CAPG's Blog 

 Prayer of St. Bernard: THROUGH thee, O ever blessed Virgin, may it be allowed to us to approach thy Son. Through thee, O Fountain of Grace, Source of Life, and Mother of Salvation, may we be received by Him Who was given to us by thee. May thy immaculate sanctity, O most holy Virgin, hide from His eyes the stain of our corruption, and may thy most profound humility obtain from God the pardon of our pride. May thy boundless charity cover the multitude of our sins, and thy glorious fruitfulness confer on us fruitfulness of merits. Mother, Mediatrix, and Advocate, we beg of thee to reconcile us to thy Son, to recommend us to thy Son, to represent us with thy Son. Oh, most blessed Mother, by the favour which thou didst find with God, by the prerogatives which thou didst merit, by the Lord of Mercy, to whom thou didst give birth, we implore thee to prevail by thy prayers on Him, Who, through thee, deigned to share our misery and weakness, so that He may deign to make us sharers of His eternal happiness and glory to Whom, together with the Father and Holy Ghost, be all honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen. Novena for the Immaculate Conception, Fr. Louis Parodi, SJ 1915

"A FEAST in memory of that day, when Constantine the Great, having laid the foundation of St. Peter's church at Rome, it was consecrated by the Pope St. Sylvester, and has been ever since visited by great numbers of Christians in honour of the glorious Apostles SS. Peter and Paul, whose bodies partly lie there, and partly in the church of St. Paul, on the Ostian Road. The tombs of the great conquerors and lords of the world have been long since destroyed and for gotten; but those of the glorious apostles are still venerated by the faithful. Give thanks for the peace then restored to Christians, after three hundred years of persecution. Remember that all places appointed for the worship of God are holy; and see that you never profane them by any kind of irreverence. Be therefore mindful in whose presence you are, as often as you go to prayer; and if your there expect blessings, provoke not that hand, from which they had to come. How miserable are you, if instead of mercy, you draw down judgments on your own head! Have a great respect likewise for all holy things, especially for the Holy Scripture; and never make any part of that the subject of your diversion, or jests. Leave such profanation to infidels and apostates; for it cannot be a Christian's part to trample under foot the bread of life. Pray that Almighty God would in His mercy remember this nation, and grant that the faithful may reform all abuses, as often as they meet to pay homage to their God. That as often as they come into His holy place, they may remember in whose presence they are, call to mind His infinite majesty and their wants; and as these demand, so regulate their outward and inward man. That they may have so much faith and seriousness, as to be afraid of provoking Him there, where they come to ask His blessings; but rather make their petitions with an attention and solicitude answerable to their necessities." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother