Wednesday, March 31, 2010

O Mother Blest!

Fain would I sing, O Mother blest! the reasons why I love thee; / Why e'en to name thy name, with joy, O Mary! fills my heart; / And why the glorious thoughts of thee, in greatness far above me, / Inspire no fear within my soul, so dear and sweet thou art.

"Considering how imperfect I was and still am, yet I am daringly confident that one day I shall become a great Saint. I am not relying on my own merits, because I haven't any. I hope in Him Who is Virtue and Sanctity itself; He alone will clothe me with His own merits and make me a Saint." ~ St. Therese of Lisieux.

Monday, March 29, 2010

Palm Sunday

I want to wish you all a very Holy and Blessed Holy Week,


Fast and Abstain! Work for Souls! :)

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, Anne, Therese, I love You; Save Souls!

Palm Sunday
St. John Capistran - Confessor
J.M.J.

SISTER MARIE OF ST. PETER AND THE GOLDEN ARROW
In Tours, France during the 1840's a young Carmelite nun, Sister Marie of St Peter, received a series of revelations from Our Lord about a powerful devotion He wished to be established worldwide - the devotion to his Holy Face. The express purpose of this devotion was to make reparation for the blasphemies and outrages of 'Revolutionary men' (the Communists), as well as for the blasphemies of atheists and freethinkers and others, plus, for blasphemy and the profanation of Sundays by Christians. This devotion is also an instrument given to the individual devotee as a seemingly unfailing method of appealing to God in prayer - through adoration of His Holy Face and Name.
The following prayer was dictated by our Lord Himself to Sister Marie of St Peter. Opening His Heart to her, our Saviour complained of blasphemy, saying that this frightful sin wounds His divine Heart more grievously than all other sins, for it was like a "poisoned arrow".
After that, our Saviour dictated the following prayer, which he called "The Golden Arrow", saying that those who would recite this prayer would pierce Him delightfully, and also heal those other wounds inflicted on Him by the malice of sinners. This prayer is regarded as the very basis of the Work of Reparation.

PRAYER OF REPARATION IN PRAISE OF THE HOLY NAME OF GOD ENTITLED "THE GOLDEN ARROW"
May the most Holy, most Sacred, most Adorable,
Most Incomprehensible and Ineffable Name of God
Be always Praised, Blessed, Loved, Adored and Glorified,
In Heaven, on Earth and under the Earth,
By all the Creatures of God,
And by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ,
In the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Amen.
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Gazing upon the face of Christ crucified unites us with all His sorrows, love and total abandonment.
"Every time My Face is contemplated I will pour out My Love into the hearts of those persons, and by means of My Holy Face the salvation of many souls will be obtained."
(Our Lord Jesus Christ to Sister Pierina)

Our Lord, in visions to Sister Marie of Saint Peter, requested that a devotion to His Holy Face be established. He gave her the Golden Arrow prayer as a remedy to the "poisoned arrows" of blasphemy. Later, Sister Pierina, was urged to spread the devotion, and to have a medal cast.
The Feast of the Holy Face was established by Pope Pius X upon Shrove Tuesday (the day before Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent). A beautiful novena in honour of the Holy Face may be said on the nine previous days, culminating on the feast day.
Two miraculous images are associated with the Holy Face Devotion - Veronica's Veil, said to be the cloth used by Saint Veronica to wipe the face of Jesus during his passion; and the Holy Shroud of Turin, believed by the faithful to be burial cloth of Christ, which despite being the most scientifically studied object ever, still baffles scientists.
Devotion to the Holy Face centers around the Consecration of the Home, as confirmed by Saint Pius X. As revealed to Sister Pierina, Tuesday is a day of reparation to the Holy Face, in front of the Blessed Sacrament. With the wearing of the medal, (or Holy Face Scapular), one completes the consecration to the Holy Face, and gains the blessings promised.
ORIGIN AND DESCRIPTION
The medal of the Holy Face of Jesus was made by Sister Marie Pierina De Micheli, following the request of Jesus and The Blessed Mother. Sister Pierina, with the help of her spiritual Director received the permission of the Curia of Milan, Italy.
A MESSAGE SHE RECEIVED FROM JESUS

"I will that My Face, which reflects the intimate pains of My Spirit, the suffering and the love of My Heart, be more honoured. He who meditates upon Me, consoles Me. Every time that My Face is contemplated, I will pour My love into the hearts of men and through My Holy Face will be obtained the salvation of many souls."
A MESSAGE SHE RECEIVED FROM THE BLESSED MOTHER
"This medal is a weapon of defense, a shield of courage, a guarantee of love and of mercy that Jesus wishes to give to the world in these times of sexuality and of hatred towards God and His Church. Diabolical snares are laid to tear the faith from the hearts of men, evil is spreading, the true apostles are few, a divine remedy is necessary and this remedy is the Holy Face of Jesus. All those who shall wear a medal and who make, if they can, a visit to the Blessed Sacrament every Tuesday in reparation for the outrages received by the Holy Face of my Son, Jesus, during His Passion and those He receives daily in the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist, will be fortified in the Faith, ready to defend it and to overcome all difficulties, interior and exterior. Furthermore, they will have a happy death under the loving gaze of my divine Son."
St Ambrose states: "There is no doubt that Peter received the grace of conversion from the Sacred Face because those on whom Jesus gazes are always saved."
St Jerome: "The Face of Jesus will continue to save each time we have recourse to It; invoking His aid. "Show us Thy Face and we shall be saved."
Other saints who have venerated the Holy Face, to mention a few are: St. Gregory the Great, St Gertrude, St John Chrysostom, St Ambrose, St Bernard, St Charles Borromeo, St John Bosco, St Francis of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena, St Augustine and, of course St Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face.
St Therese commented, "How much good the Holy Face has done me during my life." The Holy Face was a continual call to her to suffer so that she might resemble Jesus. St Therese says, "The just will recognize Him not only by the cross - symbol of salvation, which will precede His coming, but more exactly, by His Face, which will shine on the last day."
"I wish that my face, which reflects the deep pains of my soul, the sorrow and love of my heart, be better honoured: who contemplates me consoles me."
(Our Lord to Mother Pierina 1936).
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PROMISES OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST to Sr. Marie of St. Peter in favor of those who honor and adore His Holy Face
1. By My Holy Face you will work "WONDERS," appease the anger of God and draw down Mercy for the conversion of sinners.
2. NOTHING THAT YOU ASK in virtue of this offering will be refused you! Ah! If you did but know how pleasing is the sight of My Face to My Father!
3. In proportion to your care in repairing the injuries My Face receives from Blasphemers, will I take care of yours, which has been disfigured by sin; I will restore it to My likeness, and render it as beautiful as when it had just left the Baptismal Font.
4. Our Lord promised me that all those who defend His cause in this work of reparation, by words, by prayers, or in writing, He will defend them before His Father; at their death He will purify their souls by effacing all the blots of sin and will restore to them their primitive beauty.
Taken from http://olrl.org/pray/holy_face.shtml - a folded leaflet available for 3¢ ea. in our Store -http://olrl.org/mm5/merchant.mvc. The Holy Face Medal - http://olrl.org/sacramental/holyfacemedal.shtml - is available in our Store for only 15¢ ea.
Order several of the leaflets and medals for wide spread distribution to promote and encourage devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus.
--
Sincerely in Christ,
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"
http://olrl.org

Monday, March 15, 2010

Our Lady of the Rosary Library - Article

Fourth Sunday of Lent
Laetare Sunday
J.M.J.
VIETNAM GOVERNMENT BLOWS UP CRUCIFIX
PARISH UNDER SIEGE - CATHOLICS PERSECUTED
On January 6 Vietnamese officials dynamited a crucifix in a cemetery belonging to the Dong Chiem Parish Church, 40 miles from Hanoi. Parishioners who tried to prevent the destruction were beaten by police. Since then, Catholic priests and faithful have been assaulted by uniformed and plainclothes police, and Catholics who try to visit the parish are harassed and beaten; one journalist pummeled to unconsciousness. The latest outrage is a February 24 attack on a group of nuns visiting various parishes in the area.
The demolition of crucifix began at 3:00 a.m. with the use of explosives. "On hearing the explosions, parishioners rushed to the site to protect their crucifix but they were stopped by police who tried to drive them back, "said Father Nguyen Van Huu, pastor of Dong Chiem parish.
The Archdiocese of Hanoi immediately issued a press release denouncing the government's actions: "Police attacked the parish today, in the early morning, when both its pastor and the pastor's assistant were at the annual retreat in the Archbishop's Office. An estimated 500 heavily armed and well-entrenched police officers and a large number of trained dogs were deployed in the area to protect an army engineering unit that destroyed a large crucifix erected on a boulder inside the parish cemetery."
Parishioners recounted being shot at close range with tear gas canisters, even as they were kneeling in prayer, asking the police to stop the devastation. Other parishioners were beaten with batons.
"At least a dozen people have been badly beaten," said Father Le Trong Cung, Vice Chancellor of the Hanoi Archdiocese. "Two of them were seriously injured and taken to a clinic in Te Tie, where, however, they did not receive treatment. Later, the priest and faithful found them and they took them to Viet Duc hospital, where doctors intervened."
Agence France Presse reported police used "electric prods, tear gas and stones against the crowd."
The government tried to justify its actions, claiming the crucifix was "illegally built" on the top of mount Che "which lies on the public land area under the direct management of the An Phu Communist People's Committee."
Father John le Trong Cung responded this was not true, since the crucifix was on Church property. "The hill has always been on parish grounds since its inception, more than one hundred years ago," he said.
Parish priest Father Nyuyen Van Huu likewise confirmed the cross was built on Church land. The hill became a parish cemetery in the "Time of the Great Hunger" when two million people died between October 1944 and May 1945. The crucifix has been on the parish's hill "for years," he said.
From March to November 2009, the government had told Catholics to take down the cross. The parish refused since the cross was on Church property. In response, the government took the matter into its own hands on January 6 and blew up the crucifix.
The Archdiocese of Hanoi publicly denounced the demolition of the crucifix as a "sacrilege".
Hundreds of Catholics have since defied the government's brutality, climbed the hill and planted clusters of bamboo crosses where the original crucifix was destroyed. The government has sealed off the roads on the way to Dong Chiem, but the faithful still manage to get through.
MORE BLOODY BEATINGS
A few days after the crucifix was demolished, a Catholic journalist visiting the area was attacked and beaten by government strongmen.
On the evening of January 11, Father Ngyuen Van Lien, parish priest of Dong Dhiem, and journalist J.B. Ngyuyen Huu Vinh were taking a motorcycle ride around the area. The priest said, "I was trying to get around a big pile of dirt placed on the bridge of the Nang -- placed there to prevent access to the area -- when a group of uniformed and plainclothes police attacked us."
Father Van Lien continued, "Seeing that the journalist had a camera around his neck, a dozen policemen jumped on him, trying to snatch it. I left the bike and rushed to his defense, but the agents used sticks to threaten me and make me turn back. Then, once they had the camera, they ran away, leaving the victim in the street unconscious, and with his face bloodied."
"If he had not had a helmet, he would be dead," said the nurse who treated the journalist after the attack.
Around the same time, police also attacked two disabled Catholic war veterans on bikes heading toward Don Chiem.
The assault on the priest and journalist sparked strong response. Thousands of Catholics took to the streets of Dong Hai in a protest march. The protesters also demanded the release of five Catholic prisoners taken on the day the crucifix was demolished. The government had summoned five poverty-stricken Catholics to the service center of the government on the pretext of filling out forms for food aid. At the day's end, loudspeakers blared that the five had "bowed their heads, pleading guilty" to having built a bamboo cross on the spot where the crucifix had been destroyed.
The priests of Dong Chiem have also been accused by police of stirring up anti-government sentiments, when the priests' only "crime" has been resisting the anti-Catholic harassment coming from the Vietnamese government.
The faithful throughout North Vietnam continued to respond to these outrages with pilgrimages to Dong Chiem. Despite threats of violence, the pilgrims succeeded in planting crosses on the hill where the original crucifix was demolished. "We will make this hill a mountain of the crosses, like the one the Catholics created in Lithuania in Communist times," said a student from Hanoi whose team planted dozens of crosses on the hill. The group of students accomplished this by passing checkpoints and other police measures aimed at blocking the faithful's access to the cemetery. Asia News reports "hundreds of crosses" are now on the hill.
Not all the Vietnamese Catholics who depart for Dong Chiem manage to skirt the government's obstacles.
Father Joseph Pham Minh Trieu, who was leading a group of a thousand people to the hill, said he had to cancel the trip: "The police confiscated the licenses of all our bus drivers." Nonetheless, hundreds of parishioners at Ham Long used motorcycles to penetrate through police obstacles. Among them was the group of Hanoi students, who reached the summit of Nui Tho, which is now called "the mountain of prayer" where they enacted the Way of the Cross.
"Other faithful managed to arrive by boat," reported Asia News.
As news spread around the world of this persecution of Catholics, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam denied any repression of Catholics in Dong Chiem. "Vietnam asserts 'no suppression' of parishioners at Hanoi's outlying district", headlined the state-run Vietnamese News Agency.
It was here the government asserted the cross was built illegally on public land. The report also claimed the government simply "dismantled" the cross, and was careful not to mention they destroyed the crucifix with explosives.
The story was an obvious falsehood, particularly since an Agence France Presse reporter had already been denied access to the area. The January 8 Manilla News reported that a journalist had been blocked from entering the Dong Chiem parish area. "This is by special order" said a plainclothes policeman as the journalist tried to enter the one road leading to the Dong Chiem parish. At the only other access, said the Manilla News, "several other policemen also refused to let the reporter pass."
By mid-January, police had poured reinforcements and set up roadblocks to stop pilgrims from going to the hill at Dong Chiem parish. The violence against Catholics continued.
On January 20, a Vietnamese Catholic monk was beaten and seriously injured as he tried to reach the parish church. Agence France Presse reported, "About 20 uniformed and plainclothes officers on Wednesday [January 20] stopped Brother Nguyen Van Tang and several other Catholics from entering the Dong Chiem parish."
The police seized the Brother's camera and mobile phone. When he was making his way back, he was "attacked by unknown assailants and left with serious head injuries." He was taken to a hospital for treatment.
By the beginning of February, the parish was still under siege; the police would threaten and attack anyone who approached it. Three students from Saint Anthony of Padua parish were attacked by police for just that reason. One was arrested.
The three students had gone to Dong Chiem to attend a Eucharistic adoration. On their way home, says Father John Luu Ngoc Quynh, "a group of police agents stopped them and savagely attacked them."
One of the students "tried to run in a field but was chased and beaten," continues Father Luu Ngoc Quynh. The next day, "at 11:30 p.m., police brought him to his dormitory and after searching the premises, took away two other students who shared his room."
The priest denounced these actions as "continued violation of the law against Vietnamese citizens and against Catholics. Calling for the release of the students, for an end to the siege of the Dong Chiem parish, and for the right of Catholics to move freely, Father Luu Ngoc Quynh urged the Vietnamese government "to investigate the latest attack in order to bring the culprits to justice."
The government continues its brutal harassment, the latest being an attack on nuns visiting the area.
On February 24, a group of nuns from the Lovers of the Holy Cross, who went to Ho Chi Minh City with dozens of lay Catholics to visit parishioners of the area, were attacked and beaten by plainclothes officers at the town's entrance. Asia News reported the sisters were not seriously injured, "but the Hanoi volunteer who was their guide had to be admitted to the Viet Duc hospital in serious condition."
CHURCH TARGETED
It is obvious the Church is being deliberately provoked. Redemptorist Superior Vincent Pham Trung said in late February, "The government is trying its best to lure the Archbishop of Hanoi and Thai ha Redemptorists into a trap in which the tiniest mistake would give the government the excuse for open persecution, or at least an excuse to launch accusations against them."
It is also obvious that Catholics alone are the targets of this brutality since those who visit the famous Huong Pagoda, in the vicinity as Dong Chiem, are warmly welcome and protected by agents who belong to the same department as those persecuting the Church.
The clash between the Church and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an ongoing conflict. In 2009, the government demolished a large statue of the Blessed Mother that had been erected by the poor parishioners of Bau Sen.
On the day of the statue's destruction, government police with batons and dogs kept the parishioners back from the demolition site, and the faithful could only watch helplessly. This past January the government compounded the sacrilege by demanding the parishioners pay the $15,000 the government spent on the statue's destruction.
Whoever believes the Consecration of Russia as requested by Our Lady of Fatima is accomplished need look no further than today's Vietnam. The atrocities of the Vietnamese government bear all the hallmarks of Communist harassment of the Church throughout the Twentieth Century. The "period of peace" has yet to be granted to the world.
Despite what a highly placed churchman has said about Fatima's prophecies belonging to the past, the "tragic human lust for power and evil" has not come to an end.
Let us pray for our fellow Catholics who daily face this brutal persecution, and let us learn from their fortitude as they publicly defy Vietnam's anti-Catholic campaign.
From "Catholic Family News" - http://www.cfnews.org/vietnam.htm -
article by John Vennari. Click on link for pictures.
--
Sincerely in Christ,
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"

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Saturday, March 13, 2010

Our Lady of Mt Carmel (Private Prayer)

A Most Efficacious Prayer to Our Lady of Mount Carmel
(Never Found to Fail)

O most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel, Fruitful Vine, Splendour of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin, assist me in this my necessity. (Mention your intention.)

O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein that thou art my Mother.

O Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth, I humbly beseech thee, from the bottom of my heart, to succour me in this necessity; there are none that can withstand thy power. O show me herein that thou art my mother.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times)

Sweet Mother, I place this cause in thy hands. (3 times)

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Monday, March 08, 2010

Sancta Johannes, St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary

March, the month dedicated to St. Joseph

J.M.J.

ST. TERESA'S PLEA
Words of St. Teresa of Avila

"Would that I could persuade all men to be devoted to this glorious Saint , for I know by long experience what blessings he can obtain for us from God. I have never known anyone who was truly devoted to him and honored him by particular services who did not advance greatly in virtue: for he helps in a special way those souls who commend themselves to him. It is now very many years since I began asking him for something on his feast, and I have always received it. If the petition was in any way amiss, he rectified it for my greater good . . . I ask for the love of God that he who does not believe me will make the trial for himself-then he will find out by experience the great good that results from commending oneself to this glorious Patriarch and in being devoted to him . . ."

-Autobiography, VI, 11-12

WORDS OF POPE LEO XIII

From the Encyclical Quamquam pluries, August 15, 1889

"Since the bond of marriage existed between Joseph and the Blessed Virgin, there can be no doubt that more than any other person he approached that supereminent dignity by which the Mother of God is raised far above all created natures."
"Blessed Joseph . . . was indeed the husband of Mary and the father, as was supposed, of Jesus Christ. From this arise all his dignity, grace, holiness and glory . . . is his numberless family, scattered throughout all lands, over which he rules with a sort of paternal authority, because he is the husband of Mary and the father of Jesus Christ."
"Just as Mary, Mother of the Saviour, is spiritual mother of all Christians . . . Joseph looks on all Christians as having been confided to himself . . . He is the defender of the Holy Church, which is truly the House of God and the Kingdom of God on earth."

WORDS OF ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI

"Since we all must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St. Joseph, that he may obtain for us a happy death. All Christians regard him as the advocate of the dying who had honored him during their life, and that for three reasons:

"First, because Jesus Christ loved him not only as a friend, but as a father, and on this account his mediation is far more efficacious than that of any other Saint.

"Second, because St. Joseph has obtained special power against the evil spirits, who tempt us with redoubled vigor at the hour of death.

"Third, the assistance given St. Joseph at his death by Jesus and Mary obtained for him the right to secure a holy and peaceful death for his servants. Hence, if they invoke him at the hour of death he will not only help them, but he will also obtain for them the assistance of Jesus and Mary."
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The above is taken from the booklet "Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph" (http://olrl.org/books/joseph.shtml)
which is available from OLRL for only 90¢ ea. We also offer "Prayer and Consecration to St. Joseph" prayer card (http://olrl.org/pray/joseph.shtml) for 2¢ ea.
These items are priced very low for quantity purchase and wide distribution. Visit our Store at
--
Sincerely in Christ,
Our Lady of the Rosary Library
"Pray and work for souls"

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony,
Jesus, Mary, Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you.


Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love You; Save Souls!

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

Deus propitius esto mihi peccatori.

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Saturday, March 06, 2010

Lefebvre, The Movie

http://www.lefebvrethemovie.org/http://www.lefebvrethemovie.org


I just found this link! :D


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Friday, March 05, 2010

Some thoughts on the Most Holy Rosary


What do you think of this?

I need to read up on this (in detail), and will do so asap, starting again with the Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis-Mary de Montfort, but I was thinking about this when I was on a bus one day, quite recently. Thus, in order to organize my thoughts, I drew this out.


Will post up a more detailed explanation when the time permits for me.

(Lateral Transfer: Fruits that can be drawn from each of the mysteries, have connections when you look at it laterally.)

6th March 2010: Saturday,

Okay, I was thinking about this before/during/at Holy Mass today. (First Saturday Devotion) Maybe I should not think it as a lateral transfer (really!) How "ding-dong" can I get? It's just, simply, the inter-connectedness of all the mysteries of the Rosary. One leads to the other, the other leads back to one, e.g. Humility --> True Compunction of Heart --> Virtue of Faith which can also be interpreted as Virtue of Faith --> True Compunction of Heart --> Humility, so on and so forth. But thinking about it, besides linking them horizontally, and vertically (as in the picture with writings), we can also link it diagonally downwards, e.g. from Humility to Mortification of Sensuality etc. etc., and tah-dah, behold, everything ends with one, the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

O Holy Mary, my Mother, help me, make me love thee more and more. :P

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I love You; Save Souls!

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For my Reference

For my reference, I put this up on the blog. I will be listening to these in succession now. They are quite interesting.



The Hebrides Overture, Die Berliner Philharmoniker conducted by Fritz Lehmann





Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, The Hebrides Overture, Op. 26 "Fingal's Cave"



Schumann's Adagio espressivo, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell





Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 3rd Movement: Adagio espressivo



Schumann's Scherzo, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Cleveland Orchestra conducted by George Szell





Robert Schumann, Symphony No. 2 in C major, Op. 61 2nd Movement: Scherzo



Jesus, Mary, I love You; Save Souls!

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