The Act of Contrition

The following was also shared by Renee.

VATICAN - Prayers for Lent - Act of Contrition (I)

Vatican City (Fides Service) - The formula of the Act of Contrition may vary a little according to the language. The Catechism of the Catholic Church in English gives the follow text:

“O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because of thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve with the help of Thy grace to sin no more and to avoid the near occasion of sin. Amen.”

Despite slight differences in the various languages the contents are the same, seven elements set in three parts: acknowledgment of sin and contrition because it offends God; recognition that God is all good and deserving of love and created us out of love; promise with the help of God’s grace never to offend him with sin in the future and to avoid occasions of sin.

The first Act of Contrition we find in the Gospel of Saint Luke. It is Jesus himself who teaches it to his disciples when he tells them the parable of the Prodigal Son: “When he had spent it all, that country experienced a severe famine, and now he began to feel the pinch so he hired himself out to one of the local inhabitants who put him on his farm to feed the pigs. And he would willingly have filled himself with the husks the pigs were eating but no one would let him have them. Then he came to his senses and said, "How many of my father's hired men have all the food they want and more, and here am I dying of hunger! I will leave this place and go to my father and say: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you; I no longer deserve to be called your son; treat me as one of your hired men. "So he left the place and went back to his father» (Luke 15, 14-20).
« I will leave this place and go to my father … So he left the place and went back to his father »: he realises his unhappy state and decides to ‘turn around’ and go back to his father. This ‘turning around’ is an act of “conversion”: acknowledging our fault, stop, ask forgiveness and resolve to change direction and walk the path of life.

(J.M.) (Agenzia Fides 15/3/2007, righe 31, parole 411)

Proof of the Real Presence?

My friend Renee shared this with me.

This article was posted in Garabandal Journal January-February 2007
Father Albert C. Byrne

Did dogs find in the tabernacle what many Catholics today do not?

On the evening of the last day of his October 1995 visit to the United States, John Paul II was scheduled to greet the seminarians at Saint Mary's Seminary in Baltimore. It had been a very full day that began with a Mass at Oriole Park in Camden Yards, a parade through downtown streets, a visit to the Basilica of the Assumption, the first cathedral in the country, lunch at a local soup kitchen run by Catholic Charities; a prayer service at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen in North Baltimore; and finally a quick stop at Saint Mary's Seminary.

The schedule was tight so the plan was simply to greet the seminarians while they stood outside on the steps. But the Pope made his way through their ranks and into the building. His plan was to first make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

When his wishes were made known, security flew into action. They swept the building paying close attention to the chapel where the Pope would be praying. For this purpose highly trained dogs were used to detect any person who might be present.


The dogs are trained to locate survivors in collapsed buildings after earthquakes and other disasters. These highly intelligent and eager dogs quickly went through the halls, offices and classrooms and were then sent to the chapel. They went up and down the aisle, past the pews and finally into the side chapel where the Blessed Sacrament is reserved.

Upon reaching the tabernacle, the dogs sniffed, whined, pointed, and refused to leave, their attention riveted on the tabernacle, until called by their handlers. They were convinced that they discovered someone there.

We Catholics know they were right -- they found a real, living Person in the tabernacle!

Special Act of Sorrow

Forgive me my sins, O Lord, forgive me my sins; the sins of my youth, the ins of my age, the sins of my soul, the sins of my body; my idle sins, my serious voluntary sins, the sins I know, the sins I have concealed so long, and which are now hidden from my memory.

I am truly sorry for every sin, mortal and venial, for all the sins of my childhood up to the present hour.

I know my sins have wounded Thy tender Heart, O my Saviour, let me be freed from the bonds of evil through the most bitter passion of my Redeemer.

O my Jesus, forget and forgive what I have been.

Amen.

Salesian Missions
2 Lefevre Lane
New Rochelle NY 10801-5710

Daily Dosage of Sacramentum Caritatis

Picture courtesy of Aci Prensa

The following is from the Legion of Mary Blog

2. In the sacrament of the altar, the Lord meets us, men and women created in God’s image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:27), and becomes our companion along the way. In this sacrament, the Lord truly becomes food for us, to satisfy our hunger for truth and freedom.

Since only the truth can make us free (cf. Jn 8:32), Christ becomes for us the food of truth. With deep human insight, Saint Augustine clearly showed how we are moved spontaneously, and not by constraint, whenever we encounter something attractive and desirable. Asking himself what it is that can move us most deeply, the saintly Bishop went on to say: “What does our soul desire more passionately than truth?” (2) Each of us has an innate and irrepressible desire for ultimate and definitive truth. The Lord Jesus, “the way, and the truth, and the life” (Jn 14:6), speaks to our thirsting, pilgrim hearts, our hearts yearning for the source of life, our hearts longing for truth. Jesus Christ is the Truth in person, drawing the world to himself. “Jesus is the lodestar of human freedom: without him, freedom loses its focus, for without the knowledge of truth, freedom becomes debased, alienated and reduced to empty caprice. With him, freedom finds itself.” (3) In the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus shows us in particular the truth about the love which is the very essence of God. It is this evangelical truth which challenges each of us and our whole being. For this reason, the Church, which finds in the Eucharist the very centre of her life, is constantly concerned to proclaim to all, opportune importune (cf. 2 Tim 4:2), that God is love.(4) Precisely because Christ has become for us the food of truth, the Church turns to every man and woman, inviting them freely to accept God’s gift.

Rosary Making Blogs

The other day, Angie asked me about rosary making blogs. I didn't know of any offhand but I found the following:

If you have a rosary making blog, please let me know either by emailing me or leaving a message in the comment box. Mahalo.
Rosary Making Blog

Saintly Quote

Thanks Becca

"Do you know which are my Sundays and feast days? They are days on which God tries me the most."

~ St. Therese of Lisieux

Daily Dosage of SACRAMENTUM CARITATIS

Picture courtesy of Aci Prensa

The Legion of Mary Blog has been posting excerpts of the new apostolic exhortation making it easy to follow and understand the beauty it contains.

1. The sacrament of charity (1), the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God’s infinite love for every man and woman.

This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that “greater” love which led him to “lay down his life for his friends” (Jn 15:13). Jesus did indeed love them “to the end” (Jn 13:1). In those words the Evangelist introduces Christ’s act of immense humility: before dying for us on the Cross, he tied a towel around himself and washed the feet of his disciples. In the same way, Jesus continues, in the sacrament of the Eucharist, to love us “to the end,” even to offering us his body and his blood. What amazement must the Apostles have felt in witnessing what the Lord did and said during that Supper! What wonder must the eucharistic mystery also awaken in our own hearts!

Saintly Quote

H/T to Sue

What is a faithful man to do in the chaos of events which seem to swallow him up? He must sustain himself calmly by Faith. Faith will make him adore the eternal plan of God. Faith will assure him that to those who love God all things work together for good.

St. William Joseph Chaminade (1761-1850)

Evening Prayer of St. Augustine

Picture courtesy of THIS SITE

Watch, thou, O Lord, with those who wake, or watch, or weep tonight, and give Thine Angels and Saints charge over those who sleep.

Tend Thy sick ones, O Lord Christ.
Rest Thy weary ones,
Bless Thy dying ones,
Soothe Thy suffering ones,
Pity thy afflicted ones,
Shield Thy joyous ones,
And all for Thy love's sake.

Amen.

With ecclesiastical approval
Source: The Grail- St. Meinrad, Indiana.
Distributed by Mr. and Mrs. Frank M. Foran
7306 West Archer Avenue, Summit, Ill. 60501
Please pray for the Frank M. Foran Family.

Pope Links Fallout to Loss of Sense of Sin

Caricature of our Holy Father is by Paul Nichols of Catholic Cartoon Blog. Keep Paul in mind if you would like to give an extra special gift to someone.

Detects a Rise in Guilt Complexes

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 16, 2007 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI says that the loss of the sense of sin in modern society has been followed by an increase in guilt complexes.

The Pope explained that this link shows the human being's need for God's forgiveness, which takes place through the sacrament of confession.

The Holy Father said this today when in an audience with recently ordained priests who are taking a course on the internal forum offered by the Apostolic Penitentiary. The internal forum deals with cases involving conscience.

The Pontiff said that in the modern world, one perceives "a humanity that would like to be self-sufficient, since many think they can live well without God."

And yet, he observed, "how many seem to be sadly condemned to address tragic situations of existential emptiness, how much violence there is still on earth, how much loneliness weighs on the spirit of man of the age of communication!"

Yoke of death

"In a word," Benedict XVI said, "it seems that today the 'sense of sin' has been lost, but instead 'guilt complexes' have increased."

He continued: "Who will be able to free the heart of men from this yoke of death, if not the one who by dying defeated it forever by the power of divine love?

"In the sacrament of confession, the priest is instrument of that merciful love of God."

The Holy Father asserted that the "commitment of the priest and of the confessor consists primarily of this: to lead each person to experience the love of Christ, encountering him on the path of life."

It is imperative, the Pope said, "that the priest, the minister of the sacrament of reconciliation, always feel it is his task to reflect, in deed and in the way of approaching the penitent, the merciful love of God."

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