Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
by VP
Posted on Tuesday March 25, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
"THIS being the day on which the Son of God became incarnate, and took flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary, give thanks to Almighty God for this his infinite mercy in sending his only Son for the redemption of man. Offer yourself for his servant for ever, who for your sake stoops below the degree of a servant. Admire and honour the humility of the Blessed Virgin; who being chosen Mother of Christ, styles herself only his handmaid: and let her humility be your pattern.
The mercy of this day, when God sent his only Son, to become man for our salvation, ought to imprint so lively an idea in the hearts of all Christians, as to lay a foundation of perpetual praise, adoration, and thanksgiving; and oblige them to be faithful in his service for ever. To be wanting in these duties, is a sufficient conviction that they either do not think, or do not believe. For what less can it be than insensibility, to behold this goodness, and not to adore it; to receive such mercies from the hand of God, and to remain cold and ungrateful under them? An eternal homage and fidelity are therefore the indispensable obligations of every Christian; and those who dispense with themselves, do in fact renounce this sacred character. Are we thus to live on, stupid and unthinking, and be sensible of no other effect of these mercies, but that of our greater condemnation, which we shall draw upon ourselves by our neglect, ingratitude, and contempt? While we see the Almighty do so much on his part, something certainly ought to be done on ours. And what can we do better, than follow the pattern before us?
The second Person of the Blessed Trinity this day assumes our human nature, and becomes man. By this ineffable union of God and man, he has taught us that man may be united to God. This then ought to be the concern of our whole lives, to extend in some manner the Incarnation of the Son of God: that as he is made man, so we by putting on Christ, may be so closely united to him, as to become divine. This union is consummated in heaven, where the blessed souls are wholly absorbed in God: but it is begun, and may be much advanced on earth, whilst Christians being made the adopted children of God, by a participation of the divine nature, may be able to say: We live, and not we, but Christ lives in us. Happy those Christians, who arrive at this point: and happy we, could we this day effectually embrace the method of coming to it.
This can be done only by our constant endeavours to crucify within us the old man, with all its corrupt inclinations and desires, which carry us with violence to sin, to the earth and creatures; and to follow those new impressions, which we receive from God, which separate us from all earthly affections, and raise us to the love of God, and seeking heavenly things. This is taking part with Christ, who, coming to remedy the dismal effects of Adam's fall, teaches his followers to renounce and make war against all that concupiscence, pride, and perverseness, which they inherit from the sin of Adam. For, since Christ and the life which he gives are contrary to Adam, and to the impressions received from him; Christians who put on the new man, and have the spirit of Christ abiding in them, must manifest this new life by stifling all sinful inclinations, and bringing forth the fruits of his Holy Spirit.
In this manner, Christ being the light, which directs their judgment and reason, he being the rule, by which they govern their will and affections; and the source of all that they undertake and do; Christ lives in them, and their life becomes the life of Christ. And though they are still sensible of many corrupt inclinations and natural suggestions in favour of flesh and the world; yet inasmuch as they carefully watch over these, and labour to suppress them, they serve only for their exercise, and daily afford them new matter of triumph. But it cannot be said that they live by them, but rather that they are dead to the world, and have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer to Mary for the Holy Church
Queen of heaven, thy immense love for God maketh thee likewise love His Church. We pray thee, come to its help amidst the ills under which it is now suffering, rent asunder as she is by her own children. Thy prayer, being a mother's, can obtain all from that God Who loveth Thee so well. Pray then, pray for the Church; ask for enlightenment for so many unbelievers who are persecuting it, and obtain for faithful souls the necessary strength to resist being caught in the snares of the unbelievers who would drag them down into their own ruin.
Source: St. Alphonsus' prayer-book, 1888Day 21. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Catechism on the Prerogatives of a pure soul
by VP
Posted on Tuesday March 25, 2025 at 12:00AM in Lenten Sermons
"Nothing is so beautiful as a pure soul. If we understood this, we could not lose our purity. The pure soul is disengaged from matter, from earthly things, and from itself. . . . That is why the saints ill-treated their body, that is why they did not grant it what it required, not even to rise five minutes later, to warm themselves, to eat anything that gave them pleasure. . . . For what the body loses the soul gains, and what the body gains the soul loses.
Purity comes from Heaven; we must ask for it from God. If we ask for it, we shall obtain it. We must take great care not to lose it. We must shut our heart against pride, against sensuality, and all the other passions, as one shuts the doors and windows that nobody may be able to get in. What joy is it to the guardian angel to conduct a pure soul! My children, when a soul is pure, all Heaven looks upon it with love! Pure souls will form the circle round Our Lord. The more pure we have been on earth, the nearer we shall be to Him in Heaven. When the heart is pure, it cannot help loving, because it has found the source of love, which is God. "Happy, " says Our Lord, "are the pure in heart, because they shall see God!"
My children, we cannot comprehend the power that a pure soul has over the good God. It is not he who does the will of God, it is God who does his will. Look at Moses, that very pure soul. When God would punish the Jewish people, He said to him: Do not pray for them, because My anger must fall upon this people. Nevertheless, Moses prayed, and God spared His people; He let Himself be entreated; He could not resist the prayer of that pure soul. O my children, a soul that has never been stained by that accursed sin obtains from God whatever it wishes!
Three things are wanted to preserve purity - the presence of God, prayer, and the Sacraments. Another means is the reading of holy books, which nourishes the soul. How beautiful is a pure soul! Our Lord showed one to St. Catherine; she thought it so beautiful that she said, "O Lord, if I did not know that there is only one God, I should think it was one. " The image of God is reflected in a pure soul, like the sun in the water. A pure soul is the admiration of the Three Persons of the Holy Trinity. The Father contemplates His work: There is My creature! . . . The Son, the price of His Blood: the beauty of an object is shown by the price it has cost. . . . The Holy Spirit dwells in it, as in a temple.
We also know the value of our soul by the efforts the devil makes to ruin it. Hell is leagued against it - Heaven for it. Oh, how great it must be! In order to have an idea of our dignity, we must often think of Heaven, Calvary, and Hell. If we could understand what it is to be the child of God, we could not do evil - we should be like angels on earth. To be children of God, oh, what a dignity!
It is a beautiful thing to have a heart, and, little as it is, to be able to make use of it in loving God. How shameful it is that man should descend so low, when God has placed him so high! When the angels had revolted against God, this God who is so good, seeing that they could no longer enjoy the happiness for which He had created them, made man, and this little world that we see to nourish his body. But his soul required to be nourished also; and as nothing created can feed the soul, which is a spirit, God willed to give Himself for its Food. But the great misfortune is that we neglect to have recourse to this divine Food, in crossing the desert of this life. Like people who die of hunger within sight of a well-provided table, there are some who remain fifty, sixty years, without feeding their souls.
Oh, if Christians could understand the language of Our Lord, who says to them, "Notwithstanding thy misery, I wish to see near Me that beautiful soul which I created for Myself. I made it so great, that nothing can fill it but Myself. I made it so pure, that nothing but My Body can nourish it. "
Our Lord has always distinguished Pure souls. Look at St. John, the well-beloved disciple, who reposed upon His breast. St. Catherine was pure, and she was often transported into Paradise. When she died, angels took up her body, and carried it to Mount Sinai, where Moses had received the Commandments of the law. God has shown by this prodigy that a soul is so agreeable to Him, that it deserves that even the body which has participated in its purity should be buried by angels.
God contemplates a pure soul with love; He grants it all its desires. How could He refuse anything to a soul that lives only for Him, by Him, and in Him? It seeks God, and He shows Himself to it; it calls Him, and God comes; it is one with Him; it captivates His will. A pure soul is all-powerful with the gracious Heart of Our Lord. A pure soul with God is like a child with its mother. It caresses her, it embraces her, and its mother returns its caresses and embraces."
Source: The Blessed Curé of Ars in His Catechetical Instructions, 1951
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