I bring to Mass today:

–my hopes and my needs, my trials and my fears;

–my gratitude for all that I have received from my Father’s hand up to the present moment;

–my desire to remain close to my Father and come ever closer to Him during this day.

I come to the altar today:

–to give thanks for the daily mystery of my redemption and salvation;

–to seek the strength and perseverance that I find so lacking in myself;

–to seal again the covenant with God, my Father, in and through Christ Jesus my Lord.

The Servant of God Terence Cardinal Cooke

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Hail Lord Jesus Christ, Word of the Father, Son of the Virgin, Lamb of God, Salvation of the world, Sacred Host, Word made Flesh, Fount of Goodness.

Hail Lord Jesus Christ, Praise of Angels, Glory of Saints, Vision of Peace, whole Godhead, True Man, Blossom and Fruit of the Virgin Mother.

Hail Lord Jesus Christ, Splendor of the Father, Prince of Peace, Gate of Heaven, Glory of the Kingdom, Living Bread, Born of the Virgin, Vessel of Divinity.

Hail Lord Jesus Christ, Light of Heaven, Foundation of the World, our Joy, Bread of Angels, Joy of the Heart, King and Spouse of Virginity.

Hail Lord Jesus Christ, sweet Way, sure Faith, supreme Love, our Reward, Found of Love, Peace of Goodness, true Rest, everlasting Life, where after the present misery You may deign to refresh us with Your face, who are God of gods, King of kings, and Lord of rulers,  forever and ever.  Amen.

From a Manuscript of Assisi, 14^th Century

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The Master always begins by making himself known, loved, and appreciated in a sensible manner. Later he deprives the soul of these consolations in order to withdraw it from the grossness of the sens­es and to bring it into more excellent, more intimate, and more enduring union with himself in pure faith and pure spirit. To complete this purification, these deprivations must be followed by sufferings (interior if no other), interior rebelliousness, diabolical tempta­tion, distress, helplessness, and distaste for all good, which themselves can sometimes amount to a kind of agony.

All these serve admirably to rid the soul of its self-love and to give it certain features of resem­blance to its crucified Spouse. All these agonies are so many blows which God levels at us to make us die to ourselves. The more self-love resists this spiritual death, the more savage these blows appear and the more cruel the agonies.

The divine love is a double ­edged sword that smites self-love until it is com­pletely destroyed. Our pain has its source in that stout resistance offered by this accursed love of our­selves which hates to relinquish the control it has acquired over our heart and to allow the love of God to reign there in peace. If that love of God finds no obstacle to its divine ardors and no foe to resist it, it will make none but sweet and delightful impressions upon the heart.

 FATHER JEAN-PIERRE DE CAUSSADE, S J

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Christus Vincit, Christus Regnat, Christus Imperat

Almighty and everlasting God, Who has willed to renew all things through Your beloved son, the King of the Universe, grant in Your kindness that all the families of the nations, divided by the wound of sin, may submit to Your most gentle authority. Through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, world without end. Amen.

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Let us pray with St. Teresa of Avila:

“O my God, Word of the Father, Word made flesh for love of us, You assumed a mortal body in order to suffer and be immolated for us. I wish to prepare for Your coming with the burning desires of the prophets and the just who in the Old Testament sighed after You, the one Saviour and Redeemer. ‘O Lord, send Him whom You are going to send… As you have promised, come and deliver us!’

I want to keep Advent in my soul, that is, a continual longing and waiting for this great Mystery wherein You, O Word became flesh to show me the abyss of your redeeming sanctifying mercy….Come, O Lord, come! I, too wish to run to You with love, but alas! My love is so limited, weak, and imperfect! Make it strong and generous; enable me to overcome myself, so that I can give myself entirely to You… What a consolation it will be, O Lord, at the moment of death to think that we shall be judged by Him whom we have loved above all things! Then we can enter Your presence with confidence, despite the weight of our offenses!”

(The Way, 40)

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Christ on the Cross
bows His head,
waiting for you,
that He may kiss you;
He stretches out His arms,
that He may embrace you;
His hands are open,
that He may enrich you;
His body is spread out,
that He may give
Himself totally;
his feet are nailed,
that He may stay there;
His side is open for you,
that He may let you enter there.

+St. Bonaventure

+++

For more information on some of St. Bonaventure’s writings, see:

The Sense of Marian Coredemption in
St. Bonaventure and Blessed John Duns Scotus

 by Fr. Peter Damian Fehlner, FI, STD:

http://www.piercedhearts.org/hearts_jesus_mary/heart_mary/marian_coredemption_fehlner.htm

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Feast Day is July 21st

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