Merry Christmas!

Prayer in Honor of the Infant Jesus

I adore Thee, O Word Incarnate, true Son of God from all eternity, and true Son of Mary ever Virgin in the fullness of time. When I adore thy divine Person, and the Humanity united to thy Divinity, I venerate the poor manger which welcomed Thee when an Infant, and which was truly the throne of thy love. I prostrate myself before it with the simplicity of the shepherds, with the faith of Joseph, with the love of Mary. I bow down in veneration of this precious memorial of our salvation with the same spirit of mortification, poverty and humility with which Thou, though the Lord of heaven and earth, didst choose for thyself a manger wherein to lay thy tender infant limbs. And Thou, O Lord, who in thine Infancy didst deign to lay thyself in this manger, vouchsafe also to pour into my heart a drop of that joy to which the sight of thy lovely Childhood, and the miracles which accompanied thy Birth, gave rise. Byt hat holy Birth, I now implore Thee to grant to all the world peace and goodwill, and in the name of the whole human race I render thanks and honour to God the Father, and to God the Holy Spirit, Who with Thee live and reign one God world without end. Amen.

December 25, 2012 | Categories: Devotional | Leave A Comment »

Advent Reflections

I apologize for the delay in re-posting last year’s Advent Reflections.

Please visit the following links to view the reflections for the Second and Third Week of Advent

http://stjosaphat.wordpress.com/2011/12/04/reflections-for-the-second-sunday-of-advent/

http://stjosaphat.wordpress.com/2011/12/12/third-sunday-of-advent-reflections/

http://stjosaphat.wordpress.com/2011/12/18/fourth-sunday-of-advent-reflections/

December 18, 2012 | Categories: Devotional | Leave A Comment »

A Prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes

O holy Mary, Mother of God, who to reanimate the faith of the world and draw men to thy divine Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, didst deign to appear at Lourdes; thou who, in order to render more manifest thy maternal tenderness, and to inspire our hearts with greater confidence, didst choose a simple little child as the confidant of thy mercy; thou who didst say: “I am the Immaculate Conception” to make us understand the priceless value of that innocence which is the pledge of the friendship of God; thou who by eighteen successive apparitions didst not cease by thy actions and words to urge men to prayer and penance, which alone can appease Heaven and ward off the blows of divine justice; thou who, by a moving appeal to the world, hast reunited before the miraculous grotto an innumerable multitude of thy children; behold us, Our Lady of Lourdes, prostrate at thy feet, and confident of obtaining blessings and graces from God by thy most powerful intercession.

Those who love thee, O Mother of Jesus Christ, Mother of men, desire above everything to serve God faithfully in this world, so as to have the happiness of loving Him eternally in Heaven. Listen to the prayers which we this day address to thee; defend us against the enemies of our salvation, and against our own infirmities; together with the pardon of our sins, obtain for us perseverance in the determination never to fall away again.

We implore thee also to take under thy protection our friends and benefactors, and of these in a very special manner those who have abandoned the practice of their Christian duties. May they be converted and become thy faithful servants.We beseech thee also to bless our country. She has many failings, for which we must implore pardon ; but in the midst of her wanderings from the right path, she has never ceased to proclaim through the best of her sons that thou art for ever her Mother and her Sovereign. Thou hast always shown her thy love, and we hope that thou wilt not abandon her after having heaped thy favors and benefits upon her.

While we pour forth our hearts in prayer at thy feet, O Virgin Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, we cannot forget our Holy Father, the Supreme Pontiff, and in his person the whole Catholic Church, which thy divine Son has entrusted to him to lead along the paths of eternal salvation. He, too, places his whole trust in thee. Protect and bless him ; be his support and consolation in the midst of his trials, and help him to extend the Kingdom of God. O Mother of mercy, be for us all “the cause of our joy, ” and show unto us” ” Jesus Christ, as thy gift in this life and in eternity. Amen.

December 8, 2012 | Categories: Devotional | Leave A Comment »

Advent Reflections: First Sunday of Advent

This Advent season we will be once again presenting the same series of reflections we offered last year. The reflections will be published each week during Advent.
THOUGHTS FOR THE SUNDAYS OF ADVENT

By The Rev. John Perry (circa 1875)

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT ON THE GENERAL JUDGMENT.

“And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, by reason of the confusion of the roaring of the sea and of the waves; men withering away for fear and expectation of what shall come upon the whole world. For the powers of the heavens shall be moved.” (Luke xxi. 25, 26.)

THESE are some of the signs which are to precede the last day, and to indicate its approach. Now, if the mere signs of that day will be so alarming, as even to make “men wither away for fear of what shall come upon the whole world;” what must be that fearful account which is to follow? It is to this account that our Lord alludes, when, speaking of these signs, that “they are but the beginnings of sorrows.” And it is to the same account that I intend now to call your attention.

POINT I. All mankind most strictly examined

“Oh! terrible hour!” exclaims St. Ephrem; “who shall relate, or who shall bear to hear, this last and fearful rehearsal?” For we shall then have to account for our whole life — for every thought, word, and deed; for every omission of duty; for every sin we have criminally caused in others; and even for our very virtues, on account of the imperfections accompanying them.

1. THOUGHTS. — Then will be brought against you all the evil thoughts, which you have wilfully entertained; all those thoughts of pride, by which, like the proud Pharisee, you have raised yourselves above what you are, and despised others; those thoughts of envy, hatred, and revenge, which you have cherished in your mind; those thoughts of groundless suspicion, and of rash judgment, whereby you have put a bad construction even on the innocent actions of others; and those thoughts of impurity, which have been indulged with pleasure, with desire, and perhaps even with the intention of accomplishing what you desired. All these will be strictly examined.

2. WORDS. — Your words also must be accounted for — they will be brought to judgment, all those words of lying by which you have spoken against the truth; of rash judgment, detraction, and calumny, whereby, your neighbouur’s character has been destroyed or lessened; those words of injustice, by which you have been guilty of deception in your dealings with your neighbour; those words of contention, quarrelling, and contumely, which have created animosities, disturbed peace amongst neighbours, and been the cause of many other evils; those words of cursing and blasphemy, which you have uttered to the injury of yourselves, and the disedification of others; and those words of indecency and double meaning, whereby you have defiled not only your own soul, but also the souls of them that listened to you. All these will be examined, and set against you.

3. ACTIONS. — Then come your actions: all the thefts and injustices, by which you have taken to yourselves what did not belong to you, or in any other way wronged your neighbour; all the excesses in drinking, whereby you have degraded yourselves, scandalised your neighbour, and grieved and injured your family; and all the improper liberties, and shameful acts of which St. Paul ,says, that they “ought not to be so much as even named among you, as becometh Saints.” (Eph. v. 3.) All these will be brought against you, and put to your account.

4. OMISSIONS. — And not only will you have to account for the evils done, but for the good you have left undone — for all your omissions of duty; for all your omissions of deeds of charity, by refusing alms to the poor, when you ought to have given them; your omissions of prayer, meditation and spiritual reading, and of assisting at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, through negligence, sloth, tepidity, or indifference; your omissions of the means of grace provided for you in the Sacraments by having seldom or never received them, from those like sloth, or tepidity; your omissions of the duties of your state of life, to the disedification and prejudice of your family, or your employers; you neglect of religious instruction, which, by causing you to live in ignorance of your religion, has produced many other omissions and transgressions of duty. All these, with their consequences, will be examined, and added to your account.

5. SINS OF OTHERS. — And you will not only have to account for the evils which you have done yourself, and for your own omissions of duty; but moreover, for all those sins of commission and omission, which you have criminally caused in others. “Soul for soul” will be required from those parents, through whose neglect, or bad example their children have become wicked; heads of families will have many sins of their domestics to answer for, on account of having exposed them to the occasions of those sins, or for not having removed such occasions, when they ought to have done; and those who have withdrawn others from their duty, and seduced them by leading them into evil, will have to answer to their Judge for the long habits of sin, of which they have been the guilty cause. Oh! what an account! Such, indeed, is the perversity of human nature, that scandals will come; and therefore our blessed Lord says: “Woe to the world because of scandals; for it must needs be that scandals come; but nevertheless, woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh.” (Mt. xviii. 7.)

6. DEFECTIVE VIRTUES. — But have you not at least some good works — some virtues, to be put in the scale against so much evil? Alas! even these are to be closely examined — to be nicely weighed; and in how many instances will they be “found wanting?” You have prayed, and, perhaps, frequently; but how? with what attention? with what disposition of heart? You have abstained and fasted; but in what spirit? You have approached the Sacraments; but was it from a pure intention? with due preparation? with proper dispositions? “And it shall come to pass at that time (saith the Lord), that I will search Jerusalem with lamps.” (Soph. i. 12.) What, then, will become of the wicked Babylon? “If the just man shall scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?” (I Peter iv. 18.) And after this fearful examination, where, my Brethren, shall we appear?

POINT 2. Every sin is publicly exposed.

But there is another circumstance in this examination, which will add very much to our distress; for the conscience of each individual will be known, not only to himself and God; but, moreover, to all his relatives, friends, and acquaintances — to the entire world! Oh! what will be the sinner’s shame and confusion, at seeing himself thus publicly exposed? You may judge of this by what your feelings would be if an Angel were to descend now into this temple and reveal all your secret sins to the rest of the congregation. What then will be your feelings at the last day, when all those secret sins will be revealed to the whole world? Overwhelmed with confusion, will you not “call upon the mountains and rocks to fall upon you, and to hide you?” (Apoc. vi. 16.) But there is no escape.

POINT 3. The sentence is pronounced.

All mankind having been thus strictly examined, and every conscience exposed to public view, the Judge will pronounce the irrevocable sentence. To the just He will say “Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” But to the wicked: “Depart from Me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” “And these shall go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting.” (Mt. xxv.)

Thus will terminate the last and fearful day. By these two sentences, the lot of each individual of the human race will be finally and eternally fixed. But oh! what a difference between the lot of the saint, and that of the sinner! The saint in heaven, the sinner in hell; the one perpetually happy, the other perpetually miserable; the one with God in eternal glory, the other with the devils in everlasting flames.

And where will you be, my Brethren? where is it your wish to be? Make now your choice, for you can do so — it is at present in your power; because this life is the time of mercy and grace: “Now is the acceptable time; now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor. vi. 2.) But if you defer your repentance and amendment of life, and die in the state of mortal sin, then, at the last day, you will receive “judgment without mercy.” (James ii. 13.)

Judge yourselves now, my Brethren, by making a due preparation for the Sacrament of Penance, and you will not then be judged; repent now, and you will not have to repent then. Enter now upon a new life, and you will deprive that day of all its terrors. For then, instead of being banished from God eternally with the reprobate, you will be found worthy to hear from your Judge that consoling sentence: “Come, ye blessed of My Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Mt. xxv. 34.)

To be continued next week.

Source: http://www.catholicpamphlets.net/

December 2, 2012 | Categories: Devotional | Leave A Comment »