I am finally happy to announce the availability of my newest publication: Devotion to the Blessed Virgin by Le Pere de Gallifet.

Scroll down, to find direct links to the work. But before you do consider helping in this endeavor which I have spoken of before on this blog. As many of you know, I have thanks to the generosity of many readers provided a copy of a fruitful pocket-size edition of meditations on the Passion to over 140 seminarians, priests and religious (some more copies have been recently handed out)!! BUT I want to provide copies to even more seminarians… I have heard so much gratitude from the seminarians who have already received a copy.

So many are discussing and praying in trying to figure out just what needs to be done concerning all of these scandals in the Church. I, too, along with many close to me, have even personally been affected by the news of the sexual abuse by priests, one being the priest who inspired my priestly vocation. I can tell you this though: I, now more than ever, have even greater resolve to be a priest and to be a good and holy priest at that.

This is the answer to the problem, we need to be forming GOOD and HOLY priests. And we need to be praying and sacrificing to this end all the while. I pray that my effort will assist just even one priest to get to heaven, and so I have turned my eyes to the seminaries and want to provide as much support as I can to their spiritual and moral formation. The best way to do this is to teach them how to pray and to hope that they realize that in their conformity to Christ they must keep a lively and loving devotion of Christ’s Passion on their heart.

Can you please consider assisting in this campaign? $15 provides one seminarian with a book. For those who donate $100+, I will provide you with a free copy of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin and your gift will provide 6 seminarians with a copy of the Meditations from the School of Jesus Crucified. If you donate $100+, please leave in the comment on your donation your address and do also share with me what intentions I can pray for. The monthly benefactors’ Mass will be tomorrow for the Feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of St. John Lateran.

Here is a screenshot of the campaign, link is in the caption under the screenshot.

For every $800 reached, I will be able to provide 50 copies to seminarians. I will naturally share on the blog whenever a large quantity is shared to a seminary.

Okay onto the gift you would receive if you donate $100+ to the campaign. Here is a screenshot of the publication, a link to purchase is in the caption under the screenshot.

The work explains of what devotion to Our Lady consists, the motives for this devotion and the truth from which it flows. He was a spiritual son of Saint Claude de la Colombiere and oversaw the formation of 700+ confraternities of the Sacred Heart.

The book is hardcover and is 6″ x 9″ at 152 pages. This is the same format as my most recent publication of Flowers of the Passion: St. Paul of the Cross.

I quoted the work of Devotion to the Blessed Virgin in a September 20th post. You can find it here: Praises of Our Lady.

 

 

 

Audio of the Solemn High Mass on the Feast of the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed at Santissima Trinita dei Pellegrini, Rome:

The Lord says: I think thoughts of peace, and not of affliction…

These are the words at the beginning of today’s Mass. To me, it’s as though this is a summation of the entire life of Christ. Let me explain.

So much of our day is an interior one. Yes, we often try to run from what is going on in our minds and in our hearts, but ultimately, when we lay ourselves down at night we cannot escape this interiority. Either, we become sanctified through this daily process or we become tormented and create our own roadblock to our peace. It is apparent that in our modern world, the latter is much more frequent. So many are sad, depressed, angry, impatient, the list goes on, for they are not at peace, and if they continue in their same fashion, they will not reach true peace.

Now to turn to our Lord and the words from the introit: I think thoughts of peace… think about this for a second, think about our Lord thinking. It sounds odd and like a waste of time, but do it. Think on the fact that through the whole life of Christ, in the manger, in the home of Mary and Joseph, in the Temple, in his ministry, in the agony in the garden, the false accusations, the scourging, especially the crowning with thorns, the Ecce Homo, the carrying of the Cross and the Crucifixion, he was thinking about you. We know that it is our sins, your sins, my sins, that caused Christ all this suffering to the giving of his Life. My sins alone are sufficient to have nailed Christ to the Cross; I nailed Christ to the Cross and must recognize this every time I look upon Our Lord Crucified. Christ, however, if I were the only one needing to be saved, would have still suffered all for my redemption. How often do we think on this? When will we begin to care?

And, through it all, Christ was thinking thoughts of peace. We can barely wait behind the person in the grocery line or put up with most other small inconveniences. And yet Christ, giving of himself entirely, was thinking about your transgressions, your weaknesses, your failure to love him and yet he was thinking thoughts of peace. How contrary this is to the ways we choose to love, following solely our preferences and setting a limit to the love we will give. There is a depth and an intimacy to all the moments in the life of Christ, in a sense that which ties everything together in relation to you, of course it’s his love, but also these thoughts of Christ reveal so much when we reflect on our interiority. How much goes on within us that we can’t explain or are never able to share with even family and our closest friends? Well, Christ has shared with you the intimacy of his thoughts, will you pause and take some time to reflect and respond in love to Christ, the King and Giver of Peace?

The Blessed Virgin appeared to Pope John XXII and, speaking of those who wear the Brown Scapular, said,

I, the Mother of Grace, shall descend on the Saturday after their death and whomsoever I shall find in purgatory I shall free so that I may lead them to the holy mountain of life everlasting.

For the first Saturday Devotions: HERE.

Prayer of Saint Gertrude:

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; And let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen

For the First Friday devotions please go HERE.

Reminder concerning the indulgences in these days:

One of the spiritual works of mercy is to pray for the Faithful Departed, who can do no more for themselves. There are plenary indulgences assigned to this season, outlined in the Enchiridion, which you may obtain for the Holy Souls in Purgatory:

1. A plenary indulgence, applicable ONLY to the souls in purgatory, may be obtained by those who, on All Souls Day, piously visit a church, public oratory, or for those entitled to use it, a semi-public oratory. It may be acquired either on the day designated as All Souls Day or, with the consent of the bishop, on the preceding or following Sunday or the feast of All Saints. On visiting the church or oratory it is required that one Our Father and the Creed be recited.

2. You may make a visit to a Cemetery or Columbarium. A plenary indulgence is applicable to the souls in Purgatory when one devoutly visits and prays for the departed. This work may be done each day between November 1 and November 8.

To obtain a Plenary Indulgence, one must fulfill the following requirements:

1. Make a Sacramental Confession,

2. Receive Holy Communion,

3. Offer prayer for the intention of the Holy Father.

From a Sermon by Venerable Bede

Dearly beloved brethren: This day we keep, with one great cry of joy, a Feast in memory of all God’s holy children; His children, whose presence is a gladness to heaven; His children, whose prayers are a blessing to earth; His children, whose victories are the crown of the Holy Church; His chosen, whose testifying is the more glorious in honour, as the agony in which it was given was the sterner in intensity, for as the dreader grew the battle, so the grander grew the fighters, and the triumph of martyrdom waxed the more incisive by the multiplicity of suffering, and the heavier the torment the heavier the prize. And it is our Mother, the Catholic Church, spread far and wide throughout all this planet, it is she that hath learnt, in Christ Jesus her Head, not to fear shame, nor cross, nor death, but hath waxed lealer and lealer, and, not by fighting, but by enduring, hath breathed into all that noble band who have come up to the bitter starting-post the hope of conquest and glory which hath warmed them manfully to accept the race.

These following verses are from the hymn of I Vespers for the Feast of Christ the King. It has been raining quite violently in Rome the past week. Most of us would have experience of the force of a torrent of water, even stepping into a small river gives us a sense of the flowing power of a torrent. So easily we can be swept off our feet and be overcome.

In praying the hymn for Vespers, I was struck by this imagery and then thought on the Heart of Christ. We know that it is from the piercing of His side that the Church was brought forth, in that torrent of Water and Blood pouring from His Sacred Heart. But look at the following verses:

For this, hanging on cruel tree,
With arms outstretched, for all to see;
His heart is pierced by soldier’s spear,
Revealing burning love most dear.

From this the altar of the tree
Thy blood flows forth from Calvary;
As wine to us it doth appear,
To thine own heart it draws us near.

And so, contrary to how we would experience an overcoming torrent, we experience the burning love of Christ, and that burning love of a majestic king whom we have no right to approach except by His invitation in His grace. It is an overflowing flood of love which springs from the side of Christ. It isn’t violent. It isn’t destructive. It only sweeps us off our feet in the sense that it requires us to surrender to His love. It flows out of His side, in a way that it could overcome us, BUT instead this torrent of love draws us near to the Heart of Christ!

Sung First Vespers of the Feast of Christ the King, day 2 of Summorum Pontificum Pilgrimage