CAPG's Blog 

Consider firstly, that the time of Advent  (so called from being set aside by the Church for worthily celebrating the Advent, that is, the coming of Christ) is a penitential time, and a time of devotion; in which we are every day called upon by the Church of God, to prepare the way of the Lord , to make straight His paths: to enter into the like dispositions to those which St. John the Baptist required of the people, when he was sent to preach to them conversion and penance, in order to prepare them for their Messias; that so we also, by turning away now from our sins, by sorrow and repentance, and turning ourselves to the Lord our God with our whole heart, by love and affection; may dispose our souls to welcome our Saviour, whose birth we are about to celebrate; and to embrace in such manner the mercy and grace, which He brings with Him at His first coming, as to escape hereafter those dreadful judgments, which His justice shall execute upon impenitent sinners, at His second coming. See then, my soul, that thou dedicate this holy time to suitable exercises of devotion and penance, that thou mayest answer the end of this institution.

Consider 2dly, in what manner we are all summoned, by the Church, at the beginning of this holy time, in the words of St. Paul, {Rom. xiii. 11, read in the epistle of the first Sunday in advent) to dispose ourselves now for Christ. "Knowing the time", says the apostle," that it is now the hour for us to rise from sleep: for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The flight is passed, (or far spent) the day is at hand; let us therefore cast off the works of darkness , and put on the armour of light : let us walk decently, as in the day, &c".

Oh ! my soul, let us consider these words as particularly addressed to us, in order to awaken as, and to stir us up to begin a new life. Alas! have we not hitherto been quite asleep, as to the greatest of all our concerns? Are not far the greatest part of Christians quite asleep, by their unaccountable indolence in the great business of the salvation of their souls, and of a happy eternity! Are they not sleeping too, which is worse, in the very midst of dangers, and of mortal enemies, who are continually plotting their destruction; and even upon the very brink of a precipice, which if they fall down, will let them in a moment into hell? O let us then all hearken seriously to this summons and rouse ourselves now, whilst we have time, out of this unhappy lethargy; and from this hour begin to apply ourselves in good earnest to that only business for which we came into this world. O let us cast off now and for ever the works of darkness, and put on Jesus Christ!

Consider 3dly, that on the first Sunday of Advent, the terrors also of God's justice are set before our eyes in the description given in the Gospel of the great accounting day: to the end that they will not correspond with the sweet invitations of God’s mercy, and awake from sleep at the summons addressed to them in the Epistle; may be roused at least by the thunder of His justice, denounced in the Gospel: and be induced by the wholesome fear of the dreadful judgments, that are continually hanging over the head of impenitent sinners, to make good use of this present time of mercy; lest hereafter there should be neither time nor mercy for them.

Ah! sinners, if this day you hear the voice of the Lord either sweetly inviting you with the allurements of His mercy, or terrifying you with the threats of His judgments; see you harden not your heart. For now is your time. Sleep oh no longer; lest you come to sleep in death: as it happened to them of old, who by refusing to hearken to God's voice, provoked Him so far that He swore to them in his wrath that they should never enter into His rest.  O remember that the day of the Lord, and His judgments, shall come as a snare upon all them that will not watch, (Luke xxi. 35.)

Conclude to enter now into the true spirit of this holy time, which is a penitential spirit and to prepare the way of the Lord; by putting away all thy
sins, and purifying thy soul for Him: thus shall thou welcome Him at His coming ; and shall be welcome to Him." Considerations upon christian truths and christian duties, Bishop Challoner

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)

Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests

Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls themselves.

Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good laborers into Thy 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 Thy 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 Thee more and more

Fra Angelico: The Forerunners of Christ with Saints and Martyrs

"Our yearly liturgical course in living with Christ is fast drawing to a close. That is the reason why these last Sunday Masses have been showing us various aspects of the final reckoning when Christ our Judge will examine us to see how we have profited by all those countless opportunities of grace lavished upon us in every Sacrifice and sacrament throughout the year. What therefore could be more natural for us than, finding within ourselves the same un-Christly Christians as of yore, to feel a sense of frustration at the thought of so great a discrepancy between what was expected of us and what we have actually achieved? Can the liturgical life really be so marvelous a thing, if it shows so little proof of its power in our own daily living? Just such a sense of discouragement on our part the Church seems to have anticipated. For right here, almost at the close of her annual course, she gives us in review a veritable pageant of successful lives lived by those whom she has already graduated into eternity summa cum laude.

These multitudes of human beings from every race and nation, from every clime and century - what are they, one and all, but drops of water in the vast ocean of Christ's redemptive work? Each one, as a member of the Mystical Body on earth, has not only been saved thereby but has also helped to "fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ,...for his body, which is the Church." Col. 1:24. Douay-Rheims.

The ocean of redemptive merits became so vast a thing in its multiple human aspect that we could only gaze in wonderment at its unfathomable extent and depth. This is why, for those of us who are able to go to weekday Mass, the liturgy allowed us to examine this redeeming accomplishment of Christ a drop at a time, while we celebrated the feast days of the saints. Thus holding up a tiny particle of Christly glory to the great sun of God's infinite perfections, we could study their separate rays as they were refracted in the various hues of those personalities through which they passed. For the divine attributes, incarnate in mortal men, are, as it were, split into tiny human colors, so that we may more easily study them and try to adapt them to our own poor way of life.

To say, for instance, that God is love does not pass beyond the cold, clear realm of our intellect. But to learn that Francis of Assisi, in reflecting this divine charity, loved every flower and bird and uncouth clod of humankind to romantic folly, has set seven hundred years ablaze. When we are told that God is good, we nod assent and stifle a yawn. But when we read that a Peter Claver, filled to the brim by a participation in this goodness, could spend years of devoted service amid the nauseating slave ships in his endeavor to salvage souls for eternity- ah! then we begin to think that goodness is something real after all.

Thus through this past year the Church has carefully marshaled before us her procession of successes, men, women, and even children. All from the dawn of Christianity have chosen to live the Christ-Life to its fullest extent, regardless of the cost. Each of these heroes has paid in some way the price of life itself, if not by the actual shedding of his blood, then at least by the slow and relentless extermination of self in every form, so that it might be no longer he that lived but Christ in him.

Since, however, the vast majority of Christians, unable to go to daily Mass, cannot study this pageant of Christ's heroes gradually throughout the year, the Church has set aside this feast as a day of obligation. Now all her members may see in one grand review all those whose outstanding success bears witness to the potency of the Christ-Life as lived in and through the liturgical signs which make that Life an ever present reality.
 Also the Church's object in thus honoring her heroes is to make us realize her great doctrine, the Communion of Saints. This is that celestial plan of distributive wealth, whereby the millionaires of heaven from their own abundance may effectively subsidize us, their needy brethren. This means that through the very special grace of today's feast of All Saints, we may fill our souls to overflowing with all the riches of Christ's members, who have traded with their talents so as to enrich not only themselves but also their brethren of every age and race and nation."
Companion to the Missal, Sister M Cecilia OSB

"Oh! (...) My brethren, let the world have its gods and worship them; let it have its wisdom, which is foolishness with God; let it deride and mock at penance, at asceticism, at Religious vows, at practices of humiliation, at pilgrimages, at devotions, at prayer itself. But let us remember that Christ, and His Church after Him, have cursed the world. Voe Mundo! Let us stand firm, though power, and wealth, and culture be in conspiracy against us. Let us stand firm, though we be persecuted and vilified, and our name cast out as evil for Christ's sake. Let us keep the faith. Let us be imitators of the Saints as they also were of Christ. Let us fix our eyes on the end of all things, on the prize of our high calling in Christ Jesus. Let us never forget those words,so full at once of terror and consolation: " Then shall the just stand with great constancy against those that have afflicted them and taken away their labors. Those seeing it, shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the suddenness of their unexpected salvation, saying within themselves, repenting, and groaning for anguish of spirit: There are they, whom we had sometime in derision, and for a parable of reproach. We fools esteemed their life madness, and their end without honor. Behold, how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the Saints. " Wisdom v. 1-5."

Source: Sermons by the Fathers of the Society of Jesus, Vol. 3, Feast of all Saints.