Our Lady's Little Scribe

The Transitus

2008-10-04T12:02:00.000-05:00

CatholicVote.com

2008-10-02T19:30:00.003-05:00

Behold, God is My Salvation

2008-09-27T09:37:00.001-05:00

"Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the LORD GOD is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation."
With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.
And you will say in that day: "Give thanks to the LORD,
call upon his name;
make known his deeds among the nations,
proclaim that his name is exalted.
"Sing praises to the LORD, for he has done gloriously;
let this be known in all the earth.
Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel."

Isaiah 12:2-6

Prayer of Consecration

2008-09-13T10:14:00.004-05:00

"There are times when our own perplexities and suffering, or those of ones we love are so painful to carry that we find ourselves wordless before God. Such poverty can be a great blessing as it reveals to us our need for him, but it is also a moment of invitation to surrender. At such times a prayer of consecration is probaly the most suitable prayer we can say or formulate, simply handing everything over to God and Mary with trust. Or in situations of impending natural disaster, those involved in war or other life threatening situations, pray for them, pray for yourself in this prayer this morning." Poor Clare Colettines

Holy Mary
My Queen and Sovereign Lady
I give you myself
trusting on your fidelity and protection.
I surrender myself entirely
to your motherly tenderness
my body, my soul
all that I am, all that I possess,
for the whole of this day,
for every moment of my life
and especially at the hour of my death.
I entrust to you once more
all my hopes. all my consolations
all my anxieties, all my troubles.
my life, my dying breath,
so that by your prayer and merits,
I may have in all I do, one only goal,
your good pleasure and the holy will of your son.
Pere Raphael (17th century)

Pelosi’s Abortion Statements a Scandal

2008-08-27T20:13:00.004-05:00

15 minute clip from August 26th's Threshold of Hope

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – EWTN Global Catholic Network TV Host Father Mitch Pacwa S.J. took Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi to task last night for misrepresenting Church teaching on abortion in an Aug. 24 interview with Tom Brokaw on Meet the Press.

In that interview, Pelosi told Brokow that “as an ardent, practicing Catholic” who has studied the issue of when life begins for “a long time,” she could say that the Church fathers, especially St. Augustine, were not sure of when life begins, and that the Church had only made this decision in the past 50 years. She then drew the conclusion that this should not impact on a woman’s right to choose.

Father Pacwa explained that Pelosi was in grave error about the teaching of the Church fathers, summarized what other Church leaders are saying about her public statements, and offered her this piece of advice:

“[A]s an ardent, practicing Catholic, you must conform your conscience to the teaching of the Church that goes back [to] the very beginning of the Church on this moral issue.”

After explaining how grave a sin abortion was to Church fathers and citing early Church leaders and Church documents, Father Pacwa gave this moral counsel to Pelosi: “If you are ignorant and you don’t know [when life begins], then you go on the side of safety and protecting rights. You don’t bomb a city where there might be a lot of civilians. You don’t do that. You say, ‘Well, I’m not sure.’ Well, then be on the side of safety. Protect the lives of the innocent, the non-combatants.

“Same with the unborn children. You must also go on the side of your ignorance to say then, “If I don’t know, then I’ll protect all the more. I don’t want to act while I’m ignorant.”

Father Pacwa called on Pelosi to use her position “to make sure not that there are few and rare abortions, but that there are zero abortions and that you would do everything you can to protect life. This is the duty of us all.”

SOURCE: EWTN Global Catholic Network

(Attribution: Story and audio clips may be used if attribution is made to EWTN Global Catholic Network. Photos may be used if attribution is made as follows: Photos courtesy of EWTN Global Catholic Network.)

Our Lady of the Pearl Fraternity - Canonical Establishment - August 23, 2008

2008-08-24T18:14:00.005-05:00

All Creatures of Your God and King

2008-08-23T21:12:00.004-05:00

In praise and thanksgiving for the canonical establishment of Our Lady of the Pearl Secular Franciscan Fraternity, St. Joseph Chapel, Pearlington, Mississippi, August 23, 2008.

Canonical Establishment for Our Lady of the Pearl

2008-08-17T09:55:00.006-05:00

Hold Faithfully to Your God-Given Path

2008-08-16T10:52:00.003-05:00

We live in a world of novelty, innovation and change. We live in a society where things and people are disposable and dispensable. This is the path of the world. It is not the path of Mary. It is not the path of saints.

Those things that influence the temporal world also invade and influence the spiritual world. Our hearts are restless and seeking, and often we become fragmented and lost. It will not necessarily follow that we will find God in every fresh wind and idea that passes before us. The spirits need to be tested! It is rather often far more important and a point of practicing virtue to be faithful to what God has revealed for us!

We feel dissatisfied. God seems remote. The answer is not to rush out and buy more books, more media, more techniques to prayer. The answer is to rest in God, rest in his word, to HOLD HIM and his words in our hearts and to be faithful to the prayers we have been inspired to pray.

All this applies very well to our Office. There will be times when we feel disinclined, but the problem is within us, not within the office. That is a time to surrender, to trust in faith and faithfully continue.

Returning to Clare’s approach and concept of prayer let us again reflect upon:

Behold
Hold
Enfold

There are deep riches in these simple thoughts. They are possessed of a faithfulness and a perseverance to that which God has revealed through his word, his Church and in prayer.
Hold faithfully to your God-given path and let nothing of this world deter you, but continue in his will.

Source: Poor Clare Colettines TMD

The Lent of Saint Michael

2008-08-15T22:32:00.002-05:00

August 15 - September 29

Our Lady’s Little Portion and Our Lady of the Pearl, Secular Franciscan Fraternities, St. Joan of Arc Region, ask that you join with us in prayer and fasting for our country during the Lent of Saint Michael, from August 15th - September 29th. The United States, as a Christian Nation, desperately needs God`s hand of protection over it during our upcoming presidential elections.

In the writings of St. Francis, we are reminded again and again that Franciscans are called to be penitents, to pray and fast. Saint Michael’s Lent is a period of 40 days, honoring Mary and Saint Michael the Archangel. It begins on the Feast of the Assumption and ends on The Feast of the Archangels.

Days for Franciscans to Remember

2008-08-15T22:29:00.001-05:00

August 2 The Feast of Our Lady of the Angels (The Portiuncular Indulgence)
August 11 The Feast of St. Clare
August 14 The Feast of St. Maximillian Kolbe
August 15 The Assumption
August 15 - September 29 The Lent of St. Michael
September 8 The Feast of the birthday of Our Lady
September 14 The Feast of the Triumph of the Cross
September 22 Queenship of Mary
September 29 The Feast of the Archangels
October 2 The Feast of the Angels
October 3 The Transitus
October 4 The Feast of St. Francis

I Know My Redeemer Lives

2008-08-15T07:28:00.001-05:00

Our Lady of Betania - Maria Esperanza

2008-08-09T12:00:00.003-05:00

August 7th is the 4th anniversary of the death of Maria Esperanza. She was the primary visionary of the apparitions at Betania, Venezuela. For more information, see Medjugorje USA.

If God Forced Us To Love Him

2008-08-01T09:00:00.000-05:00

If God forced us to love him, God would not be perfect love and we would not be free. We would be puppets of a controlling God, a God who would be like a dictator; we would live under constant oppression. This would not be a God faithful in love and worthy of our constant trust and hope. But God does not control or manipulate. No, God is a beggar waiting at the soul’s door. If we choose to open the door and allow God into our lives, then we will find the freedom to be all that we are created to be.

SOURCE: Ilia Delio, OSF, The Humility of God: A Franciscan Perspective

We Are An Order, A Lay Order, But a Real Order

2008-07-31T15:45:00.002-05:00

“…, (Francis) founded a true Order, that of the Tertiaries, not restricted by religious vows, as the two preceding (Orders), but similarly conformed to simplicity of customs and to a spirit of penitence. So, he was the first to conceive and happily carry out, with the help of God, what no founder of regulars (religious Orders) had previously contrived, to have the religious life practiced by all.” (Benedict XV, Encyclical “Sacra Propediem” June 6, 1921)

“You are an Order: a lay Order, but a real Order. Ordo veri nominis, as our predecessor of holy memory, Benedict XV (Sacra propediem, June 6, 1921) called it. You will not, as is obvious, be an assembly of the perfect; but you must be a school of Christian perfection. Without this resolute will one cannot suitably be a part of such a chosen and glorious militia.” (Pius XII, July 1, 1956, Speech to the Tertiaries in Rome)

“…you are also an ‘Order,’ as the Pope said (Pius XII): A Lay Order, but a Real Order;” and after all, Benedict XV had already spoken of “Ordo veri nominis”. This ancient term – we can say medieval – “Order” means nothing more than your intimate belonging to the large Franciscan family. The word “Order” means the participation in the discipline and actual austerity of that spirituality, while remaining in the autonomy typical of your lay and secular condition, which, moreover, often entails sacrifices which are not lesser than those experienced in the religious and priestly life.” (John Paul II, June 14, 1988, General Chapter, SFO)

SOURCE: Next General Chapter

SACRA PROPEDIEM, ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XV, ON THE THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS

2008-07-31T13:50:00.004-05:00

SACRA PROPEDIEM
ENCYCLICAL OF POPE BENEDICT XV
ON THE THIRD ORDER OF ST. FRANCIS
TO THE PATRIARCHS, PRIMATES, ARCHBISHOPS,
BISHOPS, AND OTHER ORDINARIES
IN PEACE AND COMMUNION WITH THE APOSTOLIC SEE.

Venerable Brethren,
Health and Apostolic The Benediction.

We regard as most opportune that solemn festivities will be held for the seventh Centenary of the Third Order of Penance. Many motives prompt Us to exalt the occasion in the eyes of the Catholic world, in virtue of Our Apostolic authority, but before all is the hope of the incontestable advantages which the Christian people will draw therefrom.

1. In the next place there is the personal remembrance which they evoke for Us. We love to recall that in 1882, when the centenary of his birth spread amongst the mass of the Faithful the fervent cultus of Francis of Assisi, We wished to range Ourselves amongst the disciples of that great Patriarch, and received regularly the habit of the Tertiaries in the celebrated Church of Ara Coeli, served by the Friars Minors. Today, placed by Providence on the chair of the Prince of the Apostles, We are particularly happy to seize this occasion to testify Our devotion to St. Francis in exhorting the Catholics of the entire world to affiliate themselves with eagerness or to remain faithfully attached to this Franciscan institution, which today responds marvelously to the needs of society.

3. That which matters now is to replace before all eyes the true moral physiognomy of St. Francis. The St. Francis of Assisi whom certain moderns present to us, and who springs from the imagination of the Modernists, this man, guarded in his obedience to the Apostolic See, a specimen of a vague and vain religiosity, is assuredly neither Francis of Assisi nor a saint.

4. The striking and immortal services rendered by Francis to the Christian cause, which have shown in him the defender whom God in such troubled times reserved for the Church, found, as it were, their coronation in the Third Order. Is there anything which proves more clearly the greatness and violence of the burning desire which consumed his soul to spread throughout the whole earth the glory of Jesus Christ?

5. Profoundly saddened by the misfortunes which the Church was then passing through, Francis conceived the incredible design of renewing everything conformably to the principles of the Christian law. After having founded a double religious family, one of Brothers, the other of Sisters, who pledged themselves by solemn vows to imitate the humility of the Cross, Francis, in the impossibility of opening the cloister to all whom the desire of being formed in his school drew to him, resolved to procure, even for souls living in the whirlpool of the world, the means to tend to Christian perfection. He founded, then, an Order properly called Tertiaries, differing from the two other Orders in that it would not bear the bond of the religious vows, but would be characterized by the same simplicity of life and the same spirit of penance. Thus the project which no founder of a regular Order had yet imagined, to cause the religious life to be practised by all, Francis first conceived the idea of and the grace of God gave him to realize it with the greatest success. We have no other proof of it than this beautiful homage of Thomas de Celano: "Marvelous workman, whose example, direction, and teachings have this admirable result, to renew in both sexes the Church of Christ and to lead to triumph a triple phalanx of souls preoccupied with their salvation." (I Cel. xv. 40).

6. We shall confine Ourselves to this testimony of so authoritative a contemporary; of itself it suffices amply to show to what a depth and to what an extent this initiative of Francis of Assisi shook the popular masses, what notable and salutary reparations it worked therein.

7. Uncontested founder of the Third Order, as he was of the two first, Francis was for it, further, without doubt, the most wise legislator. We know that for this work he had the precious aid of Cardinal Ugolino, who later, under the name of Gregory IX, was to make illustrious this Apostolic See, and who, after having whilst he lived, maintained the closest relations with the Partiarch of Assisi, elevated later on his tomb a magnificent and sumptuous basilica. As to the rule of the Tertiaries, no one is ignorant that it was regularly approved by Our predecessor, Nicholas IV.

8. But We shall not, Venerable Brothers, delay Ourselves too long on these questions; Our object is here, before all, to bring to light the character, and, as one says the particular spirit of the third Order, for the Church expects from it special advantages for the Christian people in this age, as hostile to virtue and to faith as was the epoch of Francis of Assisi. With his profound sense of situations and times Our predecessor, Leo XIII, of happy memory, desirous to adapt better the regulation of life of the Tertiaries to the social level of each of the faithful, brought, by the Constitution "Misericors Dei Filius" (1883) to, their statutes or rule most wise motivations which should put them in accord with the actual state of society; he modified it in some secondary points responding but imperfectly to our customs of today.

9. "Let none believe," said he, "that these changes take away anything whatsoever from the essential principles of that Order. We wish absolutely that they remain in their integrity, and secure from any branch." The rule of the Third Order has then undergone only retouchings of detail; its range and spirit have been respected, which remain what their holy founder willed them. Now it is Our conviction that the spirit of the Third Order, altogether impregnated with the wisdom of the Gospel, would be a powerful element for the making healthy of private and public orals if it were spread anew as in the times in which by his word and example Francis preached everywhere the Kingdom of God.

10. What Francis wished to shine out, above all, in his Tertiaries, and which ought to be as their characteristic mark, is fraternal charity, most watchful guardian of peace and concord. Knowing that charity is the special commandment brought by Jesus Christ and the synthesis of the whole Christian law, St. Francis was careful to make of it the spiritual rule of his children; and he attained this result, that the Third Order rendered naturally the greatest service to the entire human family.

11. Further, Francis was powerless to contain in the recesses of his heart the seraphic love which consumed him for God and his brothers; he was compelled to permit it to overflow on all the souls which he could reach. Thus it was that he set himself to reform the individual and family life of his disciples in forming them to the practise of the Christian virtues with such ardor as would make one believe that it was all his program. But he did not dream that he ought to limit himself to this; individual conversion was but an instrument of which he availed himself to reawaken in the bosom of society love of Christian wisdom, and to gain all men for Christ.

12. The preoccupation which had moved Francis of Assisi to make of the members of the Third Order messengers and apostles of peace in the midst of the bitter discords and civil wars of his time was ours in the days wherein the conflagration of a horrible war was kindled in almost the entire world; it has not ceased to be so at a moment in which, here and there, the smoking hearth of this ill-extinguished conflagration still shoots out flames.

13. To this scourge had been added the interior crisis which the nations are going through, first of the forgetfulness and prolonged disdain of Christian principles. We wish to say that this fight for the sharing of goods which sets in conflict the different classes of society is so relentless that it threatens already to lead to a universal catastrophe.

14. In this so vast field, wherein, as representative of the pacific King, We have lavished Our especially attentive cares, We make an appeal for the zealous help of all those who claim for themselves Christian peace, but especially for the collaboration of the Tertiaries. They will exert a marvelous influence in restoring concord in spirit the day wherein their number and their efforts will be developed. It is, then, desirable that in every city, town, and even in each village, the Third Order count henceforth a sufficient group of members, not of inactive adherents satisfied with the mere title of Tertiaries, but instead, of those who spend themselves with zeal for their own salvation and the salvation of their brothers. Why even should not the various Catholic associations which multiply everywhere, associations of youth, of workmen, of women, not affiliate themselves to the Third Order to continue to work for the glory of Jesus Christ and the triumph of the Church with the same zeal that Francis had for peace and charity?

15. The peace for which humanity cries out is not that which the laborious treaty-making of human prudence can decree, but that which Christ brought by its message: "My peace I bring you; I do not give it as the world gives it." (John xiv: 27). The accords between State and State or between class and class which men have been able to shadow forth will not be durable, and will not have the force of true peace except on condition that they are founded on the pacification of hearts; and that itself is only possible if duty has bridled the passions whence all conflicts spring. "Whence comes," asks the Apostle James," wars and quarrels amongst you? Is it not from your passions, which combat in your members?" (James iv.: 1.) Now to regulate wisely all the movements inherent to nature in such a way as to make man the master, not the slave, of his passions, submissive himself, and docile to the divine will, the hierarchy, which is at the base of universal peace, that belongs to Christ, and its action manifests a marvelous efficacy in the family of Franciscan Tertiaries.

16. This Order, having for its object, as We have said to form its members in Christian perfection, even whilst they may be plunged in the embarrassments of the age, so true is it that no state of life is incompatible with sanctity, it happens, as it were, necessarily, where the Tertiaries in numbers observe faithfully their rule, that they are for all about them a source of encouragement in fulfilling their duties, and even to tending towards a perfection of life superior to the exigencies of the common law. The testimony rendered by the Divine Master to those who attached themselves closely to Him: "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world" (John xvii:16) may justly be applied to the sons of Francis who, if they observe the evangelical counsels of mind and heart as far as possible in the world, may lawfully put to their account the words of the Apostle: "As for us, we have received not the spirit of this world, but the Spirit which comes from God" (1 Cor., 11:12).

17. They will seek, then - completely strangers themselves to the spirit of the world - to introduce the Spirit of Jesus Christ in the current of social life on every side to which they have access.

18. Now there are two passions today dominant in the profound lawlessness of morals - an unlimited desire of riches and an insatiable thirst for pleasures. It is this which marks with a shameful stigma our epoch; whilst it goes ceaselessly from progress to progress in the order of all which touches the well-being and convenience of life, it seems that in the superior order of honesty and of moral rectitude a lamentable retrogression leads it back to the ignominies of ancient paganism. In that measure, in truth, wherein men lose sight of eternal goods which Heaven reserved for them, they permit themselves to be more taken in by the deceitful mirage of the ephemeral goods here below, and once their souls are turned down towards the earth, an easy descent leads them insensibly to relax themselves in virtue, to experience repugnance for spiritual things, and to relish nothing outside the seductions of pleasure. Hence the general situation which we note: with some the desire to acquire riches or to increase their patrimony knows no bounds; others no longer know, as formerly, how to bear the trials which are the usual result of want or poverty; and at the very hour in which the rivalries We have pointed out set by the ears the rich and the proletariat a great number seem to wish to further excite the hatred of the poor by an unbridled luxury which accompanies the most revolting corruption.

19. From this point of view one cannot sufficiently deplore the blindness of so many women of every age and condition; made foolish by desire to please, they do not see to what a degree the in decency of their clothing shocks every honest man, and offends God. Most of them would formerly have blushed for those toilettes as for a grave fault against Christian modesty; now it does not suffice for them to exhibit them on the public thoroughfares; they do not fear to cross the threshold of the churches, to assist at the Holy sacrifice of the Mass, and even to bear the seducing food of shameful passions to the Eucharistic Table where one receives the heavenly Author of purity. And We speak not of those exotic and barbarous dances recently imported into fashionable circles, one more shocking than the other; one cannot imagine anything more suitable for banishing all the remains of modesty.

20. In considering attentively this state of things, the Tertiaries will understand what it is that our epoch expects from the disciples of St. Francis. If they bring their gaze back to the life of their Father, they will see what perfect and living resemblance to Jesus Christ, above all in His flight from satisfactions and his love of trials in this life, had he whom they call the Poverello, and who had received in his flesh the stigmata of the Crucified. It is for them to show that they remain worthy of him by embracing poverty, at least in spirit, in renouncing themselves, and in bearing each one his cross.

21. In what concerns specially the Tertiary Sisters, We ask of them by their dress and manner of wearing it, to be models of holy modesty for other ladies and young girls; that they be thoroughly convinced that the best way for them to be of use to the Church and to Society is to labor for the improvement of morals.

22. Moreover, after having created divers charitable works for the solace of the indigent in their wants of every kind, the members of this Order would wish, further, We are sure, to cause those of their brothers who are deprived of goods more precious than those of earth, to benefit by their charity.

23. Here comes back to Us the memory of the counsel of the Apostle Peter, asking Christians to be, by the holiness of their lives, models for the Gentiles, and this in order that, "remarking your good works, they glorify God in the day of His visitation" (Peter II.: 12). Like them, the Franciscan Tertiaries ought, by the integrity of their faith, the holiness of their lives, and the ardor of their zeal, spread abroad the good words of Christ, to warn those of their brethren who have gone out from the road, and to press them to reenter upon it. Behold that which the Church asks, that which she expects from them.

24. As to Us, we cherish the hope that the coming celebration will mark for the Third Order a new development, and We doubt not that you yourselves, Venerable Brothers, as well as the other pastors of souls, will make great efforts to cause to flourish again the groups of tertiaries where they vegetate, and to create others everywhere possible, and to render all flourishing, as much by the observation of the rule as by the number of their members.

25. In truth what is in hand definitely is, by imitation of Francis of Assisi to open to the greatest possible number of souls the way which will lead them back to Christ; it in this return that resides the firmest hope of salvation for society. The word of St. Paul, "Be my imitators, as I myself am of Christ" (I Cor. xi.; i), we can with good right put upon the lips of Francis, who, in imitating the Apostle, has become the most faithful image and copy of Jesus Christ.

26. Thus, in order that these celebrations bear still more fruit, upon the instances of the Ministers General of the three Franciscan families of the First Order, we accord the following favors drawn from the treasury of the Holy Church:
I. In all Churches wherein the Third Order is canonically erected, and wherein will be celebrated by a Triduum the solemnities of the Centenary in the year to run from April 16, next: the Tertiaries each day of the Triduum, the other Faithful once only, may gain a plenary indulgence from their sins. All the Faithful who, with contrite hearts, will visit the Blessed Sacrament in one of these churches may gain at each visit (toties quoties) an indulgence of seven years.
II. All the altars of these churches will be deemed for those three days privileged altars; during the course of the Triduum every priest may celebrate there the Mass of St. Francis, following the rite of the Mass pro re gravi et simul publice de causa according to the general rubrics of the Roman Missal inserted in the last Vatican edition.
III. All the priests who serve these churches may, during these same days, bless beads, medals, and other objects of piety, enrich them with Apostolic indulgences, and apply to beads the Crozier and Bridgettine indulgences.

As pledge of Divine favors, and in testimony of Our paternal benevolence, We accord with all Our heart, to you, Venerable Brothers, and to all the members of the Third Order, the Apostolic Benediction.

Given at Rome, near St. Peter's, the Feast of the Epiphany of the year 1921, in the seventh year of Our Pontificate.

BENEDICT XV

SOURCE: Vatican Web Site

Portiuncular Indulgence

2008-07-25T11:41:00.003-05:00

Saint Francis obtained for us the Plenary Indulgence of the Forgiveness of Assisi or the Portiuncular Indulgence, as it is also called. The date of the Portiuncular Indulgence is from vespers on the first of August until sundown on the second of August, which is the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels. Some say that Saint Francis was given the date by Our Lord because the Feast of the Chains of St. Peter, which is celebrated on August 1st, is the day Peter was released from prison and his chains were removed. The Portiuncular Indulgence removes the chains of sin from those who devoutly and faithfully seek to gain the indulgence by completing its requirements.

The conditions to obtain the Indulgence are:

Sacramental Confession to be in God’s grace (during eight days before or after)
Participation in the Holy Mass and Eucharist
Recitation of The Apostles Creed, Our Father and a prayer for the Pope’s Intention.

The Portiuncula Indulgence is a grace not to miss, for yourself and for the souls in purgatory. Mark your calendar. For more information, click here.

Authentic Love

2008-07-25T07:28:00.002-05:00

“Without authentic love, life would hardly be worth living. When we love we are fulfilling our deepest need and becoming most fully ourselves, most fully human. Loving is what we are programmed to do, what we were designed for by our Creator. Naturally, I am not talking about fleeting, shallow relationships, I am talking about real love. In the power of the Holy Spirit, choose life and choose love, and bear witness before the world to the joy that it brings.”

Benedict XVI July 18th 2008

Source: Vatican Website (World Youth Day)

Saint Francis of Assis

2008-07-21T10:28:00.005-05:00

Photograph by Martha Hopkins

In every work of the artist he praised the Artist; whatever he found in the things made he referred to the Maker. He rejoiced in all the works of the hands of the Lord and saw behind things pleasant to behold their life-giving reason and cause. In beautiful things he saw Beauty itself; all things were to him good. 'He who made us is the best,' they cried out to him. Through his footprints impressed upon things he followed the Beloved everywhere; he made for himself from all things a ladder by which to come even to his throne.

SOURCE: Thomas of Celano, Second Life, cxxiv

We Are Spouses - We Are Mothers

2008-07-21T09:52:00.003-05:00

We are spouses, when by the Holy Spirit the faithful soul is united with our Lord Jesus Christ, we are brothers to him when we fulfill the will of the Father who is in heaven .

We are mothers, when we carry him in our heart and body through divine love and a pure and sincere conscience; we give birth to him through a holy life which must give light to others by example.

St. Francis of Assisi

Source: Our Lady of the Pearl

We Awaken in Christ's Body

2008-07-21T09:27:00.003-05:00

We awaken in Christ's body
as Christ awakens our bodies,
and my poor hand is Christ, He enters
my foot, and is infinitely me.

I move my hand, and wonderfully
my hand becomes Christ, becomes all of Him
(for God is indivisibly
whole, seamless in His Godhood).

I move my foot, and at once
He appears like a flash of lightning.
Do my words seem blasphemous? -- Then
open your heart to Him
and let yourself receive the one

who is opening to you so deeply.
For if we genuinely love Him,
we wake up inside Christ's body
where all our body, all over,

every most hidden part of it,
is realized in joy as Him,
and He makes us, utterly, real,
and everything that is hurt, everything

that seemed to us dark, harsh, shameful,
maimed, ugly, irreparably
damaged, is in Him transformed
and recognized as whole, as lovely,

and radiant in His light
he awakens as the Beloved
in every last part of our body.

-Symeon the New Theologian, 949 - 1032 -

SOURCE: Poetry Chaikhana

A Rare Breed of Love

2008-07-14T10:06:00.006-05:00

A Rare Breed of Love - post with video on Poppy's Page
(Click Link)

COMPASSION

The quality of understanding the suffering of others
and wanting to do something about it.

My Precious Poppy

10-3-96 - 5-23-08

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha - Saint of the Day

2008-07-14T08:25:00.002-05:00

Click for audio.

A Tribute to Tony Snow, Dead at 58, A Catholic Journalist

2008-07-12T14:06:00.003-05:00

A Tribute to Tony Snow, Dead at 58, A Catholic Journalist

Tribute on Fox News Website

Psalm 118

2008-07-12T12:51:00.002-05:00

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
his steadfast love endures for ever!

Let Israel say,‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Let the house of Aaron say,
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Let those who fear the Lord say,
‘His steadfast love endures for ever.’
Out of my distress I called on the Lord;
the Lord answered me and set me in a broad place.
With the Lord on my side I do not fear.
What can mortals do to me?
The Lord is on my side to help me;
I shall look in triumph on those who hate me.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in mortals.
It is better to take refuge in the Lord
than to put confidence in princes.

All nations surrounded me;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me, surrounded me on every side;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
They surrounded me like bees;
they blazed like a fire of thorns;
in the name of the Lord I cut them off!
I was pushed hard, so that I was falling,but the Lord helped me.
The Lord is my strength and my might;
he has become my salvation.

There are glad songs of victory in the tents of the righteous:
‘The right hand of the Lord does valiantly;
the right hand of the Lord is exalted;
the right hand of the Lord does valiantly.’
I shall not die, but I shall live,
and recount the deeds of the Lord.
The Lord has punished me severely,
but he did not give me over to death.

Open to me the gates of righteousness,
that I may enter through them
and give thanks to the Lord.

This is the gate of the Lord;
the righteous shall enter through it.
I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
The stone that the builders rejected
has become the chief cornerstone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
it is marvellous in our eyes.
This is the day that the Lord has made;
let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Save us, we beseech you, O Lord!
O Lord, we beseech you, give us success!

Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord.
We bless you from the house of the Lord.
The Lord is God, and he has given us light.
Bind the festal procession with branches,
up to the horns of the altar.

You are my God, and I will give thanks to you;
you are my God, I will extol you.

O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
for his steadfast love endures for ever.

* * *

(Psalm 118 is one of the Great Hallel (Psalms 115-118) recited at Passover after the fourth cup is filled. Note: Some sources include Psalms 113.)

“The Passover meal was divided into four parts. First, the preliminary course consisted of a festival blessing (kiddush) spoken over the first cup of wine, followed by the serving of a dish of herbs. The second course included a recital of the Passover narrative and the "Little Hallel" (Psalm 113), followed by the drinking of the second cup of wine. The third course was the main meal, consisting of lamb and unleavened bread, after which was drunk the third cup of wine, known as the "cup of blessing." The Passover climaxed with the singing of the "Great Hallel" (Psalms 114-118) and the drinking of the fourth cup of wine.”

Source: “The Hunt for the Fourth Cup” by Scott Hahn at http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1991/9109fea1.asp