Mt. Carmel Novena, Day 3-- "Star of the Sea"

"I made that in the heavens there should rise light that never faileth...I compassed the circuit of heaven...and have walked in the waves of the sea." Ecclesiasticus 24:6,8

"And seeing the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy." St Matthew 2:10

During his first crusade to free captive Jerusalem, St Louis IX the King of France was sailing with his retinue when a fierce storm overwhelmed the vessel. They were not far from the shores of Palestine when through the tempest the bells from the chapel of the hermits on Mt. Carmel could be heard. The holy king fell to his knees, imploring the Blessed Virgin to spare his family and his companions from drowning. The ship did not founder; the storm ceased. King Louis, with a heart full of gratitude, decided to visit the "Brothers of Our Lady" on Mt. Carmel, where they lived in prayer and penance in imitation of the Prophet Elias. So impressed was he with their austerity and devotion, that he arranged for some of them to go to France, thus bringing the Carmelite order to that country where it flourished for centuries. The fact that many of the Brothers went to Europe preserved the Carmelite Order from extinction, since those hermits living on Mt. Carmel were eventually massacred by the Moslems.

Our Lady is the star whose light pierces the darkest clouds to guide the ship of the Church, as well as the ship of the soul, through the most tumultuous storms. The ancient icons of the Virgin often show her adorned with a star; the title "Star of the Sea" is very old, a symbol of royalty and power, of help and mediation. The hymn Ave Maris Stella ("Hail, Star of the Sea") has often been sung in times of crisis, as mentioned in the lives of many saints; we know that on the path to Heaven even the holiest souls feel overwhelmed and discouraged in times of darkness and persecution.

In the words of the Franciscan Wonder-Worker St Anthony of Padua: "We are far from God, tossed at every moment by storms. We lie at the very jaws of spiritual death, and so we cry out, 'Hail Mary!' ''

Star of the Sea, pray for us!

Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel:

O most beautiful Flower of Mt Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this my necessity, there are none that can withstand your power.

O show me herein you are my Mother.

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us that have recourse to thee. (3 times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times) AMEN.

Mount Carmel Novena, Day 2: "The Immaculate Conception"

"Go up, eat and drink, for there is the sound of an abundance of rain." 3 Kings 18:41

The Carmelite Order always defended the doctrine of the Immaculate Conception. It is an ancient tradition that the holy prophet Elias, leader and father of Carmelites, saw from Mt Carmel with his mystic sight a vision of the Immaculate Virgin in the small cloud that rose out of the sea, heralding the end of the long drought which had afflicted Israel. (3 Kings 18:44) As physical life was renewed, so through the mediation of Our Lady with her Son, the life of the spirit, the life of grace is given fruition. When the Virgin gave birth to the Son of God, the new creation, which will be fully revealed at the end of time, had already begun. In the words of St Anselm:

Blessed Lady, sky and stars, earth and rivers, day and night ---everything that is subject to the power or use of man--- rejoice that through you they are in some sense restored to their lost beauty and are endowed with inexpressible new grace....Truly the Lord is with you, to whom the Lord granted that all nature should owe as much to you as to himself. ( Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary)

Novena Prayer to Our Lady of Mt. Carmel: 

O most beautiful Flower of Mt Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this my necessity, there are none that can withstand your power.

O show me herein you are my Mother.

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us that have recourse to thee. (3 times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times) AMEN.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel

It begins today. There will be little meditations offered here for everyday of the novena. The Carmelite Scapular was given to the world as a symbol of the protection and help of the Holy Mother of God when no earthly help is available, particularly at the hour of death. As Our Lady stood at the foot of the Cross, she stands with the Church in the present ordeals; she stands with each of us. Let us pray for all the children of the world, especially those who are in danger. Let us pray for the freedom of the Church, that Our Lady Immaculate may deliver us. And please pray for some special intentions of mine.

O most beautiful Flower of Mt Carmel, fruitful vine, splendor of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and earth, I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart, to succor me in this my necessity, there are none that can withstand your power.

O show me herein you are my Mother.

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us that have recourse to thee. (3 times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times) AMEN.

Road to Emmaus

 

 From Justi Andreasen:

C. S. Lewis once said that the death and Resurrection of Christ are the place in history where something unimaginable from beyond history breaks into our world. The Cross and Resurrection are events within time, but they are also the place where time is pierced. They are not one more happening among the happenings of the world. They are the hinge upon which the world is turned.

The Evangelists seem to know this in their bones. They do not set the Resurrection before us as a spectacle. They show it as a mystery that withholds, unveils, and teaches. It is not first known by standing apart from it, but by being drawn into it. Now, what does that mean?

The disciples on the road to Emmaus have the facts in their hands. They know of the crucifixion. They have heard the tidings of the empty tomb. Still they do not see. The facts are true, yet they have not become luminous. They lie before them like scattered shards of some great tale whose blueprint has not yet been found. (Read more.)

God Save America

And I set my face to the Lord my God, to pray and make supplication with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and I made my confession, and said: I beseech thee, O Lord God, great and terrible, who keepest the covenant, and mercy to them that love thee, and keep thy commandments. We have sinned, we have committed iniquity, we have done wickedly, and have revolted: and we have gone aside from thy commandments, and thy judgments. (Daniel 9: 3-5)

St. Thomas the Apostle

From Catholic Culture:

There is very little about the apostle Thomas in the Gospels; one text calls him the "twin." Rarely during Jesus' lifetime does he stand out among his colleagues. There is the instance before the raising of Lazarus, when Jesus was still in Perea and Thomas exclaimed: "Let us also go and die with Him." Best-known is his expression of unbelief after the Savior's death, giving rise to the phrase "doubting Thomas." Nevertheless, the passage describing the incident, had as today's Gospel, must be numbered among the most touching in Sacred Scripture.

In the Breviary lessons Pope St. Gregory the Great makes the following reflections: "Thomas' unbelief has benefited our faith more than the belief of the other disciples; it is because he attained faith through physical touch that we are confirmed in the faith beyond all doubt. Indeed, the Lord permitted the apostle to doubt after the resurrection; but He did not abandon him in doubt. By his doubt and by his touching the sacred wounds the apostle became a witness to the truth of the resurrection. Thomas touched and cried out: My Lord and my God! And Jesus said to him: Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed. Now if Thomas saw and touched the Savior, why did Jesus say: Because you have seen Me, Thomas, you have believed? Because he saw something other than what he believed. For no mortal man can see divinity. Thomas saw the Man Christ and acknowledged His divinity with the words: My Lord and my God. Faith therefore followed upon seeing."

Concerning later events in the apostle's life very meager information exists. The Martyrology has this: "At Calamina (near Madras in India) the martyrdom of the apostle Thomas - he announced the Gospel to the Parthians, and finally came to India. After he had converted numerous tribes to Christianity, he was pierced with lances at the king's command."

Excerpted from The Church's Year of Grace, Pius Parsch

Patron: Against doubt; architects; blind people; builders; construction workers; Ceylon East Indies; geometricians; India; masons; Pakistan; people in doubt; Sri Lanka; stone masons; stonecutters; surveyors; theologians. (Read more.)

The Challenge of the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus

 

 From 1P5:

Starting in the 12^th century, there began what I like to call the Eucharistic Revolution. It began with Hildebert of Lavardin coining the word “Transubstantiation.” Then began the penning of stories about the Holy Grail; not very reliable as a source of history, they nevertheless incorporate stories of Eucharistic Miracles that would repeatedly occur in real life down to – especially in – our time. During the period they grew in popularity in the 13^th century, Transubstantiation was defined as the best way to describe what happens at the Mass, and St. Juliana of Cornillon had her visions which led to the great feast of Corpus Christi. This turn led to the growth of Eucharistic processions, adoration, and much more. But in 1199, Christ appeared to St. Lutgarde of Saint-Trond. This is the first medieval apparition of the Sacred Heart passed down to us through Tradition.

At the same time, devotion grew to Our Lord’s Five Wounds, and their connection to the Eucharist was not unnoticed – after all, it was the same blood that came down daily upon each Altar, was reappearing in miracles (sometimes bleeding from hosts and at others from images of Our Lord), and relics of which were being brought back along a great many others from the Holy Land and Constantinople, thanks to the Crusades. Ss. Gertrude the Great and Mechtilde – both in the Abbey of Helfta, received visions of the Sacred Heart, and St. Bonaventure, and a great many other preached about this Heart and the Blood that flowed from it.

When the Protestant Revolt broke out, the Pilgrims of Grace in England marched against the King’s men under the banner of the Five Wounds. St. Ignatius of Loyola in his Anima Christi Prayer united all elements of devotion to Christ – and St. Peter Canisius spoke frequently of Christ’s Heart and Blood in defence of His Real Presence in the Eucharist; a theme taken up by many Catholic preachers fighting the new heresies. 

[...]

 When the French Revolution broke out in 1789, and drowned that word in fire and blood, the imprisoned Louis XVI privately consecrated the country to the Sacred Heart and vowed to do so publicly if restored to power. This did not happen, as we know. But from the Vendée to Spain to Tyrol, the Sacred Heart became the symbol of Catholic resistance to the revolution. Afterwards, it was a big part of the Catholic Restoration. (Read more.)