Saint Goar, Priest.
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
For Zealous Priests
Sanctify to Thyself, O my Lord, the
hearts of Thy priests, that, by the merits of Thy sacred humanity, they
may become living images of Thee, children of Mary, and full of the fire
of the Holy Ghost, that they may guard Thy house, and defend Thy glory,
and that through their ministry the face of the earth may be renewed,
and they may save those souls which have costs Thee all Thy blood. Amen
Queen of the Apostles, pray thy Son, the Lord of the Harvest, to send laborers into His harvest, and to spare His people.
The Prayer Book. Imprimatur Samuel Cardinal Stritch
Archbishop of Chicago, May 10, 1954.
HEARING MASS.
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
The Catholic Mass Fyodor Bronnikov 1869
Yet Mass on Sunday is something we should set apart as of the gravest obligation all the year round. Of course there are reasons which excuse, but they must be serious ones. For the Sacrifice of the Mass is not only to be assisted at by a strict law of the Church, but it is the greatest act of our religion. It is Christ on Calvary, and nothing less. What if Calvary be so many thousands of miles distant from your church-does that make any difference to God? God is equally present in every part of the world. Does it even make any difference to you? Is your love for some dear relation or friend any different whether you are in the same quarter of the world with him or not? Some places are more sacred to you than others, to be sure, and so are they to God; but distance, although it divides loving hearts, does not divide their love. So our Lord is present, really and personally, in His humanity and in His divinity, on this altar, just as truly as He was on Calvary. Nor does the lapse of time alter the case. Christ our Lord died for you just as well as for any of the Jews or Gentiles of His own day. A thousand years are to God but as a day that is passed, yea or even a million of years passed or yet to come; for to the eternal God there is no passage of time, but only an everlasting present.
The difference of time and place, therefore, has little to do with the identity of the act, for the spirit of man is superior to both, and the power and love of God are supremely so. It is the identity of the great Act of Redemption and its perpetuity and its universality which bring us to our Lord's cross in Holy Mass. Here, upon our altars, that atonement for our sins is continually renewed, that divine merit is continually made our own.
It was first done with pain and in sorrow; it is now perpetuated with joy. It was for once and for all the literal shedding of blood in mortal agony; it is now the mystical pouring forth of all the treasures of grace purchased by that loving sacrifice. The man-God who died on Calvary is the same who comes down upon our altars; He comes with the very same intention; He appeases the very same divine justice for the very same culprits as on the first Good Friday.
In wishing you, therefore, all the relaxation of the pleasant summer weather, I also insist that you shall enjoy it in union with our Lord, and if Sunday shall be the chief day of rest for your body, I sincerely trust that it shall not the less be your soul's day of purification. There is no tree in all the woods whose shade is so grateful as that of the cross, under which your soul rests at Holy Mass. Of all the cool streams in which you may bathe and cleanse your body there is none to compare, for the welfare of either soul or body, with those copious floods of happiness which flow into the four quarters of the world from Calvary. There is no true joy with a bad conscience, and the Sunday on which you hurry off to your pleasure without attending at Mass cannot be really happy. ( Five-minute Sermons for Low Masses on All Sundays of the Year, 4th Sunday after Pentecost, 1893)
Saint Maria Goretti
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
"Venerable brethren and beloved children. Through a loving design of Divine Providence the supreme exaltation of a humble daughter of the people has been celebrated in this shining eventide with a Solemnity unequaled and in a form up to now unique in the annals of the Church.
It has been celebrated In the vastness and majesty of this place of mystery, become a sacred temple towards which is turned the firmament which chants the glories of the Most High—a temple desired by you rather than provided by Us and filled with an unnumbered amount of faithful such as other canonizations have never seen. Above all, it is a temple almost, as it were, required by the dazzling brilliance and intoxicating fragrance of this lily cloaked in purple whom We this moment with intimate joy have inscribed in the album of Saints: the tiny and sweet martyr of purity, Maria Goretti.
Why have you come in such huge numbers, beloved children, to her glorification? Why have you been softened even to tears at hearing or reading the account of her short life so like a Gospel story for its simplicity of line, the color of its environment, the very flashing violence of its death? Why has Maria Goretti so quickly captured your hearts even to becoming their darling and their favorite?
There is then in this world, apparently turned upside down and immersed in hedonism, not just a thin rank of settled elect of Heaven and the pure air, but a throng, immense multitudes on whom the supernatural perfume of Christian purity exerts an irresistible and promising fascination: promising yes, and reassuring. If it is true that in the martyrdom of Maria Goretti purity shone forth above all; nevertheless in and with it other Christian virtues also triumphed. In her purity there was the most elementary and significant affirmation of perfect mastery by the spiritual over the material. In her supreme heroism, which is not improvised, there was a tender, docile love, obedient and active, towards parents. There was sacrifice in harsh daily labor, poverty accepted in a Gospel manner and sustained by Faith in a celestial providence. There was religion intently embraced and its understanding always more desired, made ever more the treasure of life and nourished by the flame of prayer. There was a burning desire for the Eucharistic Jesus, and finally, there was the crown of charity, the heroic pardon granted to her murderer. All this made up the garland of country flowers, rustic but so dear to God, which adorned the white veil of her First Communion and shortly afterwards, that of her martyrdom.
Thus this sacred ceremony develops spontaneously into a popular assembly for purity. In the light of every martyrdom there is always a bitter contrast, the stain of some iniquity. Behind that of Maria Goretti is a scandal which at the beginning of this century seemed unheard-of. At a distance of almost 50 years, amidst the often insufficient reaction of those who are good, the conspiracy of immorality—availing itself of books, illustrations, the theater, radio programs, fashions, resorts and associations — attempts to undermine in the bosom of society and the family those who are the natural custodians of virtue, to the harm principally of those in their tenderest childhood.
Oh young people, beloved boys and girls, apples of the eyes of Jesus and of Our own — speak out! Are you resolved firmly to resist any attempt whatever that others may dare to make against your purity?
And you, fathers and mothers, in the sight of this multitude, before the image of this adolescent virgin who with her spotless purity has stolen your hearts, in the presence of her mother who having educated her to martyrdom and while living in its harrowing wake does not mourn her death and who now kneels overcome to pray to her —speak! Are you ready to assume the solemn pledge of watching over your sons and daughters, so far as in you lies, in order to preserve and defend them against such great dangers as surround them and to keep them ever away from places that prepare the way for impiety and moral perversion?
And now, oh all you who hear Us, lift up your hearts. Above the foul marshes and mud of the world there stretches a heaven of beauty. It is the heaven which drew little Maria, the heaven to which she wished to rise by the only way that leads to it: Religion, love of Christ, heroic observance of His commandments.
Hail, oh sweet and lovable Saint! Martyr on earth and angel in heaven, from your glory turn your gaze on this throng that loves you, venerates you, glorifies and exalts you. On your brow you wear clear and shining the victorious name of Christ. On your virgin countenance is the strength of love, the constancy of fidelity to your Divine Spouse. You are the spouse of blood through tracing upon yourself His image.
To you, powerful with the Lamb of God, we entrust these Our sons and daughters here present and all others spiritually united with Us. They admire your heroism but even more they wish to be your imitators in fervor of faith and incorruptible stainlessness of morals. To you fathers and mothers run that you may help them with their training mission. In you through Our hands all childhood and youth find refuge that they may be protected from every contamination and enter upon the path of life in the serenity and joy of the pure of heart. Amen."
May we preserve without stain our white baptismal robe of innocence. May we who have lost this innocence kneel humbly in Holy Penance, and with the absolution of the priest, may the torrent of Christ's precious Blood flow into our souls and give us a new courage to carry the burning light of God's love through the dangerous highways of this life until Christ our king shall call us to the courts of Heaven. Amen."
Five-minute Sermons: How to Pray
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sermons
"Launch out into the deep."—St. Luke v. 6.
IN this account of the miraculous draught of fishes which we have just heard in the Gospel we see a striking illustration of what real prayer should be, and how it is rewarded. Suppose we devote these few moments this morning to the subject of Prayer.
We know that prayer is an absolute necessity of the spiritual life. We are strictly bound to pray, if we would save our souls. The manner and the matter of our prayers are, within certain limits, left to our own judgment. There are no conditions of length or place or time. Long prayers are not necessarily the best ones; on the contrary, the Publican said only seven words, and the Penitent Thief nine; and we have yet to hear of prayers more promptly efficacious. We need not come to church in order to have our prayers heard; God will hear us anywhere and any time—as He heard Jeremias in the mire, Ezechias on his bed of death, Daniel in the den of lions, the Three Children in the fiery furnace, Peter and Paul in prison...
Note that our Lord first desired Peter to "thrust out a little from the land," and afterwards to 'launch out into the deep." So with our prayers. We must thrust out a little from the land—that is, from attachments and affections of earth, before we can fully launch ourselves into the deep of perfect spiritual union with God.
Do we "thrust out from the land" when we pray? And have we Jesus Christ in the vessel of our heart when we make the launch? Our prayers, to be good for anything, should have four characteristics: they should be recollected, detached, definite, and persevering.
1. Before we begin to pray, we must place ourselves in God's presence. We must collect all the powers of our minds and hearts, and set them on the one supreme object. The Memory must be called away from every-day affairs, and used to furnish food for our meditation; the Understanding summoned from its ordinary musings on worldly things, to reason and reflect on what we pray for, and Whom we pray to; the Will steadily fixed on God--striving to conform itself to the divine will, producing affections and forming resolutions suitable to our present needs.
2. Without detachment there can be no recollection. We must thrust out from the land." And how can we do this if the vessel of our soul is moored to the shore by a thousand and one little cords of earthly desire, and worry and care, and anxiety and passion? All these cords must be cut away, and we must "launch out into the deep," if we would pray aright and have God's blessing in ourselves.
3. Let us have a clear, definite idea of what we are going to pray for. Vague, meaningless generalities are out of place in such a serious business. Let us make up our minds beforehand about what we want, and then pray for that. It will not profit us much to ask for all the Cardinal Virtues and allthe Gifts of the Holy Ghost at one time. It will be quite sufficient, and decidedly more profitable, to single out some one virtue of which we stand in special need, and make that the particular burden of our prayers and thoughts and efforts for weeks, and months and years, if necessary, until we gain it.
4. And this, after all, is the true test of a genuine prayer-perseverance. 'We have labored all the night, and have taken nothing; but at Thy word I will let down the net." "Never despair" is the Christian's motto. Never mind how long we may have labored and prayed in vain; never mind how weary the spirit, or how weak the flesh; never mind how little seems our progress and how far away the "mark of the prize of our supernal vocation." God will, as He has promised, finally and gloriously reward our perseverance. Him that overcometh I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of My God." Five minute Sermons for Sunday by the Paulist Fathers, 4th Sunday after Pentecost
Saint Anthony Maria Zaccaria, Confessor
by VP
Posted on Saturday July 05, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Forum Catholique St. Anthony Zaccaria and the devotion of the forty hours
"Absorbed in meditating on the great Sacrifice and his heart burning with love for God, he went to the foot of the altar. A profound and religious silence prevailed among those present, and all eyes were turned on him, a sign of the great event about to take place. At the solemn moment of consecration, a marvelous light encircled him and a multitude of Angels descended, and surrounding him, assisted reverently at the Mass. This heavenly vision lasted until the end of Communion." Source: Barnabite Fathers
GOD'S FRIENDS AND OURS: ST. ANTHONY VERSUS LUTHER ( The Catholic Transcript, Volume LXIII, Number 9, 30 June 1960)
"In 1528 the apostate priest Martin Luther preached in Wittenberg the three sermons he was later to compile into his two catechisms: The Little Catechism for Children and Simple Folk and The Large Catechism. In the preface of the former, he charged the Church with neglecting the teaching of Christian doctrine to the poor and unlettered masses.
Hundreds of miles from Germany, in the same year, one of the many men whose lives emphatically contradicted Luther's allegation received the power of the priesthood. Today he is venerated as St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria Founder of the Clerks Regular of St. Paul, his feast falls on July 5.
He had been practicing medicine in his native Cremona for some years before he came to the realization, as the editors of Butler's Lives put it, “that his vocation was to heal souls as well as bodies " A few years after ordination, he moved on to Milan, where, in 1530, he organized a new congregation "to regenerate and revive the love of divine worship, and a properly Christian way of life by frequent preaching and faithful ministering of the sacraments." A band of his priests stood ever ready to preach at any time and in any place; in the public square, in the fields, in small chapels, in the very streets of the city. Special care was shown for the poor.
Despite the fullness of his life, Anthony Zaccaria was only thirty-seven years old when he died in 1539. His congregation (popularly called “the Barnabites" from the Church of St. Barnabas, its Milanese center) never achieved widespread fame or grew to large numbers. Like the saint himself, its members still burn out their lives quietly instructing the uninformed and indigent.
ST. Anthony Zaccaria's history provides a dramatic contrast to Martin Luther's. Both men saw the same problem: countless baptized Christians who remained theologically illiterate throughout their lives.
Open Revolution against the Church of Christ was Luther's solution. Reformation within the Church was Anthony's answer.
The Church itself, the latter knew, can never be in error. When abuses exist, they can only arise from the deficiencies or bad faith of its members. Christ guaranteed that Peter's bark is the only sure bark to salvation. But He did not guarantee that the captain, crew and passengers would necessarily avoid all personal mistakes and scandals.
O Almighty and Merciful God, who moved by Thine infinite goodness,hast deigned to call Thy servant Father [N] to the ministry of Thy altar, listen graciously to our humble prayer, that, sustained by Thy grace, he may become daily less unworthy of his holy vocation, and vouchsafe, we beseech Thee, to bless and sanctify both his words and his works, through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, model of the priestly heart, have mercy.
- "St Anthony is also known for popularising and renewing, the exposition of the Blessed Sacrament, known as the Forty-hour devotion. He also is said to have originated the ringing of church bells at 3:00 p.m. on Fridays, in recognition of the hour of the crucifixion of Christ." Anaspaul
Devotion of the Forty Hours. Long ago it was a very pious practice to expose the Blessed Sacrament in moments of great danger, in times of great calamity, that the people might receive the especial consolation so necessary. Attracted to the Church by the sight of the Blesed Sacrament, usually hidden in the Tabernacle, throngs of worshipers drew closer to God in the hour of their trial. What was in the beginning an inspiration on the part of the priests in charge of these afflicted parishes grew gradually into a custom.
The Forty Hours adoration was first introduced in Italy in 1556, and was at once approved by the Church. Intended as it was to correspond with the forty hours of darkness and loneliness spent by Jesus in the tomb, the devotion appealed at once to the hearts of the faithful. It is now a universal custom regulated by the Bishop of each diocese, who arranges the hours of adoration in the various churches, throughout the year, in such way as to have continuous devotion, as far as possible.
The Blessed Sacrament, consecrated at a High Mass, which opens the ceremony, is placed on Exposition, following a solemn procession through the Church. The altar of exposition is especially adorned with flowers and lights. The usual custom is to close the exposition towards evening, continue it throughout the following day, and close on the morning of the third day.
It is a time of special devotion in which special favors and graces are granted those who go to Confession and receive Communion. Large crowds are attracted to the Church and the people strive to atone as far as possible to our Blessed Lord for those lonely hours spent in the tomb previous to His resurrection.
Thanks be to God and to His Church for the abundance and the beauty of the Catholic year's array of feasts. Since these feast days constitute a succession of striking reminders telling the Catholic again and again of God and His goodness of the great plan of salvation, of God's Mother, of God's saints, and inviting him over and over to take advantage of God's grace and to serve Him truly by imitating that Mother and those saints who were human even as Himself. The lack of space and time forbid anything like an adequate treatment of the subject.
(Our faith and the facts : religion's story, what Catholics believe and practice, answers to charges made against the church, a busy person's reference work, a home library, 1925)
Saint Ulrich
by VP
Posted on Friday July 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Poetry
Leonhard Beck: Saint Ulrich of Augsburg
A FAULT AND ITS REPARATION.-When St. Ulrich was promoted to the see of Augsburg, the town had just been devastated by the Hungarians and the Sclaves; all its monuments were destroyed, the churches in ruins, the cathedral reduced to ashes, the clergy driven away, and the flock scattered. The bishop restored the ruined structures, rebuilt the churches, surrounded the town with a girdling wall, gathered his flock about him, re-established discipline, regulated the ecclesiastical chant and the public services of the Church, in a word, gave back life to his entire diocese. But these external cares did not absorb all his time, he still found sufficient to devote to works of piety, and his clergy might in every respect have taken him for their model. Having reached a great age, however, he thought he had done enough, appointed his nephew bishop in his stead, and retired to the abbey of St. Gall. Such a mode of acting being contrary to the discipline of the Church, the bishops of the province cited him to appear at Ingelheim, in order to hear his sentence. The aged man, with all humility, avowed that he had committed a fault, and begged, with tears in his eyes, that pardon might be accorded to him. His prayer was granted, but he had to resume the government of his diocese, where he died in 973, at the age of eighty.
MORAL REFLECTION.-The avowal of a fault is the best apology. 'Be not ashamed to confess thy sins, but strive for the justice of thy soul."-(Eccles. iv. 31.)
For the Church and Civil Authorities
by VP
Posted on Friday July 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
“America, it is said, is suffering from intolerance — it is not. It is suffering from tolerance. Tolerance of right and wrong, truth and error, virtue and evil, Christ and chaos. Our country is not nearly so overrun with the bigoted as it is overrun with the broadminded.”
"The refusal to take sides on great moral issues is itself a decision. It is a silent acquiescence to evil. The Tragedy of our time is that those who still believe in honesty lack fire and conviction, while those who believe in dishonesty are full of passionate conviction.”
“A religion that doesn’t interfere with the secular order will soon
discover that the secular order will not refrain from interfering with
it.” Rev. Fulton J. Sheen
We pray Thee, O almighty and Eternal
God, Who through Jesus Christ Hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to
preserve the works of Thy mercy; that thy Church, being spread through
the whole world, may continue, with unchanging faith, in the confession
of Thy name.
We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow
with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life our Pope
Francis, the vicar of our Lord Jesus Christ in the government of His
Church; our own bishop Bishop Zarama; all the other bishops, prelates, and pastors
of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise
among us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people
into the ways of salvation.
We pray Thee, O God of might,
wisdom, and justice, through whom authority is rightly administered,
laws are enacted, and judgments decreed, assist, with the Holy Spirit of
counsel and fortitude, the President of the United States, that his
administration may be
conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people,
over whom he presides, by
encouraging due respect for virtue and religion;
by faithful execution of the law in justice and
mercy; and by restraining vice
and immorality.
Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress,
and shine forth in all the
proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government;
so that they may tend to the preservation
of peace, the promotion of national happiness,
the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful
knowledge, and may
perpetuate to us the blessings of equal liberty.
We pray for his Excellency the Governor of
this State, for the members of the Assembly,
for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who
are appointed to guard our political welfare; that they may be enabled,
by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties
of their respective stations with honesty and
ability.
We
recommend likewise to Thy unbounded mercy all our brethren and fellow
citizens, throughout the
United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge, and sanctified
in the observance of Thy
most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace
which the world cannot give;
and, after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those
which are eternal.
Finally, we pray Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy
servants departed who are gone
before us with the sign of faith, and repose in the sleep of peace:
the souls of our parents, relations, and friends;
of those who, when living, were members of this
congregation; and particularly of such as are lately deceased;
of all benefactors who, by their
donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the
decency of divine worship,
and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance.
To these, O Lord, and to
all that rest in Christ, grant we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment,
light, and everlasting
peace, through the same Jesus, Our Lord and Savior.
Amen.
( Adapted from Archbishop Carroll's prayer)
#23 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind [Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament]
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Thursday Reparation
23. We adore Thee, most worthy object of the love and affection of men and Angels! And to repair the profanations committed in Thy churches by the effusion of so much innocent blood, as also to make some atonement for the poor and indigent manner Thou art entertained there, we offer up to Thee the piety of all the blessed Saints, and the distress and want in which Thy persecuted servants were. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of performing. Amen.
CAPGSt. Thomas, Apostle
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Poetry
It is not recorded in Scripture how St. Thomas was called to the apostleship; but the indispensable condition of an apostle being to leave all and follow Christ, it cannot be questioned that he did so. This was the perfection of their state, who were chosen to spread the gospel throughout the world, and to carry the name of Christ before kings and princes. They were to renounce the earth, that they might be, without distractions, wholly attentive to the business of heaven, and give evident proof of their having no other interest, but in Jesus Christ alone.
This apostle, having once undertaken to follow Christ, continued faithful to him; and gave sufficient evidence of his sincerity, when, apprehending his Master's life to be in danger by his going up to Jerusalem, and all the other apostles dissuading him from it, he alone cried out: Let us also go, and die with him. This was the test of a true disciple, not to think of leaving Christ when dangers threatened, but readily to offer himself to take part with his Master in all his sufferings. All the followers of Christ must endeavour to observe this rule. They are not only to be faithful in their duties to him, when it is consistent with their interest, reputation, quiet, and spiritual comfort; for all this may be suspected; but they must likewise continue their fidelity, where they foresee that they arc likely to be sufferers or losers by it. If a Christian tells the truth, when it is to his purpose, and defends himself by lies, when he apprehends that the truth will prove disadvantageous to him, is such a one a true disciple? or, can he say: Let us go and die with Christ, who is so unwilling to suffer anything for him? If a Christian observes the rules of exact sobriety and discipline, when left to his own conduct, and yet joins with those who importune him to disorder and excess, rather than bear their raillery;-if, for fear of being pointed at, he follows a corrupt world, in all its prodigality, vanity, and luxury; if he would serve his neighbour, could it only be done without trouble; if his desires be to live virtuously and justly, but the apprehension of want puts him upon ways that are unjustifiable; if he would observe peace with his neighbours, but cannot bear their impertinent and disagreeable humours ;-if he would ask pardon for injuries done, but cannot submit to the humiliation, or to the thought of being reputed tame and poor-spirited; can such a man pretend to the character of Christ's disciple, who thus upon the prospect of any difficulty or uneasiness, abandons his cause, and so far forsakes him. A Christian ought ever to be in a disposition of dying with Christ it is part of this day's lesson. He is to follow him even to death: what then, if he meets with the ordinary discouragements, which commonly work by raising fear or shame? If he cannot overcome these, how will he do it when they are accompanied with the terrors of racks and death? He that surrenders to a weak enemy, how can he hope to be victorious, when assaulted by a much greater force ?
Strive therefore daily to be constant in all your duties : accustom yourself to force your way upon meeting with opposition. Let no fear or shame prevail on you, to the omission of any duty have no regard to what the world will say of you. Look on difficulties, troubles, temptations, and disquiets, as part of your portion, and an exercise of this
life, to which God has called you. Be not therefore afraid to suffer
and then if God shall call you to greater trials, you may hope to say
still with this apostle : Let us go, and die with our suffering Lord." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, In her Canticle, Mary teaches Priests how to thank God for their elevation to the Priesthood.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday July 02, 2025 at 12:00AM in Meditations
The Visitation by Gerónimo Antonio de Ezquerra (1660–1733)
"THE Blessed Virgin Mary visits St. Elizabeth, and St. John is sanctified in his mother's womb. This is the first communication of the spirit of the Word incarnate; and Jesus on this day begins to give grace and joy to souls. Open your heart to Jesus, and pray that you may partake of His grace. Leave not your prayers, till you have reason to hope that this happy effect is wrought in you. Mary no sooner spoke, but Elizabeth was filled with grace. Beg now of Mary to speak in your behalf. By her charity, she co-operates to the spiritual birth of St. John; and may not she now by the same charity co-operate to yours? Fear not to join with St. Elizabeth, and proclaim her blessed among women, and that blessed is the fruit of her womb. Profess the Incarnation of the Son of God, and that she is truly the Mother of our Lord.
Learn what your visits ought to be. As far as they are necessary to maintain charity, and keep up a good correspondence with your neighbours and friends, they are not to be censured. Nay, there may be so much trouble and mortification in making them, that if submitted to as necessary for the support of charity, they may be of great advantage to your soul. Visit then, as far as charity requires; and fail not to be punctual in visits, where you have any prospect of doing good, by bringing comfort, relief, or light. One word of a saint sometimes fills others with light and grace. Contribute what you can, in all your visits, to the good of others. Frequent opportunities are offered of defending the innocent, of doing right to justice and truth, and moderating something of that bitterness and prejudice, with which you see the minds of others unduly possessed. By such moderation, charity, and humility, your visits, like this of the Blessed Virgin Mary, may be sanctified, But if the true ground of your frequent visiting be to gratify any vain, idle, or unsettled humour; and if in your discourses you ever flatter company, by concurring with them in every subject that is brought up, you are in the way of contracting so manifold guilt, in the breach of all charity, that without any other crimes you are in danger of excluding from your soul the visits of the Divine Spirit, and of never being admitted into the company of the blessed. Pray for grace, for a prudent management of this affair; and that you may never forfeit your title to heaven, by indiscreet compliances with modes and humours. Be therefore on your guard, and beseech God to accompany you in all your visits. His protection is necessary in time of danger, and especially in the occasion of sin; and such, it is to be feared, are most of your visits." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
“I will praise the Name of God with a canticle, and I will magnify Him praise” Ps. Lxviii. 31 “My soul doth magnify the Lord.” St. Luke i. 46
1. My Soul doth magnify the Lord. In this Canticle (says St. Bonaventure) three things are to be observed; first, the affection of Her who praises; secondly, the reason of Her praise; thirdly, the enlargement of the Divine praise; for no praise is perfect unless it be accompanied by a due affection and reason, and performed in due method… The Blessed Virgin listened to the praise which St. Elizabeth bestowed on Her, and immediately referred all the praise to God. When Elizabeth told Her that her son rejoiced in her womb with joy at the voice of Her salutation, Mary replied that Her spirit rejoiced in God. “Thou magnifiest the Mother of thy Lord, by my soul doth magnify the Lord. Thy son exulteth at my voice, but my spirit rejoiceth in God my Savior.” Thus does St. Bernard explain Her words. Or (according to St. Athanasius) “the greater is the miracle of Divine goodness of which I am the instrument, the more am I constrained to glorify Him Who works wonders in me.” Now, let us enter into ourselves, and consider what the Priesthood is which God has conferred upon us. Is it not a great miracle of Divine omnipotence by reason of its divine dignity, and because of the means with which it furnishes us for exercising it aright? Do not we work miracles at the Altar, in the Confessional, in administering the other Sacraments? What, then, is the affection with which we “magnify the Lord,” and “rejoice in Him?” St. Basil says that, in Holy Scripture, by this term is signified the lively, joyful, affection of a soul which is rightly disposed! Oh that in each one of us had Mary’s spirit to rejoice in God! And yet how few are the Priests who thank God with sincere affection for their vocation! Might they not at least take pattern by the gratitude of Nebuchadnezzar, and say, “I praise and magnify and glorify the King of Heaven!” (Daniel 4, 34).
2. Because “He hath regarded the humility of His hand maid". Here (says St. Bonaventure) Mary adds the reason of Her praise. The Blessed Virgin shows forth the beneficence of grace, which had made Her amiable before God. And worthy of the praises of men; and She shows forth also the great and merciful miracle of His power which He had worked in Her (says the same St. Bonaventure). We, too, ought to acknowledge that stream of grace by which Almighty God has united us to Himself, and caused us to be called blessed by the Faithful; we, too ought to acknowledge that truly great and merciful miracle by which “ God hath chosen the weak and base things of the world to confound the strong” (1 Cor. 1. 27,28); and this should be our reason for praising God, Who hath “looked upon us for good, and hath lifted us up from our low estate” (Eccl. 11. 13). What merit had we that we should be preferred before so many millions of men? The whole reason of this act consists in the power of the doer (says St. Augustin). Who, among men, can ask of God why He should have preferred us before them? For He will do all that pleaseth Him, and His word is full of power; neither can any man say to Him, “Why dost thou so?” (Eccl. 8. 3,4) Let us speak continually the words of Azarias: “Blessed is the Holy Name of Thy glory” (Dan. 3. 52).
3. And His mercy is from generation unto generations. The third part of the Canticle enlarges the Divine praises, by celebrating God’s mercy, His power, His liberality, and the truth of His promises (as St. Bonaventure points out). Are not we Priests bound to praise the mercy of the Lord,, Who by His special providence has freed us from innumerable dangers of soul and body, in order to lead us to the Altar, and to make us what we are – so that each one of us might say with the Apostle, “By the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace in me hath not been void… yet not I, but the grace of God with me?” (1 Cor. 15. 10) We also have experienced God’s power, Who “hath showed might in His arm;” “Who hath raised up the needy from the dust, and lifted up the poor from the dunghill; that he might sit with princes, and hold the throne of glory?” (I Kings 2. 6) Again, ought we not to praise God’s liberality in that He hath “poured forth upon us abundantly” the Holy Spirit (Tit. 3.6.), and thus “hath filled the hungry with good things, but the rich He hath sent empty away?” Lastly, the truth of the Divine promises was magnified by the Blessed Virgin in these words – “As He spoke, ect.;” and ought not we, too, to call to mind the innumerable promises, made by Almighty God in Holy Scripture, that He would “raise up among His people a faithful priest, who should do according to His heart” (1 Kings 2. 35), and give to His flocks “pastors according to His own heart: (Jer. 3. 15); “to fill the soul of the Priests with fatness” (31.14); and “to give glory, joy, and power to the Priests of the new covenant?” (Is. 56. 4) Therefore, let us bless the Lord, and in the daily recital of this magnificent Canticle, let us join ourselves in spirit with Mary in blessing Him, praying to Her to offer Him our benedictions in such wise as to obtain for us a blessing which shall enrich us with all “good things.” Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy : for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 3 1872. (by Scotti, Angelo Antonio; Oblates of Saint Charles)
