Tu Es Sacerdos in Aeternum
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 27, 2025 at 12:00AM in Poetry
(Written for a Sacerdotal Jubilee.)
____________
By Rev. H.T. Henry, Litt.D.
____________
“Thou art a Priest forever,”
To offer bread and wine—
A mystic King of Salem
At great Jehovah’s shrine:
Melchizedek prefigured
Thy Priesthood more divine,
That fills the empty Symbol,
And deifies the Sign!
For God lies on thy Altar
Beneath the veils of Bread;
The Wine thy Chalice lifteth
Is Precious Blood instead;
Thou offerest the Victim,
And lo! from Heaven are shed
God’s graces on the living,
His mercies on the dead.
How oft that Cup was lifted
Thy flock from hell to save!
How oft that Bread of Angels
Thy hand anointed gave!
How oft thy mighty blessing
Released the demon’s slave,
And thy last benediction
Made sweet the dreaded grave!
Who then shall tell the story
The court of Heaven hears?
How oft this wondrous Priesthood
Through five and twenty years
Hath spurred the saintly onward
And calmed their pressing fears,
Or sweetly drawn from sinners
A flood of saving tears?
O mightier thy power
Than earthly kings may claim:
More splendorous thy glory
Than Seer’s or Sage’s name:
Who canst, with lip of human,
God’s word of pardon frame,
That lifts from hopeless sinners
An everlasting shame!
To-day with joy thy people
The silver chaplet see
That crowns an epoch rounded
Of fruitful ministry:
O may the praise they utter
A mystic presage be
Of the unending triumph
In Heaven’s Jubilee—
Where thou, “a Priest forever,”
Shalt see no more the Sign:
The fat of wheaten harvest,
The ferment of the vine;
Shalt see no more the Symbols
Of lowly Bread and Wine,
But face to face the Victim
In the New Salem’s shrine!
Source: Eucharistica
Verse and Prose in Honour of the Hidden God H. T. Henry, Litt.D.
The Dolphin Press (Philadelphia: 1912) pp. 32-33.
Novena for Priests to St. John Vianney Day 2
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 27, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Full of Zeal for Souls O holy Priest of Ars, you
taught men to pray daily: O my God,
come to me, so that You may dwell in me and I may dwell in You. Your
life was the very living out of
this prayer. The divine life of grace abided in you. Your zeal for the
salvation of souls was manifested
by your total self-surrender to God, which was expressed in your
selfless service to others. You gave of yourself unreservedly in the
confessional, at the altar, in the classroom, in fact, in every action
you performed.
O great St. John Vianney, obtain for Father ___
the realization that God also dwells in him when he is free of sin.
Remind him that the salvation of his soul is the fulfillment of his
existence. Awaken in him a sense of self-giving for the salvation of
souls. Obtain for Father ___ , by your intercession, a zeal for souls
like your zeal. May he see that God dwells in him and in his fellow men.
Obtain for him from our Lord the grace to lead all men to salvation.
Let your prayer be his: If you really love God, you will greatly desire
to see Him loved by all the world.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you loved God and served
Him faithfully as
His Priest. Now you see God face to face in heaven. You never despaired
but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him serenity
in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John Vianney, I
have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
THE PROMISE OF SALVATION
by VP
Posted on Sunday July 27, 2025 at 12:00AM in Sunday Sermons
"The grace of God, life everlasting." -Rom. vi. 23.
1. The value of a promise.
2. What is this promise ?
3. It has been made to us by God.
4. Can we not promise in return to merit its fulfilment ?
A PROMISE made to us is an attraction that enkindles hope and leads us to make endeavour. But how often have we been promised and have been disappointed! Or again, promises have been made, but the conditions have not been fulfilled, and there is no result. So a promise on which we can build our hopes, and which may urge us on to do our utmost, must be made by one whom we can trust, by one who has power to fulfil it; and it must be a promise of something well worth gaining. The greater the good that is offered, the more the promise is to be prized. And finally, the condition or the conditions imposed must be within our power of fulfilment.
Then what is the promise that the text alludes to ? Life everlasting! We have it plain and unequivocal in Holy Writ: "And this is the promise which God hath promised us--life everlasting" (I John ii. 25). Test this promise, and see how wholeheartedly we can trust to it. First, it is the promise of one in whom we may confide--the God of Truth. Again, it is the promise of one who has the power to fulfil it--the Almighty. And it is a promise of infinite value, that will last for all eternity, without fail or change-life everlasting, which is the blessed vision of God and the participation in His glory and beatitude.
And how is this promise to be fulfilled? By our divine Saviour, Jesus Christ. Witness the inspired words of God in the Scriptures: "According to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus" (2 Tim. i. 1); and again, "God according to His promise hath raised up to Israel a Saviour, Jesus" (Acts xiii. 23). For all the promises of God are in Him" (2 Cor. i. 20).
The Son of God, Jesus Christ, became Man and lived amongst us, showed us by example and taught us the way of salvation; He redeemed us by His sacred Passion and Death; He instituted His Church to be our guide and our safeguard, and made it infallible and imperishable by the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. He instituted the Sacraments, and specially the Holy Eucharist, through which we might receive grace and nourishment and strength. All this to prove to us that the promise was efficacious and alive with power. Moreover, that the promise might always be before our minds, illuminating, filling them with hope, inflaming our souls to venture all, to do their utmost, His divine Presence dwells amongst us. In every church He has made His abode to dwell amidst the children of men.
All this is held out to us, and given to us by the promise of God through Jesus Christ our Lord. Can it be that this gracious and glorious promise has really been made to us? Look around: does mankind seem to believe it and understand it? That life everlasting is promised, is guaranteed to them? Is it their one thought, engrossing all their attention, inspiring their actions, their zeal? If life everlasting is promised us, can it be possible that the desire of money, position, comfort, or anything in this fleeting world can occupy our attention, can preoccupy our thoughts so entirely that we utterly disregard and forget this promise of Almighty God?
Perhaps the condition to be fulfilled to gain the reward of the promise is entirely beyond our powers and our hopes. Can we believe for a moment that the just and faithful God would treat us so? No; according to His promise He has raised up a Saviour; so it is through Him, our Saviour Himself, that we can surely fulfil the conditions to make the promise effective. He is ready and longing to give us both the will and the power to do His blessed Will; for that is the condition--we must obey Him and do His holy Will, then there is eternal life for our reward. The Church prays: " O Almighty and eternal God, grant us an increase of faith, hope, and charity, and that we may deserve to obtain what Thou promisest, make us love what Thou commandest." It is because we have not the faith or hope in our hearts to cling to His promise that we have not the love to venture all in striving to gain "life everlasting."
God has promised us so much; cannot we find in our hearts to promise Him in return our obedience, our loyalty, our love? Let us not be smitten by the glamour of the vain promises of the world, so as to give our time, our activity, our souls to seek to gain them. Rather with the faith of St. Peter, let us cry out: "Lord, Thou hast the words of life to whom shall we go?" Aye, indeed, to whom shall we go, when we feel that this short life is drawing to a close, when death is drawing nigh? What promises will avail us then, except the one divine promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord ?
Everything will slip from our grasp then; we shall have to leave and part from all. What consolation will it then be, that we have trusted in the promise of God -the faithful God- Who will give us life everlasting through His Son, our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! ( Short Sermons on the Epistles & Gospels of the Sundays of the Year By Fr. Francis Paulinus Hickey O.S.B. 7th Sunday after Pentecost)
Novena for Priests to the Cure d'Ars Day 1
by VP
Posted on Saturday July 26, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
St. John Vianney, Holy Name of Jesus Cathedral, Raleigh NC
St.
John Vianney, Who Accepted the Cross, O holy priest of Ars, as a young
seminarian you encountered many obstacles on the road to the Priesthood,
but you realized that to suffer was to suffer with Christ on Calvary,
and so, if following our Lord meant taking up His cross, you lovingly
embraced it. Your motto in life became loving while suffering and
suffering in order to love. You did not get discouraged, but your strong
faith united you closer to Jesus every day of your life.
Oh great St. John Vianney, you know what is needed for Father ___ʼs
salvation: a strong faith able to accept the will of God in all things.
To serve Christ, he too must take up his cross and follow Him. By your
prayers, obtain for him a heart full of courage and strength. Obtain for
Father ___ that same courage and strength to follow Jesus
wholeheartedly even if it means following Him to Calvary.
Intercede for him before the Lord that he may do the will of God, obey
the commandments, and loyally love the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Novena Prayer:
O holy Priest of Ars, St. John Marie Vianney, you
loved God and served Him faithfully as His Priest. Now you see God face
to face in heaven. You never despaired but persevered in your faith
until you died. Remember now the dangers, fears and anxieties that
surround Father ___ and intercede for him in all his needs and troubles
especially console him in his most difficult moments, grant him
serenity in the midst of crisis, and protect him from evil. O St. John
Vianney, I have confidence in your intercession.
Pray for Father ___ in a special way during this novena.
Source: Cure d'Ars Prayer Group
St. Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin
by VP
Posted on Saturday July 26, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"She was mother of the Blessed Virgin. Admire those virtues by which she was qualified to be the mother of such a blessing; and pray for a large portion of the same, which may recommend you to the favour of heaven.
She was blessed with this happy fruit, after many years of barrenness. Raise up your hope, and be not discouraged at whatever happens. God often defers his help, to render his providence more adorable, and to recompense your patience with greater blessings.
St. Ann was the mother of a family. Pray for all in that state, that God would give them the spirit of discretion and patience, to be faithful in all duties, and to work out their salvation through all their difficulties.
Almighty God having mercifully provided all states with examples among the saints for their encouragement and direction; but the state of marriage having the fewest of all in the Christian calendar; this ought to awaken all of that state to make them fearful, that either their difficulties and dangers are more than ordinary, or that those who are engaged in it are more careless in the concern of salvation than other Christians. There is probably something of both that their difficulties are greater, and their care less and this may have been some motive to the Church to appoint this festival in charity to them. She probably wished that as Christians of all other states in the frequent return of holidays, have so many examples and encouragements to virtue, so these might have their day too, wherein to examine themselves, to ask all necessary helps, and be incited to a holy emulation of the saint whom they honour.
The first difficulty belonging to the state of marriage is in preparing for it. For it being a solemn sacrament, signifying the union of Christ and his Church, it is to be esteemed a holy state; and none ought to engage in it but with holy dispositions. Upon these terms only may those who contract marriage, expect the blessing of heaven. But there being very few who are not carried on either by sensuality, or the violence of blind passion, or the consideration of interest or humour, what wonder is it that blessings do not attend them?
There is afterwards a great difficulty. For when the first passion is abated, if it be not succeeded by a true Christian love, it is almost impossible to satisfy the obligations of this state, in bearing with one another as the apostle commands. So that if Christians that are married, either do not really love, or have not virtue to answer all the effects of love, their life must be a life of sin.
If we add to this, the difficulties belonging to that state, in the care of children; in their education, so as to avoid the two extremes of immoderate fondness, and neglect, and then in disposing of them, so as to provide for their temporal and eternal good. Then the duties towards servants, in which there may be many criminal omissions. Then the great solicitude in family concerns, which in many runs too easily into excess. There appears so many great duties in this state, on one side, and so many difficulties and dangers on the other, that no condition seems to require greater virtue to go through it well. Patience, humility, moderation, courage, longanimity, discretion, and all the gifts of the Holy Ghost, are here necessary. So that as they are guilty of great rashness who engage in it without due preparation, and obliging heaven to direct them in their choice, and fit them for all its difficulties; so it must be as great neglect in those, who having experienced the weight of what they have undertaken, omit this day to importune heaven for all necessary helps, whereby they may be enabled to perform all its duties, and not be hindered by its endless perplexities from securing their eternal salvation." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother.
Prayer to Sainte Anne (To obtain some special favor)
O GLORIOUS St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke thee and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at thy feet and humbly beg of thee to take V the present affair which I commend to thee under thy special protection . [State your petition.]
Vouchsafe to commend it to thy daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy outcome. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and, with thee and Mary and all the Saints, praising and blessing Him for all eternity. Amen.
Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. [Three times.]
Saint James the Great, Apostle
by VP
Posted on Friday July 25, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Guido Reni: Saint James the Greater
"He was an apostle and brother of St. John the Evangelist; who being among the first called by Christ, left his father and nets, and followed him. Pray for all, those, who succeed in his holy function, that they may truly renounce the love of the world, and follow Christ. Having preached the Gospel in many places, he was at length condemned by Herod Agrippa, and beheaded at Jerusalem, being the first of the apostles that gave his life for Christ. Pray for all that suffer for their faith, and beg grace, that you may rather submit to all extremities and death, than deny Christ, or His truths.
His body was translated to Compostella, in Spain, where it has been ever since kept with great veneration, and visited by Christians from all parts of the world. Praise and honour God in His saints: let the memory of their sufferings excite in you a zeal like theirs. Pray for all those pious pilgrims, who for this end undertake their laborious journeys, that God would comfort them, and be the reward of their labours.
Christ, in choosing fishermen to be his apostles, and by their means converting the world to his faith, has abundantly demonstrated that this has not been the work of human wisdom, eloquence, or power, but only of His grace and truth. In this He has also taught His followers, how great confidence they ought to have in His assistance, in whatever they under take; and that for their success, they are ever to depend on Him. It is an instruction to all faithful souls, with what courage they ought to go on in the work of their salvation. It is a task of very great difficulty, which they have undertaken, to master themselves, to stand against the corruption of the world, and defend themselves against all the snares of a powerful and subtle enemy. This difficulty is increased by the consideration of their own weakness; which, compared with the great work which they have to do, seems enough to draw on dejection and despair. But how great a remedy have all Christians against these discouraging temptations, by looking on the apostles, and comparing the immense difficulties of their task of converting an idolatrous and wicked world, with the infirmities and slender abilities of those who were to undertake it. Is there not in this sufficient motive for all to go on with resolution, and a confidence in the divine assistance? They were all men as we are, subject to the same weakness and passions. But our work is nothing, if compared to theirs. They had the whole world on their hands we have generally but one to take care of. We have principles of faith, and education already laid they found all contrary in those to whom they were sent. We have only the opposition of a corrupt nature: and they had the power and interest of earth and hell to stand against them, armed with all the terrors which malice and cruelty could invent. And yet, did not they go on with courage? Were not they every where victorious, in rescuing so many nations from the tyranny of hell, and subjecting them to the faith of Christ? And cannot you, dear Christian, have hopes that God will carry you on with success in your little work. Have you not the same God to help you? His power is the same; His goodness is the same; His arm is not shortened; and His infinite truth, which cannot fail, is still engaged to help all those that put their trust in him. Be faithful then in your endeavours; benot tired with your labour; let no difficulties, or seeming delays discourage you; but place your whole confidence in God; for they cannot fail of His help, who lose not their hopes in Him.
Give to all thy faithful, O God, a true sense of the work which they have to do; that by a watchful and laborious diligence they may put themselves in dispositions of obtaining thy help, without which they must certainly perish."The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Prayer: O Glorious Apostle, Saint James, who by reason of thy fervent and generous heart wast chosen by Jesus to be a witness of His glory on Mount Thabor, and of His agony in Gethsemane; thou, whose very name is a symbol of warfare and victory: obtain for us strength and consolation in the unending warfare of this life, that, having constantly and generously followed Jesus, we may be victors in the strife and deserve to receive the victor's crown in Heaven. Amen
St. Alexius, Confessor, A.D. 410.
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 24, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
"This saint is a perfect model of the most generous contempt of the world. Whilst yet a child, not content to give all he could, he left nothing unattempted for the relief of all in distress. Fearing lest temporal honours might draw his heart too much from those objects which alone are noble and great, he entertained thoughts of renouncing the advantages of his birth, and retiring from the more dangerous part of the world. In disguise he travelled into a distant country. embraced extreme poverty, and resided in a hut adjoining to a Church dedicated to the Holy Mother of God. Being, after some time, discovered to be a stranger of distinction, he returned home; and being received as a poor pilgrim, lived seventeen years unknown in his father's house, bearing the contumely and ill treatment of the servants with invincible patience and silence. A little before he died, he by a letter discovered himself to his parents. In this saint, all those who have retired from the world may see the advantage of their choice; especially, if with his desire of inward peace, they are solicitous to cut off, as much as possible, all conversation with it. What a strange blindness it is, for men to have time given them to prepare their souls for the eternal possession of God, and to consume this time in seeking this world instead of him!
Pray for the spirit of purity, and beseech God to give you a clean heart. Be careful to avoid whatever may be prejudicial to it. Keep a guard on your eyes and tongue, and expose not yourself to dangers. Examine your weakness in this particular; resolve upon using the means
necessary for your security, and having begged pardon for past
failings, beseech God to strengthen you in all temptations. This you
have reason to hope for in such as occasionally happen; but if you
expose yourself to them, you tempt God to forsake you."The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother
Saint Lupus, Bishop
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 24, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
French furniture patrimony of the French ministry of culture, under the reference PM35002875.
The Guardianship of God:
There is no protection comparable with that of God and his Saints; the
life of St. Lupus, bishop of Troyes, is about to afford us an example
thereof. Lupus had been raised, despite all opposition on his part, and
by reason of his sanctity, to the see of Troyes. He had been directed by
the bishop of Gaul to proceed in company with St. Germain of Auxerre to
England, in order to combat the Pelagian heresy,
and had the glory of entirely uprooting it there. Having returned to
his diocese, he was surprised in the midst of his apostolic labors by
the invasion of Attila. Thrace, Syria, and Greece, had been laid waste;
Rheims, Cambrai, Besancon, Auxerre, and Langres were merely heaps of
ruin; the turn of the town of Troyes had come. Lupus prayed himself, and
got his people to pray during three days and three nights; he placed
his flock under the protection of God, and went forward to meet the
ferocious conqueror. "I am the scourge of God!" said the king of the
Huns, "and am come to destroy you." "Beware!" replied the bishop; "God
crushes the instruments He has made use of." Attila, astonished at such
boldness, turned his army aside from its onward march, and was defeated
in the plains of Mery. St. Lupus died in 478.
Moral reflection: "God is wonderful in His saints, and will give power and strength to His people." (Psalm LXVII. 36)
Source: Pictorial half hours with the saints, Abbe Auguste François Lecanu
#1 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 24, 2025 at 12:00AM in Thursday Reparation
1. Jesus, our Lord and our God, ever adorable! Oh, that we could be present in all the churches throughout the universe, where thou art not adored as thou oughtest to be, and where thy inflamed love is not repaid with gratitude worthy of thy majesty! We fly, at least in spirit, to these holy places now profaned, and offer on thy altars there, the fervent love and adoration of thy holy Mother, in compensation for the injuries ever done thee by the Jews, by heretics, and bad Christians. 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
Source: CAPG
Saint Charbel Makhlouf, Priest, monk, Hermit
by VP
Posted on Thursday July 24, 2025 at 12:00AM in Saints
Saint Charbel Maronite Church in Raleigh, NC
"The collapse of the family means the ruin of the Lord’s plan for
humanity, that is to say, a breakdown that removes salvation and
sanctity from human beings. (...) "The family is the basis of the Lord’s plan; and all forces of evil are
focusing all their evil on destroying the family because they know that
by destroying the family, the foundations of the plan of God will be
shaken. The war of the Evil One against the Lord is his war against the
family, and the war of the Evil One against the family is the core of
his war against the Lord. Because the family is the image of God, from
the beginning of the creation of this universe, The Evil one is focusing
on destroying the family, the foundation of God’s plan." "One does not have to look far to see evidence of Satan’s plan in our
world today, as the family is further fragmented and divided in modern
culture." Saint Charbel's Sermon
"And in fact, who would not admire, in Charbel Makhlouf, the positive aspects that austerity, mortification, obedience, chastity, solitude have made possible to a degree rarely achieved? Think of his sovereign freedom in the face of difficulties or passions of all kinds, of the quality of his interior life, of the elevation of his prayer, of his spirit of adoration manifested in the heart of nature and especially in the presence of the Holy Sacrament, to his filial tenderness for the Virgin, and to all these wonders promised in the beatitudes and realized literally in our saint: gentleness, humility, mercy, peace, joy, participation, from this life, in the power of healing and of conversion of Christ. In short, austerity, for him, put him on the path to perfect serenity, to true happiness; it left ample room for the Holy Spirit." Homily Pope Paul VI at the Canonization of Charbel (in French)
