Thursday, November 30, 2017
“The presbyteral schools are thus the first step, as it were, of the stairs which from the junior to the senior seminaries carry up to the priesthood those young men to whom the Saviour repeats the appeal He addressed to Peter and Andrew, to John and James, ‘Leave your nets; follow Me, I will make you fishers of men.’” Pope Leo XIII, DEPUIS LE JOUR, September 8, 1899
St. Mark the Evangelist, Gospel of Mark, Ch. 1: 16. And passing by the sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew his brother, casting nets into the sea (for they were fishermen). 17. And Jesus said to them: Come after me, and I will make you to become fishers of men. 18. And immediately leaving their nets, they followed him.
“Many people are concerned with children of India, with the children of Africa where quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned about the violence in this great country of the United States. These concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned with the millions being killed by the deliberate decision of their own mothers. And this is the greatest destroyer of peace today—abortion which brings people to such blindness.” (Saint Teresa of Calcutta; National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C, February 5, 1994)
"Remember that God is in us when we are in the state of grace and outside of us, so to speak, when we are in a state of sin; but his angel never abandons us. He is our most sincere and faithful friend when we do not make the mistake of saddening him with our wicked conduct." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( G. Del Ton – Il Buon Pastore, 205 )
“A weathervane is not more subject to air currents than the mind of a man to exterior agitations which draw him now to one thing, again to another. God permits this to test the good and to make them turn more strongly to him. Blessed are those who submit to his guidance, trusting his goodness and remaining peaceful amid these storms!” – St. Vincent de Paul
“He used His Body not only to teach but also to govern and to found a Kingdom. Gathering the elements of His first Kingdom, consisting mostly of ignorant men, He chose from the twelve of them one as their chief and guide – Peter the Rock, on whom He said He would build His Church, and to whom He committed the supreme power of feeding His lambs and feeding His sheep…This new body, sometimes called a mystical body, is to be understood after the analogy of the human body which is made up of many members performing different functions and yet all cooperating toward the harmony of the whole. The hand is not the foot, the eye is not the ear, the heart is not the lung. So, too, the priest is not the layman, the apostle is not the disciple, the Vicar of Christ is not the deacon, and yet all are one in the same Spirit.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (The Divine Romance)
"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 the will speak" WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1521).
Wednesday, November 29, 2017
Pope Innocent XI, Sollicitudo Pastoralis, November 20, 1679 A. D.: “The pastoral solicitude of office, by which We preside over the governing of the catholic Church spread throughout the whole globe by divine disposition, urges and impels Us to attend to fostering and preserving the Orders of men religious instituted by this holy See with wise piety for the glory of the Omnipotent God and the salvation of souls, and refulgent in the Church of God on account of their great merits in their holy and primeval regulations, and in keeping them safe and fortifying them from those things hurtful, which could extinguish and relax the spirit and rigor of the original conscientiousness, and in providing for their blessed advancement in the way of the mandates of the Lord, as much as is conceded Us from on high.”
Pope St. Damasus, “Decree of Damasus”, 382 A.D.: “It has been said: We must first treat of the sevenfold Spirit, which reposes in Christ, the Spirit of wisdom:Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God[1 Cor. 1:24]. The Spirit of understanding: I will give thee understanding, and I will instruct thee in this way, in which thou shalt go[Ps. 31:8]. The Spirit of counsel:And his name shall be called angel of great counsel[ Is. 9:6: LXX]. The Spirit of power (as above):The power of God and the wisdom of God [1 Cor. 1:24]. The Spirit of knowledge: on account of the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus the apostle[Eph. 3:19]. The Spirit of truth:I am the way and the life and the truth[ John 14:6]. The Spirit of fear [of God]:The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom[Ps. 110:10] . . . [ there follows an explanation of the various names of Christ:Lord, Word, Flesh, Shepherd, etc.] . . . For the Holy Spirit is not only the Spirit of the Father or not only the Spirit of the Son, but the Spirit of the Father and of the Son. For it is written:If anyone love the world, the Spirit of the Father is not in him[1 John 2:15; Rom. 8:9]. Likewise it is written:Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his [Rom. 8:9]. When the Father and the Son are mentioned in this way, the Holy Spirit is understood, of whom the Son himself says in the Gospel, that the Holy Spirit proceedeth from the Father[John 15:26], andhe shall rec eive of mine and shall announce it to you[ John 16:14.]” (from the acts of the Roman Synod, in the year 382)
— with Hader Enrique Cardona Hurtado.
“Much remains to be done to support those whose lives are wounded and to restore hope to those who are afraid of life. Courage is needed to resist pressures and false slogans, to proclaim the supreme dignity of all life, and to demand that society itself give it its protection. A distinguished American, Thomas Jefferson, once stated: ‘The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the just and only legitimate object of good government’ -March 31, 1809. I wish therefore to praise all the members of the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches, all men and women of the Judeo-Christian heritage, as well as all people of good will who unite in common dedication for the defense of life in its fullness and for the promotion of all human rights.” (Saint John Paul II, Homily in Washington, D.C., October 7, 1979)
“The gentleman is the one who is modest and retiring, who waits first on the others and thinks of everyone but himself, and finds his chief happiness in making someone else happy; who, however poor and humble anyone else may be, bears to them the open palm of true nobility.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Guide to Contentment)
Tuesday, November 28, 2017
Pope Boniface IV, Epistle from the Council of Rome, 610. A.D.: “As long as the integrity of your Christianity shall have so thoroughly discerned [Latin: excreverit] concerning the worship of its author [God], might it shine forth far and wide, and made known in all the world, it might redound increases of your worthy operation in God; We release immense thanks to the bestower of all good things, God, who has watched you from on high, and raised so great a height of virtues.”
St. Ambrose, Concerning Virginity (Book II), Chapter 2: “The first thing which kindles ardour in learning is the greatness of the teacher. What is greater than the Mother of God? What more glorious than she whom Glory Itself chose? What more chaste than she who bore a body without contact with another body?”
“If we would please this divine Infant, we too must become children, simple and humble; we must carry to him flowers of virtue, of meekness, of mortification, of charity; we must clasp him in the arms of our love.” (St. Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori, C.Ss.R., Bishop and Doctor of the Church; reflecting on Saint Bonaventure’s words about Christ)
"It would take too long to tell you all the stories about this famous impostor (...) Mohamed's religion consists of a monstrous mixtures of Judaism, Paganism and Christianity. Mohamed propagated his religion, not through miracles or persuasive words, but through the force of arms. [It is] a religion that favors every sort of licentiousness and which, in a short time, allowed Mohamed to become the leader of troop of brigands. Along with them he raided the countries of the East and conquered the people, not by introducing the Truth, not by miracles or prophecy; but for one reason only: to raise his sword over the heads of the conquered shouting: believe or die." Saint John Bosco on Islam From Beauty of Catholicism.
Monday, November 27, 2017
Pope John XV, at a council of Rome, proclaims his Canonization of Ulrich of Augsburg, January 31, 993 A.D.: “...of the life and miracles of Venerable Ulrich, recently bishop of the holy church in Augsburg...Because the presence and congregating of the priests is attested to by the Holy Ghost, it is certain what we read, for neither can our truth deceive, of which in the Gospel is this statement: ‘Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.’ (Matt. 18) [The pope goes on to mention the many miracles attesting to the manifestation of the saints including]...to illumine the blind, to cast out demons from obsessing bodies, to cure the lame, and to show forth myriad other signs... [the pope then goes on to decree the memory of Ulrich for the veneration of the faithful, as the Church venerates all saints] that the honor may redound to the Lord, who says ‘He who receiveth you, receiveth me’ (Matt. 10:40)...”
“And so the Friars who are inspired by God to work as missionaries among the Saracens [Mohammedans] and other unbelievers must get permission to go from their minister, who is their servant. [...] We Friars Minor, servants and worthless as we are, humbly beg and implore everyone to persevere in the true faith and in a life of penance; there is no other way to be saved. We beseech the whole world to do this, all those who serve our lord and God within the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church, together with the whole hierarchy, priests, deacons, subdeacons, acolytes, exorcists, lectors, porters, and all clerics and religious, male or female; we beg all children, big and small, the poor and the needy, kings and princes, laborers and farmers, servants and masters; we beg all virgins and all other women, married or unmarried; we beg all lay folk, men and women, infants and adolescents, young and old, the healthy and the sick, the little and the great, all peoples, tribes, families and languages, all nations and all men everywhere, present and to come; we Friars Minor beg them all to persevere in the true faith and in a life of penance.” Saint Francis of Assisi O.F.M., Founder, (Rule of 1221)
“Both capitalism and socialism are opposite sins against property. Capitalism emphasizes private rights to property without any social responsibility to the common good; socialism emphasizes the social use of property, to the forgetfulness of personal rights. The true solution is one in which the rights to property are personal, but the responsibility is social. A man is free on the inside because he can call his soul his own; he is free on the outside because he can call his property his own.” Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Crisis in History)
"The Lord visited me today and said, My daughter, do not be afraid of what will happen to you. I will give you nothing beyond your strength. You know the power of My grace; let that be enough. After these words, the Lord gave me a deeper understanding of the action of His grace." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1491)
“Much remains to be done to support those whose lives are wounded and to restore hope to those who are afraid of life. Courage is needed to resist pressures and false slogans, to proclaim the supreme dignity of all life, and to demand that society itself give it its protection. A distinguished American, Thomas Jefferson, once stated: ’The care of human life and happiness and not their destruction is the just and only legitimate object of good government’ -March 31, 1809. I wish therefore to praise all the members of the Catholic Church and other Christian Churches, all men and women of the Judeo-Christian heritage, as well as all people of good will who unite in common dedication for the defense of life in its fullness and for the promotion of all human rights.” (Saint John Paul II, Homily in Washington, D.C., October 7, 1979)
“Now could it possibly happen that the sun be smote or sliced, which otherwise encompasses the axe and the tree? So therefore in Christ, his body indeed is the tree, the axe His passion, the sun is His Godhead. Christ suffered [endured His Passion], without His Divinity suffering any diminution on account of his Passion. [Latin: Num fieri potest ut sol feriatur aut caedatur, qui caeteroquin securim et arborem prorsus circumambit? Sic igitur in Christo, corpus quidem est arbor, securis passio, sol est divinitas. Passus est Christus, quin divinitas diminutionem ullam propter passionem perpessa est.]” Pope St. Sylvester I (Fragment quoted by Migne, PL.)
Sunday, November 26, 2017
Pope Leo IV, Homilia (translation from the Labbei Edition) (an excerpt of an exhortation to priests): “See not through your negligence that any infant should die without baptism… everysoever priest should further rightly his office; he who, however, is illiterate, should be suspended from his office, except he should amend. You must proclaim the word of the Lord and not inane fables from your heart to the people, and preach. Take care of the poor, pilgrims, and orphans: and invite them to your breakfasts. Be hospitable, that others might assume from you your good example.
Every Sunday before mass, bless the water whereby the people are sprinkled (asperged).”
King St. Louis IX, last instruction to his son: “If God send thee adversity, receive it in patience and give thanks to our Saviour and bethink thee that thou hast deserved it, and that He will make it turn to thine advantage. If He send thee prosperity, then thank Him humbly, so that thou becomest not worse from pride or any other cause, when thou oughtest to be better. For we should not fight against God with his own gifts.” (Memoirs of the Crusades, translated by Sir Frank Marzials, Joinville’s Chronicle, pg. 321, King St. Louis IX’s last instructions to his son, Pub. 1908)
"When I was beginning to learn the history of France, the account of Joan of Arc's exploits delighted me; I felt in my heart the desire and the courage to imitate her. It seemed the Lord destined me, too, for great things. I was not mistaken, but instead of voices from heaven inviting me to combat, I heard in the depths of my soul a gentler and stronger voice: that of the Spouse of Virgins, who was calling me to other exploits, to more glorious conquests, and into Carmel's solitude. I understood my mission was not to have a mortal king crowned but to make the King of Heaven loved, to submit to Him the kingdom of hearts." St. Therese of Lisieux
“Although it is a great grace from God to practise self-examination, yet ‘too much is as bad as too little,’ as they say; believe me, by God’s help, we shall advance more by contemplating the Divinity than by keeping our eyes fixed on ourselves, poor creatures of earth that we are.” (St. Teresa of Avila, Doctor of the Church; Interior Castle, First Mansions, Chapter 2)
One of the most beautiful moments in history was that when pregnancy met pregnancy when child-bearers became the first heralds of the King of Kings. All pagan religions begin with the teachings of adults, but Christianity begins with the birth of a Child. From that day to this, Christians have ever been the defenders of the family and the love of generation. If we ever sat down to write out what we would expect the Infinite God to do, certainly the last thing we would expect would be to see Him imprisoned in a carnal ciborium for nine months; and the next to last thing we would expect is that the "greatest man ever born of woman" while yet in his mother's womb, would salute the yet imprisoned God-man. But this is precisely what took place in the Visitation. Archbishop Fulton Sheen (World’s First Love)
“It was said of St. Catherine Labouré that some sort of electric current [existed] between Catherine and humble people, between her and children. Those who were puzzled or embarrassed went to her as if she were a beloved granny, a staunch member of the household – but would later leave the ‘old lady’ when they had learnt to fly with their own wings.” - St. Vincent de Paul
“Love keeps Him there (in the Blessed Sacrament) as a victim completely and perpetually delivered over to sacrifice for the glory of the Father and for our salvation. Unite yourself with Him, then, in all that you do. Refer everything to His glory. Set up your abode in this loving Heart of Jesus and you will there find lasting peace and the strength both to bring to fruition all the good desires He inspires in you, and to avoid every deliberate fault. Place in this Heart all your sufferings and difficulties. Everything that comes from the Sacred Heart is sweet. He changes everything into love.” — St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Saturday, November 25, 2017
O you deluded people what are you doing?Why do you not hasten to the churches to hear as many masses as you can?Why do you not imitate the angels who when a Holy Mass is celebrated,come down in myriads from paradise and take their stations about our altars in adoration to intercede for us? -St Leonard of Port Maurice~
If I want my interior city to have some similarity and likeness to that “of the King of eternal ages” and to receive this great illumination from God, I must extinguish every other light and, as in the holy city, the Lamb must be “its only light.” ~ St Elizabeth of the Trinity Last Retreat, Fifth Day
"God gave me my poor sister, and God has taken her away. Blessed be his holy name. In this resignation and exclamation I find the strength to avoid giving way to sorrow. I exhort you, too, to resign yourselves to the divine will, and you will find, like me, relief for your sorrow." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ( Letters IV, p.904 )
“The new compassion that has crept into our courts and into our literature and drama is the compassion for the breakers of the law, for the thieves, the dope fiends, the murderers, the rapists. This false compassion for the criminal and the readiness to blame the law and the police, has passed from the ‘sob-sisters’ to black –robed justices who, fearful of restraining a liberty turned into license, pardon the mugger and ignore the mugged.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Guide to Contentment)
Friday, November 24, 2017
“What We have said concerning the ‘mystical Head’ [108] would indeed be incomplete if We were not at least briefly to touch on this saying of the same Apostle: ‘Christ is the Head of the Church: he is the Savior of his Body.’ [109] For in these words we have the final reason why the Body of the Church is given the name of Christ, namely, that Christ is the Divine Savior of this Body. The Samaritans were right in proclaiming Him ‘Savior of the world’; [110] for indeed He most certainly is to be called the ‘Savior of all men,’ even though we must add with Paul: ‘especially of the faithful, [111] since, before all others, He has purchased with His Blood His members who constitute the Church. [112] But as We have already treated this subject fully and clearly when speaking of the birth of the Church on the Cross, of Christ as the source of life and the principle of sanctity, and of Christ as the support of His Mystical Body, there is no reason why We should explain it further; but rather let us all, while giving perpetual thanks to God, meditate on it with a humble and attentive mind. For that which our Lord began when hanging on the Cross, He continues unceasingly amid the joys of heaven: ‘Our Head’ says St. Augustine ‘intercedes for us: some members He is receiving, others He is chastising, others cleansing, others consoling, others creating, others calling, others recalling, others correcting, others renewing.’ [113] But it is for us to cooperate with Christ in this work of salvation, "from one and through one saved and saviours.’” (Ft. Notes: 108. Cf. Ambrose, De Elia et ieiun., 10, 36-37, et In Psalm. 118, serm. 20, 2: Migne, P.L., XIV, 710 et XV, 1483. 109. Eph., V, 23. 110. John, IV, 42. 111. Cf. l Tim., IV, 10. 112. Acts, XX, 28. 113. Enarr. in Ps., LXXXV, 5; Migne, P.L., XXXVII, 1085. 114. Clem. Alex., Strom., VII, 2; Migne, P.G., IX, 413.) Pope Pius XII, Mystici Corporis Christi, June 29, 1943, Par. 59
St. Thomas Aquinas, Summa, Secunda Secundae, Q. 106: “Tully reckons thankfulness a special part of justice (De Invent. Rhet. ii)... Now the cause of debt is found primarily and chiefly in God, in that He is the first principle of all our goods... It is written (Luke 7:43): ‘To whom more is forgiven, he loveth more.’ Therefore for the same reason he is bound to greater thanksgiving. ...Thanksgiving [gratiarum actio] in the recipient corresponds to the favor [gratia] of the giver: so that when there is greater favor on the part of the giver, greater thanks are due on the part of the recipient. Now a favor is something bestowed ‘gratis’: wherefore on the part of the giver the favor may be greater on two counts. First, owing to the quantity of the thing given: and in this way the innocent owes greater thanksgiving, because he receives a greater gift from God, also, absolutely speaking, a more continuous gift, other things being equal. Secondly, a favor may be said to be greater, because it is given more gratuitously; and in this sense the penitent is more bound to give thanks than the innocent, because what he receives from God is more gratuitously given: since, whereas he was deserving of punishment, he has received grace. Wherefore, although the gift bestowed on the innocent is, considered absolutely, greater, yet the gift bestowed on the penitent is greater in relation to him: even as a small gift bestowed on a poor man is greater to him than a great gift is to a rich man. And since actions are about singulars, in matters of action, we have to take note of what is such here and now, rather than of what is such absolutely, as the Philosopher observes (Ethic. iii) in treating of the voluntary and the involuntary.”
“Freedom is not just something with which we are born; it is something we achieve. America did not receive a perpetual endowment of freedom; it has had to struggle and fight to preserve it. Freedom is not an heirloom or an antique; it is a life that must fight against the corrosive powers of death and nourish itself on the daily bread of goodness and virtue.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (On Being Human)
During Holy Mass, I saw Jesus stretched out on the Cross, and He said to me, My pupil, have great love for those who cause you suffering. Do good to those who hate you. I answered, “O my Master, You see very well that I feel no love for them, and that troubles me.” Jesus answered, It is not always within your power to control your feelings. You will recognize that you have love if, after having experienced annoyance and contradiction, you do not lose your peace, but pray for those who have made you suffer and wish them well
WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1628).
WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1628).
Thursday, November 23, 2017
Pope Pius Xi, Ubi Arcano Dei Consilio, Encylical on the Peace of Christ in the Kingdom of Christ, December 23, 1922, par. 23-25: “The same effects which result from these evils among individuals may likewise be expected among nations. ‘From whence are wars and contentions among you?’ asks the Apostle St. James. ‘Are they not hence from your concupiscences, which war in your members?’ (James iv, 1, 2) The inordinate desire for pleasure, concupiscence of the flesh, sows the fatal seeds of division not only among families but likewise among states; the inordinate desire for possessions, concupiscence of the eyes, inevitably turns into class warfare and into social egotism; the inordinate desire to rule or to domineer over others, pride of life, soon becomes mere party or factional rivalries, manifesting itself in constant displays of conflicting ambitions and ending in open rebellion, in the crime of lese majeste, and even in national parricide. These unsuppressed desires, this inordinate love of the things of the world, are precisely the source of all international misunderstandings and rivalries, despite the fact that oftentimes men dare to maintain that acts prompted by such motives are excusable and even justifiable because, forsooth, they were performed for reasons of state or of the public good, or out of love for country. Patriotism — the stimulus of so many virtues and of so many noble acts of heroism when kept within the bounds of the law of Christ — becomes merely an occasion, an added incentive to grave injustice when true love of country is debased to the condition of an extreme nationalism, when we forget that all men are our brothers and members of the same great human family, that other nations have an equal right with us both to life and to prosperity, that it is never lawful nor even wise, to dissociate morality from the affairs of practical life, that, in the last analysis, it is ‘justice which exalteth a nation: but sin maketh nations miserable.’ (Proverbs xiv, 34)”
St. Theophylus (as quoted in the Catena Aurea): “The Virgin, whether she understood or whether she could not yet understand, equally laid up all things in her heart for reflection and diligent examination. Hence it follows, And, his mother laid up all these things, etc. Mark the wisest of mothers, Mary the mother of true wisdom, becomes the scholar or disciple of the Child. For she yielded to Him not as to a boy, nor as to a man, but as unto God. Further, she pondered upon both His divine words and works, so that nothing that was said or done by Him was lost upon her, but as the Word itself was before in her womb, so now she conceived the ways and words of the same, and in a manner nursed them in her heart. And while indeed she thought upon one thing at the time, another she wanted to be more clearly revealed to her; and this was her constant rule and law through her whole life.”
It is well for us in America to recall this basic distinction between the principle and the method of democracy, for too many of us believe that the principle of democracy began with the foundation of America, and that if America ever ceased to exist, democracy would pass out of the world. It would be well to recall that the Church was preaching the dignity of man over 1700 years before our government came into being. Archbishop Fulton Sheen
I heard the words, "In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My Merciful Heart" WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1588)
Wednesday, November 22, 2017
St. Eulogio whilst imprisoned by Mohammedans said: “The Church has been deprived of the sacred ministry, of prayer, sermons, and the Divine Office; we have neither oblations, nor sacrifice, nor incense, nor place for offering whereby we might placate our God. With mournful souls, in the spirit of humility, we offer Christ our suffrages of praise, so that if the choir psalmody is silenced in the churches, the sacred chant of hymns may resound in the prisons.” (Saint Eulogio of Cordoba, letter to bishop Wiliesindo of Pamplona, found in all editions of St. Eulogio’s works.)
“Christ’s coming into the world was not like that of a sightseer to a strange city, but rather like that of an artist visiting His own studio, or an author paging the books he himself has written, for in becoming incarnate the Divine Word was tabernacling Himself in His own creation. His human nature in no way limited His Divine Wisdom, but it did give Him a new way of communicating it to humans, and one quite comfortable to their own nature. Through a human tongue like their own, speaking their own dialect, people hear him say “I am the light of the world’” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (In the Fullness of Time)
Jesus said, "Secretary of My most profound mystery, know that yours is an exclusive intimacy with Me. Your task is to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in their souls and will have the courage to approach Me". ST FAUSTINA (Diary 1693)
Tuesday, November 21, 2017
“If devotion to the Blessed Virgin is necessary for all men simply to work out their salvation, it is even more necessary for those who are called to a special perfection. I do not believe that anyone can acquire intimate union with our Lord and perfect fidelity to the Holy Spirit without a very close union with the most Blessed Virgin and an absolute dependence on her support.” - St. Louis Marie de Montfort
Pope St. Leo the Great, Sermon 24: “...a rod shall come forth from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall arise from his root. In which rod, no doubt the blessed Virgin Mary is predicted, who sprung from the stock of Jesse and David and fecundated by the Holy Ghost, brought forth a new flower of human flesh, becoming a virgin-mother.”
“Yet, when the immaculate infant understood afterwards that her holy parents, Joachim and Anna had promised to God, even by a vow, as various authors relate, that if he should grant them a child, it should be consecrated to His service in the temple; for it was an ancient custom of the Jews to place their children in cells which were near the temple, that there they might be properly educated, as we learn from Baronius, Nicephorus, Cedrenus, and Suarez, as also from Josephus, the Jewish historian, St. John Damascene, St. Gregory of Nicomedia, St. Anselm, and St. Ambrose. As it is also clearly seen in Macchabees, where speaking of Helidorus, who wished to enter the temple by force in order to take from it the treasures deposited there, it is said: “Because the place was like to come into contempt…the virgins that were shut up hastened to Onias.” When Mary knew of this vow, as I have before said,s he wished solemnly to offer and consecrate herself to God, by presenting herself in the temple, as Germanus asserts, and also St. Epiphanius, who says that when she was hardly three years old she was presented in the temple, at an age when children have the greatest desire for the assistance of their parents, and need it the most. She was even the first to entreat her parents earnestly that they would take her to the temple, to fulfill their promise; and her mother, Anna, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says, did not delay to bring her there, and offer her to God.” (pg. 396-397 from ‘The Glories of Mary’)
"My daughter, know that if I allow you to feel and have a more profound knowledge of My sufferings, that is a grace from Me. But when your mind is dimmed and your sufferings are great, it is then that you take an active part in My Passion, and I am conforming you more fully to Myself. It is your task to submit yourself to My will at such times, more than at others" . . . WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary, 1697).
Monday, November 20, 2017
"I confess before anything else that it is a great embarrassment to me not to know how to talk about or deal with this burning volcano that is constantly in me, that Jesus has poured into this small heart of mine.
I can summarize it this way; I am consumed by love for God and love for my neighbor. God is fixed in my mind and stamped on my heart at all times; I never lose sight of him. I, for my part, admire his beauty, his smiles, the turmoil he sends me, his mercies, his vengeance-or, I should say, the rigors of his justice.
With this kind of deprivation of my freedom and this binding of my spiritual and physical faculties, Imagine how my poor soul is overwhelmed by these sentiments."
- St. Pio of Pietrelcina
#OTD 20 Nov 1887 Saint Therese dares to ask Pope Leo XIII's permission to enter the Carmelite monastery in Lisieux.
"I had both longed for and dreaded that day! I had to dare speak to the Pope in front of everybody. What I suffered before the audience only God knows." (Ms A 62r)
“We, therefore, with what is traditionally the attribute of sovereign pontiff, we approve this calendar, now reformed and made perfect thanks to the infinite benevolence of God towards his Church, and we order that it is printed in Rome with the martyrology. ...We thus remove and absolutely abolish the old calendar and we wish that all the patriarchs, primacies, archbishops, bishops, abbots and other leaders of Churches put into force for the reading of the divine office and the celebration of the festivals, each one in his Church, monastery, convent, command, army or diocese, the new calendar, to which was adapted the martyrology, and make use only of this one, as well as all the other priests and clerks, secular and regular, of the both genders, as well as soldiers and all Christians, this calendar whose use will start after the ten days removal of October 1582. As for those however which live in areas too distant to take knowledge of this letter in time, they are allowed to make such a change in October of the year which will follow immediately, namely 1583, or the next one, as soon, of course, as this letter will have come to them, in the manner that we indicated above and as that will be more abundantly explained in the calendar of the year of the reform. In addition, under the terms of the authority with which we were invested by God, we exhort and request our very dear sons in Christ, our illustrious Rudolph [II], King of the Romans become emperor, as well as the other kings and princes, just as the republics. We recommend to them, both since they sought us to achieve this very admirable work, but also, and even especially, in order to maintain harmony between the Christian nations in the celebration of the festivals, to adopt for themselves our calendar and to take care that all their subjects adopt it respectfully and conform to it scrupulously. ...No one among men, therefore, is permitted to infringe on this page, our prescription, mandate, establishment, wish, approval, prohibition, suppression, abolition, exhortation and request, nor dare reckless opposition. But if anyone shall have presumed to attempt this, he shall have acquainted the incursion the wrath of Almighty God, as even His blessed apostles Peter and Paul.” Pope Gregory XIII, Inter Gravissimas, February 24, 1581
At Nevers a boat was ready to convey the little band of exiles down the Loire to the sea-coast. During the embarkation, a soldier struck one of the monks, Lua by name, a most saintly man, with an oar, because he was not brisk enough about climbing into the boat. This act of wanton cruelty aroused the indignation of Columban, “Miserable wretch,” he said to the ruffian, “why do you increase our sorrows? How dare you strike the weary members of Christ? Why add to the number of your sins, which are already sufficient enough to damn you? Know that God will punish you for this crime, here at this very spot where in your rage you have struck a servant of Christ!” The Saint’s prediction was fulfilled to the letter. Returning to the same course, the unhappy man fell overboard and was drowned at the very spot where he had struck Lua. (pg. 183-184 of The Life and Writings of St. Columban, 542-615, Imprimatur: Edmond F. Prendergast, Archbishop of Philadelphia, 1 November 1914)
"Adore and visit Jesus, abandoned and forsaken by men in His Sacrament of Love. Man has time for everything except for visits to His Lord and God, Who is waiting and longing for us in the Blessed Sacrament. The streets and places of entertainment are filled with people; the House of God is deserted. Ah! Poor Jesus..." - St . Peter Julian Eymard
Sunday, November 19, 2017
“But the power of Mary over all the devils will especially shine forth in the latter times, when Satan will lay his snares against her heel: that is to say, her humble slaves and her poor children, whom she will raise up to make war against him. They shall be little and poor in the world’s esteem, and abased before all like the heel, trodden underfoot and persecuted as the heel is by the other members of the body. But in return for this they shall be rich in the grace of God, which Mary shall distribute to them abundantly. They shall be great and exalted before God in sanctity, superior to all other creatures by their lively zeal, and so well sustained with God’s assistance that, with the humility of their heel, in union with Mary, they shall crush the head of the devil and cause Jesus Christ to triumph.” - St. Louis Marie de Montfort
"I want you to become like a knight experienced in battle, who can give orders to others amid the exploding shells. In the same way, My child, you should know how to master yourself amid the greatest difficulties, and let nothing drive you away from Me, not even your falls." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1823)
Leo XIII, Immortale Dei, “On the Christian Constitution of States,” paragraph 47: “It is unlawful to follow one line of conduct in private life and another in public, respecting privately the authority of the Church, but publicly rejecting it; for this would amount to joining together good and evil, and to putting man in conflict with himself; whereas he ought always to be consistent, and never in the least point nor in any condition of life to swerve from Christian virtue.”
Watchful and sleepless, the king (Alfred) was lying in his bed, when, by permission of the merciful God, His servant St. Neot appeared to him. “Knowest thou not,” he said, “How vain are the thoughts of man. They who hope in the Lord shall take courage, they shall make to themselves wings as eagles, they shall fly and shall not faint. Now, therefore, up and be doing; for thou shalt go forth to do battle with these heathens, and the Lord shall be with thee, and they shall flee before thee, and King Guthrum and his nobles shall be humbled, and shall leave their idols and be baptized. And behold, I will go with thee, and with power from above I will lead thy forces to the battle and they shall be victorious. The seventh week after Easter thou shalt go forth.” (pg. 121 of Lives of the English Saints: Life of St. Augustine of Canterbury, Apostle of then English, with some account of the early British Church)
"Let us, therefore, be students of the laws of God so that we may conduct ourselves according to them. When you walk, these will guide you; when you lie down, watch over you; when you wake, talk with you. Wherever we may be or go, may they go with us to direct our footsteps. May they be so near us when we sleep that they may fill our thoughts as soon as we awaken. His voice will speak to us in them. He will refresh us for the day ahead.
"Through his laws, we will gain the victory over our doubts. We will cast away every obstacle. We will free ourselves from that sluggishness of nature which is the enemy of strength, the foe of devotion, and the lover of ease.
"The law of life will help us to overcome our fears in the time of temptation and to follow eagerly in the way of obedience. May it always be at hand to counsel us, so that by it we may find the strength to follow God’s call with generous hearts and willing souls." - Saint Raphael of St. Joseph Excerpt from his Exhortations
“But God made you without you. You didn’t, after all, give any consent to God making you. How were you to consent, if you didn’t yet exist? So, while he made you without you, he doesn’t justify you without you. So, he made you without you knowing it, he justifies you with your willing consent to it.” (Saint Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 169)
"I beseech you, for the love of God, do not fear God, because He doesn't want to do you any harm at all. Love Him a great deal because He wants to do you a great deal of good. Walk simply, with certainty in your resolutions, and reject the reflections of spirit concerning your suffering, treating them as cruel temptations." St. Pio of Pietrelcina ...Correspondence With Spiritual Daughters, 1915-1923
“He who has long been under the rod of God becomes God’s possession. The consolation Our Lord gives is not always to cool our fevered brow or heal our broken limb, but to give us a vision of His purposes, so that we hasten to use every pain to save souls, to repair our own sins and those of others. Oh! That we could die in pairs: husband and wife, lover and beloved, widow and only son, friend and friend. But we die singly that at death we might, by our free choice, be paired with Christ, as the thief on the right: ‘This day, thou shalt be with Me in Paradise.’” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Lenten & Easter Inspirations)
Saturday, November 18, 2017
“…If we do what we have always done, what our fathers did before us, we cannot go wrong. Satan wants to destroy this prayer, but in this he will never succeed. The Rosary is the prayer of those who triumph over everything and everyone. It was Our Lady who taught us this prayer, just as it was Jesus who taught us the Our Father.”
- St Pio of Pietrelcina
- St Pio of Pietrelcina
“... We were terrified beyond all else by the disastrous state of human society today. For who can fail to see that society is at the present time, more than in any past age, suffering from a terrible and deep-rooted malady which, developing every day and eating into its inmost being, is dragging it to destruction? You understand, Venerable Brethren, what this disease is—apostasy from God, than which in truth nothing is more allied with ruin ...” Pope St. Pius X, E Supremi
"Oh, how painful it is to Me that souls so seldom unite themselves to Me in Holy Communion. I wait for souls, and they are indifferent toward Me. I love them tenderly and sincerely, and they distrust Me. I want to lavish My graces on them, and they do not want to accept them. They treat Me as a dead object, whereas My Heart is full of love and mercy. In order that you may know at least some of My pain, imagine the most tender of mothers who has great love for her children, while those children spurn her love. Consider her pain. No one is in a position to console her. This is but a feeble image and likeness of My love." WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1447)
Friday, November 17, 2017
“We must always remind ourselves that we are pilgrims until we arrive at our heavenly homeland, and we must not let our affections delay us in the roadside inns and lands through which we pass, otherwise we will forget our destination and lose interest in our final goal.” (St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest)
"If the Son of God will have all men to be saved, how is it that so many suffer the torments of Hell? I answer in one word: they wish it. He sends preachers of His Gospel to all parts of the world to proclaim: "He who believes, and is baptized, shall be saved. "And if any are unwilling to enter on this way, they perish by their own fault and not by the lack of will on the part of the Redeemer. For an hour the perfidious Jews exulted over Christ in His sufferings; for an hour Judas enjoyed the price of his avarice; for an hour Pilate gloried that he had regained the friendship of Herod and not lost the friendship of Caesar. But for nearly two thousand years they have all been suffering the torments of Hell, and their cries of despair will be heard for ever and ever." Saint Robert Bellarmine (The Seven Words Spoken by Christ on the Cross, Westminster, MD: Carroll Press, Thomas Baker, 1933)
Oftentimes also she led her friends to the cemetery, and said to them, “Remember that we too shall one day be but dust.” Then, when they had reached the charnel- house, she would say, “Here lie the bones of the dead; these people were once living like us, and are now dead as we shall be ; that is why we must love God. Let us kneel down, and say together, ‘Lord, by Thy cruel death, and by Thy dear mother Mary, deliver these poor souls from their sufferings; Lord, by Thy five sacred wounds save us.’” (St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Religious; Life of St. Elizabeth, p 152)
“What is confession? Unity of the soul, stripping ourselves of all false excuses and shams and pretenses. Did you know as we give up examination of conscience and confession that physical nudity increases in the world. In our modern world we are bringing back nudity. Trying to get back in the Garden of Eden without walking up the hill of Calvary, and it cannot be done. What is confession? Ethical nudity where we say this is who I am. I am a miserable sinner. When we make that confession what happens is the recycling of human garbage. Your sins are forgiven by the Blood of Christ through the Priest.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen
“When you buy an automobile, the manufacturer gives you a set of instructions. He tells you the pressure to which you ought to inflate your tires, the kind of oil you ought to use in the crankcase, and the proper fuel to put in the gas tank. He has nothing against you by giving you these instructions as God had nothing against you in giving you commandments. The manufacturer wants to be helpful; he is anxious that you get the maximum utility out of the car. And God is anxious that we get the maximum happiness out of life. Such is the purpose of His commandments.” Archbishop Fulton Sheen (Preface to Religion)
Thursday, November 16, 2017
When I went for adoration, I heard these words: My beloved daughter, write down these words, that today My Heart has rested in this convent [the Cracow house]. Tell the world about My mercy and My love. The flames of mercy are burning me. I desire to pour them out upon human souls. Oh, what pain they cause Me when they do not want to accept them! WORDS OF JESUS TO ST. FAUSTINA (Diary 1074)
Wednesday, November 15, 2017
“It has most especially been the habit of the Roman Church, the head of all the Churches, to render to the Churches of the East a great degree of honor and love in remembrance of the Apostles, to rejoice in her turn in their faithful obedience. Amidst changing and difficult times, she has never failed in any way in farsightedness and acts of kindness to sustain them against the forces that would strike them again and again, to hold fast to those that were overwhelmed, to call back those in discord with her. Nor was it the last expression of her watchfulness that she guard and preserve in them whole and entire forever the customs and distinct forms for administering the sacraments that she had declared legitimate in her wise jurisdiction. Examples of this are the many decisions of Our Predecessors, in the first place Pius IX of happy memory, promulgated in their own pontifical acts or through documents issuing from the Sacred Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith. We ourselves have felt the prompting of no lesser zeal. At the very beginning of Our Pontificate, We turned eyes full of love towards the Christian nations of the East. We made haste, in fact, to direct Our solicitude to alleviating their state of want. We then saw the beginning of other opportunities for bearing witness to Our feelings of kind regard and expressing them in deeds. But nothing was nor is more important, nothing more sacred than to kindle the ardor, to elicit fruitfulness in the Faith in those souls in union with the Apostolic See, so that they shine forth as renewed proofs of the excellence and glory of their ancestors.” Pope Leo XIII, Orientalium Dignitas, Nov. 30th, 1894
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