TRIREGNUM sensus catholicus: The Heart of Jesus, Source of Life and Holiness

Friday, July 18, 2014

The Heart of Jesus, Source of Life and Holiness

Holiness

Supernatural life is given to the soul in an incipient stage and now it must develop and grow. To keep alive, the human body must be active, the lungs must breathe, the heart must beat, the blood must circulate, food must be assimilated. The same holds for the supernatural life; according to the vigor and intensity of its operations, we are holy in a lesser or higher degree. Holiness consists in hating what is evil and loving what is good. What these things are in particular God has made known to us in His commandments and counsels, and we share in His holiness to the extent that we avoid what offends Him and do what is pleasing to Him. Holiness is indeed nothing else but the practical conformity of our will with the will of God. "He who has My commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves Me" (Jn. 14:21).

To hate evil we must know its malice, and to love the good we must be aware of its beauty and blessings, but before we can do these things the weakness of our nature must be strengthened by the power of grace. That strength comes to us through the Sacred Heart of Jesus. In His Passion, Jesus demonstrated the malice of sin. His humiliations were punishment and atonement for the pride of sin. The cruel tortures inflicted upon Him were punishment and atonement for sinful pleasure. Prayerful meditation on the Passion will arouse a deep and lasting hatred of sin. On the other hand, love for what is good will be enkindled by reflection on the beauty and grandeur of His holy life as He places it before us in His teaching and example. Jesus always does the things most pleasing to the Father, and that is the highest degree of holiness. He is the holiest of the holy but He calls on us to learn of Him, to do as He has done, to love as He has loved. And even though human weakness may be great, His grace is all-powerful; strengthened by His grace, we can do all things.

~ FATHER A. BISKUPEK, SVD

http://www.catholictradition.org/Classics/heart-jesus11.htm

1 comment:

Anonymous said...: "Prayer keeps us close to Jesus; it illuminates the mind and warms the heart, lifts thoughts and desires heavenward and thus lightens the burdens of the Christian life. In holy Mass we share in the atoning power of His Passion and learn the lessons of a holy life: profound reverence for the majesty of the Father, humility, obedience, and patience. In Holy Communion our whole being is more strongly and deeply penetrated with His Divine life."; June 18, 2013 at 2:13 PM

PRAY FOR THE CHURCH AND THE POPE

For the Pope Fr Tim Finegan of 'The Hermeneutic of Continuity' Blog has given some golden advice: "Every day, as part of my morning prayers, I say the prayer Ecclesiae for the protection of the Church, along with the prayer for the Pope, both from the traditional Missal. I have done so ever since the foot-washing incident and do so each day as the bad news piles up. Following St Vincent Ferrer, I would urge that if you disagree with the Pope, prayer is not simply a piously sentimental comfort, but the proper course of action since it is an appeal to his immediate superior." Deus, omnium fidelium pastor et rector, famulum tuum Franciscum, quem pastorem Ecclesiae tuae praeesse voluisti, propitius respice: da ei, quaesumus, verbo et exemplo, quibus praeest, proficere: ut ad vitam, una cum grege sibi credito, perveniat sempiternam. Per Dominum Nostrum Iesum Christum Filium Tuum, Qui Tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen. O God, the Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, mercifully look upon Thy servant, Francis, whom Thou hast chosen as the chief Shepherd to preside over Thy Church; grant him, we beseech Thee, so to edify, both by word and example, those over whom he hath charge, that he may attain unto everlasting life, together with the flock committed unto him. Through our Lord Jesus Christ Thy Son, who lives and reigns with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Coetus Internationalis Patrum

Prayer of St Therese of the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face

It is said that this devotion brought St Therese of Lisieux, "the Little Flower", to her great sanctity. This is her prayer to the Holy Face: O Jesus, who in Thy bitter Passion didst become "the most abject of men, a man of sorrows", I venerate Thy Sacred Face whereon there once did shine the beauty and sweetness of the Godhead; but now it has become for me as if it were the face of a leper! Nevertheless, under those disfigured features, I recognize Thy infinite Love and I am consumed with the desire to love Thee and make Thee loved by all men. The tears which well up abundantly in Thy sacred eyes appear to me as so many precious pearls that I love to gather up, in order to purchase the souls of poor sinners by means of their infinite value. O Jesus, whose adorable Face ravishes my heart, I implore Thee to fix deep within me Thy divine image and to set me on fire with Thy Love, that I may be found worthy to come to the contemplation of Thy glorious Face in Heaven. Amen.

Cor Jesu sacratissimum, miserere nobis!

Prayer of Trust in the Sacred Heart: In all my temptations, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my weaknesses, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my difficulties, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my trials, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my sorrows, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In all my work, I place my trust in You, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In every failure, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In every discouragement, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In life and in death, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus. In time and in eternity, I place my trust in Thee, O Sacred Heart of Jesus.

ITE AD JOSEPH

PRAYER FOR THE CHURCH AND THE HOLY FATHER MOST POWERFUL Patriarch St. Joseph, Patron of the Universal Church, which has always invoked thee in anxiety and trouble, from the exalted seat of thy glory cast a loving glance upon the whole Catholic world. let thy fatherly heart be touched at the sight of the Mystical Spouse and the Vicar of Christ overwhelmed with sorrow and persecuted by powerful enemies. Oh, by the bitter anguish thou didst experience upon earth, dry the tears of the venerable Pontiff, defend him, comfort him, intercede for him with the Giver of peace and charity, that, all adversity being removed and all error dissipated, the entire Church may serve God in perfect liberty. Amen.

Oratio pro summo Pontifice/ Prayer for the Pope

V. Let us pray for Franceso, our Pope. R. May the Lord preserve him, and give him life, and make him blessed upon the earth, and deliver him not up to the will of his enemies. [Ps 40:3] Pater Noster, Ave Maria. O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all Thy faithful people, look mercifully upon Thy servant Franceso, whom Thou hast chosen as shepherd to preside over Thy Church. Grant him, we beseech Thee, that by his word and example, he may edify those over whom he hath charge, so that together with the flock committed to him, may he attain everlasting life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

‘Evelyn Waugh Catholics' is there any other kind?

An English friend and colleague, the icon painter David Clayton, told me that when he first converted and began to attend Mass at London’s extraordinary Oratory, some cradle Catholic warned him away from the place: "All you’ll meet there," the fellow said, "are ‘Evelyn Waugh Catholics.’" To which I answer, "Is there any other kind?" No doubt there are, in Yamoussoukro, or the mountain chapels of Bolivia. May God bless and keep them. But in the English-speaking world, I cannot imagine any properly formed Catholic who wouldn’t feel deep-running sympathy, right down to the clench of his gut, with Waugh’s excruciated elegies to the remnants of a vanishing Christendom. Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar is finally fading — and in England is daily more dully drowned by the cats-in-heat call of the muezzin.

Therese "Resl" Neumann Mystic and Stigmatist of Konnersreuth, Germany

PRAYER FOR THE BEATIFICATION OF THERESE NEUMANN: Almighty God, our Father in Heaven, with infinite love You give us signs to stir our dull minds when we consider the lives of Your Saints. To recall our Lord's passion You granted Therese Neumann to bear his sacred wounds visibly on her body. You enabled her to see much of His life on earth in her visions. You allowed her to make amends for the sins of men by suffering with the Saviour. Likewise You reminded us of the lasting value of the Sacrifice of the Mass and the abiding presence of Christ Your Son in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar by permitting her to live for over 30 years solely through receiving the sacred host in daily Holy Communion! We beg to further distinguish Therese Neumann by granting our prayer to have her raised to the honors of the altar, that more people may through knowledge of her love for You and Your laws draw nearer to You. We ask this through Christ our Lord. AMEN