Category Archives: Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI

The Rosary: The Ark of Encounter

The Rosary: The Ark of Encounter

In the Church’s extensive offering of private devotions, none claims more miraculous events or has amassed a more devoted following than the Holy Rosary. From healings to conversions to deliverance from addiction, there is a good reason that saints, popes, and laity all turn to and recommend the Rosary for spiritual struggles and challenging times. I have prayed thousands of Rosaries and can attest to its power over sin and its ability to communicate grace and truth in a way I have not found in other devotions, pious as they certainly are.

Yet my mind is restless, and like my 4-year-old son, I constantly ask, “Why does this happen?” and “How does it work?” I believe the answer lies not in form, but in content, and that content begins with understanding Mary as the New Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of Encounter . WEB

Healing through the ROSARY . WEB

Jesus holds the secret to happiness

He is waiting for you

It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; He is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; He is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is He who provoked you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is He who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is He who reads in your heart your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle.

It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be ground down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.

People are made for happiness. Rightly, then, you thirst for happiness. Christ has the answer to this desire of yours. But he asks you to trust him. True joy is a victory .. Jesus holds the secret of this victory.

Pope Saint John Paul II

Pope St John Paul II

Young pilgrims, Christ needs you to enlighten the world and to show it the “path to life” ( Psalm 16 ) The challenge is to make the Church’s “yes” to Life concrete and effective. The struggle will be long, and it needs each one of you. Place your intelligence, your talents, your enthusiasm, your compassion and your fortitude at the service of life !

At this stage of history, the liberating message of the Gospel of Life has been put into your hands. And the mission of proclaiming it to the ends of the earth is now passing to your generation.

The Church needs your energies, your enthusiasm, your youthful ideals, in order to make the Gospel of Life penetrate the fabric of society, transforming people’s hearts and the structures of society in order to create a civilization of true justice and love.

You young people .. know that the Truth is more powerful than darkness; that Love is stronger than death. I would like to invite each of you to listen careful to God’s voice in your heart. Listen to his voice. Do not be afraid.

Pope St John Paul II

Blessed Karl and Zita

the Peace Maker

Uniquely among the responsible leaders on all sides of the First World War, Karl had frontline experience. After assuming power he strove to alleviate the horrors of war he saw, and took concrete steps to bring about peace. As emperor he understood peace to be his absolute, kingly duty. In his ascension manifesto, therefore, he named peace as his central goal. Only Karl took up the peace proposal of Pope Benedict XV, incorporating its principles in a set of proposed peace accords (which historians have evaluated as thoroughly realistic and having had great potential).

The life of Emperor Karl is an encouraging example of faith. His beatification gives encouragement to all who feel overtaxed by their duty – and it invites us to use his inherent qualities (yet also limited) for the pursuit of peace, freedom and loving responsibility.

Cause for Canonization . WEB

St Teresa of Avila

Let nothing Disturb you, Let nothing frighten you,
All things are passing. God does not change.
Patience wins all things. For God alone suffices.

Accustom yourself continually to make many acts of love
for they enkindle and melt the soul.

May today bring you inner peace. May you be content knowing you are a child of God. Let God’s presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of us.

Trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.

Saint Teresa

October . Month of the Holy Rosary

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God.
That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that, we to whom the Incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an Angel, may by His Passion and Cross, be brought to the glory of His Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Saint Francis

Pivotal Players . WEB

It was through his archangel, Saint Gabriel, that the Father above made known to the holy and glorious Virgin Mary that the worthy, holy and glorious Word of the Father would come from heaven and take from her womb the real flesh of our human frailty. Though he was wealthy beyond reckoning, he still willingly chose to be poor with his blessed mother. And shortly before his passion he celebrated the Passover with his disciples. Then he prayed to his Father saying: Father, if it be possible, let this cup be taken from me.

Let us produce worthy fruits of penance. Let us also love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us have charity and humility. Let us give alms because these cleanse our souls from the stains of sin. Men lose all the material things they leave behind them in this world, but they carry with them the reward of their charity and the alms they give. For these they will receive from the Lord the reward and recompense they deserve.

We must not be wise and prudent according to the flesh. Rather we must be simple, humble and pure. We should never desire to be over others. Instead, we ought to be servants who are submissive to every human being for God’s sake. The Spirit of the Lord will rest on all who live in this way and persevere in it to the end. He will permanently dwell in them. They will be the Father’s children who do his work. They are the spouses, brothers and mothers of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Saint Francis

Padre Pio

“It would be easier for the world to exist without the sun
than without the Holy Mass”

“Kneel down and render the tribute of your presence and devotion
to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. Confide all your needs to him,
along with those of others.”

“The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self;
there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection
except at the price of pain”

“The best means of guarding yourself against temptation are the following: watch your senses to save them from dangerous temptation, avoid vanity,do not let your heart become exalted, convince yourself of the evil of complacency, flee away from hate, Pray whenever possible.”

Padre Pio