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Father and Judge
"Really, what profit is there in temporal good health and in the ties
of blood if we willingly spurn the eternal inheritance of Christ? And
this opinion is not mine. It comes from the words of Almighty God
himself: whoever rejects him in this world as Father will find him in
the next as Judge!"
--St. Augustine--Letter 52, 4
Prayer: O Lord, our God, let our mouths not speak of vanities. Make us
happy in you, for we will not lose you if we have clung to you, nor
shall we go lost. Make us happy in you.
--St. Augustine--Sermon 113, 6
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November 21st - The Presentation
Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin
Mary—the moment in which her parents, Saints Anna and Joaquim,
committed Our Blessed Mother to the Lord. From that day on, when she
was approximately three years old, Mary lived in the temple, working,
praying, and contemplating the awesome love of God, and every day
growing closer to Him. As Mary emptied herself of her worldly ties,
she was filled with the grace of God, and was prepared for her unique
and perfect role in the salvation of mankind through the birth of her
Son.
Below, selected writings from Saints Alphonsus Liguori, Josemaría
Escrivá de Balaguer, and John Eudes, that befit this special feast
day.
--by Jacob
"There never has been, and there never will be, any offering of a pure
creature greater and more perfect than that which Mary made to God,
when she presented herself in the temple to offer him, not spices, nor
calves, nor talents of gold, but her whole self as a perfect
holocaust, consecrating herself as a perpetual victim in his honor.
Well did she understand the voice of God, which even then called her
to dedicate herself wholly to his love, with these words: Arise, make
haste, my love, and come.
They thus went on their way, accompanied by only a few of their
relations, but by hosts of angels, as St. George of Nicomedia asserts,
who attended and ministered to the immaculate Virgin, as she went to
dedicate herself to the Divine Majesty. How beautiful are thy steps,
oh Prince’s daughter! Oh, how beautiful, how pleasing to God, as the
angels sung, are thy steps, as thou goest to offer thyself to him, oh
great and chosen daughter of our common Lord! God himself on that day,
says Bernardino de Bustis, celebrated a great feast with the whole
celestial court, when he beheld his spouse conducted to the temple.
For he never saw a creature more holy and more beloved offering
herself to him. Go, then, said St. Germanus, Archbishop of
Constantinople, go, oh queen of the world, oh mother of God, go
joyfully to the house of the Lord, to wait for the coming of the Holy
Spirit that will make thee mother of the eternal World."
--Saint Alphonsus Liguori, “The Glories of Mary”
"For over thirty years God has been putting into my heart the desire
to help people of every condition and background to understand that
ordinary life can be holy and full of God. Our Lord is calling us to
sanctify the ordinary tasks of every day, for the perfection of the
Christian is to be found precisely there. Let’s consider it once more
as we contemplate Mary’s life.
We can't forget that Mary spent nearly every day of her life just like
millions of other women who look after their family, bring up their
children and take care of the house. Mary sanctifies the ordinary
everyday things—what some people wrongly regard as unimportant and
insignificant: everyday work, looking after those closest to you,
visits to friends and relatives. What a blessed ordinariness, that can
be so full of love of God!
For that’s what explains Mary’s life—her love. A complete love, so
complete that she forgets herself and is happy just to be there where
God wants her, fulfilling with care what God wants her to do. That is
why even her slightest action is never routine or vain but, rather,
full of meaning. Mary, our mother, is for us both an example and a
way. We have to try to be like her, in the ordinary circumstances in
which God wants us to live."
--Saint Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer
"God inspired in the heart of the pure Virgin Mary His own intense
love for humility, and abhorrence of pride. She possessed, even from
her infancy, a far greater horror of pride and ambition, and a far
deeper love for humility than all the saints together. It was the
first virtue that she practices. She abased and humbled herself before
all. She esteemed herself, and would have been happy to be treated by
others, as the last of the creatures. By marvelous radiance of her
Immaculate Conception, she beheld herself susceptible to the guilt of
the children of Adam, except that God miraculously preserved her, and
she considered that she might have been capable of all the sins in the
world, whose source is original sin. It was this humility which
attracted to her the countless graces which rendered her worthy to be
the Mother of God, Queen of heaven and earth.
Give thanks to Almighty God who resists the proud and gives grace to
the humble, and offer Him all the glory that this Maiden accorded to
His majesty by her practice of the richest humility during her
childhood and throughout the rest of her life."
--Saint John Eudes
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"Hail, holy throne of God, divine sanctuary, house of glory, jewel
most fair, chosen treasure house, and mercy seat for the whole world,
heaven showing forth the glory of God. Purest Virgin, worthy of all
praise, sanctuary dedicated to God and raised above all human
condition, virgin soil, unplowed field, flourishing vine, fountain
pouring out waters, virgin bearing a child, mother without knowing
man, hidden treasure of innocence, ornament of sanctity, by your most
acceptable prayers, strong with the authority of motherhood, to our
Lord and God, Creator of all, your Son who was born of you without a
father, steer the ship of the Church and bring it to a quiet harbor"
-- (adapted from a homily by St. Germanus on the Presentation of the
Mother of God).