Feast of the Annunciation
by VP
Posted on Monday April 08, 2024 at 01:19AM in Prayers
Adolphe-William Bouguereau, L'Annunciation 1888
"This being the day on which the Son of God became incarnate, and took flesh of the Blessed Virgin Mary, give thanks to Almighty God for this His infinite mercy in sending His only Son for the redemption of man. Offer yourself for His servant for ever, who for your sake stoops below the degree of a servant. Admire and honour the humility of the Blessed Virgin; who being chosen Mother of Christ, styles herself only His handmaid: and let her humility be your pattern.
The mercy of this day, when God sent His only Son, to become man for our salvation, ought to imprint so lively an idea in the hearts of all Christians, as to lay a foundation of perpetual praise, adoration, and thanksgiving; and oblige them to be faithful in His service for ever. To be wanting in these duties, is a sufficient conviction that they either do not think, or do not believe. For what less can it be than insensibility, to behold this goodness, and not to adore it; to receive such mercies from the hand of God, and to remain cold and ungrateful under them? An eternal homage and fidelity are therefore the indispensable obligations of every Christian; and those who dispense with themselves, do in fact renounce this sacred character. Are we thus to live on, stupid and unthinking, and be sensible of no other effect of these mercies, but that of our greater condemnation, which we shall draw upon ourselves by our neglect, ingratitude, and contempt? While we see the Almighty do so much on His part, something certainly ought to be done on ours. And what can we do better, than follow the pattern before us?
The second Person of the Blessed Trinity this day assumes our human nature, and becomes man. By this ineffable union of God and man, He has taught us that man may be united to God. This then ought to be the concern of our whole lives, to extend in some manner the Incarnation of the Son of God: that as He is made man, so we by putting on Christ, may be so closely united to Him, as to become divine. This union is consummated in heaven, where the blessed souls are wholly absorbed in God: but it is begun, and may be much advanced on earth, whilst Christians being made the adopted children of God, by a participation of the divine nature, may be able to say: We live, and not we, but Christ lives in us. Happy those Christians, who arrive at this point: and happy we, could we this day effectually embrace the method of coming to it.
This can be done only by our constant endeavours to crucify within us the old man, with all its corrupt inclinations and desires, which carry us with violence to sin, to the earth and creatures; and to follow those new impressions, which we receive from God, which separate us from all earthly affections, and raise us to the love of God, and seeking heavenly things. This is taking part with Christ, who, coming to remedy the dismal effects of Adam's fall, teaches his followers to renounce and make war against all that concupiscence, pride, and perverseness, which they inherit from the sin of Adam. For, since Christ and the life which he gives are contrary to Adam, and to the impressions received from him; Christians who put on the new man, and have the spirit of Christ abiding in them, must manifest this new life by stifling all sinful inclinations, and bringing forth the fruits of his Holy Spirit.
In this manner, Christ being the light, which directs their judgment and reason, He being the rule, by which they govern their will and affections; and the source of all that they undertake and do; Christ lives in them, and their life becomes the life of Christ. And though they are still sensible of many corrupt inclinations and natural suggestions in favour of flesh and the world; yet inasmuch as they carefully watch over these, and labour to suppress them, they serve only for their exercise, and daily afford them new matter of triumph. But it cannot be said that they live by them, but rather that they are dead to the world, and have crucified their flesh with its vices and concupiscences." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Prayer to Mary for the Holy Church
Queen of heaven, thy immense love for God maketh thee likewise love His Church. We pray thee, come to its help amidst the ills under which it is now suffering, rent asunder as she is by her own children. Thy prayer, being a mother's, can obtain all from that God Who loveth Thee so well. Pray then, pray for the Church; ask for enlightenment for so many unbelievers who are persecuting it, and obtain for faithful souls the necessary strength to resist being caught in the snares of the unbelievers who would drag them down into their own ruin.
Source: St. Alphonsus' prayer-book, 1888
Illustrious Patriach
by VP
Posted on Tuesday March 19, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Saint Joseph, Raleigh NC
"On the festival of this saint, let virgins pray for the divine protection against all temptations and snares. Let all married persons pray for conjugal chastity; let all parents pray for grace, for the faithful discharge of all duties towards their children. Let all who have the care of families, pray that they may not be wanting in any part of their charge, that discipline may be preserved by their care, and virtue encouraged by their good example.
St. Joseph was chosen by Almighty God to be the chaste spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and under the reputation of father, to have the care of the Son of God made man; to protect him in his infancy, and secure both Mother and Son against the cruel designs of Herod. It was he, whose great virtues were rewarded, even in this life, by his being made an eye-witness of the virtues of the divine Jesus, in possessing him under his roof for many years; and seeing him, whom kings and prophets had desired to see, but it was not granted them. He was recompensed not only in seeing, but in hearing, in carrying him in his arms, in embracing and feeding him, and being made the depository of those divine secrets which were committed to no other. His life has not been written by men, but by the Holy Ghost himself; who has left his most considerable actions recorded in the gospel. And it will be our happiness on this festival, if we can learn some of those great lessons, which we are taught by his example.
Since the care of Jesus was by the Eternal Wisdom left to an humble tradesman, have not here all of that degree, as also all house-keepers, a great instruction, that sanctity and perfection are not to be thought the exclusive property of ecclesiastics and religious, but that their condition also is capable of these, and that in the new Law they are expected of them! In this they see that the daily toil of a laborious life is no exclusion to Jesus; but that He may dwell in the midst of them, while with the sweat of their brows they are working for bread, and the provision of their families. Nay, since they see Him make choice of such an abode, they cannot doubt but in this all their labours are not only approved, but consecrated by Him; and that He has declared a laborious life to be a holy life. Let it be only their care to join innocence with their toil, to season it with daily prayer, and sanctify it by a repeated oblation to Almighty God, in the faithful discharge of the duties of the state to which they are called; and they can have no just reason to complain of their unhappy circumstances, but rather rejoice. For they see their life to be a penitential life, even a performing of the penance enjoined by Almighty God Himself on the sons of Adam at their exclusion from Paradise.
It cannot be questioned but that such persons stand much fairer for the pardon of their sins, in undergoing the punishment, than those others who, living at their ease, feed on the toil of others, and wholly dispense with themselves as to this part of their penance. Nay, since these may observe that those primitive Christians, who studied the greatest perfection, took in this laborious and penitential part, and since the apostle gloried in it, they cannot apprehend their most painful labours and daily employments to be a hindrance to salvation, but rather one part of a Christian life, and very proper for gaining a happy eternity. It is with such that the divine
Jesus delights to dwell. And if He be not always with them, they may be
assured that it is not their labours that drive Him thence, but either
their love of idleness in neglecting these, or because not content to depend on their industry and pains, they make use of lies,
frauds, and injustices, whereby to overreach their neighbour, and
enrich themselves by wronging Him. Were it not for these unwarrantable
methods, no state might be more favoured by heaven than that of labouring Christians. If they would but renounce these practices, be faithful in their callings, observe their times of prayer and spiritual duties, they might be so many families of saints, and have Jesus their companion here, and reward hereafter." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother
Saint Joseph, God has appointed you patron of the Catholic Church because you were the head of the Holy Family, the starting-point of the Church. You were the father, protector, guide and support of the Holy Family. For that reason you belong in a particular way to the Church, which was the purpose of the Holy Familyʼs existence. I believe that the Church is the family of God on earth. Its government is represented in priestly authority which consists above all in its power over the true Body of Christ, really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, thus continuing Christʼs life in the Church. From this power, too, comes authority over the Mystical Body of Christ, the members of the Church -- the power to teach and govern souls, to reconcile them with God, to bless them, and to pray for them.
You have a special relationship to the priesthood because you possessed a wonderful power over our Savior Himself. Your life and office were of a priestly function and are especially connected with the Blessed Sacrament. To some extent you were the means of bringing the Redeemer to us -- as it is the priestʼs function to bring Him to us in the Mass -- for you reared Jesus, supported, nourished, protected and sheltered Him. You were prefigured by the patriarch Joseph, who kept supplies of wheat for his people. But how much greater than he were you! Joseph of old gave the Egyptians mere bread for their bodies. You nourished, and with the most tender care, preserved for the Church Him who is the Bread of Heaven and who gives eternal life in Holy Communion.
God has appointed you patron of the Church because the glorious title of patriarch also falls by special right to you. The patriarchs were the heads of families of the Chosen People, and theirs was the honor to prepare for the Saviorʼs incarnation. You belonged to this line of patriarchs, for you were one of the last descendants of the family of David and one of the nearest forebears of Christ according to the flesh. As husband of Mary, the Mother of God, and as the foster-father of the Savior, you were directly connected with Christ. Your vocation was especially concerned with the Person of Jesus; your entire activity centered about Him. You are, therefore, the closing of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New, which took its rise with the Holy Family of Nazareth. Because the New Testament surpasses the Old in every respect, you are the patriarch of patriarchs, the most venerable, exalted, and amiable of all the patriarchs.
Through Mary, the Church received Christ, and therefore the Church is indebted to her. But the Church owes her debt of gratitude and veneration to you also, for you were the chosen one who enabled Christ to enter into the world according to the laws of order and fitness. It was by you that the patriarchs and the prophets and the faithful reaped the fruit of Godʼs promise. Alone among them all, you saw with your own eyes and possessed the Redeemer promised to the rest of men. Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being the Patron of the Church. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to live always as a worthy member of this Church, so that through it I may save my soul. Bless the priests, the religious, and the laity of the Catholic Church, that they may ever grow in Godʼs love and faithfulness in His service. Protect the Church from the evils of our day and from the persecution of her enemies. Through your powerful intercession may the Church successfully accomplish its mission in this world -- the glory of God and the salvation of souls! Amen.
Prayer of St. Athanasius
by VP
Posted on Monday January 01, 2024 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Our Lady of North Carolina, Downtown Raleigh NC
"Give ear to our prayers, O most Holy Virgin, and be mindful of us. Dispense unto us the gifts of thy riches, and the abundance of the graces with which thou art filled. The Archangel saluted thee, and called thee full of grace. All nations call thee blessed. The whole hierarchy of heaven blesses thee: and we, who are of the terrestrial hierarchy, also address thee, saying: Hail, O full of grace, our Lord is with thee; pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, our Lady and our Queen."
Bishop Schneider’s Prayer for the Synod on Synodality
by VP
Posted on Friday September 29, 2023 at 09:30AM in Prayers
Lord Jesus Christ, Our God and Saviour, You are the Head of the Church, Your spotless Bride and Mystical Body. Look mercifully upon the profound distress to which Our Holy Mother Church has been subjected. Doctrinal confusion, moral abomination, and liturgical abuse have, in our day, reached an unprecedented height. “The heathens have come into your inheritance, having defiled your holy temple, and laid Jerusalem in ruins” (Ps 79:1). Churchmen who have lost the true Faith and become promoters of a worldly globalist agenda, are intent on changing Your truths and Commandments, the Divine Constitution of the Church, and the Apostolic tradition.
O Lord, with humble spirit and contrite heart we beseech You, prevent the enemies of the Church from exulting in a victory over the authentic Catholic Church obtained by imposing a counterfeit church under the guise of “synodality.” Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come to the aid of Your Church with Your almighty strength. For where sin and apostasy in the Church abounds, the victory of Your grace will abound the more.
We firmly believe that the gates of Hell will not prevail against Your Church. In this hour, in which our beloved and holy Mother Church is suffering her Golgotha, we promise to remain with her. Graciously accept our interior and exterior sufferings, which we humbly offer in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Church, as a reparation for our own sins and for the sins of sacrilege and apostasy within the Church.
O Lord, send forth your Holy Angels under the command of Saint Michael the Archangel, to bring your heavenly light to the Pope and synod participants, and to frustrate the plans of your enemies within the synod assembly. O Lord, look mercifully upon the little ones in the Church, look upon the hidden souls who sacrifice themselves for the Church, look upon all the tears, sighs and supplications of the true children of the Church, and through the merits of the Immaculate Heart of Your Most Holy Mother, arise, O Lord, and by Your intervention grant Your Church holy shepherds who, imitating Your example, will give their lives for You and Your sheep. O Lord, we beseech You: Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us a holy Pope, zealous in promoting and defending the Catholic Faith, we implore You, grant it! Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us holy and intrepid bishops, we implore You, grant it! Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us holy priests, who are men of God, we implore You, grant it! In You, O Lord, we rest our hope: let us never be put to shame. To You, O Lord Jesus Christ, be given all honour and glory in Your Holy Church. You live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit: God, forever and ever. Amen.
September 29, 2023
+ Athanasius Schneider
Prayer for the Triumph of the Catholic Faith
by VP
Posted on Thursday August 17, 2023 at 01:00AM in Prayers
"Almighty and eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we kneel before Your Majesty, and thank You from the depth of our soul for the inestimable gift of the Catholic Faith, which you have deigned to reveal to us through Jesus Christ, True God and True man. We received this divine light in holy baptism and have promised You to keep this faith inviolate until death.
Increase in us the gift of the Catholic Faith. By Your grace, may it be strengthened and made unshakeable. Daily increase in us the understanding of the beauty and profoundness of the Catholic Faith, that we might live in the deep joy of Your divine truth and be ready to sacrifice all things rather than compromise on or betray this faith. Grant us the grace to be resolved to undergo a thousand deaths for even one article of the Creed.
Graciously receive from us sinners an act of humble reparation for all the sins committed against the Catholic Faith by the laity and clergy, especially by high-ranking clergy who, contrary to the solemn promise they made at their Ordination to be teachers and defenders of the integrity of the Catholic Faith, have become champions of heresy, poisoning the flock entrusted to them and gravely offending the Divine Majesty of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Truth.
Grant us the grace to see all the events of our life, and the immense trials our Holy Mother Church is now undergoing, in the supernatural light of faith. May we believe that You will cause to arise from today’s vast spiritual desert a renewed flourishing of faith that will adorn the garden of the Church with new works of faith and give rise to a new age of faith.
We firmly believe that the Catholic Faith is the one true faith and religion, which you invite every person freely to embrace. Through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the destroyer of all heresies, and the great Martyrs and Confessors of the faith, may the Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith triumph again in the Church and the world, so that no soul may be lost but rather come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of mankind, and through a right faith and righteous life attain eternal beatitude in You, O Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. To You be given all honour and glory, for ever and ever. Amen."
+ Athanasius Schneider, Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of Saint Mary in Astana
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Friday June 16, 2023 at 12:12PM in Prayers
Sacred Heart, Raleigh
Most Sweet Jesus, whose overflowing
charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and
contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special
act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving
Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great
indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we
humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary
expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins
of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their
obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or,
renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke
of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage
committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the
manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and
behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the
innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the
shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also
to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy
priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or
terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very crimes of nations who resist the
rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood.
We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor,
the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the cross and
which Thou continuest to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union
with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and
of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make
recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect
of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the
past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of
conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and
especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to
prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to
follow Thee.
O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother,
our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make
of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep
us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee,
so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the
Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and
ever. Amen.
From the Raccolta, #256 (S. P. Ap., June 1, 1928 and March 18, 1932); Enchridion of Indulgences #26. This prayer was prescribed to be recited on this feast by Pope Pius XI
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
by VP
Posted on Friday June 09, 2023 at 04:48PM in Prayers
Sacred Heart, Brittany
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Most Sweet Jesus, whose overflowing
charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and
contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special
act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving
Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great
indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we
humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary
expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins
of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their
obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or,
renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke
of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage
committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the
manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and
behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the
innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the
shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also
to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy
priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or
terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very crimes of nations who resist the
rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood.
We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor,
the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the cross and
which Thou continuest to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union
with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and
of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make
recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect
of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the
past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of
conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and
especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to
prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to
follow Thee.
O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother,
our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make
of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep
us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee,
so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the
Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and
ever. Amen.
From
the Raccolta, #256 (S. P. Ap., June 1, 1928 and March 18, 1932);
Enchridion of Indulgences #26. This prayer was prescribed to be recited
on this feast by Pope Pius XI
Summer Ember Wednesday: Fortitude
by VP
Posted on Wednesday May 31, 2023 at 01:00AM in Prayers
Whit Wednesday: The Heart of Jesus Sending us the gift of fortitude
"He hath strengthened them that were fainting in patience." (Ecclus. xvii. 20.)
"Brethren, be strengthened in the Lord, and in the might of His power." (Eph. vi. 10.)
1st
Point.-St. Teresa has said that there is nothing the devil dreads so
much as a resolute soul. It is but saying, in other words, that there is
no gift so advantageous in our combats with him as the gift of
fortitude. Oh, how earnestly we should desire and pray for this gift!
Weak, irresolute, trembling souls are overcome even by the shadow of
danger, while the brave-hearted walk fearlessly on, and scarcely even
notice the lion in their path. But there is a natural hardihood, as
utterly opposed to this gift as timidity, and most souls are inclined to
either one extreme or the other. A few moments' careful examination
would show us to which we are most inclined, and consequently how we
should act so as to avoid the danger on either side. Perhaps the timid
and irresolute are safer than the bold and self-confident.
2nd
Point. Consider how the gift of fortitude strengthens us, first to do,
and secondly to suffer. There is scarcely an action in the day,
especially if we have been consecrated to God in religion, in which we
do not require to exercise the gift of fortitude. We need it in the
morning, when the summons to rise finds us weary and desirous of a
longer rest; we need it at office and meditation, when pleasant fancies
or reflections about coming occupations seem almost to insist on
occupying our thoughts; we need it when repugnances arise to this
employment or to that; we need it when obedience appoints a duty which
we do not relish, and when we see another appointed to an office or
occupation which we would naturally desire to fulfill; we need it-oh,
how often!-in the little daily trials of our calling, in the little
temptations more frequently than in the great ones, which all who are
striving in earnest after perfection must encounter. Oh, if we had more
fortitude, we should not only run but fly in the path of perfection, and
we should find the flying easier than the running, although it is this
very love of ease which we seek
to gratify, by not exerting ourselves to master the obstacles to this holy flight.
3rd
Point. Consider how the gift of fortitude enables us to suffer. There
are certain circumstances in which we need fortitude to enable us to
suffer, more than fortitude to enable us to act. When a trial has
pressed upon us for years, then we need fortitude to bear it bravely and
uncomplaining. When we are deprived for a length of time of all
spiritual consolation, and we neither enjoy God here or feel as if we
should enjoy Him hereafter, then indeed we require fortitude to enable
us to walk by faith, as if sight were granted to us. When we are
exhausted and wearied by constant labor or bodily infirmity, then we
need fortitude to work on through weariness, and in spite of it. Let us
consider well how much and how constantly we need this blessed gift,
that we may pray for it with an earnestness proportioned to our need.
Aspiration." In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped : let me never be confounded." (Ps. xxx. 1.)
Source: Meditations for Advent and Easter, p 272
Let us pray the Holy Spirit to enlighten our bishop in the choice of worthy candidates for the Holy Priesthood.
"On Ember days we pray and make sacrifices for ourselves, our families, the Church and the world."
We should never let these seasons pass without adding prayer to our fasts, or it may be compensating fast by prayer. Our prayer should be for the clergy, not only those ordained, though for them especially; but for the Sovereign Pontiff, the cardinals, bishops, parochial clergy, missionaries and religious orders, seminarians; and for the grace of vocation to the priesthood.
Brief Meditations for Pentecost Ember Days
Today is Ember Wednesday of the Summer or Pentecost Embertide. These Ember Days fall during the week after Pentecost (the traditional octave of Pentecost), near the summer solstice. The three focal points for the Ember Days of this period of the year are:
1) to ask God to bless especially the wheat harvest,
2) to thank God for the season of summer, and
3) to ask for special graces for those being ordained as priests during this season.
‘Originally the summer Ember Days served as a time of thanksgiving at the end of the wheat harvest in Mediterranean countries. The present (pre-1969) liturgy, only faintly suggests or alludes to harvest time; rather, wheat and harvest time are used as symbols of supernatural realities. For us wheat is the Eucharistic "Bread of Life", and the harvest is the that of souls reaped by the Holy Ghost. "The floors shall be filled with wheat, and the presses shall be filled with wheat, and the presses shall be filled with oil and wine (Lesson Ember Friday)
.
Ember week is a recognized time for spiritual renewal, an occasion to review the past as well as to scan the future. And during these days after Pentecost we can sense more easily the original import and the spirit of joyous gratitude proper to Ember week. Gratitude, not penance, should be the dominant Ember spirit. Even fasting can be an act of thanksgiving! Let us stress positive rather than negative values in our Christian life, cultivate the consciousness of being God's holy children rather than feel ourselves as outcasts and sinners.
Wednesday of Ember week is dedicated to Mary, it is a day of interior recollection. Friday is devoted to penance, while Saturday lays greatest stress on thanksgiving. Make a summary review today of the past quarter year. These three months, covering the Lenten and Paschal seasons, were certainly the most important segment of the Church's year of grace. What tremendous graces we received! But how did we use them? Are they producing fruit? Will there be a spiritual harvest?’ (The Church's Year of Grace by Pius Parsch 1953)
Prayers for Ember Days:
Listen, Almighty God, we beseech Thee, to the prayers which Thy universal Church offers to Thee at this time, beseeching Thy blessing on those who are about to be admitted to Thy Holy Service of the Altar, in particular on Deacon Nicolas Rapkoch. Give Thy grace to all who are called to any office and administration amongst Thy clergy, and so replenish them with the truth of Thy doctrine, and indue them with innocence of life, that they may faithfully serve Thee, to the glory of Thy great name and the benefit of Thy Holy Church. Amen
O
God, of Whose mercies there is no number, and of Whose goodness the
treasure is infinite, we humbly thank Thee for the gifts thou hast
bestowed upon us. Continue Thy mercy to us, and give us also so much of
Thy temporal blessings as Thou knowest to be for our good.
Grant that
the fruits of the earth may, by Thy holy favor, increase and multiply.
Defend them from all drought, frosts or tempests, or whatever else may
be hurtful to them. It is from Thy hand only that we look for succor,
and to Thee we have recourse in all our necessities. Amen.
Source: St. John's Manual 1856, Archbishop of New York John J. Hugues
Hymns, readings and prayers for this Whit Embertide:
Hymns: Veni, Sancte Spiritus (Come, Thou Holy Spiritus, come)
Veni, Creator Spiritus, (Come Holy Spirit, Creator Blest)
Readings: Ember Wednesday: Acts of the Apostles, 2. 14-21; Acts of the Apostles, 5. 12-16; St. John, 6. 44-52
Prayers:
An excellent prayer for this purpose is the Litany of the Saints, in which so many bishops, priests, and levites are invoked; or the Rosary may be appropriately said, grouping those for whom we pray into five classes (Pope, Cardinals, Bishops, Priests, and Seminarians), corresponding to the five decades.
Litany to Obtain Holy Priests
Source: Ember Days (Cure d'Ars Prayer Group)
May 15th: Rogations
by VP
Posted on Monday May 15, 2023 at 01:00AM in Prayers
Saint Pope John Paul II reintroduced Rogations Days as permitted observations.
Source: Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals ..., Volume 1 By J. Gordon Melton
"Persecuted by her enemies, decimated by the martyrdom of her children, afflicted by numerous apostasies from the Faith, and deprived of every human aid, the Church will know that the terrible chastisement is at hand, for prayer will then be as rare as faith. Let us, therefore,
pray that the day of wrath may be put off, the Christian life regain something of its ancient vigor, and the end of the world be not in our times. There are Catholics in every part of the world, but their number has been visibly decreased by war and persecution. Heresy is in possession
of whole countries that were once faithful to the Church; in others, religious indifference has infected many Catholics whose Catholicity is but a name. Among others, the old honesty and adherence to the teachings of the Church has been weakened by loose ideas and half-formed convictions.
A man is popular in proportion to the concessions he makes in favor of principles condemned by the Church. The sentiments and actions of the saints, the conduct and teaching of the Church, are labeled as exaggeration and decried as being unsuited to our times. The search after comforts has become a serious study; the thirst for earthly goods is a noble passion; independence is an idol to which everything must be sacrificed; submission is a humiliation which must be got rid of, or, where than cannot be, it must bot be publicly acknowledged. Finally, there is sensualism, which, like an impure atmosphere, so impregnates every class of society that it has become evident that there is a league formed to abolish the Cross of Christ from the minds of men.
What miseries must not follow from this systematic setting aside of the conditions imposed by God upon His creatures? If the Gospel be the Word of Infinite Truth, how can men oppose it without drawing upon themselves the severest chastisements? Would that these chastisements might work the salvation of them that have provoked them! Let us humble ourselves before the sovereign holiness of God, and confess our own guilt. The sins of men are increasing both in number and in enormity. The picture we have just drawn is sad enough. What would it have been, had we added such abominations as downright impiety, corrupt doctrines which are being actively propagated throughout the world? dealings with Satan, which threaten to degrade our age to the level of pagan times? The conspiracy organized against order, justice, and religion by secret societies and their agents? Oh,let us unite our prayer with that of Holy Church, and say to God: From Thy wrath,deliver us, O Lord!
Besides this purpose of averting the Divine anger, the Rogation Days were instituted to beg our Heavenly Father to bless the fruits of the earth. We must beseech Him with all earthnestness of public prayer to "give us our daily bread." "The eyes of all," say the Psalmist, "hope in
Thee, O Lord; and Thou givest them food in due season. Thou openest Thy hand and fillest with blessing every living creature." (Ps. 144: 15,16). In accordance with the consoling doctrine conveyed by these words, the Church prays to God that He would this year give to all living
creatures on earth the food they stand in need of. She acknowledges that we are not worthy of the favor, for we are sinners. Let us unite with her in this humble confession, but at the same time let us join her in beseeching Our Lord to make mercy triumph over justice.
How easily could God frustrate the self-conceited hopes and the clever systems of men! They own that all depends on the weather; but on whom does that depend? They cannot do without God. True, they seldom speak of Him, and He permits Himself to be forgotten by them; but He "neither sleepeth not slumbereth, that keepeth Israel" (Ps. 120:4). He has but to withhold His blessing, and all progress in agricultural science, whereby men boast to have made famine an impossibility, is of no effect. Some unknown disease comes upon a vegetable; it causes distress among the people, and endangers the social order of the world that has secularized itself from the Christian law and would at once perish but for the mercy of God, which it affects to ignore.
If, then our Heavenly Father deign, this year, to bless the fruits of the earth, we may say, in all truth, that He gives food to them that forget and blaspheme Him, as well as to those that make Him the great object of their thoughts and of their service. Men of no religion will profit by
this blessing, but they will not acknowledge it to be His; they will proclaim more loudly than ever that nature's laws are now so well regulated by modern science that she cannot help going on well. God will be silent, and will feed the men who thus insult Him.
But why does He not speak? Why does He not make His wrath felt? Because His Church has prayed; because He has found the ten just men (Gen. 18:32), that is, the few for whose sake He mercifully consents to spare the world. he therefore permits these learned economists, whom He could so easily disconcert, to go on talking and writing. Thanks to His patience, some of them will grow tired of their impious
absurdity; and unexpected circumstance will open their eyes to the truth, and they will one day join us both in faith and in prayer. Others will go deeper and deeper into blasphemy; they will go on to the last, defying God's justice, and fulfilling in themselves that terrible saying of Holy Scripture: "The Lord hath made all things for Himself; the wicked also for the evil day" (Prov. 16:4)
We, who glory in the simplicity of our faith, who acknowledge that we have all from God and nothing from ourselves, who confess that we are sinners and undeserving of His gifts, will ask Him, during these three days, to give us the food we require. We will say to Him with Mother Church: That Thou vouchsafe to five and preserve the fruits of the earth, We beseech Thee, hear us! May He have pity on us in our necessities! Next year, we will return to Him with the same earnest request. We will march, under the standard of the Cross, through the same ways, making the air resound with all the greater confidence at the thought that our Mother is marshaling her children in every part
of Christendom in this solemn and suppliant procession.
For thirteen hundred years our God has been accustomed to receive the petitions of His faithful people at this season of the year. He shall have the same homage from us, ans we will endeavor, by the fervor of our prayer, to make amends for the indifference and ignorance which are combining to do away with old Catholic customs, which our forefathers prized and loved."
Source: The Liturgical Year Abbot Gueranger OSB (The Tabernacle and Purgatory, Benedictine Nuns 1959)
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament (May 13th)
by VP
Posted on Saturday May 13, 2023 at 11:17AM in Prayers
Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, St. Anthony of Padua, NC
O Virgin Mary, Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, glory of the Christian people, joy of the universal Church, salvation of the world, pray for us, and awaken anew among the faithful the devotion toward the Most Holy Eucharist, so that they may be rendered worthy to receive It daily.
"Devotion to Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament
We invoke the Immaculate Virgin, Mother of Jesus, and our tender Mother, under the title of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, because she is the Mother of the Savior, Who lives in the Eucharist, and because it is from her that he takes the flesh and blood with which He nourishes us; because, moreover, she is the sovereign dispenser of all grace, and consequently of those graces contained in the august Sacrament; and, finally, because she was the first to practice the duties of the Eucharistic life, showing us by her example how to assist becomingly at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, how to communicate worthily, and to visit the Most Blessed Sacrament frequently and with piety.
The Cardinal-Vicar has graciously granted leave to the Sons of the Venerable Père Eymard- the Fathers of the Blessed Sacrament- to erect in their church of San Claudio, Rome, a chapel and an altar in honor of Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, and to have her picture publicly exposed to the veneration of the faithful. May this example be followed in America; let us hope that ere long many new altars and shrines shall be dedicated to Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament. ( From Emmanuel, May, 1910.)
Public domain
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Prayer to Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament
O MARY, Sweet Mother of Jesus and our own tender mother, we love to call you Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, because you were the first tabernacle of the Most High and the first adorer of Our Lord and Savior. You have, indeed, given us the Blessed Eucharist. It was your "fiat," your acquiescence in the Incarnation of the Son of God the Divine Word - that began the great mystery of the union with us which Jesus accomplished during His mortal life, and which He continues in the Holy Eucharist. And after Our Lord's ascension into heaven, you became the model and mother of all adorers of Jesus in the Tabernacle by adoring and serving Him with loving assiduity.
Pray for us who have recourse to you, that we may love Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist ever more and more with a love like that which inflamed your own immaculate Heart, O Mary, so that we may seek in all things His pleasure and His glory, and may daily grow more like to Him, and thus be able to exclaim with the burning heart of the great apostle, St. Paul: I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.
It is your mission, dear Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, to form Jesus in His adorers. Dying for love of us, He, in His agony on the cross, bequeathed you to us as our mother, and confided us to your maternal care; help us, then, to be more devoted to Him in the sacrament of His love; help us to show our love for Him by striving to draw others to the love of His sacred Heart, and by our constant efforts to imitate His meekness, humility, and patience, His poverty, obedience, and purity, His boundless and all-embracing charity, and, indeed, all those virtues which He taught us in His mortal life from Bethlehem to Calvary, and of which He continues to give us an example in His Eucharistic life upon the Altar. May His Kingdom be established in the whole world; may He live and rule in all hearts. Blessed and praised every moment be the most holy and divine Sacrament. Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us pray that we who now adore and love Jesus here below under the veil of the sacred species, may one day have the joy to behold Him in His unveiled beauty in the realms above, and to sing His praises with the angels and the saints, and above all with you, dear Mother, in eternal tabernacles. Amen." With God: A Book of Prayers and Reflections Father Lasance
