St. Olympias, WIDOW, A.D. about 410.
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Saints
"This saint lived at Constantinople in the time of St. John Chrysostom. Her husband having been dead some time, the Emperor Theodosius proposed to her to marry Elpidius, his own near relation: to whom she answered, that God having taken away her husband, because she was not fit for the duties of the married state, she was resolved no more to engage in it. She was true to her resolution; and employed both her money and time in the relief of widows, orphans, and the sick. Her austerities were great, her habit mean, her humility edifying, her tears continual: and that nothing might be wanting to consummate her virtue, she was persecuted by the Emperor Arcadius, for espousing the cause of oppressed innocence in the person of her pastor, St. John Chrysostom. For this, being forced into banishment, she found her way by a happy death, to a better country which she had long desired.
Make use of this example as your state requires. There are difficulties in all conditions, and that of marriage cannot properly be Christian, without the self-denials of the cloister.
If humility and charity helped her to heaven, will not prodigality and
vanity shut you out from it? Take not your measures from the world, but from the gospel; and then say who has given you power so much to dispense with it. Follow the gospel, if you hope to come to the promises of the gospel. The saints all studied to husband every moment to the best advantage, knowing that life is very short, and that the night is coming on apace
when no man can work. Let no moments be spent merely to pass away time.
Diversions and corporal exercise ought to be used with moderation, only
as much as may seem requisite for bodily health and the vigour of the mind.
Every one is bound to apply himself to some serious employment. This,
and his necessary recreations, must be referred to God, sanctified by a
holy intention, and seasoned by humility, patience, prayer, and other
virtues. Thus will our lives be an uninterrupted sacrifice of divine praise and love." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
O Sapientia (Advent Meditations)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Advent Sermons
"Before
the feast of Christmas, the coming Savior is welcomed in seven
antiphons, which greet Him under various titles, and entreat Him to come
quickly to enlighten and deliver His people.
“O Wisdom, Who
earnest forth from the mouth of the Most High, reaching in Thy strength
from end to end, and sweetly disposing all things, come and teach us the
way of prudence."
1. The first title given to Jesus is that of
Wisdom. He was the Eternal Wisdom of God, and the source of all wisdom
to men from one end of time to the other. With Him all wisdom ; without
Him no wisdom. Yet I have sometimes fancied myself wise when I was
acting quite apart from Him, and perhaps His wishes or commands. What
utter folly !
2. It is the Eternal Word that disposes all things
sweetly. Everything that happens in heaven or earth is arranged by Him,
and is arranged not unkindly, or harshly, or bitterly,but sweetly. Why
then do I regret what I ought to know He has arranged sweetly, i.e. t
with designs of love for me if I take it in the right spirit ?
3.
Come and teach us the way of prudence. This is our first petition to
Him Who is to come. If only He imparts prudence, all must be well.
Prudence chooses the right end, viz., the glory of God, and the right
means to the end, viz., what we know God asks of us now, and in our
present circumstances. Teach me, O Jesus, that lesson of prudence which
will guide me safe to the kingdom of heaven."
Meditations #21 for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891 Digitized by google
Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)
Prayer to the Holy Infant for priestsJesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls themselves.
Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them, and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they shepherded on earth. Amen.
Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more
Ember Days Winter (December 18, 20, 21)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 17, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Let us, therefore, revive Embers days!
Let us again pray, fast, and abstain for more faithful priests!
Wednesday (20th): the day Christ was betrayed (Fast and half-abstinence)
Friday (22nd): Christ was crucified (Fast and abstinence)
and Saturday (23rd): the day Christ was entombed. (Fast and half-abstinence)
"Many Christians, alas, scarcely know the purpose of the Ember days. They have been appointed in order that the faithful pray for good priests, and may supplement their prayers by fasting and good works. Good priests must be obtained through prayer. The greatest blessing for a parish is a good, zealous priest. Those who often pray for priests will draw God's blessing upon themselves, and will experience the assistance and blessing of the priest in the hour of death."Rev. Ferreol Girarday C.S.S.R
The observance of Ember days is a very old tradition, going back to the
Apostolic time and taking after the Roman Pagan customs that held
festivals on each seasons of the year. In 494, Pope Gelasius I used
the Ember Saturdays to confer ordination to the priesthood.
From
their origins, Ember days had a two fold purpose: to pray for the
laborers and for the fruits of the harvest. During these three days,
Catholics were thanking Our Blessed Lord "for the gifts of nature" asking
Him "to teach men to make use of them in moderation, assist the needy"
but most of all to pray for more good priests. Ember Days: Catholic Encyclopedia
In 1969, Pope Paul VI excluded the embers day from being mandatory
days of fast and abstinence and left their celebrations to the
discretion of the local bishops. Even though the US Bishops' Conference
has decided not to celebrate them, we may still choose to do so as a
personal devotion since its observance at home or small communities is
not discouraged:
"17. Vigils and Ember Days, as most now know, no
longer oblige to fast and abstinence. However, the liturgical renewal
and the deeper appreciation of the joy of the holy days of the
Christian year will, we hope, result in a renewed appreciation as to why
our forefathers spoke of "a fast before a feast." We impose no fast
before any feast-day, but we suggest that the devout will find greater
Christian joy in the feasts of the liturgical calendar if they freely
bind themselves, for their own motives and in their own spirit of
piety, to prepare for each Church festival by a day of particular
self-denial, penitential prayer and fasting."
Vigils and Ember Days (USCCB) 1966
"We should never let these seasons pass without adding prayer to our fasts, or it may be compensating fast by prayer. Our prayer should be for the clergy, not only those ordained, though for them especially; but for the Sovereign Pontiff, the cardinals, bishops, parochial clergy, missionaries and religious orders, seminarians; and for the grace of vocation to the priesthood. An excellent prayer for this purpose is the Litany of the Saints, in which so many bishops, priests, and Levites are invoked; or the Rosary may be appropriately said, grouping those for whom we pray into five classes, corresponding to the five decades." Publications of the Catholic Truth Society, (Volume 24)
"The fast of the Ember days has been instituted principally to obtain of God good, holy and zealous priests for His Church. On this point especially depend the honor and welfare of the Church and the salvation of mankind. History proves, beyond all doubt, that a careless and tepid clergy do greater injury to the Church and to the souls of men than a bitter and bloody persecution. Persecution, in its outcome, proves beneficial to the Church and sends heroic martyrs to heaven, but a clergy devoid of holiness and virtue is the scourge of souls and the disgrace of the Church." Rev. Ferreol Girarday C.S.S.R
