ICEMANforChrist: Thursday, September 14, 2023

This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. By “the power of the Holy Spirit” we can be witnesses and “communicators” of a new and redeemed humanity “even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 8). This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.

Friday, September 8, 2023

Thursday, September 14, 2023

Please Join Us for

Rosary Coast to Coast!

PLEASE join us for Rosary Coast to Coast on the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary (Also know as, Our Lady of Victory), October 7, 2023 at 3:00pm CST, to pray the Glorious Mysteries together as a nation. It simply means to gather with a group of 2 or more outside (if possible) as we call upon the powerful intercession of Our Lady to Heal Our Land!!

We know that some rallies are planned for Sunday. Rallies held on Sunday, October 8th should be considered in union with Rosary Coast to Coast as well. Resources are available to support both dates.

Go to RosaryCoasttoCoast.com to find more information and register your group.

This call to unite in prayer is, purposely, posted on the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross.

Let’s join the Mother of God and … UNITE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS!!

Please read this reflection that emphasizes why “NOW” is the critical point in history to gather in prayer this way …

Last week, I had the great pleasure of speaking at the Flame of Love Conference at the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion, WI, the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States. While preparing for my talks, I stumbled across this article I had written. I looked at the date I wrote it ... October 6, 2019!!

https://romancatholicman.com/wp/red-october-is-upon-us-its-time-to-pray-with-all-our-hearts/

Of course, outside of witnessing a pagan idol placed in front of the main altar in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, we were oblivious to what was occurring on that date …

October 6, 2019 – Beginning of Amazon Synod. The idol of Pachamama was placed in front of the main altar at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome and then carried in procession to the Synod Hall. With great angst, Msgr. Charles Pope prophetically warned that, throughout salvation history, pagan worship is usually followed by a plague. He pleaded for all to PRAY and REPENT.

October 6, 2019 – For the first time since her original message in Akita, Japan in 1973 (year of Roe v. Wade), Our Lady’s “Jonah like” message to Sr. Agnes Sasagawa was to “put on ashes and pray a repentant rosary.” (Msgr. Pope, along with all of us, was not aware of this message when he called upon us to pray and repent).

October 6, 2019 – Reports surfaced that there was no cellphone activity in a high-security portion of the Wuhan Institute of Virology from Oct. 7 through Oct. 24, 2019, indicating that there may have been a “hazardous event” on or about October 6. (This information leaked several months after this October 6 date).

Moreover, this article below references Fr. Regis Scanlon’s August 12, 2019 article, who proposed that the 100 years of Satan actually goes to - wait for it - October 13, 2019. Satan spent 100 years weakening the Church ... it was time for the enemies of the Church to move in and "deal the last blow" …

https://romancatholicman.com/wp/the-100-years-of-satan-has-wrought-devastating-destruction-on-the-church/

Here’s where I believe we are right now …

Pope St. Pius V formed the original Holy League in response to the dire situation in which Christian Europe found itself in 1571. Christianity was greatly divided and diminished at that time, and the enemies of the Church felt this was their time to “deal the last blow” to Christianity. This was when small bands of Catholic men and remnant armies from various nations came together under the spiritual leadership of the saintly pontiff and the military leadership of Don John of Austria. Pope St. Pius V dubbed them the “Holy League.”

By prayer (especially, Pope St. Pius V’s call for the world to pray the rosary) and fasting, they implored the help of God’s grace, through the intercession of the Mother of God, and, by the grace of Almighty God, on October 7, 1571, at the Battle of Lepanto, although greatly outnumbered, the Christian fleet won a crushing victory over the Ottoman Turks, saving Christendom and western civilization.

Pope St. Pius V knew this was not possible, if not for the intercession of Our Lady through the Rosary, and so he proclaimed October 7 to be the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, which was later named, Our Lady of the Rosary.

I believe – the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Victory - October 6, 2019, marked the day the enemies of the Church - New World Order? - felt we were so divided and weakened that now was their time to move in and “deal the last blow.” Granted, assaults began before 2019, but the “great aggression,” now that they had obtained all levers of power and influence, began on October 6, 2019.

What would follow is the war of all wars. The pagan elites – ruling class – would demand obedience, using fear as their tool. They would demand historic quarantines, masks, vaccines, etc. while they provoked nation-wide civil unrest (George Floyd riots). They would seek to topple the economy, making citizens dependent as their beggars. Open boarders, releasing criminals, etc. all to instill chaos and panic, as they censored, persecuted and canceled anyone who objected to their rapid advance, as they ushered in their evil "new normals" that defied the will of God. Since October, 2019, the ruling class’ lust for power and control has been severe and historic. This, while the spiritual leaders of our time have complied and done the bidding of those in power.

Moreover, this October also sees a Synod that will open in Rome on October 4 and concludes October 29th. We will be praying together just as it begins.

Greatly outnumbered, we are in the throes of a historic battle, right now. And, through Novena for Our Nation which culminates with Rosary Coast to Coast, we are following the lead of the Christians in the Battle of Lepanto.

Please join us for Rosary Coast to Coast! We are the “Holy League” of our times!

Once again, let’s join the Mother of God and … UNITE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS!!

For those who would like to join a growing (75,000+) force of “believing” Catholics, please enlist in the United States Grace Force:

SIGN-UP TO BE A UNITED STATES

GRACE FORCE PRAYER WARRIOR HERE:

DAY 29 - MARY, TOWER OF IVORY, PRAY FOR US!

Join us for Rosary Coast to Coast!

In the Battle of Lepanto, the Turks believed Christianity had become so weak, it was time to move in and "deal the last blow." Outnumbered, Pope St. Pius V called upon the world to pray the rosary. Miraculously, victory was won on October 7, 1571, which brought the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.

Here we are again, my brothers and sisters. The enemy appears to be attempting to "deal the last blow." There is no doubt we are living in diabolically influenced times. This, while Godless leaders and influencers in our nation have usurped the phrase, “This is a battle for the soul of America,” as their evil abominations unto God easily become a “new normal” in the lives of our loved ones?! Those who choose to stand in the “Spirit of Truth” are mocked, persecuted, abandoned and put out?! The time is now to do the "Lepanto thing!"

PLEASE join us for Rosary Coast to Coast on the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, October 7, 2023 at 3:00pm CST to pray the Glorious Mysteries as a nation. It simply means to gather with a group of 2 or more outside (if possible) as we call upon the powerful intercession of Our Lady to Heal Our Land!!

Go to RosaryCoasttoCoast.com to find more information and register your group.

Let’s … UNITE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS!!

DAY 31 - MARY, ARK OF THE COVENANT, PRAY FOR US

RECON

Any combat training and tactical planning begins with a process of intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination. Recon (reconnaissance) is a military term used to determine the enemy force’s disposition and intention, gathering information (or intelligence) about an enemy’s composition and capabilities. Dr. Peter Kreeft wrote: “You cannot win a war if you are unwilling to admit we are even at war or you don’t know who your enemy is or you don’t know what strategy your enemy is using.”

We have all witnessed how the dry wind of the enemy’s militant secular propaganda campaign has hardened the hearts of so many of our family members, friends, and neighbors. Spiritually speaking, many have crossed into the dry and lifeless valley of the dry bones prophesied in Ezekiel 37. Dead in their sins, with the rigor mortis of indifference hardening their hearts, they are without the breath of the Spirit, destined for eternal damnation, unless some campaign of search and rescue is launched.

So why has the devil been so effective? What is his strategy? To better understand the tactics of the devil, it is important to understand his names: “diabolos” means “he who places division or separation,” and “daio,” the root of “demon,” means “to divide.” These names identify the two great tactical campaigns the enemy has deployed, especially in recent decades: 1) Cut us off from our (supernatural) supply lines and 2) Divide and conquer. (Excerpt from my book, Church Militant Field Manual).

PRAYERS FOR TRADITIONAL 54 DAY NOVENA

THE JOYFUL MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY

Prayer before the recitation: Sign of the cross. Hail Mary.

In petition (first 27 days): Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I humbly kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses, snow white buds to remind thee of thy joys, each bud recalling to thee a holy mystery, each 10 bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, dispenser of God’s graces, and Mother of all who invoke thee, thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my petition; from thy bounty thou wilt give me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly seek. I despair of nothing that I ask of thee. Show thyself my Mother!

In thanksgiving (last 27 days): Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I gratefully kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses snow white buds to remind thee of thy joys each bud recalling to thee a holy mystery; each ten bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, Dispenser of God’s graces. and Mother of all who invoke thee! thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my thanksgiving; from thy bounty thou hast given me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly sought. I despaired not of what I asked of thee, and thou hast truly shown thyself my Mother.

Say: The Apostles’ Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

The Annunciation – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of humility and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Visitation – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of charity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Nativity – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of detachment from the world and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Presentation – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of purity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple – Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of obedience to the will of God and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

Say: The Hail Holy Queen.

Spiritual Communion: My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

In petition (first 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this spiritual communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow. O my Mother! Look with favor upon my gift, and in thy love obtain for me (specify request, see below). Hail Mary …

In thanksgiving (last 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this Spiritual Communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow in thanksgiving for (specify request, see below) which thou in thy love hast obtained for me. Hail, Mary, etc.

PETITION: May our Church and our country find hope as we unite at the foot of the cross. (Please add your own petitions to this powerful novena)

All of the daily Novena Prayers and Reflections are found in this book: 54 Day Basic Training in Holines s

All of the daily Novena Prayers and Reflections are also posted at usgraceforce.com

You can join the United State Grace Force Facebook group HERE, to receive the reflections each day.

Spanish language Novena prayers and reflections are available at https://rosarycoasttocoast.com/nfon-espanol/.

Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern.

Enroll in the worldwide Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary! Click here: https://championshrine.org/confraternity/ to enroll in the Confraternity through the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion WI; the only approved Marian apparition site in the US!

You are welcomed to join Fr. Richard Heilman as he prays the rosary "over our country" at sunrise from a lookout tower atop Blue Mounds State Park:

FEAST OF THE HOLY CROSS

Tobit, Chapter 4, Verse 21

Do not FEAR, son, that we have lived in poverty. You will have great wealth, if you fear God, avoid all sin, and do what is good before the Lord your God.”

Tobit is advising his son to be a mensch. A person with high integrity and honesty.

The other day, while going through my personal notes, I ran across some records I had taken on a lecture on “life’s most important learning’s” I would like to share.

· Be a Mensch.

· Never stop learning.

· Love and be loved.

· Don’t be afraid to take risks.

· Set the example.

· Take care of your health.

· Take care of your family.

· Watch your mouth.

· One person can make a difference.

· Life is a test/challenge; live it!

In other words, a mensch has Self-control which is the ability to control one's emotions, behavior, and desires in the face of external demands in order to function in society. (Matt DeLisi)

A great example of a man who conquered self-control is George Washington. Washington was a self-made man who learned to govern himself before he governed our great country. Washington was a passionate man by nature, yet he was famous for his reserve and graciousness to others. Washington worked on himself very hard to control his temper and to not be sensitive to criticism. Washington disciplined his passionate nature with iron will and self-control. Washington wrote, “Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect, to those that are present” and, “Labor to keep alive in your breast the little spark of celestial fire called conscience.” He strove to be a man of unquestionable dignity and manners. He was modest and wore clothes that were fine and neat but never showy. He was consciously groomed and was seldom discourteous to anyone, of higher or lower station in life. He knew his strengths as well as his weaknesses; there was no hubris in him. He understood the nature of his countrymen as well as he understood his own. He knew we are all flawed, that we must always be alert to the danger of ungoverned appetites and must strive to control and improve our nature. And through the constant application of his self-control, he became, in fact, the father of our country. He imprinted his character on this nation, and in that sense, we are all his descendants, a people famous for our constant struggle to improve. We are never so removed from the failings of our nature that we cannot stand more improvement, but neither are we so removed from Washington’s magnificent example that we dare not dream we can achieve it.[1]

A person with self-control is a person of courage. Courage is the ability and willingness to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Physical courage is courage in the face of physical pain, hardship, death, or threat of death, while moral courage is the ability to act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement.

The Masculine Spirit[2]

In America we are gradually seeing the wholesale destruction of the masculine spirit. We are so confused many of us don’t know which bathroom to use. Is this just another attempt by Satan to kill the body as God created it?

Men and women need to value themselves and value the beneficial characteristics of masculinity and to reject the false images of being male. Men and women were created to be different. They were created to be in partnership, neither one dominating the other, each using their God-given gifts of gender for the benefit of the other and for the redemption of the world. The spirit of man is action oriented yet at times it is imperative that men to be fully men of God; must borrow from the female spirit the art of reflection. We must become aware of the wounds from our childhood that drive us toward destruction and trap us in unhealthy behavior as adults. We must reflect on and learn from our mistakes, so we are not doomed to repeat them. As we reflect, we can see most men fall into one of four Archetypes—King, Warrior, Magician, and Lover. Archetypes are blueprints, primordial images that affect how we think, feel, and react to life’s situations. A balanced man can be all four simultaneously directing his energy to the problem at hand, but problems come when a man gets stuck and becomes trapped in one archetype. Each type has positive and negative characteristics of which a balanced man can tap to be a hero or a villain.

Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross[3]

THIS feast is a yearly commemoration of the erection, at Jerusalem, by Constantine the Great, and his mother, St. Helena, of the cross on which Christ died. This took place under the emperor Heraclius, by whom the holy cross, which Khosroo, King of Persia, had carried into his own country, was, after fourteen years, recovered, brought back to Jerusalem, and borne by the emperor himself to the hill of Calvary, whither it had been borne by the Savior. Upon this occasion a miracle occurred. As Heraclius was about to carry the cross to the proper place on his shoulders, out of veneration for it, he found that while wearing the imperial dress he could not move it, until, by the advice of the patriarch Zachary, he laid aside his royal ornaments, dressed himself plainly, took off his shoes, and in such manner made himself like the humble Savior.

Introit of the Mass: “But it behooves us to glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Whom is our salvation, life, and resurrection”.

Prayer. O God, Who on this day givest us joy by the annual solemnity of the exaltation of the holy cross, grant, we beseech Thee, that we may deserve the reward of His redemption in heaven Whose mystery we have known upon earth.

EPISTLE. Phil ii. 5-11.

Brethren: Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross. For which cause God also hath exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is above all names: that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.

GOSPEL. John xii. 31-36.

At that time Jesus said to the multitudes of the Jews: Now is the judgment of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all things to Myself. (Now this He said, signifying what death He should die.) The multitude answered Him: We have heard out of the law, that Christ abideth forever: and how sayest Thou: The Son of man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of man? Jesus therefore said to them: Yet a little while the light is among you. Walk whilst you have the light, that the darkness overtake you not. And he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Whilst you have the light, believe in the light that you may be the children of light.

Instruction on the Devotion of the Way of the Cross

What is the Holy Way of the Cross?

It is a devotional exercise by which we meditate upon the passion and death of Jesus, and particularly upon His last way of sorrows, from the house of Pilate to Mount Calvary. Tradition testifies that after Christ’s ascension the Christians living in Jerusalem were accustomed particularly to venerate the holy places which had been sanctified by the passion of the divine Redeemer. But after Jerusalem fell into the hands of the infidels, so that it became dangerous, and often impossible, to pass over the ground which Our Lord had trod, the children of St. Francis of Assisi began to erect in their churches the fourteen stations of the Way of the Cross, by meditating on which the faithful might, in spirit, accompany the pilgrims to Jerusalem on the way to Calvary, dwelling in thought on what Christ had suffered for men. Station here means a place to pause, a resting point for meditation. This devotion has been examined and approved by many Popes, enriched with indulgences, and earnestly recommended to Christians. It may be found in any prayer-book. No exercise is more profitable to our souls than this.

· What can bring before us the love of God and the abominableness and frightfulness of sin in a more vivid manner than the sufferings of the Godman?

· How can we any longer indulge in hate when we hear Jesus pray for His enemies?

· How can we give ourselves up to sensuality and lust when we see the divine Savior scourged, crowned with thorns, and hanging on the cross?

· How can we murmur at our trials when we think that Jesus innocent takes up the cross for us guilty?

In truth, we should see our coldness and indifference disappear, as ice melts in the heat, we should grow more and more zealous in the way of virtue, if we would but rightly meditate upon the passion of Christ.

How are visits to the Stations of the Cross to be made?

Rightly to visit the Stations of the Cross, and to draw there from real benefit, we should at each station consider with attention, with devotion and sorrow, what Jesus has done and suffered for us. We should not content ourselves with merely reciting at each station the proper prayers and meditations, but should pause, to impress upon our hearts what is there represented, that we may be moved and quickened to wholesome resolutions. In order to gain indulgences, we must endeavor to be in the state of grace, and therefore at least, by way of beginning, we must have perfect contrition for our sins.

The Wednesday, Friday and Saturday following September 14 marks one of the Ember Days of the Church. See Ember Days for more information.

Things to Do:[4]

Study different symbols and types of crosses, history and/or significance. Then have an art project — creating own crosses, using different media, including paper. See variations of crosses for some ideas.
Learn and pray the prayer to Christ Crucified; pray the Stations of the Cross. Point out particularly the phrase repeated at each station:
We adore You, O Christ, and praise You,
Because by Your Holy Cross You have redeemed the world.
Study the history of St. Helena and Constantine, especially St. Helena’s quest for finding the relics of Jesus.
Make sure that crucifixes are displayed prominently throughout your home. Point out the crucifix in every room even to the smallest ones. Your child's first word may be "Jesus"!
Explain the meaning of the Sign of the Cross to your children and be sure that even the little ones are taught how to make it.
Encourage your children to make reparation for sin; read about sacramentals.
Teach your children a short ejaculatory prayer such as "Through the sign of the Cross deliver us from our enemies, O our God!".
Make a dessert in the form of a cross or decorated with a cross. Although usually made on Good Friday, Hot Cross Buns would be appropriate for this day. Make a cross cake, either using a cross form cake pan, or bake a sheet cake (recipe of choice). Once cool, cut the cake in half, length ways. Then cut one of these sections in half width ways. This makes three sections - one long and two shorts. Lay the long section onto a serving plate. Set the two small sections next to the long section forming a cross. Frost and decorate as desired.
Tradition holds that sweet basil grew over the hill where St. Helena found the Holy Cross, so in Greece the faithful are given sprigs of basil by the priest. Cook a basil pesto, tomato basil salad (with the last of the summer tomatoes) or some other type of recipe that includes basil and explain to the family.
More Ideas: Women for Faith and Family and Catholic Encyclopedia.
Folklore has that the weather on the Ember Days of this month (September 15, 17, and 18) will foretell the weather for three successive months. So, Wednesday, September 15, will forecast the weather for October; Friday, September 17, for November; and Saturday, September 18, for December.

Eucharistic Stations of the Cross[5]

Thy Eucharistic Kingdom Come!

Saint Eymard rated the Stations of the Cross among the most important exercises of a retreat. Long experience had taught him to find in the wounds of Jesus the forgiveness, the peace, and all those graces for which the soul hungers while on retreat. Right up to his death, he made the Stations of the Cross every day, in the evening, after the fullest and most wearisome day's work. Therefore, he recommended this devotion as one whose full value he knew. In the beautiful words of the Following of Christ: "In the cross is salvation, in the cross is life, in the cross is protection against the enemy, in the cross is infusion of the heavenly sweetness, in the cross is strength of heart, in the cross is joy of spirit." But to the Eucharistic soul, Calvary is the altar, and the divine Crucified One is Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. It hears round about the outcries of the throng against him who answers only with the silence of the lamb; it sees into the plots of the scribes and the pharisees; it knows the bargaining of these new Judases who sell to the demon in their souls, to their vices, to their self-interest, the good Master who has just given himself to them in the kiss of Communion. Every day it sees Jesus in his Eucharist delivered up, denied by cowardice and human respect. The Holy Eucharist is the Passion continued and renewed! The only difference is that the dolorous Eucharistic way passes through the whole world, crisscrosses it in every direction, and that the drama has lasted for almost twenty centuries.

What? But Jesus is glorious, immortal, impassable in the Blessed Sacrament! Why picture him to us as suffering, when he can suffer no more and as humiliated when he reigns as King triumphant? It is true, and very fortunate that Jesus Eucharistic can die no more, that men's hatred could wreak itself upon his sacred person only once at Jerusalem' What priest would cause Jesus to become present upon an altar that would be another Calvary for him? But do sins, insults, and sacrileges wound the living Heart of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament less grievously because he is beyond the physical reach of the tortures, which our arms of flesh would make him undergo? He no longer suffers at present; but in the moment when he instituted the Most Blessed Sacrament, there passed before his soul the vision of the outrages, insults, and profanations, which would be heaped upon him in the course of the centuries. By his foreknowledge of the future he saw in their very smallest details, in their most secret and delicate subtleties, the acts of indifference, the sacrileges, and the profanations, which our malice held in store for him. He saw and he knew; his Heart felt. He had the power to let his Heart feel in that one instant anguish equal to what he would have had to endure if he had remained sensible of suffering and a prey to our cruelty in the long martyrdom to which men's ingratitude and the fury of evil spirits have tried to subject him. The connection between Calvary and the Holy Eucharist is so close that no soul can enter truly and at all intimately into union with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament without feeling the need of consoling him, of compassionating sufferings the mode and reason of which it does not understand but which are very real to its love. To meditate before the Blessed Sacrament on the Passion as it took place in Jerusalem is not enough for this soul: it feels in its heart that the Passion still continues. It is the Eucharistic Passion of Jesus with which it wishes to sympathize. A sweet inspiration, one, which must give so much joy to the Heart of Jesus! For he complained to Saint Margaret Mary in such poignantly sorrowful terms that he received this compassion too rarely from his forgetful children! To us who wish to know and honor the mystery of the Holy Eucharist in all its aspects belongs the beautiful mission of meditating frequently upon the Eucharistic Passion; it is for us to compassionate and weep for so many insults and profanations and to undertake reparation for them. Jesus no longer suffers now: he wishes to suffer in us and to prolong in his members, for the glory of God and the salvation of sinners, the martyrdom which he, our glorious Head, first endured so generously: he gave us the example and opened the way to us. The pious thoughts of Father Eymard will help to guide us in meditating on the Eucharistic sufferings. We may make use of them during an hour of adoration or meditate upon them while making the Stations of the Cross.

Stations of the Cross

I. First Station - Jesus Is Condemned to Death

V. We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. R. Because by your holy Cross, you have redeemed the world.

Jesus is condemned by his own people by the very ones he showered with his favors. He is condemned as a fomenter of rebellion, he who is goodness itself; as a blasphemer, he who is holiness itself: as one seeking power, he who made himself the least of all. He is condemned to die on the Cross, like the lowest of slaves.

Jesus lovingly accepts this sentence of death: He came down to this earth in order to suffer and die and to teach us to do the same.

In his Holy Eucharist Jesus is again condemned to death: primarily in his graces, which are rejected; in his love, which is slighted; in his sacramental state, by the unbeliever who denies him, by horrible sacrilege. By unworthy Communion, the bad Christian sells Jesus Christ to the devil, delivers him up to his own passions, casts him at the feet of Satan, king of his heart, and crucifies him in his sinful body.

Jesus is more cruelly treated by bad Christians than by the Jews. In Jerusalem he was condemned only once but in the Blessed Sacrament he is condemned every day and in thousands of places, and by an appalling number of unjust judges.

And yet Jesus allows himself to be insulted, despised, condemned: he still continues his sacramental life in order to show us that his love for us is without condition or reserve, that it is greater than our ingratitude.

O Jesus forgive, I beseech you, all sacrileges! Should I ever have committed any, I want to pass my life making reparation for them and loving and honoring you for those who despise you. Grant me the grace to die with you!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

V. Have mercy on us, O Lord, R Have mercy on us.

May the souls of the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in peace.

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

II. Second Station - Jesus Is Made To Bear His Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

In Jerusalem the Jews lay a shameful and heavy Cross upon Jesus. It was the instrument used at that time for the punishment of the basest of men. Jesus joyfully takes upon himself this overburdening Cross; he receives it eagerly, kisses it lovingly, and bears it with meekness.

In this way he wishes to make it sweet to us, lighten it for us, and consecrate it in his Blood.

In the divine Sacrament of the altar, bad Christians lay a much heavier Cross upon Jesus, one much more shameful for his Heart. This Cross is their acts of irreverence in the holy place, their distracted thoughts, their coldness of heart in his presence, their lukewarm devotion. What a humiliating Cross it is for Jesus, to have children so lacking in respect, disciples so worthless!

Jesus also bears my crosses in his Sacrament. He places them on his Heart to sanctify them; he covers them with his love, with his kisses, in order to make them attractive to me, but he wants me to carry them for him, to offer them to him; he is even willing to listen to the outpourings of my grief, to let me weep over my crosses and ask help and consolation of him.

Oh, how light is the cross that comes by way of the Holy Eucharist! How beautiful and radiant it comes forth from the Heart of Jesus! How good it is to receive it from his hands and to kiss it after him! To the Eucharist then I will run for refuge in my troubles; to him will I go for comfort and strength; to him will I go to learn to suffer and to love!

Forgive, O Lord, all who treat you irreverently in your Sacrament of love! Forgive my moments of indifference, of forgetfulness in your presence! I wish to love you; I do love you with all my heart!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

III. Third Station - Jesus Falls the First Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Jesus has lost so much blood during the three hours of his agony and beneath the blows of the scourge, he is so weakened by the cruel night passed under the guard of his enemies, that after walking a short distance he falls beneath the weight of his Cross.

How many times Jesus Eucharistic falls in particles of the Sacred Species without anyone being aware of it!

But what makes him fall from grief is the sight of a soul sullied by mortal sin!

Ah, how much more painfully Jesus falls in a young heart that receives him unworthily on the day of its First Holy Communion! He falls on that icy heart which the fire of his love cannot melt; on that proud and dissembling spirit without being able to touch it; in that body which is but a tomb full of rottenness. Alas, ought we to treat Jesus like that the first time he so lovingly visits us? O God! So young and already so guilty! To begin so soon to be a Judas! How painful to the Heart of Jesus must be the sin of this sacrilegious First Communion!

O Jesus! I thank you for the love, which you showed me in my First Communion: never shall I forget it! I am yours, wholly yours, for you are wholly mine: do with me, as you will.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

IV. Fourth Station - Jesus Meets His Holy Mother

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Mary accompanies Jesus to Calvary. She endures a real martyrdom in her soul on the way; but when one loves, one desires to suffer with the beloved.

Today, on his way of suffering, Jesus Eucharistic often meets with the children of his love the spouses of his Heart, the ministers of his grace among his enemies. But far from consoling him as Mary did, they join with his tormentors in humiliating, blaspheming, and denying him. How many are the apostates and renegades who forsake the service and love of the Holy Eucharist as soon as that service calls for a sacrifice or for an act of practical faith!

O Jesus, my good Savior, with Mary my Mother, I will follow you amid humiliations, insults, and injuries, and make amends to you with my love!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

V. Fifth Station - The Cyrenian Helps Jesus To Carry His Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Jesus was giving way more and more beneath his burden. The Jews, wishing to have him die on the Cross in order to complete his humiliation, urged Simon of Cyrene to help him bear the Cross. The latter refused and had to be forced to take upon himself an instrument of death so ignominious in his eyes. He yielded and merited that Jesus should touch his heart and convert him.

Jesus calls people to him in his Sacrament, and almost no one responds to his invitations; he invites them to his Eucharistic Banquet, and they have a thousand pretexts for refusing to come to it. The faithless and ungrateful soul refuses the grace of Jesus Christ, the most excellent gift of his love. He has his hands full of graces, but nobody wants them; people are afraid of his love!

Instead of the honors due to him, Jesus receives most of the time only disrespect. People are embarrassed at meeting him in the streets; they turn quickly away as soon as thy see him; they have not the courage to give him the outward evidences of their faith.

O divine Savior, can this be so? Alas! It is only too true, and I feel the reproaches of my own conscience. Yes, often, bent upon an earthly pleasure, I have refused to hear your call; often, in order not to be obliged to amend my ways, I have rejected the invitation of your table with which you in your love have honored me. I regret it from the depths of my heart; I know that it is better to let everything else go than by my own fault to miss a single Communion, the greatest and the sweetest of your graces. Forget the past, dear Savior, and accept my resolutions for the future and by your strength help me to keep them!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

VI. Sixth Station - A Holy Woman Wipes The Face Of Jesus

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

The face of the Savior no longer looks human; the executioners have covered it with mud, spittle, and blood! He, the splendor of God, is unrecognizable, and his divine Face is covered with defilements. Holy Veronica braves the soldiers. Beneath the pollution she has recognized her Savior and her God, and moved with pity, she wipes that august countenance. Jesus rewards her by imprinting his features upon the cloth.

O divine Jesus, your adorable Sacrament is greatly outraged, insulted, and profaned, and where are the compassionate souls who will make up for these abominations? Ah, it is saddening and appalling that so many sacrileges should be committed so lightly against the sublime Sacrament. It would seem that Jesus Christ is nothing more among us than an unregarded or even contemptible stranger!

It is true that he veils his face beneath the appearances of very weak and lowly species: that is in order that our love may discover in them his divine features. O Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, Son of the living God and I adore your holy Face, full of glory and majesty, beneath the Eucharistic veil! Lord, I beseech you to imprint your features in my heart, that wherever I go, I may carry Jesus with me, Jesus Eucharistic!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

VII. Seventh Station - Jesus Falls the Second Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

In spite of Simon's help, Jesus succumbs a second time to his weakness, and it is a cause of new sufferings for him. His hands and knees are wounded by his falls on this laborious way, and the ill treatment inflicted by his executioners increases with their rage.

Oh, how ineffectual is human aid without the help of Jesus Christ! And how many falls are in store for him that relies on others!

How often the God of the Eucharist falls nowadays by Communion in lukewarm and cowardly hearts that receive him without reverence and let him go without an act of love and gratitude! Thus, Jesus' stay within us is fruitless because of our coldness.

Who would dare to receive one of the great of the earth with as little attention as the King of Heaven is every day received?

Divine Savior, I apologize to you for all my Communions that have been lukewarm and without devotion. How many times I already have received you in my heart. I thank you for them and I mean to be faithful to you in the future; only give me your love, that is enough!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

VIII. Eighth Station - Jesus Consoles the Holy Women Who Weep for Him

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

It was the Savior's mission in the days of his mortal life to comfort the afflicted and the persecuted. He desires to be faithful to it at the very time of his greatest sufferings. Thus he forgets himself and dries the tears of the holy women who weep over his sorrows and his passion. What goodness!

Very few people come to visit and to adore Our Lord in his Sacrament of divine love. And even fewer people remember to offer him reparation for their own sins and for those of all mankind. He is with us day and night, alone. Oh, if his eyes could weep, what tears they would shed for the ingratitude and neglect of his own! If his Heart could still suffer, what torments he would feel at seeing himself forsaken in this way, even by his friends!

Yet, for all that, as soon as we come to him, he receives us with kindness, listens to our complaints, to the often very long and selfish tale of our woes, and he forgets himself to comfort us and strengthen us. O divine Savior, why do I so often depend on human consolation instead of coming to you? I feel that this wounds your Heart, which is jealous of my own. In your Holy Eucharist be my only consolation, my one confidant! One word, one look of your loving kindness will suffice for me. Let me love you with all my heart, and then do with me as you will!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

IX. Ninth Station - Jesus Falls The Third Time

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

How greatly Jesus suffered in this third fall! He lies overcome by the weight of his Cross, and his executioners with all their cruelty can hardly raise him up again.

Jesus chooses to fall a third time before being lifted up on his Cross, as though to give evidence of his regret at being unable to carry it over the whole world.

Jesus will come to me a last time in Viaticum before I also leave this land of exile. Lord, grant me this grace, the most precious of all and the completion of all the graces of my life!

But, oh, let me receive you worthily in that last Communion so full of love!

How terrible is it when one dying receives Holy Communion for the last time in the state of mortal sin! In this way he adds the crime of sacrilege to all his past sins, who receives unworthily him who is going to judge him and thus profanes the Viaticum of his salvation!

In what a grievous state Jesus must find himself in a heart that detests him, in a spirit that disdains him, in a sinful body that is given over to the devil!

But what will be the judgment passed on these unhappy souls? One trembles at the thought. Forgive them, O Lord forgive them! We beg of you for all the dying: grant that they may die in your arms after they have received you worthily in Viaticum!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

X. Tenth Station - Jesus Is Stripped Of His Garments

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

How much he must suffer in this cruel and pitiless stripping off of his garments! They tear off his clothing that has stuck to his wounds, they reopen them, they tear his flesh.

How much he must suffer in his modesty, treated as one would blush to treat a low wretch and a slave, who dies at least in the shroud that is to cover him in the grave!

Jesus is, as it were, stripped of his garments also in his sacramental state. Not satisfied to see him stripped, through his love for us, of his glory and his divinity, of the beauty of his humanity, his enemies rob him of the honor of divine worship, pillage his churches, profane his sacred vessels and his tabernacles, and cast him on the ground. He, the King and Savior of men, is delivered up to their sacrilegious will as on the day of his Crucifixion. By allowing himself to be stripped thus in the Holy Eucharist; Jesus wishes to lead us to the state of voluntary poverty, wherein we may be clothed with his life and his virtues. O Jesus Eucharistic, be my only possession!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

XI. Eleventh Station - Jesus Is Nailed To The Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

What agony Jesus endures when he is nailed to the Cross! Without a miracle of his power, he could not have suffered it and lived.

But the wood to which Jesus is nailed on Calvary is without fault or defilement, whereas in an unworthy Communion, the sinner crucifies Jesus in his guilty body. It is as though one were to attach a living body to a corpse that is in a state of corruption.

On Calvary, he is crucified by his declared enemies; here, by his children, who crucify him in hypocritical devotion.

On Calvary, he is crucified but once; here every day and by how many Christians!

O divine Savior forgive me for having failed to mortify my senses; most cruelly do you atone for my fault!

You desire, by your Holy Eucharist, to crucify my nature, to immolate the old man without cease and to unite me to your own crucified and resurrected life. Grant, O Lord, that I may give myself to you without reserve or condition!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

XII. Twelfth Station - Jesus Dies on The Cross

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Jesus dies in order to redeem us. His last mercy is the forgiveness he grants to his executioners; his last gift of love is his Holy Mother; his last desire is the thirst for suffering; his last act is the abandonment of his soul and his life into the hands of his Father.

In the Holy Eucharist, Jesus continues to love with the love he showed to me at his death. Every morning he is immolated in the Holy Sacrifice and loses his sacramental existence in them that receive him: in the heart of the sinner. He dies for that soul's condemnation.

From his Host he offers me the graces for my redemption, the price of my salvation. But in order that I may share therein, he wishes me to die with him and for him.

Grant me that grace, O my God, the grace of dying to sin and to self and of living only to love you in your Holy Eucharist!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

XIII. Thirteenth Station - Jesus Is Taken Down from The Cross and Placed In The Arms Of His Mother

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Jesus is taken down from the Cross and confided to his Mother, who clasps him to her heart and offers him to God as Victim for our salvation.

Now it is for us to offer Jesus as Victim on the altar and in our hearts for ourselves and for others. He belongs to us. God the Father gives him to us; he gives himself to us, so that we may offer him for our salvation.

How unfortunate it is that this infinite price lies unused in our hands because of our indifference!

Let us offer him in union with Mary and pray this good Mother to offer him with us.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

XIV. Fourteenth Station - Jesus Is Laid In The Sepulchre

V. We adore you, O Christ, etc.

Jesus chooses to undergo the humiliation of the tomb, and he is given over to the custody of his enemies; he is still their prisoner.

But it is in the Holy Eucharist that Jesus is, as it were, entombed; he remains there not just for three days, but for all time, and we are the ones he asks to guard him. He is our prisoner of love.

The corporal covers him like a shroud; the lamp burns before his altar as before the place of the dead; around him reigns the silence of death.

When Jesus comes into our heart in Holy Communion, he is as if entombed within us. Let us make ready for him a sepulchre that is worthy of him, one that is new and white, unoccupied by earthly affections; let us anoint him with the perfume of our virtues.

Let us come to do him homage for those who do not come; let us adore him in his tabernacle, forgotten by those who call themselves his friends; let us beg of him the grace of recollection and of death to the world, that we may lead a hidden life in the Holy Eucharist!

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

O Cross, our one reliance, hail, Glory of the saved, avail, to give fresh merit to the saint, And pardon to the penitent.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN MYSTERY

SECTION ONE-THE SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY

CHAPTER TWO-THE SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION OF THE PASCHAL MYSTERY

Article 2-LITURGICAL DIVERSITY AND THE UNITY OF THE MYSTERY

IN BRIEF

1207 It is fitting that liturgical celebration tends to express itself in the culture of the people where the Church finds herself, though without being submissive to it. Moreover, the liturgy itself generates cultures and shapes them.

1208 The diverse liturgical traditions or rites, legitimately recognized, manifest the catholicity of the Church, because they signify and communicate the same mystery of Christ.

1209 The criterion that assures unity amid the diversity of liturgical traditions is fidelity to apostolic Tradition, i e., the communion in the faith and the sacraments received from the apostles, a communion that is both signified and guaranteed by apostolic succession.

Thursday Feast

Thursday is the day of the week that our Lord gave himself up for consumption. Thursday commemorates the last supper. Some theologians believe after Sunday Thursday is the holiest day of the week. We should then try to make this day special by making a visit to the blessed sacrament chapel, Mass or even stopping by the grave of a loved one. Why not plan to count the blessing of the week and thank our Lord. Plan a special meal. Be at Peace.

Arkansas dinner Menu