Sixth Sunday of Easter

 Or Fifth Sunday after Easter according to the traditional rite. From Dom Prosper Gueranger, The Liturgical Year, Paschaltide.:

Our Lord begins now to reap the fruit of the word he has sown in their hearts: oh! how patiently has he not waited for it! If he praised them for their faith, when they were with him on the night of the Last Supper; he may surely do so now that they have seen him in the splendor of his Resurrection, and have been receiving such teaching from his lips. He said to them, at the Last Supper: The Father loveth you, because ye have loved Me;—how much more must not the Father love them now, when their love for Jesus is so much increased? Let us be consoled by these words. Before Easter, our love of Jesus was weak, and we were tepid in his service; but now that we have been enlightened and nourished by his Mysteries, we may well hope that the Father loves us, for we love Jesus better, far better, than we did before. This dear Redeemer urges us to ask the Father, in his name, for everything we need. Our first want is perseverance in the spirit of Eastertide; let it be our most earnest prayer; let it be our intention now that we are assisting at the holy Sacrifice, which is soon to bring Jesus upon our Altar.

Novena Rose Prayer

My dear friends, please join me in making a novena to St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face for several personal intentions.

Novena Rose Prayer

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love.

O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands...(mention petitions).

St. Therese, help me to always believe as you did, in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.  Amen.

(Say this prayer for nine days and St. Therese will send you a rose!)

Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel

Here is a post about the Defender of the people of God.

"That the blessed Archangel Michael hath oftentimes been seen of men is attested on the authority of the Holy Bible, and also by the ancient traditions of the Saints.  For this reason such visions are held in remembrance in many places.  As of old time did the Synagogue of the Jews, so now doth the Church of God venerate Michael as her watcher and defender.  But during the Popedom of Gelasius I, the summit of Mount Gargano in Apulia, at whose foot lieth the town of Siponto, was the scene of an extraordinary appearance of this same Archangel Michael.

And it came to pass on this wise.  A certain man had a bull grazing with the flock upon Mount Gargano, and it strayed.  And when they had sought it for a long while they found it jammed in the mouth of a cavern.  Then one that stood there shot an arrow at it to slay it, but the arrow turned round and came back against him that had shot it.  They therefore that saw it, and all those that heard it, were sore afraid because of that which had come to pass, so that no man dared any more to draw near to the cavern.  But when they had sought counsel of the Bishop of Siponto, he answered, that it behooved to seek the interpretation from God, and proclaimed three days of fasting and prayer.

After three days the Archangel Michael gave warning to the Bishop that that place was under his protection, and that he had thus pointed out by a sign that he wished that worship should be offered to God there, with remembrance of himself and of the Angels.  Then the Bishop and the citizens made haste and came to the cavern; and when they found that the form thereof was somewhat after the fashion of a Church  they began to perform the public worship of God  therein: which sanctuary hath been glorified with many miracles.  It was not long after these things that Pope Boniface IV hallowed the Church of St. Michael on Hadrian's Mole at Rome, on the 29th day of September, on the which day the Church also holdeth in remembrance All Angels.  But this present day is hallowed in remembrance of the manifestation of the Archangel Michael."
-- From the Breviary of St Pius X (1911)

 

From Dom Gueranger: 

Devotion to St. Michael was sure to spread through the Church, especially after the worship of idols had been banished from the various countries, and men were no longer tempted to give divine honor to creatures. Constantine built in honor of the great Archangel a celebrated Church called Michaëlion; and at the time of Constantinople’s falling under the power of the Turks, there were no less than fifteen Churches that bore the name of Saint Michael, either in the City or the suburbs. In other parts of Christendom, this devotion took root only by degrees; and it was by the holy Archangel’s appearing to men that the Faithful were prompted to have recourse to him. These apparitions were local, and for reasons which to us might seem of secondary importance: but God, who, from little causes, produces great effects, made use of them whereby to excite Christians to have confidence in their heavenly protector. The Greeks celebrate the apparition that took place at Chone, the ancient Colossa, in Phrygia. There was, in that city, a Church dedicated to St. Michael, and it was frequently visited by a holy man named Archippus, who was violently persecuted by the pagans. One day, when Archippus was at his devotions in his favorite St. Michael’s, his enemies resolved to destroy both him and the Church. Hard by, ran a brook which flowed into the river Lycus: this they turned off, and flooded the ground on which stood the Church. Suddenly, there appeared the Archangel St. Michael, holding a rod in his hand: the water immediately receded, and flowed into a deep gulf, near Colossa, where the Lycus empties itself and disappears. The date of this apparition is not certain, beyond its having occurred at the period when the pagans were numerous enough in Colossa to harass the Christians.

Another apparition, which encouraged devotion to St. Michael in Italy, took place on Mount Gargano, in Apulia; it is the one honored by today’s feast. A third happened on Mount Tomba, on the coast of Normandy: we will commemorate it on the 16^th October. (Read more.)

 

More HERE.

St. Angelus

 

Here is the biography of an extraordinary saint. To quote:

"Angelus came into Sicily with the religious who emigrated to the island from Carmel and he died there, according to the traditional data — which, however, seem worthy of belief — having been killed at Licata at the hands of "impious infidels", during the first half of the XIII cent. Since he was considered a martyr, a church was erected in his honor on the site of his death, and his body was placed upon an altar in the church. These brief details are gathered from the Catalogue of Saints, which dates from the end of the XIV cent. or the beginning of the XV, while another mention, gathered, it is said, about 1370 by Nicholas Processi, a beneficiary of St. John Lateran's, speaks of a visit of Angelus to Rome.

Especially well-known and widespread is the life written by a certain Henoch, who is said to have been a Carmelite and a patriarch of Jerusalem. (Read More)

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

Today we remember so many valiant souls. 

"MERRY ENGLAND"

Merry, merry, merry England,
Isle of Saints and Martyrs blest!
Shining witnesses to Jesus,
Now enjoying Heavenly rest.
Happy England, Mary's Dowry,
Gladly own that cherished Name;
English hearts throughout the ages
Find their comfort in the same.

England, land of fairest Angles,
Apple of Saint Gregory's eye;
Fruitful land where Saints did scatter
Seeds of faith which never die.
Holy England, Catholic England,
Favoured Child of Church of Rome!
Once thy kings, as well as paupers
Kept the Faith within their homes.

Glorious England, land of Martyrs,
Giving forth a sweet perfume;
English Roses, crimson colored
'Neath the gallows thou didst bloom.
Watered by a tide most precious,
Strengthened by the Lord's own grace;
Manly courage shown in contest,
Crowned with victory in the race!

Merry England, Mary's England,
Be her Dowry as of old.
Thrive again beneath her mantle
In the One and Catholic Fold.
Saints of England send a blessing
 From thy place in Heaven above,
On the merry land which housed thee,
Homeland which thy hearts didst love!

By a Carmelite Nun of Rochester

Picture and poem courtesy of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Rochester, NY

Novena to Our Lady of Fatima

"If My requests are granted ... there will be peace"

The novena to Our Lady of Fatima begins today. Nothing is impossible with God. 

Most holy Virgin, who hast deigned to come to Fatima, to reveal the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with a sincere love of this devotion, that meditating on the Mysteries of Our Redemption recalled therein, we may obtain the conversion of Russia. And (here name other favors you are praying for); which we ask you in this Novena, for greater glory of God, for your own honor, and for the good of souls. Amen.

For those who like to pray Scripture as part of a novena, here are some favorite passages: 

And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple, and there were lightnings, and voices, and an earthquake, and great hail. And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars....(Apocalypse 11:19-12:1)

  But as the same Lord liveth, his angel hath been my keeper both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence hither: and the Lord hath not suffered me his handmaid to be defiled, but hath brought me back to you without pollution of sin, rejoicing for his victory, for my escape, and for your deliverance. Give all of you glory to him, because he is good, because his mercy endureth for ever. And they all adored the Lord, and said to her: The Lord hath blessed thee by his power, because by thee he hath brought our enemies to nought....Blessed art thou, O daughter, by the Lord the most high God, above all women upon the earth. Blessed be the Lord who made heaven and earth, who hath directed thee to the cutting off the head of the prince of our enemies. Because he hath so magnified thy name this day, that thy praise shall not depart out of the mouth of men who shall be mindful of the power of the Lord for ever, for that thou hast not spared thy life, by reason of the distress and tribulation of thy people, but hast prevented our ruin in the presence of our God....Blessed art thou by thy God in every tabernacle of Jacob, for in every nation which shall hear thy name, the God of Israel shall be magnified on occasion of thee....And when she was come out to him, they all blessed her with one voice, saying: Thou art the glory of Jerusalem, thou art the joy of Israel, thou art the honour of our people....(Judith 13:20-2, 23-25, 31,15:10 )

Fifth Sunday of Easter

 Or Fourth Sunday of Easter according to the old rite. From Dom Prosper Gueranger:

Our Jesus has organized his Church, and confided to his Apostles the sacred deposit of the truths which are to form the object of our faith. We must now follow him in another work, of equal importance to the world, and to which he gives his divine attention during these forty days: it is the institution of the Sacraments. It is not enough that we believe; we must, moreover, be made just, that is, we must bear upon us the likeness of God’s holiness; we must receive, we must have incorporated within us, that great fruit of the Redemption, which is called Grace; that thus being made living members of our divine Head, we may be made joint-heirs with him of the Kingdom of heaven. Now, it is by means of the Sacraments, that Jesus is to produce in us this wondrous work of our justification; he applies to us the merits of his Incarnation and Sacrifice but he applies them by certain means, which he himself, in his power and wisdom, has instituted.

Being the sovereign Master of his own gifts, he can select what means he pleases whereby to convey Grace to us; all we have to do is to conform to his wishes. Thus, each of the Sacraments is a law; so that it is in vain that we hope for a Sacrament to produce its effects, unless we fulfill the conditions specified by our Redeemer. And here, at once, we cannot but admire that infinite goodness, which has so mercifully blended two such widely distinct operations in one and the same act—namely, on the one side, the humble submission of man and, on the other, the munificent generosity of God.

We were showing, a few days back, how the Church, though a spiritual society, is also visible and exterior, because man, for whose sake the Church was formed, is a being composed of body and soul. When instituting the Sacraments, our Lord assigned to each an essential rite; and this rite is outward and sensible. He made the Flesh, which he had united to his Divine Person, become the instrument of our salvation by his Passion and Death on the Cross; he redeemed us by shedding his Blood for us:—so is it in the Sacraments; he follows the same mysterious plan, taking physical things as his auxiliaries in effecting the work of our justification. He raises them to a supernatural state, and makes them the faithful and all-powerful conductors of his grace, even to the most intimate depths of our soul. It is the continuation of the mystery of the Incarnation, the object of which is to raise us, by visible things, to the knowledge of things invisible. Thus is broken the pride of Satan; he despised man because he is not purely a spirit, but is spirit and matter unitedly; and he refused to pay adoration to the Word made Flesh. (Read more.)