Carrying away heaven...

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; 

thou holdest my lot. 

The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;

yea, I have a goodly heritage. - Psalm 16: 5,6

"When we come from our Communions,

 if anyone said to us:

'What are you taking home with you?'

we should be able to reply:

'I am carrying away Heaven!'"

St John Vianney

"All the way to heaven is heaven,
because Jesus said, "I am the way."
 St Catherine of Siena

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Novena to St Joseph - Day 4

Truth Himself speaks truly...

 "Do not doubt whether this is true, but rather 

receive the words of the Savior in faith, for 

since He is the truth, He cannot lie." - St. Cyril 

    "An argument was once made use of by a pious painter named Leonardo.  He one day met in an inn two men, one of whom was a Lutheran and the other a Calvinist.  They were ridiculing the Catholic doctrine about the Blessed Sacrament.  
    The Calvinist pretended that by these words, 'This is My Body,' it was only meant that the bread signifies the Body of Christ; the Lutheran, on the other hand, asserted that this was not true, but that they meant that bread and wine, in the moment of their reception, became, by the faith of the recipient, the Body and Blood of Christ. 

    While this dispute was going on, Leonardo took a piece of paper and drew the image of Our Lord Jesus Christ, with Luther on the right hand and Calvin on the left.  Under the image of our Saviour, he wrote the words: 'This is My Body.' Under the figure of Calvin he wrote: 'This signifies My Body'; and under that of Luther: 'This becomes My Body in the moment that you eat it.'  

    Then handing the paper to the two disputants, he said: 'Which of these three is right, our Saviour, or Calvin, or Luther?'  They were struck at the force of the argument, and ceased to scoff at the Catholic doctrine."

Excerpt from The Blessed Eucharist: Our Greatest Treasure

by Fr Michael Muller, C.S.S.R. 
First published 1868.  Reprinted 1973, 1994.

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Novena to St Joseph - Day 3

His glance follows us every moment...

Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. 

Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the 

eyes of him to whom we must give account. - Hebrews 4:13

“Make use of devotion to the Blessed Sacrament

as a means of persevering in the practice of virtue.

Let us go to Him toward evening

and tell Him about our shortcomings,

let us ask Him for help and forgiveness.

Our Lord loves us, constantly, and His glance

follows us every moment of the day.”

Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val

Servant of God

________________________________

"Every path towards conversion begins by 

allowing the word of God to touch our hearts and 

welcoming it with a docile spirit." - Pope Leo XIV

_________________________

"... when the door starts closing a bit because 

of our weakness and sins, confession 

reopens it." - Pope Francis

 "Put aside your hatred and animosity. Take pains to 

refrain from sharp words.  If they escape your lips, do not 

be ashamed to let your lips produce the remedy,

 since they have caused the wounds. Pardon one another 

so that later on you will not remember the injury. 

The recollection of an injury is itself wrong.  

It adds to our anger, nurtures our sin and hates what 

is good. It is a rusty arrow and poison for the soul. 

It puts all virtue to flight."- St. Francis of Paola

____________________

"In failing to confess, Lord, I would only hide 

You from myself, not myself from You." 

 St Augustine

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Novena to St Joseph - Day 2

Graces abound...

"He who loves the Mass is already 

in paradise." St Philip Neri

"Time is full of eternity.
As we use it, so shall we be.
Every day has its opportunities,
every hour its offer of grace."
Henry Edward Cardinal Manning (1883)

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Novena to St Joseph begins today 

Consider the angels...

 "The angels surround and help the priest 

when he is celebrating Mass."

St Augustine

"The heavens open and multitudes of angels

come to assist in the Holy Sacrifice

of the Mass." - St Gregory the Great

_______________________

"When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary

is filled with countless angels who adore the

Divine Victim immolated on the altar."

St John Chrysostom

 

"All of Paradise is close to the altar

when I say Mass. ...

The angels around the altar 
adore and love."

St Padre Pio

                                                                                                                                                                                   

"How happy is that guardian angel

who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass!"
St John Vianney

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Quotes in honor of remembering ...

St Frances of Rome

Italy ~ 1384 -1440

Wife, mother, monastic, mystic

Great devotion to Passion and faith in angels

Given gift to see Guardian angel in bodily form

Oft said by St Frances, "God's Will is mine."

Feast Day - March 9

 "It is most laudable in a married woman to be 

devout, but she must never forget she is a housewife.  

And sometimes she must leave God at the altar 

to find Him in her housekeeping." - St Frances of Rome

ST. FRANCES OF ROME. -You tube (2 mins)
Saint Frances of Rome 03-09 - Bing video (3 mins)

St Frances of Rome, pray for us!

Tasteless or sweetness: Third Sunday of Lent...

 Third Sunday of Lent

The woman said to Him, "Sir, give me this water, 
that I may never be thirsty or have to 
keep coming here to draw water."  - John 4:15

________________

"Although Jesus asked this woman for a drink, 

His real thirst was for her faith."

St Augustine

"Hence the loftier were the words of the Son of God, 

the more tasteless they were to the impure, 

as happened when He preached the sovereign 

and loving doctrine of the Holy Eucharist; 

for many turned away (Jn 6:60-61, 67).

Those who do not relish this language 

God speaks within them must not think 

on this account that others do not taste it.  

St Peter tasted it in his soul when he said to Christ:  

Lord, where shall we go; 

You have the words of eternal life (Jn 6:68).  

And the Samaritan woman forgot the water pot 

because of the sweetness of God's words (Jn 4:28)."

St John of the Cross (+1591)  

________________________

St Photina (Woman at the Well - Feast Day: March 20), 

pray for us!

Lent - opening the heart to grace...

   "Dry bones and limp lives can come alive

by giving God permission to make us

what He wants us to be." - Fr. George Rutler

Shutterstock I Elle1

"We entreat you not to offer God's grace 

an ineffectual welcome (II Cor 6:1).  

Yes, God's grace can fill us this Lent, provided 

we do not close the doors of our heart. 

We must be well-disposed, we must really want 

to change; we cannot play with God's grace. ...

We cannot regard this Lent as just another liturgical 

season which has simply happened to come around again. 

It is a unique time: 

a divine aid which we should accept. 

Jesus is passing by and He hopes that we 

will take a great step forward — today, now."

St Josemaria Escriva

Christ is Passing By

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Also remembering today...

Sts Perpetua & Felicity, pray for us!

Welcoming love...

 Lord, make my heart like unto Thine...

 "Let us live Lent, then, as a “Eucharistic” time 

in which, welcoming the love of Jesus, we learn to 

spread it around us with every word and deed. 

Contemplating “him whom they have pierced” 

moves us in this way to open our hearts to others, 

recognizing the wounds inflicted 

upon the dignity of the human person.

Pope Benedict XVI 
Lenten message 2007