Paul Zalonski – Page 495

Mary leads us on the path to Christ

“Following Jesus from Bethlehem to exile in
Egypt, in the hidden life and public life, even to the foot of the Cross, Mary
lives her steady ascent to God in the spirit of the Magnificat, adhering in
full, even through moments of ‘darkness and suffering’, to the project of
the love of God and nourishing in her heart her total abandonment to the hands
of the Lord, so as to be a paradigm for the faith of the Church (cf. Lumen
Gentium, 64-65). All of life is an ascent, all of life is meditation,
obedience, trust and hope even in darkness and all of life is this sacred haste
that knows that God is always the priority and nothing else should create haste
in our lives.

The Assumption reminds us that Mary’s life, like that of every
Christian is a journey to follow Jesus, a path that has a clearly defined goal,
a future already mapped out: the final victory over sin and death and full
communion with God.”

(Pope Benedict XVI Assumption 2009)

Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

See the beauty of the daughter of Jerusalem, who ascended to
heaven like the rising sun at dawn.

The ark which God has sanctified,

Which He has filled with
grace,

Within the temple of the Lord

Has found a resting-place.

More glorious
than the seraphim,

This ark of love divine,

Corruption could not blemish her

Whom
death could not confine.

God-bearing Mother, Virgin chaste,

Who shines in
heaven’s sight;

She wears a royal crown of stars

Who is the door of Light.

To Father, Son and Spirit blest

may we give endless praise

With Mary, who is Queen of heaven,

Through everlasting days.

(from Stanbrook Abbey Hymnal)

Venerable Servant of God Michael J. McGivney

In 1890 on today’s date, Father Michael J. McGivney, a priest of the Hartford Diocese and founder of the Knights of Columbus, died at the age of 38.

The postulator and vice-postulator, with the Archdiocese of Hartford and the Congregation for Saints, have been studying the various claims of miracles attributed to the intercession of the Venerable Servant of God Michael J. McGivney. The process for beatification and canonization continues on the temporal plane but it also requires divine intervention. The prayer for canonization follows.

Visit the McGivney Guild

Join the McGivney Guild

Prayer for the Canonization of

Father Michael J. McGivney

God, our Father, protector of the poor and defender of the widow and orphan, you called your priest, Father Michael J. McGivney, to be an apostle of Christian family life and to lead the young to the generous service of their neighbor.

Through the example of his life and virtue may we follow your Son, Jesus Christ, more closely, fulfilling his commandment of charity and building up his Body which is the Church. Let the inspiration of your servant prompt us to greater confidence in your love so that we may continue his work of caring for the needy and the outcast.

We humbly ask that you glorify your servant Father Michael J. McGivney on earth according to the design of your holy will.

Through his intercession, grant the favor I now present (here make your request).

Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Saint Maximilian Mary Kolbe

We know that we have passed out of death into life,
because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

Gracious
God, you filled your priest and martyr, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, with zeal for
souls and love for his neighbor. Through the prayer of this devoted servant of
Mary Immaculate, grant that in our efforts to serve others for your glory we
too may become like Christ your Son, who loved his own in the world even to the
end, and now lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever
and ever.

Militia Immaculata Prayer of Marian Consecration

(Composed by St.
Maximilian Kolbe)

O Immaculata, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners
and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy
to you. I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet, humbly
imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as
your possession and property. Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and
body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you. If it
pleases you, use all that I am and have without reserve, wholly to accomplish
what was said of you: “She will crush your head,” and “You alone
have destroyed all heresies in the whole world.”

Let me be a fit
instrument in your immaculate and merciful hands for introducing and increasing
your glory to the maximum in all the many strayed and indifferent souls, and
thus help extend as far as possible the blessed kingdom of the most Sacred
Heart of Jesus. For wherever you enter you obtain the grace of conversion and
growth in holiness, since it is through your hands that all graces come to us
from the most Sacred Heart of Jesus.

V. Allow me to praise you, O sacred
Virgin

R. Give me strength against
your enemies.

Herbs Blessing, Byzantine style

In an age old tradition of the Church, the faithful experience a blessing of herbs and flowers on the Solemnity of the Assumption. Here is a blessing taken from the Byzantine ritual and so we ought to say the “Dormition”, this is the proper term in the East for what the Latins call the Assumption of Mary.

O almighty, eternal God, by your word alone You created out of nothing the heavens, earth, sea, and all things visible and invisible. You commanded that the earth give forth plants and trees for the needs of man and animal, each according to its need. In your infinite goodness You ordained that these plants serve not only as food for the animals but also as medicine for the sick body. We beseech you, bless these different plants and fruits and bestow upon them your blessing, and endow them with your power, so that they may serve man and animal like as a defense against all sickness and all that is impure: for You are our God and we give glory to You, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.

These flowers (or: plants) are blessed and sanctified by the sprinkling of this holy water in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Herbs Blessing on the Assumption Solemnity, August 15

It is customary in the Western Church, since at least the 10th century, for the priest to bless herbs on the Solemnity of the Assumption. The Eastern Church likely had a similar formulary much earlier.

As a point of liturgical fact, the Church asks God to bless herbs and flowers –and thus us– to remind all of us of the gifts God has given us for our sustenance, healing and beauty. In many places the faithful had all their flowers blessed, especially those closely associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary. Herbs blessing, therefore, is another example of giving thanks, a key theological and liturgical point in our life of faith. While customary it is not likely to be used in many parishes. The collects for the herbs blessing rich and savory.

The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy (2001) says of herbs blessing:

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August) is deeply imbedded in popular piety. In many places the feast is synonymous with the person of Our Lady, and is simply referred to as “Our Lady’s Day” or as the “Immacolada” in Spain and Latin America.

In the Germanic countries, the custom of blessing herbs is associated with 15 August. This custom, received into the Rituale Romanum (200), represents a clear example of the genuine evangelization of pre-Christian rites and beliefs: one must turn to God, through whose word “the earth produced vegetation: plants bearing seeds in their several kinds, and trees bearing fruit with their seed inside in their several kinds” (Gen 1, 12) in order to obtain what was formerly obtained by magic rites; to stem the damages deriving from poisonous herbs, and benefit from the efficacy of curative herbs.

This ancient use came to be associated with the Blessed Virgin Mary, in part because of the biblical images applied to her such as vine, lavender, cypress and lily, partly from seeing her in terms of a sweet smelling flower because of her virtue, and most of all because of Isaiah 11, 1, and his reference to the “shoot springing
from the side of Jesse”, which would bear the blessed fruit of Jesus.

The Order of Blessing of Herbs is found here.

Saint Jane Frances de Chantal

Lord, You chose Saint Jane Frances to serve You both in marriage and in religious life. By her prayers help us to be faithful in our vocation and always to be light to the world.

Saint Jane Frances once said: “There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is.“

Let me recommend two monasteries of the Order of the Visitation of Mary, one of the first federation and the other of the second: Georgetown Visitation Monastery and the Visitation of Tyringham.

Note: In the US this memorial is moved from August 18 to today; in other parts of the world Saint Jane’s feast is December 12.

Saint Philomena

August 11th is also Saint Philomena’s liturgical feast day but today is also a day to honor the name of Philomena and her place in our Church. Recently, a news item appeared about her.

Growing up in New Haven, CT I knew many of Italian Catholic women named for Saint Philomena. Across the street from Portsmouth Abbey (Portsmouth, RI) there’s a school that’s under the patronage of this saint. The connections are many more. One has to say that some ‘people’ think Philomena didn’t exist in the same way they think Saint Christopher didn’t exist. What historical proof does one need to prove a person’s existence? For someone who never existed in the scientific minds, Philomena has had some prominent people take an interest in her with a sanctuary (Italy) and a shrine (USA).

A little known fact is that Saint John Vianney, Saint Peter Julian Eymard, Saint Bartolo Longo and Saint Damian de Vuester had a special love for Philomena; Vianney even attributes the conversion of Ars to her intercession. He built a shrine to Saint Philomena and composing a litany in honor of her.

Pray the Litany to Saint Philomena and the Novena Prayer to the saint.

Hymn to Saint Clare of Assisi

Can anyone think of Clare without Francis? Is it possible to conceive of the mendicant orders without the witness of Saint Clare? Saint Clare of Assisi is a pivotal figure in Catholic
spirituality and religious life that I think she’s been studied and followed by
very few. James Thompson, a composer of sacred music, wrote the following piece
on Clare which deserves our attention. I have posted Thompson’s texts here before
with the thought that they provide food for thought and prayer. He captures
well the spirit and life of this companion of Francis.

O Light from Light,
all splendor’s Source,

Whose clear beams shine with heaven’s joy,

We give
You thanks for Mother Clare

And ev’ry form of praise employ.

Enticed by
Francis’ preaching sweet,

Christ Crucified became her Spouse;

She gathered
sisters to her side

Where Poverty would grace the house.

She left behind
all earthly gain

That riches true might be her all;

In poverty, obedience,

And
chastity she heard Christ’s call.

As mother to her flock, she lived

And
modeled Christ to ev’ryone;

In loving service spent herself

In toil from dawn
to setting sun.

As she has shown us, Lord,

Your way, So give us grace like her
to be,

That we may turn from self to You

And in your Way be truly free.

Most
high, omnipotent, good God,

O Father, Son and Spirit blest,

With Mother Clare
and all your saints Bring us,

Your Church, to endless rest.

88 88 (LM) no suggested
tune

The reason for prayer

Prayer is an exercise of love and it would be incorrect to think that if there is no time for solitude, there is no prayer at all. For the very reason that prayer is based especially on love and springs from it, it is possible to prolong it beyond the time devoted exclusively to it.

Though it is not possible to be always thinking of God, partly because our mind gets tired, or because our many occupations demand full attention, still it is always possible for the heart to love and to desire God, and this can, and must, exist even in the performance of duties which absorb our intellect; in fact, such an orientation can be intensified by the desire to accomplish every action for the love of God, to please him, and give him glory.

“The reason for prayer” according to St. Thomas Aquinas, “is a desire moved by charity. . . And this desire with us must be continuous, either in act, or at least potentially. . . We can say that one prays continuously by reason of the continuity of his desire”.

Divine Intimacy
Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, OCD