No fear! ...

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.  
Therefore we will not fear though the earth give way

and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea ...

The LORD Almighty is with us... - Psalm 46: 1-3, 7a

“What need I fear? 

He Who sustains the world is within me. 

The Blood of God circulates within my veins:

Have no fear, O my soul. 

The Lord of the Universe

has taken you up into His Arms

and wants you to find rest in Him."

Luisa M. Claret de la Touche
Servant of God

The JOY of the Church...

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

"Preach often on the power of the Precious Blood 
received in Holy Communion.  
Tell souls that the Most Precious Blood of Jesus is ...

·   the price of our redemption,

·   the salvation of the world,

·   the glory of the Holy Sacrifice,

·   the vesture of Christ's priesthood,

·   the beauty of His altar,

·   the splendour of His saints,

·   the defeat of Satan,

·   the reconciliation of sinners,

·   the healing of those wounded by the evil serpent,

·   the shining purity of priests,

·   the life of those who follow the Lamb,

·   the peace of the troubled,

·   the remedy for every ill,

·   the soul's desire,

·   the astonishment of the angels,

·   and the joy of the Church."

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby, OSB

Conventual Prior of Silverstream Priory

in Stamullen,County Meath, Ireland

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

Each drop, precious...

  "Love does not stay idle."

- St Catherine of Siena, Letter T82

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

  

“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

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

Click here: St. Catherine of Siena - YouTube (2 mins)
Click here: St. Catherine of Siena - YouTube (3:23 mins) 
Click here: Quotes Catherine of Siena

St Catherine of Siena, pray for us!

The pelican and Christ

"Jesus Lord, kind Pelican,

Cleanse my filth with Thy Blood.

One drop of which can save

The whole world from all its sin."

St Thomas Aquinas

 

 

"The symbolism of the mother pelican feeding her little baby pelicans is rooted in an ancient legend which preceded Christianity. The legend was that in time of famine, the mother pelican wounded herself, striking her breast with the beak to feed her young with her blood to prevent starvation. Another version of the legend was that the mother fed her dying young with her blood to revive them from death, but in turn lost her own life.

Given this tradition, one can easily see why the early Christians adapted it to symbolize our Lord, Jesus Christ. The pelican symbolizes Jesus our Redeemer who gave His life for our redemption and the atonement He made through His passion and death. We were dead to sin and have found new life through the Blood of Christ.  Moreover, Jesus continues to feed us with His body and blood in the holy Eucharist. ...

 

 

 

Therefore, the image of the pelican is a strong reminder of our Lord, who suffered and died for us to give us eternal life and who nourishes us on our pilgrim way with the Holy Eucharist. May that image move us to show the same charity and self-giving love toward all."

Fr. William Saunders

"The Symbolism of the Pelican"

Arlington Catholic Herald

 

 

 

Render sacrifice to God; a sacrifice of gratitude,

O you wealthy ones; according to God's mercy!

Who is wealthy and with what; with that let him barter,

Everyone with his gift; let him, the Kingdom acquire.

Whoever is wealthy with money; let him money, offer,

Whoever is rich with wheat; wheat let him distribute,

To whom wisdom is given; others, let him teach,

To him whose hands are strong; let him perform service.

Whoever knows a trade; let him honorably uphold it,

Let him conscientiously consider himself as a debtor of God.

Let him, who knows how to sing; praise God,

Only he is small, who does not know God.

Whoever received what; with that let him serve,

With mercy toward men; let him repay God,

Not all are the same, nor do all possess the same,

But a pure heart, everyone could give to God.

O pureness of heart , a sacrifice most miraculous,

For salvation, you are the crucial virtue,

And on your sacrificial altar, your incense ascends,

Arrives before the Lord, faster than anything. "

 

St Nicolai Vilimirovich

 

 

Godhead Here in Hiding /Adoro Te Devote

6th stanza - Text: St Thomas Aquinas,

Translation: Gerard Manley Hopkins S.J. 

 

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.

 

Up for a treasure hunt?  Check your Parish or Chapel 

for a pelican. Teach someone the meaning!

Summons to all: quench thy thirst!

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


Albrecht Durer ~ The Crucifixion

"He opened up for us

in His most sacred wounds
four founts:  

a fount of mercy, a fount of peace,

a fount of devotion, a fount of love

and summons all to quench their thirst there."

St Bernard of Clairvaux  

The Anima Christi The Anima Christi dates back to the 14th century. It is a prayer inviting us to ask our Lord for comfort, strength and guidance in our pursuit of holiness. It remains widely used after receiving the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord in Holy Communion.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me  Body of Christ, save me  Blood of Christ, inebriate me  Water from Christ's side, wash me Passion of Christ, strengthen me O good Jesus, hear me Within Thy wounds hide me Suffer me not to be separated from Thee From the malicious enemy defend me In the hour of my death call me And bid me come unto Thee That I may praise Thee with Thy saints  and with Thy angels Forever and ever Amen

Heart of Jesus reign!

"I want to repose in your heart, because many souls have

thrown Me out of their hearts today." - Jesus to St Faustina

Prayer to the Sacred Heart

(St Francis de Sales)

May Thy Heart dwell always in our hearts!

May Thy Blood ever flow in the veins of our souls!

O sun of our hearts, Thou givest life

to all things by the rays of Thy goodness!

I will not go until Thy Heart has strengthened me, O Lord Jesus!

May the Heart of Jesus be the King of my heart!
Blessed be God.  Amen.

BLESSED FATHER'S DAY to all FATHERS!

St John Paul II, in a March 19, 1981, homily, asked,

“Where, dear father, will you be able to draw the energy necessary to assume in various circumstances the right attitude

that your children, even without knowing it, expect from you?”

He strongly advised against smothering their spontaneity

or abandoning them to a state of insecurity or loneliness. 
“St. Joseph is the answer to this,” he proclaimed.

"St Joseph was an ordinary sort of man 

on whom God relied to do great things.  

He did exactly what the Lord wanted him to do, 

in each and every event that went to make up his life." 

- St Josemaria Escriva

Click here: 16 Father's Day Thoughts You'll Never Find in a Greeting Card 

St Joseph, pray for all fathers!

Each drop, precious!

  "Love does not stay idle."

- St Catherine of Siena, Letter T82

 

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

 

  

“Be who God meant you to be and

you will set the world on fire.”  ~ St. Catherine of Siena

Click here: St. Catherine of Siena - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: St. Catherine of Siena - YouTube (3:23 mins)

 

St Catherine of Siena, pray for us!

Simplest truth, pure reality

From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing

after another.  For the law was given through Moses;

grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. - John 1: 16-17

 

Stained glass:  Waltham Abbey ~England

 

"This is my Body" ~ "This is my Blood"; under no circumstance may the is in these holiest of sentences be interpreted as "means" or "is a symbol of" my Body and Blood.  If ever the Lord's admonition, "Let your speech be, 'Yes, yes';'No,no'; and whatever is beyond these comes from the evil one" (Matthew 5:37) was deeply urgent, it is here.

    It is not only wrong but sacrilegious to tamper with these words.  What they express is simplest truth, and what takes place pure reality.  He who speaks is neither a great nor the greatest religious personality of the millennia, but the Son of God.

    His words are no expression of mystical profundity, but a command of Him who has all earthly and heavenly power.  They have no equivalent in human speech, for they are words of Omnipotence.  We can compare them only with other words of the Lord, when "He arose and rebuked the wind and the sea, and there came a great calm" (Matthew 8:26); or, to the leper: "I will, be thou made clean" (Matthew 8:3); or to Jairus' dead child, "Girl, arise!" (Luke 8:54).  Their real equivalent is the Father's "Be!" (light made) from which creation itself emerged (Genesis 1:3).

Romano Guardini 

Meditations Before Mass (Sophia Press, 1993)

Clearly Jesus

And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance,

so that you may always have enough of everything and

may provide in abundance for every good work. - II Cor 9:8

“Jesus has said very clearly:

I am the love to be loved. I am the life to be lived.

I am the joy to be shared. I am the bread to be eaten.

I am the blood to be drunk. I am the truth to be told.

I am the light to be lit. I am the peace to be given.

Jesus is everything.”

Bl. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

To quench one's thirst...

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

"He opened up for us

in His most sacred wounds four founts:

a fount of mercy, a fount of peace,

a fount of devotion, a fount of love

and summons all to quench their thirst there."

St Bernard of Clairvaux    

The Anima Christi The Anima Christi dates back to the 14th century. It is a prayer inviting us to ask our Lord for comfort, strength and guidance in our pursuit of holiness. It remains widely used after receiving the precious Body and Blood of Our Lord in Holy Communion.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me Body of Christ, save me Blood of Christ, inebriate me  Water from Christ's side, wash me Passion of Christ, strengthen me O good Jesus, hear me Within Thy wounds hide me Suffer me not to be separated from Thee From the malicious enemy defend me In the hour of my death call me And bid me come unto Thee That I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels Forever and ever Amen

We learned it from Him!

For My Flesh is real food, and My Blood is real drink. - John 6:55 

 

 

"When we speak of the reality of Christ's nature being in us, we would be speaking foolishly and impiously--had we not learned it from Him.  For He Himself says: `My Flesh is truly food, and My Blood is truly Drink. He that eats My flesh and drinks My Blood will remain in Me and I in him (John 6:55-56).'

 

As to the reality of His flesh and blood, there is little room left for doubt, because now, both by the declaration of the Lord Himself and by our own faith, it is truly Flesh and truly Blood. And these Elements bring it about, when taken and consumed, that we are in Christ and Christ is in us. Is it not true?

Let those who deny that Jesus Christ is true God be free to find these things untrue. But He Himself is in us through the flesh and we are in Him, while that which we are with Him is in God."

 

St Hilary of Poitiers

300 - 368

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

"Hammer of the Arians"

 A favorite motto of St. Hilary:

Ministros veritatis decet vera proferre,

"Servants of the truth ought speak the truth."

FEAST DAY - January 13

 

 

This is how Hilary summed up the problem

with the Arian heretics* of the fourth century:

"They didn't know who they were."

 

*Arius, whose followers were called Arians, felt that God created Christ, not of his own matter. This meant, in his opinion, that Christ was not God and was not divine. Therefore, worshipping Christ would be tantamount to worshipping another god, and this specifically went against God’s teaching that He alone should be worshipped.

Click here: St. Hilary of Poitiers - YouTube (2 mins)

 

St Hilary, pray for us!

O Blood of Jesus...Irrigate the Church

  "We must never forget that the Church is built around Christ and that,

as Saint Augustine, Saint Thomas Aquinas and Saint Albert the Great

have all said, following Saint Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 10:17),

the Eucharist is the sacrament of the Church's unity, because

we all form one single body of which the Lord is the head."

Benedict XVI, 49th International Eucharistic Congress, Quebec City, 6/22/08

"I adore You, O Precious Blood of Jesus, flower of creation, fruit of virginity, ineffable instrument of the Holy Spirit, and I rejoice at the thought that You came from the drop of virginal blood on which eternal Love impressed its movement; You were assumed by the Word and deified in His person. I am overcome with emotion when I think of Your passing from the Blessed Virgin's heart into the heart of the Word, and, being vivified by the breath of the Divinity, becoming adorable because You became the Blood of God.

I adore You enclosed in the veins of Jesus, preserved in His humanity like the manna in the golden urn, the memorial of the eternal Redemption which He accomplished during the days of His earthly life. I adore You, Blood of the new, eternal Testament, flowing from the veins of Jesus in Gethsemane, from the flesh torn by scourges in the Praetorium, from His pierced hands and feet and from His opened side on Golgotha. I adore You in the Sacraments, in the Eucharist, where I know You are substantially present....

I place my trust in You, O adorable Blood, our Redemption, our regeneration. Fall, drop by drop, into the hearts that have wandered from You and soften their hardness.

O adorable Blood of Jesus, wash our stains, save us from the anger of the avenging angel. Irrigate the Church; make her fruitful with Apostles and miracle-workers, enrich her with souls that are holy, pure and radiant with divine beauty."

- Meditation on the Precious Blood of Jesus from writings of St. Albert

 

St Albert the Great (Albertus Magnus)

Dominican, Doctor of the Church

Teacher and Mentor of St Thomas Aquinas

Patron of scientists and philosophers

Motto:  "To want everything that I want for the glory of God,

to wish and do everything only and always for His glory."   

Germany ~ 1200-1280

Incorruptible

FEAST DAY - November 15

 

    It has been said that St. Albert was a scientist by temperament,

a philosopher by deliberate choice and a theologian by mood.

 

 

"He could not have commanded anything more beneficial, for this Sacrament is the fruit of the tree of life.  Anyone who receives this Sacrament with the devotion of sincere faith will never taste death.  It is a tree of life for those who grasp it, and blessed is he who holds it fast.  The man who feeds on Me shall live on account of Me." ~ St Albert the Great

Click here: St. Albert the Great - YouTube (2 Mins)

 

St Albert the Great, pray for us!