Month of September
by VP
Posted on Sunday September 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Our Lady of Sorrows, Sacred Heart, Dunn NC
Devotion for the month of September: Our Lady of Sorrows
"Our Lady, Mother of Sorrows pray for Priests, your special sons. Strengthen their faith and love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, so that they may turn to Him for the grace they need to live a life faithful to their calling. Bring comfort, consolation and courage to those who are suffering under the weight of the Cross. Give them the love of your Son and zeal for the honor and glory of God, and the salvation of souls. Amen"
Virtue for the month of September: Prayer
"One of the acts of the virtue of religion. All intelligent creatures are bound to thing about God and to hold converse with Him; in other words, to pray to Him.
Prayer in this wide sense may be defined to be the raising of our minds to God, "ascensus mentis ad Deum." It may be either purely mental or vocal, that is, expressed in language.
The four great acts of prayer are Adoration (the acknowledgment of God's supreme majesty, and our entire dependence upon Him.),Thanksgiving, Petition, and in the event of our having offended Him, Contrition.The third of these, Petition, is so important that the word prayer (precari) conveys this notion alone: and it is of that we shall here chiefly speak.
The objections to prayer arise from two entirely opposite errors, chance, and fate. If all that happens takes place without any kind of power to regulate it, or if everything is governed by rigid law which cannot be controlled, then of course it is useless to pray. But reason and revelation alike tell us that the world is ruled by the Providence of God. We firmly uphold the existence of law in the universe, but at the same time we maintain that God, the author of this law, can counteract, suspend or change it at His pleasure. Thus we pray for rain, fine weather, or health because we believe that God is the Lord of heaven and earth, "Who worketh all things according to the counsel of His will" (Eph. i. 11; Mt. v.45; Acts xiv. 14-16). How God brings about the answers to our prayers cannot be exactly determined. The late W. G. Ward discussed the subject in a pamphlet entitled, "Science, Prayer, Free Will, and miracles."
Prayer, being an act of religion, should be addressed to God. We pray to Him, not because He does not already know our needs, but because He wills that we should ourselves put them before Him and beg Him to grant them. Although our Lord said, "Your Father knoweth that you have need of these things" (Mt. vi. 32), yet He also told us "that we ought always to pray, and not to faint" (Lk. xviii.1). It is God alone Who can give us what we ask for. This, however, does not prevent us from praying to certain of God's creatures. We ask God directly to grant us our petitions; we ask the Blessed Virgin, the angels, and the saints to ask God to grant them, "And the smoke of the incense of the prayers of the saints ascended up before God from the hand of the angels" (Apoc. viii. 4.)
Should we specify our petitions, and, if so, what may we ask for? St. Thomas considers that the opinion of Socrates, that we should merely ask for what is good for us, is only partially true. Some things we know to be certainly good for us, and these we may specify: the Lord's Prayer contains a number of specific petitions. This being granted, the general rule is that laid down by St. Augustine: we may pray for whatever we may lawfully desire. Hence we may ask for even temporal blessings, not indeed for their own sake, but as aids to our spiritual welfare. According to the Apostle we should pray for all men. (1 Tim.ii.). Charity bids us help our neighbor on the road to salvation, and prayer is one of the most potent means of doing so (1 Jn. v. 16; James v. 16; Rom xv.). The order in which we should pray for others follows the order of Charity, and depends upon their nearness to us and their needs. With regard to enemies, we are bound to pray for them in general - not excluding them from the benefit of our prayers. To pray for them specially belongs not to precept but to counsel. (Mt. v. 44.)
It is obvious that as prayer is a thinking about God and speaking with him, it should be performed with great attention and devotion. Merely to utter the words is no prayer. "This people honoreth Me with their lips but their heart is far from Me" (Mt. xv. 7). St. Thomas distinguishes three kinds or degrees of attention: to the words, to the meaning of the words, and to the object of the prayer, that is, to God and what we pray for. It is the last kind that is required. To keep one's attention fixed on an unseen object is difficult, and consequently we are very liable to mind-wandering when we pray. But if our distractions are not wilful - if whenever we recollect ourselves we try once more to fix our attention to God - our prayer is not altogether unfruitful. To be willfully distracted would be sinful. The best plan is to collect our thoughts for a few moments before kneeling down. "Before prayer prepare thy soul, and be not as a man that tempteth God" (Ecclus. xviii. 23)"
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin
by VP
Posted on Thursday August 15, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Palma Vecchio: Assumption of Mary
Munificentissimus Deus: Defining the Dogma of the Assumption, Pope Pius XII,
"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." Source: St. Alphonsusʼ Prayer Book (Father Edward Saint Omer, Redemptorist.1888)
The Assumption of the B. V Mary.
"THIS solemnity is in memory of the happy passage of the Blessed Virgin out of this life into the kingdom of her Son. Pray for a happy death; prepare for it, and be assured that the best preparation for it is a holy life.
It is to celebrate that happy privilege, which by a pious tradition we have received, of her being assumed into heaven, and glorified both in body and soul. Adore the wonderful goodness of God, and bless Him for all the privileges of grace and glory bestowed on the Blessed Virgin Mary. Her soul magnified our Lord: join with her in giving praise to Him, who is the author of every good gift.
Though the general resurrection is the time appointed for our souls to be again united to our bodies, yet it is in the power of God to exempt some from this general decree. This power He has certainly manifested in those, who at Christ's resurrection took up their bodies, and appeared to their friends in Jerusalem. He dispensed with Enoch and Elias, as to the general sentence of death at the usual time; and these He dispensed with in the anticipation of the general resurrection. For it is easy for that power, which makes a decree, to privilege some with an exemption, and to do to some only, from particular motives, what He could have done to all, if He had so pleased. The power admits of no dispute; and that the Blessed Virgin had a part in this privilege may be easily allowed. For this is not so particular as those other privileges, which were granted to her, in being Mother of God, in being both mother and virgin. And this more especially since we know how great was her humility, who being raised to the highest dignity, considered herself the meanest of God's servants. We need not doubt that God has exalted her in proportion to her humility: and that as she reputed herself the lowest of all, so he, who regarded her humility, has raised her above all. This none of the faithful can question: but whether this has been as to her soul only, or both in body and soul, the Church has not positively declared. It is plain, however, that she inclines to the pious belief that the Blessed Virgin was assumed both body and soul; and will not the faithful do well to believe the same? But however this maybe, the joy of this festival is still the same. For as we honor world, so we have the departure of other saints out of this reason to honor and rejoice on this day, when the Blessed Virgin, who had been chosen Mother of Christ, left this world, and entered into the possession of those joys, which her divine son had prepared for her. It was a day of joy and glory to her; it ought to be a day of joy and thanksgiving to us. In these holy transports our souls ought to pour themselves forth before God; and then turning back our thoughts upon ourselves, we are to consider whether, as we are created for the same happiness, we are in so holy a disposition, as to hope that the day of our departure will be to us a day of joy, in opening us a passage into bliss.
This hope cannot be reasonable, except we discover in ourselves some proportion at least of those graces and virtues by which the soul of the Blessed Virgin was prepared for the happiness of this day. It is the love of God, humility, purity, patience, the spirit of adoration, praise and thanksgiving, that must be the ground of these hopes; these being the necessary dispositions, by which our souls must be prepared for the state of bliss. For that being a state, wherein the souls of the blessed are for ever magnifying and adoring our Lord, how can a Christian be prepared for this, but by the spirit of adoration here? That being a state of perfect union with God in love and submission, how can a Christian be prepared for this, but by loving Him here, and by perpetual endeavors to approve and embrace His will in all things? That being a state of infinite holiness and purity; what other preparation can there be for it, but by daily disengaging our souls from sin and impurity, and ever laboring to obtain clean hearts. It is certainly a great delusion to think of being translated to that life of infinite perfection, from a worldly and sinful life. There must be nuptial robes for as many as are to be admitted to the marriage of the Lamb. And if all others are to be cast forth into utter darkness, who come not thus vested, what hopes can they have, who in this life, when they should be making preparation, have their souls covered with no other garments but those of slaves, of the enemies of God, and of sin? The life of the just in heaven, and on earth, is the same, consisting in the knowledge and love of God; and the difference of one life from the other, is only in the different degrees of this knowledge and love. So that the qualifications which make up the justice of this life, being the same with those of the life eternal, there is nothing more necessary for the just on earth to become eternally blessed, but only the augmenting those very gifts, with which their souls are found enriched at the hour of their death; God then perfecting His work by glory, which was begun and carried on here by His grace. How then can those Christians, in reason, hope to have any part in this happiness, who have none of those graces in them, which are to be perfected by glory? Can the knowledge and love of God be perfected in those souls, which have neither the knowledge nor love of God in them? They have more reason to apprehend that those very affections and passions, with which their souls are disordered at the hour of their deaths, will then be augmented, their ingratitude, disobedience, aversion to God's law and will, their pride, self-love, and sensuality. Heaven being not accessible to these abominations, whither must they go, but to the place of eternal confusion, where being incapable of change, their souls will for all eternity lie under those very disorders, in which death found them?
Have not then all Christians great reason to be preparing their souls all their lives, and not to put off this work to the last
hour? For who knows if they shall then have that time, which they now
promise themselves? Who knows if their sickness will be such, as to give
them opportunity of then undertaking this work? And if they do undertake it, how very little hopes can they have of finishing it? Will the divine grace be then at their command, which they have neglected all their lives? Christ said to the Jews,
that they would seek Him, and yet die in their sins. These seek Christ
then, but not seeking Him as they ought, may not find Him, who has been
so often rejected by them. And though they come to confession, and find
their hearts then oppressed with grief, yet who can say that this may
not be more a natural trouble, than contrition for their sins? Who can
give hopes that this works now in a moment that effectual change in
their souls, of which they had so long before thought, but without any effect? This can be the effect of nothing
less than a miraculous grace: and are miracles to be expected by those
who have so long been obstinate against all ordinary helps? Truly there
appear so many difficulties in this case, that they must be
presumptuously mad, who expose their salvation to this hazard. This is
not the method of the saints whom we honor: it is not the lesson which we learn from our Master, who knowing the danger of the last
hour, commands us to be prepared against it: Be you also ready. Teach
us, O Jesus, this lesson, that when Thou callest, we may be found
watching. Deliver us from all the effects of sloth
and presumption; and since what we desire is to enjoy Thy presence, may
we never permit any disorder in our souls, which would exclude us from
this happiness." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Feast of the Transfiguration of our Lord.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday August 06, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
The Transfiguration by James Tissot
"AN ancient festival of the Church, in memory of the glorious transfiguration of Christ on mount Thabor, in presence of three of his
apostles, when a voice was heard from heaven saying: "This is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye him." Pray for a true
sense of this mystery; that as Christ's apostles, by this foretaste of glory, were prepared to suffer, and to regard all troubles of this life as inconsiderable, in comparison of the eternal weight of glory to be purchased by them; so you may conceive this day so true an idea of future happiness, as not to value all the difficulties of this life, so that you may but secure your portion with the blessed. Pray for this heartily; for if you had a true sense of the goods
to come, you would be more diligent in all duties, and less concerned
in all troubles. All your neglect, sloth, and impatience proceed from
this root: and you love this world, because you take no pains to know the next. Endeavor therefore to form a lively idea of that glorious state, which God has prepared for those that serve him, where souls shall be brought to the presence of their God, where they shall be filled with the glory of his majesty, penetrated with the sweetness of his adorable mercy, overflow with the transporting love of his goodness, and see themselves so encompassed with unspeakable comforts and joys on every side, as to be out of all danger of interruption, change or end. If your soul is penetrated with a vigorous and quickening faith of this goodness and mercy of God, and his love to man, this faith will so prepare you for the trials of this life, as to think no suffering hard, which is the way to this happiness. O God, when will the thoughts of future glory so possess our souls, as to make us despise all the goods and evils of this life? Thabor is our encouragement; but Calvary is the way of bliss. Offer yourself with indifference to both; and beseech God to confirm you in this spirit." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Month of August
by VP
Posted on Thursday August 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, St. Anthony of Padua NC
Devotion for the Month of August: Blessed Sacrament and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
Virtue for the month of August: Diligence
What is diligence? Diligence is a virtue which enables us to serve God readily and cheerfully, to promote His honor as much as lies in our power, and faithfully to perform all our duties.
Application: Unless you perseveringly struggle with your wicked inclinations, you will never acquire the Christian Virtues; therefor fight faithfully until death, and God will give you the crown of life. (Apoc.ii.10) A Full Catechism of the Catholic Faith by Fr. Joseph Deharbe SJ 1883
Sloth is a laziness of soul, by which persons neglect to begin, or to perform, such things as are necessary for salvation; for, as one of the deadly sins, it means spiritual sloth. The more this sloth is indulged, the more burdensome it becomes. The slothful Christian has indeed faith; but is is a dead faith; because he neglects to keep it alive by good works. We are sent into the world, not to live at our ease, but to work our our salvation; and to succeed in this work, we must bot only be resolute in "declining from evil;" but diligent also in "doing good." (example of the five foolish Virgins; and also of the slothful servant.)
Diligence or spiritual fervor is a virtue by which we are zealous in laboring for the service of God, and the salvation of our soul: it makes the duties of Religion appear, not burdensome or tedious, but easy and agreeable; - it keeps the lamp of our faith burning with the oil of good works; and so causes us to be always ready, like the give wise Virgins; and, having made us rich in good works, it will entitle us, at our entrance into eternity, to hear from our Lord these consoling words: "Well done, good and faithful servant; because thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will place thee over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."
A full course of instructions for the use of Catechists, by Rev. Fr. John Perry 1852Feast of the Sacred Heart
by VP
Posted on Thursday June 06, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
"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
Prayer for Priests: O
Jesus, eternal High Priest, divine Sacrificer, Thou who in an
unspeakable burst of love for men, Thy Brethren, didst cause the
Christian Priesthood to spring forth from Thy Sacred Heart, vouchsafe to pour forth upon Thy priests continual living streams of infinite love. Live
in them, transform them in to Thee; make them, by Thy Grace, fit
instruments of Thy mercy; do Thou act in them and through them, and
grant, that they may become wholly one with Thee by their faithful
imitation of Thy Virtues; and, in Thy name and by the strength of Thy
spirit, may they do the works which Thou didst accomplish for the
salvation of the world.
Divine
Redeemer of souls, behold how great is the multitude of those who still
sleep in the darkness of error; reckon up the number of those
unfaithful sheep who stray to the edge of the precipice; consider the
throngs of the poor, the hungry, the ignorant and the feeble who groan
in their abandoned condition.
Return
to us in the person of Thy priests; truly live again in them; act
through them and pass once more through the world, teaching, forgiving,
comforting, sacrificing and renewing the sacred bonds of love between the Heart of God and the heart of man. Amen.St. Pius X (Raccolta 1907, Prayer 614. Rescript in his own hand. March 3, 1905 )
Allegory of the Holy Eucharist by Miguel Cabrera, 1750 pd
"Out
of devotion to the Holy Eucharist and the Passion of Christ grew the
devotion to the Sacred heart of Jesus with its feast and that of the S.
Priesthood of Christ (Octave of Corpus Christi), and the more recent
feast (1921) of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus on the Thursday following
the third Sunday after Easter. (American Ecclesiastical Review V 68, 1923 page 470)
"This
devotion does not substantially differ from the ordinary devotion to
the Sacred Heart. It merely emphasizes the act of supreme love of the
Heart in bestowing the gift of the Holy Eucharist upon us." The Raccolta
On
9 November 1921, Pope Benedict XV instituted the feast of the
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus to be celebrated on the Thursday within the
Octave of the Sacred Heart with a Proper Mass and Office. The feast
continues to be celebrated in some places. In instituting the feast,
Pope Benedict XV wrote: "The chief reason of this feast is to
commemorate the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the mystery of the
Eucharist. By this means the Church wishes more and more to excite the
faithful to approach this sacred mystery with confidence, and to inflame
their hearts with that divine charity which consumed the Sacred Heart
of Jesus when in His infinite love He instituted the Most Holy
Eucharist, wherein the Divine Heart guards and loves them by living with
them, as they live and abide in Him. For in the sacrament of the Holy
Eucharist He offers and gives Himself to us as victim, companion,
nourishment, viaticum, and pledge of our future glory." The Raccolta
"122. It is likewise Our most fervent desire that all who profess themselves Christians and are seriously engaged in the effort to establish the kingdom of Christ on earth will consider the practice of devotion to the Heart of Jesus as the source and symbol of unity, salvation and peace. Let no one think, however, that by such a practice anything is taken from the other forms of piety with which Christian people, under the guidance of the Church, have honored the divine Redeemer. Quite the opposite. Fervent devotional practice towards the Heart of Jesus will beyond all doubt foster and advance devotion to the Holy Cross in particular, and love for the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. We can even assert - as the revelations made by Jesus Christ to St. Gertrude and to St. Margaret Mary clearly show - that no one really ever has a proper understanding of Christ crucified to whom the inner mysteries of His Heart have not been made known. Nor will it be easy to understand the strength of the love which moved Christ to give Himself to us as our spiritual food save by fostering in a special way the devotion to the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, the purpose of which is - to use the words of Our predecessor of happy memory, Leo XIII - "to call to mind the act of supreme love whereby our Redeemer, pouring forth all the treasures of His Heart in order to remain with us till the end of time, instituted the adorable Sacrament of the Eucharist."(122) For "not the least part of the revelation of that Heart is the Eucharist, which He gave to us out of the great charity of His own Heart."(123). (Encyclical Haurietis Aquas Pope Pius XII May 15, 1956).
Proper Prayers for the Mass in the Extraordinary form for the Feast of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus
Prayer:
Heart of Jesus in the Eucharist, sweet companion in our exile, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, I adore Thee.
Heart solitary, I adore Thee.
Heart humiliated, I adore Thee.
Heart abandoned, I adore Thee.
Heart forgotten, I adore Thee.
Heart despised, I adore Thee.
Heart outraged, I adore Thee.
Heart ignored by men, I adore Thee.
Heart, lover of our hearts, I adore Thee.
Heart desirous of being loved, I adore Thee.
Heart patient in waiting for us, I adore Thee.
Heart eager to hear us, I adore Thee.
Heart longing to be prayed to, I adore Thee.
Heart source of new graces, I adore Thee.
Heart wrapped in silence, desiring to speak to souls, I adore Thee.
Heart, the sweet refuge of the hidden life. I adore Thee.
Heart, teacher of the secrets of union with God, I adore Thee.
Heart of Him Who sleeps yet ever watches, I adore Thee.
Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, have pity on us,
Jesus, Victim, I desire to console Thee,
I unite myself to Thee, and sacrifice myself with Thee. I
I annihilate myself in Thy presence. I adore Thee.
I would forget myself to be mindful of Thee.
I would be forgotten and despised for love of Thee.
And be neither understood nor love, except by Thee.
I will silence myself to listen to Thee, I will abandon myself to lose myself in Thee.
Grant
that I may thus appease Thy thirst, the thirst for my sanctification
and salvation, and that being purified I am bestow on Thee a pure and
true love. I would not longer weary Thy patience; take possession of me,
I give myself to Thee.
I offer Thee all my actions, my intellect
to be illuminated by Thee, my heart to be guided by Thee, my will to be
made strong, my soul and body to be nourished, my misery to be
lightened. Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, whose blood is the life of my
soul, may it be no longer I that live but do thou alone live in me.
Amen. Blessed Sacrament Book Fr. Francis Xavier Lasance. page 676
Resources:
- The Eucharistic Christ: Reflections and Considerations on the Blessed Sacrament By Fr Albert Tesnière (PDF) 1897
- The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus, Readings for the Month of June, by Fr. Albert Tesnière 1928
- A Neglected Gem in the Traditional Roman Missal: The Eucharistic Heart of Jesus by Peter Kwasniewski, PhD
Priests' First Saturday
by VP
Posted on Saturday June 01, 2024 at 12:17AM in Tradition
Mary as Mother of Priests is in the Dominican Priory Church of the Holy Cross in Leicester. by Lawrence OP
"Listen to what our Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, says: " God in heaven and I on earth, we desire nothing more ardently than prayer and sacrifice for priests...Let us beg God that He may give holy priests! If we have this, all else will follow; but if this be wanting, all else will avail nothing." It was from this trend of thought that the idea of the Priest's Saturday" took its origin, which idea the Superior General of the Salvatorian Fathers placed before the Holy Father in special private audience on November 21, 1934. His Holiness was much pleased with the plan and said, in conclusion: "We heartily praise and bless the work....We repeat, the thing pleases Us, We praise and bless it heartily."
What is the plan?
The Priest's Saturday:
It is something quite simple and easy, yet immeasurable great in its results. You should make it a point to offer the Saturday after the First Friday of each month to your Savior, through the hands of Mary, the great mediatrix of all graces, for the sanctification of all the priests and students for the priesthood throughout the whole world. For this purpose you should give the Saturday wholly and entirely to Him, that is to say, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys and sorrows. Whatever you cannot do on this day (Holy Mass and Holy Communion) you ought to supply immediately on Sunday. So there is really nothing new for you to do. You merely offer up this Saturday (or even every Saturday or some other day) for the sanctification of priests. It is not a case of any sodality of fraternity or anything like that. Like the First Friday in honor of the Sacred Heart, the Priest's Saturday seeks to become something religiously observed by all the Catholics of the world.
(...) Concern about the holiness of priests is the concern of the Heart of the Divine Savior and of His blessed Mother. Therefore, you also should be sure to take part in this "apostolate to the apostles. " The Holy Father, all bishops, all priests, all students for the priesthood, and especially also your own pastor, earnestly beg of you thus to participate."
Source: Priest's Saturday Series, #2 Prayers and Devotions for Priest's Day. used with permission
Priests' First Saturday. Prayer:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who hast
entrusted the whole work of Thy redemption, the welfare and salvation of
the world, to priests as Thy representatives, through the hands of Thy
most holy Mother and for the sanctification of Thy priests and
candidates for the priesthood I offer Thee this present day wholly and
entirely, with all its prayers, works, sacrifices, joys, and sorrows.
Give truly holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love,
seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of our souls.
And thou, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests in the
dangers of their holy vocation and, with the loving hand of a Mother,
also lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor priests who have become
unfaithful to their exalted vocation and have gone astray. Amen
In addition to the above make it a point also to recite frequently the following:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who Hast entrusted the weal and woes of
Thy Holy Church to priests, with all the fervor of my heart I recommend
to Thee the wants of my pastor and all priests. Enrich them more and
more with true priestly sanctity. Give them generous, all embracing,
apostolic hearts, full of love for Thee and for all Thy souls, so that
they, being themselves sanctified in Thee, may sanctify us who are
confided to their care, and may lead us safely to heaven. Bestow upon
them in rich abundance all Thy priestly graces!
Let them ever
give us a glowing example of love and fidelity towards Holy Mother
Church, towards the Pope, and bishops, and grant that by word and
example they may shine as models of every virtue.
Most loving
Jesus, bless all their priestly labors and sacrifices! Bless all their
prayers and words at the altar and in the confessional, in the pulpit,
and in school, in confraternities, and at the bedside of the sick!
Protect and preserve them in all dangers from within and from without.
Divine Savior, give to Thy Church priests who abound in true holiness!
Call many good boys and young men to the priestly and religious state!
Aid and sanctify all those who are to become Thy priests! And to the
souls of departed priests grant everlasting rest.
But to me
give a true spirit of faith and humble obedience, in order that in my
pastor I may ever behold the representative of God and willingly follow
all his teachings. Amen
Month of June: Sacred Heart
by VP
Posted on Saturday June 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
May: Month of the Sacred Heart
Virtue: Obedience
Sacred Heart, Brittany
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
Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
by VP
Posted on Friday May 31, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
St. John the Baptist, Front Royal VA. ©capg
Prayer to Mary for the Holy Church
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.
Source: St. Alphonsus' Prayer Book, 1888 Father Edward Saint Omer, Redemptorist.
Ad Caeli Reginam - The Queenship of Mary - ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XII ON PROCLAIMING THE QUEENSHIP OF MARY
" 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. By this Encyclical Letter We are instituting a feast so that all may recognize more clearly and venerate more devoutly the merciful and maternal sway of the Mother of God. We are convinced that this feast will help to preserve, strengthen and prolong that peace among nations which daily is almost destroyed by recurring crises. Is she not a rainbow in the clouds reaching towards God, the pledge of a covenant of peace?[62] "Look upon the rainbow, and bless Him that made it; surely it is beautiful in its brightness. It encompasses the heaven about with the circle of its glory, the hands of the Most High have displayed it."[63] Whoever, therefore, reverences the Queen of heaven and earth - and let no one consider himself exempt from this tribute of a grateful and loving soul - let him invoke the most effective of Queens, the Mediatrix of peace; let him respect and preserve peace, which is not wickedness unpunished nor freedom without restraint, but a well-ordered harmony under the rule of the will of God; to its safeguarding and growth the gentle urgings and commands of the Virgin Mary impel us.
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."
"On February 11, 2018, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments inscribed a new obligatory Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, into the General Roman Calendar. This memorial is celebrated every year on the Monday after Pentecost.
Latin liturgical texts were also promulgated the same day, and on January 13, 2022, the Congregation confirmed the English translation of those texts. (...)Mary, Mother of the Church by Pope Paul VI
"Taking into consideration the close ties by which Mary and the Church are bound together, to the glory of the Blessed Virgin and for our consolation, We declare Mary Most Holy to be Mother of the Church, that is, of the whole Christian people, faithful and Pastors alike, who invoke her as their most loving Mother; and We establish that by this sweetest of names the whole Christian people should henceforth give still greater honor to the Mother of God and offer her their supplications.
Venerable Brothers, this concerns a title by no means new to Christian piety; indeed the Christian faithful and the universal Church choose to invoke Mary principally by the name of Mother. In truth, this name belongs to the genuine nature of devotion to Mary, since it rests firmly on that very dignity with which Mary is endowed as the Mother of the Incarnate Word of God.
Just as the Divine Motherhood is the basis both for Mary's unique relationship with Christ and for her presence in the work of human salvation accomplished by Christ Jesus, so likewise, it is principally from the Divine Motherhood that the relationships which exist between Mary and the Church flow. Mary is indeed the Mother of Christ who, at the moment he assumed human nature in her virginal womb, joined to himself, as Head, his Mystical Body, which is the Church. Mary, therefore, as Mother of Christ, must also be regarded as Mother of all the faithful and Pastors alike, that is to say, of the Church.
Herein lies the reason why we, though unworthy and weak, yet in a spirit of trust and with ardent filial love, raise our eyes to her. She who once gave us Jesus, the fount of heavenly grace, cannot fail to offer her maternal help to the Church, especially at this time in which the Spouse of Christ strives with greater zeal to fulfill her salvific mission
These closest of bonds between our heavenly Mother and the human race urge Us, moreover, to foster and further strengthen this confidence. Even though she has been enriched with superabundant and wondrous gifts from God so as to be made worthy to be Mother of the Incarnate Word, nevertheless, Mary is very near to us. Like us, she is a child of Adam and so too our sister on account of our common human nature; she was preserved from the stain of original sin by reason of the future merits of Christ, but she added to these gifts received from on high the example of her own perfect faith and so merited the proclamation in the Gospel: "Blessed are you who have believed."
In this mortal life she embodied the perfect form of a disciple of Christ, she was the mirror of all virtues, and in her manner of life exemplified fully those beatitudes proclaimed by Christ Jesus. Consequently, the universal Church, while she lives out the many facets of her life and in her active zeal, draws from the Virgin Mother of God the peerless example of how to imitate Christ perfectly."
Source: From the Address of Pope Saint Paul VI, at the conclusion of the third session of the most holy Second Vatican Council(November 21, 1964: AAS 56 [1964], 1015-1016)
Trinity Sunday
by VP
Posted on Sunday May 26, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
“Go teach,” said Christ to His Apostles. Teach what? Not the opinions of Peter, James or John, not the sayings of Matthew, Philip or Bartholomew, not this or that system of belief, or these or those deductions of human reason; but “the things that I have commanded you.” And the command laid upon the twelve Apostles is still honored and obeyed by the priest in the Church of God. The priest, then, teaches, not in his own name, nor does he propose a doctrine thought out in deep study, but, “God exhorting through him” on account of his unity with the chair of Peter, he but echoes the divine voice, heard throughout Judea in the dawn of Christianity. The priest speaks and the world listens, not because of his words of deep reasoning, nor on account of his faultless diction, nor because of his fervent eloquence, but because he speaks as one having authority, the authority given by Jesus to His Apostles, and by them transmitted to him." Source: The Priesthood by Rev. M.S. Smith (The Homelitic Monthly and Pastoral Review, Trinity Sunday, May 1922) Special thanks to Robert Olson
Prayer to the Holy Trinity by Saint Elizabeth de la Trinité
"O my God, Trinity whom I adore, let me entirely forget myself that I may abide in You, still and peaceful as if my soul were already in eternity; let nothing disturb my peace nor separate me from You, O my unchanging God, but that each moment may take me further into the depths of Your mystery ! Pacify my soul! Make it Your heaven, Your beloved home and place of Your repose; let me never leave You there alone, but may I be ever attentive, ever alert in my faith, ever adoring and all given up to Your creative action.
O my beloved Christ, crucified for love, would that I might be for You a spouse of Your heart! I would anoint You with glory, I would love You – even unto death! Yet I sense my frailty and ask You to adorn me with Yourself; identify my soul with all the movements of Your soul, submerge me, overwhelm me, substitute Yourself in me that my life may become but a reflection of Your life. Come into me as Adorer, Redeemer and Saviour.
O Eternal Word, Word of my God, would that I might spend my life listening to You, would that I might be fully receptive to learn all from You; in all darkness, all loneliness, all weakness, may I ever keep my eyes fixed on You and abide under Your great light; O my Beloved Star, fascinate me so that I may never be able to leave Your radiance.
O Consuming Fire, Spirit of Love, descend into my soul and make all in me as an incarnation of the Word, that I may be to Him a super-added humanity wherein He renews His mystery; and You O Father, bestow Yourself and bend down to Your little creature, seeing in her only Your beloved Son in whom You are well pleased.
O my `Three’, my All, my Beatitude, infinite
Solitude, Immensity in whom I lose myself, I give myself to You as a
prey to be consumed; enclose Yourself in me that I may be absorbed in
You so as to contemplate in Your light the abyss of Your Splendour !"
Ember Saturday in Whitsun Week. Christ was entombed. (Fast and half-abstinence)
by VP
Posted on Saturday May 25, 2024 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Prayer for Good Harvest, Félix de Vigne
"As God was pleased at this time to show mercy to His apostles, in sending to them the Holy Ghost, to prepare them for duly satisfying that great charge, which Christ had committed to them, consider how desirable it is that He should show mercy to you likewise, and by the operation of the same Holy Spirit, vouchsafe to prepare you for satisfying the obligations, which belongs to your state. You are a Christian: endeavour therefore to understand the import of this word, and to have a sense of all the obligations annexed to this character. You have lived perhaps many years in this profession; but how little care have you taken to know the duties belonging to this name! Beg now that the Holy Ghost would enter into your soul, and that you may now live by his Spirit. He will take off your heart from the world, and practically convince you that all that belongs to this world is vanity and affliction of spirit. He will give you a dislike of all that has hitherto pleased you, to the prejudice of your soul; so that you will now have no relish for those entertainments, which you know to be vain and foolish. He will lessen in you all worldly solicitude; and let not the concerns of this life any more possess your heart with excess. You will then have it fixed in your mind that all the things of this world are but momentary, and daily pass away, and whether they please or displease us, must soon come to an end; and therefore that you ought not to afflict yourself about them, and much less, let the concern for them take off your heart from eternity.
This being an Ember Day, recommend to the fatherly providence of God the fruits of the earth; begging that by his blessing all may go on to a plentiful harvest. Beseech Him also to preserve us from all pestilential distempers, both in man and beast; and grant us such a sense of gratitude, that the enjoyment of his blessings may oblige us not only to be thankful, but likewise faithful to our merciful and gracious benefactor." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayers for Ember Days:
Listen, Almighty God, we beseech Thee, to the prayers which Thy universal Church offers to Thee at this time, beseeching Thy blessing on those who are about to be admitted to Thy Holy Service of the Altar, in particular on Deacons Cong lee and Ross Williams. Give Thy grace to all who are called to any office and administration amongst Thy clergy, and so replenish them with the truth of Thy doctrine, and indue them with innocence of life, that they may faithfully serve Thee, to the glory of Thy great name and the benefit of Thy Holy Church. Amen
O God, of Whose mercies there is no number, and of Whose goodness the treasure is infinite, we humbly thank Thee for the gifts thou hast bestowed upon us. Continue Thy mercy to us, and give us also so much of Thy temporal blessings as Thou knowest to be for our good. Grant that the fruits of the earth may, by Thy holy favor, increase and multiply. Defend them from all drought, frosts or tempests, or whatever else may be hurtful to them. It is from Thy hand only that we look for succor, and to Thee we have recourse in all our necessities. Amen.
Source: St. John's Manual 1856, Archbishop of New York John J. Hugues
