Sept. 2 - Wk 3 - Day 1 - seeking to understand Jesus better

[MariaChristi]

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today we begin our final week of preparation:

1. During the third week they should seek to understand Jesus Christ better. They may read and meditate on what we have already said about Him. They may say the prayer of St. Augustine which they will find at the beginning of the second part of this book. Again with St. Augustine, they may pray repeatedly, “Lord, that I may know you,” or “Lord, that I may see.” As during the previous week, they should recite the Litany of the Holy Spirit and the Ave Maris Stella, adding every day the Litany of the Holy Name of Jesus.

St. Louis de Motfort was steeped in Scripture and also in the writings of the Saints who went before him. He recommends the prayer of St. Augustine which he includes in “True Devotion”:

1. As though I had said nothing so far to further her honour, grant me now the grace to praise her more worthily, in spite of all her enemies who are also yours. I can then say to them boldly with the saints, “Let no one presume to expect mercy from God, who offends his holy Mother.”
2. So that I may obtain from your mercy a genuine devotion to your blessed Mother and spread it throughout the whole world, help me to love you wholeheartedly, and for this intention accept the earnest prayer I offer with St. Augustine and all who truly love you.

Prayer of Saint Augustine

O Jesus Christ, you are my Father, my merciful God, my great King, my good Shepherd, my only Master, my best helper, my beloved friend of overwhelming beauty, my living Bread, my eternal priest. You are my guide to my heavenly home, my one true light, my holy joy, my true way, my shining wisdom, my unfeigned simplicity, the peace and harmony of my soul, my perfect safeguard, my bounteous inheritance, my everlasting salvation.

My loving Lord, Jesus Christ, why have I ever loved or desired anything else in my life but you, my God? Where was I when I was not in communion with you? From now on, I direct all my desires to be inspired by you and centred on you. I direct them to press forward for they have tarried long enough, to hasten towards their goal, to seek the one they yearn for.

O Jesus, let him who does not love you be accursed, and filled with bitterness. O gentle Jesus, let every worthy feeling of mine show you love, take delight in you and admire you. O God of my heart and my inheritance, Christ Jesus, may my heart mellow before the influence of your spirit and may you live in me. May the flame of your love burn in my soul. May it burn incessantly on the altar of my heart. May it glow in my innermost being. May it spread its heat into the hidden recesses of my soul and on the day of my consummation may I appear before you consumed in your love. Amen.

Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Your faithful. Fill us as you filled Mary with Jesus. Holy Trinity, make us holy as You are Holy. Mary, Mother of the Church, intercede for us.

 

[hazcompat]

Mary’s love for us is a great blessing​

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Pope Saint John Paul II wrote, “Mary always reminds us of the salvific value of the work of Jesus, our only Savior. Belief in Jesus Christ cannot dispense us from including her who was His mother in our act of faith.” Bringing Mary into our lives, into our homes, and into our faith was impressed on me by the Marists during my teenage years. How lucky I was, really, how blessed I was to learn about the maternal and personal love of the Mother of God for me. Over the years, on many occasions and in a variety of situations, I have called on her for help and assistance and through Mary have experienced the love of her Son, Jesus, Our Lord.

Our Holy Father Pope Francis encourages us to approach Mary during this pandemic. He wrote, “It is traditional in May to pray the Rosary at home. The restrictions of the pandemic have made us come to appreciate all the more this ‘family’ aspect from a spiritual point of view. For this reason, I want to encourage everyone to rediscover the beauty of praying the Rosary at home in the month of May.”

In this time of great suffering when we are prevented from gathering in our churches, I invite the faithful of our diocese to pray the Rosary in your home, either as a family or individually, asking and even pleading with our Holy Mother to help us. Those who have children should teach them the prayers and how to pray the Rosary. It is so very sad that frequently children come for religious education programs and they do not know basic Catholic prayers. I learned my prayers at home. That is a principal duty of the domestic church and not of a parish catechist.

The Marist Brothers taught me about Mary’s maternal love for her Son and for me. She is Mother of God and my Mother. United in prayer to Our Holy Mother, she will as Pope Francis wrote “help us overcome this time of trouble.” During these days of isolation, sickness and worry, may we experience the closeness of the Lord Jesus through the maternal love of Mary.

Bishop Dennis J. Sullivan, May 17, 2020

Adapted from Catholic Star Herald

Read more on mariedenazareth.com:​

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou among 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.

 

[MariaChristi]

Dear hazcompat,

Thanks so much for posting the words of Bishop Sullivan - Adapted from the Catholic Star Herald.

Bishop Sullivan’s words which I am quoting below impressed me especially since we will be celebrating The First Saturday of September this Saturday, Sept. 5.

…Those who have children should teach them the prayers and how to pray. It is so very sad that frequently children come for religious education programs and they do not know basic Catholic prayers. I learned my prayers at home. That is a principal duty of the domestic church and not of a parish catechist…

I couldn’t agree more and I believe Jesus and Mary have requested the 5 First Saturdays to be days on which we offer Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. When Sister Lucia asked Jesus why there were to be 5 First Saturdays, Jesus told her it was because of the need to offer reparation for 5 major blasphemies against Mary:

1. Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception
2. Blasphemies against her virginity
3. Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men
   4. Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children
4. Direct insults against Her sacred images

I’ve seen different words used in translations of these 5 but basically the are all the same in listing the insults which wound the heart of Our Mother Mary. I highlighted # 4 since it seems to me that Mary as our Mother would be hurt most when people turned children away from her.

Let us, by God’s Grace seek only to love her more that we may love God more and draw mor souls to Jesus through Mary.