Rest and Love

"We find rest in those we love, and we provide a resting place in ourselves for those who love us."

-St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Brothers and Sisters, Please Show Mercy

"We need constantly to contemplate the mystery of mercy. It is a wellspring of joy, serenity, and peace. Our salvation depends on it. Mercy: the word reveals the very mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. Mercy: the ultimate and supreme act by which God comes to meet us. Mercy: the fundamental law that dwells in the heart of every person who looks sincerely into the eyes of his brothers and sisters on the path of life. Mercy: the bridge that connects God and man, opening our hearts to the hope of being loved forever despite our sinfulness."

-His Holiness, Pope Francis, Misercordiae Vultus



9 January 2016
Sunday of the Most Holy Family

Grain of Wheat

"Amen, amen I say to you, unless the grain of wheat falling into the ground die, Itself remaineth alone. But if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit."

-The Gospel of St. John 12:24




9 January 2016
Saturday of Our Lady

Smallest Brushes

“It is with the smallest brushes that the artist paints the most exquisitely beautiful pictures.”
-St. Andre Bessette

Sorrow

One of the most beautiful things the Lord can do to you is to break your heart.  Often times, we get attached to a person or a thing which will consume us if we get fully attached to them.   Very often, in the life of a pious Catholic, he or she will suffer these heartbreaks and two outcomes can come from this.

1.)  They can unite their sufferings to Christ.
2.)  They can get angry and refuse to resign themselves to the Will of God.

How sublime is when a man, who gets his heart broken over and over again (I am not just thinking romantically here), is able unite his sinful heart to Calvary.

Think about it, my dear friends.  In Heaven, we will have everything we want.  Joys and consolations for all eternity!  However, right now, we have to suffer.  We might have to suffer greatly and we might even fall into worldly traps which tell us how to escape our Cross.  Do not listen to the Deceiver for one can not enter into Heaven without carrying the Cross.

Let us keep the good fight.  Let us win our Crown.

5 January 2016
Vigil of the Epiphany

The Heart of the Virgin

"Confirmatum est cor Virginis, in quo divina mysteria, Angelo nuntiante, concepit: tunc speciosum forma prae filiis hominum castis suscepit visceribus."

"The Heart of the Virgin was fixed, when the Angel declared unto Her the mystery of God, and She conceived, then did She receive in Her Pure Womb Him That is fairer than the children of men."

Fifth Responsory at Matins, Vigil of the Epiphany



5 January 2016
Vigil of the Epiphany

The Heavenly Cell

"One ancient hermit said to his disciple: "Strive to enter the inner cell of your soul and there you will behold the heavenly cell. Both are one: you enter them by the same door. The staircase to Heaven is inside you: it exists secretly in your heart."

And it is true:
Our whole life is but an attempt to find this miraculous entrance.
All our deeds are but a timid knocking on this mysterious door.
All our hopes are to hear, one day, perhaps, a voice that would respond:
"Come in!"

For it is said: "Knock and you will be let in."

-Vladimir Martynov


1 January 2016
Feast of the Circumcision