Twenty Fourth Sunday After Pentecost

   "When," says St. Basil, "the inclination to sin comes upon you, I wish you would think of this dread and awful tribunal of Christ, where He will sit and judge on His throne on high.  There every creature will appear, and stand trembling in His presence, and there shall we be led, one by one, to give an account of the actions of our life.  And immediately afterwards those who in life have wrought much evil will be surrounded by fearful and hideous angels, who will throw them headlong into a bottomless pit where in impenetrable darkness burns a fire which gives no light; where worms whose bit is intolerable anguish, ceaselessly gnaw the flesh; and where, sharpest of all punishments, shame and confusion reign without end." (from) the Saint Andrew Daily Missal

  He lies in the manger, but contains the world;  He nurses at the breasts, but feeds the angels;  He is wrapped in swaddling clothes, but vests us with immortality;  He found no place in the inn, but makes for Himself a temple in the hearts of believers.
  In order that weakness might become strong, strength became weak.
   -  Augustine, Sermon 190, 4

Prayer:  Mu faith prays to You, Lord, the faith You gave me, and inspired in me by the Incarnation of Your son and the mission of Your preacher. - Confessions 1, 1

Act of Adoration and Reparation to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

  Profoundly I adore Thee, Jesus, hid beneath the mystic emblems; I acknowledge Thee very God and very man.  Accept this act of adoration, by which I fain would make Thee reparation for the cold hearts of so many of Thy people; who pass before Thy holy temples, nay, before Thy very tabernacle, where, hour after hour, Thou dost deign to dwell with loving impatience to give Thyself to be Thy people's food, who yet do not even bend the knee before Thee, their God; but, like the Israelites in the wilderness, seem, by their indifference, to loathe this bread of heaven.  I offer Thee, then, Thine own most precious Blood, which Thou didst shed from the wound in Thy left foot, in reparation for this hateful coldness; and entering in spirit within this same wound, I cry aloud in never-ending praise;
  O Sacrament most holy!  O Sacrament divine!  All praise and all thanksgiving be every moment thine.

   Our Father.  Hail Mary.  Glory be to the Father.
          (from) The ST. Francis Manual, Rev. Clementine Deymann, O.F.M.

First Sunday of Lent

Station at St. John Lateran

  Originally the forty days of penance were counted from the Sunday.  The liturgical gathering of the "station" takes place to-day, as it was since the fourth century, at Saint John Lateran, which is the patriarchal basilica of the Bishops of Rome.  At its first consecration, it was dedicated to "Saint Saviour," a name which calls to mind the Redemption accomplished by our Blessed Lord 

  Immediately after His baptism, our Lord beam to prepare for His public life by a fast of forty days in the mountainous desert which stretches between Jericho and the mountains of Judea.  It was there that He was tempted by Satan, who wished to discover whether the son of Mary was in reality the Son of God (Gospel).

  As in the case of Adam, he addresses his first attack to the senses.  Our Lord is hungry and the tempter suggests to Him that He should turn stones into bread.  In the same way he tries, during these forty days, to make us give up our fasting and mortification.  This is the concupiscence of the flesh.

  The devil had promised our first parent that he should be as God.  Now he takes our Lord to the pinnacle of the Temple and tries to induce Him to let Himself be carried by the angels through the air amidst the applause of the crowds below.  Satan tempts us by pride, which is opposed to the spirit of prayer and meditation on God's word.  This is the pride of life.  

  Finally just as he had promised Adam a knowledge which like that of God Himself,  should enable him to know all things, so Satan assures Jesus that he will make Him ruler over all created things, if He will fall at his feet and worship him.  In the same way the devil seeks to attach us to temporal goods, when we ought, by alms and works of charity, to be doing good to our neighbor.  This is the concupiscence of the eyes or avarice.

  Since the sword of the Spirit is the word of God, our Lord made use of the ninetieth psalm against Satan, and this is the theme of the whole Mass and is found again and again in the office of the day.  "His truth shall cover thee with a shield," says the psalmist.  This psalm is, therefore, the ideal psalm for Lent as a special time of warfare against the devil.  Again, the eleventh verse, "He hath given His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways," recurs in Vespers like a refrain during the whole season.  We find the entire psalm in the Tract, which reminds us of the old custom of singing psalm during certain parts of the Mass.  Some of its verses make up the Introit with its verse, the Gradual, the Communion and the Offertory, which last was formerly composed, in to-day's mass, of three verses instead of one, following the order of the threefold temptation as recorded in the Gospel.

  Side by side with this psalm the Epistle, certainly dating from the time of Saint Leo, sounds one of the characteristic notes of Lent.  There Saint Paul borrows a text of Isaias:  "In an accepted time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation I helped thee."  "Behold," says the apostle, "now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation" (Epistle and first nocturn).  On this Saint Leo comments:  "Although there is no season of the year which is not rich in divine gifts and in which we by God's grace do not find immediate access to His mercy; nevertheless at this time when the return of the day on which we are redeemed summons us to fulfill all the duties of Christian piety, the souls of Christians must be stirred with more zeal for spiritual progress, and possessed of a very great confidence in almighty God.  In this manner, with pure souls and bodies, shall we celebrate this mystery of the Lord's Passion, sublime beyond all others.  True, we ought always to be in the divine presence, just as much as on the Easter feast.  But because this spiritual vigor is the possession of only a few, while, on the other hand, the weakness of the flesh leads to any very severe observance being relaxed, and on the other, the varied occupations of this life share and divide our interest, it necessarily happens that the dust of the world soils the hearts even of religious themselves.  This divine institution has been planned with great profit to our salvation in a manner that the exercises of thee forty days may help us to regain the purity of our souls, making up, in away, for the faults of the rest of the year, by fasting and pious deeds.  However, we must be careful to give no one the least cause of complaint or scandal, so that our general behaviour may not inconsistent with our fasting and penance.  For it is useless to reduce the nourishment of the body unless the soul departs from sin" (Second nocturn).  

  In this "acceptable time" and in these "days of salvation" let us purify ourselves with the Church (Collect), "in fastings, in chastity," by zeal in hearing and meditating on the word of God and by charity unfeigned (Epistle). 

  Every parish priest celebrates Mass for the people of his parish.

  (from) (The) SAINT ANDREW DAILY MISSAL by Dom Gaspar Lefebre O.S.B.

                        of the Abbey of S. Andre

Church of Silence

Prayer for the Church of Silence

By His Holiness, Pope Pius XII

  O Lord Jesus, King of martyrs, comfort of the afflicted, support and consolation of all those who suffer for love of You and because of their loyalty to your Spouse, Holy Mother the Church, in your kindness hear our fervent prayers for our brothers of the "Church of Silence."  Grant that they may never weaken in the struggle nor waver in the Faith.  Rather may they experience the sweetness of the consolation You reserve for those souls whom you deign to call to be Your companions at the height of the cross.

  To those who must bear torments and violence, hunger and toil, may You be the unshakable strength which supports them in their trials and fills them with the certainty of the rewards promised to those who persevere to the end.

  To those who are subjected to moral constraints, often all the more dangerous because they are more deceitful, may You be the light which illuminates their understanding so that they may clearly perceive the straight road of truth.  May You be the strength which supports their will, enabling them to overcome every crisis, every vacillation and weariness.

To those for whom it is impossible to progress their Faith openly, to practice the Christian life regularly, to receive the holy Sacraments frequently, to talk in a filial way with their spiritual guides, may You Yourself be the hidden altar, the invisible temple, superabundant grace and paternal voice, which helps them, encourages them, heals their ailing spirits and gives them joy and peace.

  May our fervent prayer be of help to them  May our fraternal solidarity make them feel that they are not alone.  May their example be edifying for the whole Church, especially for us who think of them with so much affection.

  Grant, O Lord, that the days of trial be shortened and that very soon-together with their converted oppressors-they may freely serve and adore You, who with the Father and the Holy Spirit live and reign forever and ever.  Amen.

  Imprimatur:  John F. O'Hara, C.S.C., D.D., Archbishop of Philadelphia, Nov. 15, 1957

Christ:  My child, in every circumstance this is how you should pray:  "Lord, if it be Your will, so let it be, and if it be to Your honor, let it be fulfilled in Your Name.  Lord, if this be for my good, give me the grace to use it for Your honor; but if You know that it will be harmful to me and not profitable for the good of my soul, then take away from me such a desire."


Book 3:  INTERIOR CONVERSATION (from) The Imitation of Christ 

March 29 - "Write!  You may be misunderstood, you may be ridiculed, this should not matter.  Only my sweetness will sustain you.  Do not become disconcerted at anything.  It is from My hand and is meant to help you build up in virtue.  Pray to Me that you may come more often to Me and Jesus.  I offer you this time to be as close as you wish to the Queen of your soul.  I am inviting your soul to move away from the world and rise to Heaven, but only if you respond.  Your soul must be tested before it can taste the dart of My Son.  It is not to every soul this beauty is made known  Make yourself My willing slave, then you may enter this place of places.  Thank you, My little one!  Learn more of this abandonment.  Oh My little one, do not try and smother this little voice, this is satan deceiving you.  Pray!  Love My voice and it will grow like a seed in your heart until it affects all you do and say and wish.  Let it grow.  Write, write!  Pray!"
(from) ALL THROUGH MARY: Devotion to Our Lady's Message of Mercy to The World