Greetings in Jesus and Mary.... Tomorrow is Ascension Thursday already and Friday will start our Novena to the Holy Spirit which is MUCH NEEDED TODAY! Below are some repeated ideas from previous years posts found on this website. Tomorrow's feast day brings great hope in a world that looks quite hopeless against the Tech Giants trying to control the world. But the mystery of this feast directs our eyes heavenward. We are to lift up our hearts to that place where Christ, our Savior, is in full possession of His glory after His labors and sufferings on earth, to that place, where we, having carried out our earthly tasks, will enjoy never-ending happiness, safe for all eternity in our heavenly home! What a hope and joy at a time when we see such horror displayed all around us in the world and in the Church! Christ ascended into Heaven in order to prepare a place, a home for us in the house of His Father, in His own fatherland. When we too have finished our earthly tasks, He will take us home to Himself. We are to be with Him, to dwell in the splendor of His glory. He has merely gone before us, and soon we are to follow Him. Let us today turn our hope and our longing once more to our eternal home in Heaven! “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God!” Yet this hopeful longing must find us zealous in laboring and strong in suffering. Only if we do this, will we share in the Kingdom of Heaven ....... This wholehearted surrender to Christ is the only spirit which will conquer the world today. It seems Communism is the only philosophy today with this zeal to labor and suffer for their ideals. This is a problem. Burning with zeal for their cause, they are filled with a hatred of Capitalism, with the doctrine of class struggle and the spirit of revolution. The Democratic Socialist Party has grown in memberships in the last few years by 500%!!). Such zeal can be met with opposing zeal, such courage only with courage, and such sacrifice only with sacrifice. Christians who will not sacrifice themselves for the things of God cannot meet the new challenge. It will take a great faith in Christ to put down faith in the anti-Christ; it will take nothing less than the sacrifice of the Cross to conquer the sacrifice of those who crucify. God seems to be already sifting the wheat of apostolic souls from the chaff of indifference. Persecutions are on the rise all over the world, and hatred is growing everywhere. It looks as though God is preparing the Church for the future battle or future peace by a spiritual purification in which only the strong will walk with Him. What was true in the days of Gideon is true in our own day. Gideon fought against an enemy army far greater in number but God gave the victory only after sifting His people for the truly zealous to fight the fight! Let this be our inspiration to be zealous for Christ and create a hope in us in a world where we feel swallowed up by the enemy. We must remember that our world’s problem now -- and always --has been -- a spiritual one. “Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, and all these things will be added unto you.”Matt 6:33 The social order we should help build will depend upon how we answer the question: “What is the purpose of living?” If life has no other goal than to return to dust, then we will build an order either of individual selfishness, or a collective selfishness – for if this life is all there is, then why should we not have all? But if life is moral, and the way we live in charity, justice, peace and sacrificing determines our existence in the next world, then what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his immortal soul? Bishop Fulton Sheen says this: “ There are two philosophies of life – one Communistic and the other is Christian; one material, the other spiritual. Communists have only one word in their vocabulary and that is the word down – “Down with Capitalism! Down with the Rich! Down with the bourgeoisie! Down with the Wealthy! Down with the Government! Down with the Classes! Down with Religion! Down with God! Heaven is above! Is there not another word in our vocabulary upon which we can build a true social order? Can one build anything down? Must not everything that is build be built upward? Let there be another order constructed upon the word UP! Up from Class-struggle! Up from Hate! Up from Revolution! Up from the material! Up from the dust! Up beyond the earth, beyond the stars, up to the “hid battlements of eternity” – Up – Up to God!” Have a Blessed Feast Day tomorrow! Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament - pray for us! All ye holy angels and saints - pray for us! Hello Everyone: Happy Feast Day and it is one! This day brings great hope in a world that looks quite hopeless against the Tech Giants trying to control the world. But the mystery of this feast directs our eyes heavenwards. We are to lift up our hearts to that place where Christ, our Savior, is in full possession of His glory after His labors and sufferings on earth, to that place, where we, having carried out our earthly tasks, will enjoy never-ending happiness, safe for all eternity in our heavenly home! What a hope and joy! Christ ascended into Heaven in order to prepare a place, a home for us in the house of His Father, in His own fatherland. When we too have finished our earthly tasks, He will take us home to Himself. We are to be with Him, to dwell in the splendor of His glory. He has merely gone before us, and soon we are to follow Him. Let us today turn our hope and our longing once more to our eternal home in Heaven! “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God!” Yet this hopeful longing must find us zealous in laboring and strong in suffering. Only if we do this will we share in the Kingdom of Heaven....... This wholehearted surrender to Christ is the only spirit which will conquer the world today. It seems Communism is the only philosophy today with this zeal to labor and suffer for their ideals. This is a problem. Burning with zeal for their cause, they are filled with a hatred of Capitalism, with the doctrine of class struggle and the spirit of revolution. It is in our politicians, our university professors, and now in their students willing to vote for a Bernie Sanders (who we still may get if Biden is thrown out – the Democratic Socialist Party has grown in memberships in the last two years by 500%!!). Such zeal can be met with opposing zeal, such courage only with courage, and such sacrifice only with sacrifice. Christians who will not sacrifice themselves for the things of God cannot meet the new challenge. It will take a great faith in Christ to put down faith in the anti-Christ; it will take nothing less than the sacrifice of the Cross to conquer the sacrifice of those who crucify. God seems to be already sifting the wheat of apostolic souls from the chaff of indifference. Persecutions are on the rise all over the world, even through this plandemic. It looks as though God is preparing the Church for the future battle or future peace by a spiritual purification in which only the strong will walk with Him. What was true in the days of Gideon is true in our own day. Gideon fought against an enemy army far greater in number but God gave the victory only after sifting His people for the truly zealous to fight the fight! Let this be our inspiration to be zealous for Christ and create a hope in us in a world where we feel swallowed up by the enemy. We must remember that our world’s problem now -- and has always been -- a spiritual one. “Seek ye therefore first the Kingdom of God and His Justice, and all these things will be added unto you.”Matt 6:33 The social order we should help build will depend upon how we answer the question: “What is the purpose of living?” If life has no other goal than to return to dust, then we will build an order either of individual selfishness, or a collective selfishness – for if this life is all there is, then why should we not have all? But if life is moral, and the way we live in charity, justice, peace and sacrificing determines our existence in the next world, then what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and to lose his immortal soul? Bishop Fulton Sheen says this: “ There are two philosophies of life – one Communistic and the other is Christian; one material, the other spiritual. Communists have only one word in their vocabulary and that is the word down – “Down with Capitalism! Down with the Rich! Down with the bourgeoisie! Down with the Wealthy! Down with the Government! Down with the Classes! Down with Religion! Down with God! Heaven is above! Is there not another word in our vocabulary upon which we can build a true social order? Can one build anything down? Must not everything that is build be built upward? Let there be another order constructed upon the word UP! Up from Class-struggle! Up from Hate! Up from Revolution! Up from the material! Up from the dust! Up beyond the earth, beyond the stars, up to the “hid battlements of eternity” – Up – Up to God!” Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament - pray for us!
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Greetings in Jesus and Mary.... Happy Feast of Good St. Joseph! St. Teresa of Jesus had a profound devotion to St. Joseph and prayed to him in all her needs! Joseph is the Patron of the Universal Church and Spouse of Mary! Pray to him.....he will help you too! Below is are the hymn lyrics on St. Joseph by Father Frederick Faber who lived in England during the early 1800's and the Oxford Movement. He did remarkable work for the Church in his short life of 49 years! He also suffered from ill health of a kidney disease which should have slowed him down but to the contrary...he wrote ALOT of books, poems and hymns for the Church as well as gave amazing retreats. Below is one of his lyrics to St. Joseph. BLESSED ST. JOSEPH O Blessed Saint Joseph, how great was thy worth, The one chosen shadow of God upon earth, The father of Jesus! Ah, then, wilt thou be, Sweet Spouse of our Lady, a father to me? For thou to the pilgrim art father and guide, And Jesus and Mary felt safe by thy side; Ah, blessed Saint Joseph, how safe I should be, Sweet spouse of our Lady, If thou wert with me! When the treasures of God were unsheltered on earth, Safe keeping was found for them both in thy worth; O father of Jesus, be father to me, Sweet spouse of our Lady, and I will love thee. ----Father Faber Good St. Joseph, pray for us! Greetings in Jesus and Mary... Well, we are almost in May, the month of Mary; and we have just passed the feast of St. Louis de Montfort (April 28th). It is only right that we should quote some wisdom and prophesies of St. Louis de Montfort today to understand better what we are living today. He states: "It is by Her that the souls who are to shine forth especially in sanctity have to find Our Lord. He who shall find Him shall find life, that is Jesus Christ, Who is the Way, the Truth and the Life. But no one can find Mary who does not seek Her, and no one can seek Her who does not know Her. It is necessary, then, for the greater knowledge and glory of the Most Holy Trinity, that Mary should be more than ever known." St Louis continues: "Mary must shine forth more than ever in mercy, in might, and in grace in these later times." In mercy, he says, to bring back the strayed sinners. In might, against the enemies of God who shall rise in terrible revolt against Him. In grace, to sustain the soldiers and servants of Christ who shall battle in His service. And lastly, Mary must be terrible to the devil and to his crew, as an army raged in battle, principally in these latter times, because the devil, knowing he has but little time, and now less than ever, to destroy souls, will every day redouble his efforts and his combats. He will presently raise up cruel persecutions, and will put terrible snares before the faithful servants and true children of Mary, whom it gives him more trouble to conquer than it does to conquer others." Let us be confident that God has given His Mother such power over the devil. De Montfort tells us, that Satan "fears Her not only more than all the angels and men, but in a sense more than God Himself. Not that the anger, the hatred and the power of God are not infinitely greater than those of the Blessed Virgin, for the perfections of Mary are limited; but Satan, being proud, suffers infinitely more from being beaten and punished by a little handmaid of God, and her humility humbles him more than the divine power." The battle between the devil and our Blessed Mother has been going on for centuries. It is a battle for souls. The devil is trying to lure all of us into the lowest depths of hell. Mary is trying to lead us to Heaven Today, according to De Montfort, the devil is more active than ever before because he has little time left. As a consequence, the Blessed Virgin Mary is making Herself better known to us, so that we might resist the devil and enroll on Her side. The battle seems to be approaching a great climax. The saint's words about Mary's power over the devil are consoling ones for these trying days. Satan may rage and roar at us. He may persecute us openly or subtly, but he cannot harm us so long as we stay by Mary's side. And for all those who seem to have lost their way; we can pray with confidence to Her to bring them back. We must pray with confidence that Our Good Mother loves them more than we do and She will do all in Her power to bring them back to Her Son. May we walk in this confidence! Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!! Greetings in Jesus and Mary.... "I have chosen you that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain". Being Mary's own means asking Her to teach us to live like Her on earth so that someday we can be with Her in Heaven! We are to ask for Her help in imitating Her virtues each day....striving to fulfill the Will of God as She did. Let us make an offering at the beginning of the day of all our words and works, begging our angel to steep them in the Precious Blood of Jesus. If we make a great start to our day with prayer, begging our angel to help us to draw closer to Jesus through Mary, how precious will our life become to God. We can renew this offering frequently during the day. By living the Fatima message, we are to offer the prayers of reparation taught by the angel very frequently.....making them a habit to appease the just anger of God for the many sins committed each day by so many in the world. We do not know the day or the hour when we will be held accountable for our every word and action. We will never know the value of our good words and actions until Jesus leads us through the Courts of Heaven to the throne of the Eternal Father, to place the crown of glory upon our head. Do we think of this day? Do we yearn for this day away from this exile which in reality is so very short compared to eternity. It should be our daily motivation to one day be in Paradise; as we are helping to save souls for Heaven with our prayers. Let us look forward to that rewarding day and not be so consumed with the troubles of the world and the Church. We may often feel weary of this sad time of struggle, we may be caught up in the darkness going on around us, we may be crying over souls that seem lost. We cry so many tears in this valley of tears; but Mary is at our side to guide us to Her Son and present our petitions. May we live in confidence that She will present our prayers and help those in great need! She has been appointed our Mother by the good Eternal Father and given to us by His Son Jesus at the foot of the cross! Let us run to Her. Let us take Her hand DAILY! Let us live in imitation of Her and do as St Louis De Montfort has asked us....to do all in and for Her! We have the Blessed Mother, our angel appointed to help us, as well as all the saints ....... routing us on to victory! Let us live in hope of a better world and pray for the grace to be faithful and persevere in our work toward holiness in order to belong truly to Our Blessed Mother and to please God and save many souls from being eternally lost. We must love Our Lady's work, and daily ask Her to make us understand its spirit so that we do not grow weary. We must thank Her for having called us to Her own special work of Reparation and tell Her we would rather die than mar, by our imperfections, the work to which She has called us to do through Her message at Fatima. Let us begin with Mary, live with Mary, pray with Mary, offer all to God through Mary and one day She will come to take us Home on our last day of exile here! Let us persevere in holiness by making many Spiritual Communions if we can not go to Mass. May we never neglect the prayers taught at Fatima. May we try to keep the presence of God with us constantly so that we will not sin in word or deed. May we be faithful to Our Little Office of the BVM because it gives honor to the Queen we serve and it makes up for all those who neglect the Divine Office or the Little Office. May we make little sacrifices as best we can each day to mortify ourselves in order to draw closer to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. And finally, may all of this lead us to a life of hope in the eternal life with all the angels and saints in the presence of the Most Blessed Trinity and our good and holy Blessed Mother........OUR FINAL DESTINY!! May we pray for each other that NONE of us be overwhelmed at the troubled waters we are sailing in; but keep focused with GREAT FAITH in the Heart of Christ to be our guide to Heaven......Mary, Star of the Stormy Sea, pray for us!! Greetings in Jesus and Mary... Like Fr. Frederick Faber, Mother Mary Potter is one of my favorite English authors of the Catholic Faith. She started an Order of Sisters in the late 1800's called, "The Little Company of Mary" in order to tend to the dying. Fr. Faber was her spiritual director. They both had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother and did the St. Louis de Montfort Consecration. (I will post below a link to the prayer and I am sorry I did not do that yesterday for you but you could find it elsewhere on this website). Mother Mary Potter writes from "The Queen's Highway", written for her sisters; "We should welcome all events and adverse circumstances as opportunities of showing to God that our wills are united to His. We hope to have the desire on this earth that His Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. This was Mary's perfection as she stated: "Be it done to me according to Thy Word." This she said ALL throughout her life. We first hear of it at the Annunciation. She said yes to God's Will and continued to throughout her life on earth and now in Heaven." How beautiful was the moment when Jesus came to earth and found his home in Mary's Immaculate Heart and in her virginal womb. It is a great meditation to think of how Mary was not only to perform the duty of Mother of God and Mother of us all but ALSO to offer to God continuous and perpetual adoration of the Real Presence of Jesus. She had to be created perfect in order that her perfect, constant love was always given to Jesus without a moments rest. How many times are we NOT conscious of the fact that Jesus is truly present NOW in the tabernacles around the world. NOT SO for Mary, She kept His Presence before her mind perpetually. This should be our own disposition....to practice the Presence of God continually in order that He be given thanksgiving and homage ALWAYS; especially for those who do not and for all the crimes committed against Him! Mother Mary Potter continues.... "The Spouse of Jesus has ever to sing and make melody in her heart. She is to chant God's praises for ever! She is to sing of the glories of God. She is to speak telling words of love, to bring peace on earth to men of good will. Each Community fills the Garden of Jesus with beautiful beds of flowers, and every individual flower blossoms and sends fragrances of love and adoration to Jesus in imitation of Mary." We can all attain to this perfection of being a fragrant flower of Adoration for Jesus in imitation of Mary because.... with God...nothing is impossible. He wants more than anything else for us to live in imitation of our Holy Mother Mary in Her love for Jesus and to imitate Her many virtues. We must, like Her, correspond to the graces that God wishes to send to us. May we always confess when we know that we have squandered His grace so that we may be mindful and diligent to live more magnanimously for His Heart and Kingdom. We must strengthen ourselves with the Bread from Heaven and pray continually like Mary so that we can be called Her children...truly living in imitation of Her for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. This is the true essence of living the "Consecration to Jesus through Mary"! May we ask for this grace daily so that we put kindling to the fire which will be set on our hearts today upon making this consecration! Our Lady of the Annunciation, pray for us! Good Jesus, supply your graces into our souls as we make our Consecration to You through Mary today! The following prayer was recommended by St. Louis de Montfort for those who make the Consecration...you might want to consider adding this as you can. God bless!
Greetings in Jesus and Mary.... Today is the Feast of Divine Mercy which falls at the end of the Easter Octave. Through the glory of Easter, we celebrate and enter into the paschal mystery, proclaiming the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In the below link is the relationship of this feast with the request of the feast of Corpus Christi at the end of the Sacred Heart Octave. Both are asked for by Our Lord Jesus Christ for greater love of His Real Presence in the Blessed Sacrament. With the horrible statistics of so many Catholics NOT believing in the Real Presence; we need both of these feast days to instill love and understanding of the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. The message of Divine Mercy is found in the mystery of the Eucharist. The Eucharist is nothing less than Jesus’ complete and Personal gift of Himself to us – Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity – under the appearances of bread and wine in the consecrated Host. Jesus hides His immense glory, beauty and dignity in the Blessed Sacrament because He wants us to come to Him in faith that we may love Him for Himself. “O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of Mercy for us, I Trust in You.” (St. Faustina diary, 187) Jesus explained that each person coming before Him in the Blessed Sacrament represented all humanity and that every man, woman and child on the face of the earth experiences a new effect of His goodness, grace, love and mercy for EACH Holy Hour made in His Divine Presence! In the words of Jesus to St. Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament: “I desire that Adoration take place for the intention of imploring Mercy for the whole world.”(St. Faustina diary, 1070) How can we come to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and implore His mercy with hearts empty of self and full of love and honor for God? We can find our help in our Blessed Mother as guide. She has given Jesus constant Adoration from the moment He was conceived in Her womb whose feast of the Annunciation we celebrate tomorrow. She is our model and our constant companion in Adoration. When we adore Her Son, She is there praying with us. When we go before Jesus on the altar, we always find Him with Mary His Mother. The Heart of Mary is the door through which leads us directly to Jesus. She is the gate through which we enter His Sacred Heart which pours forth the graces of Divine Mercy. St. Faustina in her diary talks about the help that Mary gave her in her love for Jesus in the Eucharist, “The Mother of God is instructing me in the interior life of the soul with Jesus, especially in Holy Communion. It is only in eternity that we shall know the great mystery effected in us by Holy Communion. O most precious moments of my life.” (St. Faustina diary 840) It is through our faithful reception of Our Lord in Holy Communion that we can obtain the graces that Jesus has for us to imitate Him in this world. “When the priest exposed the Blessed Sacrament and the choir began to sing, the rays from the image pierced the Sacred Host and spread out all over the world. Then I heard these words: “These rays of mercy will pass through you, just as they have passed through this Host, and they will go out through all the world.” (St. Faustina diary 441) Greetings in Jesus and Mary... This video below is perfect for our preparation for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary...April 8th (the date given to us since March 25th was in Holy Week). This video says it all so I will let you go to the video put out today by Sensus Fidelium which is only 28 minutes long. God is good to give us these great consolations that God is in charge and that there are many graces and helps put in our hands for these days. Today is First Friday, tomorrow is First Saturday, Sunday is Divine Mercy and Monday is the moved feast of The Annunciation. May we pray and repent for the sins of the world.....which are many! GOD DESERVES OUR LOVE AND THANKSGIVING...LET US GIVE IT TO HIM....AND FOR ALL THOSE WHO DENY HIM THEIR LOVE!! May the Reign of the Immaculate Heart of Mary come so that Jesus may reign on the hearts of all men! Our Lady of Fatima and the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!!! Greetings in Jesus and Mary.... Blessed Easter Tuesday to all of you!! I should be writing about something more edifying for our souls today but it seems the hype of this solar eclipse intensifies with each passing day. I was shopping yesterday and the music was interrupted with an ad from the store about buying solar eclipse glasses. SERIOUSLY! Since when? Since when did we travel to see a solar eclipse, shut down schools on the day of an eclipse, stop trucks in Texas on the day of the eclipse, call for the National Guard, declare State of Emergencies in various states, tell citizens to stock up on goods and fill up your tanks?????? WHAT IS GOING ON????? Well, I did a bit of research and found these videos that are more credible than all the hype of a rapture (which Catholics do not believe by the way). We are NO DOUBT inundated with demons on this planet. You hear people say, "I think, they are right! Hell IS empty! ALL THE DEMONS HAVE MIGRATED TO EARTH!" We are in a Spiritual War like we have never seen in all of human history. (AND it will get worse). This is a time to make my pitch to MAKE THE ST. LOUIS DE MONTFORT CONSECRATION.....TO JESUS THROUGH MARY......NOW!! We need Her NOW more than EVER!!! She is the one appointed to crush Satan's head. We better get prepared for battle!! Well, below are the videos I found. You may want to listen to each a couple of times. They are not long but there is so much in each and they both make complete sense on WHY the hype. It looks like a modern day Tower of Babel is trying to be created. Now there may be consequences to the actions told in these videos BUT I am not closing the door that our government ALSO may use this opportunity to give us blackouts and grid down scenarios in various parts of our country. And when/if they happen, we will not know if it is because of CERN or NASA...or our own government. I pray that the day will be uneventful...that it will truly be just a wake up call for all to repent and turn back to God before THE horrible chastisement. The first video below is regarding THIS SOLAR ECLIPSE, April 8, 2024. The second video is an old video regarding THE SOLAR ECLIPSE, August, 2017. We need to pray and make reparation for these crimes against God and His humanity. That is what we can do. The reparation prayers taught at Fatima were for our day. May we seek Our Lady's help in this crazy time and may we pray for the Reign of Her Immaculate Heart so that Jesus may be seated on the thrones of ALL OF OUR HEARTS! Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, pray for us!! For those who need to see what CERN and NASA are doing....here are THEIR websites Information on CERN
Greetings in Jesus and Mary..... Blessed Easter to everyone!! Below are instructions given to Mother Mary Agreda from Our Blessed Mother, taken from "The City of God". I write on this topic because so many Catholics either choose to celebrate Christmas and Easter only or have given up all together. On this glorious day of Easter, there will be many sacrilegious Communions and much need for reparation this day. If we are to unite ourselves to Our Blessed Mother, we are to unite our thoughts and prayers to Her as well. Below are words from Our Blessed Mother on how She laments the ingratitude of so many souls at the price Her Divine Son paid for their eternal salvation during this Holy Triduum. Many souls have chosen to turn away from God in their lives here on earth and choose the tinsel of the world instead. This is so tragic because God truly has given us everything we need to acquire Heaven and so many are throwing it away. Even though this is Easter, a day to celebrate the victory of Jesus; we can console the Hearts of Jesus and Mary with our prayers of reparation for all those who refuse their love. Here are the words of Our sweet Blessed Mother..... "My daughter, through the whole course of My life is evident how gratefully I kept in mind the works of the Redemption, the passion and death of My divine Son, especially after I had actually seen Him sacrificed on the Cross for the salvation of men. But in this chapter particularly have I wished to draw thy attention to the care and the continual exercises, by which I renewed in Me not only the remembrance, but the sufferings of the Passion. I desire that the knowledge of this cause men to feel reproach and confusion at their monstrous forgetfulness of the incomprehensible benefit of the Redemption. 0 what a shameful, what a horrible and dangerous ingratitude of men is this! Forgetfulness is a clear proof of contempt, for one does not forget so easily, what one holds dear. What reason or excuse then can there be, that men forget the eternal blessings they have received? That they should despise the love, with which the eternal Father has delivered over to death His only begotten Son? The charity and patience with which His and My Son accepted it for them (John 3, 16.) The insensible earth responds to the efforts of those that cultivate it; wild beasts become tame and domesticated in return for benefits. Men among themselves are beholden to their benefactors; and when such thankful feelings are not forthcoming, they resent it, condemn it, and call it a great offense. What is the reason then, that only toward their God and Redeemer they should be ungrateful and forget what He suffered in order to rescue them from eternal damnation? And in view of this very evil return, they complain of not receiving His assistance as they desire. In order that they may understand what fearful guilt they load upon themselves by their ingratitude, I will remind thee, my daughter, that Lucifer and his demons, seeing so many souls oblivious of the sufferings of Christ, draw the following conclusions and say of such souls: “This soul does not remember or hold in esteem the benefit of God’s Redemption and we are certain of gaining it over to our side; for the soul that is so foolish as not to remember such a blessing, will certainly not detect our wiles. Let us proceed to tempt and destroy it, since it is deprived of its strongest defense.” Having in their large experience found their reasoning on this point to be almost infallible, they zealously seek to blot out the memory of the passion and death of Christ and to excite a contempt for the preaching or discoursing about it among men; and they have succeeded to a great extent, causing dreadful damage to souls. On the other hand they are wary and fearful of tempting those who have accustomed themselves to the meditation and the remembrance of the sufferings of Christ; for from this source they feel issuing against them a force and influence, which often prevents them from approaching those who thus piously cherish the memory of the Passion. I desire thee then, my dearest, not to detach from thy bosom and heart this bouquet of myrrh (Cant. 1, 12) and to imitate Me closely in the contemplation and the exercises of the Passion. For thus must thou keep alive the memory of the sufferings of My divine Son and satisfy for the injuries and blasphemies inflicted upon His divine Person by his enemies who crucified Him. Seek thou, as long as thou shalt be upon earth, to compensate for the ingratitude and forgetfulness of mortals. And in order to do it as I desire, never let thy remembrance of Christ crucified, afflicted and blasphemed be extinguished. Persevere in thy exercises, never omitting them except in obedience or in a just cause; for if thou imitate Me in this I shall make thee a participant in the effects I Myself felt. In order to dispose thyself day by day for holy Communion thou shouldst apply whatever thou performest in these exercises; imitate also the other works and practices, which thou hast come to know of me. If I, the Mother of Him whom I was to receive, deemed Myself unworthy of Communion and by so many means sought the purity necessary for such a Sacrament, consider what thou must do, so poor and subject to so many miseries and imperfections! Purify the temple of thy interior, scrutinizing it by the divine light and adorning it with great virtues, since it is the eternal God, whom thou art to receive; One, of whom nobody but Himself is worthy. Invoke the intercession of the angels and saints to obtain grace from the Lord. Above all I exhort thee to call upon Me and ask Me to help thee; for thou must know, that I am the special Advocate and Protectress of those, who desire to arrive at great purity for receiving holy Communion. Whenever they invoke Me for this purpose, I present Myself before the throne of the Most High, and, as one well knowing the disposition required for harboring God Himself, I ask His favor and grace for those who are about to receive Him in the holy Sacrament. I have not lost in heaven the solicitude and zeal, which I exhibited upon earth. Having asked Me, proceed to ask also the intercession of the angels, for they also are very anxious to see souls approach the holy Eucharist with great devotion and purity. Risen Lord Jesus, have mercy on us! Our Lady of the Most Blessed Sacrament, pray for us! Greetings in Jesus and Mary. We have now entered into the Easter Triduum which is sundown on Holy Thursday to sundown on Easter Sunday and is considered the most solemn part of the liturgical year. This three-day period is referred to as the Easter Triduum, also known as the Sacred Triduum, or Paschal Triduum. The word "triduum" comes from the Latin word triduum, which comes from tris (“three”) + dies (“day”). Basically, the Sacred Triduum is one great festival recounting the last three days of Jesus' life on earth, the events of his Passion and Resurrection, when the Lamb of God laid down his life in atonement for our sins. Let us enter a little into the thoughts of Our Blessed Mother during these days -- taken from City of God by Mother Mary Agreda who received messages from Our Lady Herself on Her entire life. This four volume set is highly recommended and was referenced by many Popes over the years. A little meditation for Holy Thursday..... "It is the will of the Lord and my own that with this sword thou fight the battles of the Almighty in the same of the holy Church against the invisible enemies.. ..None are found to consider and weigh the fearful damage, nor to approach the easy remedy of receiving the Holy Eucharist with a contrite and humble heart; nor does any one ask for my intercession. Though all the children of the Church largely incur this fault, yet more to be blamed are the unworthy and wicked priests; for by the irreverence with which they treat the Blessed Sacrament the other Catholics have been drawn to undervalue it. If the people see that their priests approach the divine mysteries with holy fear and trembling, they learn to treat and receive their God in like manner. Those that so honor Him shall shine in Heaven like the sun among the stars; for the glory of my Divine Son's humanity will redound in a special measure in those who have behaved well toward Him in the Blessed Sacrament and have received Him with all reverence; whereas this will not happen to those who have not frequented this holy table with devotion. Moreover the devout will bear on their breast, where they have so often harbored the Holy Eucharist, most beautiful and resplendent inscriptions, showing that they were most worthy tabernacles of the Holy Sacrament...They will also enjoy the special favor of being able to penetrate deeper into the mystery of the presence of the Lord in the sacrament and to understand all the rest of the wonders hidden therein. This will be such a privilege that it alone would suffice for their eternal happiness, even if there were no other enjoyment in Heaven." A little meditation for Good Friday.... "Therefore, my daughter, embrace the Cross and do not admit any consolation outside of it in this mortal life. By contemplating and feeling within thyself the sacred Passion thou wilt attain the summit of perfection and attain the love of a spouse. Bless and magnify my most holy Son for the love with which He delivered Himself up for the salvation of mankind. Little do mortals heed this mystery; but I, as an Eyewitness, assure thee, next to ascending to the right hand of His Eternal Father, nothing was so highly estimated and so earnestly desired by Him, as to offer Himself for suffering death and to deliver Himself up entirely to His enemies. I wish also that thou lament with great sorrow the fact that Judas, in his malice and treachery has many more followers than Christ. Many are the infidels, many the bad Catholics, many the hypocrites, who under the name of a Christian, sell and deliver Him and wish to crucify Him anew. Bewail all these evils, which thou understandest and knowest, in order that thou mayest imitate and follow me in this manner. " A little meditation for Holy Saturday..... "My daughter, the lance-thrust which my blessed Son received in His side, was cruel and very painful only to Me; but its effects and mysteries are most sweet to those souls who know how to taste its sweetness. It was a great affliction to Me; but whoever meets with this mysterious favor will find it a great relief and consolation in his sorrows. In order that thou mayest understand this and participate in it, thou must know, that My Son and Lord, on account of His most ardent love for men, in addition to the wounds of the feet and hands, wished to open the wound of His Heart, the Seat of Love, in order that through this port the souls might enter and there receive refuge and relief. This is the retreat which I wish thee to seek during the time of thy banishment, and which thou must consider as thy habitation upon earth. There thou wilt find the conditions and laws of love for imitating me and learn how for injuries thou must return blessings to all who commit them against thee and thine, just as thou hast seen me do, when I was grieved by the wounding of the side of My dead Son. I assure thee, my dearest, that thou canst not do anything more adapted to the obtaining of the efficacious graces from the Almighty. The prayer, which thou offerest in a forgiving spirit, is powerful not only for thy own good, but for the good of the one that offends thee; for the kind heart of My Son is easily moved, when He sees that creatures imitate Him in pardoning offenders and in praying for them; for they thereby participate in His most ardent charity manifested on the Cross. Write this doctrine in thy heart and in imitation of Me practice this virtue, of which I thought so highly. Through this wound look upon the Heart of Christ thy Spouse and upon Me, sweetly and ardently loving in it thy enemies and all creatures." All taken from the "City of God" by Mother Mary Agreda (The Easter Meditation will be posted on that day from this book...Blessed Triduum to all of you...May we keep each other in prayer.) |
AuthorBernadette Porter is a Traditional Catholic, a wife of 42 years with 6 adult home-schooled children and 6 grandchildren. A sincere devotion to Mary, the Mother of God leads me to want to share "The Church's best kept secret" - Mary! Archives
April 2024
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