Priest Dies After Wooden Cross Falls on Him!

Death could have been avoided if the priest was facing the proper direction at Christ (Crucifix) and not the congregation. Ad orientem!

May his soul rest in peace. 

 

Visit to St. Joseph - Day 18

   Visit to St. Joseph

     Eighteenth Day

Although on earth St. Joseph had not the authority, by nature, of a father over the humanity of Jesus Christ, he nevertheless had it, at least in a certain manner, as the spouse of Mary, who, as the real Mother of the Saviour, had authority over Him: he to whom the tree belongs has also a right to its fruits. This caused Jesus, when on earth, to respect and obey St. Joseph as His superior. This also causes Jesus, now in heaven, to consider the prayers of St. Joseph in the light of commands. For  when a father prays his son, says Gerson,  his prayer has the force of a command.

St. Joseph, be our help in temptation and our strength in adversity.

Prayer

My holy Patriarch, I rejoice at thy happiness and greatness in being made worthy to have power to command, with the authority of a father, Him Whom heaven and earth obey, and to make Him obey thee. My holy Patron, since a God has served thee, I too wish to enroll myself in thy service; I choose thee, after Mary, for my principal advocate and protector. I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. Amen.

ST. LUKE, EVANGELIST - OCTOBER 18

 

           ST. LUKE, EVANGELIST

The goodness and kindness of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men. It would seem that the third evangelist, a disciple of St. Paul, had purposed setting forth this word of the doctor of the Gentiles; or may we not rather say, the apostle himself characterizes in this sentence the Gospel wherein his disciple portrays the Saviour prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel. St. Luke's Gospel, and the words quoted from St. Paul, were in fact written about the same time; and it is impossible to say which claims priority.

Under the eye of Simon Peter, to whom the Father had revealed the Christ the Son of the living God , Mark had the honor of giving to the Church the Gospel of Jesus, the Son of God. Matthew had already drawn up for the Jews the Gospel of the Messias, Son of David, Son of Abraham. Afterwards, at the side of Paul, Luke wrote for the Gentiles the Gospel of Jesus, Son of Adam, through Mary. 

As far as the genealogy of this first-born of His Mother may be reckoned back, so far shall extend the blessing He bestows on His brethren, by redeeming them from the curse inherited from their first father.

 O Jesus, thy evangelist has won our hearts. We love Thee for having taken pity on our misery. We Gentiles were in deeper debt than Jerusalem, and therefore we owe Thee greater love in return for Thy pardon. We love Thee because Thy choicest graces are for Magdalene, that is, for us who are sinners, and are nevertheless called to the better part . We love Thee because Thou canst not resist the tears of mothers; but restorest to them, as at Naim, their dead children. In the day of treason, and abandonment, and denial, Thou didst forget Thine own injury to cast upon Peter that loving look, which caused him to weep bitterly. Thou turnedst away from Thyself the tears of those humble and true daughters of Jerusalem, who followed Thy painful footsteps up the heights of Calvary. Nailed to the cross, Thou didst implore pardon for Thy executioners. At the last hour, as God Thou promised paradise to the penitent thief, as Man Thou gavest back Thy Soul to Thy Father. Truly from beginning to end, of this third Gospel appears Thy goodness and kindness, O God our Saviour!

St. Luke completed his  work by writing, in the same correct style as his Gospel, the history of the first days of Christianity, the introduction of the Gentiles into the Church, and the great labors of their own apostle Paul. 

According to tradition, he was an artist, as well as a man of letters; and with a soul alive to all the most delicate inspirations, he consecrated his pencil to the holiest use, and handed down to us the features of the Mother of God. It was an illustration worthy of the Gospel, which relates the divine Infancy; and it won for the artist a new title to the gratitude of those who never saw Jesus and Mary in the flesh. Hence St. Luke is the patron of Christian art and also of the medical profession, for in the holy Scripture itself he is said to have been a physician, as we shall see from the breviary lessons. He had studied all the sciences in his native city Antioch; and the brilliant capital of the east had reason to be proud of its illustrious son. The Church borrows from St. Jerome, the historical lessons of the feast.

The just censure therein passed upon a certain apocryphal and romantic history of St. Thecla, in no way derogates from the universal veneration of east and west for the noble spiritual daughter of St. Paul.

From the book of St. Jerome priest, on ecclesiastical writers.

Luke was a physician of Antioch, and, as shown by his writings, was skilled in the Greek tongue. He was a disciple of the apostle Paul, and accompanied him on all his journeys. He also wrote a Gospel; wherefore, the same Paul says of him: We have sent also with him the brother whose praise is in the Gospel through all the churches. And again to the Colossians: Luke the most dear physician, saluteth you. And to Timothy: Only Luke is with me. He wrote another excellent work, called *The Acts of the apostles, in which he relates the history of the Church, as far as Paul's two years ' sojourn at Rome, that is to the fourth year of Nero. From this circumstance, we infer that the book was written in Rome.

Consequently, we classify the journeys of Paul and Thecla and the whole fable of the baptized lion, among apocryphal writings. For is it possible that the apostle's inseparable companion should know everything concerning him except this one thing? Moreover, Tertullian, who lived near those times, relates that a certain priest in Asia, an admirer of Paul, was convicted by John of having written that book; which he confessed he had done out of love for Paul, and was on that account deposed. Some are of the opinion that whenever Paul in his epistles says: According to my Gospel, he means that of Luke.

Luke, however, was instructed in the Gospel not only by the apostle Paul, who had never seen the Lord in the flesh, but also by the other apostles. This he declares in the beginning of his work, saying: According as they have delivered them unto us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word. He wrote his Gospel, then, from what he had heard, but the Acts of the apostles from what he had himself seen. He lived eighty-four years and was never married. His body lies at Constantinople  whither it was translated from Achaia, together with the relics of St. Andrew the Apostle, in the twentieth year of Constantine.

The symbolic Ox, reminding us of the figurative sacrifices, and announcing their abrogation, takes his place today, with the man, the lion, and the eagle, to complete the number of the four mystical creatures before the throne of God. O evangelist of the Gentiles, blessed be thou for having put an end to the long night of our captivity and warmed our frozen hearts.

 Thou wast the confidant of the Mother of God; and her happy influence left in thy soul that fragrance of virginity which pervaded thy whole life and breathes through thy writings. With discerning love and silent devotedness, thou didst assist the apostle of the Gentiles in his great work; and didst remain as faithful to him when abandoned or betrayed, shipwrecked or imprisoned, as in the days of his prosperity. Rightly, then, does the Church in her Collect apply to thee the words spoken by Saint Paul of himself: In all things we suffer tribulation, are persecuted, are cast down, always bearing about in our body the mortification of Jesus; but this continual dying manifests the life of Jesus in our mortal flesh. Thy inspired pen taught us to love the Son of Man in His Gospel; thy pencil portrayed Him for us in His Mother's arms; and a third time thou revealedst Him to the world, by the reproduction of His holiness in thine own life.

Preserve in us the fruits of thy manifold teaching. Though Christian painters do well to pay thee special honour, and to learn from thee that the ideal of beauty resides in the Son of God and in His Mother, there is yet more sublime art than that of lines and colours: the art of reproducing in ourselves the likeness of God. This we wish to learn perfectly in thy school; for we know from thy master St. Paul that conformity to the image of the Son of God can alone entitle the elect to predestination .

Be thou the protector of the faithful physicians, who strive to walk in thy footsteps, and who, in their ministry of devotedness and charity, rely upon thy credit with the Author of life. Second their efforts to heal or to relieve suffering; and inspire them with holy zeal, when they find their patients on the brink of eternity.

The world itself , in its decrepitude now, needs the assistance of all who are able, by prayer or action, to come to its rescue. The Son of Man, when He cometh, shall He find, think you, faith on earth? Thus spoke our Lord in the Gospel. But He also said that we ought always to pray and not to faint; adding, for the instruction of the Church both at this time and always, the parable of the widow, whose importunity prevailed upon the unjust judge to defend her cause. And will not God revenge His elect, who cry to Him day and night; and will He have patience in their regard? I say to you that He will quickly revenge them.

From:  Ven. Dom Gueranger's The Liturgical Year

VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH - DAY 17

 

            Visit to St. Joseph

            Seventeenth Day

To prove the power which St. Joseph possesses in paradise, St. Bernardine of Siena expresses himself thus:  We cannot doubt that Christ not only does not refuse to St. Joseph in heaven that familiarity and reverence which, as a son towards his father, He accorded him when He lived on earth, but rather that it is now perfected. Remark the words familiarity and reverence; that Lord, Who on earth revered St. Joseph as His father, will certainly deny him nothing that he asks in heaven. Let us then say to him in confidence:

St. Joseph, powerful protector of our souls, keep us from all sin.

                          Prayer

My holy Patriarch, I rejoice at thy happiness and greatness in being made worthy to have power to command, with the authority of a father, Him Whom heaven and earth obey, and to make Him obey thee. My holy Patron, since a God has served thee, I too wish to enroll myself in thy service; I choose thee, after Mary, for my principal advocate and protector. I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. Amen.

ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE - MASS PROPERS

                 

                       October 17

    ST.  MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE

         Double     White vestments

INTROITUS - Canticles 2: 3; Ps. 83: 2-3

Sub umbra illíus, quem desideráveram, sedi; et fructus ejus dulcis gútturi meo. Ps. Quam dilécta tabernácula tua, Dómine virtútum: concupíscit et déficit ánima mea in átria Dómini. Gloria Patri.

INTROIT

Under the shadow of Him Whom I had desired, did I sit: and His fruit was sweet to my taste. Ps. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts! My soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. Glory be to the Father.

COLLECT

Lord Jesus Christ, Who didst reveal the unsearchable riches of Thy Heart to blessed Margaret, the Virgin, grant us, by her merits and our imitation of her that, loving Thee in all things and above all things, we may deserve to have our continual abode in that same Heart of Thine. Who livest and reignest.

EPISTLE - Ephesians 3: 8-9, 14-19

Brethren: To me, the least of all the Saints, is given the grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ: and to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, Who created all things: For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, of Whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, that He would grant you according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man, that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and grounded in charity, you may be able to comprehend with all the Saints, what is the breadth and length, and height and depth: to know also the charity of Christ which surpasseth all knowledge. That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God.

GRADUAL - Canticles 8: 7; Ps. 72: 26

Many waters have not been able to quench charity: neither shall floods drown it. My flesh hath fainted, and my heart: O God, the God of my heart, and my portion forever.

ALLELUIA - Canticles 7: 10

Alleluia, alleluia. I unto my Beloved: and His turning is toward me. Alleluia.

GOSPEL - Matthew 11: 25-30

At that time, Jesus answered, and said: I praise Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. Yea, Father; for so it hath seemed good in Thy sight. All things are delivered to Me by My Father; and no one knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither doth any one know the Father, but the Son, and He to Whom it shall please the Son to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you that labour, and are burdened; and I will refresh you. Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am meek, and humble of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls: for My yoke is sweet, and my burden light.

OFFERTORY - Zach. 9: 17

What is His good, and what is His beautiful thing: but the corn of the elect, and the wine springing forth virgins?

SECRET

May the offerings of Thy people be accepted by Thee, O Lord, and grant that we be enkindled with that divine fire sent forth from the Heart of Thy Son, with which blessed Margaret Mary was so ardently inflamed. Through our Lord.

COMMON PREFACE

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation that we should at all times and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, eternal God: through Christ our Lord. through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, Dominations worship, Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise:

Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus…

COMMUNION - Canticles 6: 2

I unto my Beloved, and my Beloved unto me: He that feedeth among the lilies.

POSTCOMMUNION

Having received the mysteries of Thy Body and Blood, we beseech Thee, O Lord Jesus: grant us by the intercession of Thy blessed Virgin, Margaret Mary, that, putting off the proud vanities of the world, we may have the grace to put on the meekness and humility of Thy Heart: Who livest and reignest.

Visit to St. Joseph - Sixteenth Day

 

SIXTEENTH VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH

We ought to believe that the life of Joseph, spent in the presence of Jesus and Mary, was a continual prayer, abounding in acts of faith and confidence, of love, of resignation, of oblation. Since, then, the reward of the saints corresponds to their merits in this life, consider how great must be the glory of St. Joseph in heaven. St. Augustine compares the other saints to the stars, but St. Joseph to the sun. Father Suarez says that it is very reasonable to suppose that St. Joseph, after Mary, surpasses all the other saints in merits and glory. From this the Venerable Bernardine de Bustis infers that when St. Joseph asks any grace for those that are devoted to him, his prayers have in a certain manner, the force of a command with Jesus and Mary.

St. Joseph, obtain for us a great spirit of prayer.

Prayer

My holy Patriarch, I rejoice at thy happiness and greatness in being made worthy to have power to command, with the authority of a father, Him Whom heaven and earth obey, and to make Him obey thee. My holy Patron, since a God has served thee, I too wish to enroll myself in thy service; I choose thee, after Mary, for my principal advocate and protector. I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. Amen.

St. Gerard Novena - Ninth Day

 Novena to St. Gerard

   Ninth Day

St. Gerard, most favorite child of heaven, to whom Mary gave the Infant Jesus in the day of thy childhood, to whom she sweetly came before thou didst close thine eyes in death, obtain for me, I beseech thee, so to seek and love my Blessed Mother during life, that she may be my joy and consolation in this valley of tears, until with thee, before the throne of God, I may praise her goodness for all eternity. Amen.

 Say nine Ave’s

Ave Maria

Ave Maria gratia plena, Dominus tecum. Benedicta tu in mulieribus, et benedictus fructus ventris tui, Jesus. Sancta Maria, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Pray for us, O St. Gerard, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

 Let us Pray

O Almighty and everlasting God, who didst draw to Thyself St. Gerard, even from his tenderest years, making him conformable to the Image of Thy Crucified Son, grant, we beseech Thee, that imitating his example, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH - FIFTEENTH DAY

 

FIFTEENTH VISIT TO ST. JOSEPH

The apostle writes that in the next life Jesus Christ " will render to every man according to his works" (Rom. ii. 6). What great glory must we not suppose that He bestowed upon St. Joseph, who served and loved Him so much whilst He lived on earth! Our Lord has promised a reward to him who gives a cup of cold water to the poor in His name; what, then, must be the reward of St. Joseph, who can say to Jesus Christ: " I not only provided Thee with food, with a dwelling, and with clothes; but I saved Thee from death, delivering Thee from the hands of Herod"!

St. Joseph, do thou animate our zeal for growing in virtue by the hope of eternal rewards.

Prayer

My holy Patriarch, I rejoice at thy happiness and greatness in being made worthy to have power to command, with the authority of a father, Him Whom heaven and earth obey, and to make Him obey thee. My holy Patron, since a God has served thee, I too wish to enroll myself in thy service; I choose thee, after Mary, for my principal advocate and protector. I promise to honor thee every day by some special devotion, and each day I will place myself under thy protection. Through the sweet company of Jesus and Mary, which thou didst enjoy during life, protect me during my whole life, that I may never be separated from God by losing His grace. And through the assistance which Jesus and Mary gave thee at death, protect me at the hour of my death, that, dying in the company of thee, of Jesus and Mary, I may one day go to thank thee in paradise, and in thy company praise and love thy God to all eternity. Amen.

 

ST. TERESA OF AVILA - MASS PROPERS

 

ST. TERESA OF AVILA

Virgin, Religious Foundress 

and Doctor

Double - White Vestments   

Missa “Dilexísti justítiam”

 

INTROITUS Psalm 44: 8

Dilexísti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem: propterea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo lætitiæ præ consortibus tuis.

Ps. Eructavit cor meum verbum bonum: dico ego opera mea Regi. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen. Dilexísti justitiam, et odisti iniquitatem: propterea unxit te Deus, Deus tuus, oleo lætitiæ præ consortibus tuis.

 INTROIT Psalm 44: 8

Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

(Ps. 44: 2) My heart hath uttered a good word: I speak my works to the King. Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.

COLLECT

Graciously hear us, O God, our Savior; that as we rejoice in the festival of Thy holy virgin Teresa, so we may be fed food of her heavenly teaching, and grow in loving devotion towards thee. Through our Lord.

EPISTLE: 2 Corinthians 10: 17-18; 11: 1-2

Lesson from the Epistle of Bl. Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians

Brethren, he that glory, let him glory in the Lord. For not that he that commendeth himself is approved, but he whom God commendeth. Would to God you could bear with some little of my folly, but do bear with me. For I am jealous of you with the jealousy of God. For I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.

GRADUAL: Psalm 44: 5

With thy comeliness and thy beauty set out, proceed prosperously, and reign. Because of truth, and meekness, and justice: and thy right hand shall conduct thee wonderfully.

ALLELUIA: Ps 44:15-16

Alleluia, alleluia. After her shall virgins be brought to the king: her neighbors shall be brought to thee with gladness. Alleluia.

GOSPEL Matthew 25:1-13

Continuation of the holy Gospel according to St. Matthew.

At that time, Jesus spoke to His disciples this parable: Then shall the kingdom of heaven be like to ten virgins, who, taking their lamps, went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. And five of them were foolish, and five wise. But the five foolish, having taken their lamps, did not take oil with them:  But the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. And the bridegroom tarrying, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight there was a cry made: Behold the bridegroom cometh, go ye forth to meet him. Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps.  And the foolish said to the wise: Give us of your oil, for our lamps are gone out.  The wise answered, saying: Lest perhaps there be not enough for us and for you, go ye rather to them that sell, and buy for yourselves. Now whilst they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut. But at last come also the other virgins, saying: Lord, Lord, open to us.  But he answering said, “Amen I say to you, I know you not. " Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour.

OFFERTORY Psalm 44: 10

The daughters of kings are in thine honor, the queen stood on thy right hand in gilded clothing, surrounded with variety.

SECRET

May the offering of Thy consecrated people be accepted by Thee, O Lord, in honor of Thy saints, by whose merits it knoweth that it hath received aid in time of trouble. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God.

PREFACE   Common Preface

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times and in all places give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God: through Christ our Lord. Through Whom the Angels praise Thy Majesty, the Dominations worship it, the Powers stand in awe. The Heavens and the Heavenly hosts together with the blessed Seraphim in triumphant chorus unite to celebrate it. Together with them we entreat Thee, that Thou mayest bid our voices also to be admitted, while we say in lowly praise:

 

SANCTUS, SANCTUS, SANCTUS

Dominus Deus Sabaoth. Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria Tua. Hosanna in excelsis.  Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini. Hosanna in excelsis.

COMMUNION Matt. 25:4 and 6

The five wise virgins took oil in their vessels with the lamps: and at midnight there was a cry made, “Behold the bridegroom cometh: go ye forth to meet Christ our Lord.”

POSTCOMMUNION

Thou hast filled Thy household, O Lord, with sacred gifts; ever comfort us, we beseech Thee, through her intercession whose festival we celebrate. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God.

St. Raphael the Archangel Novena - First day

 

Novena to St. Raphael the Archangel

           October 15–23

Glorious Archangel Saint Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land, sea, or air, consoler of the afflicted; and refuge of sinners. I beg you to assist me in all my needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the medicine of God, I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of my soul and the ills that afflict my body. I especially ask of you the favor for…

  (Mention request here)

And the great grace of purity to prepare me to be the temple of the Holy Ghost. Amen.

Our Father

Our Father, Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

Hail Mary

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou amongst women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen.

Glory Be

Glory be, to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

St. Raphael, of the glorious seven who stand before the throne of Him who lives and reigns, Angel of health, the Lord has filled your hand with balm from heaven to soothe or cure our pains. Heal or cure the victim of disease. And guide our steps when doubtful of our ways.