The First Friday of the Month

It was the special desire of our Lord Jesus Christ, revealed to Blessed Margaret Mary, that the first Friday of each month be consecrated to the devotion to and adoration of His most Sacred Heart. 

As the object of this devotion is to inflame our hearts with an ardent love for Jesus, and to repair thereby, as far as lies in our power, all the outrages which are daily committed against the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar, it is evident that these exercises are not confined to any particular day. Jesus is equally deserving of our love at all times; and as this most loving Savior is daily and hourly loaded with insults and cruelly treated by His creatures, it is but just that we should strive each day to make an the reparation in our power. Those, therefore, who are prevented from practicing this devotion on the first Friday can do so on any other day during the month. In the same manner they may offer the first Communion of each month for this intention, consecrating the whole day to the honor and glory of the Sacred Heart, and performing in the same spirit all the pious exercises they were unable to accomplish on the first Friday.

Moreover, Our Lord suggested another feature in this consoling devotion of the first Friday, by the faithful practice of which he led Blessed Margaret Mary to expect the grace of final perseverance, and that of receiving the Sacraments of the Church before dying, in favor of those who should observe it. This was to make a novena of Communions in honor of the Sacred Heart on the first Friday of the month for nine successive months.

An Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
[For the First Friday of the Month]

Adorable Heart of Jesus, glowing with love for us and Inflamed with zeal for our salvation: O Heart! ever sensible of our misery and the wretchedness to which our sins have reduced us, infinitely rich in mercy to heal the wounds of our souls, behold us humbly prostrate before Thee to express the sorrow that fills our hearts for the coldness and indifference with which we have so long requited the numberless benefits that Thou hast conferred upon us. With a deep sense of the outrages that have been heaped upon Thee by our sins and the sins of others, we come to make a solemn reparation of honor to thy most sacred majesty. It was our sins that overwhelmed Thy Heart with bitterness; it was the weight of our iniquities that pressed down Thy face to the earth in the Garden of Olives, and caused Thee to expire in anguish and agony on the Cross.

But now, repenting and sorrowful, we cast ourselves at Thy feet, and implore forgiveness. Adorable Heart of Jesus, source of true contrition and ever merciful to the penitent sinner, impart to our hearts the spirit of penance, and give to our eyes a fountain of tears, that we may sincerely bewail our sins now and for the rest of our days. Oh, would that we could blot them out, even with our blood! Pardon them, O Lord, in Thy mercy, and pardon and convert to Thee all that have committed irreverences and sacrileges against Thee in the Sacrament of Thy love, and thus give another proof that Thy mercy is above all Thy works. Divine Jesus, with Thee there are mercy and plentiful redemption: deliver us from our sins, accept the sincere desire we now entertain, and our holy resolution, relying on the assistance of Thy grace, henceforth to be faithful to Thee. And in order to repair the sins of ingratitude by which we have grieved Thy most tender and loving Heart, we are resolved in the future ever to love and honor Thee in the most adorable Sacrament of the Altar, where Thou art ever present to hear and grant our petitions, and to be the food and life of our souls. Be Thou, O compassionate Jesus! our Mediator with Thy Heavenly Father, Whom we have so grievously offended; strengthen our weakness, confirm these our resolutions of amendment, and as Thy Sacred Heart is our refuge and our hope when we have sinned, so may It be the strength and support of our repentance, that nothing in life or death may ever again separate us from Thee. Amen.

Cor Jesu Sacratissimum, miserere nobis.
Cor Jesu Sacratissimum, miserere nobis.
Cor Jesu Sacratissimum, miserere nobis.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Have mercy on us.Amen

Blessed Feast of Saint Anne - beloved Mother of Holy Mother Mary - the Mother of God

Almighty God privileged St. Anne above all others in choosing her to be the mother of the Queen of Heaven. This favored Saint ranks high in merit and glory, near to the Word Incarnate and to His most holy Mother. Certainly, then, St. Anne has great power with God. Yes, assuredly the mother of the most powerful and amiable Virgin is likewise full of power and mercy.

To many Saints God has granted the power of working miracles. He told His Apostles that they would do greater things than He had done. Now surely, what He promised to His chosen followers He could not refuse to His own grandmother! Those related to Him by the ties of blood were dear to Him in life and still have great power through their intercession. There can be no question, then, that St. Anne has great influence over her Divine Grandson and that by her intercessory power she can also work miracles in favor of her clients.

Tradition, the history of the Church and the chronicles of various places of pilgrimage have recorded countless miracles wrought by Christ through the intercession of His Sainted grandmother. Nor have they ceased to this day. Yearly, hundreds of thousands of persons visit the shrine of St. Anne de Beaupré in Canada alone. Many are cured of diseases; all are comforted and consoled. These favors serve to strengthen and confirm our trust and confidence in the power of the intercession of good St. Anne.

The famous and learned Abbot Trithemius practiced an extraordinary devotion to St. Anne and did all in his power to induce others to venerate her. He wrote a book in her praise in which he says: "To St. Anne God has given the power to aid in every necessity, because Jesus, her Divine Grandchild according to the flesh, will refuse her no petition, and Mary, her glorious daughter, supports her every request. Those who venerate good St. Anne shall want for nothing, either in this life or the next. Believe me, if you love and venerate this Saint, you will experience how highly God esteems her. He grants all she asks! It would be impossible to enumerate the many graces she obtains daily for her servants."

The same writer continues: "St. Anne by her intercession dispels melancholy and evil desires. She also aids the poor, cures the sick and comforts the sorrowing. She removes tribulations and by her intercession obtains for her clients the grace to eradicate vice and implant virtue. She obtains light for the intellect, strength for the will and affection for the heart. This powerful Saint has preserved thousands from contagious diseases. Through her intercession, evil spirits have been expelled. For the barren in the married state, she obtains children and Heavenly assistance in delivery. She inspires the despairing with trust in God's mercy and excites the tepid to zeal and fervor. St. Anne has rescued many from imminent death; yes, through her intercession the dead have, in several instances, been restored to life. Those who worthily venerate St. Anne can obtain aid in every necessity through her mediation."

Pope Gregory XIII, when introducing the feast of St. Anne into the Church, declared: "We believe that St. Anne continually intercedes for us with the merciful Lord, for through her great benefits have come to mankind. From her was born the ever pure and immaculate Virgin Mary, who was found worthy to bring forth Jesus Christ, our Redeemer."

Pope Gregory XV encourages us thus: "We do not doubt that the more love we show to the mother of Mary, the more we merit the intercession and aid of the holy Virgin who brought forth the only-begotten Son of God, Our Lord Jesus Christ."

 St. Teresa of Avila often said: "We know and are convinced that our good mother St. Anne helps in all needs, dangers and tribulations, for Our Lord wishes to show us that He will do also in Heaven what she asks of Him for us."

 

The saintly Abbot Trithemius again exhorts us: "Approach St. Anne, your amiable protectress, with full confidence. Knock at her gates with persevering prayer, because she can obtain for you the forgiveness of your sins and can open Heaven for you. She lacks nothing that can profit you ... Believe me, who has already obtained many a favor through her whom the Queen of Heaven honors as her dearest mother ... No one knows, no one believes, how many favors God confers on lovers of St. Anne!"

Prayer to St. Anne ~ 300 days Indulgence ~

With deep and heartfelt veneration I prostrate myself before thee, O glorious St Anne.
Thou art that creation of privilege and predilection, who through thy extraordinary virtues and sanctity wast worthy to receive from God the supreme grace of giving life to the treasure-house of all graces, blessed among women, Mother of the Word Incarnate, the most holy Virgin Mary.
Deign, therefore, O most compassionate saint, for the sake of this lofty privilege, to receive me into the number of thy true followers, for such I protest I am and desire to remain so long as I may live.

Surround me with thy powerful patronage, and obtain for me from God the grace to imitate those virtues with which thou wast so abundantly adorned. Grant that I may know and bitterly lament my sins. Obtain for me a most lively affection for Jesus and Mary, and fidelity and constancy in the practice of the duties of my state. Preserve me from every danger in life, and assist me in the moment of my death, so that, safe in Paradise, I may unite with thee, most blessed Mother, in praising the Word of God made man in the bosom of thy most pure child, the Virgin Mary. Amen.
Pater, Ave, Gloria, thrice.

( source : Catholic Harbor of Faith and Morals )

Meditation for the Feast of the Circumcision by St. Alphonsus Liguori

( source Catholic Harbor of Faith and Morals )

Behold the Eternal Father, having sent His Son to suffer and die for us, commands that on this day He should be circumcised, and should begin to shed His divine Blood, which He was to shed for the last time on the day of His death upon the Cross in a sea of contumely and sorrow. And wherefore? In order that this innocent Son should thus pay the penalties which we have deserved.
"O admirable," sings the Holy Church, "admirable condescension of divine pity towards us! O inestimable love of charity! to redeem Thy servant Thou hast given Thy Son to death!"

O Eternal God, who could ever have bestowed upon us this infinite gift, but Thou who art infinite goodness and infinite love? O my Lord, if in giving me Thy Son Thou hast given me the dearest treasure Thou hast, it is but right that I should give myself entirely to Thee. Yes, my God, I give Thee my whole self; accept of me, I pray Thee, and let me never depart from Thee again.

II.

Behold, on the other hand, the divine Son, who, full of humility and love towards us, embraces the bitter death destined for Him in order to save us sinners from eternal death, and willingly begins on this day to make satisfaction for us to the Divine Justice with the price of His precious Blood. He humbled Himself, says the Apostle, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross--Phil.ii. 8.

Thou, therefore, O my Jesus, Hast accepted death for my sake; what, then, shall I do? shall I continue to offend Thee by my sins? No, my Redeemer, I will no longer be ungrateful to Thee, I am sorry from my heart that I have caused Thee so much bitterness in times past. I love Thee, O infinite Goodness, and for the future I will never cease to love Thee.

III.

Our Redeemer said, Greater love can no man have than to lay down his life for his friends--John xv. 13. But Thou, O my Jesus, says St. Paul, hast shown greater love than this towards us, by giving Thy life for us who were Thy enemies.

Behold one of them, O Lord, at Thy feet. How many times have I, a miserable sinner, renounced Thy friendship because I would not obey Thee! I now see the evil I have done; forgive me, O my Jesus. Would that I could die of sorrow for my sins! I now love Thee with my whole soul, and I desire nothing else but to love Thee and to please Thee. O Mary, Mother of God and my Mother, pray to Jesus for me. Amen

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