Sunday, December 30, 2012

Jean de Fecamp

There [in Heaven] are the true riches, there are the treasures of wisdom, length and joy of life. There is full force where nothing is weakness, where nothing courageous is lacking. There is full wisdom where there is no ignorance, where no true understanding is lacking. There is utmost felicity where there is no adversity, where no goodness is lacking. There is full health because there is full charity, there is full beatitude because there is full vision of God. Vision, I say, is in knowledge, knowledge is found in love, love is with praise, and praise finds security and all this is without end.

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Prayer to Jesus in the Manger

O Divine Redeemer Jesus Christ, prostrate before Thy crib, I believe Thou art the God of infinite Majesty, even though I do see Thee here as a helpless babe. I humbly adore and thank Thee for having so humbled Thyself for my salvation as to will to be born in a stable. I thank Thee for all Thou didst wish to suffer for me in Bethlehem, for Thy poverty and humility, for Thy nakedness, tears, cold and sufferings.

Would that I could show Thee that tenderness which Thy Virgin Mother had toward Thee, and love Thee as she did. Would that I could praise Thee with the joy of the angels, that I could kneel before Thee with the faith of St. Joseph, the simplicity of the shepherds. Uniting myself with these first adorers at the crib, I offer Thee the homage of my heart, and I beg that Thou wouldst be born spiritually in my soul. Make me reflect in some degree the virtues of Thy admirable nativity. Fill me with that spirit of renunciation, of poverty, of humility, which prompted Thee to assume the weakness of our nature, and to be born amid destitution and suffering. Grant that from this day forward, I may in all things seek Thy greater glory, and may enjoy that peace promised to men of good will.

Monday, December 17, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

I know well, joy is not in the things which surround us; it dwells in the innermost soul.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

Prayer for Offering Up Suffering

Dear Lord,
Help me to remember in these troubled times
The cross You carried for my sake,
So that I may better carry mine
And to help others do the same,
As I offer up (whatever your concern or problem here) to You
For the conversion of sinners
For the forgiveness of sins
In reparation for sins
And for the salvation of souls. Amen

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Advent Evening Hymn (8th Century)

Come, Sun and Savior, to embrace Our gloomy world,
its weary race,
As groom to bride, as bride to groom:
The wedding chamber, Mary's womb.
At your great Name, O Jesus, now
All knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
All things on earth with one accord,
Like those in heaven, shall call you Lord.
Come in your holy might, we pray,
Redeem us for eternal day;
Defend us while we dwell below,
From all assaults of our dread foe.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

Collect for Christ the King Sunday

Almighty and merciful God,
you break the power of evil and make all things new
in your Son Jesus Christ, the King of the universe.
May all in heaven and earth
acclaim your glory and never cease to praise you.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. 
Amen.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Our Lady of Medjugorje

Dear children! Also today I call you to pray, pray, pray. Only in prayer will you be near to me and my Son and you will see how short this life is. In your heart a desire for Heaven will be born. Joy will begin to rule in your heart and prayer will begin to flow like a river. In your words there will only be thanksgiving to God for having created you and the desire for holiness will become a reality for you. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Sunday, November 11, 2012

St. Francis de Sales

You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Prayer in Defense of Marriage

God our Father, we give you thanks
for the gift of marriage: the bond of life and love,
and the font of the family. 

The love of husband and wife enriches your Church with children,
fills the world with a multitude of spiritual fruitfulness and service,
and is the sign of the love of your Son, Jesus Christ, for his Church.

The grace of Jesus flowed forth at Cana at the
request of the Blessed Mother. May your Son,
through the intercession of Mary, pour out upon us
a new measure of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit
as we join with all people of good will
to promote and protect the unique beauty of marriage.

May your Holy Spirit enlighten our society
to treasure the heroic love of husband and wife,
and guide our leaders to sustain and protect
the singular place of mothers and fathers
in the lives of their children.

Father, we ask that our prayers
be joined to those of the Virgin Mary,
that your Word may transform our service
so as to safeguard the incomparable splendor of marriage.
We ask all these things through Christ our Lord,
Amen.

Saints Joachim and Anne, pray for us.

(From the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website: http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/prayers/prayer-defense-of-marriage.cfm)

Sunday, October 28, 2012

Prayer for Protection in a Time of Storm or Danger

Lord and Holy Protector, like the disciples who were caught in their tiny boat in the midst of a mighty storm, we come to beg Your help.

We are fearful as we are surrounded by danger.

We feel helpless and small before the great power of this storm which is beyond our control.

While everything seems dark and dangerous, we place our trust in You, our Lord and God.

Sheltered here in our home, we are also shielded by Your Love against all that might harm us.

We know that You hear all prayers; so we now, filled with confidence, lift up our petitions to You, our God. 

(silent prayer) 

Lord, we fear for our home, for our lives and for all we hold dear.

Your Sacred Blessing is upon this home and upon each of us as well.

We are secure in the power of that blessing.

May the saving power of the Cross of Your Son, Jesus, encircle us and our home.

May all evil, all harm and injury, be repelled by that Sacred Sign of the Cross.

May the light of this candle be for us a holy sign of Your Divine Presence that fills our home in the midst of this danger.

Lord and Creator of Storms and of Rainbows, be with us in this time of danger.

Amen +

Sunday, October 21, 2012

St. Augustine

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Jesus to St. Faustina

There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted-it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I myself take care of it.

Friday, October 12, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

I assure you that God is much better than you believe. He is content with a glance, a sigh of love.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

A Prayer to Jesus

Iesu dulcissime, in tuo sacratissimo Corde absconde me, ne permittas me separari a te, ab hoste maligno defende me.

O sweetest Jesus, hide me in Thy Sacred Heart, permit me not to be separated from Thee, defend me from the evil foe.

Monday, October 1, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Jesus does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, or even at their difficulty, as at the love with which we do them.

Friday, September 28, 2012

St. Faustina

To give worthy praise to the Lord's mercy, we unite ourselves with Your Immaculate Mother, for then our hymn will be more pleasing to You, because She is chosen from among men and angels. Through Her, as through a pure crystal, Your mercy was passed on to us. Through Her, man became pleasing to God; Through Her, streams of grace flowed down upon us.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

Mother Teresa

If I can give you any advice, I beg you to get closer to the Eucharist and to Jesus... We must pray to Jesus to give us that tenderness of the Eucharist.

Friday, September 21, 2012

St. Boniface

In her voyage across the ocean of this world, the Church is like a great ship being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is not to abandons ship but to keep her on her course.

Sunday, September 16, 2012

St. Edith Stein

The limitless loving devotion to God, and the gift God makes of Himself to you, are the highest elevation of which the heart is capable; it is the highest degree of prayer. The souls that have reached this point are truly the heart of the Church.

Friday, September 14, 2012

A Prayer to Jesus

Libera me, Domine Iesu Christe, ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis et universis malis, fac me tuis semper inhaerere mandatis et a te numquam separari permittas.

Deliver me, Lord Jesus Christ, from all my iniquities and from every evil, make me ever hold fast to Thy commandments and never allow me to be separated from Thee.

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Dr. Peter Kreeft

Faith is like a bright light (certainty) surrounded by darkness (mystery), a light that keeps growing and illuminating new areas of the darkness.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

In order to be like You, who are always alone in the Blessed Sacrament, I shall love solitude and try to converse with You as much as possible. Grant that my mind may not seek to know anything but You, that my heart may have no longings or desires but to love You. When I am obliged to take some comfort, I shall take care to see that it be pleasing to Your Heart. In my conversations, O divine Word, I shall consecrate all my words to You so that You will not permit me to pronounce a single one which is not for Your glory.... When I am thirsty, I shall endure it in honor of the thirst You endured for the salvation of souls.... If by chance, I commit some fault, I shall humble myself, and then take the opposite virtue from Your Heart, offering it to the eternal Father in expiation for my failure. All this I intend to do, O Eucharistic Jesus, to unite myself to You in every action of the day.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Albus Dumbledore

Humans have a knack for choosing precisely the things that are worst for them.

Sunday, August 26, 2012

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place for those who love us.

Friday, August 24, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Oh, how well I know that happiness is not found in the things around us. It is found in the secrecy of the soul.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

St. Athanasius

The psalms seem to me to be like a mirror, in which the person using them can see himself, and the stirrings of his own heart; he can recite them against the background of his own emotions.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

St. Teresa of Avila

We always find that those who walked closest to Christ were those who had to bear the greatest trials.

Sunday, August 5, 2012

St. John Chrysostom

Prayer is the place of refuge for every worry, a foundation for cheerfulness, a source of constant happiness, a protection against sadness.

Friday, August 3, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

I picture my soul as a patch of bare ground and I beg the Blessed Virgin to clear it from all rubbish (my imperfections) and then build there a vast pavilion fit for heaven and adorn it with her own jewels.

Thursday, August 2, 2012

St. Augustine

He who devoutly hears holy Mass will receive a great vigor to enable him to resist mortal sin, and there shall be pardoned to him all venial sins which he may have committed up to that hour.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Gaudium et Spes #16

In the depths of his conscience, man detects a law which he does not impose upon himself, but which holds him to obedience. Always summoning him to love good and avoid evil, the voice of conscience when necessary speaks to his heart: do this, shun that. For man has in his heart a law written by God; to obey it is the very dignity of man; according to it he will be judged. Conscience is the most secret core and sanctuary of a man. There he is alone with God, Whose voice echoes in his depths. In a wonderful manner conscience reveals that law which is fulfilled by love of God and neighbor.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Pope Leo XIII

At times, fervent prayer has been the divine weapon of Christians; but, amid the great calamities of the present time, we must more than rekindle in souls the love of prayer, and fly to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, our Saviour.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

St. Augustine

Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Gaudium et Spes #10

The Church firmly believes that Christ, who died and was raised up for all, can through His Spirit offer man the light and the strength to measure up to his supreme destiny. Nor has any other name under the heaven been given to man by which it is fitting for him to be saved. She likewise holds that in her most benign Lord and Master can be found the key, the focal point and the goal of man, as well as of all human history. The Church also maintains that beneath all changes there are many realities which do not change and which have their ultimate foundation in Christ, Who is the same yesterday and today, yes and forever. Hence under the light of Christ, the image of the unseen God, the firstborn of every creature, the council wishes to speak to all men in order to shed light on the mystery of man and to cooperate in finding the solution to the outstanding problems of our time.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

St. Francis de Sales

Make friends with the angels, who though invisible are always with you. Often invoke them, constantly praise them, and make good use of their help and assistance in all your temporal and spiritual affairs.

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

A Prayer for Spiritual Communion

At Thy feet, O my Jesus, I prostrate myself and I offer Thee the repentance of my contrite heart, which is humbled in its nothingness and in Thy holy presence. I adore Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, the ineffable Eucharist. I desire to receive Thee into the poor dwelling that my heart offers Thee. While waiting for the happiness of sacramental Communion, I wish to possess Thee in spirit. Come to me, O my Jesus, since I, for my part, am coming to Thee! May Thy love embrace my whole being in life and in death. I believe in Thee, I hope in Thee, I love Thee. Amen.

Sunday, July 8, 2012

St. Louis Marie de Montfort

We never give more honour to Jesus than when we honour his Mother, and we honour her simply and solely to honour him all the more perfectly. We go to her only as a way leading to the goal we seek - Jesus, her Son.

Friday, July 6, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Oh, how good a thing and how peaceable it is to be silent of others, nor to believe all that is said, nor easily to report what one has heard!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

St. Alphonsus Liguori

When we hear people talk of riches, honors and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end, and let us then say: "My God, I wish for You alone and nothing more."

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Albus Dumbledore

You fail to recognize that it matters not what someone is born, but what they grow to be.

Thursday, June 28, 2012

Presbyterorum Ordinis #1

Priests by sacred ordination and mission which they receive from the bishops are promoted to the service of Christ the Teacher, Priest and King. They share in his ministry, a ministry whereby the Church here on earth is unceasingly built up into the People of God, the Body of Christ and the Temple of the Holy Spirit.

Monday, June 25, 2012

A Prayer for a Good Death

O Jesus, while I adore Your dying breath, I beg You to receive mine. Since I do not know whether I shall have command of my senses when I depart from this world, I offer You even now my last agony and all the sorrows of my passing. I give my soul into Your hands for You are my Father and my Savior. Grant that the last beat of my heart may be an act of perfect love for You. Amen.

Sunday, June 24, 2012

St. Faustina

I received a deeper understanding of divine mercy. Only that soul who wants it will be damned, for God condemns no one.

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Friday, June 22, 2012

Our Lady of Medjugorje

Dear children! I wish to call you to a living of the Holy Mass. There are many of you who have sensed the beauty of the Holy Mass, but there are also those who come unwillingly. I have chosen you, dear children, but Jesus gives you His graces in the Mass. Therefore, consciously live the Holy Mass and let your coming to it be a joyful one. Come to it with love and make the Mass your own. Thank you for having responded to my call.

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

St. John Vianney

When we are before the Blessed Sacrament, instead of looking about us, let us shut our eyes and open our hearts; and the good God will open his. We will go to him, and he will come to us, the one to give, and the other to receive. It will be like a breath passing from one to the other. What delight we find in forgetting ourselves that we may seek God!

Sunday, June 17, 2012

A Prayer

May the most just, the most high, the most lovable Will of God be in all things done, praised and magnified forever. Amen.

Friday, June 15, 2012

St. Bonaventure

O indescribable beauty of the most high God and purest radiance of eternal light! Life that gives all life, light that is the source of every other light, preserving in everlasting splendour the myriad flames that have shone before the throne of your divinity from the dawn of time! Eternal and inaccessible fountain, clear and sweet stream flowing from a hidden spring, unseen by mortal eye! None can fathom your depths nor survey your boundaries, none can measure your breadth, nothing can sully your purity. From you flows ‘the river which gladdens the city of God’ and makes us cry out with joy and thanksgiving in hymns of praise to you, for we know by our own experience that ‘with you is the source of life, and in your light we see light’.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Above all, it is the Gospel which gives me support for all of my prayers. Through the Word, all the needs of my poor soul are met.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

St. Francis de Sales

When you have received Him, stir up your heart to do Him homage; speak to Him about your spiritual life, gazing upon Him in your soul where He is present for your happiness; welcome Him as warmly as possible, and behave outwardly in such a way that your actions may give proof to all of His Presence.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

St. John Vianney

When you awake in the night, transport yourself quickly in spirit before the Tabernacle, saying: "Behold, my God, I come to adore You, to praise, thank, and love you, and to keep you company with all the Angels."

Monday, June 4, 2012

Sabine Baring-Gould

How noticeable in the progress of mankind in knowledge is the fact that before the opening of a door hitherto shut, another that has swung wide for generations should be slammed and double bolted.

Saturday, June 2, 2012

Our Lady of Medjugorje

Dear children, I am continuously among you because, with my endless love, I desire to show you the door of Heaven. I desire to tell you how it is opened: through goodness, mercy, love and peace - through my Son. Therefore, my children, do not waste time on vanities. Only knowledge of the love of my Son can save you. Through that salvific love and the Holy Spirit He chose me and I, together with Him, am choosing you to be apostles of His love and will. My children, great is the responsibility upon you. I desire that by your example you help sinners regain their sight, enrich their poor souls and bring them back into my embrace. Therefore, pray, pray, fast and confess regularly. If receiving my Son in the Eucharist is the center of your life then do not be afraid, you can do everything. I am with you. Every day I pray for the shepherds and I expect the same of you. Because, my children, without their guidance and strengthening through their blessing, you cannot do it. Thank you.

Friday, June 1, 2012

A Prayer for Guidance

Lord Jesus, may everything I do begin with You,
continue with Your help,
and be done under Your guidance.
May my sharing in the Mass free me from my sins,
and make me worthy of Your healing.
May I grow in Your Love and Your service,
and become a pleasing offering to You;
and with You to Your Father.
May the mystery I celebrate help me
to reach eternal life with you.

Monday, May 28, 2012

St. Gregory the Great

The proof of love is in the works. Where love exists, it works great things. But when it ceases to act, it ceases to exist.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

St. Thomas Aquinas

Just as in one man there is one soul and one body, yet many members; even so the Catholic Church is one body, having many members. The soul that quickens this body is the Holy Spirit; and therefore in the Creed after confessing our belief in the Holy Spirit, we are bid to believe in the Holy Catholic Church.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Leave consolations to God, to do with them as best pleaseth Him. But prepare thou thyself to bear tribulations, and account them the greatest consolations.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Vatican II's Apostolicam Actuositatem #33

The most holy council, then, earnestly entreats all the laity in the Lord to answer gladly, nobly, and promptly the more urgent invitation of Christ in this hour and the impulse of the Holy Spirit. Younger persons should feel that this call has been directed to them especially and they should respond to it eagerly and generously. Through this holy synod, the Lord renews His invitation to all the laity to come closer to Him every day, recognizing that what is His is also their own (Phil. 2:5), to associate themselves with Him in His saving mission. Once again He sends them into every town and place where He will come (cf. Luke 10:1) so that they may show that they are co-workers in the various forms and modes of the one apostolate of the Church, which must be constantly adapted to the new needs of our times. Ever productive as they should be in the work of the Lord, they know that their labor in Him is not in vain (cf. 1 Cor. 15:58).

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Friday, May 18, 2012

Apostolicam Actuositatem #4

The perfect example of this type of spiritual and apostolic life is the most Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen of Apostles, who while leading the life common to all here on earth, one filled with family concerns and labors, was always intimately united with her Son and in an entirely unique way cooperated in the work of the Savior. Having now been assumed into heaven, with her maternal charity she cares for these brothers of her Son who are still on their earthly pilgrimage and remain involved in dangers and difficulties until they are led into the happy fatherland. All should devoutly venerate her and commend their life and apostolate to her maternal care.

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Dumbledore

It is our choices...that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Benedict XVI

From Deus Caritas Est:

Holy Mary, Mother of God,
you have given the world its true light,
Jesus, your Son – the Son of God.
You abandoned yourself completely
to God's call
and thus became a wellspring
of the goodness which flows forth from him.
Show us Jesus. Lead us to him.
Teach us to know and love him,
so that we too can become
capable of true love
and be fountains of living water
in the midst of a thirsting world.

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

St. Bernardine of Siena

Prayer is the best preparation for Holy Communion. Prayer is the raising of the mind to God. When we pray we go to meet Christ Who is coming to us. If our Creator and Savior comes from heaven with such great love, it is only fitting that we should go to meet Him. And this is what we do when we spend some time in prayer.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Thou art the true peace of the heart, Thou art its only rest; outside of Thee all things are hard and uneasy.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

St. Faustina

O Light Eternal, who come to this earth, enlighten my mind and strengthen my will that I may not give up in times of great affliction. May Your light dissipate all the shadows of doubt. May Your omnipotence act through me. I trust in You, O uncreated Light!

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Vatican II's Nostra Aetate #5

We cannot truly call on God, the Father of all, if we refuse to treat in a brotherly way any man, created as he is in the image of God. Man's relation to God the Father and his relation to men his brothers are so linked together that Scripture says: 'He who does not love does not know God' (1 John 4:8).

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Friday, April 27, 2012

Benedict XVI

It is important to recognize dissent for what it is, and not to mistake it for a mature contribution to a balanced and wide-ranging debate. It is the truth revealed through Scripture and Tradition and articulated by the Church’s Magisterium that sets us free. Cardinal Newman realized this, and he left us an outstanding example of faithfulness to revealed truth by following that 'kindly light' wherever it led him, even at considerable personal cost. Great writers and communicators of his stature and integrity are needed in the Church today, and it is my hope that devotion to him will inspire many to follow in his footsteps.

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

St. Gerard Majella

Who except God can give you peace? Has the world ever been able to satisfy the heart?

Monday, April 23, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Enjoy in peace the joy God is giving you, without worrying about the future. He is reserving for you, I am sure, new graces and many consolations.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

St. Augustine

Therefore do not seek to understand in order to believe, but believe that thou mayest understand.

Saturday, April 21, 2012

St. Anselm

O Lord our God, grant us grace to desire Thee with our whole heart; that,
so desiring, we may seek, and, seeking, find Thee; and so finding Thee,
may love Thee; and loving Thee, may hate those sins from which Thou hast
redeemed. Amen.

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Vatican II's Optatam Totius #2

The duty of fostering vocations pertains to the whole Christian community, which should exercise it above all by a fully Christian life. The principal contributors to this are the families which, animated by the spirit of faith and love and by the sense of duty, become a kind of initial seminary, and the parishes in whose rich life the young people take part. Teachers and all those who are in any way in charge of the training of boys and young men, especially Catholic associations, should carefully guide the young people entrusted to them so that these will recognize and freely accept a divine vocation. All priests especially are to manifest an apostolic zeal in fostering vocations and are to attract the interest of youths to the priesthood by their own life lived in a humble and industrious manner and in a happy spirit as well as by mutual priestly charity and fraternal sharing of labor.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

St. Faustina

You have surrounded my life with Your tender and loving care, more than I can comprehend, for I will understand Your goodness in its entirety only when the veil is lifted. I desire that my whole life be but one act of thanksgiving to You, O God.

Friday, April 13, 2012

St. Francis de Sales

Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew.

Tuesday, April 10, 2012

John Cardinal O'Connor

The Christ of Bethlehem
is the Christ of Galilee,
is the Christ of the Crucifixion,
is the Christ of the Resurrection,
is the Christ of the Eucharist...

Sunday, April 8, 2012

St. Melito of Sardis

The Lord, though he was God, became man. He suffered for the sake of whose who suffer, he was bound for those in bonds, condemned for the guilty, buried for those who lie in the grave; but he rose from the dead, and cried aloud: "Who will contend with me? Let him confront me." I have freed the condemned, brought the dead back to life, raised men from their graves. Who has anything to say against me? I, he said, am the Christ; I have destroyed death, triumphed over the enemy, trampled hell underfoot, bound the strong one, and taken men up to the heights of heaven: I am the Christ.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

St. Thomas More

Grant me, my Lord, a desire to be with You, not so as to avoid the calamities of this world, nor even to avoid the pains of purgatory nor those of hell, not to gain the joys of Heaven, not out of consideration for my own profit, but simply through true love for Thee.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

St. Justin Martyr

This food we call the Eucharist, of which no one is allowed to partake except one who believes that the things we teach are true, and has received the washing for forgiveness of sins and for rebirth, and who lives as Christ handed down to us. For we do not receive these things as common bread or common drink; but as Jesus Christ our Savior being incarnate by God's Word took flesh and blood for our salvation, so also we have been taught that the food consecrated by the Word of prayer which comes from him, from which our flesh and blood are nourished by transformation, is the flesh and blood of that incarnate Jesus.

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

C.S. Lewis

I do not wish the ordinary reader to read no modern books. But if he must read only the new or only the old, I would advise him to read the old….We may be sure that the characteristic blindness of the twentieth century—the blindness about which posterity will ask, 'But how could they have thought that?'—lies where we have never suspected it. …None of us can fully escape this blindness, but we shall certainly increase it, and weaken our guard against it, if we read only modern books. Where they are true they will give us truths which we half knew already. Where they are false they will aggravate the error with which we are already dangerously ill. The only palliative is to keep the clean sea breeze of the centuries blowing through our minds, and this can be done only by reading old books"

Sunday, April 1, 2012

Prayer in Times of Disappointment

O God, you know me better than I know myself
and you know how disappointed I have been at this time.

The things that I had set my heart on
were not for me.

The friends I trusted proved untrue.

I honestly tried so hard,
and yet I failed.

Help me, O God,
To accept things as they are.
Help me not to waste my time
on vain regrets and unhappy memories.

Help me to begin again
and to try again.

Help me always to look forward
and not back.

Help me to forget the things
that are behind and
Ever to press forward
to the things which are ahead.

This I ask for your love’s sake, Amen.

Friday, March 30, 2012

Ludwig von Beethoven

Then let us all do what is right, strive with all our might toward the unattainable, develop as fully as we can the gifts God has given us, and never stop learning.

Thursday, March 29, 2012

Mother Teresa

The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in Heaven, and will help bring about everlasting peace on earth...

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Prayer to Know the Will of God

Lord, what is Your will that I do? I am completely open to Your plan for me. I desire to live only in You and to be guided by You forever. Grant that Your holy wll may be carried out perfectly in me.

St. Jane Frances de Chantal

Friday, March 23, 2012

O Salutaris Hostia

O saving Victim, open wide
The gate of Heaven to us below,
Our foes press on ev'ry side;
Your aid supply, your strength bestow.

To your great name be enless praise,
Immortal Godhead, One in Thee;
O grant us endless length of days
In our true native land to be. Amen

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Learn, for the Creator's sake, to overcome thyself in all things; and then thou shalt be able to attain to the knowledge of God.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Orientalium Ecclesiarum

The faithful are bound to take part on Sundays and feast days in the Divine Liturgy or, according to the regulations or custom of their own rite, in the celebration of the Divine Office. That the faithful may be able more easily to fulfill their obligation, it is laid down that the period of time within which the precept should be observed extends from the Vespers of the vigil to the end of the Sunday or the feast day. The faithful are earnestly exhorted to receive Holy Communion on these days, and indeed more frequently-yes, even daily.

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Sunday, March 11, 2012

St. Catherine of Siena

O inestimable charity! Even as You, true God and true Man, gave Yourself entirely to us, so also You left Yourself entirely for us, to be our food, so that during our earthly pilgrimage we would not faint with weariness, but would be strengthened by You, our celestial Bread. O man, what has your God left you? He has left you Himself, wholly God and wholly Man, concealed under the whiteness of bread. O fire of love! Was it not enough for You to have created us to Your image and likeness, and to have recreated us in grace through the Blood of Your Son, without giving Yourself wholly to us as our Food, O God, Divine Essence? What impelled You to do this? Your charity alone. It was not enough for You to send Your Word to us for our redemption; neither were You content to give Him us as our Food, but in the excess of Your love for Your creature, You gave to man the whole divine essence...

Saturday, March 10, 2012

Prayer for Patience

God, teach me to be patient, teach me to go slow,
Teach me how to wait on You when my way I do not know.

Teach me sweet forbearance when things do not go right
So I remain unruffled when others grow uptight.

Teach me how to quiet my racing, rising heart
So I might hear the answer You are trying to impart.

Teach me to let go, dear God, and pray undisturbed until
My heart is filled with inner peace and I learn to know Your will.
Amen.

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

St. Irenaeus

From the beginning God created man out of his own generosity. He chose the patriarchs to give them salvation. He took his people in hand, teaching them, unteachable as they were, to follow him. He gave them prophets, accustoming man to bear his Spirit and to have communion with God on earth. He who stands in need of no one gave communion with himself to those who need him. Like an architect he outlined the plan of salvation to those who sought to please him. By his own hand he gave food in Egypt to those who did not see him. To those who were restless in the desert he gave a law perfectly suited to them. To those who entered the land of prosperity he gave a worthy inheritance. He killed the fatted calf for those who turned to him as Father, and clothed them with the finest garment. In so many ways he was training the human race to take part in the harmonious song of salvation.

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Psalm 130:5-6

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in His word I hope; my soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for the morning, more than watchmen for the morning.

Monday, March 5, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Our fulcrum is God: our lever, prayer; prayer which burns with love. With that we can lift the world!

Saturday, March 3, 2012

St. Katharine Drexel

And here is the passive way – to be filled unto the fullness of God. The passive way – I abandon myself to it, not in a multiplicity of trials, extraordinary penances accomplished, practices of great works – but in peaceful abandonment to the tenderness of Jesus, which I must try to imitate, and by being in constant union with his meek and humble heart.

Friday, March 2, 2012

Lumen Gentium #40

Thus it is evident to everyone, that all the faithful of Christ of whatever rank or status, are called to the fullness of the Christian life and to the perfection of charity; by this holiness as such a more human manner of living is promoted in this earthly society. In order that the faithful may reach this perfection, they must use their strength accordingly as they have received it, as a gift from Christ. They must follow in His footsteps and conform themselves to His image seeking the will of the Father in all things. They must devote themselves with all their being to the glory of God and the service of their neighbor. In this way, the holiness of the People of God will grow into an abundant harvest of good, as is admirably shown by the life of so many saints in Church history.

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

St. Faustina

Only love has meaning; it raises up our smallest actions into infinity.

Sunday, February 26, 2012

St. Augustine

O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that you may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.

Friday, February 24, 2012

From Today's Office of Readings

To begin on this path, start by adorning your house with modesty and humility. Make it shine brightly with the light of justice. Decorate it with the gold leaf of good works, with the jewels of faithfulness and greatness of heart. Finally, to make the house perfect, raise a gable above it all, a gable of prayer. Thus you will have prepared a pure and sparkling house for the Lord. Receive the Lord into this royal and splendid dwelling — in other words: receive, by his grace, his image into the temple of your soul.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Morning Prayer from Today's Divine Office

Lord,
may everything we do
begin with Your inspiration,
continue with Your help,
and reach perfection under Your guidance.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Amen.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Prayer of Reparation

Most loving Jesus, when I consider your tender heart and see it full of mercy and tenderness toward sinners, my own heart is filled with joy and confidence that I shall be so kindly welcomed by You. Unfortunately, how many times have I sinned! But now, with Peter and with Magdalene, I weep for my sins and detest them because they offend You, infinite Goodness. Mercifully grant me pardon for them all; and let me die rather than offend You again; at least let me live only to love You in return. Amen.

Friday, February 17, 2012

A Little Inspiration

Sometimes you have to stop worrying, wondering, and doubting. Have faith that things will work out, maybe not how you planned, but just how it's meant to be.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Inter Mirifica #13

All the children of the Church should join, without delay and with the greatest effort in a common work to make effective use of the media of social communication in various apostolic endeavors, as circumstances and conditions demand. They should anticipate harmful developments, especially in regions where more urgent efforts to advance morality and religion are needed.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Prayer for Stressful Times

Lord, I'm just having some trouble managing this stressful time in my life. The stress is just getting to be too much for me, and I need your strength to get me through. I know you are a pillar for me to lean on in tough times, and I pray that you will continue to provide me with ways to make my life a little less burdensome.

Lord, I pray that you provide me your hand and walk me through the dark times. I ask that you reduce the burdens in my life or show me the path to get things done or rid myself of the things weighing me down. Thank you, Lord, for all you do in my life and how you will provide for me, even in these stressful times.

(By Kelli Mahoney at "Christian Teens")

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Catechism #89-90

There is an organic link between our spiritual life and the dogmas. The dogmas are lights on the road of our faith, they enlighten it and make it sure. Conversely, if our life is upright, our mind and our heart are open to receive the light of the dogmas of faith. The mutual links and the coherence of the dogmas can be found in the totality of the revelation of the mystery of Christ.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Plato

The feeling of wonder is the touchstone of the philosopher, and all philosophy has its origins in wonder.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Sacrosanctum Concilium

At the Last Supper, on the night when He was betrayed, our Saviour instituted the eucharistic sacrifice of His Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the Cross throughout the centuries until He should come again, and so to entrust to His beloved spouse, the Church, a memorial of His death and resurrection: a sacrament of love, a sign of unity, a bond of charity, a paschal banquet in which Christ is eaten, the mind is filled with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

A Prayer for Patience

Lord, teach me to be patient - with life, with people,and with myself. I sometimes try to hurry things along too much, and I push for answers before the time is right. Teach me to trust Your sense of timing rather than my ownand to surrender my will to Your greater and wiser plan. Help me let life unfold slowly, like the small rosebud whose petals unravel bit by bit, and remind me that in hurrying the bloom along, I destroy the bud and much of the beauty therein.

Instead, let me wait for all to unfold in its own time. Each moment and state of growth contains a loveliness. Teach me to slow down enough to appreciate life and all it holds. Amen.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

My penance consisted in breaking my will, always so ready to impose itself on others, in holding back a reply, in rendering little services without recognition.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

St. Augustine

The prayer of the just is the key of Heaven; the petition ascends, and the mercy of God descends.

Friday, January 27, 2012

St. Francis de Sales

Make yourself familiar with the angels, and behold them frequently in spirit; for without being seen, they are present with you.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Catechism #2725

Prayer is both a gift of grace and a determined response on our part. It always presupposes effort.

Monday, January 23, 2012

St. Therese of Lisieux

Jesus points out to me the only way which leads to Love's furnace - that way is self-surrender - it is the confidence of the little child who sleeps without fear in its father's arms.

Sunday, January 22, 2012

St. Gregory of Nyssa

He who climbs never stops going from beginning to beginning, through beginnings that have no end. He never stops desiring what he already knows.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

A Prayer for Patience and Gentleness by Johann Arndt

Bestow on me, O Lord, a genial spirit and unwearied forbearance;
a mild, loving, patient heart;
kindly looks, pleasant cordial speech, and manners
in the exchange of daily life;
that I may give offence to none,
but...live in charity with all men.

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

St. Mark the Ascetic

He who speaks rightly should recognize that he receives the words from God. For the truth belongs not to him who speaks, but to God who is energizing him.

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Charles de Foucauld

Father, I abandon myself into your hands; 
Do with me whatever you will.
Whatever you may do, I thank you;
I am ready for all, I accept all. 
Let only your will be done in me, 
And in all your creatures - 
I wish no more than this, O Lord. 
Into your hands I commend my spirit; 
I offer it to you with all the love of my heart, 
For I do love you, Lord, 
And so need to give myself, 
To surrender myself into your hands, 
Without reserve, 
And with boundless confidence, 
For you are my Father.

Sunday, January 15, 2012

John Paul II

True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement.

Saturday, January 14, 2012

Venerable Louis of Granada

When the sky is free from clouds, we can see more clearly the brightness of the sun. In like manner, when the soul is free from sin and the gloom of passion, it participates in the divine light.

Thursday, January 12, 2012

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross

God Himself teaches us to go forward with our hand in His by means of the Church's liturgy.

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

St. Irenaeus

The Father’s purpose in revealing the Son was to make himself known to us all and so to welcome into eternal rest those who believe in him, establishing them in justice, preserving them from death. To believe in him means to do his will.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

A Prayer for Epiphany

Father of light, unchanging God,
today You reveal to men of faith
the resplendent fact of the Word made flesh.
Your light is strong,
Your love is near;
draw us beyond the limits which this world imposes,
to the life where Your Spirit makes all life complete.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Saturday, January 7, 2012

St. Isidore of Seville

Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

George MacDonald

As cold as everything looks in winter, the sun has not forsaken us. He has only drawn away for a little, for good reasons, one of which is that we may learn that we cannot do without him.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

A Prayer

Libera me, Domine Iesu Christe, ab omnibus iniquitatibus meis et universis malis, fac me tuis semper inhaerere mandatis et a te numquam separari permittas.

Deliver me, Lord Jesus Christ, from all my iniquities and from every evil, make me ever hold fast to Thy commandments and never allow me to be separated from Thee.