Recta Ratio

From The Glories Of Mary, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:


O, Mother of my God, and my Lady Mary; as a beggar, all wounded and sore, presents himself before a great queen, so do I present myself before thee, who art the Queen of heaven and earth. From the lofty throne on which thou sittest, disdain not, I implore thee, to cast thine eyes on me, a poor sinner. God has made thee so rich that thou mightest assist the poor, and has constituted thee Queen of Mercy in order that thou mightest relieve the miserable. Behold me then, and pity me: behold me and abandon me not, until thou seest me changed from a sinner into a saint. I know well that I merit nothing; nay more, that I deserve, on account of my ingratitude, to be deprived of the graces that, through thy means, I have already received from God. But thou, who art the Queen of Mercy, seekest not merits, but miseries, in order to help the needy. But who is more needy than I?

O, exalted Virgin, well do I know that thou, who art Queen of the universe, art already my queen; yet am I determined to dedicate myself more especially to thy service, in order that thou mayest dispose of me as thou pleasest. Therefore do I address thee in the words of St. Bonaventur: "Do thou govern me, O my Queen, and leave me not to myself" ("Domina, me tuae dominationi committo, ut me plenarie regas et gubernes; no mihi me relinquas."—Stim. Div. Am. p. 3, c. 19). Command me; employ me as thou wilt, and chastise me when I do not obey; for the chastisements that come from thy hands will be to me pledges of salvation. I would rather be thy servant than the ruler of the earth. I am thine; save me ("Tuus sum ego, salvum me fac."—Ps. cxviii. 94). Accept me, O Mary, for thine own, and as thine, take charge of my salvation. I will no longer be mine; to thee do I give myself. If, during the time past I have served thee ill, and lost so many occasions of honoring thee, for the future I will be one of thy most loving and faithful servants. I am determined that from this day forward no one shall surpass me in honoring and loving thee, my most amiable Queen. This I promise; and this, with thy help, I hope to execute.
Amen.

Labels: Our Blessed Lady

The Old North Bridge in Concord

The month of May is dedicated by the Church to Our Blessed Lady.

1st Saint Joseph the Carpenter
2nd Saint Athanasius
4th Saint Monica
5th Saint Pius V
11th Saints Phillip & James
13th Saint Robert Bellarmine
15th Saint Jean Baptiste de la Salle
18th Saint Venantius
25th Saint Gregory VII
26th Saint Phillip Neri
27th Saint Bede
28th Saint Augustine and Blessed Margaret Pole

The First Friday is Friday May 7th.
The First Saturday is Saturday May 1st.

May begins in Paschal Time. Ascension Thursday is Thursday May 13th. The Rogation Days are Monday May 10th, Tuesday May 11th, and Wednesday May 12th. Whitsunday is Sunday May 23rd. The Whitsun Embertide is Wednesday May 26th, Friday May 28th, and Saturday May 29th. Trinity Sunday is Sunday May 30th. The secular holiday of Memorial Day falls on Monday May 31st.

The most common novena said during this month is the Novena To the Holy Ghost, said between Ascension Thursday and Whitsunday:

Novena to the Holy Ghost
Pray especially starting on the day after Ascension Thursday, ending on the Pentecost

First Day:
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Ghost, and hast given us forgiveness of all our sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us Thy sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and Fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Second Day:
Come, O blessed Spirit of Holy Fear, penetrate my inmost heart, that I may set Thee, my Lord and God, before my face forever; help me to shun all things that can offend Thee, and make me worthy to appear before the pure eyes of Thy Divine Majesty in heaven, where Thou livest and reignest in the unity of the ever Blessed Trinity, God world without end. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Third Day:
Come, O Blessed Spirit of Piety, possess my heart. Enkindle therein such a love for God, that I may find satisfaction only in His service, and for His sake lovingly submit to all legitimate authority. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Fourth Day:
Come, O Blessed Spirit of Fortitude, uphold my soul in times of trouble and adversity, sustain my efforts after holiness, strengthen my weakness, give me courage against all the assaults of my enemies, that I may never be overcome and separated from Thee, my God and greatest Good. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Fifth Day:
Come, O Blessed Spirit of Knowledge, and grant that I may perceive the will of the Father; show me the nothingness of earthly things, that I may realize their vanity and use them only for Thy glory and my own salvation, looking ever beyond them to Thee, and Thy eternal rewards. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Sixth Day:
Come, O Spirit of Understanding, and enlighten our minds, that we may know and believe all the mysteries of salvation; and may merit at last to see the eternal light in Thy light; and in the light of glory to have a clear vision of Thee and the Father and the Son. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Seventh Day:
Come, O Spirit of Counsel, help and guide me in all my ways, that I may always do Thy holy will. Incline my heart to that which is good; turn it away from all that is evil, and direct me by the straight path of Thy commandments to that goal of eternal life for which I long. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Eighth Day:
Come, O Spirit of Wisdom, and reveal to my soul the mysteries of heavenly things, their exceeding greatness, power and beauty. Teach me to love them above and beyond all passing joys and satisfactions of the earth. Help me to attain them and possess them for ever. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Ninth Day:
Come, O Divine Spirit, fill my heart with Thy heavenly fruits, Thy charity, joy, peace, patience, benignity, goodness, faith, mildness, and temperance, that I may never weary in the service of God, but by continued faithful submission to Thy inspiration, may merit to be united eternally with Thee in the love of the Father and the Son. Amen.

Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and seven Glory Be's

Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI's published prayer intentions for May 2010 are:

General:
That those who work in the media may always respect truth, solidarity and the dignity of each person.

Missionary:
That the Lord may grant the Church in China the capacity to persevere in fidelity to the Gospel and to grow in unity.

Labels: First Of the Month Almanac

A Prayer Of Saint Alphonsus de Liguori

O God of my soul, I hope in thy goodness that thou hast pardoned all my offences against Thee, and that I am now in a state of Grace. I thank Thee for it with all my heart, and I hope to attain Thee for all eternity. I know that I have fallen, because I have not had recourse to Thee when I was tempted, to ask for holy perseverance. For the future, I firmly resolve to recommend myself always to Thee, and especially when I see myself in danger of again offending Thee. I will always fly to thy Mercy, invoking always the most Holy names of Jesus and Mary, with full confidence that when I pray Thou will not fail to give me the strength which I have not of myself to resist my enemies. This I resolve in promise to do. But of what use, O my God, will all these resolutions and promises be, if Thou doest not assist me with Thy Grace to put them in practice; that is, to have recourse to Thee in all dangers? Ah, Eternal Father! Help me, for the love of Jesus Christ; and let me never omit recommending myself to Thee whenever I am tempted. I know that Thou doest always help me when I have recourse to Thee; but my fear is, that I should forget to recommend myself to Thee, and so my negligence will be the cause of my ruin, that is, the loss of Thy Grace, the greatest evil that can happen to me. Ah, by the merits of Jesus Christ, give me Grace to pray to Thee; but grant me such an abundant grace that I may always pray, and pray as I ought! O my mother Mary, whenever I have had recourse to Thee, Thou hast obtained for me the help which has kept me from falling! Now I come to beg of Thee to obtain still greater grace, namely, that of recommending myself always to Thy Son and to Thee in all my necessities. My Queen, Thou obatinest all that Thou doest desire from God by the Love Thou bearest to Jesus Christ, obtain for me now this Grace which I beg of Thee, --namely, to pray always, and never to cease praying till I die.
Amen.

Labels: Friday At the Foot Of the Cross

I know that people often speak of post-Christmas depression, a feeling of let-down after Christmas. I suffer much the same thing after Easter. Maybe more specifically, after Lent is over.

Of course, I am elated when Lent is finally over. Forty-six days without meat, a cigar, alcohol, music, cake-like things and 46 days of the Sorrowul Mysteries, Friday Stations, intense daily spiritual reading, almsgiving, Friday and Wednesday fasts is a tough regimen for me. That bacon on Easter Sunday morning goes down very well, let me tell you.

But there is also a sense of let-down. All that sacrifice is over. I've completed the spiritual reading program. The extra prayers that made the daily Holy Hour and A Half turn closer to a Holy Two Hours are put aside for another year. I am just now getting out of the habit of starting every mystery of my morning rosary as a sorrowful one (I say only the Sorrowful during Lent, I say only the Glorious until after Whitsunday). For three weeks I have been unfailingly saying, "The First Sorrowful, I mean Glorious, Mystery."

But what replaces it?

Well, this year Easter was early in April, so my May devotions to Our Blessed Lady don't start for a few days yet. I mark the important saints' days, Saint George, and Saint Mark, Saint Paul of the Cross and Saint Louis de Montfort. But April's Ordo is fairly devoid of other major patrons.

The joy of the resurrection is joined to the joy of being able to eat meat again, to smoke a cigar, to listen to music. But the spiritual life is a little dry at this time of the year. Ahead there are May devotions, and the pre-Whitsuntide novena to the Holy Ghost. But since Easter, things have been less intense than they were during Lent. And that dryness has been reflected in the blog over these last 3 weeks. It may be that things had to ramp down after Lent ended. The regimen I follow for Lent could not be sustained for the whole year.

With May coming, things will pick up again, I hope. Dear Blessed Lady, for the greater glory of thy Immaculate Heart and thy Son's Sacred Heart, pray that it is so.

Labels: Recta Ratio Housekeeping

Two of my particular heavenly patrons share today as their feast day, sort of.

In the calendar of the Ordinary Form of the Mass, today, April 28th, is the feast of Saint Louis de Montfort. He is best known for his book True Devotion To The Blessed Virgin Mary.

Fisheaters has broken down the method for total consecration to Jesus through Mary here.

Saint Louis de Montfort, pray for us!

And for those following the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, today is the feast of Saint Paul of the Cross, founder of the Passionists. The Catholic Encyclopedia has more.

"It is an excellent and holy practice to call to mind and meditate on our Lord's Passion, since it is by this path that we shall arrive at union with God. In this, the holiest of all schools, true wisdom is learned, for it was there that all the saints became wise."

Saint Paul of the Cross, pray for us!

Special thanks to both patrons for special favors granted on April 28th!

Labels: Our Saintly Brethern

Stained glass designed by Pugin and executed by John Hardman Co. for Saint Paul's Parish Church, Brighton, UK.

Labels: Pugin