Meditation on the passion of Christ will stir up genuine compunction of heart:

First of all, no attention is paid to the last things; God’s blessings and all that the Son of God endured for us in his bitter passion are consigned to oblivion; the obligations and duties of each one’s state in life are negligently discharged; no precaution is taken against the dangers that beset our life from all sides. Since the world then is filled with iniquity Jeremiah rightfully complains when he says: All the land is deso­late with desolation.

Is there a remedy for these evils? Indeed there is! I should like to explain on bended knees to all prelates, pastors, priests and other ministers of God that this rem­edy is at hand, at least in great part: the devout exer­cise of the Way of the Cross. If by their zeal and care this devotion spreads through individual parishes and churches it will indeed be a powerful protection against the surging tide of vice and fill all with the greatest bless­ings of virtue who engage in loving reflection on the sufferings and love of Jesus Christ.

What salutary insights will the continued meditation on the bitter passion of the Son of God stir up in the soul! Daily experience has taught me that by this devout form of prayer men’s lives are quickly changed for the better. For the Way of the Cross is the antidote for vice, the cleansing of unbridled desires and an effective incen­tive to virtue and holiness of life. Indeed, if we set the excruciating sufferings of the Son of God portrayed in so many vivid pictures before the eyes of the soul we can hardly refrain from abhorring the defilements of our own life because of the abundant light that fills our souls. Nay, I should rather say we will be urged on to repay such great love with our own love, or at least to bear willingly the misfortunes that from time to time in every walk of life fall to our lot.

St. Leonard of Port Maurice

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Homily #111126 ( 07min) Play – St Leonard said that most conversions were wrought when he spoke of the Mother of God.
Ave Maria!
Mass: Ordinary Form – St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Optional Memorial
Readings: Saturday 34th Week of Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Daniel 7:15-27
Responsorial: Daniel 3:82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87
Gospel: Luke 21:34-36

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 26 – Homily – Fr Bonaventure: St Leonard of Port Maurice first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #121126 ( 08min) Play– Fr. George preaches on the patron of parish missions, tireless promoter of the Stations of the Cross, and faithful son of St. Francis, St. Leonard of Port Maurice.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: eph 1:3-14
Resp: psa 85:2-4, 7-8, 9, 10-11
Gsp: mat 16:24-27

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 26 – Homily – Fr George: Apostle of the Stations of the Cross first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #121126b ( 12min) Play – Fr. Elias on the life of St. Leonard of Port Maurice and how he preached Christ and Him Crucified, promoting the devotion to the Stations of the Cross as the solution to all the problems in his time. He relates this to modern times and how the state should at least allow the Church the freedom to evangelize.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: Monday in the 34th Week in Ordinary Time
1st: rev 14:1-3, 4-5
Resp: psa 24:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Gsp: luk 21:1-4

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 26 – Homily – Fr Elias: St. Leonard of Port Maurice first appeared on AirMaria.com.

St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Feast Day November 26th) wrote this about Our Lady: “She has had a decisive influence on our lives. Each of us has his own experience. Looking back we see her intervention behind every problem, driving us forward and with the definitive push making us begin anew. Whenever I get down to thinking about the numerous graces I have received from Mary, I feel like one of those Marian Shrines on the walls of which, covered with ‘offerings’, there is inscribed only: ‘Through grace received from Mary’. In this way, it seems that I am written all over: Through grace received from Mary’.  Every good thought, every good act of will, every movement of my heart: ‘Through grace received from Mary’.”

A bit of biography:

Saint Leonard was devoted to spreading the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin (the doctrine had not yet been established). He was in no small way responsible for the definition of the Immaculate Conception made a little more than a hundred years after his death. He also wrote the Divine Praises, which are said at the end of Benediction. But Saint Leonard’s most famous work was his devotion to the Stations of the Cross. He established the Way of the Cross in over 500 places, including the Coliseum in Rome.

(as noted in http://365rosaries.blogspot.com/2010/11/november-26-saint-leonard-of-port.html)

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Saint Leonard of Port Maurice was a most holy Franciscan friar who lived at the monastery of Saint Bonaventure in Rome. He was one of the greatest missioners in the history of the Church. He used to preach to thousands in the open square of every city and town where the churches could not hold his listeners. So brilliant and holy was his eloquence that once when he gave a two weeks’ mission in Rome, the Pope and College of Cardinals came to hear him. The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin, the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and the veneration of the Sacred Heart of Jesus were his crusades.

He was in no small way responsible for the definition of the Immaculate Conception made a little more than a hundred years after his death. He also gave us the Divine Praises, which are said at the end of Benediction. But Saint Leonard’s most famous work was his devotion to the Stations of the Cross. He died a most holy death in his seventy-fifth year, after twenty-four years of uninterrupted preaching.

One of Saint Leonard of Port Maurice’s most famous sermons was “The Little Number of Those Who Are Saved.” It was the one he relied on for the conversion of great sinners. This sermon, like his other writings, was submitted to canonical examination during the process of canonization. In it he reviews the various states of life of Christians and concludes with the little number of those who are saved, in relation to the totality of men. The reader who meditates on this remarkable text will grasp the soundness of its argumentation, which has earned it the approbation of the Church.

(We can wonder how well such a preaching would go over in our day!)

The post St. Leonard of Port Maurice: Feast Day is Nov.26 first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Homily #141126b ( 11min) Play – Fr. Elias on how St. Leonard of Port Maurice did so much to promote the devotion of the Stations of the Cross, showing how meditating on the Cross which our Lord carried in love for us makes it easier for us carry our own and so reach heaven.
Ave Maria!
Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Mem – Form: OF
Readings: 
1st: eph 1:3-14
Resp: psa 85:2-4, 7-8, 9, 10-11
Gsp: mat 16:24-27

Audio (MP3)

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The post Nov 26 – Homily – Fr Elias: St. Leonard and the Stations of the Cross first appeared on AirMaria.com.

In the homily for the Memorial of St. Leonard of Port Maurice (Franciscan Priest, Nov 26), Fr. Maximilian explains the lesson of the Gospel: that for love of God and to please Him, we should be willing to give everything and to sacrifice all in this passing life, in order to be with Him forever in Eternity.

St. Leonard of Port Maurice did that: He showed Jesus how much he loved Him by sacrificing his life in order to serve Christ and his Church.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice

Readings: 

1st: Rev 14:1-3, 4b-5
Resp: Ps 24:1bc-2, 3-4a-b, 5-6
Gsp: Lk 21:1-4

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=748&r=-1

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The post Give Everything Now to Gain Forever – Nov 26 – Homily – Fr Maximilian W first appeared on AirMaria.com.

Fr Ignatius gives the homily at Bloomington, IN on Nov 26, 2021, on how during the end of the liturgical season and how we must be focused on the end times and final judgment and how St. Leonard of Port Maurice, whose feast day is today, preached on this.

Ave Maria!

Mass: St. Leonard of Port Maurice – Mem
Readings: Friday 34th Week of Ordinary Time – http://usccb.org/bible/readings/112621.cfm
1st: dan 7:2-14
Resp: dan 3:75-81
Gsp: luk 21:29-33

More on the Readings: http://dev.airmaria.com/r?m=748&r=1563

Also on Facebook: https://fb.watch/9wK1eD8hiJ/
and YouTube: https://youtu.be/6GO6lAVR5cQ

The post End Times & Final Judgment – Nov 26 – Homily – Fr Ignatius first appeared on AirMaria.com.

The Life of St. Leonard of Port Maurice, Confessor, First Order (d. 1751) for the Franciscan Saint of the Day for Nov 26. St. Leonard of Port Maurice was born in Italy in a wealthy family and was well educated. He entered the Franciscans and practiced much charity to his fellow friars and neighbors. He had bad health until restored to health by the Blessed Virgin Mary and from then on exercised great zeal for missionary preaching in parishes especially in Corsica. He started a retreat house to prepare missionaries. He is famous for resolutions, spreading the devotion of the Way of the Cross, the blessed sacrament, and the Immaculate Conception.

Reflection is on the importance of parish missions, live according to your faith, importance of missionary as a source of many conversions, Perseverance in virtue and devotion.

For more on St. Leonard of Port Maurice
– https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_of_Port_Maurice
– https://www.roman-catholic-saints.com/saint-leonard-of-port-maurice.html
– https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09178c.htm

Also on Youtube: https://youtu.be/Vi1tEsnA9yI

Read by Fr. Ignatius Manfredonia, FI from Marion Habig’s ‘The Franciscan Book of Saints’ Revised Edition, Franciscan Herald Press, ISBN: 978-0819907516

Playlist of Franciscan Saints: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TxcAETrU_k&list=PLejh_e0-LN4wErRczZGry4TXytCZFiLCm

Ave Maria!

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