Gospel of the Day: Friday 1st Week of OT

 Today's Gospel reading at Mass: Mk 2: 1-12 Jesus Heals a Paralytic

This is how Maria Valtorta witnessed this episode of the Gospel:

The Poem of the Man-God vol 1

64. The Paralytic Cured in Peter's House.

I see the shore of the lake of Gennesaret. And I can see the boats beached by the fishermen; on the foreshore, leaning against the boats, are Peter and Andrew, intent on mending the nets, which their assistants bring them still dripping, having rinsed them in the lake to remove entangled rubbish. About ten yards away, John and James, bent over their boat, are busy at tidying it up, and they are helped by an assistant and by a man about fifty or fifty-five years old, who I think is Zebedee, because the assistant calls him « master >> and also because he is very like James.

Peter and Andrew, with their backs to the boat, are working silently knotting the threads of the nets and fixing corks to them. Now and again they exchange a few words about their work, which, as far as I understand, has not been profitable.

Peter is sorry about it, not because of the loss of profit or the unprofitable work, but he says: << I am sorry, because-what shall we do to feed these poor people? We receive only occasional offerings and I am not going to touch the ten pieces of silver and the seven drachmas we collected during the last four days. Only the Master can tell me to whom and how that money is to be given. And He will not be back here until Sabbath! If we had had a good haul!... I would have cooked the small fish for the poor... and if anyone at home grumbled, I would not have cared. Healthy people can find food for themselves. But sick people!... >>

<< Above all that paralytic!... They have already travelled so much to bring him here... >> says Andrew.

<< Listen, brother. I think... we can't remain divided like this, and I don't know why the Master does not want us with Him all the time. At least... I would not see these poor people whom I can't help, and if I saw them I would say to them: “He is here.” >>

<< I am here! >> Jesus has come near them, walking quietly on the soft sand.

Peter and Andrew start. They exclaim: << Oh! Master! >> and they shout: << James! John! The Master! Come here! >>

The two brothers rush towards them. They all draw close to Jesus. Some kiss His tunic, some His hands, and John dares to encircle His waist with his arm, and lean his head on Jesus' chest. Jesus kisses his hair. << What were you talking about? >>

<< Master... we were saying that we would have liked to have You. >>

<< Why, My friends? >>

<< To see You and love You seeing You, and also because of some poor and sick people. They have been waiting for You for over two days... I did what I could. I put them over there, see that hut in that waste land? Over there the handicraftsmen repair the boats. I sheltered there a paralytic, who has a very high temperature, and a little boy who is dying in his mother's arms. I could not send them away to look for You. >>

<< You did the right thing. But how have you been able to help them and who brought them here? You said they are poor! >>

<< Yes, Master, they are. Rich people have horses and carts. Poor people have only their legs. They cannot come looking for You as fast as they would like. I did what I could. Look: here are the offerings I have received. I have not touched anything. You will do that. >>

<< Peter, you could have done that, too. Certainly... My dear Peter, I am sorry that you should be reproached and have extra work because of Me. >>

<< No, Lord. You must not be sorry about that. It is no trouble for me. I am only sorry I have not been able to be more charitable. But, believe me, I have done, we have all done what we could. >>

<< I know. I know you have worked and in vain. But if there is no food, your charity remains: alive, active and holy in the eyes of God. >>

Some children have rushed round them shouting: << The Master! The Master is here! Here is Jesus, here is Jesus! >> and they draw close to Him, Who caresses them while speaking to His disciples.

<< Simon, I am going into your house. You will all go and tell the people that I am back and then bring Me the sick ones. >>

The disciples go away quickly in different directions. But the whole of Capernaum knows that Jesus has come, thanks to the children who are like bees swarming from the beehive to the various flowers; in our case to the houses, the streets and the squares. They come and go rejoicing, informing their mothers, passers-by, old people sitting in the sun, and they run back to be caressed by Him Who loves them. One of them, a daring boy says: << Speak to us and for us, today, Jesus. You know we love You and we are better than men. >>

Jesus smiles at the young psychologist and promises: << I will speak just for you. >> And followed by the children, He goes into the house and enters pronouncing His usual greeting of peace: << Peace to this house. >> People crowd into the big room at the back of the house, which is used as a store for nets, ropes, baskets, oars, sails, and provisions. Peter must have put it at Jesus' disposal, because everything has been piled up in one comer to make room. The lake cannot be seen from here. Only its gently lapping waves can be heard. Instead one can see the low greenish wall of the kitchen garden, with the old vine and the leafy fig-tree. There are people even on the road, as they pass from the room into the kitchen garden and hence onto the road.

Jesus begins to speak. In the front row, there are five... high-ranking people, who have elbowed their way through the crowd taking advantage of the fear they strike into poor people. Their sumptuous garments and their pride denounce them as Pharisees and doctors. But Jesus wants His little friends around Him, a crown of innocent little faces, of bright eyes, of angelical smiles, all looking up at Him. Jesus speaks and while speaking, now and again He caresses the curly head of a child who is sitting at His feet, resting his head on his little arm bent on Jesus' lap. Jesus is speaking, sitting on a huge pile of baskets and ropes.

« “My Beloved went down to his garden, to the beds of spices, to pasture his flocks in the gardens, and gather lilies... He pastures his flock among the lilies”, says Solomon*, the son of David, from whom I descend, I, the Messiah of Israel.

My garden! Which garden is more beautiful and worthy of God than Heaven, where the flowers are the angels created by the Father? And yet, it is not so. The Only Begotten Son of the Father, the Son of man wanted another garden, because it is for the sake of man that I took flesh, without which I would not be able to redeem the faults of the flesh of man. A garden which might have been but little inferior to the heavenly one, if from the earthly Paradise, the children of Adam, the children of God, had spread about, like sweet bees from a beehive, to populate the earth with holiness destined entirely for Heaven. But the enemy sowed brambles and thorns in Adam's heart, and brambles and thorns have overflown from his heart on to the earth. It is no longer a garden, but a wild cruel forest in which fever stagnates and snakes nestle.

And yet the Beloved of the Father still has a garden in this world which is domineered by Mammon. The garden in which He feeds on His celestial food: love and purity; the bed where He picks the flowers dear to Him, flowers not stained with sensuality, greed, pride. These ones. (Jesus caresses as many of the children as He can, patting with His hand the little attentive heads, one big caress that touches them lightly and makes them smile happily). Here are My lilies.

Solomon in all his wealth, did not have a robe more beautiful than the lily that scents the valley, neither did he possess a diadem of a more splendid gracefulness than the one in the pearl chalice of a lily. And yet, for My heart, there is no lily worth one of these. There is no flower-bed, no garden of wealthy people, all cultivated with lilies, that I consider worth only one of these pure, innocent, sincere, simple, little children.

Men and women of Israel! You, great and humble people according to your wealth and position, listen! You are here because you want to know Me and love Me. You must therefore know the first condition to become Mine. I will not speak difficult words. Neither will I give you more difficult examples. I say to you: “Take example from these children.”

Which of you has no children, nephews, or little brothers in their childhood, at home? Are they not a restful comfort, a bond for parents, relatives, friends? Their souls are as pure as a clear dawn, their faces scatter clouds and inspire hope, their caresses dry your tears and give you new strength! Why is there so much power in them, although they are weak, defenseless and still unlearned? Because they have God in themselves, they have strength and wisdom in God. The true wisdom: they know how to love and believe. They know how to believe and want. They know how to live in such love and such faith. Be like them: simple, pure, loving, sincere, faithful.

There is no wise man in Israel greater than the smallest of these children, whose souls belong to God and His Kingdom belongs to them. Blessed by the Father, loved by the Son of the Father, flowers of My garden, may My peace be with you and with whoever will imitate you for My sake. » Jesus has finished.

<< Master! » shouts Peter amidst the crowd, << the sick people are here. Two of them can wait until You come out, but this one is crushed amongst the crowd and... he cannot stay here any longer. It is impossible for us to come in. Shall I send him back? »

<< No, lower him down through the roof. »

<< You are right. We will do that at once. »

I can hear them shuffling on the low roof of the big room, the terrace of which is not built of cement, as the storeroom is not really part of the house. The roof is formed with branches covered by chips of stone like slate. I do not know what stone it is. They make an opening through which, by means of ropes, they lower down the little stretcher on which the patient is lying. It is lowered in front of Jesus.

The crowds throng closer to see.

<< Both you and who brought you have great faith. >>

<< Oh! Lord! How could we have no faith in You? >>

<< Well, I say to you: son (he is a very young man) your sins are forgiven. >>

The man looks at him, crying... perhaps he is somewhat disappointed because he was hoping to be cured in his body. The Pharisees and doctors whisper something to one another turning up their noses, foreheads and mouths in disdain.

<< Why are you muttering, more in your hearts than with Your lips? According to you, it is easier to say to the paralytic: “Your sins are forgiven” or “Get up, take your little bed and walk away”? You think that only God can forgive sins. But you cannot answer which of these things is greater, because this man, whose whole body is lost to him, has spent a lot of money without being cured. And he can only be cured by God. Now, that you may learn that I can do everything, that you may learn that the Son of man has authority both over bodies and souls, on the earth and in Heaven, I say to him: “Get up. Pick up your bed and walk. Go home and be holy.” >>

The man jerks, he shouts, stands up, he throws himself at Jesus' feet, kisses and caresses them, he cries and laughs, and his relatives and the crowd do likewise. The crowd divides into two to let him pass, as if he were triumphant, and they follow him rejoicing. The five resentful men go away, conceited and as stiff as sticks.

And so the mother can go in with her child: a little emaciated babe, still unweaned. She holds him out in her hands saying simply: << Jesus, You love them. You said so. For Your love and for Your Mother! ... » and she weeps.

Jesus takes the suckling, who is dying, He presses him against His heart, for a moment He holds the little wan face with its little violet lips and its eyelashes already closed, against His mouth. Only one moment thus: when He removes him from His blond beard, the little face is rosy, the tiny mouth smiles vaguely as infants do, his little eyes look around bright and inquisitive, his little hands, which before were lifeless, ruffle Jesus' hair and beard. And Jesus smiles.

<< Oh! My son! » shouts the happy mother.

<< Take him, woman. Be happy and good. »

And the woman takes her reborn son and presses him to her heart. And the little one claims his food at once, he searches, finds, opens and sucks, hungry and happy.

Jesus blesses and passes. He goes to the door where is the man with the high temperature.

<< Master! Be good! »

<< And you, too. Make use of your health in justice. » He caresses him and goes out.

He goes back to the beach, followed, preceded and blessed by many who implore Him: << We did not hear You. We could not get in. Speak also to us. »

Jesus nods assent and as the crowd press Him to the point of suffocating Him, He gets into Peter's boat. But it is not sufficient. The siege continues. << Set the boat afloat and move away a little. »

The vision ends here.

* Song of Songs 6:2-3

Gospel of the Day: Thursday 1st Week OT

 Today's Gospel reading at Mass is Mk 1: 40-45 Jesus cleanses a leper.

This is how María Valtorta witnessed this episode of the Gospel:

From the Poem of the Man God vol 1 / The Gospel as it was revealed to me vol 2

63. The Leper Cured near Korazim.

6th November 1944.

Since before dawn, as in the detail of a perfect photograph, I see in my spirit a poor leper.

He is really a wreck of a man. He is so ravaged by his disease, that I could not tell his age. Reduced to a skeleton, half naked, his body is in the state of a corroded mummy, with contorted hands and feet, parts of which are missing, so that the miserable limbs no longer seem to belong to a human being. His hands, twisted and clawed, resemble the talons of a winged monster, his feet, are so fragmented and disfigured, that they are almost like the hooves of an ox.

And his head!... I think that the head of anyone left unburied which becomes mummified by sun and wind, must be like the head of this man. A few surviving forelocks, spread here and there, sticking to the yellowish, crusty skin, like dust dried on a skull, very deep set eyes, half open, lips and nose half eaten by the disease and showing cartilage and gums, two embryonic wrecks of outer ears, all his visible body covered by a wrinkled skin, as yellow as some types of kaolin, with bones showing here and there: his skin seems to have the task of keeping all the poor bones together, in its filthy sack, all covered with ugly scars and putrid sores. A real wreck!

I cannot help thinking of the personification of Death wandering on the earth, covered by a wrinkled skin on its skeleton, enveloped in a filthy mantle falling to bits and pieces, holding in its hand not a scythe, but a knotty stick torn from a tree.

He is at the entrance of a remote cave, a real cave, in such a state of ruin that I cannot say whether it was originally a sepulcher, or a hut for wood cutters or the remains of a demolished house. He is looking at the road, over one hundred meters away from his cave, a main road, dusty and still sunny. There is nobody on the road. As far as the eye can see, on the road there are sunshine, dust and solitude. Much higher up, to the northwest, there must be a village or a town. I can see the first houses. It must be at least a kilometer away.

The leper looks and sighs. He takes a chipped bowl and fills it at a brook. He drinks. He goes into a tangle of bushes, behind his cave, bends down and pulls some wild roots out of the ground. He goes back to the brook, he washes them, removing the coarser dirt with the little water of the rivulet and he eats them slowly, taking them painfully to his mouth with his ruined hands. They must be as hard as sticks. He finds difficulty in chewing them and he has to spit many out as he is unable to swallow them, notwithstanding the water he drinks to help himself.

« Where are you, Abel? » shouts someone.

The leper rouses, he has something on his lips that might be a smile. But his lips are in such a bad state that even that outward sign of a smile is vague and shapeless. He replies with a strange, squeaky voice: it reminds me of the cry of certain birds, the exact name of which I do not know: « I am here! I did not believe you were coming any more. I thought something had happened to you. I was sad... If I lose you too, what will happen to poor Abel? » While speaking, he walks towards the road, as far as he can according to the Law, apparently, because at half the way, he stops.

A man comes forward on the road, he is moving so fast that he seems to be running.

« Is that really you, Samuel? Oh! If it is not you I am waiting for, whoever you may be, don't hurt me! »

<< It’s me, Abel, it's me! And I am cured. Look how I can run. I am late, I know. And I was worried about you. But when you hear... oh! you will be happy. And I have with me not only the usual crusts of bread, but a whole loaf of good, fresh bread, and it is all for you, and I have some good fish, and some cheese, and it is all for you. I want you to rejoice, my poor friend, and thus get ready for a greater joy. >>

<< But how have you become so rich? I do not understand... >>

<< I will tell you. >>

<< And cured. You do not seem the same man! >>

<< Listen, then. I heard that there was at Capernaum that Rabbi who is a holy man, and I went... >>

<< Stop, stop! I am infected. >>

<< Oh! It does not matter! I am no longer afraid of anything. >> The man, who is indeed the cripple cured and helped by Jesus, with his fast step has almost reached the leper and is only a few steps from him. He spoke while walking and smiling happily.

But the leper says once again: << In the name of God, stop. If anyone should see you... >>

<< I will stop. Look: I am putting the provisions here. Eat, while I speak to you. >> He puts a bundle on a large stone, and opens it up. He then withdraws a few steps, while the leper moves forward and throws himself on the rare food.

<< Oh! How long it is since I had food like this! How good it is! And I was just thinking that I was going to rest with an empty stomach. Not one merciful soul today... and not even you... I had chewed some roots... »

<< Poor Abel! I was afraid of that. But I said: “Well, he may be sad now, but he will be happy after!” »

<< Happy, yes, because of this good food. But after... »

<< No! You will be happy forever. »

The leper shakes his head.

<< Listen, Abel. If you can have faith, you will be happy. »

<< But faith in whom? »

<< In the Rabbi. In the Rabbi Who cured me. »

<< But I am a leper. And at the last stage! How can He cure me?»

<< Oh! He can. He is holy. »

<< Yes, also Elisha cured* Naaman the leper... I know... But I... I cannot go to the Jordan. »

<< You will be cured without the need of any water. Listen: this Rabbi is the Messiah, do you understand? The Messiah! He is the Son of God. And He cures everyone who has faith. He says: “I want” and the demons flee, limbs are straightened, and blind eyes see. »

<< Oh! I would have faith, I would indeed! But how can I see the Messiah? »

<< Exactly... I have come just for that. He is often over there, in that village. I know where He will be this evening. If you want... I said: “I will tell Abel, and if Abel feels he can have faith, I will take him to the Master.” >>

<< Are you mad, Samuel? If I go near houses, I will be stoned. >>

<< Not near the houses. It will be soon getting dark. I will take you to that thicket, and then I will go and call the Master. I will bring Him to you... >>

<< Go, go at once! I will go by myself to that place. I will walk in the ditch, behind the hedge, but go, go... Oh! go, my good friend! If you only knew what it is to suffer from this disease. And what it means to hope to be cured!... >> The leper no longer is interested in the food. He cries and gesticulates imploring his friend.

<< I am going, and you will come. >> The cured cripple runs away.

Abel with difficulty climbs down into the ditch coasting the road, as it is full of bushes which have grown on the dry earth. Only in the center there is a fine stream of water. It is getting dark, and the poor man slides among the bushes, always on the look-out in case he should hear any steps. Twice he has to hide on the bottom: the first time when a man on horseback passes along the road, the second time when three men, laden with hay, pass by going to the village. And he goes on.

But Jesus and Samuel reach the thicket before him. << He will be here before long. He moves very slowly because of his wounds. Please be patient. >>

<< I am not in a hurry. >>

<< Will You cure him? >>

<< Has he faith? >>

<< Oh!... he was dying of starvation. He saw that food after years of abstinence, and yet, after a few mouthfuls, he left it all to come here. >>

<< How did you meet him? >>

<< You know... I lived on charity after my misfortune and I went along the roads from one place to another. I used to pass here every seven days and I met the poor man... one day, when driven by hunger, he had come on the main road looking for something, under a most violent storm. He was searching amongst the garbage, like a dog. I had a chunk of dry bread in my knapsack, the gift of some good people, and I shared it with him. We have been friends ever since, and I bring him some food every week. With what I have... If I have a lot, I can give a lot; if I have little, I give little. I do what I can as if he were my brother. Since You cured me, may You be blessed, I have been thinking of him... and of You. >>

<< You are good, Samuel; that is why you have been visited by grace. He who loves deserves everything from God. But there is something moving among the branches... >>

<< Is that you, Abel? >>

<< Yes, it is me. >>

<< Come, the Master is waiting for you here, under the walnut tree. >>

The leper rises from the ditch and climbs on to the bank, which he crosses and goes into the meadow. Jesus, leaning with His back against a very tall walnut tree, is waiting for him.

<< Master, Messiah, Holy One, have mercy on me! » and he throws himself on to the grass at Jesus' feet. With his face still bent down on the ground he says: << My Lord! If You want, You can cleanse me! » He then dares to rise on to his knees, he stretches out his skeleton-like arms, with contorted hands, he lifts his emaciated ruined face... Tears run down from his diseased eye sockets to his corroded lips. Jesus looks at him so pitifully. He looks at that shadow of a man, devoured by the terrible disease, who is so horrible and ill-smelling that only true charity can endure to be near him. And yet, Jesus stretches out His hand, His beautiful wholesome right hand to caress the poor fellow.

The leper, without getting up, throws himself back on his heels, and shouts: << Don't touch me! Have mercy on me! »

But Jesus takes a step forward. Stately, good, kind He lays His fingers on the head devoured by leprosy, and in a low voice, which is full of love and yet most authoritative, He says: << I want it! Be cleansed! » His hand remains on the poor head for a few minutes. << Get up. Go to the priest. Fulfill the prescriptions of the Law. And do not tell anyone what I did for you. But be good. Do not sin any more. I bless you. »

<< Oh! Lord! Abel! You are completely cured! » Samuel, seeing the complete change of his friend, shouts out of joy.

<< Yes, he is cured. He deserved it because of his faith. Goodbye. Peace be with you. »

« Master! Master! Master! I will not leave You. I cannot leave You.>>

« Do what the Law prescribes. We will meet again. Once again I bless you. >>

Jesus goes away, nodding to Samuel to stay. And the two friends shed tears of joy, while in the light of a quarter of the moon they go back to the cave for the last rest in that den of misfortune. And the vision ends thus.

* 2Kings 5:1-14

 

Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church

Pope Francis decreed in 2018 that the ancient devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, under the title of Mother of the Church, be inserted into the Roman Calendar for the universal Church.

http://www.cultodivino.va/content/cultodivino/it/documenti/decreti-generali/decreti-generali/2018/de-beata-maria-virgine-ecclesiae-matre/decretum/englih.html

The liturgical celebration, Beatæ Mariæ Virginis, Ecclesiæ Matris, will be celebrated annually as a Memorial on the day after Pentecost.

Scripture, depicts Mary at the foot of the Cross (cf. Jn 19:25): 

When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing beside her, he said to his mother, ‘Woman, here is your son.’ Then he said to the disciple, ‘Here is your mother.’ And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

There she became the Mother of the Church when she accepted her Son’s testament of love and welcomed all people in the person of the beloved disciple as sons and daughters to be reborn unto life eternal.

This title has its origins in the early Church Fathers.

St. Leo the Great says that "the birth of the Head is also the birth of the body", thus indicating that Mary is at once Mother of Christ, the Son of God, and mother of the members of his Mystical Body, which is the Church.

St. Augustine says that Mary is the "mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church".

In 1964, Pope Paul VI “declared the Blessed Virgin Mary as ‘Mother of the Church, that is to say of all Christian people, the faithful as well as the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother’ and established that ‘the Mother of God should be further honored and invoked by the entire Christian people by this tenderest of titles’”

DIVINE OFFICE: Proper texts for the Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary Mother of the Church

http://www.cultodivino.va/content/cultodivino/it/documenti/decreti-generali/decreti-generali/2018/de-beata-maria-virgine-ecclesiae-matre/adnexus.html

English translation of the texts as published by Universalis https://universalis.com/L/20190610/today.htm

PRAYER COLLECT

O God, Father of mercies, whose Only Begotten Son, as he hung upon the Cross, chose the Blessed Virgin Mary, his Mother, to be our Mother also; grant, we pray, that with her loving help, your Church may be more fruitful day by day, and exulting in the holiness of her children, may draw to her embrace all the families of the peoples. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Office of Readings

HYMN

Hail, of paradise the portal!

  Tree of Life regained, immortal;

Whence, through thee, all sweetness floweth,

  And salvation’s fruit still groweth.

Thou our hearts aright inclinest,

  On our life’s way brightly shinest;

Us from God’s just anger savest,

  Who to man our Saviour gavest.

Hail! Blest shrine of God the Father,

  Thither sinners haste to gather;

Pardon for their guilt obtaining,

  Freedom from the foe’s enchaining;

Strength from thee the weak shall borrow,

  Comfort, thou, of all who sorrow;

From the final wrath tremendous,

  Mother of our Christ, defend us.

Star of ocean! Mother fairest!

  Who the name of Mary bearest;

In thy bright illumination

  Pales each star and constellation.

Hail, O Father! Hail, sweet Mother!

  Hail, O Son of God, our Brother!

Let the hosts of heaven adore thee,

  Every spirit bow before thee.

Second Reading

From an allocution by Pope Paul VI at the Second Vatican Council –(Allocutione ad Patres Concilii Vaticani II, die 21 novembris 1964)

The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church

Meditating on the close relationships between Mary and the Church, for the glory of the Virgin Mary and for our own consolation, we proclaim the Most Blessed Mary Mother of the Church, that is to say of all the people of God, of the faithful as well as of the pastors, who call her the most loving Mother. And we wish that the Mother of God should be still more honoured and invoked by the entire Christian people by this most sweet title.

  This is a title, venerable brothers, not new to Christian piety; it is precisely by this title, in preference to all others, that the faithful and the Church address Mary. It truly is part of the genuine substance of devotion to Mary, finding its justification in the very dignity of the Mother of the word Incarnate.

  Just as, in fact, the divine maternity is the basis for her special relationship with Christ, and for her presence in the economy of salvation brought about by Jesus Christ, thus it also constitutes the principal basis for the relations between Mary and the Church, since she is the mother of him who, right from the time of his Incarnation in her virginal bosom, joined to himself as head his Mystical Body which is the Church. Mary, then, as mother of Christ, is mother also of all the faithful and of all the pastors.

  It is therefore with a soul full of trust and filial love that we raise our glance to her, despite our unworthiness and weakness. She, who has given us in Jesus the fountainhead of grace, will not fail to succour the Church, now flourishing through the abundance of the gifts of the Holy Ghost and setting herself with new zeal to the fulfilment of its mission of salvation.

  And our trust is even more lively and fully corroborated if we consider the very close links between this heavenly Mother of ours and mankind. Although adorned by God with the riches of admirable prerogatives, to make her a worthy Mother of the Word Incarnate, she is nevertheless very close to us. Daughter of Adam, like ourselves, and therefore our sister through ties of nature, she is, however, the creature who was preserved from original sin in view of the merits of the Saviour, and who possesses besides the privileges obtained the personal virtue of a total and exemplary faith, thus deserving the evangelical praise, beata quae credidisti (blessed art thou who believed). In her earthly life, she realised the perfect image of the disciple of Christ, reflected every virtue, and incarnated the evangelical beatitudes proclaimed by Christ. Therefore in her, the entire Church, in its incomparable variety of life and of work, attains the most authentic form of the perfect imitation of Christ.

Responsory                                                               Cf. Cf. Lk 1,35

The Holy Spirit came down upon Mary:
—* The Power of the Most High overshadowed her.

Once more He filled her who shared in the Passion of her own Son, as Mother of all the redeemed.
—* The Power of the Most High overshadowed her.

Morning Prayer

HYMN

Mary Immaculate, star of the morning,

  Chosen before the creation began,

Chosen to bring in the light of thy dawning,

  Woe to the serpent and rescue to man.

Here, in this world of both shadow and sadness

  Veiling thy splendour, thy course hast thou run:

Now thou art throned in all glory and gladness,

  Crowned by the hand of thy Saviour and Son.

Sinners, we worship thy sinless perfection;

  Fallen and weak, for thy pity we plead:

Grant us the shield of thy sov’reign protection,

  Measure thine aid by the depth of our need.

Bend from thy throne at the voice of our crying,

  Bend to this earth which thy footsteps have trod:

Stretch out thine arms to us, living and dying,

  Mary Immaculate, Mother of God.

Benedictus Antiphon

The disciples, with one mind, persevered in prayer with Mary, the Mother of Jesus.

Evening Prayer

HYMN

Hail, Queen of the heavens, hail Mistress of earth;

Hail, Virgin most pure of immaculate birth:

Clear star of the morning in beauty enshrined;

O Lady, make speed to the help of mankind.

Thee God in the depth of eternity chose,

And formed thee all fair as his glorious spouse,

And called thee his own Word’s true Mother to be

By whom he created the earth, sky, and sea.

Hail, Mother most pure, hail, Virgin renowned,

Hail, Queen with the stars as a diadem crowned;

Above all the angels in glory untold,

Set next to the King in a vesture of gold.

These praises and prayers we lay at thy feet,

O Virgin of virgins, O Mary most sweet:

Be thou our true guide through this pilgrimage here,

And stand by our side when our death draweth near.

MAGNIFICAT Antiphon 

Jesus said to His Mother: Woman, behold your son; then He said to the disciple, behold your mother.

Memorial of Blessed Dina Bélanger

The Canadian Church celebrates today the optional memorial of a very holy Canadian woman, a contemporary of St. Thérèse of Lisieux, known as the "Little Flower of Canada": Mary, Margaret, Dina, Adelaide Bélanger was born in Quebec on April 30, 1897 and baptized the same day.

When Dina’s brother died at three months old, her grieving mother started visiting the poor and ill bringing nourishment and compassion. Dina often went with her. Discovering she didn’t have a patron saint, she resolved to be the first St. Dina.

Gifted with music, she studied piano at the Conservatory of Music in New York from 1916 to 1918. But instead of becoming a concert pianist she entered the Congregation of Jésus-Marie at Sillery on August 11, 1921 and as Sister Marie Sainte-Cécile de Rome took her final vows on August 15 1928. Teacher of music, she contracted scarlet fever after caring for a sick pupil and developed tuberculosis. For the rest of her life she taught whenever she was not too ill to do so. Died of September 4, 1929, age 32. A great mystic who entered into the mystery of love at the heart of the Trinity, she revealed her intimacy with God in her diaries and autobiography written at the request of her superiors. Beatified in 1933 by Saint John Paul II.

PRAYER COLLECT

O God, the source of all holiness, who raised Blessed Dina Bélanger to the heights of divine love and made known to her the treasures of the heart of your Son, grant that, through her prayers and her example, we may faithfully carry out your will in all that we do. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

For further information:

http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/belanger_dina_15E.html
http://www.mysticsofthechurch.com/2010/09/blessed-dina-belanger-mother-ste-cecile.html

The Glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

"By the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory."

          From the Apostolic Constitution of Pope Pius XII, "Munificentísimus Deus", defining the dogma of the Assumption of Mary into heaven

 - November 1, 1950. 

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Booklet of the Divine Office with Gregorian Chant for Morning and Evening Prayer on the liturgical 

Solemnity of the Assumption - August 15

The beautiful centuries old antiphons of the liturgy for the Assumption gathered in the official prayer of the Church, the Divine Office, speak of our faith around Mary and the perfect way in which the Mystery of Redemption was accomplished in Her, thus fulfilling the Plan of God:

Christ ascended into Heaven and prepared an everlasting place for His Immaculate Mother, alleluia!

Through Eve the gates of Heaven were closed to all mankind through the Virgin Mother they were opened wide again, alleluia!

The Virgin Mary has been exalted above all the Heavens; come, let all men glorify Christ the King, whose Kingdom will endure for ever, alleluia!

All generations will call me Blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me, alleluia!

Arise, O Virgin Queen, you are for ever worthy of our praise; take your place in the glorious dwelling place of the Eternal King!

The Lord has chose Her, his loved one from the beginning. He has taken Her to live with Him.

Glorious things are said of you, O Virgin Mary!

Blessed are you, O Mary, for the world's salvation came forth through you; now in glory, you rejoice for ever with the Lord!

The Virgin Mary is exalted above the choirs of angels; let all believers rejoice and bless the Lord!

The Lord has made you so glorious that your praise will never cease to resound among men.

We acclaim you, Holy Mary, as Queen of Heave; the Sun of Justice came froth from your bridal chamber!

The Holy Mother of God is exalted in glory, above the choirs of angels, in the Kingdom of Heaven!

We share the fruit of life through you, O daughter blessed by the Lord!

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Some mystics of the Church have been given a profound insight into the mystery celebrated by the Church under the title of the Assumption.  

Here are two examples from two mystics in the way to sainthood, whose writings have been declared by the Church free-from theological error:

I

The Assumption as described by Venerable Maria of Jesus of Agreda in her "Mystical City of God" 

Our Redeemer Jesus entered heaven conducting the purest soul of his Mother at his right hand.

She should be his Companion for all eternity, possessing such a likeness to Him, that none greater can be possible between a Godman and a creature. In this light the Redeemer himself presented Her before the throne of the Divinity; and speaking to the eternal Father in the presence of all the blessed, who were ravished at this wonder, the most sacred humanity uttered these words: "Eternal Father, my most beloved Mother, thy beloved Daughter and the cherished Spouse of the Holy Ghost, now comes to take possession of the crown and glory, which We have prepared as a reward for her merit.

She is the one who was born as the rose among thorns, untouched, pure and beautiful, worthy of being embraced by Us and of being placed upon a throne to which none of our creatures can ever attain, and to which those conceived in sin cannot aspire. This is our chosen and our only One, distinguished above all else, to whom We communicated our grace and our perfections beyond the measure accorded to other creatures; in whom We have deposited the treasure of our incomprehensible Divinity and its gifts; who most faithfully preserved and made fruitful the talents, which We gave Her; who never swerved from our will, and who found grace and pleasure in our eyes.

The most holy soul of Mary was immediately raised to the right hand of her Son and true God, and placed on the royal throne of the most holy Trinity, which neither men, nor angels nor the seraphim themselves attain, and will not attain for all eternity. This is the most exalted and supereminent privilege of our Queen and Lady, that She is seated on the throne with the three divine Persons and holds her place as Empress, while all the rest are set as servants and ministers to the highest King. To the eminence and majesty of that position, inaccessible to all other creatures, correspond her gifts of glory, comprehension, vision and fruition.

The full chapter on the Assumption can be read here:

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II

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary as explained to the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta in her "Book of Heaven" Vol. 18  

I began to think about the feast of my Celestial Mama Assumed into Heaven; and my sweet Jesus, with a tender and moving tone, added: “My daughter, the true name of this Feast should be Feast of the Divine Will.

It was the human will that closed Heaven, broke the bonds with its Creator, made miseries and sorrow enter the field, and put an end to the feast that the creature was to enjoy in Heaven. Now, this creature, Queen of all, by doing the Will of the Eternal One always and in everything – even more, it can be said that Her life was Divine Will alone – opened the Heavens, bound Herself to the Eternal One, and restored in Heaven the feasts with the creature.

So, the true cause of this feast is the Eternal Will operating and fulfilled in my Celestial Mama. It operated such prodigies in Her as to astonish Heaven and earth, chain the Eternal One with indissoluble bonds of love, and capture the Word even into Her womb.

The very Angels, enraptured, repeated among themselves: ‘From where comes so much glory, so much honor, such greatness and prodigies never before seen, in this excelling Creature? Yet, it is from the exile that She is coming.’

Astonished, they recognized the Will of their Creator as Life operating in Her; and, trembling, they said: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy - honor and glory to the Will of Our Sovereign Lord. And glory, and trice Holy - She who let this Supreme Will operate.’

So, it is My Will that, more than anything, was and is celebrated on the day of the Assumption into Heaven of my Most Holy Mother.

It was My Will alone that made Her ascend so high as to distinguish Her among all. Everything else would have been as nothing, had She not possessed the prodigy of my Will.

It was My Will that gave Her Divine Fecundity and made Her the Mother of the Word. 

It was My Will that made Her see and embrace all creatures together, becoming the Mother of all, and loving all with a love of Divine Maternity. And making Her the Queen of all, It made Her rule and dominate. 

On that day, My Will received the first honors, the glory and the abundant fruit of Its work in Creation, and It began Its feast, which It never interrupts, for the glorification of Its operating in my beloved Mother.

And even though Heaven was opened by Me, and many Saints were already in possession of the Celestial Fatherland when the Celestial Queen was assumed into Heaven, however, She Herself was the primary cause, having fulfilled the Supreme Will in everything, and therefore we waited for She who had honored It so much and contained the true prodigy of the Most Holy Will, to make the first feast for the Supreme Volition. 

Oh! how the whole of Heaven magnified, blessed and praised the Eternal Will, upon seeing this sublime Queen enter the Empyreum, in the midst of the Celestial Court, all circumfused by the Eternal Sun of the Supreme Volition! They saw Her all studded with the power of the Supreme Fiat; there had been not even a heartbeat in Her which did not have this Fiat impressed on it. And, astonished, they looked at Her and said to Her: ‘Ascend, ascend higher. It is right that She who so much honored the Supreme Fiat, and through whom we find ourselves in the Celestial Fatherland, have the highest throne and be our Queen.’ And the greatest honor that my Mama received, was to see the Divine Will glorified.”  Book of Heaven August 15, 1925

St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Edith Stein

Today's feast of St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, a Carmelite martyr of Nazism of Jewish origin, has been incorporated to the universal Church liturgical calendar as an optional memorial. In Europe this day ranks as Feast since she was proclaimed co-patroness of Europe together with Sts. Catherine of Siena and Bridget of Sweden in 1999.

Divine Office proper for this day:

Edith Stein was born of Jewish parents in 1891, becoming an influential philosopher following her extensive studies at major German universities. Converting to Catholicism she became a major force in German intellectual life, entering the Discalced Carmelites in 1933. She was arrested by the Nazi regime in 1942 along with many Catholics of Jewish extraction, and transported by cattle train to the death camp of Auschwitz, dying there in that same year.

Office of Readings

SECOND READING

From the spiritual writings of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross: 

(Edith Stein Werke (Freiburg, 1987), 11:124-126)

Ave Crux, spes unica!

We greet you, Holy Cross, our only hope! The church puts these words on our lips during the time of the passion, which is dedicated to the contemplation of the bitter sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The world is in flames. The struggle between Christ and antichrist rages openly, and so if you decide for Christ you can even be asked to sacrifice your life.

Contemplate the Lord who hangs before you on the wood, because he was obedient even to the death of the cross. He came into the world not to do his own will but that of the Father. And if you wish to be the spouse of the Crucified, you must renounce completely your own will and have no other aspiration than to do the will of God.

Before you the Redeemer hangs on the cross stripped and naked, because he chose poverty. Those who would follow him must renounce every earthly possession.

Stand before the Lord who hangs from the cross with his heart torn open. He poured out the blood of his heart in order to win your heart. In order to follow him in holy chastity, your heart must be free from every earthly aspiration. Jesus Crucified must be the object of your every longing, of your every desire, of your every thought.

The world is in flames: the fire can spread even to our house, but above all the flames the cross stands on high, and it cannot be burnt. The cross is the way which leads from earth to heaven. Those who embrace it with faith, love, and hope are taken up, right into the heart of the Trinity.

The world is in flames: do you wish to put them out? Contemplate the cross: from his open heart the blood of the Redeemer pours, blood which can put out even the flames of hell. Through the faithful observance of the vows, you make your heart open; and then the floods of that divine love will be able to flow into it, making it overflow and bear fruit to the furthest reaches of the earth.

Through the power of the cross you can be present wherever there is pain, carried there by your compassionate charity, by that very charity which you draw from the divine heart. That charity enables you to spread everywhere the most precious blood in order to ease pain, save and redeem.

The eyes of the Crucified gaze upon you. They question you and appeal to you. Do you wish seriously to renew your alliance with him? What will your response be? Lord, where shall I go? You alone have the words of life. Ave Crux, spes unica!

RESPONSORY

We preach Christ Crucified, a scandal to the Jews and foolishness to the pagans,

--* but for those who are called, whether they be Jews or Greeks, we preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The desire of my heart and my prayer rises to God for their salvation;

--* but for those who are called, whether they be Jews or Greeks, we preach Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God.

PRAYER COLLECT

Lord, God of our fathers, you brought Saint Teresa Benedicta to the fullness of the science of the cross at the hour of her martyrdom. Fill us with that same knowledge; and, through her intercession, allow us always to seek after you, the supreme truth, and to remain faithful until death to the covenant of love ratified in the blood of your Son for the salvation of all men and women. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

Holy, Holy, Holy ...

Let us listen to the Little Daughter of Divine Will as she encounters the Most Holy Trinity:

As I was in my usual state, I seemed to see the Most Holy Trinity. They were looking at One Another, and in those gazes Their beauty was so great that They would remain ecstatic at the mere gazing upon One Another. In this state They overflowed with love, and were as though stirred by that love, to then become more intensely ecstatic. So, all of Their good and delight was comprised within Themselves, and the whole of Their eternal life, beatitude and exercise, was enclosed in this word alone: ‘Love’. And the whole beatitude of the Saints was formed by this perfect operating of the Most Holy Trinity. 

While I was seeing this, the Son assumed the form of the Crucified, and coming out from Their midst, He came to me, sharing with me the pains of the crucifixion. And while remaining with Me, He brought Himself once again into Their midst, and offered His sufferings and mine, satisfying for the love that all creatures owed Them.

Who can say Their delight, and how satisfied They were by the offering of the Son!

It seemed that, since in creating the creatures nothing had come out of Their interior but contained flames of love; so much so, that in order to give vent to this love They began to create many other images of Themselves - only when They receive what They have given, are They then satisfied - that is, love They gave, love They want. So, the most awful affront is to not love Them. Yet, Oh God, three times holy, who is there that loves You?

After this, They disappeared; but who can say what I understood? My mind got lost, and my tongue is unable to articulate a word.

Luisa Piccarreta – Book of Heaven: January 13, 1903

Peter, The Rock - On the Feast of the Cathedra of Peter

The feast of the Cathedra of St. Peter has this year a very unique flavor with two living Popes gathering at the same solemn event in St. Peter Basilica.

Two living Popes, yes, but ther is no doubt whatsoever as to who the Vicar of Christ is currently.

The embrace of Francis and Benedict is an eloquent testimony. Pope Emeritus continues to teach us even without words.

Another Pope of ancient times teaches us today also, in the Second Reading of the Divine Office, what do we believe of Francis, our Pope:

From a sermon by Saint Leo the Great, pope

The Church of Christ rises on the firm foundation of Peter’s faith

Out of the whole world one man, Peter, is chosen to preside at the calling of all nations, and to be set over all the apostles and all the fathers of the Church. Though there are in God’s people many shepherds, Peter is thus appointed to rule in his own person those whom Christ also rules as the original ruler. Beloved, how great and wonderful is this sharing of his power that God in his goodness has given to this man. Whatever Christ has willed to be shared in common by Peter and the other leaders of the Church, it is only through Peter that he has given to others what he has not refused to bestow on them.

The Lord now asks the apostles as a whole what men think of him. As long as they are recounting the uncertainty born of human ignorance, their reply is always the same.

But when he presses the disciples to say what they think themselves, the first to confess his faith in the Lord is the one who is first in rank among the apostles.

Peter says: You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Jesus replies: Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jona, for flesh and blood has not revealed it to you, but my Father who is in heaven. You are blessed, he means, because my Father has taught you. You have not been deceived by earthly opinion, but have been enlightened by inspiration from heaven. It was not flesh and blood that pointed me out to you, but the one whose only-begotten Son I am.

He continues: And I say to you. In other words, as my Father has revealed to you my godhead, so I in my turn make known to you your pre-eminence. You are Peter: though I am the inviolable rock, the cornerstone that makes both one, the foundation apart from which no one can lay any other, yet you also are a rock, for you are given solidity by my strength, so that which is my very own because of my power is common between us through your participation.

And upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. On this strong foundation, he says, I will build an everlasting temple. The great height of my Church, which is to penetrate the heavens, shall rise on the firm foundation of this faith.

The gates of hell shall not silence this confession of faith; the chains of death shall not bind it. Its words are the words of life. As they lift up to heaven those who profess them, so they send down to hell those who contradict them.

Blessed Peter is therefore told: To you I will give the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth is also bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven.

The authority vested in this power passed also to the other apostles, and the institution established by this decree has been continued in all the leaders of the Church. But it is not without good reason that what is bestowed on all is entrusted to one. For Peter received it separately in trust because he is the prototype set before all the rulers of the Church.​

Pope Francis has a unique style that reminds us more of Jesus Himself than of any of his predecessors in the Chair of Peter. His freedom to love has been a cause of concern for some who are not used to the workings and the Power of the Spirit in their own lives. People who know the Faith only through what is written in books are going to stumble with Pope Francis because we are living extraordinary times and the Spirit is moving in extraordinary ways.

But our Faith, and the Chruch of Jesus Christ is based on the Rock. Not because Pope Francis has it all together but because Jesus gave His divine Word that He wants it so, and He is the foundation supporting the Rock.

Once again it is the Humility of God that is the stumbling block for our lack of humility, especially in our times when we have come to be certain that we see things more clearly, and know better what the Church and the world needs, than the Pope -and than God Hiimself.

May God bless and keep Pope Francis, and continue to guide him as he leads us forward in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.