Virgo Potens

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 2nd "Thou shalt call His name Jesus; for He shall save His people from their sins." Who else but Jesus can do this, and what else even from Him do we require but this; for in this lies all things which we can desire? Of all miseries the bondage of sin is the most miserable. It is worse than sorrow, worse than pain. ~ 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 1st It may be that sometimes you speak ill of yourself, in order that others may contradict it. This is the way of him of whom it is said, “There is one who humbleth himself wickedly,” [Ecclus xix, 23] who pretends indeed to flee from praise, yet seeks it, to flee from honours and courts them. You must accustom yourself not to speak either ill or well of yourself, because it is easy for pride to inspire your words in either case. ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 1st [132 continued] Do you sometimes set yourself up as an example, saying it would be well to do so and so as you have done it yourself? If you have some gift of God, do you talk about it as if to say: “Thanks be to God, I have not such and such a vice; thanks be to God, I have such and such a virtue”? Call to remembrance the advice given by the Angel to Tobias, that it is good to keep hidden the secret gifts of God: “For it is good to hide the secret of a king.” [Tob. xii, 7] (continued)

Sang précieux de notre Rédempteur, c’est par vous que nos àmes seront sauvées. Precious Blood of our Saviour, it is through thee that our souls will be saved. Month of the Precious Blood of Jesus ~ July 1st It is from the Precious Blood of Jesus Christ alone that our salvation comes. Out of the immensity of its merits, out of the inexhaustible treasures of its satisfactions, because of the resistless power of its beauty over the justice and the wrath of God, because of that dear combination of its priceless worth and its benignant prodigality, we miserable sinners are raised out of the depths of our wretchedness, and restored to the peace and favour of our Heavenly Father. ~ Frederick William Faber, D.D., The Precious Blood: or, The Price of Our Salvation (1860)

Sacred Heart of Jesus, fount of love and mercy, Today we come Thy blessing to implore; Oh, touch our hearts, so cold and so ungrateful, And make them, Lord, Thine own forever more. Refrain Sacred Heart of Jesus! we implore, Oh, make us love Thee more and more. Sacred Heart of Jesus! make us know and love Thee, Unfold to us the treasures of Thy grace, That so our hearts, from things of earth uplifted, May long alone to gaze upon Thy Face. Refrain. Sacred Heart of Jesus! make us pure and gentle, And teach us how to do Thy blessed will; To follow close the print of Thy dear footsteps, And when we fall Sacred Heart, oh, love us still. Refrain. Sacred Heart of Jesus! bless all hearts that love Thee, And may Thine own Heart ever blessed be; Bless us, dear Lord, and bless the friends we cherish, And keep us true to Mary and to Thee. Refrain Sacred Heart of Jesus! we implore, Oh, make us love Thee more and more. ~ from a Slovak hymnal. Source: The St. Gregory Hymnal, 1920

2 of 2 Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 30th Are you careful in speaking not to say anything in your own praise, or anything that might cause you to be praised by others, not to appear learned, wise or spiritual, ostentatiously displaying your personal advantages or those that belong to your family? It is easy in these things for you to be dominated by pride, and holy Tobias warns us, saying: “Never suffer pride to reign in thy mind or in thy words.” [Tob. iv,14] (continued) ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 30th 132. It is necessary to be humble not only in one’s thoughts but in one’s words, because the humble man says little, following the counsel of the Holy Ghost: “Speak not anything rashly: let thy words be few.” [Eccles v, 1] To talk much proceeds from pride, because we are persuaded that we know a great deal and we wish to impress our thoughts and opinions on the minds of others. (continued)

TO THEE, O HEART OF JESUS Hymn To Thee, O Heart of Jesus, To Thee our hearts we give; Help, help us all to love Thee And serve Thee while we live. CHORUS. Yes, yes, till life is over, And then for evermore, O Sacred Heart of Jesus, We'll love Thee and adore. No heart can be so tender, No heart can love like Thee, Thy life-blood all, O Jesus, Was shed to set us free.—Cho. And! hard our hearts and cruel, If Thee we do not love, Who from Thy throne descendest To draw our hearts above.—Cho. ~ Catholic School and Sodality Hymnal (1900)

2 of 2 The Best Means of Honoring the Sacred Heart 2. Each day, moreover, we should say some ejaculatory prayers in honor of the Sacred Heart, and each Friday should consecrate our selves to it, communicating at least on the first Friday in every month. Such Communions persevered in for nine continuous months have attached to them the promise of final perseverance for all who offer them in honor of the Sacred Heart. 3. But as the best praise is imitation, we cannot honor the Sacred Heart better than by seeking to imitate its meekness, patience, sympathy. These are such rare gifts. How often have I prayed: Jesus,meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thy Heart! Yet how little do my thoughts and actions correspond to the prayer that I offer. Henceforth I will determine to be kinder to others in honor of the Sacred Heart that has ever been so kind to me! ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ The Best Means of Honoring the Sacred Heart 1. There is one very simple way of honoring the Sacred Heart. Our Lord promises to Blessed Margaret Mary that wherever an image of it is exposed and honored, it shall bring with it all kinds of blessings. At least we can show the Sacred Heart this external mark of our loyalty, and keep before ourselves a picture which will remind us of the loving sympathy of Jesus. (continued)

2 of 2 PRAYER To the Sacred Heart of Jesus A peaceful heart that is ever at peace with others and with itself; A disinterested heart that is always content with what it has; A heart that loves prayer and prays often and cheerfully; A heart that only desires that God be known, honored and loved by all His creatures; That grieves for nothing except when God is offended, Despises nothing but sin, Wishes for nothing but the Glory of God and its neighbor's salvation; A pure heart that in all things seeks God alone and desires to please Him; A grateful heart that does not forget but duly values the benefits of God; A strong heart that is daunted by no evil but bears all adversity for the love of God; A heart liberal to the poor and compassionate to the suffering souls in Purgatory; A well-ordered heart, whose joys and sorrows, desires and aversions, nay, whose every motion is regulated according to the Will of God. Amen. ~ St. Clement Mary Hofbauer C.Ss.R. (1751 - 1820)

1 of 2 PRAYER To the Sacred Heart of Jesus O dearest Jesus, Whose Most Amiable Heart excludes not even the greatest sinners if they turn to Thee, grant, we beseech Thee, to me and all penitent sinners a heart like unto Thine; That is, a humble heart that even in the midst of temporal honors loves a hidden life, a life little esteemed by men; A meek heart that bears with all and seeks to be revenged on no one; A patient heart that is resigned in adversity and happy even in the midst of most trying circumstances; (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 29th Are you disturbed and agitated at the thought of the faults you commit, and of your slow progress in acquiring virtue? This is pride, and comes from your presumption in thinking you can do great things of your own strength. But it is necessary to humble ourselves and yet not be discouraged, but to learn of St. Augustine, who says of himself: “The more I lack, the more humble I shall be.” [in Ps. xxxviii] I shall be more humble, if I reflect upon those virtues which I ought to have, and have not. Are you prudent, not trusting in your own ingenuity nor in your own opinions, without caring to ask advice, especially in matters of great importance? This is a great sin against humility, and the Holy Ghost thus admonishes you: “Lean not on thy own prudence: be not wise in thy own conceit.” [Prov. iii, 5, 7] And St. Jerome calls that pride intolerable by which we give others to understand that we are so wise we do not need their advice: “Pride is unbearable, but to account oneself nothing needs counsel.” [cap. i Isa.] ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 29th 131. Do you place yourself in dangerous occasions, saying: “I will not fall into sin,” thus presuming too much on your own strength? St. Gregory says that there is nothing further from humility than such a presumption. “Nothing in man is further removed from humility than reliance upon his own virtue.” [lib. 22, Mor. c. iii] (continued)

PRAYER Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus,  I have asked for many favors, but I plead for this one. [Name your intention.] Take it, place it in Thy Open Broken Heart, and when the Eternal Father sees it covered with the Mantle of Thy Most Precious Blood, He cannot refuse it, for then it is Thy prayer, not mine.  Dear Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in Thee. Amen.

2 of 2 The Piercing of the Sacred Heart 2. Out of His Heart flowed blood and water. That blood is the source of life to sinful man; with it the elect are inebriated, and all the saints before the throne of God have washed their robes and made them white in the Blood of the Lamb. Reflect on these graces conferred by the Precious Blood, and pray that vou may wash in it and be clean. 3. Out of His Heart too flowed water, that living water of which He said: He that drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall not thirst forever. Of that water the redeemed drink in heaven. Their Lord Himself leads them to the fountains of the water of life. That water now refreshes His servants in this world's weary paths. Jesus, myLord, give me to drink of that living water that shall make me thirst after Thee, and after nought else but Thee. ~ Rev. Richard F. Clarke, S.J., The Devout Year (1893)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ✧✿✿✧❁❁✧✿✿✧ The Piercing of the Sacred Heart 1. When Our Lord had breathed forth His soul into the hands of His Eternal Father, the Sacred Heart could for a time no longer continue its work of love for men. But as if to show that even in death it loved them still, God ordained that it should be pierced by the centurion's lance, and should shed its last drops of blood for man. It was as if He whose lifeless Body hung there was not satisfied with suffering even to death, but needs must show how even in death from His Sacred Body grace and mercy poured forth for the healing of sin. (continued)

2 of 2 Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 28th He always keeps before his eyes the sins he has committed, and his malicious tendency to commit them again. Therefore he esteems himself worse than the Turks, who have not the light of grace, while he has also that of faith; worse than all sinners, that do not realize the gravity of sin, and who have not received so much help of grace as he has; worse than the Jews, “For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory ” [1 Cor. ii, 8]; worse even than the demons, who sinned only once in thought, whilst he has sinned so often even in action. But do you ever stop to consider these things seriously?” ~ Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo (1660-1753), Humility of Heart. Tr. Herbert Cardinal Vaughan (1903).

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 28th 130. Humility teaches us also to hold ourselves unworthy of any good that we may possess, even to the very air that we breathe, and to hold ourselves worthy of all the evils and vituperations of the world. Such are the thoughts of the humble man. (continued)

Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus ~ June 28th 130. Humility teaches us also to hold ourselves unworthy of any good that we may possess, even to the very air that we breathe, and to hold ourselves worthy of all the evils and vituperations of the world. Such are the thoughts of the humble man. (continued)