Category: Religion

The Pump by Clive Staples Lewis

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"In the first place, you must get rid of that nauseating idea, the fruit of an inferiority complex manifesto and a worldly mind, that pomp, in the right circumstances, has anything in common with vanity or sufficiency. A celebrant who solemnly approaches the altar to celebrate, a princess led by her king in a noble and delicate minuet, a senior officer reviewing the honored troops during a parade, a butler in livery bringing food lavish at a Christmas banquet — all wear unusual attire and move with calculated and impeccable dignity. This does not mean that their gestures are in vain, rather docile; their gestures obey an imperative that presides over every solemnity. The modern habit of practicing ceremonies without any etiquette is no proof of humility; rather, it proves the powerless celebrant's inability to forget himself in the service, and his readiness to rush and spoil the pleasure proper to the ritual of placing beauty at the center of the world and making it accessible to him. »

Free translation by the blog author.

The Chief's Sacrifice

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A book by Army Corps General Pierre Gillet published by Sainte-Madeleine editions

“Who is like God? »(1), the book of the army corps general Pierre Gillet, lists in an exhaustive way the qualities of a chief and draws up the Christian virtues necessary to the command. What could pass for an insider's book, a new TTA(1), becomes under the delicate and virile pen of Pierre Gillet, former corps commander of the 2nd Foreign Infantry Regiment, general commanding the rapid reaction corps - France , a poetry of being, imbued with spirituality, passion, perseverance and dignity.

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I chose you to see you fight under the flag of Christ!

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Blessed Alain de la Roche (1) lamented the lukewarmness with which he recited his rosary, in a Dominican church in Paris, during the octave of All Saints 1465. Suddenly, Our Lady appeared to him, accompanied by several virgins:

“Don't run away, my son! she told him. If you have any doubts, either about me or about my companions, make the sign of the cross over us.

If we are visions of hell, we will suddenly disappear; if, on the contrary, we are visions of Heaven, we will remain, and the brighter still will be the radiance that springs from each of us. »

Alain makes his sign of the cross. The light of the apparition becomes more intense.

“O my son, have no more doubts! I am your virgin bride, the apparition told her; I still love you, and I still care about you.

But know that no one is without pain in this world; neither I, nor my Son, nor any of the saints here below have been without suffering. There is more: covered with the weapons of faith and patience, prepare yourself for trials even more difficult than those you have had to go through so far.

Because I didn't choose you to make you a soldier on parade, but to see you fight bravely and as a hero under the flag of Jesus Christ and under my own banner.

As for the dryness and the aridity which you experienced during the space of a few days, do not worry about it; it was I who wanted you to go through this ordeal; bear it as a pain and as a chastisement for your old faults; and also, receive it as a means of making progress in patience and in view of the Salvation of the living and the dead. »

(1) Alain de la Roche, born around 1428 near Plouër-sur-Rance in Brittany (France) and died in 1475 in Zwolle in the Netherlands, was a 15th century Dominican Breton monk. He is celebrated on September 9.

 

From Father René Laurentin

Lauda Zion

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Magnificent sequence in the Mass of Corpus Christi, written by Saint Thomas Aquinas, this dogmatic poetry praises the new and true Sion, the Church. Benoit XVI said of this Mass: “These are texts that make the waves of the heart vibrate, while the intelligence, penetrating with wonder into the mystery, recognizes in the Eucharist the living and true presence of Jesus, of his Sacrifice of love that reconciles us to the Father and gives us salvation.”

Praise, Sion, your saviour, praise your leader and your pastor, with hymns and canticles.
As much as you can, dare to sing it, because it exceeds all praise, and you are not enough to praise it.
A special subject of praise is proposed to us today: it is the living and life-giving bread.
The bread that at the meal of the Holy Communion, Jesus really gave to the troop of the twelve brothers.
Let the praise be full and sonorous;
may it be joyful and beautiful, the jubilation of the soul. For today is the solemnity that recalls the first institution of this Supper.
At this table of the new King, the new Passover of the new law ends the ancient Passover.
The old rite is chased away by the new, the shadow by the truth;
the light dissipates the night. What Christ did at the Last Supper, he ordered to be done in memory of him.
Instructed by his holy orders, we consecrate the bread and the wine in the host of salvation.
It is a dogma given to Christians that bread becomes flesh and wine becomes meaning.
What you do not understand or see, living faith attests against the course of events.
Beneath various appearances, simple signs and non-realities, hide sublime realities.
The flesh is food, the blood drink;
however Christ remains whole on one and the other species. By whoever receives it, it is not broken or broken or divided, but received whole.
Only one receives it, a thousand receive it: each as much as the others;
taken as food, it is not destroyed. The good guys take it, the bad guys take it, but for a different fate: Life or death!
Death for the wicked, life for the good: see how different the outcome is from the same take.
If finally the sacrament is broken, do not be troubled, but remember that there is under each particle as much as the whole covers.
No scission of reality occurs: of the sign alone there is a rupture, and it diminishes neither the state nor the magnitude of the reality signified.
Here is the bread of the angels which has become food for travellers: it is truly the bread of children, which must not be thrown to the dog.
It is signified in advance by figures: the immolation of Isaac, the lamb set apart for the passover, the manna given to our fathers.
Good Shepherd, true bread, Jesus, have mercy on us: feed us, keep us, show us the real good in the land of the living.
You who know and can do everything, who feed here below the mortals that we are: make us up there your commensals, the co-heirs and the companions of the holy citizens of heaven.

Pentecost happiness

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One of the joys of the octave of Pentecost lies in the recitation of the Veni, Sancte Spiritus , after the recitation of the Victimae Paschali during Easter week, the liturgy never ceases to amaze us.

Come, Holy Spirit,

And send from the sky

A ray of your light.

Come, father of the poor,

Come, giver of gifts,

Come, light of hearts.

Very good comforter,

Sweet host of the soul,

Sweet refreshment.

Rest in work,

Relief in the heat,

Consolation in tears.

O blessed light,

Fill to the most intimate

The hearts of your faithful.

Without your divine help,

There is nothing in man,

It is nothing innocent.

Wash away what is soiled,


Water what is arid,

Heal what is hurt.

Soften what is stiff,

Warm what is cold,

Straighten out what is wrong.

Give to your followers

who trust in you,

The Seven Sacred Gifts.

Give the merit of virtue,

Give the final salute,

Give eternal joy.

So be it. Alleluia.

Prayer to the Souls in Purgatory of Father André Haussaire

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O Jesus, to Your Heart I entrust (whom I desire: for example “victims of the virus”)

Look at (the/them) then do what Your Heart tells You.

Let Your Heart Work!

I rely on Him.

I trust Him.

I surrender myself to Him!

O Jesus, by Your most loving Heart, I beg You to inflame with the zeal of Your Love and Your Glory all the priests of the world, all the missionaries, all those who are responsible for announcing Your divine Word, so that with holy zeal they snatch souls from Satan and lead them to the asylum of Your Heart where they can glorify You unceasingly!

Eternal Father, who, out of love for souls, delivered Your only Son to death, – by His Blood, by His merits and by His Heart, have mercy on the whole world and forgive all the sins that are committed.

Receive the humble reparation offered to You by Your chosen souls.

Unite them to the merits of Your divine Son, so that all their acts may be of great efficacy.

O, Eternal Father, have mercy on souls and do not forget that the time of Justice has not yet arrived, but that of Mercy!

Receive, O Most Holy Father, the sufferings and merits of all the souls who, united to the merits and sufferings of Jesus Christ, offer themselves to You, with Him and through Him, so that You may forgive the world.

O God of mercy and love, be the strength of the weak, the light of the blind and the object of the love of souls!

O my Savior who art also my God, let my heart be a flame of pure love for You!

(1952)

Prayer in times of epidemic

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(from the Roman Ritual, Titulus IX, Caput X)

V. Lord, do not treat us according to our sins.

A. And do not punish us according to our iniquities.

V. Help us, O God our Saviour.

A. And for the glory of your name, Lord, deliver us.

V. Lord, remember not our ancient iniquities.

A. May your mercies warn us without delay, because we are reduced to the last misery.

V. Pray for us, Saint Sebastian.

A. So that we can obtain the promises of Jesus Christ.

V. Lord, hear my prayer.

A. And let my cry rise to you.

V. The Lord be with you.

A. And with your mind.

Hear us, O God our Saviour, and through the intercession of the blessed and glorious Mary Mother of God ever virgin and of the blessed Sebastian your martyr and of all the saints, deliver your people from the terrors of your indignation and reassure them by the gifts of your mercy…. 

Be propitious Lord to our supplications and remedy the languor of our bodies and our souls, so that delivered from these evils, we may always be in joy by an effect of your blessing...

We beg you, Lord, to grant us the effect of our humble prayer and to ward off pestilence and mortality with kindness, so that the hearts of men will understand and feel that such scourges proceed from your indignation and cease by your mercy. By Christ Our Lord.  

Spiritual Communion (continued)

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      In the Middle Ages, when the faithful used to take communion only at Easter time, devout people, usually women, expressed their desire to do so more frequently. 

      This is how the custom of spiritual communion appeared. “Towards the end of the twelfth century, the most popular form of spiritual communion was to express a prayer and requests during the elevation which follows the consecration. […] It is considered that the eulogy or holy bread was a quite acceptable replacement for sacramental communion […].  

According to some authors, the blessing of people and the kiss of peace could also replace communion. […] Spiritual communion was recommended to those who were too ill to receive the consecrated species. […] Theologians reinforced this practice by teaching that, through spiritual communion, we received as many graces necessary for our salvation as through sacramental communion” (G. Macy in Eucharistia. Encyclopédie de l’Echaristie , under the direction of M. Brouard, Paris, 2002, p. 182).

Even if, today, the practice of daily confession is common, the Church nevertheless invites the faithful to recite spiritual communions often throughout the day to ignite themselves in love of God, "so as to unite to the Redeemer with lively faith, a spirit respectfully humble and confident in his will, with the most ardent love” (Pius XII, encyclical Mediator Dei , November 20, 1947). Archbishop Le Tourneau

Here are two forms of spiritual communion:

“I would like, Lord, to receive you with purity, humility and devotion

with which your Most Holy Mother received you; 

with the spirit and fervor of the saints. »

“My Jesus, I believe that you are present here in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and I ardently desire to receive you.  

But since, at this moment, I cannot do it sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. 

As if you were already present there, I adore you and I unite myself entirely to you; do not allow me ever to separate from you.  

Jesus, my good, my sweet love, inflame my heart with love, so that it always burns with love for you. 

Cherubim, Seraphim who adore Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, night and day, pray for us and give us the holy blessing of Jesus and Mary.

Prayer of Saint Alfonso de Liguori

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My god, I believe that you are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things, and my soul longs for you, since I cannot now receive you in the Blessed Sacrament. Come at least in a spiritual way into my heart. I embrace you as if you were in me and I unite myself entirely to vous. O do not let me ever have the misfortune to separate myself from you. O Jesus, my sovereign good and my sweet love, wound and inflame my heart so that it always burns with your love.

Spiritual communion according to Saint Alfonso de Liguori

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My god, I believe that you are present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things, and my soul longs for you.

Since I cannot now receive you in the Blessed Sacrament, come at least in a spiritual way into my heart. I embrace you as if you were inside me and I unite myself entirely to you.

Oh !

don't let me ever have the misfortune to separate myself from you. O Jesus! my sovereign good and my sweet love, wound and inflame my heart so that it always burns with your love.