Recta Ratio

Station Church:
S. Susanna alle Terme di Diocleziano








From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
O my Lord, and whom shall I seek but Thee, Who art come from Heaven to earth to seek after me and save me from perdition?
amen.


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

Crusading friar who helped raise the Seige of Belgrade, and patron of military chaplains and jurists.

Saint John of Capistrano, please pray for us!

Station Church:
S. Lorenzo in Lucina



From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
Oh my Lord, I have been one of those unhappy souls who, having received so many graces , lights, and calls have ungratefully forgotten and foresaken Thee. Accept me, for the sake of Thy mercy,now that I return to Thee with a penitent and sorrowful heart, never again to leave Thee. O Treasure of life, O Love of my soul!
Amen.

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

Today is the 23rd day since Ash Wednesday. There are 23 more days of Lent after today. At the end of the day, as we drop off to sleep, we will have reached the mid-way point of Lent.

But now we have the opportunity to assess how we are doing with Lenten prayer, reading, sacrifice, almsgiving, and so on. A midway point is a great opportunity to honestly check on progress and make adjustments (whether buckling down, or easing up if our voluntary sacrifices are proving too burdensome).

Remember, if you have not done so yet, work through a good form for examination of conscience and prepare yourself for a full good confession late in Holy Week, so that you can make a worthy Easter Communion, the only required Communion of the year.

I hope the remainder of Lent is spiritually profitable for you all.

Station Church:
Ss. Cosma e Damiano in Via Sacra (Fori Imperiali)







From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Ligouri:

Yes, my Jesus, into Thy hands I place my life and my death; in Thee I abandon myself entirely, and I recommend my soul to Thee now for the last moments of my life. Receive it into Thy wounds, as Thy Father received Thy spirit, when Thou didst expire on the cross.

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

Station Church:
S. Sisto (SS. Nereo e Achilleo)



From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:
Oh my reviled Lord, Thou art the King of Heaven, the Son of the Most High; Thou surely deservest not to be ill-treated and despised, but to be adored and loved by all creatures. I adore Thee, I bless Thee, I thank thee, I love Thee with all my heart. I repent of having offended Thee. Help me, have pity on me.
Amen.


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

V. Angelus Domini nuntiavit Mariae

R. Et concepit de Spirito Sancto. Ave Maria...

V. Ecce ancilla Domini

R. Fiat mihi secundum verbum tuum. Ave Maria...

V. Genuflect. Et Verbum Caro Factum Est.

Et habitavit in nobis.

Oremus:
Gratiam tuam, quaesumus, Domine, mentibus nostris infunde; ut qui, Angelo nuntiante, Christi Filii tui incarnationem cognovimus, per passionem eius et crucem, ad resurrectionis gloriam perducamur. Per eundem Christum Dominum nostrum.
R. Amen.

Station Church:
S. Pudenziana al Viminale



From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:

My sweet Lord, if others banish Thee, I will not banish Thee. there was once an unhappy time when I ungratefully banished Thee from my soul; but now I set a greater value on being united with Thee than on the possession of all the kingdoms of the earth. Oh my God, who shall ever be able again to separate me from Thy love?
Amen.

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

We all are.

I don't know how many times I have wanted to light a cigar since Ash Wednesday! Never mind the fact that I had not had one since late October before Lent started and barely noticed it.

Same with alcohol. Itching for Drambuie. Had not had a drink since New Year's Eve's champagne. But I used to carry Drambuie in my hip flask when I played soldier, and the approach of Patriots' Day and warmer weather has me craving that.

And if I even see another tuna footlong on flatbread... . Meatless Lents have been the norm for me for more than 10 years. But still.

Cheer up. Thursday is Mid-Lent Day, Day 23 of the 46 between Ash Wednesday and Holy Saturday. Tomorrow is Lady Day, a feast, though a meatless one. And Sunday is Laetare Sunday. All downhill from there. Before you know it, it will be Passiontide, then Holy Week. Get started on your examination if conscience, so you can make a good confession in Holy Week, then receive the Easter Sacrament.

Station Church:
S. Marco al Campidoglio



From The Passion And Death Of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:

O my Jesus! Remind me always of the death Thou hast suffered for me, and give me confidence. I tremble lest the devil should make me despair at death by bringing before my view the many acts of treason I have committed against Thee. How many promises have I made never more to offend Thee after the light Thou hast given me! and, after all my promises, I have, with the hope of pardon, again turned my back upon Thee. Then, have I insulted Thee because Thou didst not chastise me? My Redeemer! give me a great sorrow for my sins before I leave this world. I am sorry. O Sovereign Good! for having offended Thee. I promised to die a thousand times rather than abandon Thee. But make me in the mean time feel that Thou hast said to me what Thou didst say to Magdalene - Thy sins are forgiven thee - by giving me, before death, a great sorrow for all my iniquities, otherwise I fear my death will be troubled and unhappy. Be not Thou a terror to me; Thou art my hope in the day of affliction. Jer. 17:17. O my crucified Jesus! be not a terror to me in my last moments. If I die before I have wept over my sins and have loved Thee, Thy wounds and Thy blood will inspire me with fear rather than with confidence. I do not ask of Thee consolations and earthly goods during the remainder of my life; I ask of Thee sorrow and love. O my dear Savior! hear my prayer for the sake of that love which made Thee offer Thy life in sacrifice for me on Calvary. Mary, my Mother! obtain for me these graces, along with holy perseverance till death.


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

Station Church:
S. Lorenzo fuori le Mura
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

Here is a link to Michael W. Martin's excellent translatiuon of the Psalter Of Saint Jerome. It is too long to post directly here.

From The Passion and Death of Jesus Christ, by Saint Alphonsus de Liguori:

O my God! I thank Thee, for making me now remain at Thy feet and not in hell, which I have so often deserved. But of what use would the life which Thou hast preserved be to me, should I continue to live without Thy grace. Ah! may this never be I have turned my back upon Thee I have lost Thee, O my Sovereign Good! I am sorry for it with my whole heart. Oh, that I had died a thousand times, rather than have offended Thee! I have lost Thee; but the prophet tells me that Thou art all goodness, and that Thou art easily found by the soul that seeks Thee. If I have hitherto fled away from Thee, I now seek Thee, and seek nothing but Thee. I love Thee with all the affections of my heart. Accept me. Do not disdain to give Thy love to a soul that has at one time despised Thee Teach me what I must do in order to please Thee; I am ready and willing to do it. Ah, my Jesus! save this soul, for which Thou hast given Thy blood and Thy life; and, in order to save me, give me the grace always to love Thee in this and in the next life. This grace I hope for through Thy merits. For this I also hope, O Mary! through thy intercession.


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

Ever since the promulgation of the Gospel, the power of Satan over the human body has been restricted by the virtue of the cross, at least in Christian countries; but this power resumes its sway as often as faith and the practice of Christian piety lose their influence. And here we have the origin of all those diabolical practices, which, under certain scientific names, are attempted first in secret, and then are countenanced by being assisted at by well-meaning Christians. Were it not that God and His Church intervene, such practices as these would subvert society. Christians! remember your baptismal vow; you have renounced satan: take care, then, that by a culpable ignorance you are not dragged into apostasy. It is not a phantom that you renounced at the font; he is a real and formidable being, who, as our Lord tells us, was a murderer from the beginning (Jn. 8:44).

But if we ought to dread the power he may be permitted to have over our bodies; if we ought to shun all intercourse with him, and take no share in practices over which he presides, and which are the worship he would have men give him: we ought, also, to fear the influence he is ever striving to exercise over our souls. See what God's grace has had to do in order to drive him from our soul! During this holy season, the Church is putting within your reach those grand means of victory-fasting, prayer, and almsdeeds. The sweets of peace will soon be yours, and once more you will become God's temple, for both soul and body will have regained their purity. But be not deceived; your enemy is not slain. He is irritated; penance has driven him from you; but he has sworn to return. Therefore, fear a relapse into mortal sin; and in order to nourish within you this wholesome fear, meditate upon the concluding part of our Gospel.

Our Saviour tells us that when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water. There he writhes under his humiliation; it was added to the tortures of the hell he carries everywhere with him, and to which he fain would give some alleviation by destroying souls that have been redeemed by Christ. We read in the old Testament that sometimes, when the devils have been conquered, they have been forced to flee into some far-off wilderness: for example, the holy Archangel Raphael took the devil, that had killed Sara's husbands, and bound him in the desert of upper Egypt (Tob. 8:3). But the enemy of mankind never despairs of regaining his prey. His hatred is as active now as it was at the very beginning of the world, and he says: "I will return into my house, whence I came out." Nor will he come alone. He is determined to conquer; and therefore, he will, if he think it needed, take with him seven other spirits, even more wicked than himself. What a terrible assault is being prepared for the poor soul, unless she be on the watch, and unless the peace, which God has granted her, be one that is well armed for war! Alas! with many souls the very contrary is the case; and our Saviour describes the situation in which the devil finds them on his return: they are swept and garnished, and that is all! No precautions, no defence, no arms. One would suppose that they were waiting to give the enemy admission. Then satan, to make his repossession sure, comes with a sevenfold force. The attack is made; but there is no resistance, and straightways the wicked spirits entering in, dwell there; so that the last state becometh worse than the first; for before there was but one enemy, and now there are many.