Blest is the wood...

"Blest is the wood through which justice comes about." - Wisdom 14:7

Exquisite mosaic - Tree of Life - Holy Cross (detail) ~ San Clemente - Rome

 

FEAST of the
EXALTATION of the CROSS

September 14

 "How splendid the cross of Christ! It brings life, not death; light, not darkness; Paradise, not its loss. It is the wood on which the Lord, like a great warrior, was wounded in hands and feet and side, but healed thereby our wounds. A tree has destroyed us, a tree now brought us life." ~ St Theodorus the Estudite

 

"Recognize in this bread what hung on the cross, and in this chalice what flowed from His side... whatever was in many and varied ways announced beforehand in the sacrifices of the Old Testament pertains to this one sacrifice which is revealed in the New Testament.

Receive in this bread that which was hanged on the cross; receive in this cup that which was poured from Christ's side. For he will gain death, not life, who thinks Christ is a liar." ~ St Augustine

 

O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross

when I think of yours!" 

 St. Bernadette Soubirous

 "On the Cross human misery and divine mercy meet. ...The Cross is planted in the earth and would seem to extend its roots in human malice, but it reaches up, pointing as it were to the heavens, pointing to the goodness of God.

By means of the Cross of Christ, the Evil One has been defeated, death is overcome, life is given to us, hope is restored, light is imparted. O Crux, ave spes unica!…" ~ Pope Bl John Paul II - From homily 09/14/03

Invitation par excellence

  You prepare a table before me

in the presence of my enemies... - Psalm 23: 5a

  

 

"Consider at whose table thou eatest!

For we are fed with that which

the angels view with trepidation and

which they cannot contemplate without fear

because of Its splendor.

We become one with Him:

we become one Body

and one Flesh with Christ."

 

 

 

St John Chrysostom

Chrysostomos - 'golden-mouthed'

Syria ~ 349 - 407

Archbishop of Constantinople

Doctor of the Church

Patron of orators

FEAST DAY ~ September 13

 

 

 

"The bee is honored more than other animals, not because she labors,

but because she labors for others.”  ~ St John Chrysostom

 

 

 

  Click here: Saint John Chrysostom - YouTube (25 mins - excellent!)

 

St John Chrysostom, pray for us!

O name of Mary!

"O name of Mary! Joy in the heart, honey in the mouth,

melody to the ear of Her devout clients!" - St Anthony of Padua

 

 

 

 Feast of the Most Holy Name

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

September 12

  

In accordance with Jewish custom our Lady's parents named her eight days after her birth, and were inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary follows that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas. Our salvation begins when an archangel speaks the name of Mary.  To be Christian is to carry on that Annunciation unceasingly. 

O amor mei nomen matris Dei ~ St. Anselm

"Oh name of the mother of God, thou art my love."

"I want what is good for myself; I beg the same for you. Now there is no other way to bring this about than to ask the Virgin Mary constantly to come to you with her glorious Son. Be bold! Ask her to give you her Son, who in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar is truly food of your soul.  ...  

Readily will she give Him to you, still more readily will He come to you, giving you strength to make your way fearlessly through this dark wood.  In it large numbers of our enemies lie in wait, but they cannot reach us if they see us relying on such powerful help. "  ~ St. Cajetan

"God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas or maria [Latin, seas]. He gathered all His grace together and called it Mary or Maria . . .This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the Saints call the 'treasury of the Lord.' From Her fullness all men are made rich." ~ St. Louis de Montfort (+1716)

"This most holy, sweet and worthy name was 'eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men She is the Star of the sea; to the Angels She is illuminatrix, and to all creatures She is Lady ." ~ St. Bonaventure (+1274)

 “Well may all, shepherds and flock alike, fly with fullest confidence to the protection of the Blessed Virgin. Let them not fail to call upon her name with one voice, beseeching her as God’s mother, publicly and in private by praise, by prayer, by the ardour of their desire: ‘Show thyself our Mother.’ ~ Pope Leo XIII - Adiutricem populi, Sept. 5 1895

"Saint Bernard says, and we say with him:  Look to the star of the sea, call upon Mary ... in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary.  May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your heart ...  If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err.   If she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to you, you will surely reach your destination." ~ Benedict XVI, address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007

More on the Name of Mary...

Click here: ~ The Most Holy Name of Mary Devotion ~

Click here: THE HOLY NAME OF MARY

Pray the Litany of the Most Holy Name of Mary.

Jesus - Mary - Jesus - Mary - Jesus - Mary 

"The invocation of the sacred names of Jesus and Mary is a short prayer which is as sweet to the mind, and as powerful to protect those who use it against the enemies of their salvation, as it is easy to remember." ~ St. Thomas a Kempis

Sweet comfort...

Praise be to God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of

compassion and the God of all comfort... On him we have set our hopes

that he will continue to deliver us... II Cor 1: 3,10b

 

In the Presence of the Lamb ~ World War I (1916) 

 

 

“How sweet and full of comfort

are the moments spent

before the Blessed Sacrament!

 

St. John Vianney

Experience, the better teacher

 

  "The Mass is the most beautiful thing this side of heaven."

~ Fr Frederick W Faber

 

"There were years I wandered around exploring other expressions of faith, other churches, and other ways of taking up the spiritual life.   I don't regret them; God is merciful, and I learned while wandering.  But eventually I missed aspects of the church that could not be replaced elsewhere, namely, the sacraments.  More than all others, I missed Holy Communion, or the Eucharist.  There is simply no substitute for the real presence of Jesus.

If you earnestly wonder about the Mass, I recommend first that you actually go to Mass.  You can read about it all you like, but the experience of it is the better teacher.  Go, ask the Holy Spirit to open your heart and ears and eyes, and then trust what comes."

Excerpt from May Crowning, Mass, and Merton and Other Reasons

I Love Being Catholic, pg 159 (Loyola Press, 2006) by Liz Kelly

(The whole book is fantastico!)