He is risen, Alleluia! May you all have a very
Blessed and Joyous Easter !
Blessed and Joyous Easter !
 PALM SUNDAY opens the great week, or, as it is called by excellence, the Holy Week. It is so . . . called because it is in this week the grandest mysteries of our holy religion are accomplished. You cannot better enter into the spirit of the Church than by meditating each day on one of the circumstances of the Passion of our blessed Lord. Today let us enter the cenacle and consider the different circumstances associated with the institution of the most lovable and the most august of all the sacraments.
The first circumstance which presents itself to your meditations is the strange command which Jesus gives to His apostles, viz., to prepare a room which shall be at once large and beautifully appointed. In fact, it is a strange command, since it is the first time that the divine Master shows that He is particular in the choice of a place which He shall honor by His presence. For a palace, He chose a stable; for a cradle, He selected a manger; for a refuge of His infancy, He is content with the house of a poor artisan; to offer His last sacrifice, a wooden cross sufficed. It is only now that He does not wish to appear poor. He wishes to surround His Eucharistic body with honors; and why? These surroundings are intended more for us than for Him. He wishes to give us a lesson. He teaches us that we cannot surround the Blessed Eucharist with too much respect or magnificence. He justifies His Church from the reproach of too much pomp, which unthinking men would make against her, and who would wish to see her offer the holy sacrifice under a roof of straw and in vessels of wood and potter's clay, while they themselves walk on richest tapestry and eat and drink from gold and silver vessels. Ah, if gold and silver were ever legitimately employed, it is certainly when there is question of erecting a throne to the God of the Eucharist and to heighten the splendor of its festivals. This has been the mind and conduct of all thesaints, and of all who have with David loved the "beauty of God's house." They have all considered it a duty and a joy to contribute to the ornamentation of the place which He has chosen to make His dwelling among men. St. Cajetan wished that the churches and the altars should be decorated with all possible splendor, and, in spite of his love for poverty, he sought for the richest ornaments, saying that nothing was too precious for the Lord of the world. Are these your sentiments? By this command Jesus warns us specially concerning the interior dispositions which we should bring to the reception of the Holy Eucharist. He asks that the room in which the institution of the Blessed Eucharist takes place should be grand and vast and spacious. But that which constitutes the grandeur of the heart are the exalted sentiments and a complete detachment from earthly things. Our souls ascend or descend with the objects which preoccupy them. If the soul habitually loves and seeks after what is beneath her, the weight of these things compel her to descend. There is nothing so little or contracted as a soul whose intelligence revolves habitually in the narrow circle of purely material interests. The ideas are narrow, the tastes are low, and the mind is frivolous; grand and serious thoughts are too heavy for such a soul to carry. Do you wish to possess a grand and noble heart? Then banish from it every earthly affection. Jesus can be but ill at ease in a heart which is also occupied by creatures. The throne of your heart is by far too beautiful to allow some earthly idol to possess it; He only is worthy to occupy it who has formed it by His own hands, and then can enrich it by His grace from the treasury of His virtues. When approaching the holy table, offer to your King, Jesus, a heart void of all earthly affection or whatever is purely human. If you would possess a truly great heart, let it be filled with a holy confidence. Confidence dilates the soul, unfolds all her faculties, and opens them to receive the dews of heavenly grace. It is precisely to facilitate this unfolding of the soul when approaching the holy table, that Jesus veils there His majesty under the Eucharistic species, and invites us in words that are full of tenderness : " Come, My well beloved, and eat the bread which I have prepared for you, and drink also of the wine; be inebriated by the delights of My table. Oh, with what ardor I have desired to eat of this Pasch with you!" How then can you be wanting in confidence when Jesus calls you to Him with so much goodness? Not only does Jesus wish a room vast and spacious, but also beautifully adorned. If your soul should be a dwelling-place worthy of God, she should be adorned with many virtues. This is a necessary condition for a worthy and fervent communion. And you know what these virtues should be: you should possess a lively faith, which shall present to you Jesus, true God and true man, under the sacred veils which hide Him from your corporal eyes—even as He was in the crib, when He received the adorations of the shepherds and the wise men; and even as He is in heaven, where He offers to His Father for you the wounds of His sacred humanity, the scars of which are still evident. While approaching the holy table, let your soul be filled with an ardent charity. The Eucharist is by excellence the sacrament of love. Love begets love. When Jesus opens His heart for you with unspeakable tenderness, should you close yours to Him? What to Him are your protestations, your words of devotion, your sterile assurances? It is your heart that He desires, and it is your love He yearns for. He says to you, with an incomparable sweetness: " My son, give Me thy heart." I ask it of thee, not as the world asks it, to fill it with trouble, agitation, and often remorse; but I ask it that I may bless it, purify it, and enrich it with My graces. "My son, give Me thy heart." What an enemy you shall be to yourself if you refuse to give it! To a lively faith and an ardent charity add a profound humility. Alas, who are you to merit the distinguished honor which awaits you at the holy table? Moses, while thinking that he was only"dust and ashes," was astonished that God should hear him; St. Elizabeth, on seeing the Blessed Virgin, who had come to visit her, exclaimed: "Whence is this to me, that the Mother of my God should come to me?" The centurion acknowledged he was unworthy to receive Jesus in his house. But it is in your heart that Jesus is going to descend; He is about to unite Himself to you, and you to Him. Even were you an angel, you could not sufficiently merit such a favor. But oh! how far you are from being an angel! These preparatory dispositions for communion are indicated to us by a circumstance in which Jesus gives us at once the example and the precepts. Before the mysterious repast at which the Blessed Eucharist was instituted, He put aside His garments, and, after having girded Himself as the servants do, He washed the feet of His apostles. What a lesson for us who are so jealous of our rank and dignity, so particular concerning precedence, and so desirous of honor ! The God of heaven and earth is on His knees before His apostles, washing their feet with those hands which can hurl the thunders, heal the sick, and lavish blessings. And Peter, at the sight of his Master's conduct, is seized with a holy indignation. "What ! Lord, Thou wash my feet! I shall never permit Thee." Peter fully realized the dignity of his Master, says Bossuet, and he only wished to hinder Him because of the lowliness of the ministry which He performed; he did not understand that this was, for him, an indispensable preparation for the Holy Eucharist, and that he could not participate in it unless his body and his feet also were purified ; that is to say, that the least stains, as well as the greatest faults, must be wiped away. But scarcely has Jesus declared to him that without this preparation he should have no part in His kingdom, than he exclaimed with greatest fervor: "Ah, Lord, wash not only my feet, but my hands and my head. Purify me wholly." From this let us learn with what purity we should approach the holy table. After having effaced our grievous faults, do not neglect those which are venial. You have been purified in the sacred waters of penance, but we have something yet to do. Besides those sins which kill the soul, there are others which disfigure it, and these also must be effaced. Then, before approaching the holy table, repeat with St. Peter: "Lord, my God, wash me, my feet, my head, my hands, that nothing in me shall be displeasing to Thy eyes, that I may be pure and without stain, to receive Thee into my heart, God of purity!" Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897  THE noble assurance with which Jesus defies His enemies to accuse Him of sin furnishes us an . . . occasion of meditating on the beautiful character of the Saviour of men. You shall find in it one of the most striking proofs of His divinity. It shall be sufficient for us to propose these two questions:Is Jesus, as He said, the Son of God? and, is His testimony true?
First Point.—In order to escape from the crushing proof which follows from the testimony of Jesus in favor of His divinity, the infidels pretended that Jesus said He was, indeed, the envoy of God, but that He never affirmed that He was God. To demonstrate the falsity of this assertion, we have only to open the Holy Gospels. Jesus there gives testimony to His divinity at first in presence of His friends and disciples. One day, while speaking with them, He asked: "Whom do men say that I am?" The disciples answered: "Some say that Thou art John the Baptist, others that Thou art Jeremias, others that Thou art Elias, and others still that Thou art one of the prophets." But Jesus again asked: "Whom do you think I am?" Then Peter answered: "Thou art Christ, the Son of the living God." Instead of reproving him or correcting Peter's statement as a blasphemy, Jesus replied to Peter: "Blessed art thou, Simon, son of John, because flesh and blood have not revealed this to thee, but My Father who is in heaven." In another circumstance, Philip said to Jesus: "Lord, show us the Father and that will satisfy us." But Jesus, being indignant at this request, answers him: "What! I am so long with you, and you have not known Me, Philip? He who sees Me, also sees the Father. How then can you say, show us the Father; do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me?" On another occasion, always wishing still more to affirm His divine affiliation, He said to one of His disciples: "God has so loved the world that He has sent His only Son, that he who believes in Him shall not be condemned, but he who does not believe in Him shall be condemned, because he does not believe in the name of the only Son of God." Jesus, therefore, proclaimed Himself as the Son of God, and in the strictest sense He claimed that He was in the Father and that the Father was in Him; and that to see Him was to see the Father. The testimony which Jesus gives of His divinity to His friends and to His disciples is evident. The testimony which He gives of Himself in presence of the people is no less evident and no less explicit. The multitudes which surrounded Him exclaimed: "How long shall you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us clearly and openly." Jesus answers them: "I speak to you and you do not believe Me. The works which I have done give testimony of Me. My Father and I are one." At this statement, which told everything, the Jews gathered stones to throw at Him. And Jesus said to them: "I have shown you the works of My Father; for which of these works do you cast stones at Me?" The Jews answered: "For none of Thy works, but because of Thy blasphemy; because, being only a man, Thou hast made Thyself God." The language of Jesus before the people had the same signification as the language before the disciples: He clearly and unmistakably declared, "My Father and I are one." But Jesus is cited before the council of the ancients, the priests and magistrates of Judea. After testimony more or less inconsistent, the high priest puts the question squarely; he arises and addresses the accused this solemn adjuration: "I adjure you by the living God, to tell us, if you are the Christ, the Son of God." And Jesus answered him by these two words: "I am." And to confirm His avowal He immediately added: "I am He, and you shall see the Son of man seated at the right hand of the power of God, and coming in the clouds of heaven." So that before His friends, before the people, and before the magistrates, Jesus proclaimed Himself the Son of God, the only Son, the Son equal to His Father, one with His Father, and being in His Father and His Father in Him. This is the testimony which Jesus gives of Himself. And what a testimony! Only to think! a man, a being of flesh and blood, who has before Him not only the weakness of life but the weakness of death,-- a mere man,—and He dares to proclaim Himself a God! It is the first time in the history of the world that it has ever happened! It is evident that a mere man is not capable of such bold falsehood. Second Point.—But is the testimony which Jesus renders of Himself true? To doubt it, we must accept one of these two propositions: either Jesus did not believe what He said, or He believed it without being what He declared Himself to be. In the first supposition, He would be deceitful, since He proclaimed Himself for what He was not; in the second supposition he would be insane, since, being only a man, He believed Himself a God. In both suppositions we are presented with an impossibility. It is impossible to make of Jesus a deceitful man. According to the avowal of all, even of those who do not believe in Him, Jesus is a good and wise man, a man of incomparable character. He has done so many wonderful things, such holy things, that even His very enemies always pay homage to His works and to His person. If the world has seen black and impious spirits who have dared to blaspheme against His innocence and to confound Him with seducers, they have been only some monsters whom the whole human race has held in horror, and whose names, too odious to every nature, have remained buried in the same darkness from which their impiety came. In fact, what man had ever appeared with more incontestable characters of innocence and sanctity than Jesus the Son of the living God? In what man was ever observed so much love for virtue, so much sincere contempt for the world, so much charity for men, and such indifference for all human glory? Follow in detail His conduct and manners, and see if there has ever appeared on earth a just man more universally exempt from all the weaknesses which are inseparable from humanity. The more you observe Him, the more His sanctity shines out luminously. His disciples, who watch Him closely, are struck by the innocence of His life; while familiarity, which is so dangerous even to heroic virtue, serves only to discover, every day, new wonders in Him. When He speaks it is only the language of heaven, and He responds only when His answers may be useful for the salvation of those who interrogate Him. We never see in Him some intervals when the man asserts himself; but everywhere He appears as the envoy of the Most High. His most ordinary actions are exalted by the sublimity of the dispositions which accompany them; and never does He appear less a divine man than when He eats in the house of a Pharisee and when He calls Lazarus back from death to life. Jesus, therefore, is not and could not be a deceiver. But was He demented? This supposition is such an absurdity that it is revolting; and in; presence of the sublimity of His doctrines, which have won the admiration of every age; in presence of the purity of His moral teaching, which could not be equalled in the most beautiful pages that ever came from the hands of man; in presence of that wisdom which marked all His works, which dictated all His responses, a wisdom which sanctified all His acts and confounded the perfidy of His enemies. No, Jesus was not demented. He was not guilty of a horrible falsehood. He said He was God, and therefore He is God. O my adorable Master, I love to recognize Thee as the Messias promised to Adam, as the Saviour of the world, and as the immortal King of ages. Thou art more than a great genius, more than Elias, more than a prophet, more than a divine man. Thou art the Son of the living God! Do not permit that anything in the world should ever disturb my faith or take from me Thy love. Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897 We are having a 10% off sale on any of our doll outfits and accessories, now through April 13th! You can find our shoppe here. We are working on a few more saint outfits for these dolls. Sister Cabrini, Blessed Imelda, Saint Nicholas, Saint Michael and a new Saint Joan of Arc, complete with armour! We'll give you a couple sneek peeks in another post. Our latest edition of the Gazette is now available. You can view it below and download and print it here. Though it may happen that a mother should be so hardened as to forget her own child, yet God promises He will never forget us.
- Venerable J. Tauler - Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 It matters little whether we are rich or poor, prosperous or unfortunate in the world, providing we are minting money for Heaven, by the practice of patience, resignation, honesty and the love of God.
- Cardinal Vaughan - Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 Think of the crosses with which Jesus has laden you, for they are treasures which He has drawn from the depths of His riches and you must look upon them as wonderful proofs of His love. - Fenelon - Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 THE Church has had two principal reasons in instituting the holy time of Lent: to make us . . . fulfil the duty of penance, and to make us meditate on the sufferings of Christ.
First Point.—The first motive which seems to have influenced the Church in the institution of Lent has been to afford us an opportunity of fulfilling the law of penance. We cannot forget that there is a law which obliges all the children of Adam to do penance. This law has been proclaimed at the moment of the fall, and was again proclaimed by the Gospel, and at the time of our regeneration. This law is binding on us as men; since we are heirs to the sin of Adam, we are also heirs to the sentence which has condemned him to suffer. This law is binding on us, also, as Christians, since it is only by fulfilling it we become like to our Model and Master. A great expiation has been consummated on Golgotha! Christians, children of the cross, fruits conceived amidst the heart rendings and agonies of Calvary; disciples of a God dead on the cross; sons of the King—but of a King crowned by sorrow; born to the purple—but the purple of His blood,—our life should not belie our origin! The sacrifice of the Saviour has been complete in all that regards the person and the merits of the Victim; but this sacrifice should continue in His members, who with Him form but one and the same mystical body. His cross remains forever planted in the midst of His Church, to recall to us the obligation of attaching ourselves to it and of dying on it with Him; and there shall be something wanting to His passion, as St. Paul has understood it, if it is not accomplished, also, in our own body; if the blood of Jesus does not continue, in some way, to flow in the veins of His apostles and martyrs and confessors, and in all those who believe in Him, until the time when the whole Church shall have passed from the state of suffering and of combat to the possession of glory. The law of penance is binding on us especially as sinners. Let us recall to mind all the transgressions which make us debtors to Divine Justice—and insolvent debtors, too, without any doubt, if God had not deigned to accept our feeble satisfactions in consideration of the superabundant merits of His Son. At this remembrance, does not your conscience tell you the necessity of chastising a rebellious flesh which has been so often the occasion and the instrument of your falls? Now, this penance, whose indispensable necessity you cannot forget, whether to make you " conformable to the image of the Son" or to expiate your countless prevarications,—do you do it? Alas!—you must admit it—your time is always ready, as the Saviour reproached the Jews: I mean the time for your business, your pleasures, the time for sin; but the time of Jesus, the time of penance, is never ready or at hand. You put it off, and defer it, and expect every day that the time shall come; but the time never comes. Now, the Church comes to assist us in our weakness and in our cowardice. She strongly reminds you of this precept of penance, which your indifference neglects. From all the pulpits which are erected in the innumerable churches of the Catholic world the resounding voice is heard in unmistakable terms: "Unless you do penance you shall perish" And, not content with reminding you of this great precept, the Church anticipates your indecision by determining the time when this duty will bind with greater rigor, and by indicating the most suitable manner of penance; thus, by a happy violence, she forces you, so to speak, to enter the way of penance by adding to the authority of God her own authority. In fine, that you may not escape the pursuit of Divine Justice, she, in a way, encloses you in a circle of forty days, and she will not allow you to depart until you shall have given these sacred duties a just satisfaction. Do you love your soul enough to understand and second the merciful intentions of the Church in your regard? Second Point. —By instituting the Lenten time the Church wishes to make us meditate on the sufferings of Our Saviour. The mortification of the senses is not sufficient for salvation—it must be accompanied by compunction of heart. Now, what is more capable of exciting compunction in us than the meditation of a mystery as tender as it is terrible—-the mystery of our redemption? Unquestionably we can obtain this compunction of heart by other considerations, drawn from the grandeur of God, or His justice, or the heinousness of sin ; but the true source of tears—tears which flow from the heart as well as from the eyes; those tears which are sweet in their bitterness; which have the power to purify the soul, to strengthen it, to transform it, to create in it the new man,—the true source of such tears is in the cross; in the cross which illumines all the divine perfections, but in a manner so well arranged that His goodness dominates and absorbs all the other perfections, and all the rays of this grand glory melt away and are effaced in the single ray of love. The cross is by excellence the Christian's book. Every one may read it. There, in characters visible to every eye and accessible to every intelligence, you may learn what is most important for every Christian to know. Behold why the Church unfolds its blood-stained pages during the holy exercises of Lent! Not only does she wish that we should recall the grand mystery of our redemption, but she also renders it in a way present and sensible by the vivacity and truth of her pictures, as an action which had passed under our very eyes. She sprinkles her children with ashes, she exchanges her vestments of joy which were worn on festival occasions, and assumes others of a sombre hue; she sings, it is true, but her chants are from a voice broken with sobs and tears ; she seems to fear the solitude, for her children are in such great sorrow; She invites them frequently to assemble in community for prayer, for the sacrifice of the Mass, and for pious reunions. We could say of her children that they are like a family bowed by sorrow, whose members have united to "weep for the loss of an only and well-beloved son." As the end approaches, the representation becomes more striking, and the impression of the death of the Man-God is more vividly felt. The very silence of His tomb seems to reign in the temple during the last days of the great and Holy Week. The stripped altars and the open and empty tabernacles leave nothing to behold except the cross unveiled—the cross which the Church only adores and only salutes in plaintive chants as our one, last, and only hope. Allow your heart to go out to, and be touched by, these holy impressions if you wish to respond to the intentions of the Church. Let your faith lead you to assist at each of these terrible scenes of which the drama of redemption is composed; gather with love the drops of bloody sweat falling from Jesus in the Garden of Olives; place your lips on each imprint of that precious blood which has reddened the road to Calvary; also to each of those sacred wounds from which spring the running waters of life eternal. Accompany by your sighs and tears, and with the daughters of Jerusalem, this new Isaac up to the hill-top of Calvary, and do not descend from the holy mountain where the greatest of sacrifices has been accomplished until you have struck your breast with the centurion; or, rather, do not quit the holy mountain, but remain there, crucified with Jesus; nail to the cross, not your feet and hands, but your sins and defects and desires, for which the Saviour has died; it shall be in vain that He died for your sins if you also do not die to them, to arise with Him to a new life. Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897 Be assured that you have entered into God's service only to be chiseled, polished and perfected each day by the hands of those with whom you live. Look upon them as so many individuals sent to you by God to sanctify you by training you, each one in his own way.
- St. John of the Cross - Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 Let this dear Jesus be your nearest and dearest friend. Confide your trials to Him. Take everything as coming from His fatherly hand.
- Mother Aloysia Hardy - Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 Each suffering is a new flower added to the crown which is prepared for us in eternity.
St. Alphonsus Liguori Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 Trust and you will learn. Learn and you will love. Trust! with the conflict will come the courage. With the difficulty will come the help. With the trial will come the strength. With the temptation will come the grace.
- Father Kane, S.J.- Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919 We would like to share a couple of printables that we use each Lent to help us keep on track. The child can either mark off each day as it passes or place one of the Sacred Heart stickers on their cross in the appropriate spot. May you all have a blessed and fruitful Lent.
ONCE more the solemn season calls
A holy fast to keep, And now within the temple walls Both priest and people meet. But vain all outward sign of grief, And vain the form of prayer, Unless the heart implore relief And penitence be there. We smite the breast, we weep in pain, In vain in ashes mourn, Unless with penitential pain The smitten soul be torn. In sorrow true, then, let us pray- To our offended God From us to turn His wrath away, And stay the uplifted rod. O God ! our Judge and Father, deign To spare the bruised reed ; We pray for time to turn again, For grace to turn indeed. Blest Three in One, to thee we bow; Vouchsafe us in Thy love To gather from these fasts below Immortal fruit above. Amen. - Hymns and Songs for Catholic Children - With Ash Wednesday fast approaching I thought I would share with you some of our past posts with Lenten printables you may find useful. May you all have a blessed and fruitful Lenten Season!
My Lenten Cross Printable Stations of the Cross and Stabat Mater printing book. Station of the Cross and Stabat Mater handwriting book. Prayer for Everyday of Lent printing practice. Prayer for Everyday of Lent handwriting practice. Stations of the Cross Coloring Book. Sharing our Lenten Lapbook again for those who have asked for it.  Sacrifice after Sacrifice, Prayer by Prayer, |
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7.) Print the Stations of the Cross. Cut to fit the pocket that was printed above, so that they are all similar in size making sure not to cut off any words or parts of the picture. We have one child that was able to do this fine and the other I drew lines around with a ruler and blue pen to give him some guides. If you wish, lovingly, reverently, while meditating on each picture, color the pictures of Our Lord's Way of the Cross.
Now Print your Stickers
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8.) Print the Sacred Heart and Flower Stickers on the address labels. Make sure to check your printer settings (see above). Print single sided in color. Cut down each set of 5 (with the Avery labels there is a non sticker gutter there) and then cut down each row. Store in a plastic bag. The Sacred Heart Stickers will be used to count down the days of Lent with on the count down cross. The flowers are placed on the Crown of Thorns for every good deed and sacrifice the child does so that by Easter they have turned the Crown of Thorns into a wreath of flowers for Jesus.
Putting it All Together! Lets start with folding the folder!
First open your file folder like a book….  | Next, fold the right side to the middle of the folder...  |
Once you have folded the right side in it will look like this...
Now fold the other side so that it lines up with the cut of the side you just folded. | When you get it folded it will look like this, divided into 4 sections. Since that branding mark was showing inside our folder, I turned it over and creased the folds in the opposite direction. |
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Time to start placing the pieces in their new home….
 Glue HALF of your cover piece to the left side, of the front of your file folder.  Glue the Crown of Thorns to the lower right of the cross. The middle of the Crown will have the crease of the folder behind it, that is ok, it will fold with the folder. |  Open your folder like a book and glue your Lenten Cross Count Down in the center.  Add the History of Lent Book to the left top side of the folder. Glue the All for Jesus book to the top right of the folder. |
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| Fold your Holy Week Match Books: Fold the picture part at the line over the text. For the two small ones that will be the only step, just folding them in half. | If the matchbook is longer, fold UP the bottom part under the picture part. | Glue in your lapbook in order (Palm Sunday, Passion Sunday, Maunday Thursday, Black Friday and Holy Saturday) placing the glue on the back part which should be white allowing the book to still open. |
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| Glue the back of the Stations of the Cross pocket to the lower left hand corner. Glue the Prayer in Commemoration of Our Lord's Passion between the Crown of Thorns and All for Jesus book. To the back of the folder staple the bag at the top between the seal of the bag on only the BACK side of the seal. Then place your stickers inside and this will allow you to seal and re-seal the bag while keeping the stickers with the lapbook for the next 40 days. | Punch a hole in the flap of the front cover and also in the side of the file folder just opposite. Tie a ribbon or string in a bow to secure the lapbook closed. Write My Lenten Lapbook and place authors name on it. |
Enjoy using your lapbook through- out Lent to encourage sacrifices, to teach children to forget themselves and think of others and also to pray to Our Dear Lord.
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The sufferings of this life bear no proportion to the greatness of the glory to come.
- Imitation of Christ -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
- Imitation of Christ -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
THE blind man of Jericho, whose healing is recounted in the Gospel of this day, is the image ... of a soul which has fallen into spiritual blindness. Consider well the characters and the remedies of this moral blindness, which is the saddest of all.
First Point.—The characters of spiritual blindness.
As Jesus approached Jericho He met a blind man seated on the wayside and asking alms To understand this species of blindness which falls upon sinners you have only to look about you. Have you not been sometimes terrified at the insensibility of certain men for their eternal interests? Religion, which has converted the world by the sublimity of its teachings, is for them only a mass of gross reveries. Morality, which has brought on earth the reign of virtue, is in their eyes only fanaticism or superstition. The most heroic examples of virtue, instead of exciting in them a sentiment of admiration, only provoke pity and contempt. The most touching exhortations awaken their curiosity without appealing to their mind or heart They commit crime after crime, violate the most sacred engagements, revel in blasphemy, and remain perfectly tranquil. Duties which every reasonable being owes to his Creator are put aside; laws of the Church, to which every Christian should be submissive, are trampled underfoot; they publish scandals and what is baneful to religion, and still believe themselves irreproachable, and ask what evil have they done. They live without remorse, and die undisturbed and fall into the avenging hands of God, whom they have despised. Can
there be a state more fearful than this in the eyes of reason and in the eyes of faith ?
The blind man of Jericho, to sustain his sad existence, asked of those who passed by an alms, which was often refused him. The Gospel says he was begging - mendicans. This is the second character of spiritual blindness. In the bosom of the Catholic Church, the depository of eternal truths, in the midst of that light with which Christianity has inundated the world, in the midst of so many means to find repose of mind and peace of heart, they who are stricken become mendicants. They ask of reason light which they have not; they ask of human wisdom the truth which she cannot give; they ask of pleasure joys of which she is ignorant. In their need of joys, their famished souls extend their hands to the passions and to pleasures. Each passion and each pleasure deposits an alms, but it is only an alms; it may suffice to solace, or rather to distract, the heart for a moment, but it is powerless to satisfy the need which devours it; it remains hungry and is always begging—mendicans.
The blind man of Jericho was seated on the wayside. This is the last trait which characterizes those who are spiritually blind. They are near the way which conducts to truth, to virtue, to life, and still they do not wish to enter there. Reflect on this expression, which contains a truth at once profound and true—"He was sitting. " It is not said that he was standing and ready to walk, but he was seated; he remained there in stupid repose, unmindful of what was passing around him. This expression is sufficient to make us understand that he was satisfied in his unfortunate carelessness, preferring an unworthy repose to generous effort which would place him in the right way. This is only a too true picture of those sinners of whom we are speaking. They are outside the way which conducts to salvation, and are not striving to re-enter it. To do this they should be most active, and instructed in their duties, and resist their passions, or at least make some efforts; but they love their ease beyond anything else, and nothing can determine them to abandon their tranquillity. And thus the privation of all truth, the want of all good works, and complete carelessness of salvation are the characters of this terrible malady which is called spiritual blindness. We shall now see how it may be healed.
Second Point.—For a complete cure of spiritual blindness, the first thing which must be done by him who is afflicted is to be instructed in his religion and to make known his uncertainties and doubts to those who can resolve them. At the sound of the voices which were about him and the noise made by the multitude which had followed Jesus, the blind man informed himself of air that passed. He asked "what it was." Well, Christianity passes near us, is about us on every side, with its laws, its dogmas, its blessings, its threats, and its promises. We should inform ourselves what it is, we should study the claims and proofs on which it rests, the duties it imposes, and labor earnestly to merit the blessings which it promises. We should avoid the evils with which it threatens us, since eternity is well worth the trouble which all this requires. Indifference in this matter is wholly unjustifiable.
The second thing to do in a case of spiritual blindness is to pray. Faith is a gift of God, and this gift we all receive in Baptism. This explains the facility with which we believe the highest mysteries, even in tenderest infancy, and as long as we preserve purity of heart. But when, by bad books, sinful conversations, voluntary doubts, and by indulgence of our passions we have driven the spirit of faith from our intelligence, we cannot again recall it, except by most fervent prayer. But you say, "I wish I could have faith!" Have you prayed to obtain it? Reflect on the prayer of the blind man imploring his healing, and strive to imitate his fervor. "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!" See how he feels his malady, how he desires a return of health. And what perseverance in his prayer! They who are near to him endeavor to impose silence on him, but he seems unmindful of them and is not at all influenced by their words; he even cries louder still. From the moment you wish to belong to God the world will blame you. Prejudices, habits, passions shall strive to turn you away from prayer. However, still remain faithful to it, since your healing and your salvation will be due to your perseverance.
O my God, I address Thee with the prayer which the poor blind man employed—" Son of David, have pity on me!" Have pity, because of the sad state to which sin has reduced me. Make known to me my misfortune in its fullest extent; I do not know it sufficiently. Place in my heart a lively and profound sorrow for my sins, which should be there and which I do not find there. Inspire me with those strong, courageous, and efficacious resolutions which I strive in vain to form. Break these criminal attachments and these vicious habits which I have not the strength to break. Reform my sad inclinations which drag me down in spite of my feeble efforts. Have pity on me, Lord ! Have pity on my weakness!
Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
First Point.—The characters of spiritual blindness.
As Jesus approached Jericho He met a blind man seated on the wayside and asking alms To understand this species of blindness which falls upon sinners you have only to look about you. Have you not been sometimes terrified at the insensibility of certain men for their eternal interests? Religion, which has converted the world by the sublimity of its teachings, is for them only a mass of gross reveries. Morality, which has brought on earth the reign of virtue, is in their eyes only fanaticism or superstition. The most heroic examples of virtue, instead of exciting in them a sentiment of admiration, only provoke pity and contempt. The most touching exhortations awaken their curiosity without appealing to their mind or heart They commit crime after crime, violate the most sacred engagements, revel in blasphemy, and remain perfectly tranquil. Duties which every reasonable being owes to his Creator are put aside; laws of the Church, to which every Christian should be submissive, are trampled underfoot; they publish scandals and what is baneful to religion, and still believe themselves irreproachable, and ask what evil have they done. They live without remorse, and die undisturbed and fall into the avenging hands of God, whom they have despised. Can
there be a state more fearful than this in the eyes of reason and in the eyes of faith ?
The blind man of Jericho, to sustain his sad existence, asked of those who passed by an alms, which was often refused him. The Gospel says he was begging - mendicans. This is the second character of spiritual blindness. In the bosom of the Catholic Church, the depository of eternal truths, in the midst of that light with which Christianity has inundated the world, in the midst of so many means to find repose of mind and peace of heart, they who are stricken become mendicants. They ask of reason light which they have not; they ask of human wisdom the truth which she cannot give; they ask of pleasure joys of which she is ignorant. In their need of joys, their famished souls extend their hands to the passions and to pleasures. Each passion and each pleasure deposits an alms, but it is only an alms; it may suffice to solace, or rather to distract, the heart for a moment, but it is powerless to satisfy the need which devours it; it remains hungry and is always begging—mendicans.
The blind man of Jericho was seated on the wayside. This is the last trait which characterizes those who are spiritually blind. They are near the way which conducts to truth, to virtue, to life, and still they do not wish to enter there. Reflect on this expression, which contains a truth at once profound and true—"He was sitting. " It is not said that he was standing and ready to walk, but he was seated; he remained there in stupid repose, unmindful of what was passing around him. This expression is sufficient to make us understand that he was satisfied in his unfortunate carelessness, preferring an unworthy repose to generous effort which would place him in the right way. This is only a too true picture of those sinners of whom we are speaking. They are outside the way which conducts to salvation, and are not striving to re-enter it. To do this they should be most active, and instructed in their duties, and resist their passions, or at least make some efforts; but they love their ease beyond anything else, and nothing can determine them to abandon their tranquillity. And thus the privation of all truth, the want of all good works, and complete carelessness of salvation are the characters of this terrible malady which is called spiritual blindness. We shall now see how it may be healed.
Second Point.—For a complete cure of spiritual blindness, the first thing which must be done by him who is afflicted is to be instructed in his religion and to make known his uncertainties and doubts to those who can resolve them. At the sound of the voices which were about him and the noise made by the multitude which had followed Jesus, the blind man informed himself of air that passed. He asked "what it was." Well, Christianity passes near us, is about us on every side, with its laws, its dogmas, its blessings, its threats, and its promises. We should inform ourselves what it is, we should study the claims and proofs on which it rests, the duties it imposes, and labor earnestly to merit the blessings which it promises. We should avoid the evils with which it threatens us, since eternity is well worth the trouble which all this requires. Indifference in this matter is wholly unjustifiable.
The second thing to do in a case of spiritual blindness is to pray. Faith is a gift of God, and this gift we all receive in Baptism. This explains the facility with which we believe the highest mysteries, even in tenderest infancy, and as long as we preserve purity of heart. But when, by bad books, sinful conversations, voluntary doubts, and by indulgence of our passions we have driven the spirit of faith from our intelligence, we cannot again recall it, except by most fervent prayer. But you say, "I wish I could have faith!" Have you prayed to obtain it? Reflect on the prayer of the blind man imploring his healing, and strive to imitate his fervor. "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!" See how he feels his malady, how he desires a return of health. And what perseverance in his prayer! They who are near to him endeavor to impose silence on him, but he seems unmindful of them and is not at all influenced by their words; he even cries louder still. From the moment you wish to belong to God the world will blame you. Prejudices, habits, passions shall strive to turn you away from prayer. However, still remain faithful to it, since your healing and your salvation will be due to your perseverance.
O my God, I address Thee with the prayer which the poor blind man employed—" Son of David, have pity on me!" Have pity, because of the sad state to which sin has reduced me. Make known to me my misfortune in its fullest extent; I do not know it sufficiently. Place in my heart a lively and profound sorrow for my sins, which should be there and which I do not find there. Inspire me with those strong, courageous, and efficacious resolutions which I strive in vain to form. Break these criminal attachments and these vicious habits which I have not the strength to break. Reform my sad inclinations which drag me down in spite of my feeble efforts. Have pity on me, Lord ! Have pity on my weakness!
Source: Short Instructions on the Feasts of the Year, Imprimatur 1897
Do not fear the Cross. . . . Without it you cannot find Christ. With it you will find the help and consolation of His open Heart. Without Christ the cross is hard, dead, crushing wood. With Christ the Cross is strong as God, sweet as love, tender as a tear.
- Father Kane, S.J.-
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
- Father Kane, S.J.-
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
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Then He saith to them: "My soul is sorrowful even unto death; stay you here and watch with me." And going a little farther He fell upon His face, praying, and saying: "My Father, if it be possible, let this chalice pass from me; nevertheless not as I will, but as Thou wilt."
- Matt. 26: 38, 39 -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
- Matt. 26: 38, 39 -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
Seek not for consolation but for the Cross, seek for work and not for rest, for bitterness rather than joy, for the least and not the most, for the worst and not the best, for poverty and not the possession of anything whatever.
- St. John of the Cross -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
- St. John of the Cross -
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
"It is a great imperfection to complain unceasingly of little things."
-St. Francis de Sales-
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
-St. Francis de Sales-
Source: Whom the Lord Loveth, Imprimatur 1919
First Point.—Four kinds of hearers usually surround the Christian pulpit. The first are . . likened to the great highway on which a part of the seed falls, as is mentioned in the Gospel parable today; the birds gather it up, or the travelers trample it under their feet. There are some characters so flippant that nothing can make them fixed or resolute, and whose lively imagination runs from one object to another, touching lightly on everything, without going to the bottom of any. They are enemies of all reflection and of all serious thought; meditation kills them. They are emotional and seek to satisfy their desires in silly romances and sensational sheets. You may see them receive the most serious truths with a smile of indifference, while they are suffused with tears at the recital of some romantic adventure. There can be nothing done with minds of this character. They come, indeed, at certain epochs during the year to hear God's word, but this is nothing serious for them. For them it is a pastime, a matter of curiosity, a means of distraction, and this is all. Holy advice, inspirations of grace, remorse of conscience which alarms them, the remembrance of a past which causes them to blush, the terror of the future, the distaste for the world, the ordinary effect of the Gospel words, fall on their frivolous minds; but the different thoughts which pass and repass incessantly in them quickly efface even the least traces of the sacred word. They are the travelled and open highways; there the demon finds easy access, and before it can germinate away he takes the precious seed which is sown. This is the first obstacle to the development of the word of God dissipation of mind.
Second Point.-- Another part fell on the stony ground and, after springing up, was parched, because there was no moisture. " Two kinds of hearers are figured by this stony ground in which the good seed cannot take root. The first and the most pitiable are those who are voluntarily deaf- their hearts are hardened and have become as stone with regard to the word of God. We could scarcely believe it, if there was not the saddest experience to convince us. There are men who are determined to remain just as they are. They come to hear the word of God spoken with a fixed resolution of not profiting by it. Let them hear the most touching exhortations, let the most terrible truths be presented to them, even if the grace of a retreat or a mission is offered them, it is all useless. They hear nothing, they will profit by nothing; they are the minds of that character which the prophet indignantly depicts when he exclaims: "They have closed their ears, lest they should hear." What shall be the consequences of this studied and systematic resistance to the truth which is spoken exteriorly, and to the grace which urges and solicits interiorly? The very thought makes the heart grow cold. Our blessed Saviour exclaims: "Woe to you, Jerusalem, because if Tyre and Sidon had received the same graces as you have, they would have done penance in sackcloth and ashes. They shall be treated with less rigor than you." Yes, on the judgment day the infidel shall find an excuse in the misfortune of his birth, the heretic shall find an excuse in his ignorance, but you, reared in the bosom of the true Church, you, enlightened by so many lights and surrounded by so many graces,' what excuse shall you have ?
The second kind of hearers figured by the stony ground on which the precious seed falls is composed of all those Christians in whom certain passions have reached a state of habit. These form an almost insurmountable obstacle to the effects of the divine word. They hear it with pleasure, they admit the truth of all the reproaches hurled against them, and they would wish to be converted. Far from flying from the truth, they seek it. Should the preacher speak of the divine mercies, their hearts are touched; they make splendid promises-. Casting a glance on the disorders of their past life, their eyes are bathed in tears; but scarcely have they left the house of God than everything is forgotten. The old habits weigh them down, they succumb to the first flame of passion, the good germ is parched; the root is necessary if the good seed would develop. The second obstacle to the development of the word of God is a depraved will.
Third Point.—-The third obstacle to the effect of the sacred word comes from attachment to the things of the world, whatever may be the name by which you designate them. They are represented by the thorns in which the good seed falls. It grows there, it is true; the germ is developed, but it is stifled at its birth by the thorns which cover and clog the soil. This is the too common effect of pleasures and riches. Whoever possesses them finds much difficulty in extricating his heart from them, and the heart which is charmed by them affords very little access to the truths of salvation. It is true that the riches and pleasures of life are not criminal things in themselves, but the abuse which we make of them, and the affection we have for them, soon render them criminal.
Our divine Saviour compares the pleasures of the world to thorns, because they produce the same effect. If at first they spread on our pathway some agreeable flowers, soon they will embarrass us. Then they will make us feel their sharpened points, and in time they will wound us. See that young man, or that young woman, who has heard the divine word with docility and who has profited by it, who carefully cultivates the virtues which grace has germinated in her heart, but who, at the same time, cherishes a love for the world; because this love, which is moderate in the beginning, does not lead them into grave faults they imagine their virtue has received no wound; they think that in spite of the words of Christ they can serve two masters, and can continue to love the world without ceasing to love God. Fatal error; profane attachments grow and are strengthened, and in the same proportion religious inclinations are diminished and weakened. The evil is so great that it is not perceived. There is surely an increase on the one hand, and a decrease on the other. Because the same pious practices are continued, do we believe the same virtues are also continued? The exterior acts are the same, but the heart is already changed. After having lost the taste for pious exercises, there is no delay in losing the use of them also. We easily omit what has been done without inclination and by constraint; moreover, we are skilful to find pretexts for shortening certain practices and omitting others; this remissness insensibly leads to sloth, and the interval from sloth to sin is very short. See how worldly attachments lead us, little by little, when they are not early uprooted.
O my God, to what can I attribute the little fruit I have hitherto drawn from so many instructions, unless to my bad dispositions? Have pity on me, Lord; change my heart. Give me a new one, in which Thy word shall remain, take root, and produce those fruits of salvation which Thou hast a right to expect from me.
Source: Short Instructions for Every Sunday of the Year and the Principal Feasts, Imprimatur 1897
Second Point.-- Another part fell on the stony ground and, after springing up, was parched, because there was no moisture. " Two kinds of hearers are figured by this stony ground in which the good seed cannot take root. The first and the most pitiable are those who are voluntarily deaf- their hearts are hardened and have become as stone with regard to the word of God. We could scarcely believe it, if there was not the saddest experience to convince us. There are men who are determined to remain just as they are. They come to hear the word of God spoken with a fixed resolution of not profiting by it. Let them hear the most touching exhortations, let the most terrible truths be presented to them, even if the grace of a retreat or a mission is offered them, it is all useless. They hear nothing, they will profit by nothing; they are the minds of that character which the prophet indignantly depicts when he exclaims: "They have closed their ears, lest they should hear." What shall be the consequences of this studied and systematic resistance to the truth which is spoken exteriorly, and to the grace which urges and solicits interiorly? The very thought makes the heart grow cold. Our blessed Saviour exclaims: "Woe to you, Jerusalem, because if Tyre and Sidon had received the same graces as you have, they would have done penance in sackcloth and ashes. They shall be treated with less rigor than you." Yes, on the judgment day the infidel shall find an excuse in the misfortune of his birth, the heretic shall find an excuse in his ignorance, but you, reared in the bosom of the true Church, you, enlightened by so many lights and surrounded by so many graces,' what excuse shall you have ?
The second kind of hearers figured by the stony ground on which the precious seed falls is composed of all those Christians in whom certain passions have reached a state of habit. These form an almost insurmountable obstacle to the effects of the divine word. They hear it with pleasure, they admit the truth of all the reproaches hurled against them, and they would wish to be converted. Far from flying from the truth, they seek it. Should the preacher speak of the divine mercies, their hearts are touched; they make splendid promises-. Casting a glance on the disorders of their past life, their eyes are bathed in tears; but scarcely have they left the house of God than everything is forgotten. The old habits weigh them down, they succumb to the first flame of passion, the good germ is parched; the root is necessary if the good seed would develop. The second obstacle to the development of the word of God is a depraved will.
Third Point.—-The third obstacle to the effect of the sacred word comes from attachment to the things of the world, whatever may be the name by which you designate them. They are represented by the thorns in which the good seed falls. It grows there, it is true; the germ is developed, but it is stifled at its birth by the thorns which cover and clog the soil. This is the too common effect of pleasures and riches. Whoever possesses them finds much difficulty in extricating his heart from them, and the heart which is charmed by them affords very little access to the truths of salvation. It is true that the riches and pleasures of life are not criminal things in themselves, but the abuse which we make of them, and the affection we have for them, soon render them criminal.
Our divine Saviour compares the pleasures of the world to thorns, because they produce the same effect. If at first they spread on our pathway some agreeable flowers, soon they will embarrass us. Then they will make us feel their sharpened points, and in time they will wound us. See that young man, or that young woman, who has heard the divine word with docility and who has profited by it, who carefully cultivates the virtues which grace has germinated in her heart, but who, at the same time, cherishes a love for the world; because this love, which is moderate in the beginning, does not lead them into grave faults they imagine their virtue has received no wound; they think that in spite of the words of Christ they can serve two masters, and can continue to love the world without ceasing to love God. Fatal error; profane attachments grow and are strengthened, and in the same proportion religious inclinations are diminished and weakened. The evil is so great that it is not perceived. There is surely an increase on the one hand, and a decrease on the other. Because the same pious practices are continued, do we believe the same virtues are also continued? The exterior acts are the same, but the heart is already changed. After having lost the taste for pious exercises, there is no delay in losing the use of them also. We easily omit what has been done without inclination and by constraint; moreover, we are skilful to find pretexts for shortening certain practices and omitting others; this remissness insensibly leads to sloth, and the interval from sloth to sin is very short. See how worldly attachments lead us, little by little, when they are not early uprooted.
O my God, to what can I attribute the little fruit I have hitherto drawn from so many instructions, unless to my bad dispositions? Have pity on me, Lord; change my heart. Give me a new one, in which Thy word shall remain, take root, and produce those fruits of salvation which Thou hast a right to expect from me.
Source: Short Instructions for Every Sunday of the Year and the Principal Feasts, Imprimatur 1897
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The purpose of this website is to share the beautiful Catholic resources that God has so richly blessed us with. All texts unless they are my own words have their sources quoted, and most of them are in the public domain. Any educational items that I have made for or with my children are NOT TO BE USED FOR PROFIT, but are meant to be used for personal use by individuals and families. You may link to our site if you so choose.
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