Above all

 

 

 

 

"All expressions of love,

even the highest and the most profound,

are verified in the Eucharist.

 

Thus, it is a Love that is crucified,

a Love that unites,

a Love that adores,

a Love that contemplates,

a Love that prays,

a Love that delightfully satisfies."

 

 

 Fr. Stefano Manelli, O.F.M.

We have this bread to offer...

Prayers of Mass at Preparation of the Gifts...

 Priest: Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation.  Through your
goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given
and human hands have made.  It will become for us the bread of life.
All: Blessed be God forever


 

 

"St Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, with his own hands, made

the altar-bread which was used for the Mass and would become the Blessed Sacrament, without any regard to the royal dignity he held. 

He was born to wield the scepter even directed the plowing

and cultivating of the field, the sowing of the seed, and the reaping

of the harvest.  Then he ground the grain, separated the finer flour

for the oven, and made the breads which should afterward be

consecrated; and these he presented, with the lowliest reverence,

to the priests, to be converted into the divine Body of Jesus." 

Hidden Treasure,

The Riches of the Eucharist

Louis Kaczmarek

 

In the Hands of God...

   

 "Meditate on the miracle of the multiplication of the loaves.  Jesus

Christ takes this lifeless thing, this tiny coarse object, this bread,

and by His blessing, it becomes food and life for the entire crowd.

   Why should I not be, in these same divine Hands, the poor

instrument for another such work?  Why should I not be given by God

to souls to uphold and revive them?  I am only feebleness, but strength

will come from Him to souls, and will serve them only in the measure

that He wills. 

    Sweet divine benediction, descend upon me!  Multiply my

prayers, sacrifices, and acts of charity!  Let these fragments of Thy

love in me become warmth and comfort for the spiritually starved,

until the blessed time when Thou, the one Living Bread, shalt

come Thyself to revive and save them." 

Elizabeth Leseur

My Spirit Rejoices

Motherly guidance

FEAST of Our Lady of Lourdes*

February 11

WORLD DAY of the SICK

Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us

and especially the sick and suffering!

“All the shrines of Mary,

scattered throughout the world,

have become above all

centers of devotion to the Eucharist,

as if the Mother of Jesus had appeared,

here or there,

in order to lead the faithful to the

adoration and love of her blessed Son.”

Pope Bl. John XXIII

 

*Lourdes, France, has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith.  It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to more generously serve God. There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said are the words that introduce the film, Song of Bernadette:

“For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary.

For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”

Strenth and zeal

 

  

  “From the Eucharist comes strength

to live the Christian life and

zeal to share that life with others.”

Pope Ven John Paul II

 

St Scholastica

Italy ~ 480-547

Benedictine Abbess

FEAST DAY – February 10

"She was able to do more because

she loved more." ~ St Gregory the Great

Sta Scholastica, ora pro nobis!

Saint Scholastica, twin sister of Saint Benedict of Nursia who founded of the
Benedictine order, was consecrated to God at a very early age but probably
continued to live in her parents' home. It is said that she was as devoted to Jesus
as she was to her brother. So, when Benedict established his monastery at
Monte Cassino, Scholastica founded a convent in nearby Plombariola,
about five miles south of Monte Cassino. The convent is said to have been under
the direction of her brother, thus she is regarded as the first Benedictine nun.

The siblings were quite close. The respective rules of their houses proscribed
either entering the other's monastery. According to Saint Gregory, they met once
a year at a house near Monte Cassino monastery to confer on spiritual matters,
and were eventually buried together, probably in the same grave. Saint Gregory
says, "so death did not separate the bodies of these two, whose minds had
ever been united in the Lord." 

Saint Gregory tells the charming story of the last meeting of the two saints on
earth. Scholastica and Benedict had spent the day in the "mutual comfort of
heavenly talk" and with nightfall approaching, Benedict prepared to leave.
Scholastica, having a presentiment that it would be their last opportunity to see
each other alive, asked him to spend the evening in conversation. Benedict sternly
refused because he did not wish to break his own rule by spending a night away
from Monte Cassino. Thereupon, Scholastica cried openly, laid her head upon
thetable, and prayed that God would intercede for her. As she did so, a sudden
storm arose. The violent rain and hail came in such a torrential downpour that Benedict and his companions were unable to depart.

"May Almighty God forgive you, sister" said Benedict, "for what you have done."
"I asked a favor of you," Scholastica replied simply, "and you refused it. I asked it
of God, and He has granted it!"

Just after his return to Monte Cassino, Benedict saw a vision of Scholastica's soul
departing her body, ascending to heaven in the form of a dove. She died three
days after their last meeting. He placed her body in the tomb he had prepared for
himself, and arranged for his own to be placed there after his death.

  

From the Dialogues of Saint Gregory the Great