10.The Forerunner of the King. (Advent Meditations)
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 09, 2025 at 11:00PM in Advent Sermons
"1. St. John Baptist was the chosen messenger to proclaim the coming of the King of kings. No other herald had so important an office. He had to prepare the hearts of men for the coming of the Messiah. It was this that constituted him the greatest of those who were born of women. If to proclaim the coming of Christ in the flesh was so solemn and responsible an office, what must be the dignity and responsibility of the priests of God, who are sent to announce His second coming in glory?
2. How did St. John prepare for his work ? By a life of seclusion and penance. From childhood he lived alone in the desert, his bed the hard ground, his meat locusts and wild honey, his dress a camel's skin. Our Lord contrasts him with those who wear soft raiment. No one who lives a life of luxury will ever be an efficient messenger of God. A priest above all must avoid a life of ease and self-indulgence, if he wishes to win souls for Christ.
3. The secret of St. John's success was thus the result of practicing what he preached. He practiced much more than he preached, for he enjoined upon his hearers the simple performance of ordinary duties while he led a life of continual penance and self-denial. If our words are to carry any weight we must not preach without practicing. The parent or superior who has the training of the young will never train them up to virtue unless he himself is a man of virtue. No one can reach the hearts of others unless he first carries out the lessons he teaches others. Do I do this? "
Meditations for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)
Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests
Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank
Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests
are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted
the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls
themselves.
Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them,
and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good
laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and
preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city
placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And
in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they
shepherded on earth. Amen.
Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more!
St. Leocadia, A.D. 304
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 09, 2025 at 03:00AM in Saints
Mariano Salvador Maella: Saint Leocadia before the Praetor
DOCILITY OF VIRTUE.-The practice of the highest virtues is really difficult to those only who are animated with the worldly spirit. Any one who is trained to well-doing accomplishes it without effort, but the transition from evil to good is more arduous, because the habits already contracted, and the sentiments long cherished, oppose a formidable barrier. Leocadia was living at Toledo in the practice of all Christian virtues, and had grown accustomed thereto from her childhood. Far from aspiring after the advantages and prospects of the world, she only longed for martyrdom; her soul was inflamed with ardour in reading the lives of the saints, and she piously envied above all the combats and goodly reward which fell to St. Eulalia. God lent a favourable ear to her yearnings; she was brought before the governor Dacian during the course of Diocletian's persecution, cast into chains, tortured with horrible atrocity, and finally thrown into prison, where she expired from her sufferings. Thus does death itself become sweet to any one that knows how to desire it aright.
MORAL REFLECTION.- "By thy commandments I have had
understanding; how sweet are thy words to my palate! more than honey to
my mouth."-(Psa. cxix. 103.) Pictorial Half Hours with the Saints by Fr. Auguste Lecanu
St. Theodorus of Amasea, Martyr A.D. 306
by VP
Posted on Tuesday December 09, 2025 at 03:00AM in Saints
RESOLUTION AND STEADFASTNESS. Theodorus, who had been recently enrolled in the army, was stationed with his legion at Amasius, when the edicts of persecution were published by Galerian and Maximian. "As for me, I am a Christian!" exclaimed the youthful warrior, " and will not sacrifice to the gods." Although not bruiting abroad his faith ostentatiously, he did not shrink from avowing it. "I know nothing of your gods," he said to the magistrates; "I am a Christian; do with me what you like!" They released him, that he might have time for reflection; but, as soon as he was at liberty, he snatched up a torch and proceeded to set the temple of Cybele on fire. "The temple was of wood," he exclaimed, with a smile, "and the deity was of stone; the one is reduced to ashes and the other to lime. Is the misfortune, then, very great?" In the midst of the most horrible tortures, Theodorus displayed the most inflexible courage; while the iron was rending his flesh, he calmly chanted some verses of the Psalms. At last the judge, utterly subdued and at a loss for further expedients of cruelty, sentenced him to the stake, on the 17th of February, in the year 306.
MORAL REFLECTION. "Let him that asketh in faith waver not, for let not that man think he shall receive anything of the Lord." (Jas. i. 6.)
Source: Pictorial Half Hour with the Saints by Abbe Auguste Lecanu
