Our Lady of the Rosary
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 07, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
"In its present form, the rosary was made known to the world by St. Dominic at the time of the struggles with the Albigensians, that social war of such ill-omen for the Church. The rosary was then of more avail than armed forces against the power of Satan; it is now the Church's last resource. It would seem that, the ancient forms of social prayer being no longer relished by the people, the holy Spirit has willed by this easy and ready summary of the liturgy to maintain, in the isolated devotion of these unhappy times, the essential of that life of prayer, faith, and Christian virtue, which the public celebration of the Divine Office formerly kept up among the nations. Before the thirteenth century, popular piety was already familiar with what was called the Psalter of the laity, that is, the angelical salutation repeated one hundred and fifty times; it was the distribution of these Hail Marys into decades, each devoted to the consideration of a particular mystery, that constituted the rosary. Such was the divine expedient, simple as the eternal Wisdom that conceived it, and far-reaching in its effects; for while it led wandering man to the Queen of Mercy, it obviated ignorance which is the food of heresy, and taught him to find once more the paths consecrated by the Blood of the Man-God, and by the tears of His Mother.
Thus speaks the great Pontiff who, in the universal sorrow of these days, has again pointed out the means of salvation more than once experienced by our fathers. Leo XIII, in his encyclicals, has consecrated the present month to this devotion so dear to heaven; he has honored our Lady in her litanies with a new title, Queen of the most holy rosary; and he has given the final development to the solemnity of this day, by raising it to the rank of a second class feast, and by enriching it with a proper Office explaining its permanent object. Besides all this, the feast is a memorial of glorious victories, which do honor to the Christian name.
Soliman II, the greatest of the Sultans, taking advantage of the confusion caused in the west by Luther, had filled the sixteenth century with terror by his exploits. He left to his son, Selim II, the prospect of being able at length to carry out the ambition of his race: to subjugate Rome and Vienna, the Pope and the emperor, to the power of the crescent. The Turkish fleet had already mastered the greater part of the Mediterranean, and was threatening Italy, when, on October 7, 1571, it came into action, in the Gulf of Lepanto, with the pontifical galleys supported by the fleets of Spain and Venice. It was Sunday; throughout the world the confraternities of the rosary were engaged in their work of intercession. Supernaturally enlightened, St. Pius V watched from the Vatican the battle undertaken by the leader he had chosen, Don John of Austria, against the three hundred vessels of Islam. The illustrious Pontiff, whose life's work was now completed, did not survive to celebrate the anniversary of the triumph; but he perpetuated the memory of it by an annual commemoration of our Lady of Victory. His successor, Gregory XIII, altered this title to our Lady of the rosary, and appointed the first Sunday of October for the new feast, authorizing its celebration in those churches which possessed an altar under that invocation." The Liturgical Year: Time after Pentecost ) By Dom Prosper Guéranger
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
God, the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
God, the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
Our Lady of Victory, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant Daughter of the Father, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant Mother of the Son, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant Spouse of the Holy Ghost, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant choice of the Most Holy Trinity, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy Immaculate Conception, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in crushing the head of the serpent, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant over all the children of Adam, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant over all our enemies, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the embassy of the Angel Gabriel, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy espousal with St. Joseph, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant at the scene of Bethlehem, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy flight into Egypt, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy exile, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy humble dwelling at Nazareth, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in finding thy Divine Child in the temple, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the earthly life of Our Lord, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in His Passion and Death, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the Resurrection, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the Ascension, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the descent of the Holy Ghost, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy sorrows, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy joys, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the angels who remained faithful, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the felicity of the blessed, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the graces of the just, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the announcement of the prophets, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the desires of the patriarchs, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the zeal of the apostles, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the light of the evangelists, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the wisdom of the doctors, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the crowns of the confessors, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the purity of the numerous bands of virgins, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in the triumphs of the martyrs, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant in thy all-powerful intercession, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant under thy many titles, pray for us
Our Lady of Victory, triumphant at the hour of our death, 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. Pray for us, O Blessed Lady of Victory !
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray.
O
Victorious Lady ! thou who hast ever such powerful influence with thy
Divine Son in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for those for
whom we pray, that their hearts being softened by the rays of Divine
grace, they may return to the unity of the true Faith, through Christ
our Lord. Amen.
Saint Mark, Pope and Confessor AD 336
by VP
Posted on Tuesday October 07, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
The Ointment of the Magdalene (Le parfum de Madeleine) - James Tissot
GOOD USE OF RICHES. -When Magdalen poured over the feet of Jesus the precious spikenard, the spirit of avarice, speaking by the mouth of Judas, blamed the act under the plea that it would have been better to give the price to the poor; but the Savior praised the act and the intention which prompted it. Even thus in our days do worldlings indulge in regrets at the sums expended upon the adornment of the house of God and the splendor of His worship; but pious souls let them say on as they will. The Pope St. Mark, during his short pontificate of eight months and twenty days, in like manner shrank not from withdrawing from the support of the poor, for whom he had withal the greatest charity and pitying tenderness, large sums of money, to expend them in the construction of two churches. All ancient writers laud his generosity, and the solicitude he showed to maintain fervor amongst the faithful while the Church was at peace. Having been elected to succeed Pope St. Sylvester, in 336, he died in the month of October in the same year.
MORAL REFLECTION. -When Judas Macchabæus, triumphing over Gorgias, had "carried away gold, silver, precious furniture, and mighty riches" from the Syrians, he embellished therewith the Temple of Jerusalem." Pictorial half hours with the saints by Rev. Fr. Auguste François Lecanu
"What is more becoming than to adorn the church, which is the shadow of the heavenly Jerusalem, so beautifully described by St. John? Solomon decorated the temple of God with images of cherubim and other representations. "And he overlaid the cherubim with gold. And all the walls of the temple round about he carved with divers figures and carvings." If it was meet and proper to adorn Solomon's temple, which contained only the Ark of the Lord, how much more fitting is it to decorate our churches, which contain the Lord of the Ark? When I see a church tastefully ornamented it is a sure sign that the Master is at home, and that His devoted subjects pay homage to Him in His court.
What beauty, what variety, what charming pictures are presented to our view in this temple of nature which we inhabit! Look at the canopy of heaven. Look at the exquisite pictures painted by the Hand of the Divine Artist on this earth. "Consider the lilies of the field.... I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these." If the temple of nature is so richly adorned, should not our temples made with hands bear some resemblance to it?
How many professing Christians must, like David, reproach themselves for "dwelling in a house of cedar, while the ark of God is lodged with skins." How many are there whose private apartments are adorned with exquisite paintings, who affect to be scandalized at the sight of a single pious emblem in their house of worship? On the occasion of the celebration of Henry W. Beecher's silver wedding several wealthy members of his congregation adorned the walls of Plymouth church with their private paintings. Their object, of course, in doing so was not to honor God, but their pastor. But if the portraits of men were no desecration to that church, how can the portraits of Saints desecrate ours? 1 And what can be more appropriate than to surround the Sanctuary of Jesus Christ with the portraits of the Saints, especially of Mary and of the Apostles, who, in their life, ministered to His sacred person? And is it not natural for children to adorn their homes with the likenesses of their Fathers in the faith?" The Faith of Our Fathers, by Cardinal James Gibbons
Saint Bruno, Confessor, Founder of the Carthusian Monks
by VP
Posted on Monday October 06, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"Still her (the Church) enemies arise anew to taunt her in the modern day. She is called on by modern religion to come down from her supernatural viewpoint and become humanitarian; she is called by modern morality to come down from her high standards of celibacy and virginity, of indissoluble marriage, of marriageʼs sanctity; she is called upon by modern skepticism and unbelief to come down from her belief in such a thing as Truth, the existence of God and the Divinity of Christ. All together call upon the Catholic Church to come down and mingle as one among many and change her standards to suit the modern mind. And they threaten that is as she will not come down, then she must die." Bishop William J. Hafey of Raleigh, N.C. Easter Sermon 1932
"THE SCANDALS OF THE WORLD.- When the Church is about to encounter great dangers on the part of enemies of the Faith, God raises up to her noble champions; and whenever great scandals grow to a head, they are compensated for by lofty examples of virtue. Therefore was it that Bruno felt himself led into solitude. In the eleventh century ignorance had generated laxness and immorality; faith was rife enough, but morality was not in acceptance.
Bruno, canon and chancellor of the cathedral of Rheims, out of love with the world by reason of the scandals he there witnessed, formed the project, together with certain of his friends, of relinquishing it altogether. Hugh, bishop of Grenoble, to whom he unfolded his purpose, pointed out to them, as suitable for the end in view, the "Chartreuse," a rugged solitude not far distant. They there constructed for themselves separate cells, and began to lead a life of poverty and labor, as forbidding even as their chosen desert. Numerous companions soon thronged to join them, and the great ones of the world followed, to draw edification from the sight of their austere virtues. Thus was founded, in 1084, the most edifying and rigorous order that has ever existed. St. Bruno died in 1101.
MORAL REFLECTION.-"It is necessary," for the sanctification of the just, "that scandals should come; and yet woe unto him through whom scandal cometh."-(Matt. xviii. 7.)"
1903 France. Expulsion of The Chartreux Fathers
The Tablet, Volume 101 May 23, 1903:
"If might not be out of place here to give one or two quotations from
letters sent by the "rebellious" bishops to their persecuted flocks.
Cardinal Langenieux, archbishop of Rheims, says: "They are planning the
closing of all churches. At present chapels only, it is true, are
attacked. But, my dear children, these chapels, which are all absolutely
necessary in order that sufficient room may be allowed for the worship
of the faithful, are most of them in reality parish churches in the true
sense of the words, so that by suppressing them religious worship is
also suppressed in the localities where they exist."
The Archbishop of Lyons, says to his diocese:
"Iniquitous measures are succeeding each other without interruptions;
the menaces for tomorrow are worse than the misfortunes which have
actually taken place to day.
Christian people remember that the Divine Providence only permits such
chattering to fall upon His followers in order to awaken their
slumbering consciences and to make them follow with ardor and conviction
the path of duty."
The Bishop of Nancy terminates a pastoral to his diocese in these words:
"Catholics who wish to defend your persecuted and proscribed religion!
Honest men who desire justice and liberty! Fall on your knees and pray
and then rise for action, an action which will make you speak and work
and struggle without repose and without a truce. Be prepared to suffer
if necessary. Rouse yourselves and save Christian France. From one end
to the other of our country; from the frontiers of Lorraine to the
mountains of the Pyrenees, from the valleys of Savoy to the quarries of
Brittany let the cry re-echo: arise and fight for the deliverance and
salvation of France."
These remarks are undoubtedly "rebellious" in the sense that entire
submission to robbery and tyranny is not inculcated upon Catholics by
their chief pastors."
Sunday Sermons: Our Belief in Christ
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 05, 2025 at 01:00AM in Sunday Sermons
- Seventeenth Sunday After Pentecost The Church's Year by Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine
- MORTALIUM ANIMOS (ENCYCLICAL OF POPE PIUS XI ON RELIGIOUS UNITY)
"The prophets had announced the coming of the Redeemer. The Jewish nation expected Him, and yet, when He came, what reception did they give Him? They disbelieved in Him; they rejected Him. He challenged them, "What think you of Christ ?" If you believe not My words, acknowledge the deeds that I have done in your midst. The evil spirits, that He had cast out of those possessed, cried out, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God!" But " He came unto His own and His own received Him not." Had they not taunted Him that He was a Samaritan and had a devil? How different was that noble answer that Peter gave Him, when our Lord had asked, "But whom do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered and said: Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matt. xvi. 15, 16).
This same question has been demanded of the world, age after age. And as Christ our Lord triumphed in suffering, so the most glorious answers have been given in the days of persecution. Not a verbal answer merely, but with their lives, amidst all manners of torments, unterrified by the rack, the scourgings, the fires, the wild beasts in the Coliseum, the martyrs gave their answer, professed Christ the Son of God; gloried in being the followers of the Crucified one, and gladly gave up their lives to seal their faith. How crowds of holy witnesses rise up before our memories-children, maidens, mothers, old men, rich and poor for three hundred years by their death proclaimed their faith in "Christ, the Son of the living God."
And when peace dawned and the Church was allowed to extend and propagate, alas! heresies sprung up. What then did men think of Christ? Arius denied His Divinity. His heresy spread like a devastating plague, and the world "groaned to find itself Arian." Other heresies followed, each with its false assertions in their answer to " What think you of Christ ?" And yet the truth prevailed. The Gospel tidings were received by nation after nation converted to the Faith, and through successive centuries up to the Reformation, the world at large gave the one universal answer, "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God."
Though the powers of hell cannot prevail against Christ and His Church, yet the insidious warfare continues unremittingly, and a nation here, a nation there, falls away and denies its Redeemer, for a time leading astray and ruining the souls of men. "What think you of Christ?" Some years ago an atheistic catechism answered: Christ was a working man, and a socialist. And Unitarians deny that He is God, the second Person of the Blessed Trinity. And at the present time how mistaken is the faith of those who openly declare that Christ's teaching is obsolete, that it needs reforming and bringing up to date! Man daring to aspire to improve the work of the Eternal God! Man, the creature of a passing hour, to sit in judgment on the doctrine of eternal truth!
Living, as we do, in such times as these, it is to us, to each one of us, that our Blessed Lord addresses the question once again, "What think you of Christ?" and He looks to us to boldly proclaim an answer that will glorify Him. We cannot shirk the answer. We are Christ's, and we have to respond in word and deed, by the profession of our faith, and by our lives that live up to our faith. Alas! some by their sinful lives cry out as of old, and prefer Barabbas to Christ.
But we ourselves, children of the Church, we who have been redeemed by His precious Blood, give a loyal and abiding answer before the world of our unswerving faith in Christ, the Son of God. Our faith, our hope, our love, our devoutness to Him proclaim the answer. We stand by every word He spoke: we adhere to His every doctrine, handed down to us in sacred Tradition by His Church. We worship Him and receive Him in the Holy Eucharist, proving our faith by loving obedience to His word, "Do this in memory of Me."
What an example we each can be, in our little world, to those who as yet know Him not, and to those who have once professed their faith in Christ, but now have fallen away. Let our lives convey to them, impress even unwilling souls, what we think of Christ our Lord, that we believe that He is the God of Truth, Who became Man to teach us the way to heaven by word and example, that He freed us from the yoke of sin by His Redemption, that we might begin a new life, walking in His footsteps. Let them see, make them see, that He is all in all to us—our light, our strength, the motive of all our endeavors and endurance. This is what we think of Christ. Knowing Him, remembering Him constantly here in this life makes us faithful to Him now, buoyed up with the glorious hope that we shall reign with Him for ever in the life to come." Source: 17th Sunday after Pentecost. Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year by Dom Francis Paulinus Hickey, O.S.B. 1922
Placidus and Companions, Martyrs, A.D. 546.
by VP
Posted on Sunday October 05, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"ST. PLACIDUS was a disciple of St. Benedict. St. Gregory relates, that having fallen into a lake, as he was fetching some water, St. Benedict, who was in the monastery, knew of the accident, and calling Maurus, said to him, "Brother, run, make haste; the child is fallen into the water." Maurus, having begged his blessing, ran to the lake, and walked upon the water to some distance from the land, to the place where Placidus was floating, and taking hold of him by the hair, returned with the same speed. St. Benedict ascribed this miracle to the disciple's obedience. St. Placidus advanced daily in holy wisdom, and the exercise of all virtues, so that his life seemed a true copy of that of his holy master, St. Benedict. Being sent by him into Sicily, he there founded a church and monastery, near the port of Messina. Having lived there with thirty monks, in wonderful sanctity, a Pagan barbarian, with a fleet of pirates from Africa, landed in Sicily, and out of hatred to the Christian name, put them all to the sword for their faith in Christ, which he could not persuade them to renounce, in the year 546.
Pray for all who suffer; and in particular for those, who lie under temptation of renouncing their faith, on account of preferment, interest, or other temporal conveniences. See if some of these considerations do not prevail on you to pass the bounds of duty to the creed or commandments. Great grace is necessary to keep you steady. Make provision therefore against the time of temptation. Christians have to subdue corruption, and live by the spirit of Christ.
They must open their breasts to this holy spirit; and put their whole
hearts so under its conduct, that all other motions being suppressed,
their thoughts, desires, affections, words, and actions may be regulated
by this divine guest, and they may do in all things, not now what they will, but what God wills in them. This is the only way to give their lives to Christ, and the only way to die for Him." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Priests' First Saturday
by VP
Posted on Saturday October 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Mary as Mother of Priests is in the Dominican Priory Church of the Holy Cross in Leicester. by Lawrence OP
"Listen to what our Holy Father, Pope Pius XI, says: " God in heaven and I on earth, we desire nothing more ardently than prayer and sacrifice for priests...Let us beg God that He may give holy priests! If we have this, all else will follow; but if this be wanting, all else will avail nothing." It was from this trend of thought that the idea of the Priest's Saturday" took its origin, which idea the Superior General of the Salvatorian Fathers placed before the Holy Father in special private audience on November 21, 1934. His Holiness was much pleased with the plan and said, in conclusion: "We heartily praise and bless the work....We repeat, the thing pleases Us, We praise and bless it heartily."
What is the plan?
The Priest's Saturday:
It is something quite simple and easy, yet immeasurable great in its results. You should make it a point to offer the Saturday after the First Friday of each month to your Savior, through the hands of Mary, the great mediatrix of all graces, for the sanctification of all the priests and students for the priesthood throughout the whole world. For this purpose you should give the Saturday wholly and entirely to Him, that is to say, Holy Mass, Holy Communion, all prayers, labors, sacrifices, joys and sorrows. Whatever you cannot do on this day (Holy Mass and Holy Communion) you ought to supply immediately on Sunday. So there is really nothing new for you to do. You merely offer up this Saturday (or even every Saturday or some other day) for the sanctification of priests. It is not a case of any sodality of fraternity or anything like that. Like the First Friday in honor of the Sacred Heart, the Priest's Saturday seeks to become something religiously observed by all the Catholics of the world.
(...) Concern about the holiness of priests is the concern of the Heart of the Divine Savior and of His blessed Mother. Therefore, you also should be sure to take part in this "apostolate to the apostles. " The Holy Father, all bishops, all priests, all students for the priesthood, and especially also your own pastor, earnestly beg of you thus to participate."
Source: Priest's Saturday Series, #2 Prayers and Devotions for Priest's Day. used with permission
Priests' First Saturday. Prayer:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who hast
entrusted the whole work of Thy redemption, the welfare and salvation of
the world, to priests as Thy representatives, through the hands of Thy
most holy Mother and for the sanctification of Thy priests and
candidates for the priesthood I offer Thee this present day wholly and
entirely, with all its prayers, works, sacrifices, joys, and sorrows.
Give truly holy priests who, inflamed with the fire of Thy divine love,
seek nothing but Thy greater glory and the salvation of our souls.
And thou, Mary, good Mother of priests, protect all priests in the
dangers of their holy vocation and, with the loving hand of a Mother,
also lead back to the Good Shepherd those poor priests who have become
unfaithful to their exalted vocation and have gone astray. Amen
In addition to the above make it a point also to recite frequently the following:
Divine Savior, Jesus Christ, Who Hast entrusted the weal and woes of
Thy Holy Church to priests, with all the fervor of my heart I recommend
to Thee the wants of my pastor and all priests. Enrich them more and
more with true priestly sanctity. Give them generous, all embracing,
apostolic hearts, full of love for Thee and for all Thy souls, so that
they, being themselves sanctified in Thee, may sanctify us who are
confided to their care, and may lead us safely to heaven. Bestow upon
them in rich abundance all Thy priestly graces!
Let them ever
give us a glowing example of love and fidelity towards Holy Mother
Church, towards the Pope, and bishops, and grant that by word and
example they may shine as models of every virtue.
Most loving
Jesus, bless all their priestly labors and sacrifices! Bless all their
prayers and words at the altar and in the confessional, in the pulpit,
and in school, in confraternities, and at the bedside of the sick!
Protect and preserve them in all dangers from within and from without.
Divine Savior, give to Thy Church priests who abound in true holiness!
Call many good boys and young men to the priestly and religious state!
Aid and sanctify all those who are to become Thy priests! And to the
souls of departed priests grant everlasting rest.
But to me
give a true spirit of faith and humble obedience, in order that in my
pastor I may ever behold the representative of God and willingly follow
all his teachings. Amen
Saint Francis of Assisi, Confessor
by VP
Posted on Saturday October 04, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Francis, Holy Name Cathedral Raleigh NC VP
"I also beseech in the Lord, all my brethren who are, or who shall be, or who desire to be priests of the Most High, that whenever they wish to celebrate Mass, they be pure, and offer with purity and reverence the true Sacrifice of the most holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ with a holy and perfect intention; not from any earthly motive, nor for the fear or love of any creature, as though desiring to please men; but let every will (according to the grace given) be directed solely to the most High God, and do you desire to please Him alone, for He alone works in this holy Sacrifice according to His good pleasure, as the Lord has Himself said: "Do this in remembrance of Me:" and he who does otherwise becomes a traitor like Judas.
Remember, O priests, my brothers, how it is written in the law of Moses, that those who transgressed even in corporal sacrifices were condemned by God to death, without any mercy. What a far more terrible punishment will he deserve, who tramples under foot the Son of God, and treats the Blood of the New Testament by which he is sanctified as a vile thing, and offers insult to the Holy Ghost! A man stained with sin despises and tramples on the Lamb of God, when, as the Apostle says, not discerning the sacred Bread, which is Christ, from other food, he eats unworthily by being guilty of unworthy actions; for the Lord has said by His Prophet: "Cursed is the man who does the work of God with negligence or fraud." And on account of those priests who will not lay these things seriously to heart, we are condemned, when Our Lord days: " I will curse your blessings."
Hearken, my brethren. If the Blessed Virgin Mary is honored, as she well deserves, for having borne our Savior in her most holy womb; if St. John the Baptist trembled, and did not dare to touch the forehead of his Lord; if the Holy Sepulcher in which this same Lord reposed for a short time is so venerated - how holy, how just, and how worthy ought not he to be who touches with his hands, receives into his mouth and heart, and gives to others, this God Who is now no more to die, but Who will live and be glorified for ever, on Whom the angels desire to gaze! Understand your dignity, O priests, my brothers, and " be ye holy, because He is holy." As God has honored you more than all others through this Mystery, do you love, reverence, and honor Him through this Mystery. It is a great misery, and a deplorable weakness, when you have Him thus present, that you should care for anything else in the whole world. Man should be seized with fear, the earth should tremble, and the heavens rejoice exceedingly, when Christ the Son of the living God descends upon the altar in the hands of the priest.
O admirable greatness! O stupendous condescension! O humble sublimity! the Lord of the universe, God, and the Son of God, so abases Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under the form of a morsel of bread! See, O my brethren, the lowliness of your God! pour out your hearts before Him and humble yourselves, that you may be worthy to be exalted by Him. Do not keep back anything of yourselves, that He Who gives Himself to you without reserve may receive your entire being."
Source: Works of the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi By Saint Francis (of Assisi) 1882Prayer for Priests and Vocation (Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux)
by VP
Posted on Friday October 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
"Now it is in the Host that I can see you carry your annihilation in full. How humble you are , oh Divine King of Glory in submitting Yourself to all your priests without making any distinction between those who love you and those who, alas, are lukewarm or cold in your service! You descend from Heaven to their call. They can anticipate or delay the time of your Holy Sacrifice. You are always ready! (Pr 20)" -- St. Therese of Lisieux
Prayer for Priests and Vocation ( Ste. Thérèse de Lisieux)
O Holy Father, may the torrents of love
flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests
like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross;
priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly
give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.
May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of
Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who
suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and
thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into
close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is
specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart. Give us
priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who
will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which
Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.
Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son,
open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and
give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the
tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.
O my God, help those priests who are faithful to remain faithful, to
those who are falling, stretch forth Your Divine Hand that they may
grasp it as their support. And for those poor unfortunate souls who have
fallen, lift them up in the great ocean of Your Mercy, that being
engulfed therein, they may receive the grace to return to Your Great
Loving Heart. Amen.
Joan of Arc by Jules Eugène Lenepveu
"After partaking of the communion, which she received with abundance of tears, she perceived the bishop, and addressed him with the words,"Bishop, I die through you..." And, again, "Had you put me in the prisons of the Church, and given me ghostly keepers, this would not have happened...And for this, I summon you to answer before God!" The Maid of Orleans, History of France By Jules Michelet
PRAYER OF JOAN OF ARC IN HER PRISON
(written by St. Therese of Lisieux 1896)
My voices truth foretold: -a prisoner behold me.
I look for help from none save from Thee, O my Lord,
An orphan for Thy love, no father's arms enfold me,
Estranged from cloudless skies, I tread no flowery sward.
My valley lies afar-my mother, fond and cherished,
The standard of the Cross I hold aloft on high.
Lord, in Thy Name I led where countless foes have perished,
And mighty warriors paused to heed my battle cry.
Behold my rich reward, a prison dark confining,
The price of blood, of toil, of sorrow's bitter tear.
I see no more the spot where infant memories twining,
Enwreathe the smiling fields where myriad blooms appear;
I see no mountain far with soft, enclouding curtain,
Its snowy summit plunged in azure of the sky;
I hear no village bell with note so faint, uncertain,
In undulating waves that float and softly die.
My dungeon dread, obscure, the firmament is veiling,
I seek in vain the stars, the radiance of the night;
No more the leafy Spring shall twine o'er me its paling,
When 'mid my flocks I sleep, soft shadowed from the light;
Here in my troubled sleep, 'mid sad and tearful showers,
I dream of odours rare, refreshment of the morn,
I dream of lowly vales, of gently wooded bowers,
I wake with clank of chains, from slumber rudely torn.
O Lord, for love of Thee I fear nor death nor fire,
My martyrdom of pain I willingly embrace.
To see Thee, O my Jesus, to clasp Thee, I aspire,
No longing hath my heart save to behold Thy Face.
My cross I gladly take, sweet Saviour, go before me,
To die for Thy pure love, this only I desire;
O Love, I long to die, in union to adore Thee;
Jesus, I long to die that Thou new life inspire.
1894.
St. Thomas of Hereford, Bishop and Confessor, AD 1282
by VP
Posted on Friday October 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"This saint was most nobly born, being the eldest son of William, Lord Cantelupe, and allied by his mother's side to the royal families of England and France. From his childhood he despised worldly pleasures, and walked in the lovely paths of innocence and truth. The fear and love of God grew up with him, and accompanied him to the universities, first of Oxford, then of Paris, where he made great progress in learning, but much more in the science of the saints.
St. Thomas resolved to consecrate himself to God in the ecclesiastical state; and was made chancellor of the university of Oxford. In this office he shone so brightly, that King Henry III. appointed him chancellor of the kingdom. In this eminent office his virtues shone with still greater lustre, to the benefit of the whole nation. After the king's death, however, he gladly resigned the seals of his office, and returned to Oxford, where he took the degree of doctor of divinity. He had always lived in the greatest purity of conscience, and was eminent in Christian simplicity, candor, and humility. He exhibited heavenly prudence in his whole conduct, and great devotion to the divine service, especially in celebrating Mass. He was remarkable for patience and meekness under sufferings and injuries, and great temperance and sobriety in eating and drinking; as also for daily mortification, watching, fasting, and perfect charity for every neighbor. His charity produced in him such an aversion for detraction, that he would sharply rebuke such as he found guilty of it.
These virtues so recommended him, that he was chosen Bishop of Hereford. From that time, he became a greater saint than before. His zeal for the Church seemed to have no bounds; and such was his charity, that he seemed born only for the relief of his neighbor, both spiritual and temporal. No reviling language or ill treatment could ever provoke him to anger; his enemies he always treated with respect and tenderness, and would never bear the least word which might reflect upon them or any others.
After St. Thomas had for some years illustrated the whole Church of this nation by his eminent sanctity, he went to Rome for some ecclesiastical affairs. This journey was very fatiguing to the saint, on account of his age and infirmities; but he would never spare himself in the cause of God and his Church. In his way home, he was overtaken by his last illness at Montefiascone in Tuscany. He received the last sacraments with incredible cheerfulness and devotion, and made the sufferings and death of his Redeemer the constant subject of his fervent prayer, in which he calmly gave up the ghost, in the sixty-third year of his age, in the year 1282. Pray for this nation, that God would be its protector, and visit it with all blessings, spiritual and temporal."
The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev. Fr. John GOTHER 1861
Prayer for the Bishops
O Jesus, Prince of Pastors, Shepherd and
Bishop of our souls, give our bishops ................ all those
virtues, which they need for their sanctification! May they watch over
themselves and the entire flock, with which the Holy Spirit has
entrusted them! Fill their hearts with Thine own Spirit! Give them
faith, charity, wisdom and strength! Send them faithful co-laborers in
the great work of saving and guiding souls! Make them shepherds after
Thine own heart, living only for their holy office, fearing nobody but
Thee, and hoping for nothing but Thee, in order that when Thou shalt
come, to judge shepherds and flocks, they may obtain the unfading reward
of eternal life! Amen
Imprimatur: Most Rev. Vincent S. Waters, D.D. Raleigh, N.C. March 25, 1956
Saint Théodore Guérin
by VP
Posted on Friday October 03, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"What strength the soul draws from prayer! In the midst of a storm, how sweet is the calm it finds in the heart of Jesus. But what comfort is there for those who do not pray?" – Saint Théodore Guérin
“What have we to do in order to be saints? Nothing extraordinary; nothing more than what we do every day. Only do it for [God’s] love.”—Saint Theodora Guérin
"A woman of uncommon valor, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His Church. It is a beautiful and forcible setting of those sublime truths that underlie the eternal plan of creation and establish the relationship that should exist between the Sovereign Maker and the creature fashioned by His word; showing clearly how Providence is just and holy in wise dispensation, man often perverse in selfish conceit. It proves that the arm of the Lord is not shortened; that the gift of God abideth with the just, whose advancement shall have success forever. (Ecclus. Xi 17).
(...) Every one who pledges himself to the work of saving souls must expect to suffer if his ministry is to be profitable. Multiplied labors are not the greatest rigors. Distress of mind and heart, human weakness, lack of sympathy and support, misunderstands, to say nothing of the malice of men and the snares of the devil - this is the burden of the apostolate. All seem to know it, yet when it comes to the exercise how few are found with magnanimity of soul enough or with spiritual nerve enough to endure the test! Many there are who are willing to sit with Christ at His table but few to share His fast; many to behold His glory, few to bear His ignominy. (A Kempis)
It is in generous acceptance of the cross that strength comes for the warfare; so it is also in self-sacrifice that we discern the halo of holiness - God's presence in His elect.
Sacrifice shorn of its glory, inasmuch as it was scarcely recognized, epitomizes the life of Mother Théodore Guérin. The keynote of her intensely spiritual character is sounded in these lines addressed to the estimable Bishop of Mans: "I consider it the greatest privilege of my life to have suffered something for my God." Truly the lesson of Calvary was well understood by this spouse of a crucified King! It must needs be that rich endowment of supernatural favor was her recompense.
This is the age of hidden saints. A bloody persecution may not be sending victors to the eternal courts, but the sword of trial is as sharp as the blade of the executioner; and though a martyr's triumph is not proclaimed from the Church's altar, a martyr's palm is borne by those sequestered Servants of God who now "follows the Lamb whithersoever He goeth."
(...)
In deploring the scarcity of vocations to the religious life when the field was so vast and the laborers so few, we observe that the cause she assigned was the same that today holds back so many nobly gifted young men and women from responding to the call of the divine Master. Appeal to the religious impulses of nature is hushed by irresistible pleasure-seeking, softness, and love of one's ease, which incapacitate souls for anything approaching the valorous in self-sacrifice; strangers to the arbitrament of virtue, their lives are as aimless as useless." Introduction by Cardinal Gibbons, Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guérin : foundress of the Sisters of Providence at St.-Mary-of-the-Woods, Vigo County, Indiana
Short Biography:
"Mother Theodore Guerin is the foundress of St. Mary of the Woods, Indiana.
Born in 1798, ( Born Anne-Thérèse Guerin in the village of Etables–sur–Mer in Brittany, France) of fervent Catholic parents, she entered the community of the Sisters of Providence of Ruille, recently established by the Abbe Dujarie, who is also the founder of the Brothers of the Holy Cross. After several years of successful work as head of important establishments, at the request of Bishop de la Hailandiere of Vincennes, Indiana, she was sent by her superior to found an educational establishment in the New World. She and her Sisters reached Terre Haute, Ind., on October 22, 1840. A boarding school was opened in 1841. The first boarders arrived on July 4 of the same year. Tribulations from within and from without sorely tried the heart of the foundress. Several times credit was refused to the Sisters at the stores, and the immediate necessities of the community and the pupils were relieved by Providential intervention. Often after a frugal breakfast, nothing was left for dinner, and the Sisters would have to go and beg potatoes and eggs from the neighboring farms.
Calumnies and disappointments of all sorts fell thick upon the establishment. Mother Guerin herself
was deposed from office on two different occasions, and the bishop went
so far as to excommunicate her. Amidst these trials she found refuge in
God: "Let us pray more," she would tell her Sisters, "and rest quiet in
the Providence of the Sacred Heart. Can we think that our good God will
abandon us? No, not as long as we cling to Him! Courage, hope and pray."
On days when her heart was sinking beneath weight of all the afflictions that fell upon her, she would exclaim: "Hail, crosses, great and small, spiritual and temporal, inward and outward, hail! I kiss your feet, unworthy as I am of your shadow." One day when her life-work was threatened with total extinction, she spent the whole night before the Blessed Sacrament and there, in the stillness of the chapel, poured forth her soul in indescribable anguish. It was remarked the next morning that she received Holy Communion with a radiant countenance. When the chaplain asked her what made her so happy, she answered simply: "In the cross is infusion of heavenly sweetness." She would often repeat to her daughters: "All that we teach the children must be done for the glory of God and the good of souls. The profit that the community derives from it is a secondary consideration." "A Sister of Providence cannot go to heaven alone; if she is not surrounded by the souls she has brought to the knowledge and love of God, she herself will not find the way to the heavenly home."
Before her death, in 1850, she had the consolation of seeing her work solidly established in many dioceses. " The Annals of St. Joseph, Norbertine Fathers, March 1919.
| Canonized on | October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI |
|---|
Prayer:
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin,
valiant woman of God,
intercede for us in our needs.
Implore for us through Jesus, the Christ,
the gifts of a living faith,
abiding hope
and steadfast charity,
so that
through a life of prayer
and service with others
we may aid in promoting
the Providence of God
among all peoples.
Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, pray for us.
Amen.
(With Ecclesiastical Approval)
