Anima Christi

Anima Christi, sanctifica me.
Corpus Christi, salva me.
Sanguis Christi, inebria me.
Agua lateris Christi, lava me.
Passio Christi, conforta me.
O Bone Iesu, exaudi me.
Intra tua vulnera absconde me.
Ne permittas me separari a te.
Ab hoste maligno defende me.
In hora mortis meae voca me,
et iube me venire ad te,
ut cum Sanctis tuis laudem te
in saecula saeculorum. Amen.

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, save me.
Blood of Christ, inebriate me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me.
Within thy wounds hide me.
Suffer me not to be separated from thee.
From the malicious enemy defend me.
In the hour of death call me
and bid me come unto thee,
that with thy saints I may praise thee
for ever and ever. Amen.

Bread from Heaven

You have given them bread from heaven.
Containing in itself all delight.

The Divine Praises

Blessed be God.
Blessed be his Holy Name.
Blessed be Jesus Christ, true God and true Man.
Blessed be the Name of Jesus.
Blessed be his most Sacred Heart.
Blessed be his most Precious Blood.
Blessed be Jesus in the most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.
Blessed be the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete.

Blessed be the great Mother of God, Mary most holy.
Blessed be her holy and Immaculate Conception.
Blessed be her glorious Assumption.
Blessed be the name of Mary, Virgin and Mother.
Blessed be Saint Joseph, her most chaste spouse.
Blessed be God in his angels and in his saints.

Psalm 137

By the streams of Babylon
   we sat and wept
   when we remembered Zion.
On the aspens of that land
   we hung our harps.

Though there our captors asked of us
   the lyrics of our songs,
And our despoilers urged us to be joyous:
   “Sing for us the songs of Zion!”

How could we sing a song of the LORD
   in a foreign land?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
   may my right hand be forgotten!

May my tongue cleave to my palate
   if I remember you not,
If I place not Jerusalem
   ahead of my joy.

Rejection

Let us thank God a thousand times if in the sadness which invades us it seems to us as if we are rejected by the world. The depression and suffering, the bitterness with which we seem sometimes to be soaked, were the lot of our Lord on earth.
Blessed Charles de Foucauld

The whole universe trembled for your suffering, O Lord.

by authors of Magnificat

Death and Resurrection

On account of the Lord's resurrection, the whole condition of death has been rendered insignificant.
Saint Peter Chrysologus

Work and Love, by Monsignor Giussani

We must always remind ourselves that our first work does not arise from the capacity to create new structures, but rather it is... a sensibility to the common and singular needs that exist: the use of your intelligence and energy to assist in the creation of a more human environment in the situation where you are. Only if the imagination is awakened can new forms of work be invented. This can only spring forth from an amazement, a devotion, a love for what man is. The factory remains a factory, but it's not like it was before. Wherever a presence -- determined by this passion for man -- expresses a generosity, steadfastness, and imagination, and meets with a certain openness, the work environment is not like it was before. I have heard you tell me a hundred times, "Now I go to work with a passion that I never expected, that before I never even dreamed possible," which means that you don't go to the job you used to go to, but you perform a "new work," a more human work that doesn't leave out any aspect, any particular. Nothing is more concrete than love. Outside of love, concreteness is established by developing a preconceived idea into a program, a program into a preconceived idea. That is, by an ideology that is determined to find its own way and exploits everyone it encounters in the process. Instead, a group of people gathered together who try to keep in mind the true sense of man as a creature of God becomes capable of inventing the truly new. Beyond any scheme, it doesn't remain prisoner of the ordinary programs and always finds a space in which a new flower or new leaf may come to life. In those places where people get together in this way they become truly creative, they become real protagonists in the world. This is why we want to become protagonists in the working world, not as the representatives of categories or roles or interest groups, but representatives of man.

Monsignor Luigi Giussani (died 2005) was a priest from Milan, Italy, who was the founder of the ecclesial movement Communion and Liberation.

Those who love and those who labor

Lo, the bread of heaven is broken
In the sacrament of life.

Matthew 13:17

Amen, I say to you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

Matthew 10:27

What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.

Dealing with the Devil, by Father de Caussade

You should remember all your life that one of the principal causes of the small progress made by certain good people is that the devil continually fills their souls with disquiet, perplexities, and troubles, which render them incapable of serious, gentle, and constant application to the practice of virtue. The great principle of the interior life lies in peace of the heart: it must be preserved with such care that the moment it is in danger everything else should be abandoned for its re-establishment, just as when the house is on fire, one leaves everything in order to extinguish it... This blessed peace of soul is the high road to heaven. And the reason of this is that peace and tranquility of spirit alone give the soul great strength to achieve all that God wills, while trouble and disquiet turn the soul into a weak, languishing invalid. In that state, one feels neither zest nor attraction for virtue, but, contrariwise, disgust and discouragement by which the devil never fails to profit. This is why he makes use of all his ruses to rob us of this peace on a thousand specious pretexts: at one time on pretence of examination of conscience or of sorrow for our sins, at another time on the ground that we are abusing grace and that our total lack of progress is our own fault, in short that God is about to abandon us; and by means of a hundred other dodges against which few are able to defend themselves. This is why the masters of the spiritual life give this great principle for distinguishing the true inspirations of God from those which come from the devil, namely, that the former are always gentle and peaceful and lead us to confidence and humility while the latter are agitating, unquiet, and turbulent, leading to discouragement and suspicion, or even to presumption and the following of our own will. We must, therefore, firmly reject all that does not bear this mark of peace, submission, gentleness, and confidence, the impressions as it were of God's seal; this point is of great importance for the whole of our life.

Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J., (died 1751) was a French Jesuit, a writer, and a revered spiritual director.

Laborem Exercens #27

The Christian finds in human work a small part of the cross of Christ and accepts it in the same spirit of redemption in which Christ accepted the cross for us. In work, thanks to the light that penetrates us from the resurrection of Christ, we always find a glimmer of new life, of the new good, as if it were an announcement of "the new heavens and the new earth" in which man and the world participate precisely through the toil that goes with work.

Ephesians 4:28

The thief must no longer steal, but rather labor, doing honest work with his [own] hands, so that he may have something to share with one in need.

Keys of the Kingdom: Mercy

"There is one thing we most of us forget. Christ taught it. The Church teaches it . . . though you wouldn't think so to hear a great many of us today. No one in good faith can ever be lost. No one. Buddhists, Mohammedans, Taoists . . . the blackest cannibals who ever devoured a missionary . . . If they are sincere, according to their own lights, they will be saved. That is the splendid mercy of God. So why shouldn't He enjoy confronting a decent agnostic at the Judgement Seat with a twinkle in his eye: ‘I'm here you see, in spite of all they brought you up to believe. Enter the Kingdom which you honestly denied.’"

Keys of the Kingdom: Atheism

"Funny . . . I still can't believe in God."
"Does that matter now?" What was he saying? Francis did not know. He was crying and, in the stupid humiliation of his weakness, the words came from him, in blind confusion. "He believes in you."
"Don't delude yourself. . .I'm not repentant."
"All human suffering is an act of repentance."
There was a silence. The priest said no more. Weakly, Tulloch reached out his hand and let it fall on Francis' arm.
"Man, I've never loved ye so much as I do now . . . for not trying to bully me to heaven. Ye see--" His lids dropped wearily. "I've such an awful headache."

Keys of the Kingdom: Hell

"Is hell any worse than this?"
He answered, through the fog of his fatigue, blundering forward, unheroic, yet undismayed: "Hell is that state where one has ceased to hope."

Revelations 12:10-12

"Now have salvation and power come,
and the Kingdom of our God
and the authority of his Anointed.
For the accuser of our brothers is cast out,
who accuses them before our God day and night.
They conquered him by the Blood of the Lamb
and by the word of their testimony;
love for live did not deter them from death.
Therefore, rejoice, you heavens,
and you who dwell in them."

Psalm 104: 3-4

You walk on the wings of the wind,
you make the winds your messengers,
and flashing fire your servants.

Psalm 34:1-11

I will bless the Lord at all times;
   praise shall be ever in my mouth.
My soul will glory in the Lord
   that the poor may hear and be glad.
Magnify the Lord with me;
    let us exalt his name together.

I sought the Lord, who answered me,
   delivered me from all my fears.
Look to God that you may be radiant with joy
   and your faces may not blush for shame.
In my misfortune I called,
   the Lord heard and saved me from all distress.

The angel of the Lord, who encamps with them,
    delivers all who fear God.
Learn to savor how good the Lord is;
   happy are those who take refuge in him.
Fear the Lord, you holy ones;
   nothing is lacking to those who fear him.
The powerful grow poor and hungry,
   but those who seek the Lord lack no good thing.

On Human Nature

Yesterday, worn our with anxieties, away from others
I was in a shady grove, my soul consumed.
For how I do so love this drug for sufferings,
to speak in quiet, me with my own soul...

But privately, my mind in a whirlpool spinning,
I had this sort of battling round of words:
Who was I? Who am I? What shall I be?
     I don't know clearly.
Nor can I find one better stocked with wisdom.
But, as through thick fog, I wander
every which way, with nothing, not a dream,
     of the things I long for...

What's in fact the good of life? God's light?
     But then hateful and jealous darkness
     keeps me from it.
Nothing's of any use to me.
     And what is there of no use to the wicked?
If only they were equally endowed,
     with troubles especially!
I lie helpless. Divine terror has bowed me.
I'm worn out by worries, night and day...

The ache exists for each one of our race...

Stop. Everything is secondary to God.
     Give in to reason.
God didn't make me in vain. I am turning
my back upon this song: this thing was from our feeblemindedness.

Now's a fog, but afterwards the Word,
     and you'll know all,
whether seeing God, or eaten up by fire.
Now, when the beloved mind had sung for me
     these things, it digested its pain.
And late from the shady grove I headed home,
now laughing at this self-estrangement,
     then once again
heart in anguish smoldering, from a mind at war.

Saint Gregory Nazianzen (died 390) was a monk, a bishop, and a writer of letter, prayers, and poems.

Romans 13:11-14

It is the hour now for you to awake from sleep. [...] The night is advanced, the day is at hand. Let us then throw off the works of darkness [and] put on the armor of light; let us conduct ourselves properly as in the day, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in promiscuity and licentiousness, not in rivalry and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the desires of the flesh.

The Human Heart

"More torturous than all else is the human heart." What the rich man was looking for in fine garments and sumptuous dining he was meant to find in the beggar on his doorstep. For every person that God puts on our path becomes the way to the fulfillment we seek. Jeremiah warns, "Cursed is the man whose heart turns away from the Lord"--that is, the one who refuses the unexpected ways God makes himself present in our life.

Wisdom 9:13

What man knows God’s counsel,
or who can conceive what our Lord intends?

Romans 11:34

For who has known the mind of the Lord
or who has been his counselor?

Isaiah 55:8-9

My thoughts are not your thoughts,
nor are your ways my ways, says the Lord.
As high as the heavens are above the earth,
so high are my ways above your ways
and my thoughts above your thoughts.

Who can know the mind of God?

O who can know the mind of God,
And who dare call his name,
Whose glory is the rising sun,
Whose ev’ry word is flame?

Who else surrounds in boundless deeps
The island of the mind?
Who else in clouds of silence keeps
Long watch for humankind?

Too high for us, O Lord, your ways,
Too vast your works: through them
We reach with trembling words of praise
To touch your garment’s hem.

To Be a Disciple

As you daily provide food for your bodies to keep them from failing, so let your good works be the daily nourishment of your hearts. The body is fed with food, the spirit sustained with good works. You should not deny to your soul, which will live forever, what you grant to your body which is going to die. If ever a sudden fire destroys a dwelling, and its owner seizes what he values and flees, he counts as gain whatever he takes with him out of the flames. You can see that a fire of calamities is burning up the world, and the end, which is now near, is like a fire, laying waste everything in it that appeared delightful. Therefore, my friend believe it the greatest gain if you carry off anything from it, if you take anything with you as you flee, if, by bestowing it as an everlasting recompense on yourselves, you save what could have perished had it remained. In truth we lose all our earthly possessions if we save them, but we save them by yielding them well. Time is quickly running out. Let us prepare with haste for seeing our Judge soon; our good deeds are impelling us towards him with great urgency.

Saint Gregory the Great (died 604) was one of the most important popes and influential writers of the Middle Ages.

Psalm 25: 14-22

The Lord's friendship is for those who revere him;
to them he reveals his covenant.

My eyes are always on the Lord;
for he rescues my feet from the snare.
Turn to me and have mercy
for I am lonely and poor.

Relieve the anguish of my heart
and set me free from my distress.
See my affliction and my toil
and take all my sins away.

See how many are my foes;
how violent their hatred for me.
Preserve my life and rescue me.
Do not disappoint me, you are my refuge.
May innocence and uprightness protect me:
for my hope is in you, O Lord.
Redeem Israel, O God, from all its distress.

Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Saint Michael, be our refuge here,
Preserve us from all useless fear;
Through you may God his peace bestow
On all the nations here below.

Saint Gabriel, be with us this day,
Reveal God's will to us, we pray;
As Mary once did answer you,
May our response be firm and true.

Saint Raphael, heal our sinful heart,
May God his grace to us impart,
And may you guide us on the way
That we may never go astray. Amen.

Psalm 31, complete

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your justice deliver me,
   incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me!

Be my rock of refuge,
   a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
   for your name's sake lead and guide me.

Free me from the net they have set for me,
   for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
   you will redeem me, Lord, faithful God.

You hate those who serve worthless idols,
  but I trust in the Lord.
I will rejoice and be glad in your love,
   once you have seen my misery, observed my distress.

You will not abandon me into enemy hands,
   but will set my feet in a free and open space.

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
   for I am in distress.
Tears have wasted my eyes,
   my throat and my heart.

For my life is spent with sorrow
   and my years with sighs.
Affliction has broken down my strength
   and my bones waste away.

In the face of all my foes
  I am a reproach,
an object of scorn to my neighbors
   and of fear to my friends.

Those who see me in the street
   run far away from me.
I am forgotten, out of mind like the dead;
   I am like a shattered dish.

I have heard the slander of the crowd,
   fear is all around me,
as they plot against me,
  as they plan to take my life.  

But I trust in you, Lord;
   I say, "You are my God."
My times are in you hands;
   rescue me from my enemies,
   from the hands of my pursuers.

Let your face shine on your servant;
   save me in your kindness.
Do not let me be put to shame,
    for I have called to you, Lord.

Put the wicked to shame;
   reduce them to silence in Sheol.
Strike dumb their lying lips,
   proud lips that attack the just
   in contempt and scorn.

How great is your goodness, O Lord,
   which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
   you show in the sight of the children of men.

You hide them in the shelter of your presence,
   safe from scheming enemies.
You keep them in your abode,
   safe from plotting tongues.

Blessed be the Lord,
   who has shown me wondrous love,
   and been for me a city most secure.

Once I said in my anguish,
   "I am shut out from your sight."
Yet you heard my plea,
   when I cried out to you.

Love the Lord, all you faithful.
   The Lord protects the loyal,
   but repays the arrogant in full.
Be strong and take heart,
   all you who hope in the Lord.

James 4:1-3

Where do the wars and where do the conflicts among you come from? Is it not from your passions that make war within your members? You covet but do not possess. You kill and envy but you cannot obtain; you fight and wage war. You do no possess because you do not ask. You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.

Psalm 39: 8-13

Set me free from all my sins,
do not make me the taunt of the fool.
I was silent, not opening my lips,
because this was all your doing.

Take away your scourge from me.
I am crushed by the blows of your hand.
You punish man's sins and correct him;
like the moth you devour all he treasures.

Mortal man is no more than a breath;
O Lord, hear my prayer.
O Lord, turn your ear to my cry.
Do not be deaf to my tears.

In your house I am a passing guest,
a pilgrim, like all my fathers.
Look away that I may breathe again
before I depart to be no more.

Psalm 12: 4-5

Give light to my eyes, Lord, lest I sleep in death, and my enemy say: I have overcome him.

Psalm 31, pt. 1

In you, O Lord, I take refuge;
   let me never be put to shame.
In your justice deliver me,
   incline your ear to me; make haste to rescue me!

Be my rock of refuge,
   a stronghold to give me safety.
You are my rock and my fortress;
   for your name's sake lead and guide me.

Free me from the net they have set for me,
   for you are my refuge.
Into your hands I commend my spirit;
   you will redeem me, Lord, faithful God.

But my trust is in you, O Lord;
   I say, "You are my God."
In your hands is my destiny; rescue me
   from the clutches of my enemies and my persecutors.

How great is your goodness, O Lord,
   which you have in store for those who fear you,
And which, toward those who take refuge in you,
   you show in the sight of the children of men.

The Holy Name of Mary, St. Bernard of Clairvaux

If the winds of temptations surge, if you run aground on the shoals of troubles, look to this star, call upon Mary! If you are tossed by the winds of pride or ambition or detraction or jealousy, look to this star, call upon Mary! If anger or greed or the allurements of the flesh dash against the boat of your mind, look to Mary! And if you are troubled by the enormity of your sins, confused by the foulness of your conscience, terrified by the horror of the Judgment, so that you begin to be swallowed up by the pit of sadness, the abyss of despair, think of Mary! In dangers, in straits, in perplexity, think of Mary, call upon Mary. Let her name be always in your mouth and in your heart, and, if you would ask for and obtain the help of her prayers, do not forget the example of how she lived. If you follow her, you will not go astray. If you pray to her, you will not despair. If you think of her, you will not be lost. If you cling to her, you will not fall. If she protects you, you will not fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is favorable to you, you will reach your goal. Thus you will experience personally how rightly it was spoken "And the Virgin's name was Mary."

Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (died 1153) is considered the last of the Fathers of the Church and is a Doctor of the Church.

Definition of Christians

From the beginning Christians were clearly conscious of this radical newness which the Eucharist brings to human life. The faithful immediately perceived the profound influence of the eucharistic celebration on their manner of life. Saint Ignatius of Antioch expressed this truth when he called Christians "those who have attained a new hope," and described them as "those living in accordance with the Lord's Day" (iuxta dominicam viventes).

Pope Benedict XVI

Psalm 54

O God, by your name save me,
   and by your might defend my cause.
O God, hear my prayer;
   hearken to the words of my mouth.

For the haughty have risen up against me,
   the ruthless seek my life;
   they set not God before their eyes.

Behold, God is my helper;
   the Lord sustains my life.
Freely will I offer you sacrifice;
I will praise your name, O Lord, for its goodness.

Psalm 38: 10-11, 14-16, 22-23

O Lord, you know all my longing:
my groans are not hidden from you.
My heart throbs, my strength is spent;
the very light has gone from my eyes.

But I am like the deaf who cannot hear,
like the dumb unable to speak.
I am like a man who hears nothing,
in whose mouth is no defense.

I count on you, O Lord:
it is you, Lord God, who will answer.

O Lord, do not forsake me!
My God, do not stay afar off!
Make haste and come to my help,
O Lord, my God, my savior!

Psalm 31, pt. 2

Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I am in distress.
Tears have wasted my eyes,
my throat and my heart.

For my life is spent with sorrow
and my years with sighs.
Affliction has broken down my strength
and my bones waste away.

In the face of all my foes
I am a reproach,
an object of scorn to my neighbors
and of fear to my friends.

Those who see me in the street
run far away from me.
I am like a dead man, forgotten,
like a thing thrown away.

But as for me, I trust in you, Lord,
I say: "You are my God.
Let your face shine on your servant.
Save me in your love."

Deliver us

Deliver us from evil.

Very significant for me, not only from the Our Father, but from Dr. Dooley.

Responsory for the Holy Cross

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Isaiah 1:18

Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.

Where is your victory?

Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting? (1 Cor 15:55)
Easter

Deuteronomy 7:7-8

It was not because you are the largest of all nations that the Lord set his heart on you and chose you, for you are really the smallest of all nations. It was because the Lord loved you. (Dt 7:7-8)

Psalm 41:2-3

Like a deer that longs for running streams, my soul longs for you, my God. My soul is thirsting for the living God. (Ps 41:2-3)
Sacraments

Mark 7:37

He has done all things well. (Mk 7:37)
Birthdays

Grace abounded

Where sin abounded, grace abounded all the more.
Feast days, First Confession.

The Virgin shall bear a son

The Virgin shall bear a son, who will save his people from their sins. (Is 7:14; Mt 1:21)

Come and see

Come and see what God has done.
Good line for all Sacrament cards, new babies, big events.

Complete your work

Complete your work, O Lord, and as you have loved me from the beginning, so make me to love you unto the end.

How to Remove the Beam from Our Eye, by Monsignor Guardini

There is nothing brighter than the eyes of God, nor is there anything more comforting. They are unyielding, but they are the source of hope.
To be seen by him does not mean to be exposed to a merciless gaze, but to be enfolded in the deepest care. Human seeing often destroys the mystery of the other. God's seeing creates it.
We can do nothing better than press on into the sight of God. The more deeply we understand what God is, the more fervently we shall want to be seen by him. We are seen by him whether we want to be or not. The difference is whether we try to elude his sight, or strive to enter into it, understanding the meaning of his gaze, coming to terms with it, and desiring that his will be done.
We can do nothing better than place ourselves and all that we have in God's sight: "Behold me!" Let us put away the fear that prevents us. Let us abandon the sloth, the pretense of independence, and the pride. "Look at the good! Look at the shortcomings! The ugly, the unjust, the evil, the wicked, everything--look at it, O God!"
Sometimes it is impossible to alter something or other. But let him see it at any rate. Sometimes one cannot honestly repent. But let him see that we cannot yet repent. None of the shortcomings and evil in our lives are fatal so long as they confront his gaze. The very act of placing ourselves in his sight is the beginning of renewal. Everything is possible so long as we begin with God. But everything is in danger once we refuse to place ourselves and our lives in his sight.

Monsignor Romano Guardini (died 1968) was born in Italy and was a renowned theologian and writer.

What He Feels So Bitterly, by Mother Teresa

Hear Jesus your coworker speak to you: "I want you to be my fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying, and the little children; the poor I want you to bring to me." Learn this sentence by heart and when you are wanting in generosity, repeat it. We can refuse Christ just as we refuse others: "I will not give you my hands to work with, my feet to walk with, my mind to study with, my heart to love with. You knock at the door, but I will not give you the key of my heart." This is what he feels so bitterly: not being able to live his life in a soul...

2 Kings 20:5

I have heard your prayer and seen your tears. I will heal you.

The Reality of Sin, by Father Cantalamessa

Wherever sin exists, God's judgement cannot but be focused on it, otherwise God would reach a compromise with sin and the very distinction itself between good and evil would no longer exist. Now, Jesus in Gethsemane is impiety, all the impiety of the world. He is man "made sin." Christ, it is written, died "for sinners"; he died in their place and not only in their favor. He accepted to answer for all men; he is, therefore, "responsible" for all, the guilty one before God! It is against him that God's wrath "is revealed," and that is what "drinking the cup" means. A correct understanding of Christ's passion is hindered by an extrinsic view of things according to which we have, on one side, man and his sin and, on the other side, Jesus suffering and expiating those sins, though he remains detached and untouched by sin. The relation of Jesus to sin is not distant or indirect, or even simply juridic, but real and close. Sin, in other words, was in him, he bore it because he had freely "taken it on to himself": "He himself bore our sins in his body"--"body" meaning here his very person (1 Pt 2: 24). He felt he was in some way the sin of the world. For once, let us give a name to the reality of sin so that it will not remain something abstract to us. Jesus bore all human pride, all rebellion against God, all lust, all hypocrisy, all injustice, all violence, all untruth, and all hatred, which is such a terrible thing. (Let him who has ever been the victim of this dreadful sentiment and experienced its effects on himself, think of that moment and he will understand).

Father Raniero Cantalamessa, O.F.M.Cap. is the preacher to the papal household.

Isaiah 63:9

It was not a messenger or an angel,
but he himself who saved them.
Because of his love and pity
he redeemed them himself,
Lifting them and carrying them
all the days of old.

Philippians 2:6-11

Brothers and sisters:
Christ Jesus, though he was in the form of God,
did not regard equality with God something to be grasped.
Rather, he emptied himself,
taking the form of a slave,
coming in human likeness;
and found human in appearance,
he humbled himself,
becoming obedient to death,
even death on a cross.
Because of this, God greatly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name
that is above every name,
that at the name of Jesus
every knee should bend,
of those in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.

What Makes Us Loyal to Christ, by Dom Vonier

We are dealing with the deepest and most incomprehensible of things when we are dealing with the human spirit, with the human mind. How can the human mind be won to truth, to faith, to loyalty to God? How is it possible for us to come to God, to surrender to him our whole intellect, our whole will? We do not even ourselves know why we are loyal to one person and alienated from another, in sympathy with one person and opposed to another. God alone knows the working of the human soul; and God, who knows, who has made us, has thought out his plan, the supreme plan, the good testimony of Christ before Pilate. In the words of Saint Peter: "Christ died for our sins, the just for the unjust." And by his death he achieved for truth its highest ascendency, an ascendency not otherwise to be obtained. Here again we see the genius of Christianity, a wonderful understanding, we might almost say, on the part of God himself, of man's real needs, man's real hunger, and thirst... The folly of the cross is a great psychological power, a great instrument of truth, which wins us and makes us loyal to Christ himself; nothing else can achieve that... We know what a Christian man ought to be. Your life, such as it is, is a pre-ordained thing, and it is for you to drink your cup even as Christ drank his. His life and his death, if they apparently were failures, were not so in reality. We also are children of that divine Father who held to the lips of his Son a beverage to drink, and so our lives have a wonderful mysterious significance. And it is in this light that we ought to look at human things and be superior to them; never letting them overpower us, as if they were some dark arrangement, as if they were the result of some malign power. No, human things are the will of the Father for us as they were the will of the Father for his divine Son.

Dom Anscar Vonier, O.S.B. (died 1906) was the abbot of Buckfast Abbey in Devon, England.

Suffering

When Peter objected to Jesus' prediction of his passion, he did not yet know the end of the story. Our faith, illuminated by the resurrection, is challenged to see the cross not as death but life, not as defeat but victory, not as tragedy but triumph. We can see that transformation in Jesus' story. Can we trust that it lies at the heart of our own?

Isaiah 52:13-15

See, my servant shall prosper,
he shall be raised high and greatly exalted.
Even as many were amazed at him --
so marred was his look beyond that of man,
and his appearance beyond that of mortals --
So shall he startle many nations,
because of him kings shall stand speechless;
For those who have not been told shall see,
those who have not heard shall ponder it.

St. Gregory of Nyssa's word portrait of Christ

Christ is the artist, tenderly wiping away all the grime of sin that disfigures the human face and restoring God's image to its full beauty.

Follow Me, by Father Bede Jarrett, O.P.

Jesus knew human nature as we cannot know it. He knew its baseness, as we even do not know it; he knew its frailty, its inconsistency. Yet, knowing it, he dared to say to us: "Follow me." How well he thought of us, how nobly he judged us who said to us, "Come where I go, follow me to the heights of self-sacrifice that I have climbed." He would not have said that unless he meant it, unless he knew that we could. He was no dreamer. He knew mankind. He knew the shallowness of those who then followed him and of those who would follow him, but he knew also their depth, their greatness. And knowing this he calls all of us to follow him.

Being the New Wine for the Celebration, Madeleine Delbrêl

It seems to us that action is also an imploring prayer. It does not at all seem to us that action nails us down to our field of work, our apostolate, or our life. Quite the contrary, we believe that an action perfectly carried out at the time and place it is required of us binds us to the whole Church, sends us out throughout her body, making us disponible in her. Our feet march upon a street, but our heartbeat reverberates through the whole world. That is why our small acts... perfectly join together the love of God and the love of our neighbor. Giving ourselves over to his will at the same time gives us over to the Church, whom the same will continuously makes our saving Mother of grace. Each docile act makes us receive God totally and give God totally in a great freedom of spirit. And thus life becomes a celebration.

Servant of God Madeleine Delbrêl (died 1964) was a French laywoman, writer, and mystic devoted to caring for the poor and to evangelizing culture.

John 20:27

Then he said to Thomas, "Put your finger here and see my hands, and bring your hand and put it into my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believe."

Jeremiah 14: 15, 17

Thus says the Lord: Speak to them this word:
Let my eyes stream with tears
day and night, without rest,
Over the great destruction which overwhelms
the virgin daughter of my people,
over her incurable wound.

Luke 4:18

He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives,
to let the oppressed go free.

Luke 6:20-26

Raising His eyes toward his disciples Jesus said:
"Blessed are you who are poor,
for the Kingdom of God is yours.
Blessed are you who are now hungry,
for you will be satisfied.
Blessed are you who are now weeping,
for you will laugh.
Blessed are you when people hate you,
and when they exclude and insult you,
and denounce your name as evil
on account of the Son of Man.
Rejoice and leap for joy on that day! Behold, your reward
will be great in heaven. For their ancestors treated the prophets
in the same way.
But woe to you who are rich,
for you have received your consolation.
But woe to you who are filled now,
for you will be hungry.
Woe to you who laugh now,
for you will grieve and weep.
Woe to you when all speak well of you,
for their ancestors treated the false prophets in this way."

Liturgy of the Hours: Mary

When the most holy Virgin was born, the whole world was made radiant; blessed is the branch and blessed the stem which bore such holy fruit.

Traditional Marian Antiphon

The Root of Jesse has blossomed; the Star has risen out of Jacob.

What Looks Down, Pope Benedict XVI

What looks down at us from the cross is a goodness that enables a new beginning in the midst of life's horror.

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, God, in your kindness.
In your compassion blot out my offense.
O wash me more and more from my guilt
and cleanse me from my sin.

My offenses truly I know them;
my sin is always before me.
Against you, you alone, have I sinned;
what is evil in your sight I have done.

Indeed you love truth in the heart;
then in the secret of my heart teach me wisdom.
O purify me, then I shall be clean;
O wash me, I shall be whiter than snow.

A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.

Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners shall return to you.

The Intercession of Michael, from The Apocalypse of Paul

When those who were in this very place saw me weeping with the angel, they cried out and themselves wept, saying: "O Lord God, have mercy on us!" And after that I saw heaven opened and the archangel Michael coming down from heaven, and with him the whole host of angels, and they came to those who were placed in the punishments. And seeing him they cried out again with tears, and said: "Have mercy on us, archangel Michael, have mercy on us and on the human race, for because of your prayers the earth continues. We have now seen the judgment and known the Son of God. It was impossible for us to pray for this previously before we came to this place. For we did hear that there was a judgment before we came forth from the world, but tribulations and a worldly-minded life did not allow us to repent." And Michael answered and said: "Listen when Michael speaks: It is I who stand in the presence of God every hour: As the Lord lives, in whose presence I stand, for one day or one night I do not cease from praying continually for the human race, and I pray for those who are still on earth. They, however, do not stop committing iniquity... and they do not help me in what is good while they are placed on earth. And the time during which you ought to have repented you used up in vanity. But I have always thus prayed and now I beseech that God may send dew and that rain may be appointed over the earth, and I continue to pray until the earth bring forth its fruit; and I say that if anyone has done even only a little good I will strive for him and protect him until he escapes the judgement of punishments. Where are your prayers? Where is your repentance? You have squandered time contemptibly. But now weep, and I will weep with you, and the angels who are with me together with the dearly beloved Paul, if perchance the merciful God will show mercy and give you ease." And when they heard these words they cried out and wept much and said all together: "Have mercy on us, Son of God." And I, Paul, sighed and said: "Lord God, have mercy on what you have fashioned, have mercy on the children of men, have mercy on your own image."

Forgiven Much, Loved Much, by St. Robert Bellarmine

To please God by penance it is not enough to say in words, "I am sorry for my sin." Rather, we need the deep and profound sorrow from the heart that can hardly be found without sobs and tears and sighs. It is amazing how severely the holy Fathers speak of true contrition. Saint Cyprian says in the sermon On Apostates, "Let us weep as abundantly as we have sinned greatly. Let careful and long treatment not be lacking for a deep wound. Let penance be no less than the sin. We ought to beg more insistently, pass the day in mourning, spend nights in watching and tears, fill every moment with tears and laments, lie on the ground and cling to the ashes, turn about in haircloth and dirt." Clement of Alexandria in Eusebius' History calls penance "a baptism of tears." Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in the Second Homily on Baptism says, "I welcome penitents if I see them wet with tears". . .

A heart truly contrite and humble really arouses the mercy of God our Father in a marvelous way. For the sweetness and goodness of the Father cannot refrain from going forth to the prodigal but truly repentant son, and embracing and kissing him. He will give him the ring of peace, wipe away the tears of sorrow, and fill him with tears of joy sweeter than all honey (Lk 15: 11-32).

Saint Robert (died 1621) was a brilliant Jesuit preacher and theologian noted for his rational argumentation.

Hymn of Forgiveness

Drained the wine and sung the songs,
Scattered friends like leaves on wind,
Dead the fire and cold the hearth--
Dust and ashes: we have sinned.

Hunger prowls this hollow house;
Thirst laps up the drying lees
Left in cups none cared to drink
Once the feast had ceased to please.

Others eat the bread we left,
Careless as we cast aside
Love that held the door and wept
Tears unnoticed by our pride.

Still the table stands prepared,
Lonely till we cease to roam.
Fools! Why do we linger here?
Let us go: love waits at home.

From "I must proclaim the Good News" by Paul Claudel

He gives sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. He straightens the palsied; he purifies the lepers; he drives out unclean spirits; he feeds the starving -- if necessary he even raises the dead; but more wonderful still, he forgives sins!

Your Word is a Lamp: Luke, by Monsignor James Turro

Luke was a Gentile and wrote for Gentiles. There is scarcely a reference in his writings that a Gentile could not understand. Unlike Matthew, he does not project his account of Jesus as the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy -- an approach that only Jews could fathom. He regularly provides the Greek equivalent for Hebrew words that might occur in his account. So for instance, he refers to Kranion (the place of the skull) rather than Golgotha, the Hebrew name. In providing a genealogy, he traces Jesus' ancestry all the way back to Adam instead of doing as Matthew does, that is, trace Jesus back to Abraham, the forefather of the Jewish race. In virtually every way, Luke has the Gentile perception of things. Interesting for modern readers to note is the prominence Luke gives to women in his account of Jesus. So for instance, he sees and feels the birth of Jesus as Mary must have. There is a whole catalogue of women through whom we are made to see the life and work of Jesus -- Elizabeth, Anna, the widow of Niam, the woman who anointed Jesus at the house of Simon, a Pharisee. Then there is Martha and Mary and also Mary Magdalene. This attention given to women is striking especially when one considers that to this day in the Near East the role of women is very much muted. There is a mildness in Luke's prose that makes it particularly attractive. It is tempting to think that this graciousness reflects the attitude and personality of the man who wrote this Gospel.

Your Word is a Lamp: Mark, by Monsignor James Turro

In attempting to understand Mark's Gospel it would be helpful to approach it as being divided into two sections: from the beginning to chapter eight, and from chapter eight to the conclusion of the Gospel. It is in chapter eight that Jesus begins to speak of his having to suffer, die, and then rise again. Up until that point (chapter eight) Jesus is portrayed as misconstrued at every turn, in spite of all the good he has done and taught.

Mark seems most concerned to have his reader understand Jesus' peerless teachings and his mighty deeds in light of his victory on the cross and in his resurrection. These latter -- his death and resurrection -- cast a long shadow backwards over Jesus' life and work.

Mark's Gospel is not without a certain elegance of composition. Not seldom the reader is captivated by the fashion in which Mark narrates an incident. As an example, into the account of the cure of Jairus' daughter there is dovetailed the incident of the woman troubled with the issue of blood. Not seldom this is the way it materializes in life -- a happening within a happening. Then too, take note of the way in which Mark reproduces Jesus' words in the original Aramaic: talitha koum ("little girl, I say to you, arise"). This helps to engender a "you are there" sense.

Another instance of Mark's gift for vivid description and narration would be the narrative of the Gerasene demoniac (Mk 5: 1-20). Mark recounts how the man could not be restrained even with a chain. He would rip off the manacles with ferocious energy.

One peculiarity of style in Mark that English-speaking people must make an effort to adjust to is a stylistic feature quite foreign to us -- the use of "and" to join a sequence of sentences. Each new sentence begins with "and." There are some eighty sentences in Mark that begin this way. When all is said and done, the challenge Mark's style of writing presents to the determined reader is small -- "the book is worth the candle."

"The Son of Man must suffer" by Father Philipon

In his divine wisdom... God preferred to bestir us rather to a deep and poignant awareness of our vocation as members of a crucified Christ. Hence, our weakness in doing good is intended to throw into sharper relief the sublime power of Christ, a power that enables us to support a life that is divine by grace in a vessel that is fragile, in a body inclined to sin and evil. The root of inclination to evil persists, and this provides us with opportunity for striving and conquering. Furthermore, in Christ lies the clue to the mystery of suffering. The adequate explanation must be sought in the contemplation of Christ crucified; only in the light of his suffering can we find the real meaning of human suffering. Thus, in the first place, according to God's own plan suffering is to be expiation and reparation. It is the way for sinful man to atone for his faults and those of his brothers. Suffering is also to be purification. It weans us from the fleeting and hollow pleasures of sin. A soul lifted by suffering, like Christ on Golgotha, above the things of earth turns to heaven and away from all that is not God. Also, suffering is to be meritorious and co-redeeming. That is why Saint Paul could say: "What is lacking of the sufferings of Christ I fill up in my flesh for his body, which is the Church." When a soul suffers out of pure and disinterested love without regard to itself, it is more useful to the Church militant and to the whole world than when it is engaged in a most brilliant and successful apostolate. Souls are saved by dying for them. It was not by his words, nor by his miracles, that Jesus saved the world, but by giving his life. To add to this, suffering is also to be sanctifying; through it we become like unto Christ in the highest degree possible on earth. God produces saints by conforming souls more and more to Christ crucified. Lastly, suffering makes us more like unto God, more nearly divine... To allow oneself to be crucified by suffering with Christ is to grow in the likeness to God. Who are the saints that regret having suffered? Suffering passes; having suffered, never.

Father Philipon (died 1972) was a twentieth-century French Dominican priest, theologian, and author.

Psalm 69

Save me, O God,
for the waters have risen to my neck.

I have sunk into the mud of the deep
and there is no foothold.
I have entered the waters of the deep
and the waves overwhelm me.

I am wearied with all my crying,
my throat is parched.
My eyes are wasted away
from looking for my God.

This is my prayer to you,
my prayer for your favor.
In your great love, answer me, O God,
with your help that never fails:
rescue me from sinking in the mud;
save me from my foes.

Save me from the waters of the deep
lest the waves overwhelm me.
Do not let the deep engulf me
nor death close its mouth on me.

Job 16:20

My friends it is who wrong me;
before God my eyes drop tears.

Luke 19:43

The days are coming upon you when your enemies will raise a palisade against you; they will encircle you and hem you in on all sides.

Matthew 20:21-22

"Command that these two sons of mine sit, one at your right and the other at your left, in your kingdom." Jesus said in reply, "You do not know what you are asking. Can you drink the chalice that I am going to drink?"

2 Corinthians 7:9-10

I rejoice now, not because you were saddened, but because you were saddened into repentance; for you were saddened in a godly way, so that you did not suffer loss in anything because of us. For godly sorrow produces a salutary repentance without regret.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride.

See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Were the whole realm of nature mine
That were a tribute far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

Tobit 13

He scourges and then has mercy;
   he casts down to the depths of the nether world,
   and he brings up from the great abyss.
No one can escape his hand.

Praise him, you children of Israel, before the Gentiles,
   for though he has scattered you among them,
   he has shown you his greatness even there.

Lamentations 2:18-19

Cry out to the Lord;
moan, O daughter Zion!
Let your tears flow like a torrent
day and night;
Let there be no respite for you,
no repose for your eyes.

Rise up, shrill in the night,
at the beginning of every watch;
Pour out your heart like water
in the presence of the Lord;
Lift up your hands to him
for the lives of your little ones.

Psalm 109: 22

My heart is pierced within me.

Lamentations 1:12

Come, all you who pass by the way,
look and see
Whether there is any suffering like my suffering.

White Martyrdom

Blessed are you, O Virgin Mary;
without dying you won the martyr's crown
beneath the Cross of the Lord.

Stabat Mater

At the cross her station keeping,
Stood the mournful Mother weeping,
   Close to Jesus to the last.

Through her heart, his sorrow sharing,
All his bitter anguish bearing,
   Now at length the sword had passed.

Oh, how sad and sore distressed
Was that Mother highly blessed
   Of the sole begotten One!

Christ above in torment hangs,
She beneath beholds the pangs
   Of her dying, glorious Son.

Is there one who would not weep,
'Whelmed in miseries so deep,
   Christ's dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain
From partaking in her pain,
   In that mother's pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled,
She beheld her tender Child,
   All with bloody scourges rent.

For the sins of his own nation
Saw him hang in desolation
   Till his spirit forth he sent.

O sweet Mother! font of love,
Touch my spirit from above,
   Make my heart with yours accord.

Make me feel as you have felt;
Make my soul to glow and melt
   With the love of Christ, my Lord.

Holy Mother, pierce me through,
In my heart each wound renew
   Of my Savior crucified.

Let me share with you his pain,
Who for all our sins was slain,
   Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with you,
Mourning him who mourned for me,
   All the days that I may live.

By the cross with you to stay,
There with you to weep and pray,
   Is all I ask of you to give.

Virgin of all virgins blest!
Listen to my fond request:
   Let me share your grief divine.

Let me to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
   Of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with his every wound,
Steep my soul till it has swooned
   In his very Blood away.

Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
   In his awful judgment day.

Christ, when you shall call me hence,
Be your Mother my defense,
   Be your cross my victory.

While my body here decays,
May my soul your goodness praise,
   Safe in heaven eternally.
Amen.

Psalm 27

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
   whom should I fear?
The Lord is my life's refuge;
   of whom should I be afraid?

One thing I ask of the Lord;
   this I seek:
To dwell in the house of the Lord
   all the days of my life,
That I may gaze on the loveliness of the Lord
   and contemplate his temple.

I believe that I shall see the bounty of the Lord
   in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord with courage;
   be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord.

Thessalonians 5:6-9

But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to overtake you like a thief. For all of you are children of the light and children of the day. We are not of the night or of darkness. Therefore, let us not sleep as the rest do, but let us stay alert and sober. For God did not destine us for wrath, but to gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, so that whether we are awake or asleep we may live together with him. Therefore, encourage one another and build one another up, as indeed you do.

Psalm 43

Do me justice, O God, and fight my fight
   against a faithless people;
   from the deceitful and impious man rescue me.

For you, O God, are my strength.
   Why do you keep me so far away?
Why must I go about in mourning,
   with the enemy oppressing me?

Send forth your light and your fidelity;
   they shall lead me on
And bring me to your holy mountain
   to your dwelling-place.

Then will I go in to the altar of God,
   the God of my gladness and joy;
Then will I give you thanks upon the harp,
   O God, my God!

Haggai 2:6-9

   For thus says the Lord of hosts:
One moment yet, a little while,
   and I will shake the heavens and the earth,
   the sea and the dry land.
I will shake all the nations,
   and the treasures of all the nations will come in,
And I will fill this house with glory,
   says the Lord of hosts.
Mine is the silver and mine the gold,
   says the Lord of hosts.
Greater will be the future glory of this house
   than the former, says the Lord of hosts;
And in this place I will give you peace,
   says the Lord of hosts!

A Hymn of Compassion

Compassion walks the city street
And listens for uncertain feet
That seek a home they cannot find
Because the heart that leads is blind.
Compassion holds a steady light
To show the way through chill of night
And takes the homeless by the hand
To lead them to a warmer land.

Compassion walks where life is hard,
Where eyes are blank and faces marred
By pain to great to understand,
And shoulders those too weak to stand.
Compassion is the Shepherd's name:
Who from the halls of heaven came
To travel landscapes bare and bleak
For those that only love would seek.

Compassion does not tire or sleep
But walks wherever suff'rers weep
Through ages past and still to come,
Until the world is gathered home
To rest at last where Mercy reigns
And heals all ills and stills all pains.

And there Compassion's walk will cease,
Where God is all, and all is peace.

--Sr. Genevieve Glen, OSB

Humility, by St. Catherine of Siena

Humble yourselves... We cannot pass through the low door with our head held high unless we want to crack it. And the door we have to pass through is Christ crucified, who humbled himself down to the level of us witless fools.

James 2:14-18

What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or a sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith of itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

Indeed someone might say, "You have faith and I have works." Demonstrate your faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my faith to you from my works.

The Cross of Christ

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord
through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

Psalm 116:1-9

I love the Lord because he has heard
   my voice in supplication,
because he has inclined his ear to me
   the day I called.

The cords of death encompassed me;
   the snares of the netherworld seized upon me;
   I fell into distress and sorrow,
and I called upon the name of the Lord,
   "O Lord, save my life!"

Gracious is the Lord and just;
   yes, our God is merciful.
The Lord keeps the little ones;
   I was brought low, and he saved me.

For he has freed my soul from death,
   my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling.
I shall walk before the Lord
   in the land of the living.

Isaiah 50:4-9

The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear;
and I have not rebelled,
have not turned back.
I gave my back to those who beat me,
my cheeks to those who plucked my beard;
my face I did not shield
from buffets and spitting.

The Lord God is my help,
therefore I am not disgraced;
I have set my face like flint,
knowing that I shall not be put to shame.
He is near who upholds my right;
if anyone wishes to oppose me,
let us appear together.
Who disputes my right?
Let that man confront me.
See, the Lord God is my help;
who will prove me wrong?

Psalm 34

The Lord turns his eyes to the just
and his ears to their appeal.
They call and the Lord hears
and rescues them in all their distress.
The Lord is close to the broken-hearted;
those whose spirit is crushed he will save.

Many are the trials of the just man
but from them all the lord will rescue him.
The Lord ransoms the souls of his servants.
Those who hide in him shall not be condemned.

Psalm 49

Why should I fear in evil days
the malice of the foes who surround me,
men who trust in their wealth,
and boast of the vastness of their riches?

For no man can buy his own ransom,
or pay a price to God for his life.
The ransom of his soul is beyond him.
He cannot buy life without end,
nor avoid coming to the grave.

He knows that wise men and fools must both perish
and leave their wealth to others.
Their graves are their homes for ever,
their dwelling place from age to age,
though their names spread wide through the land.

In his riches, man lacks wisdom:
he is like the beasts that are destroyed.

Then do not fear when a man grows rich,
when the glory of his house increases.
He takes nothing with him when he dies,
his glory does not follow him below.

In his riches, man lacks wisdom:
he is like the beasts that are destroyed.

Psalm 3

How many are my foes, O Lord!
How many are rising up against me!
How many are saying about me:
"There is no help for him in God."

But you, Lord, are a shield about me,
my glory, who lift up my head.
I cry aloud to the Lord.
He answers from his holy mountain.

I lie down to rest and I sleep.
I wake, for the Lord upholds me.
I will not fear even thousands of people
who are ranged on every side against me.

Arise, Lord; save me, my God!

2 Corinthians 4:8-10

We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.

2 Corinthians 1:8-10a

We were utterly weighed down beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had accepted within ourselves the sentence of death, that we might trust not in ourselves but in God who raises the dead. He rescued us from such great danger of death, and he will continue to rescue us.

Receiving the Child, by Mother Elvira Petrozzi

A world that does not love or respect little ones, that does not defend those who are weakest in this life is a world of the dead, a world of truly desperate people. A world that rejects life, which does violence to the life of children, cannot even be called a world. Yet God calls us specifically to love this world, to be carriers of hope and sparks of light and kindness that resurrect humanity.

Today we suffer a deadly cancer: the incapacity to love.If you do not love, you remain in death. You are not truly alive. If you do not authentically love, you do not suffer, struggle, or cry, but you also never rejoice. If you do not love, you are indifferent! Often though, the one who does not know how to love has not known the One true Love. He has not known Him who captures your heart and turns you again towards life, who makes you explode with the will to love. Yes, Love generates love, and today there is an immense need of persons able to generate hope in Love . . .

We experience resurrection every day with the lost and dead youth who enter our houses, as well as with their families who have been destroyed by suffering and desperation. We see resurrection in the eyes of the children of our missions, in whom the violence of the streets has left open and bleeding scars. Daily we live an experience of hope that gives life to those from whom life has been stolen. Because of this we believe that in the darkest night it is possible to find light again. Even in the darkest sadness, joy can be rekindled. Even in the bitterest loneliness, a friend's love can pierce a hardened heart. Yes, we want to be witnesses of this hope. We want to announce to this world that the secret of rebirth is to open our hearts to that marvelous Father who waits for each of us as His most precious child.

Mother Elvira Petrozzi is foundress of Comunità Cenàcolo, welcoming the lost and desperate in fifty-six houses in fifteen countries.

1 Corinthians 4:3-5

It does not concern me in the least that I be judged by you or any human tribunal; I do not even pass judgment on myself; I am not conscious of anything against me, but I do not thereby stand acquitted; the one who judges me is the Lord. Therefore, do not make any judgement before the appointed time, until the Lord comes, for he will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts, and then everyone will receive praise from God.

Psalm 7

Give judgement for me, Lord; I am just
and innocent of heart.
Put an end to the evil of the wicked!
Make the just stand firm,
you who test mind and heart,
O just God!

God is the shield that protects me,
who saves the upright of heart.
God is a just judge
slow to anger;
but he threatens the wicked every day,
men who will not repent.

God will sharpen his sword;
he has braced his bow and taken aim.
For them he has prepared deadly weapons;
he barbs his arrows with fire.
Here is one who is pregnant with malice,
conceives evil and brings forth lies.


He digs a pitfall, digs it deep; 
and in the trap he has made he will fall.
His malice will recoil on himself;
on his own head his violence will fall.
I will thank the Lord for his justice;
I will sing to the Lord, the Most High.

Isaiah 49:13

Sing out, O heavens, and rejoice, O earth,
break forth into song, you mountains.
For the Lord comforts his people
and shows mercy to his afflicted.

Psalm 116:10-19

I trusted, even when I said;
"I am sorely afflicted,"
and when I said in my alarm:
"No man can be trusted."

How can I repay the Lord
for his goodness to me?
The cup of salvation I will raise;
I will call on the Lord's name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people.
O precious in the eyes of the Lord
is the death of his faithful.

Your servant, Lord, your servant am I;
you have loosed my bonds.
A thanksgiving sacrifice I make:
I will call on the Lord's name.

My vows to the Lord I will fulfill
before all his people,
in the courts of the house of the Lord,
in your midst, O Jerusalem.

Luke 4:42-43

At daybreak, Jesus left and went to a deserted place. The crowds went looking for him, and when they came to him, they tried to prevent him from leaving them. But he said to them, "To the other towns also I must proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, because for this purpose I have been sent."

Psalm 52

I, like a green olive tree
   in the house of God,
Trust in the mercy of God
   forever and ever.

I will thank you always for what you have done,
   and proclaim the goodness of your name
   before your faithful ones.

What Happens When We Love, by Monsignor Guardini

A person who has been wounded is comforted when someone who loves him awakens the hidden energy within him so that it passes through the wound in a healing stream. A person who is spiritually dried up is comforted when someone who loves him releases the wave of life within and everything is revived. A person who has lost things of great value, who has had his work destroyed, and his hopes dashed, is comforted when someone who loves him allies himself with something that lies at a deeper level, underneath the individual possession and the individual work; allies himself with the fundamental creative will, and rouses it to new activity; allies himself with that innermost soul that is above change and loss and is the eternal strength of the heart; admitting the loss that is lost in time, but winning it anew from the timelessness of faith in God. A person whose heart is sullied is comforted when someone who loves him is able to touch the purity that lives below the sin, and rouse new confidence in his ability to overcome the ugliness of his heart. A person who has sinned and can find no escape from his troubled conscience is comforted when someone who loves him is able, without the slightest presumption, to shed light on the sinner's self-deception, to release and fortify the will and open up new ways and possibilities. There is comfort when the lover is able to soften the hardened, to touch the paralyzed with relaxing warmth, to give a new direction to an erring mind. Human love, really pure and selfless human love, is able to comfort. But it soon attains its limits. Human love is not the love of God. Christ sent us the One who is "the nearness" between the Father and the Son: the Holy Spirit. He is the holy inwardness of God himself; in the secret language of love he is the "tie," the "kiss." In him God has come to us as the Comforter.

Monsignor Romano Guardini (died 1968) was born in Italy and was a renowned theologian and writer.

Luke 6:37-38

"Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you."

Excerpt from "Make us Worthy" by Anthony Esolen

We think that mercy is a sweeter and easier thing than justice, but it is not so; for justice takes us as we are, but mercy assaults us and batters at the gates of our heart, demanding that we be made new. Face to face with Love, the speaker in Herbert's poem, torn by both love and shame, wants to retreat, to go to that place more deserving of his sins. Sometimes sorrow is easier than joy, and despair more comforting than hope.

Excerpt from "Make us Worthy" by Anthony Esolen

The feast of Love
But Jesus will not let us go! He who sweat blood in Gethsemane, who was flogged and crowned with thorns, who carried the bitter cross up Calvary, who hung there till his heart burst, who was pierced with a lance for our offenses -- he is going to yield because we are shy? Not so. He took the initiative then, and takes the initiative now. He comes to us before we come to him. He takes us by the hand. He clears our eyes that we may see. He shuts fast the gates of hell so that we may not run away to hide there. He wants us to serve him always by allowing him to serve us, even with that food which is himself. He wants us to enjoy the feast of Love, because that is what he is, and what he would have us be.

Excerpt from "Make us Worthy" by Anthony Esolen

Children know they are little, and feel neither pride nor shame in the presence of love. Let us be made such worthy children, to join the feast of the Lamb.

Make Us Worthy, Anthony Esolen

"Lord," said the centurion, abashed that Jesus had offered to visit his dying servant, "I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed." For to enter under a man's roof is to submit to his hospitality, and the centurion -- a Gentile, and a leader of men -- knew that he could provide Jesus nothing to justify such a visit.

"Such faith I have not seen in all Israel!" Jesus exclaimed. "Go, your servant is healed."

We repeat the words of the centurion before receiving the Eucharist at Mass, as we repeat his act of faith, for just as he affirmed the sovereignty of Jesus -- he knew that Jesus did not have to be physically present to heal his servant, for the Lord commands, and his ministers obey -- so we affirm that Christ is present in the sacrament, though we cannot see him by our senses, and that Christ will heal our souls, which otherwise must lie sick unto death. So in the Eucharist Jesus enters under our roofs; but something else happens, more astonishing than that. We enter under his. We are given a foretaste of the wedding feast of the Lamb, the eternal Eucharist of joy and peace.

Won over by Christ
We of all people should know that if we are not worthy to open our homes to Christ, we are surely not worthy that he should open his home, which is Father and Son and the Spirit of Love they breathe, to us, dressed our rags of mortality and sin. But our sense of unworthiness may lead us along one of two paths. We may take the path of pride, disguised as humility, and beg the Lord to ignore us, even to cast us out of the feast into the darkness, where we will be more comfortable, we suppose, wailing and gnashing our teeth. That is, we will take only those gifts we think we deserve, ashamed to accept more. Or, despite our pride, despite even our shame, we will allow ourselves to be won over by Christ, and let him work the great miracle at the heart of the Eucharist. That miracle is not that he should be present to us under the species of bread and wine. It is, finally, that we should be made present to him, as worthy guests, cleansed of sin, well dressed, fit for that wedding feast.

That is the consummate miracle we see performed, quietly, in the final poem of George Herbert's posthumous volume, The Temple. It is well that this poem, simply called "Love," comes last, as if we had proceeded through the church doors and up the aisle, to kneel at last at the communion rail of death, or of that first moment beyond death, when we see the face of the Beloved. So Herbert imagines himself greeted by Love, and his reaction -- in full awareness of his sin -- is to hang back to turn aside. We think that mercy is a sweeter and easier thing than justice, but it is not so; for justice takes us as we are, but mercy assaults us and batters at the gates of our heart, demanding that we be made new. Face to face with Love, the speaker in Herbert's poem, torn by both love and shame, wants to retreat, to go to that place more deserving of his sins. Sometimes sorrow is easier than joy, and despair more comforting than hope.

The feast of Love
But Jesus will not let us go! He who sweat blood in Gethsemane, who was flogged and crowned with thorns, who carried the bitter cross up Calvary, who hung there till his heart burst, who was pierced with a lance for our offenses -- he is going to yield because we are shy? Not so. He took the initiative then, and takes the initiative now. He comes to us before we come to him. He takes us by the hand. He clears our eyes that we may see. He shuts fast the gates of hell so that we may not run away to hide there. He wants us to serve him always by allowing him to serve us, even with that food which is himself. He wants us to enjoy the feast of Love, because that is what he is, and what he would have us be:

Love bade me welcome, but my soul drew back,
Guilty of dust and sin.
But quick-eyed Love, observing me grow slack
From my first entrance in,
Drew nearer to me, sweetly questioning
If I lacked anything.

"A guest," I answered, "worthy to be here."
Love said, "You shall be he."
"I, the unkind, ungrateful? Ah my dear,
I cannot look on thee."
Love took my hand and, smiling, made reply,
"Who made the eyes but I?"

"Truth, Lord, but I have marred them -- let my shame
Go where it doth deserve."
"And know you not," says love, "who bore the blame?"
"My dear, then I will serve."
"You must sit down," says Love, "and taste my meat."
So I did sit and eat.

And that is all, in language so simple a child could understand. But children know they are little, and feel neither pride nor shame in the presence of love. Let us be made such worthy children, to join the feast of the Lamb.

Anthony Esolen is a professor of English at Providence College, and a senior editor of Touchstone Magazine, and a regular contributor to Magnificat. He is the translator and editor of Dante's Divine Comedy, and the author of Ironies of Faith.

Humility

Humility begins in the awareness of what is most "down to earth" ("humility" from the Latin humus meaning "ground or earth") -- namely, that life is given.

Leviticus 19:17-18

You shall not bear hatred for your brother in your heart. Though you may have to reprove your fellow man, do not incur sin because of him. Take no revenge and cherish to grudge against your fellow countrymen. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Isaiah 1:18-20

Come now, let us set things right,
says the Lord:
Though your sins be like scarlet,
they may become white as snow;
Though they be crimson red,
they may become white as wool.
If you are willing, and obey,
you shall eat the good things of the land;
But if you refuse and resist,
the sword shall consume you:
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken!

Humility

Humility consists in both acknowledging our real nothingness and acknowledging God's infinite greatness. Self-abasement that fails to look to heaven is not humility. For from heaven, God promises the humble, "Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow."

How the Humble Are Exalted

The greatest certainty of spiritual safety in this life is to be found in thus utter self-abandonment which... consists in being driven to breaking-point and to an utter despair of oneself so as to have no hope but in God alone... Now God has given you two kinds of grace to bring you to this full self-abandonment: (1) strong inducements to tempt you to put full confidence in his great mercy and goodness; (2) surpassing understanding and penetrating awareness of your wretchedness, weakness, perversity, and general failure to achieve goodness. In effect he says to you: Know that in your present state you neither ought, nor can, in any wise help yourself, nor be helped by anything coming from that pit of corruption which is yourself. By self-abandonment, by renunciation of all recourse to self and by fixing all your thoughts upon me, do you then leave all your burdens to me!... Instead of shaking and undermining the soul's blessed joy, these discoveries inspire it with resolute trust... I have known... souls following this way to be astonished when they behold their trust in God increase proportionately with their increasing perception of their poverty, weakness, and misery. The explanation is that the keener this consciousness of our wretchedness and corruption becomes, the greater grows the self-distrust of those souls possessing it and the greater their corresponding trust in God.

--Father Jean-Pierre de Caussade, S.J. (died 1751) a French Jesuit, a writer, and a revered spiritual director.

Pride and Mortality

Whenever we imagine that we are in control of life -- our own or someone else's -- we have fallen prey to the ancient whisper in the Garden: "You shall be like gods." Mortality is the enduring reminder that we become like God not by our own power but by the power of the cross.

Psalm 98

The Lord has made his salvation known:
in the sight of the nations he has revealed his justice.
He has remembered his kindness and faithfulness
toward the house of Israel.

All the ends of the earth have seen
the salvation by our God.
Sing joyfully to the Lord, all you lands;
break into song; sing praise.

Sing praise to the Lord with the harp,
with the harp and melodious song.
With trumpets and the sound of the horn
sing joyfully before the King, the Lord.

Luke 5:11

They left everything and followed Jesus.

Luke 5:1-11

While the crowd was pressing in on Jesus and listening to the word of God, he was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret. He saw two boats there alongside the lake; the fishermen had disembarked and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, he asked him to put out a short distance from the shore. Then he sat down and taught the crowds from the boat. After he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, "Put out into deep water and lower your nets for a catch." Simon said in reply, "Master, we have worked hard all night and have caught nothing, but at your command I will lower the nets." When they had done this, they caught a great number of fish and their nets were tearing. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come to help them. They came and filled both boats so that the boats were in danger of sinking. When Simon Peter saw this he fell at the knees of Jesus and said, "Depart from me, Lord, for I am a sinful man." For astonishment at the catch of fish they had made seized him and all those with him, and likewise James and John, the sons of Zebedee, who were partners of Simon. Jesus said to Simon, "Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men." When they brought their boats to the shore, they left everything and followed him.