St. John Eudes: Renouncing Ourselves so Jesus Can Live and Reign in Us

"Our wish, our object, our chief preoccupation must be to form Jesus in ourselves, to make his spirit, his devotion, his affections, his desire, and his disposition live and reign there."

"Finally, you are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must, then, have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart. And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all."

~ Saint John Eudes ~

Blessed Alexandrina da Costa: Heroic Victim Soul for the Salvation of Sinners

"My daughter, suffering is the key to Heaven. 
 I have endured so much to open Heaven for all mankind, but for many it was in vain. 
They say 'I want to enjoy life, I have come into the world only for enjoyment.' 
They say 'Hell does not exist.'
I have died for them, and they say they did not ask Me to do so. 
They have formed heresies against Me.

In order to save them, I select certain souls and lay the Cross on their shoulders.
Happy the soul who understands the value of suffering!
My cross is sweet if carried for love of Me...
I chose you from your mother's womb.
I watch over you in your great difficulties.
It was I who chose them for you, that I might have a victim to offer Me much reparation.
Lean on my Sacred Heart and find therein strength to suffer everything."

~ Jesus to Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa ~

"Sinners of the world, do not lose Jesus for all eternity.  He is so good..."

"...Enough of sin.  Love Him!  Love Him!"

"O sinners, I am enduring a life of terrible suffering on your behalf.

Convert yourselves!  Sin no more!  Sin no more!"

~ Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa ~

This is a trailer for a 56 minute documentary on the life and message of Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa who is also known in Portugal as the Fourth Seer of Fatima. This film has been produced by Mary's Dowry Productions to promote the life and message of this Blessed, closely linked to the message of Fatima, strong advocate of the First Saturday devotions and Fatima message. A victim soul, she suffered mystically the Passion of Christ every Friday although paralized from the age of 14 having jumped from a high window to escape intruders and protect her purity. More information at http://www.marysdowryproductions.org/

~ Related post on Blessed Alexandrina ~

Our Lady of Akita, Japan: Prayer, Penance and Courageous Sacrifices Needed

"Many men in this world afflict the Lord. I desire souls to console Him to soften the anger of the Heavenly Father. I wish, with my Son, for souls who will repair by their suffering and their poverty for the sinners and ingrates."

~ Our Lady of Akita to Sr. Agnes ~

The angel told Sr. Agnes after Communion:

"Many men in this world afflict the Lord. Our Lady awaits souls to console Him. Remain in poverty. Sanctify yourself and pray in reparation for the ingratitudes and the outrages of so many men. The Rosary is your weapon. Say it with care and more often for the intention of the Pope, of bishops and priests. You must not forget these words (of Mary). The Blessed Virgin prays continually for the conversion of the greatest possible number and weeps, hoping to lead to Jesus and to the Father souls offered to Them by Her intercession. For this intention, and to overcome exterior obstacles, achieve interior unity, form a single heart. Let believers lead a life more worthy of believers! Pray with a new heart. Attach great importance to this day for the glory of God and His Holy Mother. With courage spread this devotion among the greatest number. Inform your superior and him who directs you of what I have told you."

FATIMA DECADE PRAYER

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins,

save us from the fires of hell.

Lead all souls to Heaven,

especially those in most need of Thy mercy.

~ Fatima prayer to be said after each decade of the Rosary,
taught to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta by Our Lady of Fatima
and taught to Sr. Agnes by her guardian angel ~

Lenten Penance, Humility, Gratitude

"Mortification is good, but only when it is done out of love of God."

~ Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, from Peace of Soul ~

The Positives and Negatives of Lenten Sacrifice: Advice from Good Shepherds

By something negative, I mean that each person should commit themselves to giving up something or a number of things. This sacrifice should be serious and demanding. The self-control that we exercise in giving up a legitimate pleasure strengthens our will and curbs the inclinations of our passions.

By something positive, I mean that each one should also do some kind of act that we would not normally do on a regular basis. Attending daily Mass, visiting the sick, volunteering time at the parish or praying a Sunday evening Rosary with the entire family are positive acts of virtue that have helped many people progress in their relationship with God.

~ Fr. James Farfaglia; excerpt from here. ~

More: "At this season let us increase in some way the normal standard of our service, as for example, by special prayers, or by a diminution in food and drink." He insists on our doing something. More prayer. Thinking about doing more prayer is not more prayer. Get up five minutes early to make more time for prayer and you are doing something. Give up five minutes of looking at the newspaper and give it to God in prayer. That is doing something.

Less: less food, less drink, less sleep, less talkativeness, less looseness in speech (cf. RB 49:7). Many folks are put off by Saint Benedict's proposals, but that may be because they read them without taking them in reflectively. He says "less"; he doesn't say how much less. This is where Holy Father Benedict meets Saint Thérèse, the Doctor of the "Little Way." The "less" of Saint Benedict is the very little thing of Thérèse: the word saved for recreation, the second or third cup of coffee, the unkind judgment nipped in the bud.

~ Fr. Mark Kirby; excerpts from here. ~

Lent has as its words, "I repent and I am sorry." Knowing that our sacrifices are made in light of Our Lord's sacrifice on the Holy Cross, we may find it helpful to measure and evaluate our sacrifices against these words.

Lord, I repent of my sins and I am sorry. I am so sorry that I will give up television entirely...I will give up eating between meals...I will give up warm showers...I will sleep on the floor. Don't these seem a bit more serious?

Fr. S; excerpts from here. ~

Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich: Pray for the Poor Souls in Purgatory

"The prayer most pleasing to God is that made for others and particularly for the poor souls.

Pray for them, if you want your prayers to bring high interest."

"The poor souls suffer inexpressibly."

"Many stay a long time in purgatory who, although not great sinners, have lived tepidly."

~ Anne Catherine Emmerich ~

"The life of Anna Katharina Emmerick is marked by her profound closeness to Christ. She loved to pray before the famous Coesfeld Cross, and she walked the path of the long Way of the Cross frequently. So great was her personal participation in the sufferings of our Lord that it is not an exaggeration to say that she lived, suffered and died with Christ. An external sign of this, which is at the same time, however, more than just a sign, are the wounds of Christ which she bore."

"...Anna Katharina Emmerick understood her suffering as a service to salvation. Dr. Wesener, her doctor, recounts her petition in his diary: “I have always requested for myself as a special gift from God that I suffer for those who are on the wrong path due to error or weakness, and that, if possible, I make reparation for them.”

~ Pope John Paul II; excerpts from Homily ~

 

Penance Purifies Souls

"Penance is the rampart protecting chastity.

Penitence appeases God's justice and transforms it into graces.

It purifies souls,

extinguishes the fires of purgatory

and receives in heaven a most sublime recompense.

 Penance pays for personal faults and those of others.

Penance is the sister of mortification. Both work together hand in hand.

Penance helps the soul rise above things of the earth.

Penance cooperates with the Redemption of the world.

Penance humbles man,

it penetrates him with an inner feeling of his baseness and his wretchedness.

Penance brings light to the soul.

 It consumes and causes to disappear all in it that is purely material.

It raises him higher and higher above the earth,

making him taste of delights hitherto unknown and pure.

But this penance should be the daughter of reverence and exist in the soul,

hidden from all humans"

~ Jesus to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida,
from Conchita, A Mother's Spiritual Diary, Sept. 24, 1895).

Penance Needed for Sins Against Our Loving God

1. The malice of sin is very great. What appear to us small faults are in reality serious offenses against the infinite goodness of God. It is enough to see how the Saints wept over their faults.

We are weak, it may be urged. That is true, but then God offers us abundant graces to strengthen our weakness, gives us light to see the gravity of our faults, and the necessary force to conquer temptation. If we are still weak, the fault is all our own. We do not use the light and strength God so generously offers us; we do not pray; we do not receive the Sacraments as we should.

2. An eminent theologian wisely remarks that if souls are condemned to Hell for all eternity because of one mortal sin, it is not to be wondered at that other souls should be detained for long years in Purgatory who have committed countless deliberate venial sins, some of which are so grave that at the time of their commission the sinner scarcely knows if they are mortal or venial. Too, they may have committed many mortal sins for which they have had little sorrow and done little or no penance. The guilt has been remitted by absolution, but the pain due to the sins will have to be paid in Purgatory.

Our Lord tells us that we shall have to render an account for each and every idle word we say and that we may not leave our prison until we shall have paid the last farthing. (Cf. Matt. 5:26.)

The Saints committed few and slight sins, and still they sorrowed much and did severe penances. We commit many and grave sins, and we sorrow little and do little or no penance.

~ Excerpt from Read Me Or Rue It by Fr. Paul O'Sullivan, O.P. ~

Reverencing the Holy Name of Jesus and Reparation for Irreverent Use

 January 03, 2011

On the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus, Fr. Bonaventure preaches on the power of His name. The Jews never used the name of God because it implied a power over God. For this reason reverence should be exercised whenever invoking Jesus' name and certainly we must avoid any misuses especially using it in vain or even in a blasphemous way. Ave Maria!

Advent: Preparing for the Coming of Jesus at Christmas

In 1927 Jesus complained to Blessed Dina Belanger about Catholics doing little or no penance during Advent:

"I have need of reparation. The justice of My Father is enkindled. Offer to My Father My merits and My Blood to appease the arm of His Justice. How many Catholics concern themselves little or not at all with penance during the season of Advent! How many Catholics neglect to prepare for My coming at Christmas! Give Me your day, today, in spirit of atonement. Offer it also in Thanksgiving to My Father for all the graces He bestows on souls; for there are so many who never think of thanking Him."

Sweet Heart of Jesus, Make Us Love Thee More and More

Every morning on awakening say to your Beloved: "My Jesus, I am ready to accomplish Your Will — what do You want me to do to please you today?" Perform all your exercises of piety with great love in the presence of Jesus. You can do good for souls only in proportion as you are united to God. God is seeking for souls to repair the outrages which He receives; souls that love Him and make Him loved by others. He wants you to be of this number.

~ Sr. M.G., a deceased nun, excerpt from An Unpublished Manuscript on Purgatory ~

Sweet Heart of Jesus, fount of love and mercy,
today we come, Thy blessing to implore;
O touch our hearts, so cold and so ungrateful,
and make them, Lord, thine own forevermore.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, we implore,
O make us love Thee more and more.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, make us pure and gentle,
and teach us how to do Thy blessed will;
to follow close the print of Thy dear footsteps,
and when we fall - sweet Heart, oh, love us still.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, we implore,

O make us love Thee more and more.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, bless all hearts that love Thee,
and may thine own Heart ever blessed be,
bless us, dear Lord, and bless the friends we cherish,
and keep us true to Mary and to Thee.

Sweet Heart of Jesus, we implore,

O make us love Thee more and more,

O make us love Thee more and more.

Purgatory on Earth

"I speak of Father Michel de la Fontaine, who slept sweetly in the Lord on February 7, 1606, at Valencia, in Spain. He was one of the first missionaries who laboured for the salvation of the people of Peru. His greatest care when instructing the new converts was to inspire them with a sovereign horror of sin, and to lead them to great devotion towards the Mother of God, by speaking of the virtues of that admirable Virgin, and teaching them to recite the beads in her honour.

"Mary, on her part, did not refuse the favours asked of her. One day when, exhausted with fatigue, he lay prostrate in the dust, not having strength to rise, he was visited by her whom the Church styles with reason Comforter of the Afflicted. She reanimated his courage, saying to him, " Confidence, my son; your fatigues will take the place of Purgatory for you; bear your sufferings patiently, and on leaving this life your soul will be received into the abode of the blessed."

"This vision was for Father de la Fontaine during life, but especially at the hour of his death, a source of abundant consolation. In gratitude for this favour, he each week practised some particular penance. At the moment when he expired, a Religious of eminent virtue saw his soul take its flight to Heaven in company of the Blessed Virgin, the Prince of the Apostles, St. John the Evangelist, and of St. Ignatius, the founder of the Company of Jesus."

~ Excerpt from Purgatory: Illustrated by the Lives and Legends of the Saints

by Fr. F.X. Shouppe, S.J. ~

St. Gregory the Great: Repent Today--God Has Not Promised Us Tomorrow

"To do penance is to bewail the evil we have done, and to do no evil to bewail."

"If we knew at what time we were to depart from this world, we would be able to select a season for pleasure and another for repentance. But God, who has promised pardon to every repentant sinner, has not promised us tomorrow. Therefore we must always dread the final day, which we can never foresee. This very day is a day of truce, a day for conversion. And yet we refuse to cry over the evil we have done! Not only do we not weep for the sins we have committed, we even add to them.... If we are, in fact, now occupied in good deeds, we should not attribute the strength with which we are doing them to ourselves."

~ Pope St. Gregory the Great ~

Prayer in Reparation for Sin

Our Lady of Fatima Requests First Saturday Communions of Reparation

"My daughter, look at my Heart encircled with the thorns with which ungrateful men pierce it at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude. Do you at least try to console me and announce in my name that I promise to assist at the hour of death with the graces necessary for salvation all those who, on the first Saturday of five consecutive months, go to Confession and receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary with the intention of making reparation to me."

~ Our Lady of Fatima ~

WHY FIVE SATURDAYS?
It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.

~ For more information about Our Lady of Fatima and First Saturday Devotion, click here. ~

Sacred Heart of Jesus: First Friday Devotion and Promises

"I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment."

~ Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque ~

~ First Friday Promises of Jesus: here ~

St. Mary Magdalen de Pazzi: Purgatory Before the Blessed Sacrament

One day, while praying before the Blessed Sacrament, St. Mary Magdalen saw the tortured soul of one of the sisters, who had passed on recently. She saw her rising painfully from the earth, encircled by leaping flames wrapping themselves around her body. The only thing that kept them from scorching the sister's body was a sparkling white robe covering her, shielding her from the blazing fire. She had been faithful to the Rule. She had led a pious life. Then why was she coming to Sister Mary Magdalen like this?

This sister explained that she had grudgingly spent time before the Blessed Sacrament while she was alive. And now, she was being denied her Spouse's Beatific Vision. She went over to where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed and remained kneeling at the foot of the altar, oblivious to the flames about her, adoring her Lord so very preciously present in His Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. Oh how she had longed to see Him, once more! Worse than the furnace, which enveloped her in Purgatory, was the loss of the vision of her Lord. She remained motionless, her eyes transfixed on her Savior. At the end of her hour with her Lord in this Garden of Gethsemane, her penance ended, St. Mary Magdalen saw the sister rise to Heaven.

~ Excerpt from Visions of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory by Bob and Penny Lord ~

Reparation Needed for Causing Scandal

Those who have had the misfortune to give bad example, and to wound or cause the perdition of souls by scandal, must take care to repair all in this world, if they would not be subjected to the most terrible expiation in the other. It was not in vain that Jesus Christ cried out, “Woe to the world because of scandals! Woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh!” (St. Matthew 18:7)

Hear what Father Rossignoli relates in his Merveilles du Purgatoire. (Merv., 24). A painter of great skill and otherwise exemplary life had once made a painting not at all conformable to the strict rules of Christian modesty. It was one of those paintings which, under the pretext of being works of art, are found in the best families, and the sight of which causes the loss of so many souls.

True art is an inspiration from Heaven, which elevates the soul to God: profane art, which appeals to the senses only, which presents to the eye nothing but the beauties of flesh and blood, is but an inspiration of the evil spirit; his works, brilliant though they may be, are not works of art, and the name is falsely attributed to them. They are the infamous productions of a corrupt imagination.

The artist of whom we speak had allowed himself to be misled in this point by bad example. Soon, however, renouncing this pernicious style, he confined himself to the production of religious pictures, or at least of those which were perfectly irreproachable. Finally he was painting a large picture in the convent of the discalced Carmelites, when he was attacked by a mortal malady. Feeling that he was about to die, he asked the Prior to allow him to be interred in the church of the monastery and bequeathed to the community his earnings, which amounted to a considerable sum of money, charging them to have Masses said for the repose of his soul. He died in pious sentiments, and a few days passed, when a Religious who had stayed in the choir after Matins saw him appear in the midst of flames and sighing piteously.

“What!” said the Religious, “have you to endure such pain, after leading so good a life and dying so holy a death?” “Alas!” replied he, “it is on account of the immodest picture that I painted some years ago. When I appeared before the Tribunal of the Sovereign Judge, a crowed of accusers came to give evidence against me. They declared that they had been excited to improper thoughts and evil desires by a picture, the work of my hand. In consequence of those bad thoughts some were in Purgatory, others in Hell. The latter cried for vengeance, saying that, having been the cause of their eternal perdition, I deserved, at least, the same punishment. Then the Blessed Virgin and the Saints whom I had glorified by my pictures took up my defence. They represented to the Judge that that unfortunate painting had been the work of youth, and of which I had repented; that I had repaired it afterwards by religious objects which had been a source of edification to souls.

“In consideration of these and other reasons, the Sovereign Judge declared that, on account of my repentance and my good works, I should be exempt from damnation, but at the same time, He condemned me to these flames until that picture should be burned, so that it could no longer scandalize anyone.”

Then the poor sufferer implored the Religious to take measures to have the painting destroyed. “I beg of you,” he added, “go in my name to such a person, proprietor of the picture; tell him in what a condition I am for having yielded to his entreaties to paint it, and conjure him to make a sacrifice of it. If he refuses, woe to him! To prove that this is not an illusion, and to punish him for his own fault, tell him that before long he will loose his two children. Should he refuse to obey Him who has created us both, he will pay for it by a premature death.”

The Religious delayed not to do what the poor soul asked of him, and went to the owner of the picture. The latter, on hearing these things, seized the painting and cast it into the fire. Nevertheless, according to the words of the deceased, he lost his two children in less than a month. The remainder of his days he passed in penance, for having ordered and kept that immodest picture in his house.

If such are the consequences of an immodest picture, what then will be the punishment of the still more disastrous scandals resulting from bad books, bad papers, bad schools and bad conversations? Væ mundo a scanalis! Væ homini illi per quem scandalum venit! “Woe to the world because of scandals! Woe to that man by whom the scandal cometh!” (St. Matthew 18:7)

~ From Purgatory Explained by the Lives and Legends of the Saints by Fr. F.X. Shouppe, S.J., Tan Books and Publishers, Inc. ~

Make Room for Christ

Sacrifices offered up for souls in Purgatory benefit not only the poor souls, but also spiritually enrich the one who sacrifices--thanks be to God!

Nothing Unclean Shall Enter Heaven (Rev.21:27)

“Two criminals were crucified with Christ.

One was saved – do not despair.
One was not – do not presume.”

~ St.Augustine ~