The devotion to the Sacred Heart

If we have devotion to the Sacred Heart, we will wish to find It, to adore It, to love It, and where shall we look for It but in the Blessed Eucharist where It is found, eternally living?...The devotion to the Divine Heart infallibly brings souls to the Blessed Eucharist; and faith in and devotion to the Blessed Eucharist necessarily lead souls to discover the mysteries of Infinite love of which the Divine Heart is the organ and the symbol.

extract from the Book of Inifinite Love

by Mother Louise Margaret

The Sacred Heart and the Blessed Sacrament

The devotion to the Blessed Eucharist and the devotion to the Sacred Heart are not only two sister devotions. In reality, they are only one and the same devotion. They complete each other and develop each other; they blend so perfectly together that one cannot go on without the other and their union is absolute. Not only can one of these devotions not be prejudicial to the other, but because they complete each other and perfect each other, they also reciprocally increase each other.

Fr. John Croiset, SJ

Spiritual Director of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Simbang Gabi 6 (Fatima Centennial): Eucharist

Jesus, I trust in you!

Mary went in haste to the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant (John the Baptist) leaped in her womb and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me that the mother of my Lord should come to me? For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.” It was truly a blessed encounter because both Elizabeth and her unborn baby John were sanctified by the Holy Spirit and this brought joy to both of them. What could be the reason for such joy and for such blessing? The reason is the hidden presence of the Lord Jesus who, at that time, was already in the womb of the Virgin Mary. Our Lady did not visit on her own accord. Rather, she brought to them Jesus. He is the lover referred to by the first reading: Hark! My lover – here he comes…here he stands behind our wall, gazing through the windows… Little did the Virgin Mary know that she was the tabernacle in whom God dwelt. Wherever she went, she brought the Lord Jesus with her. From within Mary’s womb, the Lord Jesus blessed and bestowed the Holy Spirit.

When Our Lady appeared to the children at Fatima, she said, “To prevent this (war, famine, persecution of the Church), I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart and the Communion of Reparation on the first Saturdays.” Necessary to living the Fatima message is Eucharistic reparation. The Blessed Virgin wants us to receive Holy Communion on the first Saturday of the month in reparation for the sins of mankind. On the third angelic apparition to the children in 1916, the angel prostrated himself before the Blessed Sacrament and after reciting a prayer of reparation “for the countless outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences” committed against the Eucharist, he urged the children to “make reparation and console your God.” After this, the children would spend many hours daily repeating the prayer taught by the angel and Eucharistic reparation became part of their lives.

The 1^st apparition of Our Lady of Fatima occurred on May 13, 1917, the Feast of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament. When she opened her hands on the children and communicated to them streams of intense light, the children were overwhelmed and they felt “lost in God” whom they recognized in that light. So, the children prostrated on the ground in adoration and poured out their praise of the Blessed Sacrament.

Our Lady asked that we receive Holy Communion on the 1^st Saturday of every month. The angel in 1916, gave Holy Communion to the children. He said: “Receive the Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, horribly outraged by ungrateful men. Make reparation and console your God.” The angel was referring to sacrilegious Communions, the desecration of tabernacles and the violation of the Sacred Hosts which occur with frightening frequency throughout the world today. Besides these heinous crimes against the Blessed Sacrament, there is also the lapse of millions of our fellow Catholics to atone for. So many Catholics no longer receive Holy Communion. We must also make amends for the repeated violation of the 3^rd Commandment: “You shall keep the day of the Lord holy.” On September 19, 1846, Our Lady appeared to 2 children in the village of La Sallete in France. There, she expressed her sorrow: “I gave you six days to work; I kept the seventh for myself, and no one wishes to grant it to me. This is what weighs down the arm of my Son so much.” That was in 1846, 170 years ago and the indifference to the Sunday Mass has worsened since then.       

Even when she was quite ill, little Jacinta would drag herself to daily Mass in the parish church of Fatima. Sometimes, Lucia would restrain her but she would answer: “I’m going for sinners who do not even go to Mass on Sundays.” If a sick little girl could do this, why can’t we?

It is a pity that we fail to understand how much joy the presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament could give us. If only we could experience what the children experienced when they were lost in the presence of God. The presence of Christ in the womb of Mary bought joy to both Elizabeth and John the Baptist. It is the same joy that is bestowed on anyone who receives communion or at least draws near the tabernacle. Many people simply do not know what they are missing. Many of us fail to recognize Jesus who is really present Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus is the joy desired by the human heart.

In this Christmas season, let us put the Mass at the center of the holy Day. The Festival is called Christmas…the Mass of Christ. The Mass is the center of Christmas because the Eucharist is the continuation of the Incarnation. Here, Christmas takes place anew: the Word becomes flesh. In this Christmas during the Centennial of Fatima, let us make a firm resolve to receive Communion every 1^st Saturday of the month in reparation for the sins of men. The Lord wants to be consoled by us in this way. Let us give him joy and allow him to give us joy so that our joy may be complete.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Simbang Gabi 3 (Fatima Centennial): Angelic visitation

Jesus, I trust in you!

The annunciation by an angel to St. Joseph is the first of the series of angelic visitations that we shall encounter during the Simbang Gabi. Angels have played prominent roles in the infancy narratives. Angels will announce the conception of John the Baptist and of our Lord. They will sing on Christmas night and proclaim the Lord’s birth to shepherds. They will warn the magi and St. Joseph of Herod’s evil plans. Angels are bearers of the Good News and that Good News is Jesus.

So the angel revealed in a dream to St. Joseph not only the wonderful plan the Lord had for Mary his wife but also the identity of her son: He is Emmanuel (God with us) who fulfills the prophecy of the Virgin giving birth. He is to be named Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. He is both God and Savior: God who saves people from sins.

The apparitions of Our Lady to the shepherd children of Fatima were preceded by angelic visitations. During springtime of 1916, an angel appeared to the children. He introduced himself to them as the Angel of Peace and he taught them a prayer: “My God, I believe, I adore, I hope, I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, nor adore, nor hope, nor love you.” Then he said to them, “Pray like that. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary are attentive to the voice of your supplications.”

During the summer of that same year, a second angelic visitation occurred. The angel introduced himself as the guardian angel of Portugal and he told them: “You must pray a great deal. The Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer up prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.” He taught the children: “Make everything you do a sacrifice and offer it to God in reparation for the countless sins by which he is offended (nasaktan) and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. In this way, you will bring peace to your country…above all, accept and bear with submission all the sufferings which the Lord may send you.”

After 3 months, the angel appeared to them a 3^rd time. This time, the Holy Eucharist appeared suspended in mid-air. The angel prostrated in adoration on the ground and led the children in a prayer of reparation: “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, I adore you profoundly. I offer you the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, really and truly present in every tabernacle of the world in reparation for the countless outrages (pang aalipusta), sacrileges (kalapastanganan) and indifferences (pagwawalang bahala) by which he is offended.  And through the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg you to convert poor sinners.” Then, the angel gave Holy Communion to the children.

As the angel revealed to St. Joseph the identity of the Son of Mary as God the Savior, so also the angel revealed to the children the identity of the Blessed Sacrament, namely, it is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity to the Lord Jesus. He made the children realize how holy the Blessed Sacrament is for it is God himself present among us. The angel taught them the value of prayer and sacrifice and also the necessity of reparation for sins and prayer for the conversion of sinners.

We should likewise learn these lessons from the angel. As St. Joseph was convinced to welcome Mary and her Son into his home, so also may we learn to welcome Christ into our lives. Welcome Christ by receiving him worthily in Holy Communion. Let us repent and confess our sins and make reparation for them. Let us make up to the Lord for those who do not believe, adore, hope, nor love him.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

Celebrating amdist the Desecration of the Blessed Sacrament???

I was saddened with the news that yesterday, the Blessed Sacrament was stolen from the Adoration Chapel of my former parish. It happened on the eve of the parish fiesta. I could not understand how the theft took place. There was a security guard on duty and the Blessed Sacrament was kept in a glass case which was under lock and key. Apparently, the one who had custody of the blessed Sacrament forgot to lock the case. During my pastorate, I was the only one who held the key to this glass case. Nobody could open nor close the case except me. I felt that as the pastor, I was the one responsible for the security of the Blessed Sacrament.

Throughout the day, there was nothing in the social networks about the theft. Instead, I found the pastor posting picture of the parish community eating a banquet during the parish fiesta. He even posted that the bands kept playing and the food kept coming. It was as if nothing happened. The fiesta had to go on.

I told this story to the priest who is a guest of our parish. He looked at me intently as I told the story. Then, he said: "It is like a birthday celebrant being kidnapped and yet the party has to  push through because the preparations were already made."

For the life of me, I could not understand how a parish community could still celebrate the parish fiesta on the day immediately after the desecration took place. Should not an atmosphere of sorrow and penitence take over the festivities? "The Lord has been taken away. We do not know where they have placed him." "When the Bridegroom is taken from them, it is then that they will fast."

I am sad also about the fact that the International Eucharistic Congress has just taken place and we were part of it. I thought that the International Eucharistic Congress was supposed to ignite fervor in our Eucharistic devotion. Then, why this indifference to the desecration? Why is it that it seems that the theft never took place?

In one of my former assignments, I was called to anoint a dying person during Christmas time. I had barely finished the confection of the sacrament when the relatives around the death bed started to wil. She died at that moment. Then, I saw two toddlers approaching the Christmas Tree. They turned off the Christmas lights and started taking down the decorations. The children understood. Grandma just passed away. It was definitely not time to rejoice over the holidays.

If these children were sensitive enough over the impropriety of merrymaking during a time of grief, why can't we have that same sensitivity? Have we lost our faith in the Real Presence? Do we no longer believe that the one that got desecrated was the Body of our Lord?

To me, the issue is very simple: The Lord has been taken away! Let us be sad because we do not know where they have placed him!

Eucharistic Adoration

Praised be Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

The Feast of Corpus Christi gives us the occasion to express our faith in the real presence of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament through Eucharistic Adoration. Unfortunately, in the liturgical reform following the 2^nd Vatican Council, there has been a perceived waning of Eucharistic Adoration because of the over emphasis on the celebration aspect of the Eucharist. In his Corpus Christi homily for this year, the Holy Father acknowledged and expressed his sadness over this imbalance: “concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as ‘beating Heart’ of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities.” 

There should be no conflict between Communion and Contemplation: “In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual ‘environment’ in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

“To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture.” 

We have to adore what we receive in Holy Communion: “As Saint Augustine put it: ‘nemo autem illam carnem manducat, nisi prius adoraverit; peccemus non adorando – no one eats that flesh without first adoring it; we should sin were we not to adore it.’ In the Eucharist, the Son of God comes to meet us and desires to become one with us; Eucharistic adoration is simply the natural consequence of the Eucharistic celebration, which is itself the Church's supreme act of adoration. Receiving the Eucharist means adoring him whom we receive. Only in this way do we become one with him, and are given, as it were, a foretaste of the beauty of the heavenly liturgy. The act of adoration outside Mass prolongs and intensifies all that takes place during the liturgical celebration itself. Indeed, "only in adoration can a profound and genuine reception mature. And it is precisely this personal encounter with the Lord that then strengthens the social mission contained in the Eucharist, which seeks to break down not only the walls that separate the Lord and ourselves, but also and especially the walls that separate us from one another." (Sacramentum Caritatis, 66.)

The Eucharist is not simply a matter of food and drink which we share in fellowship. We cannot and should not deny that what we eat and drink is Christ the Lord himself, the Holy One who offers himself to his Father to obtain our eternal redemption. “In this Sacrament are the true Body of Christ and his true Blood (which)…cannot be apprehended by the senses but only by faith which relies on divine authority.” (CCC, 1381.) Therefore, let us adore Christ in the Holy Eucharist. “Jesus awaits us in this sacrament of love. Let us not refuse the time to go and meet him in adoration, in contemplation full of faith, and open to making amends for the serious offenses and crimes of the world. Let our adoration never cease.” (CCC, 1380)

Jesus, I trust in you. O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee!

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

In his Corpus Christi homily for 2012, the Holy Father made reference to the imbalances that occurred in the liturgical reform after Vatican II:

"...a reflection on the value of Eucharistic worship, in particular adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament. It is the experience that we will also live after the Mass, before the procession, during its development and at its end. A unilateral interpretation of Vatican Council II has penalized this dimension, restricting the Eucharist in practice to the celebratory moment. In fact, it was very important to recognize the centrality of the celebration, in which the Lord convokes his people, gathers them around the twofold table of the Word and the Bread of life, nourishes them and unites them to Himself in the offering of the Sacrifice. This assessment of the liturgical assembly, in which the Lord works and realizes his mystery of communion, remains of course valid, but it must be placed in the right balance. In fact – as often happens – the stressing of one aspect ends up by sacrificing another. In this case, the accentuation placed on the celebration of the Eucharist has been to the detriment of adoration, as act of faith and prayer addressed to the Lord Jesus, really present in the Sacrament of the altar. This imbalance has also had repercussions on the spiritual life of the faithful. In fact, concentrating the whole relationship with the Eucharistic Jesus only at the moment of Holy Mass risks removing his presence from the rest of time and the existential space. And thus, perceived less is the sense of the constant presence of Jesus in our midst and with us, a concrete, close presence among our homes, as “beating Heart” of the city, of the country, of the territory with its various expressions and activities. The Sacrament of the Charity of Christ must permeate the whole of daily life.

In reality, it is a mistake to oppose celebration and adoration, as if they were in competition with one another. It is precisely the contrary: the worship of the Most Blessed Sacrament is as the spiritual “environment” in which the community can celebrate the Eucharist well and in truth. Only if it is preceded, accompanied and followed by this interior attitude of faith and adoration, can the liturgical action express its full meaning and value. The encounter with Jesus in the Holy Mass is truly and fully acted when the community is able to recognize that, in the Sacrament, He dwells in his house, waits for us, invites us to his table, then, after the assembly is dismissed, stays with us, with his discreet and silent presence, and accompanies us with his intercession, continuing to gather our spiritual sacrifices and offering them to the Father."

The Holy Father spoke of the relationship between Communion and Contemplation:

"... Communion and contemplation cannot be separated, they go together. To really communicate with another person I must know him, I must be able to be in silence close to him, to hear him and to look at him with love. True love and true friendship always live of the reciprocity of looks, of intense, eloquent silences full of respect and veneration, so that the encounter is lived profoundly, in a personal not a superficial way. And, unfortunately, if this dimension is lacking, even sacramental communion itself can become, on our part, a superficial gesture. Instead, in true communion, prepared by the colloquy of prayer and of life, we can say to the Lord words of confidence as those that resounded a short while ago in the Responsorial Psalm: “O Lord, I am thy servant; I am thy servant, the son of thy handmaid. / Thou hast loosed my bonds./ I will offer to thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving /and call on the name of the Lord” (Psalm 115:16-17)."

The Holy Father spoke on the Sacredness of the Eucharist:

"... the sacredness of the Eucharist. Also here we heard in the recent past of a certain misunderstanding of the authentic message of Sacred Scripture. The Christian novelty in regard to worship was influenced by a certain secularist mentality of the 60s and 70s of the past century. It is true, and it remains always valid, that the center of worship is now no longer in the rites and ancient sacrifices, but in Christ himself, in his person, in his life, in his paschal mystery. And yet, from this fundamental novelty it must not be concluded that the sacred no longer exists, but that it has found its fulfillment in Jesus Christ, incarnate divine Love. The Letter to the Hebrews, which we heard this evening in the Second Reading, speaks to us precisely of the novelty of the priesthood of Christ, “high priest of the good things that have come” (Hebrews 9:11), but it does not say that the priesthood is finished. Christ “is the mediator of a new covenant” (Hebrews 9:15), established in his blood, which purifies our “conscience from dead works” (Hebrews 9:14). He did not abolish the sacred, but brought it to fulfillment, inaugurating a new worship, which is, yes, fully spiritual but which however, so long as we are journeying in time, makes use again of signs and rites, of which there will be no need only at the end, in the heavenly Jerusalem, where there will no longer be a temple (cf. Revelation 21:22). Thanks to Christ, the sacred is more true, more intense and, as happens with the Commandments, also more exacting! Ritual observance is not enough, but what is required is the purification of the heart and the involvement of life."

ZENIT - Pope's Corpus Christi Homily

The Catholic Way to celebrate New Year's Eve

Year End Vigil

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Prostration at the stroke of midnight

Pictures thanks to Dennis Maturan

Both Christmas and New Year’s day fall on Sundays this year and I was surprised that the Mondays following them were not declared as non working holidays. I raised this up in a conversation and a lady said to me: Father, kahit yung January man lang sana ay ideclare na holiday. I wondered why the preference for Jan 2 over Dec. 26. The answer came: Father, mas maraming puyat sa New Year kaysa Pasko. The answer made me think: it seems that New Year’s eve is becoming more popular than Christmas eve. I could validate that by the fact that most of my staff would prefer to be home on New Year’s day than on Christmas. There seems to be greater excitement and activity in New Year’s day. In fact, more rituals are observed tonight than on Christmas night. On Christmas night, all we had would be the midnight Mass and the Noche Buena. Tonight, after the Mass would be the waiting for the actual midnight with the lighting of firecrackers, food, and all night partying. Of course, there would be the rules for tonight’s meal: round fruits on the table, fish, meat, no chicken (because the manok is isang kahig isang tuka). Clothes would definitely be polka dots, pockets filled with coins, jumping up and down at the stroke of midnight (believe me it does not work), house cleaned and brightened up…and many more. All these customs and beliefs meant to ensure a prosperous year to come. Yesterday, someone asked me: Father, ano ba ang magandang feng sei para sa year of the dragon. I answered: Hindi ako naniniwala sa feng sei. Ang Feng sei ay labag sa unang utos sa 10 commandments. She asked back: Bakit Father, di ba Chinese ka? And I responded: Kristiyano muna ako bago maging Instik.

I think, tonight is the night when we should give witness to our own Faith in Christ. We have been talking about faith during the days that led to Christmas. And we even heard the Holy Father saying: Faith in Jesus Christ is the way to arrive definitively at salvation. I think somehow, we accept the principle but what we do tonight will reveal if we really believe in Christ. On whom do you put your faith? If you truly believe in the Lord Jesus, then why do you have to subject yourself to superstitious practices? Para makasigurado? Are you not confident that the Lord Jesus is sufficient so that you think that by hanging oranges on your window or lighting fire crackers or eating fish would assure you of a better year? Remember that “when we believe, we freely accept the whole mystery of faith, because the guarantor of its truth is God.” (PF, 10)

How should Christians meet a new civil year? The 1^st reading tells us to imitate the Israelites who go to the priests to be blessed in the name of the Lord: The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord let his face shine upon you And be gracious to you. The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace. Mark what the Lord declares: So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites and I will bless them.

In the Holy Gospel we heard: the shepherds went in haste to Bethlehem and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. The word of God tells us that we must imitate the shepherds to go in haste to the Virgin and St. Joseph because in their company we shall see the infant lying in the manger…that infant whose name is Jesus “for he will save his people from their sins.” It is not in the company of the 12 animals of Buddha that we can be assured of salvation. Only in Christ Jesus will we find this for only Christ is the Savior of the world.

Tonight, as in ever New Year’s night, I challenge you to make that leap of faith. Let go of those practices that give you nothing but false hopes. Come into the presence of the Blessed Sacrament. Entrust your past to his justice and your future to his providence. Hasten to Him tonight and declare that He alone is Lord and there is no other. There is no God but him. “With what attitude should we look to the New Year? We find a very beautiful image in Psalm 130. The Psalmist says that people of faith wait for the Lord “more than those who watch for the morning” (v. 6); they wait for him with firm hope because they know that he will bring light, mercy, salvation. This waiting was born of the experience of the Chosen People, who realized that God taught them to look at the world in its truth and not to be overwhelmed by tribulation. I invite you to look to 2012 with this attitude of confident trust. It is true that the year now ending has been marked by a rising sense of frustration at the crisis looming over society, the world of labour and the economy, a crisis whose roots are primarily cultural and anthropological. It seems as if a shadow has fallen over our time, preventing us from clearly seeing the light of day. In this shadow, however, human hearts continue to wait for the dawn of which the Psalmist speaks.” (Benedict XVI, World Day of Peace 2012)

Tonight, let us profess our faith. Let us wait for the Lord with firm hope because we know that he will bring light, mercy and salvation. And we will not hope in vain. Like the shepherds, we will glorify and praise God for all we had heard and seen will be just as we had been told. The Lord fulfills his promises.

A Beautiful Prayer to the Blessed Sacrament

"O living Host, O hidden Jesus, You see the conditions of my soul. Of myself, I am unable to utter Your Holy Name. I cannot bring forth from my heart the fire of love but, kneeling at your feet, I cast upon the Tabernacle the gaze of my soul, a gaze of faithfulness. As for You, You are ever the same, while within my soul a change takes place. I trust that the time will come when You will unveil Your countenance, and Your child will again see Your sweet face. I am astonished, Jesus, that You can hide Yourself from me for so long and that You can restrain the enormous love You have for me. In the dwelling of my heart, I am listening and waiting for Your coming, O only Treasure of my heart.

St. Faustina, Diary, 1239

Forty Hours: Our Response to the Crises

Fr. Mark Kirby of Vultus Christi has made the appeal for the Forty Hours Devotion as a response to the crises that beset us the world over. His quote from Pope Paul III tells us why this devotion is truly urgent today:


"Since Our beloved son the Vicar General of the Archbishop of Milan at the prayer of the inhabitants of the said city, in order to appease the anger of God provoked by the offences of Christians, and in order to bring to nought the efforts and machinations of the Turks who are pressing forward to the destruction of Christendom, amongst other pious practices, has established a round of prayers and supplications to be offered both by day and night by all the faithful of Christ, before our Lord's Most Sacred Body, in all the churches of the said city, in such a manner that these prayers and supplications are made by the faithful themselves relieving each other in relays for forty hours continuously in each church in succession, according to the order determined by the Vicar . . . We, approving in our Lord so pious an institution, confirm the same by Our authority . . . ."


Follow the link: Forty Hours: An Appeal

The Procession of the Blessed Sacrament

"By sermons preached at meetings and in churches, by public adoration of the Blessed Sacrament exposed and by public processions, men unite in paying homage to Christ, whom God has given them for their King. It is by a divine inspiration that the people of Christ bring forth Jesus from His silent hiding place in the church and carry Him in triumph through the streets of the city, so that He whom men refused to receive when He came unto His own, may now receive in full His kingly rights."

Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas (December 11, 1925), 26.

St. Francis on the Priesthood

St. Francis in Prayer

Zurbaran

"Kissing your feet, I implore you all my brothers, and with the utmost affection I beseech you to show the greatest possible reverence and honor to the most holy Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ . . . Consider your dignity O Brothers who are priests, and be holy because He is holy . . . It is a great misfortune and a miserable fault to have Him thus near you, and to be thinking of anything else. Let the whole man be seized with dread; let the whole world tremble; let the heavens exult when Christ, the Son of the living God, is on the altar in the hands of the priest. O amazing splendor and astounding condescension! O sublime humility! O humble sublimity! The Master of the universe, God Himself and Son of God humbles Himself so far as to hide Himself for our salvation under the feeble appearance of bread! See brothers the humility of God . . . keep nothing of yourselves for yourselves, so that He may possess you entirely, who has given Himself wholly for you."

St. Francis of Assisi

(Thanks to Savior.org)

New Year's Eve Adoration Pictures 2010

Pictures from the New Year's Eve vigil 31 December 2009 to 1 January 2010 at the Parish of the Lord of Divine Mercy, Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, Philippines

It is wonderful to end the year with Adoration and to begin another with the offering of Holy Mass. Thanks to Dennis Maturan for the pictures

First Thursday of January 2010

I adore Thee, O Jesus, true God and true Man, here present in the Holy Eucharist, humbly kneeling before Thee and united in spirit with all the faithful on earth and all the blessed in heaven. In deepest gratitude for so great a blessing, I love Thee, my Jesus, with my whole heart, for Thou art all perfect and all worthy of love.

Give me grace nevermore in any way to offend Thee, and grant that I, being refreshed by Thy Eucharistic presence here on earth, may be found worthy to come to the enjoyment with Mary of Thine eternal and ever blessed presence in heaven.

Amen.

from the Raccolta

Te, Iesu, verum Deum et Hominem hic in sancta Eucharistia praesentem, in genue humillime provolutus, cum fidelibus terrae et Sanctis caeli mente coniunctus, adoro; ac pro tanto beneficio intime gratus, te, Iesu, infinite perfectum atque infinite amabilem ex toto corde diligo.

da mihi gratiam ne ullo modo te unquam offendam, atque ut, tua hac in terra eucharistica praesentia recreatus, ad tua aeterna ac beata in caelis praesentia una cum Maria perfruendum merear pervenire.

Amen.

Adore the Blessed Sacrament on the First Thursday of the month. Offer your adoration for the sanctification of priests.

New Year's Eve Adoration

NIGHT ADORATION
OF THE BLESSED SACRAMENT
ON NEW YEAR'S EVE

10:00 PM of December 31, 2009
to 1:00 AM of January 1, 2010

AT THE PARISH OF THE LORD OF DIVINE MERCY
Maamo corner Madasalin Streets
Sikatuna Village, Quezon City, Philippines

As we begin and end our day with prayer, it is also right that we should begin and end the year with prayer, specifically with the Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Unfortunately, New Year's eve is celebrated with many pagan superstitions. Fireworks are lighted to drive away evils spirits. People engage in many practices to ensure good luck for the coming year. These customs are useless. Evil spirits are not afaid of fire works. False gods cannot deliver their promises because "they have eyes but see not, they have ears but hear not, they have nostrils but do not have life in them."

What better way for Christians to meet the New Year than by spending the night in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament! We thank the Blessed Trinity for all the blessings He has bestowed upon us in this year that is about to pass. We entrust to the Blessed Trinity the year that is to come. In the hands of the Blessed Trinity, we will always be safe and secure.

CHRIST YESTERDAY AND TODAY, THE BEGINNING AND THE END, ALPHA AND OMEGA. ALL TIME BELONGS TO HIM AND ALL AGES, TO HIM BE GLORY AND POWER THROUGH EVERY AGE FOR EVER. AMEN.