Homily #090112 ( 08min) Play – Fr. Ignatius preaches on St. Bernard of Corleone who was a shoemaker who then became an adventurer with a love for dueling and led a disordered life. Then after mortally wounding a man, and through his remaining devotions that he had held onto, he gained the grace of conversion and became a very holy Capuchin friar. He died in 1667.
Ave Maria! Mass readings
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Marycast #69 ( 09min) Play – In this episode, Dr. Miravalle continues his talk on the history of Marian consecration, which is our effort to become “a servant to the handmaid of the Lord” (servus Mariae).  Pope John Paul II’s consecration & devotion to Our Lady is widely known, but have there been other popes in history that have consecrated themselves to Her as well?  In this episode is also a short biographical sketch of St. Louis de Montfort.  Listen to this brief but rich history as described by Dr. Miravalle.

“Whatever you are about to offer, remember to commend it to Mary, so that through the same channel whence grace flows, it may return to the Giver of grace.” – St. Bernard of Clairvaux, Doctor of the Church and “Oracle” of the 12th Century

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Homily #100127 ( 09min) Play – St Bernard of Clairvaux preached the second crusade. But, despite the fact that he was able to  perform many miracles to confirm that this was the will of God, the crusade failed resulting in the loss of many Christian soldiers and a setback for Christian control of the Holy Land. Fr. Ignatius points out that it is sometimes God’s will that we be humbled in order to bring about greater virtue.
Ave Maria! St. John Chrysostom, Confessor and Doctor of the Church – Mass: EF, In Medio Ecclesiae – Readings: 1st: 2ti 4:1-8 – Gsp: mat 5:13-19

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POWERFUL, sovereign Queen, come to our aid. Speak for us to our Lord Jesus Christ. Who can do it better than you who conversed with Him so intimately here on earth, and now so fully possess Him in heaven?

Speak to your Son for us. He cannot refuse you anything. Ask for us a great love of God, perseverance in His holy grace, and the hap­piness of dying in His friendship that we may see you and thank you with Him eternally.

– St. Bernard

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If squalls of temptations arise, or thou fall upon the rocks of tribulation, look to the star, call upon Mary.

If thou art tossed by the waves of pride or ambition, detraction or envy, look to the star, call upon Mary.

If anger or avarice or the desires of the flesh dash against the ship of thy soul, turn thine eyes towards Mary.

 If, troubled by the enormity of thy crimes, ashamed of thy guilty conscience, terrified by dread of the judgment, thou beginnest to sink into sink into the gulf of sadness or the abyss of despair, think of Mary.

In dangers, in anguish, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her be ever on thy lips, ever in thy heart; and the better to obtain the help of her prayers, imitate the example of her life.

Following her, thou strayest not; invoking her, thou despairest not; thinking of her, thou wanderest not; upheld by her, thou fallest not; shielded by her, thou fearest not; guided by her, thou growest not weary; favored by her, thou reachest the goal. And thus dost thou experience in thyself how good is that saying: And the Virgin’s name was Mary’

 [from a homily of St. Bernard of Clairvaux]

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Let us make haste to our brethren who are awaiting us…

Why should our praise and glorification, or even the celebration of this feast day mean anything to the saints? What do they care about earthly honors when their heavenly Father honors them by fulfilling the faithful promise of the Son? What does our commendation mean to them? The saints have no need of honor from us; neither does our devotion add the slightest thing to what is theirs. Clearly, if we venerate their memory, it serves us, not them. But I tell you, when I think of them, I feel myself inflamed by a tremendous yearning.

Calling the saints to mind inspires, or rather arouses in us, above all else, a longing to enjoy their company, so desirable in itself. We long to share in the citizenship of heaven, to dwell with the spirits of the blessed, to join the assembly of patriarchs, the ranks of the prophets, the council of apostles, the great host of martyrs, the noble company of confessors and the choir of virgins. In short, we long to be united in happiness with all the saints. But our dispositions change. The Church of all the first followers of Christ awaits us, but we do nothing about it. The saints want us to be with them, and we are indifferent. The souls of the just await us, and we ignore them.

Come, brothers, let us at length spur ourselves on. We must rise again with Christ, we must seek the world which is above and set our mind on the things of heaven. Let us long for those who are longing for us, hasten to those who are waiting for us, and ask those who look for our coming to intercede for us. We should not only want to be with the saints, we should also hope to possess their happiness. While we desire to be in their company, we must also earnestly seek to share in their glory. Do not imagine that there is anything harmful in such an ambition as this; there is no danger in setting our hearts on such glory.

When we commemorate the saints we are inflamed with another yearning: that Christ our life may also appear to us as he appeared to them and that we may one day share in his glory. Until then we see him, not as he is, but as he became for our sake. He is our head, crowned, not with glory, but with the thorns of our sins. As members of that head, crowned with thorns, we should be ashamed to live in luxury; his purple robes are a mockery rather than an honor. When Christ comes again, his death shall no longer be proclaimed, and we shall know that we also have died, and that our life is hidden with him. The glorious head of the Church will appear and his glorified members will shine in splendor with him, when he forms this lowly body anew into such glory as belongs to himself, its head.

Therefore, we should aim at attaining this glory with a wholehearted and prudent desire. That we may rightly hope and strive for such blessedness, we must above all seek the prayers of the saints. Thus, what is beyond our own powers to obtain will be granted through their intercession.

A sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot.

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The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord’s passion. The holy old man said of the infant Jesus: He has been established as a sign which will be contradicted. He went on to say to Mary: And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.

Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus – who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours – gave up his life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from his lifeless body, tore open his side. Clearly it did not touch his soul and could not harm him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely his soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.

Or were those words, Woman, behold your Son, not more than a word to you, truly piercing your heart, cutting through to the division between soul and spirit? What an exchange! John is given to you in place of Jesus, the servant in place of the Lord, the disciple in place of the master; the son of Zebedee replaces the Son of God, a mere man replaces God himself. How could these words not pierce your most loving heart, when the mere remembrance of them breaks ours, hearts of iron and stone though they are!

Do not be surprised, brothers, that Mary is said to be a martyr in spirit. Let him be surprised who does not remember the words of Paul, that one of the greatest crimes of the Gentiles was that they were without love. That was far from the heart of Mary; let it be far from her servants.

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his. 

+ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

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 Our Mediatrix and Advocate:  O blessed Lady, you found grace, brought forth the Life, and became the Mother of Salvation. May you obtain the grace for us to go to the Son. By your mediation, may we be received by the One who through you, gave himself to us. May your integrity compensate with him for the fault of our corruption; and may your humility, which is pleasing to God, implore pardon for our vanity. May your great charity cover the multitude of our sins; and may your glorious fecundity confer on us a fecundity of merits.

Dear Lady, our Mediatrix and Advocate:  reconcile us to your Son, recommend us to him, and present us to your Son. By the grace you found, by the privilege you merited, by the mercy you brought forth, obtain for us the following favor, O blessed Lady. May the One who – thanks to you – came down to share our infirmity and wretchedness make us share – again thanks to you – his glory and beatitude: Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, who reigns in heaven and is blessed forever!  Amen.

+St. Bernard

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“And going into the house they saw the Child with Mary His Mother and they fell down and worshiped Him”(Mt. 2:11)

Sometimes when I consider how I Have failed God in my life– in ways small and large–and continue to do so now even daily. I fail in love and charity and in my duties and sometimes I can almost feel a discouragement want to creep in. Yet I know that the Mercy of God is greater than all my sins. I know Our Lord has repaired for them and makes intercession for me, for me who continues to not correspond with graces given in so many ways.

And knowing that I have indeed deserved chastisement, it would seem logical for punishment to be due and I can almost fear that. But then I can look on a Crucifix and see the extent of love for souls there; the love for my soul there. Yet there is also another way to see Our Lord and it is not a way intimidating or scary. The One who has invited us to come to Him for He is meek and humble of Heart, came to us as a baby. A baby! And how scary is a baby? One wants to hold and cuddle them. They are dependent. Our Precious Lord who comes to us now under the form of Bread, first came to us as a Baby! Such an advent thought! It astounds the heart.

Here are some of St. Bernard’s thoughts on this idea:

O Little One desirable to little ones! O Little One truly! But only little in malice, not in wisdom. Let us endeavor to become like this Little One. Let us learn of Him because He is “meek and humble of heart.” Otherwise the great God will have become a Little One in vain, in vain will have died, in vain will have endured the cross. Let us learn His humility, let us imitate His meekness, let us respond to His charity, let us share in His sufferings, let us cleanse ourselves in His Blood. Yea, let us offer Him as a ” propitiation for our sins,” because unto this is He born and given to us.

Let us offer Him to the eyes of the Father: let us offer Him to His own eyes also: for the Father hath” spared not even His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all,” and the Son hath “emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant”; “He hath delivered His Soul unto death and was reputed with the wicked, and He hath borne the sins of many, and hath prayed for the transgressors,” so that they might not perish. They cannot perish for whom the Son prays the Father that they may be saved, and for whom, that they may live, the Father delivered His Son to death. Pardon, therefore, is to be hoped for equally from Father and Son, Who are equal in mercy and loving-kindness, equal in omnipotence of will, identical in the Essence of their Divinity, in Which, with the Holy Spirit, They live and reign, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

And we find that Baby with His Mother, and our Mother, Mary. She shows us her little Son for our adoration and as we grow in love, she shows us the way of the cross that leads to union with that Son.

A Blessed Advent.   Ave Maria!

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