Sunday in the Year for Priests

Father Vianney was not content to speak and to preach, he wanted to give good example. And he wanted to do even more. He wanted to deliver himself up to God's wrath, and to offer to heaven astonishing exchanges, first of all his own mortifications, fasts, penances, and sufferings, in return for the salvation of his parish.

To begin with, he prayed. And he prayed so well that his mental prayer was an act in the fullest sense of the word. There was already a feeling abroad that he was mounting guard for the village entrusted to his care. He got up long before dawn, and crossed the cemetery between the rectory and the church, lantern in hand. He would prostrate himself before the altar and pray aloud: "My God, grant me the conversion of my parish, I am willing to suffer everything You want as long as I live!" Then he would weep.

At daybreak he was still there...

From the Remarkable Cure of Ars by Michel de Saint Pierre

St. John  Vianney's body is incorrupt

Click here for photos on the bodies of incorrupt saints

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie

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Saturday of Our Lady

Mary, the all-holy ever-virgin Mother of God, is the masterwork of the mission of the Son and the Spirit in the fullness of time. For the first time in the plan of salvation and because his Spirit had prepared her, the Father found the dwelling place where his Son and his Spirit could dwell among men. In this sense the Church's Tradition has often read the most beautiful texts on wisdom in relation to Mary, Mary is acclaimed and represented in the liturgy as the "Seat of Wisdom."

In her,the "wonders of God" that the Spirit was to fulfill in Christ and the Church began to be manifested.

Catechism #721

The Holy spirit prepared Mary by his grace. It was fitting that the mother of him in whom "the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily" should herself be "full of grace." She was, by her grace, conceived without sin as the most humble of creatures, the most capable of welcoming the inexpressible gift of the Almighty. It was quite correct for the angel Gabriel to greet her a the "Daughter of Zion": "Rejoice," It is the thanksgiving of the whole People of God, and thus of the Church, which Mary in her canticle lifts up to the Father in the Holy Spirit while carrying within her the eternal Son.

Catechism #722

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF THE BLESSED TRINITY
With all my heart I praise you, Most Holy Virgin, above all angels and saints in paradise, Daughter of the Eternal Father, and I consecrate to you my soul with all its faculties.
HAIL MARY


With all my heart I praise you, Most Holy Virgin, above all angels and saints in paradise, beloved Mother of the Son of God. I consecrate to you my body with all its senses.
HAIL MARY


With all my heart I praise you, Most Holy Virgin, above all angels and saints in paradise, beloved Spouse of the Holy Spirit. I consecrate to you my heart with all its affections and beseech you to obtain for me from the Most Holy Trinity all the graces necessary for Salvation.
HAIL MARY

The Act of Consecration to the Blessed Trinity comes from a prayer given an imprimatur by Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York, in February 7, 1963.

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie

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Carmelite Quote

If we want to reach the vision of faith I believe we have to live in the supernatural, that is, we shouldn't act in a purely "human" way. We must be aware that God lives deep within us and do everything with him; then nothing will be without meaning, not even the most commonplace tasks, because we will pass beyond them without making them our objective. Someone who is supernatural never dwells on secondary causes, but passes straight to God. How this simplifies life-it is almost like living the life of heaven already, set free from self and from things.

Bl. Elizabeth of the Trinity




Peace be with you!
Rosemarie
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St. Barbara Church

Massillon, Ohio

Fr. Thomas Cebula, pastor

St. Barbara's Website

Diocese of Youngstown

 

 

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie

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The Seven Mansions and the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit-A Meditation Series on the Interior Castle

The Second Dwelling Place

Beginners on the road of prayer still have desires for worldly pleasures that need to be purified. However, in this dwelling place, they experience more intensely the Lord calling them to a deeper prayer life. They feel sorrow that they do not respond immediately to his call.

Characteristics of the soul in this dwelling place:

*Feel sorrow for their lack of perseverance in prayer

*Attracted to worldly pleasures

*Are spiritually moved by sermons

*Are inspired by words of encouragement

*Expect spiritual consolations and judge spiritual progress by them

What a farce it is! Here are we, with a thousand obstacles, drawbacks, and imperfections within ourselves, our virtues so newly born that they have scarcely the strength to act (and God grant that they exist at all!) yet we are not ashamed to expect sweetness in prayer and to complain of feeling dryness.

IC, Chapt. 2, No. 14

St. Teresa teaches that these souls should:

*Associate with spiritual persons

*Remain calm during distractions

*Pray for perseverance in prayer

*Be courageous in the face of temptation

*Embrace the cross

*Do not be discouraged by weakness

One thing I ask of the Lord; this I seek: To dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life. (Psalm 27)

The Psalmist reflects the heartfelt desire of the pure of heart, they have only one desire; God alone. We know from the lives of the saints that they had a deep longing for God alone. They worked tirelessly for the Kingdom at the expense of neglecting their physical needs and wants. They kept the goal of heaven ever before them.  We need the light and the grace of the Holy Spirit to help us keep our goal of heaven ever before us. Today we reflect on the gift of:

UNDERSTANDING

The Gift of Understanding helps us to grasp the truths of our Catholic Faith so that we may truly live them. When we recite the Creed, we need to pray it with our whole heart, mind, and soul.I BELIEVE IN GOD...I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT...I BELIEVE IN THE COMMUNION OF SAINTS... When the Creed takes root in our heart it's as if we no longer just believe but come to know the truths in our heart, then our lives reflect this holy knowledge. Only by the grace of the Holy Spirit does this come about. And we should be most humbly grateful for so great a gift, the gift of Faith.

It is written that in her final days, when St. Therese was experiencing doubts about the existence of heaven, she wrote out the Creed with a pen filled with her own blood.

Therese confided her temptations against the faith to Fr. Godefroid Madelaine,who was preaching the community retreat in Carmel, October 8-15, 1896. The preacher advised her to carry the Credo on her heart always. Therese decided to write the text of the Creed in her own blood at the end of the Gospel, to show God that she was ready to shed all her blood for each of the articles of the Apostles' Creed, in particular for the last two: "I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting."

(From Therese and Lisieux by Pierre Descouvemont and Helmuth Nils Loose)

We can see that true faith that has taken root in the soul is a perpetual light that burns in the heart of those in union with God.  Even though we do not experience the sensible presence of God with our emotions. St. Therese teaches us that she walked by the dark night of faith even when she experienced the feeling of abandonment by God.

On that glad night,

in secret, for no one saw me,

nor did I look at anything,

with no other light or guide

than the one that burned in my heart.

St. John of the Cross

If we never look up at Him and reflect on what we owe Him for having died for us, I do not understand how we can know Him, or perform good deeds in His service. What value is there in faith without works? and what are they worth if they are not united to the merits of Jesus Christ, our only good? What would incite us to love our Lord unless we thought of Him?

IC, Chap.2,No. 20

Let us pray that the Holy Spirit enlighten us with the gift of Understanding. That we who believe will be quick to answer the call of the Lord who desires to spend time with us in prayer. St. Teresa teaches us a great truth also: What value is there in faith without works?  Prayer gives us strength to serve our neighbor in charity. Although the Secular Carmelite is called to a life of intimate prayer, we know we cannot neglect our daily duties. Any consolations we receive are not for our own personal enjoyment but are given to help the soul serve his neighbor, especially when it is difficult. 

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie, OCDS

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Sunday in the Year for Priests

He would never lose his fear of being a bad pastor...so strong was this obsession, this sentiment of his unworthiness, that one fine day Fr. Mandy found him on his knees in a wood known as "Pope Joan's wood," weeping bitterly and crying out in a loud voice:

"My God, convert my parish!..."

O my dear parishioners, let us strive to go to heaven! There we shall see God. How happy we shall be! And we shall go there all together in a procession if the parish becomes virtuous, your pastor leading the way!"

From the Remarkable Cure of Ars by Michel de Saint Pierre

Year for Priests Blog

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie

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Saturday of Our Lady

The eleven titles or characteristics of Mary that sum up the teaching of the Magisterium on Mary. She is:

*Mother of God

*Ever Vigin

*Full of Grace

*Immaculately Conceived

*Assumed into Heaven

*Coredemptrix ("Associate of the Redeemer,"

Pope Paul VI)

*Mediatrix with Jesus

*Dispensatrix of Grace

*Our Spiritual Mother

*Mother and Type of the church

*Universal Queen

From Living the DeMontfort Consecration, by James M. Hanlon

Happy the soul in which Mary,

the Tree ofLife, is planted; happier

the soul in which she has acquired

growth and bloom; still happier

the soul in which she yields her

fruit; but most happy of all the

soul which relishes and preserves

Mary's fruit until death, and

forever and ever. Amen.

St. Louis de Montfort

Peace be with you!

Rosemarie

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