Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Jesus in the Eucharist,
immortal King of ages,
Who from the humble throne of the Tabernacle would conquer the world,
O Jesus,
do not permit that any of us who are close to Thy Sacred Heart,
the never-failing source of living water, should perish of thirst.
Do not permit the members of our household to fall fainting on the road of life because they refuse to nourish themselves with Thee,
the Bread sent down from Heaven for earth's exiles.

Because Thou art Jesus,
cross the abyss that separates them from Thee;
pay no attention to their ignorance;
win them in spite of their weakness,
heeding only Thy pity and the prayer of faith and love that,
unknown to them, we offer Thee at Thy merciful request. O Jesus, save them, by Thy grace!...

By the Immaculate Queen, let them drink the chalice of thy love!...

- Holy Hour by The Rev. Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.
Book Four

Pope Benedict XVI: ST. FRANCIS OF SALES: GREAT MASTER OF SPIRITUALITY AND PEACE

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During today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall, the Pope spoke about St. Francis de Sales, bishop and doctor of the Church who lived in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Born in 1567 to a noble family in the Duchy of Savoy, while still very young Francis, "reflecting on the ideas of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas, underwent a profound crisis which led him to question himself about his own eternal salvation and about the destiny God had in store for him, experiencing the principle theological questions of his time as an authentic spiritual drama". The saint "found peace in the radical and liberating truth of God's love: loving Him without asking anything in return and trusting in divine love; this would be the secret of his life".

Read the rest at VIS

On Dealing with Temptations

St. Francis de Sales gave the following advice to St. Jane de Chanal on patience and bearing temptations.

"...while a temptation displeases you there is nothing to fear; for why does it displease you, save because you do not will it? ... these burdensome temptations come from the malice of the Devil; but the pain and suffering that we feel come from the mercy of God who, against the will of the enemy, draws from his malice holy tribulations, by which He refines the gold that He would put into His treasures.

...your temptations are from the Devil and from Hell, but your pains and afflictions are from God and Paradise. The mothers are from Babylon, but the daughters are from Jerusalem. Despise the temptations; embrace the tribulations...

Thy Will be Done by St. Francis de Sales, Sophia Press