Rooted in the Eucharist

 ...you will fill me with joy in your presence... - Psalm 16:11b

"In 1853 Neumann began the Forty Hours Devotion* on the feast of Corpus Christi in the Church of St Philip Neri.  The Forty Hours Devotion was known three centuries before Neumann's time.  ... 

What Neumann did was to inaugurate it on a diocesan level.  A schedule was made calling for the devotion to be held in designated churches so as to cover the entire year.  Neumann gave great edification by the way he joined in these devotions whenever possible.  To Neumann the Forty Hours was not merely the pious practice of making visits.  To him it was the way of seeing that Catholic life in Philadelphia was rooted in the Eucharist."

Alfred C. Rush, CSSR

The Autobiography of St John Neumann, CSSR

*Forty Hours Devotion is a devotion in which continuous prayer is made for forty hours before the Blessed Sacrament exposed. It commonly occurs in a succession of churches, with one finishing prayers at the same time as the next takes it up. The number forty has always signified a sacred period of time: the rains during the time of Noah lasted 40 days and nights; the Jews wandered through the desert for 40 years, our Lord fasted and prayed for 40 days before beginning His public ministry. The 40 Hours Devotion remembers that traditional "forty-hour period" from our Lord's burial until the resurrection.

 

 

St John Neumann

Bohemian - 1811-1860

Redemptorist missionary - Bishop of Philadelphia

Bishop motto:  “Passion of Christ strengthen me”

Multi-lingual; Promoter of Forty Hours Devotion

Opened over 100 schools, built over 80 churches,

wrote 2 catechisms, and a Bible History +++

Patron of sick children and immigrants

FEAST DAY - January 5

 

 

 “Lord, teach me how to live.” ~ St John Neumann

 

Click here: St. John Neumann, C.Ss.R. - YouTube (4 mins)

Click here: St. John Neumann - YouTube (2 mins)

Click here: Life - The National Shrine of St. John Neumann (Philadelphia)

 

St John Neumann, pray for us!

Epiphany: Testifying to His love...

“The Magi set out because of a deep desire which prompted them 

to leave everything and begin a journey.  

It was as though they had always been waiting for that star.”  - Pope Benedict XVI

Solemnity of the Epiphany 

January 6 - traditional date*

*(In the United States the feast is celebrated

on the first Sunday following January 1st) 

They were overjoyed at seeing the star, and on entering

the house they saw the child with Mary his mother. 

They prostrated themselves and did him homage. - Matt 2:10-11

 

“Today we must make our own the happiness which filled the Wise Men on their journey to Christ… Above all, we must imitate them as they place at the Child’s feet not only three gifts, but also their lives… We need to ‘set out anew from Christ,’ with the zeal of Pentecost, with renewed enthusiasm.  

To set out from Him above all in a daily commitment to holiness, with an attitude of prayer and of listening to His word.  To set out from Him in order to testify to His love by living a Christian life marked by communion, charity and witness before the world.” 

Saint John Paul II

 

O, come let us adore Him -

Christ the LORD!

“In returning to their own land by another way the Magi suggest something of great significance for us.  Our true country is paradise.  Having now come to the knowledge of Jesus, we are forbidden to return to it on the path by which we left it.  For we left our land by the path of pride, of disobedience, by following after wealth, by eating forbidden food.  So we must now return another way: by way of tears, by way of obedience, by contempt of the world, by restraining the desires of the flesh.”- St Gregory the Great

 

  Fr. Tom Hoisington shares an inspiring homily on this special feast day.

Name above all names!

Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus

January 3

 

At every Mass, before the priest begins the Eucharistic prayer,

we pray: “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!”

St. Paul proclaims: “God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him

the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus

every knee should bend, in heaven and on earth and under the earth,

and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,

to the glory of God the Father.” - Phil 2:9-11

 

 

"There are two things that make it easy for souls to adore Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love: they can seek His Human Face, though it be veiled by the appearance of the Sacred Host; and they can call upon Him by His Human Name.

These are the two things that people crave in a relationship: knowledge of a face and of a name. From these, one experiences the heart of the other, and so a relationship becomes a communion, an exchange in which one finds fulfillment, that is, joy and a response to one's love in the other. ... 

Come close to Him, then, who has made Himself so close to us. ...

 

This knowledge of Him -- of His Name and of His Face -- comes through Word and Sacrament in His Holy Catholic Church. Only there can souls come to experience Him as the Risen One with whom they can enter into a relationship so real that it is consummated in a Holy Communion, in partaking of His Body and Blood, and in becoming one with Him, even as He is one with His Father. ...

The Sacred Name and Sacred Face of Jesus are fire and light in this world that is becoming colder and darker by the day. In the end, the darkness will be forever vanquished by the fire of His Name and by the light of His Face, and then there shall be peace in His Kingdom fully revealed, and in the company of His saints who will sing praise to His Name and adore His Face, shining more brightly than a thousand suns, and this unto the ages of ages."

Dom Mark Daniel Kirby is Conventual Prior of Silverstream Priory in Stamullen, County Meath, Ireland.

 

Thoughts of St. Bernard of Clairvaux who wrote hymn "Iesu Dulcis Memoria"- sung today on the Feast of the Most Holy Name of Jesus:

"The sweet Name of Jesus produces in us holy thoughts, fills the soul with noble sentiments, strengthens virtue, begets good works, and nourishes pure affections. All spiritual food leaves the soul dry, if it contain not that penetrating oil, the Name Jesus. When you take your pen, write the Name Jesus: if you write books, let the Name of Jesus be contained in them, else they will possess no charm or attraction for me; you may speak, or you may reply, but if the Name of Jesus sounds not from your lips, you are without unction and without charm. Jesus is honey in our mouth, light in our eyes, a flame in our heart. This name is the cure for all diseases of the soul. Are you troubled? think but of Jesus, speak but the Name of Jesus, the clouds disperse, and peace descends anew from heaven. Have you fallen into sin? so that you fear death? invoke the Name of Jesus, and you will soon feel life returning. No obduracy of the soul, no weakness, no coldness of heart can resist this holy Name; there is no heart which will not soften and open in tears at this holy name. Are you surrounded by sorrow and danger? invoke the Name of Jesus, and your fears will vanish."

MORE on Devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus:  http://www.fisheaters.com/holyname.html

 

MORE on the Wonders of the Holy Name of Jesus:

http://www.olrl.org/pray/wonders.shtml

 

MORE on spreading devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus:

http://www.nahns.com/

  

  Click here: Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus - YouTube (9:30 mins)

Linked in life and feast

Let the peoples recount the wisdom of the Saints, and let the Church

proclaim their praise.  Their names will live on and on.  - Cf. Sir 44:15, 14

(Entrance Antiphon, Today's Liturgy)

 

    

"Eternal Son of the living God, whom I acknowledge here as truly present, I adore You with all the powers of my soul!  Prostrate with the angels in the most profound reverence, I love You, O my Savior; whom I now behold on Your throne of love.  O dread Majesty, O infinite Mercy, save me!  Forgive me!  Grant that I may never more be separated from You!"

St Basil the Great

Doctor of the Church

Father of Eastern Monasticism

His single greatest contribution was his insistence

on the divinity and consubstantiality

of the Holy Spirit with the Father and the Son

329-379 AD

FEAST DAY - January 2

 

 "We should not accept in silence the benefactions of God,

but return thanks for them." - St Basil the Great

Click here: The Life of St. Basil the Great - YouTube (3 mins) excellent!

"Why was St. Basil given the name "Great"? Only a few people in the world were ever given the magnificent title, "Great"! Alexander the Great was so-called because he conquered the world, but St. Basil was called "Great" because he conquered the hearts and souls of men for Jesus Christ. His whole life was dedicated to Jesus and the message of Christianity. He had the humility of Moses, the zeal of Elijah, the piety of Peter, the eloquence of John the Theologian, and the dedication of Paul." ~ Fr. George Poulos

“Let us remain in adoration: and to Him, who, in order to save us, humbled Himself to such a degree of poverty as to receive our body, let us offer not only incense, gold and myrrh, the first as God, the second as king, and the third as one who sought death for our sake, but also spiritual gifts more sublime than those which can be seen with the eyes” (Oratorio).

St Gregory Nazienzen

Doctor of the Church

Father of Eastern Monasticism

Esteemed writer and orator

especially on theme of Trinity

aka "the Theologian"

328 -389 AD

FEAST DAY - January 2

 

“God accepts our desires as though they were a great value. He longs ardently for us to desire and love Him. He accepts our petitions for benefits as though we were doing Him a favor. His joy in giving is greater than ours in receiving. So let us not be apathetic in our asking, nor set too narrow bounds to our requests; nor ask for frivolous things unworthy of God’s greatness.” - St Gregory of Nazienzen

Click here: "The Theologian":Gregory of Nazianzus - YouTube (9 mins)

      A sweet tidbit of interest: St. Gregory marveled at the depth of his mother, Nonna’s, faith in God on the altar. While in Our Lord's presence, she would never turn her back.

 

Sts Basil and Gregory, pray for us!

Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen are linked in this feast day, as they were in life; they were schoolmates, co-defenders of the orthodox teaching on the Trinity, and dear friends.  Both served as Bishops and suffered hostility from the politically powerful Arians.  In 379 Gregory preached at Basil's funeral:   "Do you, Basil, there also welcome me in your dwelling, when I have departed this life that we may live together and gaze more directly and perfectly at the Holy and Blessed Trinity.  Thus we shall attain the fruition of our desire, and receive the reward of the battles we have fought and the attacks we have resisted."  ~ Magnificat - Vol 15, No 11, January 2014 

Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King

Octave of Christmas

Solemnity of Mary, the Holy Mother of God

and World Day of Peace

January 1

 

Hail, Holy Mother, who gave birth to the King,

who rules heaven and earth for ever.

(Entrance Antiphon, Today's Liturgy)

 

 

 

"Let us invite the Blessed Virgin to preside maternally over the Eucharistic life of the entire Church.  May she, the spouse of the Holy Spirit, implore from Him the attainment of that Life which Christ offers to all through the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, celebrated and received in the power of the Spirit of Life and Love."

Pope Blessed John Paul II

We have received this heavenly Sacrament with joy, O Lord:

grant, we pray, that it may lead us to eternal life,

for we rejoice to proclaim the Blessed ever-Virgin Mary

Mother of your Son and Mother of the Church, 

Through Christ our Lord.

(Prayer after Communion, Today's Liturgy)

 

Virgin Immaculate, you are the perfect model of adorers of the Blessed Sacrament. You adored Jesus in the little white Host with the same faith, reverence and wonder with which you adored Him on the first Christmas night and during all the years you lived with Him. Teach us not to forget that the small white Host is truly our God, infinite, eternal and omnipotent. Help us to conduct ourselves at all times in His presence with the modesty and reverence we owe to our God...

Virgin Immaculate, perfect lover of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, we ask you to obtain for us the graces we need to become true adorers of our Eucharistic God. Grant us, we beg of you, to know Him better, to love Him more, and to center our lives around the Eucharist, that is, to make our whole life a constant prayer of adoration, thanksgiving, reparation, and petition to Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. Amen.

V. Pray for us, O Virgin Immaculate, Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament.

R. That the Eucharistic Kingdom of Jesus Christ may come among us!

~ From "Treasury of Prayer: Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament"

“We serve a Mother who seems to grow more beautiful

as new generations call her blessed."  - GK Chesterton

 

Click here: Holy Mary Mother of God - YouTube (4 mins)

"Never be afraid of loving the Blessed Virgin too much.

You can never love her more than Jesus did." - St Maximilian Kolbe

 

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us!