some rest now..

It has been a sincerely tiring but refreshing break this week. =)

Tiring because there's much to do and read and what nots, refreshing well, because it has been a nice restful week even with all the work ...

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A good meditation reading :)

The Redeemer, now nigh to expiring, with dying breath said,

It is consummated. – John xix.30 (consummatum est!)

As if He had said, O men, all has been completed and done for your redemption. Love me, then, since I have nothing more that I can do to make you love me. My soul, look up at thy Jesus who is now going to die.

Look at those eyes growing dim, that face grown pale, that heart which is beating with languid pulse, that body which is now abandoning itself to death; and look at that beautiful body which is just on the point of forsaking that sacred body.

The heavens are darkened, the earth trembles, the sepulchers are opened; signs that now the maker of the world is about to die. Lo, at last Jesus, after having commended His blessed soul to His Father, first giving a deep sigh from His afflicted heart, and then bowing His head in sign of the offering of His life which at this moment He renewed for our salvation, at length, by the violence of His sorrow, expires and renders up His spirit into the hand of His beloved Father. Approach up hither, my soul, to this cross. Embrace the feet of thy dead Saviour, and think that He is dead through the love which He bore to thee.

Ah, my Jesus, to what has Thy affection towards me reduced Thee? And who, more than I, has enjoyed the fruits of Thy death? Make me, I beseech Thee, understand what love that must have been that a God should die for me, to the end that from this day forth I may love none other than Thee. I love Thee, O greatest Good; O true lover of my soul, into Thy hands I here commend it. I beseech Thee, by the merits of Thy death, make me to die to all earthly loves, in order that I may love Thee alone, who art alone worthy of all my love. Mary, my hope, pray to Jesus for me.

Hail, Jesus, our Love, and Mary, our Hope!

“O riven Heart! O Love for me now crucified!
Give to my soul repose within Thy wounded side.”

-taken from St. Alphonsus Maria de Ligouri's The Passion and The Death of Jesus Christ

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and now, its back to revising carbo and amino acid metab, back to the vietnam war, back to the versailles treaty of 1919 and back to the really interesting phage lambda for me..

O yes, and happy Michaelmas Day! =)

-rachelannethérèse

Deo gratias for loving us, for everything! =D

One often wonders, the reason why dearest God does certain things He does,

Why did He make the wind,

That tussles your hair and blows at your face?

Why did He create the trees,

That move with the wind?

Why did He create the grass,

That supplement your feet?

Why did He make the flowers,

O so beautiful?

Why did He make us?

Catechism answers this beautifully.

(I took this from the first communion catechism - Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism, because it is so simple, it shows just clearly what we all must do! =D)

GOD MADE US - the purpose of Man's existence

God made me to show His goodness and to make me happy with HIM in heaven.

God made me because He is good.

God is always happy.

God wants everybody to be happy.

God made me to be happy with Him forever.

I cannot be happy without God.

I need God.

Heaven is God's home.

Everybody in heaven is happy.

To be happy forever, we must get to heaven.

earth is the place where we get ready for heaven.

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Deo gratias! I must say!

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And then again, I have to make this comment.

Deo gratias for giving the music world, beethoven.

I'm not a good pianist, but one has to learn, play and hear beethoven's

Sonata in C minor or more informally known as Sonata Pathétique,

to see the greatness and maturity of God in this composer.

His music, besides gregorian chant is perhaps most soul-stirring. =)

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and here is definitely an easy way for any soul to give flowers to dearest Mother Mary.

It is said that each time you say a hail mary when you say the rosary, you are offering dearest Mother Mary, a beautiful rose.

Give her heaps, give her garlands!!

We can love Jesus, by loving His most dearest Mother, our dearest Mother too! =D

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O Queen of the Holy Rosary

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In Christo et Maria,

Rachel Anne Thérèse

What is Love?

Love is to give oneself up, for the benefit of another.

Love equates suffering,

as much as love is a many splendid thing.

And that is true love.

There is no other expression of a love so great, than in the Cross of dearest Jesus.
To all out there searching, look at this, the Cross, of a man, of ultimately a God, who came down on earth, just because He loved us so tremendously, that He did the greatest thing possible, and that is to give up His Life, for us.

http://rachelanne25.blogspot.com/2006/07/jesus-it-is-consummated.html

http://rachelanne25.blogspot.com/2006/07/my-god-and-my-all.html

The greatest thing He could ever do, He did, and in this, we can find the most beautiful expression of His love. The most holy sacrifice, the greatest miracle on earth!

Dear Saint Pio puts it most wonderfully when he says that:

"The life of a Christian is nothing but a constant struggle against itself, and its beauty does not become manifest except at the price of suffering."

Love Him! In order to find yourself!

Love Him because its the only thing worth doing,

And Love Him because, and believe me, Love Him because in no where else, you'd be able to find true happiness. =D

Mother Mary,my Mother, most Holy!, help me love Jesus more and more!

A prayer of St. Anselm to Our Lord and Our Lady:

O good Son, by the love, by which Thou lovest Thy mother, give me, I pray Thee, to love her truly, as truly Thou lovest her and will to love her. O Good Mother, by the love by which thou lovest thy Son and want Him to be loved, obtain for me, I pray thee, to love Him truly as thou lovest Him and willest Him to be loved.

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And now, back to work for me. =)

In Christo et Maria!

Rachel Anne Thérèse

The Exaltation of the Holy Cross

Today's the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. Please do follow this link if you want to know more about this special feast. =D

Here's a link to something that I've posted some time back. It's the Gradus Passionis, or Steps of the Passion.

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From the Saint Anthony's brief:

ECCE CRUCEM DOMINE

FUGITE, PARTES ADVERSAE,

VICIT LEO DE TRIBU JUDA,

RADIX DAVID, ALLELUIA.

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Behold the Cross of the Lord,

Flee ye adversaries!

The Lion of the Tribe of Juda,

The Root of David has conquered, Alleluia!

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From the Intriot of the Mass today, taken from the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal:

Gal. 6:14; Ps. 66:2

But it behooves us to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection: by Whom we are saved, and delivered. (Psalm) May God have mercy on us and bless us: may He cause the light of His countenance to shine upon us, and may He have mercy on us. Gloria Patri et Filii et Spiritui Sancti, sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum. Amen!

Alleluia

Alleluia, Alleluia.

Sweet the wood, sweet the nails, sweet the load that hands on thee: thou only wast worthy to bear the King and Lord of heaven.

Alleluia

The Offertory:

By the sign of the holy Cross, O Lord, protect Thy people from the wiles of all our enemies, that we may be able to do Thee worthy service, and that our sacrifice may be well-pleasing in Thy sight.

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Christian Warfare and the Cincture of St Joseph

Jesus I love Thee!

O Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, Make my heart like unto Thine.

Jesus, my love, I'm all yours. =D

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Tomorrow's also another great feast, that of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

God Bless!

some pictures =D

Here is the link to our group blog to view some pictures taken during the Missa Solemnis (Solemn High Mass) of the Feast of Sancte Pie Decime on 3rd September 2006.

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Here's a little preview:

Domine exaudi orationem meam, et clamor meus ad te veniat.

O Lord hear my prayer, And let my cry come unto Thee.

Subdeacon, Priest, Deacon (In order of the picture)

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Have a great week! God Bless! =D

Saint Bernard de Clairvaux

Ah, a new week is beginning, with it, many new things, many new hours, many new happenings. Dearest Lord, I give you my everything, take my hand and lead me, and then I will be made whiter than snow. Show me what to do, and I will follow. Never will I give you up, Never will I let you go. I love Thee Jesus my love!

Dearest Mammma Mary, take care of me and protect me please! Show me how to love your Son as you did. Show me the way to your most Beloved Son! I love Thee!

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And now, I'd like to take the opportunity to paste some very good words here. Taken from an article about Saint Bernard de Clairvaux. The original article can be found here.

On August 20, the feast of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1091-1153), Benedict XVI quoted this “great doctor of the Church” during the Angelus, pointing out that “his example and his teachings were proving more useful than ever, even in our time.”

“After having withdrawn from the world after a period of intense inner travail, he was elected at the age of 25, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux, remaining its guide for the 38 years until his death. His dedication to silence and contemplation did not prevent him from carrying out an intense apostolic activity,” explained the Sovereign Pontiff.

“He was also exemplary in his commitment to fight against his impetuous temperament, as well as his humility which enabled him to acknowledge his own limitations and shortcomings.

“The richness and the quality of his theology did not lie so much in the fact that he broke new ground,” said the pope, “but rather in putting forward the verities of the faith with such a clear and penetrating manner, that he fascinated his listener and disposed the soul to contemplation and prayer. In every one of his writings one perceives the echo of a rich interior experience, which he succeeded in transmitting to others with an astonishing capacity for persuasion.”

In the Liber de diligendo, Saint Bernard states, he continued, that

“love is for him, the strongest force of the spiritual life. God, who is love, created man for love, and through love He redeems him; the salvation of all human beings, mortally wounded by original sin and overwhelmed by personal sins consists in firmly adhering to that divine love, which was fully revealed to us in Christ Crucified and Risen. In His love, God heals our will and our sick intelligence by raising them to the highest degree of union with Him, in other words to sanctity and mystical union.

From De consideration, addressed to Pope Eugene III, Benedict stressed that

“the dominant theme is the importance of interior contemplation – and he said this to a Pope – an essential element of piety. It is necessary, observes the Saint, to guard against the dangers of excessive activity, whatever one’s situation and office – he says to the Pope of that time and to all the popes, and to us all – many occupations often lead to “hardness of heart”, they do no more than torment the spirit, exhaust the heart and…cause us loss of grace” (II, 3).

This warning applies to all types of occupations, including those which are inherent to the government of the Church. The text which Bernard addressed on this subject to the Pontiff, his former disciple at Clairvaux, was provocative: “You see, he wrote, where all of these accursed occupations which are absorbing you, can not fail to lead you, if you continue… to abandon yourself completely to them, without keeping anything of yourself to yourself” (ibid.).

“How necessary for us also, this recall to the prime importance of prayer!

May St. Bernard, who was able to reconcile the aspiration of the monk to the solitude and silence of the cloister with the urgency of important and complex missions in the service of the Church, help us to realize this primacy in our own lives”, said the Holy Father.

“Let us entrust this desire, which is not easy, to find the balance between interiority and our necessary work, to the intercession of the Virgin Mary, whom he loved from his childhood with such a tender and filial devotion, as to deserve the title of ‘Marian Doctor.’”

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In Christo et Maria!

rachel anne thérèse

Happy Birthday Dearest Mammma Mary!

Today is the birthday of a person very dear to me, and I'm sure also very dear to very many others! =D.

It is more formally known as the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

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At the time of Mary's birth the whole world was plunged in darkness. The heathen nations were steeped in vice and pride. The Jews, too, had corrupted their ways and departed from God. Everywhere there was sin and gloom, no bright spot on the face of the earth. But when Mary was born a light arose amid the darkness: the dawn of hte glorious day that was to usher in the Redeemer. So, too, the darkness of the sinner's soul is dispersed by Mary's holy influence. Where the love of her is born in the soul, all becomes full of light, and Jesus comes to make His habitation there. Mary, in the first hour of her life, brought more glory to God than all the Saints of the Old Testament. In her were made perfect the obedience of Abraham, the chastity of Joseph, the patience of Job, the meekness of Moses, the prudence of Josue. It is because she is the model and pattern of these and all other virtues that she can communicate them to us.

-taken from the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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Fr. Couture gave a short but wonderful sermon today at mass. =D

Holy Mother Church has wonderfully placed this Gospel on this Her feast day.

Here it is:

Latin Vulgate

Douay-Rheims Bible

Matthew 1:

Gospel According to Saint Matthew

<> Chapter 1 next >

The genealogy of Christ: he is conceived and born of a virgin.

1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham:

2 Abraham begot Isaac. And Isaac begot Jacob. And Jacob begot Judas and his brethren.

3 And Judas begot Phares and Zara of Thamar. And Phares begot Esron. And Esron begot Aram.

4 And Aram begot Aminadab. And Aminadab begot Naasson. And Naasson begot Salmon.

5 And Salmon begot Booz of Rahab. And Booz begot Obed of Ruth. And Obed begot Jesse.

6 And Jesse begot David the king. And David the king begot Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Urias.

7 And Solomon begot Roboam. And Roboam begot Abia. And Abia begot Asa.

8 And Asa begot Josaphat. And Josaphat begot Joram. And Joram begot Ozias.

9 And Ozias begot Joatham. And Joatham begot Achaz. And Achaz begot Ezechias.

10 And Ezechias begot Manasses. And Manesses begot Amon. And Amon begot Josias.

11 And Josias begot Jechonias and his brethren in the transmigration of Babylon.

12 And after the transmigration of Babylon, Jechonias begot Salathiel. And Salathiel begot Zorobabel.

13 And Zorobabel begot Abiud. And Abiud begot Eliacim. And Eliacim begot Azor.

14 And Azor begot Sadoc. And Sadoc begot Achim. And Achim begot Eliud.

15 And Eliud begot Eleazar. And Eleazar begot Mathan. And Mathan begot Jacob.

16 And Jacob begot Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.

--today's gospel ends here--

17 So all the generations, from Abraham to David, are fourteen generations. And from David to the transmigration of Babylon, are fourteen generations: and from the transmigration of Babylon to Christ are fourteen generations.

18 Now the generation of Christ was in this wise. When as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child, of the Holy Ghost.

19 Whereupon Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing publicly to expose her, was minded to put her away privately.

20 But while he thought on these things, behold the angel of the Lord appeared to him in his sleep, saying: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for that which is conceived in her, is of the Holy Ghost.

16 "The husband of Mary"... The Evangelist gives us rather the pedigree of St. Joseph, than that of the blessed Virgin, to conform to the custom of the Hebrews, who in their genealogies took no notice of women; but as they were near akin, the pedigree of the one sheweth that of the other.

21 And she shall bring forth a son: and thou shalt call his name JESUS. For he shall save his people from their sins.

22 Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which the Lord spoke by the prophet, saying:

23 Behold a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.

24 And Joseph rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him, and took unto him his wife.

25 And he knew her not till she brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

25 "Till she brought forth her firstborn son"... From these words Helvidius and other heretics most impiously inferred that the blessed Virgin Mary had other children besides Christ; but St. Jerome shews, by divers examples, that this expression of the Evangelist was a manner of speaking usual among the Hebrews, to denote by the word until, only what is done, without any regard to the future. Thus it is said, Genesis 8. 6 and 7, that Noe sent forth a raven, which went forth, and did not return till the waters were dried up on the earth. That is, did not return any more. Also Isaias 46. 4, God says: I am till you grow old. Who dare infer that God should then cease to be: Also in the first book of Machabees 5. 54, And they went up to mount Sion with joy and gladness, and offered holocausts, because not one of them was slain till they had returned in peace. That is, not one was slain before or after they had returned. God saith to his divine Son: Sit on my right hand till I make thy enemies thy footstool. Shall he sit no longer after his enemies are subdued? Yea and for all eternity. St. Jerome also proves by Scripture examples, that an only begotten son, was also called firstborn, or first begotten: because according to the law, the firstborn males were to be consecrated to God; Sanctify unto me, saith the Lord, every firstborn that openeth the womb among the children of Israel, etc. Ex. 13. 2.

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This gospel speaks volumes about:

1) FAITH

2) HOPE

3) CHARITY

I shall elaborate more, in a later post, but really, DEO GRATIAS!

Thank you Jesus for giving us Mother Mary! Jesus, my love, thank you! =)

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I need to go back to my work now, there still seems to be lots to do =D, it has been a nice long week, Deo gratias!!

In Christo et Maria!

rachel anne thérèse =P

Sancte Pie Decime!

Sancte Pie Decime,

Gloriose Patrone,

Ora, Ora, pro nobis.

(ter)

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Salve Regina!

Salve Regina
Mater misericordiae;
Vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus
Exsules filii Hevae.
Ad te suspiramus
Gementes et flentes
In hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia ergo, advocate nostra,
Illos tuos misericordes oculos
Ad nos converte.
Et Jesum,
Benedictum fructum ventris tui,
Nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O Clemens, o pia, o dulcis
Virgo Maria!

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Faith of our Fathers!

1. Faith of our fathers, living still,
In spite of dungeon fire and sword;
O how our hearts beat high with joy
When e’er we hear that glorious word!

R, Faith of our Fathers, Holy Faith!
We will be true to thee till death.

2. Our fathers, chained in prisons dark,
Were still in heart and conscience free;
How sweet would be their children’s fate,
If they like them could die for thee!

3. Faith of our fathers, Mary’s pray’rs
Shall bring our country close to thee;
And through the truth that comes from God,
This land shall then indeed be free.

4. Faith of our fathers, we will love,
Both friend and foe in all our strife;
And preach thee too, as love knows how,
By kindly words and virtuous life.

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yay! today's the feast of Saint Pius X! as per the title of the post.

Sancte Pie Decime, gloriose patrone, Ora, ora pro nobis!

Deo gratias! God Bless everyone!

In Christo et Maria!

-rachelannethérèse