Archbishop Sheen Narrates Tridentine High Mass

You guys may want to check this out: http://wdtprs.com/blog/2006/07/archbp-sheen-narrates-tridentine-high-mass/ . I found it interesting.

St. Ignatius of Loyola, pray for us!

Dearest Lord, teach me to be generous, to serve you as you deserve. To give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to laber and not to ask for reward except that of knowing that I am doing your will. AMEN

-St. Ignatius of Loyola

Spain was a country of reformers of religous life. At the time of the Protestant reformation while St. Teresa and St. John of the Cross were reforming the Carmelites, St. Ignatius founded the Society of Jesus, another important reform order.

St. Ignatius wanted to be a soldier and he was wounded in his first major battle. While he was recovering from being hit by a canon ball, he wanted to read stories of chivalry, but the only books on hand were a book about teh life of Jesus and some about the saints. After reading these he had a burning desire to do more with his life. He recovered from his wound and one day found a moore (a muslim man) and tried to convert him to Christianity. Ignatius was not successful and as he was riding away he thought about killing the man. His donkey was at a fork in the road and he said "if the donkey goes right I will try to kill the man. If he goes left I will not." The donkey chose left and took him to a shrine of Our Lady.


Later, Ignatius gathered some men together and formed the Society of Jesus, or the Jesuits. They were a controversial order because in their constitutions Ignatius insisted that the members not be required to assemble in choir seven times each day to pray the breviary. He said that private recitation would be more conducive toward engaging the world. The Jesuit order also took a 4th vow of obedience to the pope. Later, the order was suppressed by a pope and though it was reinstated it never totally recovered.


The Jesuits produced many saints. The North American martyrs (St. Isaac Jogues, John de Brebeuf and their companions), St. Francis Xavier, St. Robert Bellarmine, and St. Aloysius Gonzaga were all Jesuits. The order also were pioneers in seismology (predicting earthquakes). St. Ignatius was an essential part of the counter-reformation and a master of the spiritual life. He wrote the Spiritual Exercises that are still used to this very day as a model for retreats.

Let us pray that through the intercession of St. Ignatius, the charism of the Jesuit order will carried out through its members in the world today.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

We're approximately 50% through the season of Ordinary Time today. The readings for the next several Sundays are coming out of one of my favorite chapters in the Bible...John 6. Today we had the multiplication of the loaves and next we get to jump right in to the "Bread of Life discourse."

I'm pumped....

Just a thought from the second reading:

"I, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live in a manner worthy of the call you have received...."

Are we living our lives as ambasadors for Christ? Are we embracing and living our vocation? The boy in the gospel reading gave all he had so the crowd of 5,000 could be fed. I doesn't take much for God to work a miracle...just our cooperation with His grace.

God bless...

Also, St. Ignatius of Loyola's feast day is tomorrow. Get ready for a post on him.

Some random thoughts about the spiritual life

So...I've been thinking a lot about the spiritual life recently and I've come to three conclusions:

1. God wants us to be great saints.
2. Being a great saint means the cross.
3. Being a great saint is possible.

That said, I've been thinking a lot about my own spiritual life. I pray, go to Mass often, try to live a moral life, but am I really pursuing sanctity with the zeal that motivated the saints? How many times do I rush through my prayers? How often do I allow myself to become distracted? Why will I compromise my morality in certain situations or fail to express my faith for fear of ridicule? How can I be so slow to really love my neighbor with the love I should have? Looking at how much I have grown in the spiritual life from when I began caring about the faith gives me hope for the future, but I am far from the heroic virtue of the saints...I think that this summer I've been beginning to realize just how far we're called to go.

Becoming a saint isn't easy...Christianity cannot be separate from the cross. There can be no love without sacrifice. I feel like God is calling me to another level, but I'm afraid of what that might entail. Totally trusting my life to God might mean more discipline, more sacrifice, more prayer, more effort. The saints tell us that it is possible to reach the heights of holiness...no matter how sinful we may have been. God calls us back...He calls us to a radical conversion.

In his writings at the beginning of the third millenium, John Paul II wrote about not being afraid to "put out into deep waters." We are called to become the saints of the third millenium in a very real way. I think there's a very real temptation (for me at least) to leave heroic virtue for others and try to make it to heaven taking a route of mediocrity. Leukwarmness is a real danger. If not us, then who will be the saints?

On the cross, our Lord said, "I thirst." Many saints have written that He is thirsting for love...thirsting for souls. Let us work to slake this great thirst our God has for love.



My suscipe:

Take O Lord and receive my entire mind, heart, understanding and will. Help me to hold nothing back for myself. I make my entire life an offering to you, almighty God. Set my life on fire with your love. May the fire of your love consume my very being that I might make my life every day a sacrificial offering. If I am called to carry the cross help me to run toward it and lovingly embrace it. Lord, you said that no servant is greater than his master so who am I to flee from suffering when you embraced it so lovingly? Help me never to glory in my own accomplishments, but only in the cross of my redeemer. In all things O Lord, behold your humble servant. Let it be done to me according to your will. Amen

And this is just a great quote:

Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would have not been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace.

-St. Augustine

This is far too good of a story to pass up

Nuns chase suspected thief on bicycles (notice how it says "wearing habits")

Okay...so I accidently deleted my pilgrimage post request for prayers, but that's alright. I'm back, it went well, Our Lady is amazing.


Also - Today is the feast of St. James, Apostle. He was the first apostle to be martyred and was killed by Herod Agrippa. His relics are currently in a cathedral in Compostella, Spain and he is patron of that country.

Prayer for priests

The readings this Sunday talked a lot about shepherds for God's people. Just a reminder to remember to pray for priests that they can carry out the awesome responsibilities that have been entrusted to them.

O Jesus, Eternal Priest;
keep Thy priests within the shelter of Thy Sacred Heart,
where none may touch them.

Keep unstained their anointed hands,
which daily touch Thy Sacred Body.

Keep unsullied their lips,
daily purpled with Thy Precious Blood.

Keep pure and unworldly their hearts,
sealed with the sublime mark of the priesthood.

Let Thy holy love surround them from the world's contagion.

Bless their labors with abundant fruit,
and may the souls to whom they minister be their joy and consolation here
and their everlasting crown hereafter.

Mary, Queen of the Clergy, pray for us: obtain for us numerous and holy priests.

AMEN

The Colbert Report

Via a post in Amy Welborn's blog I found some very interesting links about comedian Stephen Colbert, who apparently is a practicing Catholic who, while satiring religion occasionally, has never really expressed any open hostility to the Catholic faith. Anyway, I *highly* recommend "Stephen Colbert does liturgical dance."

The Martyrs of Compiegne - Bl. Teresa of St. Augustine and Her Companions

You are all probably tired about hearing about these Carmelite feast days, but this one was too good to pass up. (American) Jenny told me about these martyrs awhile ago, but I kind of forgot about them until I went to Mass today and found out it was their feast day.

Here's a quick summary:

The French revolution was a dark time for the Church in France. Churches were converted into storage houses or temples worshipping "reason" as a god. Religious icons were replaced with icons dedicated to human wisdom, the stones from the Bastille were almost venerated like relics, and freedom from external authority was seen as something very desirable. It was illegal to wear the habit of a religious order in public and priests were often attacked.

In the midst of this conflict, the Discalced Carmelite nuns at Compiegne decided to make an offering of their lives to God to stop this conflict. They renewed this offering daily asking for the grace to give their lives so the conflict could end. During this time the sisters were forced to meet clandestinely and wore lay clothes, but since they only had one pair they kept their habits so they could wear them while their other clothes were being washed.

One day they were arrested. They were able to dress in their habits and were put on trial. They were convicted on evidence that they had a litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their possession, wore habits, wore the brown scapular, had images of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and other charges. This sort of event gives new meaning to the question "If being Christian were a crime would there be enough evidence to convict you?" The nuns were quickly convicted and sent to the guillotine.

They went as brides to their wedding. The whole way they chanted psalms and hymns. They chanted the Veni Creator and the Te Deum when they were getting close. When they arrived at the guillotine the youngest nun knelt before the prioress, Teresa of St. Augustine and asked permission to die. She began singing Laudate Dominum omnes gentes ("Praise the Lord all you nations") and went to her death. In an age where individual freedom was being worshipped as a god each nun knelt before her superior and asked permission to offer her life as a martyr for the faith so France could be restored to peace. The sisters ascended the scaffold and didn't let the executioner touch them. They placed their heads directly in the guillotine and were beheaded for the faith. Silence reigned during the execution. There was no drumroll, no jeers from the crowd. The only sound that could be heard were the sisters singing praise to God that they were found worthy to suffer for love of Him.

Ten days later the Reign of Terror ended and the provisional revolutionary government came to an end. These sisters were martyred the day after the Solemnity of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel July, 17 1794.


More information can be found here.

These sisters have a very impressive story and there is a lot this story can teach us. Their martyrdom really was a prophetic witness that proclaimed the gospel to a nation that had abandoned it.

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel

Today is the Solemn Commemoration of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel for the members of the Carmelite order (an optional memorial for the rest of the Church).

Who are the Carmelites?

They are an amaaaaazing religious order founded in the 12th century dedicated to following the example of the prophet Elijah and the Blessed Virgin Mary. They spend a lot of time meditating on God's word and praying for the Church and the world. They were reformed in the 1500's by St. Teresa of Avila and St. John of the Cross. There's a cloister of Discalced (reformed) Carmelite nuns by my house and going there for Mass is always good times.

For the Carmelites, Mary is their guide to contemplative prayer. She heard the word of God and treasured it in her heart. By offering all to God through her we can grow greatly in our prayer lives.

The Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel is part of the habit of the Carmelite Order. It was given to St. Simon Stock by the Blessed Mother and it consists of two pieces of cloth draped in the front and the back. Lay people began to wear it as well (a smaller version) as a sign of devotion to Mary as Mother of Carmel and to share in the spirituality of the Carmelite order. It is a very highly praised sacramental. Today is also the principal feast of the scapular confraternity.

Flower of Carmel,
Tall vine blossom laden;
Splendor of heaven,
Child-bearing yet maiden.
None equals thee.
Mother so tender,
Who no man didst know,
On Carmel’s children
Thy favors bestow.
Star of the Sea.

I know this is a little late, but if anyone would like to celebrate today as a Solemnity using the Carmelite propers for the Liturgy of the Hours, you can find them here. Also, a fun litany here.

Cool Miracle...in Wisconsin

Thanks to a link on Amy Welborn's blog I found this link to an article written about a fire that took place (relatively) near my home town in 1871. Here's an excerpt (the fire is getting very close to the church in Peshtigo):

In his haste to get the Blessed Sacrament (and in full compliance with Murphy's law) he [Fr. Pernin] dropped the tabernacle key. Not having time to look for it, he lifted the bulky tabernacle from its temporary altar, put it on his surrey and with himself in the shafts (his horse was too frightened to budge) he fought his way against the buffeting winds over the two and half city blocks to the river. Sparks were exploding all around him in a grim fireworks display. Flames were arching overhead as he finally pushed his surrey with its precious cargo into the water.

To an unbeliever it must have seemed sheer madness for Father Pernin to abandon his horse and pull the surrey himself against such odds to the river. But to a believer, what an act of faith!

The river was filled with people and with wild and domestic animals all in panic. Under the lighted skies "brighter than day" he could see people dousing themselves with water or shielding their heads with wet blankets as they surfaced for air. Even the air seemed to be on fire.

By 3:30 a.m. the fire had spent itself sufficiently for Father Pernin to emerge from the water. He says he was chilled to the bone in spite of the heat all around him. While he was warming himself on the warm ground at the rivers edge, a parishioner came hurrying up with word about a "great miracle". In the tumult of the river, the tabernacle had fallen from the surrey and was now standing upright on a floating log at the river bank. It was undamaged by the fire.

For two days, Father Pernin let the tabernacle where it was found so that all might see what might otherwise be doubted. He then took the tabernacle to Marinette, forced open its door and found the sacred vessels and the consecrated Host intact. Neither the flames nor the water had injured even the silken tissue with which the tabernacle was lined.

Kind of cool...

For our nation

Today is the fourth of July and I found a good link/post at the wdtprs blog:

The following prayer was composed by John Carroll, Archbishop of Baltimore, in 1791. He was the first bishop appointed for the United States in 1789 by Pope Pius VI. He was made the first archbishop when his see of Baltimore was elevated to the status of an archdiocese. John was a cousin of Charles Carroll of Maryland, a signer of the Declaration of Independence.

...

PRAYER FOR GOVERNMENT

We pray, Thee O Almighty and Eternal God! Who through Jesus Christ hast revealed Thy glory to all nations, to preserve the works of Thy mercy, that Thy Church, being spread through the whole world, may continue with unchanging faith in the confession of Thy Name.

We pray Thee, who alone art good and holy, to endow with heavenly knowledge, sincere zeal, and sanctity of life, our chief bishop, Pope N., the Vicar of Our Lord Jesus Christ, in the government of his Church; our own bishop, N., all other bishops, prelates, and pastors of the Church; and especially those who are appointed to exercise amongst us the functions of the holy ministry, and conduct Thy people into the ways of salvation.

We pray Thee O God of might, wisdom, and justice! Through whom authority is rightly administered, laws are enacted, and judgment decreed, assist with Thy Holy Spirit of counsel and fortitude the President of these United States, that his administration may be conducted in righteousness, and be eminently useful to Thy people over whom he presides; by encouraging due respect for virtue and religion; by a faithful execution of the laws in justice and mercy; and by restraining vice and immorality. Let the light of Thy divine wisdom direct the deliberations of Congress, and shine forth in all the proceedings and laws framed for our rule and government, so that they may tend to the preservation of peace, the promotion of national happiness, the increase of industry, sobriety, and useful knowledge; and may perpetuate to us the blessing of equal liberty.

We pray for his excellency, the governor of this state , for the members of the assembly, for all judges, magistrates, and other officers who are appointed to guard our political welfare, that they may be enabled, by Thy powerful protection, to discharge the duties of their respective stations with honesty and ability.

We recommend likewise, to Thy unbounded mercy, all our brethren and fellow citizens throughout the United States, that they may be blessed in the knowledge and sanctified in the observance of Thy most holy law; that they may be preserved in union, and in that peace which the world cannot give; and after enjoying the blessings of this life, be admitted to those which are eternal.

Finally, we pray to Thee, O Lord of mercy, to remember the souls of Thy servants departed who are gone before us with the sign of faith and repose in the sleep of peace; the souls of our parents, relatives, and friends; of those who, when living, were members of this congregation, and particularly of such as are lately deceased; of all benefactors who, by their donations or legacies to this Church, witnessed their zeal for the decency of divine worship and proved their claim to our grateful and charitable remembrance. To these, O Lord, and to all that rest in Christ, grant, we beseech Thee, a place of refreshment, light, and everlasting peace, through the same Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior. Amen.

-------

May Mary as patroness of the United States under the title "Immaculate Conception" and patroness of the Americas under the title "Our Lady of Guadalupe" continue to pray for our nation that the blessings of authentic human freedom might be realized and justice may be secured for all...born and unborn.

While we're on the topic of believing what we can't see...

Today is the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle. He was sent to Asia to preach the gospel and founded Christian communities in Iraq and India. A thought from the homily at Mass today:

"It took a wounded Christ to heal a doubting Thomas."

You are a priest forever...

Thou Art a Priest Forever
J.B. Henri Lacordaire, OP

To live in the midst of the world with
no desire for its pleasure...
To be a member of every family
yet belonging to none...
To share all sufferings; to penetrate
all secrets; to heal all wounds...
To daily go from men to God to
offer Him their petitions...
To return from God to men
to offer them His hope...
To have a heart of fire for charity
and a heart of bronze for chastity...
To bless and be blest forever.
O God, what a life, and it is yours,
O Priest of Jesus Christ!

I thought this was a cool poem. Just thought I'd share.