Twelth Sunday After Pentecost, and St. Joseph Prayers

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Epistle: II Cor. 3:4-9 (an excerpt of this Sunday's Epistle below)

"BRETHERN: Such confdience we have through Christ towards God. Not that we are sufficient to think anything of ourselves, as of ourselves: but our sufficiency is from God."

Gospel: Lk. 10:23-37 (an excerpt of this Sundays' Gospel below)
"Blessed are the eyes that see the things which you see. For I say to you, that many prophets and kings have desired to see the things that you see, and have not seen them; and to hear, and have not heard them."

O BLESSED Joseph, happy man, to whom it was given not only to see and to hear that God Whom many kings longed to see, and saw not, to hear, and heard not; but also to carry Him in your arms, to embrace Him, to clothe Him, and guard and defend Him.

Latin Version: O FELICEM virum, beatum Ioseph, cui datum est Deum, quem multi reges voluerunt videre et non viderunt, audire et non audierunt, non solum videre et audire, sed portare, deosculari, vestire et custodire!

V. Pray for us, blessed Joseph.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.
God, who hast conferred upon us a royal priesthood,we pray thee give us grace to minister at Thy holy altarswith hearts as clean and lives as blameless as that blessed Josephwho was found worthy to hold in his armsand with all reverence to carry Thy Only-Begotten Son, born of the Virgin Mary.Enable us this day to receive worthily the sacred Body and Blood of Thy Son,and fit us to win an everlasting reward in the world to come:through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Guardian of virgins, and holy father Joseph, to whose faithful custody Christ Jesus, Innocence itself, and Mary, Virgin of virgins, were committed; I pray and beseech thee, by these dear pledges, Jesus and Mary, that, being preserved from all uncleanness, I may with spotless mind, pure heart, and chaste body, ever serve Jesus and Mary most chastely all the days of my life.
Amen.

Latin version:Virginum custos et pater, sancte Ioseph, cuius fideli custodiae ipsa Innocentia Christus Iesus et Virgo virginum Maria commissa fuit; te per hoc utrumque carissimum pignus Iesum et Mariam obsecro et obtestor, ut me, ab omni immunditia praeservatum, mente incontaminata, puro corde et casto corpore Iesu et Mariae semper facias castissime famulari. Amen.

St. Joseph, help us to grow in purity of heart, that we may love in true charity, God alone, and our neighbor out of love of God.

(continuation from above of the Gospel Lk 10:23-37)

"And behold a certain lawyer stood up, tempting Him, and saying: Master, what must I do to possess eternal life? But he said to him: What is written in the law? How readest thou? He answering, said: Thou shalt love the Lord they God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself. And He said to him: Thou hast answered rightly: this do, and thou shalt live. But he, willing to justify himself, said to Jesus: And who is my neighbor? And Jesus answering, said: A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among robbers, who also stripped him, and having wounded him went away, leaving him half dead. And it chanced that a certain priest went down the same way, and seeing him, passed by. In like manner also a Levite, when he was near the place and saw him, passed by. But a certain Samaritan being on his journey, came near him, and seeing him, was moved with compassion, and going up to him, bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine; and setting him upon his own beast, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. And the next day he took out two pence, and gave to the host, and said: Take care of him, and whatsoever thou shalt spend over and above, I, at my return, will repay thee. Which of these three, in thine opinion, was neighbor to him that fell among robbers? But he said: He that showed mercy to him. And Jesus said to him: Go and do thou in like manner." +

Feast of St. Bernard, August 20

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Bernard of Clairvauxas depicted

in a medieval illuminated

manuscript(Note: initial letter B for Bernard)

On St. Bernard of Clairveax, (1091 - 1153)

His parents were Tescelin, lord of Fontaines, and Aleth of Montbard, both belonging to the highest nobility of Burgundy. Bernard, the third of a family of seven children, six of whom were sons, was educated with particular care, because, while yet unborn, a devout man had foretold his great destiny. At the age of nine years, Bernard was sent to a much renowned school at Chatillon-sur-Seine, kept by the secular canons of Saint-Vorles. He had a great taste for literature and devoted himself for some time to poetry. His success in his studies won the admiration of his masters, and his growth in virtue was no less marked. Bernard's great desire was to excel in literature in order to take up the study of Sacred Scripture, which later on became, as it were, his own tongue. "Piety was his all," says Bossuet. He had a special devotion to the Blessed Virgin, and there is no one who speaks more sublimely of the Queen of Heaven. Bernard was scarcely nineteen years of age when his mother died. During his youth, he did not escape trying temptations, but his virtue triumphed over them, in many instances in a heroic manner, and from this time he thought of retiring from the world and living a life of solitude and prayer.

Click here to read more of New Advent's Article on St. Bernard of Clairvaux

ST. BERNARD, one of the most illustrious Christian teachers and representatives of monasticism in the Middle Ages, was born at Fontaines, near Dijon, in Burgundy, in 1091. The son of a knight and vassal of the duke of Burgundy who perished in the first crusade, Bernard may have felt for a time the temptations of a military career, but the influence of a pious mother and his own inclinations towards a life of meditation and study led him to the cloister. While still a youth he is said to have been "marvellously cogitative" ("mire cogitativus," St Bern. Op., vol. ii. col. 1063), and the ascendancy of his mind and character were soon shown. He joined the small monastery of Citeaux in 1113 when twenty-two years of age, and such were the effects of his own devotion and eloquent enthusiasm in commending a religious life, that he drew after him not only his two younger brothers, but also his two elder ones, Guido and Gerard, both of whom had naturally taken to soldiering, and the elder of whom was married and had children. The effect of his preaching is said to have been that " mothers hid their sons, wives their husbands, companions their friends," lest they should be drawn away by his persuasive earnestness.**

Click here to read more from the 1902 Encylopedia on St. Bernard

(**Note from Blogger/Editor: He persuaded four brother, and uncle, and other friends -- a total of thirty-one men -- to join him and pursue a sever religious life."
Also of interest:
+He was friends with St. Malachy of Armagh
+Was present at the tenth general council in Rome, the second of the Lateran
+His advice was looked upon with respect even by the popes
+He was universally called "Doctor Mellifluous," or the "Honeysweet Doctor" because of his devotions
+His writing, especially De Diligendo Deo, one of the outstanding medieval mytical works, shaped mysticism in the Middle Ages.
+His hundreds of sermons, his treatise De consideratione, letters, reflections on Scripture and his deep devotion to Mary and Jesus greatly influenced Christian spiritualism.
+He is considered the last of the Fathers of the Church.)

Some quotes from St. Bernard of Clairveax:
Hail, O bleeding Head and wounded, With a crown of thorns surrounded, Buffeted, and bruised and battered, Smote with reed by striking shattered, Face with spittle vilely smeared! Hail, whose visage sweet and comely, Marred by fouling stains and homely, Changed as to its blooming color, All now turned to deathly pallor, Making heavenly hosts affeared! (Abraham Coles' translation)

Who loves me will love my dog also. [Fr., Que me amat, amet et canem meum.] (Note from Blogger/Editor: Dad, that one was especially for you!)

He who prays and labours lifts his heart to God with his hands. [Lat., Qui orat laborat, cor levat ad Deum cum manibus.]

Hell is full of good wishes or desires. [Fr., L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontes ou desirs.] Source: Archbishop Trench called it the "queen of all proverbs"

I know by myself how incomprehensible God is, seeing I cannot comprehend the parts of my own being.

"My burden is light," said the blessed Redeemer, a light burden indeed, which carries him that bears it. I have looked through all nature for a resemblance of this, and seem to find a shadow of it in the wings of a bird, which are indeed borne by the creature, and yet support her flight towards heaven.

Nothing can work me damage except myself. The harm that I sustain I carry about with me, and never am a real sufferer but by my own fault.

Prayer is a virtue that prevaileth against all temptations.

Religion brought forth riches, and the daughter devoured the mother. [Lat., Religio peperit divitias et filia devoravit matrem.]

Slander is a poison which extinguishes charity, both in the slanderer and in the persons who listen to it.

The peacemakers shall be called the sons of God, who came to make peace between God and man. What then shall the sowers of discord be called, but the children of the devil? And what must they look for but their father's portion?

The tears of penitents are the wine of angels.

And perhaps the Editor's favorite...

"O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary, pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, that we may be worthy of the promises of Christ." --- the end of the Hail Mary as it is today, given to us from the great Father of the Church.

PRAYER TO THE SHOULDER WOUND OF CHRIST

O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of Thy Cross. Amen.

Imprimatur: Thomas D. Beven, Bishop of Springfield

Sancte Bernarde, ora pro nobis!

Some Thursday Lessons from August, Divine Office

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Thurday of the Divine Office, Third Week of August

4th class

From the book of Wisdom
Lesson i Ch. 9:13-19
For what man knows God's counsel, or who can conceive what the Lord intends? For the deliberations of mortals are timid, and unsure are our plans. For the corruptible body burdens the soul and the earthen shelter weighs down the mind that has many concerns. And scare do we guess the things on earth, and what is within our grasp we find with difficulty; but when things are in heaven, who can search them out? Or who ever knew your counsel, except you had given Wisdom and sent your Holy Spirit from high? And thus were the paths of those on earth made straight, and men learned what was your pleasure. For it was by Wisdom that all those were saved who pleased you, Lord, from the beginning.

R. In the beginning, before God made the earth, before He established the depths, before He brought forth the spirngs of water, Before the mountains were settled into place, before all the hills, the Lord begot me.
V. When He established the heavens, I was there, I was beside Him as His craftsman. Before the mountains were settled into place, before all the hills, the Lord begot me.


Thurday of the Divine Office, Fourth Week of August

From the book of Ecclesiasticus
Ch. 3:22-26
What is too sublime for you, seek not; into things beyond your strength search not. But the things that God has commanded you, think about them always, and curb your curiosity about his many works; for what is hidden is not your concern. With what is too much for you meddle not, and curb your curiosity about his many works; for many things beyond human understanding have been shown you. Their own opinion has misled many, and false reasoning unbalanced their judgment.

R. In the beginning, before God made the earth, before He established the depths, before He brought forth the sprince of water, Before the mountains were settled into place, before all the hills, the Lord begot me.

V. When He established the heavens, I was there, I was beside Him as His craftsman. Before the mountains were settled into place, before all the hills, the Lord begot me.

Ch. 3:27-30
A stubborn man will fare badly in the end, adn he who loves danger will perish in it. A heart turned two ways will have no success, and he who is perverse of heart will find this duplicity a stumbling block. A stubborn man will be burdened with sorrow; a sinner will heap sin upon sin. For the assembly of the proud there will be no cure; for sin will take root in them without their perceiving it.

R. The vault of heaven I compassed alone; over the waves of the sea I walked; over every nation and people I held sway. By my own power I have trodden upon the necks of the proud and haughty. V. In the highest heavens I dwell, my throne on a pillar of cloud. By my own power I have trodden upon the necks of the proud and haughty.

Ch. 3:31-34
The heart of a sage makes itself known by his wisdom, and the ear of a good man will listen to wisdom with all eagerness. The wise and understanding heart will refrain from sin and succeed in the works of justice. Water quenches a flaming fire, and alms atone for sins. God looks with favor on one who does a kindness, and remembers him afterward; when he falls he finds a support.

R. Send forth Wisdom, Lord, from Your glorious throne, that she may be with me and work with me, That I may know what is pleasing to You at all times.
V. Give me Wisdom, Lord, the attendant at Your throne, That I may know what is pleasing to You at all times. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.

That I may know what is pleasing to You at all times.

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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"For which reason, after we have poured forth prayers of supplication again and again to God, and have invoked the light of the Spirit of Truth, for the glory of Almighty God who has lavished his special affection upon the Virgin Mary, for the honor of her Son, the immortal King of the Ages and the Victor over sin and death, for the increase of the glory of that same august Mother, and for the joy and exultation of the entire Church; by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul, and by our own authority, we pronounce, declare, and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma: that the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory. (Gen 3:15)

Hence if anyone, which God forbid, should dare willfully to deny or to call into doubt that which we have defined, let him know that he has fallen away completely from the divine and Catholic Faith." (Rom 5-6; I Cor. 15:21-26, 54-57)

taken from

APOSTOLIC CONSTITUTION OF POPE PIUS XII
MUNIFICENTISSIMUS DEUS
DEFINING THE DOGMA OF THE ASSUMPTION
November 1, 1950

Quotes from the Early Church Fathers:

Pseudo – Melito
"If therefore it might come to pass by the power of your grace, it has appeared right to us your servants that, as you, having overcome death, do reign in glory, so you should raise up the body of your Mother and take her with you, rejoicing, into heaven. Then said the Savior [Jesus]: "Be it done according to your will" (The Passing of the Virgin." 16:2-17 [A.D. 300]).

Timothy of Jerusalem
"Therefore the Virgin is immortal to this day, seeing that he who had dwelt in her transported her to the regions of her assumption." (Homily on Simeon and Anna [A.D. 400]).

John the Theologian
"The Lord said to his Mother, "Let your heart rejoice and be glad. For every favor and every gift has been given to you from my Father in heaven and from me and from the Holy Spirit. Every soul that calls upon your name shall not be ashamed, but shall find mercy and comfort and support and confidence, both in the world that now is and in that which is to come, in the presence of my Father in the heavens". . . And from that time forth all knew that the spotless and precious body had been transferred to paradise." (The Dormition of Mary [A.D. 400]).

Gregory of Tours
"[T]he Apostles took up her body on a bier and placed it in a tomb; and they guarded it, expecting the Lord to come. And behold, again the Lord stood by them; and the holy body having been received, He commanded that it be taken in a cloud into paradise: where now, rejoined to the soul, [Mary] rejoices with the Lord's chosen ones. . . "" (Eight Books of Miracles 1:4 [A.D. 575]).

Theoteknos of Livias
"It was fitting ... that the most holy-body of Mary, God-bearing body, receptacle of God, divinised, incorruptible, illuminated by divine grace and full glory ... should be entrusted to the earth for a little while and raised up to heaven in glory, with her soul pleasing to God." (Homily on the Assumption [ca. A.D. 600]).

Modestus of Jerusalem
"As the most glorious Mother of Christ, our Savior and God and the giver of life and immortality, has been endowed with life by him, she has received an eternal incorruptibility of the body together with him who has raised her up from the tomb and has taken her up to himself in a way known only to him." (Encomium in dormitionnem Sanctissimae Dominae nostrae Deiparae semperque Virginis Mariae [ante A.D. 634]).

Germanus of Constantinople
"You are she who, as it is written, appears in beauty, and your virginal body is all holy, all chaste, entirely the dwelling place of God, so that it is henceforth completely exempt from dissolution into dust. Though still human, it is changed into the heavenly life of incorruptibility, truly living and glorious, undamaged and sharing in perfect life." (Sermon I [A.D. 683]).

John Damascene
"It was fitting that the she, who had kept her virginity intact in childbirth, should keep her own body free from all corruption even after death. It was fitting that she, who had carried the Creator as a child at her breast, should dwell in the divine tabernacles. It was fitting that the spouse, whom the Father had taken to himself, should live in the divine mansions. It was fitting that she, who had seen her Son upon the cross and who had thereby received into her heart the sword of sorrow which she had escaped when giving birth to him, should look upon him as he sits with the Father, It was fitting that God's Mother should possess what belongs to her Son, and that she should be honored by every creature as the Mother and as the handmaid of God." (Dormition of Mary [A.D. 697])

Gregorian Sacramentary
"Venerable to us, O Lord, is the festivity of this day on which the holy Mother of God suffered temporal death, but still could not be kept down by the bonds of death, who has begotten Thy Son our Lord incarnate from herself." (Gregorian Sacramentary, Veneranda [ante A.D. 795]).

The Way to True Faith

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Audio file: True Devotion