Virgo Potens

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 19th Ninteenth Day (continued from above) A gentleman on one occasion being very angry with St. Vincent de Paul, in his fury said something rude and insulting. The saint immediately threw himself at his feet, [and] begged his pardon for perhaps giving him occasion to speak in such a manner. A certain person, who was a leader in one of those errors which excited much discussion in the last century, proposed these false maxims to the same saint for adoption. Finding he could not succeed, he endeavored to injure him, called him ignorant, and said he was astonished the congregation had chosen him for superior-general. "I am still more astonished than you are,” replied the saint. “I am incomparably more ignorant than you can imagine.” Prayer Make me humble, Lord, that I may rejoice when I am insulted and despised. My Saviour would be covered with shame ; why should not His disciples love contempt ? ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 19th Nineteenth Day One who is humble, when he receives humiliations, humbles him­self still more ; when he is covered with contempt, rejoices that he is despised ; when he is given an occupation that is low and abject, acknowledges that it is better than he deserves, and performs it with pleasure; he flees only those places that are distinguished and honor­able.—St. Jane Frances (continued below)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 19th Nineteenth Day One who is humble, when he receives humiliations, humbles him­self still more; when he is covered with contempt, rejoices that he is despised; when he is given an occupation that is low and abject, acknowledges that it is better than he deserves, and performs it with pleasure; he flees only those places that are distinguished and honor­able.—St. Jane Frances (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 18th Eighteenth Day (continued from above) When St. Francis of Sales saw that some were afflicted be­cause he had been calumniated, he said: "Let them alone. It is a cross of words, a breath of air, the remembrance of which should perish with its sound. One must be very delicate to be unable to suffer the bite of a fly. What wrong can they do us by having an evil opinion of us, when we should have the same opinion of ourselves?” Prayer How can any one wrong me, O my God—I who have of­fended Thee, and who have so often deserved hell ? I am a monster of ingratitude against whom all creatures should arise to avenge the outrages I have committed against Thee. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 18th Eighteenth Day He who is truly humble can never persuade himself that any one can do him wrong. What a thought !—that He Who is our Creator bears with so many injuries from His creatures, and we are wounded by a word ! It matters little if we are esteemed or not, whether good or evil is said of us. Honors should be to us a greater affliction than injuries or insult.—St. Teresa (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 17th Seventeenth Day (continued from above) St. Dominic dwelt with much more pleasure in the dio­cese of Carcassonne than in that of Toulouse, where he had converted numbers of heretics. He was asked the reason. He replied: "In Toulouse they load me with honors; in Carcassonne I am abhorred, persecuted, in­sulted.” "It would be much more agreeable to me,” said St. Helix, a Capuchin, "to see myself insulted, despised, and covered with disgrace in the streets of Rome than to find myself honored and respected by the people.” Prayer My God, do not permit that the praise or esteem of men be for me a hindrance to my salvation. I desire to be hon­ored and loved but by Thee. I wish to please Thee alone. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 17th Seventeenth Day The most profound degree of humility is to receive humiliations and abjections with the same complacency that vain persons do the greatest honors.—St. Francis de Sales (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 16th Sixteenth Day (continued from above) This saint abhorred honors and praise. Clement IV offered him the Archbishopric of Naples. He not only refused, but obtained the favor from the same Pontiff that he would never offer him any other dignity. It was through pure obedience that he took the degree of Doctor. He rejoiced when in college that one, whose master he might have been, but who had been given to him as a teacher, called him the dumb ox, attributing his silence to ignorance and want of talent. One day, while reading publicly during dinner, he was ordered to pronounce a word in a different manner. He repeated the word immediately as he was told, though he was sure it was wrong. “It matters little,” said he afterwards to one of his companions, “to make a syllable long or short; but it is of extreme importance to be humble and obedient.” Prayer Lord, grant that I may be afflicted and that I may suffer when I receive marks of esteem and respect, when I am praised, or when I am preferred to others. I de­serve to be despised, to be hated by all creatures, because I am a great sinner. Alas! I have scarcely done anything but offend Thee all my life. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 16th Sixteenth Day (continued from above) This saint abhorred honors and praise. Clement IV offered him the Archbishopric of Naples. He not only refused, but obtained the favor from the same Pontiff that he would never offer him any other dignity. It was through pure obedience that he took the degree of Doctor. He rejoiced when in college that one, whose master he might have been, but who had been given to him as a teacher, called him the dumb ox, attributing his silence to ignorance and want of talent. One day, while reading publicly during dinner, he was ordered to pronounce a word in a different manner. He repeated the word immediately as he was told, though he was sure it was wrong. “It matters little,” said he afterwards to one of his companions, “to make a syllable long or short; but it is of extreme importance to be humble and obedient.” Prayer Lord, grant that I may be afflicted and that I may suffer when I receive marks of esteem and respect, when I am praised, or when I am preferred to others. I de­serve to be despised, to be hated by all creatures, because I am a great sinner. Alas! I have scarcely done anything but offend Thee all my life. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)  2/14/24 1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 17th Seventeenth Day The most profound degree of humility is to receive humiliations and abjections with the same complacency that vain persons do the greatest honors.—St. Francis de Sales (continued below) 2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 17th Seventeenth Day (continued from above) St. Dominic dwelt with much more pleasure in the dio­ cese of Carcassonne than in that of Toulouse, where he had converted numbers of heretics. He was asked the reason. He replied: "In Toulouse they load me with honors; in Carcassonne I am abhorred, persecuted, in­sulted.” "It would be much more agreeable to me,” said St. Helix, a Capuchin, "to see myself insulted, despised, and covered with disgrace in the streets of Rome than to find myself honored and respected by the people.” Prayer My God, do not permit that the praise or esteem of men be for me a hindrance to my salvation. I desire to be hon­ored and loved but by Thee. I wish to please Thee alone. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 16th Sixteenth Day When you see one who desires honors and flees abjection, and who when meeting persecution or contempt is troubled and com­plains, be assured that even should he work miracles, he is far from perfection, his virtue is without foundation.—St. Thomas Aquinas (continued below)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 16th Sixteenth Day When you see one who desires honors and flees abjection, and who when meeting persecution or contempt is troubled and com­plains, be assured that even should he work miracles, he is far from perfection, his virtue is without foundation.—St. Thomas Aquinas (continued below)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 15th Fifteenth Day (continued from above) Monseigneur Camus, bishop of Belley, complained to St. Francis of Sales of a great injury that had been done him. The Bishop of Geneva said to him: "I admit they have done wrong to treat you thus; they should respect your character. I find fault with you only in one point.” “In what?” asked the bishop of Belley. “It is that you are not as prudent as you ought to be; it would become you to be silent.” The friend of St. Francis of Sales acknowledged his fault. Prayer O my divine Saviour, I consent to be disapproved of, blamed, despised, for Thy love. It matters not whether I please or displease creatures, if I am agreeable in Thy eyes. I desire to live only in Thy heart. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 15th Fifteenth Day (continued from above) Monseigneur Camus, bishop of Belley, complained to St. Francis of Sales of a great injury that had been done him. The Bishop of Geneva said to him: "I admit they have done wrong to treat you thus; they should respect your character. I find fault with you only in one point.” “In what?” asked the bishop of Belley. “It is that you are not as prudent as you ought to be; it would become you to be silent.” The friend of St. Francis of Sales acknowledged his fault. Prayer O my divine Saviour, I consent to be disapproved of, blamed, despised, for Thy love. It matters not whether I please or displease creatures, if I am agreeable in Thy eyes. I desire to live only in Thy heart. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 15th Fifteenth Day What does it signify if we are calumniated, despised, outraged by men, if we are innocent before God and agreeable in His eyes? The saints made it their pleasure to be little and abject in the hearts of all.—St. Teresa (continued below)

Say this prayer often, to console Jesus, Our Lord and God. It is the central prayer in the Devotion to The Holy Face. THE GOLDEN ARROW May the most holy, most sacred, most adorable, most incomprehensible and unutterable Name of God be always praised, blessed, loved, adored and glorified, in Heaven, on earth and under the earth, by all the creatures of God, and by the Sacred Heart of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar. Amen.

ABOUT THE GOLDEN ARROW PRAYER Jesus is God! Alas! they say On earth the numbers grow, Who His Divinity blaspheme To their unfailing woe. ~ Fr. F. W. Faber In 1843, the “GOLDEN ARROW” PRAYER was dictated by Our Lord Himself to Sister Mary of St. Peter, a Carmelite nun, in Tours, France. Just as sins of blasphemy were like a ‘poisoned arrow’ continually wounding God’s Heart, Our Lord said “This Golden Arrow will wound My Heart delightfully, and heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy.” Then, in 1844, Sister Mary of St. Peter was given a vision in which she saw the Sacred Heart of Jesus delightfully wounded by the “Golden Arrow” Prayer, as torrents of graces streamed forth from His Heart for the conversion of sinners. Our Lord revealed to her the inseparable connection between honouring the unutterable name of God through the “Golden Arrow” Prayer and venerating the Holy Face of Jesus.

2 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th Fourteenth Day (continued from above) From his earliest years, St. Thomas Aquinas abhorred praise. He was never heard to speak one word that showed he sought the esteem of creatures. He acknowl­edged one day to a religious that, with God’s grace, he had never been tempted to pride. St. Vincent de Paul had taken the resolution that never without necessity would he speak of anything that might attract esteem. Travelling one day with three priests, he related to them some interesting events that had happened to him; but in the middle of the narrative, when they were most entertained, he was seen to strike his breast and heard to say that he was a miserable sinner, full of pride and always speaking of himself. The priests having reached their destination, he threw himself on his knees before them, and begged pardon for the bad example he had given them. Prayer O humble Jesus, my adorable Master, give me indiffer­ence for the esteem of men, a horror of their praise, love for humiliations and contempt. Grant that I may love to be unknown, forgotten, covered with disgrace for Thy sake. Never permit me to speak to my advantage, nor be governed by vanity, nor listen to self-love. Give me true humility, a profound humility of heart. ~ Abbé Lasausse, Short Meditations For Every Day (1889)

1 of 2 Month of the Holy Family ~ February 14th Vain complacency, and the desire that others would speak of us and praise us, is an evil which makes us forget God and spoils our holiest actions. There is no vice more pernicious to those who would make any progress in the spiritual life.—St. Vincent de Paul (continued below)

BLESSED FEAST of the HOLY FACE of OUR LORD and SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST Shrove Tuesday

Monthly Renewal of Consecration to Mary To be said on the 13th of every month in honor of Our Lady of Fatima I, (say your name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands, O Immaculate Mother, the vows of my baptism; I renounce Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the Heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God, in time and in eternity. Amen.