07.16.08
Posted in Marian Devotion, Daily Mass Readings, Got Grace? at 7:18 am by Brian Schuettler
Isaiah 10: 5 - 7, 13 - 16
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| 5 |
Ah, Assyria, the rod of my anger, the staff of my fury! |
| 6 |
Against a godless nation I send him, and against the people of my wrath I command him, to take spoil and seize plunder, and to tread them down like the mire of the streets. |
| 7 |
But he does not so intend, and his mind does not so think; but it is in his mind to destroy, and to cut off nations not a few; |
| 13 |
For he says: “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom, for I have understanding; I have removed the boundaries of peoples, and have plundered their treasures; like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones. |
| 14 |
My hand has found like a nest the wealth of the peoples; and as men gather eggs that have been forsaken so I have gathered all the earth; and there was none that moved a wing, or opened the mouth, or chirped.” |
| 15 |
Shall the axe vaunt itself over him who hews with it, or the saw magnify itself against him who wields it? As if a rod should wield him who lifts it, or as if a staff should lift him who is not wood! |
| 16 |
Therefore the Lord, the LORD of hosts, will send wasting sickness among his stout warriors, and under his glory a burning will be kindled, like the burning of fire. |
Psalms 94: 5 - 10, 14 - 15
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| 5 |
They crush thy people, O LORD, and afflict thy heritage. |
| 6 |
They slay the widow and the sojourner, and murder the fatherless; |
| 7 |
and they say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob does not perceive.” |
| 8 |
Understand, O dullest of the people! Fools, when will you be wise? |
| 9 |
He who planted the ear, does he not hear? He who formed the eye, does he not see? |
| 10 |
He who chastens the nations, does he not chastise? He who teaches men knowledge, |
| 14 |
For the LORD will not forsake his people; he will not abandon his heritage; |
| 15 |
for justice will return to the righteous, and all the upright in heart will follow it. |
Matthew 11: 25 - 27
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| 25 |
At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes; |
| 26 |
yea, Father, for such was thy gracious will. |
| 27 |
All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. |
Take caution to see priests only as the dispensers of the Blood of the humble, Immaculate Lamb and overlook the faults you may see in them. A priest is a man and therefore fallible and capable of making mistakes, but this does not prevent him from being the Annointed of the Lord, marked forever with the indelible sign and having the power to consecrate the Body of Christ and administer the sacraments and to preach to the people in the name of God.
— St. Catherine of Siena
Consegna dello Scapolare. Chiesa del Carmine. Santa Maria di Licodia (ct)
The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was first instituted in the late 14th century in commemoration of the approval of the rule of the Carmelite Order a hundred years earlier. According to legend, a religious community was established even before the time of Christ on Mount Carmel. This is the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean Sea on which the prophet Elijah successfully challenged the priests of Baal and won the people to the true God. The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel entered the Calendar of the universal Church in the early 18th century.
Although there is no historical evidence for the pre-Christian Carmelite community, references in the 12th century record a community of monks on the holy mountain. Despite continual difficulties, the community built a monastery and church dedicated to the Virgin Mary on Mount Carmel in 1263. Saint Louis, King of France, had visited Mount Carmel in 1254, and brought back six French hermits for whom he built a convent near Paris. Mount Carmel was taken by the Saracens in 1291, and the brothers were killed and the convent burned. The spread of the Carmelites in Europe is largely attributable to the work of Saint Simon Stock (1247-65). The Carmelite Order was formally approved in 1274 at the Council of Lyon.
Among the best known Carmelites today are two women: Saint Theresa of Jesus (Theresa of Avila - 1515-1582) who despite many difficulties reformed the Carmelite Order (the Discalced Carmelites); and Saint Edith Stein (Theresa Benedicta of the Cross - 1891-1942), a Jewish convert and philosophy professor, who was killed at Auschwitz, canonized in 1998, and proclaimed “co-patroness” of Europe in 1999.
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07.11.08
Posted in Marian Devotion, Marian Literature, Theotokos at 12:27 pm by Brian Schuettler
By St. John Eudes
The peace of God is another divine perfection completely realizing its faithful image in the admirable Heart of the most holy Mother of God. But before studying the reflection, let us gaze at the original and consider this adorable perfection of the peace of God Himself.
What is the peace of God? It is a divine perfection consisting, according to St. Dionysius, in the ineffable union of God with Himself (1).
God is unutterably united with Himself, first of all, by His incomprehensible love for His Divine Self. Secondly, by His infinite sanctity, which raises Him immeasurably above anything that could affect His peace, if this could ever be affected. Thirdly, by His admirable simplicity, which renders all His perfections one single united perfection, which is the equivalent of the divine essence itself.
Fourthly, the infinite peace of God is maintained by the union which reigns between the eternal Persons, who share one spirit, one heart, one will, one purpose, one power, one wisdom, one goodness, and the same essence. This essence is eternal, impassible, invariable; hence nothing that happens in heaven, earth or hell can ever trouble its peace. God’s peace is God Himself, who is ever tranquil and unutterable. He is the first and sovereign principle of peace and entertains an unspeakable horror of all discord and division. He sent His only Son, the Prince of Peace, into the world to extinguish all our enmities with His Precious Blood, “killing the enmities in himself” (Eph 2:16), to reconcile us to His Heavenly Father, as well as to our brethren and to ourselves, and to be Himself our peace: “For He is our peace” (Eph 2:14). Our Savior accomplished this by destroying sin, the only source of division, and pacifying all creatures in heaven and on earth: “He made peace through the blood of his cross, both as to the things that are on earth, and the things that are in heaven” (Col 1:20). Such is the peace of God which St. Justus called the silence of God (2).
Now this adorable peace of God has impressed an excellent image of itself on the Heart of the Mother of Peace. In the first place, sin, the sole enemy of peace and the only cause of discord, never possessed the slightest power over the most holy Heart of Mary.
Secondly, divine grace, which always reigned within her Heart, kept the passions, senses, and all other faculties of the body and soul of the Mother of Grace under the rule of reason and the laws of God’s spirit.
Thirdly, the most profound humility of Mary’s Heart endowed her with a passionate love of suffering and humiliation, and enabled her to endure them in peacefulness.
Fourthly, the extraordinary love of her admirable Heart for holy poverty induced her to bear with equanimity the sorrows and discomforts which invariably accompany it.
In the fifth place, her ardent love of the Cross made her find refreshment even in trials and tribulations. In the sixth place, the invincible patience which strengthened her in the troubles, tempests and changes of our miserable earthly life, gave her complete possession of the most profound peace.
In the seventh place, the inconceivable charity towards mankind, which filled her gentle Heart, allowed no sentiment of aversion of enmity to sway her, even towards those who betrayed, sold and crucified her dearly beloved Son. Nay more, she herself offered Christ to the Eternal Father in expiation of their crime, and to re-establish an everlasting peace between God and man. That is why the Holy Spirit inspires her to say that she “found the precious treasure of peace that man had lost through sin” (Song 8:10). In the eighth place, her virginal Heart never having followed any will but the will of God, she always possessed God’s own peace in a most eminent degree.
Finally, divine peace so completely filled and permeated this peaceful Heart that it became a haven of peace and a source of tranquility for all who, troubled and shaken by the storm of adversity, passion and temptation, have recourse to her incomparable benignity with humility and confidence. O Queen of Peace, grant that our hearts may bear an image of the holy peace that reigns in thine!
This article was excerpted from St. John Eudes, The Admirable Heart of Mary, Part Five, Chapter VI. St. John Eudes is a spiritual father of the Order of the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary, a contemplative community of lay and religious dedicated to serving the Hearts of Jesus and Mary through Eucharistic Adoration, contemplation, and corporal works of mercy. For more information on the order, visit www.heartsofjesusandmary.org.
Notes
(1) De ipsa divina pace…quomodo Deus quiescat in se et intra se sit, et totus secum sit supra quam unitus…neque cogitare ulli eorum qui sunt fas est, neque possible. De divin. Nominibus. Cap. II, I.
(2) Cf. Pachymyer. Paraphras, sancti Dionysii: Migni, Patrol, gr. latine tant.edita, tom. 2, p. 579.
MARIAN CONSECRATION
I, (name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in your hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before.
In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose you this day for my Mother and Queen. I deliver and consecrate to you, as your slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present, and future; leaving to you the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to your good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and eternity. Amen.
– St. Louis Marie de Montfort
John Eudes was born at Ri, Normandy, France, on November 14, 1601, the son of a farmer. He went to the Jesuit college at Caen when he was 14, and despite his parents’ wish that he marry, joined the Congregation of the Oratory of France in 1623. He studied at Paris and at Aubervilliers, was ordained in 1625, and worked as a volunteer, caring for the victims of the plagues that struck Normandy in 1625 and 1631, and spent the next decade giving Missions, building a reputation as an outstanding preacher and confessor and for his opposition to Jansenism. He became interested in helping fallen women, and in 1641, with Madeleine Lamy, founded a refuge for them in Caen under the direction of the Visitandines. He resigned from the Oratorians in 1643 and founded the Congregation of Jesus and Mary (the Eudists) at Caen, composed of secular priests not bound by vows but dedicated to upgrading the clergy by establishing effective seminaries and to preaching missions. His foundation was opposed by the Oratorians and the Jansenists, and he was unable to obtain Papal approval for it, but in 1650, the Bishop of Coutances invited him to establish a seminary in that diocese. The same year the sisters at his refuge in Caen left the Visitandines and were recognized by the Bishop of Bayeux as a new congregation under the name of Sisters of Our Lady of Charity of the Refuge.
John founded seminaries at Lisieux in 1653 and Rouen in 1659 and was unsuccessful in another attempt to secure Papal approval of his congregation, but in 1666 the Refuge sisters received Pope Alexander III’s approval as an institute to reclaim and care for penitent wayward women. John continued giving missions and established new seminaries at Evreux in 1666 and Rennes in 1670. He shared with St. Mary Margaret Alacoque the honor of initiating devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus (he composed the Mass for the Sacred Heart in 1668) and the Holy Heart of Mary, popularizing the devotions with his “The Devotion to the Adorable Heart of Jesus” (1670) and “The Admirable Heart of the Most Holy Mother of God”, which he finished a month before his death at Caen on August 19th. He was canonized in 1925. His feast day is August 19th.
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