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Nikephoros I of Constantinople trampling on John VII of Constantinople. Miniature from Chludov Psalter.

"Integrity of the Faith: There are not in the Christian faith any articles which it is permissible to accept or reject according to one's own good pleasure; all are equally holy and equally true. Faith teaches that it is good to hold in reverence the images of the saints; and this article of belief, apparently to little importance, has been upheld by martyrs.

Nicephorus, elected patriarch of Constantinople in 806, despite his opposition, furnished us with a striking example. The emperor Nicephorus, who had been instrumental in bringing about this election, was not mistaken in the estimate he had made of his former secretary. On the emperor Leo the Armenian succeeding to Nicephorus, he renewed the persecution in the matter of images, but found on the part of the patriarch an amount of resistance as unbending as it was determined. Unable to conquer him, he banished him to a monastery, where the saintly old man spent fourteen years, accounting himself happy to suffer this long disgrace for the sake of religion. He there died in 828, after having composed several works in defense of the faith. The Greeks celebrate his festival on the 2nd of June, and the Latin Church on the 13th of March.

Moral Reflection: How shall we venture to cavil at the Faith, when St. Paul himself proclaimed that he had received the apostleship not for the control of, but for obedience to the faith? (Rom. i. 5)" Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints by Abbe Auguste Lecanu

• "Second Council of Nicaea, the Seventh Ecumenical Council, in 787. Among the canons that were issued  during this council:
  
      “We define that the holy icons, whether in color, mosaic, or some other material, should be exhibited in the holy churches of God, on the sacred vessels and liturgical vestments, on the walls, furnishings, and in houses and along the roads, namely the icons of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ, that of our Lady the Theotokos, those of the venerable angels and those of all saintly people. The more frequently they are seen in representational art, the more are those who see them drawn to remember and long for those who serve as models, and to pay these images the tribute of salutation and respectful veneration (dulia). Certainly, this is not the full adoration [or real worship] (latria) in accordance with our faith, which is properly paid only to the divine nature… Further, people are drawn to honor these images with the offering of incense and lights, as was piously established by ancient custom. Indeed, the honor paid to the image is in effect transmitted to the prototype; he who venerates the image, venerates the person represented in that image.
  
      “Therefore all those who dare to think or teach anything different, or who follow the accursed heretics in rejecting ecclesiastical traditions, or who devise innovations, or who spurn anything entrusted to the church (whether it be the Gospel or the figure of the cross or any example of representational art or any martyr’s holy relic), or who fabricate perverted and evil prejudices against cherishing any of the lawful traditions of the Catholic Church, or who secularize the sacred objects and saintly monasteries, we order that they be suspended if they are bishops or clerics, and excommunicated if they are monks or lay people.”

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful.  It behooves all of us to preserve the riches which have developed in the Church’s faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place.” Pope Benedict XVI

Source: Ugly Churches and Modern Day Iconoclasm

A Litany of Saints Who Suffered for the Sake of Holy Images (for private use)

Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father, invisible and uncircumscribed, have mercy on us.
God the Son, Image of the Father, made flesh for man, have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, sent under the form of a dove and tongues of flame, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us.

Ye forty-two holy monks of Ephesus, tortured under Constantine Copronymus, pray for us.
St. Lazarus, monk, tortured under Theophilus as a painter of sacred images, pray for us.
St. Tharasius, bishop, recipient of a letter from Pope Adrian I in defense of holy images, pray for us.
St. Euthymius of Sardis, bishop, exiled by Michael and martyred under Theophilus, pray for us.
St. Theophanes, monk, imprisoned, then exiled by Leo the Armenian for venerating images, pray for us.
St. Nicephorus, bishop, exiled to the island of Prokonesis for reverencing holy images, pray for us.
St. Paul of Constantinople, burnt to death under Constantine Copronymus, pray for us.
St. Nicetas of Apollonia, bishop, driven into exile, pray for us.
St. John Damascene, apologist of icons, whose cut-off hand was restored by the Mother of God, pray for us.
St. Macarius, who under the Emperor Leo ended his life in exile, pray for us.
St. Nicetas of Medikion, abbot, who suffered much under Leo the Armenian, pray for us.
St. Plato, monk, who strove dauntlessly against the heretical breakers of holy images, pray for us.
St. George of Antioch, bishop, who died in exile for the veneration of holy images, pray for us.
St. Anthusa, virgin, beaten with scourges for the veneration of holy images and exiled, pray for us.
St. Emilian, bishop, who suffered at the hands of the Emperor Leo and died in exile, pray for us.
SS. Julian, Marcian, and eight others, slain with the sword for venerating an image of the Saviour, pray for us.
St. George Limniota, whose hands were cut off and whose head was set on fire, pray for us.
SS. Hypatius and Andrew, who suffered flaying, burning, and the cutting of your throats, pray for us.
St. Theophilus, cruelly scourged and driven into exile by Leo the Isaurian, pray for us.
St. Andrew of Crete, monk, scourged by Constantine Copronymus who cut off thy foot, pray for us.
St. Theodore of Studium, zealous fighter for the Catholic veneration of holy images, pray for us.
St. Gregory Decapolites, who suffered much for the veneration of holy images, pray for us.
SS. Theodore & Theophanes, brothers, beaten and sent into exile twice for the honor due to icons, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

V. There is no idol in Jacob, neither is there a simulacrum in Israel.
R. The Lord his God is with him, and the sound of the King’s victory is in him. (Num 23:21)

V. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
R. For in him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible. (Col 1:15–16)

Let us pray. Almighty everlasting God, who dost not forbid us to carve or paint likenesses of Thy saints, in order that whenever we look at them with our bodily eyes we may call to mind their holy lives and resolve to follow in their footsteps: may it please Thee to bless us by images made in memory and honor of Thine only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, and to grant that all who in their presence pay devout homage to Thine only-begotten Son may by His merits and primacy obtain Thy grace in this life and everlasting glory in the life to come, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: A Litany of Saints Who Suffered for the Sake of Holy Images

"Yes, my dear brethren, in everything that we see, in everything that we hear, in all we say and do, we are conscious of the fact that we are drawn towards evil. If we are at table, there is sensuality, and gluttony, and intemperance. If we take a few moments of recreation, there are the dangers of flightiness and idle chatter. If we are at work, most of the time it is self-interest, or avarice, or envy which influences us -- or even vanity.

When we pray, there is negligence, distraction, distaste, and boredom. If we are in pain or any trouble, there are complaints and murmurings. When we are doing well and are prosperous, pride, self-love, and contempt for our neighbor take hold of us. Our hearts swell with pride when we are praised. Wrongs inflame us into rages.

There you see my dear brethren, the thing which made the greatest of the saints tremble. This was what made so many of them retire into the desert to live solitary lives; this was the source of so many tears, of so many prayers, of so many penances. It is true that the saints who were hidden away in the forests were not exempt from temptations, but they were far removed from so much bad example as that which surrounds us continually and which is the cause of so many souls being lost. But, my dear brethren, we see from their lives that they watched, they prayed, and they were in dread unceasingly, while we, poor, blind sinners, are quite placid in the midst of so many dangers which could lose us our souls!

Alas, my dear brethren, some of us do not even know what it is to be tempted because we hardly ever, or very rarely, resist. Which one of us can expect to escape from all these dangers? Which one of us will be saved? Anyone who wanted to reflect upon all these things could hardly go on living, so greatly terrified would he be!

However, my dear brethren, what ought to console and reassure us is that we have to deal with a good Father Who will never allow our struggles to be greater than our strength, and every time we have recourse to Him, He will help us to fight and to conquer."

source: Sermons of the Cure d'Ars, p.89, 1960

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG

7. We adore Thee, O source and origin of all sanctity and innocence! And to repair the abominations committed by wicked priests, who consecrate and receive Thee in the state of mortal sin, we offer up to Thee the profound adoration and holiness of the Powers. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.

O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of performing. Amen

Source: CAPG