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The Greatest of Thanksgivings

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:00:05 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

The Universal Prayer of Thanksgiving After Mass

(Attributed to Pope Clement XI)

Lord, I believe in you: increase my faith.

I trust in you: strengthen my trust.

I love you: let me love you more and more.

I am sorry for my sins: deepen my sorrow.

I worship you as my first beginning,

I long for you as my last end,

I praise you as my constant helper,

and call on you as my loving protector.

Guide me by your wisdom,

correct me with your justice,

comfort me with your mercy,

protect me with your power.

I offer you, Lord, my thoughts: to be fixed on you;

my words: to have you for their theme;

my actions: to reflect my love for you;

my sufferings: to be endured for your greater glory.

I want to do what you ask of me:

in the way you ask,

for as long as you ask,

because you ask it.

Lord, enlighten my understanding,

strengthen my will,

purify my heart,

and make me holy.

Help me to repent of my past sins

and to resist temptation in the future.

Help me to rise above my human weaknesses

and to grow stronger as a Christian.

Let me love you, my Lord and my God,

and see myself as I really am:

a pilgrim in this world,

a Christian called to respect and love

all whose lives I touch,

those in authority over me

or those under my authority,

my friends and my enemies.

Help me to conquer anger with gentleness,

greed by generosity,

apathy by fervor.

Help me to forget myself

and reach out toward others.

Make me prudent in planning,

courageous in taking risks.

Make me patient in suffering,

Unassuming in prosperity,

Keep me,Lord, attentive at prayer,

Temperate in food and drink,

diligent in my work,

Let my conscience be clear,

my conduct without fault,

my speech blameless,

my life well-ordered.

Put me on guard against my human weaknesses.

Let me cherish your love for me,

keep your law,

and come at last to your salvation.

Teach me to realize that this world is passing,

that my true future is the happiness of heaven,

that life on earth is short,

and the life to come eternal.

Help me to prepare for death,

with a proper fear of judgment,

but a greater trust in your goodness.

Lead me safely through death

to the endless joy of heaven.

Grant this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Thanksgiving Prayer after Holy Communion:

The Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me

Body of Christ, save me

Blood of Christ, inebriate me

Water from Christ’s side, wash me

Passion of Christ, strengthen me

O good Jesus, hear me

Within Thy wounds hide me

Suffer me not to be separated from Thee

From the malicious enemy defend me

In the hour of my death call me

And bid me come unto Thee

That I may praise Thee with Thy saints

and with Thy angels for all eternity.

Amen

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Mary in the Thought of God Eternal

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 19:00:10 +0000

An Ave Maria Advent Mediation

God’s wisdom and a God’s love can choose out of a God’s possibilities, how his created home shall be. Who then shall dream, until he has seen it, what that thrice infinite perfection of the Holy Trinity shall choose out of his inexhaustible possibilities? Who, when he has seen it, shall describe it as he ought? The glorious, adorable, and eternal Word, in the ample range of his unrestricted choice, predestinated the bosom of Mary to be his created home, and fashioned, with well-pleased love, the Immaculate Heart which was to tenant it with himself. 0 Mary, 0 marvelous mystical creature, 0 resplendent mote, lost almost to view in the upper light of the supernal fountains who can sufficiently abase himself before thee, and weep for the want of love to love thee rightly, thee whom the Word so loved eternally?

There were no creatures to sing anthems, in heaven, when that choice was made. No angelic thunders of songs rolled round the Throne in oceans of melodious sound, when the Word decreed that primal object of his adorable predilection. No creations of almost divine intelligence were there to shroud their faces with their wings, and brood in self-abasing silence on the beauty of that created Home of their Creator. There was only the silent song of God’s own awesome life, and the eternal voiceless thunder of his good pleasure. Forthwith-we must speak in our own human way-the Holy Trinity begins to adorn the Word’s created home with a marvelous effluence of creative skill and love. She was to be the head of all mere creatures, having a created person as well as a created nature, while her Son’s created nature, with the Uncreated Person, was to be the absolute Head of all creation, the unconfused junction of God and of creation. She was to be a home for the Word, as the Bosom of the Father had been a home for him, realized and completed in unity of nature. The materials which the Word was to take for his created nature were once to have been actually hers, so that the union between the Word and His Mother should be more awesome than words can express.

Each Person of the Holy Trinity claimed her for his own special relationship. She was the eternally elected daughter of the Father. There was no other relationship in which she could stand to him, and it was a reflection of the eternal filiation of his uncreated Son. She was the Mother of the Son; for it was to the amazing realities of that office that he had summoned her out of nothing. She was the Spouse of the Holy Ghost for it was he who was wedded to her by the most transcendent of unions which the kingdom of grace can boast, and it was he who out of her spotless blood made that undefiled Flesh which the Word was to assume and to animate with his human Soul. Thus she was marked with an indelible character by each of the Three Divine Persons. She was Their eternal idea, nearest to that Idea which was the cause of all creation, the Idea of Jesus; she was necessary, as They had willed it, to the realization of that Idea; and she came before it in priority of time and in seeming authority of office. Such is the bare statement of the place which Mary occupies in the decrees of God. Our praise of Mary, in this one respect like our praise of God, of which it is in truth a part, is best embodied in our wonder and our love.

Now that the Incarnate Word was to come as a Redeemer, His Mother must be redeemed by Him with a singular and unshared redemption. Beautiful as she was in herself, and incalculable as were her merits, her greatest graces were not merited by herself, but by that Precious Blood which was to be taken from her own. The first white lily that ever grew on that ruddy stem was the Immaculate Conception; and when the time for Mary’s advent came, that was the first grace with which the Divine Persons began Their magnificent work of adorning.

Mary, the cause of our joy, was herself a growth of earth, a specimen of what an unfal1en world would have been; and it was on an earthly stem that Jesus himself, the joy of all joys, blossomed and gave forth his fragrance. Thus nature and life tend to joy at all hours. Joy is their legitimate development, their proper perfection. Nothing glorifies God so much as joy. There is no worship where there is no joy. For worship is something more than either the fear of God or the love of Him; it is delight in Him.

Fr. Frederick Faber -“Bethlehem”

O Beloved Mother Mary–Daugher of the Father, Mother of the Son and Spouse of the Holy Spirit–pray for us and obtain for us the graces needed to prepare our hearts for the coming of your Son at this holy time of Advent.

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In Anticipation of our Christmas Communion

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 19:00:00 +0000

Ave Maria Mediations:

In Anticipation of our Christmas Communion

The Lord has shown his great mercy. Enkindle in your hearts ardent desires and burning wishes for Our Lord to come to you in the virtue of his charity, love of the Father, and of every human being. Say with the Royal Prophet, “I opened my mouth and panted.” And your Savior will respond, “Surely I come quickly; you shall see me very soon.”

Your eyes at the midnight Mass will gaze upon the elevated Host and your lips will utter, “My Lord and my God.” A few minutes more and the little Infant will have come to you. His Immaculate Mother did not hold him more truly in her arms that first Christmas midnight than you will have him, heart to heart. Then all the love of that Infant Redeemer will be poured out upon you. It’s a thirst of the heart of every creature that desires to be loved, and the love which can alone satisfy that craving is the Divine Love.

Let your heart delight in the love your God has for you, personally, individually. No soul ever in ardent fervor desires to unite herself to our Lord in Holy Communion, as our Lord desires to unite himself to her. So Holy Communion is a delight to your Infant Savior; because he loves you, oh, how immeasurably! He tells you in his heart to heart interview that he has become a little Infant so that you may love him with a human love without fear. He wants you to confide in him, approach to him with a conviction that his Great Majesty is annihilated that you may no longer see in him but a little Child, with a body and soul just as you have. And the mystery of love is this: that he unites his Body to your body and your soul to his Soul, so that yours may be a member of his very own.

This Christmas Holy Communion will unite you to our Lord, it is my prayer, more intimately than ever before in all your lives so that even the smallest of your actions may by this union be animated with divine Life – and all for the honor of the Father and the salvation of souls. May you participate in his life of charity, and may a divine light illumine you to see the depths and heights of the charity of a God made Man to redeem that which was lost. You participate in the spirit and the immense charity of Christ so as to be born this Christmas to a new life of charity – for “he that abides in charity, abides in God.”

SAINT KATHERINE DREXEL

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FEAST OF THE DIVINE MERCY

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sat, 18 Apr 2009 20:00:53 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

“BE MERCIFUL EVEN AS YOUR FATHER IS MERCIFUL”

(Lk 6:36)

The Feast of the Divine Mercy is the Sunday after Easter

“Jesus Christ taught that man not only receives and experiences the mercy of God, but that he is also called ‘to practice mercy’ towards others. ‘Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy’ (Mt 5:7). The Church sees in these words a call to action, and she tries to practice mercy …. Man attains to the merciful love of God, His mercy, to the extent that he himself is interiorly transformed in the spirit of that love towards his neighbor.”

(John Paul II, Rich in Mercy, 14)

The Church teaches us to be merciful in various ways:

THE CORPORAL WORKS OF MERCY

1. Feed the hungry.

2. Give drink to the thirsty.

3. Clothe the naked.

4. Shelter the homeless.

5. Comfort the imprisoned.

6. Visit the sick.

7. Bury the dead.

TIlE SPIRITUAL WORKS OF MERCY

1. Admonish sinners.

2. Instruct the uninformed.

3. Counsel the doubtful.

4. Comfort the sorrowful.

5. Be patient with those in error.

6. Forgive offenses.

7. Pray for the living and the dead.

Our Lord told St. Faustina in 1936 :My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day are open all the divine floodgates through which graces flow.

Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate my love and mercy throughout eternity.

The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.

To observe this feast we should commence a Novena to the Divine Mercy on Good Friday, the Novena includes special intentions for each day and is concluded with the recitation of the Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Celebrate the feast on the first Sunday after Easter.
Come to Jesus with a humble and contrite heart, repent of all your sins.
Firmly trust in the Divine Mercy of Jesus.
Go to confession (with a priest) on that day if possible, otherwise seven days before or after the feast, as approved by the Church..
Receive Holy Communion on the Day of the Feast.
Venerate the image of Divine Mercy.
Be merciful as God is merciful. Practice works of Mercy, physically by helping others or spiritually by prayers of intercession.

PRAYER TO BE MERCIFUL

O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy. I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatness of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and meanings.

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue maybe merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.
Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know will abuse my kindness.

And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own sufferings in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

You yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy – if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I assist by my words. The third: Prayer – if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.

O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things.

O Blessed Host, in golden chalice enclosed for me. That through the vast wilderness of exile. I may pass – pure, immaculate, undefiled: Oh grant that through the power of Your love this might come to be.

O Blessed Host, take up Your dwelling within my soul, O Thou my heart’s purest love! With Your brilliance the darkness dispel. Refuse not Your grace to a humble heart.

O Blessed Host, enchantment of all heaven, Though Your beauty be veiled, And captured in a crumb of bread, Strong faith tears away that veil.

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An Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 22:00:59 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

August 2nd: St. Peter Julian Eymard, Apostle of Eucharistic Adoration

St. Peter Julian Eymard was born in France in 1811. He was ordained in 1834 for the Society of Mary. Because of his extraordinary love for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and realizing there was no Order of priests dedicated to perpetual adoration, he was permitted to found such an Order–the Congregation of theBlessed Sacrament. He also founded the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament. His written works on the Holy Eucharist are classics in that field. He died in 1868 and his feast day is August 2nd. The following are a few excerpts from his writings.

EXAMINE YOUR CONSCIENCE IN THE MORNING UNDER THE EYES OF JESUS IN THE HOST

On awakening, make the sign of the cross. On arising say: “0 Sacrament Most Holy, 0 Sacrament Divine! All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine! Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

ADORE our Lord as your King who has called you today to work in his amiable service and for his honor and glory. Render him this day the homage of your mind, your heart, your body and your life for he deserves it all.

THANK our Lord for having kept you alive; thank him for all the graces received during your life (baptism, first communion, vocation). Rejoice at the honor and the happiness of spending this whole day in union with our Divine Lord in his Sacrament of love: such a day may be worth an entire life, the whole of Paradise.

ACKNOWLEDGE your weakness and your defects in your particular vocation. Confess your offenses of yester¬day. Detest the power of self-love, the feebleness of your will, the distractions of your mind.

PROMISE our Lord that you will correct your ruling passion; foresee the occasions of relapse and the opportunities of practicing opposite virtues. Remember your resolution for this month and determine for yourself a certain penance in case of failure to keep it. ASK our Lord for the grace of being more faithful today.

RECOMMEND yourself to the Blessed Virgin, to your Guardian Angel and begin work with the help of God’s grace. Consecrate the whole day to our Eucharistic Jesus. Place yourself in spirit, in his presence and humbly adore him on his nearest throne of Perpetual Exposition or in the nearest Tabernacle.

O sweet Jesus, your goodness and your might

Have brought me to this morning’s light.

Keep and preserve me every hour,

From sorrow, sin, temptation’s power.

Grant me your blessing, Lord, this day,

On all I think and do and say.

Jesus for your help I plead;

Mary for me please intercede.

After making this offering, form your intention to gain all the indulgences of the day. Then hasten to the church for your morning prayers, Holy Mass and Communion.

(from My Eucharistic Day)

The love of Jesus Christ reaches its highest perfection and produces the greatest harvest of graces in the ineffable union He contracts with the soul in Holy Communion. Therefore, by every desire for goodness, holiness, and perfection that piety, the virtues, and love can inspire in us, we are bound to direct our course toward this union, toward frequent and even daily Communion.

Since we have in Holy Communion the grace, the model, and the practice of all the virtues, all of them finding their exercise in this divine action, we shall profit more by Communion than by all other means of sanctification: But to that end, Holy Communion must become the thought that dominates mind and heart. It must be the aim of all study, of piety, of the virtues. The receiving of Jesus must be the goal as well as the law of life. All our works must converge toward Communion as toward their end and flow from it as from their source.

The manna that God sent down every morning into the camp of the Israelites had all sorts of flavors and virtues; it not only restored failing energies and gave vigor of body, but it was a bread of sweetness. The Holy Eucharist, which it prefigures, possesses likewise every virtue. It is a remedy for our spiritual infirmities, strength for our daily weaknesses, and a source of peace, joy, and happiness.

The Eucharist, according to the Council of Trent, is a divine antidote that delivers us from common faults and preserves us from mortal sin. It is a fire that, in an instant, consumes the chaff of our spiritual imperfections. Holy Communion is the war that God wages in us against our concupiscence and against the devil, whom our evil passions constantly invite and who, through his connivance with our unruly appetites, holds some part of us in thrall. Did not Jesus say, “Come to me, all you who labor beneath the burden of slavery of your past sins, and I will refresh and deliver you.”

The Holy Penance cleanses us from sin, yet, purified though we be, we are left with the marks of our chains, the tendency to fall again. The enemy, although driven out, still keeps his agents within the walls. So Jesus comes to us to destroy the vestiges of our sins, to counteract our evil tendencies, and to prevent the Devil from re-establishing his power over us. Holy Communion is more than a remedy; it is a force that gives us powerful assistance in attaining goodness, virtue, and holiness.

(from How to Get More out of Holy Communion)

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Thoughts on the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:00:01 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

The Eucharistic sacrifice and the ordinary life of the Christian.

The Second Vatican Council reminds us that the sacrifice of the Cross and its sacramental renewal in the Mass are, apart from the difference in the manner of offering, one and the same sacrifice of praise, of thanksgiving, of propitiation and of satisfaction. The ends which Our Savior gave to His sacrifice on the Cross are usually summed up in these four.

The four ends of the Mass are achieved in different ways and to a different extent. The ends that refer directly to God, namely, adoration, praise and thanksgiving, are always produced infallibly and with all their infinite value, independently of our collaboration. This is true even when the Mass is celebrated without the presence of a single member of the faithful, or, if there is one, if he assists in a distracted way. God, our Lord is praised infinitely every time the Eucharistic Sacrifice is celebrated, and thanksgiving is offered up which satisfies God fully. This oblation, says Saint Thomas, pleases God more than all the sins of the world offend him,since Christ himself is the actual Priest who offers, as well as being the actual victim who is offered in every Mass.

However, the other ends of the Eucharistic Sacrifice (propitiation and petition), which are for the benefit of man and are called the fruits of the Mass, do not in fact always achieve the fullness of which they are capable. These fruits – of reconciliation with God and of obtaining from him what we ask for from his bounty – could also be of infinite value. They too rest on the merits of Christ. We never receive these fruits to that perfect degree, since they are applied to us according to our personal dispositions. The more ardently and intently we take part in the Holy Sacrifice of the Altar, the greater application of these fruits of propitiation and petition we shall receive. Christ’s own prayer multiplies the value of our prayer to the extent that we unite our petitions and atonement to his in the Mass, on the Cross itself so that we might receive the fruits of the Mass, the Church invites us to unite ourselves with the Sacrifice of Christ. That is, to take part in Jesus Christ’s praise, thanksgiving, propitiation and impetration.

The external rite of the Mass (comprising the actions and ceremonies) both signifies the interior sacrifice of Jesus Christ and is a sign of the offering and dedication of all the faithful united to him. This dedication of the whole of our being, of all our daily activities, is yet another reason for us to carry them out perfectly and with a right intention. As the Second Vatican Council puts it: For all their deeds and actions, prayers and apostolic undertakings, family and married life, daily work, relaxation of mind and body, if they are accomplished in the Spirit indeed, even the hardships of life if patiently borne, all these become spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. In the celebration of the Eucharist these may most fittingly be offered to the Father along with the body of the Lord. All our actions and our very life itself take on a new value when they hinge on the Mass as the center of our day towards which all our thoughts and deeds are directed. It is the source from which flow all the graces we need to sanctify our stay on earth.

Taking part in the Mass conscious of what we are doing, with devotion and full collaboration. Our participation should be personal prayer, union with Jesus Christ, who is at once the Priest and the Victim.

Our Mother the Church wants to obtain ever more fruits from the Mass. So she desires that when we are present we should not be there as strangers or silent spectators, but constantly increasing our understanding of the rites and prayers, taking part in the sacred action in full awareness of what we are doing, with devotion and earnest collaboration. We should foster a right disposition of heart, with soul and voice in unison, and co-operating with divine grace. We shall pay particular attention to the dialogues and acclamations. We shall fill the established periods of silence with acts of faith and charity, particularly at the Consecration and when we receive Our Lord in Communion. The most important thing is interior participation, our union with Jesus Christ who offers himself. The external elements which also form part of the liturgy will be of great help to us in doing this – bodily postures (kneeling, standing, sitting) reciting or singing of other parts together, such· as the Gloria, the Creed, the Sanctus, the Our Father, etc.

We will often find it helps to follow the prayers of the celebrant in our missal. The effort to be punctual, arriving a few minutes before Mass begins, will help us to be better prepared. Besides, it is a sign of love for Christ and a courtesy towards the priest who is celebrating Mass as well as to others who are attending. God wants us to be exemplary in this, too. Wouldn’t we arrive in good time for an important interview? There is nothing more important than the Mass.

Internal participation is mainly a question of practicing the virtues through acts of faith, hope and charity. At the moment of the Consecration we can say with the words of the Apostle Thomas, words overflowing with faith and love, My Lord and My God, … or ‘I firmly believe that You are really present on the altar’ … or whatever form of words appeals to our personal devotion.

Above all, our taking part in the Mass must be personal prayer, the high point of our customary dialogue with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This prayer, to the extent possible to each person, is a requisite for a genuine, conscious liturgical participation. But not that alone, it is also the fruit of such a participation. Now and always, but nowadays more than ever, we need to foster the spirit and practice of personal prayer … We cannot keep going as Christians without a constant, intimate, personal life of prayer, faith, and charity. Without these we cannot carefully and advantageously take part in the liturgical renewal

Without them we cannot be effective witnesses to that Christian authenticity that we hear so much about. Lacking such participation we cannot think, breathe, act, suffer and hope with the living, pilgrim Church … To all we say, ‘Let us pray, brethren:’ Never tire of trying to call up from the depths of your soul that intimate voice which addresses God as ‘Thou’ … , the God beyond words, the mysterious Other who watches over you, waits for you, loves you. And you will never be let down, or left alone. You will experience the new joy of an enrapturing response: Behold I am with you. Our God is with us and in us in a very special way in Holy Communion, when our taking part in the Mass reaches its highest point. The proper effect of this Sacrament, teaches Saint Thomas Aquinas, is to change man into Christ, so that he can say with the Apostle, ‘I live; no, it is not I who live. It is Christ who lives in me.’

Preparation for Mass. Apostolate and the Eucharistic Sacrifice.

Before Mass we have to prepare our soul to ready for the most important event that takes place in the world each day. The Mass celebrated by any priest in the most out-of-the-way, the remotest comer of the world, even when no other person is attending, is the greatest thing happening on earth at that moment. It is the most pleasing thing that we men can offer to God. It is the opportunity to thank him for the many benefits we receive; to ask forgiveness for so many sins and such lack of love and for all our spiritual and material needs. We all have things we need to ask for…Lord, this illness…Lord, that sorrow… Lord, that humiliation I can’t accept even for love of You … We desire blessings, happiness and joy for the members of our household. We are saddened by the fate of those who suffer hunger and thirst for bread and justice; of those who undergo the anguish of loneliness; of those who at the end of their lives are facing death without an affectionate look or the help of a friend.

But it is sin which is the wretchedness that causes suffering, and is the great world-wide malaise we have to remedy. It separates us from God and endangers souls with the prospect of eternal damnation. To bring men to eternal glory in the love of God – that was the essential desire of Christ when He gave up his life on Calvary, and that has to be our desire when we celebrate Mass. Our apostolate is therefore directed towards the Mass and is strengthened by it.

Some minutes of thanksgiving after Mass will round off these most important moments of the day. They will have a direct influence on our work, on our family life, on the cheerfulness we show to everyone, and in the certainty and confidence with which we face up to the rest of our day. The Mass lived in this way will never be an isolated incident. It will nourish all our actions and give them a special tone, value and significance.

We always find our Mother Mary in the Mass. How could we take part in the sacrifice without remembering and invoking the Mother of the High Priest and Victim? Our Lady played such an intimate part in the priesthood of her Son during his life on earth that she is eternally united to the exercise of his Priesthood. Just as she was present on Calvary, so is she present in the Mass, which is a prolongation of Calvary. She helped her Son on the Cross by offering him to the Father. In the sacrifice of the altar, the renewal of the sacrifice of Christ, she helps the Church to offer herself in union with her Head. Let us offer ourselves to Jesus through the mediation of Mary. Let us remember Mary during Mass, and she will help us grow in piety and recollection.

Fr. Francis Fernandez

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How close Jesus is to us in the Holy Eucharist

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:00:28 +0000

One Minute Meditations

Blessed Charles de Foucauld, priest and martyr

(1858-1916) Feast Day is December 1st

PRAYERS OF CHARLES DE FOUCAULD AT THE TABERNACLE:

Lord Jesus, You are in the Holy Eucharist. You are there a yard away in the tabernacle. Your Body, your Soul, your human nature, your divinity, your whole Being is there in its twofold nature. How close you are, my God, my Savior, my Spouse, my Beloved! You were not nearer to the Blessed Virgin during the nine months that she carried you than you are to me when you rest on my tongue in Holy Communion. You were no closer to the Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph in the caves at Bethlehem or in the flight into Egypt or at any moment of that divine family life than you are to me at this moment – and so many others- in the tabernacle. Mary Magdalene was no closer to you when she sat at your feet at Bethany than I am here at the foot of this altar. You were no nearer to your apostles when you were sitting in the midst of them than you are to me now, my God. How blessed I am I!

Bl. Charles’ thoughts ON MARTYRDOM: To prepare oneself constantly for martyrdom, and accept it without a shadow of reluctance, like the Divine Lamb-in Jesus, through Jesus, for Jesus- I must try and live as if I were to die a martyr today. Every minute I must imagine I am going to be martyred this very evening.

OUR LORD’S RESPONSE ON HIS WISH TO BE A MARTYR: “This life will be followed by death. You wish for a martyr’s death. You know how cowardly you are, but you know too that you can do all things in Him who gives you strength, that I am all powerful in My creatures. Ask day and night for it but always with this condition, that it be My will, and for My glory and My pleasure which I know you desire and pray for above all things. And have confidence; I will grant what you ask, that which is for My greater glory. It is good to ask for this, for ‘there is no greater love than to give your life for the beloved,'” and it is right to wish to give Me this ‘greatest love of all’ “’

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Video – OLO America: St. Joseph Part III – Dr. Miravalle: Mcast112

apostolate — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 20:31:47 +0000

Marycast #112 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Miravalle concludes his mini-series on the messages from St Joseph in the apparitions of Our Lady of America. He covers the messages given on March 30, 1958 to Sr. Mary Ephrem. St Joseph asks that his role as Father in the Holy Family and his pure heart be honored by reciting the Joyful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary and receiving Communion on each first Wednesday of the month. This will also be a means of honoring fatherhood in general of which he is the human exemplar.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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May 30 – Homily – Fr Angelo: An Army of Three

apostolate — Sun, 30 May 2010 19:23:36 +0000

Homily #100530 ( 26min) Play – For Holy Trinity Sunday and the closing Mass for the Knights of Lepanto Father-Son Encampment, Fr Angelo preaches on how the Trinity is three Persons and yet united as if it where and Army, working as one for the salvation of all men. He stresses the need to acknowledge that the Second Person of the Trinity became man to win our salvation and so enable the Holy Trinity to dwell within us. Our hearts then become the divine fortress of the Trinity and this forms the base to sally forth and practice the virtues, especially charity.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Prov 8:22-31
R: Ps 8:4-9
2: Rom 5:1-5
G: Jn 16:12-15

Audio (MP3)

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Mary Vitamin – Carrying of the Cross

apostolate — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 19:43:41 +0000

Mary Vitamin July 30th

Topic: Fourth Sorrowful Mystery – Carrying of the Cross
In honor of the Month of the Precious Blood

Quote:
Then therefore [Pontius Pilate] delivered him to them to be crucified. And they took Jesus, and led him forth. And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary, but in Hebrew Golgotha.
John 19:16-17

Meditation:
Father Frederick Faber
It was a dreadful thing for a mother to walk the streets over her own son’s blood. No one cared for it. No heart was touched. None suspected the heavenly mystery, at which angels were gazing in silent stupor. Mary too must tread upon it. It was sorrow almost literally trampling its own heart under foot. She must tread on that which she was worshipping. That which colored the street-mud, which blotched the paving-stones, which clung, half wet and half dry, to the garments of the multitude, was hypostatically united to the Godhead. It merited the plenitude of divine worship. Mary was adoring it at every step.
Father Faber, The Foot of the Cross, (Tan Books), 220.

Resolution:
Today, when about my ordinary activities, I will try to remember the steps taken by Our Lady following Our Lord and Her Worship of the Precious Blood. When I walk up the stairs today, in particular I will remember the Precious Blood and I will make a Spiritual Communion.

Marian Vow:
Let the tertiaries, if possible, participate everyday in the holy sacrifice of the altar, standing at the foot of the cross of Calvary, in union with the Immaculate Coredemptrix, to offer themselves as victims united with the Divine Victim, Jesus Crucified, receiving in their own hearts Holy Communion (or at least spiritual Communion, if it is not possible to receive the Sacrament). Nourished with the Eucharistic Jesus, united to the Immaculate Mediatrix, let the tertiaries each day live faithfully the daily obligations of their state.
Marian Seraphic Pathways, Constitutions #25

I give this resolution to the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Thanks be to God for graces received.

Related sites: Castle of the Immaculate

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Mary Vitamin is a daily Email support for Marian mental prayer. Each day (Monday through Friday) members will receive a brief Marian quote with a corresponding Marian meditation and resolution. The Mary Vitamin is designed to make mental prayer a little simpler and bring Our Lady into your day in a systematic way.

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