I Peter 1:18-19

Most Precious Blood of life eternal,

price and ransom of the whole universe,

drink and bath of the soul, ever pleading the cause

of man before the throne of heavenly Mercy.

I adore Thee most profoundly: I would, if I were able,

make to Thee some compensation for the outrages

and wrongs Thou dost ever suffer from men.

Who will not bless this Blood of value infinite?

Who does not feel himself inflamed with the love

of Jesus, who shed it all for us? What should I be

but for this Blood, which hath redeemed me?

And who drew it out of the veins of my Lord,

even unto the last drop?

It was love. O immense love,

which gave to us this saving Balsam!

O Balsam beyond all price, streaming forth

from the Fount of immeasurable love!

Give to all hearts, all tongues,

power to praise, celebrate, and thank Thee,

now and ever, and throughout all eternity. Amen.

From the Raccolta (19th c)

July: month of the Precious Blood

Click here: Liturgical Year : July, Month of the Precious Blood

The Precious Blood Devotion: 5 Ways to Pray

  ________________________

"Such surpassing love suggests, nay demands, 

that everyone reborn in the torrents of that Blood

adore it with grateful love." 

 Sanguis Christi, Pope St John XXIII

"Always forward, never back"...

   Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, 

serve the Lord. Rejoice in your hope, 

be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 

 Romans 12:11-12

"How could the Church fulfill her vocation without 

cultivating a constant relationship with the Eucharist,
without nourishing herself with this food which sanctifies, 

without founding her missionary activity
on this indispensable support?" - St John Paul II

St Junipero Serra

Nee Spain ~ Franciscan Priest

Zealous preacher, Professor, Untiring Missionary

Known as "Father of California"

Motto:  “Always forward, never back.”
Deep Eucharistic devotion.  Baptized over 6000.
Founded numerous missions in California.
Introduced many varieties of fruits and vegetables, 

including grapes, and laid the foundation 

for the agriculture industry in California.
Also introduced dairy cows and cheese making. 
Feast Day - July 1

 

"All my life I have wanted to be a missionary.  

I have wanted to carry the Gospel message 

to those who have never heard of God and the 

kingdom He has prepared for them." - St Junipero

Click here: Bl. Junipero Serra - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: st junipero serra youtube - Bing video (3 mins)

Read about Junipero Serra and the California Missions here and here.

St Junipero Serra, pray for us!

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Through the inspiration of St Junipero Serra's life and work,

a lay apostolate that fosters and promotes vocations exists.

Consider joining this fruitful endeavor - on this, the Feast of St Junipero!

 Click here: SERRA International

Serran Prayer For Vocations

O God, Who wills not the death of a sinner, but rather that he be converted and live, grant we beseech You, through the intercession of the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, Saint Joseph, her spouse, Saint Junipero Serra and all the saints, an increase of laborers for your Church, fellow laborers with Christ to spend and consume themselves for souls, through the same Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen Via Serra USA.

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JULY: the month of the MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD of JESUS

Blood of Christ, stream of mercy, save us. 

Come home to the Prince of Peace...

   This in indeed the Saviour of the world. 

John 4:42

"Keep close to the

Catholic Church at all times, 

for the Church alone 

can give you true peace, 

since she alone possesses Jesus, 

the true Prince of Peace,

in the Blessed Sacrament."

St. Padre Pio 

Friends of God...

 Solemnity of Sts Peter and Paul

June 29

"This day has been made holy by the passion 

of the blessed apostles Peter and Paul. 

... These martyrs realized what they taught: 

they pursued justice, 

they confessed the truth, they died for it."

- St Augustine, Sermon 295

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 We do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord,
and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. - 2 Cor 4:5

_______________________________

"Christian tradition has always considered St Peter and St Paul

to be inseparable:  indeed, together, they represent 

the whole Gospel of Christ." - Pope Benedict XVI

Entrance Antiphon (Today’s Liturgy)

These are the ones who, living in the flesh, planted the Church with their blood; they drank the chalice of the Lord and became friends of God. 

Prayer over the Offerings (Today's Liturgy)

May the prayer of the Apostles, O Lord, accompany the sacrificial gift that we present to your name for consecration, and may their intercession make us devoted to you in celebration of the sacrifice. Through Christ our Lord.

Prayer After Communion (Today’s Liturgy)

Grant us, O Lord, who have been renewed by this Sacrament, so to live in the Church, that, persevering in the breaking of the Bread and in the teaching of the Apostles, we may be one heart and one soul, made steadfast in your love. Through Christ our Lord.

Office Hymn in Honor of Saints Peter/Paul - Chant Café

Click here: Discovering our Saints - Sts Peter and Paul - YouTube (3 mins)

Click here: Fr. Barron on Saints Peter and Paul - YouTube (6 mins)

Solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul - June 29, 2020 | Catholic Culture

Sts Peter and Paul, pray for us!

St Peter was chosen by Christ to be his first Vicar on earth; he was endowed with powers of the keys of the kingdom of heaven (Mt 16:13-19) and charged with the role of Shepherd of Christ's flock (Jn 21:15-17). In St. Peter and his successors, we have a visible sign of unity and communion in faith and charity. Divine grace led St. Peter to profess Christ's divinity.  St. Peter suffered martyrdom by crucifixion under Nero, in about the year 64 AD. He was buried at the hill of the Vatican; recent excavations have revealed his tomb on the very site of St. Peter's Basilica.
St Paul was chosen to form part of the apostolic college by Christ himself on the road to Damascus (Acts 9:1-16). Selected to bring Christ's name to all peoples (Acts 9:15), he is the greatest missionary of all time, the advocate of pagans, the Apostle of the Gentiles. St. Paul was beheaded in the Tre Fontane along the Via Ostiense and buried nearby, on the site where the basilica bearing his name now stands. Source: Daily Roman Missal, Edited by Rev. James Socías, Midwest Theological Forum, Chicago, Illinois ©2003