St. Ignatius of Loyola

St Ignatius receiving the exercises from Our Lady in Manresa

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam! (For the Greater Glory of God) + AMDG

Alone with God
By Fr. Heyrman S.J.

July 31

ST. IGNATIUS OF LOYOLA

1. The characteristic features of the holiness of St. Ignatius, that is, of his relations with God, probably are reverence and love. These words frequently occur in his writings, generally together. Throughout his life these two sentiments were uppermost in his soul, and made him, during his last lonely night, sigh repeatedly: Mi Dios, my God!

2. Petition: The grace to admire God’s work in this great Saint; “may his intercession conduct us safely to the eternal praise of the Divine Majesty” (Postcommunion of the Mass of today).

I. Relevance for the Divine Majesty

A German commentator on the Spiritual Exercises wrote: “Modern man has lost the sense of rank and of distance, the fundamental instinct of reverence. He wants to deal on equal terms with every Superior, even with God. That implies the end of all true piety.”

To Ignatius, the scion of a noble Spanish house and a knight of the sixteenth century, reverence for the King – for “His Majesty”, as the Spanish kings had begun calling themselves – came natural. To serve the King, to go forth to conquer in his name, to perform great feats and earn fame, such had been the ideal of Ignatius until he was thirty years. When in 1521 he is converted, it is noteworthy that grace, in him, by no means destroyed nature but ennobled and purified it. He will now serve the “Divine Majesty”, and he will perform great feats in the service of Christ the King, not to earn glory for himself but for the greater glory and honour of God. His great soul has been thoroughly cleansed of all dross, and now is bent exclusively on serving God. When read against this background, the matter of fact and very concise terms of the “Principle and Foundation” of the Exercises become pregnant with meaning: “Man is created to praise, reverence and serve God.” The soul must offer itself to God freely and with great liberality, “so that the Divine Majesty may make use of it according to His most holy will.”

St. Ignatius was resolved “to show greater affection, and to distinguish himself in every kind of service of his eternal king and universal Lord”. In all these expressions we feel the deep sense of reverence, which never forsakes Ignatius, not even in his loftiest mystical flights. There is something awe-inspiring in this fundamental feature of the spirituality of St. Ignatius.

II. Love of God, Our Lord

The closing contemplation of the Spiritual Exercises is a “Contemplation to obtain Love”. And on the last page of the Exercises, where St. Ignatius lays down rules “in order to think truly as we ought in the Church Militant”, his closing words are these, “Although it is above all things praiseworthy greatly to serve God out of pure love, yet we ought much to praise fear of His Divine Majesty … filial fear, which is wholly acceptable and pleasing to God our Lord, because it is inseparable from divine love.” So here we have as his last word, be it said ever so gently, the word which some wanted to read on the first page. But for Ignatius “to praise, reverence, and serve God” are ways of loving God. The love of Ignatius was not a love expressed in an exuberant manner but a deeply reasoned love, and translated into generous action.

After his conversion, love prompted him to visit the Holy Land, where Jesus had lived; he ardently desired to stay there all his life, to work and die for the conversion of the infidels. After his ordination to the priesthood, he postponed the celebration of his first Mass for more than a year because of his hope to celebrate it in the cave where Jesus was born. His order would bear the name of Jesus, and no other; and contrary to the rule he had laid down for himself as to all other matters, he had asked his companions to leave him alone the choice of that name.

III. Reverence and Love

It is remarkable how in the spiritual life of Ignatius reverence and love have mutually sustained each other, purified and lifted to the loftiest and most intimate experiences of the mystical life. “With Ignatius we find no trace of bridal mysticism”! In the short fragment of his Diary, which has been preserved, we read on the 14th March, 1544, “All this time, before, during and after Mass, one thought kept striking the depths of my soul, viz. with what reverence and awe I should pronounce the name of our Lord, etc., whenever I celebrate: and how I should not seek tears, but rather reverence and awe.” And a little further he returns to the same thought, “Meanwhile I saw that humility, reverence and awe must be animated not with fear, but with love; and I felt so certain of this in my soul, that I prayed incessantly: Give me, O Lord, loving humility, loving reverence and awe; and the more I prayed, the more I felt consoled!”

How far we are here from the passionate outcry of St. Bernard, the holy medieval monk, whose soul was aflame with love: “Love knows no reverence; love has nothing in common with fear. He that loves, just loves and cares for nothing else.” God is wonderful in his Saints; wonderful also in the differences that exist between them.

Fr. De Guibert characterized the mysticism of St. Ignatius as “a mysticism of the service of God, rendered out of ardent love”. And this helps us much more to understand the essence of the sanctity of St. Ignatius than considerations about his profound knowledge of men, about his great abilities, and about his talent for government.

From his Diary we learn that, as was permitted in those days, he very frequently celebrated the Votive Mass of the Blessed Trinity. The Trinity was indeed the centre of his spiritual and his mystical life.

Prayer: May the gracious suffrages of St. Ignatius, O Lord, accompany our offerings so that these most holy mysteries, in which Thou hast established the source of all sanctity, may truly sanctify us. Through our Lord (Secret of the Mass of today).

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

Our Lady of Perpetual Succour

A very beautiful hymn: Mary from Thy Sacred Image:

Mary from thy Sacred Image with those eyes so sadly sweet
Mother of Perpetual Succour see us kneeling at thy feet
In thine arms
thy Child thou bearest;
Source of all thy joy and woe;
What thy bliss,
how deep thy sorrows,
Mother thou alone canst know.

On thy face He is not gazing,
Nor on us is turned His
glance
For His anxious look He fixes
On the Cross and Reed and Lance
To thy hands His hands are clinging
As a child would cling in fear,
Of that vision of the torments
Of His Passion drawing near.

And for Him thine eyes are pleading
While to us they look
and cry:
"Sinners spare my Child your Saviour,
seek not still to
crucify."
Yes, we hear thy words sweet Mother,
But poor sinners we are
weak;
At thy feet thy helpless children
Thy Perpetual Succour seek.

Succour us in clouds of sadness;
Hide the light of heaven
above;
Hope expires and faith scares lingers;
And we dare not think we
love.
In that hour of gloom and peril,
Show to us thy radiant face,
Smiling down from thy loved Image,
Rays of cheering light and grace.

Succour us when stormy passion,
Sudden rise within the
heart.
Quell the tempest, calm the billows,
Peace secure to us impart.
Through this life of weary exile
Succour us in every need;
And when
death shall come to free us,
Succour us ah! then indeed.

SYMBOLISM OF THE ICON OF OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL SUCCOUR

In the Icon, the face of Our Lady appears full of sorrow, yet supremely dignified in her contemplation of the sufferings of her Son. His passion is represented by angels holding instruments of His passion, the cross, the lance, the sponge, and the nails.

The angels holding the instruments of the Passion have their hands covered with a protecting veil as a sign of reverence in handling sacred objects. In some Eastern rites, for example the Armenian, the deacon has his hand covered with a silken veil when he carries the gospel book. And in the Roman Rite, the priest covers his hands with the humeral veil when blessing the people at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament.

The Child Jesus is shown with an adult face and a high brow, indicating His divine Mind of infinite intelligence. As God, He knew that the angelic apparition was prophetic of His future passion. Yet in His human nature as a small child, He is frightened and runs to His Mother for protection. Our Lady hastily picks Him up and clasps Him to her bosom. This action is indicated by the fact that the Lord’s right foot is nervously curled about the left ankle and in such haste that His right sandal has become loosened and hangs by a single strap. Further action is indicated by the way the Child Jesus clasps His Mother’s right hand with both of His, holding tightly to Our Lady’s thumb.

Our Lady is clothed in a dress of dark red which was long reserved in the Byzantine world for the Empress alone, indicating the Queenship of Mary. We know that reddish purple was considered the noblest colour in the anciet world. Recall that Our Lord said “Those who are clothed in purple and fine linen are in the houses of kings.”

Some commentators on colour claim that bluish purple became the colour of penance in the Western Church (during Lent and Advent) because purple is a combination of blue and red. The blue reminds us of heaven, to which we wish to arrive by our penance, and the red recalls martyrdom, because all penance requires a dying to oneself, especially mortifying inordinate desire for food and pleasure. The archangels Gabriel and Michael wear tunics of purple since they carry the instruments of the passion and death of Christ. In the usual Byzantine style, the figures of the icon are identified with abbreviations of their names. In this icon Mary is designated by her chief title to glory: Mother of God.

Thus the picture of the Mother of Perpetual Help is a traditional Byzantine icon of Our Lady, but modified by the medieval softening of features in Cardiotissa style, touching the emotion and showing an action story proper to this art form. Our Lady’s face is of unspeakable majesty and calm and yet her large eyes, partly closed, express ineffable sorrow and sympathy. Our Lady is not looking at Jesus, but rather to us, her adopted children, as if to express compassion for us in our fears and sorrows.

HISTORY

The picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour is painted on wood, with background of gold. It is Byzantine in style and is supposed to have been painted in the thirteenth century. It represents the Mother of God holding the Divine Child while the Archangels Michael and Gabriel present before Him the instruments of His Passion. Over the figures in the picture are some Greek letters, which form the abbreviated words Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Archangel Michael, and Archangel Gabriel respectively. It was brought to Rome toward the end of the fifteenth century by a pious merchant, who, dying there, ordered by his will that the picture should be exposed in a church for public veneration. It was exposed in the church of San Matteo, Via Merulana, between St. Mary Major and St. John Lateran. Crowds flocked to this church, and for nearly three hundred years many graces were obtained through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin. The picture was then popularly called the Madonna di San Matteo. The church was served for a time by the Hermits of St. Augustine, who had sheltered their Irish brethren in their distress. These Augustinians were still in charge when the French invaded Rome (1812) and destroyed the church. The picture disappeared; it remained hidden and neglected for over forty years, but a series of providential circumstances between 1863 and 1865 led to its discovery in an oratory of the Augustinian Fathers at Santa Maria in Posterula.

The pope, Pius IX, who as a boy had prayed before the picture in San Matteo, became interested in the discovery and in a letter dated December 11, 1865 to Father General Mauron, C.SS.R., ordered that Our Lady of Perpetual Succour should be again publicly venerated in Via Merulana, and this time at the new church of St. Alphonsus. The ruins of San Matteo were in the grounds of the Redemptorist Convent. This was but the first favor of the Holy Father towards the picture. He approved of the solemn translation of the picture (April 26, 1866), and its coronation by the Vatican Chapter (June 23, 1867). He fixed the feast as duplex secundae classis, on the Sunday before the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist, and by a decree dated May 1876, approved of a special office and Mass for the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer. This favor later on was also granted to others. Learning that the devotion to Our Lady under this title had spread far and wide, Pius IX raised a confraternity of Our Lady of Perpetual Succour and St. Alphonsus, which had been erected in Rome, to the rank of an arch-confraternity and enriched it with many privileges and indulgences. He was amongst the first to visit the picture in its new home, and his name is the first in the register of the arch-confraternity. Two thousand three hundred facsimiles of the Holy Picture have been sent from St. Alphonsus’s Church in Rome to every part of the world. At the present day not only altars, but churches and dioceses (e.g. in Singapore, in the Philippines etc.) are dedicated to Our Lady of Perpetual Succour.

(Principal Source – Catholic Encyclopedia – 1913 edition)

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

9th Sunday after Pentecost

Today's the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, and with some free time now, since it's (yay) Sunday, I can now blog!

Here are some excerpts from the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal on the 9th Sunday after Pentecost, and today's gospel is also very beautiful ...

God is our Helper, and He will always come to our aid: He wil open the ears of His Mercy to our prayers, and will not allow us to be tempted beyond our strength. Let us obey therefore with joy the precepts of the Lord, let us worthily attend the mysteries of holy Mass, and partake of the Body of the Lord, the manna of our souls.

Introit (Ps. 53: 6, 7, 3)

Behold, God is my helper, and the Lord is the protector of my soul: turn back the evils upon mine enemies, and cut them off in Thy truth, O Lord, my protector. (Psalm) Save me, O God, by Thy name, and deliver me in Thy strength. Glory be to the Father.

Ecce Deus adjuvat me, et Dominus susceptor est animae meae: averte mala inimicis meis, et in veritate tua disperde illos, protector meus, Domine. (Psalm) Deus in nomine tuo salvum me fac: et in virtute tua libera me. Gloria Patri. Ecce Deus adjuvat me ...

Gradual (Ps. 8: 2)

Domine Dominus noster, quam admirabile est nomen tuum in universa terra! Quoniam elevata est magnificentia tua super coelos.

Communion (John 6:57)

He that eateth My Flesh, and drinketh My Blood, abideth in Me, and I in him, saith the Lord.

Qui manducat meam carnem, et bibit meum sanguinem, in me manet, et ego in eo, dicit Dominus.

ASPIRATION: I beseech Thee, O Lord, who didst weep over the city of Jerusalem, because it knew not the time of its visitation, to enlighten my heart, that I may know and profit by the season of grace.

And here's a beautiful meditation on Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, from the book, Alone with God by Fr. J. Heyrman S.J. :

JESUS WEEPS OVER JERUSALEM
Luke 19: 41-47

1. In the Gospel of this Sunday we read that Jesus wept. Only twice do the Evangelists record that Jesus shed tears, once before the grave of Lazarus, and then on this occasion when He thought of the terrible chastisement that would overtake the guilty city. Only just now He has allowed the Galileans to acclaim Him as Messiah, and in the midst of the exulting multitude He goes down from Bethania to Jerusalem. There lay before Him the city of David, with its marble Temple, glittering in the rays of the sun. For a moment He stood still, contemplating the splendid scene for the last time. Behind this splendour His prophetic eye discerned the frightful picture of the destruction of the doomed city, and His Heart was stirred with compassion. “And when He drew near, seeing the city, He wept over it” (Luke 19:41).

2. Petition: The grace lovingly and reverently to share the profound emotion of His divine and human heart. “Behold how He loved” the city of His fathers, His nation, us all!

I. The Circumstances

The event occurred during our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, whilst the multitudes that preceded and that followed Him “cried saying: Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He that cometh in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest” (Mt. 21: 9).

Perhaps it has happened to us that, after “a perfect day” when we had savoured the expression of men’s gratitude and esteem, after darkness and silence had cast their pall over us, we deeply felt the utter vanity of all earthly things. For Jesus there was no need that the day should pass away: the tragedy of the cross was ever before His eyes. Our mind gets completely absorbed in the event of the moment: not so the mind of Jesus. He remembered the fickleness of the people, and the hatred and envy of the Pharisees who were determined to put Him to death.

While the multitude was leading Him in triumph into the city, His thoughts went to the Father: “Yea Father, for so it hath seemed good in thy sight” (Mt. 11:26). What was written must be fulfilled: the daughter of Sion should pay Him the homage due to her Messiah.

II. Jesus Weeps and Laments

When from the Mount of Olives He beheld the holy City, He felt deeply moved, as He had felt at the sight of the grave of Lazarus and of his sisters weeping. “Jesus groaned in the spirit and troubled himself” (John 11:33). And now too He wept and from the depths of His Heart He uttered this poignant lamentation; “If thou also hadst known, and that in this thy day, the things that are to thy peace: but now they are hidden from thy eyes. For the days shall come upon thee, and thy enemies shall cast a trench about thee, and compass thee round, and straiten thee on every side, and beat thee flat to the ground, and thy children who are in thee. And they shall not leave in thee a stone upon a stone: because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation” (Luke 19: 42-44). This lament is inspired by pure love; and for His own sake does He mourn: no question of I or Me; only if thou hadst known … thy enemies …

Jesus loved His country, He loved His people, His Father’s chosen people; He loved the Temple, then the only sanctuary on earth where the name of the true God was invoked. Every year, from the time He was twelve, He had made the yearly pilgrimage, and had chanted the pilgrim’s canticle, “I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: We shall go into the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in thy courts, O Jerusalem” (Ps. 121: 1,2). Jesus does not belong to the race of those heroes of iron and steel, who would deem it a weakness to entertain any human feeling. He did weep and mourn over the obstinacy of His nation. That this was not a sign of weakness is patent from what follows in St. Luke. “And entering the Temple, he began to cast out them that sold therein, and them that bought, saying to them, “My house is the house of prayer. But you have made it a den of thieves” (Luke 19: 45,46).

Whatever pertains to our human nature belongs to the God-Man: He has assumed it all unto Himself; He has purified it, ennobled it, divinised it. “In him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead corporeally” (Col. 2:9), and all that is excellent in man. This is the great mystery of love, which surpasseth all understanding, all admiration, all praise, all gratitude.

III. Man’s Hardness of Heart

We are here face to face with another inscrutable mystery: the mystery of evil. The course of the world could have been different; indeed God would have had it different. “God, who, at sundry times and in divers manners, spoke in times past to the fathers, by the prophets, last of all, in these days hath spoken to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the world” (Heb. 1:1,2). In the Old Testament, God, through the mouth of Isaias, had remonstrated with the Jewish people: “What is there that I ought to have done to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?” (Is. 5:4). How much more reason does Jesus have to address this plaint to His people on the eve of His passion!

Man is the proud possessor of free will; he has power deliberately to close his eyes to truth and his heart to love, even to divine truth and to divine love. Jesus wept over men’s wanton blindness and fatal obstinacy. This is “the mystery of iniquity which already worketh” (2 Thes. 2:7). By prayer, penance and holiness of life, we can co-operate with God to overcome the Evil One.

Prayer: O God, whose will it is that all men should be saved and come to know Thy truth; we pray Thee to send workers into Thy harvest, and to fill them with confidence in preaching Thy word: that Thy Gospel may spread and be made known, and all nations recognize Thee the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou didst send, Thy Son, our Lord; who liveth and reigneth … (Collect, Mass for the Propagation of the Faith).

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

O Glorious Saint Anne!

Today's the blessed feast day of dearest Saint Anne, my patron. :) I've been busy so I can't post much. But here's the link to last year's post (eww, how time flies).

Sancta Anna, Ora pro nobis!

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

The Holy Eucharist, The Sacrament of Love, Amor amorum

Je l'avise et Il m'avise! (I look at Him and He looks at me!)

The Holy Eucharist, The Sacrament of Love

All excerpts from The Holy Eucharist by Saint Alphonsus Ligouri and 20 Holy Hours by Fr. Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC.

Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love. - Cant. ii.5

How much Jesus Christ deserves to be Loved by us, on Account of the Love He has shown us in Instituting the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar

“You envy,” said St. John Chrysostom, “the opportunity of the woman who touched the vestments of Jesus, of the sinful woman who washed His feet with her tears, of the women of Galilee who had the happiness of following Him in His pilgrimages, of the Apostles and disciples who conversed with Him familiarly, of the people of the time who listened to the words of grace and salvation which came forth from His lips. You call happy those who saw Him … But, come to the altar and you will see Him, you will touch Him, you will give to Him holy kisses, you will wash Him with your tears, you will carry Him within you like Mary Most Holy.” Thus Jesus is truly with us.

“Jesus is there!” The holy Cure of Ars could not finish repeating these three words without shedding tears. And St. Peter Julian Eymard exclaimed with joyful fervour, “There Jesus is! Therefore all of us should go visit Him!”

Jesus, knowing that His hour was come, that He should pass out of this world to the Father: having loved His own ... He loved them unto the end. - John, xiii. I.

Our most loving Saviour, knowing that his hour was now come for leaving this earth, desired, before he went to die for us, to leave us the greatest possible mark of his love; and this was the gift of the most Holy Sacrament.

St. Bernadine of Sienna remarks that men remember more continually and love more tenderly the signs of love which are shown to them in the hour of death. Hence it is the custom that friends, when about to die, leave to those persons whom they have loved some gift, such as a garment or a ring, as a memorial of their affection. But what hast Thou, O my Jesus, left us, when quitting this world, in memory of Thy love? Not, indeed, a garment or a ring, but Thine own body, Thy blood, Thy soul, Thy divinity, Thy whole self, without reserve. "He gave thee all," says St. John Chrysostom; "He left nothing for himself."

The Council of Trent says, that in this gift of the Eucharist Jesus Christ desired, as it were, to pour forth all the riches of the love he had for men. And the Apostle observes, that Jesus desired to bestow this gift upon men on the very night itself when they were planning his death: The same night in which He was betrayed, He took bread; and giving thanks, broke and said: Take ye, and eat: this is My Body. - 1 Cor. xi.23. St. Bernadine of Sienna says that Jesus Christ, burning with love for us, and not content with being prepared to give his life for us, was constrained by the excess of his love to work a greater work before he died; and this was to give his own body for our food.

This Sacrament, therefore was rightly named by St. Thomas, "the Sacrament of love, the pledge of love." Sacrament of love; for love was the only motive which induced Jesus Christ to give us in it his whole self. Pledge of love; so that if we had ever doubted his love, we should have in this sacrament a pledge of it: as if our Redeemer, in leaving us this gift, had said: O souls, if you ever doubt my love, behold, I leave you myself in this Sacrament: with such a pledge, you can never any more doubt that I love you, and love you to excess. But more, St. Bernard calls this sacrament, "Amor amorum" (the love of loves) becuase this gift comprehends all other gifts bestowed upon us by our Lord, - creation, redemption, predestination to glory; so that the Eucharist is not only a pledge of the love of Jesus Christ, but of paradise, which he desires also to give us.

And oh, with what desire does Jesus Christ pant to come into our souls in the Holy Communion! Desiderio desideravi hoc pascha manducare vobiscum - Luke, xxii. 15. With what desire I have desired to eat this pasch with you before I suffer. So He spoke on that night in which He instituted this sacrament of love. Desiderio desideravi, so did the excessive love which he bore us cause him to speak, as St. Laurence Justinian remarks: "These are the words of most burning love."

And in order that every one might easily receive Him, He desired to leave Himself under the appearance of bread; for if He had left Himself under the appearance of some rare or very costly food, the poor would have been deprived of Him; but no, Jesus would hide Himself under the form of bread, which costs but little, and can be found everywhere, in order that all in every country might be able to receive Him.

But why is it that Jesus Christ so desires that we should receive Him in the Holy Communion? Here is the reason. St. Denis says that love always sighs after and tends to union, and so also says St. Thomas Aquinas, "Lovers desire of two to become one."

In Holy Communion, Jesus unites Himself to the soul and the soul to Jesus; and this is not a union of mere affection, but it is a true and real union.

O how delighted is Jesus Christ to be united with our souls! He one day said to his beloved servant, Margaret of Ypres, after Communion, "See, my daughter, the beautiful union that exists between me and thee: come, then, love me; and let us remain ever united in love, and let us never separate again."

St. John Chrysostom says that the most Holy Sacrament is a burning fire; so that when we leave the altar we breathe forth flames of love, which make us objects of terror to hell. The spouse of the Canticles says: He brought me into the cellar of wine, He set in order charity in me. - Cant. ii.4. St. Gregory of Nyssa says that Communion is precisely this cellar of wine, in which the soul becomes so inebriated with divine love, that it forgets and loses sight of creatures; and this is that languishing with love of which the spouse again speaks: Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love. - Cant. ii.5.

Our Lord said once to St. Matilda: "When you go to Communion, desire all the love which a soul has ever had for me, and I will receive your love according to your desire."

Affections and Prayers

O God of love, O infinite lover, worthy of infinite love, tell me what more canst Thou invent to make us love Thee? It was not sufficient for Thee to become man, and to subject Thy self to all our miseries; not sufficient to shed all Thy blood for us in torments, and then to die overwhelmed with sorrow, upon a cross destined for the most shameful malefactors. Thou didst, at last, oblige Thyself to be hidden under the species of bread and wine, to become our food, and so united with each one of us. Tell me, I repeat, what more canst Thou invent to make Thyself loved by us? Ah, wretched shall we be if we do not love Thee in this life! And when we shall have entered into eternity, what remorse shall we not feel for not having loved Thee! My Jesus, I will not die without loving Thee, and loving Thee exceedingly! I am heartily sorry, and am pained for having so greatly offended Thee. But now I love Thee above all things. I love Thee more than myself, and I consecrate to Thee all my affections. Do Thou, who inspirest me with this desire, give me also grace to accomplish it. My Jesus, my Jesus, I desire nothing of Thee but Thyself. Now that Thou hast drawn me to Thy love, I leave all, I renounce all, and I bind myself to Thee: Thou alone art sufficient for me.

O Mary, Mother of God, pray to Jesus for me, and make me a saint! Add this also to the many wonders thou hast done in changing sinners into saints.

My Good, my God, all mine Thou art;

Myself I give Thee, all my heart;

For Thee, and Thee alone, I sigh.

What have I in heaven? and besides Thee, what do I deisre upon earth? Thou art the God of my heart, and the God that is my portion forever. - Ps. lxxii. 25,26.

Quid enim mihi est in caelo? et a Te quid volui super terram? Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aeternum

Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, a contemplation

Jesus: Beloved soul, here in the Host where you see Me, I live silent, mute, perpetually bound before the modern Herods. Do you not hear, rising to Heaven, the insolent questioning which they make Me undergo, I Who am sovereign Power, Truth, and the sole Master of the world? I keep silence for love of you, for you whom I save by enduing the ignominious condemnation of the rulers of the world, judges of men but never of My doctrine. They seek authority and use it against Me, so you see Me the perpetual victim of their abuse of power. For them, thrones; for Me, the prisoner's bench; for them, the golden sceptre; for Me, always the reed of mockery; for them, a retinue which applauds and flatters them; for Me, jeering cohorts and executioners; for them, diadems and homage; for Me, the crown of thorns; for Me, forgetfulness, always forgetfulness!

And if at times in spite of themselves, these worldly powers evoke the remembrance of My Sovereignty, My Name alone is enough to cause a tempest of hatred, of legal persecution, and of blasphemy to break forth. Thus am I judged and condemned by the world which lives only by Me. I keep silence because in the Holy Eucharist I am the incarnation of a merciful love. But this revolt against My Sovereignty, this ignoring of My rights in the laws which rule nations is a direct insult against Me the Almighty Who dwells among men, reduced to seeming helplessness in the Sacrament of Love.

Is not this wrong, a real defiance of the Eucharistic God? Is this not an insul to Him Who speaks to you from the depths of His Tabernacle which often indeed becomes Pilate's Praetorium? Here, meek and humble, I bear the affronts of ruffians nad the contempt of the vilest men. I am taken out of this prison only when earthly tribunals order Me to be scourged, and then to be shown, covered with blood, to the angry mob.

O how consoled My Divine Heart feels by your reparation! The ardent love of My friends makes up for the scoffing of the powerful. You who are rich make reparation for these insults by your humility; you who are poor, by your resignation. From here, from My Tabernacle, I bless you, My very faithful friends. Speak, then, My children. You, the elect of My Heart, ask for miracles. Speak, I am the King of infinite mercy.

Jesus: See Me covered with wounds: My hands which beckon and bless are transpierced. My feet are lacerated. My brow bruised, My lips livid, My eyes blinded by Blood, My side opened by a deep wound. How men shudder at the sight of a God, bloodstained and crushed by sorrow, men who would have the delights of an anticipated Paradise in this land of exile. My love for you has brought Me to this condition. In the Tabernacle I expiate the thirst for pleasure and amusement that devours the modern world. ...

And I, your Jesus, I am held chained by love, I remain alone in My Tabernacle by the good, denied by the weak, forgotten by the greater number, condemned by unworthy rulers and scourged by the mobs raised up against Me. I loved My own above all things, even unto death, and those of My household preferred dust, the mire of the road, to Me.

Consider and see, you My friends, if there be a sorrow greater and like unto My sorrow!

To Jesus:

What have I, Lord Jesus, that Thou hast not given me?

What do I know, that Thou hast not taught me?

What can I do, if Thou dost not help me?

What am I, if not united to Thee?

Pardon, O pardon my faults that have so wounded Thee!

Thou hast created me without any merit of mine.

Thou hast redeemed me without my cooperation.

Thou hast done much in creating me,

And still more in redeeming me.

Wilt Thou be less powerful or less generous in forgiving
me?

For all the Blood Thou hast shed and the cruel death Thou hast
suffere.

Were not for the profit of the Angels who adore Thee,

But to my benefit and that of the sinners who implore Thee.

If I have then denied Thee, let me praise Thee,

If I have outraged Thee, let me love Thee,

If I have offended Thee, let me serve Thee.

For to live without loving Thee,

And to love without suffering for Thee,

O Jesus, that would be death without Thee.

O Esca Viatorum!

(for the midi file click here)

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

The Holy Eucharist

Stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love. - Cant. ii.5.

More to be continued tomorrow.. :)

A new link was added to the blog:

http://www.saintisidore.org/

A website with loads and loads of good Catholic infomation, audio sermons, links, pictures etc. There's also a link, which I will reproduce, to an online version of one of my favourite books, The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda. This book is about the divine history and life of the Virgin Mother of God. Yay. And guess who is the parish priest? It's Fr. Lester, who used to serve in the district of Asia and Singapore! :)

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

A Visit to Mother Mary

This is an excerpt from one of my favourite books, The Holy Eucharist by St. Alphonsus de Maria Ligouri. It's a visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother Mary, usually said/read/meditated after a visit to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament. It's most beautiful, I feel. :)

A Visit to the Blessed Virgin Mary

What relief do I feel in my miseries, and what consolation in my tribulations, what strength do I not find in the midst of temptations, when I remember and call thee to my aid, O my most sweet and most holy Mother Mary! Yes, indeed, you were right, O ye saints, in calling my Lady “the haven of those who are in tribulation,” (Portus vexatorum) with St. Ephrem; “the repairer of our calamities,” (Restauratio calamitatum nostrarum) and “the solace of the miserable,” (Solatium miserorum) with St. Bonaventure; and “the rest from our mournings,” (Requies gemituum nostrorum) with St. Germanus. My own Mary, do thou console me. I see myself loaded with ins, and surrounded by enemies; without virtue, and cold in my love towards God. Comfort me, comfort me; and let my consolation be to make me begin a new life – a life which will be really pleasing to thy Son and to thee.

Ejaculatory prayer: Change me, O Mary, my Mother: change me; thou canst do it.

O Mary, how lovely is the name given to thee by thy faithful servants: most amiable Mother. (Mater amabilis) Yes, thou art truly amiable: thy beauty and thy goodness have won the heart of the King of kings, even of God himself. He has said to thee, How beautiful thou art, my beloved; and again, Thou art all beautiful, and there is no spot in thee. (Concupivit Rex speciem tuam. Quam pulchra es, Amica mea! Quam pulchra es! – Tota pulchra es, Amica mea, et macula non est in te. – Cant. iv. 1,7) If, then, thou art so dear to God, how can I a miserable sinner, and indebted to thee for so many benefits, refuse to love thee? I love Thee, therefore, my most amiable Queen, and I desire to be of the number of thy most devoted lovers. Accept my desire, and obtain for me from God the love which I ask, since nothing is more pleasing to him than to love thee.

Ejaculatory prayer: O my amiable Mother, grant that I may love thee with the greatest ardor.

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

A Special Dossier on the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum

Here's the link to a special dossier from DICI on the Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum. It makes excellent reading materiel. Headline: The Obedience of Archbishop Lefebvre. :)

Now that the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum has acknowledged that the Missal of Saint Pius V was never abrogated, it is only right and just to recall to mind what Archbishop Lefebvre used to say, he whose fidelity to the Mass of all times was dismissed as disobedience.

“This Mass is not forbidden and cannot be forbidden. (…) If a priest were censured or even excommunicated on this ground (i.e. for saying the Mass of St. Pius V, Ed.), the sentence would be absolutely invalid. (…) We can celebrate it and the faithful can attend it with complete peace of mind, knowing furthermore it is the best way of maintaining their faith.” (Open Letter to Confused Catholics, ch. 20)

“I would say that we have to choose between an appearance of obedience – for the Holy Father cannot ask us to abandon our faith – and the preservation of our faith. Well, we choose not to abandon our faith.” (Ibid., ch. 18)

“We do not want to break away from the Church; on the contrary, we want the Church to continue. A Church which breaks away from her past is no longer the Catholic Church. (…) We are certain that the truth will come back. It cannot be otherwise. The Good God does not abandon His Church.” (Homily, Geneva, May 15, 1978)

Fr. Alain Lorans

-------

Also, check this out too, it's an interview with H.E. Bishop Bernard Fellay: Brian Mershon Interviews Bishop Fellay on Summorum Pontificum

I got the link to the Remnant from Joyce of the Catholic Upstart. Thanks!

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Seventh Sunday after Pentecost

26 For see your vocation, brethren, that there are not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble:

27 But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the wise; and the weak things of the world hath God chosen, that he may confound the strong.

28 And the base things of the world, and the things that are contemptible, hath God chosen, and things that are not, that he might bring to nought things that are:

29 That no flesh should glory in his sight.

30 But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and justice, and sanctification, and redemption:
31 That, as it is written: He that glorieth, may glory in the Lord.

From the First Epistle of Saint Paul to the Corinthians

Beautiful, very beautiful ... :)

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Ferial

whoosh, and another week just flew by, literally. We always say how long our pilgrimage on earth here is, and thing is I feel that way too, terribly. :) it's like, it is long and I can't wait, it's in my bones I feel, I can't and I'm sure you can't wait to see heaven, to be with Jesus and Mary. (I think maybe you know what I'm saying) but when time just flies by like that, and you grow older each and every second of the time, it's almost like, it's long and you can't wait, but at the same time, everything just flies by and hey, it's literally quite fast. Right, I'm very tired now, that's why the words don't seem to come out the way I want them too. :) (I guess I will have to rephrase all that when I have the time too, haha)

Today's the 13th of July, 90th anniversary of the 3rd of the first 6 apparitions of the dearest, most Blessed Virgin, Mother Mary, the Immaculate Heart to the 3 children at Fatima. How beautiful it is, 90 years have passed and Mother Mary's promise, so beautiful, still lingers: My Immaculate Heart will Triumph. The last words of the 3rd secret. :)

Here's something very beautiful, from the book, The Holy Eucharist, by St. Alphonsus Ligouri:

Affections and Prayers

O Heart of Jesus, abyss of mercy and love, how is it that at the sight of the goodness Thou hast shown me, and of my ingratitude, I do not die of sorrow? Thou, O my Saviour, after having given me my being, hast given me all Thy blood and Thy life, giving Thyself up, for my sake, to ignominy and death; and, not content with this, Thou hast invented the mode of sacrificing Thyself every day for me in the Holy Eucharist, not refusing to expose Thyself to the injuries which Thou shouldst receive, and which Thou didst forsee, in this Sacrament of love. O my God, how can I see myself so ungrateful to Thee without dying with confusion! O Lord, put an end, I pray Thee, to my ingratitude, by wounding my heart with Thy love, and making me entirely Thine. Remember the blood and the tears that Thou hast shed for me, and forgive me. Oh, let not all Thy sufferings be lost upon me. But though Thou hast seen how ungrateful and unworthy of Thy love I have been, yet Thou didst not cease to love me even when I did not love Thee, nor even desire that Thou shouldst love me; how much rather, then, may I not hope for Thy love, now that I desire and sigh after nothing but to love Thee, and to be loved by Thee. Oh, do Thou fully satisfy this my desire; or rather this Thy desire, for it is Thou that hast given it to me. Grant that this day may be the day of my thorough conversion; so that I may begin to love Thee, and may never cease to love Thee, my sovereign good. Make me die in everything to myself, in order that I may live only to Thee, and that I may always burn with Thy love.

O Mary, thy heart was the blessed altar that was always on fire with divine love: my dearest Mother, make me like to thee; obtain this from thy Son, who delights in honouring thee, by denying thee nothing that thou askest of him.

Ejaculatory prayer: My Jesus, when shall I really love Thee? :)

O Precious Blood of Jesus, Save us!

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

Summorum Pontificum - The Motu Proprio's Out!

Te Deum Laudemus!

07 July 2007 (07-07-07)

First Saturday of the Month of the Precious Blood

Long Live Jesus! Long Live Mary!

Press Release from the General Superior of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X

The Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum is out! Together with a letter of His Holiness, Benedictus XVI to the Bishops n the Occasion of the publication of the Apostolic Letter Summorum Pontificum on the use of the Roman Liturgy prior to the reform of 1970. The Tridentine Mass has never ever been abrogated. It is official. Finally. :) Now, for the real fight to begin ... Holy Chaos ...

07-07-07 was a really historical date for the Church (yay), for all who have been praying for the liberalization of the Tridentine Mass. I will always remember yesterday, as it was also the day when my grandma turned 77. (lol :) all the 7s) Deo gratias et Mariae.

See my dearest Mother Mary, my heavenly Mother, in a representation (one of my favourites) as the Immaculate Heart of Mary, as she appeared to the 3 children at Fatima from the 13th of May 1917 onwards. (in the picture on the top right of this post) See here below also, my grandmama who just turned 77. Deo gratias et Mariae!

Here, I will reproduce in full, the Letter of the Superior General of the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X, regarding the Motu Proprio, Summorum Pontificum:

Dear faithful,

The Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum of July 7, 2007 reinstates the Tridentine Mass in its right. In the text it is clearly acknowledged that it had never been abrogated. Thus fidelity to this Mass - for the sake of which many priests and lay people have been persecuted or even penalized for almost forty years - this fidelity never was a disobedience. Today it is merely a matter of justice to thank Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre for having maintained us in this fidelity to the Mass of all times in the name of true obedience, and against all the abuses of power. There is also no doubt that this recognition of the right of the traditional Mass is the fruit of the very many rosaries addressed to Our Lady during our Rosary Crusade last October; we must now know how to tell her our gratitude.

Beyond the re-establishment of the Mass of Saint Pius V in its legitimate right, it is important to study the concrete measures issued by the Motu Proprio and the justification given by Benedict XVI in the letter accompanying the text:

- By right, the practical dispositions taken by the pope must enable the traditional liturgy - not only the Mass, but also the sacraments - to be celebrated normally. This is an immense spiritual benefit for the whole Church, for the priests and faithful who were up to now paralyzed by the unjust authority of the bishops. However, in the coming months it will be good to observe how these measures are applied in fact by the bishops and parish priests. For this reason, we will continue to pray for the pope so that he may remain steadfast after the courageous act he has done.

- The letter accompanying the Motu Proprio gives the pope's reasons. The affirmation of the existence of one single rite under two forms - the ordinary and the extraordinary forms -, of equal rights and especially the rejection of the exclusive celebration of the traditional liturgy, may, it is true, be interpreted as the expression of a political desire not to confront the Bishops' Conferences which are openly opposed to any liberalization of the Tridentine Mass. But we may also see in this an expression of the "reform of the reform" desired by the pope himself, and in which, as he himself writes in this letter, the Mass of Saint Pius V and of Paul VI would fecundate each other.

In any case, there is with Benedict XVI the clear desire to re-affirm the continuity of Vatican II and the Mass issued from it, with the bimillenary Tradition. This denial of a rupture caused by the last council - already made manifest in his address to the Curia on December 22, 2005 - shows that what is at stake in the debate between Rome and the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X is essentially doctrinal. For this reason, the undeniable step forward made by the Motu Proprio in the liturgical domain must be followed - after the withdrawal of the decree of excommunication - by theological discussions.

The reference to Archbishop Lefebvre and the Society of Saint Pius X made in the accompanying letter, as well as the acknowledgment of the testimony given by the young generations which take up the torch of Tradition, clearly point out that our constancy to defend the lex orandi has been taken into account. With God's help, we must continue the combat for the lex credendi, the combat for the faith, with the same firmness.

Menzingen, July 7, 2007

+ Bernard Fellay

And, here's the link to a very good book, for those who are interested to know more about Archbishop Lefebvre and the history behind this fight for the Faith, which is still now ongoing, this spiritual warfare, which will only end, I firmly believe, with the triumph of HER IMMACULATE HEART. Dearest Mother Mary! as She promised at Fatima. :)

Archbishop Lefebvre and the Vatican by Fr. François Laisney; now to May 30, 1988.

Deo gratias et Mariae!

Sancte Pie Decime, gloriosi patrone, Ora, ora pro nobis! (ter)

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

First Friday

Continued from this previous post, here's the second part of this beautiful meditation by St. Alphonsus Ligouri:

Affections and Prayers

My dearest Redeemer, I will say to Thee, with St. Augustine, Thou dost command me to love Thee, and dost threaten me with hell if I do not love Thee; but what more dreadful hell, what greater misfortune, can happen to me than to be deprived of Thy love! If, therefore, Thou desirest to frighten me, Thou shouldst threaten me only that I should live without loving Thee; for this threat alone will frighten me more than a thousand hells. If, in the midst of the flames of hell, the damned could burn with Thy love, O my God, hell itself would become a paradise; and if, on the contrary, the blessed in heaven could not love Thee, paradise would become hell. Thus St. Augustine expresses himself.

I see, indeed, my dearest Lord, that I, on account of my sins, did deserve to be forsaken by Thy grace, and at the same time condemned to be incapable of loving Thee; but still I understand that Thou dost continue to command me to love Thee, and I also feel within me a great desire to love Thee. Oh, give me also the strength necessary to put it in execution, and make me, from this day forth, say to Thee earnestly, and from the bottom of my heart, and to repeat to Thee always, My God, I love Thee, I love Thee, I love Thee. Thou desirest my love; I also desire Thine. Blot out, therefore, from thy remembrance, O my Jesus, the offences that in past times I have committed against Thee; let us love each other henceforth forever. I will not leave Thee, and Thou wilt not leave me. Thou wilt always love me, and I will always love Thee. My dearest Saviour, in Thy merits do I place my hope; oh, do Thou make Thyself to be loved forever, and loved greatly, by a sinner who has offended Thee greatly.

O Mary, Immaculate Virgin, do thou help me, do thou beseech Jesus for me.

Ejaculatory prayer: My Jesus, when shall I really love Thee? :)

p/s:

Today's the end of my 3rd week in the lab. I'm getting more acquainted with the procedures and experiments, and also getting the hang of it all. Deo gratias et Mariae! :) Please do pray for me.

And yes, and yay, tomorrow's First Saturday, and also the said date that the Motu proprio will be published. Oremus pro Pontifice nostro BENEDICTO! Mother dearest, we pray for the triumph of thy Immaculate Heart! as thou hast promised. I love Thee!

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

The Feast of the Visitation! :)

Whoohoo, another day gone by in the lab, time does go by really quickly. When I was writing the date on the petri dish of titrations we did today, I was a little shocked at how time literally zooms past you. I started in the lab in the middle of June, now its July! arh and wow ... :) Well, today's the Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

From the 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal:

Mary's first action after God had come to dwell in her was one of self-denying charity. She undertook a troublesome journey in order to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Thus she proclaimed charity to be the virtue which above all Christ brought with Him from heaven. God made Mary's visit the occasion of a wonderful miracle. On her entrance into St. Elizabeth's dwelling, St. John the Baptist was cleansed from sin in his mother's womb. Mary was the channel of this exceptional privilege of the cleansing away of sin in the case of the unborn child. As the, so now: Mary is the channel of all graces, and above all, of the restoration of the sinner to friendship with God. Mary's charity is not less present now than at the time of the Visitation. Nay, she is far more eager now than then to promote the happiness and console the sorrows of those who fly to her for succor. :)

The Magnificat (St. Luke 1:46-55):

1. Magnificat anima mea Dominum.

1. My soul doth magnify the Lord;

2. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour,

3. Because He hath regarded the humility of his handmaid: for behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed,

4. Because He that is mighty hath done great things to me, and holy is His name,

5. And his mercy is from generation unto generations to them that fear Him.

6. He hath shown might in His arm; He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.

7. He hath put down the mighty from their seat, and hath exalted the humble.

8. He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich He hath sent empty away.

9. He hath received Israel, His servant, being mindful of His mercy,

10. As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to His seed forever.

11. Gloria Patri, et Filio, et Spiritui Sancto.

12. Sicut erat in principio, et nunc, et semper, et in saecula saeculorum.

Amen.

Jesus, Mary, I Love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)

The Feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ

I said I wanted to write more on the Feast of Sts. Peter and Paul as in the previous blogpost, sadly, the time didn't permit, but O, today is another beautiful feast :), its the Feast of the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ. How much more beautiful and important this feast is, in a sense, because with the blood of Saints Peter and Paul, new and eternal Rome was founded, what more Jesus's blood, shed so bountifully for mankind in the Circumcision, the Agony, the Scourging, the Crowning with thorns, and supremely in the Crucifixion of our Saviour. It is offered daily in the Sacrifice of the Altar. Dearest Jesus's blood founded the new Church, the Catholic Church, one that He founded with His blood, which is still present in all the tabernacles of the world, now, at this very moment. What supreme love of God for his subjects? Deus sincerely is Caritas est. :) My Jesus, I do love Thee. I love Thee! I love Thee! I love Thee! :)

For as St. Paul says, in his epistle to the Ephesians, 16 That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened by his Spirit with might unto the inward man, 17 That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts; that being rooted and founded in charity, 18 You may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: 19 To know also the charity of Christ, which surpasseth all knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fulness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us;

21 To him be glory in the church, and in Christ Jesus unto all generations, world without end. Amen.

And today, in this blogpost, I shall let the prayers of today speak for themselves. They are sincerely very very very beautiful. :)

GRADUAL 1 John 5:6,7-8,9

This is He that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. There are three who give testimony in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost; and these three are one. And there are three that give testimony on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three are one.

OFFERTORY 1 Cor. 10:16

The chalice of benediction which we bless, is it not the communion of the Blood of Christ? And the bread which we break, is it not the partaking of the Body of the Lord?

Calix benedictionis, cui benedicimus, nonne communicatio Sanguinis Christi est? et panis, quem frangimus, nonne participatio Corporis Domini est?

From the hymn at First Vespers:

1. In solemn chant and song, as is most meet and right, Ye citizens of Sion, young and old, unite, And forth with measured step and gleaming tapers' ray, In glad procession wend your way.

2. All mindful of that Blood which Christ, our dying Lord, Upon the cruel tree from many a wound outpoured, We bow our knees in worship at the memory dear, And hold not back the fitting tear.

3. By the first Adam's guilty deed, avenging death, Had passed to all on earth who draw this fleeting breath: The second Adam's innocence then cleansed us from all stain, And with His Life all live again.

4. For when the mighty plea of Christ, God's dying Son, At the great Father's throne on high acceptance won, His precious Blood, prevailed to pay the debt of sin, And pardon from the Judge to win.

5. Who so shall wash his robes, all dark with guilty stain, In that dear cleansing Blood, shall find them white again; And decked with roseate glory he at length shall stand, With Angels, at the King's right hand.

6. Then from the narrow way let not the inconstant soul Turn back, but ever onward press to its desired goal, And God, Whose grace doth aid to run the race below, Shall soon the glorious prize bestow.

7. Almighty Father, now in mercy bend Thine ear, Through Him Whose precious Blood hath bought our ransom dear; By Thy sweet Spirit's working, grant Thy love and grace, That we in heaven may see Thy face. Amen.

V. Redemisti nos, Domine, in sanguine tuo. (Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy Blood.)

R. Et fecisti nos Deo nostro regnum. (And hast made of us a kingdom unto our God)

Sanguis Christi, in coronatione spinarum emanans,

Salva nos.

Jesus, Mary, I love Thee; Save Souls!

Jesu mitis et humilis corde, Fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum. (ter)