Monday, November 29, 2010

"There Be Dragons": New Film About St. Josemaria Escriva

"To be a Christian, and in particular to be a priest
—bearing in mind, too, that all of us who are baptized share in Christ’s priesthood —
is to be at all times on the Cross."

"Pray for the priests of today,
and for those who are to come,
that they may really love their fellow men,
every day more and without distinction,
 and that they may know also how to make themselves loved by them."

~ St. Josemaria Escriva:   The Forge 882, 964 ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Sunday, November 28, 2010

"The Unseen World": John Henry Newman Movie to Focus on the Priesthood

"A cloud of incense was rising on high; the people suddenly all bowed low; what could it mean? The truth flashed on him, fearfully yet sweetly; it was the Blessed Sacrament — it was the Lord Incarnate who was on the altar, who had come to visit and bless his people. It was the Great Presence, which makes a Catholic Church different from every other place in the world; which makes it, as no other place can be — holy."
~ John Henry Cardinal Newman:  excerpt from  Loss and Gain: The Story of a Convert ~

Liana Marabini,  Director of “The Unseen World”:
“Well it's a film that I dreamt about because I love so much Newman, I would like to share him with other people, with laypeople but also with priests. Because Newman was above all, a wonderful priest.”


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI Recalls St Catherine of Siena's Reverence for the Clergy

"though aware of the human failings of the clergy, always had the greatest reverence for them, because through the Sacraments and the Word they dispense the salvific power of the Blood of Christ. The saint invited holy ministers, even the Pope whom which called 'sweet Christ on earth', to remain faithful to their responsibilities, moved always and only by her profound and constant love for the Church".

~ Pope Benedict XVI: excerpt from VIS, Vatican Information Service ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Blessed Miguel Pro: Heroic Jesuit Martyr


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Sunday, November 21, 2010

The Church Founded by Christ the King Cannot be Subject to Any External Power

31. When we pay honor to the princely dignity of Christ, men will doubtless be reminded that the Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the power of the state; and that in fulfilling the task committed to her by God of teaching, ruling, and guiding to eternal bliss those who belong to the kingdom of Christ, she cannot be subject to any external power. The State is bound to extend similar freedom to the orders and communities of religious of either sex, who give most valuable help to the Bishops of the Church by laboring for the extension and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ. By their sacred vows they fight against the threefold concupiscence of the world; by making profession of a more perfect life they render the holiness which her divine Founder willed should be a mark and characteristic of his Church more striking and more conspicuous in the eyes of all.

~  Pius XI, excerpt from Quas Primas (11/12/1925) ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Pope Benedict XV: True Authority in the Church is in Serving Christ's Faithful


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI and the College of Cardinals Meet for Prayer and Reflection


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI: The Church is Experiencing a Eucharistic Springtime

"Joyfully I wish to affirm that there is a 'Eucharistic springtime' in the Church today", said the Holy Father. "How many people remain in silence before the Tabernacle sustaining a dialogue of love with Jesus! It is consoling to know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I pray that this 'Eucharistic springtime' may become increasingly widespread in parishes, and especially in Belgium, homeland of St. Juliana".

"Recalling St. Juliana of Cornillon, let us too renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... Faithfully encountering the Eucharistic Christ at Sunday Mass is essential for our journey of faith, but let us also seek to visit the Lord frequently, before His presence in the Tabernacle. ... By gazing at Him in adoration the Lord draws us to Him, to His mystery, in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and wine".

(Excerpt from VIS, Vatican Information Service--complete news article follows the video)

 ST. JULIANA OF CORNILLON HELPED TO INSTITUTE CORPUS CHRISTI

VATICAN CITY, 17 NOV 2010 (VIS) - In today's general audience, celebrated in St. Peter's Square, the Pope focused his attention on St. Juliana of Cornillon who contributed to instituting the Feast of Corpus Christi.

Born in the Belgian city of Liege towards the end of the twelfth century, Juliana was orphaned at the age of five "and entrusted to the care of the Augustinian nuns of the convent-lazaretto of Mont-Cornillon". Later she also took the Augustinian habit and went on to became prioress of the convent.

The Pope explained how the Belgian saint "possessed great culture, ... and a profound sense of the presence of Christ, which she experienced particularly intensely in the Sacrament of the Eucharist".

At the age of sixteen she had a vision which convinced her of the need to establish a liturgical feast for Corpus Christi "in which believers would be able to adore the Eucharist so as to augment their faith, increase the practice of virtue and mend the wrongs done to the Blessed Sacrament", said the Holy Father.

Juliana "confided [her revelation] to two other fervent adorers of the Eucharist " and the three together "formed a kind of 'spiritual alliance' with the intention of glorifying the Blessed Sacrament".

"It was", Pope Benedict continued his catechesis, "Bishop Robert Thourotte of Liege who, following some initial hesitation, accepted the proposal made by Juliana and her two companions and instituted, for the first time, the Solemnity of Corpus Domini in his diocese. Other bishops later imitated him and established the same feast in the areas under their pastoral care".

Juliana, said the Pope, "had to suffer the harsh opposition of certain members of the clergy, including the superior upon whom her convent depended. She therefore chose to leave Mont-Cornillon with a number of companions and for ten years, between 1248 and 1258, was accommodated in various houses of Cistercian nuns". At the same time "she zealously continued to spread Eucharistic devotion. She died at Fosses-La-Ville in Belgium in 1258".

The Holy Father recalled how "in 1264 Urban IV chose to institute the Solemnity of Corpus Domini as a feast for the Universal Church on the Thursday following Pentecost" and, by way of personal example, "himself celebrated the Solemnity of Corpus Domini in Orvieto, the city in which he was then residing". And the cathedral of Orvieto still houses "the famous corporal with traces of the Eucharistic miracle which had befallen at Bolsena the preceding year, 1263".

"Urban IV asked one of the greats theologians in history, St. Thomas Aquinas who was with the Pope at that time in Orvieto, to write the texts for the liturgical office of this great feast, ... as an expression of praise and gratitude to the Blessed Sacrament".

"Although following the death of Urban IV the celebration of Corpus Domini was restricted to certain regions of France, Germany, Hungary and northern Italy, in 1317 Pope John XXII reintroduced it for the whole Church".

"Joyfully I wish to affirm that there is a 'Eucharistic springtime' in the Church today", said the Holy Father. "How many people remain in silence before the Tabernacle sustaining a dialogue of love with Jesus! It is consoling to know that many groups of young people have rediscovered the beauty of prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. I pray that this 'Eucharistic springtime' may become increasingly widespread in parishes, and especially in Belgium, homeland of St, Juliana".

"Recalling St. Juliana of Cornillon, let us too renew our faith in the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. ... Faithfully encountering the Eucharistic Christ at Sunday Mass is essential for our journey of faith, but let us also seek to visit the Lord frequently, before His presence in the Tabernacle. ... By gazing at Him in adoration the Lord draws us to Him, to His mystery, in order to transform us as He transforms the bread and wine".

Published by VIS - Holy See Press Office - Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Mary, Mother of JesusChrist, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.


Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The "Messiah" at Macy's: The King of Kings and Lord of All Shall Reign Forever!

On Saturday, October 30, 2010, the Opera Company of Philadelphia brought together over 650 choristers from 28 participating organizations to perform one of the Knight Foundation's "Random Acts of Culture" at Macy's in Center City Philadelphia. Accompanied by the Wanamaker Organ - the world's largest pipe organ - the OCP Chorus and throngs of singers from the community infiltrated the store as shoppers, and burst into a pop-up rendition of the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's "Messiah" at 12 noon, to the delight of surprised shoppers.


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest. Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Fr. Samuel Medley: In Defense of the Holy Father and Priests

"Are you sick and tired of the silence of the Media about the truth
and plain facts about the misrepresentation on the Sexual Abuse Scandal?
Me too."

~ Fr. Samuel Medley ~

Audio of  Fr. Medley's homily: In Defense of the Holy Father and Priests

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Monday, November 15, 2010

Fr. Samuel Medley: Shepherds After the Heart of Jesus

Fr. Medley's homily on the Priesthood on the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus:
Shepherds After My Own Heart

Fr. Medley's excellent homilies and links to his other sites are at Magnificat Anima Mea Domino.

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter: Life at Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary

About the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter
Established in 1988 by Pope John Paul II, the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter is a Society of Apostolic Life of Pontifical Right. The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter strives to serve the Catholic Church by means of its own particular and specific role or objective, i.e. the sanctification of priests through the faithful celebration of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Through the spiritual riches of the Church's ancient Roman liturgy, the priests of the Fraternity seek to sanctify those entrusted to their care. The Priestly Fraternity instructs and trains its priests to preserve, promote, and protect the Catholic Church's authentic liturgical and spiritual traditions in over 16 countries worldwide. The Fraternity has over 200 priests and 125 seminarians studying in its two international seminaries in Bavaria, Germany and Denton, Nebraska. For more information, please go to www.fssp.org.


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Friday, November 12, 2010

Fr. Corapi: God is Still Calling Men to the Priesthood, Waiting for Their "Yes"!

"Answer the call, young man.
God is knocking at the door.
Will you answer?
Will you open?
Only you can open."

~ Fr. John Corapi ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to ofer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Monday, November 8, 2010

Bishop Alexander Sample: Encourage, Thank and Pray for Priests

"We priests are not perfect. Sometimes we disappoint you. Sadly, sometimes we even scandalize you. For our faults, failings and sins we are humbly sorry. We are endowed with the great and awesome dignity of the holy priesthood, but we remain mortal men who, like all of us, labor under the effects of original sin.

"When I am overcome with my own weakness, unworthiness and sinfulness, I am comforted by considering who Jesus chose to be his first apostles and priests. They were often weak and seemed not to understand what Jesus was trying to teach them. He chose one, St. Peter, who would three times deny even knowing Jesus at his greatest hour of need. He even chose one, Judas, who would betray him and hand him over to be crucified.

"But filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he sent them forth to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God and to build up the Church in faith, hope and love. Jesus continues this saving work among us in a special way through the ministry of our bishops and priests. The Holy Spirit guides and sanctifies the Church, even in spite of our human weakness and failings. All of the children of God, not just priests, are in constant need of repentance and renewal.

"My dear people, sometimes our priests (and bishop) get discouraged at what seems to be a lack of results from all of our priestly labors. We often do not get to see the good results of the work that we do. Sometimes people are very quick to complain or criticize. I hope that you will take a moment from time to time to encourage and thank your priests for the life of service they have given to Christ and his Church. Most of all please pray for your priests as they do for you."

~ Bishop Alexander Sample: Excerpt from here. ~

Heaven knows that our good Bishops are under fire for standing up for our Catholic Faith nowadays. What can we do about it? Support them with our prayers!

Rosary for the Bishop is a campaign that aims to support Catholic Bishops through prayer of the Rosary. Please take a few minutes to join in praying for your Bishop.


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Litany of Jesus Christ Priest and Victim


~ Written Litany found here. ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Catholic Priests: Men With a Mission

"When I was sixteen I had no idea I wanted to be a priest,
and then someone asked me to be a priest;
and the question, once its been asked,
if you don't explore the question,
you'll never know."

~ A Catholic Priest ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

New Book on Pope Benedict XVI's Views on Sex Abuse, Celibacy and Resignation

After sitting down with Benedict XVI in a week long, one on one interview, Peter Seewald is coming out with a new book about his discussions with the Pope.

The two have held similar meetings before Benedict became Pope, which later became the best-sellers "Salt of the Earth" and "God and the World".


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Pope Benedict XVI: Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops

"The great family of the Church finds in these days a time of grace and lives them, in accordance with her vocation, gathered closely around the Lord in prayer and offering his redeeming Sacrifice for the repose of the deceased faithful. Today, we offer it especially for the Cardinals and Bishops who have departed from us in this past year."

"Those who place themselves at the Lord's service and spend their lives in the ecclesial ministry are not exempt from trials; on the contrary, the trials are even more insidious, as the experience of the saints shows."

"... while we thank God for all the benefits that he has bestowed upon our deceased Brothers, let us offer for them the merits of the passion and death of Christ, so that they may fill the gaps due to human frailty."

~  Pope Benedict XVI:  Homily at Mass for Deceased Cardinals and Bishops, 2005 ~


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Fr. Edgardo Arellano on Ordination of Women


Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Brother Immacolato Giuseppe di Gesu: A Victim for the Sanctification of Priests

If you are not in the habit of following Fr. Mark Kirby's blog, don't miss his inspiring post about Brother Immacolato Giuseppe di Gesu.  An excerpt follows:

On 20 August 1943, certain of having at last found his path, and knowing that divine inspiration is confirmed by the ratification of the authority of the Church, he wrote to a priest friend, "Pray, Father, that I may obtain my confessor's permission to offer myself as a victim for the sanctification of priests."

On 6 January 1944, with the blessing of his spiritual director, he makes a magnificent Act of Offering. Aldo was twenty-two years old at the time. The Act of Offering that he wrote is a marvel of poetic harmony, prayer, and doctrine:

In the Name of God the Father, and of God the Son, and of God the Holy Spirit , in the Name of Mary most Sorrowful, I beseech the Most Holy Trinity to accept me as a victim of immolation, expiation, intercession, and reparation to the Divine Justice on behalf of all priests, and of each one in particular.

Receive, O my God, this all-encompassing and irrevocable offering, this total and unconditional act of abandonment, that by Thy mercy, I make to Thee of all that I am. . . . I want only to help and to merit for the world a priesthood worthy of Thy sublime designs. O Eternal God, for the needs of Thy priests, for the sanctification of priests, I accept and I love the sacrifice of my life. . .

I accept whatever sort of suffering that may torment my body. I accept to be calumniated, despised, humiliated, dishonoured, vilified, outraged, forgotten, and trodden underfoot like a grain of sand, so that Thy priests may be loved, honoured, known, respected, and appreciated. If Thy hand must strike, let it strike me and not them. . . . I accept to feel impotent, useless, miserable, and abandoned by Thee, as one lifeless at Thy feet, happy if, by my immolation, I may increase Thy glory albeit by one degree, however small, and contribute to give Thee one more holy priest.

Infinite Divine Heart of my God, if Thou hast need of more martyrs for the defence and sanctification of Thy priests, I offer Thee all the blood of my veins. Make of me, O sweet Jesus, a host immolated for the sake of Thy priests. Be Thou, Thyself, my sovereign Priest, O Jesus. O my Jesus crucified, in union with Thee, I offer myself as a victim to the Divine Justice. . . . I want to live and die crucified for Thy priests, so that they may be priests according to Thy Heart. . . .

Virgin of Sorrows, victim of love, make of me, with thee, a living host, holy and acceptable to God, for the sanctification of priests. And Thou, O compassionate God, accept and bless this my poor offering; deign to consume this little host slowly, drop by drop, in the ardent flames of Thy most pure love, for the sanctification of the priesthood, so that the abyss of Thy mercies may deploy themselves in the abyss of my miseries. Amen.

Lord Jesus, Immaculate Lamb,
immolated upon the altar of the Cross
for the salvation of every human being,
I humbly pray that Thou wouldst deign to glorify,
even on this earth, Thy servant,
Brother Immacolato, who loved Thee so much,
and, confident in his help, I ask for this grace.
(Mention your intention.)
Grant me this, I pray Thee,
through the intercession of Brother Immacolato,
who, whilst living among us, offered himself as a victim
for the sanctification of priests
and for the redemption of those enslaved by sin.

Three Gloria Patri.


~ Excerpts from Fr. Kirby's excellent post on  Vultus Christi ~

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.








Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Jesus Wants Prayers and Suffrages for Deceased Priests

"I do not want to exclude priests who have died.
They also need prayers and suffrages
so that they may return to my arms from purgatory to heaven.
Even there, the mission of faithful souls lasts,
to free priests from that place of purification,
to gain for Me the joy of seeing them finally in the bosom of My glory.
This will be an act of charity for them
and a joy they will give Me."

~ Jesus to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida, from To My Priests ~

My Jesus,
by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine Agony in the Garden,
in Thy Scourging and Crowning with thorns,
in the Way to Calvary,
in Thy Crucifixion and Death,
have mercy on the souls of priests in Purgatory,
especially those most forgotten and who have no one else to pray for them.
I wish to remember all those priests who ministered to me,
the priests my heart has never forgotten,
and those I no longer recall due to my frailty of memory.
Do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure;
call them and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in Paradise.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them!
Amen.

O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, N.,
to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ,
according to the Order of Melchisedech,
giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice,
to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar,
and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name.
We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults,
admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence,
there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors.
This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Holy Desires: Imitation of the Saints in the Way of Perfection

"St. Teresa says that the devil seeks to persuade us that it would be pride in us to desire a high degree of perfection, or to wish to imitate the saints. She adds, that it is a great delusion to regard strong desires of sanctity as the offspring of pride; for it is not pride in a soul diffident of herself and trusting only in the power of God, to resolve to walk courageously in the way of perfection, saying with the Apostle: I can do all things in him who strengthened me. 1 Of myself I can do nothing; but, by his aid I shall be able to do all things, and therefore I resolve, with his grace, to desire to love him as the saints have loved him."

~  St. Alphonsus Liguori:  Excerpt from The True Spouse of Jesus Christ ~


"Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
God our Father in heaven,
God the Son, our redeemer,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God
Holy Mary Mother of God,
Saint Joseph, Spouse of Mary,
Saints Peter, Paul and Holy apostles,
Saint Isaac Jogues and Holy Martyrs,

Saint Patrick, Bishops and Priests,
Saints Dominic and Catherine,
Saints Francis and Claire,
Saint Theresa of Jesus,
Saint Peter Claver,
Saint Juan Diego,
Saint Rose of Lima,
Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys,

Saint Thérèse of Lesieux,
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton,
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini,
Saint John Neumann,
Saint Teresa Benedicta,
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha,
Blessed Edmund Rice,
Blessed Teresa of Calcutta,

Lord, show us your kindness
Draw young people to serve you,
in priesthood,
and religious life.
Inspire the people of our world
with respect for human life
that there may be an end
to the culture of death.

Guide and protect
the dioceses of Baltimore,
Boston, Louisville, New York,
Philadelphia and all your Church.
Keep our Holy Father,
our Bishops and all clergy,
in faithful service
to your Church."

Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ, Eternal High Priest, Mother of all priests and our Mother, help us respond generously to the Holy Spirit's request, through the voice of His Church, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests.  Amen.