Ending well...

 But the saints of the Most High will receive the kingdom

and will possess it forever - yes, for ever and ever.  ~ Daniel 7:18 

Solemnity of All Saints*
November 1
We are called to remember all of the saints, known and unknown,

whose lives have served as holy examples for us.  

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus...” … “This, then, is the meaning of today’s Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God’s friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family…” Pope Benedict XVI

 

            "Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY: 

            Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing, who still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we too will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.

              Gather around us here in His Eucharistic Presence to strengthen us with your prayers and to enrich our feeble worship with the mighty chorus of your praise.  Teach us by your example to love Him above all things, so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God, who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." 

From Jesus, We Adore You,

Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament 

Paul Thigpen

Image above: Christ Glorified in the Court of Heaven, Fra Angelico - 1428-30

"Make up your mind to become a saint." ~ St. Maria Mazarello 

"Never say, 'What great things the saints do,' but,

'What great things God does in His saints.'"~ St. Philip Neri

"The saints did not all begin well,
but they all ended well."~ St John Vianney

"The saints were as weak as we are; grace sustained them.  Why should 
we doubt that we, too, will be sustained by grace?" - Bl Clelia Merloni

 

 “O blessed souls, who knew so well how to profit by the gifts of God,

and to purchase with this precious ransom so delectable and enduring

a heritage, tell us how you won through Him such an eternal blessing!

Assist us, since you are so near the Fountainhead.

Draw water for those of us on earth who are perishing with thirst."

St Teresa of Jesus - Exclamations of the Soul to God,13

*Origin of All Saint's Day as a feast of the Church
Click here:  http://www.wf-f.org/AllSaints.html  

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) any of the faithful,

by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed,

can obtain a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the poor souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

Third Sunday of Advent: Rejoice! ...

Third Sunday of ADVENT 

Gaudete Sunday

There is a shift from adoring “The Lord Who is to come”, 
to worshipping with joy “The Lord Who is now nigh and close at hand”.

The name GAUDETE derives from the first word of this Sunday’s

Introit of the Mass from Phil 4:4-5 ... At the heart, it is a command...

Gaudete in Domino semper ~ Rejoice in the Lord always

"Draw near to Christ, present among us

in His Word and in the Eucharist, and...

rejoice

in the knowledge that He remains with us

at every moment of our lives

and throughout history."

Pope Benedict XVI
12/09/09, General Audience

Click here: Gaudete Sunday - YouTube (2 mins)

Grant Thy eternal rest...

All Souls Day*

Commemoration of all the Faithful Departed

November 2

 

The commemoration of All Souls is rooted in the Church's

strong conviction that we, the living, have a serious responsibility

in love to accompany with prayer those who have died but who

must yet complete the purificatory preparation every human being

needs to be able to dwell in the all-encompassing love of God.

(From Magnificat, November 2014, Vol 16, No 9)

 

 

 

 

"Eternal Father, I offer You the most precious Blood

of Your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with

the Masses said throughout the world today,

for all the Holy Souls in purgatory.  Amen."

 

St Gertrude the Great

 

 

"I would go so far as to say that if there was no purgatory, then we would have to invent it, for who would dare say to himself that he was able to stand directly before God. .... (God) can cleanse us in such a way that we are able to be with Him and can stand there in the fullness of life.  Purgatory strips off from one person what is unbearable and from another the inability to bear certain things, so that in each of them a pure heart is revealed, and we can see that we all belong together in one enormous symphony of being."  ~ Pope Benedict XVI

LITTLE LITANY OF THE HOLY SOULS

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. 

Holy Souls, Pray for us. For the souls of our families, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our friends, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of our enemies, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all pagans, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all priests, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all religious, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of the just, We pray Thee, O God. For the souls of all sinners, We pray Thee, O God. For the Holy Souls in Purgatory, We pray Thee, O God. For those who have none to pray for them, We pray Thee, O God. O almighty and eternal God, we beg Thee to have mercy on the Holy Souls in Purgatory, especially those for whom we are bound to pray; and we ask Thee also to listen to the prayers of the Blessed Souls in our behalf. Amen.

  PRAYER FOR A HAPPY DEATH…written by Bl John Henry Cardinal Newman

O my Lord and Savior, support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments, and the fragrance of Thy consolations. Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me; and let your own body be my food, and Thy blood my sprinkling; and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me, and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me, that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live, in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.   

My Jesus, mercy.

*MORE on All Souls Day...   Click here: All Souls Day

Click here: Spiritualdirection.com Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed: All Souls' Day

 

Remember those, O Lord,

Who in Your peace have died,

Yet may not gain love's high reward

Till love is purified

 

With You they faced death's night

Sealed with Your victory sign;

Soon may the splendor of Your light

On them forever shine!

 

 

“Grant, O Lord, that I may experience a reasonable sorrow at the death of those who are dear to me, shedding tears of resignation over our mortal condition, yet soon restraining them by this consoling thought of the faith: that in dying, the faithful have only withdrawn a little from us to go into a better world.

“May I not weep as do the pagans who are without hope. I may have reason to be sad, but in my affliction hope will comfort me. With hope so great, it is not fitting, O my God, that Your temple should be in mourning. You dwell there, You who are our Consoler; and You cannot fail in Your promises.” ~ St. Augustine

Ask!

"’Eat my flesh,’ [Jesus] says, ‘and drink my blood.’ The Lord supplies

us with these intimate nutrients, he delivers over his flesh and pours

out his blood, and nothing is lacking for the growth of his children."

-St. Clement of Alexandria

 

The Coronation of Mary and the Glory of all the Saints - Elizabeth Wang (2003)

"Take my advice, and in every Mass ask God to make you a great saint.  Does this seem too much?  It is not too much.  Is it not our good Master who declares in the holy gospel that for a cup of cold water given out of love for him, he will, in return give paradise?  How then while offering to God the blood of his most blessed Son, should he not give you a hundred heavens, were there so many?

 

St Leonard

O blest communion!

 

  Solemnity of All Saints*

November 1

We are called to remember all of the saints, known and unknown, whose lives have served as holy examples for us.  

"To become saints means to fulfill completely what we already are, raised to the dignity of God's adopted children in Christ Jesus..." ... "This, then, is the meaning of today's Solemnity:  looking at the shining example of the Saints to reawaken within us the great longing to be like them:  happy to live near God, in His light, in the great family of God's friends.  Being a Saint means living close to God, to live in His family... " ~ Benedict XVI

 

   

          "Saints of God, perfected in love and victorious over sin, who now enjoy the reward of adoring Our Lord face to face in everlasting JOY and GLORY: 

            Be gracious to remember us, flawed and failing, who still struggle on earth, who kneel here adoring Our Lord hidden in the tabernacle, who long for the day when we too will be made like Him and will see Him as He is.

              Gather around us here in His Eucharistic Presence to strengthen us with your prayers and to enrich our feeble worship with the mighty chorus of your praise.  Teach us by your example to love Him above all things, so that we too may become the pure in heart to see God, who enjoy with you the eternal blessed fellowship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen." 

From Jesus, We Adore You,

Prayers Before the Blessed Sacrament

Paul Thigpen

   

 

 

*Origin of All Saint's Day as a feast of the Church Click here:  http://www.wf-f.org/AllSaints.html

 

  

 

During the Octave of All Saints' Day (Nov 1 thru Nov 8) any of the faithful,

by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed,

can obtain a plenary indulgence (each day this is done),

applicable to the poor souls in purgatory,

(under the usual conditions for obtaining indulgences).

Sign and cause of UNITY

He is the Head to which the whole Church is joined,

so that the Church is His Body, the completion of Him

who everywhere and in all things is complete.  - Eph 1:22-23

 

 

 

“The Eucharist is equally sign and cause of the unity that binds together all members of the Lord’s Mystical Body.  And this unity achieves in every Mass its perfect expression, because Christ’s far-flung members, together with Mary, are conjoined with Him as offerer and offered alike.  Each time, then, that ‘we break this bread and drink this cup,’ the saints in heaven and the souls in purgatory join hands and link hearts with us in worshipping the Eucharistic Lord.  And we have the privilege of co-worshipping with such distinguished company because we are members of that Church which is mothered by Our Lady of the Eucharist.”

Fr Richard Foley, S.J.

Mary and the Eucharist (pg. 115)