Saturday, March 06, 2010
Our Blessed Lady's Saturday
MOST HOLY and afflicted Virgin,
Queen of Martyrs,
Thou stood beneath the Cross,
Witnessing the agony of thy dying Son.
Look down with a mother’s tenderness
And have pity on me,
Who kneels before thee to venerate thy
Sufferings and to place my request
With filial confidence in the sanctuary
Of thy wounded heart.
Present them, I beseech thee,
On my behalf, to Jesus Christ,
Through the merits of His own
Most sacred Passion and Death,
Together with thy sufferings
At the foot of the Cross;
And through the united efficacy of both,
Obtain the grant of my present petition.
To whom shall I have recourse
In my wants and miseries
If not to thee, O Mother of Mercy,
Who, having so deeply drunk
Of the chalice of thy Son,
And console through thy sorrows
Those who still sigh in the land of exile?
O Holy Mary,
Whose soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow
At the sight of the Passion
Of thy Divine Son,
Intercede for me and obtain for me from Jesus
(mention the request)
If it be for His Honor and Glory
And the good of my soul.
Amen.
Labels: Our Blessed Lady
Saturday Of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
Ss. Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano
From The Passion And Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my God! How have I spent so many years, which Thou hast given me in order to secure my eternal salvation? Thou, my Redeemer, hast purchased my soul with Thy blood, and hast consigned it to me that I might attend to its salvation; and I have labored only for its perdition by offending Thee who hast loved me so tenderly. I thank Thee for giving me time to be able to repair the great loss which I have suffered. I have lost my soul and Thy grace. Lord! I am sorry with my whole heart for my past offenses, and I resolve, henceforth, to lose everything, even my life, rather than forfeit Thy friendship. I love Thee above all things, and I resolve always to love Thee, my Sovereign Good! who art worthy of infinite love. Assist me, my Jesus, that this purpose may not be like my past resolutions, to which I have been always unfaithful. Take me out of life rather than suffer me ever again to offend Thee, or ever to cease to love Thee. O Mary, my hope, after Jesus, save me by obtaining for me holy perseverance.
Devotions for a Lenten Saturday holy hour:
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Stabat Mater Dolorosa
Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows
Sorrowful Mysteries
Ss. Marcellino e Pietro al Laterano
From The Passion And Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my God! How have I spent so many years, which Thou hast given me in order to secure my eternal salvation? Thou, my Redeemer, hast purchased my soul with Thy blood, and hast consigned it to me that I might attend to its salvation; and I have labored only for its perdition by offending Thee who hast loved me so tenderly. I thank Thee for giving me time to be able to repair the great loss which I have suffered. I have lost my soul and Thy grace. Lord! I am sorry with my whole heart for my past offenses, and I resolve, henceforth, to lose everything, even my life, rather than forfeit Thy friendship. I love Thee above all things, and I resolve always to love Thee, my Sovereign Good! who art worthy of infinite love. Assist me, my Jesus, that this purpose may not be like my past resolutions, to which I have been always unfaithful. Take me out of life rather than suffer me ever again to offend Thee, or ever to cease to love Thee. O Mary, my hope, after Jesus, save me by obtaining for me holy perseverance.
Devotions for a Lenten Saturday holy hour:
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Stabat Mater Dolorosa
Litany of Our Lady of Sorrows
Sorrowful Mysteries
Labels: Lent
Friday, March 05, 2010
Friday Of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
S. Vitale in Fovea
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O Immaculate Lamb, thus lacerated, covered with blood, disfigured, as I behold Thee on this Cross, how beautiful and how worthy of love dost Thou yet appear to me! Yes, because all of these wounds that I behold on Thee are to me signs and proofs of the great love that Thou bearest to me. O if all men did but contemplate Thee often in that state in which Thou wert one day made a spectacle to all Jerusalem, who could help being seized by Thy love? O my beloved Lord, accept me to love Thee, since I give Thee all my senses and all my will. And how can I refuse Thee anything if Thou hast not refused me Thy Blood, Thy Life, and all Thyself?
Devotions For A Lenten Friday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotions To the Holy Cross
Stations of the Cross
Prayer Of Saint Thomas More? Wasn't he the guy in A Man For All Seasons?
Yes he was. Here is the prayer he composed while imprisoned in the Tower awaiting martyrdom, as slightly modified by me a few years ago.
Give me the good grace, Lord,
To set the world at naught.
To set my mind fast upon Thee
To not hang upon the blast of mens' mouths.
To be content to be solitary.
To not long for worldly company.
To be concerned with the world less and less.
To rid my mind of all the world's busy-ness.
To not long for any worldly things.
To deem unpleasant even hearing the fantasies of the world.
To be gladly thinking of God alone.
To call piteously for His help.
To lean upon Him for comfort.
To labor busily to love Him.
To know my own vileness and wretchedness.
To make myself meek and humble under the mighty hand of God.
To bewail my past sins.
To suffer adversity patiently for the purging of them.
To bear gladly my Purgatory here.
To be joyful of tribulations.
To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.
To bear the Cross with Christ.
To have the last things always in remembrance.
To have my ever-possible death always before my eyes.
To make death no stranger to me.
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of Hell.
To pray for pardon before the Judge comes.
To have continually in mind the Passion that Christ suffered for me.
To give Him thanks continually for His benefits.
To redeem the lost time that I have wasted.
To abstain from vain discussion.
To eschew light and foolish mirth and merriment.
To cut off unnecessary recreations.
To set the loss of worldly substance, friends, liberties, and life, at naught,
If their loss means the gaining of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends,
For the brothers of Joseph could never have done him so much good
With their love and favor as they did with their malice and hatred.
These attitudes are more to be desired by every man than all the
Treasure of all the princes and kings, Christian and heathen,
Were it all gathered and laid together upon one heap.
Amen.
S. Vitale in Fovea
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O Immaculate Lamb, thus lacerated, covered with blood, disfigured, as I behold Thee on this Cross, how beautiful and how worthy of love dost Thou yet appear to me! Yes, because all of these wounds that I behold on Thee are to me signs and proofs of the great love that Thou bearest to me. O if all men did but contemplate Thee often in that state in which Thou wert one day made a spectacle to all Jerusalem, who could help being seized by Thy love? O my beloved Lord, accept me to love Thee, since I give Thee all my senses and all my will. And how can I refuse Thee anything if Thou hast not refused me Thy Blood, Thy Life, and all Thyself?
Devotions For A Lenten Friday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotions To the Holy Cross
Stations of the Cross
Prayer Of Saint Thomas More? Wasn't he the guy in A Man For All Seasons?
Yes he was. Here is the prayer he composed while imprisoned in the Tower awaiting martyrdom, as slightly modified by me a few years ago.
Give me the good grace, Lord,
To set the world at naught.
To set my mind fast upon Thee
To not hang upon the blast of mens' mouths.
To be content to be solitary.
To not long for worldly company.
To be concerned with the world less and less.
To rid my mind of all the world's busy-ness.
To not long for any worldly things.
To deem unpleasant even hearing the fantasies of the world.
To be gladly thinking of God alone.
To call piteously for His help.
To lean upon Him for comfort.
To labor busily to love Him.
To know my own vileness and wretchedness.
To make myself meek and humble under the mighty hand of God.
To bewail my past sins.
To suffer adversity patiently for the purging of them.
To bear gladly my Purgatory here.
To be joyful of tribulations.
To walk the narrow way that leadeth to life.
To bear the Cross with Christ.
To have the last things always in remembrance.
To have my ever-possible death always before my eyes.
To make death no stranger to me.
To foresee and consider the everlasting fire of Hell.
To pray for pardon before the Judge comes.
To have continually in mind the Passion that Christ suffered for me.
To give Him thanks continually for His benefits.
To redeem the lost time that I have wasted.
To abstain from vain discussion.
To eschew light and foolish mirth and merriment.
To cut off unnecessary recreations.
To set the loss of worldly substance, friends, liberties, and life, at naught,
If their loss means the gaining of Christ.
To think my worst enemies my best friends,
For the brothers of Joseph could never have done him so much good
With their love and favor as they did with their malice and hatred.
These attitudes are more to be desired by every man than all the
Treasure of all the princes and kings, Christian and heathen,
Were it all gathered and laid together upon one heap.
Amen.
Labels: Lent
Friday At the Foot Of the Cross
Ant.
Remember not, Lord, my offenses, nor the offenses of my fathers, nor takest Thou vengeance upon them.
Psalm 37/38
2 O LORD, rebuke me not in Thy furor; * nor chastise me in Thy wrath.
3 For thy arrows are fastened in me: * and Thy hand hath descended upon me.
4 There is no health in my flesh in the face of Thy wrath: * there is no peace for my bones in the face of my sins.
5 For my iniquities are gone over my head: * and are a heavy burden too heavy to bear.
6 My wounds are putrid and corrupt, * in the face of my foolishness.
7 I am miserable and am bowed down: * all the day long I walked in sadness.
8 For my insides are filled with mocking; * and there is no health in my flesh.
9 Greatly am I afflicted and humbled: * I roared with the groaning of my heart.
10 Lord, before Thee are all my desires, * and my groaning is not hidden from Thee.
11 My heart is troubled, my strength hath left me, * and the light of my eyes themselves is not with me.
12 My friends and my neighbors * have drawn near me and stood against me. And those who were near me stood afar: * They laid snares, those who sought my soul.
13 And they that sought evil for me said wicked things, * all day long they planned deceitful things.
14 But I, as a deaf man, heard not: * and as a dumb man not opening his mouth.
15 And I became like one that heareth not: * and that hath no reproofs in his mouth.
16 For in Thee, O Lord, have I hoped: * Thou wilt hear me, O Lord my God.
17 For I said, "May my enemies never rejoice over me: * when my feet stumble, they speak great things against me."
18 For I am ready for the whip: * and my sorrow is continually before me.
19 For I will declare my inequity: * and I will be sorry for my sin.
20 But my enemies live, and are stronger that I, * and they that hate me wrongfully multiply.
21 They that render evil for good, have humiliated me, * because I followed goodness.
22 Forsake me not, O Lord, * my God, depart not from me.
23 Hasten unto my help, * O Lord, God of my salvation.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and will be forever. Amen.
Prayer Against Anger
Should man reserveth anger for his fellow man and yet seek remedy from God? Should he that hath no mercy on one like himself entreat God for his own sins? Who shall obtain pardon for his sins? (Sir 28:3-5) By these words Thou hast spoken to me though Thy servant Sirach, O Lord God. And after this dare I foster anger and hate against anyone? Spare me, O Lord, spare me of my malice and stubbornness in which I have persevered even unto now. From my soul I now overlook and forgive whatever anyone has done against me. I humbly beg Thee, O Lord, do not rebuke me in Thy anger. O how would that I be like the deaf who does not hear and the mute who does not speak whenever my enemies rise up in force against me, those who seek my soul. Do not forsake me, O lord my God, do not depart from me, for Thou are my patience. (Ps 70:5)
Ant.
Remember not, Lord, my offenses, nor the offenses of my fathers, nor take Thou vengeance upon them.
Labels: Friday At the Foot Of the Cross
Thursday, March 04, 2010
Thursday of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
S. Maria in Trastevere
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O Immaculate Lamb, thus lacerated, covered with blood, disfigured, as I behold Thee on this Cross, how beautiful and how worthy of love dost Thou yet appear to me! Yes, because all of these wounds that I behold on Thee are to me signs and proofs of the great love that Thou bearest to me. O if all men did but contemplate Thee often in that state in which Thou wert one day made a spectacle to all Jerusalem, who could help being seized by Thy love? O my beloved Lord, accept me to love Thee, since I give Thee all my senses and all my will. And how can I refuse Thee anything if Thou hast not refused me Thy Blood, Thy Life, and all Thyself?
Devotions for a Lenten Thursday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion To the Holy Face
Devotion To the Holy Face? Read:
Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus Christ have mercy on us.
Holy Virgin Mary,
pray for us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face Mary and Joseph
worshipped with profoundest reverence,
have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the masterpiece of
the Holy Ghost, in which the Father was well pleased,
have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face ravished with joy the
angels, shepherds and Magi in the stable of
Bethlehem,have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face wounded with a dart of
love the aged Simeon and the Prophetess Anna in
the temple,
&c.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was bathed in tears in
Thy Holy Infancy,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face at the age of twelve
astonished the doctors in the temple,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is white with purity
and ruddy with charity,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is more beautiful than
the sun, brighter than the moon and more brilliant
than the stars,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is lovelier than the
roses of spring,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is more precious than
gold, silver and gems,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face wins all hearts by Its
charms and grace,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is most noble in Its
heavenly features,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is contemplated by the
angels,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the sweet delight of the saints,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was the joy of Thy
Virgin Mother and thy foster-father,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the ineffable mirror
of the Divine perfections,
O Jesus, the beauty of Whose adorable Face is ever ancient
and ever new,
O Jesus, the modesty and mildness of Whose adorable
Face attracteth both just and sinners,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face appeaseth the Divine
wrath,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the terror of the evil
spirits,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the treasure of grace
and blessings,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was exposed to the
inclemency of the weather in the wilderness,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was bathed with sweat
in Thy journeys and scorched with the heat of the sun,
O Jesus, the expression of Whose adorable Face is
wholly Divine,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face gave a holy kiss and
blessing to the little children,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face sorrowed and wept at
the grave of Lazarus,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was brilliant as the sun
and radiant with glory on Mount Tabor,
V. The light of Thy Face has been shed upon us, O Lord.
R. Thou hast given joy to our hearts.
O Adorable Face, worthy of all reverence, veneration
and worship,
have mercy on us.
O Adorable Face, sorrowful at the sight of Jerusalem
and shedding tears over that ungrateful city,
have mercy on us.
O Adorable Face, bowed to the earth in the Garden of
Olives, and covered with confusion for our sins,
&c.
O Adorable Face, bathed in a bloody sweat,
Adorable Face, kissed by the traitor Judas,
O Adorable Face, Whose sanctity and majesty smote
the soldiers with fear and cast them to the ground,
O Adorable Face, struck by an infamous servant, blindfolded and profaned by the sacrilegious hands of Thine enemies,
O Adorable Face, defiled with spittle and bruised by
so many buffets and blows,
O Adorable Face, Whose divine look wounded the
heart of Peter with repentance, sorrow and love,
O Adorable Face, humbled for us at the tribunals of
Jerusalem,
O Adorable Face, which didst preserve Thy serenity
when Pilate pronounced the fatal sentence,
O Adorable Face, covered with sweat and blood and
forced into the mire under the weight of the Cross,
O Adorable Face, the brow crowned with deep and
piercing thorns,
O Adorable Face, wiped with a veil by a pious woman
on the way to Calvary,
O Adorable Face, raised on the instrument of the
most shameful punishment,
O Adorable Face, Whose eyes shed of tears of blood,
O Adorable Face, Whose mouth was tormented with
vinegar and gall,
O Adorable Face, Whose hair and beard were
plucked out by the executioners,
O Adorable Face, disfigured like the face of a leper,
O Adorable Face, Whose incomparable beauty was
obscured under the fearful cloud of the sins of the
world,
O Adorable Face, covered with the sad shades of death,
O Adorable Face, washed and anointed by Mary and
the holy women, and covered with a shroud,
O Adorable Face, enclosed in the sepulchre,
O Adorable Face, all resplendent with glory and
beauty on the day of Thy resurrection,
O Adorable Face, all dazzling with light at the
moment of Thine ascension,
O Adorable Face, hidden in the Most Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar,
O Adorable Face, which will appear at the End of
Time in the clouds, with great power and majesty,
O Adorable Face, which will cause sinners to tremble
with terror,
O Adorable Face, which will fill the just with joy for
all eternity,
V. O Lord, show us Thy Face,
R. And we shall be saved.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Let us pray.
I salute Thee, I adore Thee, I love Thee, O Adorable Face of Jesus my beloved, noble seal of the Divinity! With all the powers of my soul I apply myself to Thee, and most humbly pray Thee to imprint in me all the features of Thy divine countenance.
R. Amen.
We beseech Thee, O Almighty and merciful God, grant to us and to all who venerate the countenance of Thy dearly beloved Son, all disfigured by our sins, the grace to behold It throughout eternity in the glory of Its majesty, through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. R. Amen.
O my Jesus, cast upon us a look of mercy! Turn Thy Face toward each of us as Thou didst to Veronica, not that we may see It with our bodily eyes, for this we do not deserve, but turn It toward our hearts, so that remembering Thee, we may ever draw from this fountain of strength the vigour necessary to sustain all combats of life.
R. Amen.
"By offering My Face to My Eternal Father, nothing will be refused, and the conversion of many sinners will be obtained"
-Our Lord To Sr. Mary of St. Peter
PROMISES OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
To Sr. Mary of St. Peter,
Discalced Carmelite Nun of Tours, France, in favour of those who honour His Holy Face.
"By My Holy Face you shall work miracles."
"By My Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners."
"Nothing that you ask in making this offering will be refused to you."
"If you knew how pleasing the sight of My Face is to My Father."
"As in a kingdom you can procure all you wish for, with a coin marked with the King's effigy, so in the Kingdom of Heaven you will obtain all you desire with the precious coin of My Holy Face."
"Our Lord has promised me that He will imprint His divine likeness on the souls of those who honour His most holy Countenance."
"All those who honour My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation will, by so doing, perform the office of the pious Veronica."
"According to the care you take in making reparation to My Face, disfigured by blasphemies, so will I take care of yours, which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint therein My image and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the Baptismal font."
"Our Lord promised me that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, He will defend them before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty."
"THE GOLDEN ARROW"
An Act of Praise and Reparation
Dictated by Our Lord to Sr. Mary of St. Peter
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
PRAYER
LORD Jesus Christ, in presenting ourselves before Thine adorable Face to ask of Thee the graces of which we stand most in need, we beseech Thee, above all, to grant us that interior disposition of never refusing at any time to do what Thou requirest of us by Thy holy commandments and divine inspirations. Amen.
O GOOD Jesus, who hast said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you, " grant us, 0 Lord, that faith which obtains all, or supply in us what may be deficient; grant us, by the pure effect of Thy charity, and for Thine eternal glory, the graces which we need and which we look for from Thine infinite mercy. Amen.
BE MERCIFUL to us, 0 my God, and reject not our prayers, when amid our afflictions, we call upon Thy Holy Name and seek with love and confidence Thine adorable Face. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and Eternal God, look upon the Face of Thy Son Jesus. We present It to Thee with confidence, to implore Thy pardon. The All-Merciful Advocate opens His mouth to plead our cause; hearken to His cries, behold His tears, 0 God, and through His infinite merits hearken to Him when He intercedes for us poor miserable sinners. Amen.
ADORABLE Face of my Jesus, my only love, my light and my life, grant that I may know, love and serve Thee alone, that I may live with Thee, of Thee, by Thee and for Thee. Amen.
ETERNAL Father, I offer Thee the adorable FACE of Thy Beloved Son for the honour and glory of Thy Name, for the conversion of sinners and for the salvation of the dying.
O DIVINE Jesus, through Thy Face and Name, save us. Our hope is in the virtue of Thy Holy Name!
"O Jesus, through the merits of Thy Holy Face, have pity on us, and on the whole world". (Three times.)
These inestimable promises are drawn from the works of St. Gertrude, of St. Mechtilde and from the writings of' Sister Maria de Saint-Pierre, a Carmelite, who died at Tours, in the odour of sanctity.
S. Maria in Trastevere
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O Immaculate Lamb, thus lacerated, covered with blood, disfigured, as I behold Thee on this Cross, how beautiful and how worthy of love dost Thou yet appear to me! Yes, because all of these wounds that I behold on Thee are to me signs and proofs of the great love that Thou bearest to me. O if all men did but contemplate Thee often in that state in which Thou wert one day made a spectacle to all Jerusalem, who could help being seized by Thy love? O my beloved Lord, accept me to love Thee, since I give Thee all my senses and all my will. And how can I refuse Thee anything if Thou hast not refused me Thy Blood, Thy Life, and all Thyself?
Devotions for a Lenten Thursday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion To the Holy Face
Devotion To the Holy Face? Read:
Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Jesus Christ have mercy on us.
Holy Virgin Mary,
pray for us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face Mary and Joseph
worshipped with profoundest reverence,
have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the masterpiece of
the Holy Ghost, in which the Father was well pleased,
have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face ravished with joy the
angels, shepherds and Magi in the stable of
Bethlehem,have mercy on us.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face wounded with a dart of
love the aged Simeon and the Prophetess Anna in
the temple,
&c.
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was bathed in tears in
Thy Holy Infancy,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face at the age of twelve
astonished the doctors in the temple,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is white with purity
and ruddy with charity,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is more beautiful than
the sun, brighter than the moon and more brilliant
than the stars,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is lovelier than the
roses of spring,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is more precious than
gold, silver and gems,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face wins all hearts by Its
charms and grace,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is most noble in Its
heavenly features,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is contemplated by the
angels,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the sweet delight of the saints,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was the joy of Thy
Virgin Mother and thy foster-father,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the ineffable mirror
of the Divine perfections,
O Jesus, the beauty of Whose adorable Face is ever ancient
and ever new,
O Jesus, the modesty and mildness of Whose adorable
Face attracteth both just and sinners,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face appeaseth the Divine
wrath,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the terror of the evil
spirits,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face is the treasure of grace
and blessings,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was exposed to the
inclemency of the weather in the wilderness,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was bathed with sweat
in Thy journeys and scorched with the heat of the sun,
O Jesus, the expression of Whose adorable Face is
wholly Divine,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face gave a holy kiss and
blessing to the little children,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face sorrowed and wept at
the grave of Lazarus,
O Jesus, Whose adorable Face was brilliant as the sun
and radiant with glory on Mount Tabor,
V. The light of Thy Face has been shed upon us, O Lord.
R. Thou hast given joy to our hearts.
O Adorable Face, worthy of all reverence, veneration
and worship,
have mercy on us.
O Adorable Face, sorrowful at the sight of Jerusalem
and shedding tears over that ungrateful city,
have mercy on us.
O Adorable Face, bowed to the earth in the Garden of
Olives, and covered with confusion for our sins,
&c.
O Adorable Face, bathed in a bloody sweat,
Adorable Face, kissed by the traitor Judas,
O Adorable Face, Whose sanctity and majesty smote
the soldiers with fear and cast them to the ground,
O Adorable Face, struck by an infamous servant, blindfolded and profaned by the sacrilegious hands of Thine enemies,
O Adorable Face, defiled with spittle and bruised by
so many buffets and blows,
O Adorable Face, Whose divine look wounded the
heart of Peter with repentance, sorrow and love,
O Adorable Face, humbled for us at the tribunals of
Jerusalem,
O Adorable Face, which didst preserve Thy serenity
when Pilate pronounced the fatal sentence,
O Adorable Face, covered with sweat and blood and
forced into the mire under the weight of the Cross,
O Adorable Face, the brow crowned with deep and
piercing thorns,
O Adorable Face, wiped with a veil by a pious woman
on the way to Calvary,
O Adorable Face, raised on the instrument of the
most shameful punishment,
O Adorable Face, Whose eyes shed of tears of blood,
O Adorable Face, Whose mouth was tormented with
vinegar and gall,
O Adorable Face, Whose hair and beard were
plucked out by the executioners,
O Adorable Face, disfigured like the face of a leper,
O Adorable Face, Whose incomparable beauty was
obscured under the fearful cloud of the sins of the
world,
O Adorable Face, covered with the sad shades of death,
O Adorable Face, washed and anointed by Mary and
the holy women, and covered with a shroud,
O Adorable Face, enclosed in the sepulchre,
O Adorable Face, all resplendent with glory and
beauty on the day of Thy resurrection,
O Adorable Face, all dazzling with light at the
moment of Thine ascension,
O Adorable Face, hidden in the Most Blessed
Sacrament of the Altar,
O Adorable Face, which will appear at the End of
Time in the clouds, with great power and majesty,
O Adorable Face, which will cause sinners to tremble
with terror,
O Adorable Face, which will fill the just with joy for
all eternity,
V. O Lord, show us Thy Face,
R. And we shall be saved.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us, O Lord.
Let us pray.
I salute Thee, I adore Thee, I love Thee, O Adorable Face of Jesus my beloved, noble seal of the Divinity! With all the powers of my soul I apply myself to Thee, and most humbly pray Thee to imprint in me all the features of Thy divine countenance.
R. Amen.
We beseech Thee, O Almighty and merciful God, grant to us and to all who venerate the countenance of Thy dearly beloved Son, all disfigured by our sins, the grace to behold It throughout eternity in the glory of Its majesty, through the same Jesus Christ Our Lord, Who is, with Thee and the Holy Spirit, ever one God, world without end. R. Amen.
O my Jesus, cast upon us a look of mercy! Turn Thy Face toward each of us as Thou didst to Veronica, not that we may see It with our bodily eyes, for this we do not deserve, but turn It toward our hearts, so that remembering Thee, we may ever draw from this fountain of strength the vigour necessary to sustain all combats of life.
R. Amen.
"By offering My Face to My Eternal Father, nothing will be refused, and the conversion of many sinners will be obtained"
-Our Lord To Sr. Mary of St. Peter
PROMISES OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST
To Sr. Mary of St. Peter,
Discalced Carmelite Nun of Tours, France, in favour of those who honour His Holy Face.
"By My Holy Face you shall work miracles."
"By My Face you will obtain the conversion of many sinners."
"Nothing that you ask in making this offering will be refused to you."
"If you knew how pleasing the sight of My Face is to My Father."
"As in a kingdom you can procure all you wish for, with a coin marked with the King's effigy, so in the Kingdom of Heaven you will obtain all you desire with the precious coin of My Holy Face."
"Our Lord has promised me that He will imprint His divine likeness on the souls of those who honour His most holy Countenance."
"All those who honour My Holy Face in a spirit of reparation will, by so doing, perform the office of the pious Veronica."
"According to the care you take in making reparation to My Face, disfigured by blasphemies, so will I take care of yours, which has been disfigured by sin. I will reprint therein My image and render it as beautiful as it was on leaving the Baptismal font."
"Our Lord promised me that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, He will defend them before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty."
"THE GOLDEN ARROW"
An Act of Praise and Reparation
Dictated by Our Lord to Sr. Mary of St. Peter
May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and ineffable Name of God be forever praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth, and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.
PRAYER
LORD Jesus Christ, in presenting ourselves before Thine adorable Face to ask of Thee the graces of which we stand most in need, we beseech Thee, above all, to grant us that interior disposition of never refusing at any time to do what Thou requirest of us by Thy holy commandments and divine inspirations. Amen.
O GOOD Jesus, who hast said, "Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you, " grant us, 0 Lord, that faith which obtains all, or supply in us what may be deficient; grant us, by the pure effect of Thy charity, and for Thine eternal glory, the graces which we need and which we look for from Thine infinite mercy. Amen.
BE MERCIFUL to us, 0 my God, and reject not our prayers, when amid our afflictions, we call upon Thy Holy Name and seek with love and confidence Thine adorable Face. Amen.
ALMIGHTY and Eternal God, look upon the Face of Thy Son Jesus. We present It to Thee with confidence, to implore Thy pardon. The All-Merciful Advocate opens His mouth to plead our cause; hearken to His cries, behold His tears, 0 God, and through His infinite merits hearken to Him when He intercedes for us poor miserable sinners. Amen.
ADORABLE Face of my Jesus, my only love, my light and my life, grant that I may know, love and serve Thee alone, that I may live with Thee, of Thee, by Thee and for Thee. Amen.
ETERNAL Father, I offer Thee the adorable FACE of Thy Beloved Son for the honour and glory of Thy Name, for the conversion of sinners and for the salvation of the dying.
O DIVINE Jesus, through Thy Face and Name, save us. Our hope is in the virtue of Thy Holy Name!
"O Jesus, through the merits of Thy Holy Face, have pity on us, and on the whole world". (Three times.)
These inestimable promises are drawn from the works of St. Gertrude, of St. Mechtilde and from the writings of' Sister Maria de Saint-Pierre, a Carmelite, who died at Tours, in the odour of sanctity.
Labels: Lent
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Wednesday Of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
S. Cecilia in Trastevere
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O sovereign God! Thou hast given Thyself entirely to me; and how than shall I not love Thee with my whole self? I believe, yes, I believe that Thou hast died for me, and how can I then love Thee so little as constantly to forget Thee and all that Thou hast suffered for me? And why Lord, when I think on Thy Passion am I not quite enflamed with Thy love, and I do not entrely become Thine, like so many holy souls who, after meditating on Thy sufferings, have remained the happy prey of Thy love, and have given themselves entirely to Thee?
Devotions for a Lenten Wednesday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms & the prayers against the Seven Deadly Sins
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer
Seven Prayers of St. Gregory
Who is this Saint Gregory and what are these prayers of his all about?
here they are:
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging on the Cross, wearing a crown of thorns upon Thy head. I beg Thee that Thy Cross may free me from the deceiving Angel. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
II
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging wounded on the Cross, given vinegar and gall to drink. I beg Thee that Thy wounds may be the remedy of my soul.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
III
O Lord Jesus, I ask by the bitterness of Thy Passion, which Thou didst undergo in the hour of Thy death, so much so when Thy most holy soul left Thy blessed body. Have mercy upon my soul when it leaves my body, and lead it to eternal life.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
IV
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee placed in Thy tomb, anointed with myrrh and aromatic spices. I beg Thee that Thy death may be my life.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
V
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee descending into hell and freeing the captives from there. I beg Thee, that Thou mayest never permit me to enter there.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
VI
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of the Father. I beg Thee that I may be worthy to follow Thee and be with Thee.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
VII
O Lord Jesus, O good Shepherd, preserver of the just, justifier of sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful and be gracious to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
Prayer:
I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thy Passion may be a strength to me by which I may be strengthened, protected and defended. May Thy wounds be to me food and drink by which I may be nourished, inebriated, and delighted. May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me an ablution for all my sins. May Thy death be eternal glory to me. In these may my refreshment, joy, health, zeal, delight, and desire of my body and soul, now and forever.
Amen.
Another Prayer:
Deign to grant me grace and mercy, pardon to the living, eternal rest to the dead, peace to Thy Church, and life and eternal glory to all sinners. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever.
Amen.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in Cruce pendentem, coronam spineam in capite portantem. Deprecor te, ut tua Crux liberet me ab Angelo percutiente.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in Cruce vulneratum, felle et aceto potatum. Deprecor te, ut vulnera tua sint remedium animae meae.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, rogo per illam amaritudinem Passionis tuae, quam in hora mortis sustinuisti, maxime tunc, quando anima sanctissima de benedicto corpore est egressa. Miserere animae meae in egressu suo de corpore meo, et perduc eam in vitam aeternam.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in sepulcro positum, myrrha et aromatibus conditum. Deprecor te, ut tua mors sit vita mea.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te descendentem ad inferos et tuos inde liberantem captivos. Deprecor te, ut illuc nunquam me patiaris introire.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te a morte resurgentem et in caelum ascendentem, sedentemque ad dexteram Patris. Deprecor te, ut illuc te sequi et tibi praesentari merear.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Jesu, Pastor bone, iustos conserva, peccatores iustifica, omnibus fidelibus miserere, et propitius esto mihi misero et indigno peccatori.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
Precatio
Obsecro te Domine Iesu Christe, ut passio tua sit virtus mea, qua muniar, protegar, et defendar. Vulnera tua sint mihi cibus et potus, quibus pascar, inebrier atque delecter. Aspersio Sanguinis tui sit omnium peccatorum meorum ablutio. Mors tua sit mihi gloria sempiterna. In his sit mihi refectio, exsultatio, sanitas, studium, gaudium, desiderium corporis et animae, nunc et in perpetuum.
Amen.
Alia Precatio
Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi, pone Passionem, Crucem, et Mortem tuam inter iudicium tuum et animam meam, nunc et in hora mortis meae. O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, place Thy Passion, Cross, and Death between Thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death.
Largire mihi digneris gratiam et misericordiam, vivis veniam, defunctis requiem, Ecclesiae tuae pacem, cunctisque peccatoribus vitam et gloriam sempiternam. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
S. Cecilia in Trastevere
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O sovereign God! Thou hast given Thyself entirely to me; and how than shall I not love Thee with my whole self? I believe, yes, I believe that Thou hast died for me, and how can I then love Thee so little as constantly to forget Thee and all that Thou hast suffered for me? And why Lord, when I think on Thy Passion am I not quite enflamed with Thy love, and I do not entrely become Thine, like so many holy souls who, after meditating on Thy sufferings, have remained the happy prey of Thy love, and have given themselves entirely to Thee?
Devotions for a Lenten Wednesday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms & the prayers against the Seven Deadly Sins
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer
Seven Prayers of St. Gregory
Who is this Saint Gregory and what are these prayers of his all about?
here they are:
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging on the Cross, wearing a crown of thorns upon Thy head. I beg Thee that Thy Cross may free me from the deceiving Angel. Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
II
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging wounded on the Cross, given vinegar and gall to drink. I beg Thee that Thy wounds may be the remedy of my soul.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
III
O Lord Jesus, I ask by the bitterness of Thy Passion, which Thou didst undergo in the hour of Thy death, so much so when Thy most holy soul left Thy blessed body. Have mercy upon my soul when it leaves my body, and lead it to eternal life.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
IV
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee placed in Thy tomb, anointed with myrrh and aromatic spices. I beg Thee that Thy death may be my life.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
V
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee descending into hell and freeing the captives from there. I beg Thee, that Thou mayest never permit me to enter there.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
VI
O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of the Father. I beg Thee that I may be worthy to follow Thee and be with Thee.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
VII
O Lord Jesus, O good Shepherd, preserver of the just, justifier of sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful and be gracious to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner.
Amen.
Our Father. Hail Mary.
Prayer:
I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thy Passion may be a strength to me by which I may be strengthened, protected and defended. May Thy wounds be to me food and drink by which I may be nourished, inebriated, and delighted. May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me an ablution for all my sins. May Thy death be eternal glory to me. In these may my refreshment, joy, health, zeal, delight, and desire of my body and soul, now and forever.
Amen.
Another Prayer:
Deign to grant me grace and mercy, pardon to the living, eternal rest to the dead, peace to Thy Church, and life and eternal glory to all sinners. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever.
Amen.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in Cruce pendentem, coronam spineam in capite portantem. Deprecor te, ut tua Crux liberet me ab Angelo percutiente.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in Cruce vulneratum, felle et aceto potatum. Deprecor te, ut vulnera tua sint remedium animae meae.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, rogo per illam amaritudinem Passionis tuae, quam in hora mortis sustinuisti, maxime tunc, quando anima sanctissima de benedicto corpore est egressa. Miserere animae meae in egressu suo de corpore meo, et perduc eam in vitam aeternam.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te in sepulcro positum, myrrha et aromatibus conditum. Deprecor te, ut tua mors sit vita mea.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te descendentem ad inferos et tuos inde liberantem captivos. Deprecor te, ut illuc nunquam me patiaris introire.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Iesu, adoro te a morte resurgentem et in caelum ascendentem, sedentemque ad dexteram Patris. Deprecor te, ut illuc te sequi et tibi praesentari merear.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
O Domine Jesu, Pastor bone, iustos conserva, peccatores iustifica, omnibus fidelibus miserere, et propitius esto mihi misero et indigno peccatori.
Amen.
Pater. Ave.
Precatio
Obsecro te Domine Iesu Christe, ut passio tua sit virtus mea, qua muniar, protegar, et defendar. Vulnera tua sint mihi cibus et potus, quibus pascar, inebrier atque delecter. Aspersio Sanguinis tui sit omnium peccatorum meorum ablutio. Mors tua sit mihi gloria sempiterna. In his sit mihi refectio, exsultatio, sanitas, studium, gaudium, desiderium corporis et animae, nunc et in perpetuum.
Amen.
Alia Precatio
Domine Iesu Christe, Fili Dei vivi, pone Passionem, Crucem, et Mortem tuam inter iudicium tuum et animam meam, nunc et in hora mortis meae. O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, place Thy Passion, Cross, and Death between Thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death.
Largire mihi digneris gratiam et misericordiam, vivis veniam, defunctis requiem, Ecclesiae tuae pacem, cunctisque peccatoribus vitam et gloriam sempiternam. Qui vivis et regnas in saecula saeculorum.
Amen.
Labels: Lent
Saint Katharine Drexel
Read about this great American saint here.
Saint Katharine drexel, please pray for us!
Labels: Our Saintly Brethern
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Birthday of Venerable Pope Pius XII
Tuesday Of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
S. Balbina all'Aventino
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my dearest Jesus, in order to show me the great love Thou bearest me, Thou wouldst not commit the work of my redemption to any other than Thyself. Was my love, then, of such consequence to Thee that Thou wouldst suffer so much in order to gain it? O what more couldst Thou have done if Thou hadst to gain to Thyself the love of Thy Divine Father? What more could a servant ensure to acquire to himself the affections of his master than what Thou hast suffered in order that Thou mayest be loved by me, a vile, ungrateful slave?
Devotions for a Lenten Tuesday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion of the Seven Last Words
"Devotion Of the Seven Last Words," what is he talking about? This is what I mean:
V. Incline unto my aid, O God.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory be to the Father, &c.
R. As it was, &c.
The First Word.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross that thou mightest pay by Thy sufferings the debt due to my sins, and didst open Thy divine mouth to obtain my pardon from eternal justice, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me when I shall be in that extremity, and, by the merits of Thy most Precious Blood shed for our salvation, give us so lively a sorrow for our sins that we may breathe out our souls into the bosom of Thine infinite mercy. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Second Word.
"Today Thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and with such readiness and bounty didst respond to the faith of the good thief who in the midst of Thy humiliation acknowledged Thee to be the Son of God: O Thou who didst assure him of Paradise, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, revive in our spirits a faith so firm and constant, that it may not waver at any suggestion of the devil, so that we also may obtain the holy reward of Paradise. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Third Word.
"Behold Thy mother; behold Thy son."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and, forgetting Thy sufferings, didst leave us as a pledge of Thy love Thine own most holy Mother, that through her we might confidently have recourse to Thee in our greatest need, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the interior martyrdom of this Thy dear Mother, awaken in our hearts a firm hope in the infinite merits of Thy most Precious Blood, that we may avoid the eternal damnation which our sins have merited. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Fourth Word.
"My God! my God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and, heaping suffering on suffering, didst endure with infinite patience not only Thy many bodily tortures, but the most heavy affliction of spirit through the dereliction of Thine eternal Father, have mercy on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, give us grace to suffer with true patience all the pains and afflictions of our agony, that, uniting them with Thine, we may be partakers of Thy glory in Paradise. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Fifth Word.
"I thirst."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who didst suffer on the Cross for the love of me, and who, not satisfied with all the ignominy and suffering, wouldst willingly have suffered yet more, so that all men might be saved, as was clearly proved when all the torrents of Thy passion would not allay the thirst of Thy tender heart, have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, enkindle such a fire of charity in our hearts as may cause them to languish with the desire of uniting themselves to Thee for all eternity. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Sixth Word.
"It is consummated."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and from that chair of truth didst announce the completion of the work of our redemption, through which, from being the children of wrath and perdition, we are become the children of God and the heirs of Paradise, have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the prayers of Thy most Precious Blood, detach us entirely from the world and from ourselves, and at the moment of our agony give us grace sincerely to offer Thee the sacrifice of our live in expiation of our sins. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Seventh Word.
"Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who didst suffer on the Cross for the love of me, and who, in completing this great sacrifice, didst accept the will of Thine eternal Father, by resigning Thy Spirit into His hands, and then bowing Thine head and dying, have mercy on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood give us, in our agony, an entire conformity to the divine will, that we may be ready either to live or die according as it shall best please Thee, desiring nothing but the accomplishment of Thy blessed will in us. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
A Prayer to Our Blessed Lady of Dolours.
O most holy Mother, most afflicted by the intense martyrdom which Thou didst endure at the foot of the Cross, during the three hours' agony of Jesus, vouchsafe to assist all of us, the children of Thy sorrows, in our last agony, that through Thine intercession, we may pass from the bed of death, to form a crown for Thee in the heavenly Paradise. Three Hail Marys.
O Mary, Mother of Grace,
Mother of Mercy,
Protect us from the enemy,
And receive us at the hour of death.
V. From sudden and unprovided death,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
V. From the deceits of the devil,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
V. From eternal death,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
Amen.
S. Balbina all'Aventino
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my dearest Jesus, in order to show me the great love Thou bearest me, Thou wouldst not commit the work of my redemption to any other than Thyself. Was my love, then, of such consequence to Thee that Thou wouldst suffer so much in order to gain it? O what more couldst Thou have done if Thou hadst to gain to Thyself the love of Thy Divine Father? What more could a servant ensure to acquire to himself the affections of his master than what Thou hast suffered in order that Thou mayest be loved by me, a vile, ungrateful slave?
Devotions for a Lenten Tuesday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion of the Seven Last Words
"Devotion Of the Seven Last Words," what is he talking about? This is what I mean:
V. Incline unto my aid, O God.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory be to the Father, &c.
R. As it was, &c.
The First Word.
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross that thou mightest pay by Thy sufferings the debt due to my sins, and didst open Thy divine mouth to obtain my pardon from eternal justice, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me when I shall be in that extremity, and, by the merits of Thy most Precious Blood shed for our salvation, give us so lively a sorrow for our sins that we may breathe out our souls into the bosom of Thine infinite mercy. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Second Word.
"Today Thou shalt be with me in Paradise."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and with such readiness and bounty didst respond to the faith of the good thief who in the midst of Thy humiliation acknowledged Thee to be the Son of God: O Thou who didst assure him of Paradise, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, revive in our spirits a faith so firm and constant, that it may not waver at any suggestion of the devil, so that we also may obtain the holy reward of Paradise. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Third Word.
"Behold Thy mother; behold Thy son."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and, forgetting Thy sufferings, didst leave us as a pledge of Thy love Thine own most holy Mother, that through her we might confidently have recourse to Thee in our greatest need, have mercy on all the faithful in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the interior martyrdom of this Thy dear Mother, awaken in our hearts a firm hope in the infinite merits of Thy most Precious Blood, that we may avoid the eternal damnation which our sins have merited. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Fourth Word.
"My God! my God! Why hast Thou forsaken Me?"
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and, heaping suffering on suffering, didst endure with infinite patience not only Thy many bodily tortures, but the most heavy affliction of spirit through the dereliction of Thine eternal Father, have mercy on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, give us grace to suffer with true patience all the pains and afflictions of our agony, that, uniting them with Thine, we may be partakers of Thy glory in Paradise. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Fifth Word.
"I thirst."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who didst suffer on the Cross for the love of me, and who, not satisfied with all the ignominy and suffering, wouldst willingly have suffered yet more, so that all men might be saved, as was clearly proved when all the torrents of Thy passion would not allay the thirst of Thy tender heart, have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood, enkindle such a fire of charity in our hearts as may cause them to languish with the desire of uniting themselves to Thee for all eternity. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Sixth Word.
"It is consummated."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who for the love of me didst suffer on the Cross, and from that chair of truth didst announce the completion of the work of our redemption, through which, from being the children of wrath and perdition, we are become the children of God and the heirs of Paradise, have pity on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and, through the prayers of Thy most Precious Blood, detach us entirely from the world and from ourselves, and at the moment of our agony give us grace sincerely to offer Thee the sacrifice of our live in expiation of our sins. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
The Seventh Word.
"Father, into Thy hands I commend My Spirit."
V. We adore Thee, O Christ, and we bless Thee.
R. Because by Thy holy Cross Thou hast redeemed the World.
O my beloved Jesus, who didst suffer on the Cross for the love of me, and who, in completing this great sacrifice, didst accept the will of Thine eternal Father, by resigning Thy Spirit into His hands, and then bowing Thine head and dying, have mercy on all the faithful who are in their agony, and on me also when I shall be in that extremity, and through the merits of Thy most Precious Blood give us, in our agony, an entire conformity to the divine will, that we may be ready either to live or die according as it shall best please Thee, desiring nothing but the accomplishment of Thy blessed will in us. Three Glories.
V. Have mercy on us, O Lord.
R. Have mercy on us.
O my God, I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee, and I repent of having offended Thee by my sins.
A Prayer to Our Blessed Lady of Dolours.
O most holy Mother, most afflicted by the intense martyrdom which Thou didst endure at the foot of the Cross, during the three hours' agony of Jesus, vouchsafe to assist all of us, the children of Thy sorrows, in our last agony, that through Thine intercession, we may pass from the bed of death, to form a crown for Thee in the heavenly Paradise. Three Hail Marys.
O Mary, Mother of Grace,
Mother of Mercy,
Protect us from the enemy,
And receive us at the hour of death.
V. From sudden and unprovided death,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
V. From the deceits of the devil,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
V. From eternal death,
R. Deliver us, O Lord.
Amen.
Labels: Lent
Monday, March 01, 2010
Saint David's Day
According to tradition, St. David was the son of King Sant of South Wales and St. Non. He was ordained a priest and later studied under St. Paulinus. Later, he was involved in missionary work and founded a number of monasteries. The monastery he founded at Menevia in Southwestern Wales was noted for extreme asceticism. David and his monks drank neither wine nor beer - only water - while putting in a full day of heavy manual labour.
Around the year 550, David attended a synod at Brevi in Cardiganshire. His contributions at the synod are said to have been the major cause for his election as primate of the Cambrian Church. He was reportedly consecrated archbishop by the patriarch of Jerusalem while on a visit to the Holy Land. He also is said to have invoked a council that ended the last vestiges of Pelagianism. David died at his monastery in Menevia around the year 589, and his cult was approved in 1120 by Pope Callistus II. He is revered as the patron of Wales.
Saint David's Day is the national day of Wales, and is the focal point for celebrating Welshness and wearing the leek in one's cap. I wish a happy Saint David's Day to my friends in the 23rd Regiment of Foot, Royal Welch Fusiliers.
Labels: Our Saintly Brethern
Monday Of the Second Week In Lent
Station Church:
S. Clemente presso il Colosseo
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O God, the lover of men, what more couldst Thou have said or have done in order to put me under the necessity of loving Thee? And what good could my love ever do Thee that Thou didst choose to die, and did so much desire death in order to obtain it? If a servant of mine had only desired to die for me, he would have attracted my love; and can I then live without loving Thee with all my heart, my King and my God, who didst die for me, and who had such a longing for death in order to acquire to Thyself my love?
Devotions For A Lenten Monday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds
Once again, I realized that Catholics my age, slightly older, and all younger Catholics are probably drawing a blank at my simple shorthand, "Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds."
This is what I mean:
Act of Contrition
As I kneel before Thee on the cross, most loving Saviour of my soul, my conscience reproaches me with having nailed Thee to that cross with these hands of mine, as often as I have fallen into mortal sin, wearying Thee with my base ingratitude. My God, my chief and perfect good, worthy of all my love, because Thou hast loaded me with blessings; I cannot now undo my misdeeds, as I would most willingly; but I loathe them, grieving sincerely for having offended Thee, Who art infinite goodness. And now, kneeling at Thy feet, I try, at least, to compassionate Thee, to give Thee thanks, to ask Thee pardon and contrition; wherefore with my heart and lips, I say:
To the Wound of the Left Foot
Holy wound of the left foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for the love whereby Thou laboured to overtake me on the way to ruin, and didst bleed amid the thorns and brambles of my sins. I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, in atonement for my sins, all of which I detest with sincere and bitter contrition.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Right Foot
Holy wound of the right foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for that love which pierced Thee with such torture and shedding of blood, in order to punish my wanderings and the guilty pleasures I have granted to my unbridled passions. I offer the Eternal Father all the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, and I pray Thee for grace to weep over my sins with hot tears, and to enable me to persevere in the good which I have begun, without ever swerving again from my obedience to the divine commands.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Left Hand
Holy wound of the left hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for having in Thy love spared me the scourges and eternal damnation which my sins have merited. I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of They most holy humanity: and I pray Thee to teach me how to turn to good account my span of life, and bring forth in it worthy fruits of penance, and to disarm the justice of God, which I have provoked.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Right Hand
Holy wound of the right hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for Thy graces lavished on me with such love, in spite of all my most perverse obstinacy. I offer to the Eternal Father all the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity; and I pray Thee to change my heart and its affections, and make me do all my actions in accordance with the will of God.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Sacred Side
Holy wound in the side of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the cruel insult Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee, my Jesus, for the love which suffered Thy side and Heart to be pierced, so that the last drops of blood and water might issue forth, making my redemption to overflow. I offer to the Eternal Father this outrage, and the love of Thy most holy humanity, that my soul may enter once for all into that most loving Heart, eager and ready to receive the greatest sinners, and never more depart.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
S. Clemente presso il Colosseo
From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O God, the lover of men, what more couldst Thou have said or have done in order to put me under the necessity of loving Thee? And what good could my love ever do Thee that Thou didst choose to die, and did so much desire death in order to obtain it? If a servant of mine had only desired to die for me, he would have attracted my love; and can I then live without loving Thee with all my heart, my King and my God, who didst die for me, and who had such a longing for death in order to acquire to Thyself my love?
Devotions For A Lenten Monday Holy Hour:
Dies Irae
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Threnus Prayer of Saint Augustine
Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds
Once again, I realized that Catholics my age, slightly older, and all younger Catholics are probably drawing a blank at my simple shorthand, "Devotion of the Five Sacred Wounds."
This is what I mean:
Act of Contrition
As I kneel before Thee on the cross, most loving Saviour of my soul, my conscience reproaches me with having nailed Thee to that cross with these hands of mine, as often as I have fallen into mortal sin, wearying Thee with my base ingratitude. My God, my chief and perfect good, worthy of all my love, because Thou hast loaded me with blessings; I cannot now undo my misdeeds, as I would most willingly; but I loathe them, grieving sincerely for having offended Thee, Who art infinite goodness. And now, kneeling at Thy feet, I try, at least, to compassionate Thee, to give Thee thanks, to ask Thee pardon and contrition; wherefore with my heart and lips, I say:
To the Wound of the Left Foot
Holy wound of the left foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for the love whereby Thou laboured to overtake me on the way to ruin, and didst bleed amid the thorns and brambles of my sins. I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, in atonement for my sins, all of which I detest with sincere and bitter contrition.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Right Foot
Holy wound of the right foot of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for that love which pierced Thee with such torture and shedding of blood, in order to punish my wanderings and the guilty pleasures I have granted to my unbridled passions. I offer the Eternal Father all the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity, and I pray Thee for grace to weep over my sins with hot tears, and to enable me to persevere in the good which I have begun, without ever swerving again from my obedience to the divine commands.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Left Hand
Holy wound of the left hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for having in Thy love spared me the scourges and eternal damnation which my sins have merited. I offer to the Eternal Father the pain and love of They most holy humanity: and I pray Thee to teach me how to turn to good account my span of life, and bring forth in it worthy fruits of penance, and to disarm the justice of God, which I have provoked.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Right Hand
Holy wound of the right hand of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the most bitter pain which Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee for Thy graces lavished on me with such love, in spite of all my most perverse obstinacy. I offer to the Eternal Father all the pain and love of Thy most holy humanity; and I pray Thee to change my heart and its affections, and make me do all my actions in accordance with the will of God.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
To the Wound of the Sacred Side
Holy wound in the side of my Jesus, I adore Thee; I compassionate Thee, O Jesus, for the cruel insult Thou didst suffer. I thank Thee, my Jesus, for the love which suffered Thy side and Heart to be pierced, so that the last drops of blood and water might issue forth, making my redemption to overflow. I offer to the Eternal Father this outrage, and the love of Thy most holy humanity, that my soul may enter once for all into that most loving Heart, eager and ready to receive the greatest sinners, and never more depart.
Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be
Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified.
Labels: Lent
March 2010
The Battle Road between Lexington and Concord in March
1st St. David
2nd Ven. Pope Pius XII
3rd St. Katherine Drexel
5th St. John Joseph of the Cross
6th St. Rose of Viterbo
7th Bl. John Ireland and John Larke (martyrs)
8th St. John of God
11th Bl. Thomas Atkinson (martyr)
15th St. Louise de Marillac and St. Longinus
16th Bl. Robert Dalby and William Hart (martyrs)
17th St. Patrick and St. Joseph of Arimathea
18th Bl. Fra Angelico
19th St. Joseph
20th St. Cuthbert
24th St. Catherine of Sweden
25th Lady Day and St. Dismas
27th St. John Damascene
30th St. John Climacus
31st Bl. Jane of Toulouse
The entire month of March this year is in the season of Lent. Sunday March 7th is the Third Sunday of Lent. Sunday March 14th is the Fourth Sunday of Lent, or Laetare Sunday (a rose Sunday). Sunday March 21st is Passion Sunday and the start of Passiontide. Sunday March 28th is Palm Sunday and the beginning of Holy Week. Wednesday March 31st is Spy Wednesday.
Novenas commonly said during March or Lent are:
The 30-Day Novena
The Divine Mercy Novena
Novena To Saint Patrick (feast March 17th)
Novena To Saint Joseph (feast March 19th)
Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI's published prayer intentions for the month of March, 2010 are:
General:
That the world economy may be managed according to the principles of justice and equity, taking account of the real needs of peoples, especially the poorest.
Missionary:
That the Churches in Africa may be signs and instruments of reconciliation and justice in every part of that continent.
Labels: First Of the Month Almanac
Sunday, February 28, 2010
The Second Sunday Of Lent
Station Church:
S. Maria in Domenica alla Navicella
From The Passion And Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my Lord, I do indeed know how much Thou hast done and suffered for my sake. But Thou knowest, alas, that I have hitherto done nothing for Thee. My Jesus, help me to suffer something for Thy love before death overtakes me! I am ashamed of appearing before Thee, but I will no longer be ungrateful, as I have been so many years towards Thee. Thou hast deprived Thyself of every pleasure for me. I will for Thee renounce all the pleasures of the senses. Thou hast suffered so many pains for me, I will, for Thy sake, suffer all of the pains of my life and my death, as it shall best please Thee. Thou hast been forsaken: I will be content that all should forsake me, provided Thou dost not forsake me, O my only and sovereign good. Thou hast been persecuted. I accept whatever persecution may befall me. Finally, Thou hast died for me. I will die for Thee. O my Jesus, my Treasure, my Love, my All, I love Thee. O give me more love.
Amen.
Devotions For a Lenten Sunday Holy Hour
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Psalter of St. Jerome
Threnus Prayer of St. Augustine
From The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Prosper Gueranger, OSB:
THE subject offered to our consideration, on this second Sunday, is one of the utmost importance for the holy season. The Church applies to us the lesson which our Saviour gave to three of His apostles. Let us endeavour to be more attentive to it than they were.
Jesus was about to pass from Galilee into Judea, that He might go up to Jerusalem and be present at the feast of the Pasch. It was that last Pasch, which was to begin with the immolation of the figurative lamb, and end with the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. Jesus would have His disciples know Him. His works had borne testimony to Him, even before those who were, in a manner, strangers to Him; but as for His disciples, had they not every reason to be faithful to Him, even to death? Had they not listened to His words, which had such power with them that they forced conviction? Had they not experienced His love, which it was impossible to resist? And had they not seen how patiently He had borne with their strange and untoward ways? Yes, they must have known Him. They had heard one of their company, Peter, declare that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. [St. Matt. xvi. 16.] Notwithstanding this, the trial to which their faith was soon to be put was of such a terrible kind, that Jesus would mercifully arm them against temptation by an extraordinary grace.
The cross was to be a scandal and a stumbling-block [1 Cor. i. 23.] to the Synagogue, and alas! to more than it. Jesus said to His apostles at the last Supper: 'All of you shall be scandalized in Me this night.' [St. Matt. xxvi. 31.] Carnal-minded as they then were, what would they think when they should see Him seized by armed men, handcuffed, hurried from one tribunal to another, and doing nothing to defend Himself! And when they found that the high priests and pharisees, who had hitherto been so often foiled by the wisdom and miracles of Jesus, had now succeeded in their conspiracy against Him, what a shock to their confidence! But there was to be something more trying still: the people, who, but a few days before, greeted Him so enthusiastically with their Hosannas, would demand His execution; and He would have to die, between two thieves, on the cross, amidst the insults of His triumphant enemies.
Is it not to be feared that these disciples, when they witness His humiliations and sufferings, will lose their courage? They have lived in His company for three years; but when they see that the things He foretold would happen to Him are really fulfilled, will the remembrance of all they have seen and heard keep them loyal to Him? Or will they turn cowards and flee from Him? Jesus selects three out of the number, who are especially dear to Him: Peter, whom He has made the rock, on which His Church is to be built, and to whom He has promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven; James, the son of thunder, who is to be the first martyr of the apostolic college; and John, James's brother, and His own beloved disciple. Jesus has resolved to take them aside, and show them a glimpse of that glory, which, until the day fixed for its manifestation, He conceals from the eyes of mortals.
He therefore leaves the rest of His disciples in the plain near Nazareth, and goes in company with the three privileged ones towards a high hill called Thabor, which is a continuation of Libanus, and which the psalmist tells us was to rejoice in the name of the Lord. [Ps. lxxxviii. 13.] No sooner has He reached the summit of the mountain, than the three apostles observe a sudden change come over Him; His Face shines as the sun, and His humble garments become white as snow. They observe two venerable men approach and speak with Him upon what He is about to suffer in Jerusalem. One is Moses, the lawgiver; the other is Elias, the prophet, who was taken up from earth on a fiery chariot without having passed through the gates of death. These two great representatives of the Jewish religion, the Law and the Prophets, humbly adore Jesus of Nazareth. The three apostles are not only dazzled by the brightness which comes from their divine Master; but they are filled with such a rapture of delight, that they cannot bear the thought of leaving the place. Peter proposes to remain there for ever and build three tabernacles, for Jesus, Moses, and Elias. And while they are admiring the glorious sight, and gazing on the beauty of their Jesus' human Nature, a bright cloud overshadows them, and a voice is heard speaking to them: it is the voice of the eternal Father, proclaiming the Divinity of Jesus, and saying: 'This is My beloved Son!'
This transfiguration of the Son of Man, this manifestation of His glory, lasted but a few moments: His mission was not on Thabor; it was humiliation and suffering in Jerusalem. He therefore withdrew into Himself the brightness He had allowed to transpire; and when He came to the three apostles, who, on hearing the voice from the cloud, had fallen on their faces with fear, they could see no one save only Jesus. The bright cloud was gone; Moses and Elias had disappeared. What a favour they have had bestowed upon them! Will they remember what they have seen and heard? They have had such a revelation of the Divinity of their dear Master! Is it possible that, when the hour of trial comes, they will forget it, and doubt His being God? And when they see Him suffer and die, will they be ashamed of Him and deny Him? Alas! the Gospel has told us what happened to them.
A short time after this, our Lord celebrated His last Supper with His disciples. When the supper was over, He took them to another mount, Mount Olivet, which lies to the east of Jerusalem. Leaving the rest at the entrance of the garden, He advances with Peter, James, and John, and then says to them: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here and watch with Me.' [St. Matt. xxvi. 38.] He then retires some little distance from them, and prays to His eternal Father. The Heart of our Redeemer is weighed down with anguish. When He returns to His three disciples, He is enfeebled by the agony He has suffered, and His garments are saturated with Blood. The apostles are aware that He is sad even unto death, and that the hour is close at hand when He is to be attacked: are they keeping watch? are they ready to defend Him? No: they seem to have forgotten Him; they are fast asleep, for their eyes are heavy. [Ibid. 43.] Yet a few moments, and all will have fled from Him; and Peter, the bravest of them all, will be taking his oath that he never knew the Man.
After the Resurrection our three apostles made ample atonement for this cowardly and sinful conduct, and acknowledged the mercy wherewith Jesus had sought to fortify them against temptation, by showing them His glory on Thabor a few days before His Passion. Let us not wait till we have betrayed Him: let us at once acknowledge that He is our Lord and our God. We are soon to be keeping the anniversary of His Sacrifice; like the apostles, we are to see Him humbled by His enemies and bearing, in our stead, the chastisements of divine justice. We must not allow our faith to be weakened, when we behold the fulfilment of those prophecies of David and Isaias, that the Messias is to be treated as a worm of the earth, [Ps. xxi. 7.] and be covered with wounds, so as to become like a leper, the most abject of men, and the Man of sorrows. [Is. liii. 3. 4.] We must remember the grand things of Thabor, and the adorations paid Him by Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud, and the voice of the eternal Father. The more we see Him humbled, the more must we proclaim His glory and divinity; we, must join our acclamations with those of the angels and the four-and-twenty elders, whom St. John, one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration, heard crying out with a loud voice: 'The Lamb that was slain, is worthy to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction!' [Apoc. v. 12.]
The second Sunday of Lent is called, from the first word of the Introit, Reminiscere; and also Transfiguration-Sunday, on account of the Gospel which is read in the Mass.
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. Mary in Dominica, on Monte Celio. Tradition tells us that in this basilica was the diaconicum of which St. Laurence had charge, and from which he distributed to the poor the alms of the Church.
S. Maria in Domenica alla Navicella
From The Passion And Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my Lord, I do indeed know how much Thou hast done and suffered for my sake. But Thou knowest, alas, that I have hitherto done nothing for Thee. My Jesus, help me to suffer something for Thy love before death overtakes me! I am ashamed of appearing before Thee, but I will no longer be ungrateful, as I have been so many years towards Thee. Thou hast deprived Thyself of every pleasure for me. I will for Thee renounce all the pleasures of the senses. Thou hast suffered so many pains for me, I will, for Thy sake, suffer all of the pains of my life and my death, as it shall best please Thee. Thou hast been forsaken: I will be content that all should forsake me, provided Thou dost not forsake me, O my only and sovereign good. Thou hast been persecuted. I accept whatever persecution may befall me. Finally, Thou hast died for me. I will die for Thee. O my Jesus, my Treasure, my Love, my All, I love Thee. O give me more love.
Amen.
Devotions For a Lenten Sunday Holy Hour
Divine Mercy Chaplet
Seven Penitential Psalms
Prayer of St. Thomas More
Psalter of St. Jerome
Threnus Prayer of St. Augustine
From The Liturgical Year, by Abbot Prosper Gueranger, OSB:
THE subject offered to our consideration, on this second Sunday, is one of the utmost importance for the holy season. The Church applies to us the lesson which our Saviour gave to three of His apostles. Let us endeavour to be more attentive to it than they were.
Jesus was about to pass from Galilee into Judea, that He might go up to Jerusalem and be present at the feast of the Pasch. It was that last Pasch, which was to begin with the immolation of the figurative lamb, and end with the sacrifice of the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world. Jesus would have His disciples know Him. His works had borne testimony to Him, even before those who were, in a manner, strangers to Him; but as for His disciples, had they not every reason to be faithful to Him, even to death? Had they not listened to His words, which had such power with them that they forced conviction? Had they not experienced His love, which it was impossible to resist? And had they not seen how patiently He had borne with their strange and untoward ways? Yes, they must have known Him. They had heard one of their company, Peter, declare that He was the Christ, the Son of the living God. [St. Matt. xvi. 16.] Notwithstanding this, the trial to which their faith was soon to be put was of such a terrible kind, that Jesus would mercifully arm them against temptation by an extraordinary grace.
The cross was to be a scandal and a stumbling-block [1 Cor. i. 23.] to the Synagogue, and alas! to more than it. Jesus said to His apostles at the last Supper: 'All of you shall be scandalized in Me this night.' [St. Matt. xxvi. 31.] Carnal-minded as they then were, what would they think when they should see Him seized by armed men, handcuffed, hurried from one tribunal to another, and doing nothing to defend Himself! And when they found that the high priests and pharisees, who had hitherto been so often foiled by the wisdom and miracles of Jesus, had now succeeded in their conspiracy against Him, what a shock to their confidence! But there was to be something more trying still: the people, who, but a few days before, greeted Him so enthusiastically with their Hosannas, would demand His execution; and He would have to die, between two thieves, on the cross, amidst the insults of His triumphant enemies.
Is it not to be feared that these disciples, when they witness His humiliations and sufferings, will lose their courage? They have lived in His company for three years; but when they see that the things He foretold would happen to Him are really fulfilled, will the remembrance of all they have seen and heard keep them loyal to Him? Or will they turn cowards and flee from Him? Jesus selects three out of the number, who are especially dear to Him: Peter, whom He has made the rock, on which His Church is to be built, and to whom He has promised the keys of the kingdom of heaven; James, the son of thunder, who is to be the first martyr of the apostolic college; and John, James's brother, and His own beloved disciple. Jesus has resolved to take them aside, and show them a glimpse of that glory, which, until the day fixed for its manifestation, He conceals from the eyes of mortals.
He therefore leaves the rest of His disciples in the plain near Nazareth, and goes in company with the three privileged ones towards a high hill called Thabor, which is a continuation of Libanus, and which the psalmist tells us was to rejoice in the name of the Lord. [Ps. lxxxviii. 13.] No sooner has He reached the summit of the mountain, than the three apostles observe a sudden change come over Him; His Face shines as the sun, and His humble garments become white as snow. They observe two venerable men approach and speak with Him upon what He is about to suffer in Jerusalem. One is Moses, the lawgiver; the other is Elias, the prophet, who was taken up from earth on a fiery chariot without having passed through the gates of death. These two great representatives of the Jewish religion, the Law and the Prophets, humbly adore Jesus of Nazareth. The three apostles are not only dazzled by the brightness which comes from their divine Master; but they are filled with such a rapture of delight, that they cannot bear the thought of leaving the place. Peter proposes to remain there for ever and build three tabernacles, for Jesus, Moses, and Elias. And while they are admiring the glorious sight, and gazing on the beauty of their Jesus' human Nature, a bright cloud overshadows them, and a voice is heard speaking to them: it is the voice of the eternal Father, proclaiming the Divinity of Jesus, and saying: 'This is My beloved Son!'
This transfiguration of the Son of Man, this manifestation of His glory, lasted but a few moments: His mission was not on Thabor; it was humiliation and suffering in Jerusalem. He therefore withdrew into Himself the brightness He had allowed to transpire; and when He came to the three apostles, who, on hearing the voice from the cloud, had fallen on their faces with fear, they could see no one save only Jesus. The bright cloud was gone; Moses and Elias had disappeared. What a favour they have had bestowed upon them! Will they remember what they have seen and heard? They have had such a revelation of the Divinity of their dear Master! Is it possible that, when the hour of trial comes, they will forget it, and doubt His being God? And when they see Him suffer and die, will they be ashamed of Him and deny Him? Alas! the Gospel has told us what happened to them.
A short time after this, our Lord celebrated His last Supper with His disciples. When the supper was over, He took them to another mount, Mount Olivet, which lies to the east of Jerusalem. Leaving the rest at the entrance of the garden, He advances with Peter, James, and John, and then says to them: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death: stay you here and watch with Me.' [St. Matt. xxvi. 38.] He then retires some little distance from them, and prays to His eternal Father. The Heart of our Redeemer is weighed down with anguish. When He returns to His three disciples, He is enfeebled by the agony He has suffered, and His garments are saturated with Blood. The apostles are aware that He is sad even unto death, and that the hour is close at hand when He is to be attacked: are they keeping watch? are they ready to defend Him? No: they seem to have forgotten Him; they are fast asleep, for their eyes are heavy. [Ibid. 43.] Yet a few moments, and all will have fled from Him; and Peter, the bravest of them all, will be taking his oath that he never knew the Man.
After the Resurrection our three apostles made ample atonement for this cowardly and sinful conduct, and acknowledged the mercy wherewith Jesus had sought to fortify them against temptation, by showing them His glory on Thabor a few days before His Passion. Let us not wait till we have betrayed Him: let us at once acknowledge that He is our Lord and our God. We are soon to be keeping the anniversary of His Sacrifice; like the apostles, we are to see Him humbled by His enemies and bearing, in our stead, the chastisements of divine justice. We must not allow our faith to be weakened, when we behold the fulfilment of those prophecies of David and Isaias, that the Messias is to be treated as a worm of the earth, [Ps. xxi. 7.] and be covered with wounds, so as to become like a leper, the most abject of men, and the Man of sorrows. [Is. liii. 3. 4.] We must remember the grand things of Thabor, and the adorations paid Him by Moses and Elias, and the bright cloud, and the voice of the eternal Father. The more we see Him humbled, the more must we proclaim His glory and divinity; we, must join our acclamations with those of the angels and the four-and-twenty elders, whom St. John, one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration, heard crying out with a loud voice: 'The Lamb that was slain, is worthy to receive power and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction!' [Apoc. v. 12.]
The second Sunday of Lent is called, from the first word of the Introit, Reminiscere; and also Transfiguration-Sunday, on account of the Gospel which is read in the Mass.
The Station at Rome is in the church of St. Mary in Dominica, on Monte Celio. Tradition tells us that in this basilica was the diaconicum of which St. Laurence had charge, and from which he distributed to the poor the alms of the Church.
Labels: Lent, The Liturgical Year
