Canonize, Acts 7:55-60 Psalms 97:1-9, John 24:46-53, Pope Francis's Message, Inspirational Hymns - Gregorian Chants, Our Lady of Medjugorje Monthly Message, Saint Magdalene of Canossa, Feast of the Ascension, Mystical City of God Book 6 Chapter 12 Mary The Ascension of Christ, Catholic Catechism - Part Three - The Life of the Christ - Article 6 Moral Conscience, RECHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
JESUS I TRUST IN YOU (Year of Mercy). "Always Trust in Jesus, He the beacon of light amongst the darkest clouds" ~ Zarya Parx 2016
JESUS I TRUST IN YOU (Year of Mercy). "Always Trust in Jesus, He the beacon of light amongst the darkest clouds" ~ Zarya Parx 2016
"Where There is a Will, With God, There is a Way", "There is always a ray of sunshine amongst the darkest Clouds, the name of that ray is Jesus" ~ Zarya Parx 2014
The world begins and ends everyday for someone. We are all human. We all experience birth, life and death. We all have flaws but we also all have the gift of knowledge, reason and free will, make the most of these gifts. Life on earth is a stepping stone to our eternal home in Heaven. The Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, wonder and awe (fear of the Lord) , counsel, knowledge, fortitude, and piety (reverence) and shun the seven Deadly sins: wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and gluttony...Its your choice whether to embrace the Gifts of the Holy Spirit rising towards eternal light or succumb to the Seven deadly sins and lost to eternal darkness. Material items, though needed for sustenance and survival on earth are of earthly value only. The only thing that passes from this earth to the Darkness, Purgatory or Heaven is our Soul...it's God's perpetual gift to us...Embrace it, treasure it, nurture it, protect it...~ Zarya Parx 2013
"Raise not a hand to another unless it is to offer in peace and goodwill." ~ Zarya Parx 2012
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
2016 - YEAR OF MERCY
Pope Francis has declared an Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. This Holy Year of Mercy began December 8, 2015, the feast of the Immaculate Conception and the 50th anniversary of the closing of the Second Vatican Council. It will close November 20, 2016, the Feast of Christ the King. This year’s motto is “Merciful Like the Father.”
Sometimes, when we think of the word mercy, we picture someone throwing themselves on their knees before a cruel villain, pleading to be spared some punishment. This is not our understanding of God’s mercy. We do not ask for God’s mercy because we are afraid of incurring his wrath as punishment for our sins. Rather, when we call on God to have mercy, we are calling on God in the only way we know him—as one who responds with compassion to those in need. When we show mercy to others, we are responding as God responds, with compassion.
Liturgical Cycle: C - Gospel of Luke - 7th Sunday in Easter
Daily Rosary
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
(MON, SAT) - Joyful Mysteries
(TUES, FRI) - Sorrowful Mysteries
(WED,SUN) - Glorious Mysteries
(THURS) - Luminous Mysteries
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Inspirational Hymns
Contents
**Copyright Disclaimer - Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act of 1976, allowance is made for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research under the term "fair use", which is a use permitted by copyright statute that might otherwise be infringing. Non-profit, educational, and personal use also tips the balance in favor of fair use.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Our Lady of Medjugorje Monthly Messages
May 2, 2016 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
Dear children, My motherly heart desires your true conversion and a firm faith so that you may be able to spread love and peace to all those who surround you. But, my children, do not forget: each of you is a unique world before the Heavenly Father. Therefore, permit the continuous working of the Holy Spirit to work on you. Be my spiritually pure children. In spirituality is beauty. Everything that is spiritual is alive and very beautiful. Do not forget that in the Eucharist, which is the heart of faith, my Son is always with you. He comes to you and breaks the bread with you; because, my children, for your sake He died, He resurrected and is coming anew. These words of mine are familiar to you because they are the truth, and the truth does not change. It is only that many of my children have forgotten it. My children, my words are neither old nor new, they are eternal. Therefore, I invite you, my children, to observe well the signs of the times, to 'gather the shattered crosses' and to be apostles of the revelation. Thank you.
April 25, 2016 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:
“Dear children! My Immaculate Heart bleeds as I look at you in sin and sinful habits. I am calling you: return to God and to prayer that it may be good for you on earth. God is calling you through me for your hearts to be hope and joy for all those who are far away. May my call be for you a balm for the soul and heart so that you may glorify God, the Creator, who loves you and is calling you to eternity. Little children, life is short; you, make good use of this time and do what is good. Thank you for having responded to my call.” ~Blessed Mother Mary
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Papam Franciscus
(Pope Francis)
Pope Francis Catechesis:
May 8, 2016
2016-05-08 Vatican RadioPope Francis prayed the Regina coeli with pilgrims and tourists gathered under a hazy Roman sky in St Peter’s Square on Sunday, the 7th Sunday of Easter and in many countries – including Italy – the day on which the Church marks the Ascension of Our Lord.
“Before parting from his friends,” said Pope Francis, “Jesus, referring to the event of his death and resurrection, told them, ‘You are my witnesses’: that is, the disciples, the Apostles are witnesses of the death and resurrection of Christ, on that day, even at the Ascension of Christ.”
The Holy Father went on to say, “In fact, after seeing their Lord ascending into heaven, the disciples returned to the city as witnesses who joyfully announced to everyone the new life that comes from the Risen Christ, in whose name ‘they would preach to all nations repentance and forgiveness of sins.’
“This,” he continued, “is the witness – not only with words but also with everyday life – the testimony that every Sunday should go out of our churches in order to enter throughout the whole week into our homes, our offices, our schools, our gathering places and entertainment venues, our hospitals, prisons, and homes for the elderly, into places crowded with immigrants, on the outskirts of the city. We must carry this witness every week: Christ is with us; Jesus is ascended to heaven; He is with us; Christ is alive!”
Reference:
- Vatican News. From the Pope. © Copyright 2016 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana. Accessed - 05/08/2016
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Word - conscience con·sci·ence [kan-uh-nahyz]
Origin: 11175-1225; Middle English < Anglo-French < Latin conscientia knowledge, awareness, conscience.
1. the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or
motives, impelling one toward right action: to follow the dictates of conscience.
2. the complex of ethical and moral principles that controls or inhibits the actions or thoughts of an individual.
3. an inhibiting sense of what is prudent: I'd eat another piece of pie but my conscience would bother me.
4.conscientiousness.
5. Obsolete. consciousness; self-knowledge.
6. Obsolete. strict and reverential observance.
7. have something on one's conscience, to feel guilty about something, as an act that one considers wrong: She behaves as if she had something on her conscience.
8. in all conscience: in all reason and fairness; certainly; assuredly.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Old Testament Reading - Psalms 97:1-2, 6-7, 9
1 Yahweh is king! Let earth rejoice, the many isles be glad!2 Cloud, black cloud enfolds him, saving justice and judgement the foundations of his throne.
6 The heavens proclaim his saving justice, all nations see his glory.
7 Shame on all who serve images, who pride themselves on their idols; bow down to him, all you gods!
9 For you are Yahweh, Most High over all the earth, far transcending all gods.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Epistle - Acts 7:55-60
55 But Stephen, filled with the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at God's right hand.56 'Look! I can see heaven thrown open,' he said, 'and the Son of man standing at the right hand of God.'
57 All the members of the council shouted out and stopped their ears with their hands; then they made a concerted rush at him,
58 thrust him out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses put down their clothes at the feet of a young man called Saul.
59 As they were stoning him, Stephen said in invocation, 'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.'
60 Then he knelt down and said aloud, 'Lord, do not hold this sin against them.' And with these words he fell asleep.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Gospel Reading - John 24: 46-53
The mission of the Church:
To give witness to the pardon which Jesus offers to all
Luke 24, 46-53
To give witness to the pardon which Jesus offers to all
Luke 24, 46-53
Opening prayer
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
Shaddai, God of the mountain,
You who make of our fragile life
the rock of your dwelling place,
lead our mind
to strike the rock of the desert,
so that water may gush to quench our thirst.
May the poverty of our feelings
cover us as with a mantle in the darkness of the night
and may it open our heart to hear the echo of silence
until the dawn,
wrapping us with the light of the new morning,
may bring us,
with the spent embers of the fire of the shepherds of the Absolute
who have kept vigil for us close to the divine Master,
the flavour of the holy memory.
1. LECTIO
a) The Gospel:
46
and he said to them, 'So it is written that the Christ would suffer
and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that, in his name,
repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations,
beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses to this. 49 'And now I
am sending upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city,
then, until you are clothed with the power from on high.' 50 Then he
took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands
he blessed them. 51 Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and
was carried up to heaven. 52 They worshipped him and then went back to
Jerusalem full of joy; 53 and they were continually in the Temple
praising God.
b) A moment of silence:
2. MEDITATION
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
Let us allow the voice of the Word to resonate within us.
2. MEDITATION
a) Some questions:
- In the name of the Lord: In whose name do I live my daily life?
- To all nations. Am I capable of welcoming all or do I discriminate easily according to my point of view?
- Stay in the city. Do I have staying power in the most difficult situations or do I try, even before I understand their meaning, to eliminate them?
- My prayer. Do I praise the Lord for all he does in my life or do I ask things for myself?
- To all nations. Am I capable of welcoming all or do I discriminate easily according to my point of view?
- Stay in the city. Do I have staying power in the most difficult situations or do I try, even before I understand their meaning, to eliminate them?
- My prayer. Do I praise the Lord for all he does in my life or do I ask things for myself?
b) A key to the reading:
These few lines speak of life, motion, journey, meeting… This is the aim of the so it is written and all the nations. Life
is marked by witness. The apostles are those sent, they do not bring
anything of their own but become life, motion, journey, meeting, a way
that brings life wherever they go.
v. 46. «So it is written that the Christ would suffer and on the third day rise from the dead. What
is written? Where? The only scripture we know is that of encounter. It
seems that God cannot do without humankind, and so God goes seeking
people wherever they are and will not give up until God embraces them.
This is what is written: An eternal love, capable of enduring suffering,
of drinking the chalice of pain to its dregs, so as to look once more
upon the face of the beloved children. In the depths of non-life,
Christ descends to take the hand of humankind to lead humankind back
home. Three days! Three moments: passion, death, resurrection! This is
what is written for Christ and for all those who belong to him.
Passion: you surrender trustingly, and the other does with you whatever
he wishes, he embraces you or ill-treats you, he welcomes you or
rejects you… but you go on loving to the end. Death: a life that cannot
be taken back… dies, is snuffed out… but not forever, because death
has power over the flesh but the spirit that comes from God goes back
to God. Resurrection: Everything makes sense in the light of Life. Love
once given will not die but will always resurrect again.
v. 47. And in his name, repentance for the forgiveness of sins would be preached to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. Jesus’
word, spoken in time, does not come to an end. It needs those who
proclaim it. The apostles go, sent in the holy name of God. They go to
all nations. No longer to one chosen people, but to all who are now
chosen. They go to put their arms around the shoulder of their brothers
and sisters and to convert them, to turn them around towards them and
to tell them: All is forgiven, you can live the divine life once more,
Jesus died and rose again for you! Faith is not an invention. I come
from Jerusalem, I saw him with my eyes, I experienced him in my life. I
am telling you no more than my story, a story of salvation.
v. 48. You are witnesses to this. We
know God from experience. To be witnesses means carrying the word that
is Christ written in one’s skin, woven syllable by syllable. When one
is touched by Christ, one becomes a bright lamp, even without one’s
knowledge! And if one wanted to put out the flame, it would light up
again, because the light comes not from the lamp but from the Spirit
poured into the heart and beams eternal communion endlessly.
v. 49. And now I am sending
upon you what the Father has promised. Stay in the city, then, until
you are clothed with the power from on high». Jesus’
promises are always fulfilled. He goes away, but he does not leave his
friends orphans. He knows that they need God’s constant presence. And
God comes back to humankind. This time no longer in the flesh, but
invisibly in the fire of an intangible love, in the ardour of a bond
that will never be broken, the rainbow of the ratified covenant, the
splendour of God’s smile, the Holy Spirit. Clothed in Christ and in the
Holy Spirit, the apostles will not be afraid and can finally go!
v. 50. Then he took them out as far as the outskirts of Bethany, and raising his hands blessed them. The
moment of separation is a solemn one. Bethany is the place of
friendship. Jesus raises his hands and blesses his own. This is a salute
and a gift. Goes does not draw away from his own, God simply leaves
them to come back in different guise.
v. 51. Now as he blessed them, he withdrew from them and was carried up to heaven. Every
separation brings sorrow with it. But in this case the blessing is a
legacy of grace. The apostles live in such an intense communion with
their Lord that they are not aware of a separation.
v. 52. They worshipped him and then went back to Jerusalem full of joy. Great
is the joy of the apostles, the joy of going through the streets of
Jerusalem with a limitless treasure, the joy of belonging. Christ’s
humanity goes to heaven, to open a gate that will never be shut again.
The joy of the superabundance of life that Christ has now poured into
their experience will never cease…
v. 53. And they were continually in the Temple praising God. To
stay… is a very important verb for the Christian. To stay presupposes a
special strength, the ability not to flee from situations but to live
them out savouring them to their depths. To stay: an evangelical
programme to be shared with all. Then praise flows out sincerely,
because in staying God’s will is sipped like a healthy and intoxicating
drink of bliss.
c) Reflection:
The witness of charity in the life of
the church is without any doubt the clearest mirror for evangelisation.
It is the instrument that loosens the soil so that when the seed of
the Word falls it may bear abundant fruit. The good news cannot choose
other ways to touch the hearts of people than that of mutual love, an
experience that leads directly to the source: «This is my commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you» (Jn 15:12). We find all this in the early Church: «This is the proof of love, that he laid down his life for us, and we too ought to lay down our live for our brothers»
(1 Jn 3:16). The disciple who met and knew Jesus, the beloved disciple,
knows that he cannot speak of him and not walk the ways he walked. «I am the way, the truth and the life»
(Jn 14:6). What better words can express that the high road of every
evangelisation is gratuitous love? Christ is the way of evangelisation.
Christ is the truth to transmit in evangelising. Christ is evangelised
life. And the love with which he loved us is evangelisation, a love
given without conditions, that will not retreat but goes forward to the
end, faithful to itself even at the price of death on a cross of
malediction, to show the face of the Father as one of Love, a love that
respects the freedom of human beings, even when this means rejection,
contempt, aggression and death. «Christian charity has a great
evangelising force. To the extent that it reveals itself as a sign and a
window of God’s love, it opens the minds and hearts to the
proclamation of the Word of truth. As Paul VI said, today’s people who
look for authenticity and concreteness, value witnesses more than
teachers, and generally will only allow themselves to be guided to
discover the depth and the demands of God’s love if they have been
touched by the tangible sign of charity». (CEI, Evangelisation and the witness of charity, in Enchiridion CEI, vol. 1-5, EDB, Bologna 1996 n. 24).
Every pastoral endeavour that wants to show the deep relationship
between faith and charity in the light of the Gospel, and that
characteristic note of Christian love that is proximity and caring, has
the duty of motivating and sustaining openness to others in service.
(cfr Lk 10:34).
3. ORATIO
Psalm 22, 22-31
I shall proclaim your name to my brothers,
praise you in full assembly:
'You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All the race of Jacob, honour him!
Revere him, all the race of Israel!'
praise you in full assembly:
'You who fear Yahweh, praise him!
All the race of Jacob, honour him!
Revere him, all the race of Israel!'
For he has not despised
nor disregarded the poverty of the poor,
has not turned away his face,
but has listened to the cry for help.
nor disregarded the poverty of the poor,
has not turned away his face,
but has listened to the cry for help.
Of you is my praise in the thronged assembly,
I will perform my vows before all who fear him.
The poor will eat and be filled,
those who seek Yahweh will praise him,
'May your heart live for ever.'
I will perform my vows before all who fear him.
The poor will eat and be filled,
those who seek Yahweh will praise him,
'May your heart live for ever.'
The whole wide world will remember
and return to Yahweh,
all the families of nations bow down before him.
For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations,
belongs kingly power!
and return to Yahweh,
all the families of nations bow down before him.
For to Yahweh, ruler of the nations,
belongs kingly power!
All who prosper on earth will bow before him,
all who go down to the dust will do reverence before him.
And those who are dead,
their descendants will serve him,
will proclaim his name to generations
still to come;
and these will tell of his saving justice to a people yet unborn:
he has fulfilled it.
all who go down to the dust will do reverence before him.
And those who are dead,
their descendants will serve him,
will proclaim his name to generations
still to come;
and these will tell of his saving justice to a people yet unborn:
he has fulfilled it.
4. CONTEMPLATION
Lord, I know that evangelisation
requires deep spirituality, authenticity and holiness of life on the
part of witnesses, people of mature faith, able to mix well so as to
make their personal experience of faith a meeting place and a place of
growth in interpersonal contacts thus building deep relationships open
to the Church, the world and history. As yet, I feel inadequate. In a
context where images, words, proposals, projects and records follow
each other swiftly and disorient, almost intoxicate thought and confuse
feelings, bearing witness is a privileged word for a reflective pause,
for a moment of rethinking. But am I one who is carried away by these
images, words and projects? Of one thing I am certain, and this
comforts me. Even the most beautiful witness would in the long run be
powerless were it not enlightened, justified, made explicit by a clear
and unequivocal proclamation of the Lord Jesus. The Good News,
proclaimed by a living witness, sooner or later needs to be proclaimed
by the word of life. I will justify my hope by proclaiming your name,
your teaching, your life, your promises, your mystery as Jesus of
Nazareth and Son of God. This seems to me to be the simplest way to
arouse interest in knowing and meeting you, Master and Lord, who have
chosen to live as son of man so as to show us the face of the Father.
Every pastoral endeavour today that finds itself chained by faith, will
be able to ask you, God, that the gates of preaching be reopened to
proclaim the mystery of Christ, the kind of preaching that as divine
word works wonders in those who believe.
Reference: Courtesy of Order of Carmelites, www.ocarm.org.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item from Litany Lane
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Saint of the Day: St. Magdalene of Canossa
Feast Day: May 8
Patron Saint: poverty, children
Attributes: Habit of the Canossian Sisters
St. Magdalene of Canossa, F.D.C.C.,
(1774–1835) was an Italian Religious Sister and foundress. She was a
leading advocate for the poor in her region, and has been canonized by
the Catholic Church.
After leaving the cloister, Magdalene saw a city in which the poor were suffering extreme poverty, which was only made worse by the social upheavals caused on the Italian peninsula by the invasions of the French Revolutionary Army and the opposing forces of the Austrian Empire, which eventually gained control of her native city. This situation provoked her desire to serve and witness to Christ through answering the needs of the unfortunate.
The new congregation started to care for poor children and to service in the city's hospitals. As word of their work spread, they were requested to start new communities in other cities of the region. Soon there were convents of the Canossian Sisters established in Venice (1812), Milan (1816), Bergamo 1820 and Trent (1824). Magdalene drew up a Rule for the congregation, and it received formal approval by Pope Leo XII on December 23, 1828.[1]
For nearly a century, the men's community consisted of only two or three lay brothers. They were given a religious habit in 1860 by the Patriarch of Venice and were given a Rule in 1897 by a subsequent patriarch. By 1923, however, the Superior of the Oratory declared the impossibility of the community's continuance, and placed the congregation into the hands of the patriarch. They were then joined to the work of a priest in Verona, Giovanni Calabria, who incorporated the small community into a foundation he had established, which included priests.[2]
She was beatified on December 8, 1941 by Pope Pius XII and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 2, 1988. Her feast day is May 8.
 |
| Magdalene of Canossa, F.D.C.C. |
Life
Early life
Magdalene was born on March 1, 1774, into an ancient and prominent Veronese family. Despite her living in a palace, however, she was not spared grief, as her father died in 1779 and her mother left her for a new marriage two years later. In 1791 she spent time in a Carmelite monastery but discerned that this was not her vocation.After leaving the cloister, Magdalene saw a city in which the poor were suffering extreme poverty, which was only made worse by the social upheavals caused on the Italian peninsula by the invasions of the French Revolutionary Army and the opposing forces of the Austrian Empire, which eventually gained control of her native city. This situation provoked her desire to serve and witness to Christ through answering the needs of the unfortunate.
Daughters of Charity
Using her inheritance, Magdalene began charitable work among the poor of the city. On April 1, 1828, she was given an abandoned monastery where she took in two poor girls from the slum of the San Zeno neighborhood of the city to care for them and provide them an education. On the following May 7, she moved out of her ancestral palace and moved into the monastery, now called the Convent of St. Joseph, where she was soon joined by other women, with whom she formed the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity, Servants of the Poor.The new congregation started to care for poor children and to service in the city's hospitals. As word of their work spread, they were requested to start new communities in other cities of the region. Soon there were convents of the Canossian Sisters established in Venice (1812), Milan (1816), Bergamo 1820 and Trent (1824). Magdalene drew up a Rule for the congregation, and it received formal approval by Pope Leo XII on December 23, 1828.[1]
Sons of Charity
Magdalene desired to provide boys the same care her Daughters were providing to girls. To this end, she invited a Catholic priest, Francesco Luzzi, to open a small oratory adjacent to the Sisters' Convent of St. Lucy in Venice. He opened this house on May 23, 1831. In 1833, he was joined by two laymen, who later took over the work of the oratory when Luzzi left to become a Carmelite friar.For nearly a century, the men's community consisted of only two or three lay brothers. They were given a religious habit in 1860 by the Patriarch of Venice and were given a Rule in 1897 by a subsequent patriarch. By 1923, however, the Superior of the Oratory declared the impossibility of the community's continuance, and placed the congregation into the hands of the patriarch. They were then joined to the work of a priest in Verona, Giovanni Calabria, who incorporated the small community into a foundation he had established, which included priests.[2]
Death and veneration
Magdalene died in her native city on April 10, 1835, having seen the work of the Daughters spread out across the region and the establishment of the Sons.She was beatified on December 8, 1941 by Pope Pius XII and was canonized by Pope John Paul II on October 2, 1988. Her feast day is May 8.
References
- ^ Canossian Sisters
- ^ Canossian Sons of Charity (Italian)
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item from Litany Lane
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Today's Snippet I: Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ
The Ascension of Jesus (anglicized from the Vulgate Latin Acts 1:9-11 section title: Ascensio Iesu) is the Christian teaching found in the New Testament that the resurrected Jesus was taken up to Heaven in his resurrected body, in the presence of eleven of his apostles, occurring 40 days after the resurrection. In the biblical narrative, an angel tells the watching disciples that Jesus' second coming will take place in the same manner as his ascension.
The canonical gospels include two brief descriptions of the ascension of Jesus in Luke 24:50-53 and Mark 16:19. A more detailed account of Jesus' bodily Ascension into the clouds is then given in the Acts of the Apostles (1:9-11).
The ascension of Jesus is professed in the Nicene Creed and in the Apostles' Creed. The ascension implies Jesus' humanity being taken into Heaven. The Feast of the Ascension, celebrated on the 40th day of Easter (always a Thursday), is one of the chief feasts of the Christian year. The feast dates back at least to the later 4th century, as is widely attested. The ascension is one of the five major milestones in the gospel narrative of the life of Jesus, the others being baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, and resurrection.
By the 6th century the iconography of the ascension in Christian art had been established and by the 9th century ascension scenes were being depicted on domes of churches. Many ascension scenes have two parts, an upper (Heavenly) part and a lower (earthly) part
T. he ascending Jesus is often shown blessing with his right hand –
directed towards the earthly group below him and signifying that he is
blessing the entire Church.
Feast
The Feast of the Ascension is one of the great feasts in the Christian liturgical calendar,
and commemorates the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. Ascension
Day is traditionally celebrated on a Thursday, the fortieth day from Easter day. However, some Roman Catholic provinces have moved the observance to the following Sunday. The feast is one of the ecumenical feasts (i.e., universally celebrated), ranking with the feasts of the Passion, of Easter, and Pentecost.
Chapel of the Ascension, Jerusalem
 |
| The Ascension edicule |
Acts 1:9-12 states that the Ascension took place on Mount Olivet
(the "Mount of Olives", on which the village of Bethany sits). After
the Ascension the apostles are described as returning to Jerusalem from
the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. Tradition has consecrated this site as the Mount of Ascension. The Gospel of Luke states that the event took place 'in the vicinity of Bethany' and the Gospel of Mark specifies no location.
Before the conversion of Constantine in 312 AD, early Christians honored the Ascension of Christ in a cave on the Mount of Olives. By 384, the place of the Ascension was venerated on the present open site, uphill from the cave.
The Chapel of the Ascension in Jerusalem
today is a Christian and Muslim holy site now believed to mark the
place where Jesus ascended into heaven. In the small round church/mosque
is a stone imprinted with what some claim to be the very footprints of
Jesus.
Around the year 390 a wealthy Roman woman named Poimenia financed construction of the original church called "Eleona Basilica" (elaion in Greek means "olive garden", from elaia "olive tree," and has an oft-mentioned similarity to eleos meaning "mercy"). This church was destroyed by Sassanid Persians in 614. It was subsequently rebuilt, destroyed, and rebuilt again by the Crusaders. This final church was later also destroyed by Muslims, leaving only a 12x12 meter octagonal structure (called a martyrium—"memorial"—or "Edicule") that remains to this day. The site was ultimately acquired by two emissaries of Saladin in the year 1198 and has remained in the possession of the Islamic Waqf of Jerusalem ever since. The Russian Orthodox Church also maintains a Convent of the Ascension on the top of the Mount of Olives.
Mount Olivet
The Mount of Olives or Mount Olivet is a mountain ridge east of and adjacent to Jerusalem's Old City. It is named for the olive groves that once covered its slopes. The southern part of the Mount was the Silwan necropolis, attributed to the ancient Judean kingdom. The Mount has been used as a Jewish cemetery for over 3,000 years and holds approximately 150,000 graves, making it central in the tradition of Jewish cemeteries. Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the Gospels, took place on the Mount of Olives, and in the Acts of the Apostles it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended to heaven. Because of its association with both Jesus and Mary, the Mount has been a site of Christian worship since ancient times and is today a major site of pilgrimage for Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, and Protestants.
Observance History
The observance of this feast is of great antiquity. Eusebius seems to hint at the celebration of it in the 4th century. At the beginning of the 5th century, St. Augustine says that it is of Apostolic
origin, and he speaks of it in a way that shows it was the universal
observance of the Church long before his time. Frequent mention of it is
made in the writings of St. John Chrysostom, St. Gregory of Nyssa, and in the Constitution of the Apostles. The Pilgrimage of Aetheria speaks of the vigil of this feast and of the feast itself, as they were kept in the church built over the grotto in Bethlehem in which Christ was born.
It may be that prior to the 5th century the fact narrated in the
Gospels was commemorated in conjunction with the feast of Easter or
Pentecost. Some believe that the much-disputed forty-third decree of the
Synod of Elvira
(c. 300) condemning the practice of observing a feast on the fortieth
day after Easter and neglecting to keep Pentecost on the fiftieth day,
implies that the proper usage of the time was to commemorate the
Ascension along with Pentecost. Representations of the mystery are found
in diptychs and frescoes dating as early as the 5th century.
Western
The Latin terms used for the feast, ascensio and, occasionally, ascensa, signify that Christ was raised up by his own powers, and it is from these terms that the holy day gets its name. In the Book of Common Prayer of the Anglican Communion, "Holy Thursday" is listed as another name for Ascension Day. In Western Christianity, the earliest possible date is April 30, the latest possible date is June 3. In Roman Catholicism, the Ascension of the Lord is a Holy Day of Obligation and in the Anglican Communion, Holy Thursday is a Principal Feast. The three days before Ascension Thursday are sometimes referred to as the Rogation days and the previous Sunday, the Sixth Sunday of Easter (or the Fifth Sunday after Easter), as Rogation Sunday. Ascension has a vigil and, since the 15th century, an octave, which is set apart for a novena of preparation for Pentecost.
Sunday Observance
The Roman Catholic Church
in a number of countries that do not observe the feast as a public
holiday has obtained permission from the Vatican to move observance of
the Feast of the Ascension from the traditional Thursday to the
following Sunday, the Sunday before Pentecost. Similarly, The United Methodist Church allows the traditional celebration on Holy Thursday to be moved to Sunday. This is in keeping with a trend to move Holy Days of Obligation from weekdays to Sunday, to encourage more Christians to observe feasts considered important. The decision to move a feast is made by the bishops of an ecclesiastical province, i.e. an archbishop and the neighbouring bishops. The switch to Sunday was made in 1992 by the church in Australia; before 1996 in parts of Europe; in 1996 in Ireland; before 1998 in Canada and parts of the western United States; in many other parts in the United States from 1999; and in England and Wales from 2007. The U.S. ecclesiastical provinces which retain Thursday observance in 2009 are Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Omaha, and Philadelphia. When celebrated on Sunday, the earliest possible date is May 3, and the latest is June 6.
Eastern and Oriental Orthodox
In the Eastern Church this feast is known in Greek as Analepsis, the "taking up", and also as the Episozomene, the "salvation from on high", denoting that by ascending into his glory Christ completed the work of our redemption. Ascension is one of the Twelve Great Feasts of the Orthodox liturgical year.
The feast is always observed with an All-night vigil. The day before is the Apodosis (leave-taking) of Easter (i.e., the last day of the Feast of Easter). The Paroemia (Old Testament readings) at Vespers on the eve of the Feast are Isaiah 2:2-3; Isaiah 62:10-63:3, 63:7-9; and Zechariah 14:1-4, 14:8-11. At the Divine Liturgy, the Epistle is Acts 1:1-12, and the Gospel is Luke 24:36-53. Ascension Thursday also commemorates the Holy Georgian Martyrs of Persia (17th–18th centuries).
Ascension has an Afterfeast of eight days. The Sunday after Ascension is the Sunday of the Holy Fathers of the First Ecumenical Council at Nicaea. This council formulated the Nicene Creed
up to the words, "He (Jesus) ascended into heaven, and sits at the
right hand of the Father; and shall come again, with glory, to judge the
living and the dead; Whose kingdom shall have no end." The Afterfeast
ends on the following Friday, the Friday before Pentecost. The next day
is appropriately a Saturday of the Dead (general commemoration of all faithful departed).
The Eastern Orthodox Church uses a different method of calculating the date of Easter,
so the Eastern Orthodox commemoration of Ascension will usually be
after the western observance (either one week, or four weeks, or five
weeks later; but occasionally on the same day). The earliest possible
date for the feast is May 13 (of the western calendar), and the latest
possible date is June 16. Some of the Oriental Orthodox Churches,
however, observe Ascension on the same date as the Western Churches.
Global Customs
Certain customs or rituals were connected with the liturgy of this
feast, such as the blessing of beans and grapes after the Commemoration
of the Dead in the Canon of the Mass, the blessing of first fruits, afterwards done on Rogation Days, the blessing of a candle, the wearing of mitres by deacon and subdeacon, the extinguishing of the paschal candle, and triumphal processions with torches and banners outside the churches to commemorate the entry of Christ into heaven.
The antiquarian Daniel Rock
records the English custom of carrying at the head of the procession
the banner bearing the device of the lion and at the foot the banner of
the dragon, to symbolize the triumph of Christ in his ascension over the
evil one (and can also be interpreted by analogy as the triumph of England over Wales).
In some churches the scene of the Ascension was vividly reproduced by
elevating the figure of Christ above the altar through an opening in the
roof of the church. In others, whilst the figure of Christ was made to
ascend, that of the devil was made to descend.
In England it was once common for churches to "beat the bounds" on this day, and some continue the custom (e.g. the church of St Michael at the North Gate in Oxford).
Members of the parish walk round the parish boundaries, marking
boundary stones (e.g. by writing on them in chalk) and hitting them with
sticks. According to some, it was once the young boys of the parish
that were hit with sticks instead of the stones. Knowledge of the parish
boundaries was once important, since churches had certain duties such
as the care of children born out of wedlock in the parish.
In some countries (at least in Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany (since the 1930s), Haiti, Iceland, Indonesia, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Namibia, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland and Vanuatu) it is a public holiday; Germany also holds its Fathers' Day on the same date.
In Portugal on "Wheatstalk Thursday", small bundles of poppies and
wheatstalks a n the fields and placed at home until next year, for good
fortune.
In Venice the ceremony of the Wedding with the Sea was traditionally celebrated on the Feast of the Ascension, while in Florence
the Feast was observed by having a dove slide down a string from the
high altar of the cathedral to ignite a large decorative container
filled with fireworks in front of the main entrance of the cathedral.
References
- "Feast of the Ascension of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ". Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. 2015. Retrieved 14 May 2015.
The Feast of the Ascension of our Lord God and Savior Jesus Christ is celebrated each year on the fortieth day after the Great and Holy Feast of Pascha (Easter). Since the date of Pascha changes each year, the date of the Feast of the Ascension changes. The Feast is always celebrated on a Thursday.
- Thomas Ignatius M. Forster (1828). Circle of the Seasons, and Perpetual key to the Calendar and Almanack. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
Holy Thursday or Ascension Day. Festum Ascensionis. Le Jeudi Saint d' Ascension.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item from Litany Lane
St Anne and St Joachim Education of Mary Notebooks
by LitanyLane
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
FEATURED BOOK
THE MYSTICAL CITY OF GOD
Mystical City of God, the miracle of His omnipotence and the abyss of His grace the divine history and life of the Virgin Mother of God our Queen and our Lady, most holy Mary expiatrix of the fault of eve and mediatrix of grace. Manifested to Sister Mary of Jesus, Prioress of the convent of the Immaculate Conception in Agreda, Spain. For new enlightenment of the world, for rejoicing of the Catholic Church, and encouragement of men. Completed in 1665.
THE DIVINE HISTORY AND LIFE OF THE VIRGIN MOTHER OF GOD
Venerable Mary of Agreda
Translated from the Spanish by Reverend George J. Blatter
1914, So. Chicago, Ill., The Theopolitan; Hammond, Ind., W.B. Conkey Co., US..
IMPRIMATUR: +H.J. Alerding Bishop of Fort Wayne
Translation from the Original Authorized Spanish Edition by Fiscar Marison (George J. Blatter). Begun on the Feast of the Assumption 1902, completed 1912.
This work is published for the greater Glory of Jesus Christ through His most Holy Mother Mary and for the sanctification of the Church and her members.
Book 6, Chapter 12
THE
ASCENSION OF CHRIST
A few days before the Ascension of
the Lord while the blessed Mary was engaged in the one of the
above–mentioned exercises, the eternal Father and the Holy
Ghost appeared in the Cenacle upon a throne of ineffable splendor
surrounded by the choirs of angels and saints there present and other
heavenly spirits, which had now come with the divine Persons. Then
the incarnate Word ascended the throne and seated Himself with the
other Two. The ever humble Mother of the Most High, prostrate in a
corner of a room, in deepest reverence adored the most blessed
Trinity, and in it her own incarnate Son. The eternal Father
commanded two of the highest angels to call Mary, which they did by
approaching Her, and in sweetest voices intimating to Her the divine
will. She arose from the dust with the most profound humility,
modesty and reverence. Accompanied by the angels She approached the
foot of the Throne, humbling herself anew. The eternal Father said to
Her: “Beloved, ascend higher!” (Luke 14, 10). As these
words at the same time effected what they signified, She was raised
up and placed on the throne of royal Majesty with the three divine
Persons. New admiration was caused in the saints to see a mere
Creature exalted to such dignity. Being made to understand the
sanctity and equity of the works of the Most High, they gave new
glory and praise proclaiming Him immense, Just, Holy and Admirable in
all his counsels.
The Father then
spoke to the blessed Mary saying: “My Daughter, to Thee do I
entrust the Church founded by my Onlybegotten, the new law of grace
He established in the world, and the people, which He redeemed: to
Thee do I consign them all.” Thereupon also the Holy Ghost
spoke to Her: “My Spouse, chosen from all creatures, I
communicate to Thee my wisdom and grace together with which shall be
deposited in thy heart the mysteries, the works and teachings and all
that the incarnate Word has accomplished in the world.” And the
Son also said: “My most beloved Mother, I go to my Father and
in my stead I shall leave Thee and I charge Thee with the care of my
Church; to Thee do I commend its children and my brethren, as the
Father has consigned them to Me.” Then the three Divine
Persons, addressing the choir of holy angels and the other saints,
said: “This is the Queen of all created things in heaven and
earth; She is the Protectress of the Church, the Mistress of
creatures, the Mother of piety, the Intercessor of the faithful, the
Advocate of sinners, the Mother of beautiful love and holy hope
(Eccli. 24, 24); She is mighty in drawing our will to mercy and
clemency. In Her shall be deposited the treasures of our grace and
her most faithful heart shall the tablet whereon shall be written and
engraved our holy law. In her are contained the mysteries of our
Omnipotence for the salvation of mankind. She is the perfect work of
our hands, through whom the plenitude of our desires shall be
communicated and satisfied without hindrance in the currents of our
divine perfections. Whoever shall call upon Her from his heart shall
not perish; whoever shall obtain her intercession shall secure for
himself eternal life. What She asks of Us, shall be granted, and We
shall always hear her requests and prayers and fulfill her will; for
She has consecrated Herself perfectly to what pleases Us.”
The most blessed Mary, hearing Herself thus
exalted, humiliated Herself so much the deeper the more highly She
was raised by the right hand of the Most High above all the human and
angelic creatures. As if She were the least of all, She adored the
Lord and offered Herself, in the most prudent terms and in the most
ardent love, to work as a faithful servant in the Church and obey
promptly all the biddings of the divine will. From that day on She
took upon Herself anew the care of the evangelical Church, as a
loving Mother of all children; She renewed all the petitions She had
until then made, so that during the whole further course of her life
they were most fervent and incessant, as we shall see in the third
part, where will appear more clearly what the Church owes to this
great Queen and Lady, and what blessings She gained and merited for
it.
On that same day, by divine
dispensation, while the Lord was at table with the eleven Apostles,
other disciples and pious women gathered at the Cenacle to the number
of one hundred and twenty; for the divine Master wished them to be
present at his Ascension. Moreover, just as He had instructed the
Apostles, so He now wanted to instruct these faithful respectively in
what each was to know before his leaving them and ascending into
heaven. All of them being thus gathered and united in peace and
charity within those walls in the hall of the last Supper, the Author
of life manifested Himself to them as a kind and loving Father and
said to them:
“My sweetest
children, I am about to ascend to my Father, from whose bosom I
descended in order to rescue and save men. I leave with you in my
stead my own Mother as your Protectress, Consoler and Advocate, and
as your Mother, whom you are to hear and obey in all things. Just as
I have told you, that he who sees Me sees my Father, and he who knows
Me, knows also Him; so I now tell you, that He who knows my Mother,
knows Me; he who hears Her, hears Me; and who honors Her, honors Me.
All of you shall have Her as your Mother, as your Superior and Head,
so shall also your successors. She shall answer doubts, solve your
difficulties; in Her, those who seek Me shall always find Me; for I
shall remain in Her until the end of the world, and I am in Her now,
although you do not understand how.” This the Lord said,
because He was sacramentally present in the bosom of his Mother; for
the sacred species, which She had received at the last Supper, were
preserved in Her until consecration of the first Mass, as I shall
relate further on. The Lord thus fulfilled that which He promised in
saint Matthew: “I am with you to the consummation of the world”
(Matth. 28, 20). The Lord added and said: “You will have Peter
as the supreme head of the Church, for I leave him as my Vicar; and
you shall obey him as the chief highpriest. Saint John you shall hold
as the son of my Mother; for I have chosen and appointed him for this
office on the Cross.” The Lord then looked upon his most
beloved Mother, who was there present and intimated his desire of
expressly commanding that whole congregation to worship and reverence
Her in a manner suited to the dignity of Mother of God, and of
leaving this command under form of a precept for the whole Church.
But the most humble Lady besought her Onlybegotten to be pleased not
to secure Her more honor than was absolutely necessary for executing
all that He had charged Her with; and that the new children of the
Church should not be induced to show Her greater honor than they had
shown until then. On contrary, She desired to divert all the sacred
worship of the Church immediately upon the Lord himself and to make
the propagation of the Gospel redound entirely to the exaltation of
his holy name. Christ our Savior yielded to this most prudent
petition of his Mother, reserving to Himself the duty of spreading
the knowledge of Her at a more convenient and opportune time yet in
secret He conferred upon Her new extraordinary favors, as shall
appear in the rest of this history.
In considering the loving exhortations of their
Divine Master, the mysteries which He had revealed them, and the
prospect of his leaving them, that whole congregation was moved to
their inmost hearts; for He had enkindled in them the divine love by
the vivid faith of his Divinity and humanity. Reviving within them
the memory of his words and his teachings of eternal life, the
delights of his most loving companionship, and sorrowfully realizing,
that they were now all at once to be deprived of these blessings,
they wept most tenderly and sighed from their inmost souls. They
longed to detain Him, although they could not, because they saw it
was not befitting; words of parting rose to their lips, but they
could not bring themselves to utter them; each one felt sentiments of
sorrow arising amid feelings both of joy and yet also of pious
regret. How shall we live without such a Master? they thought. Who
can ever speak to us such words of life and consolation as He? Who
will receive us so lovingly and kindly? Who shall be our Father and
protector? We shall be helpless children and orphans in this world.
Some of them broke their silence and exclaimed: “O most loving
Lord and Father! O joy and life of our souls! Now that we know Thee
as our Redeemer, Thou departest and leavest us! Take us along with
Thee, O Lord; banish us not from thy sight. Our blessed Hope, what
shall we do without thy presence? Whither shall we turn, if thou
goest away? Whither shall we direct our steps, if cannot follow Thee,
our Father, our Chief, and our Teacher?” To these and other
pleadings the Lord answered by bidding them not to leave Jerusalem
and to persevere in prayer until He should send the Holy Spirit, the
Consoler, as promised by the Father and as already foretold to the
Apostles at the last Supper. Thereupon happened, what I shall relate
in the next chapter.
The most auspicious hour, in which
the Onlybegotten of the eternal Father, after descending from heaven
in order to assume human flesh, was to ascend by his own power and in
a most wonderful manner to the right hand of God, the Inheritor of
his eternities, one and equal with Him in nature and infinite glory.
He was to ascend, also, because He had previously descended to the
lowest regions of the earth, as the Apostle says (Ephes. 4, 9),
having fulfilled all that had been written and prophesied concerning
his coming into the world, his Life, Death and the Redemption of man,
and having penetrated, as the Lord of all, to the very centre of the
earth. By this Ascension he sealed all the mysteries and hastened the
fulfillment of his promise, according to which He was, with the
Father, to send the Paraclete upon his Church after He himself should
have ascended into heaven (John 16, 7). In order to celebrate this
festive and mysterious day, Christ our Lord selected as witnesses the
hundred and twenty persons, to whom, as related in the foregoing
chapter, He had spoken in the Cenacle. They were the most holy Mary,
the eleven Apostles, the seventy–two disciples, Mary Magdalen,
Lazarus their brother, the other Marys and the faithful men and women
making up the above–mentioned number of one hundred and twenty.
With this little
flock our divine Shepherd Jesus left the Cenacle, and, with his most
blessed Mother at his side, He conducted them all through the streets
of Jerusalem. The Apostles and all the rest in order, proceeded in
the direction of Bethany, which was less than half a league over the
brow of mount Olivet. The company of angels and saints from limbo and
purgatory followed the Victor with new songs of praise, although Mary
alone was privileged to see them. The Resurrection of Jesus of
Nazareth was already divulged throughout Jerusalem and Palestine.
Although the perfidious and malicious princes and priests had spread
about the false testimony of his being stolen by disciples, yet many
would not accept their testimony nor give it any credit. It was
divinely provided, that none of the inhabitants of the city, and none
of the unbelievers or doubters, should pay any attention to
this holy procession, or hinder it on its way from
the Cenacle. All, except the one hundred and twenty just, who were
chosen by the Lord to witness his Ascension into heaven, were justly
punished by being prevented from noticing this wonderful mystery, and
the Chieftain and Head of this procession remained invisible to them.
The Lord having thus secured them
this privacy, they all ascended mount Olivet to its highest point.
There they formed three choirs, one of the angels, another of the
saints, and a third of the Apostles and faithful, which again divided
into two bands, while Christ the Savior presided. Then the most
prudent Mother prostrated Herself at the feet of her Son worshipping
Him with admirable humility, She adored Him as the true God and as
the Redeemer of the world, asking his last blessing. All the faithful
there present imitated Her and did the same. Weeping and sighing,
they asked the Lord, whether He was now to restore the kingdom of
Israel (Acts 1, 6). The Lord answered, that this was a secret of the
eternal Father and not to be made known to them; but, for the
present, it was necessary and befitting, that they receive the Holy
Ghost and preach, in Jerusalem, in Samaria and in all the world, the
mysteries of the Redemption of the world.
Jesus, having taken leave of this
holy and fortunate gathering of the faithful, his countenance beaming
forth peace and majesty, joined his hands and, by his own power,
began to raise himself from the earth, leaving thereon the impression
of his sacred feet. In gentlest motion He was wafted toward the
aerial regions, drawing after Him the eyes and the hearts of those
first–born children, who amid sighs and tears vented their
affection. And as, at the moving of the first Cause of all motion, it
is proper that also the nether spheres should be set in motion, so
the Savior Jesus drew after Him also the celestial choirs of the
angels, the holy Patriarchs and the rest of the glorified saints,
some of them with body and soul, others only as to their soul. All of
them in heavenly order were raised up together from the earth,
accompanying and following their King, their Chief and Head. The new
and mysterious sacrament, which the right hand of the Most High
wrought on this occasion for his most holy Mother, was that He raised
Her up with Him in order to put Her in possession of the glory, which
He had assigned to Her as his true Mother and which She had by her
merits prepared and earned for Herself. Of this favor the great Queen
was capable even before it happened; for her divine Son had offered
it to Her during the forty days which He spent in her company after
his Resurrection. In order that this sacrament might be kept secret
from all other living creatures at that time, and in order that the
heavenly Mistress might be present in the gathering of the Apostles
and the faithful in their prayerful waiting upon the coming of the
Holy Ghost (Acts 1, 14), the divine power enabled the blessed Mother
miraculously to be in two places at once; remaining with the children
of the Church for their comfort during their stay in the Cenacle and
at the time ascending with the Redeemer of the world to His heavenly
throne, where She remained for three days. There She enjoyed the
perfect use of all her powers and faculties, whereas She was more
restricted in the use of them during that time in the Cenacle.
Amidst this jubilee and other
rejoicings exceeding all our conceptions that new divinely arranged
procession approached the empyrean heavens. Between the two choirs of
angels and saints, Christ and his most blessed Mother made their
entry. All in their order gave supreme honor to Each respectively and
to Both together, breaking forth in hymns of praise in honor of the
Authors of grace and of life. Then the eternal Father placed upon the
throne of his Divinity at His right hand, the incarnate Word, and in
such glory and majesty, that He filled with new admiration and
reverential fear all the inhabitants of heaven. In clear and
intuitive vision they recognized the infinite glory and perfection of
the Divinity inseparably and substantially united in one personality
to the most holy humanity, beautified and exalted by the pre–eminence
and glory due to this union, such as eyes have not seen, nor ears
heard, nor ever has entered into the thoughts of creatures (Is. 54,
4).
On this occasion the humility and wisdom of our
most prudent Queen reached their highest point; for, overwhelmed by
such divine and admirable favors, She hovered at the footstool of the
royal throne, annihilated in the consciousness of being a mere
earthly creature. Prostrate She adored the Father and broke out in
new canticles of praise for the glory communicated to his Son and for
elevating in Him the deified humanity to such greatness and splendor.
Again the angels and saints were filled with admiration and joy to
see the most prudent humility of their Queen, whose living example of
virtue, as exhibited on that occasion, they emulated among themselves
in copying. Then the voice of the eternal Father was heard saying:
“My Daughter, ascend higher!” Her divine Son also called
Her, saying: “My Mother rise up and take possession of the
place, which I owe Thee for having followed and imitated Me. The Holy
Ghost said: “My Spouse and Beloved, come to my eternal
embraces!” Immediately was proclaimed to all the blessed the
decree of the most holy Trinity, by which the most blessed Mother,
for having furnished her own life–blood toward the Incarnation
and for having nourished, served, imitated and followed Him with all
the perfection possible to a creature, was exalted and placed at the
right hand of her Son for all eternity. None other of the human
creatures should ever hold that place or position, nor rival Her in
the unfailing glory connected with it; but it was to be reserved to
the Queen and to be her possession by right after her earthly life,
as of one who pre–eminently excelled all the rest of the
saints.
In fulfillment of
this decree, the most blessed Mary was raised to the throne of the
holy Trinity at the right hand of her Son. At the same time She, with
all the saints, was informed, that She was given possession of this
throne not only for all the ages of eternity, but that it was left to
her choice to remain there even now and without returning to the
earth. For it was the conditional will of the divine Persons, that as
far as they were concerned, She should now remain in that state. In
order that She might make her own choice, She was shown anew the
state of the Church upon earth, the orphaned and necessitous
condition of the faithful, whom She was left free to assist. This
admirable proceeding of the divine Providence was to afford the
Mother of mercy an occasion of going beyond, so to say, even her own
Self in doing good and in obliging the human race with an act of love
similar to that of her Son in assuming a passible state and in
suspending the glory due to his body during and for our Redemption.
The most blessed Mother imitated Him also in this respect, so that
She might be in all things like the incarnate Word. The great Lady
therefore, having clearly before her eyes all the sacrifices included
in this proposition, left the throne and, prostrating Herself at the
feet of the Three Persons, said: “Eternal and almighty God, my
Lord, to accept at once this reward, which thy condescending kindness
offers me, would be to secure my rest; but to return to the world and
continue to labor in mortal life for the good of the children of Adam
and the faithful of thy holy Church, would be to the glory and
according to the pleasure of thy Majesty and would benefit my
sojourning and banished children on earth. I accept this labor and
renounce for the present the peace and joy of thy presence. Well do I
know, what I possess and receive, but I will sacrifice it to further
the love Thou hast for men. Accept, Lord and Master of all my being,
this sacrifice and let thy divine strength govern in the undertaking
confided to me. Let faith in Thee be spread, let thy holy name be
exalted, let thy holy Church be enlarged, for Thou hast acquired it
by the blood of thy Onlybegotten and mine; I offer myself anew
to labor for thy glory and for the conquest of the
souls, as far as I am able.”
Such was the sacrifice made by the
most loving Mother and Queen, one greater than ever was conceived by
creature, and it was so pleasing to the Lord, that He immediately
rewarded it by operating in Her those purifications and
enlightenments, which I have at other times mentioned as necessary to
the intuitive vision of the Divinity; for so far She had on this
occasion seen only by abstractive vision. Thus elevated She partook
of the beatific vision and was filled with splendor and celestial
gifts, altogether beyond the power of man describe or conceive in
mortal life.
In order to finish
this chapter, and with it this second part, I return to the
congregation of the faithful, whom we left so sorrowful on mount
Olivet. The most holy Mary did not forget them in the midst of her
glory; as they stood weeping and lost in
grief and, as it were, absorbed in looking into the aerial regions,
into which their Redeemer and Master had disappeared, She turned her
eyes upon them from the cloud on which She had ascended, in order to
send them her assistance. Moved by their sorrow, She besought Jesus
lovingly to console these little children, whom He had left as
orphans upon the earth. Moved by the prayers of his Mother, the
Redeemer of the human race sent down two angels in white and
resplendent garments, who appeared to all the disciples and the
faithful and spoke to them: “Ye men of Galilee, do not look up
to heaven in so great astonishment, for this Lord Jesus, who departed
from you and has ascended into heaven, shall again return with the
same glory and majesty in which you have just seen him” (Acts
1, 11). By such words and others which they added they consoled the
Apostles and disciples and all the rest, so that they might not grow
faint, but in their retirement hope for the coming and the
consolation of the Holy Ghost promised by their divine Master.
WORDS OF THE QUEEN
The Virgin Mary
speaks to Sister Mary of Agreda, Spain
My daughter, thou
wilt appropriately close this second part of my life by remembering
the lesson concerning the most efficacious sweetness of the divine
love and the immense liberality of God with those souls, that do not
hinder its flowing. It is in conformity with the inclinations of his
holy and perfect will to regale rather than afflict creatures, to
console them rather than cause them sorrow, to reward them rather
than to chastise them, to rejoice rather than grieve them. But
mortals ignore this divine science, because they desire from the
hands of the Most high such consolations, delights and
rewards, as are earthly and dangerous, and they
prefer them to the true and more secure blessings. The divine Love
then corrects this fault by the lessons conveyed in tribulations and
punishments. Human nature is slow, coarse and uneducated; and if it
is not cultivated and softened, it gives no
fruit in season, and on account of its evil inclinations, will never
of itself become fit for the most loving and sweet interactions with
the highest Good. Therefore it must be shaped and reduced by the
hammer of adversities, refined in the crucible of tribulation, in
order that it may become fit and capable of the divine gifts and
favors and may learn to despise terrestrial and fallacious goods,
wherein death is concealed.
wherein death is concealed.
I counted for little all that I
endured, when I saw the reward which the divine Goodness had prepared
for me; and therefore He ordained, in his admirable Providence that I
should return to the militant Church of my own free will and choice.
This I knew would redound to my greater glory and to the exaltation
of his holy name, while it would provide assistance to his Church and
to his children in an admirable and holy manner (I Tim. 1, 17). It
seemed to me a sacred duty, that I deprive myself of the eternal
felicity of which I was in possession and, returning from heaven to
earth, gain new fruits of labor and love for the Almighty; this I
owed to the divine Goodness, which had raised me up from the dust.
Learn therefore, my beloved, from my example, and excite thyself to
imitate me most eagerly during these times, in which the holy Church
so disconsolate and overwhelmed by tribulations and in which there
are none of her children to console her. In this cause I desire that
thou labor strenuously, ready to suffer in prayer and supplication,
and crying from the bottom of thy heart to the Omnipotent. And if it
were necessary thou shouldst be willing to give thy life. I assure
thee, my daughter, thy solicitude shall be very pleasing in the eyes
of my divine Son and in mine.
Let it all be for the glory and honor
of the Most high, the King of the ages, the Immortal and Invisible (I
Tim. 1, 17), and for that of his Mother, the most blessed Mary,
through all the eternities!
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item from Litany Lane
Our Lady of Fatima 1917 iPad Mini Cover by LitanyLane
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬♥▬●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Catholic Catechism
PART THREE - THE LIFE OF THE CHRIST
SECTION ONE - MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE SPIRIT
CHAPTER ONE - THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN PERSON
ARTICLE SIX - MORAL CONSCIENCE
ARTICLE 6
MORAL CONSCIENCE
1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."47
I. THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE
1777 Moral conscience,48 present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil.49 It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.
1778 Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law:
1781 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth of the good, at the same time as the evil of his particular choice. The verdict of the judgment of conscience remains a pledge of hope and mercy. In attesting to the fault committed, it calls to mind the forgiveness that must be asked, the good that must still be practiced, and the virtue that must be constantly cultivated with the grace of God:
II. THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE
1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.
1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
1785 In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path,54 we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.55
III. TO CHOOSE IN ACCORD WITH CONSCIENCE
1786 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
1787 Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law.
1788 To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Spirit and his gifts.
1789 Some rules apply in every case:
- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."56
- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbor and his conscience: "Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience . . . you sin against Christ."57 Therefore "it is right not to . . . do anything that makes your brother stumble."58
IV. ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT
1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.
1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin."59 In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.
1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.
1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
1794 A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith."60
1795 "Conscience is man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths" (GS 16).
1796 Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.
1797 For the man who has committed evil, the verdict of his conscience remains a pledge of conversion and of hope.
1798 A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. Everyone must avail himself of the means to form his conscience.
1799 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
1800 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience.
1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.
1802 The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed.
47 GS 16.
48 Cf. Rom 2:14-16.
49 Cf. Rom 1:32.
50 John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Letter to the Duke of Norfolk," V, in Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching II (London: Longmans Green, 1885), 248.
51 St. Augustine, In ep Jo. 8,9:PL 35,2041.
52 1 Jn 3:19-20.
53 DH 3 § 2.
54 Cf. Ps 119:105.
55 Cf. DH 14.
56 Mt 7:12; cf. Lk 6:31; Tob 4:15.
57 1 Cor 8:12.
58 Rom 14:21.
59 GS 16.
60 1 Tim 5; cf. 8:9; 2 Tim 3; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 24:16.
61 GS 16.
MORAL CONSCIENCE
1776 "Deep within his conscience man discovers a law which he has not laid upon himself but which he must obey. Its voice, ever calling him to love and to do what is good and to avoid evil, sounds in his heart at the right moment. . . . For man has in his heart a law inscribed by God. . . . His conscience is man's most secret core and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths."47
I. THE JUDGMENT OF CONSCIENCE
1777 Moral conscience,48 present at the heart of the person, enjoins him at the appropriate moment to do good and to avoid evil. It also judges particular choices, approving those that are good and denouncing those that are evil.49 It bears witness to the authority of truth in reference to the supreme Good to which the human person is drawn, and it welcomes the commandments. When he listens to his conscience, the prudent man can hear God speaking.
1778 Conscience is a judgment of reason whereby the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act that he is going to perform, is in the process of performing, or has already completed. In all he says and does, man is obliged to follow faithfully what he knows to be just and right. It is by the judgment of his conscience that man perceives and recognizes the prescriptions of the divine law:
- Conscience is a law of the mind; yet [Christians] would not grant that it is nothing more; I mean that it was not a dictate, nor conveyed the notion of responsibility, of duty, of a threat and a promise. . . . [Conscience] is a messenger of him, who, both in nature and in grace, speaks to us behind a veil, and teaches and rules us by his representatives. Conscience is the aboriginal Vicar of Christ.50
- Return to your conscience, question it. . . . Turn inward, brethren, and in everything you do, see God as your witness.51
1781 Conscience enables one to assume responsibility for the acts performed. If man commits evil, the just judgment of conscience can remain within him as the witness to the universal truth of the good, at the same time as the evil of his particular choice. The verdict of the judgment of conscience remains a pledge of hope and mercy. In attesting to the fault committed, it calls to mind the forgiveness that must be asked, the good that must still be practiced, and the virtue that must be constantly cultivated with the grace of God:
- We shall . . . reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.52
II. THE FORMATION OF CONSCIENCE
1783 Conscience must be informed and moral judgment enlightened. A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. The education of conscience is indispensable for human beings who are subjected to negative influences and tempted by sin to prefer their own judgment and to reject authoritative teachings.
1784 The education of the conscience is a lifelong task. From the earliest years, it awakens the child to the knowledge and practice of the interior law recognized by conscience. Prudent education teaches virtue; it prevents or cures fear, selfishness and pride, resentment arising from guilt, and feelings of complacency, born of human weakness and faults. The education of the conscience guarantees freedom and engenders peace of heart.
1785 In the formation of conscience the Word of God is the light for our path,54 we must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. We must also examine our conscience before the Lord's Cross. We are assisted by the gifts of the Holy Spirit, aided by the witness or advice of others and guided by the authoritative teaching of the Church.55
III. TO CHOOSE IN ACCORD WITH CONSCIENCE
1786 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
1787 Man is sometimes confronted by situations that make moral judgments less assured and decision difficult. But he must always seriously seek what is right and good and discern the will of God expressed in divine law.
1788 To this purpose, man strives to interpret the data of experience and the signs of the times assisted by the virtue of prudence, by the advice of competent people, and by the help of the Holy Spirit and his gifts.
1789 Some rules apply in every case:
- One may never do evil so that good may result from it;
- the Golden Rule: "Whatever you wish that men would do to you, do so to them."56
- charity always proceeds by way of respect for one's neighbor and his conscience: "Thus sinning against your brethren and wounding their conscience . . . you sin against Christ."57 Therefore "it is right not to . . . do anything that makes your brother stumble."58
IV. ERRONEOUS JUDGMENT
1790 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience. If he were deliberately to act against it, he would condemn himself. Yet it can happen that moral conscience remains in ignorance and makes erroneous judgments about acts to be performed or already committed.
1791 This ignorance can often be imputed to personal responsibility. This is the case when a man "takes little trouble to find out what is true and good, or when conscience is by degrees almost blinded through the habit of committing sin."59 In such cases, the person is culpable for the evil he commits.
1792 Ignorance of Christ and his Gospel, bad example given by others, enslavement to one's passions, assertion of a mistaken notion of autonomy of conscience, rejection of the Church's authority and her teaching, lack of conversion and of charity: these can be at the source of errors of judgment in moral conduct.
1793 If - on the contrary - the ignorance is invincible, or the moral subject is not responsible for his erroneous judgment, the evil committed by the person cannot be imputed to him. It remains no less an evil, a privation, a disorder. One must therefore work to correct the errors of moral conscience.
1794 A good and pure conscience is enlightened by true faith, for charity proceeds at the same time "from a pure heart and a good conscience and sincere faith."60
- The more a correct conscience prevails, the more do persons and groups turn aside from blind choice and try to be guided by objective standards of moral conduct.61
1795 "Conscience is man's most secret core, and his sanctuary. There he is alone with God whose voice echoes in his depths" (GS 16).
1796 Conscience is a judgment of reason by which the human person recognizes the moral quality of a concrete act.
1797 For the man who has committed evil, the verdict of his conscience remains a pledge of conversion and of hope.
1798 A well-formed conscience is upright and truthful. It formulates its judgments according to reason, in conformity with the true good willed by the wisdom of the Creator. Everyone must avail himself of the means to form his conscience.
1799 Faced with a moral choice, conscience can make either a right judgment in accordance with reason and the divine law or, on the contrary, an erroneous judgment that departs from them.
1800 A human being must always obey the certain judgment of his conscience.
1801 Conscience can remain in ignorance or make erroneous judgments. Such ignorance and errors are not always free of guilt.
1802 The Word of God is a light for our path. We must assimilate it in faith and prayer and put it into practice. This is how moral conscience is formed.
47 GS 16.
48 Cf. Rom 2:14-16.
49 Cf. Rom 1:32.
50 John Henry Cardinal Newman, "Letter to the Duke of Norfolk," V, in Certain Difficulties felt by Anglicans in Catholic Teaching II (London: Longmans Green, 1885), 248.
51 St. Augustine, In ep Jo. 8,9:PL 35,2041.
52 1 Jn 3:19-20.
53 DH 3 § 2.
54 Cf. Ps 119:105.
55 Cf. DH 14.
56 Mt 7:12; cf. Lk 6:31; Tob 4:15.
57 1 Cor 8:12.
58 Rom 14:21.
59 GS 16.
60 1 Tim 5; cf. 8:9; 2 Tim 3; 1 Pet 3:21; Acts 24:16.
61 GS 16.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
Featured Item from Litany Lane
View more Inspirational Designs at Litany Lane.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●
RE-CHARGE: Heaven Speaks to Young Adults
To all tween, teens and young adults, A Message from Jesus: "Through you I will flow powerful conversion graces to draw other young souls from darkness. My plan for young men and women is immense. Truly, the renewal will leap forward with the assistance of these individuals. Am I calling you? Yes. I am calling you. You feel the stirring in your soul as you read these words. I am with you. I will never leave you. Join My band of young apostles and I will give you joy and peace that you have never known. All courage, all strength will be yours. Together, we will reclaim this world for the Father. I will bless your families and all of your relationships. I will lead you to your place in the Kingdom. Only you can complete the tasks I have set out for you. Do not reject Me. I am your Jesus. I love you...Read this book, upload to your phones/ipads.computers and read a few pages everyday...and then Pay It Forward...
Reference
- Recharge: Directions For Our Times. Heaven Speaks to Young Adults. recharge.cc.
●▬▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬♥▬●▬ஜ۩۞۩ஜ▬▬●