Saint Elizabeth of Hungary, Widow, A.D. 1231
by VP
Posted on Monday November 18, 2024 at 11:00PM in Saints
"Enter into your own hearts, and resolve to imitate St. Elizabeth of Hungary, a saint and a queen, who would go with all royal pomp to Holy Mass, but on entering Church, would take the crown from her head, the jewels from her fingers, and, despoiled of all ornament, would remain covered with a veil, so modest in deportment, that she never was seen to direct a glance in any direction but the altar.This so please Almighty God that He chose to make His satisfaction apparent to all, for once, during Mass, the Saint was so glorified with Divine splendor, that the eyes which looked on her were dazzled, and she seemed to all as it were an angel of Paradise. Make use of this noble example, and be assured you will thus become pleasing to God and to man, and your share in the Divine Sacrifice will be of the highest profit to you in this life and in the next." The hidden treasure: or, The value and excellence of holy mass. by Blessed Leonard of Port-Maurice 1855 p111
"SHE was daughter of the king of Hungary, and from her childhood accustomed to all the exercises of piety. Being married to the Landgrave of Hesse, her whole business was in assisting orphans and widows, and helping the sick. This she did, without any regard to her quality or state; judging nothing more honorable, than to do good. After her husband's decease, she embraced the third Order of St. Francis Spiritual and corporal works of mercy
occupied her, even to her last moments; and by her moving exhortations,
many obstinate sinners were converted to God. In prayer she found her
comfort and strength in her mortal pilgrimage, and was favored with
frequent raptures and heavenly communications. Being forewarned by
Almighty God of her approaching death, she redoubled her fervor, and ceased not to pray, or to discourse on the life and sufferings of our Redeemer, and his future coming to judge: The day of her happy death was the 19th of November in 1231.
She is an instruction to all states; and teaches virgins, wives and widows to seek first the kingdom of God, and not let the distractions of this world be a bar to the next Her example cannot be followed without great labor and self-denial, in overcoming those inclinations, which keep the soul down, and confine it to this world. Vanity, solicitude and the desire of reputation, are powerful charms, but they look not beyond the earth; and how will this turn to a good account with them, who having but a short time to provide for the next world, consume it all in their concern for this? Think seriously of this
ill management, and pray for all who are subject to it. Pray in
particular for those, whose quality sets them above others, that they
may have a sense of what is truly honorable; that if they take their measures from the gospel, there is more honor in helping the poor
and distressed, and practicing humility and patience, than in all those
ways in which their vanity leads them. What is all that honor, which
will be the contempt of devils?" The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Eighteenth Day: The Efficacy of Holy Mass for the Departed
by VP
Posted on Monday November 18, 2024 at 12:00AM in Meditations
"The Sacrifice of the Mass is the great devotion of the Catholic Church. And of all means to assist the souls in Purgatory none is more valuable or meritorious. For there Jesus Christ offers Himself with His infinite merits to His Heavenly Father, by the hands of the priest, in behalf of the suffering souls. The unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass does not essentially differ from the Sacrifice of the Cross, but only accidentally as to the manner of offering. And no limit can be place to the effect of this great Sacrifice, which contains in itself all grace.
From this inestimable efficacy, however, we may not infer that the offering of one Mass is sufficient to release the souls we love. For, though the Sacrifice on Calvary was infinite we cannot conclude that the application of it through the Mass must also be infinite. St. Thomas Aquinas tells us, it was not the intention of Jesus Christ to bestow the full efficacy of His suffering and death, which is commemorated in every Mass, upon us. His merits are applied according to His Adorable Will, for the ways of God are often inscrutable.
It is very salutary therefore, to have the Holy Sacrifice offered frequently for the repose of a soul. Should the souls who are dear to us and for whom we intercede in this manner, be already in the enjoyment of eternal bliss, Divine Wisdom and Goodness will bestow the merit of the Masses offered on other suffering souls."
Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst institute the unbloody Sacrifice of the Mass in commemoration of Thy Sacrifice upon the Cross, we beseech Thee, bestow the merits of this Holy Sacrifice upon the souls in Purgatory, that they may soon be released from their pains. Thou Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.
Prayer for Priests in Purgatory: My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden, in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns, in the Way to Calvary, in Thy Crucifixion and Death, have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory, especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them. I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me, the priests my heart has never forgotten, and for those that I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory. Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.
Pope Saint Pius X and Saint John Vianney, pray for us and especially for our priests. Amen
Special Intercession: Pray for the souls of those who were the most zealous to assist at Mass.
Lord grant them eternal rest, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen. (three times)
Invocation: My Jesus, mercy!
Source: Manual of the Purgatorian Society, Redemptorist Fathers. 1907