1st Saturday of May

This is Our Lady, Help of Christians. It is also the 1st Saturday of May, which is dedicated to Our Blessed
Mother. The following sequence was used by the Churches in Germany celebrating her Seven Joys.

O Virgin! Temple of the Trinity! the God of all goodness and mercy, being pleased with the loveliness of thy humility, meekness, and purity, is announced as having to be born of thee. The message is brought thee by the angel who hails thee full of grace. Thou askest how? and thou art told. Thou consentest: and the King of glory instantly becomes incarnate in thy womb.
We beseech thee by this Joy, that we may deserve to receive mercy from this King, be protected by Him, and, thus protected, be admitted into the land of the living.
Thy second Joy is that tho, the Star, givest birth to the Sun, as the Moon emits its ray. This birth injures thee not; thou remainest a Virgin as before. As a flower loses not its beauty by sending forth its fragrance; so neither losest thy the bloom of thy Virginity by giving birth to thy Creator.
O Mary, kind Mother! be to us the way that leads to thy Son; and, by thy second Joy, graciously intercede for us, that we be converted from our sins.
A star tells thee of thy third Joy. Thou seest a star resting over thy Child, the Magi adoring Him, and offering their varied gifts. The star expresses Unity; three Kings, Trinity; the gold signifies purity of soul; the myrrh, chastity of body; the incense, adoration.
O Mary, Star of the Sea! pray for us, that we may be cleansed from our sins, enriched with virtue, and united with thee in the happiness and bliss of the heavenly Country.
The fourth Joy, O holy Virgin! was given thee, when Jesus rose from the tomb, on the third day. By this Mystery, faith is strengthened, hope restored, and death put to flight; and thou, O full of grace, hadst thy share in effecting these wonders. The enemy is conquered: he is imprisoned, and loses his power. Man, who had been made captive, is set free, and raised from earth to heaven above.
Do thou, therefore, O Mother of our Creator! pray hourly for us, that, by this Joy, we may be associated with the choirs of the heavenly citizens, after this life's labours are over.
Thou didst receive thy fifth Joy, O Mary! when thou wast present at thy Son's Ascension into heaven. Then didst thou clearly know that He whose Mother thou wast was thy Creator. His Ascension shows us the path whereby we are to ascend to heaven. Let us then, who dwell in this miserable world, arise, and follow this path.
We beseech thee, by this Joy, to pray that we may never be made subject to Satan's power; but that we ascend to heaven, where, with thee and thy Son, we may rejoice for all eternity.
The sixth Joy was when the Holy Ghost descended, in the form of fiery tongues, from heaven, strengthening, defending, filling, cleansing, and inflaming the Apostles. The fire was given in tongues, that man, who owed his perdition to a tongue, might be saved bu such fire; and that he who, at the beginning, had been defiled by sin, might by fire be purified.
We pray thee, O Virgin! by this holy Joy, intercede for us to thy Son, that He pardon us our sins, now in this our exile, lest there be found guilt upon us at the great judgement.
Jesus invited thee to the seventh Joy, when He called thee out of this world to heaven, placed thee on thy throne, and honoured thee with special favours. Thus is honour given to thee, such as none of the blessed in heaven enjoy; nor can any mortal attain to the perfection of virtue, unless by thine intercession he receive the safeguard of virtue.
O Virgin Mother of Mercy! give us to feel the proofs of thy loving intercession, which will preserve us from sin, and lead us to eternal joys, in the company of the Blessed.
O Virgin most pure! we beseech thee, by these thy Seven Joys, pray that we may be purified from our sins; and, being made fruitful in good works, lead us, O fruitful Mother, to the blissful joys of heaven. Amen.

Prophecy?

I am reading a book by Fr. Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange, entitled "Our Saviour and His Love for Us". This is just something I read today concerning the Jews and their obstinancy keeping them from accepting Christ as the One to come. It is sa comment from St. Pascal.

Pascal did not fail to note an objection that comes naturally to mind with respect to these prophecies (all throughout the Old Testament): "If all this was so clearly foretold to the Jews, why did they not believe it? And why were they not exterminated for resisting something so evident?"

"I answer," he says: "First of all, it was predicted that they would not believe something so clear and that they would not be exterminated. Secondly, nothing brings greater glory to the Messiah; for it was not enough that prophets should exist; it was necessary that their prophecies be preserved without suspicion." That is how everything came to pass. "The Jews, by killing Jesus in order not to accept Him as the Messiah, gave Him the crowning mark of the Messiah. And by continuing to misjudge Him they became the irreproachable witness [speaking against themselves though not wishing to be conscious of it]; and by killing Him and continuing to deny Him, they accomplished the prophecies."

I think it's like the fact that they owned the rope by which they hung themselves. They fulfilled all of the prophecies concerning the coming and the death of He Who was to come.

Quasimodo Sunday

Today is Quasimodo Sunday, or Low Sunday, or Thomas Sunday. The Apostles were gathered, no doubt they were praying, and asking the Blessed Mother about what to do. Jesus appears to them, and confers upon them the reception of the Holy Ghost, and along with that the power to forgive sins. Protestants are wrong when they say that no man has the right to forgive sins, seeing that Jesus said it! However, Thomas was not with them at this time, for whatever reason. He, later, tells them that he does not believe what they have said until he sees for himself the wounds and touching them. How many people these days will not believe until they see a sign? Jesus tells them that a sign will not be given until the proper time. We are to believe, and then we see. Most people have this backward.
However, when Thomas does see the wounds and touches them, he says with great sorrow: "My Lord and my God!" We say this every time we receive the Holy Eucharist.
Once more I am going to enter something that we don't get to hear anymore from the Middle Ages. This is from Adam of St. Victor.

The world's renovation creates new joy. All creatures rise together with their Lord. The elements obey Him, and feel their Creator's mighty power.
Fire is impetuous in its flight; air is swift; water is flowing; earth is firm; light things tend aloft, and those that are heavy seek their centre: but all are now renewed.
Heaven is more serene, the sea more tranquil, the winds breathe softer. Our valley is filled with flowers; and now that gentle spring is come, the dry things have put on green again, and the cold a genial warmth.
The frost of death is thawed. The prince of this world is made captive, and has no longer power over us: By striving to take Him over whom he had no claim, he lost his own.
Life conquers death; man now regains what he had lost--the joys of heaven; the angel sheathes his two-edged sword, and leaves the passage free.
Jesus opens heaven, and liberates them whom sin had made captives of death. For this great victory, be glory to Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

HE HAS RISEN!

What do mean the tomb is empty? What happened? Could it be? Is this what Jesus meant when He talked about raising the temple? His body? YES! It is! The souls which were once in Abraham's bosom now see that a different place has been saved for them, Heaven! In a few weeks they will be there.

Hell now knows that the name of Jesus must be respected until the end of time. Jesus has died. According to Church saints, this place, Calvary, is right above where our first parents, Adam and Eve, are buried. How appropriate! Jesus has put off the old man and put on the new man, and showed us how to do it also. Alleluia! He has made all things new!

The following is a hymn from the Office of Lauds sung during Paschal Time:

Day-dawn gilds the heavens; the air re-echoes with our hymns, the world is triumphant and glad, and hell howls with fear and rage.

This is the hour when our most mighty King freed from the deep prison of death the venerable host of the fathers, and led them to the light of life.

A numerous body of soldiers keep watch at the tomb; a stone is rolled against it, and all is sealed. But Jesus triumphs over death, and buries it in his own grave.

A bright angel cries out: "Away with mourning, tears, and grief! The conqueror of death is risen!"

That thou, O Jesus, mayst be an endless Paschal joy to our hearts, free us, who have been regenerated unto life, from the dread death of sin.

Glory be to God the Father, and to the Son who rose from the dead, and to the Paraclete, for everlasting ages. Amen.

Holy Saturday

All is quiet. Jesus is dead. He said He would raise the temple after three days, but what did that mean? Now we wait for whatever comes next. We still have our Mother with us. Maybe she knows what we are to do now. Peter is still ashamed for denying Christ 3 times within a very short period of time. Everyone seems in a daze, and not much is spoken. It's soooo sad today. We're trying to be upbeat, but it doesn't seem to be working. Our Mother has encouraged us to remember all that Jesus taught us. That seems to help a little, but without Jesus, it mostly just like we have been abandoned, too. Maybe tomorrow will be better. We'll see.

Crucifixion of Our Lord Jesus Christ

I have this on a tee shirt, and this is all I'm going to say today.

"If I'm OK and you're OK, explain this"

Holy Thursday-Eucharist

I think that today is one the most awesome days of the year. Tonight Jesus begins the Blessed Sacrament for all, and gives His Disciples the power to do the same. How cool is that?! The Bread which came down from heaven, Jesus, is available to us every day of the year. The Jews have lost the meaning and holiness of their sacrifice, and now we have It! The protestants don't have it either, ever since the time when the 'reformers' left the Church.
I remember when I was a protestant, which I thought was fine then, and we got 'communion' once a month, under the appearance of a wafer and of grape juice. The minister would say, "This represents my body, which is given up for you". I'm looking at my bible, and it doesn't say 'represents' at all, which I thought was odd. He would then say the same thing about the blood before we got our grape juice. This isn't scriptural at all, I thought. Maybe this is when Our Blessed Mother got her hook into me for the first time. She kept reeling me in until she landed me, which I am now totally grateful for. Anyway, the Holy Eucharist is the only thing I care about now. I am going to end with this best known hymn celebrating the Blessed Sacrament. Thank you, Jesus, for this eternal gift.

Pange, ligua, gloriosi
Corporis mysterium,
Sangguinisque pretiosi,
Quem in mundi pretium,
Fructus ventris generosi,
Rex effudit gentium.

Nobis datus, nobis natus
Ex intacta Virgine,
Et in mundo conversatus,
Sparso verbi semine,
Sui moras incolatus
Miro clausit ordine.

In supremae nocte coenae
Recumbens cum fratribus,
Observata lege plene
Cibis in legalibus,
Cibum turbae duodenae
Se dat suis manibus.

Verbum caro, panem verum
Verbo carnem efficit:
Fitque sanguis Christi merum:
Et si sensus deficit,
Ad firmandum cor sincerum
Sola fides sufficit.

Tantum ergo Sacramentum
Veneremur cernui:
Et antiquum documentum
Novo cedat ritui:
Praestat fides supplementum
Sensuum defectui.

Genitori Genitoque
Laus et jubilatio,
Salus, honor, virtus quoque
Sit et benedictio:
Procedenti ab utroque
Compar sit laudatio. Amen.