Feast of the Chair of Saint Peter
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
The Chair of St. Peter
"St. Peter, having founded the Church at Antioch, and established the Gospel in Gallacia, Capadocia, and other parts, came afterwards to Rome, where he erected his episcopal chair. Give praise to the infinite goodness of God, who thus directed his apostle to the capital city of the world, which being once converted to the faith of Christ, might with so much ease establish it in all nations and provinces subject to its power. Hence it was that we received the gospel; and therefore it is a day wherein we are concerned as well as Rome, and which requires your thanksgiving for this conduct of the divine goodness, ordaining the means of our salvation.
The capital of the empire of the world, and the centre of impiety, called for the zeal of the prince of the apostles. God had established the Roman empire, and extended its dominion beyond that of any former monarchy, for the more easy propagation of His Gospel. Its metropolis was of the greatest importance for this enterprise. St. Peter took that province upon himself; and repairing to Rome, there preached the faith, and established his episcopal chair, whose successors the bishops of Rome have been accounted in all ages.
It was by this means, that the city of Rome, in which was crowded all the superstition and idolatry of the whole world, for which it was called Babylon, was cleansed of its errors, sanctified by the faith of Christ, and made the centre of the Christian communion. Pray for that See now, that God may be ever its protector, and the Gospel its rule. Pray for all those nations, which are drowned in idolatry and error, that He would show them the like mercy, in bringing them to the light of His saving truths. Pray for yourself and your friends; and let not the depth of iniquity, or present obstinacy, put you into despair. You see here the effect of the divine power and mercy, which can easily draw light out of darkness, and of Babylon make a holy Jerusalem." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Jan 18. The return of all the "other sheep" to the one fold of St. Peter, the one Shepherd. (Church Unity Octave Prayer)
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
"That all be one, O Lord, bring - bring them home -
The "other sheep" to thy one fold on earth,
To him who sits in Peter's Chair at Rome,
Thy Vicar, since the age which saw thy birth;
That with one Shepherd under one command
May march thy conquering hosts in every land.
"Ut omnes unum sint," O lord, we pray
That all be drawn within thy one, true fold,
Back to thy Church - from which the wand'rers stray
And the true Faith she keeps like saints of Old.
O bring them back, Good Shepherd of the sheep;
And rouse the heathen nations from their sleep. Amen"
Source: Catholic Hymns for the People, James Martin Raker 1919
Prayer intention: The return of all the "other sheep" to the one fold of St. Peter, the one Shepherd
- Ant. That they all may be one, as
Thou, Father, in me and I in Thee, that they also may be one in us; that
the world may believe that Thou has sent me.
℣. I say to thee, that thou art Peter,
℟. And upon this rock I will build my Church.
Let us pray: Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst say to Thine Apostles: peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you, look not upon my sins, but upon the faith of Thy Church; and vouchsafe unto Her that peace and unity which is agreeable to Thy will: Who livest and reignest God forever and ever. Amen.
Reflection:
"On this opening day of the Chair of Unity Octave, the Church celebrates the feast of St. Peter to whom was first confided the primacy and supremacy as the Vicar of Christ. This feast was reestablished by Pope Paul IV in 1558 to emphasize the authority and the primacy of the Papacy, after the Protestants tried to show that St. Peter never lived or died in Rome. This feast providentially stressed the role of St. Peter as Christ's Vicar on earth and it symbolizes the unity of the Church and the authority which St. Peter and his successors received from God.
Humanly speaking, prayer for the unity of all men in the true Church seems fantastic; it seems an unattainable goal. For there are more than two billion people on the earth; more than half of these are not Christian in any form, while seven hundred million who call themselves Christians are not members of the true Church. Moreover, the great plan of converting the world has been going on for nearly two thousand years and it is still so far from realization. How can unity come? How will Christ's prayer be answered? It is not foolish even to dream of such a gigantic venture? But this is not a human goal at stake; it does not depend on the flimsy means of human thought and action; it is founded on sacrifice and prayer and grace.
The Blessed Mother of God can conquer souls for her Son. She dispenses the grace by which men come to know and love Him and the grace by which the faithful become zealous apostles fired with the desire of winning souls. As the late Bishop Francis X. Ford, heroic missioner in China, said: "Our Blessed Mother wants us to share anxiety for the conversion of the world...she wants us to carry about with us in our daily work this deep anxiety for the conversion of souls, and a corresponding generosity in offering reparation for the sins of the world...Our hearts must be like the Heart of Mary: anxious, yearning for the conversion of all people."
Though the problem is staggering and the task seem impossible, the gentle but powerful influence of Mary will overcome the forces of evil and of disunity. Mary is not only the humble Maid of Nazareth but the woman clothed with the sun, formidable as an army ready for battle - she will vanquish the powers of hell and win souls to Christ. As Pope Pius XI declared: "May Mary, the most holy Queen of the Apostles, graciously second our common undertakings; Mary, who since as she holds in her mother's heart all men who were committed to her on Calvary, cherishes and loves, not only those who happily enjoy the fruits of the Redemption, but those likewise who still do not know that they have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
If all the faithful took an active interest in the Octave what a powerful wave of grace would sweep over the world! Or as Bishop Ford wrote: "If the Catholics throughout the world...were to redouble their prayers for the conversion of those outside the fold, the united prayers that would storm heaven would without doubt mark the year as a Pentecostal renewal. Our participation in this octave will at least enlarge our viewpoint, broaden our charity, and make us see in every man a brother whom Christ is yearning to welcome to His sacraments. "
Source: Father Titius Crannis, S.A. The American Ecclesiastical Review, Volume 130, Herman Joseph Heuser Catholic University of America Press, 1954
Prayers of Reparation to the Holy Face of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Saturday January 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
O God, by Thy Holy Name have pity on us, protect us, and save us.
O good Jesus, in the sweet Name guard our Sovereign Pontiff; breathe into his
soul the spirit of the Comforter.
Jesus, thy Church is menaced with great trials! Holy Father, by the virtue of
thy salutary Name protect the Church of Jesus Christ. This was the last will of
thy Divine Son; it is the holy prayer which love prompted towards the end of his
life. Holy Father, keep in thy Name those thou hast given me (St. John chap. xxxvii. 11)
O most holy and worthy Mother, refuge of the Church, intercede for us and save us by
the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
St. Michael and the Holy Angels, guard the bark of Peter; disperse its enemies
by the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Source: Sister Saint-Pierre and the Work of Reparation.
Manual of the Archconfraternity of the Holy Face
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Friday January 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
"If it is true that by contemplating Christ, sinners learn from Him the
“sorrow for sins” needed to bring them back to the Father, this is even
more the case for sacred ministers.
How can we forget, in this
regard, that nothing causes more suffering for the Church, the Body of
Christ, than the sins of her pastors, especially the sins of those who
become “thieves and robbers” of the sheep (cf. Jn 10:1 ff.), lead them
astray by their own private teachings, or ensnare them in the toils of
sin and death? Dear priests, the summons to conversion and to trust in
God’s mercy also applies to us; we too must humbly, sincerely and
unceasingly implore the heart of Jesus to preserve us from the
terrifying risk of endangering the very people we are obliged to save."
-- Pope Benedict XVI, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19 June 2009
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Most Sweet Jesus, whose overflowing
charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and
contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special
act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving
Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great
indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we
humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary
expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins
of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their
obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or,
renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke
of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage
committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the
manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and
behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the
innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the
shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also
to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy
priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or
terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very crimes of nations who resist the
rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood.
We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor,
the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the cross and
which Thou continuest to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union
with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and
of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make
recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect
of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the
past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of
conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and
especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to
prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to
follow Thee.
O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother,
our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make
of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep
us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee,
so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the
Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and
ever. Amen.
From the Raccolta, #256 (S. P. Ap., June 1, 1928 and March 18, 1932); Enchridion of Indulgences #26.
This prayer was prescribed to be recited on this feast by Pope Pius XI
Prayer for a Blessing on the New Year
by VP
Posted on Wednesday January 01, 2025 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
Ember Days Winter (December 18, 20, 21)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Let us, therefore, revive Embers days!
Let us again pray, fast, and abstain for more faithful priests!
Wednesday (20th): the day Christ was betrayed (Fast and half-abstinence)
Friday (22nd): Christ was crucified (Fast and abstinence)
and Saturday (23rd): the day Christ was entombed. (Fast and half-abstinence)
"Many Christians, alas, scarcely know the purpose of the Ember days. They have been appointed in order that the faithful pray for good priests, and may supplement their prayers by fasting and good works. Good priests must be obtained through prayer. The greatest blessing for a parish is a good, zealous priest. Those who often pray for priests will draw God's blessing upon themselves, and will experience the assistance and blessing of the priest in the hour of death."Rev. Ferreol Girarday C.S.S.R
The observance of Ember days is a very old tradition, going back to the
Apostolic time and taking after the Roman Pagan customs that held
festivals on each seasons of the year. In 494, Pope Gelasius I used
the Ember Saturdays to confer ordination to the priesthood.
From
their origins, Ember days had a two fold purpose: to pray for the
laborers and for the fruits of the harvest. During these three days,
Catholics were thanking Our Blessed Lord "for the gifts of nature" asking
Him "to teach men to make use of them in moderation, assist the needy"
but most of all to pray for more good priests. Ember Days: Catholic Encyclopedia
In 1969, Pope Paul VI excluded the embers day from being mandatory
days of fast and abstinence and left their celebrations to the
discretion of the local bishops. Even though the US Bishops' Conference
has decided not to celebrate them, we may still choose to do so as a
personal devotion since its observance at home or small communities is
not discouraged:
"17. Vigils and Ember Days, as most now know, no
longer oblige to fast and abstinence. However, the liturgical renewal
and the deeper appreciation of the joy of the holy days of the
Christian year will, we hope, result in a renewed appreciation as to why
our forefathers spoke of "a fast before a feast." We impose no fast
before any feast-day, but we suggest that the devout will find greater
Christian joy in the feasts of the liturgical calendar if they freely
bind themselves, for their own motives and in their own spirit of
piety, to prepare for each Church festival by a day of particular
self-denial, penitential prayer and fasting."
Vigils and Ember Days (USCCB) 1966
"We should never let these seasons pass without adding prayer to our fasts, or it may be compensating fast by prayer. Our prayer should be for the clergy, not only those ordained, though for them especially; but for the Sovereign Pontiff, the cardinals, bishops, parochial clergy, missionaries and religious orders, seminarians; and for the grace of vocation to the priesthood. An excellent prayer for this purpose is the Litany of the Saints, in which so many bishops, priests, and Levites are invoked; or the Rosary may be appropriately said, grouping those for whom we pray into five classes, corresponding to the five decades." Publications of the Catholic Truth Society, (Volume 24)
"The fast of the Ember days has been instituted principally to obtain of God good, holy and zealous priests for His Church. On this point especially depend the honor and welfare of the Church and the salvation of mankind. History proves, beyond all doubt, that a careless and tepid clergy do greater injury to the Church and to the souls of men than a bitter and bloody persecution. Persecution, in its outcome, proves beneficial to the Church and sends heroic martyrs to heaven, but a clergy devoid of holiness and virtue is the scourge of souls and the disgrace of the Church." Rev. Ferreol Girarday C.S.S.R
December 12th Our Lady of Guadalupe
by VP
Posted on Thursday December 12, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Wikipedia
"Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mystical Rose, make intercession for the Holy Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen."
Sacred Apostolic Penitentiary, 1938. prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe, Pope Pius X August 18, 1908.
Our Lady of Guadalupe.
America does not lack the right to rejoice in a miraculous visit on the part of the Ever Blessed Virgin Mother. The spot sanctified by apparitions of Mary Immaculate is called Guadalupe, a few miles away from the city of Mexico.
At a time when Guadalupe was but a barren mountainous wilderness, on December 9, 1531, a pious Catholic Indian by the name of Juan Diego was making his way through this wilderness for the purpose of attending Mass in the city. Juan Diego was a truly Christian man and extremely devout to Our Blessed Lady. This may in a measure account for the appearance before him - there in the midst of the lonely mountain country - of a beautiful lady, one whose beauty was such that he felt no doubt whatever when she told him that she was the Mother of God, and bade him go to Bishop Zumarraga in the city and advise the Bishop that she wished a church in her honor to be built on the very spot her feet were then touching. Juan Diego obeyed Our Lady's command. But the Bishop, unconvinced, unwilling to act on the word of an Indian unknown to him, instructed him to ask a sign, a proof of her identity, from the lady who had described herself as the Mother of God.
A few days later, on December 12, Juan again went to the city in order to fetch a priest for his uncle who was sick. Unwilling to meet the lady again - because he disliked the idea of asking her for a sign, according to the Bishop's directions, he turned from the path he usually traveled. Nevertheless, Our Lady once more appeared. She assured him that he need not make haste to go for a priest, as-through her intercession-his uncle was even now restored to health. And she repeated her desire that on this spot should be built a church in her honor, where she should be invoked as "Our Lady of Guadalupe." Then she sent him to some neighboring rocks, telling ing him to gather the roses he would find there. It was not the season of the year when roses bloom in that part of Mexico, and Juan had never known roses to grow in these barren mountains, but he did as he was told and found a bush covered with beautiful red roses. These he gathered and placed within the cloak or blanket that he wore. When he had brought them to Most Holy Mary, she arranged them herself, and folding the cloak over them so that it acted as a basket, commanded Juan not to show its contents to anyone, but to carry it to the Bishop, without delay.
The pious Indian's obedience was faultless. He presented himself at the Bishop's house, and when the prelate received him, opened the cloak he carried, whereupon the beautiful roses fell to the floor. To the humble Indian's great astonishment, the Bishop and his attendants were kneeling with every appearance of fervent faith. No sooner, however, had he glanced at the cloak he was holding than he understood why the Bishop knelt down, for, imprinted on the poor blanket-cloak, he beheld a life-size picture of the Mother of God, done in rarely beautiful colors. It was Our Lady's "sign" given the Bishop and all the world.
Of course, there was no further room for doubt. The church was built and is today one of the earth's great sanctuaries. Our Lady of Guadalupe is the patroness of Mexico, and at her shrine hundreds and thousands of miracles, testifying to Mary's boundless mercy and tenderness, have been performed.
Over the main altar of that great church is seen today, as it has been seen for several centuries, the miraculous picture of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The cloak on which a divine agency imprinted this picture, the poor Indian's blanket-cloak, consists of two pieces of rough, common material somewhat like sacking, some seventy inches long by eighteen inches wide. Artists and chemical experts who have examined it, declare the cloak's material utterly unfit for painting, and say that the coloring of the picture is not due to oil colors, nor to water colors, nor to any coloring known to man. Also, the nearly five hundred years which have passed since Our Lady gave back his cloak to Juan Diego have not dimmed the mysterious colors of the miraculous picture in the least.
Patroness of America.
A chapter dealing with the devotion of Our Blessed Lady would be unsatisfactory if it did not remind Catholics of the United States that they are not only simply but doubly under the patronage of God's Ever Blessed Virgin Mother. In the first place, Most Holy Mary is our patroness because her Son, Our Lord, made her the mother of all men truly believing in Him, by saying to St. John from His Cross: "Behold thy Mother"! and to Mary: "Behold Thy Son"! And in the second place, she is again our patroness because Holy Church, in the early part of the last century, placed the United States under the special protection of Mary, Conceived Without Sin. Wherefore it would seem that each one of us American Catholics should be particularly zealous in the service of Mary Immaculate and in the defense and spread of her cult. (...)"
Source: Our Faith and the Facts (Religion's
Story, what Catholics Believe and Practice, Answers to Charges Made
Against the Church , what We Have Done and are Doing, a Busy Person's
Reference Work, a Home Library) P.L. Baine, 1927 -
October 12th, Our Lady of the Pillar
by VP
Posted on Saturday October 12, 2024 at 01:00AM in Prayers
La Virgen del pilar (late 18th century, Puerto Rico) by José Campeche y Jordán
Prayer to Our Lady of the Pillar
O Virgin Mother of the Pillar, deigning to appear to thy beloved
disciple, St. James, promising him the victory over paganism, and
blessing so abundantly his labors for the spread of the True Catholic
Faith, secure for us also, who are the children of that same Faith, the
victory over our many foes and the paganism that threaten souls in our
day.
Through the intercession of thine Apostle, St. James, the “Son of
Thunder”, may we help establish everywhere the true devotion to thy
Immaculate Heart that Our Lord wills for the conversion of all sinners.
Amen.
"Of all the places that Spain offers for the veneration of the devout, the most illustrious is doubtless the sanctuary consecrated to God under the invocation of the Blessed Virgin, under the title of our Lady of the Pillar, at Saragossa. According to ancient and pious tradition, St. James the Greater, led by Providence into Spain, spent some time at Saragossa. He there received a signal favor from the Blessed Virgin. As he was praying with his disciples one night, upon the banks of the Ebro, as the same tradition informs us, the Mother of God, who still lived, appeared to him, and commanded him to erect an oratory in that place. The apostle delayed not to obey this injunction, and with the assistance of his disciples soon constructed a small chapel. In the course of time a larger church was built and dedicated, which, with the dedication of Saint Savior's, is kept as a festival in the city and Diocese of Saragossa on the 4th of October."
Approved by the Sacred Congregation of Rites on 7 August 1723, and later inserted in the lessons of the office of the feast of our Lady of the Pillar, celebrated on 12 October.
Source: wikipedia
Prayer for Priests and Vocation ( Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 01, 2024 at 01:00AM in Prayers
"Now it is in the Host that I can see you carry your annihilation in full. How humble you are , oh Divine King of Glory in submitting Yourself to all your priests without making any distinction between those who love you and those who, alas, are lukewarm or cold in your service! You descend from Heaven to their call. They can anticipate or delay the time of your Holy Sacrifice. You are always ready! (Pr 20)" -- St. Therese of Lisieux
Prayer for Priests and Vocation ( Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux)
O Holy Father, may the torrents of love
flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests
like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross;
priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly
give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.
May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of
Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who
suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and
thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into
close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is
specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart. Give us
priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who
will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which
Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.
Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son,
open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and
give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the
tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.
O my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful, to
those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may
grasp it as their support. And for those poor unfortunate souls who have
fallen, lift them up in the great ocean of Your Mercy, that being
engulfed therein, they may receive the grace to return to Your Great
Loving Heart. Amen.
St. Therese of Lisieux
Prayer for the Protection of the Church to Saint Michael and the Holy Angels
by VP
Posted on Sunday September 29, 2024 at 01:00AM in Prayers
Prayer to the Holy Angels for Parishes
All you legions and choirs of Angels, please make haste to come to the aid and defense of our One Holy Roman Catholic Church. Led by St. Michael, may she be protected from destruction within by all modernistic attempts that try to diminish the true presence of God and take away His proper and due respect! In particular, come to the aid of my parish (name your parish) that it may remain or be remade to be a place of reverence and a stronghold from which the One True Triune God may continue to lead and strengthen us. Amen. CAPG
"Give thanks for that glory which the angels enjoy. Rejoice in their happiness, and pray that you may arrive at length at that unchangeable state.
Pray for that spirit of adoration in which they prostrate themselves before the throne of God. Join with them in spirit this day, and add your mite to those praises which they give to their Creator: to him be praise and glory for ever.
Pray that the will of God may be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Pray for grace, that you may not be wanting on your part, by withdrawing yourself from that obedience which you owe to your God.
A day instituted in honor of St. Michael and all the choirs of angels, ought to be a summons to all Christians to look into that happy state of which they are possessed; and by considering what their employment is, to conclude what ought to be the business of those, who are preparing to have part with them for all eternity. Now the least glance towards them informs us, that their whole occupation is in God; to adore, bless, and magnify him, to be wholly subject to him, and perform his will in all things; and that in the contemplation and possession of him is their whole happiness. This is an instruction to us, that as we entertain hopes of being added to that blessed company, so we ought here in this life to dispose and fit our souls for that which we hope will be our entertainment for ever. That however we find the whole bent of our souls, with a sort of violence, carrying us towards the earth, yet that it ought to be our endeavor to work our souls by degrees into so holy a disposition, as to be willing to leave earth for heaven. That in the meantime we ought to repute all earthly goods as vain, all satisfactions here as dangerous, and all worldly honor and the opinion of men as unprofitable. We ought to settle a fixed judgment that God is the only good; that He who is the happiness of the blessed is our only happiness here; that the best employment of our understanding is to know Him, and the ways that lead to Him, and of our will and affections to love Him. This ought to be the business of a Christian life, and is most certainly the best preparation for a happy death. For the soul by this means coming as near the life of the blessed, as the condition of this life will permit, death becomes not a death to it, but sets it at liberty from all those impediments, which were here its oppression and grievance, and puts it in a way of perfecting what it could here but imperfectly begin. Happy are those Christians, who by frequent consideration of that state which the blessed enjoy, and which is the object of their hopes, can bring their souls to this holy disposition, and make God the entertainment of their understanding and will here, whom they desire to be their only one for ever.
But because the greatest hindrances of this work, are the many distractions of this life, we cannot but acknowledge it a very providential mercy that God has by his Church appointed certain days to be kept holy, wherein Christians may not only give rest to their bodies, but to their souls also, by taking them off from the solicitude of worldly affairs, and applying them more closely to God. It is to be feared that there are very few who make it their practice to spend these days of salvation unprofitably, without shewing the wrath of God to be upon them, by other notorious disorders and their irregular lives.
It were to be wished therefore, that all Christians would learn on these days, when they are called to the life of angels, to withdraw their minds, as much as may be, from this busy and distracting world, and confine them more to the business of angels; and that they would refresh their souls with the same heavenly food. This would strengthen them against all temptations and difficulties of the world, and would make them cheerfully bend under all God's appointments. It would teach them to adore God, to love Him, and rejoice in Him. This is the life of the angels, and into these holy dispositions must those Christians work their souls, who hope to live for ever in the company of the angels." [The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER]
St. Michael the Archangel Catholic Church, Cary NC
Prayer for the Protection of the Church to Saint Michael
O glorious Saint Michael, guardian and
defender of the Church of Jesus Christ, come to the assistance of the
Church, against which the powers of Hell are unchained, guard with
especial care her august Head, and obtain that for him and for us the
hour of triumph may speedily arrive.
O glorious Archangel Saint
Michael, watch over us during life, defend us against the assaults of
the demon, assist us especially at the hour of death; obtain for us a
favorable judgment, and the happiness of beholding God face to face for
endless ages. Amen
