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Apr 15 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: The Devil has no Power Over Us

apostolate — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 11:51:05 +0000

Homily #080415 ( 06min) Play – Fr. Ignatius explains that, despite the great power which the Devil has, he actually has no power to take us away from God. We are the only ones who can separate ourselves from God, by an act of free will. God save us from that!

Ave Maria! Mass readings +++

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May 09 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: St Paul Overcomes

apostolate — Fri, 09 May 2008 11:53:11 +0000

Homily #080509 ( 08min) Play – As we reflect on Paul’s apostolic journey, we can take courage in Paul’s example of keeping up the evangelical fight despite the problems caused by the Devil, the world, and the flesh. For, Paul had two advantages: men want God, and God wants the salvation of men. We have these same advantages.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Nov 30 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Goodbye Catholic Church

apostolate — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 15:34:04 +0000

Homily #081130 ( 12min) Play – On this first Sunday of Advent, Fr. Ignatius preaches on the need to look back on the past year and then make resolutions to achieve new levels of holiness for this new liturgical year, knowing that the world, the flesh and the Devil is warring against us. To highlight this, he mentions the comments carelessly made to an Inside the Vatican reporter by Hollywood representatives.
Ave Maria!
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Medal of St. Benedict

Sr. JosephMary f.t.i. — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 22:01:58 +0000

Ave Maria Meditations

The Jubilee Medal of St. Benedict

This old and powerful sacramental deserves an in-depth treatment, as it gives a kind of practical incarnation of the main purpose of this book. This medal has long been regarded as especially efficacious in protecting its wearers against demonic attacks, and securing a number of special graces. Let us take a closer look at the inscriptions on its two sides.

On the front of the medal we find St. Benedict holding a Cross in one hand, and the Rule of St. Benedict in the other. At his sides are the words “Crux S. Patris Benedicti” (“The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict”), and below his feet: “Ex S M Casino MDCCCLXXX” (“From the holy mount of Casino, 1880”). On that date, Monte Cassino was given the exclusive right to produce this medal, and special Jubilee indulgences were added. Still on this front side of the medal we find inscribed in a circle the words: “Ejus in obitu nostro presentia muniamur” (“May his presence protect us in our hour of death”).

The reverse side of the medal is where the real exorcistic force reveals itself. In the center is a Cross. The Cross, which St. Benedict so loved and often used as a powerful exorcism, is the sign before which even Dracula shrinked. The vertical beam of the Cross bears the letters C.S.S.M.L., and the horizontal beam, the letters N.D.S.M.D. These are the first letters of the words: CRUX SACRA SIT MIHI LUX, May the Holy Cross be a light unto me, NON DRACO SIT MIHI DUX. And may the Dragon never be my guide. The four large letters at the corners of the Cross, C S P B, stand for CRUX SANCTI PATRIS BENEDICTI: The Cross of the Holy Father Benedict.

We are not through yet. In addition to the “Pax” (“peace”) motto at the top, we find the following letters in a circle around the margin of this side: V.R.S.N.S.M.V.: S.M.Q.L.I.V.B. It almost looks masonic; except, of course, the Benedictines are quite willing to tell you what the letters stand for, and they are enough to make any secret society get the shakes: VADE RETRO SATANA; NUNQUAM SUADE MIHI VANA. Get behind me, Satan; Never suggest vain thoughts to me. SUNT MALA QUAE LIBAS; The cup you offer is evil; IPSE VENENA BIBAS! Drink the poison yourself!

This richly indulgenced medal can be worn around the neck, or be attached to one’s Rosary, or simply kept in a pocket or purse. The pious intention of wearing such an object, together with the Church’s powerful blessing and intercessory power, make it into an unspoken prayer which has been shown to be of great help in maintaining holy purity, bringing about conversions, protecting against inclement weather and contagious disease.

Prayer To St. Benedict

O glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God’s grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things.

May thy blessing be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin. Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.

Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance any one who had re-course to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession, in the confident hope that thou wilt hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul. Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.

Origin And Explanation Of The Medal

St. Benedict (born at Nursia, Italy, in 480) had a profound veneration for the holy Cross and for our Saviour Crucified. In virtue of the Sign of the Cross, he wrought many miracles and exercised great power over the spirits of darkness. In consequence of the great veneration in which St. Benedict was held from the early Middle Ages, it followed that a Medal was struck, one side of which represents St. Benedict holding the Cross in one hand and the Holy Rule in the other. Around the image of St. Benedict are these words in Latin “May his presence protect us in the hour of death.” St. Benedict has ever been the patron of the dying, because of the circumstances attending his own most glorious death, for he breathed forth his soul while standing in prayer before the Most Blessed Sacrament.

The reverse of the Medal shows the image of the Cross. Around the margin are the initials of Latin words which form verses supposed to have originated with the holy Father Benedict himself. The English translation is: “Be gone Satan! Suggest not to me thy vain things. The cup thou profferest me is evil; drink thou thy poison.” In the angles formed by the arms of the Cross are the letters C.S.P.B., signifying “Cross of the holy Father Benedict.” The letters on the Cross itself have this meaning: “May the holy Cross be my light; let not the dragon be my guide.”

Use

No special way of carrying or applying the Medal is prescribed. It may be worn about the neck, attached to the scapular or the Rosary, or otherwise carried about one’s person.

Often it is placed in the fields, the foundations of buildings or attached to automobiles to call down God’s blessing and the protection of St. Benedict. No particular prayer is prescribed, as the devout wearing itself is a continual silent prayer.

The Medal of St. Benedict is one of the Sacramentals of the Church, and as such it must be used. The value and power of the Medal must be ascribed to the merits of Christ Crucified, to the efficacious prayers of St. Benedict, to the blessing of the Church, and especially to the faith and holy disposition of the person using the Medal.

The following is a partial list of the many pious purposes of the Medal of St. Benedict.

1. It wards off from both the soul and the body all dangers arising from the devil.

2. The Medal is powerful in obtaining for sinners the grace of conversion.

3. It obtains protection and aid for persons tormented by the evil spirit, and in temptations against holy purity.

4. It procures assistance in the hour of death.

5. It has often proved an efficacious remedy for bodily sufferings, and a means of protection against contagious diseases.

6. Expectant mothers have obtained special assistance for a safe delivery.

7. In time of storms, tempests and other dangers on land and sea it has been found to be a protection.

8. Even domestic animals have been visibly aided by it when infected with disease.

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Sep 02 – Homily – Fr Angelo: A Day in the Life of Christ

apostolate — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:48:35 +0000

Homily #090902 ( 09min) Play – Today’s Gospel reading describes a typical day in the life of Christ, which included a busy schedule of miraculous cures, but he still found time to pray.

Ave Maria! Mass readings

Audio (MP3)

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Dec 27 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: The Holy Family of Love and Life

apostolate — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 15:56:59 +0000

Homily #091227 ( 24min) Play – Today is the Feast of the The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and Fr. Bonaventure explains that the family is the core to a culture of life and saving the family from the attacks of the author of death, the Devil, is the central battle of our day. Jesus, Mary and Joseph are the exemplars of family life both in their exulted charity to which we should strive and in regard to the assaults that they survived in the form of Herod’s attempt to destroy them. Let us encourage the entire human family to embrace this ideal of love and courage.

Ave Maria! Mass readings
1: Sir 3:2-7,12-14
R: Ps 128:1-5
2: Col 3:12-21
G: Lk 2:22-40

Audio (MP3)

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Jul 21 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Abortion Demonically Inspired

apostolate — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 11:51:06 +0000

Homily #100721 ( 05min) Play – “Then calling together the twelve Apostles, He gave them power and authority over all devils…” The abortion industry is a demonically inspired industry.
Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Feb 26 – Homily – Fr Johannes: Take up Your Weapons

apostolate — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:52:35 +0000

Homily #120226m ( 10min) Play –

Ave Maria!

We’re in a pitched battle against the world, the flesh and the devil; and it’s time to go on the offense.
Mass: First Sunday in Lent – 1st Cl – Form: EF, Invocabit Me
Readings:
1st: 2co 6:1-10
Gsp: mat 4:1-11

Audio (MP3)

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First Sunday of Lent

Here we are at the beginning of the season of Lent: a time of intense preparation for the glorious feast of the Resurrection of Our Lord. In today’s Gospel, we discover how Our Lord Himself prepared for that glorious day.

His public ministry begins with His Baptism in the River Jordan, when the Heavens opened and the voice of the Eternal Father was heard, saying: “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

After His Baptism, Our Lord went immediately into the desert, to consecrate the beginnings of His public life with 40 days of prayer and fasting. This calls to mind the 40 years which the Hebrews spent wandering in the desert. What did they do there? – They were put to the test, and so was Our blessed Lord.

Our Lord had now left the safety of His hidden life at Nazareth, and His identity was revealed in a miraculous way to the crowds gathered around Him at the Jordan. The devil also heard that voice, saying that this was God’s beloved Son… But what did that mean?

The devil knew that this was a man beloved of God… but he didn’t grasp the full meaning of the mystery. If he had known that Christ was God, the consubstantial Son of the Eternal Father, he would never have bothered to test Him. After all, God isn’t capable of offending Himself. Our Lord was incapable of sin, and while He chose to experience our human weakness, the temptations of the devil never disturbed Him in the depths of His Soul: they were like so many flies which He brushed away.

So why did Our Lord submit Himself to this temptation? Simply put, Our Lord wanted to defeat the devil in human flesh, in order to pave the way for us to do the same.

You see, the life of man in this world is a constant struggle, a pitched contest against the world, the flesh and the devil, which are the enemies of our salvation. And if we wish to win this battle, we have to follow the example and rely on the help of our Divine Master, Jesus Christ.

Temptation is a necessary part of our spiritual lives. Without it, we would have little occasion for merit. But this doesn’t mean that we should go out looking for temptations and occasions of sin. Our mortal life is already filled with them, day in and day out, and it would be great presumption for us to go out seeking more. After all, Our Lord instructs us to pray: “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”

Unlike Our Lord, we are capable of falling into sin. Whereas Christ defeats the world, the flesh and the devil by His own Divine Power, we have no power of our own which can do this. So we have to rely constantly on His power. And we have to make use of all the weapons which He has given us for defeating the enemies of our salvation.

To defeat the dazzling temptations of the world, we need to cultivate a deep desire for the Kingdom of Heaven, with a spirit of poverty. We need to keep custody of our eyes, and never allow ourselves to covet money, or the beautiful things of this world.

To defeat the temptations of the flesh we need the virtue of mortification, which is acquired through works of penance and self-denial. Thus we need things like fasting, and we need to embrace illness, suffering and discomfort of every kind, as a way of completing in our flesh that which is lacking in the sufferings of Christ, as St. Paul says in his Epistle to the Colossians.

And to defeat the devil, we need above all, a spirit of humility and prayer. Humility means acknowledging our own weakness, our lack of understanding, and the ease with which we offend God and hurt our fellow man. The truly humble man prays continually, because he’s aware that, at any minute, he could defile the works and plans of God by following his own disordered instincts. The humble man prays, not because he thinks he’s a saint, but because he knows that he’s a sinner, and that he needs God’s help at every instant. Prayer, consequently, is our greatest defense against the devil.

Don Dolindo Ruotolo, a holy priest from Naples whose cause of beatification we’re promoting, put it very well. He wrote:

“Prayer is a gift from God, a gift which is greatly assaulted by Satan. We need not fear the temptations against faith, purity, charity and mortification, so much as the temptations against prayer. These are the most dangerous, because they disarm the soul and abandon it into the power of Satan. The enemy knows that if he wins this battle, he wins all the rest, because prayer is the strategic point of the soul, its bridgehead; it is the key to the whole situation.”

What kind of prayer do we need? – We need to assist devoutly at Holy Mass, and receive the sacraments frequently and with devotion. We need the daily recitation of the Holy Rosary, which is the most powerful and beautiful prayer after the Mass itself. Padre Pio called the Rosary his weapon, and he carried it constantly in his hand. We need sacramentals, like Holy Water, the Brown Scapular, the Miraculous Medal, and the St. Benedict Medal and Crucifix. Alongside these things, and animating these things, we need the simple prayer of the heart. We need to converse frequently and familiarly with Our Lord and our Blessed Mother, like little children. We need to keep our eyes fixed on Jesus and Mary, begging them for grace to imitate their lives and their virtues; because this is the thing which will ultimately submit the world and flesh to the law of Christ, and put the devil to flight. The more our lives resemble those of Our Lord and Lady, the more we will be conquerors in this battle.

There’s a beautiful story from the life of St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus which illustrates this. In her autobiography, The Story of a Soul, the saint recounts a dream she had when she was about four years old:

“I dreamed one night that I went to take a walk all alone in the garden. When I reached the foot of the steps leading to the garden, and which have to be climbed to get into it, I stopped, seized with fright. In front of me, near the arbor, there was a barrel of lime and on this barrel two frightful little devils were dancing with surprising agility in spite of the flatirons they had on their feet. All of a sudden they cast fiery glances at me and at the same moment appeared to be more frightened than I was, for they jumped from the barrel and went to hide in the laundry that was just opposite. Seeing they weren’t so brave, I wanted to know what they were going to do, and I went up to the window. The poor little devils were there, running on the tables, not knowing what to do to hide from my gaze. Sometimes they approached the window, looking out to see if I was still there, and seeing me there, they began running like madmen. This dream, I suppose, has nothing extraordinary about it, and still I believe God permitted me to remember it in order to prove to me that a soul in the state of grace has nothing to fear from demons who are cowards, capable of fleeing before the gaze of a little child!”

Some years ago, I visited a family that had a vicious dog in their front yard. The dog was chained to a post in the ground, and it ran around in circles, growling and spitting at anyone who ventured near. The dog had run so many times around the perimeter of its chain, that a deep track was dug in the dirt, like a mote surrounding a castle.

It occurred to me later that this dog was a perfect image of the devil: the devil is vicious and fierce, and he’ll tear you to shreds if you step within the radius of his chain; but if you keep outside of his reach, he can’t do anything more than frighten and harass you. The length of the chain is established by God, who’s ultimately in charge of everything, including the devil. God has set very precise limits within which the devil can move and act.

Every venial sin we commit takes us a step closer to the chain; near occasions of sin put us right at the limits of that chain; and mortal sin, just one mortal sin, puts us right in the devil’s jaws. The only way to win our fight with the devil is to turn away from him, and cast out of our lives everything which moves us closer to the sphere of his influence.

We have to conceive a genuine horror of sin, and of everything which leads us to sin, because, as Scripture says, “the wages of sin is death.” Everyone fears death, but there’s another fate which is worse than the natural death of the body: and that’s the spiritual death of the soul through mortal sin.

During this time of Lent, which is a time of conversion, or turning toward God, let’s ask our Immaculate Mother to enlighten us, and show us all those areas in our lives where we’re losing the fight against the world, the flesh and the devil. Then let’s pick up our weapons and begin, finally, to fight the good fight:

Are you lazy? – Well then, get off of your seat and do something!
You don’t pray enough? – Make a commitment today to say certain prayers each day. Create a regimen of prayer for yourself, and then stick to it, no matter what.
Are you uncharitable? – Make a resolution to do something kind each day for that person who gets on your nerves.
Do you spend too much time on the computer? – Set certain limits on your computer time, and don’t go beyond them.
Do you watch too much television? – Put it on the curb! For centuries, your ancestor got by with ZERO television, and they were probably a lot happier than you are!

Our conversion involves decisions, acts of the will. We have to make holy resolutions and stick to them with the grace of God. Otherwise, we’ll never make any progress. There are countless souls depending on us, and we have to pick up the slack for them, lest we and they lose everything.

Life is short. Heaven and Hell last forever… and it’s not a game.

– finis –

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Video – When Bad Things Happen – Dr. Miravalle: Mcasts156

apostolate — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 18:04:05 +0000

MaryCast Specials #156 ( 10min) Play – Mark Miravalle takes on the difficult question of why God allows bad things to happen and what we should do when they do.

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

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Apr 18 – Homily – Fr Ignatius: Mary So Loved The World

apostolate — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:31:48 +0000

Homily #120418 ( 05min) Play – John 3:16 is a summery of the salvation God wrought for us. It also reveals what our Lady has done for us. What a great grace this is; the Marian form of religious life we profess.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Wednesday 2nd Week of Easter – Wkdy – Form: OF
Readings:
1st: act 5:17-26
Resp: psa 34:2-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9
Gsp: joh 3:16-21

Audio (MP3)

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