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SAINT SCHOLASTICA, VIRGIN (543 A.D.)

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SAINT SCHOLASTICA

Virgin

St. Scholastica was the twin sister of St. Benedict, the Patriarch of Western monasticism. She was born in Umbria, Italy, about 480. Under Benedict’s direction, Scholastica founded a community of nuns near the great Benedictine monastery Monte Cassino. We are told that Scholastica “could be sated or wearied with the words of grace which flowed from St. Benedict’s lips.” Inspired by Benedict’s teaching, his sister devoted her whole life to seeking and serving God. St. Scholastica died in the peace of Christ in the year 547. Tradition holds that at her death her soul ascended to heaven in the form of a dove.

Introit
Ps 44:8
You love justice and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows.
Ps 44:2
My heart overflows with a goodly theme; as I sing my ode to the King.
V. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
You love justice and hate wickedness; therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows. 

Mass of a VIRGIN, except

COLLECT

O God, you brought the soul of the blessed virgin Scholastica to heaven in the form of a dove in order to bring to our notice her life of innocence. Through the prayers and merits of Your saint may we live such a life that we too may attain everlasting happiness. Through Our Lord . . .

Lesson
Lesson from the second letter of St Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians
2 Cor. 10:17-18; 11:1-2
Brethren: He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord. For he is not approved who commends himself, but he whom the Lord commends. Would to God that you could bear with a little of my foolishness! Nay, do bear with me! For I am jealous for you with a divine jealousy. For I betrothed you to one spouse, that I might present you a chaste virgin to Christ.

Gradual
Ps 44:11-12
Hear, O daughter, and see; turn your ear; for the King shall desire your beauty.
Ps 44:13; 44:10.
V.  All the rich among the people seek Your favor; the daughters of kings come to meet You.
Ps 44:15-16.
V.  Behind her the virgins of her train are brought to the King; they are borne in to You.
V.  They are brought with gladness and joy; they enter the palace of the King.

GOSPEL
Continuation ☩ of the Holy Gospel according to Matthew
R. Glory be to Thee, O Lord.
Matt 25:1-3
At that time, Jesus spoke this parable to His disciples: Then will the kingdom of heaven be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went forth to meet the bridegroom and the bride. Five of them were foolish and five wise. But the five foolish, when they took their lamps, took no oil with them, while the wise did take oil in their vessels with the lamps. Then as the bridegroom was long in coming, they all became drowsy and slept. And at midnight a cry arose, ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming, go forth to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ The wise answered, saying, ‘Lest there may not be enough for us and for you, go rather to those who sell it, and buy some for yourselves.’ Now while they were gone to buy it, the bridegroom came; and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Finally there came also the other virgins, who said, ‘Sir, sir, open the door for us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Amen I say to you, I do not know you.’ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.  

SECRET

May this sacrifice of Thy dedicated people be accepted by Thee, O Lord, in honor of Thy Saints: to whose merits we attribute the help afforded us in tribulation. Through our Lord . . .

POST COMMUNION

Thou hast filled Thy household, O Lord, with holy gifts: do Thou cherish us always, through the intercession of her whose festival we are keeping. Through our Lord . . .

Letter from Luisa – Here I am to give you my wishes for Holy Christmas.

  1. To Mother Cecilia

Fiat

My good and reverend Mother…

Here I am to give you my wishes for Holy Christmas.  And what better wish to give you than to send you little Jesus, so that He may make you be born together with Him?  Oh, how He longs for it, and comes to the point of crying, because He does not want to be alone, but wants the creature to be born and live together with Him.  The dear Baby will say to you, to the ear of your heart:  “My daughter, let me live in you; do everything together with Me, and I will give you my Sanctity to make you a saint, my Beauty to embellish you, my Wisdom so that everything may be order within you.  Then I will give you the great gift of My Will to let you breathe, palpitate, love, together with Me.”… He will tell you:  “Only then will I be content, when I see that you look like Me in everything.”

My dearest Mother, let us make Jesus content; let us be reborn with Him and live together with Him.  He is newly born, and does not want to be alone; He feels the need of the company of someone to kiss Him and to dry His tears.  My Mother, this is my wish; I believe that your Maternity will be content… More so, since every additional act we do in the Divine Will is a new birth for us.  We are reborn in Jesus, and He in us.  In this way we will make little Jesus happy.

Leaving you to be reborn together with Jesus, I kiss your right hand.

The little daughter of the Divine Will.

Our Lady of Guadalupe – Dec. 12

Our culture is in darkness, but we know that
God’s grace and light pierce the darkness of sin
to bring life and hope through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Volume 15; December 8, 1922

Our Lord:  …”Here, then, is the reason why We (Triune God) constituted Her (Blessed Mother) Queen of all; because when We operate, We do it with reason, wisdom and justice:  She never gave life to Her human will, but Our Will was always intact in Her.  How could We say to another creature:  ‘You are Queen of the heavens, of the sun, of the stars, etc.’, if instead of having Our Will as dominion, she were dominated by her human will?  All the elements, the heavens, the sun, the earth, would have withdrawn from the regime and dominion of this creature.  All would have cried out in their mute language:  ‘We do not want her, we are superior to her, because we have never withdrawn from Your Eternal Volition – as You created us, so we are’.  So would the sun have cried out with its light, the stars with their twinkling, the sea with its waves, and everything else.  On the contrary, as soon as they (all Creation) all felt the dominion of this excelling Virgin (Blessed Mother) who, almost as their sister, never wanted to know Her own will, but only that of God, not only did they make feast, but they felt honored to have their Queen, and they ran around Her to form Her cortege and to pay obsequies to Her – the moon, by placing itself as footstool at Her feet; the stars as crown, the sun as diadem, the Angels as servants, and men as though in waiting.  Everyone – everyone paid Her honor and rendered their obsequies to Her.  There is no honor and glory which cannot be given to Our Will – whether acting within Us, in Its own center, or dwelling in the creature. 

The Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
December 12, 2019
“I am the merciful Mother of all mankind.  Am I not your hope?”
Our Lady of Guadalupe to St. Juan Diego

In contrast to the Culture of Death with its loss of life and hope, St. John Paul II called Our Lady of Guadalupe the Mother of Hope and the Mother and Evangelizer of America.
He went on to say, “Now is the time of the New Evangelization to lead the People of God in America to cross the threshold of the third millennium with renewed hope.” Our culture is in darkness, but we know that God’s grace and light pierce the darkness of sin to bring life and hope through the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
As we celebrate the end of our 28th anniversary of Visitations of the Missionary Image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, we continue to see that Our Lady of Guadalupe brings us hope!

Am I Not Your Hope?

Our Lady of Guadalupe said to St. Juan Diego, “Am I not your hope?” Mary is the Mother of Hope. She is the Mother of Jesus Christ who is our hope and brings life as the conqueror of despair and death. Through her, we should have the confident expectation of divine blessings such as the closing of abortion centers, conversions, healings and the manifestations of heartbeats in the Image and Holy Glitter on it. That is hope!

Saint Juan Diego – Dec. 9

Saint Juan Diego’s Story

Thousands of people gathered in the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe July 31, 2002, for the canonization of Juan Diego, to whom the Blessed Mother appeared in the 16th century. Pope John Paul II celebrated the ceremony at which the poor Indian peasant became the Church’s first saint indigenous to the Americas.

The Holy Father called the new saint “a simple, humble Indian” who accepted Christianity without giving up his identity as an Indian. “In praising the Indian Juan Diego, I want to express to all of you the closeness of the Church and the pope, embracing you with love and encouraging you to overcome with hope the difficult times you are going through,” John Paul said. Among the thousands present for the event were members of Mexico’s 64 indigenous groups.

First called Cuauhtlatohuac (“The eagle who speaks”), Juan Diego’s name is forever linked with Our Lady of Guadalupe because it was to him that she first appeared at Tepeyac hill on December 9, 1531. The most famous part of his story is told in connection with the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe on December 12. After the roses gathered in his tilma were transformed into the miraculous image of Our Lady, however, little more is said about Juan Diego.

In time he lived near the shrine constructed at Tepeyac, revered as a holy, unselfish. and compassionate catechist who taught by word and especially by example.

During his 1990 pastoral visit to Mexico, Pope John Paul II confirmed the long-standing liturgical cult in honor of Juan Diego, beatifying him. Twelve years later he was proclaimed a saint.

SHOULDER WOUND

“I had on My Shoulder while I bore My Cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men.  Honour this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou does ask through its virtue and merit.  And in regard to all those who shall venerate this wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins”
Our Lord to St Bernard of Clairvaux after he prayed, asking Jesus which was His greatest unrecorded suffering

St Bernard of Clairvaux, after receiving the above message from Christ regarding the pain He experienced in His shoulder, sought to foster devotion to the Shoulder Wound of Christ, and penned this prayer:

PRAYER TO THE SHOULDER WOUND OF CHRIST

O Loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most Sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy Cross, which so tore Thy flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy Most Blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I Praise and Glorify Thee, and give Thee Thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching  Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy Cross to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on towards Heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen.

“Pope Eugenius III, at the earnest request of St Bernard, has granted 3000 years indulgence to all who, with a contrite heart, recite the Our Father Prayer and Hail Mary three times in Honour of the Wound of the Shoulder of Our Blessed Redeemer.”

Reveal it to men and let it be known that any grace asked in virtue of this Wound will be granted. And to all those who, in memory of it, will honour Me daily by reciting 3 Our Father, 3 Hail Mary, 3 Glory Be’s, I will pardon them, all their mortal and venial sins. They will not die an unexpected death and at the last hour, they will be visited by The Blessed Virgin and will obtain Grace and Mercy.

This devotion is surfacing again after eight centuries.  Thanks to the Marian Centre, Our Lord has given it for the height of the great tribulation that will see the church return to the time of the Catacombs when it will be very difficult to find a Priest. It also makes up for so many badly prepared confessions, without true remorse, or else with a restricted sincerity.

This does not dispense from the Sacramental Confession.

ANOTHER VERSION OF
THE PRAYER TO THE SHOULDER WOUND

I, a miserable sinner, humbly venerate the painful wound inflicted on Thy sacred shoulder by the heavy burden of the cross. I adore Thee, O my suffering Saviour! I praise and glorify Thee with all my heart; I bless the infinite love which induced Thee to submit to that torturing wound, beseeching Thee, through its efficacy and through all the torments of Thy passion, to have mercy on me, a sinner; to forgive my transgressions, and strengthen me to follow the traces of Thy Cross, until happily united to Thee in a glorious eternity. Amen.

Taken from The Irish Ecclesiastical Record, Edition. 1898 – Page 71

PIO OF PIETRELCINA 1887-1968
Padre Pio, a Capuchin Friar, Priest and Mystic, was known as a confessor and a holy man who for 58 years bore the Wounds of Christ (the stigmata) on his hands and feet.  In 1947 Karol Wojtyla, asked Padre Pio which of His Wounds caused the greatest suffering. “It is my shoulder wound. It is painful and sweet at the same time, which no one knows about and has never been cured or treated.”

MARIE-JULIE JAHENNY 1850-1941
On November 25, 1873, Marie-Julie Jahenny, all of a sudden, is seized with a violent pain and falls into ecstasy. She sees Our Lord carrying His Cross on His Left Shoulder and the blood flowing from that lacerated shoulder. She herself experiences a vivid pain on her left shoulder. After the ecstasy, her mother will ascertain, behind her daughter’s shoulder a new wound in the shape of a cross.Our Lord declared unto her: “I will treat with a preference whoever will meditate upon this Wound … I will come to seek devotees to My Holy Shoulder. I shall comfort them at the moment of their agony.” (p. 20, The Prophecies of La Fraudais).

Padre Pio of San Giovanni Rotondo – 9/23

Padre Pio and Luisa Piccarreta – Taken from Padre Bucci’s Book

      …Luisa Piccarreta and Blessed Padre Pio of Pietrelcina knew one another for some time without ever having met, for Luisa was always confined to the bed where she sat, while Padre Pio was enclosed in the friary of the Capuchin Fathers of San Giovanni Rotondo. One question naturally arises, how did they come to know one another? This is difficult to discover, yet one thing is certain, that the two did know and esteem one another.

       My aunt recounts how Luisa would speak with respect and veneration of the blessed father, describing him as a “true man of God”, who still had great suffering to face for the good of souls.
      In about 1930, a well-known figure arrived at Luisa’s house, sent personally by Padre Pio. He was Federico Abresch, a convert of Padre Pio. Federico spoke at length with Luisa. What they said we are not given to know; but one thing is certain. Federico Abresch became an apostle of the Divine Will and regularly visited Luisa, with whom he always had long conversations.
      When his little son received his first communion from Padre Pio’s hands, he was also immediately taken to see Luisa who, according to the story, foretold that he would become a priest. The small boy of that time is now a priest and works at the Congregation for Bishops in Rome; he is known by the name of Mgr. Pio Abresch.
      When Luisa was condemned by the Holy Office and her works put on the Index, Padre Pio sent her this message though Federico Abresch: “Dear Luisa, saints serve for the good of souls, but their suffering knows no bounds”. At that time Padre Pio was also in very great difficulties.
     Blessed Padre Pio sent many people to Luisa Piccarreta and would say to the people of Corato who went to San Giovanni Rotondo: “What have you come here for? You have Luisa, go to her”.
      Padre Pio recommended to certain of his faithful (including Federico Abresch) that they open a spirituality center at San Giovanni Rotondo, inspired by the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta.
      Miss Adriana Pallotti (a spiritual daughter of Padre Pio) is currently an heir to Padre Pio’s wishes. She has opened a House of the Divine Will at San Giovanni Rotondo, keeping alive the torch lit by Padre Pio with Federico Abresch. Miss Adriana Pallotti says that it was Blessed Padre Pio who encouraged her to spread Luisa Piccarreta’s spirituality in San Giovanni Rotondo and to help disseminate the Divine Will throughout the world, as Padre Pio desired. She has confirmed that Padre Pio was reading the “Hours of the Passion” when he received the Stigimata.
      Aunt Rosaria went regularly to San Giovanni Rotondo, especially after Luisa’s death. Padre Pio knew her very well, and when Luisa was still alive he would ask Aunt Rosaria when he saw her: “Rosa’, how is Luisa?”.Aunt Rosaria would answer him: “She is well!”. After Luisa’s death, Aunt Rosaria increased her visits to San Giovanni Rotondo, in order to receive enlightenment and advice from Padre Pio.
      Aunt Rosaria was the one lamp that stayed alight to resolve Luisa Piccarreta’s case regarding the sentence of the Holy Office, visiting various ecclesiastical figures and, in addition, confronting the Congregation of the Holy Office. Once she managed – it is not known how – to enter the office of the Cardinal Prefect, Ottaviani, who heard her kindly and promised to take up the case. Indeed, a few days later, Aunt Rosaria was summoned by Archbishop Addazi of Trani, who said to her: “Miss Rosaria, I do not know whether to reprimand you or to admire you for your courage. You have faced the guard dog of the Church, the great defender of the faith, without being bitten”. The conclusion was that permission was obtained to move Luisa’s body from the cemetery to the Church of Santa Maria Greca.
      Luisa said to my aunt: “You will be my witness” and one day Padre Pio told her point-blank in his Benevento dialect:
“Rosa’, va nanz, va nanz ca Luisa iè gran e u munn sarà chin di Luisa” (Rosaria, go ahead, go ahead for Luisa is great and the world will be full of Luisa). My aunt often recounted this episode, but things were not going well:
everything indicated that Luisa would soon be forgotten.
      After the venerated Padre Pio’s death, my aunt said one day: “Padre Pio prophesied that Luisa would be known throughout the world”. And she repeated the phrase Padre Pio had said in his dialect.
      I answered that there would be no easy solution to the case of Luisa Piccarreta Indeed nothing further was said of it in Corato either, and Padre Pio’s words could have been considered merely a comforting remark. But Aunt Rosaria retorted:
“No! During my confession Padre Pio told me that Luisa is not a human factor, she is a work of God and he himself will make her emerge. The world will be astounded at her greatness; not many years will pass before this happens. The new millennium will see Luisa’s light”.