Our Lady of Lourdes

Picture source

Prayer

O my Mother,
O immaculate,
O pure,
O holy,
O spotless virgin Mary!
if we only knew thee,
how many hearts would cease to be wicked,
how many souls viewing the dazzling splendors of thy graces would hasten to walk in thy footsteps.
Then,
O dear Mother,
show thyself to the world,
lost in the darkness of sin.
O resplendent Morning Star,
remove from our eyes the veil which sin has placed there;
open them to the divine light,
and may its heavenly influence blot out our stains,
enliven our actions,
and increase in our hearts a pure and ardent love for Jesus,
thy Divine Son, by the sweet and delightful tears of holy penance.
O Mary, the immaculate heart was Jesus' earthly home;
deign to make my heart also His home.
O Mary, be by me when Jesus comes to judge me.
May my last words in this life and my first in the next be "Jesus, my savior; and Mary, my Mother."

The Prayer Book

Quis ut Deus

by Cima de Conegliano

Picture Source

Who is like God?

According to Father Charles Arminjon, the above was the war-cry uttered in heaven at the very beginning of time. This was cried out right from the moment when Lucifer the most "dazzling and radiant of the archangels" rebelled against God and became the ugliest and basest of the devils.

"There was then a great battle, in which truth and justice triumphed. The archangel Michael drew attention to the excellence and dignity of the Most High God. He reminded the good angels of the beneficence of Him who had created them... he kept them in fidelity and submission by saying to them, 'Quis ut Deus? Who is like God?'"...

At the time Father wrote his book The End of the Present World, (that is to say in 1881) he enjoined Christians to utter that battle-cry in order to awake the complacent and those blinded to the growing evils in the world. He wrote:

"Modern society today, in the face of heaven and earth, has proclaimed the most audacious boast every conceived by human pride; it declares that it will exclude God from laws and institutions, creating a social order and felicity completely independent of Him; and, confronted with this satanic design, it is our duty to protest loudly, saying, with the archangel, Quis ut Deus?

The foregoing could have been written in the present! We see our society more and more accepting of sin and evil and those who oppose it are maligned as the enemy. But take heart! Good will triumph over evil! It may not be an easy road to follow, but Christians cannot lose sight of God; we cannot lose hope.

The answer to combating the devil is the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

"The Church teaches that Jesus Christ truly dwells upon our altars...He immolates Himself to His Father, for the sins of the world. However, in order that the sublime mystery of our altars may produce an effect on our lives, the faithful must be rightly disposed. It cannot purify a soul that is attached to its disorderly ways, nor restore to goodness a heart obdurate in evil. The Real Presence and sacrifice detach man from the life of the senses, and make him live a spiritual life..."

The following should then give Christians much hope:

"You, then, feeble and fainted-hearted souls, who feel your faith faltering and weakening, shaken by the effrontery and arrogant clamor of thew wicked, turn your eyes for a moment upon the Christian world, where, in spite of ingenious, mendacious conspiracies, Jesus Christ continues to be loved and adored. See those crowds who fill our churches at the times of the major solemnities, kneeling humbly and invoking Jesus Christ with the unshakable conviction that their prayer will reach heaven. See the dying, as they press His blessed picture to their lips so as to fortify themselves against he anguish and the fears of t heir final agony. See those sorrowful countenances, bowing down at the steps of His lonely altars and straightening up again, beaming with an indescribable joy. See those sinners, stricken with remorse, beating their breast and departing, trusting that they have regained pardon. Such is the infallible voice of mankind; the striking testimony of popular faith; the profound cry of public conscience, which can be diminished for a day but which all the threats of the mighty and the artifices of atheistic science will never succeed in stifling.

How to Personalize Jesus' Passion and Death and become a Better Christian

We ask ourselves:  "When I see a crucifix, do I realize that of Jesus suffered and died for me? Do I realize He was thinking of me and praying for me as He hung on the cross? In fact, that is what He did!

The following is a good way of meditating on our Lord's Passion and Death and overcoming our sins.

- If you are tempted, remember that He was tried before you.

- If you are governed by pride, self-love, or vanity, think of Jesus during His Passion, covered with blows, spat upon, humiliated, and crowned with thorns.

- If you are beset by laziness and sensuality, think of Jesus covered with a bloody sweat, scourged, carrying His Cross, think of Him hanging upon it, His hands and feet pierced, His sacred body torn, devoured by thirst and shattered by pain.

- If you are a slave to material things, think of Jesus poor and wholly destitute at Bethlehem, at Nazareth, and during His public life; think of Him upon the cross, rendering His soul in the supreme embrace of poverty.

- If you fall into sin, remember that Jesus fell three times on the road to Calvary so that He might merit for you the grace to rise again after your falls as H e rose after His, and so that discouragement might never enter your heart.

- If at times the trails and the burden of life are too heavy, if nature rebels and, in spite of yourself, you cry out, "I can bear no more," remember that Jesus in His human nature knew this extremity, the very brink of despair, and that He, too, cried out: "My Father...let this chalice pass from me! My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

From Keep it Simple by Emmanuel de Gibergues

Saintly Eucharistic Quotes

St. Theresa Co-Cathedral, Adoration Chapel,  Honolulu HI

‎"With what humility should we assist at Mass, if we realized that our guardian angel was kneeling besides us, prostrate before the majesty of God!" - St. John Vianney

"When our dear savior left this world, he did not wish to leave us alone, and therefore he devised a means of remaining with us in the Holy Eucharist to the end of time, that even here below we may enjoy his sweet company." - St. Alphonsus de Liguori

"O Lord!, all our troubles comes to us from not having our eyes fixed upon you. - St. Teresa de Avila

"To separate Christ from His mother in our piety is to divide Christ...Where the mother is left out, the Son is no longer understood." - Bl. Columba Marmion

"...It is one thing to love God, and another thing actually to feel the happiness of His presence." - Ven. Elizabeth LeSeuer

"O Sacred Heart of Jesus...May every beat of my heart be a prayer to obtain mercy and pardon for sinners." - St. Mary Euphrasia Pelletier

"My God, may everything I do and suffer today be for love of you." - St. Bernadette

"My Jesus, may all men ever know, adore, love and praise you, every moment in the most Holy and Most Divine Sacrament."

Sources of these quotes are from various books I have read as spiritual reading.

Honolulu's Bishop Larry Silva Addresses the HHS Recent Mandate: Letter to the faithful

Reprinted with permission of our bishop, His Excellency Bishop Larry Silva, Diocese of Honolulu

LETTER TO THE FAITHFUL

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ:

I write to you concerning an alarming and serious matter that negatively impacts the Church in the United States directly, and that strikes at the fundamental right to religious liberty for all citizens of any faith. The federal government, which claims to be “of, by, and for the people,” has just dealt a heavy blow to almost a quarter of those people — the Catholic population — and to the millions more who are served by the Catholic faithful.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced last week that almost all employers, including Catholic employers, will be forced to offer their employees’ health coverage that includes sterilization, abortion-inducing drugs, and contraception. Almost all health insurers will be forced to include those “services” in the health policies they write. And almost all individuals will be forced to buy that coverage as a part of their policies.

In so ruling, the Administration has cast aside the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, denying to Catholics our nation’s first and most fundamental freedom, that of religious liberty. And as a result, unless the rule is overturned, we Catholics will be compelled either to violate our consciences, or to drop health coverage for our employees (and suffer the penalties for doing so). The Administration’s sole concession was to give our institutions one year to comply.

People of faith cannot be made second class citizens. We are already joined by our brothers and sisters of all faiths and many others of good will in this important effort to regain our religious freedom. In generations past, the Church has always been able to count on the faithful to stand up and protect her sacred rights and duties. I hope and trust she can count on this generation of Catholics to do the same. Our children and grandchildren deserve nothing less.

And therefore, I would ask of you two things. First, as a community of faith we must commit ourselves to prayer and fasting that wisdom and justice may prevail, and religious liberty may be restored. Without God, we can do nothing; with God, nothing is impossible. Second, I would also recommend visiting www.usccb.org/conscience, to learn more about this severe assault on religious liberty, and how to contact Congress in support of legislation that would reverse the Administration’s decision.

Sincerely yours in Christ,

Most Reverend Larry Silva

Bishop of Honolulu

Source: Diocese of Honolulu

St. Blaise: Bishop, Martyr and Healer of Wild Animals

Prayers for Our Pets: St. Blaise: Bishop, Martyr and Healer of Wild Animals

Mother Angelica Classics - Dreams of St John Bosco

The Presentation of the Baby Jesus and the Purification of the Blessed Mother

by Simon Vouvet

Picture source

Prayer to Obtain the Love of the Infant Jesus

O adorable Infant,
I should not dare to present myself before thee,
did I not know that Thou Thyself invitest me to approach Thee.
It is I, by my sins,
who made Thee shed so many tears int he stable of Bethlehem,
but since Thou art come upon earth to pardon penitent sinners,
vouchsafe to pardon me.
I sincerely repent of having despised Thee,
my Lord and my God,
who art so good and hast loved me so much.
The grace that I ask is that I may love Thee
henceforth with all my heart;
inflame my soul entirely with Thy holy love.
I love Thee,
O my God, who hast become an Infant for me.
Grant that I may never cease to love Thee.
O Mary , my Mother! Thou art all-powerful by thy prayers;
I ask but one favor of thee, namely, that thou wilt pray to Jesus for me.

- Saint Alphonsus Liguori

Prayer to St. John Bosco for the Protection of Young People

Photo taken at the Don Bosco Marian Center in New York

Prayer

O Glorious Saint John Bosco, who,
in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master and
to form them in the light of faith and Christian morality,
didst heroically sacrifice thyself to the very end of thy life and
didst found a fitting religious Institute destined to endure and
to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work,
obtain also for us from our Lord a holy love for young people,
who are for us from our Lord a holy love for young people,
who are exposed to so many seductions,
in order that we may generously spend ourselves in supporting them against the snares of the devil,
in keeping them safe from the dangers of the world,
and in guiding them, pure and holy,
in the path that leads to God.

Amen.

The Prayer Book

The Preciousness of Virginity

Picture source

We've reached a point in moral degradation where the only counter-cultural rebellion is to practice moral virtue. Nowhere is this more true than in sexual relationships. Women these days are, to many men (little boys really), nothing more than a board with a hole in it....or is that "broad." The term "hook-up" says it all where, on the morning after, one may not even remember the name or sex (in modern parlance "gender") or number of last night's "partners..."
Sadly, virginity has become a virtue of ridicule.

Read the rest here