Discovering love, discovering oneself...

"Christ is the only way to the Father,

and those who see Christ see the Father also.

Those who are nourished by Christ's body are at the same time

extending the graces that flow from the indwelling

of the Father and the Holy Spirit.

 

 

The Blessed Sacrament is not a mystery

that separates itself from the Trinity in Heaven

and comes down to earth for the love of man. 

The Blessed Sacrament is Christ,

and Christ is God, and God is undivided.

 

It is when a man discovers Christ that

he discovers the Father and the Holy Spirit.

It is also then that he discovers love

and discovers himself. "

 

Dom Hubert van Zellar

Gift of the Queen...

When I said, "My foot is slipping," your love, O Lord, supported me. 

When anxiety was great within me,

your consolation brought joy to my soul. - Psalm 94:18,19

“Eucharistic Heart of Jesus,

reign over the afflicted;

become their consolation

through this consecrated Bread,

the gift of the Queen of Sorrows.”

Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey 

Remembering...

Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

September 15

 "In martyrs, the intensity of their love mitigated their sufferings,

but with Mary it was different; the more she loved, the more she suffered,

and the greater was her martyrdom." - Richard of Saint Victor (+1173)

The Seven Sorrows of Mary:

* at the prophecy of Simeon (Luke 2:35);
* at the flight into Egypt (Matt 2:13);
* having lost the Holy Child at Jerusalem (Luke 2:48);
* meeting Jesus on His way to Calvary;
* standing at the foot of the Cross (John 19:25);
* Jesus being taken from the Cross;
* at the burial of Christ. 

Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows

Click here: The Seven Sorrows Rosary - YouTube (21:30 mins)

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above;
Make my heart with thine accord.

Make me feel as thou hast felt;

Make my soul to glow and melt

With the love of Christ our Lord.

(Excerpt: Sabat Mater sequence)

Click here: Stabat Mater dolorosa (full text)

How splendid the Cross of Christ!...

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

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

 

“The event of the Cross and Resurrection

abides and draws everything toward life.” (CCC 1085)

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

 

Painting (detail) The Exaltation of the Holy Cross, Luigi Gregori

Spes Unica: (Our) only Hope

"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

"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!…" ~ St John Paul II, homily 09.14.03

Click here: Exaltation of the Holy Cross - YouTube (3 mins)

Click here: Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Roodmas)

Click here: Crucifixes and Crosses

O Jesus, Jesus, I no longer feel my cross

when I think of yours!"

St. Bernadette Soubirous

Crucifixes on rosaries, worn around one's neck and in one's home
serve as enduring and endearing reminders of the magnitude

of Christ's love and serve as focal points for private prayer.

 

Archbishop Fulton Sheen summarized the reason
for using a crucifix instead of an empty cross when he said,
“Keep your eyes on the crucifix,
for Jesus without the cross is a man without a mission,
and the cross without Jesus is a burden without a reliever.”

Toward heaven...

"The Eucharist is a fire that inflames us, that, like lions breathing fire,

we may retire from the altar being made terrible to the devil."

St John Chrysostom

 

St John Chrysostom, Archbishop of Constantinople, in a homily on the words of Eucharistic institution at the Last Supper in Matthew 26, speaks most powerfully on the reality of the Body and Blood of Christ. ... Imagine the great bishop standing in the cathedral church of Constantinople before the altar and saying the following:

"How many there are who still say, "I want to see His shape, His image, His clothing, His sandals.'  Behold you do see Him, you touch Him, you eat Him!  You want to see His clothing.  He gives Himself to you, not just to be seen but to be touched, to be eaten, to be received within. 

Let all of you be ardent, fervent, enthusiastic.  If the Jews stood, shoes on, staff in hand, and eating in haste, how much more vigilant should you be. They were about to go Palestine; you are about to go to heaven."  (Homily 82 on the Gospel of Matthew)

Excerpt from In the Presence of Our Lord: 

The History, Theology and Psychology of Eucharistic Devotion 

- Fr Benedict J Groeschel, CFR, and James Monti

St John Chrysostom

Chrysostomos - 'golden-mouthed'

Syria ~ 347- 407

Archbishop of Constantinople

Doctor of the Church

Patron of orators

FEAST DAY ~ September 13

Photo above: Statue from the "Angel Bridge" -  Roma

"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!)  

Click here: Early Church Fathers: St. John Chrysostom - YouTube (4 mins)

St John Chrysostom, pray for us!

O name of Mary! Joy in the heart...

"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

O amor mei nomen matris Dei ~ St. Anselm

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

We venerate that name of Mary because it belongs to her who is the Mother of God, the holiest of creatures, the Queen of heaven and earth , the Mother of Mercy.

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.  

Jan Hey - Annunciation 

"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 (+1547)

"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, 9 September 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