31 December 2021 Mark of Holiness
The world calls for and expects from us simplicity of life, the spirit
of prayer, charity towards all, especially towards the lowly and the poor,
obedience and humility. Without this mark of holiness, our word will have
difficulty in touching the heart of modern man. It risks being vain and
sterile.
Blessed Pope Paul VI
30 December 2021 On Trials
The difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way we look at them – through faith or unbelief – that makes them seem so. We must be convinced that our Father is full of love for us and that He only permits trials to come our way for our own good.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
The difficulties of life do not have to be unbearable. It is the way we look at them – through faith or unbelief – that makes them seem so. We must be convinced that our Father is full of love for us and that He only permits trials to come our way for our own good.
Brother Lawrence (1614-1691)
29 December 2021 The Wexford Carol
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God's angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
'Prepare and go, ' the angels said
'To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you'll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went, this babe to find
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of life
Who came on earth to end all strife
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas Day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
Near Bethlehem did shepherds keep
Their flocks of lambs and feeding sheep
To whom God's angels did appear
Which put the shepherds in great fear
'Prepare and go, ' the angels said
'To Bethlehem, be not afraid
For there you'll find, this happy morn
A princely babe, sweet Jesus born
With thankful heart and joyful mind
The shepherds went, this babe to find
And as God's angel had foretold
They did our saviour Christ behold
Within a manger he was laid
And by his side the virgin maid
Attending on the Lord of life
Who came on earth to end all strife
Good people all, this Christmas time
Consider well and bear in mind
What our good God for us has done
In sending his beloved Son
With Mary holy we should pray
To God with love this Christmas day
In Bethlehem upon that morn
There was a blessed Messiah born
27 December 2021 Seasons of the Soul
I see that all of the seasons of the year converge in your soul: at times you experience all the dryness, distraction, disgust and boredom of winter; at other times, all the dew and fragrance of the little flowers in May time; and again, the warmth of a desire to please God. All that remains is autumn, and you say that you do not see much of its fruit. Yet it often happens that in threshing the wheat and pressing the grapes we discover more than the harvest or vintage promised. You would like it to be always spring or summer; but no, dear daughter, we have to experience interior as well as exterior changes. Only in heaven will everything be springtime as to beauty, autumn as to enjoyment and summer as to love. There will be no winter there; but here below we need winter so that we may practice self-denial and the countless small but beautiful virtues that can be practiced during a barren season. Let us go on our little way; so long as we mean well and hold on to our resolve, we can only be on the right track.
Saint Francis de Sales
I see that all of the seasons of the year converge in your soul: at times you experience all the dryness, distraction, disgust and boredom of winter; at other times, all the dew and fragrance of the little flowers in May time; and again, the warmth of a desire to please God. All that remains is autumn, and you say that you do not see much of its fruit. Yet it often happens that in threshing the wheat and pressing the grapes we discover more than the harvest or vintage promised. You would like it to be always spring or summer; but no, dear daughter, we have to experience interior as well as exterior changes. Only in heaven will everything be springtime as to beauty, autumn as to enjoyment and summer as to love. There will be no winter there; but here below we need winter so that we may practice self-denial and the countless small but beautiful virtues that can be practiced during a barren season. Let us go on our little way; so long as we mean well and hold on to our resolve, we can only be on the right track.
Saint Francis de Sales
26 December 2021 Humble Yourself
Let the whole world of mankind tremble the whole world shake and the
heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is on the altar in the
hands of a priest. O admirable heights and sublime lowliness! O sublime
humility! O humble sublimity! That the Lord of the universe, God and the Son of
God, so humbles Himself that for our salvation He hides Himself under the
little form of bread! Look, brothers, at the humility of God and pour out your
hearts before Him! Humble yourselves, as well, that you may be exalted by Him.
Therefore, hold back nothing of yourselves for yourselves so that He Who gives
Himself totally to you may receive you totally.
Saint Francis of Assisi
25 December 2021 Nativity Collect
O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
O God, You make us glad with the yearly remembrance of the birth of Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Grant that as we joyfully receive Him as our Redeemer, we may with sure confidence behold Him when He comes to be our Judge; through the same Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
24 December 2021 Nativity Sermon
Leo the Great (5th Century)
Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.
No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.
In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God's wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its Creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind.
And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God's goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?
Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh.
Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God's kingdom.
Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.
Leo the Great (5th Century)
Dearly beloved, today our Savior is born; let us rejoice. Sadness should have no place on the birthday of life. The fear of death has been swallowed up; life brings us joy with the promise of eternal happiness.
No one is shut out from this joy; all share the same reason for rejoicing. Our Lord, victor over sin and death, finding no man free from sin, came to free us all. Let the saint rejoice as he sees the palm of victory at hand. Let the sinner be glad as he receives the offer of forgiveness. Let the pagan take courage as he is summoned to life.
In the fullness of time, chosen in the unfathomable depths of God's wisdom, the Son of God took for himself our common humanity in order to reconcile it with its Creator. He came to overthrow the devil, the origin of death, in that very nature by which he had overthrown mankind.
And so at the birth of our Lord the angels sing in joy: Glory to God in the highest, and they proclaim peace to men of good will as they see the heavenly Jerusalem being built from all the nations of the world. When the angels on high are so exultant at this marvelous work of God's goodness, what joy should it not bring to the lowly hearts of men?
Beloved, let us give thanks to God the Father, through his Son, in the Holy Spirit, because in his great love for us he took pity on us, and when we were dead in our sins he brought us to life with Christ, so that in him we might be a new creation. Let us throw off our old nature and all its ways and, as we have come to birth in Christ, let us renounce the works of the flesh.
Christian, remember your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition. Bear in mind who is your head and of whose body you are a member. Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God's kingdom.
Through the sacrament of baptism you have become a temple of the Holy Spirit. Do not drive away so great a guest by evil conduct and become again a slave to the devil, for your liberty was bought by the blood of Christ.
16 December 2021
Creator of the Stars of Night
Creator of the stars of night,
thy people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer, save us all,
and hear Thy servants when they call.
Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
should doom to death a universe,
hast found the healing, full of grace,
to cure and save our ruined race.
Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the bride,
as drew the world to evening-tide;
the spotless victim all divine.
proceeding from a virgin shrine.
At whose dread name, majestic now,
all knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
All things celestial Thee shall own,
and things terrestrial, Lord alone.
O Thou whose coming is with dread
to judge the living and the dead,
preserve us from the ancient foe
while still we dwell on earth below.
To God the Father and the Son,
and Holy Spirit, Three in One,
praise, honor, might, and glory be
from age to age eternally. Amen.
Creator of the Stars of Night
Creator of the stars of night,
thy people’s everlasting light,
O Christ, Redeemer, save us all,
and hear Thy servants when they call.
Thou, grieving that the ancient curse
should doom to death a universe,
hast found the healing, full of grace,
to cure and save our ruined race.
Thou cam’st, the Bridegroom of the bride,
as drew the world to evening-tide;
the spotless victim all divine.
proceeding from a virgin shrine.
At whose dread name, majestic now,
all knees must bend, all hearts must bow;
All things celestial Thee shall own,
and things terrestrial, Lord alone.
O Thou whose coming is with dread
to judge the living and the dead,
preserve us from the ancient foe
while still we dwell on earth below.
To God the Father and the Son,
and Holy Spirit, Three in One,
praise, honor, might, and glory be
from age to age eternally. Amen.
15 December 2021 Coram Deo
We lose nothing by living generously, nobly, courteously and with a royal, just and reasonable heart. Resolve to examine your heart often to see if it such toward your neighbor as you would like your neighbor’s to be toward you were you in your neighbor’s place.
Saint Francis de Sales
We lose nothing by living generously, nobly, courteously and with a royal, just and reasonable heart. Resolve to examine your heart often to see if it such toward your neighbor as you would like your neighbor’s to be toward you were you in your neighbor’s place.
Saint Francis de Sales
14 December 2021 Dealing With
Misfortunes
A man of discernment, meditating on the healing Divine Providence, bears with thanksgiving the misfortunes that come to him. He sees their causes in his own sins, and not in anyone else. But a mindless man, when he sins and receives the punishment for it, considers the cause of his misfortune to be God, or people, not understanding God’s care for him.
Saint Maximos the Confessor (580-662)
A man of discernment, meditating on the healing Divine Providence, bears with thanksgiving the misfortunes that come to him. He sees their causes in his own sins, and not in anyone else. But a mindless man, when he sins and receives the punishment for it, considers the cause of his misfortune to be God, or people, not understanding God’s care for him.
Saint Maximos the Confessor (580-662)
11 December 2021 By God’s Grace
It is true that it is by God’s grace that we are what we are and by God’s grace we have been preserved from countless calamities of our own making. Even though we fall short of our own hopes and expectations, it is by God’s grace that we are what we are. God has a plan for us, of which we have only the sketchiest knowledge. Let us allow God to get on with the work and not delay its outcome either by taking credit for what meets with our approval or by becoming downcast when we are plunged into the mystery of our own resistance.
Michael Casey (1942-
It is true that it is by God’s grace that we are what we are and by God’s grace we have been preserved from countless calamities of our own making. Even though we fall short of our own hopes and expectations, it is by God’s grace that we are what we are. God has a plan for us, of which we have only the sketchiest knowledge. Let us allow God to get on with the work and not delay its outcome either by taking credit for what meets with our approval or by becoming downcast when we are plunged into the mystery of our own resistance.
Michael Casey (1942-
6 December 2021
Our Holiness and Our Comfort at the Grave
1 Thessalonians 4
A Life Pleasing to God
4 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
The Coming of the Lord
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
Our Holiness and Our Comfort at the Grave
1 Thessalonians 4
A Life Pleasing to God
4 Finally, then, brothers, we ask and urge you in the Lord Jesus, that as you received from us how you ought to walk and to please God, just as you are doing, that you do so more and more. 2 For you know what instructions we gave you through the Lord Jesus. 3 For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality; 4 that each one of you know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God; 6 that no one transgress and wrong his brother in this matter, because the Lord is an avenger in all these things, as we told you beforehand and solemnly warned you. 7 For God has not called us for impurity, but in holiness. 8 Therefore whoever disregards this, disregards not man but God, who gives his Holy Spirit to you.
9 Now concerning brotherly love you have no need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another, 10 for that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, 11 and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, 12 so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.
The Coming of the Lord
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. 14 For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. 15 For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore encourage one another with these words.
3 December 2021 On Love
Love often knows no limits but overflows all bounds. Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of troubles, attempts more than it is able, and does not plead impossibility, because it believes that it may and can do all things. For this reason, it is able to do all, performing and effecting much where he who does not love fails and falls.
2
December 2021 Means of Trial
Saint Augustine
1 December 2021 On the Soul
The soul is like a ship: sometimes it is sunk by a mighty swell from without, sometimes from within because the bilge is overflowing. So too are we sometimes lost through sinful practices on the outside, sometimes defiled by logismoi [evil thoughts] within. So we must watch out for the attacks of the spirits from outside and drain off the impurities of the logismoi within.
Saint Synkletike (a Desert Mother)
The soul is like a ship: sometimes it is sunk by a mighty swell from without, sometimes from within because the bilge is overflowing. So too are we sometimes lost through sinful practices on the outside, sometimes defiled by logismoi [evil thoughts] within. So we must watch out for the attacks of the spirits from outside and drain off the impurities of the logismoi within.
Saint Synkletike (a Desert Mother)
29 November 2021 On Humility
Humility consists in considering oneself to be nothing in all circumstances, cutting off one’s will in all things, accusing oneself of everything, and bearing without confusion that which befalls him from without. Such is true humility, in which vainglory finds no place. A humble man doesn’t need to try to show his humility in words, nor does he need to make himself do humble deeds, for both of these lead to vainglory, hinder progress, and cause more harm than good. But when they command anything, it is necessary not to contradict, but to fulfill it with obedience. This is what leads to success.
Saint John the Prophet (Sixth Century)
Humility consists in considering oneself to be nothing in all circumstances, cutting off one’s will in all things, accusing oneself of everything, and bearing without confusion that which befalls him from without. Such is true humility, in which vainglory finds no place. A humble man doesn’t need to try to show his humility in words, nor does he need to make himself do humble deeds, for both of these lead to vainglory, hinder progress, and cause more harm than good. But when they command anything, it is necessary not to contradict, but to fulfill it with obedience. This is what leads to success.
Saint John the Prophet (Sixth Century)
28 November 2021 Hold Fast
God is not accustomed to refusing a good gift to those who ask for one. Since God is good, and especially to those who are faithful to him, let us hold fast to him with all our soul, our heart, our strength, and so enjoy his light and see his glory and possess the grace of supernatural joy.
Ambrose of Milan
God is not accustomed to refusing a good gift to those who ask for one. Since God is good, and especially to those who are faithful to him, let us hold fast to him with all our soul, our heart, our strength, and so enjoy his light and see his glory and possess the grace of supernatural joy.
Ambrose of Milan
25 November 2021 On Prayer
You write, “To pray is to talk with God. But about what?” About what? About Him, about yourself—joys, sorrows, successes and failures, noble ambitions, daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgiving and petitions—and Love and reparation. In a word, to get to know him and to get to know yourself—”to get acquainted!”
Saint Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975)
You write, “To pray is to talk with God. But about what?” About what? About Him, about yourself—joys, sorrows, successes and failures, noble ambitions, daily worries, weaknesses! And acts of thanksgiving and petitions—and Love and reparation. In a word, to get to know him and to get to know yourself—”to get acquainted!”
Saint Josemaría Escrivá (1902-1975)
21 November 2021
Fight the Good Fight
Fight the good fight until you reach the end, clinging fast to those
qualities that will assure your passage to love’s goal. I mean: love of
humankind, brotherly and sisterly love, hospitality, love of the poor,
compassion, mercy, humility, meekness, gentleness, patience, freedom from
anger, long-suffering, perseverance, kindness, forbearance, goodwill and peace
towards all. Out of these and through these the grace of love is fashioned,
which leads one to God who deifies the human being that He Himself fashioned.
20 November 2021 To Do
When you pray, be humble.
When you confess, be honest.
When you do penance, do it indefatigably.
When you eat, be sensible.
When you sleep, be disciplined.
When you are alone, be faithful.
When you are with others, be discreet.
When someone teaches you good manners, be receptive.
When someone reprimands you for your mistakes, be patient.
When you do something bad, ask forgiveness immediately.
When you are full of self-absorbed pride, fear for the health of your soul.
When you are sad, trust in God completely.
When you are doing manual work, work hard.
because hard work drives off every evil thought.
Mechthild of Magdeburg (Thirteenth Century)
When you pray, be humble.
When you confess, be honest.
When you do penance, do it indefatigably.
When you eat, be sensible.
When you sleep, be disciplined.
When you are alone, be faithful.
When you are with others, be discreet.
When someone teaches you good manners, be receptive.
When someone reprimands you for your mistakes, be patient.
When you do something bad, ask forgiveness immediately.
When you are full of self-absorbed pride, fear for the health of your soul.
When you are sad, trust in God completely.
When you are doing manual work, work hard.
because hard work drives off every evil thought.
Mechthild of Magdeburg (Thirteenth Century)
19 November 2021 On Meekness
Nothing is more powerful than meekness. For as fire is extinguished by water, so a mind inflated by anger is subdued by meekness. By meekness we practice and make known our virtue, and also cause the indignation of our brother to cease, and deliver his mind from perturbation.
Saint John Chrysostom
Nothing is more powerful than meekness. For as fire is extinguished by water, so a mind inflated by anger is subdued by meekness. By meekness we practice and make known our virtue, and also cause the indignation of our brother to cease, and deliver his mind from perturbation.
Saint John Chrysostom
18 November 2021 The New Creation
For to despise the present age, not to love transitory things, unreservedly to stretch out the mind in humility to God and our neighbor, to preserve patience against offered insults and, with patience guarded, to repel the pain of malice from the heart, to give one’s property to the poor, not to covet that of others, to esteem the friend in God, on God’s account to love even those who are hostile, to mourn at the affliction of a neighbor, not to exult in the death of one who is an enemy, this is the new creature whom the Master of the nations seeks with watchful eye amid the other disciples, saying: “If, then, any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away. Behold all things are made new.” (2Cor. 5:17)
Saint Gregory the Great
For to despise the present age, not to love transitory things, unreservedly to stretch out the mind in humility to God and our neighbor, to preserve patience against offered insults and, with patience guarded, to repel the pain of malice from the heart, to give one’s property to the poor, not to covet that of others, to esteem the friend in God, on God’s account to love even those who are hostile, to mourn at the affliction of a neighbor, not to exult in the death of one who is an enemy, this is the new creature whom the Master of the nations seeks with watchful eye amid the other disciples, saying: “If, then, any be in Christ a new creature, the old things are passed away. Behold all things are made new.” (2Cor. 5:17)
Saint Gregory the Great
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