Category: The Sacred Heart of Jesus

For Love of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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On His feast day, we honor this Sacred Heart of our Savior by whom we are made in love, redeemed in love and Who asks our love in return.

To begin with, let’s renew our Consecration with St. Margaret Mary Alacoque’s Prayer:

CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

O Sacred Heart of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O most merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited.

I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee. I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite goodness, grant that my name be engraved on Thee, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen

TRUE  DEVOTION AND THE IMAGE
OF THE  SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Our Lord gave us the image of His Sacred Heart in order to awaken in us the realization of His immense love and to arouse our love for Him in return. This became even more urgent as the errors of Protestantism began to drag so many souls to perdition. In Our Lord’s revelations to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, we see that veneration of the image of His Sacred Heart was an essential portion of His revelations.

Today, we will consider briefly the components of this veneration of the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

From Saint Margaret Mary herself:

“One day, on the Feast of St. John the Evangelist, after having received from my Divine Saviour a favor similar to that bestowed upon the Beloved Disciple, of reposing on the bosom of Our Lord, the Divine Heart was represented to me on a throne of fire and flames, shedding on every side rays brighter than the sun and transparent as crystal. The Wound which He had received upon the Cross appeared there visibly; a crown of thorns encircled the adorable Heart, and It was surmounted by a cross. “These instruments of His Passion signified, as my Divine Master gave me to understand, that it was His unbounded love for man which had been the source of all His sufferings.

“From the first moment of His Incarnation all these torments had been planted in His Heart. From that moment He accepted all the pains and humiliations which His Sacred Humanity was to suffer during the whole course of His mortal life, and even the outrages to which His love for man would expose Him till the end of time in the Blessed Sacrament.

“He revealed to me afterwards that it was the great desire of disclosing to mankind His Heart, and of giving them in these ‘latter times’ this last proof of His love, that induced Him to propose to them an object and a means so calculated to win their love. He opens to them His Sacred Heart with all the treasures of love, mercy and graces of sanctification and salvation which It contains.”

PROMISES TO THOSE WHO VENERATE THE IMAGE
OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

There is a widely circulated list of promises of Our Lord for those who venerate the image of His Sacred Heart. Since it is easily found, I will not copy it, but prefer to limit my words to that which I discern in the saint’s own writings.

According to St. Margaret Mary,

“He promised to pour into the hearts of all who would venerate His image the fullness of gifts with which His Sacred Heart abounds, saying that wherever this image would be exposed for special veneration, it would draw down upon the place every kind of blessing.” Furthermore, He promised that all who would contribute to afford Him this joy would be blessed with graces of sanctification and salvation in superabundant measure. St. Margaret Mary wrote to a superior who caused the first picture of the Sacred Heart to be drawn: “For this service Our Lord will engrave your name in His Heart ineffaceably; the other rewards I am not permitted to reveal to you.”

The sentiments which a picture of the Sacred Heart should incite in our souls may easily be inferred from the symbols with which our blessed Lord Himself wished to surround this image.

FLAMES ISSUING FROM THE
SACRED HEART OF JESUS

First, the flames bursting forth and enveloping It show the vehement love with which It loves us. “Behold this Heart that has loved men so much!”  In order to conquer our indifference and to leave no excuse for ignorance, He discloses to us His Divine Heart, His strong desire being to inflame us with a grateful return of love. “Son, give Me thy heart!” He pleads to all. The love He demands is a practical, sacrificial love of complete devotion to Him. This burning love of His desires no less than to kindle fire of the same love in our own hearts.

When we see an image of the Sacred Heart, it beckons us to respond with an act of love,  “O my Jesus, I love Thee, I give Thee my heart; give me Thy holy love!” Just a simple act of love like this is of immense merit and gives our loving Savior so much consolation in this great Passion of the Church.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga, by interior acts of love, rose in a short time to an astonishing degree of sanctity. Nothing dispels Satan more quickly when he tempts us than an efficacious act of love. Hence, St. Francis de Sales advises us to make acts of love in time of temptation.

THE SACRED HEART ENCIRCLED
WITH A CROWN OF THORNS

The crown of thorns encircling the Heart of Jesus typifies the injuries inflicted upon It by the ingratitude Our Lord receives in return for His love. Today, even so-called faithful Catholics are largely indifferent to the suffering of Jesus Christ in this Passion. They are far more concerned, often, for the humiliation they suffer at the hands of the apostates who have become the visible facade of the faith. There is no shortage of scandal and outrage over the auto-demolition of the church. But there is a great danger that we overlook whose Church this really is — we must not forget that this Church is the beautiful and pure Bride of Our Lord Jesus Christ! let us not lose sight of that! Let us promise that we, at least, will not place the thorns of indifference in Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart!

Jesus gave us the Sacrament of His love to be the food of our soul. But in this Blessed Sacrament, the most painful wounds are inflicted on His Sacred Heart!

“Behold the Heart that has loved men so much that It has spared nothing, even to exhausting and consuming Itself, in order to testify to them Its love. But in return I receive from the greater part of mankind only ingratitude, by reason of the contempt, irreverence, sacrilege and coldness shown Me in this Sacrament of Love. And what I feel still more painfully is that hearts consecrated to Me treat Me thus!”

Our Lord revealed the devotion to His Sacred Heart especially to obtain reparation and atonement. For this reason He appeared in the Sacred Host to St. Margaret Mary and united this devotion most intimately with devotion to the Blessed Sacrament. Those who venerate the Sacred Heart of Jesus should have great devotion to the Holy Eucharist. Our Lord desires especially the Communion of Reparation. Without reparation, devotion to His Sacred Heart would not be complete.

THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
SURMOUNTED WITH A CROSS

The Cross surmounting the Heart of Jesus is a further testimony of Our Lord’s love for us; it reminds us particularly of His bitter Passion and Death. Today, in this Passion of the Church, reverence for the Cross is essential as the token of His Passion. This cross, planted in His Sacred Heart beckons to us to come and do likewise: and so we take up our crosses allowing our hearts to be consumed with love for Him. Many saints are represented holding a crucifix in their hands as a sign of their special devotion to the sufferings of Christ. Holy Church numbers among her saints more than 60 persons who bore the sacred stigmata in their body.

Countless are the revelations of saints regarding the precious graces connected with devotion to the Passion of our Saviour. Our Lord once said to Blessed Angela of Foligno: “Those who seriously meditate on My Passion are in truth My children; the others are so in name only.” St. Augustine declares: “A single tear shed in remembrance of the sufferings of Christ is of more value than a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, or a year’s fasting on bread and water, if it be not performed with the same love.” On this account our Divine Saviour wishes the devotion to His Sacred Heart to be practiced especially on Fridays. On that day He gave the highest proof of His love, and we should make Him a return of love by patience in our sufferings. Love for the Cross is the fruit of true devotion to the Sacred Heart. The perfection of love consists in pure suffering for the Beloved.

THE WOUND IN THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS

Devotion to the Heart of Jesus originated the moment when that Divine Heart was pierced with the lance. In this adorable Heart, sacred mysteries lie hidden, and in contemplating them, we grow in grace and devotion.

St. Margaret Mary understood this well, for when she drew the first little image of the Sacred Heart, she represented It with a gaping wound, in which she inscribed the word: “Caritas.” St. Frances of Rome relates that once she beheld the Wound of the Heart of Jesus, from which gushed forth a stream of living water. At the same time she heard these words:

“I am Love crying aloud: ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.’ I will satiate those who follow My invitation; it is just for this reason that I permitted My Heart to be pierced, that I might be able to receive all therein as in a place of refuge.”

A remarkable passage of the Apocalypse which has been quoted as applicable to our times is “Behold, I have caused a door to be opened before thee, which no one can shut.” (Apoc. 3:8). The Wound of the Heart of Jesus is this wide-open door of salvation for the whole world, this secure place of refuge for repentant sinners.

This Wound is a fountain of immeasurable grace and consolation. To those who venerate His Sacred Heart, our Divine Saviour imparts the Precious Blood and water which issued from His side, that they may offer It unceasingly to the Heavenly Father in expiation for their sins and those of the whole world. Through this offering we can obtain numberless graces for ourselves and others. We should, every morning, place our sufferings, prayers and labors in the pierced Heart of Jesus; there everything will be purified and perfected.

THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS
SURROUNDED BY RAYS OF LIGHT

Rays of light always envelop representations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These rays, which dart in every direction, signify the great graces and blessings which emanate from devotion to the Sacred Heart. Most liberal are the promises made by Our Lord to those who venerate His Divine Heart.

“Announce it, and let it be announced to the whole world, that I set neither limit nor measure to My gifts of grace for those who seek them in My Heart!” 

This Divine Heart is a superabundant treasure house of all graces necessary for true conversion and He opens up this Heart to all who seek conversion in humility and confidence in Him.

St. Margaret Mary writes: “I know of no devotion better suited to lead a soul in a short time to the summit of perfection.” The Heart of Jesus is the mine and treasure house of graces. However, Our Lord promised not only spiritual favors to those who venerate His Heart, but also aid and comfort in all sufferings. No soul, howsoever abandoned, will fail to find peace and consolation in the Divine Heart. No misfortune is so bitter and hopeless but that the Sacred Heart can change and direct it all for the best.

Our Lord made a very consoling promise to those who promote devotion to His Sacred Heart: “Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.”  This is the promise of the grace of final perseverance, the grace of predilection. It promises to those who promote devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus eternal happiness.

The above thoughts are paraphrased from a very old brochure of devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It was issued anonymously as True Devotion to the Image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Dear Readers, if we wish to model our own hearts on this most generous and loving heart of our dear Jesus, we cannot set limits, but must open our own hearts up to a total oblation of love for His most Sacred Heart. And how is this done? We return to the words of Our Lord Himself: “Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart.” Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen explains that it is only thus, by removing the self-love and pride from our heart that we open up our hearts.

By meekness, we understand the importance of conquering anger — now, this anger is all-pervasive in our culture at this time. This world fairly scintillates and shimmers with the diabolical flames of anger It is by meekness that we overcome the petty irritations that arise from the abrasive wounds to our “ego”. You see here, the close connection between meekness and humility.

It takes only a bit of pride, self-love or attachment to our own opinion to make us unable to withstand opposition. This is perfectly evident in others. We see it quite clearly! But in ourselves, it is a struggle to see, and a valuable gift we must beg Our Lord to help us attain. This is where the Immaculata helps us. We ask her for this grace especially, so that we may not be a burden on Our Dear Lord who suffers so greatly now, but may we, by imitating her meek and humble love, offer Him a pleasing repose with us, Great Sacred Heart to little heart!

We can only lose by quitting! Let us resolve never to surrender, never to stop trying to offer all our heart, all our love to the Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ!

For more information, please see: “Divine Mercy and the Sacred Heart of Jesus“

NOTE: I also offer this essay to those who have asked for help to defend devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus vs. the false Divine Mercy Devotion so popular with the Novus Ordo folks. I recommend not arguing but just provide the facts and then pray for the guidance and grace this contentious matter requires.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come , Thy will be done!

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!

Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

Abide in Me

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Corpus Christi, 2020

“For My flesh is meat indeed and My blood is drink indeed.
He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him.”

Today, the Thursday following Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Sacred Body and Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.

In the Gospel of John we read:

“I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread that I will give, is My flesh for the life of the world.”

The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying: How can this man give us His flesh to eat? (John 6, 51-53)

Then Jesus said to them:

“Amen, amen I say unto you: Except you eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink His blood, you shall not have life in you. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, hath everlasting life: and I will raise him up in the last day. For My flesh is meat indeed: and My blood is drink indeed. He that eateth My flesh, and drinketh My blood, abideth in Me, and I in him. As the living Father hath sent Me and I live by the Father; so he that eateth Me, the same also shall live by Me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna and are dead. He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.”

Many therefore of His disciples hearing it, said: This saying is hard and who can hear it? But Jesus, knowing in Himself that His disciples murmured at this, said to them:

“Doth this scandalize you? If then you shall see the Son of man ascend up where He was before? It is the spirit that quickeneth: the flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I have spoken to you, are spirit and life. But there are some of you that believe not”

For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that did not believe, and who he was that would betray Him.

And He said:  “Therefore did I say to you, that no man can come to Me unless it be given him by My Father.” After this many of His disciples went back; and walked no more with Him. Then Jesus said to the twelve: “Will you also go away?”  And Simon Peter answered Him: Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we have believed and have known that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God. (John 6, 51-70).

To those not of the Catholic faith these teachings are indeed hard. Martin Luther, who began the protestant revolt against the truth, founded his man-made religion on “faith alone, scripture alone”. And now today it has continued to devolve to the point where people can call themselves “Bible Christians” without embracing the truths of the Bible and without believing that Jesus Christ is the Son of God the Father, true God and True Man.

As Jesus said, “No man can come to Me, unless it be given to him by the Father.”  Although Luther perverted this truth into “only believe”, we know that it refers to the preceding verses in which Jesus states the truth of His abiding presence with us in the Holy Eucharist, to nourish and strengthen us with His Body and Blood until we abide with Him forever in Heaven. On this feast of Corpus Christi pray for our loved ones who “walk no more with Him” and reject this saying which is hard to some but is salvation to those who accept the Word of God.

In the unchanging words of the one true Mass of the Church, at the consecration we pray:

Which oblation do Thou, O God, vouchsafe in all things to make blessed, approved, ratified, reasonable and acceptable, that it may become for us the Body and Blood of Thy most beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Who the day before He suffered, took bread into His holy and venerable hands and with His eyes lifted up to heaven, unto Thee, God, His almighty Father, giving thanks to Thee, He blessed, broke, and gave It to His disciples, saying: Take all of you and eat of this.

FOR THIS IS MY BODY

In like manner, after He had supped, taking also this excellent chalice into His holy and venerable hands, also giving thanks to Thee, He blessed and gave it to His disciples saying:

Take and drink ye all of this.

FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL TESTAMENT: THE MYSTERY OF FAITH: WHICH SHALL BE SHED FOR YOU AND FOR MANY UNTO THE REMISSION OF SINS.

As often as ye shall do these things, ye shall do them in memory of Me.

The rubrics for the Consecration specify that the priest, after pronouncing the words of Consecration, kneels to adore the Sacred Host and then arises to elevate It for the adoration of all. Again, after Consecrating the wine into the Blood of our Lord, the priest kneels to adore, then rises to elevate the chalice for all to adore.

Today, after a half century of the modernist revolution in the Church, belief in the Real Presence is at an all-time low. Now we have a pope who is the poster child for Vatican II, and he is the proto-typical modernist priest. Here is what Antonio Socci said about Pope Francis on 28 April, 2016. (H/T Rorate Caeli):

In a message today, Pope Bergoglio said precisely the following: “How much I would like us to kneel in veneration before the poor in church.”

Quite frankly, I’d like us to kneel before Jesus Christ, Our Saviour, particularly in front of Our Eucharistic Jesus, seeing that Pope Bergoglio doesn’t kneel at the consecration, as he should do and he doesn’t kneel at Eucharistic Adoration either!

The above was written in 2016. But by now, we have descended into even greater depths of disrespect for the Most Blessed Sacrament.  In many of the Dioceses of the world, it is an established  practice to welcome protestant spouses, homosexual “couples” and couples who are living in a persistent grave state of sin due to adultery to Holy Communion. Because the Sacred Host is dispensed like a taco into the hands of all who ask, we have the horrible sacrilege of consecrated hosts being offered for sale in classified ads online.

We must not allow ourselves to become disheartened, but must renew our efforts to  make reparation for the scandal given by Pope Francis and those unfortunate priests  who, blindly following him, give such offense to Our Lord Jesus Christ.

No doubt anticipating the assaults on Our Lord in His Holy Eucharist, St. Michael appeared to the little saints of Fatima in the Autumn of 1916, He held a Chalice in his hand; above it  a bleeding Host dropped its Precious Blood into the Chalice.  The Angel left the Chalice and Host suspended in the air and led the children to prostrate themselves in adoration before It.

This is the prayer the Angel of Fatima taught them to pray, the prayer the Church has ignored for over a century:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. Through the infinite merits of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

The entire vision and Prayer make such a fruitful source for meditation and we should think on it often. All the more because the Popes and hierarchy have chosen to ignore it!

One of the most neglected messages of Fatima is Jacinta’s stress on praying for the pope. We have nothing to lose and everything to gain by offering prayers and penances for this unfortunate man. Yes,  Pope Francis shows horrid disrespect for the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament. But this is precisely why we should pray for him! Just think how bad it will be for him to face Our Lord as his judge!  And so, we must add to our efforts of reparation, prayers for his conversion if we are to be truly the children of Our Lady of Fatima. Even if this pathetic man remains obstinate, we will have obeyed and the grace which he refuses will never be wasted!

For God our Father sees our hearts, knows our sufferings which are united to the sufferings of Our Lord in the Passion of His Bride, the Church, and will have mercy on us all.  Pray confidently and expect miracles!

Irresistible Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O my Jesus, Who did say, “Indeed I say to you, ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be open to you.” Behold me, knocking, seeking and asking this grace …
Our Father.. .Hail Mary… Glory be…
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus,  I place my trust in Thee.

O my Jesus, who did say, “Indeed I say to you, whatever you shall ask of the Father in My Name, it shall be granted to you.”  Behold me, asking Thy Father in Thy Name for this grace …
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.

O my Jesus who did say, “Indeed I say to you, Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away.”  Behold me,  supporting myself on the infallibility of Thy holy words, I ask of Thee this grace …Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory be…
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee.

Prayer
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom only one thing is impossible, and this is not to feel compassion for poor sinners, have pity on us, miserable sinners, and grant us the grace which we ask of Thee through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, who is Thy tender Mother, and also ours. Amen.
Saint Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Guardian of our family, Pray for us.
Hail Holy Queen …

Our Lord will never be outdone in His generosity to souls who seek His mercy in true contrition. And we all need to make sincere reparation for our sins if we are to gain the necessary graces for ourselves, our loved ones and for our misguided pope and bishops.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

†  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy Kingdom come, Viva Cristo Rey!
†  St. Joseph, guardian of the Holy Family, protect our families, protect our priests!
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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Originally posted on : June 2, 2020  by : evensong

In June, we resolve to make reparation to this Sacred Heart of our dear Saviour which loves so greatly and is so little loved today.

Throughout His Gospels, Our Lord stresses that we are our brothers’ keepers. That we love one another is His commandment. St. John in his epistles also emphasised that we are to love one another. But that love of others is scarcely to be seen these days, isn’t it? And yet, Our Lord commands us to take up our crosses, not only for our own salvation but that sinners be converted. The following Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, is loosely based on Father Mateo’s much earlier one. Over the years, I have modified it and don’t believe Father Mateo would mind if you make it your own as well. His generosity of spirit propelled him to enormous sacrifices just to get people to consider for a moment, the love and mercy Our Lord stands so willing to pour forth for us. So take a moment if you will and consider…

Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, animated with a desire to repair the outrages unceasingly offered to You, I kneel before Your throne of mercy and on behalf of my family and Church, pledge love and fidelity to You.

† The more Your mysteries are blasphemed, the more firmly I will believe them, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!
† The more hearts despise and ignore Your love, the more I will love You, O loving Heart of Jesus!
† The more that scientistic unbelief attacks Your Divinity, the more humbly and profoundly I shall adore You, O Divine Heart of Jesus!
† The more Your sacraments are despised and blasphemed, the more frequently I will receive them with love and reverence, most generous Heart of Jesus!
† The more Your holy laws are transgressed and ignored, the more I will take care to observe them, most holy Heart of Jesus!
† The more that You are blasphemed and scorned in the Holy Eucharist, Your Sacrament of Love, the more ardently I will adore You, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
† The more the imitation of Your virtues is scorned and forgotten, the more I will endeavor to practice them, most obedient Heart of Jesus.
† The more the devil strives to destroy souls, the more I will be inflamed to save them by penances and prayers to You, most zealous Lover of Souls!
† The more sin and impurity deface and destroy Your divine image in man, the more I shall try by purity of life to be a living temple of the Holy Spirit, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!
† The more Your Holy Church is scorned and compromised, the more I will endeavor to be her faithful child, Most Loving Heart of Jesus!
† The more that hubris, heresy and apostasy threaten our Holy Church, the more I will turn to Your Sacred Heart and to the Immaculate Heart of Your Mother to save us, O Sacred Heart of Jesus!
† The more Your Immaculate Mother is blasphemed, the more I will increase my fervent devotions to her, Most Devoted Heart of Jesus!
† The more Your Church is persecuted, the more I will pray and sacrifice for for her triumph and exaltation, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus!

Let us pray:  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, always obedient to the Eternal Father, teach us to be ever obedient and humble in the face of the diabolical disorientation that has sown such chaos in the Church and disheartened so many. Suffer us not to be scandalized by this long, dark night of the soul of our Church, but to persevere in loving obedience trusting always in Your Sacred Heart and in Mary’s Immaculate Heart. Amen.

And don’t forget the prayer of St. Michael the Archangel of Fatima:

“Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ present in the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages, and indifferences by which He Himself is offended. Through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

As the Angel of Fatima told Francisco, Jacinta and Lucia, “Pray! Pray very much!”

by evensong with love for the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ our Lord and King,

Dross into Gold, 2019

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 ‘Gold is purified in the fire.’ So tribulation purifies and fortifies the soul, and the time of temptation is of great profit
both to you and to souls.’
(Our Lord to Sister Josefa Menendez)

Today, December 29, we mark the 95th anniversary of the death of Sister Josefa Menendez, the humble nun who wrote “The Way of Divine Love” in obedience to her superiors.  In paperback from TAN, or on Kindle. We’ve written about the beautiful Way of Divine Love before (here) and about Sister Josefa’s deep devotion to the Divine Infant. But now, we will focus on the most often overlooked or misunderstood concept in Josefa’s writings: true humility.

The writings of Sister Josefa echo in many ways the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and one can discern a hint of them in Sister Lucia’s writings as well. I strongly suspect that the true writings of Sister Lucia would bear even more resemblance to both of them were we to have access to them. This is because Our Lord Jesus Christ has been telling us in no uncertain terms, what is necessary to counter-act the arrogant self-centeredness which prevails in the world today.

Tragically, this selfishness has so captivated the souls of mankind that today among the vast majority of people, there is a rigid resistance to Our Lord’s plea for humility of heart. Mankind has developed a resistance to the grace of God much as some disease bacteria develop a resistance to antibiotics, and now it is common in our culture to despise the “poor in spirit” as lacking in self esteem, and to care not a whit for the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

It is true that the Message of Divine Love is Christ’s plea for our love but it is also a valuable reminder that we must become truly as a little child, poor in spirit, meek and pure of heart in order to be able to receive His love,  Otherwise we risk succumbing to the darkness that cannot grasp the light. The worldly are unable to grasp Our Lord’s words to St. Margaret Mary:

“If I had been able to find a creature more miserable than you,” He said to Saint Margaret Mary, “I should have chosen her….”

And to Sister Josefa:

“If I could have found a more wretched creature, I should have chosen her for my special love, and through her revealed the longings of My Heart. But I have not found one, and so I have chosen you.” (June 7th, 1923).

Why does Our Lord speak so?  Think on it. The devil draws us after him with sweetness, flattery, for he knows that hides his poison best.  And we are so easily lured away from Christ! Do we really think that Christ will try to out-flatter the devil in order to lure us to His side with sweet words? God forbid!

Our Lord Jesus Christ loves us despite the ingrained sins and weakness which so distort the beauty of our souls. He knows that flattering and praising us will not free us from these deep sins; in fact, will only confirm us in them. Through devotion to His Sacred Heart, He offers us the flame of His Divine love which consumes in us all these weaknesses and impurities to strengthen us against the false promises of the ancient deceiver, if we allow it.

It is with those few who have kept His grace in their hearts, who seek His “hard sayings” that we share the truth of the Way of Divine Love.

The  message of Divine Love was given to Sister Josefa in the period immediately after the Message of Fatima. This message does not contradict but rather serves to illustrate the essential unity of the two devotions. In Our Lady’s words to Sister Josefa, we seem to hear the echo of her interactions with the three seers of Fatima and also with the revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Sister Josefa  at times felt overwhelmed by the effort to discharge her duties of state and the demands of Our Lord for reparation for souls, and she spoke of this with our Blessed Mother. To this, Our Lady responded:

“What does anything matter, if He takes care of you?’ … My child, why be afraid? The work of Jesus must be founded on much pain and love … banish fear; Jesus is almighty and it is He who acts. He is strong and He will sustain you. He is merciful and He loves you.”

Then she warned her of further tribulations to be encountered:

“He reads the depths of all hearts and  it is He who permits circumstances to be as they are. If His plans often seem to you to be hindered, it is because He wants to keep you very humble and very lowly.”

Sister Josefa told her that she feared herself to be an obstacle to His plans.

“It is true that you are a very wretched little being,” Our Lady said with compassion, “but that is just why Jesus has pity on you and why He hides you in the depths of His Heart so that nothing can possibly harm you. Humble yourself in your littleness and misery, my child. Trust Him, for He loves you and will never forsake you. Let your only ambition be to win many souls for Him, to give Him much glory and much love.”

When Sister Josefa told Our Lady how sad it made her that she sometimes failed in her tasks, Our Lady offered her Our Lord’s Crown of Thorns. “Fix your mind on the Passion and sufferings of Jesus.” Then placing the Crown of Thorns on her head: “Take it,” she added, as she blessed her; “it will keep you in His presence.”

‘Do not be afraid, my child,’ Our Lady said in tender pity. ‘He will never ask anything of you without giving you grace. Then try to overcome your repugnance by remembering that all His commissions are given you because of His goodness and love for souls.

“You must not be afraid, for every time Jesus allows you to endure those torments He means you to draw from them a three-fold fruit:

First: Great love and deep gratitude to the Divine Majesty who in spite of your faults prevents you from falling eternally into Hell.

Secondly: Boundless generosity and ardent zeal for the salvation of souls, with the desire of saving many for Him by your sacrifices and even your tiniest acts, for you know how much these please Him.

Thirdly: The sight of such innumerable crowds of souls lost forever … of souls, of which not one can so much as make an act of love, ought to make you who can love, send up unceasingly to Him echoes of love’s clamor to drown the blasphemous vociferations of that impious abode.“ [Note: this was told to Sister regarding the visions of Hell she was given.]

‘Therefore, great generosity for the salvation of souls, daughter, and much love…. Let my Son use you as He wills…. Let Him finish His work.’ “

Once, Sister Josefa confided in Our Lady her sorrow at failing Our Lord by what she believed was ingratitude.  Our Lady responded,

“But, my child, surely you know that His Heart is a blazing furnace, and its fire exists only to consume our miseries. As soon as you have owned them to Jesus, He remembers them no more. 

“He has already granted you so many graces, He is prepared to grant you others greater still. His Heart is an inexhaustible Fountain”

“Jesus has forgiven and forgotten all your failings and all your strivings against His Will, but He never forgets your good resolutions and He takes pleasure in them. His Heart is an abyss of mercy, and it will never fail you. It is, too, an abyss of riches which will never diminish, however largely distributed.

“Love Him as much as you can. He cares for nothing else. Acknowledge your littleness, and be submissive and ready to surrender to His Will in all things.“

So many of us who attempt to live our Consecrations are plagued with scruples and get disheartened, but we should keep our focus on the words of Our Lady: “He has forgiven and forgotten all your failings!” It is we who persist in focusing on our failings instead of on Our Lord; He asks for our love, not for our endless ruminations on our faults.

In closing, we offer you a most useful quote from Our Blessed Mother to help us understand this path we follow:

“Let Him rest in you and do you rest in Him. When you receive His graces, then you repose in Him; when He tries you in one way or another, then He reposes in you.”

When we think on these words, we are able to understand that the beautiful periods of peace given to us in prayer, especially after receiving Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, are when He has drawn us into His Heart. These moments if responded to properly, nourish us and prepare us for the trials to come. But in this sacred dance wherein we move, little by little towards Heaven with our Beloved, we also have the periods when Jesus reposes in our hearts. These are times of darkness, desolation and very great suffering. But they are precisely the most fruitful times, if we maintain our trust in Him.

It was during one of these dark times that Sister Josefa asked Our Lord why He allowed her to struggle in such darkness of soul, He replied,

“It seems to you that you see nothing and that you are about to fall into the precipice. But need you see, if you are guided? … What you need is to forget self, to abandon your own will and offer no resistance to My plans. Thanks to the acts done in the midst of your sufferings, several of the souls that you will see later have come nearer to My Heart.’

Josefa then complained to Him that when she is struggling against temptations and loneliness, she fails to find Him.

“ ‘When you cannot find Me, look for Me in your Mother. Follow her directions implicitly, for she will guide you to Me. I gave her to you for that very purpose; and know, Josefa, that if you do what she tells you, you are giving Me as much satisfaction as if you were obeying Me personally.

“Love, suffer, and obey. So doing you will enable Me to carry out My plans in you.’ ”

Let us resolve never to waste a single unjust, unreasonable humiliation, a single opportunity to lift our hearts joyfully to God for He alone transforms our sufferings into pure gold, eternal gold that never fails. As Our Lord Himself said to Sister Josefa,

” ‘Ponder this word: “Gold is purified in the fire.” So tribulation purifies and fortifies the soul, and the time of temptation is of great profit both to you and to souls.’ ”

We must bear in mind that this time is a time of spiritual chastening; a precious time for us to gain souls for Christ by our faithfulness to His requests through Our Lady of Fatima. As we follow the Immaculata, and stand with her at the Cross, adoring Him, making of everything a sacrifice of purest love, we serve Him best and bring much grace back into this dark world – this we must do! Hold fast to this!

Thank you for reading. I pray for you always!

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

†  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

The Eucharistic Vision of Our Lady of Knock

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The Eucharistic Vision of Our Lady of Knock

WARNING AGAINST SUPPRESSION OF THE HOLY SACRIFICE

Today, we commemorate the eloquently silent apparition of Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, August 21, 1879. By her silence, Our Lady emphasised at once her displeasure that her message at La Salette was being attacked, and as many believe, she was pointing to the silence recounted in chapter 8 of the Apocalypse.  But there is still another reason for the silence – it is a warning against silencing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and outrages against the Holy Eucharist and it beckons us with mysterious silence towards the visions of the Apocalypse.

The Holy Ghost inspired St. John’s vision in such a way that through it, God revealed to us a glimpse of His own vision, not a linear accounting of events, and each subsequent generation could learn from its warnings and be comforted in its victories. In addition to sacred scripture, Our Heavenly Father guides us by the revelations He grants us down the centuries. Knock is one of the major apparitions, which are: Our Lady of Good Success in Ecuador, The Sacred Heart of Jesus at Paray le Monial, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception at Rue du Bac, France, Our Lady of La Salette, France, Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception, Lourdes, France, Our Lady at Knock, Ireland, Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, Portugal,  and Our Lady of Akita, Japan.  Those apparitions provide a necessary complement to our understanding of the Apocalypse.

Although the revelations contained in the Apocalypse may be fruitfully applied to each generation, the various major apparitions help to draw us into St. John’s mystical scenario as appropriate for our own time. In 17th century Ecuador, Our Lady of Good Success gave us prophecies which remained largely silent until the 20th century, for which they were intended. Our Lord’s tender pleas to St. Margaret Mary, also in the 17th century, contained both promises of blessings for obedience and warnings of danger for disobedience to His requests to honor His Sacred Heart publicly. This message was dishonored by the Jesuits to whom it was entrusted and betrayed by the French monarchs to their own destruction and that of France, but we were only able to grasp this in hindsight, as was the case with the Quito revelations, centuries later, as the apocalyptic visions  unfolded. We must not forget however, that the demands of Our Lord for devotion to His Sacred Heart have never been rescinded and no amount of devotion to false revelations will satisfy the command for true devotion to the image of His Most Sacred Heart.

Our Lady then intervened offering mercies to her children through devotion to her Immaculate Conception, that is through the Miraculous Medal and the miraculous spring at Lourdes. Both of those apparitions carried both warnings and blessings. Between these two, Rue du Bac and Lourdes, came Our Lady’s sad visit to La Salette wherein she warned of the increasing incursion of the ancient enemy, “Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.” As proof of the strength which the enemy had gained in the Church, this message was opposed and silenced. To this day, Melanie Calvat’s legacy is obscured by the thick fabric of false accusations against her.

The mystical vision of Knock is essential to our understanding of the mystical vision given to  Sister Lucia at Tuy fifty years later; and through it, we are able to understand the pertinent passages of the Apocalypse for today.

“And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven,
as it were for half an hour.” (Apoc. 8, 1)

This verse appears to be indicated by the silence of Knock. But the mystical visions of the Apocalypse are much deeper and the vision of Knock also must be seen in relation to the earlier chapter 5, as we shall show.

First, we look at  Apocalypse 5, especially verse 5.

From The Apocalypse of St. John:

[1] And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? [3] And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. [4] And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. [5] And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

[6] And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. [7] And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. [8] And when He had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints: [9] And they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation. [10] And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth.

[11] And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands, [12] Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction.” (Apocalypse 5, 5)

Commentary:

We here rely on The Book of Destiny. Fr. Kramer points out that St. John uses a different word for Lamb in the Apocalypse than the word Lamb used in the Old Testament and in the Gospels. I cannot reproduce the Greek word here, but Father shows that it indicates “Little Lamb” rather than “Lamb”, and he interprets that as meaning that it refers to Jesus in the Sacred Host, the Eucharistic Presence sanctifying Catholic tabernacles throughout the world. What Blessed Jacinta and Francisco referred to as, “the Hidden Jesus”.

“The word translated is “the Little Lamb” and is used 29 times in 12 chapters. This is very significant. It appears to be intentionally used to attach a totally different meaning to the title “lamb” in the Apocalypse than in the Old Testament or elsewhere in the New.”

Father Kramer then shows that verse 5 by referring to the “root of David” is pointing to Isaias 11, which foreshadows the Eucharist by which Christ reigns in every Catholic tabernacle in the world.

[1] And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root. [2] And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him: the spirit of wisdom, and of understanding, the spirit of counsel, and of fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of godliness. [3] And He shall be filled with the spirit of the fear of the Lord. He shall not judge according to the sight of the eyes, nor reprove according to the hearing of the ears. [4] But He shall judge the poor with justice, and shall reprove with equity for the meek of the earth: and He shall strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He shall slay the wicked. [5] And justice shall be the girdle of His loins: and faith the girdle of His reins. (Isaias 11, 1-5)

You may recognise verses 1 and 2; they are used by the Church at Christmastide and are especially familiar to those of us who recite Our Lady’s Little Office.

The Holy Eucharist makes every church a temple and every tabernacle a throne of God. Thus, the vision of Knock points us to Apocalypse, Chapter 5, v. 5, which in turn points us to Isaias 11, 1-5, all of which emphasize the importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus, symbolized for us by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prisoner of Love in the Eucharist.

From Father Kramer:

“The temple of Christ is every Catholic Church, where He dwells in the Eucharistic Mystery. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacred mystery, in which Christ is “as if sacrificed”, is truly and mystically slain or immolated. The sacrifice is inseparably united with the bloody sacrifice of the Cross, because it represents and renews it. Through the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ becomes present, establishes His throne in the Church and extends the effects of His death on the Cross and carries the purposes of God to completion. To outward appearance He is dead in the Eucharist, so there He rests “as if immolated”. But the Holy Eucharist is the throne of God through the inseparable union of Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  …

“The Real Presence of Christ has been …  the standard for the armies of Christ. His soldiers, the martyrs, confessors and virgins have ever fought and bled for the altar and the cross. The prediction of Isaias is fulfilled in Christ’s place of rest, His Eucharistic Presence. The reason then why St. John chose the word, “Little Lamb”, for the sacrificial Lamb of the Apocalypse appears evident, to distinguish this mystery from the mystery of the Incarnation.”  (Kramer, Fr. Herman B., The Book Of Destiny, TAN Books. Kindle Edition)

The silent tableau of Knock took place in inclement weather just outside the Church, thus pointing to the institutional Church forcing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass outside. The apparition of Knock displayed on a desolate night thus foretold a period in which the post-conciliar Church would attempt to eclipse the true Sacrifice of the Mass with a protestantised fellowship service, to serve ecumenism and the prince of this world.

At Knock,on August 21, 1879,  the Little Lamb on the altar stood with two powerful representatives of the priesthood, St. Joseph, chaste guardian of the Holy Family and Patron of the Church, and St. John the Beloved, to whom Christ entrusted His Mother and to whom the Holy Spirit revealed the mysteries of the Apocalypse. St. John pointed to the Scriptures, begging the question, “To which scriptures?” The vision itself answers:  The Lamb on the altar indicates Apocalypse 5. The two patrons of the priesthood, St. Joseph and St. John, indicate the importance of priests in these times. Our Lady of Knock, in this vision, never took her eyes from heaven, never wavered in her intercession for the Church.

Considered in the context of the other Marian apparitions, Knock is a warning against the silencing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist, the corruption of the faith. Our Lady’s appearances at La Salette and Knock were followed by the revelation of Fatima. The Angel of Fatima, Michael, the great Archangel warrior who battles Satan gave us a warning about the abuses of the sacrifice of the Mass and desecration of the Eucharist. And now, 100 years later, the onslaught of sacrileges, outrages and indifferences continues.

It is urgent that Catholics understand that Satan is at war with the Little Lamb, our Eucharistic Lord. Unfortunately, most Catholics are indifferent to this battle. But it is real. Satan knows that the Eucharist is Emmanuel, God with us. Although so many Catholics have forgotten this truth, or are indifferent, the devil knows that Christ the King reigns through the Eucharist. And that is why he is striving with all his immense power to extirpate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to eliminate the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ on our altars. By their perversion of mercy, in giving the the Body of Christ to unrepentant sinners, modernists debase Our Lord’s sacrament of love and attempt to drive Jesus from His Church.

La Salette, Knock, Fatima, and Akita, all warn us of this time. This is a spiritual battle of never before seen proportions. Although we know Who will win it, we cannot afford to lose any time, for with knowledge comes responsibility. We must live our Consecrations, moment by tedious moment. Just because our lives are ordinary does not mean that they are not very, very precious to Jesus.

Our Lord’s words to Sister Josefa Menendez:

“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, … My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!

“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.” (Sister Josefa Menendez and the Way of Divine Love.)

In these times, Our Lady has given us, through God’s immense, unfathomable mercy for us, a profusion of graces through her holy Rosary. Please pray your Rosary with confidence in our Mother’s providence for us.  Our Lady of Fatima will not fail. In the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph!

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, be praised, adored and loved with grateful affection in every tabernacle of the world, at every moment, even unto the end of time. Blessed be God forever.

 “Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly, and I offer Thee the Most Precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of the same Son Jesus Christ, present in all the Tabernacles of the world, in reparation for all the sacrileges, outrages and indifferences by which He Himself is offended.  And by the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.”

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

† . Our Lady of La Salette, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Knock, pray for us.
† . Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us.
† . St. Joseph, protect our families, protect our priests.
† . St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Thanks for reading. For related articles, you might like these:

Please also read: “The Message of Our Lady of Knock“.

Posts on the Eucharist: (Not restored yet, check back later)

Please, Pray the Rosary and confound satan and those who serve him!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

The Way of Divine Love and the Message of Fatima

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The Way of Divine Love and the Message of Fatima

Posted on  by evensong

From the archives of evensong’s writings, a previously unpublished article.

Today, December 29, we mark the 94th anniversary of the death of Sister Josefa Menendez, the humble nun who wrote “The Way of Divine Love”.  In paperback from TAN, or in Kindle. We’ve written about the beautiful Way of Divine Love before (here) and about Sister Josefa’s deep devotion to the Divine Infant (here). But now and for the next few months, we will focus on the most often overlooked or misunderstood concept in Josefa’s writings: true humility.

The writings of Sister Josefa echo in many ways the writings of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque and one can discern a hint of them in Sister Lucia’s writings as well. I strongly suspect that the true writings of Sister Lucia would bear even more resemblance to both of them were we to have access to them. This is because Our Lord Jesus Christ has been telling us in no uncertain terms, what is necessary to counter-act the spiritual terrorism of the arrogant pride prevailing in the world today.

Tragically, this diabolical pride has so captivated the souls of mankind that today among the vast majority of people, there is a rigid resistance to Our Lord’s plea for humility of heart. Mankind has developed a resistance to the grace of God much as some disease bacteria develop a resistance to antibiotics, and now they despise the “poor in spirit” as lacking in self esteem, and care not a whit for the “Kingdom of Heaven”.

It is true that the Message of Divine Love is Christ’s plea for our love but it is also a valuable reminder that we must become truly as a little child, poor in spirit, meek and pure of heart in order to be able to receive His love,  Otherwise we risk becoming the darkness that cannot grasp the light. The worldly are unable to grasp Our Lord’s words to St. Margaret Mary:

“If I had been able to find a creature more miserable than you,” He said to Saint Margaret Mary, “I should have chosen her….”

And to Sister Josefa:

“If I could have found a more wretched creature, I should have chosen her for my special love, and through her revealed the longings of My Heart. But I have not found one, and so I have chosen you.” (June 7th, 1923).

Like the followers of Christ who rejected His teaching on the Eucharist, many today reject these “hard sayings”.  But to those very few who have kept His grace in their hearts, we share the truth of the Way of Divine Love with you.

‘Our Lord is so good, so kind when we do all we can…He takes charge of the rest; it matters so little whether we feel we are getting better or not.’

The  message of Divine Love was given to Sister Josefa  in the period immediately after the Message of Fatima. It in no way contradicts but rather serves to illustrate the essential unity of the two devotions. In Our Lady’s words to Sister Josefa, we seem to hear the echo of her interactions with the three seers of Fatima and with the revelations to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (here).

Sister Josefa  at times felt overwhelmed by the effort to discharge her duties of state and the demands of Our Lord for reparation for souls and she spoke with our Blessed Mother. Our Lady then told her:

“What does anything matter, if He takes care of you?’ … My child, why be afraid? The work of Jesus must be founded on much pain and love … banish fear; Jesus is almighty and it is He who acts. He is strong and He will sustain you. He is merciful and He loves you.”

Then she warned her of further tribulations to be encountered:

“He reads the depths of all hearts and  it is He who permits circumstances to be as they are. If His plans often seem to you to be hindered, it is because He wants to keep you very humble and very lowly.”

Sister Josefa told her that she feared herself to be an obstacle to His plans.

“It is true that you are a very wretched little being,” Our Lady said with compassion, “but that is just why Jesus has pity on you and why He hides you in the depths of His Heart so that nothing can possibly harm you. Humble yourself in your littleness and misery, my child. Trust Him, for He loves you and will never forsake you. Let your only ambition be to win many souls for Him, to give Him much glory and much love.”

When Sister Josefa told Our Lady how sad it made her that she sometimes failed in her tasks, Our Lady offered her Our Lord’s Crown of Thorns. “Fix your mind on the Passion and sufferings of Jesus.” Then placing the Crown of Thorns on her head: “Take it,” she added, as she blessed her; “it will keep you in His presence.”

‘Do not be afraid, my child,’ Our Lady said in tender pity. ‘He will never ask anything of you without giving you grace. Then try to overcome your repugnance by remembering that all His commissions are given you because of His goodness and love for souls.

“You must not be afraid, for every time Jesus allows you to endure those torments He means you to draw from them a three-fold fruit:

First: Great love and deep gratitude to the Divine Majesty who in spite of your faults prevents you from falling eternally into Hell.

Secondly: Boundless generosity and ardent zeal for the salvation of souls, with the desire of saving many for Him by your sacrifices and even your tiniest acts, for you know how much these please Him.

Thirdly: The sight of such innumerable crowds of souls lost forever … of souls, of which not one can so much as make an act of love, ought to make you who can love, send up unceasingly to Him echoes of love’s clamor to drown the blasphemous vociferations of that impious abode. “ [Note: this was told to Sister regarding the visions of Hell she was given.]

‘Therefore, great generosity for the salvation of souls, daughter, and much love…. Let my Son use you as He wills…. Let Him finish His work.’ “

Once, Sister Josefa confided in Our Lady her sorrow at failing Our Lord by what she believed was ingratitude.  Our Lady responded,

“But, my child, surely you know that His Heart is a blazing furnace, and its fire exists only to consume our miseries. As soon as you have owned them to Jesus, He remembers them no more. 

“He has already granted you so many graces, He is prepared to grant you others greater still. His Heart is an inexhaustible Fountain”

“Jesus has forgiven and forgotten all your failings and all your strivings against His Will, but He never forgets your good resolutions and He takes pleasure in them. His Heart is an abyss of mercy, and it will never fail you. It is, too, an abyss of riches which will never diminish, however largely distributed.

“Love Him as much as you can. He cares for nothing else. Acknowledge your littleness, and be submissive and ready to surrender to His Will in all things. “

So many of us who attempt to live our Consecrations are plagued with scruples and get disheartened, but we should keep our focus on the words of Our Lady: “He has forgiven and forgotten all your failings!” It is we who persist in focusing on our failings instead of on Our Lord; He asks for our love, not for our endless ruminations on our faults.

In closing, we offer you a most useful quote from Our Blessed Mother to help us understand this path we follow:

“Let Him rest in you and do you rest in Him. When you receive His graces, then you repose in Him; when He tries you in one way or another, then He reposes in you.”

When we think on these words, we are able to understand that the beautiful periods of peace given to us in prayer, especially after receiving Our Lord in the Holy Eucharist, are when He has drawn us into His Heart. These moments if responded to properly, nourish us and prepare us for the trials to come. But in this sacred dance wherein we move, little by little towards Heaven with our Beloved, we also have the periods when Jesus reposes in our hearts. These are times of darkness, desolation and very great suffering. But they are precisely the most fruitful times, if we maintain our trust in Him.

It was during one of these dark times that Sister Josefa asked Our Lord why He allowed her to struggle in such darknesss of soul, He replied,

“It seems to you that you see nothing and that you are about to fall into the precipice. But need you see, if you are guided? … What you need is to forget self, to abandon your own will and offer no resistance to My plans. Thanks to the acts done in the midst of your sufferings, several of the souls that you will see later have come nearer to My Heart.’

Josefa then complained to Him that when she is struggling against temptations and loneliness, she fails to find Him.

“ ‘When you cannot find Me, look for Me in your Mother. Follow her directions implicitly, for she will guide you to Me. I gave her to you for that very purpose; and know, Josefa, that if you do what she tells you, you are giving Me as much satisfaction as if you were obeying Me personally.

“Love, suffer, and obey. So doing you will enable Me to carry out My plans in you.’ ”

I was about to write, “If there is interest, I will write more on this.” But now, I have given up on there being much interest and will just say, whether there is interest or not, this needs to be said! And we will follow up with more very soon, God willing.

In the meantime, resolve never to waste a single unjust, unreasonable humiliation, a single opportunity to lift your heart joyfully to God for He alone transforms our sufferings into pure gold, eternal gold that never fails. As Our Lord Himself said to Sister Josefa,

‘Ponder this word: “Gold is purified in the fire.” So tribulation purifies and fortifies the soul, and the time of temptation is of great profit both to you and to souls.’ ”

Thank you for reading! I pray for you always!

Remember, Pray the Rosary and confound satan and those who serve him!

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

†  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

Please pray for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!

July 29, 2017

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 by evensong

It is most important  to understand that the devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, to Christ the King, and to the Immaculate Heart of Mary are all of a piece, as it were, and in no way are separate, disparate, or contradictory. And these are inseparable as well from the Mass and particularly, the Holy Eucharist.  Furthermore, it is essential to grasp that the requests, demands really, of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, as relayed by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in 1689, still stand today, more than three centuries after they were made known. Once God has uttered a request, it does not cease to be simply because centuries pass while Catholics turn an indifferent ear to them.

What I had hoped to do in the earlier post was demonstrate the reason Christ Our Lord made His request of the King of France. It was because of the importance of the French Monarchy, as a worldly force established by the will of God for the glory and protection of Christ’s Church. I refer readers to the writings of Solange Hertz as previously cited.

St. Pius X tells us in Vehementer, “The Creator of mankind is also the Founder of human societies, and He preserves them just as He maintains individuals in existence.”  God sent Joan of Arc to make this clear. Her mission was precisely to establish the fact that France was a nation constituted by God under a king who was Jesus Christ’s designated lieutenant. Thus, we see that God first sent St. Joan to aid France, then sent St. Margaret Mary with a message from His Sacred Heart. The engineer of destruction for the latter message was the deceitful Jesuit superior who refused to comply. I will not expand on this now, but it is documented by Hertz in Utopia Nowhere.

At the risk of oversimplifying, I will just state that if Pope Pius XI had only obeyed the commands of the Immaculate Mother of God at Fatima, instead of separating that requested devotion from devotion to the Sacred Heart and Christ the King, he would have been able to fulfill both the demands of the Immaculate Heart and the demands of her Son. Instead of the ever-expanding reign of the evils of satanic marxism, we could have had the glorious reign of Christ the King, through the Immaculata, as Our Lord Himself had so desired.

And what are we to think of France?  The Kingdom of France, established by King Clovis was consecrated by him to  Christ’s Kingship forever by constitutional law. The document’s preamble begins with, “The illustrious Nation of the Franks, having God for Founder,” and closes by praying that, “the Lord Jesus Christ direct those who govern in the way of piety.”  When France’s king failed to submit to the request of its true ruler, Christ the King, it fell to apostasy. Of this, Pope St. Pius X prophesied: “she who had made an alliance with God,” would one day repent and “bear My Name before all peoples and all the kings of the earth.” God’s gifts being without repentance, we may believe that the return to natural law will begin with the conversion of regicide France. (Solange Hertz, “Utopia Nowhere”, loc 1101-1105)

Hertz believed strongly that France would return to the faith:

She will begin by restoring the kingdom of France, and by God’s grace, the rest of the nations will rise and follow France back to their Lord and ruler Jesus Christ. In a discourse to the French cardinals in 1911, St. Pius X predicted: “The nation which made an alliance with God at the baptismal fonts of Reims will repent and return to her first vocation.” (op cit, loc 1667-1669)

At this point, I must emphasise these facts: God’s requests still stand: France must be consecrated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Russia must be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  These two are inseparable, Divine requests and until they are obeyed, suffering will continue to gather in violent intensity throughout the world. Our Lord has assured us, through St. Margaret Mary that He will reign despite all opposition and in the same manner, Our Lady and Our Lord have both asserted to Sister Lucia that in the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph.

That said, how will this happen?  Since devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is Eucharistic, let us see what the Apocalypse tells us of the victory of the Eucharistic Lamb – that is, the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The judgments executed by the Eucharistic Lamb upon Satan shall involve the whole world not to destroy but to chasten it and wrest it from the hands of Satan liberating the human race from his sordid servitude.

From an earlier post: The Holy Eucharist makes every church a temple and every tabernacle a throne of God. Thus, the vision of Knock points us to Apocalypse, Chapter 5, v. 5, which in turn points us to Isaias 11, 1-5, all of which emphasize the importance of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the Eucharistic Reign of Jesus, symbolized for us by devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Prisoner of Love in the Eucharist.

From Father Kramer:

“The temple of Christ is every Catholic Church, where He dwells in the Eucharistic Mystery. The Sacrifice of the Mass is the sacred mystery, in which Christ is “as if sacrificed”, is truly and mystically slain or immolated. The sacrifice is inseparably united with the bloody sacrifice of the Cross, because it represents and renews it. Through the Sacrifice of the Mass, Christ becomes present, establishes His throne in the Church and extends the effects of His death on the Cross and carries the purposes of God to completion. To outward appearance He is dead in the Eucharist, so there He rests “as if immolated”. But the Holy Eucharist is the throne of God through the inseparable union of Christ with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  …

Fr. Kramer tells us, “The Real Presence of Christ has been …  the standard for the armies of Christ. His soldiers, the martyrs, confessors and virgins have ever fought and bled for the altar and the cross.” And we know that Christ the King demands that the standards of the French King bear the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus we understand that Christ intends to reign through Eucharistic devotion, through the true sacrifice of the Mass.

Thus, to be as clear as possible, this battle is over the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. It is over the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Most Holy Eucharist.  The revelations of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary concern the most Holy Eucharist. And do take note of the fact that the message of Fatima was introduced by St. Michael in a very triumphant tableau of – what? What was St. Michael telling us? He was stating the grounds of the battle: the Mass, the Eucharist and urging the weapons for the laity: Make of everything a sacrifice! Pray and sacrifice!

The silent tableau of Knock took place in inclement weather just outside the Church, thus pointing to the institutional Church forcing the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass outside. The apparition of Knock displayed on a desolate night thus foretold a period in which the conciliar Church would attempt to stifle the true Sacrifice of the Mass and replace it with a protestantised fellowship service, to serve ecumenism and the prince of this world. This is the agenda of the present occupant as we shall see before the year ends.

At Knock, the Little Lamb on the altar stood with two powerful representatives of the priesthood, St. Joseph, chaste guardian of the Holy Family and Patron of the Church, and St. John the Beloved, to whom Christ entrusted His Mother and to whom the Holy Spirit revealed the mysteries of the Apocalypse. St. John pointed to the Scriptures, begging the question, “To which scriptures?” The vision itself answers:  The Lamb on the altar indicates Apocalypse 5. The two patrons of the priesthood, St. Joseph and St. John, indicate the importance of priests in these times. Our Lady of Knock, in this vision, never took her eyes from heaven, never wavered in her intercession for the Church.

Considered in the context of the other Marian apparitions, Knock is a warning against the silencing of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the sacrilege of the Holy Eucharist, the corruption of the faith. Our Lady’s appearances at La Salette and Knock were followed by the revelation of Fatima. The Angel of Fatima, Michael, the great Archangel warrior who battles Satan gave us a warning about the abuses of the sacrifice of the Mass and desecration of the Eucharist. And now, 100 years later, the onslaught of sacrileges, outrages, and indifference  continues.

It is urgent that Catholics understand that Satan is at war with the Little Lamb, our Eucharistic Lord. Unfortunately, most Catholics are indifferent to this battle. But it is real. Satan knows that the Eucharist is Emmanuel, God with us. Although so many Catholics have forgotten this truth, or are indifferent, the devil knows that Christ the King reigns through the Eucharist. And that is why he is striving with all his immense power to extirpate the true Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, to eliminate the Real Presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ on our altars. By their perversion of mercy, in giving the the Body of Christ to unrepentant sinners, modernists debase Our Lord’s sacrament of love and attempt to drive Jesus from His own Church.

La Salette, Knock, Fatima, and Akita, all warn us of this time. This is a spiritual battle of never before seen proportions. Although we know Who will win it, we cannot afford to lose any time, for with knowledge comes responsibility. We must live our Consecrations, moment by tedious moment. Just because our lives are ordinary does not mean that they are not very, very precious to Jesus.

From Our Lord’s words to Sister Josefa Menendez:

“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, … My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!

“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.” (Sister Josefa Menendez and the Way of Divine Love.)

Make no mistake, despite what other blogs claim, there is a war to eliminate the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. Recently, a well-respected blog attacked what they deem “Fake news”, that the pope intends to abolish the moto Proprio Summorum Pontificum and will do so once there is a “deal” with the Society. To be clear, I assert that this Pope, that is, Jorge Bergoglio, shows by every discernible sign that he has no respect for the true presence of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist and does give every indication that he entertains a firm desire to eliminate the true Mass, regardless of what occurs with the Society. But that will be abundantly clear in time. For my own part, I continue to assert, with every means at my disposal, the importance of following obediently, the true message of Fatima, in prayer and penance, in faith and charity and especially in confident hope!

NOTE for 2021: By now, what I foretold has come to pass and the so-called “Fake News” that  Pope Francis would cancel Summorum Pontificum has happened. I am not a “seer” but neither am I so foolish as to think that this “Holy Father” would not attempt to destroy the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

For, in these times, Our Lady has given us, through God’s immense, unfathomable mercy, a profusion of graces through her holy Rosary. Please pray your Rosary with confidence in our Mother’s providence for us.  Our Lady of Fatima will not fail. In the end, her Immaculate Heart will triumph!

Sister Josefa Menendez and the Way of Divine Love

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Devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is an essential part of the message of Fatima, and this devotion is inseparable from devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus;  these two hearts are one. Just a few years after Our Lady of the Rosary’s apparitions at Fatima, Our Lord Himself began appearing to Sister Josefa Menendez in the Convent of the Sisters of the Sacred Heart in Poitiers, France from 1920 through 1923 when she died. Sister Josefa’s compilation of these visits is a very beneficial addition to our spiritual arsenal.

Sister Josefa’s book, “The Way of Divine Love”   has an endorsement by Pope Pius XII. Here is a good excerpt from it, although almost any page would have yielded a similar result, it is that packed with beautiful inspirations! From pages 213-215:

“Write for My souls…The soul who constantly unites her life with Mine glorifies Me and does a great work for souls. Thus, if engaged on work of no value in itself…if she bathes it in My Blood or unites it to the work I myself did during My mortal life, it will greatly benefit souls … more perhaps, than if she had preached to the whole world … and that, whether she studies, speaks or writes … whether she sews, sweeps or rests … provided first that the act is sanctioned by obedience or duty and not done from mere caprice; and secondly that it is done in intimate union with Me, with great purity of intention and covered with My Blood.

“I so much want souls to understand this! It is not the action itself which is of value; it is the intention with which it is done. … I have many hidden souls who in their humble labors are very useful workers in My vineyard, for they are moved by love, and they know how to cover their deeds with supernatural gold by bathing them in My Blood. My love goes so far that My souls can draw great treasure out of mere nothing. When as soon as they wake they unite themselves to Me and offer their whole day with a burning desire that My Heart may use it for the profit of souls … when with love they perform their duties, hour by hour and moment by moment … how great is the treasure they amass in one day!

“I will reveal My love to them more and more … it is inexhaustible, and how easy it is for a loving soul to let itself be guided by love.”

The following day, Our Lord told Sister Josefa:

“I would like them to know how much I desire their perfection, and that it consists in doing their ordinary actions in intimate union with Me. If they once grasped this, they could divinize their life and all their activities by this close union with My Heart … and how great is the value of a divinized day! … When a soul is burnt up with desire to love, nothing is a burden to her, but if she feels cold and spiritless everything becomes hard and difficult … let her then come to My Heart to revive her courage … Let her offer Me her dejection and unite it to My fervor; then she may rest content, for her day will be of incomparable value to souls. All human miseries are known to My Heart, and My compassion for them is great. …

“But I desire souls to unite themselves to Me not only in a general way. I long for this union to be constant and intimate as it is between friends who live together, for even if they are not talking all the time, at least they look at each other, and their mutual affectionate little kindnesses are the fruit of their love.

“… But if she (soul) is in the throes of desolation and anguish, she need not fear. I am content with a glance, I understand and this mere look will draw down on her special proofs of My tenderness. I will repeat again to souls how My Heart loves them for I want them to know Me thoroughly that they may make me known to those I place in their care.

“I ardently desire My chosen souls to fix their eyes on Me and never turn them away .. and among them there should be no mediocrity, which usually is the result of a misunderstanding of My love. No! It is neither difficult nor hard to love My Heart, but on the contrary, it is sweet and easy. They need do nothing extraordinary to attain a high degree of love: purity of intention, be the action great or small … intimate union with My Heart and love will do the rest.”

Once I discovered, by God’s grace, Our Lady of Fatima’s true message, I struggled mightily with the task of offering my daily duties as reparation, but quickly became discouraged due to my easily distracted nature. And then, once again by praying to Sister Lucia to help me, I discovered Sister Josefa’s marvelously simple “Way of Divine Love” and it has profited me immensely! I wish I could express to you how valuable this book is and hope that by reading the above excerpt you will be inclined to obtain a copy. It is also available as a Kindle download. Both versions are reasonably priced.

Now here is a neat coincidence: Sister Josefa was Spanish and her sister Angela entered the Carmel of Coimbra and I have read that she was Mistress of Novices when Sister Lucia entered the Carmel! Wouldn’t you love to have been able to be a “fly on the wall” at their meetings!

The message of The Way of Divine Love  is balanced between its sacrificial nature and the peace and joy of total oblation to the will of God; the diabolical attacks, the descents into Hell itself, the great suffering, but also the peace and joy that came from total oblation to the will of God, total union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus, Sister Josefa’s messages comply perfectly with Sister Lucia’s. And isn’t that what we all want – to progress towards total Consecration, total oblation of ourselves to the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary!

We are now going through such challenging times and I believe that Pope Francis has yet more misery in store for us in his “Year of Mercy”; but we have been given such tremendous blessings! We know that the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus will sustain us and our loved ones and that they have provided us with a safe passage through the chaos and the shortest path to union with them.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.
†  Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Thy kingdom come! Viva Cristo Rey!
†  St. Joseph, protect us, protect our families, protect our priests.
†  St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.

~ by evensong for love of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, King.
Vouchsafe that I may praise thee, O Sacred Virgin! Give me strength against thine enemies!