Sacred liturgy and liturgical arts. Liturgical history and theology. The movements for the Usus Antiquior and Reform of the Reform.
— Read on www.newliturgicalmovement.org/2021/03/a-roman-pilgrim-at-station-churches.html
5 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
Our Martyrdom1. St. Ambrose describes virtue as a slow martyrdom. In this sense we must all be martyrs. There is only one difference. The Martyrs of …
5 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
How not to die
“Now, let me explain to you what it means to die a bad death. If one dies in the flower of his age, having been blest with the best of health, happily married, endowed with all the world’s goods, and leaves a loving wife and a family of children, that is no doubt a cruel death. King Ezechias exclaims: “Must I now, O Lord, die in the prime of my life?” and the kingly prophet prayed to God not to let him die. Others say that to die by the hands of the executioner is a cruel death. Still others are of the opinion that a sudden death, for instance, by lightning or drowning, or any other fatal accident, is a bad death; others, again, consider that dying in an epidemic of infectious disease, is a great misfortune. But I tell you, my brethren, that there is nothing evil in all these different ways of meeting death, provided you have made your peace with God. What matters it if you die in the prime of life; such a death does not make you appear any less in the eyes of God. Nor is it in itself a bad death to die at the hands of the executioner, so long as you are well prepared. Many martyrs have died that death: St. Simeon died by a stroke of lightning, and St. Francis de Sales died of a stroke of apoplexy. To die of pestilence can neither be considered a sad death; both St. Roch and St. Francis Xavier died such a death. What makes the death of the sinner dreadful are his sins.”
— Sermons of the Curé of Ars: Sermons for all the Sundays and Feast Days of the Year by St. Jean Marie Vianney
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3 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
The Shortness of Time1. We often complain about the swift passage of time. Hours, days, and years pass us by, never to return. When we think about …
3 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
Seek not the praise of mere mortals
“Having lifted Christian righteousness to the utmost perfection—even to the point of giving us God himself for our model—Jesus sees that man, inclined to vanity, will desire to glory in the exterior practices of this perfect righteousness, which is why he gives us this precept: “Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them” (Matt. 6: 1). He does not prohibit the practice of Christian righteousness in our every encounter, so that our neighbor may be edified by the example. On the contrary, he said: “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 5: 16). Yet we must take care not to do them “in order to be seen” by men, for then we will “have no reward” (Matt. 6: 1). If you ask for glory from the men and women for whom you work, you should not expect from God anything but the punishment reserved for hypocrites. Every time you are praised, you should fear these words of the Lord: “Truly, I say to you, they have their reward” (Matt. 6: 2). This teaching is so important that Jesus repeats it with each new subject in the same chapter: “Your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matt. 6: 18).”
— Meditations for Lent by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
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2 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
Spiritual Languor1. Sometimes we become tired and sleepy. The love of God no longer warms our hearts nor prompts us to perform good works. We …
2 March, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
Explaining Lent to a Jesuit: An Attempt at Mission Impossible
A penitential exercise… Explaining Lent to a Jesuit: An Attempt at Mission Impossible Br. Joe Hoover, S.J. The Society of Jesus, as the Jesuit order …
Explaining Lent to a Jesuit: An Attempt at Mission Impossible
Meditation on forgiveness
“Will we never understand that the one who does injury to us is always much more to be pitied than are we who receive the injury? That he pierces his own heart while merely grazing our skin, and that, in the end, our enemies are mad; wanting to make us drink all the venom of their hatred, they do so first themselves, swallowing the very poison they have prepared? Since those who do evil to us are unhealthy in mind, why do we embitter them by our cruel vengeance? Why do we not rather seek to bring them back to reason by our patience and mildness?”
— Meditations for Lent by Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
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March 2021: the month of St. Joseph in the Year of St. Joseph
2021 is the year of St. Joseph and the month of March has been traditionally dedicated to this great saint. Therefore, I urge you to pray fervently this month to Saint Joseph, asking him to end the stupidly around the so-called pandemic, which has been misused by politicians to take away our liberty; to protect holy Mother Church; to restore the faith among the clergy, religious and the laity; and to repel the attacks of the demons on humanity. Saint Joseph is, after all, the “Protector Sanctae Ecclesiae” and “Terror Daemonum”.
I never thought much about Saint Joseph until the spring last year when I decided to pray a novena to him, asking him to heal the chronic eczema around my lips (cheilitis) from which I had been suffering for over two years. I had gone to so many doctors and applied different kinds of topical steroids, all without success.
But the day after my novena to St. Joseph, things began to happen. Read about the miraculous healing of my chronic illness. It has not returned.
Since then, I have prayed to St. Joseph because I sensed a powerful force urging me to pray to him daily and to meditate on his role as the protector of the Holy Family. My meditations on Saint Joseph’s faith, courage, and humility have yielded much spiritual fruit.
My daily prayers consist of the Memorare to Saint Joseph and the Litany of Saint Joseph (in Latin because I made a vow when I came back to the Catholic Church in 2017, to pray as much as possible in Latin).
At the beginning of this year, I bought a book called Consecration to Saint Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father by Fr. Donald Calloway. Note that in 2019, Fr. Calloway asked the laity to pray to Saint Joseph for 40 days because he sensed that the devil was trying to stop the publication of this book.
In the end Fr. Calloway’s book did get published! I read it and I performed the 33-day consecration laid out in the book.
I recommend the book because it contains a vast amount of information about devotions to Saint Joseph and the traditions of the Church concerning his powerful patronage. For a saint who appears very briefly in the Bible and to whom no words have been ascribed, the devotion of so many holy men and women to St. Joseph can only mean one thing: Our Lord wishes us to honor and love His foster-father and the husband of His Blessed Mother. Another reason to buy the book is that it contains a lot of prayers to St, Joseph. No need to hunt around the Internet for prayers.
Here are two short prayers to get started and a link to the Litany of Saint Joseph.
Memorare to St. Joseph
Remember, O Most Chaste Spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto you, my spiritual father, and beg your protection. O Foster Father of the Redeemer, despise not my petitions, but in your goodness hear and answer me. Amen.
Prayer of St. Louis de Montfort to Saint Joseph
Hail Joseph the just, wisdom is with you; blessed are you among all men and blessed is Jesus, the fruit of Mary, your faithful spouse. Holy Joseph, worthy foster-father of Jesus Christ, pray for us sinners and obtain divine wisdom for us from God, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
Go to the Litany of Saint Joseph in Latin and English.
28 February, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
The Examination of Conscience1. Remember the key to wisdom: “Know yourself.” These words were written in Greek in golden letters on the fronton of …
28 February, Antonio, Cardinal Bacci: Meditations For Each Day
