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GLORY BE TO JESUS CHRIST!
Dear Apostles and Benefactors of the Living Rosary, During the month of July, we celebrate with great solemnity the Sacred Heart of Jesus and His Most Precious Blood. So very central to the Most Sacred Liturgy are these great feasts. Swiftly approaches the month of August, when we remember in a very special way the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven body and soul, and the great feast of our beautiful St. Philomena who is our patroness and protectress. Our Divine Savior says: “He that fights and perseveres to the end of his life, without being overcome or, when he has fallen, rises up again and perseveres, he shall be crowned.” We are beset by dangers on every side, and weighed down by our faintheartedness and weakness. To persevere means to be ready to make any sacrifice, loss of wealth, liberty and even life itself, rather than offend Almighty God. I want to suggest things that will help you persevere and attain eternal life.
It is my privilege and joy to hold in my heart your family, your sufferings and needs, your weaknesses and strengths, and all that is dear to you, each morning at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I pray for you; please do remember me, my family and my country in your worthy prayers. I impart to you all, my priestly blessing: + In the Name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
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Dear Apostles of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Thank you so very much for sending your generous donastion to help our foreign missionaries. What a great blessing is your gift for the whole Church! To bring the Immaculate Conception to souls is to bring them health, courage and eternal life. You and your family are being remembered in a Novena of Holy Masses being offered this month in Jerusalem. When a soul is on fire with zeal for the apostolic life, its very desire to win other souls for God impels it to devote itself with great generosity to prayer, mortification and the practice of virtues, urging it on to union with God, to perfection and to sanctity. The dogma of the Communion of Saints tells us precisely that the grace and holiness of one of Christ’s members necessarily redound to the advantage of all the other members. Charity gives a soul a twofold impetus: toward God and toward its neighbor: if either one is repressed, charity is stifled in its very essence. The interior apostolate is the foundation of the exterior apostolate. If prayer does not ascend to the throne of the Most High, Grace will not be granted. There is no substitute for prayer accompanied by sacrifice. Not all of us can be preachers, not all of us have the duty to admonish sinners, but there is no one who cannot contribute to the spiritual good of his neighbor by giving the example of a life which is fully Christian. A good Jesus Himself spent thirty years in prayer and retirement before plunging into His three years of exterior apostolate. The apostle is sent to give not to receive. In hours of abandonment and trial, the apostle must continue to give himself with constancy, generosity and cheerfulness. Where can the strength be found for this complete and continual gift of self, if not in the Holy Eucharist? Jesus gives Himself to us, putting Himself at our disposal, even to the point of allowing Himself to be consumed by us. Despite our abilities, talent, brilliant style, conversation, titles and success, we must recognize our nothingness. Too often, we rely upon ourselves and as a result bear little fruit. We must remain united with God plunged into profound humility, realizing that, without His help, we can do absolutely nothing. The Holy Ghost is within us. If we allow Him, He can transform us into chosen instruments for the glory of God and the salvation of souls. HAVE COURAGE!
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PAULINE’S VISION OF THE WORLD “The world is a book composed by God to teach mankind not only of His existence, but His perfections, His attributes, His Love and its duties toward Him. All of nature has a significant meaning for our soul. If we hold this book closed the marvels of nature remain hidden from us and we will never penetrate their deep spiritual significance. A map is useless to a peasant who does not know his destination.” (AAL 8,4) Pauline opened wide the book of nature. Her writings are strewn with examples of it: flowers, trees, landscapes, and petit fourmi (little ants). And, from them all, she drew spiritual lessons. God’s graces are similar to the public fountains that give water to all those who come and turn on the faucet; it is enough to bring them to God with confidence and to petition Him with fervor. Religion is similar to a chestnut which protected by its hard shell, repels those who know nothing of it, or fail to practice fully its obligations. The one who cracks the shell finds inside the most excellent fruit, consolations and unimaginable delights. (AAL 3,10,31) Pauline’s nephew had shared how his aunt took advantage of every opportunity to turn the hearts and thoughts of those who surrounded her to God. Once, when returning from a visit to the poor, she plucked a flower blooming on the roadside and exclaimed, “It is the Good God, Who has made this flower open today right as we were passing by. He did so to help us think about Him. He filled this flower with grace and beauty so that it might touch our hearts and teach us of His goodness and love. Through it, He is telling us how much He loves us and desires to give us joy.” THE POOR SILK WORM Had Pauline not been withdrawn from the activity of the world, she would never have understood the power and necessity of prayer. Having given up the world, she dedicated herself to works of charity. The Lord had lit the fire of His Love within her soul and, immediately, she burned with a desire to pour out upon her neighbors the effusions of this charity, which had invaded her heart. Pauline read again the Gospel. Now, she understood more clearly that to serve the poor, grief stricken and afflicted was to serve Christ Himself. Thus, she rushed to help the unfortunates! Pauline’s day began at 4 a.m. Her hours were divided between prayer and caring for the sick and infirm. She embraced, with eagerness, the most loathsome tasks. Seeing Christ in their infirmity, the repugnance of nature was counted for nothing. Her strong new faith made it possible for her to love these poor suffering souls and their wounds were to her now as jewelry had been to her in the days of her worldliness. There can be no mistake; Pauline took it one step further. She wanted to transmit to others the love of Christ, which had conquered her soul. Her zeal for the suffering poor, in no time, led her to discover a poverty from which they suffered that was far greater than that of the body. She longed to bring the wounded back to God! The misery they suffered devoured society. By her understanding of this moral misery, Pauline was able to penetrate deeply the painful mystery of evil in the world which caused the death of Christ on the Cross. She was able to feel the bitterness of sin and understand the dangers to which these suffering souls were exposed. Ever more, she climbed higher. She sympathized with the Sorrowful Heart of Jesus, wounded by so many outrages, indifferences and ingratitude from mankind. This would be for her entire life the primary object of her contemplation and reparation. True to her heart, Pauline acted! She united the poor workers and trained them to lead a life of prayer, sacrifice and action for the relief of the poor, the conversion of sinners, and especially to repair the outrages made to God in the Most Blessed Sacrament. She called them “the Repairers.” She then determined to reach the 200 workers at her brother-in-Iaw’s factory. They led a less than exemplary life. She spoke to them of God. Pauline completely transformed the atmosphere of the factory by radiating the fire within her soul to each one of them. They all became members of her Repairers! She then opened a workshop to make artificial flowers in order to help the young ladies whose families were ruined by the Revolution. It was a lucrative work but, at the same time, Pauline helped form their lives into deeply Christian ones. During this time, she visited the prisoners and aided many in an anonymous way. For a period of three years, Pauline continued this very active life of charity. It was at this time, her confessor told her that she should stop the life of active charity and service, and devote herself wholly to prayer. Following his direction cost her a great deal. Pauline was extremely dynamic and gifted with common sense. She had become very involved in the factories, hospitals and in serving the beggars. Father Wurtz perceived that she possessed a gift for a contemplative vocation. His goal was to help her develop her interior life. Pauline likened herself in this new state of life to be as a poor silk worm, which had worked in the greenery of the branches and was now locked in the tomb of the dry heather. Still, since it would be beneficial to her soul, she obeyed. This new life of contemplation allowed Pauline to look deep within herself and not abandon the ‘best part’ of Mary, seated at the feet of Christ. She would be more than the girl in the King’s barnyard; she would be His wife, to whom He reveals His secrets and His Love. Pauline confided to a friend, “There was a time that I was totally occupied with charity to my neighbor but, in confidence, I share that, if I had not withdrawn from this active life, I would never have understood the strength and necessity of prayer; I would not have written the work of THE INFINITE LOVE OF THE DIVINE EUCHARIST and I would probably never have acted as God’s instrument in founding the Propagation of the Faith and the Living Rosary.” (L, 63) During all her life, Pauline never abandoned concrete service of her neighbor. She was always helping poor souls bear their sufferings and giving of herself to compassionate the most abandoned. Pauline’s house would always be a meeting place for the poor suffering. Still, she understood that she must never abandon prayer: that time set apart for God alone! |
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Share Your Gift of FaithFor centuries, our cherished Catholic faith has been passed from person to person, parent to child, etc. Each of us carries in our heart a special memory of how God first graced us with the knowledge of the faith and how Our Blessed Mother, Saint Philomena, Venerable Pauline Jaricot and other saints changed our lives and brought us closer to Christ. In our work in the Universal Living Rosary Association, we see first hand how millions of souls are currently living without that knowledge of God and are living outside of His grace. We have been given a beautiful opportunity to carry out Christ’s work and pass on our faith and blessings to others who would otherwise never be introduced to Our Lord, the Savior of all mankind. Just as we pray for the souls in Purgatory who have no one to pray for them, we should also make it a part of our life’s mission to pass on our faith to as many souls as possible who have no one else to pass it on to them, who don’t know Our Lord and His promise of salvation.
This is the box we send out to the foreign Missions $77.95. It contains Rosaries, Scapulars, Miraculous Medals, Cord & Oil, Newsletters, Calendars, Catechism books, 2 TAN books, large color prints, lists and encouragement for our Promoters. |
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When you rise in the morning, turn your thoughts to God, give Him your heart and offer up your day to Him with all its sufferings, labors and joys, by kneeling down and saying your prayers. Hear Mass as often as possible, give alms, and each and every day make time for good spiritual reading. Serve God faithfully; never separate yourselves from Him, no matter what it may cost you. You will have enemies who persecute you and strive with all their power to make you forsake God and His Sacred Laws. Take courage, have confidence in God, fly from the occasions of sin, take refuge in prayer, receive the Sacraments frequently and remain very close to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Then, penetrated with the feeling of hope and deepest gratitude, you will form a firm resolution never to offend God again. Armed with prayer and the Sacraments, the enemy will flee at the very sight of you. If you should lay aside these weapons, the enemy will fall upon you and crush you. This is one reason the devil works so tirelessly to prevent us from attending the Sacred Mass and praying our Holy Rosary. If we remain faithful to prayer and the Sacraments, we will persevere to the end.
O God the Holy Ghost, give me light to contemplate the Love and the Passion of Jesus Christ that I may be changed into love and patience. Take from me selfishness, softness, delicacy, cowardice and fear. Give me a spirit of endurance, of firmness and courage, a love of labor and the cross, of silence and charity that I may be willing to spend and be spent for the sanctification of souls. Amen.
Tags: Association, Catholic, Filomena, Living, Philomena, Philomene, Rosary, Universal