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Zeal for the Salvation of Souls! “Zeal for the salvation of souls is of so great a merit before God, that to give up all our goods to the poor, or to spend our whole life in the exercises of all sorts of austerities cannot equal the merit of it. There is no service more agreeable to God than this one. To employ one’s life in this blessed labor is more pleasing to the Divine Majesty than to suffer martyrdom. Would you not feel happy if you could spend large sums of money in corporal works of mercy? But know, that he who labors for the salvation of souls does far more; nay, the zeal of souls is of far greater merit before God … than the working of miracles.” — Saint John Chrysostom O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee and for those who do not have recourse to thee, especially for the enemies of Holy Mother the Church! His name is “LEGION” and always he is changing his label and face but his indelible sign remains the same: hatred of the Church, hatred of the just and hatred of the Immaculate Mother of God. The Holy Ghost is the active principle of sanctification. The Church is the earthly manifestation of the Holy Ghost, its Living Soul. The Spirit animates the Body which is the Church. The graces by which we are elevated to supernatural life are wrought by the Sacraments which are the external signs of the action of the Holy Ghost. No power can quench its Life, and no force can prevent its living growth. Baptized into His Body and animated by His Grace, we are bound up in Him. How happy are we to bear our Paraclete within us, and how sacred the heart where He dwells! He that rejects Him shall find no comfort. He who grieves Him shall be eternally lost. The Holy Ghost is the principle of the life of the Church and, therefore, the source of Her unity. Thus, disunion from this Life is a contradiction and results in death. Let us, at once, grasp that the terrible war which is raging universally is a battle against the Holy Ghost! The Immaculate is so closely united with the Holy Ghost that she is called His spouse. She is, so to speak, the personification of the Holy Ghost! It is impossible to separate the Holy Ghost from Mary the Immaculate, since she is the instrument He uses in all He does in the order of grace. Clearly, then, this raging battle is most surely a war against the Immaculate Mother of God! It is a full attack on Truth, Unity, and Love Itself! Arrogant and well-disciplined by an inhuman mystique, the enemy applies methodically, point-by-¬point, his plan of extermination. The greatest crime of this enemy is that it succeeds in the perversion of the very virtues of Christianity. Only Saints can resist this poison. How often do we not return hate for hate towards these ruthless criminals and butchers! We even justify our hatred towards them. When slapped on the right cheek, instead of turning the left, we return the slap with a resounding blow. Even if we gained a temporal victory, the enemy has succeeded in infecting us with his deadly virus. To live in an atmosphere of hatred and not be contaminated by that hate is as miraculous as raising the dead to life. Try to realize that, in Mary, there is a magnificent palace built of gold and precious stones, worthy of the great King Who dwells there; and try to realize what is true: that you are contributing toward His splendor and glory by honoring His permanent dwelling place, which is the Immaculate Heart of Mary! Through obedience, Mary was espoused by the Holy Ghost. By Mary’s Immaculate Conception, an implacable enmity arose between her and the ancient adversary, the devil; thus, she was able to intimately join in her Son’s mortal struggle against Satan, sin and death. Mary shares completely in both the victory of Jesus Christ and in the royal power won by right of conquest. From Christ, then, and through her, all grace comes to us. Delegate of the Infinite Mercy, she is the crucible in which all our dross is consumed by the flame of sacrificial love, and made into a worthy offering of purest gold. As Mother of Christ the Head, she is therefore Mother of the Mystical Body. Spouse of the Holy Ghost, she receives only to give, and takes only to transform. There is only one obstacle insuperably destructive of her redemptory action – ¬our voluntary refusal of it. All that matters is to surrender to her sanctifying action and to be a ready instrument in her radiant hands. She is the Immaculate, the direct way to Christ, the weapon of conquest with which to establish the reign of Jesus Christ universally from one end of the earth to the other! Nothing must sorrow the Holy Ghost quite as much as the mediocrity of souls avowed to the Blessed Mother. Let us sacrifice our lives a thousand times to sanctify them. There is not one single heroic act that we cannot accomplish with the help of the Immaculate! We live in a time of great penance. Let us, at least, know how to profit by it. Suffering is good and sweet to him who accepts it willingly. How eternally efficacious for the salvation of souls is this surrender of our wills to the Will of God! The evil is very great and time grows short! Why have we not known how to save IN TIME the golden grain of truth stolen by the “Father of Lies”! It is all so simple. We must belong entirely to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, absolutely and unconditionally. Our sanctification is her mission. Let us conquer for Christ all souls in the entire world to the end of time … through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. CONSECRATION – Our Anchor! CONSECRATE YOURSELF voluntarily and completely to Mary Immaculate in order to belong to her entirely. Wear the Brown Scapular as your breast plate and shield. Wear the Miraculous Medal, and pray daily the Holy Rosary which will be the source of your strength, inspiration and love. LABOR FOR THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS, heretics, schismatics, infidels, communists and all enemies of Holy Mother the Church. Strive to induce others to join the Militia of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Preach the Holy Rosary, teach others the value of the Brown Scapular, embrace and obey the Commandments of God, fulfilling perfectly the duties of your state in life. BE A GREAT SAINT and instrument in the hands of Mary through perfect submission of your will to the Will of God, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Be solicitous for the glory and honor of your Immaculate Mother. The Principle Dogmas of our Faith are from Mary, in Mary, with Mary and through Mary. Looking at Mary, these Dogmas are read, embraced, loved and believed. She contained and contains the Gospel which she offers to us all through the Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary! True Christians can be recognized by this sign: LOVE FOR THE MOTHER OF GOD! |
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| LITANY TO THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARYLord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Heart of Mary, Created in the image of God, pray for us! Heart of Mary, through which evil is overcome, pray for us! Heart of Mary, save us from sin! Lamb of God Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that our hearts may be set on fire by the divine love that inflames LET US PRAY Father of Divine Love and Mercy, grant that by venerating the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may be drawn closer to the Sacred Heart of Thy beloved Son Who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen. My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee. Most Holy Trinity: Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly and I offer Thee the most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the outrages, sacrileges and indifference by which He Himself is offended. By the infinite merits of His most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
“IN THE END, MY IMMACULATE HEART WILL TRIUMPH!”
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Archive for August, 2012
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Wednesday, August 29th, 2012
Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Wednesday, August 22nd, 2012|
The Gift of Oneself to Our Lady “PRAY, Pray very much, make sacrifices for sinners. Remember that many souls are lost because there is nobody to pray and to make sacrifices for them.” Words of Our Lady of Fatima May the lowly Handmaid of the Lord guide us in the little path of self-forgetfulness! May countless souls learn to address her with the author’s prayer! “O Blessed Mother, teach us simplicity! Help us to become children in thy school. Let us know nothing else than this entire surrender of ourselves to God; this simple and spontaneous act of the heart, as we cast ourselves into the Arms of Jesus, and promise Him our fidelity: To love Jesus, to do His Will, to accept all from His Hands – ¬this, good Mother, shall be our secret as it was thine.” Our Divine Master takes the faithful servant into His employ and raises him to the status of a domestic servitor. He confides to him the interests of His glory, and the defense of His Church. The Almighty God charges him with combating error and with spreading the truth. He must stigmatize vice and encourage virtue. The loyal servant is known by his indefatigable zeal, upright bearing, noble disinterestedness and impeccable fidelity. With him, there is no compromise. There is no truce. How well the enemy knows this – ¬and fears this valiant soldier of Jesus Christ! The simple soul, being nothing in her own eyes, is like this good and faithful servant. Having forgotten herself, she is not liable to surprise when attack or hardship comes her way. Other more self-proclaiming souls attempt to ensnare and entangle the Almighty in the schemes of their own making, seeking to force the Will of God into submission to their own stubborn willfulness, but the eyes of the simple soul remain attentively upon the Face of God, and she is conformed to His Will. Simplicity and unselfishness often cause astonishment in our world so fraught with duplicity and egoism. Worldly creatures attempt to exploit the innocence and uprightness of the simple soul for their own profit. They lay snares for her, and try to deceive her good faith. But the childlike soul is not concerned – she knows well that the Holy Ghost will put into her mouth the words she is to speak for, not only does Jesus think for her, He also repairs the errors she inadvertently commits through her ignorance and improvidence. Love and devotion are charming virtues which schism, heresy and “free thought” have striven to reproduce, but in vain! Any attempt to do the work of love, without actually having love in the soul, produces emptiness, and the heart is torn with grief. Is not the number of ardent souls growing less every day? Is there not a thinning of the ranks in the army of Jesus? Selfishness has presumed and resumed the direction of this world. The poison of self-centeredness has infected homes, convents and the whole of society. Subtly, at first, it has now invaded and penetrated into the core of family life – yes, even into the very Church Herself! No longer is it Jesus Who reigns as the Eternal King of the earth – it is Satan. Jesus, shoved aside by prideful souls, has taken His leave … and He has taken His Love and Light with Him. Darkness is gathering around us; the cold is growing more intense. Frightful paganism and schism is returning like a hideous specter, threatening to envelop us all in its immense and foreboding shroud. The soul, entirely surrendered to Jesus, is Hell’s most redoubtable foe! Devotion and Selfless Love are the only and ever victorious weapons. They are supernatural arms, requiring a saint to wield them constantly and unfailingly. Forget thyself … always shower benefits upon those around thee, always seek to render good for evil, without expecting acknowledgement or esteem. Is this not beautiful? Is this not the Divine way? “O Mary, Consecrated Bride! Mystic Dove! Ask Jesus to teach me His Divine secret! My Jesus, establish Thy sovereign reign within me! Drive from my heart these strangers, these vendors, these money-changers who make of Thy Sanctuary a public market – picking and choosing that which they imagine to be Thy rule. Let not human respect influence me; let approbation or criticism find me insensible; let not the multiplicity of my duties, and discourse with others distract me from Thee!” Our vanity deludes us; we are not indispensable upon earth. God is surely able to govern His universe without us. Our place here below is restricted, and our influence limited … unless we belong body and soul to God; unless, by the renunciation of our own will, we are absolutely docile instruments in His Hands. Then, and only then, will the Holy Will of God be accomplished. “O Jesus! How great is the subversion of the established order! A creature, endowed with reason, seeks to substitute himself for God in order to make himself the measure of truth. Human Reason has styled herself a goddess; she has overturned the Altar of God and offers herself for adoration. Even in God’s presence, she proclaims her rights, and dictates to Him His duties toward her. Pretending to give truth to men, Reason chains them as Satan’s slaves. What man’s pride has done! Forgetting that he is nothing, man settles himself in his dignity, constitutes himself as an independent sovereign, and extends his dominion over all his surroundings. To God, the Eternal Creator and Lawgiver Who asks of him the tribute of submission, man responds by insolent defiance.” United to the Cross, earthly ties are broken, and we are sanctified. The gentle fire of suffering, emptying the soul of self, will make of her a sweet smelling holocaust. Surrendered to Jesus Christ, she offers the sacrifice of herself as a perpetual Mass, which will be completed at the hour of her death. Our soul, as both victim and consecrating priest, unites us totally to Christ. Let us allow ourselves to be immolated – for from this slow and painful death will come life – for ourselves and for others! With Jesus Christ, we shall save the world; with Him, we shall expiate the faults of men. With Him, we shall participate in the sanctification of souls! Our Holy Mother of Dolores, most sorely-tried of creatures, is for us a perfect model of self-abandonment. Her sanctity, Her selfless gift of abnegation to God, Her total trust in His Divine Will – these are the SECRETS OF HER SANCTITY! Deo Gratias et Maria! |
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Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Wednesday, August 8, 2012
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012 |
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Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Wednesday, August 8th, 2012|
The Incomprehensible Heart Of Mary
May the Incomprehensible Heart of Mary give us Her own spirit, Mary is SILENT! There is a sorrow, a grief that is too deep for words. During the Passion, we find no recorded words of Our Blessed Mother; Her very SILENCE speaks eloquently. In Silence is Strength … O Mary, Mother of Sorrows, impart to us Your spirit of silence that, in times of trial, we too may find our solace in Jesus, our Divine Spouse. Mary is STRONG! Mary is the “Valiant Woman” of Scripture, the culmination of every type of strong women in the Old Testament: Judith, Esther, the mother of the Maccabees… Mary stands silently at the foot of the Cross because that is what God asks of Her. She does not swoon, nor wail, nor draw any attention to Herself. How can She bear what is beyond all human strength to bear? Her strength is not Her own… She leans on the Heart of God, “SANCTUS FORTIS!” O Mary, my Valiant Mother, share with us the strength and the fortitude of Your Immaculate Heart so that, like You, we may find our only strength in Thy Divine Son. Mary is SERENE! Mary is serene and peaceful as the Morning Star… “serene as the moon”, which always reflects the glory and brilliance of the sun despite the changing conditions all around. Deep is the anguish, the “sea of sorrows” into which She is plunged, yet in the depth of Her Soul all is PEACE. There is no turmoil because there is no sin; there is no conflict between Her will and the Will of God. It is a conflict of wills which is the very cause of turmoil in our lives. Suffering need not mean turmoil. For a Christian, pain and peace are compatible. O Mary, my most Sorrowful Mother, share with me the serenity of Your soul. Teach me that, even in the midst of trial and suffering, I can abide in peace, for where peace is there is God. Mary is SENSITIVE! After the Soul of Jesus, there is no soul as exquisitely sensitive as the Soul of Mary. She is sensitive not in a selfish way, but sensitive to pain and suffering because of the incredible capacity of Her Love. The greater the capacity a soul has for love, the greater too is its capacity to suffer. For Mary, it did not matter what She felt or how deeply She had to suffer. Her gaze was ever fixed on Jesus. For Herself, there was no thought, no pity, no consideration. She suffered because He suffered. Jesus is to Her a Treasure far greater than Herself. O Mary, my Sweet Mother, Thy tender Heart is pierced over and over by countless swords of sorrow! Teach me to be self-forgetting like You, and sensitive to the great sufferings of others. When I am in pain, help me to keep my eyes on my dear Savior Crucified. Mary is STEADFAST! Although each moment is an eternity to Mary, our Sweet Mother, queenly in Her sorrow, steadfastly keeps her silent vigil beneath the Cross. It is impossible for us to comprehend Mary’s capacity for suffering. Her Sorrow is a boundless ocean, bitter and unending. She stands there constant from the beginning to the end. Her will does not waver and change from moment to moment. My Queen and my Mother, standing steadfast beneath the Cross, obtain for me from Jesus, the constancy of soul that was Yours! Mary is SAINTLY! Mary’s Immaculate Heart is the august Sanctuary, containing within its depths all of the joys and sorrows of the Life of Jesus. Instinctively, we kneel before Her and reverence Her holiness. But what is holiness? It is the complete union of the soul with the Will of God. Mary’s union with God’s Will, whether it brought joy or sorrow, sweetness or bitterness, was in every instance complete and unreserved. This perfect uniformity with the Divine Will is the source of Mary’s sanctity. O Mary, the Sanctuary of Holiness, take me into the depths of Thy Immaculate Heart that I may learn in that school the secrets of sanctity. Mary is SELF-IMMOLATING! How “priestly” is the presence of Mary at the foot of the Cross offering Her Son and Her God to the Eternal Father! She sacrifices all of Her maternal rights and privileges to Divine Justice. As we gaze at Her, there on Calvary, we see that She is beyond even self-immolation. Far more than Saint Paul, Mary can say: “I live now not I, but Christ liveth in me…” Her total offering of self, made at the Annunciation, is the firm foundation upon which Good Friday is built. O Mother of Sorrows, we poor sinners, unite with You and offer Your Son and God on Calvary. Obtain for us, from Jesus Crucified, Eternal Life! Standing on Calvary, Mary has no more “SELF” to immolate ~ She has something far greater and more precious: Her own Son and Her God! The sacrifice made by Our Lady of Her Divine Son on Calvary is a sacrifice beyond the comprehension of the human mind. We can only kneel in reverence beside Her, uniting ourselves with Her supreme offering. Dear Jesus, help me to spread Thy fragrance everywhere! Flood my soul with Thy Spirit and Light! Penetrate and possess my whole being so utterly that all my life may be only a radiance of Thine! Shine through me and be so in me that every soul I come in contact with, may feel Thy Presence in my soul! Let them look up and see no longer me, BUT ONLY JESUS! |
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It’s Never Too Late! Who do things happen as they do? Why does one suffer and the other one prosper? What does the future hold? Life, at best, is full of uncertainty. No two persons are identical, neither are any two lives ever the same. This is God’s design and only He has the answer. However, there is one thing that all men have in common, in every age unto the end of time and that is DEATH! We all must die. The time and manner may be different, but we shall all die. The state of our immortal soul at that moment will determine our entire Eternity. Rather than frightening us, this should offer us peace and consolation. In spite of what our past has been, while there is still life in us, God’s merciful Love reaches out and is ours for the asking. “ASK AND YOU SHALL RECEIVE!” If we but turn to Him with trust and a contrite and humble heart, He will forgive our sins and call us to be with Him forever in Heaven. Did Christ not forgive the thief on the right, who was crucified alongside Him in His last hour? “THIS DAY, THOU SHALT BE WITH ME IN PARADISE!” And, consider the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matthew 20:1-6). The vineyard owner went to town in the morning and hired the idle workers to labor in his vineyard for an honest wage. Then, he went back again at noon and hired more idle workers, and when evening came, still more were brought to work in his vineyard. When nightfall came, the vineyard owner called in all the laborers, and out of the goodness and generosity of his tender heart, he gave them all a full day’s wage. Those who had worked longer hours began to grumble that they had been unjustly paid. The good master responded in this way: “Are you complaining because I have been generous to those who spent less hours In the field? Take the wage you agreed upon and go thy way.” God is the vineyard owner; we are the workers, and Heaven is the wage. Every one of us, at some point in our lives, has been called to labor in the vineyard of the Master. It matters not what hour we have been called, or even that we might have been called earlier, but we declined to accept. We MUST answer that call in order to receive eternal salvation. PERHAPS, THIS VERY DAY WILL BE OUR CALL! God created each and every one of us out of love, and He desires that we be united with Him for all Eternity in the perfect happiness of His real and loving presence in Heaven – the Beatific Vision. Not because we are good, dear friends, but because HE IS GOOD! We need only to respond to Him. Those who are in heaven today are not there on account of their own merits and good works but, rather, they are there on account of their love and cooperation with God’s Holy Will. All of Heaven’s residents have cast their trust upon Our Blessed Lord, and relied solely upon His infinite merits and goodness. There is no perfect happiness upon earth. Life’s vital purpose and mission is to know, love and serve God during our earthly life, in order that our desire for perfect happiness may be realized by the possession of God in Heaven. If we possess the love and friendship of God upon earth and His promise of eternal salvation, then nothing on earth which we may attain is of greater importance, and nothing we may lose is really so tragic. Like good sentinels, we must be ready for death at all times. Rich or poor, sick or healthy … NOT ONE OF US IS GUARANTEED TOMORROW! Jesus Christ came to earth not only to redeem us by suffering and death, but primarily to establish His Church. It is His desire that all belong to this supernatural institution – the treasury and channel through which all the merits of His Life and Passion are imparted to us. As there is but one Lord, one Faith, one Baptism, one God and Father of all, there is but one True Church. There stood at the foot of the Cross, Mary His Mother. As His last Will and Testament, His final and most precious Gift, God gave us His very own Mother. “Woman, behold thy son … Son, behold thy Mother!” AII that He has and that He earned upon earth, God wishes to give us through the Humble, Sorrowful, and Immaculate Heart of Mary. She will always be there to take care of us, guide us, protect and defend us in this great warfare of life. OH, HOW PLEASING IT MUST BE TO JESUS WHEN WE LOVE AND HONOR HIS MOTHER! Mary never refused anything to Jesus while He was upon earth, and throughout all Eternity; Jesus will never refuse Mary anything she may ask of Him in Heaven. Go to Jesus in the company of Mary, His Most Holy Mother, to receive all the graces you need for your salvation – everything you need for your eternal happiness. The Good Thief stole Heaven in his last hour, SO CAN YOU!!! I AM ALL THINE, O IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, SAVE ME! Immaculate Heart of Mary visit, today, we beseech thee, those souls who are in the cold sweat of death, and at enmity with God. Bathe them in the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. Breathe into them the very Life of God. Obtain for them the grace to make perfect Acts of Faith, Hope and Divine Charity, that they may be snatched from the very abyss of Hell to glorify God for all Eternity, and to … ADD TO THE LUSTER OF THY TRIMUPH! Sweet Heart of Mary, be my Salvation! |
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Weekly News Flash from the Universal Living Rosary Association of Saint Philomena, Wednesday, July 25, 2012
Wednesday, August 1st, 2012|
SEEK HIS FACE The Fruit of Silence is PRAYER… Our Blessed Savior very clearly elaborated His program of Life… His Kingdom is a spiritual one wherein the poor, the afflicted, the persecuted, the meek, the merciful, and the pure of heart are those who enter therein. Let us then take up our cross and suffer with Jesus Christ, for by our sufferings and crosses we apply to souls the satisfaction and merits of Our Blessed Lord’s Passion and Death. The enemy of our intimate union with God is our want of mortification ~ our fear of the Cross. This strangles our efforts and our prayers; it keeps us chained to earth and renders weak both the Sacraments and our poor prayers. Let us not forget, all earthly attachments seek to enslave us. The Cross is our way to freedom from these enslavements. The Cross is a plea for liberty. To dedicate ourselves to suffering, to repair God’s outraged Majesty and His unrequited Love… what a sublime duty and magnificent manifestation of God’s goodness and generosity! The Cross unites us to Him and opens for mankind the treasures of His Most Sacred Heart! Our every painful trial bears resemblance to the excellent Passion of Jesus Christ, which, when endured with patience, makes us like Him Who endured it for us. Jesus Christ took up His Cross, kissed It because He loved us and showed us how it must be borne. Our crosses are gifts from God. Patience is the virtue of the martyrs; patience made them wise; patience gave them victory over all their enemies; patience made them perfect. Happy are they that find the Cross, embrace It, and live and die without ever descending from It. These, then, are those who live in Thy company, O my God, and die in Thy Arms. “SON, BEHOLD THY MOTHER!” “MOTHER, BEHOLD THY SON!” REPARATION Is the principal practice and Purpose of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary? It is reparation that will restore to mankind love for God. Today, the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary are surrounded by our irreverence, ingratitude, sacrilege, coldness and contempt of heart. There is nothing that unites us so closely to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary as the CROSS. O Mary, grant that, like you, I may accept the sword of suffering and that, like you, I may be submissive and RESIGNED! Let no man say, there are no real enemies here to combat! For, they are our ever-present, deadly, cruel and most deceptive enemies: sin, the devil and everything that seeks to enslave God’s children. We are locked in a fatal battle, the prize of which is our eternal soul. The weapons which will bring victory in this battle are self-denial, sacrifice, prayer, labor, suffering and the Cross- all must be embraced joyfully and willingly! Our afflictions, humiliations and devotion to duty serve as the greatest defense we have in building up the Kingdom of God. We must be on fire with love of the Cross! The active apostolate could bear no fruit without the great gift of the Apostolate of Prayer and Suffering. Thank you, dear Lord, for this high privilege of being one with Thee in the work of saving souls. Let us take our place with Mary at the foot of the Cross. It is our birthplace. We became Her children there. We do not have sinlessness in common with our Mother, but sorrow is common to us both. If there were no Original Sin, suffering would be unknown to the children of men. We have committed many sins; therefore, we have contracted a great debt to God. The Passion of Our Blessed Lord and Savior is intended to unite our hearts to His in that easy and sweet worship which is founded upon compassion. How blind we are if we view suffering as a punishment or calamity, and see prosperity as a sign of His favor. God sends suffering so that we may atone here for our past sins; He sends suffering to prevent our committing sin or to draw us out of sin; and most importantly, He sends suffering to us, His chosen ones, to make us partake in His Redemptive action, to become like Him: to be with Him ~ “SAVIORS TO MANY”! With courage and peace of soul, may we take our place on the Hill of Calvary beside Our Mother and His, to offer the oblation of our poor lives to the Father, for souls! Through the prayers and the suffering of many, our active apostolate bears abundant fruit. The Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary will be borne of the patient prayer of suffering carried by many a hidden soul. We salute you, true soldiers of Jesus Crucified! Through your prayers and sufferings, the precious flask of Sanctifying Grace is brought to those near death and the life¬-blood of their soul is revived. Your generous and persevering efforts so as to procure the Glory of God will have their effect in time and throughout all Eternity! Earthly SORROWS are the Roots of Heavenly Joy… No matter how long the years may be, let no murmur escape my lips, no unkind thought take shelter in my heart, no self-seeking lurk within my soul! With a smile on my lips and a song of joy within my heart, I will walk courageously with Thee, O IMMACULATA, TO THE END! May the Most Just, Most High and Most Adorable Will of God be done in all things: Praised and magnified always and forever! |
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SON, Behold Thy MOTHER! RISE, THEN, and STAND With MARY On CALVARY! SORROW is the Gold of the KINGDOM of Heaven. The Immaculate Virgin Mary receives with love all our sorrows and sufferings and she treasures them in the vault of her Immaculate Heart. In return, she issues to us coins a thousand times their importance: coins of consolation, peace of soul, love and joy. The Crucifix is the scepter of the KING of Kings, the Symbol of His Power, the Memorial of His Love. In the Cross is all hope, all love and all safety for the offspring of Mary. By this sign, Her children WILL CONQUER. Every saint owes Heaven to Her. Do you wish to be close to God; you must be close to Mary! “God has committed to Mary the treasury of all good things in order that everyone may know… that through Her are obtained: every hope, every grace, all salvation! For this is the Will of God.” (Pope Pius IX) Mary stands inflexible at the foot of the Cross ~ resigned, patient and suffering. Christ is Her life, yet She wills that He suffer and that He die. For unless He suffer and die, how can we, Her beloved children, live? In a very true sense, Our Lady suffered His crucifixion for us … Behold our Co-Redemptrix! To those God loves, He gives the heaviest crosses. And those who love Him discover in these crosses the most profound joy. All who travel with Jesus and Mary, travel lightly. LET THE MASS BEGIN! This is the greatest love story ever told, the Love of JESUS for sinners, the Love of God for man. The Sacrifice is consummated now and Mary stands at the foot of the Cross with the sword through Her Heart, the sword of our salvation. I gaze upon Her and look at that lovely, glorious uplifted face and the light that blazes in Her eyes… She weeps not for Jesus, but for sinners. Mary has no need of human consolation for She bears the Light eternal in Her soul. HE has TRIUMPHED gloriously!!! Love redeemed the World, and only Love can SAVE it! Let us take our stand with Mary on Calvary and take an active part in our Redemption in three blessed ways: the Apostolate of Action, the Apostolate of Prayer and the Apostolate of Suffering. The achievement of the Active Apostolate depends upon the prayers and sufferings of many. Christ has merited by His Passion and Death an infinite amount of redemptive graces. Still, He gives to us a special part in helping to distribute them. Our physical pains, humiliations, failures, losses and voluntary penances contribute to distributing the merits of Christ’s Passion. In the light of the Cross, they are the brilliant diamonds which purchase the most precious graces for souls. Blessed are they who weep, with Jesus in His Passion and Mary in her Sorrows! We, Christians, must realize that beyond our duty of becoming like to Christ and being united to Him, there remains the task of bringing Christ to as many others as possible, indeed, the noblest of all works! Perhaps all along we have taken for granted that our part in the Redemption was one of receiving and not of giving. We must aim to take a full and active part in the great work of Redemption. We must realize our physical pains, sickness, humiliations, inclement weather, disappointments, failures, losses, mental trials and voluntary penances as our contribution in distributing the merits of Christ’s Passion. Through our sufferings, we have been given a vital administrative role in Christ’s redemptive merits. In a very real sense, but secondary, we do become co-redeemers with Christ through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a privilege and divine grace to bear these sufferings in Christ’s place for the building up of the Mystical Body of Christ. Today, people are intent upon the gaining of indulgences. I wonder, however, if they ever think about making their donation to the treasury of the Church by which these indulgences become available to others. God allows us to do this and thus encourages us to co-operate with His Son in this wonderful work of satisfaction. Right here, we can show our profound loyalty, friendship and love for God by helping others benefit from His gifts of Redemption. “Dear Lord, accept this suffering that these souls may increase in holiness…” etc. May God’s intentions, desires, patience and all-consuming love become ours! We will recognize our success in this effort only when we are so taken up with Him that we forget ALTOGETHER ourselves! O My God, I believe, I adore, I trust and I love Thee. I beg pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not trust and do not love Thee.
LIVE, THEN, THE MASS! Make your whole day and your whole life: your work, your influence, and your every action, the expression of your surrender of self to God. If, all through the day, you meet with suffering, disappointment, persecution and ridicule, do not grumble ~ this is your Mass! Wherever there is an opportunity to reach out to your neighbor, to make him better, happier or to relieve his suffering, don’t excuse your-self, do not shirk it ~ this is your Mass! And, when death finally comes and calls you to the Master, make the offering of your life the last act of your Mass, the last great YES to the Holy Will of God. We must be absorbed with an insatiable longing to carry out His least desires and interests. God must be our ALL! GOD ALONE! By our Baptism, we have been made flesh of the Crucified One! Let us flee from the vices and blandishment of the world, which contribute not anything to the Christian formation of the soul, nothing toward Heaven. Prayer is our life of love with God. Prayer elevates, SUPERNATURALIZES and makes God-like our sufferings and crosses. Both prayer and suffering are closely related. The law of love is the law of likeness. Now, we are becoming like unto Christ, our Divine Beloved. ‘Carry me on the Cross, O Christ, wherein alone is Life for all those who die!’ |
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