Virgo Potens

PRAYER of SŒUR THÉRÈSE For a Visit to the Blessed Sacrament VEILED in the white Host, O my Well-beloved, how meek and humble of heart dost Thou show Thyself to me! Thou couldst not stoop lower to teach me humility, and I, to respond to Thy love, desire to put myself in the lowest place and share Thy humiliations, that I may have part with Thee in the kingdom of Heaven. I beseech Thee, my Jesus, to send me some humiliations each time that I shall attempt to put myself above others. Amen. ~ St. Thérèse of Lisieux ~ Fr. Charles Callan O.P. and Fr. John McHugh, O.P., Blessed Be God (1925)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 24th [143. continued] It may be an act of virtue to desire these things for some honourable end, for instance to desire more knowledge in order to be able to serve holy Church, to desire riches in order to be able to give more alms; but to desire these things in order not to seem inferior to others or to acquire more esteem, is only pride, and oh, how few there are who are not infected with this pride! One for one thing, and one for another, almost all men seek to be esteemed above what they really are–—and this without the slightest scruple. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

St. Alphonsus, pray for us. NOVENA to ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI (July 17- July 25) Begins today, July 17th, at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 24th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Our Heavenly Father, then, may well call His creatures to gather round these marvellous Fountains, and adore His wisdom and His love. Who could have dreamed of such an invention, an invention which grows more astonishing the more we penetrate its mystery? ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Sayings of the Saints "Humility is the foundation of all the other virtues, hence, in the soul in which this virtue does not exist, there cannot be any other virtue except in mere appearance." ~ St. Augustine of Hippo St. Augustine of Hippo, pray for us.

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 23rd It was in this way that the Bishop of Laodicea sinned by esteeming himself rich in merit when he was merely contemptible; and therefore God told him that he would vomit him out of His mouth. “I will begin to vomit thee out of My mouth, because thou sayest, I am rich and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art miserable and poor.” [Apoc. iii, 16, 17] And it is with this kind of pride that all sin who either esteem themselves or who seek to be esteemed by others in word or deed for more riches, knowledge, rank or virtue than they really have. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 23rd 143. The third way in which we can sin through pride is when we attribute to ourselves some good–—of any kind whatsoever–—which we do not really possess, but whether it be that we esteem ourselves for that imaginary good which exists only in our thoughts, and desire others to esteem us for it also, or whether we really possess it, or whether again we only desire to have this good which we have not in order to be able to boast of it and glory in it, all this is detestable pride. (continued)

St. Peter, pray for us. NOVENA to ST. PETER the APOSTLE (July 23rd - July 31st) In preparation for the Feast of Saint Peter in Chains, August 1st Begins today, July 23rd, at Christus Regnat ~ https://t.me/RexUniversi

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 23rd The Mystery of the Precious Blood It is by this Blood that He has created over again His frustrated creation. It is out of this Blood that all graces come, whether those of Mary, or those of the angels, or those of men. It is this Blood which merits all good things for every one. The unhappy would be more unhappy, were it not for this Blood. The wicked would be more wicked were it not for this Blood. The flames of hell would burn many times more furiously, if the shedding of this Blood had not allayed their fury. There is not a corner of God's creation, which is not more or less under the benignant controul of the Precious Blood. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 22nd [142. continued] This is a point which is worthy of all attention so that we may not fall through inadvertence into most terrible pride. And St. Augustine urges us to remember that not only all the good we have comes from God, but also that we have it only through His mercy and not through our own merits. “When a man sees that whatever good he has is from the mercy of God and not from his own merits, he ceases to be proud.” [In Ps. lxxxiv] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 22nd The Mystery of the Precious Blood This is the shape, then, which our Father's love takes to us His creatures. It is an invitation of all of us to the worship and the freedom of the Precious Blood. It is through this Blood that He communicates to us His perfections. It is in this Blood that He has laid up His blessings for us, as in a storehouse. This is true, not only of spiritual blessings, but of all blessings whatsoever. That the elements still wait upon us sinners, that things around us are so bright and beautiful, that pain has so many balms, that sorrow has so many alleviations, that the common course of daily providence is so kindly and so patient, that the weight, the frequency, and the bitterness of evils are so much lightened,—Is all owing to the Precious Blood. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

2 of 2 Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 21st And anyone who ascribes what he is or what he has to his own merits, is guilty of pride, and appropriates to himself what he ought to give to the mercy and grace of God. Therefore holy Church wisely ends her prayers with these words: “Through Jesus Christ our Lord,” etc. And by this we protest to the Divine Majesty that we ask the gifts mentioned in those prayers through the merits of Jesus Christ, and that, if our prayers are heard, it will only be through the merits of Jesus Christ. (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 21st [142. continued] And each one of us should say with the same humble St. Paul, “By the grace of God I am what I am.” [1 Cor. xv, 10] If I am rich, noble, sane, or possess any other gifts, it all comes from God who has made me thus, not because of my own merits, but solely through His Own mercy and goodness. Whether I abstain from evil or whether I do good, I owe it all not to my own merit, but to the grace of God Who assists me with His mercy; “By the grace of God I am what I am.” (continued)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 21st The Mystery of the Precious Blood God does not see us as we see ourselves, but in a brighter, softer light. We are fairer in His sight than we are in our own, notwithstanding His exceeding sanctity, because He sees us in the Blood of His dear Son. This is a consolation, the balm of which is not easily exhausted. We learn a lesson from it also. Our view of creation should be like God’s view. We should see it, with all its countless souls, through the illuminated mist of the Precious Blood. Its spiritual scenery should be before us, everything everywhere, goldenly red. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 20th [142. continued] Thus all those who sin by presuming that they have deserved any good whatsoever of God are convicted of pride, because by attesting to their own merit they make God a debtor of this grace, which would no longer be grace if we had deserved it. We may well be permitted, with Job, to say that by our sins we have deserved God’s anger and every kind of evil: “Oh, that my sins, whereby I have deserved wrath, were weighed in a balance” [Job vi, 2] but we cannot say that we deserve grace or any good, as St. Paul says: “If by grace it is not now by works, otherwise grace is no more grace.” (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 20th The Mystery of the Precious Blood No sooner had man sinned, than the influence of the Precious Blood began to be felt. There was no adorable abruptness on the part of God, as with the angels. His very unbraiding of Adam was full of paternal gentleness. With His punishment He mingled promises. He spoke of Mary, Eve's descendant, and illumined the penance of our first parents by the prophecy of Jesus. As the poor offending earth lay then before the sight of God, so does it lie now; only that the haze is more resplendent, since the Sacrifice on Calvary was offered. The Precious Blood covers it all over, like a sea or like an atmosphere. It lies in a beautiful crimson light forever, a light softening the very shades, beautifying the very gloom. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 19th [142. continued] And, therefore, St. Bernard reproves him, saying: “O proud soul, what work hast thou done that thou shouldst take thy rest?” What hast thou done, O bold one, to deserve such an honour? And it is thus that those reprobates sinned through pride to whom allusion is made in Luke xvii, 9, who, like the Pharisee, gave thanks to God for the good they did and the evil they left undone: “O God, I give Thee thanks,” etc.; but yet, at the same time, they had the presumption to consider themselves of singular merit, “trusting in themselves.” (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 19th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Had it not been for Jesus, the case of earth would have been hopeless, now that sin had come. God would have let it go, as he had let the angels go. It would have been all hateful and dark in His sight, as the home of the fallen spirits is. But it was not so. Earth was dimmed, but it was not darkened, disfigured but not blackened. God saw it through the Precious Blood, as through a haze; and there it lay with a dusky glory over it, like a red sunset, up to the day of Christ. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 18th 142. The second way in which we can sin in our actions by pride is when, knowing and admitting that we have received such and such a gift of God, we nevertheless attribute it inwardly to our own merit and desire that others should do so likewise, and in our exterior demeanour we behave as if we had indeed deserved to receive these gifts. It was thus that Lucifer sinned through pride; for being infatuated with his own beauty and nobility, and although he recognized that God was the author of it all, he nevertheless had the presumption to think that he had merited it himself and was worthy to sit beside God in the highest Heaven, “I will ascend into Heaven.” [Isai. xiv, 13] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 18th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Sin came. With sin came many fearful consequences. This beautiful earth was completely wrecked. It went on through space in the sunshine as before: but in God's sight, and in the destiny of its inhabitants, it was all changed. Jesus could no longer come in a glorious and unsuffering Incarnation. Mary would have to die; and, though she was sinless, she would need to be redeemed with a single and peculiar redemption, a redemption of prevention, not of rescue. She also, the immaculate Mother and Queen of creation, must be bought by the Precious Blood. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)