Content with grace...

The fear of the LORD leads to life: Then one rests content, 
untouched by trouble. - Prov 19:23 

"Realize above all that you are in God's presence.

Empty yourself completely and sit waiting,

content with the grace of God,

like a chick that tastes nothing and eats nothing

except what its mother gives it." 

St. Romuald

Founder Camaldolese Order

 

St Isidore the Farmer

Spain ~ 1070 - 1130

Patron of farmers

Incorrupt

Feast Day - May 15

His wife is also a canonized Saint -

St Maria (Torribia) de la Cabeza

 

Isidore attended Holy Mass every morning which caused him to come to work late. Late, though he was, his plowing was nevertheless accomplished by angels that resulted in three times more productivity. His co-workers and his boss witnessed such miraculous events and showed him great respect. He often spent holidays on pilgrimage to local shrines. 

He died May 15, 1130, and was declared a saint in 1622 with Ignatius of Loyola, Francis Xavier, Teresa of Avila and Philip Neri. Together, the group is known in Spain as “the five saints.”

Click here: The Farmer - YouTube (Apostleship of Prayer: 3 mins)

Click here: Saint Isidore The Farmer - May 15 - YouTube (2 mins)

St Isidore, pray for us!

With the eyes of the spirit...

Collect (today's Liturgy):  O God, who assigned Saint Matthias a place in the college of Apostles, grant us, through his intercession, that, rejoicing at how your love has been allotted to us, we may merit to be numbered among the elect. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

“And just as He appeared before the holy Apostles in true flesh,

so now He has us see Him in the Sacred Bread.  Looking at Him

with the eyes of their flesh, they saw only His flesh, but regarding

Him with the eyes of the spirit, they believed that He was God. 

In like manner as we see bread and wine with our

bodily eyes, let us see and believe firmly that it is
His Most Holy Body and Blood, True and Living.

For in this way our Lord is ever present
among those who believe in Him, according 
to what He said: Behold, I am with you all days
even to the consummation of the world (Mt 28:20)."

St Francis of Assisi

St Matthias

Born in Judea

+ 80 AD

Apostle (replaced Judas Iscariot)

Martyr (stoned and beheaded)

FEAST DAY - May 14

Statue at St. Matthias Abbey in Trier, Germany, where relics of the Apostle are kept

Some parts of his doctrine were conserved by Clement of Alexandria. 
This sentence is attributed to St Matthias:

“We must combat the flesh, taking what advantages we can without giving it blameworthy delights. Regarding the soul, we should develop it through intelligence and faith.”

Click here: St. Matthias - YouTube (2 mins)

St Matthias, pray for us!

The Host-life...

7th Sunday of Easter*
*(for Ascension reflection refer to last Thursday's Reflection)

"It is His will to rise from the dead in our lives and to come back to

the world in His risen Host-life." - Caryll Houselander

"Every day, every hour, Christ is born on the altar

in the hands of the priest. Christ is lifted up and sacrificed;

Christ is buried in the tomb of the human heart

and Christ rises from the tomb to be the life of the world

through His Communion with men.

This is the Host-life.... Everything relates to the Host. ...

Living the Christ-life means that we are given the power

of Christ's love.  We are not only trustees of God's love for man,

entrusted to give it out second-hand, but miraculously,

our love IS His love!

"I have bestowed my love upon you, just as my father has bestowed

his love upon me; live on, then, in my love." (John XV.9.)

Caryll Houselander

Excerpt from The Passion of the Infant Christ

Blessed Mother’s Day to all!

"A partnership with God is motherhood.

What beauty, what love, what self control

must belong to her who helps God

fashion an immortal soul!" (Author Unknown)

Some have had kings in their lineage,

Some to whom honor was paid.

Not blest of my ancestors - but,

I have a mother who prays.

I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

Oh what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Some have worldly success

And trust in riches they've made - 

This is my surest asset,

I have a mother who prays.

My mother's prayers cannot save me,

Only mine can avail;

But mother introduced me to Someone - 

Someone who never could fail.

Oh yes..I have a mother who prays for me

And pleads with the Lord every day for me.

O what a difference it makes for me - 

I have a mother who prays.

Author Unknown

Dearest mothers, thank you, 

...thank you for what you are in your family
and for what you give to the Church and the world.

And to you, beloved Church, thank you, thank you for being mother. 

And to you, Mary, Mother of God, thank you for letting us see Jesus. 

And thank you for all the mamas.  Let us salute them! - Pope Francis

Patroness of First Communicants...

"We are born to love, we live to love, 
and we will die to love still more." - St Joseph Cafasso

Remembering... 

"Today is the historical feast of Blessed Imelda Lambertini.  The daughter of a noble family, Blessed Imelda was born in 1322 in Bologna, Italy.  She was an only child and grew up going to Mass frequently with her family.  When she was nine, Imelda entered the Dominican Convent in Val di Pietra.  As the youngest one there, she prayed with the others and wore a modified Dominican habit, but was unable to receive Communion, which was not permitted by Church law until the age of twelve.  This hurt her very deeply.  She prayed that Jesus would grant her wish and allow her to receive Him sooner. She even asked the convent priest, but he refused to make an exception.  To receive Jesus in Communion became the consuming desire of her heart.  She would even sometimes exclaim: "Tell me, can anyone receive Jesus into his heart and not die?"

When Imelda was eleven years old, on the eve of the Ascension, she remained behind after Mass, praying silently in the chapel.  As the other sisters began to leave the chapel, a great miracle occurred.  Suddenly, a heavenly fragrance filled the air and a luminous host had emerged from the tabernacle and was hovering above Imelda's head.  The sisters told the priest and upon seeing the host, he knelt in adoration and received the host on the paten.  He immediately gave Communion to Imelda.  Upon receiving Jesus, Imelda was so overcome with joy that she had died in a loving state of ecstasy. In 1910, Pope St Pius X began to allow children to receive Holy Communion at age seven." (Excerpt from Catholic Fire)

"Tell me, can anyone receive

Jesus into his heart

and not die?"

Bl Imelda Lambertini

Italy ~ 1322 -1333

Virgin, Dominican

Protectress/Patroness of First Communicants

Incorrupt

(Historical) Feast Day - May 12

Click here: Love In The Holy Eucharist (A story of Bl Imelda Lambertini)

Bl Imelda, pray for us!

Earnetly desiring stillness...

"There is no place on earth where God is more present than in the 
human heart.  This heart truly is God's abode, the temple of silence... 
The Father waits for his children in their own heart" (23) . 
- Robert Cardinal Sirah
Power of Silence: Against the Dictatorship of Noise (2016)

"When Holy Mass is properly celebrated 

there are moments in which the voices 

of both priest and faithful become silent. ...

That stillness proper to the most beautiful things 

in existence dominates, a quiet area of attentiveness 

in which the beautiful and truly important reign.  

We must earnestly desire stillness 

and be willing to give something for it; then it will be ours.  

Once we have experienced it, we will be astounded 

that we were able to live without it. ...

If someone were to ask me 

what the liturgical life begins with, 

I should answer:  with learning stillness.  

Without it, everything remains superficial, vain."

Romano Guardini

Preparing Yourself for Mass*

*32 holy meditations guaranteed to help you pray better, pay closer attention,and grow more reverent during Mass... no matter where, when or how it is celebrated...
(Excerpt from Chapter 1)

IMAGE:  Maiden Meditation, Charles West Cope (1847)