Saint Joseph The Worker
by VP
Posted on Thursday May 01, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
Prayer to St. Joseph Patron and Protector of the Universal Church
Blessed be the Divine Providence of God,
who in this age of trials has appointed the great St. Joseph Patron of
the Universal Church. Infinite praise, honor, glory and thanksgiving, at
every moment, from every creature, and for all eternity, be to Jesus,
who is ever with His Church, and protects her in every trial and in
every necessity.
Foster-father Joseph, our guide, protect us and holy Church.
O most holy Patriarch St. Joseph, ever protect the holy Church of Jesus;
humble her enemies, confound their wisdom, and defeat their plots. O
great St. Joseph! obtain from Jesus, for His Church, holy Popes, holy
prelates, holy priests, and holy religious. Amen. Very Rev. Archdeacon Thomas Kinane
May 1, 1955 Pope Pius XII : "Yes, beloved workers, the Pope and the Church cannot withdraw from the divine mission of guiding, protecting, and loving especially the suffering, who are all the more dear the more they are in need of defence and help, whether they be workers or other children of the people.This duty and obligation We, the Vicar of Christ, desire to declare again clearly here on this first day of May, which the world of labor has claimed for itself as its own proper feast day. We intend that all may recognize the dignity of labor, and that this dignity may be the motive in founding the social order and the law founded on the equitable distribution of rights and duties. Acclaimed in this way by Christian workers and having received, as it were, Christian baptism, the first of May - far from being an incitation to discord, hate, and violence - is and will be a recurring invitation to modern society to accomplish what is still lacking for social peace; a Christian feast, therefore, that is a day of rejoicing for the concrete and progressive triumph of the Christian ideals of the great family of all who labor.
In order that this meaning may remain in your minds and that in some way We may make an immediate return for the many and precious gifts brought to Us from all parts of Italy, We are happy to announce to you Our determination to institute-as We in fact do now institute the liturgical feast of St. Joseph the Worker, assigning it to the first day of May. Are you pleased with this Our gift, beloved workers? We are certain that you are, because the humble workman of Nazareth not only personifies before God and the Church the dignity of the man who works with his hands, but he is always the provident guardian of you and your families."
"From the very Beginning, for great work, the Almighty has usually selected weak instruments to carry out His designs; and hence the candid observer must attribute the success, not to human wisdom or power, but to God alone. In this spirit the Redeemer chose for the first preachers of His Gospel twelve fishermen, without leaning, power, eloquence, or wealth; and their mission was to storm the citadel of paganism, to refute the most learned, eloquent, and subtle philosophers, and to proclaim to a sensual, selfish, and proud world the hard doctrines of chastity, self-denial, and humility. To set the world on fire with the love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, God chose Margaret Mary, a weak, timid nun, hidden and buried in her cloister at Paray-le-Monial. To give examples would be to write the history of the Church; to narrate the spread of the Gospel in every country, to describe the origin and progress of every new Devotion; and to record the battles and victories of the Church in every age, over heresy, sin, and schism. In all great works, as St. Paul says, "the foolish things of the world hath God chosen that He may confound the wise, and the weak things of the world hath God chosen that He may confound the strong. And the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible hath God chosen, and things that are not, that He might bring to nought things that are. That no flesh should glory in His sight." (1 Cor. i.27).
Signal and speedy, no doubt, will be the victories of the Church in these her days of sore and bitter trials and persecutions; since God in His infinite wisdom has given her St. Joseph as a Protector and Patron.
As St.
Joseph guarded Jesus in His Divine Infancy, from the hands of His
enemies, so will our great Saint protect the Church, the Spouse of
Jesus, from her adversaries.
To an age in revolt against lawful
authority, and puffed up with a spirit of independence and inquiry, the
Church holds up St. Joseph as a model of perfect obedience and
resignation, without murmur or hesitation, to God's holy will. To an age
devoured by love of wealth and riches, St. Joseph is a model of holy
poverty, ministering with joy and happiness to the wants of Jesus and
Mary, by the labour of his hands. To an age corrupt and wallowing in
sensual pleasures, the Church presents St. Joseph as a model of perfect
continency and holy purity. To an age enslaved by ambition for honours,
applause, glory, and high station, the Church presents St. Joseph, the
noble descendant of the royal house of David, hidden and unknown, as well
as happy and contented, in his workshop at Nazareth. To all Christians
St. Joseph is a perfect model of simple faith in the most sublime
mysteries; of prompt obedience to the calls of Divine Providence; of
perfect resignation in all things to God's holy will; of immaculate
purity of souls and body; of a laborious and holy life; and of a happy
death in the arms of Jesus and Mary. "Foster-father Joseph, our guide, protect us and the holy Church." Source: St. Joseph : his life, his virtues, his privileges, his power : a month of March in his honour by Very Rev. Archdeacon Thomas Kinane, 1884.
Saint Peregrine of Laziosi, Servite (1265-1345)
by VP
Posted on Thursday May 01, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
St. Peregrine by Giacomo Zampa
"St. Peregrine Laziosi was born at Forli, on the first of May, 1265. In his youth he proved a noble and valiant knight, but a fierce enemy of the Church and the Pope. As his townsmen rebelled against the Pope, he became one of the boldest leaders of the revolution. But the Blessed Virgin to whom, notwithstanding his evil-doing, he had ever preserved a special devotion, watched over him.
It happened that St. Philip Benizi, the fifth General of the Order of the Servants of Mary, came to Forli at the command of the Sovereign Pontiff, to bring back that city to the obedience of the Holy See. But this dutiful son of the Church was cruelly treated by the rebels. Peregrine, more daring than the rest, not only insulted St. Philip, but even went so far as to strike him. But this great Saint meekly bore the injury and, in imitation of St. Stephen the first holy martyr, prayed fervently for his persecutors.
At the sight of so genuine a humility and charity, Peregrine, overcome with grief, ran in search of the Saint whom he had offended and humbly asked his pardon. St. Philip received the lowly penitent and assured him of pardon. He then exhorted him to change his life and to place himself under the protection of the most holy Mother of God, the better to carry out his good resolutions.
Henceforth Peregrine was changed into another man; but as he did not know what state of life he ought to embrace, he prayed fervently to Our Lady that she would herself deign to direct his steps in the way that God willed. The divine Mother heard his entreaties, and one day, as he was praying before her statue, she said to him: "Go to Siena to my Servants and there thou shalt find the way of salvation." Peregrine obeyed and, going out of the city, he found a young man dressed as a traveler, who offered himself as guide. When they arrived in Siena at the door of the Servite monastery, the young man suddenly disappeared, and Peregrine knew that he was an angel sent to guide him on his way.
The penitent received the Servite habit from the hand of St. Philip himself. Together with this outward habit, he also appeared clothed with the spirit of religious perfection. So great was his penance, that for thirty years he was not seen to sit down. His patience also in bearing infirmities was truly extraordinary, so that never a word of complaint was heard to come from his lips. Finally he died full of merits on the first of May, 1345, at the advanced age of eighty years." The Fairest Flower of Paradise: Considerations on the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary By Abbé Alexis Henri Marie Lépicier 1922
From the Breviary
GREAT the virtues which he showed,
He whose brow with glory glowed
When God's Mother gave him grace
'Mid her own to find his place.
To the Cross he firmly clung,
Wept the wounds that Jesus wrung;
Mary's sorrows fired his heart
Till he shared her bitter smart.
Herald he of words that win
Hardened sinners back from sin;
Robber bands he drew by love,
Suppliants of Heaven above.
Did the poor his bounty crave?
Largess beyond hope he gave ;
For as once at Jesus' touch
Scanty food was turned to much.
He, whatever pains oppressed,
Never laid him down to rest;
Standing, fasting, worked for God,
Bruised his body with the rod.
When his limb in peril stood,
Christ in pity from the Rood
Reached His hand, and all the wound
Healed, the flesh grew sweet and sound.
Glory, laud, and honour be
To Three in One and One in Three :
May His Servant aid to bring
Us to heaven to see the King.
#14 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind [Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament]
by VP
Posted on Thursday May 01, 2025 at 12:00AM in Thursday Reparation
14. We adore Thee, most loving Shepherd, pattern of true charity! And to make reparation for the designs of revenge, conceived in defiance of Thy divine prohibitions, we offer up to Thee the patience and prayers of the Martyrs in favor of their persecutors. Eternal praise and thanksgiving be to the Most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament.
O Queen of heaven and earth, hope of mankind, who adores thy Divine Son incessantly! We entreat thee, that, since we have the honor to be of the number of thy children, thou would interest thyself in our behalf and make satisfaction for us, and in our name, to our Eternal Judge, by rendering to Him the duties which we ourselves are incapable of performing. Amen
Month of May: Blessed Virgin Mary
by VP
Posted on Thursday May 01, 2025 at 12:00AM in Tradition
May: Month of the Blessed Virgin Mary
Virtue: Meekness
Our Lady of North Carolina, Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Downton RaleighNC
Our Lady of North Carolina (authored by CAPG)
Our
Lady of North Carolina, increase the ranks of our priests by inspiring
our young men to be more generous in their response to serve Our
Blessed Lord in the priesthood and in religious life. Amen.
