Saint Norbert overcoming the heretic Tanchelm by Peter Paul Rubens  (1577–1640)

"O, Priest! You are not of yourself because you are of God. You are not of yourself because you are the servant and minister of Christ. You are not your own because you are the spouse of the Church. You are not of yourself because you are the mediator between God and man. You are not from yourself because you are nothing. What then are you? Nothing and everything. O Priest! Take care lest what was said to Christ on the cross be said to you: "He saved others, himself he cannot save!" -- St. Norbert

"He was born in the duchy of Cleves, and brought up in the court of the Emperor Henry IV. His excellent natural abilities made him acceptable to all, and engaged him in all the distractions and liberties of a court life. But the divine grace opening his eyes to see the vanity of those follies, to which, with so much satisfaction, he had abandoned himself, he at once renounced them all. Having applied himself to the study of virtue, he received holy orders, and sought no other comfort but in works of charity, in rigorous mortification and frequent prayer. After some time he founded the religious Order of the Premonstratenses, called also from their holy founder, Norbertines. When he had completed the establishment of his Order, he was obliged to quit his monastery, to be placed in a more exalted station, as archbishop of Magdeburg. There, having discharged all the duties of a good pastor, eminent in all virtue, he died in the year 1134.

Pray for all the religious of his Order, that they may keep up the spirit of their founder. Pray for all who are engaged in the vanities and deceitful liberties of the world; that God would make them sensible how contrary such a life is to the life of Christ and His Gospel, and give them grace to overcome themselves and the world. Happy is that day to Christians, when touched with the sense of their offences, they begin to lament their misery, and by necessary self-denials to master those passions, which have carried them away from their duty. Under such exercises nature will mourn; but it is that mourning which has the promise of a blessing, and will one day be turned into joy; at that day, when short pleasures and sinful follies shall begin an unhappy eternity. Examine yourself, see how your affections stand, resolve upon mortifying whatever passion leads you to sin. Make choice of the better part, and let no present satisfactions make you hazard those which are eternal. Pray for all the bishops and pastors of Christ's Church, that they may be faithful in every part of their charge, and not seek themselves, but God's honour, and the good of their flock." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Wherefore, a great and terrible necessity forces us to show, in accordance with the words of the apostle, an example to the faithful : that is, unless my judgment errs, the priest must live so justly that from the contrast with his deeds his words may not be idle, and that, while he lives prudently for himself from his own, he may not by his silence be condemned for another's sin; because for this purpose is one set over the church of Christ, that not only by living well he may instruct others through his example, but also that, by faithful preaching, he may set out before each man's eyes his sins, and show what punishment awaits the obstinate, what glory the obedient. Because according to the word of God to Ezekiel he, to whom the dispensation of the word is entrusted, may live justly, but yet, if he is ashamed or fears to rebuke those who live abandoned lives, together with all who perish through his silence, he likewise perishes. And what will it avail him not to be punished for his own sins, who is to be punished for another's? The silence of the priest, the Lord speaking to Ezekiel condemns terribly and calls the priest a watchman : and just as the watchman must from a loftier place see farther than all, so the priest ought to be raised higher on the elevation of his merits and to have the grace of greater wisdom, whereby he can instruct the rest of men. Therefore hear the word of my mouth,” said the divine voice, “ and thou wilt give them warning from me. that the priest is to declare what he has learned from divine reading, what God has given him by inspiration, not what human senses have discovered. “ Thou wilt give them warning from me,” said He, “ from me, not from thy self; thou wilt speak my words, and wilt not boast of them as thine own. “ From me,” said He, “thou wilt give them warning. When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die ; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life; " He means the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood will be required at thine hand ” It is as though He said openly: If thou hast not warned him of his sins, and if thou hast not rebuked him, that he turn from his sins and live, both thee who didst not warn and him who through thy silence sinned, I will hand over to eternal flames.

Let us not, therefore, be so stony or iron of heart, that these words of the Lord do not alarm us. Let us not be so barren of faith, that we should not believe these words of the Lord ; but let us rouse up and exhort our brethren with the revered words of Saint Peter the apostle : “ Be sober, be vigilant ; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour ; whom resist, stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world” And let us admonish the bishops who are under our synod with the exhortation of Saint Paul the apostle, when he says to Timothy : “I charge thee, therefore, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead, at his appearing and his Kingdom : preach the word : be instant in season, out of season, reprove, rebuke, exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine."  is the time foretold by the apostle “ when they will not Let us, endure sound doctrine, but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers ” and the rest. according to the word of the prophet, cry aloud with all our strength, we who announce peace on earth to men of good will. For he cries aloud with all his strength, whom neither fear nor shame hinders from preaching the word of life.

Let us strive, with the aid of the Lord, that we may not be among those false shepherds of the sheep, whom the prophet accuses, saying: Thus saith the Lord God: Woe be to the shepherds of Israel, that do feed themselves ! Should not the shepherd feed the flock? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed, but ye feed not the flock The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them, and they were scattered because there is no shepherd, and they became meat to all the beasts of the field.”  The woe of which the prophet speaks he has fixed for a curse : by the shepherds he signifies the bishops, by the flocks of the Lord, the faithful to be fed. But they feed themselves, because they strive not for the safety of the people, but for their own pleasure. The fat and the wool of the sheep of Christ they take with daily offerings and tithes from the faithful ; and care for the flock of Christ they put to one side.

They do not heal with spiritual counsel the man sick in sin ; they do not strengthen with priestly aid the man broken by many sufferings; they do not recall the erring one to the way of salvation; they do not seek out with pastoral solicitude the man lost through despair of forgiveness ; nor do they defend the afflicted against the violence of the powerful, who rage against them like wild beasts ; and so far from rebuking rich and powerful sinners, they do them honor.

So with threats the divine word smites the pride of such, saying: “Woe to the prophets of Israel !”And again : “ Therefore, O ye shepherds, hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I am against the shepherds ; and I will require my flock at their hands, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock ; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more.” What is this but to say: The shepherds who feed themselves and not the flock, I will thrust down from their high dignity, among the outcast and the accursed! At all this who will not tremble, unless it be one who believes not in the future ? Everything which God wished to have observed He has so clearly fixed and established with the authority of His name, that it would be easier to despise His words—and to say this is itself a sin-than to lie and declare that we did not understand things so clear and divine. When we hear : “ Thus saith the Lord,” who can believe that what God says will not be, unless it be one who believes not in God? With the thought of these things and things like unto them I am terrified, and “ fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror of my sins hath all but overwhelmed me; gladly should I have abandoned the helm of the Church once taken up, had I been able to do so or could I have found examples, either from the Fathers or the Holy Scriptures to approve such a course.

Wherefore, my beloved brother, since all these things are so, and truth can be sorely tried but neither conquered nor deceived, let our wearied minds take refuge in Him, who says, through the mouth of Solomon : « Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths.” And elsewhere : The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, a.id is safe.” Let us stand fast in justice, and prepare our souls against temptation, that we may have the support of God and may say him : “ Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations."' Let us put our trust in Him, who hath put the burden upon us. cannot carry ourselves, let us carry through Him who is Omnipotent, and says: "For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light Let us stand fast in battle in the day of the Lord because the “days of tribulation and hardship” have come upon us. Let us die, it God wills it, for the sacred laws of our fathers, that with them we may deserve to win an eternal heritage. Let us not be dumb dogs nor silent watchmen, nor hirelings who flee before the wolf, but zealous shepherds, watching over the flock of Christ, preaching the whole counsel of Christ, to high and low, to rich and poor, and to all ranks or ages, so far as God gives us strength, in season, out of season, as Saint Gregory has described it in his Pastoral Care."

Source: The English Correspondence of St. Boniface p 182

19. We adore Thee, Eternal Priest, whose delight is to offer sacrifice! And to make reparation for the insults and affronts done to Thy priests, religious, and virgins, we offer up to Thee Thy own invincible patience, together with the true and fervent zeal of all good priests and apostolic preachers. 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.

CAPG

St. Clotilda praying at the foot of Saint Marc's Tomb. Public domain

"The Mission of the Christian Woman: If death has entered the world through the guilt of a woman, woman has, on the other hand, oftentimes been invested with the mission of bringing salvation to the world. It suffices to mention Deborah, Judith, the incomparable Mary, Mother of God; and, coming down to our own times, Genoveva and Clotilda, to the latter of whom France owes Christianity. Being the wife of Clovis, who was a pagan, like the rest of his people, she urged her husband to become a Christian, and each day entreated Heaven to grant his conversion. Heaven came to her assistance. When he was on the point of losing the battle of Tolbiac and his troops had already begun to fly, a sudden thought recurred to the mind of Clovis, and he exclaimed: "God of Clotilda! if Thou givest me the victory, I will become a Christian." God vouchsafed to grant him the victory, and Clovis was true to his word. let not this great boon, however, allow us to forget the other virtues of Clotilda, - her humility, piety, resignation, love for the poor, her austerities, and zeal for religion. She died at Tours in 543, having had a revelation of her death thirty days beforehand, while praying at the tomb of St. Martin. Moral reflection: St. Peter traces out the mission of the Christian woman, "To win the heart of those that believe not the word." (1 Peter 3. 1.). Pictorial half hours with the saints, by Abbe Auguste François Lecanu

Prayer:

Hail, gentle and loving St. Clotilde, sweet illustrious Queen of the Franks, who by thy faith and perseverance in the Lord didst convert thy husband and made France for many centuries a venerable stalwart of the Catholic faith, I implore thy powerful intercession in this my great need. Assist me, holy St. Clotilde, from thy height of glory in heaven. Thou, who during thy earthly sojourn, didst drink deeply from the Saviour's chalice of sorrows, have pity on my dire distress, especially . . . (Here make your intention). Grant also that through my sorrows I may, like thee, purify my faith and never lose hope in the mercy of God. Amen.

"In 1879 Catholicism began spreading in Uganda when the White Fathers, a congregation of priests founded by Cardinal Lavigerie were peacefully received by King Mutesa of Uganda.  The priests soon began preparing catechumens for baptism and before long a number of the young pages in the king’s court had become Catholics. However, on the death of Mutesa, his son Mwanga, a corrupt man who ritually engaged in pedophilic practices with the younger pages, took the throne.

When King Mwanga had a visiting Anglican Bishop murdered, his chief page, Joseph Mukasa, a Catholic who went to great length to protect the younger boys from the king’s lust, denounced the king’s actions and was beheaded on November 15, 1885. The 25 year old Charles Lwanga, a man wholly dedicated to the Christian instruction of the younger boys, became the chief page, and just as forcibly protected them from the kings advances.On the night of the martyrdom of Joseph Mukasa, realizing that their own lives were in danger, Lwanga and some of the other pages went to the White Fathers to receive baptism. Another 100 catechumens were baptized in the week following Joseph Mukasa’s death.

The following May, King Mwanga learned that one of the boys was learning catechism. He was furious and ordered all the pages to be questioned to separate the Christians from the others.  The Christians, 15 in all, between the ages of 13 and 25, stepped forward. The King asked them if they were willing to keep their faith. They answered in unison, “Until death!” "

Catholic News Agency, used with Permission

NOVENA in Honour of Saint Charles Lwanga & the Martyrs of Uganda.

In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.
O God, by whose providence the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church: Grant that we who remember before you the blessed martyrs of Uganda, may, like them, be steadfast in our faith in Jesus Christ, to whom they gave obedience even unto death, and by their sacrifice brought forth a plentiful harvest; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end, Amen

OUR FATHER
Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

HAIL MARY
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

GLORY BE
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

O Jesus, our Lord and Redeemer, through your passion and death, we adore and thank Thee.
Holy Mary, Mother and Queen of Martyrs, Obtain for us sanctification through our sufferings.
Holy Martyrs, followers of the suffering Christ, obtain for us the grace to imitate Him.
St. Joseph Balikuddembe, first Martyr of Uganda, who inspired and encouraged Nephytes, obtain for us a spirit of truth and justice.
St. Charles Lwanga, patron of the Youth and Catholic Action, obtain for us a firm and zealous faith.
St. Matthias Mulumba, ideal Chief and follower of Christ meek and humble, obtain for us a Christian gentleness.
St. Dionysius Sebuggwawo, zealous for the Christian Faith and renowned for your modesty, obtain for us the virtue of modesty.
St. Andrew Kaggwa, model Catechist and teacher, obtain for us a love of the teaching of Christ.
St. Kizito, child resplendent in purity and Christian joy, obtain for us the gift of joy in our Lord.
St. Gyaviira, shining example of how to forgive and forget injuries, obtain for us the grace to forgive those who injure us.
St. Mukasa, fervent catechumen rewarded with the Baptism of your blood, obtain for us perseverance unto the death.
St. Adolfus Ludigo, conspicuous by your following of our Lord's spirit of service to others; obtain for us a love of unselfish service.
St. Anatoli Kiriggwajjo, humble servant preferring a devout life to wordly honours; obtain for us to love piety more than earthly things.
St. Ambrosius Kibuuka, young man full of joy and love of your neighbour; obtain for us fraternal charity.
St. Achilles Kiwanuka, who for the sake of Christ detested vain superstitious practices; obtain for us holy hatred of superstitious practices.
St. John Muzeeyi, prudent councilor, renowned for the practice of works of mercy; obtain for us a love of those works of mercy.
Blessed Jildo Irwa and Blessed Daudi Okello who gave up your lives for the spread of the Catholic Faith; obtain for us the zeal of spreading the Catholic Faith.
St. Pontaianus Ngondwe, faithful soldier, longing for the martyr's crown; obtain for us the grace to be always faithful to our duty.
St. Athanasius Bazzekuketta, faithful steward of the royal treasury; obtain for us a spirit of responsibility.
St. Mbaaga, who preferred death to the persuasions of your parents; obtain for us to follow generously divine grace.
St. Gonzaga Gonza, full of sympathy for prisoners, and all who were in trouble; obtain for us the spirit of mercy.
St. Noe Mawaggali, humble worker and lover of evangelical poverty; obtain for us love of evangelical poverty.
St. Luke Baanabakintu, who ardently desired to imitate the suffering Christ by Martyrdom; obtain for us a love of our motherland.
St. Bruno Serunkuuma, soldier who gave an example of repentance and temperance; obtain for us the virtues to repentance and temperance.
St. Mugagga, young man renowned for your heroic chastity; obtain for us perserverance in chastity.
Holy Martyrs, firm in your fidelity to the true Church of Christ; help us to be always faithful to the true Church of Christ.

Let us pray
O Lord Jesus Christ, who wonderfully strengthened the Holy Martyrs of Uganda St. Charles Lwanga, Matthias Mulumba, Blessed Jildo Irwa, Blessed Daudi Okello and their Companions; and gave them to us as examples of faith and fortitude, chastity, charity, and fidelity; grant, we beseech you, that by their Intercession, the same virtues may increase in us, and that we may deserve to become propagators of the true faith. Who lives and reigns world without end. Amen

St. Charles Lwanga and the Martyrs of Uganda, we come to you asking your prayers of intercession on behalf of all who suffer from the unjust exercise of authority. May you who were so cruelly persecuted for your faith in Jesus Christ intercede for all who are oppressed, that they might be comforted by the Divine Mercy and empowered by the gift and grace of fortitude. May justice be the goal of all people and may all who are called by the name Christian join together in works of redemption directed at the sins and the structures of sin that afflict our communities. Amen.

Source: Munyonyo Martyrs' Shrine - Uganda Martyrs Basilica

May: Month of the Sacred Heart

Virtue: Obedience

Sacred Heart, Brittany

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