Catholic

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Regarding Mary fair

I adore You, O my Divine Jesus, dwelling and living in the Most Blessed Virgin.
I adore the greatness and the perfections with which  Her soul is adorned.
I adore Your reign in Her and the absolute power which animates her whole being.
I adore Your life, which fills and animates Her heart and all Her faculties.
I adore the abundance of the gifts, the fullness of the virtues, and the fruitfulness of the graces you place in Her for the whole Church.
Divine Jesus, reign in and through Her on us forever.
Divine Lord, Your power is worthy to be adored, Your yoke and reign are always sweet, but it is never sweeter than under this throne of love.
How willingly we come to the feet of this holy tabernacle to render You our duties, and pray that You will destroy in us what is opposed to Your reign and life!
Divine Jesus, vivify our hearts; don’t accept in us any other life than Yours; destroy and annihilate all that is contrary to it..  Act in us like You do in Mary; that You alone live there and let all that is mortal be absorbed in Your life.
Grant that the virtues of Your spirit be in us as in Her, and  by Her same virtue all that comes from the corruption of the flesh be destroyed and annihilated in us.
What an admirable communion of the spirit, life and virtues of Jesus in Your soul, O my divine Mother! To me You are but one with Jesus, so much is He living in You, and You  consumed in Him.
Adorable model of the communion of all Christians, would to God that Your divine remembrance would fill our soul with its holy abundance, and with the fullness of His life with which  He vivifies You, O divine Mistress!
Divine Jesus, live in us through Your Mother, and give us the fullness of your gifts and holy graces, so as to be one with You and with Your dearest Mother.

Monsieur Jean Jacques Olier

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Spiritual direction according to Monsieur Olier

“Annihilate yourself before God, abide in patience, and await in peace the voice of your Master, who said to His disciples ‘in patientia vestra possidebitis animas vestras’ (Within patience, you possess your soul).  It will not be long before He speaks; but permit Him to speak, and let the humble sentiment of your heart, which sees itself so far removed from the perfect virtues of the Order to which you aspire, make you tremble for fear of being promoted without being as firmly established as your Divine Master desires you to be in everything which He requires of you.  Labour on, therefore, with courage…All the good and all the benediction of your future life depend on the holy dispositions with which you approach your ordination (lay vocation), and on your obedience to the law of the Divine Master.  He never willingly accepts the services of one who enters His house by force, and who has not waited for His election and vocation with reverence, humility, and patience.”

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So, too, in their public disputations he bade them argue, not to display their knowledge, but simply to ascertain the truth…To dispute from a motive of vanity, he said, was to pledge ourselves never to yield.  It was to act the part of Lucifer, who would be content with nothing short of the highest throne in heaven.  To confess one’s own ignorance and acknowledge another s ability, as it was the part of true candor and humility, so it was torture to the proud.  In the schools let them keep before their eyes, and adore in their hearts, Jesus Christ in the midst of the doctors.  Although He had in Himself all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, yet He was found listening and asking questions.  In imitation of this profound humility on the part of the Son of God, they were to beware of playing the master in their disputations, but comport themselves as to appear to be rather seeking to be enlightened than instructing and enlightening others.   –Edward Healy Thompson, M.A.”The life of Jean-Jacques Olier: Founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice”

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Monsieur Olier friend to St Francis de Sales

Jesus that does in Mary dwell
Be in thy servants’ hearts as well,
In the spirit of thy holiness,
In the fullness of thy force and stress,
In the very ways that thy life goes
And virtues that thy pattern shows,
In the sharing of thy mysteries;
And every power in us that is
Against thy power put under feet
In the Holy Ghost the Paraclete
To the Glory of the Father. Amen

Monsieur Olier prayer

It was during the illness he had in., at the close of the mission of 1637, that Monsieur Jean-Jacques eyes began to be opened, and he was enabled to perceive how much of self-love mixed itself up with everything he did. The sight of what he was filled him with dismay, and he became possessed with an intense desire of being wholly united with God, so that he cared not what might befall him if only he could attain to this blessed state. His soul was assailed with foul, afflicting thoughts, and often during the day he felt moved to repeat those words of the royal Psalmist:”Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me…O life divine! When shall I live only for God?”…God would raise him to a still higher degree of sanctity; He would empty him entirely of self, and form within him the life of His dear Son; and to this end He subjected him to humiliations the most painful to pride and self-love. He withdrew from him, not only those spiritual gifts for which he had been conspicuous, but the exercise of his natural powers and faculties. At times he lost the use of his bodily limbs; they would suddenly refuse to obey the motions of his will, as though God would show him by actual experience that we live and move only in Him. Sometimes he trembled and staggered as he walked, at others he was unable to put one foot before another….His mind was at the same time affected with a similar torpidity: his memory and understanding failed him; often he knew neither what he said nor what was said to him; he felt like a deaf man in a crowd, neither hearing nor comprehending what was going on around him. He would have a clear perception of what he was about to express, and would have begun to put his thought into words, when in an instant it would pass from him, and he no longer recollected what it had been in his mind to say; and this, not merely on subjects of high import, but in the commonest things, and while in easy converse with a friend. He seemed also to have forgotten the art of writing, and would be hours accomplishing three or four lines, and those all awry. He would suddenly forget where he was going, and the names of the persons he wished to see; he would lose his way in the streets, so that he was obliged to be always accompanied by a servant. His mother, seeing him in this miserable state, told people they would take him for an idiot or a fool; while he, on his part, offered himself to God to deprive him altogether of his senses if such were His holy will. –Edward Healy Thompson, M.A.”The life of Jean-Jacques Olier: Founder of the Seminary of St. Sulpice”

Olier,-Jean-Jacques,-painting

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Men gathering

A Mary moment this morning. Last night, searching for a Saturday morning daily mass, I came across a 6:45 AM mass at Sacred Heart, a Church near in location I have been intending to investigate. The mass seemed early yet I focused upon it. Waking at 6:00 AM, I looked at the clock, determining my electric blanket felt too good. I would remain underneath its warmth. That is when the stirring of Mary occurred, an overwhelming sense the Mother of God was imploring I do something for her. She wanted me to attend the Sacred Heart mass. I forced myself out of bed, just making it to mass on time to hear the Gospel reading. Physically, the Church, marvelous in splendor, appeased. Looking about, I realized the majority of mass attendees were men. It was a stark difference from St Clare where the majority of the sixty plus attendees are elderly females. Post mass, sitting in contemplation, I absorbed myself in a communal Rosary, all men participating. After the Rosary, an older gentleman approached, inviting me to breakfast in the Church, the food and coffee followed by a weekly men’s meeting. Delighting in free food and coffee, plentiful conversation and fellowship, I knew my Holy Mother wanted me exactly where I was. The gathered thirteen men presented a plentitude of enthusiasm for faith and conversation centered upon spiritual growth.  Roger Friedman’s name came up.  His recent passing from prostrate cancer,  quick in overcoming, was discussed.  The men attended his funeral mass at St Paul Shrine.  Roger was a committed member of the group.   The men present a broad range of personalities, spirituality, and professional backgrounds. They are men of my making. It will become a routine. I was invited to a large men’s gathering taking place in the near future bringing together men throughout the Cleveland diocese. The whole experience I found pleasant in contrast to the efforts of John attempting to form his community of hermits. At the meeting, we sang hymns, prayed Psalms, reading the Scriptural readings and responsorial for the final mass of the Christmas season—‘the Baptism of Christ’ and then listened to a Bishop Barron lecture on Baptism. God is good and all giving.

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The Truth is Out There

A wonderful discovery at the Maronite Monastery was a comic book, a graphic novel. Here is a link detailing the marvelous effort titled: ‘The Truth is Out There’. The profoundly in depth and educated examination of life and the search for meaning within life through reason and the artistic and intellectual skills of a contemplative monk proves rewarding. I am convinced it makes an intriguing gift for younger minds exploring the vast array of ideas assaulting through modern life inundated with the overwhelming and arrogant influence of pop culture and the failings of a broken education system. The uniqueness and captivating creativity blesses with insight into Holy Spirit inspired understanding. The creative effort lacks the need to be right, self-righteous dogma, a negative attribute I am convinced staunchly turns away young minds. It seeks to inspire and invigorate youthful brilliance rather than depress and defeat. The graphic novel possesses a penetrating intellectualism able to entertain, and if not by itself enlighten, allowing the nurturing of the seeds of faith, hope, and charity implanted at birth, a future illumination possible further upon the path of life and the never ceasing intercession of God.

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A quote from the Catholic News Agency article, words and thoughts from the graphic novel creating monk Amadeus: beauty – whether made by man or God – is meant to draw us to the Creator.

“The beauty that we create is obviously taken from the beauty of nature. And the beauty of nature is a reflection of God; that’s his work. ”

“I don’t think there is a better way to draw hearts to God, to Christ. That’s where all the beautiful churches and artwork, all those things we hold in such high regard…that was inspired by the beauty of nature to return to the beauty of God.”

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Feast of the Assumption

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Jesus ascends in glory
Divinity arising
The ultimate worldly sacrifice
Eternal the Word
Left behind in time and space
Holy Spirit descends with gifts
Mercy supplying
Salvation sanctifying
Lifted heavenly beyond
Mary is assumed in sorrow
Grace granted to one who will overflow with grace
Crowned the Queen of Heaven
Mediatrix of all graces
Arc of the New Covenant
The Throne of Wisdom
Am immaculate voice for new ages
A pure mother abiding
Generations upon generations
Millenniums transpiring
Man struggles throughout and within
God, the Father, Infinite and Omnipotent, loves unceasingly

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