CAPG

Keep a constant eye on the needs of your flock...

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anticipating their every want. Be mindful that the slightest negligence on your part renders you culpable in the eyes of God for He will demand a rigorous account of all the souls committed to your care. I will require his blood at thy hand, says Sacred Scripture in Ezechiel (3,18)."

Source: The Priest His Dignity and Obligations by St. John Eudes

Litany to Obtain Holy Priests

Lord, have mercy
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy
Christ, hear us
Christ, Graciously hear us

God, Our Heavenly Father, have mercy on us
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us
God, The Holy Ghost, have mercy on us
Holy Trinity, Three Persons in one God, have mercy on us

Lord, obtain for us priests
Lord, obtain for us holy priests and make us docile to their teachings

Holy Mary, Queen of the Clergy, obtain for us holy priests
Saint Joseph, Patron of the Church, obtain for us holy priests
Saint Michael, splendor and protector of the Church militant, obtain for us holy priests

All you holy Saints and Archangels, obtain for us holy priests
All you holy Patriarchs and Prophets, obtain for us holy priests
All you holy Martyrs and Virgins, obtain for us holy priests
All you holy Bishops and Confessors, obtain for us holy priests
All you holy Priests and Doctors, obtain for us holy priests
All you holy Founders of religious orders, obtain for us holy priests

St. Anthony of Padua, defender of the Holy Eucharist, obtain for us holy priests
St. John-Mary Vianney, model of sacerdotal holiness, obtain for us holy priests
St. Francis Xavier, patron of missionary priests, obtain for us holy priests
St. Therese of the Child-Jesus and of the Holy Face, victim offered for the sanctification of priests, obtain for us holy priests
Saints and Servants of God, obtain for us holy priests.

To celebrate with reverence the Holy Mysteries, obtain for us holy priests
To offer every day the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, obtain for us holy priests
To feed the people of God with the Bread of life, obtain for us holy priests
To promote the splendors of the Divine Worship, obtain for us holy priests
To regenerate souls through baptism, obtain for us holy priests
To instruct the faithful in the Holy Faith, obtain for us holy priests
To keep the faithful in the fear of the Lord, obtain for us holy priests
To announce to all the Word of God, obtain for us holy priests
To unmask and combat false doctrines, obtain for us holy priests
To fortify the Faith of those who doubt, obtain for us holy priests
To support and encourage those who fail, obtain for us holy priests
To raise up those who fall and to reconcile them to God, obtain for us holy priests
To bring back to God those who rejected Him, obtain for us holy priests
To protect christian morality, obtain for us holy priests

To fight with zeal the corruption of morality, obtain for us holy priests
To bless holy unions, obtain for us holy priests
To defend the honor and sanctity of marriage, obtain for us holy priests
To strengthen the happiness of our christian families, obtain for us holy priests
To fortify and console our sicks and those who suffer, obtain for us holy priests
To assist our dying ones, obtain for us holy priests
To lead our dead to eternal happiness, obtain for us holy priests
To pray and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass for our dead, obtain for us holy priests
To give glory to God, and to give grace and peace to souls of good will, obtain for us holy priests.

Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.

The Lord chose for Himself priests so that they will offer Him a worthy thanksgiving.

Let us pray: God Almighty and merciful, favorably grant the prayers of Your faithful and grant to those whom You have given the immense generosity of your clemency, to be elevated to the service of the heavenly mysteries, to become worthy ministers at Your sacred altars, so that their teachings be confirmed by your sanctification, through Our Lord Jesus-Christ, Amen.

St. Sabbas, Martyr, A.D. 372.

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"He was by birth a Goth, converted to the faith in his youth, and a faithful imitator of the obedience, mildness, humility, and other virtues of the apostles. He was affable to all men, yet with dignity; a lover of truth, an enemy to all dissimulation or disguise, intrepid, modest, of few words, and a lover of peace; yet zealous and active. To sing the divine praises in the Church, and to adorn the altars, were his great delight. He was so scrupulously chaste, that he shunned all conversation with women, except what was indispensable. He often spent whole days and nights in prayer, and devoted his whole life to the exercises of penance. By his charity he kept peace with all. He was humble amidst a world of admirers; and ever ready to serve and help all. He esteemed silver as contemptible earth, never providing beyond absolute necessity. He avoided all visits and entertainments, and whatever could serve only as a dissipation; that so his prayers might have less interruption.

Being apprehended for his faith, he was dragged over thorns and briars, and forced along with whips and staves. His hands and feet were afterwards stretched and bound; and in this situation he was tormented for a considerable part of the night. Being violently struck with a javelin, so that all thought he was killed, the saint declared that he felt no more pain than if the javelin had been a lock of wool. He was at length thrown into a river, praising God to the last, and beseeching him to have mercy on his judge, that he might not be lost eternally, who had put him in so compendious a way to heaven. He blessed God, and surprised at his goodness, admired that he should be called to this glory, who was so unworthy.

Here is a disposition of soul which you have reason to ask of God, that when death approaches, it may not be your anguish, but your joy. Ought not that to be your joy, which puts an end to your banishment, and opens you a way to your God? It will be so, if you love God. But for this, prepare your soul by the method of this saint. Keep peace with all, renounce pride, love not money, avoid unprofitable conversation, let your rule be to supply only necessity. Thus if you fence your heart against the world, the love of God will take place, and this will make death more a mercy than a punishment." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

The Fruits of the Mass

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By Msgr. George W. Shea , S.T.D.

"The Mass has a fourfold purpose, and therefore a fourfold efficacy. It is offered, first and foremost, to adore God, whence it is called the "Sacrifice of Praise ". Secondly, it is offered to thank God for His great glory and for the benefits He has showered upon us, whence the Mass is called the "Eucharistic Sacrifice," that is the “Sacrifice of Thanksgiving ". Thirdly, it is offered to implore new benefits, notably grace, whence it is called an "lmpetratory Sacrifice ". Finally, it is a "Propitiatory Sacrifice", because it is offered to move the divine mercy to the pardon of sins.

Of these various effects of the Mass, the two which derive to men (the impetratory and the propitiatory) are usually termed the "fruits" of the Mass. Whereas the effects of the Mass insofar as it is a Sacrifice of Praise and of Thanksgiving are infinite, the “fruits" of the Mass are limited. The measure in which they are bestowed depends especially on the dispositions of those to whom they are given.

To whom are they given? To some degree or other the fruits of the Mass are bestowed upon the celebrant, upon those who serve or assist at the Holy Sacrifice, upon the person or persons for whom it is offered, upon all living, especially the members of the Church, and also upon the souls in Purgatory. The latter, however, are capable only of the propitiatory fruits of the Mass.

That the celebrant shares in the fruits of the Mass is readily understandable. No one more than he participates in the sacrifice. His active cooperation is necessary. He acts as the instrument of Christ, the High Priest, in virtue of the power received at Ordination. So he has a right to what is called the “most special fruit" of the Mass.

Sharing with him in this "most special fruit", but to a lesser degree, are the faithful who serve or assist at the Holy Sacrifice. The greater their devotion, the more plentiful are the graces God gives them through the Mass.

The person or persons for whom the priest celebrates the Mass in particular obtain what is termed the "special fruit" of the Mass. The priest may offer the Holy Sacrifice for any living person (although only privately for the excommunicated), and for the souls in Purgatory (although only privately for those to whom the Church has denied ecclesiastical burial). Since we have no way of knowing to what extent this special fruit is obtained by a soul in Purgatory for whom a particular Mass is offered, it is a pious practice to have the Holy Sacrifice celebrated repeatedly for the faithful departed.

Then, finally, there is the “general fruit" of the Mass. This comes to all the living, especially the members of the Church, and also to all the souls in Purgatory. At the Offertory of the Mass the celebrant prays that "the Sacrifice will be beneficial not only for himself and for all here present", but also for all faithful Christians, whether living or dead", not only for our own salvation," but also for that of the whole world ".

This is a most consoling thought because of our membership in the Church we share in a general way (but more intimately than those who are outside the Church) in the effects of every single Mass being offered up anywhere on earth Even when we are absorbed in our dally routine there accrue to us the beneficent effects of every Mass!

Source: The Catholic Advocate Vol 8 N17, 10 April 1959

St. Leo the Great, Pope

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Artist Francisco Herrera the Younger (1627–1685)

"He was descended of a noble family, and his great abilities and mature judgment appeared in the rapid progress which he made in his sacred studies. Being made archdeacon of the Church of Rome, he had the chief direction of affairs under Pope Celestine. On the death of Pope Sixtus III., he was elected as most fit and worthy to be seated in the first chair of the church. He trembled at his exalted dignity, considering himself weak and unworthy, and besought God to support and strengthen him. He diligently applied himself however to cultivate the great field committed to his care; preaching to his people with great zeal, and converting many infidels to the faith. His signal victories over the Manicheans, Arians, and other heretics, are proofs of his zeal for the purity of the faith. By his authority the general council of Chalcedon was assembled in the year 451, chiefly against the errors of Eutyches.

When Attila the Hun marched against Rome, St. Leo at the request of the whole city went out to meet him, in hopes of softening his rage. The tyrant received him with great honour, and agreed to withdraw his army. Being asked why he had shewn this unusual deference to the bishop of Rome, Attila replied that he had seen a venerable personage in a priestly habit, standing by the pope, while he was speaking, and with a drawn sword threatening him with death, unless he complied with his demands. At another time the saint prevailed upon Genseric, king of the Vandals, to restrain his troops from slaughter and burning of the city. St. Leo was reverenced and beloved by all ranks of people for his humility, mildness, and charity; and having filled the holy see twentyone years, he died in 461.

Pray for the present pope, that God would direct and assist him in all the difficulties of his charge; that by his zeal all abuses may be removed which carry destruction with them, and may truly be styled, like Attila, the Scourge of God. And pray for yourself, that you may not give disturbance either to virtue or truth by any obstinate adherence to private opinions, or by encouraging vice." The Catholic Year by Rev. John Gother

Saturday in Easter Week

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David Wilkie: The Confessional

St. John, 20, 1-9

"Christ, rising from the dead, is our instruction at this time, that whoever pretends to be His disciple, ought not to lie buried in the grave of sin, but rise with His Lord to a life of grace, obeying the summons of St. Paul: "Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall enlighten thee". No one can be a true disciple of Christ, who believes not what He teaches; neither can any one seriously judge himself His disciple, if he does not what Christ commands. He commands you now, O Christian, to awake and arise from sin. If you do it not, how do you belong to Him? For this end, the Church now calls upon you by confession and sincere repentance to purify your soul from whatever can defile, and present it a pure offering before God, if not without spot nothing that can render It may be easily known or blemish, at least so that there be you unfit to accompany your Lord. How near you are come to be this happy soul, if you consider yourself by St. Paul's measures: "If you are risen with Christ, seek the things that are above, mind the things that are above, not the things that are upon the earth". Not that a Christian is entirely to banish from his heart the thoughts of all worldly things. This cannot be in this life, where our duty in several ways links us to this world; but that our hearts be so possessed with the love of God, that using this world only as far as necessity requires, our great concern and solicitude in the main body of our actions may be how to perform the Will of God, and work out our salvation.

This is the method, and these are the marks of a soul risen with Christ: and where these are not, it is to be feared that the soul goes not beyond the ceremony of a resurrection and repentance. Deceive not then yourself any more, Christian soul; for you cannot deceive Him, who is the searcher of hearts. If at this time you have thoughts of repenting, see that your repentance be accompanied with a change of yourself, and with amendment for otherwise, though Christ be risen, yet you can expect no part in the resurrection of the just." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

St. Apollonius, Martyr, A.D. about 311.

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"He was a zealous, holy anchoret, who being informed of the cruel persecution of the Christians at Alexandria, under Maximin, left his solitude to visit and encourage those who suffered. He was apprehended by the persecutors at Antinous in Egypt, and cast into prison. Many heathens came to insult and affront him while in chains; and among others one Philemon, a musician, very famous, and admired by the people. He treated the martyr as an impious person, and a seducer, and one who deserved the public hatred. To his insults the saint only answered: "My son, may God have mercy on thee, and not lay these reproaches to thy charge." This his meekness wrought so powerfully on Philemon, that he forthwith professed himself a Christian. Both were brought before the judge, who after making them suffer all kinds of torments, condemned them to be burnt alive. When the fire was kindled about them, Apollonius prayed thus: "Lord, deliver not to beasts the souls who confess thee; but manifest thy power." At that instant, a cloud of dew encompassed the martyrs, and put out the fire. The judge and people cried out at this miracle: "The God of the Christians is the great and only God." The prefect of Egypt being informed of it, caused the judge and the two confessors to be brought to Alexandria loaded with irons. During the journey, Apollonius, by his instructions, prevailed so far upon those who conducted him, that they presented themselves also to the prefect with their prisoners, and confessed themselves likewise Christians. The prefect ordered them all to be thrown into the sea, about the year 311.

See here the force of patience and meekness. These are the arms which the Gospel puts into your hand. Fight with these, if you have enemies to overcome; for they are more powerful than passion and violence. To be more expert, practice daily in ordinary occasions. Do not accustom yourself to anger or peevish expressions of resentment: be not noisy and loud, but with a generous meekness stand your ground. Thus in your patience you will possess your own soul, and gain your enemies." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Easter Friday

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Women at the Sepulchre, Harold Copping

St. Matthew 28,16-20

"The example of the holy women, who went to visit the sepulchre of our Lord, furnishes us with some excellent instructions for this time. They make a provision of perfumes: they rise early to carry them to the sepulchre; they think not of the inconvenience of going alone, and having none in their company capable of rolling the stone away for them. This difficulty occurs to them upon the way; yet they are not discouraged, but pursue their journey with a hope in Providence. Thus they go on, following the impetuous notions of a sincere heart, without regard to any of those precautions which human prudence might have suggested. And what is their success? They find the stone removed from the mouth of the sepulchre, they are assured of Christ's being risen from the dead, by two angels who appeared to them; and are ordered to give notice of it to the apostles. Thus have they the first news of the Resurrection; and by commission from heaven are made apostles of it to the apostles themselves.

Now, if we consider this disposition of their minds, it is plain that they had not a lively faith of Christ's Resurrection, nor in those words by which He foretold it, because they thought Him dead; but it being the trouble at Christ's death which made them incapable of reflecting or thinking of anything else, and they following the dictates of a sincere love, in resolving to express the honour which they had for Him in the best manner they could, Christ distinguishes between the effects of human weakness in them, and the sincerity of their love, in bearing with the one, and rewarding the other.

A like good effect will those Christians find, who with a like sincerity seek their Lord. If they are sensible of their wants, and with true desires of amendment, vigorously undertake whatever appears to them pleasing to their God, such a disposition cannot fail of meeting with blessings from His hand, who cannot withstand the endeavours of a fervent and single heart, but will show them mercy, in bearing with their infirmities, in removing their difficulties, in perfecting their faith, and in giving light to their darkness." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

#10 Acts of Adoration Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament in reparation for all the offenses committed against Him by mankind

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10. We adore Thee, the delight of heaven and earth! And to repair the neglect, indifference and contempt which mankind show of that loving invitation, by which Thou callest them to Thy sweet embraces in the Holy Eucharist, we offer up to Thee the ready obedience, content, and happiness of the Angels. 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

Easter Thursday

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Jesus Appears to Mary Magdalene (Apparition de Jésus à Madeleine) - James Tissot

St. John, 20, 11-18

"As the angel said to the holy women, who were looking for Christ among the dead: He is risen, He is not here; so the state of every Christian at this time ought to be such, that as to all wilful and affected sin, it may with truth be said of him: "He is risen, he is not here". The past time ought to suffice for sin: and now as to what remains, all ought to live to the will of God. This is what St. Paul says to the Corinthians: "You have been sinners, but now you are washed, now you are sanctified, now you are justified in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. You have been darkness; but now you are light in our Lord: walk therefore as children of the light." This is the fruit of Christ's Passion, which ought to be found in every Christian. This it is which the present solemnity of the Resurrection demands of every one in particular; and wherever this is not, those who have it not are not the children of God, nor have they any part in Christ. And the Resurrection of our Lord, which is a day of joy to repenting sinners, what must it be to such as obstinately or carelessly abide in sin, but a day of reproach and confusion, even a beginning of that confusion, which, if not timely prevented, will be eternal?

For where the mercies of a Redeemer do not raise up from the grave of sin, what can be expected, but to lie buried in sin for ever?

Wherefore, it being a common interest to escape this confusion, it is plain that it can be no other way effected, than by rising with Christ from sin, and beginning the life of the new man. And because the weight of our corruption is a general hindrance to this work, and the occasion of its being unfinished, though often begun; it is our present duty to consider of the means proper for carrying it on. And since this was the time of our Saviour's beginning a new life, beg of Him to give a new life to all who believe in Him, that they may begin such a method, as may give them well-grounded hopes of rising with Him to a life immortal." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

St. Acactus, Bishop and confessor, A.D. about 430.

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"St. Acacius was a holy bishop in Mesopotamia. Seeing the great distress of many thousand Persians, who had been taken prisoners by Theodosius the younger, and were so neglected as to perish with hunger, he summoned his clergy, and represented this great object of charity to them. He obtained their consent for selling the vessels of gold and silver belonging to the Church, for their present relief, and to set them at liberty. Which, when the king of Persia had heard, moved by this charity performed by Christians, whom he had persecuted throughout his kingdom with so much cruelty, he recalled his edicts, and gave peace to the Church.

This was the practice of that charity recommended by St. Paul: "If thy enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink."(Rom. xii. 20.) It is the best you can perform for removing the scourge of God from yourself, from your family and nation; and for making your peace with God, in the pardon of your sins. Let not then the malice of others shut up your bowels of compassion against them; but help them for God's sake and your own, although they may not deserve it. It is very bad management either to lock up, or to magnify your state with that, which if thus employed for the relief of the poor, might open heaven to you. How little do they understand the gospel who are more solicitous to enrich their tables and houses than to feed the poor. Will not that be their anguish at the hour of death, which is now their satisfaction? Rob your walls to clothe the naked: starve your vanity to feed the hungry. This will be your better treasure, and your eternal comfort. The spirit of Christ was the spirit of charity and humility. If He be in His followers, He will carry them on in the same holy method; and this life will give testimony of His spirit residing in them, and that truly they live by Him. But if their lives be quite opposite to the gospel, and to the life of Christ; if pride, ambition and luxury; if seeking themselves and the world be at the root of all that they do; if they make the laws of God give way to their pleasure or interest, it is evident that Christ is not in them, and that they live not by His spirit." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Easter Wednesday

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Apparition du Christ sur les bords du lac de Tibériade (Jacques Tissot)

St. John, 21, 1-14

"The Resurrection of Christ is the accomplishment of Man's redemption. He died for our sins; He rose again, that we might be clothed with new justice, such as might establish us in a life of virtue, and preserve us from the danger of our own corruption. This mystery is the confirmation of our faith; that we shall one day rise from the dead to a life immortal; a life to which sin and death can have no access. The yearly celebration of it is to revive this faith in us, and to put us in mind of obtaining such an establishment in virtue against all sinful relapses, as may be a preparation for that unchangeable state hereafter. For this end the Church calls upon us to arise with Christ; and that as Christ, dying once, died no more, for that death had now no power over Him, so we ought to rise from sin, and sin no more. We are taught moreover, that we ought to renounce all ungodliness and worldly desires, and live soberly, justly, and piously, in expectation of the coming of our Lord; that we ought to seek the things that are above, and not the things on earth; and that thus only can we duly celebrate this festival, and hope to rise with Christ in the resurrection of the just.

The solemnity is great, and our obligation also is great not to be satisfied by dissolute joy or plentiful tables, for thus the heathens honoured their gods; but by putting on the new man, and living as the children of light, sanctified by the Blood of Christ. Christ was crucified that the body of sin might be destroyed, and we might no longer be the servants of sin. This was the end of Christ's sufferings, and it ought to be our great concern that this effect be found in us. For to go on now in sin, if it be not a reproach to Christ's Passion, is an argument at least of our having no part in it. And what state can there be more miserable, than for a Christian to be found still a captive to sin, after Christ has given His Blood to redeem him from it, and establish him in the liberty of the sons of God?" The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

St. Edesius, Martyr, A.D. 306.

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"He was born in Lycia, had been a professed philosopher, and continued to wear the cloak of a philosopher after his conversion to the faith. In the persecution of Galerius Maximianus, he often confessed his faith before magistrates, had sanctified several dungeons, and been condemned to the mines in Palestine. Being released from thence, he went into Egypt, but there found the persecution more violent than in Palestine itself, under Hierocles, the most barbarous prefect of Egypt. St. Edesius being at Alexandria, and observing how outrageously the judge proceeded against the Christians, by tormenting grave men, and delivering up women of singular piety, and even virgins, to the purchasers of slaves, boldly presented himself before this savage monster, rather than man, and reproached him with his inhumanity, and barbarous usage of the Christians. He endured courageously the scourge, and the greatest torments, which the rage of such a tyrant was capable of inventing, and was at length cast into the sea in 306.

Does not this bravery of the primitive Christians inspire you with the same generous thoughts of offering yourself a sacrifice to God? You have opportunity of doing this in all that you suffer, whether in mind or body, whether from God or man. And if a total peace at any time takes this out of your hands, you have your labors still to offer to Him, as likewise the frequent contradictions of your will, in forcing it to submit to the will of God. You have again the difficulties of your state to struggle with, and the trouble caused by your inward corruption, which will not easily be overcome. If you are faithful in these occasions, it is in your power to make your life an acceptable sacrifice to heaven, by giving it every hour to God. Let not then sloth hinder the offering of your labors, nor impatience take your sufferings from the altar, nor self-love cut off self-denial. For this would be unworthy of a member of Christ Jesus, and fellow-member of the martyrs." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Easter Tuesday

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Jesus appears to his disciples after he has risen. 1873 St. Luke, 24, 36-47

"They being troubled and affrighted, imagined that they saw a spirit. This was the first effect of Christ's manifesting Himself to His apostles, after His rising from the dead. He presented Himself in the midst of them; but such was their difficulty of believing, that they could not persuade themselves that it was any more than an apparition. This their incredulity was necessary for establishing the faith of this mystery; since they required most convincing proofs to persuade them to believe it. This therefore was so ordered by Providence, in all the witnesses of this truth. The women that carried perfumes to His sepulchre, went with a persuasion of His being dead. The two disciples going to Emmaus, seemed disappointed in the hopes which they had once had of His Resurrection. The apostles, though prepared by the information which they had received, were not hasty in believing it. St. Thomas positively declared his disbelief, and that he would not believe, but upon evidence of seeing. Now though this was a weakness in all, yet it was permitted for our greater assurance. For had they shewn an over-credulity, their testimony might have been questioned, in a mystery so difficult. When however they give their lives in testimony of the truth, this renders them witnesses above all exception.

It is our duty therefore, to give hearty thanks to our Redeemer, for setting this fundamental article of our religion in so eminent a degree of certainty, that it equals and surpasses that of all other things in the world. For, the Resurrection of Christ being proved, all other articles are proved by it. If Jesus Christ is risen, then the whole Gospel is to be believed; then the Church is to be believed, which is promised in the Gospel; in fine, the whole Christian religion is to be believed, because it is all linked to the truth of the Resurrection.

But how far are many who are called believers, from imitating the faith of the apostles! While all profess a belief of an eternal life to come, yet in the usual methods of their lives there appears little or no influence of this faith. We see Christians so careless and indifferent as to the concerns of eternity, as to lay them by upon mere sloth and compliance; to trample upon the commandments, for running after trifles and smoke; to court the world and its applause, at any expense; to sacrifice all to fashion and inclination; to forsake the maxims and spirit of the Gospel, which lead to God; and follow quite other principles, set up by pride and corruption. Can it be thought of these, that they truly believe and understand what they profess? If they understood and believed heaven to be so much their interest, would they forfeit it so easily? Would the provision for a few uncertain years have the preference to a certain eternity; and the care of the body take place of the care of an immortal soul? Were we to see the husbandman more solicitous to preserve the chaff than the corn, then some credit might be given to this proceeding. But while the general method of all in their senses, is to make that the subject of their greatest care, which they believe their greatest interest, must it not be concluded, that either their belief of heaven is not what they profess, or else, that they are not in their senses, to let the most contemptible things of life have the greatest part of their concern?

Again, if they in earnest believe the torments of hell to be endless and intolerable, and that there is no possibility of relief for those who are condemned to them; would they not be daily watchful in doing their best for their security against this danger? And so if we measure the faith of Christians by the general practice, we find it to be very weak, both as to heaven and hell. Have we not all then reason to beg of Christ our Lord, that as at this time He confirmed the apostles in their faith, and gave them sense to understand the Scriptures, so He will now please to increase our faith, and give us a sense of what we hear, read, and believe; that our faith may be as fruitful seed in our hearts, manifesting itself in good works, and thus distinguishing us from unbelievers.

Grant us thy grace, O Jesus; and since thou hast been so merciful as to provide us with evidence to raise our faith above all question, grant that we live according to what we believe, and give proof of our faith by our works." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

St. Aphraates, Anchoret, A.D. about 400.

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"He was born in Persia, of Infidel parents, but becoming a Christian, he came to Edessa in Mesopotamia. He shut himself up in a little cell outside of the city, applying himself entirely to the exercises of penance and heavenly contemplation. After some time, he removed to a cell in the neighborhood of Antioch, in Syria, where many resorted to him for spiritual advice. He eat nothing but a little bread after sunset; to which, when he grew old, he added a few herbs. He had no other bed than a mat laid on the ground; and his clothing was one coarse garment. Being informed of the great distress of the Catholics in Antioch, by the oppression of the Arian emperor, Valens, who had banished their bishops and priests, and forbidden their assemblies, St. Aphraates quitted his solitude, and by preaching and instruction, in those difficult times supported the flock, in the absence of their pastor Meletius. His reputation for sanctity and miracles gave the greatest weight to his actions and words. The Emperor Valens, being at Antioch, asked the saint how he came to leave his cell and ramble abroad. The holy man replied that he could not sit quiet in his cell, while the flock of the heavenly shepherd was torn to pieces; and he reproved the emperor for his persecution of the Catholics. The emperor made no reply; but one of his officers threatened the saint with death. But God chastised his insolence by an untimely death shortly after, which so terrified the emperor, that he durst not banish the saint. He was also much moved by the miraculous cures which the holy man wrought. Valens himself died a miserable death; and peace being restored to the Church, the saint returned to his solitude, and there waited till God called him to the company of the blessed.

The exercises of prayer and fasting are most commendable ; but if you are bent with so much eagerness on any practices which you have proposed, as not to bear any interruption, or delay, without peevishness and vexation, there is reason to suspect you of too much positiveness, and of a will not yet subdued. Choose rather with more freedom of spirit to turn on all occasions, wherever God seems to call you. Though this may prove some abatement of prayer, yet in thus following God, you may as surely possess him, as by more quiet devotion." The Catholic Year by Fr. Gother

Saint Celestine I, Pope (April 6)

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Pope Celestine I - Wikipedia

"Saint Celestine was a native of Rome, and upon the demise of Pope Boniface he was chosen to succeed him in September 422, by the wonderful consent of the whole city. His first official act was to confirm the condemnation of an African bishop who had been convicted of grave crimes. He wrote also to the bishops of the provinces of Vienne and Narbonne in Gaul, to correct several abuses, and ordered, among other things, that absolution or reconciliation should never be refused to any dying sinner who sincerely asked it; for repentance depends not so much on time as on the heart. He assembled a synod at Rome in 430, in which the writings of Nestorius were examined, and his blasphemies in maintaining in Christ a divine and a human person were condemned. The Pope pronounced sentence of excommunication against Nestorius, and deposed Him. Being informed that Agricola, the son of a British bishop called Severianus, who had been married before he was raised to the priesthood, had spread the seeds of the Pelagian heresy in Britain, Saint Celestine sent thither Saint Germanus of Auxerre, whose zeal and conduct happily prevented the threatening danger. he also sent saint Palladius, a Roman, to preach the Faith to the Scots, both in North Britain and in Ireland, and many authors of the life of St. Patrick say that apostle likewise received his commission to preach to the Irish from Saint Celestine, in 431. This holy Pope died on the 1rst of August in 432, having reigned almost ten years.

Reflection: Vigilance is truly needful to those to whom the care of souls has been confided. "Blessed are the servants whom the Lord at His coming shall find watching."

Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints

Easter Monday

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The Pilgrims of Emmaus on the Road (Les pèlerins d'Emmaüs en chemin) - James Tissot

St Luke, 24, 13-35

"They discoursed together of the things that had happened. The subject of this Gospel is a relation of Christ's appearing on the day of his Resurrection, to two of His disciples, as they were going to Emmaus. They had not yet a faith of Christ being risen. We hoped, said they, that it was He who was to redeem Israel: but now they seemed to fear a disappointment. However, such was their love for their Master, that they could speak of nothing but of Him. This is the subject of their discourse by the way; and while they thus entertain each other, Christ joins Himself to their company, though as yet unknown, and soon after opens their eyes to see the unreasonableness of their own fears, and to know Him.

It is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Hearts possessed with God, speak of God: and where there is a solicitude for truth and salvation, this cannot be smothered, but will discover itself, either for the help of others, or in hopes of being improved by some new light. Mary Magdalen seeks her Lord, and not finding Him at the sepulchre, her uneasy mind speaks its wants, and makes enquiry of those whom she meets. These two disciples have their desires on their Lord; and they communicate their concern to a stranger, who presents himself on the way. And who is this stranger but Christ Himself, Who knowing their solicitude, answers the earnestness of their desires, in offering Himself both to Magdalen and to these disciples, and in being His own discoverer? So that they not only find Him by seeking, but even then possess Him, while they are looking for Him.

This is not an encouragement to discover all our sentiments or uneasiness of mind to every one who is thrown in our way by accident; for this cannot be done without great indiscretion: but it ought to excite in Christians a just solicitude for all that belongs to eternity, and to encourage them to manifest this concern, in conferring with those persons, whose charity fits them for being instruments of good. This method of conferring with others is particularly necessary for those states, which have difficult duties to discharge. This necessity is grounded on the general narrowness and weakness of the human mind, which meeting with the infirmities of constitution, as in want of vigour, weakness of memory, excess of some passion, niceness, sloth or self-love, or in want of reflection, is the occasion of many considerable branches of duty being neglected, and sometimes no more thought of than if they were no part of their concern. Add to these the general partiality to which we are subject, in our own affairs: and that though we study others closely, we see ourselves only by halves. From these heads, there will appear a necessity for all, in difficult states, to confer with others; that they may receive the benefit of other men's reflections, and by a communication of thoughts be helped to discover their oversights, and to amend.

For what condition of life is there, which has not many obligations, both as to spirituals and temporals? And are not all these subject to great oversights, neglects, and injustices, such as are injurious to God, our neighbour, and ourselves? And is not the infirmity of our nature such, that we go on very often blinded by passion, sloth, or interest, in such ways as are either dangerous, scandalous, or unwarrantable; obvious enough to others, and yet either not at all discerned by ourselves, or so little regarded, as not to be thought worth our care? And what is more effectual for remedying this evil, than frequent conferring with others upon our state? Such discourses will awaken and enlighten. They will raise doubts, suggest matter for consulting, discover the subtle workings of self-love, interest, and passion, and oblige us to make many reflections, and see plainly what we really are. Is not this motive enough to recommend the practice of these two disciples, in discoursing together, since it may be so much to our advantage, both of soul and body? Why then is not this practice more extended? Because few are really solicitous to do well; many are afraid of being reproved, and are unwilling to take advice of those who, they fear, will make them uneasy by freely censuring what they see deserves it. But they who will not make use of those means, which are proper for receiving light and visits from heaven, must perish at last in the darkness, which they love." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Saint Marcelinus of Carthage, Martyr A.D. 413

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"So He was secretary of state to the Emperor Honorius, and for his great virtue commended by St. Augustin and St. Jerome. Being commissioned by the emperor to decide the controversy between the Catholics and Donatists in Africa, without regarding the power or threats of these latter, he gave the cause against them. They were so exasperated, that they resolved upon his death, and raised the jealousy of an eminent courtier against him. St. Augustin testifies that he had lived in great piety, in holiness of life, and in truly Christian sentiments. He was upright in his conduct, faithful in his friendship, zealous in the support of truth, and a man of solid piety. He was compassionate and charitable, ready to forgive his enemies, and even to love them. He was full of confidence in God, and assiduous in prayer. God was pleased to crown his virtues with a glorious martyrdom. The Count Marinus cast him into prison, and had him confined in a dark dungeon; and under the countenance of his orders they murdered him. The Church honors him as a martyr, because the reason of his death was the zeal which he had shown against the Donatists, which had drawn upon him the hatred of Count Marinus. He suffered at Carthage, in the year 413; and was much lamented by the emperor.

Be but steady to the cause of justice and truth, and you will need no other persecution for the trial of your courage. Seek to be just on all occasions; never flattering what deserves reproof, nor permitting affection or dislike to carry you against duty. Examine the working of your thoughts, and the censures of your judgment; and see that you are not brought under the guilt of rashness, by a hasty conclusion of evidence, where there is none. Keep a watch upon your lips; and speak not against others upon common reports or hearsay for there is so much of mistake, if not worse in these, that ordinary observation must suspect them as insufficient arguments of truth. Observe your usual severity in putting the worst construction on what some do, and more favorable interpretation on the actions of others; and see whether passion be not at the root of this partiality." The Catholic Year by Fr. John Gother

Day 47. Easter with the Cure d'Ars: On Paradise

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"Blessed, O Lord, are those who dwell in Thy house: they shall praise Thee for ever and ever."

To dwell in the house of the good God, to enjoy the presence of the good God, to be happy with the happiness of the good God - oh, what happiness, my children! Who can understand all the joy and consolation with which the saints are inebriated in Paradise? St. Paul, who was taken up into the third heaven, tells us that there are things above which he cannot reveal to us, and which we cannot comprehend.... Indeed, my children, we can never form a true idea of Heaven till we shall be there. It is a hidden treasure, an abundance of secret sweetness, a plenitude of joy, which may be felt, but which our poor tongue cannot explain. What can we imagine greater? The good God Himself will be our recompense: Ego merces tua magna nimis - I am thy reward exceeding great. O God! the happiness Thou promisest us is such that the eyes of man cannot see it, his ears cannot hear it, nor his heart conceive it.

Yes, my children, the happiness of Heaven is incomprehensible; it is the last effort of the good God, who wishes to reward us. God, being admirable in all His works, will be so too when He recompenses the good Christians who have made all their happiness consist in the possession of Heaven. This possession contains all good, and excludes all evil; sin being far from Heaven, all the pains and miseries which are the consequences of sin are also banished from it. No more death! The good God will be in us the Principle of everlasting life. No more sickness, no more sadness, no more pains, no more grief. You who are afflicted, rejoice! Your fears and your weeping will not extend beyond the grave. . . . The good God will Himself wipe away your tears! Rejoice, O you whom the world persecutes! your sorrows will soon be over, and for a moment of tribulation, you will have in Heaven an immense weight of glory. Rejoice! for you possess all good things in one - the source of all good, the good God Himself.

Can anyone be unhappy when he is with the good God; when he is happy with the happiness of the good God, of the good God Himself; when he sees the good God as he sees himself? As St. Paul says, my children, we shall see God face to face, because then there will be no veil between Him and us. We shall possess Him without uneasiness, for we shall no longer fear to lose Him. We shall love Him with an uninterrupted and undivided love, because He alone will occupy our whole heart. We shall enjoy Him without weariness, because we shall discover in Him ever new perfections; and in proportion as we penetrate into that immense abyss of wisdom, of goodness, of mercy, of justice, of grandeur, and of holiness, we shall plunge ourselves in it with fresh eagerness. If an interior consolation, if a grace from the good God, gives us so much pleasure in this world that it diminishes our troubles, that it helps us to bear our crosses, that it gives to so many martyrs strength to suffer the most cruel torments - what will be the happiness of Heaven, where consolations and delights are given, not drop by drop, but by torrents!

Let us represent to ourselves, my children, an everlasting day always new, a day always serene, always calm; the most delicious, the most perfect society. What joy, what happiness, if we could possess on earth, only for a few minutes, the angels, the Blessed Virgin, Jesus Christi In Heaven we shall eternally see, not only the Blessed Virgin and Jesus Christ, we shall see the good God Himself! We shall see Him no longer through the darkness of faith, but in the light of day, in all His Majesty! What happiness thus to see the good God! The angels have contemplated Him since the beginning of the world, and they are not satiated; it would be the greatest misfortune to them to be deprived of Him for a single moment. The possession of Heaven, my children, can never weary us; we possess the good God, the Author of all perfections. See, the more we possess God, the more He pleases; the more we know Him, the more attractions and charms we find in the knowledge of Him. We shall always see Him and shall always desire to see Him; we shall always taste the pleasure there is in enjoying the good God, and we shall never be satiated with it. The blessed will be enveloped in the Divine Immensity, they will revel in delights and be all surrounded with them, and, as it were, inebriated. Such is the happiness which the good God destines for us.

We can all, my children, acquire this happiness. The good God wills the salvation of the whole world; He has merited Heaven for us by His death, and by the effusion of all His Blood. What a happiness to be able to say, "Jesus Christ died for me; He has opened Heaven for me; it is my inheritance. . . . Jesus has prepared a place for me; it only depends on me to go and occupy it. Vado vobis parare locum - I go to prepare a place for you. The good God has given us faith, and with this virtue we can attain to eternal life. For, though the good God wills the salvation of all men, He particularly wills that of the Christians who believe in Him: Qui credit, habeat vitam aeternam - He that believeth hath life everlasting. Let us, then, thank the good God, my children; let us rejoice - our names are written in Heaven, like those of the Apostles. Yes, they are written in the Book of Life: if we choose, they will be there forever, since we have the means of reaching Heaven.

The happiness of Heaven, my children, is easy to acquire; the good God has furnished us with so many means of doing it! See, there is not a single creature which does not furnish us with the means of attaining to the good God; if any of them become an obstacle, it is only by our abuse of them. The goods and the miseries of this life, even the chastisements made use of by the good God to punish our infidelities, serve to our salvation. The good God, as St. Paul says, makes all things turn to the good of His elect; even our very faults may be useful to us; even bad examples and temptations. Job was saved in the midst of an idolatrous people. All the saints have been tempted. If these things are, in the hands of God, an assistance in reaching Heaven, what will happen if we have recourse to the Sacraments, to that never-failing source of all good, to that fountain of grace supplied by the good God Himself! It was easy for the disciples of Jesus to be saved, having the Divine Savior constantly with them. Is it more difficult for us to secure our salvation, having Him constantly with us? They were happy in obtaining whatever they wished for, whatever they chose; are we less so?

We possess Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; He is continually with us, He is ready to grant us whatever we ask, He is waiting for us; we have only to ask. O my children! the poor know how to express their wants to the rich; we have only our indifference, then, to accuse, if assistance and graces are wanting to us. If an ambitious or a covetous man had as ample means of enriching himself, would he hesitate a moment, would he let so favorable an opportunity escape? Alas! we do everything for this world, and nothing for the other? What labor, what trouble, what cares, what sorrows, in order to gather up a little fortune! See, my children, of what use are our perishable goods? Solomon, the greatest, the richest, the most fortunate of kings, said, in the height of the most brilliant fortune: "I have seen all things that are done under the sun; and behold, all is vanity and vexation of spirit. " And these are the goods to acquire which we labor so much, whilst we never think of the goods of Heaven!

How shameful for us not to labor to acquire it, and to neglect so many means of reaching it! If the fig tree was cast into the fire for not having profited by the care that had been taken to render it fertile; if the unprofitable servant was reproved for having hidden the talent that he had received, what fate awaits us, who have so often abused the aids which might have taken us to Heaven? If we have abused the graces that the good God has given us, let us make haste to repair the past by great fidelity, and let us endeavor to acquire merits worthy of eternal life!"

Source: The Blessed Curé of Ars in His Catechetical Instructions (1951)

Easter Sunday: The Joy of Penance

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Touch me not by Jacques Tissot

"I WISH all of you, my brethren, the joys of this day. It is the day of our Lord's victory over death and hell. Many of you have received Him in Holy Communion either this morning or during the preceding week. To such He has found a way to communicate something of the vast ocean of love and joy which inundates His own soul. A good Communion, following a humble confession of sin, is indeed the nearest way to that tomb, riven and empty, and streaming with the light of heavenly joy, about which the Church gathers her children this morning. How well chosen is Eastertime for the annual Communion of all good Christians. "I have seen the tomb of Christ, who has risen from the dead," may we well say with Mary Magdalen. God grant that not one of you all may pass beyond Trinity Sunday without attending to what is so appropriately called the Easter duty.

It seems to me that this feast is a great day for sinners - meaning, of course, repentant sinners. For look at the facts? Who is the saint of the Resurrection by excellence? Certainly dear Mary Magdalen, the type of all the penitent. She stood beneath the Cross when Jesus died, comforting Him and His Mother in that dreadful hour of His doom and of that Mother's woe. And when the dead corpse was lowered down, Mary Magdalen pressed His limbs and feet and hands to her bosom while our sorrowful Mother clasped His heart to her own and kissed His pallid face a thousand times. Mary Magdalen helped to lay Him in His grave. She watched then; when driven away by the soldiers she bought spices and came again to embalm Him. And whose words are those repeated to-day all round the world as the dawn greets the watching glances of the faithful. "They have taken away my Lord! I know not where they have laid Him"; and again the amazed and ecstatic exclamation when she saw Him in the garden: "Rabboni! Master."

What a great store of love, says St. Gregory the Great, was in that woman's heart, who, when even His disciples were gone away, could not tear herself from the grave of the Lord!

See, then, my brethren, the reward of the love which is in true sorrow for sin; it is given a singular kind of pre-eminence; it is selected above that of innocence and placed on guard at the post of honor to receive the first public greeting from the Immortal King of Glory, triumphant over sin for ever. I say public greeting, for doubtless Jesus visited and greeted His Mother in private first of all; but this is not written down for our edification, and Mary Magdalen's privilege is. Sinners need encouragement, and certainly they get it today in the honor paid to their glorious patron, to the woman who had many sins forgiven her because she loved much.

I say again that sinners need encouragement. In truth, there is no shame so deadly as that which conscious guilt brings to the human soul. There is no degradation like vice - in fact, there is none other but vice. Hence many sinners are met with who do not turn to God and who hold back from confession and communion because they are ashamed and afraid. It is not so much love of sin as want of confidence that now hinders them. They have felt the force of passion as the slave feels the whip of the slave-driver; or they have repented before and fallen again, and this fills them with distrust in themselves; or their surroundings are a constant source of temptation; or they have been so long away that the very process of reconciliation to God, the very practice of the simplest acts of religion, have grown strange to them. These, and other reasons, varying from mere timidity to utter despair, show the need of a strong word of encouragement to sinners. This is the day for giving sinners courage to repent. Oh! let every man and woman partake of Christ's courage today. All who are sinners, let them loath and detest their sins, and let them feel that if our Lord is with them they can conquer any passion, resist any temptation, and persevere to the end.

It is a singular thing that not only the first recorded words of our Lord after His resurrection were addressed to His favorite child, the great penitent woman of the Gospel, but that the first interview He had with His disciples was begun by the institution of the Sacrament of Penance, the open door of that city of refuge our Lord's Sacred Heart. Now is the time, therefore, most appropriate for the return to God of all sinners among us. May our risen Savior give you that joy if you have it not, and if you have it, may He confirm it to you for ever! Amen." Five minutes sermons by the Paulist Fathers

St. Vincent Ferrer, O.P. Confessor, A.D. 1419.

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"No, I do not believe that there ever existed in the world so much pomp and vanity, so much impurity, as at the present day; to find in the world's epoch so criminal, we must go to the days of Noe and the universal deluge. The inns in the cities and villages are filled with persons of abandoned character; they are so numerous that the entire world is infected by them... Avarice and usury increase under the disguised name of contracts, simony reigns among the clergy, envy among the religious. Gluttony prevails to such an extent in every rank of social life that the fasts of Lent, the vigils and Ember days, are no longer observed... In a word, vice is held in such great honour that those who prefer the service of God to that of the world are held up to scorn as useless and unworthy members of society." Source: St. Vincent of Ferrer, The Angel of the Judgment, by Fr. Andrew Pradel, O.P.

"St. Vincent brought with him into the world a happy disposition for learning and piety, which were improved by a good education. In order to subdue his passions, he fasted from his childhood every Wednesday and Friday. The Passion of Christ was always the object of his tender devotion. The Blessed Virgin he ever honoured as his spiritual Mother. Looking on the poor as the members of Christ, he treated them with the greatest affection and charity. Having taken the habit of the Dominicans, he made surprising progress in perfection, taking St. Dominic for his model. The arms which he employed against the devil were prayer, penance, and perpetual watchfulness over every impulse of his passions. His heart was always fixed on God, and he made his studies, labour, and all other actions a continued prayer. He led a very mortified life, never eating flesh, nor wearing linen. His whole employment was in preaching the gospel, in converting Jews and Infidels to the Christian faith, and sinners to a holy life. He never passed a day wherein he gave not instructions to those who were assembled at prayers with him. Though by his sermons thousands were moved to give their possessions to the poor, the saint never accepted any thing himself; and was no less scrupulous in cultivating in his heart the virtue and spirit of obedience, than that of poverty; for which reason he declined accepting any dignity in the Church, or superiority in his Order. He was favoured with the gift of miracles, and cured innumerable sick wherever he came, also raised a dead man to life, in presence of a great multitude. He continued his preaching and labours to the last; and worn out with age and infirmity, died on the 5th of April, 1419, being sixty-two years old.

Pray for all of his character and function, that they may partake of his spirit and zeal, that they may faithfully labour in the vineyard, and not permit ignorance and vice to spread through their silence and neglect. Pray likewise that you may do your part in giving good example to all. A holy life is a continual sermon, by which you may draw others from error and vice, and make a much better defence of the truth than by hot disputing. And remember that a bad life is a contradiction of all your pretended zeal, and the greatest injury you can do to truth." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

This wonderful apostle, the "Angel of the Judgment," was born in Valencia in Spain, in 1350, and at the age of eighteen professed in the Order of Saint Dominic. After a brilliant course of study he became master of sacred theology. For three years he read only the Scriptures, and knew the whole Bible by heart. He converted the Jews of Valencia, and their synagogue became a church. Grief at the great schism then afflicting the Church reduced him to the point of death; but Our Lord Himself in glory bade him go forth to convert sinners, " for My judgment is nigh." This miraculous apostolate lasted twenty-one years. He preached throughout Europe, in the towns and villages of Spain, Switzerland, France, Italy, England, Ireland, Scotland. Everywhere tens of thousands of sinners were reformed; Jews, infidels, and heretics were converted. Stupendous miracles enforced his words. Twice each day the "miracle bell" summoned the sick, the blind, the lame to be cured. Sinners the most obdurate became saints speaking only his native Spanish, he was understood in all tongues. Processions of ten thousand penitents followed him in perfect order. Convents, orphanages, hospitals, arose in his path. Amidst all, his humility remained profound, his prayer constant. He always prepared for preaching by prayer. Once, however, when a person of high rank was to be present at his sermon he neglected prayer for study. The nobleman was not particularly struck by the discourse which had been thus carefully worked up; but coming again to hear the Saint, unknown to the latter, the second sermon made a deep impression on his soul. When Saint Vincent heard of the difference, he remarked that in the first sermon it was Vincent who had preached, but in the second, Jesus Christ. He fell ill at Vannes in Brittany, and received the crown of everlasting glory in 1419.
Reflection: "Whatever you do," said Saint Vincent, "think not of yourself, but of God." In this spirit, he preached, and God spoke by him; in this spirit, if we listen, we shall hear the voice of God. Source: Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, 1925

Prayer to Saint Vincent Ferrer:
O glorious Apostle and Wonderworker, Saint Vincent Ferrer, new Angel of the Apocalypse and our gracious Protector, deign to accept our humble prayer, and draw down upon us an abundance of divine favors. Through the love with which your heart is inflamed, obtain for us from the Father of Mercies the forgiveness of all our sins, steadfastness in faith, and perseverance in good works, so that, living as good and fervent Christians, we may render ourselves worthy of your powerful protection.
Extend this protection, too, over our bodies, and deliver us from every infirmity. Preserve our fields from the ravages of storm and hail, and ward off other misfortunes from us. Thus favored by you in the blessings of both spirit and body, we shall remain ever devoted to you, and one day we shall go to heaven to praise God with you, for ever and ever. Amen.

Translated from the French: Prière à Saint Vincent Ferrier. Manuel des indulgences, Paris 1897

Prayer to Saint Vincent Ferrer: O, Holy Saint Vincent, glorious confessor, whom as thou didst ascend the heavens a mighty choir of angels issued forth to greet. lead us also, we beseech thee, as we sing thy name with frequent praise to the sacred kingdoms of the blessed.

V. Pray for us, blessed Vincent.

P. That we be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: O God, who by the wonderful preaching of blessed Vincent, thy confessor, hast brought a multitude of nations to acknowledge thy Holy Name, grant, we beseech thee, that we may merit to receive as our reward in heaven the judge whom he announced would come on earth, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Source: The Method of Saying the Holy Rosary, 1848

Surrexit Christus spes mea

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Peter and John Running to the Tomb Eugène Burnand (1850 – 1921)

Victimae Paschali Laudes

Christians, to the Paschal victim
offer your thankful praises!

A lamb the sheep redeemeth:
Christ, who only is sinless,
reconcileth sinners to the Father.

Death and life have contended
in that combat stupendous:
the Prince of life, who died,
reigns immortal.

Speak, Mary, declaring
what you saw, wayfaring:
"The tomb of Christ, who is living,
the glory of Jesus' resurrection;

"Bright angels attesting,
the shroud and napkin resting.
"Yea, Christ my hope is arisen;
to Galilee he will go before you."

Christ indeed from death is risen,
our new life obtaining;
have mercy, victor King, ever reigning!
Amen! Alleluia!

Catholic Chant

Day 46. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Do you want to be happy?

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"Why, my dear brethren, are our lives full of so many miseries? If we consider the life of man carefully, it is nothing other than a succession of evils: the illnesses, the disappointments, the persecutions, and indeed the losses of goods fall unceasingly upon us so that whatever side the worldly man turns to or examines, he finds only crosses and afflictions. Go and ask anyone, from the humblest to the greatest, and they will all tell you the same thing. Indeed, my dear brethren, man on earth, unless he turns to the side of God, cannot be other than unhappy. Do you know why my friends? No, you tell me. Well, here is the real reason. It is that God, having put us into this world as into a place of exile and of banishment, wishes to force us, by so many evils, not to attach our hearts to it but to aspire to greater, purer, and more lasting joys than those we can find in this life. To make us appreciate more keenly the necessity to turn our eyes to eternal blessings, God has filled our hearts with desires so vast and so magnificent that nothing in creation is capable of satisfying them. Thus it is that in the hope of finding some pleasure, we attach ourselves to created objects and that we have no sooner possessed and sampled that which we have so ardently desired than we turn to something else, hoping to find what we wanted. We are, then, through our own experience, constrained to admit that it is but useless for us to want to derive our happiness here below from transient things.

If we hope to have any consolation in this world, it will only be by despising the things which are passing and which have no lasting value and in striving towards the noble and happy end for which God has created us.

Do you want to be happy, my friends? Fix your eyes on Heaven; it is there that your hearts will find that which will satisfy them completely. All the evils which you experience are the real means of leading you there. That is what I am going to show you, in as clear and brilliant way as shines the noon-day sun.

First of all, I am going to tell you that Jesus Christ, by His sufferings and His death, has made all our actions meritorious, so that for the good Christian there is no motion of our hearts or of our bodies which will not be rewarded if we perform them for Him. Perhaps you are already thinking: "That is not so very clear." Very well! If that will not do you, let us put it more simply. Follow me for a moment and you will know the way in which to make all your actions meritorious for eternal life without changing anything in your way of behaving. All you have to do is to have in view the object of pleasing God in everything you do, and I will add that instead of making your actions more difficult by doing them for God, you will make them, on the contrary, much more pleasant and less arduous. In the morning, when you awake, think at once of God and quickly make the Sign of the Cross, saying to Him: "My God, I give you my heart, and since You are so good as to give me another day, give me the grace that everything I do will be for Your honor and for the salvation of my soul."

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Prayer for Lent: O Lord who, for our sake, didst fast forty days and forty nights; give us grace to use such abstinence that, our flesh being subdued to the spirit, we may worthily lament and acknowledge our wretchedness, and may obtain perfect remission and forgiveness of Thee, the God of all mercy, who livest and reignest with the Father and Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen

Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG

St. Isidore, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, A.D. 606

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St. Isidore of Seville (1655), by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo

"He was born in Spain, and having qualified himself by virtue and learning for the service of the Church, assisted his brother St. Leander, archbishop of Seville, in the conversion of the Visigoths, from the Arian heresy. After the death of his brother, he was, much against his will, chosen to succeed him His election was confirmed by St. Gregory the Great, who also appointed him his Apostolic Vicar over the whole of Spain.

In his episcopal career it is incredible how constant, humble, and patient he was; as well as solicitous for keeping up Christian and ecclesiastical discipline. Indeed he was eminent in all virtue; and distinguished also for great learning, and a general acquaintance with ancient writers, both sacred and profane. He was a great promoter and encourager of monastic institutions throughout Spain; and built several monasteries and colleges. He compiled many useful works, in which he takes in the whole circle of the sciences; and many portions of his writings were embodied in the canon law of the Church.

When St. Isidore was almost fourscore years old, though age and fatigues had undermined and broken his health, he never interrupted his usual exercises and labours. During the last six months of his life, he increased his charities with such profusion, that the poor of the whole country crowded his house from morning till night. Perceiving his end to draw near, he entreated two bishops to come to see him. With them he went to the church, where one of them covered him with sackcloth, and the other put ashes on his head. Clothed with the habit of penance, he stretched his hands towards heaven, prayed with great earnestness, and begged aloud the pardon of his sins. He then received from the hands of the bishops the Body and Blood of our Lord, recommended himself to the prayers of all that were present, remitted the bonds of all his debtors, exhorted the people to charity, and caused all the money which he had not as yet disposed of to be distributed among the poor. This done, he returned to his own house, and calmly departed this life four days after, on the 4th of April, in the year 636.

His memory was held in such veneration, that the eighth Council of Toledo, fourteen years after his death, styles him "The excellent Doctor, the late ornament of the Catholic Church, the most learned man, given to enlighten the latter ages, always to be named with reverence." Give thanks to Almighty God, for His wonderful graces to this His servant, and beg a like mercy on all the present pastors of the Church. Pray likewise for yourself and the whole flock, that God would render us a holy and acceptable people, well-pleasing in his sight." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Holy Saturday: "He descended into hell, the third day he rose again from the dead.”

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James Tissot - Holy Saturday

"The Savior of the world, having expired on the cross, and by His death paid the ransom due to the divine justice for the sins of men, descended into Limbo, to deliver thence those just souls who were waiting for their Redeemer, and were prepared to enter with Him into glory. Inexpressible was the joy of those holy souls at the presence of their Redeemer, who having conquered death and hell, came down in the happy character of a deliverer, and demanded them from their long confinement, to take part in his triumphs. It was the Messias whom they expected; and He being come, they think all the time of their banishment to have been as nothing, beginning now to enjoy Him, whom they had so long desired, and whom no time can ever more take from them. The same will be the happiness of every one that dies well. Whether the evils of life have been great or inconsiderable, long or short, they all disappear at the hour of a happy death, and are lost in eternity.

Our Blessed Redeemer was pleased to be taken down from the cross, and laid in a sepulchre, so to confirm to all generations the truth of His death for us, and of His resurrection from the dead. Pray that by a firm faith of what He has suffered for us, you may plentifully partake of His mercies, and daily increase in that hope and love, which are to bring you to the possession of Him. From His sacred body being laid in the sepulchre, you may learn the mystery which is taught you this day, that you also ought to be buried together with Him; that you are not only to labour that in the likeness of His death the old man may die in you, but that he may be buried also; so that he be altogether hidden from the world, and that nothing may appear in us but the new man, who is renewed in us by his death.

What happy fruit of Christ's passion would it be to us, could we obtain this mercy! We are convinced of the folly of sin, and the vanity of all that pleases for a moment; we are tired of our corruption; but who will deliver us from the body of this death? None can do this but Jesus. Wherefore apply yourself to Him: sit at His sepulchre, and by His sacred passion beseech Him to have compassion on you, to help you in the relief of your necessities, and give you the victory which you desire." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Day 45. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: Last Judgment

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"Our catechism tells us, my children, that all men will undergo a particular judgment on the day of their death. No sooner shall we have breathed our last sigh than our soul, without leaving the place where it has expired, will be presented before the tribunal of God. Wherever we may die, God is there to exercise His justice. The good God, my children, has measured out our years, and of those years that He has resolved to leave us on this earth, He has marked out one which shall be our last; one day which we shall not see succeeded by other days; one hour after which there will be for us no more time. What distance is there between that moment and this - the space of an instant. Life, my children, is a smoke, a light vapour; it disappears more quickly than a bird that darts through the air, or a ship that sails on the sea, and leaves no trace of its course!

When shall we die? Alas! will it be in a year, in a month? Perhaps tomorrow, perhaps today! May not that happen to us which happens to so many others? It may be that at a moment when you are thinking of nothing but amusing yourself, you may be summoned to the judgment of God, like the impious Baltassar. What will then be the astonishment of that soul entering on its eternity? Surprised, bewildered, separated thenceforth from its relations and friends, and, as it were, surrounded with Divine light, it will find in its Creator no longer a merciful Father, but an inflexible Judge. Imagine to yourselves, my children, a soul at its departure from this life. It is going to appear before the tribunal of its Judge, alone with God; there is Heaven on one side, Hell on the other. What object presents itself before it? The picture of its whole life! All its thoughts, all its words, all its actions, are examined.

This examination will be terrible, my children, because nothing is hidden from God. His infinite wisdom knows our most inmost thoughts; it penetrates to the bottom of our hearts, and lays open their innermost folds. In vain sinners avoid the light of day that they may sin more freely; they spare themselves a little shame in the eyes of men, but it will be of no advantage to them at the day of judgment; God will make light the darkness under cover of which they thought to sin with impunity. The Holy Ghost, my children, says that we shall be examined on our words, our thoughts, our actions; we shall be examined even on the good we ought to have done, and have not done, on the sins of others of which we have been the cause. Alas! so many thoughts to which we abandon ourselves - to which the mind gives itself up; how many in one day! in a week! in a month! in a year! How many in the whole course of our life! Not one of this infinite number will escape the knowledge of our Judge.

The proud man must give an account of all his thoughts of presumption, of vanity, of ambition; the impure of all his evil thoughts, and of the criminal desires with which he has fed his imagination. Those young people who are incessantly occupied with their dress, who are seeking to please, to distinguish themselves, to attract attention and praise, and who dare not make themselves known in the tribunal of Penance, will they be able still to hide themselves at the day of the judgment of God? No, no! They will appear there such as they have been during their life, before Him who makes known all that is most secret in the heart of man.

We shall give an account, my children, of our oaths, of our imprecations, of our curses. God hears our slanders, our calumnies, our free conversations, our worldly and licentious songs; He hears also the discourse of the impious. This is not all, my children; God will also examine our actions. He will bring to light all our unfaithfulness in His service, our forgetfulness of His Commandments, our transgression of His law, the profanation of His churches, the attachment to the world, the ill-regulated love of pleasure and of the perishable goods of earth. All, my children, will be unveiled; those thefts, that injustice, that usury, that intemperance, that anger, those disputes, that tyranny, that revenge, those criminal liberties, those abominations that cannot be named without blushes...."

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG

God Surrenders to Man

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"There is a passage in the Following of Christ, II., 11, in which a Kempis insists that nothing we can offer to God is acceptable unless we offer ourselves. "If a man give his whole substance, it is nothing. If he do great penance, it is but little. If he attain to all knowledge, he is far off still. If he have great virtue and very fervent devotion, there is still much wanting to him, the one thing which is supremely necessary to him." What is the one thing necessary? "that having given all things else to God he give himself."

Now, man, recognizing the demand of God that we surrender ourselves to Him, boldly retaliates with a demand that God surrender Himself to us. Man says to God, " Thou mayest multiply Thy favors; Thou mayest overwhelm me with gifts, but though Thy gifts, temporal and spiritual, be piled in mountains before me, my heart remains unsatisfied, my soul is discontent. I want not Thy gifts, I want Thee. Pardon, my God, if I speak boldly, I speak as Thou hast made me. Thou hast made me man, but Thou hast given me the cravings of a god. Thou mayest empty Thy treasure-house before my feet. Still I demand more, that Thou give me Thyself. Thou hast made me for Thyself. My heart remains empty until it be filled with Thee."

The answer is the Incarnation and the Blessed Sacrament."

Source: A Thought a Day for Lent, Rev. James M Gilles, C.P.; Paulist Press, 1923.

St. Richard, Bishop of Chichester, A.D. 1253.

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"The saint's devotion to the Holy Eucharist is shown by his minute and careful legislation regarding all things connected with the service of the altar. Everything surrounding it, and especially the linen used for Mass, must be of spotless cleanliness, and no priest may say Mass in torn or dirty vestments. The chalices must be of gold or silver, and a crucifix must always be placed before the celebrant. When the Holy Viaticum is carried to the sick it must be taken with the utmost reverence, the priest in surplice and stole, accompanied by cross, lights, and holy water, and preceded by an acolyte with a bell to let the people know that their Lord is passing.

Only those who have passed a sufficient examination are to be admitted to the ranks of the clergy, and no one is to be ordained to sacred orders if he come with any other design than to serve God alone; ordination, therefore, should be refused to anyone for money, favor, or privilege, and all those in the least tainted with heresy or suspected of leading unholy lives must be rigorously excluded from the priesthood. (...) Finally, the clergy are reminded of the duty of instructing their flocks in the truths of the Faith, and they must teach them simple prayers according to their ability to learn. Source: Richard of Wyche, labourer, Scholar, Bishop, and Saint. by Sister Mary Reginald OP 1913

"St. Richard was born in Worcestershire. From his childhood, he had a great aversion to dances, shows, and gay amusements; and applied diligently to virtue and learning. Quitting all worldly prospects, he studied first at Oxford, then at Paris, where, with two companions, he lived in great poverty, contenting himself with coarse bread, and drinking only water, which nevertheless he used to say was the most pleasant time of his whole life.

He afterwards went to Bologna, to study canon law; and having taught there a short time, he returned to Oxford, and was chosen chancellor of that university. He was afterwards appointed chancellor to St. Edmund, archbishop of Canterbury; in which charge he was faithful, just, affable, modest, and sincere. He kept close to his holy prelate in all his tribulations, and accompanied him in his exile. Being ordained priest, he returned to England; and not long after was chosen bishop of Chichester. The king, Henry III., opposed his nomination, but Pope Innocent IV. ratified his election, and consecrated him with his own hands at Rome.

The saint returned to England, but found all the revenues of his bishopric seized by the king's officers. He went therefore to his diocese poor and penniless, and suffered great hardships for two years, when his revenues were restored to him, though much impaired. Seated now in his episcopal chair, St. Richard shone forth more illustrious then ever in all virtues. He was fervent in prayer, night and day, liberal in alms-deeds, and rigorous in the chastisement of his body. In visiting his diocese, he always made diligent inquiry after the sick and poor; and not only relieved them, but visited them in person, to comfort them with pious exhortations. God was pleased by miracles to testify his approbation of these great charities; especially when one loaf blessed by the saint, was so wonderfully multiplied, as to satisfy three thousand poor. He suffered at one time a great loss by fire; but with a pleasant countenance he only said: "Perhaps God has punished us, because we were not liberal enough in our alms; and therefore see that we give more bountifully for the time to come."

Whilst he was employed in preaching a crusade for the recovery of the Holy Land, he fell sick; and prepared for his last end, by receiving the Sacraments, and making a general confession of his whole life. He died at Dover on the 3rd of April, 1253, in the fifty-sixth year of his age. Pray for the pastors of the Church, and in particular of this nation, that they may be every way fitted for their charge. Pray for the people also, that peace and charity may reign among them, that they may be united in one faith, and live according to the Gospel." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Prayer to Saint Richard of Chichester

Most merciful Redeemer,
who gavest to thy Bishop Richard a love of learning,
a zeal for souls, and a devotion to the poor:
grant that, encouraged by his example,
and aided by his prayers,
we may know thee more clearly,
love thee more dearly,
and follow thee more nearly,
day by day;
who livest and reignest with the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, ever one God,
world without end. Amen.

Prayer of Saint Richard of Chichester

Gratias tibi ego, Domine Jesu Christe, de omnibus beneficiis, quae mihi praestitisti; pro poenis & opprobiis, quae pro me pertulisti; propter quae plactus ille lamentablis vere tibim competebat. Non est dolor sicut dolor meus.

Good Friday

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Mother of Mercy, Washington NC.

"On this solemn and sacred day, consider your Blessed Redeemer on Mount Calvary. Being arrived at the holy mount, Jesus is forthwith stretched out upon the cross. His hands and feet are pierced with nails, and with them fastened to the wood: and thus, with shouts and cries of the insulting multitude, He is raised up into the air, and in this manner He offers Himself a bleeding sacrifice to the eternal Father, a propitiation for our sins, and those of the whole world. Who can comprehend what He suffered here, in having His wasted, torn and tormented Body now stretched out upon a cross, His hands and feet fastened to it with nails; and then raised up with shouts into the air between two thieves, with the weight of his whole body now resting only on His wounds? Who will give us a heart to adore our Redeemer, and tears to lament His sufferings, and our sins, which are the occasion of them, and are the very nails, which have bored His sacred hands and feet, and nailed him to the cross?

The first words which our Blessed Saviour uttered, when raised up upon the cross, were: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do". Adore the charity of your crucified Redeemer. He prayed for those who treated Him with the utmost cruelty. This shows that it was an excess of love, that brought Him to this ignominious death, since He offered His blood for those who shed it. Beg of Him to open your breast to that divine charity, of which He has here given you so great an example, and to teach you the practice of forgiving all injuries, and even the worst of enemies.

They that passed by reviled Him and mocked Him. But He was pleased to suffer even to His last breath. We are sensible how great a trial it is to be despised in time of affliction; and yet contempts and insults are His entertainment in His greatest humiliation. Bless the humility and patience of your Saviour, who suffered all this for your sake from the hands of sinners. Pray that being His disciple, you may inherit some portion of His spirit, and then remember what is your duty when you are in affliction, or under contempt.

That the Scripture might be fulfilled, Jesus said:"I thirst". How great must our Saviour's thirst have been, when He complained of that, after going through so many torments without opening His mouth! Bless your Redeemer for whatever He suffered in this His last hour, and beg that this His thirst may be the expiation of your intemperance, as likewise of all your niceness and self-love. Beseech Him on this day of mercy to give you a better spirit; that by the merit of His adorable thirst, all self-love may be moderated in you, and such a change be wrought, that you may no more thirst after the false goods of the world, nor be distracted with those vain desires, which have so often wasted your spirit, and taken your heart from the solicitude of more substantial goods.

About the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud voice: "My God my God! why hast thou forsaken me?" How great must His suffering have been, for Him thus to cry out ! This is the complaint of nature, which thus expresses its uneasiness under the cross, which the spirit had chosen. It is rather an instruction from the sacred mouth of our Redeemer, to put us in mind of the greatness of His torments, of the rigour of His divine justice, and of the cause for which He is exposed to this extremity. It is to lead us to consider and ask why He suffers all this. It is for the redemption of man: for us poor worms, wretched sinners, enemies of God, captives of hell. Blessed be this His mercy for ever!

And Jesus crying again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. Thus all is accomplished; the great sacrifice is offered for the sins of the world, in the death of Jesus on the cross on this day. Let it be a memorial to you; a memorial of the humiliations of Jesus, of His torments, and of His death. Let it be a day of thanksgiving, a day of humiliation, of patience, of contrition, and penance. On this day, lament your Saviour's sufferings, and your own sins; and do nothing on it, but what may be agreeable to the spirit of an humble penitent and if anything painful happens, bear it with patience, after His example. And let this be your method in proportion, on every Friday through the whole course of the year." The Catholic Year by Rev. Fr. John Gother

Hail Rabbi!

2026-04-02T23:53:31-04:00

Four causes there were, right courteous reader, which first moved me to explicate unto thee, according unto my small capacity, the mysteries and ceremonies of the Holy Mass.

(…)

3. The third was, the deep, mortal, and cankered malice of wicked heretics, their most execrable blasphemies, together with many most fearful wild,, and damnable facts, done and committed by them, in hatred and contempt of this divine Sacrifice: and what good Christian is there that will not, to the uttermost of his power, defend a treasure so inestimable from the savage assaults of such wicked miscreants?

Day 44. Lent with the Cure d'Ars: The Beloved Crosses

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"The saints, my dear brethren, all loved the Cross and found in it their strength and their consolation. But, you will say to me, is it necessary, then, always to have something to suffer? .... Now sickness or poverty, or again scandal or calumny, or possibly loss of money or an infirmity? Have you been calumniated, my friends? Have you been loaded with insults? Have you been wronged? So much the better! That is a good sign; do not worry; you are on the road that leads to Heaven.

Do you know when you ought to be really upset? I do not know if you understand it, but it should be precisely for the opposite reason -- when you have nothing to endure, when everyone esteems and respects you. Then you should feel envious of those who have the happiness of passing their lives in suffering, or contempt, or poverty.

Are you forgetting, then, that at your Baptism you accepted the Cross, which you must never abandon until death, and that it is the key that you will use to open the door of Heaven? Are you forgetting the words of our Savior: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." Not for a day, not for a week, not for a year, but all our lives.

The saints had a great fear of passing any time without suffering, for they looked upon it as time lost. According to St. Teresa, man is only in this world to suffer, and when he ceases to suffer, he should cease to live. St. John of the Cross asks God, with tears, to give him the grace to suffer more as a reward for all his labors.

What should we conclude, my dear children, from all that? Just this: Let us make a resolution to have a great respect for all the crosses, which are blessed, and which represent to us in a small way all that our God suffered for us. Let us recall that from the Cross flow all the graces that are bestowed upon us and that as a consequence, a cross which is blessed is a source of blessings, that we should often make the sign of the Cross on ourselves and always with great respect, and, finally, that our houses should never remain without this symbol of salvation.

Fill your children, my dear brethren, with the greatest respect for the Cross, and always have a blessed cross on yourselves; it will protect you against the Devil, from the vengeance of Heaven, and from all danger. This is what I desire for you."

Source: The Sermons of the Cure d'Ars 1960 (Public Domain)

Source: Lent with the Cure d'Ars Compiled by the CAPG