St. Genevieve, Patron of Paris, France
by VP
Posted on Friday January 03, 2025 at 10:39AM in Saints
"IN RETURN FOR EVIL, DO GOOD. -Genevieve was born about 422, at a village in the environs of Paris, called Nanterre. St. Germain, bishop of Auxerre, passing near the spot while Genevieve was as yet a child, discerning her in the midst of the pressing crowd, asked her whether she desired to dedicate herself to God's service, and with his own hands invested her with the insignia of the religious life. The youthful virgin made such rapid progress in piety, that the inhabitants of the country grew accustomed to regard her as a saint. But later on, their homage was converted into scoffing, and they treated her most evident virtues as hypocrisy. St. Germain once more came to her aid, and publicly demonstrated the reality of her virtues. At a subsequent period, Genevieve herself afforded the highest proofs thereof by twice saving Paris: on the first occasion by her prayers, when Attila, king of the Huns, at the head of an armed host, was threatening its destruction, and again, by providing the citizens with food, when Merovée, king of the Francs, was besieging it. Genevieve died in 512, and is invoked by Paris as its patron saint.
MORAL REFLECTION. -Never to allow oneself to be
discouraged by the ingratitude and injustice of men; persecution is the
crucible wherein the gold of virtue is refined. "All that will live
godly in Christ Jesus, shall suffer persecution."-(2 Tim. iii. 12.)" Pictorial half hours with the saints By Abbe Auguste François Lecanu 1865
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Friday January 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
"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
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
The Meaning of the Circumcision
by VP
Posted on Friday January 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Meditations
"1. It seems strange that the spotless Lamb of God should have been subjected to a rite which was the occasion on which Jewish boys were freed from original sin. Was it not derogatory to Jesus, and calculated to produce the false impression that He was not the Son of God, born of a virgin-mother, but a sinful son of Adam, like those around ? Sometimes it is not only lawful, but a duty, to do what is calculated to mislead others, when God enjoins it or some higher motive exists for it.
2. What was this higher motive in the case of the circumcision of Jesus? It was that He might become like us in all things, sin only excepted; that He might be made sin for us, i.e., might bear all the consequences of sin, and the suffering that is the result of sin. O merciful Savior! May my heart be ever full of gratitude to Thee for this Thy divine condescension !
3. Our Lord was circumcised also because He came to fulfill all the Jewish law, with all its rites and ceremonies. He exalted it by His obedience and exact accomplishment of all its details. So I ought to love and obey every enactment of the Church, every ceremony and every detail of her ritual and discipline."
Meditations for Christmas . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
