Solemnity of St Joseph . Wednesday

Patron of the whole Church

One hundred years ago, Pope Leo XIII had already exhorted the Catholic world to pray for the protection of St. Joseph, Patron of the whole Church. The Encyclical Epistle Quamquam Pluries appealed to Joseph’s “fatherly love…for the child Jesus” and commended to him, as “the provident guardian of the divine Family,” “the beloved inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by his blood.”

Since that time–as I recalled at the beginning of this Exhortation–the Church has implored the protection of St. Joseph on the basis of “that sacred bond of charity which united him to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God,” and the Church has commended to Joseph all of her cares, including those dangers which threaten the human family.

Even today we have many reasons to pray in a similar way: “Most beloved father, dispel the evil of falsehood and sin…graciously assist us from heaven in our struggle with the powers of darkness…and just as once you saved the Child Jesus from mortal danger, so now defend God’s holy Church from the snares of her enemies and from all adversity.”

Pope St John Paul II

Saint Patrick’s Day

Jeffrey Bruno . Photographer . WEB

The Lorica of Saint Patrick

Also known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate
is a protection prayer St. Patrick wrote in the fourth century.

According EWTN’s Catholic Q&A, “it is believed that St. Patrick and his followers sang this magnificent prayer when traveling to pagan communities.”

“There were Catholics in Ireland when St. Patrick arrived, but he completed the conversion of the entire isle to the Catholic faith. His missionaries then traveled, usually in groups of 12, to England and all over the European continent, bringing the word of God and converting pagans to the Catholic Church.”

We often see the bottom portion of this prayer, but it is much longer than that! Below is the longer version. It is great for daily use!

Lorica of St. Patrick

I arise today
Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,
Through a belief in the Threeness,
Through confession of the Oneness
Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today
Through the strength of Christ’s birth and His baptism,
Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,
Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,
Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

Churchpop . WEB

Rest in the Lord

our Refuge

Where a man’s heart is, there is his treasure also. God is not accustomed to refusing a good gift to those who ask for one. Since he is good, and especially to those who are faithful to him, let us hold fast to him with all our soul, our heart, our strength, and so enjoy his light and see his glory and possess the grace of supernatural joy. Let us reach out with our hearts to possess that good, let us exist in it and live in it, let us hold fast to it, that good which is beyond all we can know or see and is marked by perpetual peace and tranquillity, a peace which is beyond all we can know or understand.

Since God is our refuge, God who is in heaven and above the heavens, we must take refuge from this world in that place where there is peace, where there is rest from toil, where we can celebrate the great sabbath, as Moses said: The sabbaths of the land will provide you with food. To rest in the Lord and to see his joy is like a banquet, and full of gladness and tranquillity.

Let us take refuge like deer beside the fountain of waters. Let our soul thirst, as David thirsted, for the fountain. What is that fountain? Listen to David: With you is the fountain of life. Let my soul say to this fountain: When shall I come and see you face to face? For the fountain is God himself.

Saint Ambrose

icon by Gallery Zograf Nadia

the Christian Life

on Flight from the World

We have died with Christ. We carry about in our bodies the sign of his death, so that the living Christ may also be revealed in us. The life we live is not now our ordinary life but the life of Christ: a life of sinlessness, of chastity, of simplicity and every other virtue. We have risen with Christ. Let us live in Christ, let us ascend in Christ, so that the serpent may not have the power here below to wound us in the heel.

Where a man’s heart is, there is his treasure also. God is not accustomed to refusing a good gift to those who ask for one. Since he is good, and especially to those who are faithful to him, let us hold fast to him with all our soul, our heart, our strength, and so enjoy his light and see his glory and possess the grace of supernatural joy.

Let us reach out with our hearts to possess that good, let us exist in it and live in it, let us hold fast to it, that good which is beyond all we can know or see and is marked by perpetual peace and tranquillity, a peace which is beyond all we can know or understand.

Saint Ambrose

Stations of the Cross

Stations . WEB

Blessed are the merciful, because they shall obtain mercy
says the Scripture. Mercy is not the least of the beatitudes.

Not even night should interrupt you in your duty of mercy. Do not say: Come back and I will give you something tomorrow. There should be no delay between your intention and your good deed. Generosity is the one thing that cannot admit of delay.

What a marvellous reward there will be: Your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will rise up quickly. Who would not aspire to light and healing.

If you think that I have something to say, servants of Christ, his brethren and co-heirs, let us visit Christ whenever we may; let us care for him, feed him, clothe him, welcome him, honour him, not only at a meal, as some have done, or by anointing him, as Mary did, or only by lending him a tomb, like Joseph of Arimathaea, or by arranging for his burial, like Nicodemus, who loved Christ half-heartedly, or by giving him gold, frankincense and myrrh, like the Magi before all these others.

Let us then show him mercy in the persons of the poor and those who today are lying on the ground, so that when we come to leave this world they may receive us into everlasting dwelling places, in Christ our Lord himself, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

St Gregory Nazianzen

Pillars of Lent

the Pillars

God hides the prize of Eternal Glory
in our mortifications.

St Jane Frances Chantal

Fasting cleanses the soul, raises the mind, subjects one’s flesh to the spirit, renders the heart contrite and humble, scatters the clouds of concupiscence, quenches the fire of lust, and kindles the true light of chastity.

Prayer is the articulation of love. It is with the heart rather than the lips that we pray.
He who prays with desire sings in his heart even though his tongue be silent.

St Augustine

It is better to give alms than to store up gold; For almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin. Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life; but those habitually guilty of sin are their own worst enemies.

Book of Tobit

Book . Retreat at Home

Fr Boniface’s Book . WEB

Reader comments

If you’re looking for a book that takes you outside of the usual Marian consecration and the dredging language in most Marian consecration booklets, look no further. Father Boniface has truly created a work of spiritual art. The daily reflections will leave you in a meditative State of mind and allow you to dwell in the Hermitage of the heart all day. Well this particular book of consecration is a very easy and comfortable read (almost as if you are having a conversation with Father Boniface himself), it is full of meat that will leave you both intellectually and spiritually full. – JD

Beautiful art work and passages. Highly recommend – Lola

Of all the versions of 33 day Marian consecration I think that this one is perhaps the finest. The level of devotion and trustful surrender possible through these beautiful meditations is profound. – CLW 84

St Frances of Rome

Patron Saint of Oblates

After the plague swept through Rome and left one of Frances’ children dead, she began to turn again to charitable work. Frances gave up all her wealth to the sick and poor and began to go door to door raising money to aid the sick and poor. After the plague claimed Frances’ daughter, she opened up a wing of her home as a hospital for the poor.

As Frances became more deeply involved in charitable work, she began to realize the great need for it in the world and began to seek permission from the pope to form a charitable society of women to do this work. The women followed the ideals of the Benedictine order and carried on active charity and assistance of the poor.

Source CNA news