Virgo Potens

1 of 2 ACT of CONSECRATION to the QUEEN of HEAVEN O IMMACULATA, Queen of Heaven and earth, refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, God has willed to entrust the entire order of mercy to you.  I, (name), a repentant sinner, cast myself at your feet humbly imploring you to take me with all that I am and have, wholly to yourself as your possession and property.  Please make of me, of all my powers of soul and body, of my whole life, death and eternity, whatever most pleases you. (continued)

2 of 2 ❀•°❀°•❀•°❀°•❀ •°❀°•❀ THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS MARY’S GREAT PROMISE AT FATIMA (continued) This devotion and the wonderful promises connected with it were revealed by the Blessed Virgin with these words recorded by Lucy, one of the three children to whom the Blessed Virgin appeared at Fatima, Portugal, in 1917: I promise to help at the hour of death, with the graces needed for salvation, whoever on the First Saturday of five consecutive months shall: 1. Confess and receive Holy Communion. 2. Recite five decades of the Rosary. 3. And keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, with the intention of making reparation to me. NOTE: Confession during the week, preceding the first Friday, will suffice for the first Saturday, or conversely when Saturday is the first day of the month. The Rosary May be recited at any convenient time of the day, and the fifteen minute meditation may be made at any time during the day on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. A sermon for the occasion may be substituted for the meditation. ~ St. Joseph Daily Missal (1950) ❀•°❀°•❀•°❀°•❀ •°❀°•❀

April 5th, 2025 FIRST SATURDAY of APRIL 💙 1 of 2 ❀•°❀°•❀•°❀°•❀ •°❀°•❀ THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS MARY’S GREAT PROMISE AT FATIMA THE observance of the First Saturday in honor of the Immaculate Heart of Mary is intended to console her Immaculate Heart, and to make reparation for all the blasphemies and ingratitude of men. (continued)

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 4th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Friday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — Ecce Homo Read St. John xix. 4-6 Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith to them: Behold, I bring him forth unto you, that you may know that I find no cause in him. (Jesus therefore came forth, bearing the crown of thorns and the purple garment.) And he saith to them: Behold the Man. When the chief priests, therefore, and the servants, had seen him, they cried out, saying: Crucify him, crucify him. Pilate saith to them: Take him you, and crucify him: for I find no cause in him. 1. The scourging and crowning with thorns have brought the Son of God to a condition pitiable to contemplate. We have seen Him, and there is no sightliness in Him that we should desire Him. Pity, contempt, horror, disgust, indignation, are mingled in the hearts of those who behold Him. He is indeed a worm and not a man. He, the fairest among ten thousand! He, the sinless Lamb of God! Oh, how frightful must sin be if it can work such havoc even in the sacred person of the Son ofGod! 2. The sin that did this work, moreover, was the sin of others, not His own. It was something external to Him. He took it indeed upon Himself, He was made sin for us, but sin was never His own as it was ours. If it could so disfigure and degrade the sinless Lamb of God when laid upon Him from without, what must be the disfigurement and degradation sin works in us, springing up as it does out of ourselves, being a part of our sinful nature producing its natural fruits? 3. But was the Son of God really degraded by all these consequences of sin? On the contrary, His sacred humanity had never been so glorious or so worthy of honor as it was then. If He was unsightly before men, in the eyes of His Eternal Father He was crowned with honor and glory. There is nothing so pleasing to God as voluntary self-abasement and humiliation, nothing that brings so rich a recompense. How foolish then am I when I seek to avoid humiliation, and hate to be made like to the Son of God by suffering contempt and reproach from others. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

FRUITS of MEDITATION on the PASSION of CHRIST ~ It Consoles Our Lord ~ A single tear shed in the remembrance of the passion of Jesus is worth more than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or year of fasting on bread and water. ~ St. Augustine

OFFERING to the SACRED HEART of JESUS MY LOVING Jesus! out of the grateful love I bear Thee, and to make reparation for my unfaithfulness to grace, I give Thee my heart, and I consecrate myself wholly to Thee; and with Thy help I purpose to sin no more. Indulgence of 300 days, each time. — S. P. Ap., March 15, 1936. ~ Rev. F. X. Lasance, My Prayer Book: Happiness In Goodness (1908)

April 4th, 2025 FIRST FRIDAY of APRIL ❤️ O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee! If possible, receive Holy Communion today and make reparation to Our Lord and Saviour for past and present offenses against His Most Sacred Heart.

2025 FIRST FRIDAY of APRIL ❤️ O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to Thee, we prostrate before Thy throne of mercy, and in the name of all mankind, pledge our love and fidelity to Thee! If possible, receive Holy Communion today and make reparation to Our Lord and Saviour for past and present offenses against His Most Sacred Heart.

PRAYER TO JESUS SUFFERING This prayer was very familiar to St. Gertrude, and through its use she obtained the great grace that the stigmata of the Most Sacred Wounds of our Lord were impressed upon her heart. O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, grant that I may aspire towards thee with all my heart, with yearning desire, with a soul ever athirst for thee; that I may breathe in thee alone, who art all sweetness and all delight; and that my whole spirit and my inmost heart may pant for thee, their true blessedness. O most merciful Lord, engrave thy Wounds upon my heart with thy most precious Blood, that I may read in them all thy grief and all thy love; and may the memory of thy Wounds ever abide in the secret of my heart, to excite my most lively compassion and to enkindle my most glowing love. Grant also that all creatures may grow vile in my eyes, and be thou alone sweet to my heart. Amen. ~ Preces Gertrudianæ (1861)

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 3rd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Thursday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — The Crowning with Thorns Read St. Mark xv. 16, 17  And the soldiers led him away into the court of the palace, and they called together the whole band: And they clothed him with purple, and platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon him. 1. Our Lord was covered with a scarlet cloak and crowned with thorns, as a travesty or caricature of worldly honor. He desired to exhibit it in its true light. The farce played by the soldiers was in truth no farce, but a reality. It was intended to show how empty and contemptible is all earthly glory. It is worth no more than the mock-respect of the ruffians who bowed the knee byway of insult to Jesus. O Lord, by that mockery of honor Thou didst undergo, grant that I may esteem human honor at itstrue value. 2. Watch the soldiers at their cruel sport. The crown upon the head of Jesus is plaited of briers, whose long thorns pierce His sacred forehead as they press it down upon Him; the drops of blood and mingled tears blind His eyes. One by one they pass before Him and bow the knee, and then—oh, shame! they spit in His sacred face, that face before which angels and archangels fall in prostrate homage. O Lord, in return for those insults Thou didst endure, I will always bow before Thee in the Blessed Sacrament with reverent love and adoration; I will seek to wipe the drops of blood from Thine eyes by denying myself the free indulgence of my senses even in lawful things. 3. What were the sins for which Christ specially atoned in the crowning with thorns? Evil thoughts and imaginations, uncharitable thoughts, proud thoughts, impure thoughts. It was these rather than the thorns which pierced His sacred head, and filled His eyes with tears of sorrow and of blood. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 2nd ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Wednesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — The Scourging Read St. Matthew xxvii. 27-30 Then the soldiers of the governor taking Jesus into the hall, gathered together unto him the whole band; And stripping him, they put a scarlet cloak about him. And platting a crown of thorns, they put it upon his head, and a reed in his right hand. And bowing the knee before him, they mocked him, saying: Hail, king of the Jews. And spitting upon him, they took the reed, and struck his head. 1. When the Jews had shouted for Barabbas, and threatened Pilate to denounce him as disloyal to Rome if he released Jesus, the governor made one more attempt to save the life of Christ. He ordered Him to be severely scourged, hoping thereby to move the pity of the Jews. Vain attempt at a fresh compromise with his conscience! Pilate only involved himself in deeper guilt, and Christ in a greater agony of suffering. Nothing ever succeeds except a bold, fearless obedience to God's holy inspirations. 2. Our Lord is handed over to the scourgers, who strip Him naked and then begin their impious barbarity. The Pharisees are said to have plied tliem with drink to make them more reckless in their cruelty. Blow succeeds blow from those many-lashed, iron-pointed scourges. First His sacred flesh becomes red and swollen under the stripes, then the blood begins to flow,then the iron points lacerate and tear His delicate body until it is one great wound. Listen as He piteously moans under the anguish! See Him masked in blood! O my Jesus, what must be Thy love to endure this for me! 3. At length the executioners cut the cords, and Christ falls heavily in a pool of His own blood. What has brought the King of heaven to this condition of abject misery? It is the sins of men, especially the sinful indulgence of the body. It was to atone for sins of luxury and impurity and drunkenness that the spotless Lamb of God was thus tortured. Alas! how often have I been indulgent to my body! How have I yielded to the cravings of sense! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

FRUITS of MEDITATION on the PASSION of CHRIST ~ It Will Lead Us To Perfection Before Death ~ If thou, O man wouldst advance from virtue to virtue, if thou wouldst lead a perfect life, then meditate daily on the Passion of Christ. Nothing else can so powerfully urge the soul to holiness. The painful wounds of your Saviour’s body penetrate even the hardest of hearts and inflame the coldest of souls with love. ~ Saint Bonaventure

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ Question The question has been asked: why do some of the posts at Virgo Potens, Defende nos in prœlio, and Catholic Universe no longer have accompanying photos? Answer This is just for Lent! It has been done to create an opportunity, in a very small way, for readers to fast from beauty during this season, thus making a small sacrifice to Our Lord. Sometimes, we have used only black and white photos or line drawings for a similar penitential purpose. However, we continue to post color photos on Sundays, the day of the Resurrection. The Church creates penitential opportunities for us during both Advent and Lent. For example, the playing of the organ and musical instruments is allowed only in order to support the singing, and if used, should be played quietly. If a choir or schola are able to sing in tune a capella, no organ or musical instruments should be used at all. The Gloria and the Alleluia are omitted during Mass and the altar is not ornamented with flowers. Votive Masses and Masses of the Dead are prohibited. From Passion Sunday until Easter Sunday, statues and religious art are veiled with purple cloth, hidden from our sight. From Holy Thursday until the blessing of the Easter water, the holy water fonts are empty, and the ringing of the bells ceases. Bit by bit, as we are deprived of these sensible consolations, we fast with our senses that we may offer up the sacrifice of being deprived of these beautiful things. How glorious it is on Easter Sunday morning, then, to have them all returned to us with the Resurrection of Our Lord. As Good Friday approaches, let us fast, sacrifice, and pray even more than we have been doing, thus intensifying our Lent, in gratitude to our good God for the gift of our salvation, accomplished by Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, through the humiliation and total sacrifice of His entire self, for love of us. May God bless you all! ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ April 1st ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Tuesday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent — Barabbas or Jesus? Read St. Matthew xxvii. 15-22 Now upon the solemn day the governor was accustomed to release to the people one prisoner, whom they would. And he had then a notorious prisoner, that was called Barabbas. They therefore being gathered together, Pilate said: Whom will you that I release to you, Barabbas, or Jesus that is called Christ? For he knew that for envy they had delivered him. And as he was sitting in the place of judgment, his wife sent to him, saying: Have thou nothing to do with that just man; for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him. But the chief priests and ancients persuaded the people, that they should ask for Barabbas, and take Jesus away. And the governor answering, said to them: Whether will you of the two to be released unto you? But they said, Barabbas. Pilate saith to them: What shall I do then with Jesus that is called Christ? They say all: Let him be crucified. 1. Before Pilate sent Our Lord to Herod, he had already sought to take occasion to release Him, from the custom of setting free at the Pasch some notable prisoner. In order to secure success, he had proposed as an alternative a noted murderer named Barabbas. To his astonishment, the name of Barabbas had at once been taken up by the multitude. It was not that they loved Barabbas, but they hated Christ. So wretched men now choose what they know is evil simply because they hate God. They cannot bear the idea of submission. They long to get God out of the way, as the Jews desired to be rid of Christ. 2. The multitude shouted for Barabbas because the chief priests urged them to it. It was the rulers, the ancients, who were the real murderers of Christ; the ignorant mob did but follow their leaders. What a responsibility it is to be in a position of authority! What an account those who rule will have to give of those subject to them! 3. When Christ returned from the palace of Herod clad in the fool's garment, Pilate made one more attempt to get Him released. It was a fresh compromise with his conscience, and, like all such compromises, only brought fresh insults on the Son of God. Again the shout rose for Barabbas to be set free, and Christ to be crucified. O Pilate! why not listen to the whisper within you, and set the just man free at any risk? My God, save me from cowardly compromises and dallying with conscience. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

2 of 2 ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ Menu for the Month of April, 2025 Meditations on the Passion of Our Lord ~ Virgo Potens https://t.me/Virgo_Potens This will change at Easter. Prayers, including those for Lent and the Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ Defende nos in prœlio https://t.me/Defende_nos This will change at Easter, and in May. Seasonal Hymns and Chants: the Poetry of the Church ~ Chantbird’s Garden of Song https://t.me/chantbirds_garden_of_song Daily Liturgical Prayers, Gospels, Sayings of the Saints ~ Catholic Universe https://t.me/Catholic_Universe Meditations and Prayers for the Month of the Holy Eucharist ~ One, Holy, Catholic https://t.me/one_holy_catholic This will change in May. Novenas, Catholic Feasts, Lives of the Saints ~ Christus Regnat https://t.me/RexUniversi Daily Lives of the Saints ~ Glory to God https://t.me/AdDeiGloria ✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯

✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿ ✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯ April ~ Month of the Holy Eucharist +A.M.D.G.+ For the greater glory of God! Dear Friends, Thank you so much for following our sister channels on Telegram. If you are following one or two, but not all, please click on the links in the “Menu for April” below, to see what you might have been missing and to consider joining! Much of what is posted comes from vintage sources, and not too much cross posting is done between channels. If you like the different channels, please join each one! (continued)

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 31st ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ Monday after the Fourth Sunday in Lent - Jesus Before Herod Read St. Luke xxiii. 7-12 And when he understood that he was of Herod's jurisdiction, he sent him away to Herod, who was also himself at Jerusalem, in those days. And Herod, seeing Jesus, was very glad; for he was desirous of a long time to see him, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to see some sign wrought by him. And he questioned him in many words. But he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and the scribes stood by, earnestly accusing him. And Herod with his army set him at nought, and mocked him, putting on him a white garment, and sent him back to Pilate. And Herod and Pilate were made friends, that same day; for before they were enemies one to another. 1. When Pilate found that the Jews were determined on the death of Jesus, he tried to get rid of the responsibility by sending Him to Herod. Herod rejoiced to see Him. In his vanity he expected that Our Lord would be glad to conciliate him by performing some miracle in his presence. Vain expectation!It is only for the humble and pure of heart that Our Lord works miracles. Yet I expect Him to work for me, proud and selfish as I am, miracles of grace, to enable me to easily overcome long-rooted faults, to attain a spirit of prayer and close union with Him. How can I hope for this while I am so full of the worldly spirit of Herod? 2. Our Lord was ready enough to speak to Pilate, and even to Caiphas; but for Herod He had not a word. There is something terrible in this silence in the presence of the sensual, hardened reprobate. There is something in a sensual life that shuts the ears of men so that the whispers of grace never seem to reach them. If I want OurLord to speak to me, the first thing is to see that I do not indulge my body inordinately. 3. Herod was also the incarnation of self-satisfied worldliness. He was munificent, popular, successful, but he was hateful in God's sight, and rejected by Him, so that Our Lord showed an aversion to him that He showed to none else. What a lesson for us! The reprobate Herod surrounded by flatterers and admirers: the Eternal Wisdom of God dressed in a fool's dress and treated as an idiot ! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

2 of 2 The Fourth Sunday in Lent—Jesus Before Pilate Pilate therefore said to them: Take him you, and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said to him: It is not lawful for us to put any man to death; that the word of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he said, signifying what death he should die. Pilate therefore went into the hall again, and called Jesus, and said to him: Art thou the king of the Jews? Jesus answered: Sayest thou this thing of thyself, or have others told it thee of me? Pilate answered: Am I a Jew? Thy own nation, and the chief priests, have delivered thee up to me: what hast thou done? Jesus answered: My kingdom is not of this world. If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly strive that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now my kingdom is not from hence. Pilate therefore said to him: Art thou a king then? Jesus answered: Thou sayest that I am a king. For this was I born, and for this came I into the world; that I should give testimony to the truth. Every one that is of the truth, heareth my voice. Pilate saith to him: What is truth? And when he said this, he went out again to the Jews, and saith to them: I find no cause in him. But you have a custom that I should release one unto you at the pasch: will you, therefore, that I release unto you the king of the Jews? Then cried they all again, saying: Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber. 1. Pilate was at first inclined to look with contempt on the charge brought against Christ of setting Himself up as King of the Jews. But he soon changed his tone. He was astonished at Our Lord's silence and reserve. His calm dignity made a deep impression on him. How few there are who imitate Christ in this! Our babbling tongues pour forth so many foolish and ill-considered words. Learn of Jesus the dignity of timely silence. 2. Yet Jesus spoke when occasion required. He said enough to Pilate to convince him not only of His innocence, but of His claim to be king. Pilate was half-inclined to listen. He could not help recognizing in some degree the divine beauty of the Son of God amid all His humiliations. So the Catholic Church manifests herself to the world in a way that is sufficient to attract men of good will. There are few who have not the chance of recognizing her claims. Her beauty even in her humiliations and amid the sins of men shines forth as did the beauty of her Divine Spouse. 3. Pilate's long experience tells him plainly enough that the Jews are all wrong and Christ is right. His practiced eye detects the malice of the Jews, their hatred of their Victim, their selfishness and unscrupulous cruelty. He longs to release Christ; he knows he ought to do so, but he fears the Jews, lest he be reported as favoring revolt. Human respect overcomes his convictions, and he has not the courage to set Jesus free. How fatal is cowardice in things divine! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of St. Joseph ~ March 30th ✧❁❁✧✿✿✧❁❁✧ The Fourth Sunday in Lent—Jesus Before Pilate Read St. John xviii. 28-40 Then they led Jesus from Caiphas to the governor's hall. And it was morning; and they went not into the hall, that they might not be defiled, but that they might eat the pasch. Pilate therefore went out to them, and said: What accusation bring you against this man? They answered, and said to him: If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up to thee. (continued)

✧❁✧✿✧❁✧✿✧❁✧ Do not permit Lent to pass without performing some works of mortification and self-denial. It is these works that teach the Catholic that self-control, that power of resisting evil inclinations, without which no man is a true follower of Jesus Christ. ~ Anonymous ✧❁✧✿✧❁✧✿✧❁✧