Mary at the Circumcision
by VP
Posted on Friday January 02, 2026 at 12:00AM in Meditations for Christmas
"I. The week succeeding the birth of her Son had been to Mary a week of exquisite joy, one long ecstasy of heavenly delight, with no sorrow to mar the brightness of the sunshine of His presence. But on the octave of His Nativity all was changed. She began to realize the fact that Jesus had come to suffer — that He Who was infinitely dearer to her than the whole world was to be the Man of Sorrows — and Mary's joy was changed to bitter sorrow. Thus it is for all those who love God. The times when earth seems unable to contain the greatness of their joy are sure to be followed by sorrow and by pain.
2. It seemed but a trifle which thus changed the complexion of Mary's life. The pain that Jesus had to suffer had but a passing smart. Why should she thus grieve over it? It was because it betokened the indignities that He would have to suffer, the character of a victim for sin that He had taken upon Himself. Often a mere trifle destroys the brightness of our life. God uses matters seemingly trivial to teach us our weakness.
3. Yet Mary would not have had it otherwise. She knew it was the will of God, and that was enough for her. Would that I could learn this lesson more perfectly! Then nothing would destroy my peace, as nothing destroyed Mary's. "
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
The Name of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Friday January 02, 2026 at 12:00AM in Meditations for Christmas
"1. At the circumcision, Jewish children received their name as other children do at their baptism. Mary's little Son received the name of Jesus or Deliverer, because He was to deliver men from the slavery of sin. This was His appointed office by the divine command: to put an end to the slavery in which men were held by the devil. He was sent to deliver me from the bondage under which I have long labored, the bondage to the opinion of men, the bondage to ill-temper, the bondage to passion, the bondage to selfishness, the bondage to self-will, the bondage to riches or comforts. O Jesus, Deliverer of those in bondage, by Thy sacred circumcision deliver me !
2. Jesus is also our Deliverer from the terrible consequences of sin. Our sins were remitted by the shedding of His Precious Blood. Without the shedding of blood, says St. Paul, there is no remission. What reason I have to dread the consequences due to my sins! Yet Jesus can and will deliver me from them, if I love Him as I ought.
3. Jesus also is the Deliverer of all creation from the curse which came upon the whole earth at the Fall. He has sanctified it by the drops of His Precious Blood that fell upon it. Hence-forward it became a new earth, and one day He will cleanse it from all its impurities, and renew it to the heavenly beauty, and make it worthy to be the home of His elect. "
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
Month of January: Holy Childhood
by VP
Posted on Thursday January 01, 2026 at 03:00AM in Monthly Devotion
The best wish I can make is that you may obtain from God, not what you wish, but what He wishes for you. St. Francois de Sales
Devotion for the month of January: Holy Childood
Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests:
Jesus, Divine
Infant, I bless and thank Your most loving Heart for the institution of
the priesthood. Priests are sent by You, as You were sent by the Father.
To them You entrusted the treasures of Your doctrine, of Your Law, of
Your Grace, and souls themselves.
Grant me the grace to love them, to
listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Your ways.
Jesus, send good laborers into Your harvest. May priests be the salt
that purifies and preserves; may they be the light of the world; may
they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after
Your own Heart. And in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng
of those they shepherded on earth. Amen.
Glory Be three times. Infant Jesus, make me love You more and more!
Virtue for the month of January: Perfection
"Be ye perfect as your Heavenly Father is perfect." St. Matt., v: 48.
To be perfect in one's vocation, is nothing else than to perform the duties and offices to which one is obliged, solely for the honor and love of God, referring all to His glory. Whoever works in this manner, may be called perfect in his state, a man according to the heart and will of God.— St. Francis de Sales.
External Worship
by VP
Posted on Thursday January 01, 2026 at 12:00AM in Articles
"Man being such," Says the Council of Trent, "that, without the help of sensible signs, he can only with difficulty rise to the consideration of divine things, the Church, like a tender mother, has establish certain rites, has ordered that certain parts of the Mass should be said in a low and other in a loud voice. She has also instituted ceremonies: such are mysterious blessings, lights, incense, vestments, and many other things, in accordance with discipline and apostolic tradition. " The end of all this is to add to the majesty of the Adorable Sacrifice, and to lead the minds of the Faithful, by means of these visible signs of piety and religion, to the contemplation of the great mysteries hidden in Christianity.
On this point, the impious agree perfectly in their words and deeds with us. Religion reduced to pure spirituality, says one of them, is very soon banished to the regions of the moon. Another adds that dogmas disappeared with the external signs bearing witness to them. When, at the close of the last century, the disciples of these men, who could argue so well, were pleased to destroy religion among us, with what did they begin? With external worship. They first turned ceremonies into ridicule. They then pulled downs temples, crosses, and altars.
But in vain does man wage war against nature. These pitiless enemies of external worship had scarcely taken the reins of government into their own hands, when they felt all the necessity for public and solemn rites. In order to convert people to their ideas of morality, they hastened to practice what they had condemned, by calling to their aid external worship. They only changed its immortal object, and referred it altogether to human virtues, which are but pompous nonentities when separated from their Author.
They scoffed in their writings and in their lyceums at the worship of the Saints, and substituted for it the worship of heroes, after the manner of the pagans, who rendered the honors of apotheosis only to persons remarkable for extraordinary feats, most generally the ravagers of nations. They jeered at the piety of Catholics towards the precious remains of the just man, and they rendered honors almost divine to their own great men. In fine, is there a single part of Catholic worship that they did not employ to win favor and credit for their lessons with the multitude? Hymns, canticles, altars, the tables of the law, the ark of the constitution, candelabra, sacred fire, holidays, statues of liberty and equality, tutelary genii, and other emblems of the revolution: did they not offer us a collection of religious ceremonies as extensive as that of any other worship?"
Source: Catechism of perseverance, Msgr. Gaume
The Circumcision
by VP
Posted on Thursday January 01, 2026 at 12:00AM in Meditations for Christmas
"1. On the first day of the year we commemorate the first shedding of the Precious Blood for us. Christmas week, as it draws to a close, introduces us to the new-born King in the weakness of the nature that He shared with sinful man. We now learn that He came, not to manifest His power and majesty, but to be made like unto us in all things as far as it was possible for One Who was the Eternal Son of God. We begin to appreciate that He is flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone.
2. To-day He also proclaims that He is come to suffer for us. We listen to His first cry of pain, and see the strange spectacle of the first commencement of that Life of which the agony upon the cross was the final consummation. How shall we ever thank Him as we ought ? How great a joy we should consider it if we have the privilege of suffering some little pain for Him in return!
3. He also declares to us to-day that He is come to suffer with us, to take part in all the miseries of humanity, to learn by His own experience all that we have to endure in this valley of tears. This it is which should console us in all our troubles. Christ not only knows them all, but has in His mercy felt them all Himself in His sacred Humanity. "
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
Prayer for a Blessing on the New Year
by VP
Posted on Thursday January 01, 2026 at 12:00AM in Prayers
O sacred and adorable Trinity, hear our prayers on behalf of our holy Father the Pope, our Bishops, our clergy, and for all that are in authority over us.
Bless, we beseech Thee, during the coming year, the whole Catholic Church; convert heretics and unbelievers; soften the hearts of sinners so that they may return to Thy friendship; give prosperity to our country and peace among the nations of the world; pour down Thy blessings upon our friends, relatives, and acquaintances, and upon our enemies, if we have any; assist the poor and the sick; have pity on the souls of those whom this year has taken from us; and do Thou be merciful to those who during the coming year will be summoned before Thy judgment seat. May all our actions be preceded by Thy inspirations and carried on by Thy assistance, so that all our prayers and works, having been begun in Thee, may likewise be ended through Thee. Amen
Saint Sylvester, Pope and Confessor, A.D. 335
by VP
Posted on Wednesday December 31, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"ST. SYLVESTER was bishop of Rome: pray for his present successor, that inheriting his virtues, he may with a like fidelity take care of his flock.
It was in his time that the Church, after three hundred years of persecution, was restored to peace, by the command of the Emperor Constantine the Great; who destroyed the temples of the idols, ordered churches to be everywhere built to the living God. Pray for the peace of the Church, and the propagation of its faith among heathens and unbelievers; that idolatry being destroyed, the name of God may be sanctified in all nations of the earth.
It was under him that Arius was condemned by the Fathers assembled at the General Council of Nicaea, for denying the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ. These holy Fathers declared what had been received from the apostles, that the Son was consubstantial with the Father, and God equal with Him. Pray against the like errors of this unbelieving age, in which, under the Christian name, are promoted all the blasphemies of Arius and Socinus. Pray that God would make their abettors sensible of their errors, and preserve all Christians from their poison.
If Christ be God, honour and obedience are due to His law and where these are not, there is not that faith which God requires. Yet this is the faith in which too many Christians rest. The desire of satisfying their own passions excludes self-denial; courting the world leaves no place for humility, and the love of ease prevents them from stooping to the labours of the Gospel. These are the errors which call upon all to pray that God would revive the primitive spirit; whereby all may labour to manifest in themselves the life of Christ.
Pray for yourself, that as with this day we end the year, so you may put an end to all your former method, in which you have regarded the world and yourselves more than God. Ask pardon for all your past ingratitude, and beg now grace, that with the year may end all its disorders." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer to St. Silvester: "Supreme Pastor of the Church of Christ, you lend to
the beauty of the holy Octave of Christmas the lustre of your glorious
merits. There you worthily represent the countless choir of Confessors,
for you steered the barque of Peter after the three hundred years’
tempest, leading her with watchful love in her first hours of calm. The
pontifical Diadem reflecting Heaven in its gems sits on your venerable
brow. The Keys of the Kingdom of Heaven are in your hands. You opened it
for the admission of the Gentiles who embraced the faith of Christ. You
shut it against the Arians in that august Council of Nicaea where you
presided by your Legates, and to which you gave authority, by confirming
it with your apostolic approbation. The furious storms will again soon
rage against the Church, and the angry billows of heresy will beat
against her. You will then be in the bosom of God but together with
Saint Peter you will keep guard over the purity of the Faith of Rome.
You will support Julius. You will rescue Liberius and Athanasius, aided
by your prayers, will find a shelter within the walls of Rome. Under
your peaceful reign Christian Rome receives the reward of her
long-endured persecution. She is acknowledged as Queen of Christendom,
and her empire becomes the sole empire that is universal. The son of
your pastoral zeal, Constantine, leaves the city of Romulus which has
now become the City of Peter. The Imperial majesty would be eclipsed by
that greater one of the Vicar of Christ. He makes Byzantium his capital,
leaving Rome to be that of the Pontiff-King. The temples of the false
gods become ruins, and make room for the Christian Basilicas in which are
enshrined the Relics of the Apostles and Martyrs. In a word, the Church
has triumphed over the Prince of this world, and the victory is
typified by the destruction of that Dragon which infected the air by its
poisonous breath.
Honored with all these wonderful
prerogatives, saintly Vicar of Christ, forget not the Christian people
which was once your flock. It asks you, on this your Feast, to make it
known and love the mystery of the birth of Jesus. By the sublime Symbol
which embodies the Faith of Nicaea and which you confirmed and
promulgated throughout the whole Church, you have taught us to
acknowledge this sweet Infant as God of God, Light of Light, begotten
not made, consubstantial to the Father. You bid us to come and adore
this little child as He by whom all things were made. Holy Confessor of
Christ, I vouchsafe to present us to Him, as the Martyrs have done, whose
Feasts have filled up the days since His Nativity. Pray to Him for us
that our desires for true virtue may be fulfilled, that we may persevere
in his Holy love, that we may conquer the world and our passions, and
at length, that we may obtain the crown of justice which is to be the
reward of our Confessing Him before men, and is the only object of our
ambition.
Pontiff of Peace, from the abode of rest where you
now dwell, look down on the Church of God, surrounded as she is by
implacable enemies, and beseech Jesus, the Prince of Peace, to hasten
her triumph. Cast your eye on that Rome, which is so dear to you and
which is so faithful in her love of you. Protect and direct her Pontiff.
May she triumph over the wiles of political intrigue, the violence of
tyranny, the craft of heretics, the perfidy of schismatics, the apathy
of worldlings, and the cowardice of her own children. May she be
honored, loved and obeyed. May the sublime dignity of the Priesthood be
recognized. May the spiritual power enjoy freedom of action. May the
civil authority work hand and hand with the Church. May the Kingdom of
God now come and be received throughout the whole world, and may there
be but one Fold and one Shepherd.
Still watch, O holy
Sylvester, over the sacred treasure of the Faith, which you defended
when on Earth, against every danger. May its light put out the vapors of
man’s proud dreams, those false and daring doctrines which mislead
countless souls. May every mortal bow down his understanding to the
obedience of faith in the divine Mysteries, without which all human
wisdom is but folly. May Jesus, the Son of God and Son of Mary, be King,
by His Church, over the minds and hearts of all men. Pray for Byzantium
that was once called the New Rome, but which so soon became the capital
of heresies and the scene of everything that could degrade a Christian
country. Pray that the days of her deep humiliation may be shortened;
that she may again see herself united with Rome; that she may honor
Christ and his Vicar; that she may obey, and by her obedience be saved.
May the people, misled and debased by her influence and rule, recover
their dignity as men, which can only subsist when men have faith, or be
regained by a return to the faith.
And lastly, O Conqueror of
Satan, keep this hellish monster in the prison to which you drove him.
Confound his pride and his schemes. Let him no longer seduce the people
of God’s Earth, but may all the children of the Church, according to the
word of Peter, your predecessor, resist him by the strength of their
faith."
The Shepherds' Visit
by VP
Posted on Wednesday December 31, 2025 at 12:00AM in Meditations for Christmas
Gerard van Honthorst (1592–1656) Adoration of the Shepherds (c. 1622). Pomerania State Museum
"The first who came to pay their homage to the new-born King were the shepherds who were watching in the fields of Bethlehem, and to whom an angel had announced the birth of Christ the Lord. They received this honor because:
1. They were poor, and therefore were well suited to gather round the King Who came to live in poverty on earth. The Eternal Father chose poverty for His well-beloved Son, and therefore poverty must be better than riches. The poor are to be envied rather than pitied so long as their poverty is not due to their own sin or folly. How many who have saved their souls in poverty would have lost them if they had been rich ! Hence, if you are poor, do not regret your poverty, but rather rejoice in it.
2. They were simple of heart, untainted by the world's deceits. None but good, simple men would have thus come in the darkness of the night, to the stable of Bethlehem, to find their Savior and their King. God loves simplicity. "If thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be light-some," says Our Lord, and He thereby describes the happy lot of those whose one aim is to do their work with simplicity for God alone. Is this my spirit?
3. They were shepherds. The occupation is one which God seems to love. The man after God's own heart was a shepherd. Our Lord calls Himself the Good Shepherd. The apostles' dignity lies in the fact that they were shepherds of the flock. Every Christian is a shepherd, in that some sheep or lands are committed to his care. Am I a zealous shepherd of the sheep of Christ ?"
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
St. Sabinus and companions, Martyrs, A.D, 304.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 30, 2025 at 04:00AM in Saints
"St. Sabinus was bishop of Spoletum, and in the persecution of Maximian was seized by Venustianus, president of the city, and for breaking an image of Jupiter, which he was commanded to adore, had his hands immediately cut off, and then was cast into prison, where he was supported by the charity of a pious widow. His two deacons, Marcellus and Exuperantius, were scourged, beaten with clubs, and torn with iron nails or broad tenter hooks, under which torments they both expired. Venustianus, being afterwards miraculously healed of a violent distemper in his eyes, by the holy bishop, became a Christian; and being baptized with his wife and children, they were soon after put to death by the emperor's order, and Sabinus beaten with staves till he expired.
Thus are you encouraged to suffer in the service of your God. If you have not the persecutor to threaten you with the sword,
you have an enemy at least, who offers you idols to adore. He offers
many; and while you express your abhorrence against some, is there not
any one to which you are more favourable? To adore only one, is enough to be an
idolater. What if it be company, drink, or money? What if a sensual friend, the courted world, or our own admired self? There may be idolatry enough in any one of these; and it is too likely to be so with you, if, like this prelate, you do not violence to the idol, or to yourself, if not by breaking, at least by separation. See what it cost him: think not of escaping, if you expect to do so without pain or trouble: you will never be a conqueror, if you are afraid of hurting yourself. How powerfully do the martyrs
cry out to us by their example, exhorting us to despise a false and
wicked world! A soul can find no rest in creatures. How long then shall
we suffer ourselves to be seduced by them? Let the light of heaven, and the truths of the gospel shine upon us, and the illusions of the world and our senses will disappear." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
The Angels' Song
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 30, 2025 at 12:00AM in Meditations for Christmas
Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617–1682)
"On the night of the Nativity a countless multitude of the heavenly host were singing the praises of the new-born King. Let us listen to them.
1. They are singing Gloria in excelsis Deo — '* Glory to God in the highest !" It is the first song they have sung on earth since the Fall. It is sung on the occasion of the infinite humiliation of the Son of God. Yet they sing, Glory to God in the highest ! It must, therefore, be a source of unspeakable glory to God that He has taken the form of a servant, that He has humbled Himself to the very dust. If this is such a source of glory to God, my true glory must consist in humbling myself.
2. They are also singing of peace to men. What sort of peace . Not external peace, for Christ came not to bring peace, but a sword; but true peace, internal peace, that tranquillity of soul that nothing can destroy. This is the boon that Christ gives to all who love Him, in proportion to their love.
3. But peace not for all, only for men of good will. Christ, indeed, brought peace to all, but all did not accept it, only those whose good will and loyal spirit of submission made them ready to acknowledge Him as their Lord, and whom, therefore, the good will of God had predestined to the eternal peace and joy of heaven. God grant that I may be one of these !"
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
