Monday Night at the Movies
OUR LADY OF PERPETUAL HELP
Malachi,
Chapter 3, verse 16
Then those who FEAR the LORD spoke with one another, and the LORD listened attentively; a record book was written before him of those who fear the LORD and esteem his name.
The people during the
time of the prophet Malachi were perplexed. Why is it that evildoers prosper
and even mock God and escape? The prophet is reassuring those who loved the
Lord that nothing escapes God and if we have Holy fear and love the Lord
we will be taken care of.
Many
of the behaviors of evil people lead directly to success; the biggest liar and
manipulator on the sales team will usually be the top salesperson, for example.
The evil person develops skill in seeing how to get the optimal outcome in
every situation, and is willing to take whatever the actions are to get that
most desirable outcome… which is why they so often get there. These people are
NOT being blessed, they are reaping the “rewards” of their evil in the same way
that a child cheating on a test gets a higher score… this is NOT the work of
God, as He NEVER rewards evil.[1]
No we should not envy evil
doers for whatever they gain it is never enough. Nor do they find peace in
their hearts for their needs are never satisfied nor their thirst for more ever
quenched.
According
to the author Michael H. Brown[2]
we are in the midst of a war between the forces of good and evil and right now
it may seem that they are winning the battle, but they have already lost the
war-the war for our souls; which Christ purchase with his death on the
cross. Hallelujah!
Our Lady of
Perpetual Help[3]
Also known as Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, is celebrated on June 27 by the universal Church.
The devotion to this Marian advocation
revolves around the picture of Our Lady of Perpetual Succor, painted on wood,
with background of gold. It is Byzantine in style and is supposed to have been
painted in the thirteenth century. It represents the Mother of God holding the
Divine Child while the Archangels Michael and Gabriel presenting Him the
instruments of His Passion. Over the figures in the picture are some Greek
letters which form the abbreviated words Mother of God, Jesus Christ, Archangel
Michael, and Archangel Gabriel respectively.
·
The icon was brought to Rome towards the end of
the fifteenth century by a pious merchant, who, dying there, ordered by his
will that the picture should be exposed in a church for public veneration. It
was exposed in the church of San Matteo in the famous Roman street of Via
Merulana, which connects the basilicas of Saint Mary Major and Saint John
Lateran. Crowds flocked to this church, and for nearly three hundred years many
graces were obtained through the intercession of the Blessed
·
Pope Pius IX, who as a boy had prayed before the
picture in San Matteo, became interested in the discovery. But at that time,
the ruins of San Matteo were in the grounds of a convent of the Redemptorists
-- the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer -- founded by St. Alphonsus
Liguori (1696-1787). The Father General of the Redemptorists, Most Rev. Nicholas
Mauron, decided to bring the whole matter to the attention of the Pope. The
Pope listened attentively and felt sure it was God’s will that the icon should
be gain exposed to public veneration and the logical site was their church of
St. Alphonsus, standing as it did between the Basilicas of St. Mary Major and
St. John Lateran. The Holy Father at once took a piece of paper and wrote a
short memorandum ordering the Augustinian Fathers of St. Mary in Posterula to
surrender the picture to the Redemptorists, on condition that the Redemptorists
supply the Augustinians with another picture of Our Lady or a good copy of the
icon of Perpetual Help.
·
The Icon meant much to the Augustinians, but
when the two Redemptorists came armed with the Pope’s signed memorandum, what
could they do but obey? On January 19, 1866, Fathers Marchi and Bresciani
brought the miraculous picture to St. Alphonsus’ church. Preparations were now
made to inaugurate the new public reign of Our Lady of Perpetual Help. On April
26th, a great procession was staged in which the picture was carried throughout
the Esquiline region of Rome. Upon returning to the church, the picture was
enthroned over the high altar, in a resplendent shrine-niche especially
constructed for it.
·
The report of marvelous healings spread rapidly
throughout the city of Rome and people came by the hundreds to visit the
shrine. Soon the whole area around the altar was filled with abandoned crutches
and canes and several whole glass-covered cabinets were filled with gold and
silver thanksgiving offerings in the shapes of miniature hearts, arms, legs and
other votive offerings. Scarcely two weeks after the solemn exposition of the
picture, Pope Pius IX himself came to visit the shrine. He stood quietly before
it for a long time and then exclaimed: “How beautiful she is!”.
·
Pope Leo XIII, the next pontiff, had a copy of
the picture on his desk so that he might see it constantly during his working
day. St. Pius X sent a copy of the icon to the Empress of Ethiopia and granted
an indulgence of 100 days to anyone who repeated the phrase: “Mother of
Perpetual Help, pray for us.”
·
Pope Benedict XV had the picture of Our Lady of
Perpetual Help placed immediately over his chair of state in the throne room.
Here it could be seen by all just over his head, as if to say: “Here is your
true Queen!”.
·
Pope Pius IX told the Redemptorists, in speaking
to them of the treasure he had committed to their care: “Make her known!” It
seems as though they hardly needed the exhortation. In the United States, they built
the first Our Lady of Perpetual Help church in the Roxbury section of Boston,
and it was eventually raised to the honor of a “Papal Basilica” by Pope Pius
XII.
Things to Do:
- Read
the History of the Icon.
- Visit
Our Lady of Perpetual Help Radio site to see an
explanation of the symbols of the Icon.
- See
also Women for Faith & Family page on Our Lady of
Perpetual Help.
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY
SECTION ONE THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY
CHAPTER ONE THE PASCHAL MYSTERY IN THE AGE OF THE CHURCH
- Article 1 THE LITURGY - WORK OF THE
HOLY TRINITY
II. Christ's Work in the
Liturgy
Christ glorified . . .
1084 "Seated at the right hand of the Father" and
pouring out the Holy Spirit on his Body which is the Church, Christ now acts
through the sacraments he instituted to communicate his grace. the sacraments
are perceptible signs (words and actions) accessible to our human nature. By
the action of Christ and the power of the Holy Spirit they make present
efficaciously the grace that they signify.
1085 In the liturgy of the Church, it is principally his own
Paschal mystery that Christ signifies and makes present. During his earthly
life Jesus announced his Paschal mystery by his teaching and anticipated it by
his actions. When his Hour comes, he lives out the unique event of history
which does not pass away: Jesus dies, is buried, rises from the dead, and is
seated at the right hand of the Father "once for all."8 His Paschal mystery is a real event that
occurred in our history, but it is unique: all other historical events happen
once, and then they pass away, swallowed up in the past. the Paschal mystery of
Christ, by contrast, cannot remain only in the past, because by his death he
destroyed death, and all that Christ is - all that he did and suffered for all
men - participates in the divine eternity, and so transcends all times while
being made present in them all. the event of the Cross and Resurrection abides
and draws everything toward life.
. . . from the time of the Church
of the Apostles . . .
1086 "Accordingly, just as Christ was sent by the Father
so also he sent the apostles, filled with the Holy Spirit. This he did so that
they might preach the Gospel to every creature and proclaim that the Son of God
by his death and resurrection had freed us from the power of Satan and from death
and brought us into the Kingdom of his Father. But he also willed that the work
of salvation which they preached should be set in train through the sacrifice
and sacraments, around which the entire liturgical life revolves."
1087 Thus the risen Christ, by giving the Holy Spirit to the
apostles, entrusted to them his power of sanctifying: they became
sacramental signs of Christ. By the power of the same Holy Spirit they
entrusted this power to their successors. This
"apostolic succession"
structures the whole liturgical life of the Church and is itself sacramental,
handed on by the sacrament of Holy Orders.
. . . is present in the earthly
liturgy . . .
1088 "To accomplish so great a work" - the
dispensation or communication of his work of salvation - "Christ is always
present in his Church, especially in her liturgical celebrations. He is present
in the Sacrifice of the Mass not only in the person of his minister, 'the same
now offering, through the ministry of priests, who formerly offered himself on
the cross,' but especially in the Eucharistic species. By his power he is
present in the sacraments so that when anybody baptizes, it is really Christ
himself who baptizes. He is present in his word since it is he himself who
speaks when the holy Scriptures are read in the Church. Lastly, he is present
when the Church prays and sings, for he has promised 'where two or three are
gathered together in my name there am I in the midst of them."'
1089 "Christ, indeed, always associates the Church with
himself in this great work in which God is perfectly glorified and men are
sanctified. the Church is his beloved Bride who calls to her Lord and through
him offers worship to the eternal Father."
. . . which participates in the
liturgy of heaven
1090 "In the earthly liturgy we share in a foretaste of
that heavenly liturgy which is celebrated in the Holy City of Jerusalem toward
which we journey as pilgrims, where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God,
Minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle. With all the warriors of
the heavenly army we sing a hymn of glory to the Lord; venerating the memory of
the saints, we hope for some part and fellowship with them; we eagerly await
the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, until he, our life, shall appear and we too
will appear with him in glory."
Daily
Devotions
·
Fight like a knight, so I can
reward you. Do not be unduly fearful, because you are not alone. Trust is victorious. Do not fear struggle; courage itself often
intimidates temptations, and they dare not attack us. Courage, God is.
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Protection
of Life from Conception until natural death.
·
Go to MASS and have a Honey Orange Blossom Baklava
· Eat waffles
and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
· Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
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