#5 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind
by VP
Posted on Wednesday February 26, 2025 at 11:00PM in Thursday Reparation
5. We adore Thee, O Sacrament of Love! And to repair all those thoughts and criminal desires, conceived even at the foot of Thy altars, we offer up to Thee all the pure affections and chaste desires of the Dominations. 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.
St. Leander, Bishop of Seville, Confessor, A.D. 596.
by VP
Posted on Wednesday February 26, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"He entered into a monastery very young, where he lived many years, and attained to an eminent degree of virtue and sacred learning. These qualities occasioned his being promoted to the see of Seville; but his change of condition made little or no alteration in his method of life, though it brought on him a great increase of care and solicitude for the salvation of those whom God had placed under his care, as well as for the necessities of the whole Church, and particularly of the Church of Spain. He was a man of that eminent piety and public spirit, that he forgot himself, when the service of God and his flock was before him. His great affliction was the errors of the Visigoths, who were all generally infected with Arianism. But his prayers and tears were so powerful with the divine mercy, that God in a short time made him the instrument of converting to the Catholic faith Hermenegild the king's son, who died a martyr by his father's cruelty. He also afterwards so far prevailed with the father, that the care of his other son was committed to him; by which means the whole nation soon after renounced its errors, to the great comfort of this prelate, and of the whole Church. Having seen the fruit of his labours, he departed this life, full of joy, in the sixth century.
Let the blessings which attended this prelate move you to pray that a like spirit may animate the prelates and pastors of God's Church. And let his zeal raise in you a compassion for all those, whose obstinacy in vice and errors keeps them out of the way of salvation. You have a horror of seeing a limb cut off, or witnessing a public execution; but what are these to the consideration of such vast numbers running into hell-fire? Pray that God would remove this blindness. Let no joy remove this misery of your neighbor from your heart; that you may be ever mindful of the compassion and charity due to him." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows (1838-1862)
by VP
Posted on Wednesday February 26, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"Our Lady's Creed by St. Gabriel:
I believe, O Mary, that thou art the mother of all men.
I believe that thou art our life and, after God, the sole refuge of sinners.
I
believe that thou art the strength of Christians, and their help,
especially at the hour of death; that following thee, I shall not stray;
that praying to thee, I shall not be abandoned; that standing with
thee, I shall not fall.
I believe that thou art ready to aid those
who call upon thee, that thou art the salvation of those who invoke
thee, and that thou art willing to do more good for us than we can
desire; that even when not asked, thou dost hasten to our assistance.
I
believe that in thy name is to be found a sweetness like to that
experienced by Saint Bernard in the name of Jesus - that it is joy to
the heart, honey to the mouth and music to the ears and that, after the
name of Jesus, there is no other name through which the faithful receive
so much grace, so much hope and so much consolation.
I believe that
thou art a co-redemptrix with Christ for our salvation, that all the
graces which God dispenses pass through thy hands, and that no one will
enter heaven except through thee who art rightly called the 'Gate of
Heaven.'
I believe that true devotion to thee is a most certain sign of eternal salvation.
I believe that thou art superior to all tire saints and angels, and that God alone surpasses thee.
I
believe that God has given to thee in the highest possible degree, all
the graces, special and general, with which He can favor His creatures.
I believe that thy beauty and excellence surpass that of all angels and men.
I
believe that thou alone didst fulfill perfectly the precept: 'Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God": and that the very seraphim of heaven can
learn from thy heart how to love God.
I believe that if all the love
which all mothers have for their children, all that all husbands and
wives have for each other, all that all the angels and saints have for
those who are devoted to them, were united in one, it would not equal
the love that thou hast for even one soul."
Chaplet of Our Lady of Sorrows
Prayer to St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows:
Dear Saint Gabriel, your very name recalls your particular devotion to Christ the Man of Sorrows and to Mary the Afflicted Mother. You died young as a Passionist religious but left to us all an example of a life of Christlike sacrifice. Intercede for our seminarians and young religious who are in desperate need of your patronage amid today’s sensual and selfish world. Amen.
"We also remarked in him a tender devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He was truly enamoured of Christ in the Eucharist. Frequently, he spoke to his companions of his sacramental Lord with an emotion and vivacity so intense that he aroused the enthusiasm of those who listened to him. To Christ in the tabernacle his thoughts instinctively turned, and all the impulses of his heart impelled him to go before the altar to pour out his affections. Many times in the day and night, he would send his angel guardian to visit the Blessed Sacrament when his occupations would not permit him to do so in person. And sometimes he would tell his angel to go to the place where Christ was most lonely and forgotten, there to adore and keep vigil with Him.
“When out for a walk, if we entered a church, his first thought was to look for the altar of the Blessed Sacrament, and then to kneel before it in silent adoration. He became all affected and moved when he spoke of the coldness with which so many receive the Holy Eucharist, and of the outrages, profanations and sacrileges committed against It by unbelievers and even by bad Christians. From these insults offered to Jesus he took occasion to admire His patience and mercy; and he would redouble his efforts to make reparation so far as he could.
(...)
The words which, at this time, he addressed to his brother who had just been ordained to the priesthood, may be taken as indicative of the sentiments that actuated his own conduct. "Shun idleness, and apply yourself to study. One of the thoughts that frightens me when I think of becoming a priest is the study it demands, and few are the days on which this reflexion does not occasion me serious thought.”
To Gabriel, study was not merely an occupation, not merely an essential requisite for admission to the priesthood. To him knowledge was power: power, in the first place, that would enable him to discharge the work of the ministry for which he was preparing, not only efficiently, but in the full spirit of the Church, who bids her children learn wisdom from the lips of her priests, and who commands her priests not only to recognize the value of learning, but also to acquire it, and set it in motion in the great combat waged between mere human reason and divine revelation in the arena of human thought and moral responsibility.
In the second place knowledge, in his eyes, was power that would raise him to higher levels in the sanctity to which he aspired. To him the ultimate purpose of every endeavor was to know God better. He was accustomed to repeat to his companions the saying of one of the wise philosophers of the Middle Ages:
"Logic is good, which teaches us how to separate truth from falsehood; grammar is good, which teaches us to write and speak correctly; rhetoric is good, which teaches us to speak with elegance and to persuade; geometry is good, which teaches us to measure the earth on which we dwell; so is arithmetic, or the art of reckoning, by means of which we can convince ourselves of the small number of our days; and music is good, which teaches us harmonies, and makes us think of the sweet song of the Blessed; and finally, astronomy is good, which makes us consider the heavenly bodies, and the virtues of the stars, darting forth splendor before God. But much better is theology, which alone can be truly called a liberal science, because it frees the human soul from its miseries, and prepares it for the acquiring of virtue.”
And this the study of theology did for Gabriel. The sublime and amazing truths it unfolded before his mind - of God, His nature and His attributes - brought the divine Majesty closer to him and by its very beauty and splendor, enraptured his soul until, entirely overwhelmed by the divine attractiveness, his soul surrendered itself to God in completest love and profoundest homage. Thus his studies were for him an act of worship.
“He directed his attention chiefly to his interior, stripping his heart of its vices and clothing it with the opposite virtues.
He kept before his eyes his own nothingness and misery; his former life in the world, his propensity to evil, his weakness and selfishness. With all these motives he was deeply penetrated, especially during the time of meditation; and by this means he attained such a lowly opinion of himself that he greatly feared and distrusted self, relying in all things solely on the assistance of God's grace. He often said: 'Of myself I can do nothing. Of myself, I am capable only of sin, yes, even of the greatest crimes.' He spoke thus because he was thoroughly convinced that what he said was true."
Source: Saint Gabriel, Passionist by Father Camillus J Hollobough, C.P., 1923
St. Alexander, PATRIARCH OF ALEXANDRIA, CONFESSOR, a.d. 326.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday February 25, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"He was a man of apostolic doctrine and life, exceedingly charitable to the poor, and full of faith, zeal, and fervour. His promotion to the see of Alexandria so exasperated Arius, then a priest of that church, and reader of scripture, that he ever made an interest against him. As the saint's life and conduct were irreproachable, all his endeavours to oppose him were levelled at his doctrine, in opposition to which, Arius denied the divinity of Christ. Hence that grievous heresy had its first rise; which afterwards brought so much confusion to the Church. By the zeal of St. Alexander, Arius was condemned in a council assembled by him at Alexandria; and the saint had the comfort to see his sentence confirmed by the general council of Nice. Arius solicited still to be received again into the communion of the Church: but the holy bishop, who knew his dissimulation, defended his flock against this wolf. St. Alexander, after the triumph of the faith at the council of Nice, returned to Alexandria; where, having recommended St. Athanasius for his successor, he died in 326, on the 26th of February.
Having recommended to God all the pastors of his Church, and besought him to pour forth upon them the spirit of this holy prelate, cast your eyes then on yourself, and see how far you are faithful in satisfying the many duties of your own state. Sloth, cowardice, neglect and bad example are very pernicious in all conditions; and bring a heavy weight of consequences on those who should be more watchful and regular. There are great mischiefs in families, as well as in the Church. You are unhappy, if you are the Arius there; and criminal still if your neglect is favourable to any other that A true disciple of Christ, by a sincere spirit of humility
and distrust in himself, is submissive to all authority appointed by
God, in which he finds his peace, security, and joy. This happy
disposition is his secure fence against the illusions of self-sufficiency and pride, which easily betrays men into the most fatal errors." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
St. Tarasius, Patriarch of Constantinople, Confessor, a.d. 806.
by VP
Posted on Monday February 24, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"He was brought up by his pious mother in the practice of the most eminent virtues. Above all things, she recommended him to keep no company but that of the most virtuous. The young man, by his talents and virtue, gained the esteem of all, and was raised to the greatest honours of the empire, being made consul, and afterwards secretary of state to the Emperor Constantine, and the Empress Irene, his mother. In the midst of the court, and of its highest honours, surrounded by all that could flatter pride, or gratify sensuality, he led a life like that of a religious man. Paul, patriarch of Constantinople, touched with the sense of his own weakness, in having conformed in some respects to the errors of the Iconoclasts, who opposed the pious veneration of holy images, quitted the patriarchal see, and determined to end his days in a monastery, that he might there do penance for his rashness. Being asked whom he thought equal to the charge of succeeding him in the see of Constantinople, he immediately named Tarasius, who was accordingly chosen patriarch, by the unanimous consent of the court, clergy, and people. Being consecrated bishop, his humility was remarkable, in his renouncing all manner of state and superfluity, both as to table and retinue, having that always in his mouth and practice, that he came not to be served, but to serve. His charity was great to the poor: his zeal for discipline and reforming abuses, both in clergy and people, wonderful; and his courage apostolic in opposing the errors of his time. He stood up against the iniquity of his prince, who cast off his empress for pretended crimes: for which he suffered confinement for some years; and by his patience in it prepared his soul for the liberty of heaven, to which he was called in the beginning of the ninth century.
Pray for all prelates and pastors; and beseech God that they may be imitators of this glorious saint." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Blessed Domenico Lentini, The Angel of the Altar. (1770-1828)
by VP
Posted on Monday February 24, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"In the south Italian province of Basilicata lies the little town of Lauria in the diocese of Policastro. Here was born on November 20, 1770, the Blessed Dominic Lentini. On account of the extreme poverty of his parents the boy met with great difficulties in completing his studies. After his ordination Lentini became a professor in the Lyceum of his native town. He strove particularly to enlighten the young as to the false principles of the philosophy of the day by means of many discourses of a philosophy-apologetic kind.
In 1779 a liberty tree had been erected in Lauria. When the revolution reached its climax, the cooler hears desired to pull it down, but a crowd of furious revolutionists ranged themselves before it, ready to strike down any one who should dare to touch it. A great uproar ensued. Then the young priest Lentini stepped out before the crowd and resolutely ordered them to pull down the tree and bring it to the nearest hill. They involuntary obeyed him. Then he mad them fashion the wood into a cross and raise it aloft. Beneath it he addressed them with burning eloquence, telling them: "This is the tree of freedom and of salvation. We shall honor no other." Contrite and with hearts redeemed to the ancient Faith, the crowd dispersed. Lentini died on February 16, 1828. His grave continually attracts many pilgrims because of the extraordinary things which take place there."
Source: The Holiness of the Church in the Nineteenth Century: Saintly Men and Women of our own times ... By Rev. Fr. Konstantin Kempf, S.J.
"Priest of the Diocese of Tursi-Lagonegro (formerly Policastro); b. Nov. 20, 1770, at Lauria, Potenza, Italy;d. there Feb. 25, 1828. The youngest of the five children of Macario Lentini and Rosalia Vitarella, Domenico (Dominic) Lentini studied in the seminary at Salerno and was ordained in 1794. In addition to his ministry in Lauria, he taught literature, philosophy, and theology to young people in his home without monetary compensation. He preached and catechized throughout the diocese and spread the devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. He is called the "precursor to the Curé d'Ars" (St. John vianney) because of his willingness to make himself available to hear confessions and his gift of reading hearts. He practiced personal austerity in order to provide charity to the poor, and frequent penances in the spirit of reparation. Lentini was beatified on Oct. 12, 1997 by Pope John Paul II."
Source: Encyclopedia.com
Biography: Blessed Dominic Lentini
Prayer:
O blessed Domenico Lentini listen to the prayers of supplication that we bring you, trusting in your intercession. Help us turn our life towards the Lord, to seek in everything, His taste, His will and His glory. You were in love with the Crucifix, teach us the way of brotherly love. Watch over our families, that they may be a place of prayer, peace and life. Arouse in the hearts of young people the desire to follow Christ and to serve Him in His Church. Be a refuge, comfort and hope for those experiencing suffering in body and spirit. Give us, following your example, the ability to abandon ourselves in the hands and heart of the Sorrowful Virgin, to proceed safely towards eternal life, the final destination of our pilgrimage, where you await us. Obtain for us the grace that we need the most. AmenTranslated from the Italian with the help of DC
Saint Matthias, Apostle
by VP
Posted on Sunday February 23, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
“It behoves us to combat the flesh and
make use of it without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to
the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.” St. Matthias
"He was an apostle: pray for all that are called to that holy function. And as he was chosen by heaven, pray that all of that character may be the choice of heaven.
He was chosen to fill the place of Judas. Conceive an humble distrust of yourself, and tremble at the fall of an apostle. Pray for heavenly strength, that by it you may be secured against the sad effects of human weakness.
Judas having fallen from the apostleship, one is to be chosen to fill his place. Two are proposed, Joseph called Barsabas, surnamed the just, and Mathias. The apostles join in prayer, and beg of God to determine the person; and the lot fell upon Mathias, who was numbered among the eleven. An excellent method and direction left to all succeeding ages, for the choice of persons to ecclesiastical functions, and for all places of trust. What wonder that there are so many abuses in all public employments both in church and state, when justice and duty are so generally neglected, God so commonly forgotten, and all things managed by the direction of private gain and interest?
Either open or secret covetousness is at the root of all evils. It was that which cast Judas from his apostleship, and carried him on to the denial of his Master; and it ought to make all Christians very jealous of themselves, and of all their proceedings, especially where gain and money are in the case. For though he must have renounced all principles of honor, honesty, and justice, who steals and designedly wrongs his neighbor; yet there are so many disguised robberies and palliated injustices, that a man must have a very powerful influence of sincerity, truth, and virtue, to escape being drawn into these snares. For self-love is so very subtle and ingenious in finding out reasons favorable to what it desires, that without great caution, it insensibly leads men, under the cover of pretended right and justice, into a variey of frauds and oppressions. So that even those who have an abhorrence of all such proceedings in their neighbors, are but too often, through an affected partiality, carried beyond all that they have before condemned in others; and when their actions come more particularly to be looked into, are found to have done things which raise wonder in all sober men.
So that the lesson of this day comes to be the common concern of all, as far as they are entrusted with money affairs; as of the wife in regard to her husband; of children, to their parents; of stewards, and servants, to their masters; of lawyers, to their clients; of overseers and collectors, to the poor; and finally, of as many as have any sort of trust, in relation to what they have undertaken. There are none of these, but what are under a great tie of fidelity and justice, and are exposed to many temptations of transgressing their bounds. Here then, let him that thinks himself to stand, take heed lest he fall. Let all beg for a powerful assistance of grace to support them against the power of private interest; that so they may be able to give an account of their stewardship.
And because there is a
like danger in all other christian duties; and there is no security, as
St. Bernard observes, either in heaven, or paradise, or on earth; since the angels fell from heaven, Adam from paradise, and Judas from the very school of Christ; let the memory of this day inspire all with a salutary distrust of themselves. Let it put them upon working out their salvation with fear and trembling; and most earnestly on importuning Him to come to their assistance, whose grace alone is able to secure them against the dangers of their own weakness, and of all snares set before them. O Lord, save us, or we perish. Thus let this day's devotion be concluded with acts of most profound humility and fear, and an entire confidence in God." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
St. Peter Damian, Bishop and Confessor, A.D. 1072.
by VP
Posted on Saturday February 22, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"He was the youngest of many children, and losing his parents when very young, was very cruelly treated by one of his brothers, and when grown up was sent to keep swine. Another of his brothers however treated him kindly, and gave him an education. He was soon qualified to teach others, which he did with great applause. To arm himself against the allurements of pleasure and the artifices of the devil, he wore a rough hair shirt, and inured himself to fasting, watching, and prayer. At length he resolved entirely to leave the world, and embrace a monastic life; and soon after this, he became a religious of the order of St. Benedict, in an hermitage at the foot of the Apennines. His obedience was so perfect, that the least word of any superior made him run that moment to discharge what was enjoined, with the utmost exactness. After some time he was commanded by his abbot to take upon himself the government of the hermitage, which he governed with great wisdom and sanctity.
St. Peter Damian was much employed for twelve years in the service of the Church, by many bishops and by four popes successively. At length Pope Stephen IX. prevailed on him to quit his desert, and made him cardinal bishop of Ostia. Having rendered great services to the Church in this dignity for some years, he begged with great importunity to be allowed to resign it, and return to his solitude. Pope Alexander II. out of affection for the holy man, allowed him to do so. In his retirement he edified the Church by his penance and compunction, and by his numerous writings. God was pleased to call him to the crown of his labours in the year 1072, when he was 83 years old.
This day is also the Vigil of St. Mathias; and those who expect the favours of heaven
are required to fit themselves for them by spending it in a suitable
manner. Our great indispositions are pride and self-love; and these are
best cured by penance and humiliation. There are many kinds of mortification, by which you may answer the design of the Church. Make not this day, at least, a day of liberty and diversion, but let these give place to recollection and prayer." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Placing Scandals (Sexagessima)
by VP
Posted on Saturday February 22, 2025 at 11:00PM in Sunday Sermons
The Sower of good seed, 1180.
“And other some fell among thorns, and the thorns growing up with it choked it."-St. Luke viii. 7.
We,
my dear brethren, have received the seed of the Divine word, and we
have kept it: we have never fallen away from the true faith as it is in
Christ and His Church, and with God's help we never shall. Our
steadfastness in the faith is our greatest glory in the sight of heaven
and of earth, and whatever our shortcomings may be, we are at least free
from the awful crime of apostasy, and this worst of all reproaches can
never be laid to our charge. The good soil that produces a hundred fold
is ours; but alas! the thorny soil is ours also, and our faith though
firmly rooted is often choked by the pernicious jungle growing up around
us, in which we suffer ourselves to become entangled.
How many a
glorious promise of supernatural faith and virtue in those around us
becomes utterly blighted by the thorns of the world's ways and
temptations, because no proper care is taken to resist them and stamp
them out! The thorny growths that stifle our faith and render it
worthless in the sight of God are many indeed, but there is one in
particular that is more destructive than all the rest beside. I need
hardly name it to you, for you know it but too well—the deadly Upas-tree
of intemperance- that casts its withering shade over our hearts and
homes and altars! Is there a single person here this morning that does
not know of more than one generous soul in whom every fruitful germ of
faith and hope and charity, and every sentiment of true Christian
manhood and womanhood, have not been blighted by this prevalent passion ?
Call the roll of your nearest friends and acquaintances, and how many
will you not find absent from the ranks of Christian life, duty, and
fidelity through this one vice? There is a skeleton in every closet, and
the saloon-keepers have taken the flesh off its bones. This more than
anything else chokes the divine seed of the word amongst us; this
nullifies the power of our faith; this neutralizes the effects of the
Sacraments; this scandalizes our holy religion and makes our consecrated
ministry vain; for this is the evil root from whence springs the foul
crop of lusts and blasphemies, and crimes and contentions, that stifle
every virtue of the Christian life and weigh down the Church of the
living God.
Could we but cast out this baneful blight of
intemperance from amongst us, our glorious faith would appear in all its
strength and beauty, and yield its hundred fold. If it were not for the
gross and scandalous lives that so many so-called Catholics lead,
nothing could stop the onward march of our faith. This is the one
objection raised against us that we cannot satisfactorily meet.
We
know very well that ours is the only true religion, and that it
supplies every help that we need to enable us to overcome our passions
and to lead upright lives. But the world at large knows little or
nothing of our faith; it only looks at the dark side of our every-day
conduct, and scornfully asks: "Where is the influence of the Catholic
religion on the venal politician, the low liquor-seller, the drunken
reveler, the meretricious streetwalker, the abominable fathers and
mothers who make their homes a hell upon earth, and drive their
unfortunate children to destruction ? And what reply can we make? We
cannot deny that many who claim to profess our faith are an utter
disgrace to it, and a rock of scandal to the world. They, of course,
have shaken off all sense of obligation to their religion and its
teachings, and have no more conception of religious duty than the cow or
the horse. Theirs is a purely animal existence, they live only for the
gratification of their lower nature, and we disclaim all responsibility
for them. What responsibility has the Catholic Church for those who
seldom or ever darken its doors, who never approach its Sacraments, who
spend their Saturday nights in the saloons, and their Sunday mornings in
drunken slumber? What responsibility has the Church for the recreant
rowdies who hang around the corner grog-shops, and the fallen flirts who
frequent the sidewalks? They may have Catholic names, but that is the
only evidence of their Catholicity. The thorns of dissipation and
sensuality and sin of every kind have choked the seed of truth in their
hearts, and they are outside the soul of the Church, though they may
still claim to belong to its visible pale. But take our consistent
Catholics, men and women who are in touch with the spirit of their faith
and honestly endeavor to live up to its teachings. Are they not in very
truth the salt of the earth? and does not the divine seed planted in
their souls produce a hundred fold?"
Source: Five minutes sermons for Low Masses for every Sundays of the Year by the Priests of the Congregation of Saint Paul 1893
St. Peter's Chair at Antioch.
by VP
Posted on Friday February 21, 2025 at 11:00PM in Saints
"A DAY in memory of St. Peter's fixing his episcopal see at Antioch; where, as St. Luke informs us, the followers of Christ were first called Christians. It was just that the prince of the apostles should take this city under his particular care and inspection, which was then the capital of the East, and in which the faith took so early and deep root. St. Chrysos tom says that St. Peter made a long stay at Antioch. St. Gregory the Great, that he was seven years bishop of that Church. St. Leo says that we ought to celebrate the chair of St. Peter with no less joy than the day of his martyrdom, for as in this he was exalted to a throne of glory in heaven, so by the former he was installed head of the Church on earth.
On this festival, adore and thank the divine goodness for the establishment and propagation of his Church; and earnestly pray that in his mercy he would preserve the same and extend it, that his name may be glorified by all nations and by all hearts to the boundaries of the earth. The Church of Christ is his spiritual kingdom. He not only founded it, but continues to govern it, and by his spirit to animate its members to the end of the world as its visible head; though he has left St. Peter and his successors as a visible head for its exterior government.
Give thanks on this day for the propagation of the gospel among the Gentiles; and pray that it may be still more and more enlarged, for the enlightening all those who sit in darkness, and know not God. Pray in particular for the people of the East. Pray for all the prelates in Christ's Church, that as they succeed the apostles, they may be animated with an apostolic spirit in renouncing the world and its ways, and applying themselves wholly to the good of their flock. Pray that none may be admitted to that dignity, but such as are truly qualified for the charge, and called by God, as the apostles were. Pray likewise for the peace and unity of the Church, for the remedying all abuses, and that there may be one pastor and one fold." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
