Posted on by olfatimachapel

This Hour of Shadow Over Our Easter: The Greater Litanies

Greater Litanies

Tomorrow, the feast of St. Mark, is also a day set aside for a penitential procession and was designated so long before St. Mark’s festival was instituted. As Dom Gueranger says in his history of the Greater Litanies,

Laden as we are with the manifold graces of this holy season, and elated with our Paschal joys, we must sober our gladness by reflecting on the motives which led the Church to cast this hour of shadow over our Easter sunshine. After all, we are sinners with much to regret and much to fear; we have to avert those scourges which are due to the crimes of mankind; we have, by humbling ourselves and invoking the intercession of the Mother of God and the Saints, to obtain the health of our bodies and the preservation of the fruits of the earth; we have to offer atonement of divine justice for our own and the world’s pride, sinful indulgences, and insubordination. Let us enter into ourselves, and humbly confess that our own share in exciting God’s indignation is great; and our poor prayers, united with those of our holy Mother the Church, will obtain mercy for the guilty, and for ourselves who are of the number.

The great feature of the day is the procession with the singing of the Litany of the Saints, followed by several versicles and prayers. You may want to recite them at home if you do not have a procession available to you. Find them here.

Here is a link to Dom Gueranger’s history and explanation of this day. You will find it by scrolling down to the heading, “St. Mark’s Procession”. The link also provides a bounty of information on St. Mark.

 

Posted on by olfatimachapel

Triduum of Our Lady of Good Counsel

iu

*Triduum, April 23-25, Feast, April 26

 

The devotion to Our Lady of Good Counsel originated near Rome, where for centuries an Augustinian church, which contains a miraculous picture of Mary, has been a place of pilgrimage. Your earthly pilgrimage is beset with many dangers. You are in need of advice in the serious problems of life. Remember that Jesus gave you a counselor who will never fail you. Go to your Heavenly Mother with childlike confidence and abandonment. Entrust yourself to her prudent guidance, for she is your Mother of Good Counsel.

I, Wisdom, dwell in counsel and am present in learned thoughts..Counsel is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine” (Prov. 8, 12. 14).

PRAYER

MAY the kind intercession of Mary, Your glorious and ever Virgin-Mother, be our help, we beg of You, O Lord, that it may make those whom it has blessed with continual favors ever to know what should be done, and then strengthen them to carry it out faithfully. Who live and reign forever. Amen.

     Mary, you are favored more than all other women on earth, for in the presence of our God you have aided us in our weakness. Rule over us, you and your Son, because you have freed us from the hands of our enemies!

Hail Mary…

Mary speaks:

     “He that listens to me shall not be put to shame, and they that work by me shall not sin” (Ecclus. 24, 30).

PRAYER

O GOD, You gave her who bore Your beloved Son, to be our Mother, and glorified her fair image by a wondrous apparition; grant, we beg of You, that by always following her counsels we may be able to live after Your own Heart and arrive happily in our heavenly fatherland. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

*Taken from Mary, My Hope by Rev. Lawrence G. Lovasik, S.V.D., copyright 1954

Posted on by olfatimachapel

A Practical Rule of Christian Life, Point 25

Editor’s Note:  In his book, The School of Jesus Crucified, Father Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, Passionist, outlines 25 points as a “Practical Rule of Christian Life for Daily Observance”.  

Point 25

“You might also, when in bed, imagine yourself to have reached the last hour of your life, and to be lying with the holy Crucifix in your hand, and you might ask yourself the following questions:  ‘If I were now about to die, what should I wish to have done?  Would this Crucifix afford me consolation and comfort, because I always loved Him who was Crucified, or would it be a reproach and terror because I offended Him and abused His love and mercy?’  No words can express how useful such reflections, if seriously made, would be to induce a Christian to resolve on leading a more holy life.

Conclusion to the Rule

“In this manner you will pass your day in a holy manner, gain a great deal of merit with little comparative fatigue, sanctify all your actions, and give satisfaction to the loving Heart of your suffering Jesus.”

school-jesus-crucified-1003379

 

Posted on by olfatimachapel

A Practical Rule of Christian Life, Point 24

Editor’s Note:  In his book, The School of Jesus Crucified, Father Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, Passionist, outlines 25 points as a “Practical Rule of Christian Life for Daily Observance”.  

Point 24

“Fall asleep in the midst of pious thoughts, such as these, and thus you will sanctify even your sleep.  When you wake in the night, raise your heart to your suffering Jesus, who should be the beloved object of all your thoughts and affections.  Say to Him: My Jesus, I am Thine, do Thou save me.  My Jesus, dying on the Cross for my salvation, grant that I may ever love Thee.  My beloved Jesus, I thank Thee for all Thy love.  I compassionate Thee in all Thy sufferings.”

school-jesus-crucified-1003379

Posted on by olfatimachapel

A Practical Rule of Life, Point 23

Editor’s Note:  In his book, The School of Jesus Crucified, Father Ignatius of the Side of Jesus, Passionist, outlines 25 points as a “Practical Rule of Christian Life for Daily Observance”. 

Point 23

“Undress yourself with modesty and decency, commending your soul to God, and begging your Angel Guardian to bestow his assistance upon you, by saying an Our Father in his honor.  As you lie down to rest, think of Jesus stretched on the hard bed of the Cross, and fastened down to it by sharp nails.  Say to Him:  Ah, my sweet Jesus, Thou art nailed to the Cross, and enduring unspeakable tortures,and I am lying on this bed!  I compassionate Thee, and love Thee with my whole heart.”

school-jesus-crucified-1003379