“There are many companionships. I don’t say, “Choose
one,” but follow the one that Christ has put you in, that Christ has had you
meet, the one that first struck you convincingly.”
Holy Father, you have nourished and strengthened your Church by the inspired writings of your servant Thomas a Kempis: Grant that we may learn from him to know what is necessary to be known, to love what is to be loved, to praise what highly pleases you, and always to seek to know and follow your will;
through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.
The mountain heights of Lebanon
Resound with songs of joy;
The cedars of that ancient land
Stand tall as we employ
Our hymns of praise and thankfulness
For Sharbel’s saintly ways,
Lived out in strict humility
That guided all his days.
True monk and hermit of the hills,
Saint Maron’s modest son
Scorned wealth and comfort in his life
That heaven’s crown be won.
Of Mary, heaven’s Queen and Gate,
Devoted son was he,
Who cherished all the ancient rites
With great humility.
Fierce lover of the lowly life,
True father of the poor,
As you have done, so help us all
To struggle and endure,
That Christ be praised in ev’ry life,
That riches not ensnare
Or rule us in our daily walk;
That strong may be our prayer!
O Father, Son, and Spirit blest,
One God in persons three,
Receive this hymn we offer now,
And keep your Church e’er free
To follow, as Saint Sharbel did,
Enflamed with love so bright
That we, with eyes fixed firm on Christ,
May vanquish sin’s dark night.
J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
CMD; FOREST GREEN, RESIGNATION
In Christ’s death, I have died now;
In Christ I live anew.
With faith in God’s Son, Jesus,
That keeps me ever true,
I know the love he’s shown me,
That washed my sin away.
His cross, which daily leads me
And guides me as I pray.
Thus Bridget, monarch, mother,
Good spouse and Christian wise,
Lived Jesus’ sacred Passion
Each day before his eyes.
She loved the poor and lowly,
Gave all her store away,
Called men and women to her
To live the gospel way.
Give glory to the Father,
Whose loving plan ordained
That we should each be purchased
From sin and sorrow’s shame!
Give glory to Christ Jesus,
Whose death has set us free!
Give glory to the Spirit;
To God, the One-in-Three.
J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
76 76 D; PASSION CHORALE
Not long ago St Emma Monastery became an independent monastery after years of being dependent on their motherhouse, Abtei St Walburga, Eichstatt, Germany. Mother Franziska Kloos set the nuns of St Emma’s out on their own now as a canonically established conventual priory! The formal installation with a blessing of Mother Mary Anne by the Bishop of Greensburg, the Most Reverend Lawrence E. Brandt happened on April 18.
2010 Newman Conference August 5-7, 2010
Edward Pentin makes a brief intro of the new Apostolic Nuncio to the United Nations, Archbishop Francis Assisi Chullikatt, JCD, 57, 32 years a priest and four years a bishop. The new nuncio is the first non-Italian to hold this appointment; he’s also worked at the New York Mission of the Holy See and other diplomatic missions for the Apostolic See.
In hours of darkness, Mary
Prayed psalms throughout the night,
“I searched throughout the city
Until the morning light;
And then I saw the watchmen,
And asked them, in their way,
‘Have you seen him my heart loves?’
As night turned into day.”
Thus Mary, in her weeping,
Went searching near and far,
And could not find her Master,
The bright and Morning Star.
She thought she saw the gard’ner,
And asked where Jesus lay;
She heard his voice say, “Mary!”
And there stood Christ, the Way.
We thank you for the witness
That she bore for your Son,
The faith she kept proclaiming
Until her life was done.
All glory to the Father,
All glory, Risen Son!
All glory to the Spirit,
True Godhead, only One!
J. Michael Thompson
Copyright © 2009, World Library Publications
76 76 D; AURELIA
Please keep in your prayers the repose of the soul of the Reverend Father Brian W. Monnerat, 60, priest of the Archdiocese of Hartford, who died, July 14, 2010, while on vacation with his family. He was ordained a priest in 1988, when I first met him. This is a sad time for the archdiocese.