9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Seventh Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me the souls who especially venerate and glorify my mercy and immerse them in my mercy. These souls sorrowed most over my passion and entered most deeply into my spirit. They are living images of my compassionate heart. These souls will shine with a special brightness in the next life. Not one of them will go into the fire of hell. I shall particularly defend each one of them at the hour of death."

Most Merciful Jesus, whose Heart is Love Itself, receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who particularly extol and venerate the greatness of Your Mercy. These souls are mighty with the very power of God Himself. In the midst of all afflictions and adversities they go forward confident of Your Mercy. These souls are united to Jesus and carry all mankind on their shoulders. These souls will not be judged severely, but Your Mercy will embrace them as they depart from this life. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who glorify and venerate Your greatest attribute, that of Your fathomless Mercy, and who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls are a living Gospel; their hands are full of deeds of mercy and their spirits, overflowing with joy, sing a canticle of mercy to You, O Most High! I beg You O God: show them Your Mercy according to the hope and trust they have placed in You. Let there be accomplished in them the Promise of Jesus, who said to them that during their life, but especially at the hour of death, the souls who will venerate this fathomless Mercy of His, He, Himself, will defend as His Glory. Amen

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Sixth Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me the meek and humble souls and the souls of little children and immerse them in my mercy. These souls most closely resemble my Heart. They strengthened me during my bitter agony. I saw them as earthly angels, who will keep vigil at my altars. I pour out upon them whole torrents of grace. Only the humble souls are capable of receiving my grace. I favour humble souls with my confidence."

Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said "Learn from Me for I am meek and humble of heart". Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart all meek and humble souls and the souls of little children. These souls send all Heaven into ecstasy, and they are the Heavenly Father's favourites. They are a sweet-smelling bouquet before the Throne of God; God Himself takes delight in their fragrance. These souls have a permanent abode in Your Most Compassionate Heart, O Jesus, and they unceasingly sing out a hymn of love and mercy. Eternal Father, turn Your Merciful gaze upon meek and humble souls and upon the souls of little children, who are enfolded in the abode which is the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. These souls bear the closest resemblance to Your Son. Their fragrance rises from the earth and reaches Your very Throne. Father of Mercy and of all Goodness, I beg You by the love You bear these souls and by the delight You take in them. Bless the whole world, that all souls together may sing out the praises of Your Mercy for endless ages. Amen

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Fifth Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me the souls who have separated from my Church and immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. During my bitter passion they tore at my body and Heart, that is, my Church. As they return to unity with the Church, my wounds heal, and in this way they alleviate my passion."

Most Merciful Jesus, Goodness Itself, You do not refuse light to those who seek it of You. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who have separated from Your Church. Draw them by Your Light into the unity of the Church, and do not let them escape from the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart; but bring it about that they, too, come to glorify the generosity of Your Mercy. Eternal Father, turn Your Merciful gaze upon the souls of those who are separated from Your Son's Church, especially those who have squandered Your Blessings and misused Your Graces by obstinately persisting in their errors. Do not look upon their errors, but upon the love of Your Own Son and upon His Bitter Passion, which He underwent for their sake, since they, too, are enclosed in His Most Compassionate Heart. Bring it about that they may glorify Your great Mercy for endless ages. Amen

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Third Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me all devout and faithful souls and immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. These souls brought me consolation on the Way of the Cross. They were that drop of consolation in the midst of an ocean of bitterness."

Most Merciful Jesus, from the treasury of Your Mercy, You impart Your graces in great abundance to each and all. Receive us into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart and never let us escape from it. We beg this grace of You by that most wondrous love for the heavenly Father with which Your Heart burns so fiercely. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon faithful souls, as upon the inheritance of Your Son. For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion grant them Your blessing and surround them with Your constant protection. Thus may they never fail in love or lose the treasure of the Holy Faith, but rather, with all the hosts of Angels and Saints, may they glorify Your boundless Mercy for endless ages. Amen

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Fourth Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me those who do not believe in God and those who do not yet know me. I was thinking also of them during my bitter passion, and their future zeal comforted my heart. Immerse them in the ocean of my mercy."

Most Compassionate Jesus, You are the Light of the whole world. Receive into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls of those who as yet do not believe in You or do not know You. Let the rays of Your Grace enlighten them that they, too, together with us, may extol Your wonderful Mercy, and do not let them escape from the abode which is Your Compassionate Heart. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls who do not believe in Your Son, and of those who as yet do not know You, but who are enclosed in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. Draw them to the light of the Gospel. These souls do not know what great happiness it is to love You. Grant that they, too, may extol the generosity of Your Mercy for endless ages. Amen

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

Second Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me the souls of Priests and Religious and immerse them in my unfathomable mercy. It was they who gave me strength to endure my bitter passion. Through them, as though channels, my mercy flows out upon mankind."

Most Merciful Jesus, from whom comes all that is good, increase Your grace in men and women consecrated to Your service that they perform worthy works of mercy, and that all who see them may glorify the Father of Mercy who is in Heaven. Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the company of chosen ones in Your vineyard - upon the souls of Priests and Religious - and endow them with the strength of Your Blessing. For the Love of the Heart of Your Son in which they are enfolded, impart to them Your Power and Light, that they may be able to guide others in the way of salvation, and with one voice sing praise to Your boundless Mercy for ages without end. Amen

Good Friday of the Lord’s Passion

Readings: Isaiah 52:13 - 53:12; Hebrews 4: 14-16, 5:7-9; John18:1 - 19:42

I read somewhere a very challenging statement saying: “What will kills Christianity, what will kills the Catholic Church is not the atheism, not the enemies of Christ but the lukewarm attitude of believers, the indifference of Catholics.” And it is true. Nothing is able to kill my faith but my own lukewarm indifference.

Jesus is alone ….

“Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to his disciples, "Sit here while I go over there and pray."

He took along Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and began to feel sorrow and distress. Then he said to them, "My soul is sorrowful even to death. Remain here and keep watch with me."

He advanced a little and fell prostrate in prayer … When he returned to his disciples he found them asleep. He said to Peter, "So you could not keep watch with me for one hour? Watch and pray that you may not undergo the test. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."

Withdrawing a second time, he prayed again … Then he returned once more and found them asleep, for they could not keep their eyes open.

He left them and withdrew again and prayed a third time, saying the same thing again.

Then he returned to his disciples and said to them, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? Behold, the hour is at hand when the Son of Man is to be handed over to sinners.”              (Matthew 26; 36-45)

And in today’s Gospel:

“Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary of Magdala and the youngest of his disciples John.”                                (John 19; 25)

I was thinking about this yesterday evening, while seating in the adoration room after the Holy Thursday Mass. From among the whole parish only two couples and four women find the time to spend few minutes in adoration yesterday evening …

I am very sorry, to say this but, does it mean that all others were sleeping? Jesus is constantly asking the same question: “Could you not keep watch with me for one hour?”

Today during the day nobody came even for the shortest adoration …

And I am consoling myself with the statements: “I am not bed. I am actually a good person.” Does it mean that I don’t need the passion, the death and the resurrection of Christ? Does it mean that I don’t need these few minutes of adoration on the Holy Thursday?

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Sorrow and pain, suffering and anguish can lead us into one of four lands:

- The barren land in which we try to escape from it and when we cannot we are overwhelmed,

- The broken land in which we are not able to deal with it and we sink under it,

- The bitter land in which we resent it, where we are offended by it,

or

- The better land in which we bear it and become a blessing to others.

This is what Jesus did with all our sorrows and sufferings on the Cross.

I heard once the words which moved me. It was during a painful ceremony of funeral:

"These difficult days for you and your family may become a time of great graces if you unite your suffering to those of Christ crucified. All too often we forget that it was not when Our Lord was preaching and teaching, and multiplying the bread that He saved the world. It was, rather, when He was seemingly helpless and abandoned on the Cross. There, in the midst of unspeakable anguish and pain, suffering and sorrows Christ wrought redemption for us. By joining your anxiety and pain to His, you will help countless others open their hearts to His grace and love."

Pope John Paul II in his remarkable book “Crossing the Threshold of Hope” wrote:

"There is no Christian holiness; there is no Christianity at all without devotion to the Passion, without the Cross of Jesus Christ."?

Saint Paul in the letter to the Galatians says:

“May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Gal 6,14)

We will be more then pleased or even delighted with a religion giving us only the good feelings and positive emotions, with a religion similar to a talisman or religion amulet. But unhappily or rather happily the symbol of Christ’ religion is not a four leaf clover or a horseshoe.

The symbol of our religion is THE CROSS of Jesus Christ.

And maybe one thing more: It is not about our feelings, or emotions.

It is about our salvation, and for our salvation our feelings are rather irrelevant.

If Jesus Christ stresses constantly His feelings and His moods He will never accept the cross, the passion and the death.

9 Day Divine Mercy Novena

Open each day with the Chaplet to the Divine Mercy then say the prayer for the day's intention:

First Day

Jesus said: "Today bring to me all mankind, especially all sinners, and immerse them in the ocean of my mercy. In this way you will console me in the bitter grief into which the loss of souls plunges me."

Most merciful Jesus, whose very nature it is to have compassion on us to forgive us, do not look upon our sins, but upon our trust which we place in Your infinite goodness. Receive us all into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart, and never let us escape from it. We beg this of You by Your love which unites You to the Father and the Holy Spirit. Eternal Father, turn Your Merciful gaze upon all mankind and especially upon poor sinners, all enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. For the sake of His Sorrowful Passion show us Your Mercy, that we may praise the infinite power of Your Mercy, forever and forever. Amen."

ZENIT - Holy Week's Sore Loser

HOLY WEEK'S SORE LOSER

Every year, the forces of evil get very anxious as we reach Holy Week. After six weeks of purification and prayer, we reach the great celebration of Christ’s victory over sin and our reconciliation with God. Satan is a sore loser.

So the Christian celebration of the Lord’s passion, death and resurrection is accompanied by the yearly ritual of Christ-bashing in the mainstream media. You will recall that just a year ago Newsweek Magazine celebrated Easter with a cover story titled “The Decline and Fall of Christian America,” while the Discovery channel aired a documentary that portrayed Jesus as a political opportunist.

This Lent, the attacks have been more pointed, targeting Christ’s vicar, the Pope. The last few weeks have seen a frenzy of accusations against the clergy, the bishops and the Pope himself regarding cases of sex abuse in Germany, Ireland and the United States. The strategy has been that of pre-Geneva Convention warlords: fire as many shots as possible into the air and hope that something will hit the mark. Since the media are held to no rules of engagement, innocent casualties and wanton destruction are welcomed as tactics to weaken the adversary.

more: ZENIT - Holy Week's Sore Loser

Holy Thursday – April 1^st 2010

“Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to pass from this world to the Father. He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end. … (J 13,1)

on the night he was handed over, he took bread, and, after he had given thanks, broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”( 1 Cor 11:23-24)

John Paul II begins his Encyclical Letter “Ecclesia de Eucharistia” with the statement:

“The Church draws her life from the Eucharist. This truth does not simply express a daily experience of faith, but recapitulates the heart of the mystery of the Church. (n. 1)”

And he continues:

“The Church was born of the paschal mystery. For this very reason the Eucharist, which is, in an outstanding way, the sacrament of the paschal mystery, stands at the centre of the Church's life. (n. 3)”

I ask myself, as well as I also ask you: “Is the Eucharist really the center of my life? What is the meaning, the significance of this Sacrament in my Christian life?”

The Pope further wrote:

“Even when it is celebrated on the humble altar of a country church, the Eucharist is always in some way celebrated on the altar of the world. It unites heaven and earth. It embraces and permeates all creation. (n. 8) The Eucharist, as Christ's saving presence in the community of the faithful and its spiritual food, is the most precious possession which the Church can have in her journey through history. (n. 9) The Church has received the Eucharist from Christ her Lord not as one gift – however precious– among so many others, but as the gift par excellence, for it is the gift of Himself, of His person in His sacred humanity (n. 11)”

Do we realize, do we understand the depth and the meaning of these words? Are we really aware of the greatness of the gift we are receiving in the Sunday Eucharist?

Pope Benedict XVI, in the apostolic Exhortation “Sacramentum Caritatis”, writes:

“The sacrament of charity, the Holy Eucharist is the gift that Jesus Christ makes of himself, thus revealing to us God's infinite love for every man and woman. This wondrous sacrament makes manifest that "greater" love which led him to "lay down his life for his friends" (n. 1)

Jesus in the Eucharist does not give us a "thing," but Himself; He offers His own body and pours out His own blood. He thus gives us the totality of his life and reveals the ultimate origin of this love (n. 7). In instituting the sacrament of the Eucharist, Jesus anticipates and makes present the sacrifice of the Cross and the victory of the resurrection. (n. 10)”

"The Eucharist draws us into Jesus' act of self-oblation. More than just statically receiving the incarnate Logos, we enter into the very dynamic of his self-giving." (21) Jesus "draws us into Himself." (22) The substantial conversion of bread and wine into his body and blood introduces within creation the principle of a radical change, a sort of "nuclear fission,” which penetrates to the heart of all being, a change meant to set off a process which transforms reality, a process leading ultimately to the transfiguration of the entire world, to the point where God will be all in all. (n. 11)”

These are the deepest dimensions of the Most Holy Eucharist, the Sacrament which we are celebrating today- in a very special way re-commemorating the very first Eucharist celebrated by our Lord and Saviour, the very night preceding His betrayal, passion and death.

The bread in front of the altar is only a symbol because Jesus Himself decided to use daily bread as the matter, the substance of the Eucharist. He was born in Beth le hem (in Hebrew it means the house of bread), many times He multiplied bread, and He choose the breed as the most powerful sign.

However, the bread which will appear on the altar is not only a symbol. It is really “Christ's saving presence” among us.

Today is perhaps the best opportunity ask oneself some fundamental questions:

-          What is my attitude toward this Most Sacred Sacrament of the Body and Blood of Christ?

-          Do I recognize Jesus’ real presence in this Sacrament?

-          Do I prepare myself to be as worthy as possible to accept it in communion?

-          Or do I maybe neglect it and am not truly attentive to this Mystery?

When the communists took over China in the late forties, they imprisoned a priest in his own rectory. Looking through the window, he saw the soldier enter the church and break open the tabernacle, scattering the Blessed Sacrament on the floor. The priest knew the exact number of hosts: thirty-two.

Unnoticed by the soldiers, a young 11 year old girl had been praying in the back of the church and she hid when they came in. That night the girl returned, spent an hour in prayer, then entered the sanctuary where she knelt and bent over to take one of the hosts on her tongue.  She actually licked it off from the floor. In those days communicants did not receive the Eucharist in their hands, but only on the tongue.

The next night she came again and did the same despite knowing soldiers were there guarding the imprisoned priest. The girl came back the following night and the next and each night throughout the whole month. She would spend an hour in prayer and receive Jesus by picking up a sacred host with her tongue. The thirty-second night, after consuming the final host, she made an accidental sound, awakening a soldier. He ran after her and when he caught her, he struck her with his rifle butt. The noise awoke the priest – but it was too late. From his house, he saw the girl die.

Bishop Fulton Sheen, who related the story, said that when he heard about this, it inspired him so much that he made a promise that he would spend one hour each day before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. He always said that the power of his priesthood came from that daily holy hour and veneration of the Blessed Sacrament.