Surpassing Expectations

The Sons of the Most Holy Redeemer

remember in their prayers today

and wish a very happy feastday to all

the many 

Mothers, Expectant Mothers and Hopeful Mothers-to-Be

who have requested relics of St Gerard and prayers 

during this last year. 

(Relics may be obtained here.)

If you are that soul who 

like Holy Anna, Sarah, Rebecca and Elizabeth

longs to bear yourself 

that long desired little infant,

take heart on this

beautiful feast of the Church 

when we remember that on the eighth day from hence

Most Holy Mary Immaculate

will bring forth into the world a Saviour, 

"now" still hidden in her spotless womb.

Ask of her that long sought for blessing.

She will surely

surpass all your expectations!

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,

 that never was it known that anyone

 who fled to thy protection,

 implored thy help, or sought thine intercession

 was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence,

I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother;

 to thee do I come, before thee I stand,

 sinful and sorrowful.

O Mother of the Word Incarnate,

 despise not my petitions,

 but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Credo

Every morning as we begin the Office of Matins all pray privately the Apostles' Creed. 

Similarly every Rosary begins with the same Creed or Symbol of Faith.

The Nicene and Apostles Creeds are both well-known formulas

which we recite often but few of us pause to reflect upon their tremendous value.

In this Year of Faith, Our Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI, 

in his Apostolic Letter Porta Fidei, has ordered that:

“Religious communities as well as parish communities, and all ecclesial bodies old and new, are to find a way, during this Year, to make a public profession of the Credo [...] Not without reason, Christians in the early centuries were required to learn the creed from memory. It served them as a daily prayer not to forget the commitment they had undertaken in baptism.”

“With words rich in meaning, St Augustine speaks of this in a homily on the redditio symboli, the handing over of the Creed: ‘the Symbol of the holy mystery that you have all received together and that today you have recited one by one, are the words on which the faith of Mother Church is firmly built above the stable foundation that is Christ the Lord. You have received it and recited it, but in your minds and hearts you must keep it ever present, you must repeat it in your beds, recall it in the public squares and not forget it during meals: even when your body is asleep, you must watch over it with your hearts.’”

Today, 14 December, we celebrate the feast of 

Saint Spiridion the Wonderworker,

 Bishop of Tremithus in Cyprus, who died in 344.

 Of his many wondrous deeds

 the one that concerns us is that which took place at the

 Holy Ecumenical Council convened in Nicaea in AD 325 -

 the Council which would form the magnificent Creed chanted at Mass.

The image below shows the first part of the Creed in Greek

 held in the hands of the Holy Fathers of the Council.

"A total of 318 Holy Fathers arrived there from the remotest parts of the Christian world. All these venerable men had survived the prisons and the torments of their persecutors. The Arian heresy had also gathered together its own followers. Arius had called to Nicaea a whole crowd of sophists, even pagan ones, to defend his cause. Philosophers quickly came forward for the pleasure of debating against these old men whom they thought unacquainted with the art of logic and metaphysical speculation.

"One of these philosophers boasted before all the Fathers that he would be able to refute and silence anyone who wanted to defend the divinity of Christ in front of him. It was St Spiridion who took up the challenge. The Fathers momentarily took fright because the old man, whose knowledge of the Greek language was poor, had never studied dialectical argumentation.

"Spiridion, with the inspired tone of a prophet told the philosopher that Christ and the apostles did not teach dialectics, but the truth, which is fostered by faith and good works. He then made a simple profession of  faith - the Apostles Creed. He told the philosopher that that was all that he needed to believe and rebuked him for seeking vain explanations. 

"Spiridion then asked whether he believed in what he had just said. The philosopher who was all set to reply to arguments of reason with his own subtle arguments was struck dumb by the simplicity of the prelate’s words and recognised in them the Word of God. He confessed that he indeed believed and urged the other philosophers to believe in Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and to follow the holy old man. St Spiridion shortly afterwards baptised him. The Roman Martyrology mentions this remarkable conversion."

St Spiridion's Profession

I believe, O Lord. Help Thou my unbelief!

For Bishop Finn

Bishop Robert Finn

Bishop of Kansas City - St Joseph, 

Missouri, USA

Let us offer a Hail Mary now

and also

our rosary and prayers

for the successful outcome

of today's criminal trial.

+

Hail Mary, full of grace the LORD is with Thee.

Blessed art Thou amongst women 

and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, JESUS.

Holy Mary, Mother of God

pray for us sinners now

and at the hour of our death. 

Amen.

+

Ne despicias...

Despise not, O almighty God,

Thy people who cry out in their affliction,

but for the glory of Thy name be appeased

and help those in trouble.

Through Christ Our Lord. 

Amen. 

Mother of Perpetual Succour, 

pray for him.

St. Joseph,

pray for him.

St Alphonsus and Prayer - Pope Benedict XVI, yesterday.

ON PRAYER

ACCORDING TO ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI

"He who prays is saved. He who prays not is damned!"

Only yesterday.

The Holy Father spoke about St Alphonsus for his feast day.

Dear brothers and sisters!

Today marks the liturgical memorial of St. Alphonsus Maria de' Liguori, bishop and doctor of the Church, founder of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer -- the Redemptorists -- patron saint of scholars and moral theology and of confessors. St. Alphonsus is one of the most popular saints of the 18th century because of his simple, straightforward style and his teaching on the sacrament of Penance: In a period of great rigorism -- the result of the influence of Jansenism -- he recommended to confessors to administer this sacrament by revealing the joyous embrace of God the Father, who in His infinite mercy never tires of welcoming back the repentant son.

Today's memorial offers us the occasion to consider St. Alphonsus' teachings on prayer, which are extremely valuable and filled with spiritual inspiration. He considered his treatise, Prayer: The Great Means of Salvation and of Perfection, which dates back to 1759, to be the most useful of all his writings.

In fact, he there describes prayer as

"the necessary and sure means of obtaining salvation, 

and all the graces we need to attain it"

(Introduction). 

Only yesterday the Pope said:

"He who prays is certain to be saved.

He who prays not is damned".

This sentence sums up the Alphonsian understanding of prayer. First, in saying that it is a means, he reminds us of the end to be attained: God created out of love in order to be able to give us the fullness of life; but because of sin, this goal, this abundance of life has, so to say, drifted away -- we all know this -- and only God's grace can make it available. To explain this basic truth, and to enable us to understand in a straightforward way how real the risk is of man's "being lost," St. Alphonsus coined a famous, very elementary maxim, which states: 

"He who prays is saved. He who prays not is damned!" 

Commenting on this lapidary statement, he added: "To save one's soul without prayer is most difficult, and even impossible … but by praying our salvation is made secure, and very easy" (Chapter II, Conclusion). And he goes on to say:

 "If we do not pray, we have no excuse, 

for the grace of prayer is given to everyone …

 if we are not saved, 

the whole fault will be ours, because we did not pray" (ibid.). 

In saying that prayer is a necessary means, St. Alphonsus wanted us to understand that in every situation in life, we cannot manage without praying, especially in times of trial and difficulty. We must always knock at the Lord's door with trust, knowing that in all things He takes care of His children, of us. We are invited, therefore, not to be afraid of turning to Him and of presenting our requests to Him with trust, in the certainty of obtaining what we need.

Dear friends, this is the central question: What is truly necessary in my life? With St. Alphonsus I respond: "Health and all the graces we need for this" (ibid.); naturally, he means not only bodily health, but above all also that of the soul, which Jesus gives to us. More than anything else, we need His liberating presence, which truly makes our lives fully human and therefore full of joy. And it is only through prayer that we are able to welcome Him and His grace, which by enlightening us in each situation, enables us to discern the true good, and by strengthening us, makes our will effective; that is, it enables it to do the good that is known. Often we recognize the good, but we are unable to do it. Through prayer, we arrive at the point of being able to carry it out.

The Lord's disciple knows that he is always exposed to temptation, and he never fails to ask God for help in prayer in order to conquer it.

St. Alphonsus recalls the example of St. Phillip Neri -- very interesting -- who 

"used to say to God from the first moment he awoke in the morning,

 'Lord, keep Thy hands over Philip this day; for if not, Philip will betray Thee'" (III, 3). 

A great realist! He asks God to keep His hand upon him. 

We, too, in the awareness of our own weakness, 

should humbly ask God's help, relying on the richness of His mercy.

In another passage, St. Alphonsus says: "We are so poor that we have nothing; but if we pray we are no longer poor" (II, 4). And in the wake of St. Augustine, he invites every Christian to not be afraid of obtaining from God, through prayer, the strength he does not possess and that he needs to do the good, in the certainty that the Lord does not withhold His help from whoever prays with humility (cf. III, 3).

Dear friends, St. Alphonsus reminds us that our relationship with God is essential for our lives. Without a relationship with God, our fundamental relationship is missing. And a relationship with God develops by talking with God in daily personal prayer, and by participating in the Sacraments; and so it is that this relationship can grow in us, and that the divine presence that directs our path, enlightens it and makes it secure and serene can also grow in us, even amid difficulty and danger. Thank you.

[Translation by Diane Montagna]

© Copyright 2012 - Libreria Editrice Vaticana

Thank you! Holy Father!

Happy Feast Day to all our readers!

The Afternoon Liturgy and the Burial Devotions.

The Afternoon Liturgy.

Ecce lignum crucis
Behold the wood of the Cross.

The Evening Devotions of the Burial of Our Lord.

Incensing at the station on the way.

Incensing of the Body of Our Lord
inside the sepulchre.

Prayers for the Reconciliation of the Society.

Fr. Franz Schmidberger.
The hour is grave.

During this time we remember in our Masses and prayers:
the superiors, priests and faithful
of the Society of St Pius X
and its allied religious communities.
Fr Schmidberger has always been a
man of the Church with a great love of "Romanitas".

Letter from Fr. Schmidberger.

Dear faithful,

On 16 March in Rome Cardinal Levada, Prefect of the Congregation, gave the Superior General of our Fraternity, Bishop Fellay a letter with statements in which we are asked ultimately to react more positively to the doctrinal preamble of September the 14th than we had done so far.

As a final deadline for a response is given the 15th of April 2012. Surely you have heard this already wholly or partially from the media. We have thus arrived at a crucial point.

Even if the letter strikes an unpleasant sound, there are legitimate hopes for a satisfactory solution. If this solution would be reached it would considerably strengthen all the orthodox forces in the church. If not it would weaken and discourage these forces. So it is not primarily about our brotherhood, but for the good of the Church.

Therefore we ask for the eager, insistent and imploring prayer of all our faithful and all Catholics, that God through the redemptive suffering of His only begotten Son, will lead His Church through this crisis and give her in the Holy Resurrection of Jesus life new strength and new prosperity.

Stuttgart, 22 March 2012

Father Franz Schmidberger,
District Superior

Source: Fr. Finigan

Deep Silence, Mutual Listening, Continual Prayer

Deep Silence.

Silence is an integral element of communication; in its absence, words rich in content cannot exist. In silence, we are better able to listen to and understand ourselves; ideas come to birth and acquire depth; we understand with greater clarity what it is we want to say and what we expect from others; and we choose how to express ourselves.

Mutual Listening.

By remaining silent we allow the other person to speak, to express him or herself; and we avoid being tied simply to our own words and ideas without them being adequately tested. In this way, space is created for mutual listening, and deeper human relationships become possible.

Thus the Pope speaks to us about the internet, blogging and social communications. We are involved in Internet communications. We hope that our sites also breathe religious silence.

Silence

The latest edition of our newspaper Catholic is in the post.
It opens the subject of continual prayer.
I invite you to subscribe to this newspaper and read quietly
- away from Internet, in deep listening silence -
about the continual prayer.

Fr. Michael Mary, F.SS.R.

Attention should be paid to the various types of websites, applications and social networks which can help people today to find time for reflection and authentic questioning, as well as making space for silence and occasions for prayer, meditation or sharing of the word of God.

Pope Benedict XVI.
24 January 2012.

He who prays is certain to be saved.
He who does not pray is certain to be damned.
All the elect are in heaven because they prayer.
All the damned are in hell because they did not pray.
St. Alphonsus

A Happy and Holy New Year

Incline unto my aid, O God;
O Lord, make haste to help me.
Deus, in adjutorium meum intende;
Domine, ad adjuvandum me festina.
(Ps. 69:2)

Resignation in expiation for our sins and for the Holy Souls

Who are the dead that suffer in the expiatory flames?
Are they great criminals, public and scandalous sinners,
who have died under the anathema of the Church
and of their fellow citizens?

No;
they are souls sanctified by grace,
who have to expiate only light faults,
slight acts of unfaithfulness,
or even only the temporal punishment
of faults already forgiven.


Among them are some
who acquired on earth eminent virtue,
who consequently, are more humble,
more chaste, more obedient,
more charitable,
and especially more patient than we.

They suffer, without complaint
and even with much love,
intolerable pains which surpass all we can imagine
or endure in this life.

A fire, like that of hell,
burns them without ceasing, without mercy,
and a pain far greater still,
that of loss,
completes their torments.

And we who have so much and,
perhaps, so greviously sinned,
we complain of the slightest suffering!

Are we ignorant of the law
that obliges us to expiate our sins,
in this life or in the next?

And is it not better to pay our debts now to our Lord's mercy,
which forgives so easily,
than to fall later under the blows of His justice,
which requires full payment to the last farthing? (Mat. 5:26)

Moreover, by bearing on earth afflictions and trials,
we embellish more and more our eternal crown,
whilst in purgatory we shall have to pay,
without increase of merit, the whole of our debt to God.

Can we hesitate between those two alternatives,
either to have our purgatory in this life
by suffering patiently and meritoriously,
or
to await the torments of next life,
when we shall have to satisfy rigorously
and unprofitably for heaven,
the divine justice in full?

Prayer and Resolutions

O Lord, it is evidently more advantageous for me
to deny myself and suffer now for Thee,
than to defer it till later.

Wherefore I embrace from this day forward
all the trials it will please Thee to send me;
bitterness, disgust, annoyances, infirmities,
pains, humiliations and contradiction.

I am therefore resolved,

first,
when tempted to impatience,
to think of purgatory and the souls
so lovingly suffering therein;

and

secondly,
often to offer Thee my sufferings in union with Thine,
as an expiation for my sins,
and for the relief of the faithful departed,
who are still indebted to Thy justice.

[From this morning's Meditation book.]

Prayers please for a man of prayer.

The old Exarch.
Ecce sacerdos magnus...
Behold a great priest...

Bishop Michael Hrynchyshyn, CSSR
is seriously ill tonight
and in intensive care in Paris.
Please offer a Hail Mary for him.

Here is a man of the Church and of his Ukrainain Rite.
Still at his post at 83 years of age.
Humble, prayerful, learned.

Bishop Hrynchyshyn
has been the promoter of the Cause for
Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytski
for several decades.

Always a father.
This is a true bishop.
Please pray for him tonight.

He is the Apostolic Exarch of France, Benelux and Switzerland
for the Ukrainians
since his appointment on 21 October 1982.
He was consecrated bishop on 30 January 1983.

Est enim urbanissima, curialissima Regina, gloriosa Virgo Maria.

Saint Bernard (1090-1153)

seeing Our Lady's statue
greeted Her with
"Salve Regina!" or "Ave Maria!"
to his surprise he heard Her reply
"Salve Bernarde!" or "Ave Bernarde!"

When a man devoutly salutes the Virgin
he is saluted by Her in return.
For amongst all Queens,
the Glorious Virgin Mary is
the most polite, the most courteous.

It is impossible to greet Her
without receiving a greeting in return.

That is why,
if throughout the day
you say devoutly "Ave Maria!" a thousand times
you will be saluted a thousand times
by the holy Virgin.

Quam homo devote salutat Virginem
resalutatur ab illa.

Est enim urbanissima,
curialissima Regina,
gloriosa Virgo Maria.

Nec postest salutari
sine resalutatione miranda.

Si mille Ave Maria dicis in die, devote,
millies a Virgine resalutaris.

(St. Bernadine of Sienna
1380-1444.)

At the hour of departure

This morning in Orkney
the votive Mass for the Sick Near to Death
was offered for
Mr. Duncan Simon
of
Christchurch, New Zealand.

Mr. Duncan Simon serving the first Holy Mass
offered in the Christchurch oratory, July 2007.

Collect.
Omnipotens et misericors Deus...
Almighty and merciful God,
Who hast conferred upon mankind
both the remedies of salvation
and the gifts of life everlasting:
look mercifully upon Thy servant
who is afflicted with sickness of the body,
and refresh the soul which Thou hast created,
so that at the hour of departure,
it may be found worthy to be taken home to Thee,
its Maker,
free from all stain of sin,
by the hands of holy Angels.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ ...

Postcommunion.
Quaesumus clementiam tuam...
We beseech Thy clemency, O almighty God,
that by the virtue of this Sacrament
Thou wouldst vouchsafe
to strengthen Thy servant with Thy grace:
so that at the hour of his death
the enemy may not prevail against him,
but he may deserve to pass to life
accompanied by Thine Angels.

As Mass for the Sick Near Death,
the Litany of St Joseph
and
Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament closed
at
8.30 a.m. here in Scotland,
Mr. Simon entered his eternity;
it was
7.30 p.m. in Christchurch.

Requiem aeternam dona ei Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat ei.
Requiescat in pace.

Eternal rest grant to him O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon him.
May he rest in peace.

Gangway for the Queen!

Today, the feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we held a procession on the neighbouring island of Stronsay. The procession went from Our Lady's Chapel, through Whitehall village and down each of the two piers of Stronsay harbour.
The feast of the Queenship this year also marks the 12th anniversary of our taking ownership of Papa Stronsay.

The captions under the photos are the hymn Stabat Mater Speciosa. It is sung to the same melody as the Stabat Mater Dolorosa.

Beginning in the Chapel, Marilyn Friel crowns our statue of Our Lady of Fatima with a crown of flowers.

Stabat Mater speciosa
iuxta faenum gaudiosa,
dum iacebat parvulus.

By, the crib wherein reposing,
with His eyes in slumber closing,
lay serene her Infant-boy.

Cuius animam gaudentem
laetabundam et ferventem
pertransivit iubilus.

Stood the beauteous Mother feeling
bliss that could not bear concealing,
so her face o'erflowed with joy.

Br. Magdala Maria, F.SS.R. and Br. Nicodemus Mary, F.SS.R. bear Our Lady through the village.

O quam laeta et beata
fuit illa immaculata,
mater Unigeniti!

Oh, the rapture naught could smother
of that most Immaculate Mother
of the sole-begotten One;

Quae gaudebat et ridebat,
exultabat, cum videbat
nati partum inclyti.

When with laughing heart exulting,
she beheld her hopes resulting
In the great birth of her Son.

Praying the rosary.

Quisquam est, qui non gauderet,
Christi matrem si videret
in tanto solatio?

Who would not with gratulation
see the happy consolation
of Christ's Mother undefiled?

Quis non posset collaetari,
Christi Matrem contemplari
ludentem cum Filio?

Who would not be glad surveying
Christ's dear Mother bending, praying,
playing with her heavenly Child?

Pro peccatis suae gentis
Christum vidit cum iumentis
et algori subditum.

For a sinful world's salvation,
Christ her Son's humiliation
She beheld and brooded o'er;

Vidit suum dulcem Natum
vagientem, adoratum,
vili deversorio.

Saw Him weak, a child, a stranger,
yet before Him in the manger
kings lie prostrate and adore.

Nato, Christo in praesepe
caeli cives canunt laete
cum immenso gaudio.

O'er that lowly manger winging,
joyful hosts from heaven were singing
canticles of holy praise;

Stabat, senex cum puella
non cum verbo nec loquela
stupescentes cordibus.

While the old man and the maiden,
speaking naught, with hearts o'erladen,
pondered on God's wondrous ways.

Eia, Mater, fons amoris
me sentire vim ardoris
fac, ut tecum sentiam.

Fount of love, forever flowing,
with a burning ardor glowing,
make me, Mother, feel like thee;

Fac, ut ardeat cor meum
in amatum Christum Deum
ut sibi complaceam.

Let my heart, with graces gifted
all on fire, to Christ be lifted,
and by Him accepted be.

Sancta Mater, istud agas,
prone introducas plagas
cordi fixas valide.

Holy Mother, deign to bless me,
with His sacred Wounds impress me,
let them in my heart abide;

Tui Nati caelo lapsi,
iam dignati faeno nasci,
poenas mecum divide.

Since He came, thy Son, the Holy,
to a birth-place, ah, so lowly,
all His pains with me divide.

Fac me vere congaudere,
Iesulino cohaerere,
donec ego vixero.

Make me with true joy delighted,
to Child-Jesus be united
while my days of life endure;
In me sistat ardor tui,
puerino fac me frui
dum sum in exilio.

While an exile here sojourning,
make my heart like thine be burning
with a love divine and pure.

Papa Stronsay is seen across the water.
Spotless Maid and sinless Woman,
make us feel a fire in common,
make my heart's long longing sure.

Virgo virginum praeclara,
mihi iam non sis amara,
fac me parvum rapere.

Virgin of all virgins highest,
prayer to thee thou ne'er denyest,
let me bear thy sweet Child too.

The Orkney flag flies on the monastery boat Charnetski.

Fac, ut pulchrum infantem portem,
qui nascendo vicit mortem,
volens vitam tradere.

Let me bear Him in my bosom,
Lord of life, and never lose Him,
since His birth doth death subdue.

Returning to the chapel.

Fac me tecum satiari,
Nato me inebriari,
stantem in tripudio.

Let me show forth how immense is
the effect on all my senses
of an union so divine.

Hail Holy Queen! Our Lady's crown and rosary were carried before her on a red cushion.

All who in the crib revere Him,
like the shepherds watching near Him,
will attend Him through the night,

Inflammatus et accensus,
obstupescit omnis sensus
tali me commercio.

By thy powerful prayers protected,
grant, O Queen, that His elected
may behold heaven's moving light.


Fac, me Nato custodiri,
verbo Dei praemuniri
conservari gratia.

Make me by His birth be guarded,
by God's holy word be warded,
by His grace till all is done;

Quando corpus morietur,
fac, ut animae donetur
tui nati gloria. Amen.

When my body lies obstructed,
make my soul to be conducted,
to the vision of thy Son. Amen.

The Collect from today's Mass:
Concede nobis, quaesumus, Domine: ut, qui solemnitatem beatae Maria; Virginis Reginae nostrae celebramus; ejus muniti praesidio, pacem in present et gloriam in futuro consequi mereamur.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, to those who are celebrating this solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary our Queen: that safe in her protection we may deserve to enjoy present peace and future glory.

O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May!
O Mary, we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May!

O Mary, Rendering unto Thee our homage and fielty, as our Lady and Queen,
we beg of Thee the grace of perseverance untill the end. Amen