Saturday, December 30, 2017
Anne Hope, in “The Life of St. Philip Neri” recounts the following conversation with Pope Gregory XIII and St. Philip Neri: “Pope Gregory XIII. having issued an order that confessors should wear their cottas in the confessional, Philip went to an audience of his Holiness with his habit unbuttoned; whereupon the Pope expressing his surprise at his coming to him in such a costume, Philip replied, ‘I cannot even bear my habit buttoned, and your Holiness will have me wear a cotta in addition.’ ‘No, no,’ answered the Pope, ‘the order is intended for others and not for you;’ and thus he gained a special exemption.”
St. Philip Neri had such an intense love for God that it caused his ribcage to expand and his heart to palpitate regularly. A short time before his death he said to Cardinal Frederic Borromeo, “Do not think that it gives me any pain, or has ever given me any; for I have always been as free from pain in connection with it as I am now. Moreover, I can check it whenever I wish; but when I am praying I never do so, because I do not choose to distract myself by thinking about it.” (as recounted in “The Life of St. Philip Neri” by Anne Hope.)
“It takes three to make love in Heaven, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. It takes three for Heaven to make love to earth, God, man, and Mary, through whom God became man. It takes three to make love in the holy family, Mary, Joseph, and the consummation of their love, Jesus. It takes three to make love in hearts, the lover, the beloved, and love.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Three to Get Married)
“…at that moment I saw myself in some kind of a palace; and Jesus gave me His hand, sat me at His side, and said with kindness, ‘My bride, you always please Me by your humility. The greatest misery does not stop Me from uniting Myself to a soul, but where there is pride, I am not there.’” WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1563)
Friday, December 29, 2017
“With how great care and pastoral vigilance the Roman Pontiffs, our predecessors, fulfilling the duty and office committed to them by the Lord Christ Himself in the person of most Blessed Peter, Prince of the Apostles, of feeding the lambs and the sheep, have never ceased sedulously to nourish the Lord's whole flock with words of faith and with salutary doctrine, and to guard it from poisoned pastures, is thoroughly known to all, and especially to you, Venerable Brethren. And truly the same, Our Predecessors, asserters of justice, being especially anxious for the salvation of souls, had nothing ever more at heart than by their most wise Letters and Constitutions to unveil and condemn all those heresies and errors which, being adverse to our Divine Faith, to the doctrine of the Catholic Church, to purity of morals, and to the eternal salvation of men, have frequently excited violent tempests, and have miserably afflicted both Church and State. For which cause the same Our Predecessors, have, with Apostolic fortitude, constantly resisted the nefarious enterprises of wicked men, who, like raging waves of the sea foaming out their own confusion, and promising liberty whereas they are the slaves of corruption, have striven by their deceptive opinions and most pernicious writings to raze the foundations of the Catholic religion and of civil society, to remove from among men all virtue and justice, to deprave persons, and especially inexperienced youth, to lead it into the snares of error, and at length to tear it from the bosom of the Catholic Church.” Pope Pius IX, Quanta Cura, December 8, 1864
St. Andrew Bobola, to his persecutors whom he was Evangelizing: “I am a Catholic priest; I was born in the Catholic faith; in that faith I wish to die. My faith is true; it leads to salvation. Do you rather repent; give place to sorrow for sin, else you will be unable, in your errors, to win salvation. By embracing my faith, you will acknowledge the true God, and will save your souls.” (Litt. decr. Pii Xl "Ex aperto Christi latere": AAS XXX, 1938, p. 359.)
“Hereafter, I want you to tell me, candidly and in secret, what people are saying about me. And if you see anything in me that you regard as a fault, feel free to tell me in private. For from now on, people will talk about me, but not to me. It is dangerous for men in power if no one dares to tell them when they go wrong.” (St. Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr; to a friend on his way to ordination)
"And yet, once our last hour has come, and our hearts have ceased to beat, everything will be finished for us and the time to merit as well as to demerit. We will present ourselves to Christ the Judge just as death finds us. Our cries of supplication, our tears, our sighs of repentance, which while still on earth would have won God’s heart, could have made us with the help of the sacraments, saints out of sinners, today is worthless; the time of mercy is passed, now begins the time of justice." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters IV, p. 964 )
“Lent is the penitential season, a time when men once put on hair shirts, sacrificing any hope of bodily ease for 40 days. G.K. Chesterton once said that St. Thomas Becket wore a hair shirt under his purple, so that people might have the benefit of his purple and he might have the benefit of penance.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Thursday, December 28, 2017
According to Fr. Butler, St. Ado was indefatigable in pressing the great truths of salvation. He usually began his sermons and exhortations with these or the like words: “Hear the eternal truth which speaks to you in the gospel;” or, “Hear Jesus Christ, who saith to you,”... (Butler's Lives of hte Saints, Dec. XVI, St. Ado)
"Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. The graces of My mercy are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is-trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. On the other hand, I am sad when souls ask for little, when they narrow their hearts." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1578)
“If we were naturally good and naturally progressive, there would have been no need of Christ coming to earth to make men good. Those who are well have no need of a physician. If all were right with the world, God would have stayed in His Heaven. His Presence in the crib in Bethlehem is a witness not to our progress, but to our misery.” —Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
"The worldly, engulfed in their affairs, live in obscurity and error, nor do they try to learn about God, or give a thought to their eternal salvation, or try to find out about the coming of that longedfor Messiah who was awaited by men and prophesied and predicted by the prophets." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters IV, p. 979 )
How kind is our Sacramental Jesus! He welcomes you at any hour of the day or night. His Love never knows rest. He is always most gentle towards you. When you visit Him, He forgets your sins and speaks only of His joy, His tenderness, and His Love. By the reception He gives to you, one would think He has need of you to make Him happy.
Be the apostle of the divine Eucharist, like a flame which enlightens and warms, like the Angel of his heart who will go to proclaim him to those who don’t know him and will encourage those who love him and are suffering." --Saint Peter Julian Eymard
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
"It is sweet music to the ear to say, 'I honor you, O Mother!' It is a sweet song to repeat, 'I honor you, O Holy Mother!'You are my delight, dear hope, and chaste love, my strength in all adversities. If you see your child overwhelmed by misfortune, O gracious Virgin Mary, let me find rest in your motherly embrace.'" - Pope Leo XIII
“‘Feed my sheep’ (Jn. 21) to whom [St. Peter] He [Christ] also gave over the power of loosing as even binding, saying: ‘whatsoever thou shalt bind upon earth, it shall be bound also in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose upon earth, it shall be loosed also in heaven.’ (Matt. 16) And such granted power is handed over not only to St. Peter, but also to his successors, holding in the Church his succession, from God the power of binding and loosing.” Pope Benedict VI, Epistola ad Fredericum Salibergensem episcopum
“As you are well acquainted with the advantages and merits of sufferings, you have reason to rejoice, inasmuch as by having lived constantly in tribulation you have walked in the road of crowns and laurels. All manner of corporal distempers have been your portion, often more cruel and harder to be endured than ten thousand deaths; nor have you ever been free from sickness. You have been perpetually overwhelmed with slanders, insults, and injuries. Never have you been free from some new tribulation; torrents of tears have always been familiar to you. Among all these one single affliction is enough to fill your soul with spiritual riches.” St. John Chrysostom to St. Olypmias (Quoted by Fr. Alban Butler in his “Lives of the Saints”, Dec. 26th, St. Olympias)
"Jesus calls the poor and simple shepherds by means of angels to manifest Himself to them. he calls the learned men by means of their science. And all of them moved interiorly by grace hasten to adore Him. He calls all of us with divine inspirations and He communicates Himself to us with his grace. How many times has He not lovingly invited us also ? And with what promptitude have we replied ? My God I blush and am filled with confusion at having to reply to such a question." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters IV, pp. 977 – 978 )
“The Holy Hour is not a devotion; it is a sharing in the work of redemption. Our Blessed Lord used the words "hour" and "day" in two totally different connotations in the Gospel of John. "Day" belongs to God; the "hour" belongs to evil. Seven times in the Gospel of John, the word "hour" is used, and in each instance it refers to the demonic, and to the moments when Christ is no longer in the Father's Hands, but in the hands of men. In the Garden, our Lord contrasted two "hours" - one was the evil hour "this is your hour" - with which Judas could turn out the lights of the world. In contrast, our Lord asked: "Could you not watch one hour with Me?". In other words, he asked for an hour of reparation to combat the hour of evil; an hour of victimal union with the Cross to overcome the anti-love of sin. The only time Our Lord asked the Apostles for anything was the night he went into his agony. Then he did not ask all of them ... perhaps because he knew he could not count on their fidelity. But at least he expected three to be faithful to him: Peter, James and John. As often in the history of the Church since that time, evil was awake, but the disciples were asleep. That is why there came out of His anguished and lonely Heart the sigh: "Could you not watch one hour with me?" Not for an hour of activity did He plead, but for an hour of companionship. ” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Treasure in Clay)
Tuesday, December 26, 2017
"We have already insisted in Our Encyclical letter _In Multiplicibus_, that the time has come when Jerusalem and its vicinity, where the previous memorials of the Life and Death of the Divine Redeemer are preserved, should be accorded and legally guaranteed an 'international' status, which in the present circumstances seems to offer the best and most satisfactory protection for these sacred monuments."
~ Pope Pius XII (REDEMPTORIS NOSTRI CRUCIATUS)
Jesus Christ, the first martyr, said: “If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you.”[10] “In the world you will have distress. But have confidence. I have overcome the world.”[11] “Unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” Pope Pius XII, EVANGELII PRAECONES, June 2, 1951, par. 12
“You stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do you also. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? And they have slain them who foretold of the coming of the Just One; of whom you have been now the betrayers and murderers: Who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it.” -- St. Stephen, the Protomartyr
"Mary has the authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels who fell away through pride. Such is the will of the almighty God who exalts the humble, that the powers of heaven, earth, and hell – willingly or unwillingly – must obey the commands of the humble Virgin Mary. For God has made her queen of heaven and earth, leader of his armies, keeper of his treasure, dispenser of his graces, mediatrix on behalf of men, destroyer of his enemies, and faithful associate in his great works and triumphs." - Saint Louis Marie de Montfort, True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin
“Let anyone who comes to you go away feeling better and happier. Everyone should see goodness in your face, in your eyes, in your smile. Joy shows from the eyes. It appears when we speak and walk. It cannot be kept closed inside us. It reacts outside. Joy is very infectious.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta)
Monday, December 25, 2017
"How beautiful our vocation is! We are together with our Savior, redeemers of souls. We are hosts in which Jesus dwells, living, praying, and suffering for a sinful world. Was not this the life of the Most Holy Virgin, the most perfect of all created beings? She carried the Word in silence." ~Saint Teresa of Jesus of the Andes
"The contemplation of Christ has an incomparable model in Mary. In a unique way the face of the Son belongs to Mary. It was in her womb that Christ was formed, receiving from her a human resemblance, which points to an even greater spiritual closeness. No one has ever devoted himself to the contemplation of the face of Christ as faithfully as Mary. The eyes of her heart already turned to Him at the Annunciation when she conceived Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. In the months that followed she began to sense His presence and to picture His features. When at last she gave birth to Him, her eyes were able to gaze tenderly on His face as she ‘wrapped Him in swaddling clothes and laid Him in a manger.’”
- St. John Paul II
- St. John Paul II
“On all days and at all times, dearly beloved, does the birth of our Lord and Saviour from the Virgin-mother occur to the thoughts of the faithful, who meditate on divine things, that the mind may be aroused to the acknowledgment of its Maker, and whether it be occupied in the groans of supplication, or in the shouting of praise, or in the offering of sacrifice, may employ its spiritual insight on nothing more frequently and more trustingly than on the fact that God the Son of God, begotten of the co-eternal Father, was also born by a human birth. But this Nativity which is to be adored in heaven and on earth is suggested to us by no day more than this when, with the early light still shedding its rays on nature , there is borne in upon our senses the brightness of this wondrous mystery. For the angel Gabriel's converse with the astonished Mary and her conception by the Holy Ghost as wondrously promised as believed, seem to recur not only to the memory but to the very eyes. For today the Maker of the world was born of a Virgin's womb, and He, who made all natures, became Son of her, whom He created. Today the Word of God appeared clothed in flesh, and That which had never been visible to human eyes began to be tangible to our hands as well. Today the shepherds learned from angels' voices that the Saviour was born in the substance of our flesh and soul; and today the form of the Gospel message was pre-arranged by the leaders of the Lord's flocks , so that we too may say with the army of the heavenly host: Glory in the highest to God, and on earth peace to men of good will.” Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 26
“Christ is born, glorify Him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet Him. Christ on earth; be ye exalted. Sing unto the Lord all the whole earth; and that I may join both in one word, Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad, for Him Who is of heaven and then of earth. Christ in the flesh, rejoice with trembling and with joy; with trembling because of your sins, with joy because of your hope. Christ of a Virgin; O you Matrons live as Virgins, that you may be Mothers of Christ. Who does not worship Him That is from the beginning? Who does not glorify Him That is the Last?” St. Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 38
"Live joyfully and courageously, at least in the upper part of the soul, amidst the trials in which the Lord places you. Live joyfully and courageously, I repeat, because the Angel who foretells the birth of our little Savior and Lord, announces singing, and sings announcing that he brings tidings of joy, peace and happiness to men of good – will. So that there is nobody who does not know that in order to receive this Child it is sufficient to be of goodwill." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters III, p. 470 )
“A Child is born. To some He comes on this Christmas Day, even in the remorse that follows ‘there is no room’; to some He comes when their hearts are saddened by a life that has been taken away, and can be gladdened only by a Life that is given; to some He comes when their hearts like conscious mangers cry out ‘Lord, I am not worthy’; to others He comes as their study of science reminds them that the only star worth studying is the Star that leads to the Maker of the Stars; to others He comes when their hearts are broken, that He might enter in to heal with wings wider than the world; to others He comes in joy amidst the Venite Adoremus of the angels; to others He comes because they are so young they can never remember another Christmas – but to each and everyone He comes as if He had never come before in His own sweet way, He the Child who is born, He, Jesus the Savior, He Emmanuel, He, Christ at Christ’s Mass on Christmas – Merry Christmas!!” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Fullness of Christ)
During Mass, God's presence pierced me through and through. A moment before the Elevation I saw the Mother of God and the Infant Jesus and the good Old Man [St. Joseph]. The Most Holy Mother spoke these words to me: "My daughter, take this most precious Treasure, and she gave me the Infant Jesus". When I took Jesus in my arms, my soul felt such unspeakable joy that I am unable to describe it. WORDS OF THE BLESSED VIRVIN MARY TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 846)
Sunday, December 24, 2017
“As the Holy Christmas Season comes round each year, the message of Jesus, Who is light in the midst of darkness, echoes once more from the Crib of Bethlehem in the ears of Christians and re-echoes in their hearts with an ever new freshness of joy and piety. It is a message which lights up with heavenly truth a world that is plunged in darkness by fatal errors. It infuses exuberant and trustful joy into mankind, torn by the anxiety of deep, bitter sorrow. It proclaims liberty to the sons of Adam, shackled with the chains of sin and guilt. It promises mercy, love, peace to the countless hosts of those in suffering and tribulation who see their happiness Shattered and their efforts broken in the tempestuous strife and hate of our stormy days. Pope Pius XII, Christmas Message of 1942
“When the hour of her delivery had arrived, on Sunday at midnight, the Virgin, rising from her seat, rested herself against a pillar which was there; Joseph sat, perhaps grieving that it was not in his power to provide what was fitting for such a time. Then he arose and took some hay out of the manger and laid it at the feet of the Virgin, and thereupon withdrew himself to another part. Then the Son of the Eternal God was born, without pain or hurt to His mother, having passed from her in an instant to the bed of hay, prepared for Him at her feet. His mother quickly stooped down and took Him into her arms, and sweetly embracing Him, laid Him on her lap; then, through the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, she began to wash and bathe Him, and her breasts were distended through the blessing of heaven; after this, she perhaps wrapt Him in her veil, and placed Him in the manger.” - St. Bonaventure, The Life of Christ, Ch. 8
"Stay very close to the crib of this most beautiful child.... Have a great love for this heavenly child, respectful in the familiarity you will gain with him through prayer, and totally delighted in the joy of feeling the holy aspirations and effects of belonging totally to him." St. Pio of Pietrelcina
"Don’t let your zeal be bitter, fussy, aggravating or a cause of uneasiness, but let it be free from all defects: Let it be sweet, benevolent, gracious, peaceful and uplifting. Ah, who cannot see the dear little Infant of Bethlehem in the event for which we are preparing ? Who does not see his incomparable love for souls ? He comes to die in order to save, and He is so humble, sweet and lovable." St Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters III, p. 469 – 470 )
“Jesus Christ is God in the form of man. The eternal appears in time. The Eternal Word, by Whom all things in the world were made, is now rejected by the world He made: “There was no room in the inn.” The Bird Who built the nest of the universe is hatched therein: He Who made His mother, is born of His Mother. All the nations of the earth are made of one blood, and now the Son of God partakes and assumes that blood as the new Head of Humanity.
At Bethlehem, heaven and earth meet: God and Man look each other in the face. A Mother for the first time in the universe, as she holds the babe in her arms, now looks “down” to heaven. Because nothing greater than this will ever happen in the world, the peace of the world is conditioned upon that great act being repeated, in a reduced measure, in each of us. As God took upon Himself a human nature through the free consent of a woman, so too He asks us, through our free consent to give Him our nature, as Mary gave Him one. Then Christ begins to rule our mind: then we put on the mind of Christ, the love of Christ, the Spirit of Christ. Not many are willing to do this.
“He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” That is why there are Christmas cards with sleighs and fat men. But there will always be some who will see and understand the meaning, and to all who received Him “He gave them the power to become the sons of God.” We cannot have the word Christmas without Christ: so neither can we be Merry on the inside without Him. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
At Bethlehem, heaven and earth meet: God and Man look each other in the face. A Mother for the first time in the universe, as she holds the babe in her arms, now looks “down” to heaven. Because nothing greater than this will ever happen in the world, the peace of the world is conditioned upon that great act being repeated, in a reduced measure, in each of us. As God took upon Himself a human nature through the free consent of a woman, so too He asks us, through our free consent to give Him our nature, as Mary gave Him one. Then Christ begins to rule our mind: then we put on the mind of Christ, the love of Christ, the Spirit of Christ. Not many are willing to do this.
“He came unto His own and His own received Him not.” That is why there are Christmas cards with sleighs and fat men. But there will always be some who will see and understand the meaning, and to all who received Him “He gave them the power to become the sons of God.” We cannot have the word Christmas without Christ: so neither can we be Merry on the inside without Him. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
I desire, My dearly beloved daughter, that you practice the three virtues that are dearest to Me-and most pleasing to God. The first is humility, humility, and once again humility; the second virtue, purity; the third virtue, love of God. As My daughter, you must especially radiate with these virtues. When the conversation ended, She pressed me to Her Heart and disappeared. When I regained the use of my senses, my heart became so wonderfully attracted to these virtues; and I practice them faithfully. They are as though engraved in my heart. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary,1415)
Saturday, December 23, 2017
"Joseph took Mary as his wife in humble acceptance of the mystery of her maternity. He accepted her along with her Son who would come to the world by the action of the Holy Spirit. St. Joseph can therefore be compared to Our Lady in his great docility to the will of God as revealed to him by an angel." - Pope St. John Paul II
“Let this letter, Venerable Brethren, be a token to you of Our fatherly love as the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ draws near; and receive the Apostolic Benediction as a pledge of divine blessings, which with loving heart, We impart to you, Venerable Brethren, to your clergy, and to your people.” Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas
St. Augustine, Sermons on the New Testament, Sermon 1: “For how many, my brethren, do you think have this day been in hesitation whether they would go here or there? And they who in this hesitation, turning their thoughts to Christ, have run to the church, have overcome, not any man, but the devil himself, him that hunts after the souls of the whole world. But they who in that hesitation have chosen rather to run to the amphitheatre, have assuredly been overcome by him whom the others overcame—overcame in Him who says, Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. For the Captain suffered Himself to be tried, only that He might teach His soldiers to fight.”
"When I was apologizing to the Lord Jesus for a certain action of mine which, a little later, turned out to be imperfect, Jesus put me at ease with these words: My daughter, I reward you for the purity of your intention which you had at the time when you acted. My Heart rejoiced that you had My love under consideration at the time you acted, and that in so distinct a way; and even now you still derive benefit from this; that is, from the humiliation. Yes, My child, I want you to always have such great purity of intention in the very least things you undertake." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1566)
"One night there went out over the stillness of an evening breeze, out over the white chalk hills of Bethlehem, a cry, a gentle cry. The sea did not hear the cry, for the sea was filled with its own voice. The earth did not hear the cry, for the earth slept. The great men of the earth did not hear the cry, for they could not understand how a Child could be greater than a man. "There were only two classes of men who heard the cry that night: Shepherds and Wise Men. Shepherds: Those who know they know nothing. Wise Men: Those who know they do not know everything. The Shepherds found their Shepherd, and the Wise Men discovered Wisdom. And the Shepherd and the Wisdom was a Babe in a crib." Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Friday, December 22, 2017
“Marriage in itself merits esteem and the highest approval, for the Lord wished men to ‘be fruitful and multiply.’ He did not tell them, however, to act like libertines, nor did He intend them to surrender themselves to pleasure as though born only to indulge in sexual relations. Let the Educator (Christ) put us to shame with the word Exechiel: “Put away your fornications.” Why, even unreasoning beasts know enough not to mate at certain times. To indulge in intercourse without intending children is to outrage nature, whom should take as our instructor.” St. Clement of Alexandria (150-215) (Paedagogues, 2, 10; 95, 3, GCS, 12, 214).
O Holy Mother of God,
pray for the priests
your Son has chosen to serve the church.
Help them by your intercession,
to be holy,
zealous and chaste.
Make them models of virtue
in the service of God’s people.
Help them to be prayerful in meditations,
effective in preaching,
and enthusiastic in the daily offering of
the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
Help them to administer the sacraments with joy.
pray for the priests
your Son has chosen to serve the church.
Help them by your intercession,
to be holy,
zealous and chaste.
Make them models of virtue
in the service of God’s people.
Help them to be prayerful in meditations,
effective in preaching,
and enthusiastic in the daily offering of
the holy sacrifice of the Mass.
Help them to administer the sacraments with joy.
Amen.
St. Charles Borromeo
“There are two births of Christ, one unto the world in Bethlehem; the other in the soul, when it is spiritually reborn. Men think of the former much more than the later, and celebrate it every year; but the spiritual Bethlehem is equally momentous. This is the second Bethlehem, or the personal relationship of the individual heart to the Lord Christ.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Rejoice)
Thursday, December 21, 2017
O Mother of Jesus, and my Mother,
let me dwell with you, cling to you
and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honor, love, and trust of a child.
Give me a mother's protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind
the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help
to be what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my Good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart
will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your Divine Son for all eternity.
Amen.
- Marian Prayer of Cardinal John Henry Newman
let me dwell with you, cling to you
and love you with ever-increasing love.
I promise the honor, love, and trust of a child.
Give me a mother's protection,
for I need your watchful care.
You know better than any other
the thoughts and desires of the Sacred Heart.
Keep constantly before my mind
the same thoughts, the same desires,
that my heart may be filled with zeal
for the interests of the Sacred Heart of your Divine Son.
Instill in me a love of all that is noble,
that I may no longer be easily turned to selfishness.
Help me, dearest Mother,
to acquire the virtues that God wants of me:
to forget myself always, to work solely for Him,
without fear of sacrifice.
I shall always rely on your help
to be what Jesus wants me to be.
I am His; I am yours, my Good Mother!
Give me each day your holy and maternal blessing
until my last evening on earth,
when your Immaculate Heart
will present me to the heart of Jesus in heaven,
there to love and bless you
and your Divine Son for all eternity.
Amen.
- Marian Prayer of Cardinal John Henry Newman
"Therefore the Word of God, Himself God, the Son of God who in the beginning was with God, through whom all things were made and without whom was nothing made John 1:1-3, with the purpose of delivering man from eternal death, became man: so bending Himself to take on Him our humility without decrease in His own majesty, that remaining what He was and assuming what He was not, He might unite the true form of a slave to that form in which He is equal to God the Father, and join both natures together by such a compact that the lower should not be swallowed up in its exaltation nor the higher impaired by its new associate. Without detriment therefore to the properties of either substance which then came together in one person, majesty took on humility, strength weakness, eternity mortality: and for the paying off of the debt, belonging to our condition, inviolable nature was united with possible nature, and true God and true man were combined to form one Lord, so that, as suited the needs of our case, one and the same Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, could both die with the one and rise again with the other. " Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 21 on the Nativity, Par. II
But in order to succour us, The Word was made Flesh, and dwelt among us. What is, The Word was made Flesh? The gold became grass. It became grass for to be burned; the grass was burned, but the gold remained; in the grass It perishes not, yea, It changed the grass. How did It change it? It raised it up, quickened it, lifted it up to heaven, and placed it at the right Hand of the Father. But that it might be said, And theWord was made Flesh, and dwelt among us, let us recollect awhile what went before. He came unto His Own, and His Own received Him not. But as many as received Him, to them gave He power to become the sons of God. To become, for they were not; but He was Himself in the beginning. He gave them then power to become the sons of God, to them that believe in His Name; who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Lo, born they are, in whatever age of the flesh they may be; ye see infants; see and rejoice... St. Augustine, Sermons on the New Testament, Sermon 69
"Things were in God’s plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that – from God’s point of view – there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God’s divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God’s all-seeing eyes." St. Edith Stein
"Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession" ~St. Joseph Cupertino, patron of pilots and air travel
“If we were naturally good and naturally progressive, there would have been no need of Christ coming to earth to make men good. Those who are well have no need of a physician. If all were right with the world, God would have stayed in His Heaven. His Presence in the crib in Bethlehem is a witness not to our progress, but to our misery.” —Ven. Fulton J. Sheen
"Stay very close to the crib of this most beautiful Child, especially during these days of this birth. If you love riches, here you will find the gold the Kings left Him. If you love the smoke of honours, here you will find that of incense. And if you love the delicacy of the senses, you will smell the perfumed myrrh which perfumes the entire holy stable." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters III, p. 889 )
Wednesday, December 20, 2017
Pope Leo VIII, Epistola Ad Rodoaldum Patriarcham Aquileiensem, 963 A.D.: “Leo, bishop, servant of the servants of God… If pastors of sheep are content to bear day and night the sun and frost for their care of the flock, and to the end that none of them should either perish wandering, or be snatched by wild beasts, torn by bites, are looking about by ever vigilant eyes, by how much sweat, us, and by how much care must we be completely vigilant, who are called shepherds [pastors] of souls.” (My translation of Migne’s Latin)
"Do not be ashamed to enter again into the Church. Be ashamed when you sin. Do not be ashamed when you repent. Pay attention to what the devil did to you. These are two things: sin and repentance. Sin is a wound; repentance is a medicine. Just as there are for the body wounds and medicines, so for the soul are sins and repentance. However, sin has the shame and repentance possesses the courage." ~ St. John Chrysostom
"Poverty, humility, degradation, contempt surround the Word made flesh. But from the darkness in which this Word made flesh is enveloped, we understand one thing, we hear a voice, we catch a glimpse of a sublime truth. All this He has done out of love, and He does nothing but invite us to love; He speaks of nothing else but love; He gives nothing but proof of love." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters IV, pp. 972 – 973 )
As I continued Vespers, meditating on this mixture of suffering and grace, I heard the voice of Our Lady, "Know, My daughter, that although I was raised to the dignity of Mother of God, seven swords of pain pierced My heart. Don't do anything to defend yourself; bear everything with humility; God Himself will defend you". WORDS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 786)
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
“John, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to [our] dearest son, Charles, glorious king.
Because it is related by many, dearest son, we know you to act manfully by the custom of your predecessor kings for the defense and utility of the Holy Church of God, against the rage of the smallest of men as even of pagans…” Pope John IX, Epistola Ad Carolum
The Lord said to me, My daughter, do not tire of proclaiming My mercy. In this way you will refresh this Heart of Mine, which burns with a flame of pity for sinners. Tell My priests that hardened sinners will repent on hearing their words when they speak about My unfathomable mercy, about the compassion I have for them in My Heart. To priests who proclaim and extol My mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will anoint their words and touch the hearts of those to whom they will speak. WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1521)
'We must watch over ourselves. We must have the most filial confidence in Our Saviour, in our blessed Mother, in the angels and saints; but as for men, we must avoid them: this is the advice of the angel to St. Arsenius. Have courage; be assured that God will never abandon you, but will always assist you and give you what is needful.' St. Paul of the Cross (1694-1775)
“How do we meet this challenge of a mood which makes society evil and the person guiltless? The answer must be: the courage of the few. “If the trumpets give an uncertain sound who will prepare for battle?” Courage is to some extent the foundation of all virtue for without it there is no security for preserving any other virtue.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
When I was left alone with the Blessed Virgin, She instructed me concerning the interior life. She said, "The soul's true greatness is in loving God and in humbling oneself in His presence, completely forgetting oneself and believing oneself to be nothing, because the Lord is great, but He is well-pleased only with the humble, He always opposes the proud".
WORDS OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1711)
Monday, December 18, 2017
“Some also question whether angels are personal beings, and whether matter and spirit differ essentially. Others destroy the gratuity of the supernatural order, since God, they say, cannot create intellectual beings without ordering and calling them to the beatific vision. Nor is this all. Disregarding the Council of Trent, some pervert the very concept of original sin, along with the concept of sin in general as an offense against God, as well as the idea of satisfaction performed for us by Christ. Some even say that the doctrine of transubstantiation, based on an antiquated philosophic notion of substance, should be so modified that the real presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist be reduced to a kind of symbolism, whereby the consecrated species would be merely efficacious signs of the spiritual presence of Christ and of His intimate union with the faithful members of His Mystical Body.” Pope Pius XII, Humani Generis, Par. 26
The Formula of Union, approved by Pope St. Sixtus III: “But how we know and speak regarding the Virgin Mother of God, and about the manner of the incarnation of the only-begotten Son of God, necessary not because of increase but for satisfaction, we have taken and possess from above, from the divine Scriptures as well as from the tradition of the holy fathers, and we speak briefly, adding nothing at all to the faith of the holy Fathers, which was set forth at Nicea. For, as we have already said, this suffices for all understanding of piety and for all renunciation of heretical perfidy. But we speak not presuming the unlawful, but by confession of special weakness excluding those who wish to rise up against what we regard as beyond man.”
Sunday, December 17, 2017
“Because [Christ] is born in a cave, all who wish to see him must bend, must stoop, and the stoop is the mark of humility. The proud refuse to stoop. Therefore they miss divinity. Those, however, who are willing to risk bending their egos to go into that cave, find that they are not in a cave at all; but there are in a universe where sits a babe on his mother’s lap, the babe who made the world.” — Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, from the book “Through the Year with Fulton Sheen”.
“The creature most filled with the love of God Himself was the Immaculata. We know she never contracted the slightest stain of sin; she never departed in the least from God's will. United to the Holy Spirit as his spouse, she is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than any other creature. In fact, we can say that the Holy Spirit does not act except through the Immaculata, his spouse.That is why she is the Mediatrix of all graces of the Holy Spirit. And why we can be holy by staying close to her throughout our life." - St. Maximilian Kolbe (on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception)
“He who has the bride is the groom. The friend of the groom, who stands and hears him, rejoices with joy at the voice of the groom. ( John 3:29.)
The best man says those things about the groom, the voice about the Word, the light about the sun, John about Christ. Indeed, ‘the groom’ is Christ, and ‘the bride whom he has’ is the church. David says about him, He has set his tabernacle in the sun; he is like a groom coming out of his chamber. (Psalm 18:6) Solomon speaks about the bride, You have wounded my heart, my sister; my woman, you have wounded my heart. (Canticles 4:9) For, we remember that we distinguished four types of betrothal in the tract which we undertook, On the fourfold types of marriage. The first is between a husband and a legal wife, the second is between Christ and a holy church, the third is between God and a righteous soul, the fourth is between the Word and human nature.” Pope Innocent III, Sermon on John 3:29
“As daylight waxes, we, gazing into a mirror, see more plainly the soils and stains upon our face; and even so as the interior light of the Holy Spirit enlightens our conscience, we see more distinctly the sins, inclinations and imperfections which hinder our progress towards real devotion. And the selfsame light which shows us these blots and stains, kindles in us the desire to be cleansed and purged therefrom.
You will find then, my child, that besides the mortal sins and their affections from which your soul has already been purged, you are beset by sundry inclinations and tendencies to venial sin; mind, I do not say you will find venial sins, but the inclination and tendency to them. Now, one is quite different from the other. We can never be altogether free from venial sin,--at least not until after a very long persistence in this purity; but we can be without any affection for venial sin. It is altogether one thing to have said something unimportant not strictly true, out of carelessness or liveliness, and quite a different matter to take pleasure in lying, and in the habitual practice thereof. But I tell you that you must purify your soul from all inclination to venial sin;--that is to say, you must not voluntarily retain any deliberate intention of permitting yourself to commit any venial sin whatever.” St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life
"As regards your reading there is very little to be admired and hardly anything by which to be edified. It is absolutely necessary for you to add to such reading that of the holy books ( Sacred Scripture) so highly recommended by all the holy Fathers of the Church. I cannot dispense you from such spiritual reading, for I have your perfection too much at heart. If you want to gain the quite unhoped – for fruit from such reading, it will be well to rid yourself of the prejudice you have with regard to the style and form in which these holy books are set forth. Get to work then. Make an effort in this respect and don’t neglect to ask the divine assistance with all humility." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters II, p. 153 )
“It is the conscience that tells us when we do wrong, so that we feel on the inside as if we have broken a bone. The bone pains because the bone is not where it ought to be. Our conscience troubles us because the conscience is not where it ought to be. Thanks to this power of self-reflection that we have, we can see ourselves, particularly so at night. Your freedom is never destroyed but you feel the sweet summons, and you ask why it is not stronger. It is strong enough if we would listen.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
Saturday, December 16, 2017
“O Holy Mary! My Mother; into thy blessed trust and special custody, and into the bosom of thy mercy, I this day, and every day, and in the hour of my death, commend my soul and body. To thee I commit all my anxieties and sorrows, my life and the end of my life, that by thy most holy intercession, and by thy merits, all my actions may be directed and governed by thy will and that of thy Son.” - St. Aloysius Gonzaga
Among the many proofs of the boundless benignity of our Redeemer, there is one that stands out conspicuously, to wit the fact that when the charity of Christian people was growing cold, the Divine Charity itself was set forth to be honored by a special worship, and the riches of its bounty was made widely manifest by that form of devotion wherein worship is given to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, "In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge" Pope Pius XI, MISERENTISSIMUS REDEMPTOR, May 8, 1928 (Coloss. ii, 3).
“Jesus: ‘Know, too, that the darkness about which you complain I first endured in the Garden of Olives when My Soul was crushed in mortal anguish. I am giving you a share in those sufferings because of My special love for you and in view of the high degree of holiness I am intending for you in heaven. A suffering soul is closest to My Heart.’” WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1487e)
Friday, December 15, 2017
“Our Most Merciful Redeemer, after He had wrought salvation for mankind on the tree of the Cross and before He ascended from out this world to the Father, said to his Apostles and Disciples, to console them in their anxiety, ‘Behold I am with you all days, even to the consummation of the world.’ (Matt. xxviii, 20). These words, which are indeed most pleasing, are a cause of all hope and security, and they bring us, Venerable Brethren, ready succor, whenever we look round from this watch-tower raised on high and see all human society laboring amid so many evils and miseries, and the Church herself beset without ceasing by attacks and machinations. For as in the beginning this Divine promise lifted up the despondent spirit of the Apostles and enkindled and inflamed them so that they might cast the seeds of the Gospel teaching throughout the whole world; so ever since it has strengthened the Church unto her victory over the gates of hell. In sooth, Our Lord Jesus Christ has been with his Church in every age, but He has been with her with more present aid and protection whenever she has been assailed by graver perils and difficulties. For the remedies adapted to the condition of time and circumstances, are always supplied by Divine Wisdom, who reacheth from end to end mightily, and ordereth all things sweetly (Wisdom viii, 1). But in this latter age also, ‘the hand of the Lord is not shortened’ (Isaias lix, 1), more especially since error has crept in and has spread far and wide, so that it might well be feared that the fountains of Christian life might be in a manner dried up, where men are cut off from the love and knowledge of God. Now, since it may be that some of the people do not know, and others do not heed, those complaints which the most loving Jesus made when He manifested Himself to Margaret Mary Alacoque, and those things likewise which at the same time He asked and expected of men, for their own ultimate profit, it is our pleasure, Venerable Brethren, to speak to you for a little while concerning the duty of honorable satisfaction which we all owe to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, with the intent that you may, each of you, carefully teach your own flocks those things which we set before you, and stir them up to put the same in practice.” Pope Pius XI, MISERENTISSIMUS REDEMPTOR, May 8, 1928
“Remember that true religion is not a matter of words; there must be deeds. Hence, if you find something related worthy of admiration, do not be satisfied with saying: I like that, or that is very good; but rather say: I want to put into practice what I see is praiseworthy in others.” - St. John Bosco (in his work “The Life of Dominic Savio” translated from the Italian and published in English LONDON: SALESIAN PRESS, SURREY LANE, BATTERSEA, S.W., 1914., Nihil Obstat, Imprimatur)
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