Virgo Potens

July 19th ~ ST. VINCENT de PAUL, Confessor (1576-1660) Patron Saint of charitable societies Celebrated on this date from 1737-1969. St. Vincent de Paul dedicated his life to serving the poor and taught the rich to do works of mercy by his example of selfless charity. He founded two congregations: the Congregation of the Mission, or the "Vincentians" (known in France as "Lazaristes"), to convert sinners, and the Daughters of Charity, co-founded with St. Louise de Marillac, to help the poor. He established hospitals and ministered to convicts (galley slaves) in Paris, as well as helping to reform the French clergy, through the presentation of retreats and the development of a precursor to modern day seminaries. In Lives of the Saints for Every Day in the Year (1955), Fr. Alban Butler reminds the reader: “Most people who profess piety ask advice of directors about their prayers and spiritual exercises. Few inquire whether they are not in danger of damnation from neglect of works of charity.”

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)

July 18th ~ St. Camillus de Lellis (Confessor) Patron Saint of hospitals, nurses, and the sick Think well. Speak well. Do well. These three things, through the mercy of God, will make a man go to heaven. ~ St. Camillus de Lellis (Confessor) (1550 – 1614) St. Camillus de Lellis, pray for us.

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)

Prayer to St. Anne July 17 - 25 (may be said as a Novena) Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke thee, and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at thy feet and humbly beg of thee to take the present affair which I recommend to thee, under thy special protection. [Name your request.] Vouchsafe to commend it to thy daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted. Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face and with thee and Mary and all the Saints, praising and blessing Him for all eternity. Amen. Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope, pray to her for us, and obtain our request. (3 times) The New Key of Heaven, 1955

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 17th The Mystery of the Precious Blood To God's eye earth was all the more beautiful because it was innocent, and the dwelling-place of innocence. Then sin came. Why God let it come we do not know. We shall probably know in heaven. We are certain however that in some way or other it was more glorious for Him and better for us, that evil should be permitted. Some people trouble themselves about this. It does not trouble me at all. Whatever God does must of course be most right. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Sequence: Flos Carmeli ~ Flower of Carmel Flower of Carmel, tall vine blossom laden; splendour of heaven, child-bearing yet maiden. None equals thee. Mother so tender, who no man didst know, on Carmel's children thy favours bestow. Star of the Sea. Strong stem of Jesse, who bore one bright flower, be ever near us and guard us each hour, who serve thee here. Purest of lilies, that flowers among thorns, bring help to the true heart that in weakness turns and trusts in thee. Strongest of armour, we trust in thy might: under thy mantle, hard pressed in the fight, we call to thee. Our way uncertain, surrounded by foes, unfailing counsel you give to those who turn to thee. O gentle Mother who in Carmel reigns, share with your servants that gladness you gained and now enjoy. Hail, Gate of Heaven, with glory now crowned, bring us to safety where thy Son is found, true joy to see. Amen. ~ Traditional Translation Inno Flos Carmeli Flos Carmeli, vitis florigera, splendor caeli, virgo puerpera singularis. Mater mitis sed viri nescia Carmelitis esto propitia stella maris. Radix Iesse germinans flosculum nos adesse tecum in saeculum patiaris. Inter spinas quae crescis lilium serva puras mentes fragilium tutelaris. Armatura fortis pugnantium furunt bella tende praesidium scapularis. Per incerta prudens consilium per adversa iuge solatium largiaris. Mater dulcis Carmeli domina, plebem tuam reple laetitia qua bearis. Paradisi clavis et ianua, fac nos duci quo, Mater, gloria coronaris. Amen.

July 16th ~ Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Sequence: Flos Carmeli ~ Flower of Carmel Originally the Sequence for the Feast of St. Simon Stock (c. 1165-1265), this hymn became the Sequence for the Feast of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel in 1663. It is said to have been written by St. Simon Stock himself, to whom Our Lady gave the Brown Scapular.

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 16th The Mystery of the Precious Blood We know what an intense pleasure men take in looking at beautiful scenery. When we feel this pleasure, we ought to feel that we are looking at a little revelation of God, a very true one although a little one, and we ought to think of God’s complacency when He beheld the scenery of the primaeval earth, and rejoiced in what He saw. There was no sin then. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

ITE INCENDITE INFLAMMATE GO IGNITE INFLAME Dómine, ad quem ibimus? verba vitæ æternæ habes Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life ~ John 6, 69

July 15th ~ St. Bonaventure (Bishop, Doctor) "Meditation on Christ in His humanity is corporeal in deed, in fact, but spiritual in mind. . . . By adopting this habit, you will steady your mind, be trained to virtues, and receive strength of soul. . . . Let meditation of Christ's life be your one and only aim, your rest, your food, your desire, your study." ~ St. Bonaventure, ‘The Seraphic Doctor’ (1221 - 1274)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 15th The Mystery of the Precious Blood God made the stars; and, whether the earth was made by itself from the first, or was once part of the sun, and thrown off from it like a ring, God made the earth also, and shaped it, and adorned it, and filled it with trees and animals; and then looked upon His work, and it shone forth so beautifully with the light of His own perfections, that He blessed it, and, glorying in it, declared that it was very good. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 14th The Mystery of the Precious Blood But the sight of sin was also with God from the beginning, that is, through all His unbeginning eternity; and thus the Precious Blood also, as the ransom for sin, was with Him from the beginning. It was one of His eternal thoughts. If we may dare to say so, it was an idea which made Him more glorious, a thought which rendered Him more blessed. That same dear Blood, the thought of which makes us so happy now, has been part of God's happiness for ever. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

‘Do not let your falls, however many, trouble you. It is trouble and worry that keep a soul from God.‘ ~ Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menéndez in The Way of Divine Love, 1949, pg. 126 Fatima and the “Way of Divine Love” (Pamphlet) Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.

ON SACRIFICE (The Second Apparition of the Angel, 1916) ‘How must we sacrifice?' I asked the Angel. 'Offer God a sacrifice of anything you can as an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and as a supplication for the conversion of sinners. Draw peace upon your country by doing this. I am its guardian angel – the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and endure with submission whatever suffering the Lord sends you.' Then he disappeared. The angel's words were impressed upon our souls like a light that made us understand Who God is, how much He loves us and wishes to be loved, the value of sacrifice and how sacrifice pleases God, and how He converts sinners because of it. ~ Lucia dos Santos

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 13th The Mystery of the Precious Blood This is what we call the mystery of the Incarnation. It is this which makes creation so magnificent. It [creation] was not merely a beautiful thing which God made as an artificer, and which He set outside of Himself, and kept at a distance from Himself to look at, to admire, to pity, and to love. He always intended to be part of it Himself in a very wonderful way. So that there would have been Jesus and Mary, even if there had never been any sin: only Jesus would not have been crucified, and Mary would not have had any dolours. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Fatima’s prescription of sacrifice requires that we accept and offer in reparation for our sins and the sins of the world and the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, all the trials and vexations of our state of life. In this light, daily duty is not without heroism. It is heroic in its devotion to Our Lady and makes our lives a living rosary. Fatima and the “Way of Divine Love” (Pamphlet)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 12th The Mystery of the Precious Blood [T]here is a sense in which creation was eternal. It was eternally in the mind of God. It was one of His eternal ideas, always before Him; so that He never existed without this idea of creation in His all-wise mind and in His all-powerful intention. Moreover it was always part of His intention that the Creator should become as it were part of His own creation, and that an Uncreated Person should really and truly assume a created nature and be born of a created mother. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

On close observation, heroic acts and sacrifices are quite often done-and-over-with in an instant. Conversely, in faithful fulfillment of daily duty, there is too much time to experience the temptation to weaken, to rationalize and to anticipate, which is the scourge of fortitude. Grace has to be purchased often with dry prayer in which you sometimes feel that God and Our Lady are far away. Fatima and the “Way of Divine Love” (Pamphlet)

Month of the Precious Blood ~ July 11th The Mystery of the Precious Blood Salvation is through the Precious Blood. We will take that for our study of Jesus this time. When love is humble, it prays with David to be washed more and more from its iniquity. But there is no washing away of iniquity, except in the Precious Blood of our most dear Redeemer. When love is bold, it prays to be set on fire with the flames which Jesus came to kindle. But it is only the Precious Blood which makes our heart beat hotly with the love of Him. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)