CAPG's Blog 

St. Monica, WIDOW, A.D. 387.

by VP


Posted on Wednesday August 27, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


“How many difficulties there are also today in family relationships and how many mothers are anguished because their children choose mistaken ways! Monica, a wise and solid woman in the faith, invites them not to be discouraged, but to persevere in their mission of wives and mothers, maintaining firm their confidence in God and clinging with perseverance to prayer.” (Pope Benedict XVI) Source: Archconfraternity of Christian Mothers

"Ladies, if you wish to become real Christian mothers, fix your eyes on St. Monica; follow in her steps. If you, too, mourn over the wanderings of your sons, do not despair. Imitate her: invoke her aid. It is impossible but that she, who suffered so much on earth from the same cause, should not be touched by your sorrows, and obtain for you, in the conversion of your own children, the happiness which she herself received from our Lord.

Only persevere; use the means which she used: offer the sacrifice of your prayers, our tears, your penances, for the sins of your boys; so that the day may come when, with your last breath, you will be able to say joyfully with her, "Why should I stay longer here? My task is done."

(...) He who could not resist the tears of the widow of Nain, will be moved by the sight of thousands of mothers pleading for their children's souls. He will not allow a whole generation of young men to perish, wet with their mother's tears.

Finish your great work, O Monica! and from Heaven where you share the glory of the son of whom you were in a double sense the mother, look upon the multitude of women now fulfilling the hard and trying mission once entrusted to yourself. Sustain them in their trials, that their faith fail not, and teach them, by the example of your life, that the fame of evil, kindled by the enemy of souls in the hearts of their children, can be extinguished by the sacred and more powerful flame of a mother's love." Source: Monseigneur Sibour, Archbishop of Paris, Church of Notre Dame de Sion, 1856


"Leon Dupont had great devotion also to the mother of the great St. Augustine. "The world," he said, "is full of sorrowing mothers and wives; I recommend to you the Litany of St. Monica." (Source: The Life Of Léon Papin-Dupont, The Holy Man Of Tours)

"ST. MONICA was mother of the great St. Augustin. Seeing him unhappily fallen into the heresy of the Manichees, she ceased not by continual prayers and tears to solicit heaven in behalf of her son, that he might return to the truth. For this end she followed him to Milan; where by the means of St. Ambrose he was delivered from his errors, and prepared for becoming a great light in Christ's Church. Give thanks for this mercy shewn to both mother and son; and beseech God to inspire all parents with this charity in all the misconduct and errors of their children. To importune heaven by prayers, tears, and alms, is the most assured way of obliging the Father of mercy to their assistance, from whom alone their help must come. They may justly hope that the children of constant and fervent prayer will never perish. Therefore as those parents, who are unconcerned at the disorderly conduct of their children, shew neither compassion, nor a due sense of eternity; so all those who follow St. Monica's steps, in sparing no pains, nor omitting any occasion likely to contribute to their children's good, have this certain comfort, that their labour will not be lost. If it has not the effect which they desire, still it will be the increase of their own crown.

One constant practice of St. Monica, was to assist daily at the altar of God; from whence she knew that that victim was dispensed, by which was cancelled the hand-writing against us. In this, and other holy exercises of piety and charity, she spent the years of her widowhood; and at length, on her return to Africa, she was seized with a violent fever, and departed to heaven in the year 389. Pray for all widows, that they may be constant in all the exercises of religion, and especially in that of assisting daily, if in their power, before the altar of God, at Mass. Whatever your condition be, follow the example of so great a saint: see that sloth and vain pretexts be not your hindrance, and heartily lament all past neglects. Be careful not to lose this day at least: beg grace to be delivered from all disorders, and extend your charity to all in vice or error." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother


The Litany of Saint Monica

Lord have mercy on us
Christ, have mercy on us
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us
God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us

Holy Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee.
O Saint Joseph, head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
St. Monica, pray for us.
Saint Monica, faithful to the commitments of your childhood, pray for us.
Saint Monica, model of Christian wives, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who by your example and your prayers obtained the conversion of Patrice, your husband, pray for us.
Saint Monica, model of chaste and pious widows, pray for us.
Saint Monica, model of Christian mothers, pray for us.
Saint Monica, mother of St. Augustine, pray for us.

Saint Monica, who has wept so much over his mistakes, pray for us.
Saint Monica, so persevering in your ardent prayers for his conversion, pray for us.
Saint Monica, as prudent as she is zealous in the pursuit of this dear soul, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who was the protection of your absent son, pray for us.
Saint Monica, whose hope was sustained by the prophetic words of a holy bishop, pray for us.
Saint Monica, to whom it has been granted that the child of so many tears should not perish in his errors, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who had the consolation of seeing him converted and faithful, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who have saintly conversed with him about the things of heaven, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who have peacefully fallen asleep in the Lord, after having accomplished the labors of your motherhood, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who cannot refuse your prayers to mothers who weep and pray like you, pray for us.
Saint Monica, who has helped many in their anguish, pray for us.

Preserve the innocence of our youngest children, we beseech you, Saint Monica.
Increase your prayers for young people exposed to the seductions of the world, we beseech you, Saint Monica.
Obtain for those who go astray the grace to listen to the voice of their conscience which calls them back to God, we beseech you, Saint Monica.
Obtain that they do not remain deaf to their mother's advice, nor insensible to her sorrow, we beseech you, Saint Monica.
Obtain for all mothers the grace to fulfill their duties steadily and perseveringly, we beseech you, Saint Monica.
Commend all mothers to the protection of the ever Blessed Virgin Mother of Our Lord, we beseech you, St. Monica
Favorably incline the heart of your beloved son Augustine to the salvation of our children.
Holy son of such a saintly mother, Saint Augustine, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us , O Lord!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord!
Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord!

V. Pray for us, O holy St. Monica
R. that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: O God, who observed the devout tears and pleading of St. Monica and granted to her prayers the conversion of her husband and the penitential return of her son Augustine, grant us the grace to implore Thee also with earnest zeal, so that we may obtain, as she did, the salvation of our own soul and the souls of those belonging to us, Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

O holy Monica, by your patience and prayers you obtained from God the conversion of your husband and the grace to live in peace with him; obtain for us, we beseech you, the blessing of Almighty God, so that true harmony and peace may reign also in our homes, and that all the members of our families may attain eternal life. Amen.

O Holy Monica, by your burning tears and unceasing prayers you saved your son from eternal damnation. Obtain for us the grace ever to comprehend what is most conducive to the salvation of our children so that we may effectively restrain them from sin and lead them by virtue and piety to Heaven Amen.

SourceRecueil de prières, de méditations  By Louise Mathilde de Flavigny 1864 and Saint Monica: Model of Christian Mothers By F. A. Forbes. 


PRAYER OF A MOTHER FOR HER LOST CHILD.

O Jesus, Savior and Redeemer of men, Who have restored to a desolate mother the only son whose loss she mourned, and Who, in the touching symbol of the prodigal son, have shown such sweet mercy for children who go astray, deign to recall and bring back mine, unfortunately drawn away from you, far from me, far from duty. My poor child! O my God, I beseech Thee, I beseech Thee with tears, open his eyes, touch his heart, break his bonds, give him courage, let him return to the pure affections of his family. Let Him throw himself into Your arms, like another Augustine; let him kiss your sacred feet, like the repentant Mary Magdalene. 

Alas! alas! and if before your eyes, from which nothing is hidden, O my God, I bore the terrible responsibility for the errors I deplore; if, through negligence or culpable weakness, I had first allowed dangerous germs to grow and develop in the soul of my son; if, later, I had in some way authorized his disorders by the lightness of my words or my conduct, Lord, let yourselves be touched by so cruel a punishment; see my repentance, the sorrow that expiates my faults; forgive us both, and attach us to you for ever." So be it. Amen

SourceRecueil de prières, de méditations  By Louise Mathilde de Flavigny 1864


Saint Zephyrinus (Pope and Martyr)

by VP


Posted on Tuesday August 26, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
















Pope and Martyr

"God has always raised up holy pastors, zealous to maintain the sacred deposit of the faith of His Church inviolable, and to watch over the purity of its moral, and the sanctity of its discipline. How many conflicts did they sustain! with what constancy, watchfulness, and courage, did they stand their ground against idolatry, heresy, and the corruption of the World!

We enjoy the greatest advantages of the divine grace through their labors; and we owe to God a tribute of perpetual thanksgiving and immortal praise for all those mercies which He has afforded His Church on earth. We are bound also to recommend most earnestly to Him His own work, praying that He exalt the glory of His divine name, by propagating His holy faith on earth: that He continually raise up in His Church shining examples of all virtue, pastors filled with His spirit, and a people disposed to captivate their understandings to His revealed truths, and subject their hearts to the sweet yoke of His holy love and divine law; watchful to abhor and oppose every profane innovation of doctrine, and all assaults and artifices of vice."

Source: The Lives of the Primitive Fathers, Martyrs, and Other Principal Saints, Butler

"THIS saint was bishop of Rome in the time of the Emperor Severus; and under the cruel persecution raised by him against the Church, this holy pastor was the support and consolation of the distressed flock of Christ. He filled the pontifical chair seventeen years, and was put to death by the Emperor Antonius Caracalla, in the year 219.

Pray for the present bishop of that holy see. His charge is great; and as all the faithful have a concern in his conduct, so he ought to have a daily share in their prayers, Pray for all in persecution and trouble, that by patience and perseverance they may work out their salvation. Let the difficulty which you experience in yourself in all manner of suffering, move you to have compassion on others, and oblige you to be in earnest in soliciting heaven in their behalf. Be ever watchful against all the attempts of impatience and anger; that so your temporal evils may be a means of obtaining eternal goods. How much might you have advanced towards heaven, by a Christian submission to your troubles now past! But you have lost the opportunity. Make a better use of such occasions as are yet to come. Be careful not to permit your heart to be seized with prejudice or passion. These are evils which indispose your mind against all the force of reason, truth, justice, religion, and even against the evidence of miracles; and who must answer for all the train of ill consequences which follow upon them? Be upon your guard against ill temper. To be always on the fret, and make all unhappy who live under the same roof with you, is a temper scarcely tolerable in a Christian. It is too apt to make those under you careless of everything that is said to them, and to judge all reproof to be nothing but humour; it is not consistent with discretion, and therefore ought to be amended. Few are exempt from some degree of this ill temper: observe yourself, and while you honour the martyrs, doing good to all by their patience, pray for grace to follow their example." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother.


Prayer to St. Louis, KING AND CONFESSOR, A.D. 1270.

by VP


Posted on Monday August 25, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


St. Louis, Sacred Heart Dunn, NC

Prayer:  O Saint Louis IX, inspire our bishop and priests to preach the Faith with courage, constancy, and love. Strengthen them to combat every evil. Pray that God will raise up courageous and honorable civil leaders who will enact laws respecting the dignity of human life and enforce them with justice, truth, and charity.

Pray for all faithful men and women that they will live virtuous and peaceful lives as they journey toward their final goal of Heaven.

Pray that all children may keep their baptismal innocence and be spared from every evil.

Pray that the sanctity of human life will be forever respected. Pray for an increase in holy vocations to the priesthood and religious life and Saint Louis, as you have left your earthly throne to assume your heavenly throne, pray that we will one day share with you the eternal crown of salvation after our earthly lives are ended. Amen. Source: CAPG

KING AND CONFESSOR, A.D. 1270.

"ST. LOUIS was king of Francis, and the ninth of that name. He was brought up in great piety by his holy mother St. Blanche; whose first care it was to instill into his tender soul the highest esteem and awe for every thing that regarded the divine worship, the strongest sentiments of religion and virtue, and a particular love of holy chastity. She used often to say to him, when he was a child: "I love you, my dear son, with all the tenderness a mother is capable of; but I would infinitely rather see you fall down dead at my feet, than that you should ever commit a mortal sin." In the court, he observed the discipline of the cloister, being moderate in apparel, rigorous in fasting, charitable to the poor and the sick, not only in visiting but relieving and helping them with his own hands. His zeal for Christianity made him bewail the Holy Land being in the possession of Infidels, and think of recovering it. For this end, having transported himself and a great army into those parts, and attempted its relief with success in his first battle with the Saracens, he was afterwards taken prisoner. Being ransomed, he resolved to make a second attempt upon them, but was seized with sickness in his camp, in Africa, and died there, at the head of his army, in the year 1270.

Pray for all Christian princes, and beseech God to give them a zeal for virtue and truth, that being in a rank above all, they may be examples to all. Be zealous in promoting what is good: but if you are sometimes disappointed, in not meeting with success, let not this deject you. For though you propose, yet you must leave it to God to dispose of all, as seems best to him. Is not his wisdom infinite? Depend therefore upon his wisdom, and call not in question what he does. Join with this pious prince in recovering the Holy Land. Ought not your heart to be the seat of God, and your soul the temple of the Holy Ghost? And are not they both subject to the tyranny of infidelity and sinful passions? Arm yourself against this usurpation, and strive to regain that liberty which Christ has purchased for you."  The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother


St. Bartholomew, Apostle

by VP


Posted on Sunday August 24, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


Bartolomeo Manfredi: The Martyrdom of Saint Bartholomew



"ST. BARTHOLOMEW was called by Jesus Christ to be His apostle: pray that all who undertake this sacred function, may be called to it, and chosen by Christ.

Having followed Christ, he preached the Gospel to barbarous nations, and planted the faith among them. Pray that the same blessing may attend all those who are engaged in this employment. So few heretofore and so plentiful a harvest; so many now, and so little fruit!

His labours were rewarded with the crown of martyrdom, he being seized by the enemies of his faith, and flayed alive. Pray for all who labour in the Gospel, that they may be ready to give their lives for Christ, and employ them in his service.

This festival of an apostle calls upon all Christians to give thanks to God for His mercy in calling them to the faith of Christ; and for the means which he has appointed to deliver them from all doubts, and secure them in His truths. They are called upon to thank Him for not leaving them to the weakness and uncertainty of their own private judgment, but appointing apostles, and sending them to deliver His faith to all nations; commanding all to hear and believe them under pain of eternal condemnation: He that believeth not, shall be condemned. Christ teaches His apostles, and the apostles teach the people. Thus the people when they hear the apostles, hear Christ: He that heareth you, heareth me. This was the method which Christ himself appointed for converting the whole world to his faith; and by this method the whole world was converted.

Now who dares presume to change the method ordained by Christ? Who can pretend to find a better? If an angel should have come, and taught any other, we ought not to have received it. How then can any justify themselves in following another recommended only by men? If we had lived in the days of the apostles, we should have observed this method, and been instructed in the Christian faith, by hearing the apostles. And why must we not follow the same method now? The same spirit of truth, which was promised to the apostles, was promised to abide with them and their successors, to the end of the world: Behold I am with you all days, even to the end of the world. He shall give you another Paraclete, that He may abide with you for ever. The Spirit of truth. Are not these Christ's own words? Is not He the eternal truth? Though heaven and earth pass away, yet His words cannot pass away.

Are we not therefore to believe Him? And can we profess to believe Him, if we believe not His words? To disown these, is to deny Christ. Since therefore He has promised that the Spirit of truth shall abide with the apostles for ever, and lead them into all truth to the end of the world, we must believe that this spirit abides with their successors, the pastors of His Church, in all ages, and must depend upon the guidance of this spirit in His Church, as much now, as if we had lived in the days of the apostles. If we had lived then, we should have had nothing more to depend on, than Christ's promise made to His apostles. We have the same now: and as Christ is the same now as he was then, so we have the same to depend upon. Our dependence is not to be more limited than His promise. His promise extended to all ages: and therefore the dependence of Christians upon it must be in all ages. Therefore did Christ say that His Church was built upon a rock, and that the gates of hell should not prevail against it. Therefore is the profession of believing the Catholic Church, inserted in the creed, as an article of faith, not for the time of the apostles only, but for all ages. Whoever proceeds by this method has his faith built on Christ Himself, on His word and promise, on the conduct of His Holy Spirit. Divine faith can stand only on divine authority. This is in Christ's Church, which is led into all truth by God's spirit; and therefore the Christian assents to what is delivered by this Church, because it carries with it the authority of God himself, who has promised to abide with her for ever." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother



St. Philip Benizi and the Servites, CONFESSOR, A.D. 1285.

by VP


Posted on Saturday August 23, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


File:Santa Maria dei Servi (Padua) - Altare dell'Addolorata - San Filippo Benizi.jpg

St. Philip

"ST. PHILIP was born at Florence, and practiced medicine some time at Paris. But returning home he applied himself to solicitude and prayer in a religious house which he entered, and was afterwards ordained priest. He spent his life in seeking the lost sheep, laboring every where to reclaim wicked Christians from their evil ways, and those that were seduced, from their errors, as likewise to make peace wherever he found differences, whether public or private. In this method he lived, till God called him to the reward of his labors, in 1285.

Follow the same method: whatever your employment be, you are to find time for prayer and recollection of spirit. If you seem not to have this time, be faithful and sincere in examining how far this is true; for sloth, tepidity, and indifference have many hindrances, which industry, resolution, and contrivance would find ways to remove. It is not a Christian's part to conclude that things cannot be done, because they cannot be done easily. Be helpful to others, in making them sensible of their evil ways. Be charitable in composing differences: sweetness and moderation are effectual for this end. Give no occasion to any misunderstanding between neighbors. For this end, never inform any one what you have heard another say of him. For this cannot be done, without betraying a trust reposed in you, in being a witness to such a discourse. It is seldom done without prejudice to truth, in making the affair worse than it was; and it cannot be done without the hazard of injustice; since the person who said it may have spoken inconsiderately, and may have repented of his rashness. Nor can it be done without a breach of charity, in doing otherwise than you would have others do by you. This informing temper ought to be avoided by all who love peace or hope for the reward of charity. Silence is far better than such tale bearing, by which Christians forget their profession, and make themselves the agents of the devil. Consider this well: pray and watch against this pernicious evil; and never encourage those who are given to it." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

"One of the most illustrious members of the Order of Servites was St. Philip Benizi, who exercised the office of General after St. Benedict de Lantella, and who was elected in 1267. St. Philip sent his religious to Poland, Hungary, and even the Indies. He arranged the first constitutions of the order, or rather gathered into one the regulations of his predecessors, and decreed that they should be read in the refectory every Saturday.

About this time, the institution of the Servites was threatened with destruction. In 1215, the Council of Lateran had forbidden the establishment of new religious orders, and this had been confirmed by that of Lyons in 1274. Innocent V, who had become Pope in 1274, took it for granted that the Servites were included in this prohibition, and therefore determined to suppress them. He drew the attention of Cardinal Otthoboni, Protector of the order, to the decree, and having cited St. Philip Benizi to Rome, he forbade him to receive novices or to sell any of the goods of the order, which he confiscated in favor of the Holy See. He at the same time forbade the Servites to hear confessions.

Fortunately for these religious, the Pope lived but a short time, and his successor John XXII, did not press the affair. It was agitated under Nicholas III, Martin IV, and Honorius IV, during which time the Servites had much to suffer on the side of some of the Bishops. Finally, after much deliberation, it was settled in favor of the Servites by Honorius IV, in 1286." [Source: History of Religious Orders, by Rev. Charles Warren Currier 1896 Page 323.]

"Philip Benizi was about to die, and Julianna was but fifteen years of age. Nevertheless, enlightened from on high, the Saint hesitated not: he confided the Order to Juliana's hands, and so slept in the peace of our Lord.
(...)
Benedict XI, in 1304, gave to the Servites the definitive sanction of the Church.

So true is it, that in the counsels of divine Providence, nor rank, nor age, not sex, count for aught! The simplicity of a soul that has wounded the Heart of the Spouse is stronger in her humble submission that highest authority; and her unknown prayer prevails over powers established by God Himself." [ Source: The Liturgical Year: The time after Pentecost, by Dom Gueranger]


Queenship of Mary

by VP


Posted on Friday August 22, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints















Our Lady, St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, Front Royal, VA


"Queen of heaven, thy immense love for God maketh thee likewise love His Church. We pray thee, come to its help amidst the ills under which it is now suffering, rent asunder as she is by her own children. Thy prayers, being a mother’s, can obtain all from that God Who loveth Thee so well.

Pray then, pray for the Church; ask for enlightenment for so many unbelievers who are persecuting it, and obtain for faithful souls the necessary strength to resist being caught in the snares of the unbelievers who would drag them down into their own ruin.


Encyclical of Pope Pius XII on Proclaiming the Queenship of Mary to the Venerable Brethren, the Patriarchs, Primates, Archbishops, Bishops, and Other Local Ordinaries in Peace and Communion with the Holy See.

"47. Since we are convinced, after long and serious reflection, that great good will accrue to the Church if this solidly established truth shines forth more clearly to all, like a luminous lamp raised aloft, by Our Apostolic authority We decree and establish the feast of Mary's Queenship, which is to be celebrated every year in the whole world on the 31st of May. We likewise ordain that on the same day the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary be renewed, cherishing the hope that through such consecration a new era may begin, joyous in Christian peace and in the triumph of religion.

48. Let all, therefore, try to approach with greater trust the throne of grace and mercy of our Queen and Mother, and beg for strength in adversity, light in darkness, consolation in sorrow; above all let them strive to free themselves from the slavery of sin and offer an unceasing homage, filled with filial loyalty, to their Queenly Mother. Let her churches be thronged by the faithful, her feast-days honored; may the beads of the Rosary be in the hands of all; may Christians gather, in small numbers and large, to sing her praises in churches, in homes, in hospitals, in prisons. May Mary's name be held in highest reverence, a name sweeter than honey and more precious than jewels; may none utter blasphemous words, the sign of a defiled soul, against that name graced with such dignity and revered for its motherly goodness; let no one be so bold as to speak a syllable which lacks the respect due to her name."

(...)

52. Earnestly desiring that the Queen and Mother of Christendom may hear these Our prayers, and by her peace make happy a world shaken by hate, and may, after this exile show unto us all Jesus, Who will be our eternal peace and joy, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to your flocks, as a promise of God's divine help and a pledge of Our love, from Our heart We impart the Apostolic Benediction."

Source:
Ad Caeli Reginam


St. Jane Frances, WIDOW, A.D. 1641.

by VP


Posted on Thursday August 21, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


File:Saint François de Sales donnant à sainte Jeanne de Chantal la règle de l'ordre de la Visitation Noël Hallé.jpg

Saint François de Sales donnant à sainte Jeanne de Chantal la règle de l'ordre de la Visitation Noël Hallé


"The father of St. Jane Frances was left a widower whilst his children were in their infancy: but he took care to train them to every religious duty, and this saint profited by this holy education above all the rest. She was married at twenty years of age to the Baron de Chantal, an officer of distinction in the French army. She made it her first care to establish regularity in her family. She scarcely ever admitted any company, and never stirred abroad; knowing it to be the delight of a good wife to watch over her servants, children, and domestic concerns, and to shun the snares of dissipation, levity, vanity, love of trifling, and much loss of time. She employed all her leisure hours, either at her work, or in daily exercises of prayer and pious reading.

At twenty-eight years of age she was left a widow. She bore the loss of her husband with heroic constancy and resignation. She offered herself to suffer whatever crosses God should be pleased to lay upon her, and made a vow to live thenceforth in perpetual chastity. She spent a considerable part of the nights in prayer and tears of compunction; she redoubled her alms, wore plain clothes, fasted much, lived retired, and divided her time between the care of her children, her prayers, and her work.

Under the direction of St. Francis of Sales, she laid the foundation of the Order of the Visitation of the B. Virgin Mary, for the basis of which, St. Francis would have the sister virtues of humility and meekness. He inculcated to his spiritual children the necessity of mortifying the senses; for these, being the avenues of the soul, are the encouragement of the passions, which can never be governed, unless the senses are strictly guarded and curbed. St. Jane Frances taught her nuns to love and receive well reprimands and correction, which is the greatest mark of true humility. She was afflicted with frequent painful sicknesses, and met with grievous trials and persecutions, but under all these God afforded her strength and consolation.

The saint being seized with her last illness, received the holy sacraments, gave her last instructions to her nuns, and with wonderful tranquillity died the death of the saints on the 13th of December, 1641, being sixty-nine years old.

Strive to imitate the eminent virtues, which this saint ever practiced and inculcated. Bear one another's burdens, and suffer nothing to cool your charity towards any one. Let mildness be the natural and constant frame of your soul, which no provocation must ever disturb. Temper corrections and reproofs with such tenderness and charity, as to give no one uneasiness: conceal and bear all personal injuries, and repay affronts with blessings and favors."

Novena and prayers to St. Jane Frances de Chantal: O Glorious saint, blessed Jane Frances, who, by thy fervent prayer, attention to the divine Presence, and purity of intention in thy actions, didst attain on earth an intimate union with God, be now our advocate, our mother, our guide in the path of virtue and perfection. Plead our cause near Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, to whom thou wast so tenderly devoted, and whose holy virtues thou didst so closely imitate.

Obtain for us, O amiable and compassionate saint, the virtues thou seest most necessary for us; and ardent love of Jesus in the Most Holy Sacrament, a tender and filial confidence in His blessed Mother, and, like thee, a constant remembrance of His sacred passion and death. Obtain also, we pray thee, that our particular intention in this novena may be fulfilled.

v. St. Jane Frances, pray for us

r. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Almighty and merciful God, Who didst grant Blessed St. Jane Frances, so inflamed with the love of Thee, a wonderful degree of fortitude through all the paths of life, and wast pleased through her adorn Thy Church with a new Religious order; grant, by her merits and prayers, that we, who, sensible of our weakness, confide in Thy strength, may overcome all adversities with the help of Thy heavenly grace, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen

Prayer to Implore Fidelity to Divine Grace: O Great St. Jane Frances! who, to follow the inspirations of the Holy Spirit, when thou west called to the religious state, didst despise all the ties of nature and of blood; obtain for us also the grace to correspond faithfully with all divine impulses, and to sacrifice to God whatever is most dear and precious to us.

For Perfect Conformity: O great St. Jane France, who didst execute, with the utmost exactness, thy singular and difficult vow to do always what thou didst recognize as most perfect; obtain for us the grace always to aspire to the acquisition of the most sublime sanctity, and never to omit any means which we know may conduce to this end.

Source: Blessed Sacrament Book By Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance









St. Bernard, ABBOT, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH, A.D. 1153.

by VP


Posted on Wednesday August 20, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


Conversion of the Duke of Aquitaine

 Memorare, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum. Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere; sed audi propitia et exaudi. Amen. By Saint Bernard

Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I fly to thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother; to thee do I come; before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.


"ST. BERNARD was born in Burgundy, and finding great difficulties in living up to the rules of the Gospel in the world, at the age of two-and-twenty entered into a religious house of the Cistercian monks. Here he applied himself wholly to the exercises of humility, piety, watching, and prayer; and was so rigorous in fasting, that at length eating became a greater mortification to him than abstinence. He refused great dignities, several times offered to him. He labored very much in composing many differences among Christian princes, and settling all ecclesiastical affairs, particularly here in England, under King Henry II., to whom he wrote many letters. He has left great proofs of his wonderful piety and learning in his writings. He died at the age of sixty-three, in the year 1153.

Pray for all the religious of his order, who from him are called Bernardines.From the pious resolution of this saint, who, the better to secure his salvation, withdrew from the world, reflect seriously on the world, and considering its common method, see how far you are obliged to forsake it, for securing your eternal good. Do you not observe that it goes contrary to the gospel, and not only approves, but encourages those very things, which are condemned by Christ? It promotes all manner of vanity, pride, and intemperance: it recommends pleasures, sensuality, idleness, and ease. It puts you upon all manner of curiosities, detraction, and revenge. It sets a value on all that is temporal, and disesteems whatever is for your eternal advantage. What, in these unhappy circumstances, can you do? If you follow the world, you are miserable; if you do not follow it, you appear ridiculous. This is the condition of those who live in the world. Can you then wonder at those who retire from it? Do you not see that they choose the much better part, in avoiding both its snares and its censures? If you are not called to this, you are obliged to come as near it as you can, in not being one of the world, while you live in it. live in it. And how can this be, but by taking in all things that way which it most disapproves, and forsaking that which it admires? It passes very wrong judgments upon every thing: therefore, how can you go right, but by letting its censures direct you in what you are to choose? This it will call folly: but is not the folly of the world the wisdom of Christ? If you have not courage to pursue this method, you have not the courage necessary to secure you from those dangers in which you live. For if you cannot stand against the torrent, you must be carried down by it: if you cannot overcome the world, you must be overcome by it. And if that perishes, what will become of you? These circumstances are very hard; watch then and, pray, and let your daily endeavors be answerable to the dangers in which you live." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother


Saint John Eudes, Priest: Bad Confessor

by VP


Posted on Tuesday August 19, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


File:EudisteFund.jpg

Painting with St. John Eudes with fathers and sisters of the congregations founded by himself.

Painted for the ceremony of beatification of Eudes, 1909


"(...) The bad or careless confessor, who is ignorant, imprudent, lazy, and negligent, is a plague in Christ's  Holy Church. He is not an emissary of God, but an agent of the devil. He is not a doctor of heaven but of hell, for as God has his patriarchs so the devil has heresiarchs. As God has His prophets, apostles and martyrs, so, too the devil has his prophets, apostles and martyrs.

The unworthy confessor is not a divine judge, but another Pilate, pronouncing sentence upon Christ and the souls that the Son of God died to redeem. He is not a mediator for God, but for the devil, not a dispenser of heavenly blessings but a profaner of divine mysteries and sacraments. In a word, instead of being another Christ, he is a very devil.

No tongue can tell the evil the bad confessor commits. He does great harm to the Church, persecuting it more cruelly than Nero, Diocletian, and the tyrants of history. Would to God that all priests who administer the Sacrament of Penance might meditate seriously on these truths! Would to God that they might consider the inestimable good that they would accomplish if they were animated with the same spirit and if they followed the same maxims! They would completely overthrow the devil's tyranny and snatch souls from perdition. Would they might open their ears to the words of the Holy Spirit: "Take heed what you do; for you exercise not the judgment of man, but of the Lord." (2 Par. 19,6) Take heed in very truth for what you do  is not temporary, but eternal. What you perform does not concern an earthly kingdom, but the kingdom of God. You handle the treasure of heaven; you are responsible for the salvation or the damnation of souls. Remember to bring to your task the care and application demanded; have the necessary qualifications. Otherwise, the absolution you give may become so many damnations for you. Never forget that when you say the words: Ego to Absolvo, the eternal judge may reply, if you are unworthy, Ego te condemno."

Source: The Priest his dignities and obligations, St. John Eudes

Prayer for Priest before Confession

In asking of Thee, O my God, the graces of which I am in need, can I, without ingratitude, forget before thee him whom thou hast chosen from among thy ministers to reconcile me to thee by the sacrament of penance, justly called the second plank after shipwreck?

Deign, I beseech thee, O my God, to adorn his soul with the virtues befitting the functions of the awful ministry with which you have invested him.

Grant him the faith of St. Peter, and the charity of St. Paul, the firmness of St. Chrysostom, the evangelic liberty of St. Ambrose, the lights of St. Augustine, the piety of St. Bernard, the zeal of St. Charles Borromeo, the mildness of St. Francis de Sales, and the humility of St. Vincent de Paul.

Guide him thyself, O Lord, in all his actions, that, after having been here below a prudent and faithful dispenser of thy mysteries, he may hereafter receive from thy bountiful hands the BRIGHT CROWN thou hast promised in a blessed eternity to the priests who shall have consecrated their lives to bring back their fellow-creatures from the ways of error, and conduct them in the paths of justice and peace. Amen

St. Joseph's Manual By Rev. James Fitton, (1877)

Prayer for Priest After Confession

A Prayer for a Priest after Confession

O Lord Jesus Christ, bless, I beseech Thee,Thy servant who has now ministered to me in Thy name. Help me to remember his good counsel and advice, and to perform duly what he has rightly laid upon me. And grant him the abundance of Thy grace and favor, that his own soul may be refreshed and strengthened for Thy perfect service, and that he may come at last to the joy of Thy heavenly kingdom. Who livest and reignest with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.

A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity 1896, p 293




St. Helen, Mother of Constantine the Great.

by VP


Posted on Monday August 18, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints


St. Helena


"O his accession to the imperial throne, Constantine the Great declared himself in favor of Christianity. It was not, however, until after his miraculous victory over Maxentius that he actually embraced the faith and induced his mother Helen to do likewise. Helen was then far advanced in years, but the precious seed fell upon good soil, and the august princess set to work with inconceivable ardor. She was nearly eighty years old when she journeyed to the Holy Land, sought and discovered the Cross of our Redeemer; and there erected monuments worthy of God and the empire. She founded churches, monasteries, and hospitals, and lent aid to every enterprise favorable to the interests of religion. Humble as fervent, she mingled unobtrusively with the crowds assisting at the public services, and afforded a salutary example to all the faithful. St. Helen died in 328, bequeathing to her imperial son the precious legacy of a mother's wise counsels.

When our souls shall leave this dwelling,
The glory of one fair and virtuous action
Is above all the 'scutcheons on our tomb,
Or silken banners over us.

JAMES SHIRLEY.

Favorite Practice: Devotion to the Passion and the Holy Cross of our Lord

Source: Short Lives of the Saints By Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly