Recta Ratio

Our Lady's Rosary
Dear Mother, I bring Thee roses
Because they are so sweet,
But lilies, my favorite flowers
I am placing at Thy feet.

Accept with each Hail Mary
A rose for Thy crown so bright,
Please don't forget the lilies,
The lilies so pure and white.

Let them be a bond of love
And understanding rare,
And send a blessing from above
In answer to my prayer.

Loneliness would be unknown
If more people came to Thee,
With their trials and sorrows
And said their Rosary.

With each Hail Mary, they would find
Their load much lighter grow,
And in humility, kiss the cross
In peace, would onward go.

by Alice W. Sparks
from Robert, Cyril, Our Lady's Praise in Poetry,
Poughkeepsie, New York: Marist Press, 1944.

Labels: Our Blessed Lady

The Catholic Encyclopedia

The Twelve Promises Of Our Lord To Saint Margaret Mary For Those Devoted To His Sacred Heart

1-I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.
2-I will establish peace in their families.
3-I will console them in all their troubles.
4-They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially
at the hour of their death.
5-I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6-Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.
7-Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8-Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9-I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
10-I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.
11-Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in
My Heart, never to be effaced.
12-The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall
receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace
of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without
receiving their Sacraments; My heart shall be their assured refuge at that
last hour.

Read also the explanations of the promises by Father Joseph McDonnell, SJ.


The Secret of Saint Margaret Mary, translated by Frank Sheed

A Salutation To the Sacred Heart, by Saint Margaret Mary Alocoque

Hail, Heart of Jesus, save me!
Hail, Heart of my Creator, perfect me!
Hail, Heart of my Saviour, deliver me!
Hail, Heart of my Judge, grant me pardon!
Hail, Heart of my Father, govern me!
Hail, Heart of my Spouse, grant me love!
Hail, Heart of my Master, teach me!
Hail, Heart of my King, be my crown!
Hail, Heart of my Benefactor, enrich me!
Hail, Heart of my Shepherd, guard me!
Hail, Heart of my Friend, comfort me!
Hail, Heart of my Brother, stay with me!
Hail, Heart of the Child Jesus, draw me to Thyself!
Hail, Heart of Jesus dying on the Cross, redeem me!
Hail, Heart of Jesus in all Thy states, give Thyself to me!
Hail, Heart of incomparable goodness, have mercy on me!
Hail, Heart of splendor, shine within me!
Hail, most loving Heart, inflame me!
Hail, most merciful Heart, work within me!
Hail, most humble Heart, dwell within me!
Hail, most patient Heart, support me!
Hail, most faithful Heart, be my reward!
Hail, most admirable and most worthy Heart, bless me!


There is a more in-depth life of Saint Margaret Mary at Pierced Hearts

Saint Margaret Mary's Prayer of Consecration To the Sacred Heart

I, ( your name. . .), give myself and consecrate to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ my person and my life, my actions, pains, and sufferings, so that I may be unwilling to make use of any part of my being save to honor, love, and glorify the Sacred Heart.

This is my unchanging purpose, namely, to be all His, and to do all things for the love of Him, at the same time renouncing with all my heart whatever is displeasing to Him.

I therefore take Thee, O Sacred Heart, to be the only object of my love, the guardian of my life, my assurance of salvation, the remedy of my weakness and inconstancy, the atonement for all the faults of my life and my sure refuge at the hour of death.

Be then, O Heart of goodness, my justification before God Thy Father, and turn away from me the strokes of His righteous anger. O Heart of love, I put all my confidence in Thee, for I fear everything from my own wickedness and frailty; but I hope for all things from Thy goodness and bounty.

Do Thou consume in me all that can displease Thee or resist Thy holy will. Let Thy pure love imprint Thee so deeply upon my heart that I shall nevermore be able to forget Thee or to be separated from Thee. May I obtain from all Thy loving kindness the grace of having my name written in Thee, for in Thee I desire to place all my happiness and all my glory, living and dying in true bondage to Thee.
Amen.


Saint Margaret Mary, pray for us!

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern

An Act of Patience
by Bishop Challoner

I will speak to Our Lord, I who am but dust and ashes and as the shadow that passes away. Remember, O Lord, what I am, and what my being is.


Remember that Thou hast made me out of clay, and unto earth I shall return again. Show not therefore Thy power against me, for what strength have I to bear it? And how shall I, being so weak as I am, hold out with patience? Why then has my Lord stretched forth His hand against me and let this disorder seize on my spirits and cast me on the bed of sickness? But rather, why do I now lift up my head against Heaven and appear uneasy under the decrees of the Almighty? No, I will rather choose to say that it is Our Lord Who has given health and strength; it is Our Lord Who has taken it away; as it has seemed good to Our Lord, so be it done. Blessed be the name of Our Lord. Thus I say, my God; thus I think. Thou art just, O Lord; Thy judgment is right; I have deserved far greater punishment than this. Were I to be my own judge and the punisher of my own wickedness, I could take nothing off of the evil which I now suffer. In what I feel, I acknowledge the hand of a tender Father, chastising a rebellious child; it is not the arm of a severe judge, punishing me in the justice of His wrath. But this one thing, O merciful Father, I ask of Thee however: that Thou wouldst remember what I am: that I am frail and weak, that of myself I can do nothing and how much I stand in need of Thy grace to support and comfort me. Grant me, therefore, I beseech Thee, strength to suffer; give me patience, for this is necessary for me. Grant this my request, and then behold my heart is ready, O Lord; my heart is ready to accept whatever Thou art pleased to lay upon me---and even to be comforted under Thy scourge. Let it be the effect of Thy mercy, that in patience I may possess my soul. For this end I will often look on the face of Thy Christ, that by considering Him Who suffered so much for me, I may be encouraged to suffer. He became obedient unto death, even to the death of the Cross. But as for me, I have not yet resisted unto blood; I have yet suffered but little. Yet how much shall I then suffer when the time shall come when the pangs of death shall seize upon me!

Labels: Friday At the Foot Of the Cross

Patron of women in childbirth (and also of good confessions).

http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintg06.htm

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern

Today is the feast of this great Carmelite reformer and mystic.

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern

There is no more baseball this year. Whatever remains to be played by other teams doesn't amount to anything. Baseball ended for the year with the exit of the Red Sox from the playoffs in only 3 games. The Red Sox blew it in mind-boggling fashion. Don't expect to see many familiar faces back next year. A core of Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, Bucholz, Lester, and Martinez can be expected to return. Maybe Bay. Don't expect to see Wakefield, Lowell, Varitek, or Ortiz. Big changes are a'coming after the team's worse-than mediocre second half. This team wasn't good enough. Ownership refused to bid on the big free agents last year, and ended up trying to counter the hated Yankees' pick-ups of Sabathia, Burnett, and Texiera with washed up Smoltz and washed up Penny.

Good-bye baseball. See you next February when Red Sox Spring Training starts again, barring discussion of trades and free-agent signings.

Labels: Boston Red Sox

From The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Prosper Gueranger, OSB:

This Gospel has given to the present Sunday the name of the Sunday of the invited to the marriage. And yet, from the very opening of the dominical series, which began with the Descent of the Holy Ghost, the Church gave us the Gospel teaching which she offers to us, now a second time, for our consideration. On the second Sunday after Pentecost, she related to us, from St. Luke,{St. Luke xiv.16--24.} the parable of the great supper, to which many were invited, and which St. Matthew, entering into fuller details, calls a marriage-feast.

Set thus before us, both at the beginning and at the close of the liturgical season over which the holy Spirit reigns supreme, this parable is, as it were, the interpreter of the whole portion of the year which it thus hems in: it is an additional revelation of the true aim of the Church. But how much has the light increased, since the first time we had these mystery-telling allegories! The certain man ( homo quidam ), who made a great supper, and invited many, has become the King, who makes a marriage for His Son, and, in this marriage, gives us an image of the kingdom of heaven. The world's history, too, has been developing, as we gather from the terms respectively used by the two Evangelists. Those who were the first invited, and contented themselves with declining the kindness of the Master of the house, have grown in their impious ingratitude; laying hands on the messengers sent them by the loving kindness {See Time after Pentecost, vol. i., p. 358.} of the King, they treat them with contumely, and put them to death! We have seen the merited punishment inflicted on these deicides, by this Man, who was God Himself, the Father of Israel, now become King of the Gentiles: we have seen how He sent his armies to destroy them, and burn their city. {See Ninth Sunday after Pentecost.} And now at last, in spite of the refusal of the invited of Juda, in spite of the treacherous opposition put by them against the celebration of the nuptials of the Son of God, all things are ready for the marriage, and the banquet-hall is filled with guests.

Labels: The Liturgical Year