Fr. James Farfaglia: Penitential Season of Advent

"Advent is a penitential season because Christmas is about our personal relationship with Jesus Christ, not about external celebrations. The external celebrations should be seen as a visible manifestation of our joy of being disciples of Jesus Christ."

"Advent, as a penitential season, prepares us to celebrate the anniversary of the Lord's first coming as the incarnate God of love. As a penitential time, Advent helps us examine the condition of our soul."

"As disciples of the Lord we have so many ways to sleep. We can sleep by putting off the sacrament of Confession. We can sleep by not committing ourselves to a life of prayer. We can sleep by giving in to the temptations of secularism. We can sleep by "not being too hard on ourselves". We can sleep by being satisfied with being "good people" rather than striving for holiness. We can sleep by rationalizing our own sloth and laziness. We can sleep by dulling our conscience. Tepidity is a very dangerous obstacle to our eternal salvation. Advent is a time to wake up. "

"As we begin Advent, we must also remember that the celebration of Christmas does not begin until Christmas Eve and it does not end until the Epiphany. Christmas season does not begin on Thanksgiving Day and end on December 26th. It is the Church that directs that our celebration of Christmas, not the stores. We must not be caught up in the materialism around us.

"The manger should be set up in the home as of the first Sunday of Advent and according to our Catholic traditions, it should not be removed until February 2, which is the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Christmas trees can be erected in the home according to the customs of each family. It is a good practice to keep the Christmas tree up until the Epiphany.

"Every nationality will have their own particular customs and traditions. However, we must keep in mind that Advent is Advent and that the Christmas Season does not liturgically begin until the Vigil Mass of Christmas on December 24 and it does not liturgically end until the celebration of the Baptism of the Lord."

For Father Farfaglia's excellent Advent homily in its entirety click 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.

Eucharistic Adoration: Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI

"He is present now as He was then in Bethlehem.

He invites us to that inner pilgrimage which is called adoration."

~ Pope Benedict XVI ~

AN APPEAL FOR ONE HOUR OF EUCHARISTIC ADORATION FOR 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.

Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal: Conversions and Vocations to the Priesthood

The most remarkable miracle was the conversion of Alphonse Ratisbonne, a wealthy Jewish banker and lawyer and also a blasphemer and hater of Catholicism, in 1841. A Catholic friend, M. de Bussieres, gave him a medal, daring him to wear it and say a Memorare. After considerable persuasion he agreed to do so. Not long after, Alphonse accompanied M. de Bussieres to the Church of Sant ' Andrea delle Frate to make funeral arrangements for a dear friend. There Alphonse saw a vision of Mary as on the Miraculous Medal. He was converted instantly and immediately begged for Baptism.

Alphonse Ratisbonne later went on to become a priest, taking the name of Father Alphonse Marie. Working for thirty years in the Holy Land, he established several institutions. Out of reverence and gratitude to Our Savior, he built the expiatory sanctuary of the Ecce Homo on the spot where Pilate displayed Jesus to the Jews. So great was the love he had for his people, that he dedicated the remainder of his life, as did his brother, Father Theodore, to work for the conversion of their immortal souls. Among the converts of these two priest brothers were a total of twenty eight members of their own family.

~ Excerpt from: Saint Catherine Laboure and the Miraculous Medal ~

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For a more detailed account read Our Lady of the Miracle .

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Thanks to a reader for sharing this link that tells how a young seminarian, Maximilian Kolbe, was inspired by hearing the Miraculous Medal conversion story of Alphonse Ratisbonne and how, after ordination, he said his first Mass at the altar where Our Lady appeared to Alphonse!

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.

Advent: A Penitential Season

In 1927 Jesus complained to Blessed Dina Belanger about Catholics doing little or no penance during Advent:

"I have need of reparation. The justice of My Father is enkindled. Offer to My Father My merits and My Blood to appease the arm of His Justice. How many Catholics concern themselves little or not at all with penance during the season of Advent! How many Catholics neglect to prepare for My coming at Christmas! Give Me your day, today, in spirit of atonement. Offer it also in Thanksgiving to My Father for all the graces He bestows on souls; for there are so many who never think of thanking Him.

~ Jesus to Blessed Dina Belanger, from Autobiography of Dina Belanger ~

To Learn more about Advent read All About Advent.

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, to offer up to God Eucharistic adoration for priests. Amen.

Prayer of Thanksgiving and Intercession for Priests

Lord Jesus,

You have chosen Your priests from among us

and sent them out to proclaim Your word and act in Your Name.
For so great a gift to Your Church, we give You praise and thanksgiving,

we ask You to fill them with the fire of Your Love,

that their ministry may reveal Your presence in the Church.

Since they are earthen vessels,

we pray that Your power shine out through their weakness.

In their afflictions let them never be crushed; in their doubts, never despair;

in temptation, never be destroyed; in persecution, never abandoned.

Inspire them through prayer to live each day the mystery of Your dying and rising.

In times of weakness, send Your SPIRIT,

and help them to praise Your Heavenly FATHER and pray for the poor sinners.
By the same HOLY SPIRIT put Your word on their lips and Your love in their hearts,

to bring good news to the poor and healing to the broken-hearted.
And may the gift of Mary, Your Mother,

to the disciple whom You loved, be your gift to every priest.

Grant that she who formed You in her human image,

may form them in Your Divine Image,

by the power of Your SPIRIT,

to the glory of GOD the FATHER. Amen.

~ Source: Chalice of Strength from Opus Sanctorum Angelorum ~

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.

Prayer to St. Joseph for Priests

PRAYER FOR PRIESTS

O ILLUSTRIOUS PATRIARCH St. Joseph,

who carried the Infant Jesus in thy blessed arms and who,

during the space of thirty years,

lived in the most intimate familiarity with Him,

take under thy powerful protection
those whom He has clothed with His authority

and honored with with the dignity of His priesthood,

whom He has charged to continue His mission,
to preach His Gospel,

and to dispense everywhere His graces and blessings.

Sustain them in their fatigues and labors;

console them in their pains;

fortify them in their combats; but above all,
keep far from them all the evils of sin.
Obtain for them the humility of St. John the Baptist,

the faith of St. Peter, the zeal and charity of St. Paul, the purity of St. John
and the spirit of prayer and recollection of which thou, my dear Saint,

art the model, so that, after having been on earth,
the faithful dispensers of the Mysteries of thy foster Son,

Our Lord Jesus Christ,

they may in Heaven receive the recompense promised to pastors

according to the Heart of God.

Amen.

~ From Favorite Prayers to St. Joseph ~

Tan Books and Publishers

God the Father's Counsel to St. Catherine of Siena About Criticizing Priests

God the Father spoke to St. Catherine of Siena about his “ministers,” the priests. She recorded it in her Dialogue:

…[It] is my intention that they be held in due reverence, not for what they are in themselves, but for my sake, because of the authority I have given them. Therefore the virtuous must not lessen their reverence, even should these ministers fall short in virtue. And, as far as the virtues of my ministers are concerned, I have described them for you by setting them before you as stewards of... my Son’s body and blood and of the other sacraments. This dignity belongs to all who are appointed as such stewards, to the bad as well as to the good.

…[Because] of their virtue and because of their sacramental dignity you ought to love them. And you ought to hate the sins of those who live evil lives. But you may not for all that set ourselves up as their judges; this is not my will because they are my Christs, and you ought to love and reverence the authority I have given them.

You know well enough that if someone filthy or poorly dressed were to offer you a great treasure that would give you life, you would not disdain the bearer for love of the treasure, and the lord who had sent it, even though the bearer was ragged and filthy... You ought to despise and hate the ministers’ sins and try to dress them in the clothes of charity and holy prayer and wash away their filth with your tears.

Indeed, I have appointed them and given them to you to be angels on earth and suns, as I have told you. When they are less than that you ought to pray for them. But you are not to judge them. Leave the judging to me, and I, because of your prayers and my own desire, will be merciful to them. [1]

Is judging the same as criticizing? It’s close. The Random House American College Dictionary defines the word “criticize” as “1. To make judgments as to merits and faults. 2. To find fault.”

Clearly, the Lord wants prayers, not judgment for his priests. Alas, how sad that some are far more ready to judge (and criticize) priests than they are to pray for them! Imagine how much better off the Church would be if all the energy given to criticizing priests and bishops were devoted to prayer and penance for these men; and how much better off those who prayed and fasted would be!

1.Catherine of Siena; The Dialogue, translated by Suzanne Noffke, O.P., New York: Paulist Press, 1980, pp. 229-231

Excerpt from The Danger of Criticizing Bishops and Priests by Rev. Thomas G. Morrow

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.