Prayer on the Feast of the Annunciation

 

O God, Who wast pleased that the eternal Word, according to the declaration of the angel, should take flesh in the womb of the Blessed Virgin Mary: Give to our humble petitions; and grant that we, who believe her to be truly the Mother of God, may be helped by her prayers. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, one God, world without end. Amen.

A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mother of God

 

O   Jesus Christ, Son of the divine bounty of God, be my aid.

O   Blessed Virgin, listen to me.

O   Mother of the Saviour of the world, assist me.

O   Mother of God, Lady of Heaven, sweetly beloved Queen and advocate of all human lineage, pray for me.

Pray come, amiable and mild Lady of the Angels, Flower of the Patriarchs, Desire of Prophets, Treasure of the Apostles, Mother of Confessors, Ornament of Virgins, O Sweet and Blessed Virgin Mary, pray for me.

O   Lady, who is heard above the company of the Angels, preserve me from all evils, past, present and to come. Do no abandon me this day, nor at the dreadful hour when my soul shall be separated from my body. Petition for me, O sweet and Blessed Virgin Mary, at the hour of death and judgment, that my soul may come to Paradise, before your Son Jesus , and that I may be worthy to see His grace and every lasting glory with you. Amen

O   Gate of Paradise, Palace of Jesus Christ, Star of the Sea, Consolation of Mankind, beginning without end, take pity on me.

O   Sweet and Blessed Virgin Mary, daughter of God the Father, Mother of Jesus Christ, the Spouse of the holy Ghost: O Gate of Heaven, Door of the Firmament, Hope of Christians, Fountain of Pity, Safeguard of Peace, Glory of Virgins, who is honored above all Angels, intercede for me.

O   Mother of Mercy, Miracle of Virginity, Virgin above all Virgins, Temple of the Most Holy Trinity, beautiful above all creatures, O Lady of Meekness, Abbess of Mildness, Comforter of the Sorrowful, Consolation of the Afflicted, in you the Angels do rejoice.

O   Sweet Lady of Mercy, turn your merciful eyes to me, enlighten me with grace and hear my prayers. Into the protection of Almighty God and your holy hand, O Refuge of Sinners, I commend my soul and body. Amen

St. Benedict, Abbot

 

Put Christ before everything. Do not place absolutely anything before Christ–From The Rule of Saint Benedict

by Fr. Prosper Gueranger

Forty days after the white dove of Cassino had mounted to heaven, Benedict, her glorious Brother, ascended by a bright path to the blissful abode, where they were to be united for ever. Both of them reached the heavenly country during that portion of the year, which corresponds with the holy Season of Lent. It frequently happens, however, that St. Scholastica's feast is kept before Lent has begun; whereas St . Benedict's day, the twenty-first of March, always comes during the Season of penance. God, Who is the Sovereign Master of time, willed that the Faithful, whilst practising their exercises of penance, should always have before their eyes a Saint, whose example and intercession should inspire them with courage.

With what profound veneration ought we not to celebrate the Festival of this wonderful Saint, who, as St. Gregory says, " was filled with the spirit of all the Just!" If we consider his virtues, we find nothing superior in the annals of perfection presented to our admiration by the Church. Love of God and man, humility, the gift of prayer, dominion over the passions, form him into a master-piece of the grace of the Holy Ghost. Miracles seem to constitute his life: he cures the sick, commands the elements, casts out devils, and raises the dead to life. The spirit of prophecy unfolds futurity to him; and the most intimate thoughts of men are not too distant for the eye of his mind to scan. These superhuman qualifications are heightened by a sweet majesty, a serene gravity, and a tender charity, which shine in every page of his wonderful Life; and it is one of his holiest children who wrote it, St. Gregory the Great. It is this holy Pope and Doctor, who had the honour of telling posterity all the wonders which God vouchsafed to work in his servant Benedict.

Yes, posterity had a right to know the life and virtues of a man, whose salutary influence upon the Church and society has been so observable during the ages of the Christian era. To describe the influence exercised by the spirit of St. Benedict, we should have to transcribe the annals of all the nations of the Western Church, from the 7th century down to our own times. Benedict is the Father of Europe. By his Benedictines, numerous as the stars of heaven and as the sands of the sea-shore, he rescued the last remnants of Roman vigour from the total annihilation threatened by the invasion of Barbarians; he presided over the establishment of the public and private laws of those nations, which grew out of the ruins of the Roman Empire; he carried the Gospel and civilization into England, Germany, and the Northern countries, including Slavonia; he taught agriculture; he put an end to slavery; and to conclude, he saved the precious deposit of the arts and sciences from the tempest which would have swept them from the world, and would have left mankind a prey to a gloomy and fatal ignorance.

And Benedict did all this by that little book, which we call his "Rule." This admirable code of Christian perfection and prudence disciplined the countless legions of Religious, by whom the Holy Patriarch achieved all these prodigies. During the ages which preceded the promulgation of this "Rule," so wonderful in its simple eloquence, the Monastic Life, in the Western Church, had produced some few saintly men; but there was nothing to justify the hope, that this kind of life would become, even more than it had been in the East, the principal means of the Christian regeneration and civilization of so many nations. This "Rule" once written, and all others gradually give place to it, as the stars are eclipsed when the sun has risen. The West was peopled with Monasteries; and from these Monasteries flowed upon Europe all those blessings, which have made it the privileged quarter of the globe.

An incredible number of Saints, both men and women, who look up to Benedict as their Father, purify and sanctify the world, which had not yet emerged from the state of semi-barbarism. A long series of Popes, who had once been Novices in the Benedictine Cloister, preside over the destinies of this new world, and form for it a new legislation, which, being based exclusively on the moral law, is to avert the threatening prevalence of brutal despotism. Bishops innumerable, trained in the same School of Benedict, consolidate this moral legislation in the provinces and cities over which they are appointed. The Apostles of twenty barbarous nations confront their fierce and savage tribes, and, with the Gospel in one hand, and the "Rule" of their Holy Father in the other, lead them into the fold of Christ. For many centuries, the learned men, the Doctors of the Church, and the instructors of youth, belong, almost exclusively, to the Order of the great Patriarch, who, by the labours of his children, pours forth on the people the purest beauty of light and truth. This choir of heroes in every virtue, of Popes, of Bishops, of Apostles, of holy Doctors, proclaiming themselves as his Disciples, and joining with the universal Church in glorifying that God, Whose holiness and power shine forth so brightly in the life and actions of Benedict, what a corona, what an aureola of glory for one Saint to have!

Let us now read the sketch of his life, as given us in the Liturgy.

Benedict was born of a noble family at Nursia. He was sent to Rome, that he might receive a liberal education; but not long after, he withdrew to a place called Subiaco, and there hid himself in a very deep cave, that he might give himself entirely to Jesus Christ. He passed three years in that retirement, unknown to all save to a Monk, by name Romanus, who supplied him with the necessaries of life. The devil having one day excited him to a violent temptation of impurity, he rolled himself amidst prickly brambles, and extinguished within himself the desire of carnal pleasure by the pain he thus endured. The fame of his sanctity, however, became known beyond the Iimits of his hiding-place, and certain monks put themselves under his guidance. He sharply rebuked them for their wicked lives; which rebuke so irritated them, that they resolved to put poison in his drink. Having made the sign of the Cross over the cup as they proffered it to him, it broke, and he, leaving that monastery, returned to his solitude.

But whereas many daily came to him, beseeching him to take them as his disciples, he built twelve monasteries, and drew up the most admirable rules for their government. He afterwards went to Monte Cassino, where he destroyed an image of Apollo, which was still adored in those parts; and having pulled down the altar and burnt the groves, he built a chapel, in that same place, in honour of St. Martin, and another in honour of St. John. He instructed the inhabitants in the Christian religion. Day by day did Benedict advance in the grace of God, and he also foretold, in a spirit of prophecy, what was to take place. Totila, the King of the Goths, having heard of this, and being anxious to know if it were the truth, went to visit him; but first sent his sword-bearer, who was to pretend that he was the king, and who, for this end, was dressed in royal robes and accompanied by attendants. As soon as Benedict saw him, he said: "Put, off, my son, put off this dress, for it is not thine." But he foretold to Totila, that he would reach Rome, cross the sea, and die at the end of nine years.

Several months before he departed from this life, he foretold to his disciples the day on which he should die. Six days previous to his death, he ordered them to open the sepulchre wherein he wished to be buried. On the sixth day, he desired to be carried to the Church, and there having received the Eucharist, with his eyes raised in prayer towards heaven, and held up by his disciples, he breathed forth his soul. Two monks saw it ascending to heaven, adorned with a most precious robe, and surrounded by shining lights. They also saw a most beautiful and venerable man, who stood above the saint's head, and they heard him thus speak: "This is the way, whereby Benedict, the beloved of the Lord, ascended to heaven."

The Benedictine Order celebrates the praises its illustrious Patriarch in these three Hymns:

Hymn I.

Let the Faithful give forth their songs of praise; let our Temples echo with solemn hymns: for on this day, Benedict ascended to the highest heavens.

When a boy, and in the flower of youth, he left his sweet home, and hid himself from the sight of all in a lonely cave.

He conquered the passions of youth by rolling amidst nettles and prickly thorns. After this, he wrote a beautiful Rule of a holy life.

He destroyed a brazen statue of the vile Apollo, and a grave that was sacred to Venus: and on the holy mount, he built an oratory in honour of the Baptist.

Now he dwells in the happy land above, amidst the burning Seraphim: he looks down on those that invoke him, and refreshes their hearts with a nectar of sweetness.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son that is Begotten of him! To thee, also, O Spirit of Love, co-equal with them, One God, be glory for endless ages. Amen.

Hymn II.

All that the ancient Prophets preached, and all that the books of the Divine Law tell us of holiness, is contained in the life of the great Patriarch, which we are now extolling.

Moses was celebrated for his meekness; Abraham, for his being Father of all believers; Isaac for the beauty of his Spouse, and his obedience to the trying commands of his father.

The sublime Patriarch of our Family was richly laden with every virtue; and in his single self, represented Isaac, Moses, and Abraham.

May he have a loving care of those whom he has delivered from this stormy world, and lead them with prosperous gales to the port, where there is no fear that can ruffle Peace and repose.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son that is Begotten of him! To thee, also, O Spirit of Love, co-equal with them, One God, be glory for endless ages. Amen.

The third Hymn was composed by the celebrated Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, and friend of St. Bernard.

Hymn III.

Amidst the Saints that glitter with the crowns they have won in the holy contest, thou, O Benedict, shinest resplendent with thy sublime merits.

Thy boyhood was graced with the holy gravity of old age; the pleasures of the worid had no hold on thee, and its flowers seemed but as withered weeds to a soul like thine, that was fixed on heavenly things.

Therefore didst thou fiee from the world, leaving thy country and thy parents, and becamest a fervent solitary. Thou didst tame the rebellion of the flesh, and by sharp mortification, thou didst bring it into subjection to Christ.

But thy fond hope of concealment was to be cut short; thy holy miracles betrayed thee, and the glorious fame of thy sanctity swiftly spread through the world.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son that is Begotten of him! To thee, also, O Spirit of Love, co-equal with them, One God, be glory for endless Amen.

Prayer

O Benedict! thou Vessel of Election! thou Palm of the Wilderness! thou Angel of Earth! we offer thee the salutation of our love! What man was ever chosen to work on the earth more wonders than thou hast done! The Saviour has crowned thee as one of his principal co-operators in the work of the salvation and sanctification of men. Who could count the millions of souls, who owe their eternal happiness to thee? thy immortal Rule having sanctified them in the Cloister, and the zeal of thy Benedictines having been the means of their knowing and serving the great God, Who chose thee.

Around thee, in the realms of glory, a countless number of the Blessed acknowledge themselves indebted to thee, after God, for their eternal happiness; and, upon the earth, whole nations profess the true faith, because the Gospel was first preached to them by thy disciples.

O Father of so many people! look down upon thine inheritance, and once more bless this ungrateful Europe, which owes everything to thee, yet has almost forgotten thy name! The light, which thy Children imparted to it, has become dimmed; the warmth they imparted to the societies they founded, and civilized by the Cross, has grown cold; thorns have covered a large portion of the land into which they sowed the seed of salvation. Come and forward thine own work; and, by thy prayers, keep in its expiring life. Give firmness to what has been shaken. May a new Europe, a Catholic Europe spring up in place of that which heresy and false doctrines have formed.

O Patriarch of the Servants of God! look down from heaven on the Vineyard, which thy hand hath planted, and see into what a state of desolation it has fallen. There was a time, when thy name was honoured as that of a Father in thirty thousand Monasteries, from the shores of the Baltic to the borders of Syria, and from the green Erin to the steppes of Poland. Now, alas! few and feeble are the prayers that ascend to thee from the whole of that immense patrimony, which the faith and gratitude of the people had once consecrated to thee. The blight of heresy and the rapaciousness of avarice have robbed thee of these harvests of thy glory. The work of sacrilegious spoliation is now centuries old, and unceasingly has it been pursued; at one time, having recourse to open violence, and at another, pleading the urgency of political interests. Sainted Father of our Faith! thou hast been robbed of those thousands of sanctuaries, which, for long ages, were fountains of life and light to the people. The race of thy children has become almost extinct: watch over them that still remain, and are labouring to perpetuate thy Rule. An ancient tradition tells us how our Lord revealed to thee, that thy Order would last to the end of the world, and that thy children would console the Church of Rome and confirm the faith of many in the last great trials: deign to protect, by thy powerful intercession, the remnants of that Family, which still calls thee its Father. Raise it up again; multiply it; sanctify it: let the Spirit, which thou hast deposited in thy Holy Rule, flourish in its midst, and show, by thus blessing it, that thou art ever "Benedict," the servant of God. Support the Holy Church by thy powerful intercession, dear Father! Assist the Apostolic See, which has been so often occupied by Disciples of thy School. Father of so many Pastors of the people! obtain for us Bishops like those sainted ones, whom thy Rule has formed. Father of so many Apostles! ask for the countries, which have no faith, preachers of the Gospel, who may convert the people by their blood and by their words, as did those who went out Missioners from thy Cloisters. Father of so many holy Doctors! pray that the science of sacred literature may revive, to aid the Church and confound error. Father of so many sublime Ascetics! rekindle the zeal for Christian perfection, which has grown so cold among the Christians of our days. Patriarch of the Religious Life in the Western Church! bless all the Religious Orders, which the Holy Spirit has given successively to the Church; they all look on thee with admiration, as their venerable predecessor: do thou pour out upon them the influence of thy fatherly love.

Lastly, O Blessed favorite of God! pray for all the Faithful of Christ, during these days which are consecrated to thoughts and works of penance. It was in the midst of the holy austerities of Lent that thou didst mount to the abode of everlasting delight; ah! help us Christians, who are, at this very time, in the same campaign of penance. Rouse our courage by thy example and precepts. Teach us to keep down the flesh, and subject it to the spirit, as thou didst. Obtain for us a little of thy blessed spirit, that turning away from this vain world, we may think on the eternal years. Pray for us, that our hearts may never love, nor our thoughts ever dwell, on joys so fleeting as are those of time.

Catholic piety invokes thee as one of the patrons, as well as one of the models, of a dying Christian. It loves to tell men of the sublime spectacle thou didst present at thy death, when standing at the foot of the Altar, leaning on the arms of thy disciples, and barely touching the earth with thy feet, thou didst give back, in submission and confidence, thy soul to its Creator. Obtain for us, dear Saint! a death courageous and sweet as was thine. Drive from us, at our last hour, the cruel enemy, who will seek to ensnare us. Visit us by thy presence, and leave us not, till we have breathed forth our soul into the bosom of the God, Who has made thee so glorious a Saint.

Download the book, "The Medal or Cross of St. Benedict"

St. Joseph, Spouse of the Blessed Virgin

 (by Father Prosper Gueranger 1870)

Today is the Feast Day of St. Joseph, the Spouse of Mary, the Foster-Father of the Son of God, that comes to cheer us by his dear presence. In a few days hence, the august mystery of the Incarnation will demand our fervent adorations: who, after the Angel of the Annunciation, could better prepare us for the grand Feast, than he that was both the confidant and faithful guardian of the divine secret?

The Son of God, when about to descend upon this earth to assume our human nature, would have a Mother; this Mother could not be other than the purest of Virgins, and her divine Maternity was not to impair her incomparable Virginity. Until such time as the Son of Mary were recognized as the Son of God, his Mother's honour had need of a protector: some man, therefore, was to be called to the high honour of being Mary's Spouse. This privileged mortal was Joseph, the chastest of men.

Heaven designated him as being the only one worthy of such a treasure: the rod he held in his hand, in the Temple, suddenly produced a flower, as though it were a literal fulfilment of the prophecy of Isaias: There shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root (Is. xi. 1.). The rich pretenders to an alliance with Mary were set aside; and Joseph was espoused to the Virgin of the House of David, by a union which surpassed in love and purity everything the Angels themselves had ever witnessed.

But he was not only chosen to the glory of having to protect the Mother of the Incarnate Word; he was also called to exercise an adopted paternity over the very Son of God. So long as the mysterious cloud was over the Saint of Saints, men called Jesus the Son of Joseph, and the Carpenter's Son. When our Blessed Lady found the Child Jesus in the Temple, in the midst of the Doctors, she thus addressed him: Thy father and I, sorrowing, have sought thee (St. Luke, ii. 48.); and the holy Evangelist adds, that Jesus was subject to them, that is, that He was subject to Joseph as He was to Mary.

Who can imagine or worthily describe the sentiments which filled the heart of this man, whom the Gospel describes to us in one word, when it calls him the just man (St. Matth. i. 19.)? Let us try to picture him to ourselves amidst the principal events of his life: his being chosen as the Spouse of Mary, the most holy and perfect of God's creatures; the Angel's appearing to him, and making him the one single human confidant of the mystery of the Incarnation, by telling him that his Virgin Spouse bore within her the fruit of the world's salvation; the joys of Bethlehem, when he assisted at the Birth of the Divine Babe, honoured the Virgin Mother, and heard the Angels singing; his seeing, first the humble and simple Shepherds, and then the rich Eastern Magi, coming to the stable to adore the new-born Child; the sudden fears which came on him, when he was told to arise, and, midnight as it was, to flee into Egypt with the Child and the Mother; the hardships of that exile, the poverty and the privations which were endured by the hidden God, Whose foster-father he was, and by the Virgin Spouse, whose sublime dignity was now so evident to him; the return to Nazareth, and the humble and laborious life led in that village, where he so often witnessed the world's Creator sharing in the work of a Carpenter; the happiness of such a life, in that cottage where his companions were the Queen of the Angels and the Eternal Son of God, both of whom honoured, and tenderly loved him as the head of the family: yes, Joseph was beloved and honoured by the uncreated Word, the Wisdom of the Father, and by the Virgin, the master-piece of God's power and holiness.

We ask, what mortal can justly appreciate the glories of St. Joseph? To do so, he would have to understand the whole of that Mystery, of which God made him the necessary instrument. What wonder, then, if this Foster-Father of the Son of God was prefigured in the Old Testament, and that by one of the most glorious of the Patriarchs? Let us listen to St. Bernard, who thus compares the two Josephs: "The first was sold by his brethren, out of envy, and was led into Egypt, thus prefiguring our Saviour's being sold; the second Joseph, that he might avoid Herod's envy, led Jesus into Egypt. The first was faithful to his master, and treated his wife with honour; the second, too, was the most chaste guardian of his Spouse, the Virgin Mother of his Lord. To the first was given the understanding and interpretation of dreams; to the second, the knowledge of, and participation in, the heavenly Mysteries. The first laid up stores of corn, not for himself, but for all the people; the second received the Living Bread that came down from heaven, and kept it both for himself and for the whole world. (Homily 2nd. On the Missus est.)"

Such a life could not close save by a death that was worthy of so great a Saint. The time came for Jesus to quit the obscurity of Nazareth, and show himself to the world. His own works were henceforth to bear testimony to his divine origin; the ministry of Joseph, therefore, was no longer needed. It was time for him to leave this world, and wait, in Abraham's bosom, the arrival of that day, when heaven's gates were to be opened to the just. As Joseph lay on his bed of death, there was watching by his side He that is the master of life, and that had often called this his humble creature, Father. His last breath was received by the glorious Virgin Mother, whom he had, by a just right, called his Spouse. It was thus, with Jesus and Mary by his side, caring and caressing him, that Joseph sweetly slept in peace. The Spouse of Mary, the Foster-Father of Jesus, now reigns in heaven with a glory which, though inferior to that of Mary, is marked with certain prerogatives which no other inhabitant of heaven can have.

From heaven, he exercises a powerful protection over those that invoke him. In a few weeks from this time, the Church will show us the whole magnificence of this protection; we shall be having a special Feast in honour of the Patronage of St. Joseph. What the Liturgy proposes to us today, are his glories and privileges. Let us unite with the Faithful throughout the world, and offer the Spouse of Mary the Hymns, which are this day sung in his praise.

1st Hymn.

May the heavenly host praise thee, O Joseph! May the choirs of Christendom resound with thy name, for great are thy merits, who wast united by a chaste alliance to the Holy Virgin.

Seeing that thy Spouse was soon to be a Mother, a cruel doubt afflicts thy heart; but an Angel visits thee, telling thee that she had conceived of the Holy Ghost the Child she bore in her womb.

When Jesus was born, thou hadst to take him in thine arms, and go with the little Fugitive to Egypt's distant land. When He was lost in Jerusalem, thou didst seek after Him; and having found Him, thy tears were mingled with joy.

Other Saints receive their beatitude after death, when a holy death has crowned their life; they receive their glory, when they have won the palm: but thou, by a strangely happy lot, hadst, even during life, what the Blessed have in heaven, thou hadst the sweet society of thy God.

O Sovereign Trinity! have mercy on us thy suppliants, and may the intercession of Joseph aid us to reach heaven; that there we may sing to thee our eternal hymn of grateful love. Amen.

Hymn 2

O Joseph, thou that art the delight of the Blessed, the sure hope of our life, and the pillar of the world!--receive, in thy kind love the praises we now joyfully sing to thee.

The Creator appointed thee the Spouse of the Holy Virgin; willed thee to be called the Father of the Word; and gave thee to be an instrument of our salvation.

Thou didst fix thy glad gaze on the Redeemer lying in the stable, Him that the Prophets had foretold was to come; and seeing Him, thou didst humbly adore the new-born King.

He that is King, the God of Kings, the Lord of the earth, at whose bidding hell trembles, and before whom heaven prostrates ready to do His will, yea, even He makes Himself subject to thee.

Praise eternal be to the Most High Trinity! May He that has conferred such high honours upon thee, grant us through the merits of thine intercession, to come to the joys of heavenly life. Amen.

3rd Hymn

It was on this day that Joseph, sweetly sleeping, passed to the eternal home, and received upon his brow the glittering crown.

Now that he reigns in heaven, let us beseech him to help us, obtain us the pardon of our sins, and procure us the gift of heavenly peace. Glory and honor be to Thee, O God, O Blessed Trinity, Who art our Sovereign Lord! Who givest to thy faithful servant an everlasting crown of gold. Amen.

Prayer

We praise and glorify thee, O happy Saint! We hail thee as the Spouse of the Queen of heaven, and Foster-Father of our Redeemer. These titles, which would seem too grand for any human being to enjoy, are thine; and they are but the expression of the dignities conferred on thee by God. The Church of heaven admires the sublime favors thou hast received; the Church on earth joyfully celebrates thy glories, and blesses thee for the favours thou art so unceasingly bestowing upon her.

Though born of the kingly race of David, thou wast the humblest of men; thy spirit led thee to seek obscurity, and a hidden life was thine ambition: but God chose thee to be an instrument in the sublimest of all his works. A noble Virgin, of the same family of David, the object of heaven's admiration, and the glory and hope of the world, yes, this Virgin is to be thy Spouse. The Holy Ghost is to dwell within her as in a most pure tabernacle; it is to thee, the just and chaste, that he intrusts her as an inestimable treasure. Espouse, then, to thyself her whose beauty the very King of heaven so greatly desires (Ps. xliv. 12.).

The Son of God comes down to this earth, that He may live the life of man; He comes that He may sanctify the ties and affections of kindred. He calls thee Father; He obeys thy orders. What strange emotions must have filled thy heart, O Joseph! when, knowing the prerogatives of thy Spouse and the divinity of thy adopted Son, thou hadst to be the head of this Family, which united heaven and earth into one! What respectful and tender love for Mary, thy Blessed Spouse! What gratitude and profound worship of Jesus, who obeyed thee as thy Child! O mysteries of Nazareth! a God dwells among men, and permits Himself to be called the Son of Joseph!

O sublime minister of the greatest of blessings, intercede for us with God made Man. Ask Him to bestow Humility upon us, that holy virtue which raised thee to such exalted dignity, and which must be the basis of our conversion. It was pride that led us into sin, and made us prefer our own will to that of God: yet will He pardon us if we offer Him the sacrifice of a contrite and humbled heart (Ps 1. 19.). Get us this virtue, without which there can be no true penance. Pray also for us, O Joseph, that we may be chaste. Without purity of mind and body, we cannot come nigh the God of all sanctity, Who suffers nothing defiled to approach Him. He wills to make our bodies, by His grace, the temples of His holy Spirit: do thou, great Saint, help us to maintain ourselves in so exalted a dignity, or to recover it, if we have lost it.

And lastly, O Faithful Spouse of Mary! recommend us to our Mother. If she cast a look of pity upon us during these days of reconciliation, we shall be saved: for she is the Queen of Mercy, and Jesus, her Son, will pardon us and change our hearts, if she intercedes for us, O Joseph! Remind her of Bethlehem, Egypt, and Nazareth, in all of which she received from thee such marks of thy devotedness. Tell her, that we, also, love and honour thee; and Mary will reward us for our devotion to him that was given her by heaven as her protector and support.

Decree Proclaiming St. Joseph

Patron of the Catholic Church

To the City and World:--Just as God had made Joseph, born of the Patriarch Jacob, governor over the whole land of Egypt that he might save the grain for the people, so also, when the fullness of time being near, he was to send His only begotten Son to this earth that he might be the Saviour of the world, he chose another Joseph, of whom the former was only a. figure, and inade him the master and ruler of His house and His possessions, and appointed him the keeper of His most precious treasury. For his Spouse was the Immaculate Virgin Mary, from whom by the Holy Ghost is born Jesus Christ our Lord, who deigned to be held by men, as the son of Joseph, to whpm also He was subject. Whom kings and prophets desired to see, Joseph did not only see but conversed with Him and with fatherly affection embraced and kissed Him; with skillful care he nourished Him whom the faithful people, in order to obtain life everlasting, were to eat as their bread came down from heaven. On account of the sublime dignity, which God has bestowed on his most faithful servant, the Church has always after his spouse, the Virgin Mother of God, offered special honor and praise to Bl. Joseph and implored his intercession in all her anxieties. In the present very sad times, the Church, persecuted on all sides by her enemies, is oppressed by terrible calamities that godless men try to believe the gates of hell will at last prevail against her.

Hence the venerable bishops of this whole Catholic World have presented to the Supreme Pontiff their own petitions and those of the faithful entrusted to their charge praying that he would appoint St. Joseph the Patron of the Catholic Church.--Later, when at the holy Ecumenical Council of the Vatican the same petitions and requests were urged with new vigor, our holy Father and Pope Pius IX, moved by the recent mournful state of affairs, agreed to comply with the wishes of the Bishops, and to place himself and the faithful under the most powerful patronage of the holy Patriarch Joseph, therefore, solemnly proclaimed him Patron of the Catholic j Church, and ordained that his feast, on Mar. 19th, should be celebrated in future with the rank of a double of the first class, though without octave on account of Lent. He also commanded that this proclamation should be made public by this present decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites on the day dedicated to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and Spouse of the chaste Joseph. Everything to the contrary notwithstanding. On the 8th Dec., 1870.

Powerful prayer to Saint Joseph for difficult and urgent causes

 

Prayer of St. Francis de Sales to St. Joseph:

(Very effective in solving problems and needs

difficult, impossible, lost causes,

and any matter that is very important

and it seems to us that it has no solution or is a hopeless case). 

Glorious St Joseph, spouse of Mary, grant us thy paternal protection, we beseech thee by the heart of Jesus Christ. O thou, whose power extends to all our necessities and can render possible for us the most impossible things, open thy fatherly eyes to the needs of thy children.

(Mention with great faith the request_________).

In the trouble and distress which afflicts us, we confidently have recourse to thee. Deign to take under your charitable charge this important and difficult matter, cause of our worries. Make its happy outcome be for God’s glory and for the good of His devoted servants. Amen.

Pray 7 Our Fathers, Holy Mary, Glory Be

Francis' church does not care about God or evangelization —Mons Aguer

 

en.news

Argentina: Archbishop Deplores Devastating Francis Effect

Catholicism in Argentina “is in full retreat,” former La Plata Archbishop Hector Aguer writes on InfoCatolica.com (March 2). Here his assessment:

• many churches are depopulated,
• the liturgy has “fallen into banality if not worse,”
• seminaries half-empty,
• religious houses decimated,
• decrease in the number of marriages and baptisms,
• there is no widespread Catholic youth movement,
• the bishops submit to the “New World Order” and the “money imperialism”

In some dioceses, there are still some “very active people” which Aguer calls “small groups," stuck with a devastated liturgy, “The lack of precision, solemnity and beauty in the Mass makes quite a few people wish for all that Traditiones custodes has set aside.”

Auger cannot understand that the bishops are anxious to adhere to the Francis party line, “This orientation has nothing to do with reality.” 

Archbishop Opposes Francis’ War Against the Church

Arecibo Bishop Daniel Fernández Torres was deposed for defending conscientious objection to Francis’ “ridiculous moral obligation” to be injected with unsafe Covid serums, retired Archbishop Héctor Aguer wrote in a March 9 statement.

Francis’ Church is not concerned with God or evangelisation, “but only with imposing ‘new paradigms’ and adhering to the principles of a New World Order.”

The injustice committed against Fernández is for Aguer “a clear example of how the Church is going backwards from what its mission should be.”

A few years ago, Aguer preached the Spiritual Exercises to the Arecibo clergy and saw how a diocese flourishes “when its bishop is a man of God, faithful to the great ecclesial Tradition.” He adds that “Rome is not interested in that.”

Aguer hopes [in vain] that “this unjust and draconian measure” will not lead to the destruction of so many Catholic initiatives in Arecibo. He prays that the other Puerto Rican bishops understand that one must obey God rather than men (Acts 5:29), “even if these men live in the Vatican.”

St. Joseph Novena Prayer

 

Illustrious Saint! inheritor of the virtues of all the patriarchs! Good and faithful guardian of the Holy Family! Thou art my glorious protector, and shalt ever be, after Jesus and Mary, the object of my most profound veneration and tender confidence. Thou art the most hidden saint and particularly the patron of those who serve God with the greatest purity of intention and fervor of devotion. O thou model and guardian of pure souls, who hast given us so illustrious an example of purity, unselfish devotedness to duty, fidelity, humility, patience, obedience, and trust in divine Providence, be moved with the confidence I place in thy intercession, and obtain for me the grace to practise every virtue which will make me pleasing to God.

I thank God for the signal favors He has bestowed upon thee, and I beg through thy intercession grace to imitate thy virtues. In union with all those who have ever been most devoted to thee, I now dedicate myself to thy service, beseeching thee, for the sake of Jesus Christ, Who vouchsafed to love and obey thee as a son, to become a father to me, and to obtain for me the filial respect, confidence, and love of a child toward thee.

O powerful advocate of all Christians! whose intercession, as St. Teresa assures us, has never been found to fail, deign to intercede for me now, and to obtain for me the particular object of this novena. [Specify it.] Present me, O great saint, to the adorable Trinity, with Whom thou hadst so glorious and so intimate a correspondence. Obtain that I may never efface by sin the sacred image according to the likeness of which I was created. Beg for me that my divine Redeemer may enkindle in my heart, and in all hearts, the fire of His love, and infuse therein the virtues of His adorable infancy, His purity, simplicity, obedience, and humility. Obtain for me likewise a lively devotion to thy virgin spouse, and protect me so powerfully in life and death that I may have the happiness of dying as thou didst, in the friendship of my Creator, and under the immediate protection of the Mother of God.

(Indulgence 5 years is granted to all the faithful who, with contrite heart, devoutly make at any time during the year a novena in honor of St. Joseph, spouse of Mary most holy.--Pius IX.)

Apostate Jesuit University Employees Homosexual Activist Disguised as “Rabbi”

                                 

Homosexual Zanchetta convicted of sexually abusing seminarians

 

But Bergoglio has not opened a canonical process for his accomplice to laize him. As he did with another protected pedophile, Julio Cesar Grassi who is still a priest and receives a salary from the Church of Argentina although he was convicted of Pedophilia. 

Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Mar 4, 2022 / 09:14 am (CNA).

Bishop Gustavo Zanchetta was sentenced to four and a half years in prison on Friday, March 4, after an Argentine court found him guilty of sexually abusing seminarians.

Zanchetta, 58, pleaded not guilty to the charge of “aggravated continued simple sexual abuse committed by a recognized minister of religion” on Feb. 21. He was accused of abusing two seminarians, who were identified by the acronyms “G.G.F.L.” and “C.M.”

Bergoglio should be in jail for covering up for convicted  pedophiles and homosexual predators.

Bergoglio should be tried for obstructing justice. 

This wicked man should be in jail

German Paper Exposes Coccopalmerio, Francis Nixing Bishop Abuse Tribunal

Related:

Francis knew about Argentina bishop’s sexual misconduct prior to Vatican promotion 

The Homosexual Zanchetta who is under investigation for sexual misconduct is on ´spiritual retreat´ with Bergoglio

Cdl. Bergoglio Protected Convicted Pedophile in Argentina. He was Grassi's confessor and a permanent visitor to the Felices los Niños Foundation where the abuses had been committed

Francis Accused of Sex Abuse Cover-Up in Argentina in 2002

Despite serving a 15-year sentence for child abuse and corruption of minors, plus two more years in prison for embezzlement, he is still on the payroll of the Moron diocesis. The diocesis of Moron never began a canonical judgment. Grassi continues being a priest and dresses like priest because of Bergoglio, in complicity with the diocese of Argentina allows him. The diocese of Morón is suffragan of the archdiocese of Buenos Aires. Bergoglio has been covering it up since the begining.

https://web.archive.org/web/20170828095101/http://www.obispadodemoron.org.ar/presbiteros/guiapresbiteros.htm

Jorge Mario Bergoglio was archbishop of Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2013, Cardinal since February 2001 ,and president of the Argentine bishops’ conference from 2005 to 2011.

BishopAccountability.org • Fr. Julio César Grassi – Grassi was convicted in 2009 of molesting a boy who had lived in a home for street children that Grassi founded. After Grassi’s conviction, Bergoglio commissioned a secret study to persuade Supreme Court judges of Grassi's innocence. Bergoglio’s intervention is believed to be at least part of the reason that Grassi remained free for more than four years following his conviction. He finally was sent to jail in September 2013. See our detailed summary of the Grassi case with links to articles.