I've been away from these pages for some time now.  When I saw the thread title I had to give the posts a read.
The sorrowful mysteries have been very significant to me for some time now.

No matter how the crown of thorns was composed we do know that they pierced Jesus flesh (at least) and caused him to loose His Precious Blood.

Those thorns.  I know who placed those thorns was and I know what those thorns were.
WE placed those thorns there ... and those thorns are our sins. 
We gave our Lord a mocking crown of thorns which He accepted out of His Infinite Love.  When I pray the Rosary I often meditate on how my sins (of this day, week, month or life) have either been another thorn or caused the thorns to pierce our Lord ever more deeply.

Lord have mercy!!!

 

They have been universally recognized by the Church as saints.

Have people ever prayed to them? 

My premiss:  At the Transfiguration Moses and Elias appeared from heaven. 
Does that not confirm that they are saints?  Do we have a clear reason why the Church has not formally canonized them?

Thanks,
Reg.

[Merry Christmas all!]

Merry Christmas all!

I came across this today at Divine Office ("dot org"):

“In full right do we celebrate the heavenly birthday of these children. The end of the present life is for them the beginning of glory. These then are justly hailed as “infant martyr flowers”; they were the Church’s first blossoms, matured by the frost of persecution during the cold winter of unbelief.

I never cease to be amazed that we have a victorious army in heaven praying for us while we battle here on earth.  Thank you Lord for your saints, and on this day especially for the Holy Innocents.

Dear Holy Innocents, please pray for us, for the Holy Father and for the Church.
Amen.

I was just pondering a way of translating the following into my daily life:


From Divine Office, Office of Readings, for August 20:

Second reading
From a sermon by Saint Bernard, abbot

I love because I love, I love that I may love
Love is sufficient of itself, it gives pleasure by itself and because of itself. It is its own merit, its own reward. Love looks for no cause outside itself, no effect beyond itself. Its profit lies in its practice. I love because I love, I love that I may love. Love is a great thing so long as it continually returns to its fountainhead, flows back to its source, always drawing from there the water which constantly replenishes it. Of all the movements, sensations and feelings of the soul, love is the only one in which the creature can respond to the Creator and make some sort of similar return however unequal though it be. For when God loves, all he desires is to be loved in return; the sole purpose of his love is to be loved, in the knowledge that those who love him are made happy by their love of him.
The Bridegroom’s love, or rather the love which is the Bridegroom, asks in return nothing but faithful love. Let the beloved, then, love in return. Should not a bride love, and above all, Love’s bride? Could it be that Love not be loved?
Rightly then does she give up all other feelings and give herself wholly to love alone; in giving love back, all she can do is to respond to love. And when she has poured out her whole being in love, what is that in comparison with the unceasing torrent of that original source? Clearly, lover and Love, soul and Word, bride and Bridegroom, creature and Creator do not flow with the same volume; one might as well equate a thirsty man with the fountain.
What then of the bride’s hope, her aching desire, her passionate love, her confident assurance? Is all this to wilt just because she cannot match stride for stride with her giant, any more than she can vie with honey for sweetness, rival the lamb for gentleness, show herself as white as the lily, burn as bright as the sun, be equal in love with him who is Love? No. It is true that the creature loves less because she is less. But if she loves with her whole being, nothing is lacking where everything is given. To love so ardently then is to share the marriage bond; she cannot love so much and not be totally loved, and it is in the perfect union of two hearts that complete and total marriage consists. Or are we to doubt that the soul is loved by the Word first and with a greater love?

As Shin knows, I was not permitted to get notifications about replies to the thread I just started.
So we'll give the old button a quick test.

-Reg.

I thought of science of the Saints as learning to emulate their virtues in life and trying to be a saint.

I'm doing the Novena too. 


Glad to see you around, Reginator!

[the science of the Saints]

G'day,

Since I started praying the Novena to the Holy Ghost I keep seeing a new phrase.
In the Prayer for the Seven Gifts of the Holy Ghost we pray for "the Spirit of Knowledge, that I may know God and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints".

A few days ago I did an Internet search of that phrase, but I recall getting a little frustrated with the results.  (It was past bedtime. )

I was simply wondering how others interpret the 'science of the saints'.   (I'm not quite a saint as yet, so I tend to have many questions ...)
Here's my best guess:  the science of the saints is simply the study of their lives and works.

Dominus vobiscum, Reg.

[(May 24)]

This is a bit late as I've been away.  Even away from my laptop. *Shudder!*

In honor of the Feast of Our Lady Help of Christians (May 24), Pope Benedict XVI composed the following prayer in May 2008. He asked that it be recited every year on May 24, and that May 24 be designated a World Day of Prayer for the Church in China.

    Virgin Most Holy, Mother of the Incarnate Word and our Mother,
    venerated in the Shrine of Sheshan under the title "Help of Christians,"
    the entire Church in China looks to you with devout affection.
    We come before you today to implore your protection.
    Look upon the People of God and, with a mother's care, guide them
    along the paths of truth and love, so that they may always be
    a leaven of harmonious coexistence among all citizens.

    When you obediently said "yes" in the house of Nazareth,
    you allowed God's eternal Son to take flesh in your virginal womb
    and thus to begin in history the work of our redemption.
    You willingly and generously co-operated in that work,
    allowing the sword of pain to pierce your soul,
    until the supreme hour of the Cross, when you kept watch on Calvary,
    standing beside your Son, Who died that we might live.

    From that moment, you became, in a new way,
    the Mother of all those who receive your Son Jesus in faith
    and choose to follow in His footsteps by taking up His Cross.
    Mother of hope, in the darkness of Holy Saturday you journeyed
    with unfailing trust towards the dawn of Easter.
    Grant that your children may discern at all times,
    even those that are darkest, the signs of God's loving presence.

    Our Lady of Sheshan, sustain all those in China,
    who, amid their daily trials, continue to believe, to hope, to love.
    May they never be afraid to speak of Jesus to the world,
    and of the world to Jesus.
    In the statue overlooking the Shrine you lift your Son on high,
    offering him to the world with open arms in a gesture of love.
    Help Catholics always to be credible witnesses to this love,
    ever clinging to the rock of Peter on which the Church is built.
    Mother of China and all Asia, pray for us, now and for ever. Amen!

I saw this thread last night and just received this story in an email a few minutes ago:


A few years after  I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small  Texas town.  From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our  family.  The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.  

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family.  In my young mind, he had a special niche.  My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me  to obey.  But the stranger...he was our storyteller.  He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.  

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!  He took my family to the first major league ball game.  He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.  

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go  to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever  prayed for the stranger to leave.)  

Dad  ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the  stranger never felt obligated to honor them.  Profanity,  for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our  friends or any visitors.  Our longtime visitor, however,  got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.  My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol...  But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular Basis.  He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes  distinguished.  

He talked freely (much too freely!) about men and women.  His comments were sometimes blatant,  sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.  

I now know that my early concepts about  relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger.  Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.  

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family.  He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first.  Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you  would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for  someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his  pictures.

His name?.... .. .    



We just  call him 'TV.'

(Note: This  should be required reading for every household!)

He has a wife  now....We call her 'Computer.'

[mod edit: minor edit for formatting/word replacement for modesty]