CAPG's Blog 

When you enter the church, go to your place as quietly as possible. Some people make a great deal of noise in getting in their seats. This is calculated to disturb the congregation, and is exceedingly unbecoming. The church is the temple of the living God, not merely because it is dedicated to his service, but because he dwells therein. The very walls of is are sanctified. It is at all times holy, and is therefore always to be entered with the respect due to the house of God. "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him." 

Do not walk up the aisles with an air of pride, such as the people of the world may put on in a ballroom. You may be regarded by the world as rich, intelligent, and accomplished; in the church, you are a poor, blind, and sinful being, and should come in all humility to implore the grace and mercy of God.

It is still more necessary to observe these rules, if you enter the church after Mass has commenced. If you happen to enter during the elevation or communion, kneel by the door, and remain there during the more solemn parts of the Mass; you can afterward retire quietly to your place.

You should assist with attention at the holy Sacrifice. When you are not reading your prayer-book, keep your eyes fixed on the altar on which that adorable Sacrifice is offered, and never gaze around in the church.

Do not leave the church until the priest is retiring from the altar to the sacristy. Those who are the last to come to it, and the first to rush out of the church, seldom derive any benefit from Mass, and often do not hear it properly. The practice of all pious Catholics is, to spend some time after Mass in thanksgiving.

Do not remain standing before the church, as if you had no other object in coming than to see and be seen. If you have time before Mass, say the Rosary, or the Stations of the Cross; employ the time in spiritual reading, or in adoring Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament.

Remember what those who have gone before you in the faith endured that they might be present at the holy Sacrifice of the Mass, and reflect with what attention and piety they must have assisted at it. During the early persecutions, no churches could be built. The divine mysteries could not be celebrated anywhere in public. The faithful were compelled to go into subterranean vaults, called catacombs, where Mass was offered on the tombs of martyrs. The candles we burn on our altars remind us of those days, and of the brightness of faith that made them days, not of mourning, but of joy.

To assist properly at Mass is one of the most important acts of Christian life; and hence the Church declares it to be mortal sin to neglect to hear Mass on Sundays or Holydays.

Source: The Holy Family Manual by the Sisters of Notre Dame, 1883

Source: Catholic Christianity and the Modern World by Knud Karl Krogh-Tonning

"Then Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men, was exceeding angry, and sending, killed all the men children,"

I. When They Are Raised Against The Innocent.
II. When They Proceed From Hatred To Christ.
III. When They Are Borne In Defense Of Christ.

1. Herod, perceiving that he was deluded by the Wise Men. The Magi might appear culpable in the eyes of Herod for not having made known to him the abode of the Child, as he had enjoined them; but these children neither had committed, nor could have committed, any fault whatever; so that St. Augustine puts these words in the mouths of the mothers :. "If it is a crime it is mine; if it is not, deliver us."

Herod therefore was unjustly enraged against them. In like manner, when persecutors have no just ground of complaint against Priests; when they are "innocent and upright" (Ps. xxiv. 21); when their imprudence has not excited persecution (for it often happens that " the tongue of the fool is his ruin," Eccl. v. 15), let them not grieve; the wrong rests with their enemies. Let them, on the contrary, rest in tranquillity of conscience, and say with the Apostle: "I rejoice in my sufferings " (Col. i. 24); let them remember that they have a share in the eighth Beatitude: "Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" (St. Matt. v. 10). St. Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, observes that our Savior does not name the persons who persecute, but only the motive for persecution, "for justice' sake;" whether you are persecuted by idolaters, or by heretics, or by Christians whom you have perhaps corrected for their faults, if it is for justice' sake, your advantage is the same. Therefore consider not who persecutes you, but why you are persecuted. Let Priests remember that they are the ministers of Him Who said, "They have hated Me without cause " (St . John xv. 25) ; that many of their predecessors have sung with the Prophet, "Princes have persecuted Me with out cause" (Ps. cxviii. 161); and that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (2 Tim. iii. 12). Priests are more exposed to such persecution than other men, because they are "set up a wall for the House of Israel" (Ezekiel xiii. 5), which the enemies of the City assail. By Thy help, O my God, make me "a wall of iron" (Ezekiel iv. 3).

2. He was exceeding angry. The wrath and hatred of Herod were not, says St. Leo, directed against the children for their own sake, but for the sake of the Messiah, whom he sought to destroy in the cradle; and therefore they died martyrs, and are venerated as such by Holy Church. For which reason, observes St . Augustine, no honor shown them by the tyrant could have profited them so greatly as did his hatred. In like manner Priests are often objects of the hatred of unbelievers, because these men hate Christ and His Gospel, His Church and His Heavenly Father. He forewarned His Priests of this when He ordained them, saying, your enemies "have hated both Me and My Father" (St. John xv. 24); and remember that "if the world hate you, know you that it hath hated Me before you" (ib. 18); and it hates you precisely "because . . I have chosen you out of the world" (ib. 19); and as this hatred was the cause " that they have persecuted Me," so will it be the cause that " they will also persecute you" (ib. 20). Therefore let us arm ourselves with these forewarning, let us fear the love of the world more than its hatred, and let us not flatter ourselves that the world can love the members whilst it hates the Head. As St. Augustine says, we ought, for the love of Christ, to endure the hatred of the world along with our Head. Let us pray to God to give us patience and courage under the persecutions to which He shall see fit to subject us, and may all Priests who in any part of the world are now suffering the persecutions of the wicked, by His grace triumph over them; and we and they shall owe our eternal blessedness to those very persecutions.

3. Killed all the men children. The Innocents, by their death, saved the life of the Divine Child, for the tyrant, believing Him to be included in the general massacre, no longer sought Him. Moreover they proclaimed the name of the new-born King, "not by speaking, but by dying;" for, as St. Leo says, this atrocious act caused His birth to be made known even in the Capital of the World, where a foundation was thus laid for the promulgation of the Gospel. Priests are in like manner often persecuted for defending Christ; and here let us recollect that he who defends the truth, defends Christ, for He said: "I am . . . the Truth" (St. John xiv. 6). He who defends Wisdom, Justice, or .any other Virtue, defends Christ, for He is Wisdom itself, Justice itself, Virtue itself. "He is made unto us of God, wisdom, and justice " (1 Cor. i. 30); "Christ the power of God" (1 Cor. i. 24); "He who defends the Church defends Christ, for He is the Head of the Church" (Eph. v. 23). Blessed, then, are we if in such a cause we suffer calumny, sarcasm, oppression, or even death. St. Ambrose tells us that there is nothing we should fear so much, that nothing is so dangerous before God, and contemptible before men, as silence when it is our duty to denounce sin.

"In God I have put my trust, I will not fear what flesh can do against me." —Ps. lv. II.

"Thou deliverest them that wait for Thee, O Lord, and savest them out of the hands of the nations."—Eccles. li. 12.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 1 by
Angelo Agostino Scotti (abp. of Thessalonica.)

• Because this is the only dignity which will remain in that Day.
• Because it will shine, not only in the soul, but also in the body
• Because it will then be given in recompense for the endurance of past reproaches.
  

When these things begin to come to pass, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is at hand."—St. Luke xxi. 28.

1. Look up. Behold, O Priests, in the last great day, the extinction of all dignities. Now, the great ones of this world die, but greatness dies not; sovereigns die, but sovereignty lives on, for, as one prince dies, another succeeds him; hence the wise man beheld the great of the earth hunted and trodden down by those who came after them: "I saw all men living, that walk under the sun, with the second young man who shall rise up in his place" (Eccles. iv. 15). Then greatness itself, sovereignty itself, shall vanish, and Jesus Christ shall appear, in His full power, the only Great One, the only and sovereign Lord. "Great is our Lord, and great is His power" (Ps. cxlvi. 5). Magistrates, princes, emperors, will sleep the sleep of death, and in the resurrection no remains of authority will be found in their hands: "They have slept their sleep, and all the men of riches have found nothing in their hands " (Ps. lxxv. 6). They were great as long as the scene of their life was on this world's stage; but, as St. Paul says to the Corinthians (i vii. 31)," The fashion of this world passeth away." But it is not so with Priests: their character is indelible; their dignity alone will remain to all eternity, and be resplendent in the face of the universe. If it remain indelible for the punishment of the reprobate, it will equally remain indelible for the recompense of the elect, as says St. Augustine. And, as he says again, when Jesus Christ our Lord comes to judgment, He will not efface His own character in His ministers.

2. And lift up your heads. Then holy Priests will lift up their sacred heads—those heads which had received the imposition of hands—they will raise them out of the dust of the tomb, in which their natural body was sown, "to be raised a spiritual body," as says St. Paul (i Cor. xv.); that is, they will be endowed with the gifts meet for a spiritual body. They themselves will see, and the world will see, their dignity. The sacerdotal character will be resplendent even in their bodies; for, as St. Thomas teaches, the glory of the body will be caused by the glory of the soul, and this glory will be spiritual in the soul, and corporeal in the body; and the greater the glory of the soul, the greater will be the glory of the body. Those members will be more especially resplendent which were employed in the functions of the ministry, which nourished men daily with the Flesh of Jesus Christ, and which preserved holy chastity in the midst of temptation. Hence it was that the first Priests of the New Testament groaned within themselves, "waiting for the adoption of the sons of God, the redemption of their bodies" (Rom. viii. 23). Then shall their voices be raised to praise God, those voices which glorified Him during their mortal life; and with their bodily eyes shall they see the glory of their divine Head. For as Isaias says (lii. 8), "the voice of thy watchmen: they have lifted up their voice, they shall praise together: for they shall see eye to eye." May these considerations aid us to keep our bodies in sanctity and honor; let us not abandon them to corruption and concupiscence: "in sanctification and honor, not in the passion of lust" (1 Thess.lv. 4, 5)

3. Because your redemption is at hand. Then, O Priests, shall you be freed from the calumnies of the world, and your prayer, "Redeem me from the calumnies of men" (Ps. cxviii. 134), will be fully answered. The world knew not Christ; it despised Him and calumniated Him: neither does the world recognize the dignity of His Priests; it despises them and calumniates them:"We are without honor . . . even unto this hour" (1 Cor. iv.10, n). But then the scene will change, and the world will see, as says St . Prosper, that Priests were the ornament of the Church; that, as St . Augustine says, they were angelical men; that, as St . Clement says, they were, after God, terrestrial gods. St. Cyril remarks that God ordered Moses to number the people in order to show that He kept His elect numbered in the book of life; but He ordered the Levites to be numbered apart, in order to show that Priests are written down in other books. So does this holy father explain the prophecy of Daniel, "The judgment sat and the books were opened " (Dan. vii. 10). Then shall worldly men behold with the dark envious eyes of Aman how the King of kings causes His Mordechais to be honored: "thus shall he be honored whom the king hath a mind to honor" (Esther vi. 9). Let us then bear injuries with meekness, let us bear labors with patience, and all the trials to which it is the will of our King to expose us, with the certain hope of future happiness. The day will come when God will recompense us for all we have suffered. Let us not lose our confidence in God, which will have a great reward; rather let us revive it during this holy season of Advent, which brings to our remembrance the mercies of our Savior.
"Judge my judgment and redeem me: quicken Thou me for Thy word's sake."—Ps. cxviii. 154.
"O Lord, have mercy on us; for we have waited for Thee."—Is. xxxiii. 2.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 (By Msgr. Angelo Agostino Scotti, abp. of Thessalonica.)

I. Accomplishing the days of her child-bearing.
II. Bringing forth the Son of God.
III. Showing Him her love and her reverence.

"Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered, and she brought forth her firstborn Son; and wrapped Him up in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger. "St. Luke ii. 6, 7.

1. Her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. Mary completed the period of her pregnancy, during which Jesus Christ, as perfect Man as well as God, had dwelt in a frightful prison: "Thou didst not abhor the Virgin's womb." Of His own choice had He remained full nine months as it were dead, without opening an eye, without moving a hand or a foot: "I am made free among the dead" (Ps. Ixxxvii. 6); and yet, by David His father, He shows us that He did not leave this prison without regret, nor save by the express command of His Father who drew Him thence : "Thou art He that hast drawn Me out of the womb" (Ps. xxi. 10). And why was this? He was content with this abode because Mary entertained Him so well: " while the King was at His repose, my spikenard sent forth the odor thereof" (Cant. i. n). The virtues of the Blessed Virgin perfumed the Child with a most sweet odor, but it was her humility which especially pleased Him; humility, which, as St. Bernard says, exhaled its odor—that is, its accustomed odor—because God is accustomed to be pleased with humility. The Virgin declares that the Word made flesh made her womb His tabernacle: "He rested in my tabernacle" (Eccles. xxiv. 12).

We Priests receive within us daily the same Son of God, the same Son of Mary; how do we entertain Him? Is He well pleased with our reception of Him? Does He go away satisfied when the sacred species are consumed? Humble thyself, beholding the condescension of a God, and, as says St. Athanasius, "acknowledge thyself a sinner; pour forth prayer to God with a contrite heart." If men expect gratitude and love on account of some slight benefit rendered them, how much greater right has Jesus Christ to expect it when He communicates Himself to us. Hence, concludes St. Chrysostom, "it is but just for men to offer thanksgiving."

2. And she brought forth her first-born Son. Mary brought forth her Divine Son as her first-born; that is, her only Son; for, as St. Jerome says, the only child must be the first-born; and she brought Him forth without detriment to her virginity: "behold a Virgin . . . shall bear a son" (Isa. vii. 14). As a word is conceived without corruption of the mind, so it issues from the heart without corruption; hence it was fitting that the Body of the Word should come forth without corruption from His Mother's womb. Besides, it was not fitting that He who came to heal what was corrupt, should corrupt what was sound; nor, says St. Thomas, was it fitting that He who commanded men to honor their parents, should, in His birth, diminish the honor of His Mother.

We Priests bring forth Jesus Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, but do we remain uncorrupted when discharging this office of our Ministry? How many defects, how many grievous faults, it may be, are committed in administering the Sacrament of Penance! What ruin to him who enters on it rashly, who exercises it imprudently! St. Basil requires a confessor to be "an upright man," and goes on to point out all the virtues with which he should be adorned, in order that he may not stain his own heart, nor himself lose the purity which he is restoring to others. St. Bonaventure demands knowledge in a confessor, that he may not render himself guilty of other men's perdition; and the Supreme Pontiff, Innocent III., would have him prudent, discreet. cautious, in order that he may question and direct his penitents well, without injuring himself or them. How can we attain this without the special protection of the Blessed Virgin? Let us ask the Mother to pray to her Divine Child for us; for, as St. Bernard says, the Son cannot reject His Mother, but will certainly grant her requests.

3. And laid Him in a manger. Mary profoundly adored the Child, embraced Him in her arms, pressed Him to her bosom, carried Him to the crib, and wrapped Him in poor but clean swaddling clothes. So did she show her affection, so did she second His great desire to be born in the extreme of poverty, humiliation, and suffering. The joy of the mother, as St. Bonaventure says, was immense, but immense also was her sorrow that she could not better entertain her Son. We also, when we bring forth Christ in the hearts of the Faithful, ought to have joy, like the Apostle, who said: "In this I rejoice, yea, and will rejoice" (Phil. i. 18); but at the same time we should be sad, with a sorrow which is "according to God" (2 Cor. vii. 10), when we see sin have dominion in the world; when we see those who have been converted returning to their vomit; when we see venial sins abounding in ourselves and in others. Mary attentively considered the mystery of the manger, of the swaddling clothes, and of the animals which lay beside the Child; as Cornelius a Lapide says, she recognized in these objects an emblem of the world and an image of sins and of sinners. She made herself a Mediatrix with the Mediator in order to obtain for all sinners reconciliation with God. Let us also have recourse to this Mediatrix, that she may obtain for us freedom from the bonds of sins, and that from the condition of beasts we may pass to the condition of the sons of God; for, as St. Bernard says: "There is need of a mediator with that Mediator; and there is no mediator better than Mary."

"For the glory of Thy Name deliver us."—Ps. lxxviii. 9. "Rule Thou over us and Thy Son."—Judg. viii. aa.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy, for every day in the year ..., Volume 1 (By Msgr. Angelo Agostino Scotti, abp. of Thessalonica.)

"Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them" St. Martt. VII. 19,20

1. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit: Our Saviour had spoken of false Prophets, and in their person had signified wicked Priests : He had enjoined His disciples to avoid them, but He had not enjoined them to punish them. He fills them with fear, threatening them with the punishment of God (says St. Chrysostom). A wicked Priest has, indeed, need of threats rather than of promises, and for his amendment he has need to think of the former rather than of the latter. And, did he but reflect on the tremendous truth which is here inculcated — that is to say, that a Priest may be condemned for failing to produce good fruit — then surely he would never bring forth those many evil fruits which may be traced to him. He would shrink from incurring that dreadful curse, " You shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary . . . you shall bear the sins of your priesthood" (Numb, xviii. 1). 
If we are branches of that great Vine, which is Jesus Christ, we ought to remember His word, " Every branch in Me that beareth not fruit He will take away;" and again, "If any one abide not in Me, he shall be cast forth as a branch, and shall wither, and they shall gather him up, and cast him into the fire, and he burneth " (St. John xv. 2, 6). Let us, then, fear the fulfillment of so terrible a menace ; let us fear the teeth of the dragon (says St. Bernard); let us fear the belly of hell, the roaring of fierce beasts that stand ready to devour, the worm that ever gnaws, the fire that always burns, the smoke, the brimstone, the whirlwind, and the exterior darkness. It may be that our death is near, and that " the axe is already laid to the root of the tree " (St. Matt. iii. 10) ; it may be the Watcher and the Holy One has already cried aloud from heaven, " Cut down the tree " (Dan. iv. 1 1 ). Whither shall we then flee from the wrath of the Lamb ? Why do we not now by penance forestall this fatal stroke ?"

2. Shall be cut down. What terrible words are these ! They point to separation from the heavenly kingdom, which separation is incomparably more terrible than eternal fire ; although (as St. Chrysostom says) many fear hell more than they fear the loss of heaven. But the loss of a kingdom, and that the kingdom of God, will be most terrible for Priests, who have held the keys of it, who have opened it to others, and who will hear from the lips of devils that they have lost it, as the devils have lost it, without hope of recovery : " Thou also art wounded as well as we, thou art become like unto us" (Is. xiv. 10). — " Shall be cut down." They shall be separated from the Eternal Father Who had communicated to them immense power, Who had confided to them His Son, Who had made them Ministers of His mercies, but Who now says, " I will hide My face from them, and they shall be devoured " (Deut. xxxi. 17). — " Shall be cut down. " What an awful punishment is that of Priests — to be separated from Christ, to become the object of His hatred, and to hate Him and curse Him, through all eternity, after having been so familiarly associated with Him — after having called Him down so many times from heaven, held Him in their hands, taken Him for food, dispensed Him to the Faithful ! The punishment of ten thousand hells could not equal this (says St. Chrysostom). — "Shall be cut down".  How terrible for Priests to be separated for all eternity from the Holy Spirit, by Whom they were anointed, illuminated, sanctified, and made the instruments of diffusing Him on Whom the Angels, whose name and office they have borne, "desire to look!" (i Pet. i. 12). — "Shall be cut down." Surely, nothing ought to be so terrible to Priests who still retain their faith as the thought of losing for all eternity the sight, the possession, the enjoyment of the Blessed Trinity, with Whom they have been so closely associated on earth.

3. Shall be cast into the fire. The fire which is kindled by God's wrath is "a fire full of wisdom;" that is, it punishes each one according to the number and heinousness of his sins. Hence the sins of Priests, which are most heinous — because of their contempt of Divine light, their ingratitude for the Divine benefits, and because of the fatal consequences of such sins — will bring upon them a more severe and intense suffering than those of any others. Supreme is God's indignation against His reprobate Ministers, and therefore against them in an especial manner is " a fire kindled in His wrath, which shall burn even to the lower heir' (Deut. xxxii. 22). The breath of Almighty God, which, when breathed upon them, gave His Priests power to remit sins, will then be "as a torrent of brimstone" to punish their iniquity (Is. xxx. 33). Let us consider that the devils have already prepared a dwelling for us, and desire to see us precipitated into that furnace of fire ; " for Topheth is prepared from yesterday, deep and wide ; the nourishment thereof is fire and much wood." (Ibid.) What anguish for Priests to see themselves changed from shining stars into firebrands of hell !

O Jesus, Author of the Priesthood, and Supreme High Priest, abandon not Thy unworthy Minister. Convert me and save me.


" Deliver, O God, my soul from the sword, my only one from the hand of the dog." — Ps. xxi. 21.

" Which of you can dwell with devouring fire ? Which of you shall dwell with everlasting burnings ? " — Is, xxxiii. 14.

Source: 7 week after Pentecost Meditations for the use of the clergy : for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 3 (Msgr. Scotti, Archbishop of Thessalonica)

Prayer for Priests Who Have Become Unfaithful to Their Vocation

Divine Savior Jesus Christ, Thou are the Good Shepherd who gives His life for His sheep. Oh, be in a very special way the Good Shepherd of those poor lost priests who are also appointed by Thee to be leaders of Thy people, but who have broken the oath of their holy ordination and have become unfaithful to their exalted calling. Bestow upon these poorest of the poor the very fullness of that pastoral solicitude with which Thou dost so faithfully seek the sheep that are lost! Touch their hearts with the irresistible ray of grace which emanates from Thine all-merciful love! Enlighten their minds and strengthen their wills, that they may turn away from all sin and error and come back to Thy holy altar and to Thy people. O most compassionate Savior! Remember that Thou didst once redeem the souls of Thine erring priests with Thy Precious Blood and in infinite preferential love didst impress upon them the indelible character of the priesthood. Put wholly to shame those miserable helpers of Satan who lay snares for the virtue of priests and endanger the holy ideal of the priesthood. Most graciously accept our prayers and sacrifices for poor priests who have gone astray and hear our earnest petition. Amen

Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.

Imprimatur - Bishop John F. Null (April 18, 1948)

Source: Cure d'Ars Prayer Group

                                                                                       (Image Source: GoogleBooks)

Before the altar stands the vested priest,
His face illumined with the spirit's light,
Though conscious, awed by his exalted right
To offer sacrifice.

From sin released through prayer and fast,
His strength by grace increased,
He pours the Wine of love into the chalice bright,
Lifts from the paten Life's Bread pure and white,
Invokes the Presence for the Sacred Feast,
Adores the Lamb of Whom the Saints are fed.
 The heavens part, rejoicing Angels see
Uplifted eyes, anointed hands outspread
O'er silent worshippers, while fervently
 A blessing falls with peace upon each head.
O miracle sublime! O mystery.

Source: by Rev. R.S. Dewey, S.J. The Messenger of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. July, 1891

Behold the fatal cause of the persecutions of the Apostles, and of other Ecclesiastics !

Behold the source of the damnation of innumerable souls, ignorance, wilful and deliberate !

Because no one understandeth, they shall perish for ever" (Job. iv. 20).

If people are, in great part, slaves of the devil, it is from want of knowledge : " Therefore is My people led away captive, because they had not knowledge" (Is. v. 13). "Where there is no knowledge of the soul there is no good " (Prov. xix. 2). And we must acknowledge with grief that this ignorance, which is the mother of all vices, springs from the carelessness of Priests, because they neglect to preach the Word of God, which is " living and effectual" (Heb. iv. 12). Justly, therefore, does St. Gregory declare against such Priests as render themselves guilty of the ruin of innumerable souls, who are thus lost for want of instruction. We who are called Priests, he says, are guilty of murdering men's souls, for we are the cause of the death of all those whom by our tepidity and silence we allow to go to destruction.

Let us remember what the devil one day said to a French Priest, who was preparing to make a speech at the opening of a synod : " The Rulers of the infernal darkness salute the Rectors of Parish Churches, and thank them for their negligence in teaching the people ; because sin is born of ignorance, and damnation is born of sin."

Let us implore the Holy Spirit to bestow on us a little of that light and zeal which he gave to St. Paul, so that we may be able to say with him, "I am clear from the blood of all men, for I have not spared to declare unto you all the counsel of God" (Acts xx. 26, 27). " By the Word of the Lord the heavens were established, and all the power of them by the Spirit of His mouth." — Pu xxxii. 6. " I will pour out My Spirit upon thy seed, and My blessing upon thy stock' Is xliv. 3.

Source: Meditations for the use of the clergy : for every day in the year. On the Gospels for the Sundays, Volume 3 (Msgr. Scotti, Archbishop of Thessalonica)