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St. John Neumann and the 40 Hours Devotion

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 16:00:57 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

This incredible holy bishop did so many wonderful things but one of my favorite stories concerns the promotion of the 40 Hours Devotion of Adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. His Feast Day is January 5th.

At the time of his episcopate there was a strong anti-Catholic sentiment in Philadelphia and having had two churches burned and another barely saved, priests were advising the Bishop, John Neumann, not to proceed with introducing the 40 Hours of continual adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, believing it would somehow increase the hostility already directed against the Church.

The Bishop had a decision to make and then something happened to make up his mind to proceed with the devotion of the 40 Hours of Adoration:

One night, he was working very late at his desk and fell asleep in his chair. The candle on the desk burnt down and charred some of the papers, but they were still readable. He awoke, surprised and thankful that a fire had not ignited. He fell on his knees to give thanks to God for protection, and heard His voice saying, “As the flames are burning here without consuming or injuring the writing, so shall I pour out my grace in the Blessed Sacrament without prejudice to My honor. Fear no profanation, therefore; hesitate no longer to carry out your design for my glory.”

He introduced the practice of 40 Hours Devotion at the first diocesan synod in April, 1853, and the first devotions began at St. Philip Neri Parish, an appropriate place since that St. Philip had begun that very devotion in the city of Rome. The holy Bishop then introduced the program for the whole diocese, so that each parish would have Forty Hours Devotion during the course of the year. He wrote a booklet for the devotions and obtained special indulgences for the faithful attending them. The Forty Hours Devotion was so successful it spread to other dioceses. At the Plenary Council of Baltimore in 1866, the Forty Hours Devotion was approved for all Dioceses of the United States.

(Let us ask St. John Neumann, lover of the Blessed Sacrament, to pray for us now and that we will again see the 40 Hours Devotion of Adoration grow and flourish in our country and throughout the world, and even to expand to perpetual adoration of Jesus in the most Blessed Sacrament.)

St. John was also most zealous in the promotion of Catholic education and worked diligently to establish parochial schools. Within a year of his becoming Bishop of Philadelphia, the student population in parochial schools increased from 500 to more than 5,000. After two years, it had reached more than 9,000.

St. John Neumann was the fourth bishop of Philadelphia, and held that position from 1852 to 1860. He was the first male canonized saint from the United States. St. John lived from 1811 to 1860. The St. John Neumann feast day is January fifth. Known for a lifetime of pastoral work, especially among poor German immigrants, Bishop John Neumann was the first American man to be named saint.

John Nepomucene Neumann was born on March 28, 1811 in Bohemia, the Czech portion of the present Czechoslovakia. He graduated from a nearby college in Bohemia and then applied to theseminary. John distinguished himself not only in his theological studies, but also in the natural sciences. Besides mastering Latin, Greek and Hebrew, he learned to speak fluently at least eight modern languages, including various Slavic dialects.

On the morning of February 8, 1836, he left his native home and made the trip across Europe on foot. Several months later, he set sail for New York aboard a 210-foot, three-masted ship loaded to capacity with emigrants. Six weeks later, the ship entered the harbor of New York. A few days after arriving in New York, John Neumann sought out and met the bishop, John Dubois. Bishop Dubois had only 36 priests to care for 200,000 Catholics living in all of New York State and half of lower New Jersey. In June of 1836, the bishop ordained John Neumann as a sub-deacon, a deacon, and as a priest, all within on week’s time.

Father John Neumann devoted himself to the pastoral care of all the outlying places in the parish of Buffalo for four years. From his headquarters near Buffalo, he made frequent journeys on foot in all kinds of weather to points ten or twenty miles distant, visiting the settlers on their scattered farms.

Later St. John was attracted to the Redemptorist Order and so was the first novice of the Redemptorists in the United States and, in 1847, he became the head of the American Redemptorists. He also wrote several German Language Catechisms and a German Bible history.

In 1852, he was nominated for the position of Bishop of Philadelphia and he accepted the appointment only because Pope Pius IX commanded him to do so. The Diocese of Philadelphia was at this time the largest in the country, comprising eastern Pennsylvania, western New Jersey, and all of Delaware.

Bishop Neumann was the first in the United States to introduce the Forty Hours Devotion in his diocese. From the beginning, he promoted the establishment of parochial schools. There were only two such schools in 1852, but by 1860 they numbered nearly 100. Through his work with the schools, he helped the Notre Dame Sisters of Munich to become firmly established in the United States.

Though Bishop Neumann had suffered from frequent illnesses, his sudden death, at the age of 48, was wholly unexpected. On January 8, 1860, he went out in the afternoon to attend to some business matters and was walking back when he suffered an apoplectic stroke.

The cause of his beautification was begun in 1886. Ten years later, he received the title of “Venerable.” In February, 1963, Pope John XXIII issued the procamation for his beautification, but the ceremony was delayed by the death of Pope John and Pope Paul VI beautified him on October 13th. His canonization followed in June of 1977.

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I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 19:00:24 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

Dearest Jesus: You loved me from all eternity, therefore you created me.

You loved me after You created me, therefore You became Man for me.

You loved me after You became man for me, therefore you lived and died for me.

You loved me after You had died for me therefore You went to prepare a place for me.

You loved me after You had prepared a place for me, therefore You came back to me.

You loved me after You came back to me, therefore you desired to enter into me and be united to me.

This is the meaning of the most Blessed Sacrament : The Mystery of His Love.

(Archbishop Goodier)

…I wish you would be there. We could maybe have adoration everyday and so bring and weave our lives with the Bread of Life. No greater love not even God could give than in giving Himself as Bread of life-to be broken, to be eaten so that you and I may eat and live-may eat and so satisfy our hunger for love. And He seemed yet not satisfied for He too was hungry for love. So He made Himself the hungry One, the Thirsty One, the Naked One, the Homeless [One] and kept on calling: I was hungry, naked, homeless. You did it to Me…The Bread of life and the Hungry One-but one love–only Jesus. His humility is so wonderful. I can understand His majesty, His greatness because He is God, but His humility is beyond my understanding, because He makes Himself Bread of Life so that even a child as small as I can eat Him and live. The greatness of [the] humility of God! Really no greater love-no greater love than the love of Christ.

(from a letter of Mother Teresa to a priest)

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This is My Beloved Son…

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 19:00:25 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

And behold a voice from heaven saying: This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. (Mt.3:17)

The prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled in the New Testament:

(Is.42:1) Behold, my servant, whom I uphold; my chosen, in whom my soul delights.

God the Father: (Mt. 17:5) from the cloud there came a voice which said, “This is my Son, the Beloved; he enjoys my favour. Listen to him.”

The Mother of Jesus: (Jn.2:5) His mother said to the servants, ‘Do whatever he tells you’.

(Gen.22:8) And Abraham said, My son,God will provide himself a lamb.

(John 1:35-36) The next day again John…beholding Jesus walking, he said: Behold the Lamb of God.

(Ex.13:21) And the LORD went before them…by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light…

John the Baptist: (Mt. 3:11) He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.

(Is.49:1-3) Listen…you peoples: Yahweh has called me from the womb…he made mention of my name: and he has made my mouth like a sharp sword…and he said to me, You are my servant; Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

(Lk. 1:31) You are to conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you must name him Jesus.

(Mt.1:21) She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins.

(Heb.4:12) For the word of God is living and effectual and more piercing than any two edged sword.

(Is.42:7) That thou mightest open the eyes of the blind.

(Lk.7:20-22) And when the men were come unto him, they said: John the Baptist hath sent us to thee, saying: Art thou he who is to come? Or look we for another? And in that same hour, he cured many of their diseases and hurts and evil spirits: and to many that were blind he gave sight.) And answering, he said to them: Go and relate to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see…

(Mt.12:22) Then was offered to him one posessed with a devil, blind and dumb: and he healed him, so that he spoke and saw.

(Jn.9:1,7) And Jesus passing by, saw a man who was blind from his birth.And said to him: Go, wash in the pool of Siloe. He went therefore and washed: and he came seeing.

(Is.49:6) Behold, I have given thee to be the light of the gentiles, that thou mayst be my salvation even to the farthest part of the earth.

(Lk.2:32) He shall be a light to the revelation of the gentiles and the glory of thy people Isreal.

(Jn.9:5) I am the light of the world.

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Where Peter is, there is Christ?s Church

apostolate — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 01:56:04 +0000

From Ave Maria Meditations
by JosephMary

Ubi Petrus ibi Ecclesia : Where Peter is, there is Christ’s Church

The primacy of Peter. The love of the early Chris?tians for Peter

The Church is built on the primacy of Peter, as on a rock, until the end of the world. Peter’s stature is immeasurably enhanced since Christ is the real foundation of the Church and Peter now takes his place. That is why his successors have since acquired the title of Vicar of Christ, that is, one who takes Christ’s place.

Peter is the Church’s strong defense against the storms she has suffered and will suffer throughout the centuries.

Built on him, as foundation and with his watchfulness as good shepherd, its victory is assured despite trials and temptations. Peter must eventually die but as regards his role of supreme shepherd Our Lord will assure it lasts eter?nally for the perpetual health and perennial good of the Church, which, being founded on rock, must remain stable to the end of time.

Love for the Pope goes back to the Church’s begin?nings. The Acts of the Apostles tell us movingly of the early Christians’ reaction to the imprisonment of St. Peter by Herod Agrippa, who planned to kill him when the Paschal feast was over. Meanwhile the Church prayed unceasingly to God for him. Look at how the faithful feel for their pastors, says St John Chrysostom. They don’t resort to protest or rebellion, but to prayer as an unfailing remedy. They did not say: as we are powerless men, it is useless to pray for him. They never reasoned in this way, but prayed with love.

We ought to pray a lot for the Pope and his intentions, since he bears the heavy weight of the Church on his shoulders. For example, we could use the following liturgi?cal prayer : may the Lord keep him and give him life, make him happy on earth and save him from deliverance into the hands of his enemies. Every day the clamor of the entire Church spread over the world rises to God in petition with him and for him. No Mass is celebrated without his name being mentioned and prayers said for him and his intentions. Our Lord will be very pleased to see that throughout the day we remember to offer prayers, hours of work or study and some mortification for his Vicar on earth.

Thank you, my God, for that love for the Pope you have placed in my heart ; it would be wonderful if we could say this more meaningfully each day. This love and veneration for the Roman Pontiff is one of the great gifts Our Lord has left us.

Faithful obedience to the Vicar of Christ;- making his teaching known. The sweet Christ on earth.

Along with showing him love and respect, we also pray for the one who takes Christ’s place on earth. Love for the Roman Pontiff must be in us a beautiful passion, for in him we see Christ. Therefore we will not fall into the all too easy temptation of setting one Pope against another, having confidence only in those whose actions respond to our per?sonal feelings. We are not among those who nostalgically look back to a former Pope or look forward to one in the future who will eventually dispense us from obeying the present one. Read the liturgical texts for the coronation of Pontiffs and you will notice that nowhere is there a reference to a conferral of powers proportionate to the dignity of the person elected by the conclave. Christ gives these powers directly to Peter’s successor. Therefore in speaking of the Roman Pontiff we exclude from our vocabulary any expressions derived from parliamentary assemblies or the polemics of newspapers; let it not be said that people not of our faith should be the ones who explain the prestige of the head of Christendom in the world to us.

And there would be no true love and respect for the Pope without faithful internal and external obedience to his teaching and doctrine. Good children listen with pro?found respect to even the simplest advice of the common Father and try sincerely to put it into practice. In the Pope we should see somebody who is in Christ’s place in the world – the sweet Christ on earth, as St Cath?erine of Siena used to say – loving and listening to him because his voice is the truth. We try to see that his words reach all the corners of the earth without distortion, so that, just as when Christ was on earth, many people disoriented by ignorance and error can discover the truth and many afflicted people recover their hope. It is part of the Christian’s apostolic task to make the Pope’s teaching known.

Jesus’ very words can be applied to the Pope: He who abides in me … he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing . Without this union all fruit is only apparent and empty and, in many cases, brings bitter?ness and damages the whole Mystical Body of Christ. On the other hand, if we are very united to the Pope, we will only have reasons for optimism in the task before us; this is reflected in these words of Mgr Escriva: Joyfully I bless you, son, for that faith in your mission as an apostle which inspired you to write: ‘There’s no doubt about it, the future is certain, perhaps in spite of us. But it is essential that we should be one with the Head so that all be one!

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July 25th: The Anniversary of a Prophetic Encyclical

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 01:58:12 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

In our present world where the embracing of intrinisic evils, which are the compromises with the devil, are becoming more and more mainstream and even mandated, a courageous voice spoke out in 1968. He was publicly denounced for this even by high ranking clergy. Society was warned but did not heed the warning and never has human life become so cheapened and the dignity of a human being so debased. The consequences of the embracing of moral evils has yet to be fully realized. God help us.

ENCYCLICAL LETTER
HUMANAE VITAE
OF THE SUPREME PONTIFF
PAUL VI
TO HIS VENERABLE BROTHERS
THE PATRIARCHS, ARCHBISHOPS, BISHOPS
AND OTHER LOCAL ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE,
TO THE CLERGY AND FAITHFUL OF THE WHOLE CATHOLIC WORLD, AND TO ALL MEN OF GOOD WILL, ON THE REGULATION OF BIRTH

some excerpts from the Encyclical Letter which can be found at:

http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html

Honored Brothers and Dear Sons,
Health and Apostolic Benediction.

The transmission of human life is a most serious role in which married people collaborate freely and responsibly with God the Creator. It has always been a source of great joy to them, even though it sometimes entails many difficulties and hardships.

The fulfillment of this duty has always posed problems to the conscience of married people, but the recent course of human society and the concomitant changes have provoked new questions. The Church cannot ignore these questions, for they concern matters intimately connected with the life and happiness of human beings.

Faithfulness to God’s Design

13. Men rightly observe that a conjugal act imposed on one’s partner without regard to his or her condition or personal and reasonable wishes in the matter, is no true act of love, and therefore offends the moral order in its particular application to the intimate relationship of husband and wife. If they further reflect, they must also recognize that an act of mutual love which impairs the capacity to transmit life which God the Creator, through specific laws, has built into it, frustrates His design which constitutes the norm of marriage, and contradicts the will of the Author of life. Hence to use this divine gift while depriving it, even if only partially, of its meaning and purpose, is equally repugnant to the nature of man and of woman, and is consequently in opposition to the plan of God and His holy will. But to experience the gift of married love while respecting the laws of conception is to acknowledge that one is not the master of the sources of life but rather the minister of the design established by the Creator. Just as man does not have unlimited dominion over his body in general, so also, and with more particular reason, he has no such dominion over his specifically sexual faculties, for these are concerned by their very nature with the generation of life, of which God is the source. “Human life is sacred?all men must recognize that fact,” Our predecessor Pope John XXIII recalled. “From its very inception it reveals the creating hand of God.”

Consequences of Artificial Methods

17. Responsible men can become more deeply convinced of the truth of the doctrine laid down by the Church on this issue if they reflect on the consequences of methods and plans for artificial birth control. Let them first consider how easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards. Not much experience is needed to be fully aware of human weakness and to understand that human beings?and especially the young, who are so exposed to temptation?need incentives to keep the moral law, and it is an evil thing to make it easy for them to break that law. Another effect that gives cause for alarm is that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection.

Finally, careful consideration should be given to the danger of this power passing into the hands of those public authorities who care little for the precepts of the moral law. Who will blame a government which in its attempt to resolve the problems affecting an entire country resorts to the same measures as are regarded as lawful by married people in the solution of a particular family difficulty? Who will prevent public authorities from favoring those contraceptive methods which they consider more effective? Should they regard this as necessary, they may even impose their use on everyone. It could well happen, therefore, that when people, either individually or in family or social life, experience the inherent difficulties of the divine law and are determined to avoid them, they may give into the hands of public authorities the power to intervene in the most personal and intimate responsibility of husband and wife.

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Franciscan Saint of the Confessional: St. Leopoldo Mandic

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 00:00:09 +0000

AVE MARIA MEDITATIONS

July 30^th: St. Leopoldo Mandic

A Saint of the Confessional and a Saint for the Cause of Unity

The august Mother of God is in truth co?redemptress of the human race and source of all grace. In fact on the one hand we have in her the most perfect obedience to God?s laws and, after her Son, the most perfect innocence: He impeccable by His nature, she impeccable by grace. On the other hand we see her as Our Lady of Sorrows, as He was the Man of Sorrows. If, therefore, by eternal decree of God, the Immaculate Virgin was the moral victim of sorrow as her Son was the physical victim, and if God?s avenging justice found no shadow of fault in them, it follows inevit?ably that they were paying the price of the sins of others, that is of mankind.

St. Leopoldo had a great love of Our Lady, a love that sustained him though his life of suffering, was light to his mind and warmth and comfort to his heart. Not even those who lived with him could describe accurately the extent and depth of this love. The tone of when he spoke of her, his expression when he looked at a picture or statue of her, cannot be described: one had to experience them to the ardor of his love

?Fr. Leopoldo,? someone once remarked to him, ?you have heard so much that noth?ing can surprise you now.? ?On the contrary, my son, I am con?stantly astonished by the way people put their immortal souls in jeopardy for the most frivolous and futile reasons,?

Fr. Leopoldo lived the Mass and always tried to instill into others a vivid faith in what he rightly considered to be the source of all grace and blessings. Probably every priest who came to him to confession was frequently exhorted to celebrate Mass well and to make central point of his spiritual life.

?I recommend daily Communion?, he wrote to a penitent, ?You?ll see what a marvelous effect it has.?

Jesus told the Jews that if they kept His commandments they would know the truth, and the truth would set them free. This truth is none other than the grace of the Holy Ghost, the grace promised by Christ to the Samaritan woman under the simile of the living water. Let us therefore approach God, Who is Truth and Light, and we shall be illuminated. Before the splendor of this Light, satan, who is darkness, will be put to flight, and the kingdom of Gad and the Gospel of Christ will be safe within us.

Great was the mystic joy with which Fr. Leopoldo held the Sacred Host in his hands and consumed It. But this did not last long. After Mass he folded his arms across his breast as though trying to retain the treasure of which he had partaken, but before long the Sacramental Species lost their identity and the Real Presence dissolved with them. Jesus, truly present in Body and Blood was, however, not far off: He was always still there in the tabernacle, and it was to the tabernacle that Fr. Leopoldo now turned his attention, never turning it away. Whatever he did during the day, wherever he might go, his heart remained in adoration before God. He was constantly aware of call of the tabernacle and the necessity of it in the spiritual life.

At any time when he was free of other duties, he went immediately to, the Blessed Sacrament altar and plunged into adoration. In spite of acute arthritic pains in his legs, he always knelt upright without the support of the bench, and very often on the bare floor. He remained completely immobile, like a statue, and his face, turned to the tabernacle

Even in his genuflections when passing before the altar, one could see that here was no routine gesture, no everyday acknowledgement of a belief however firmly held, but a genuine, almost spontaneous act of adoration. From his great devotion to the Blessed Sacrament stemmed a desire to ensure that, as far as he was concerned, everything to do with the tabernacle should be perfect.

Aware that in the Holy Eucharist was the inexhaustible source of all good, Fr. Leopoldo, moved .by his ardent charity, did everything in his power to persuade others to approach the Blessed Sacrament. He often included a visit to the Blessed Sacrament in the penances he gave, and was always recommending frequent Communion as a sov?ereign aid to perfection.

As Christ our Redeemer redeemed mankind through His sufferings and cross and death, so He wishes his followers to apply His merits to redeemed mankind by use of the same means of suffering, sorrow and sacrifice, united with and sanctified by His sufferings as priest and eternal victim. Every member of the faithful is called upon to cooperate with the divine plan in this manner for the benefit of mankind, for to all of them was given the command to pray one for another and to be a cause of salva?tion one to another.

Profile:

Physically malformed and delicate of health, Bogdan early showed signs of great spiritual strength and integrity. He entered the Capuchin Franciscan Order and was ordained on September 20th, 1884.

He wanted to be a missionary to in Eastern Europe, torn apart by much religious strife, but was denied by his superiors because of his frailty and general ill-health. Posted to Padua, Italy in 1906 where, except for a year spent in a prison camp in World War I because he would not renounce his Croat nationality, he remained for the rest of his life. He became a Confessor and Spiritual Director for almost forty years.

The life of Saint Leopold Mandic is a contrast between his physical frailty and his spiritual strength. Four foot five inches tall, and born physically weak, his health became worse as he grew older. He had a stammer, suffered abdominal pains, and was gradually deformed by chronic arthritis, making his frame stooped, his hands gnarled, and causing much pain. He offered his suffering for unity in the Church and for souls.

His strong faith was communicated to others when they came to Fr. Leopold for spiritual advice. He would exclaim: ?Have faith! Everything will be alright. Faith, Faith!?

He was truly an apostle; though he did not go to the mission territory, his long service in the confessional proved to be his own distinct apostolate. For nearly forty years, twelve hours a day, he received, counselled, and absolved thousands of penitents, working as a herald of God?s love and forgiveness. And his human weakness highlights the gift of spiritual strength which enabled him to carry out this untiring apostolate.

Early in his Capuchin life, Leopold Mandic was asked to surrender his missionary aspirations and personal preference, and to work as Confessor and Spiritual Advisor. Looking back on this decision, he once said: ?I am like a bird in a cage, but my heart is beyond the seas.?

St. Leopoldo was born Mary 12, 1866 at Castelnuovo, Dalmatia (Bosnia-Hercogovina) and died on July 30, 1942 at the Friary in Padua, Italy of esophogial cancer. He was beatified in 1976 and canonized in 1983.

We have in heaven the heart of a mother, The Virgin, our Mother, who at the foot of the Cross suffered as much as possible for a human creature, understands our troubles and consoles us.

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August 2nd: Portiuncula Indulgence

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 00:00:06 +0000

Mary, Queen of Angels

Ave Maria Meditations

August 2nd: Portiuncula Indulgence

What is Portiuncula?

The following is an excerpt from Major Life of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure.

” The Portiuncula was an old church dedicated to the Virgin Mother of God which was abandoned . Francis had great devotion to the Queen of the world and when he saw that the church was deserted, he began to live there constantly in order to repair it. He heard that the Angels often visited it, so that it was called Saint Mary of the Angels, and he decided to stay there permanently out of reverence for the angels and love for the Mother of Christ.

He loved this spot more than any other in the world. It was here he began his religious life in a very small way; it is here he came to a happy end. When he was dying, he commended this spot above all others to the friars, because it was most dear to the Blessed Virgin.

This was the place where Saint Francis founded his Order by divine inspiration and it was divine providence which led him to repair three churches before he founded the Order and began to preach the Gospel.

This meant that he progressed from material things to more spiritual achievements, from lesser to greater, in due order, and it gave a prophetic indication of what he would accomplish later.

As he was living there by the church of Our Lady, Francis prayed to her who had conceived the Word, full of grace and truth, begging her insistently and with tears to become his advocate. Then he was granted the true spirit of the Gospel by the intercession of the Mother of mercy and he brought it to fruition.

He embraced the Mother of Our Lord Jesus with indescribable love because, as he said, it was she who made the Lord of majesty our brother, and through her we found mercy. After Christ, he put all his trust in her and took her as his patroness for himself and his friars.”

Today the chapel of Portiuncula is situated inside the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels roughly 5 km from Assisi, Italy.

The Indulgence:

“The Portiuncula indulgence is the first plenary indulgence that was ever granted in the Church. There were indeed indulgences at all times, but they were only partial, and only a partial remission of the temporal punishments could be obtained by them. But, as already remarked, he who gains the Portiuncula indulgence is freed from all temporal punishments and becomes as pure as after holy baptism. This was also the reason why Pope Honorius was astonished when St. Francis petitioned for the confirmation of this indulgence, for such an indulgence, up to that time, bad been entirely unknown. It was only after he had come to the conviction that Jesus Christ himself wished it, that he granted the petition of the saint and confirmed the indulgence”

August 2nd is the feast of Portiuncula. A plenary indulgence is available to anyone who will:

1. Receive sacramental confession (8 days before of after)

2. Receive the Holy Eucharist at Holy Mass on August 2nd

3. Enter a parish church and, with a contrite heart, pray the Our Father, Apostles Creed, and a pray of his/her own choosing for the intentions of the Pope.

http://acatholiclife.blogspot.com/2006/08/portiuncula-indulgence-is-today.html

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A Week of Eucharistic and Marian Saints

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 20:00:40 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

A week of Eucharistic and Marian Saints

August 1st: St. Alphonsus Liguori

Bishop and Doctor of the Church

INTRODUCTORY PRAYER (To be said before each Visit to the Most Blessed Sacrament)

My Lord Jesus Christ, I believe that you are really here in this sacrament. Night and day you remain here compassionate and loving. You call, you wait for, you welcome everyone who comes to visit you. Unimportant though I am, I adore you. I thank you for all the wonderful graces you have given me. But I thank you especially for having given me yourself in this sacrament, for having asked your own Mother to mother me, for having called me here to talk to you.

I am here before you today to do three things: to thank you for these precious gifts, to make up for all the dis?respect that you receive in this sacrament from those who offend you, to adore you everywhere in the world where you are present in this living bread but are left abandoned and unloved.

My Jesus, I love you with all my heart. I know I have displeased you often in the past; I am sorry. With your help I promise never to do it again. I am only a miser?able sinner, but I consecrate myself to you completely. I give you my will, my love, my desires, everything I own. From now on do what you please with me. All I ask is that you love me, that you keep me faithful to the end of my life. I ask for the grace to do your will ex?actly as you want it done.

I pray for the souls in purgatory-especially for those who were close to you in this sacrament and close to your Mother Mary. I pray for every soul hardened in sin. My Savior, I unite my love to the love of your di?vine heart, and I offer them both together to your Fa?ther. I beg him to accept this offering in your name. Amen.

FIRST VISIT

You are kneeling before a fountain. From its calm depths a voice whispers: If you are thirsty, come to me. It is Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. From this foun?tain of love he pours out upon the world all the merits of his sufferings. From it the saints drink deeply. The prophet predicted it: You shall drink with joy from the Savior?s fountain.

A Spanish Poor Clare loved to make long visits to the Blessed Sacrament. The other nuns asked what she did during those long silent hours. “I could kneel there forever,” she answered. “And why not? God is there. You wonder what I do in the presence of my God? I marvel, I love, I thank, I beg. What does a tramp do when he meets a millionaire? A sick man when he sees a doctor? A starving man when he sees food? What does a dry-throated hiker do at a drinking fountain?”

My Jesus: You are my Life, my Hope, my Treasure, my soul’s only Love. A cruel death was the price you paid to be here in this sacrament today. And even now you suffer insults from those who ignore you. Yet, you remain because you want our love. Come, my Lord, implant yourself in my heart. Lock its door forever. I want nothing cheap to enter it and take away the love that belongs to you. You alone must run my life. If I swerve from you, steer me straight once more. Make me search for one pleasure: the pleasure of pleasing you. Make me yearn for one joy: the joy of visiting you. Make me crave for one delight: the delight of receiving your body. So many people chase after such hollow things! But all I care about is your love, and I am here to beg it from you today. Let me forget myself and keep you ever be?fore my mind. Amen.

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION (To be said after each Visit)

My Jesus, I believe you are really here in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you more than anything in the world, and I hunger to feed on your flesh. But since I cannot receive Communion at this moment, feed my soul at least spiritually. I unite myself to you now as I do when I actually receive you. Never let me drift away from you.

VISIT WITH MARY

We have another fountain to drink from too … our Mother Mary. Saint Bernard said that Mary is so rich in graces that everybody shares in them: “Of her fullness we have all received.” Mary was literally filled with grace, as the angel said when he greeted her. God filled her with such tremendous riches so that she could share them with her children. Cause of our joy, pray for us!

CONCLUDING PRAYER (To be said each day)

Most Holy Immaculate Virgin and my Mother Mary, to you who are the Mother of my Lord, the Queen of the world, the Advocate, the Hope, the Refuge of sin?ners, I have recourse today-I, who am the most miser?able of all. I render you my most humble homage, 0 great Queen, and I thank you for all the graces you have conferred on me until now, particularly for having de?livered me from hell, which I have so often deserved. I love you, 0 most amiable Lady; and for the love which I bear you, I promise to serve you always and to do all in my power to make others also love you. I place in you all my hopes; I confide my salvation to your care.

Accept me for your servant and receive me under your mantle, 0 Mother of Mercy. And since you are so pow?erful with God, deliver me from all temptations, or rather obtain for me the strength to triumph over them until death. Of you I ask a perfect love for Jesus Christ. From you I hope to die a good death. 0 my Mother, by the love which you bear to God, I beseech you to help me at all times, but especially at the last moment of my life. Leave me not, I beseech you, until you see me safe in heaven, blessing you and singing your mercies for all eternity.

Amen. So I hope. So may it be.

(From Visits to the Most Blessed Sacrament and the Blessed Virgin Mary)

August 2nd: St. Peter Julian Eymard

Founder of the Blessed Sacrament Fathers

THE HIDDEN GOD

We can understand why the Son of God loved man enough to become man Himself; the Creator must have been set on repairing the work of His hands. We can also understand how, from an excess of love, the God-Man died on the Cross. But something we cannot understand, something that terrifies those of little faith and scandalizes unbelievers, is the fact that Jesus Christ, after hav?ing been glorified and crowned, after having com?pleted His mission here below, wanted still to dwell with us, and in a state more lowly and self-abasing than at Bethlehem, than on Calvary itself.

With reverence let us lift the mysterious veil that covers the Holy of Holies, and let us try to under?stand the excess of love which our Savior has for us. This veiled condition of existence is the most

glorious one for the Heavenly Father; for thus Jesus renews and glorifies all the states of His mor?tal life. What He cannot do in the glory of heaven, He does on the altar through His state of self-abase?nent. What looks of complacency must not the Heavenly Father cast upon the earth where He sees His Son, Whom He loves as Himself, in a state of poverty, humility, and obedience!

Our Lord has found the means of perpetuating and renewing unceasingly the sacrifice of Calvary. He wants His Father to have constantly before His eyes the heroic deed by which His Son gave Him infinite glory-when He immolated Himself in order to destroy the kingdom of His enemy, satan.

Jesus Christ continues to wage against pride the war that will vanquish it. As there is nothing so repugnant to God as pride, so there is nothing that glorifies Him so much as humility. His Father’s glory is there, the first reason for the hidden state of our Lord in the Eucharist.

JESUS CHRIST is working in His hidden state at the task of my sanctification. In order to be?come a saint I must conquer pride and replace it with humility. In the Eucharist, Jesus gives me the example and the grace of humility. The hidden state of Jesus strengthens me against my weakness. I may draw near to Him, speak to Him, and look upon Him without fear. If His glory were re?splendent, who would dare speak to Jesus Christ, when even the Apostles fell to the ground terror? stricken for having seen a ray of His glory on Tabor? Jesus veils His power which would frighten man; He veils His sanctity, the sublimity of which would discourage our little virtues. A mother lisps with her child and comes down to his level so as to lift him up to her own. In the same way Jesus makes Himself little with the little in order to lift them up to Himself, and through Himself to God.

The Eucharistic veil perfects our faith. Faith is a pure act of the intellect, unhampered by the senses. In the present case, the senses are of no use; there is nothing they can do. This is the only mystery of Jesus Christ in which the senses must be reduced to absolute silence. In every other mystery, for example, in the Incarnation, in the Re?demption, the senses see God as a child, they see Him as a dying God; but here, nothing save an im?penetrable cloud. Faith alone must act, for it is the realm of faith. This obscurity requires of us a very meritorious sacrifice, the sacrifice of our reason and of our in?tellect. We must believe even against the testimony of our senses, against the ordinary laws of nature, against our own personal experience. We must be?lieve on the mere word of Jesus Christ.

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LIFE OF ADORATION IN UNION WITH MARY

In considering attentively the reasons that induced our Lord to leave us His Blessed Mother and so separate Himself from her, it seems to me that He did so be?cause He was distrustful of our weakness and inconstancy. Our Lord feared that men, not knowing how to find and adore Him in His Sacrament, would become dis?couraged and would forget Him. The child, as we know, does not search long for some?thing he wants; if he does not find it at once, he gives up and seeks something else. This is what our Lord feared for us; so He left us His Mother whose mission it is to take us by the hand and lead us to His Tabernacle. The Blessed Virgin, then; became our Mother, in view of the Eucharist. To her is entrusted the task of showing us how to find our Bread of Life, of making us appreciate and desire that Heavenly. Food; it is her mission to form us for adoration.

After our Lord’s Ascension, she gathered about her a community of pious women at Jerusalem; she dwelt with them, sharing with them her treasure of grace and love. Her influence extended to the disciples and to the first Christians. Like a true Mother, she trained her children to be faithful to the duties of their state and to practice virtue. What Mary did then, she will do for us now. She will instruct us, show us our Lord in the Eucharist, causing us to take part in her pious devotion to His Service?for all that a mother possesses belongs to her children. Mary being our Mother, will educate us. Mary will instill into you her method of adoration; she will even make your adoration in and for you, for only she can inspire you with the spirit of true and fervent adoration. It is only a mother’s heart that can make itself perfectly under?stood by her child. The Blessed Virgin will say to you: “Come, adore with me.”

Our Lord has given us Mary to be the bond of union between Him and us. Mary gives us the first attraction to Jesus. Before we knew the Eucharist, we knew the name of our Mother and we already loved her. Mary attracted us to herself: she trained us in the virtues necessary for the Eucharistic life. It was fitting that it should be thus, and it is evi?dent to me that there will be no true voca?tions to the Blessed Sacrament, no real devotion to the Holy Eucharist, except those that have been formed by Mary.

August 4th: St. John Mary Vianney

Patron Saint of Parish Priests

Catechism on the Real Presence

OUR LORD is hidden there, waiting for us to come and visit Him, and make our request to Him. See how good He is! He accommodates Himself to our weakness. In Heaven, where we shall be glorious and triumphant, we shall see him in all His glory. If He had presented Himself before us in that glory now, we should not have dared to approach Him; but He hides Himself, like a person in a prison, who might say to us, “You do not see me, but that is no matter; ask of me all you wish and I will grant it.”

He is there in the Sacrament of His love, sighing and interceding incessantly with His Father for sin?ners. To what outrages does He not expose Him?self that He may remain in the midst of us! He is there to console US; and therefore we ought often to visit Him. How pleasing to Him is the short quarter of an hour that we steal from our occu?pations, from something of no use, to come and pray to Him, to visit Him, to console Him for all the outrages He receives! When He sees pure souls coming eagerly to Him, He smiles upon them. They come with that simplicity which pleases Him so much, to ask His pardon for all sinners, for the outrages of so many ungrateful men. What happiness do we not feel in the pres?ence of God, when we find ourselves alone at His feet before the holy tabernacles!

Ah! If we had the eyes of angels with which to see Our Lord Jesus Christ, who is here present on this altar, and who is looking at us, how we should love Him! We should never more wish to part from Him. We should wish; to remain al?ways at His feet; it would be a foretaste of Heaven: all else would become insipid to us. But see, it is faith we want. We are poor blind people; we have a mist before our eyes. Faith alone can dis?pel this mist. Presently, my children, when I shall hold Our Lord in my hands, when the good God blesses you, ask Him then to open the eyes of your heart; say to Him like the blind man of Jericho, “0 Lord, make me to see!” If you say to Him sincerely, “Make me to see!” you will cer?tainly obtain what you desire, because He wishes nothing but your happiness. He has His hands full of graces, seeking to whom to distribute them.

Catechism on the Blessed Virgin

THE FATHER takes pleasure in looking upon the heart of the most Holy Virgin Mary, as the masterpiece of His hands; for we always like our own work, especially when it is well done. The Son takes pleasure in it as the heart of His Mother, the source from which He drew the Blood that has ransomed us; the Holy Ghost as His tem?ple. The Prophets published the glory of Mary before her birth; they compared her to the sun. Indeed, the apparition of the Holy Virgin may well be compared to a beautiful gleam of sun on a foggy day.

The heart of this good Mother is all love and mercy; she desires only to see us happy. We have only to turn to her to be heard. The Son has His justice, the Mother has nothing but her love. God has loved us so much as to die for us; but in the heart of Our Lord there is justice, which i? an attribute of God; in that of the most Holy Virgin there is nothing but mercy. Her Son being ready to punish a sinner, Mary interposes, checks the sword, implores pardon for the poor criminal. “Mother;’ Our Lord says to her, “I can refuse you nothing. If Hell could repent, you would obtain its pardon.”

The most Holy Virgin places herself between her Son and us. The greater sinners we are, the more tenderness and compassion does she feel for us. The child that has cost its mother most tears is the dearest to her heart. Does not a mother always run to the help of the weakest and the most exposed to danger? Is not a physician in the hospital most attentive to those who are most seri?ously ill? The Heart of Mary is so tender towards us, that those of all the mothers in the world put together are like a piece of ice in comparison to hers

The Ave Maria is a prayer that is never weari?some. The devotion to the Holy Virgin is deli?cious, sweet, nourishing. When we talk on earthly subjects or politics, we grow weary; but when we talk of the Holy Virgin, it is always new. All the saints have a great devotion to Our Lady; no grace comes from Heaven without passing through her hands. We cannot go into a house without speaking to the porter; well, the Holy Virgin is the portress of Heaven. All that the Son asks of the Father is granted Him. All that the Mother asks of the Son is in like manner granted to her. When we have han?dled something fragrant, our hands perfume what?ever they touch: let our prayers pass through the hands of the Holy Virgin; she will perfume them.

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I Offer My Life for the Conversion of My People

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 00:00:39 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

August 9th: St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

But we have the Savior not only in the form of reports of witnesses to his life. He is present to us in the most Blessed Sacrament. The hours of adoration before the Highest Good and the listening for the voice of the eucharistic God are simultaneously “meditation on the Law of the Lord” and “watching in prayer.” But the highest level is reached “when the Law is deep within our hearts” (Ps 40:8), when we are so united with the triune God whose temple we are, that his Spirit rules all we do or do not do. Then it does not mean we are forsaking the Lord when we do the work that obedience requires of us. Work is unavoidable as long as we are subject to nature’s laws and to the necessities of life. And, following the word and example of the apostle Paul, our holy Rule commands us to earn our bread by the work of our hands. But for us this work is always merely a means and must never be an end in itself. To stand before the face of God continues to be the real content of our lives.

The legend of the (Carmelite) Order tells us that the Mother of God would have liked to remain with the hermit brothers on Mount Carmel. We can certainly understand that she felt drawn to the place where she had been venerated through the ages and where the holy prophet had lived in the same spirit that also filled her from the time her earthly sojourn began. Released from everything earthly, to stand in worship in the presence of God, to love him with her whole heart, to beseech his grace for sinful people, and in atonement to substitute herself for these people, as the maidservant of the Lord to await his beckoning this was her life.

from the writings of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

Writings excerpt Copyright ICS Publications. Permission is hereby granted for any non-commercial use, if this copyright notice is included.

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Edith Stein was born of Jewish parents in 1891. She was a brilliant young woman, earing her doctorate in philodophy at the age of 25. With the witness of the strong faith of some Catholic friends, she began to study the Catholic faith, converting in 1922. The love of God was all consuming and she entered the Carmelite Order in 1934 taking the name Teresa Benedicta of the Cross. She offered her life for the conversion of her people, the Jews. When World War II broke out, she had to leave the Germany but later was arrested by the Germans and sent to Auschwitz where she was gassed on August 9, 1942, slightly less than a year after St. Maximilian Kolbe was also murdered there. St. Edith Stein was canonized in 1998.

Whatever did not fit in with my plan did lie within the plan of God. I have an ever deeper and firmer belief that nothing is merely an accident when seen in the light of God, that my whole life down to the smallest details has been marked out for me in the plan of Divine Providence and has a completely coherent meaning in God’s all-seeing eyes. And so I am beginning to rejoice in the light of glory wherein this meaning will be unveiled to me.

Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

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A Clear Light of Faith: St. Clare of Assisi

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 20:00:46 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

August 11th: St. Clare of Assisi

What is more beautiful to gaze upon than Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament?

St. Clare, patroness of the televised media, pray for us!

Prayers to St. Clare of Assisi
(Patroness of Television Workers
Patroness of Sore Eyes)

O Glorious St. Clare! God has given you the power of working miracles continually, and the favor of answering the prayers of those who invoke your assistance in misfortune, anxiety, and distress. We beseech you, obtain from Jesus through Mary His Blessed Mother, what we beg of you so fervently and hopefully, (mention your petition) if it be for the greater honor and glory of God and for the good of our souls.?? Amen.

God of Mercy, You inspired?Saint Clare with the love of poverty. By the help
of her prayers, may we follow Christ in poverty of spirit and come
to the joyful vision of your glory in the kingdom of heaven. We ask this
through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Dear St. Clare, inspired by St. Francis, you became a poor nun for the sake of Jesus, and established the “Poor Clares.” We are told how greatly you cherished Christ present in the Sacrament of the Altar. Is the Mass not a kind of television of Christ’s sacrifice on the Cross? Help all television workers to broadcast the truth and draw away from falsehood and evil. Amen.

NOVENA TO SAINT CLARE

Dear St. Clare, as a young girl you imitated your mother’s love for the poor of your native Assisi. Inspired by the preaching of St. Francis, who sang enthusiastically of His Lord Jesus and Lady Poverty, you gave your life to Jesus at nineteen years of age, allowing St. Francis to cut off your beautiful hair and invest you with the Franciscan habit. All through your life you offered your great suffering for your Sisters, the Poor Clares, and the conversion of souls. You greatly aided St. Francis with his new order, carrying on his spirit in the Franciscans after his death. Most of all you had a deep love of Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament, which fueled your vocation to love and care for the poor. Please pray for me (mention your request) that I will seek to keep Jesus as my first love, as you did. Help me to grow in love of the Blessed Sacrament, to care for the poor, and to offer my whole life to God. Heavenly Father, thank You for the gift of St. Clare. Through her intercession, please hear and answer my prayer, in the name of Jesus Your Son. Amen.

Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.???????? – Saint Clare of Assisi

O wondrous blessed clarity of Clare!
In life she shone to a few;
after death she shines on the whole world!
On earth she was a clear light;
Now in heaven she is a brilliant sun.

O how great the vehemence of the
brilliance of this clarity!
On earth this light was indeed kept
within cloistered walls,
yet shed abroad its shining rays;
It was confined within a convent cell,
yet spread itself through the wide world.

-Pope Innocent IV

St. Clare was born in Assisi on July 16, 1194 and died on August 11, 1253. She is a Founder of the Second Order of St. Francis, the Poor Clares.? Once when her convent was about to be attacked, she displayed the Blessed Sacrament in a monstrace at the convent gates, and prayed before it; the attackers left. thus her patronage of television. She was ever the close friend and spiritual student of St. Francis.

Toward the end of her life, when the was too ill to attend Mass, an image of the service would display on the wall of her cell:;

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