Monday, January 30, 2006
Catholic Schools Week

Darren over at My Catholic Reflections has an excellent post up today on Catholic Schools Week. And with St. Thomas Aquinas' - the patron saint of Catholic schools - feastday being last Saturday according to the Novus Ordo Calendar, it is a great time to focus on Catholic Schools.

St. Thomas Aquinas' Prayer for Students:

O Mary, Mother of enchanting love, of fear, of knowledge, of holy hope, through Whose pious intercession many make admirable progress in studies and piety despite crudeness of understanding, I choose Thee as protectress and patroness of my studies. Humbly I implore Thee that, from the heart of Thy maternal pity, and principally from the Eternal Wisdom that deigned to take on our flesh in Thee, and that exalted Thee in heavenly light above all the saints, Thou obtain grace from the Holy Ghost for me so that I might be able to penetrate with my understanding, retain in my memory, express by my life and words, and teach to others all that brings honor to Thee and Thy divine Son, likewise to the advantage of my eternal joy and that of all men. Amen.

Students Prayer to St. Thomas Aquinas:

O Blessed Thomas, Patron of Schools, Obtain for us from God an Invincible Faith, A Burning Charity, A Chaste Life, And True Knowledge Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Image Source: Photo believed to be in the Public Domain
Read more >>
St. Hyacintha of Mariscotti


Today the Holy Church remembers the life of St. Hyacintha of Mariscotti.

She was born in 1585 in Italy and died of natural causes there in 1640. St. Hyacintha was raised in a Franciscan covenant, although she used personal funds for comfortable longing. She lived affluently for several years until she was plagued with a serious illness. Her confessor brought her Communion and was dismayed over the luxuries of her room. He urged her to live more humbly.

And that was when she changed. St. Hyancintha became both modest in her food and dress and even replaced her bed with a few boards to lay upon. She worked for the rest of her life with the aged poor, those less fortunate, and the novices of her convent. St. Hyancintha soon became an inspiration for everyone.

She founded the Oblates of Mary. St. Hyancintha was canonized May 24, 1807, by Pope Pius VII.  Her feast is celebrated annually on January 30th.

Note, St. Hyacintha is not to be confused with Hyacinth of Poland whose feast is August 17th.
Read more >>
Some Saintly Advice for Today

Blessed Mother Teresa - "We need to be able to pray.We need prayer just like we need air.Without prayer, we can do nothing."

St. Padre Pio - "I have no desire except to die or to love God; either death or love, since life without this love is worse than death and for me it would be more unbearable than it is at present. "

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Read more >>
Sunday, January 29, 2006
What's Your Favorite Liturgical Song?

Ed at Through Jesus Through Mary has a good poll in his sidebar asking readers to vote for their favorite liturgical song. I'm finding it hard with so many good choices. Please go on over through the link and vote.
Read more >>
A Prayer by St. Thomas Aquinas

Devoutly I Adore Thee (Adoro te devote)

O Godhead hid, devoutly I adore Thee, Who truly art within the forms before me; To Thee my heart I bow with bended knee, As failing quite in contemplating Thee.

Sight, touch, and taste in Thee are each deceived; The ear alone most safely is believed:I believe all the Son of God has spoken, Than Truth's own word there is no truer token.

God only on the Cross lay hid from view; But here lies hid at once the Manhood too; And I, in both professing my belief, Make the same prayer as the repentant thief.

Thy wounds, as Thomas saw, I do not see; Yet Thee confess my Lord and God to be:Make me believe Thee ever more and more; In Thee my hope, in Thee my love to store.

O thou Memorial of our Lord's own dying! O Bread that living art and vivifying!Make ever Thou my soul on Thee to live; Ever a taste of Heavenly sweetness give.

O loving Pelican! O Jesus, Lord!Unclean I am, but cleanse me in Thy Blood; Of which a single drop, for sinners spilt, Is ransom for a world's entire guilt.

Jesus! Whom for the present veil'd I see, What I so thirst for, O vouchsafe to me:That I may see Thy countenance unfolding, And may be blest Thy glory in beholding. Amen.

Prayer by Saint Thomas Aquinas, translated by E. Caswall

Image Source: Believed to be in the Public Domain
Read more >>
The Saint for the Year Devotion Continues

I cannot thank some of you enough. The Saint for the Year Devotion has spread greater than my highest hopes. Well over 300 requests have been made! I've just posted a few more results.

If you would like a special patron saint for this year, or if you know someone that would, please just see my original post and reply.

God Bless and Thank you
Read more >>
Saturday, January 28, 2006
St. Thomas Aquinas

Memorial (1969 Calendar): January 28
Double (1954 Calendar): March 7

Today the Church remembers my confirmation saint and certainly one of the deepest intellectual saints in the Church's history, St. Thomas Aquinas, priest and Doctor of the Church. He is especially dear to me since I chose him as my confirmation saint.

One of the greatest glories of the Dominican Order is St. Thomas Aquinas, who is known as The Angelic Doctor.

St. Thomas Aquinas was born to noble parts in Aquino, near Naples, Italy in the year of our Lord 1225. In his childhood the young saint was the provider for the poor of the neighborhood during a famine; his father, meeting him in a corridor with the food he had succeeded in taking from the kitchen, asked him what he had under his cloak; he opened it and fresh roses fell on the ground. The nobleman embraced his son and amid his tears, gave him permission to follow thereafter all inspirations of his charity.

At the young age of 19, he received the Dominican habit in Naples Italy, only a short time after the Dominican Order was established. But his family was opposed to the choice. His brothers captured him while he was on his way to Paris and locked him in the castle of Rocca Secca for two years. During this time the threats would not deter him from following his religious vocation. St. Thomas managed by his holy example to win over his older sister who decided to renounce a high-class marriage that was going-to-be and instead embrace the life of a nun. She would become the Abbess in Capua.

In order to stop Thomas from joining the Dominicans, St. Thomas's father sent him impure women to seduce him to the pleasures of this world. St. Thomas responded by chasing the women away with a flaming torch. As a reward, St. Thomas was privileged to receive a vision of an angel who girded him with a cincture of purity, and from that day he was free from all bodily temptations. St. Thomas Aquinas is often depicted in one famous image as receiving the belt of chastity after this temptation. He later accepted and joined the Dominicans.

He was taught in Paris and Cologne under St. Albert the Great. As a young student he was recognized by his professors as a genius, but it was Saint Albert the Great who later said of his disciple whom some called “the mute ox,” that “someday the lowing of this ox will resound throughout the entire world.” This prophecy has indeed come true and with it, the Dominican Order would see its greatest saint.

St. Thomas Aquinas' writings exhibit some of the greatest harmony ever conceived on paper. His works including Summa Theologica (which he did not finish before his death) and his 5 proofs for God's existence are still regarded as theologically brilliant.  Few though also own and read his fantastic Commentary on the Gospels, the four-volume set Catena Aurea. St. Thomas Aquinas' thoughts led to the formation of the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the 1800s.

Near the end of his life, St. Thomas received an extraordinary grace when a crucifix in Naples actually came alive and the Lord spoke to Thomas: “Well hast thou written concerning Me, Thomas. What shall I give thee as a reward?” St. Thomas replied, “No other reward except Thyself, O Lord.” And it is to this end that St. Thomas said that all of his works were but straw before the magnificence of Almighty God.

St. Thomas became a counselor to the papacy, and Pope Gregory X personally invited him to participate in the General Council of Lyons in 1274, but the Dominican saint died on his way there at Fossa Nuova near Terracina, Italy on March 7, 1274.

He was only 49 years old when he was called home to Heaven and exactly 49 years later he was canonized by Pope John XXII in 1323. Thomas was officially declared a "Doctor of the Church" in 1567 by Pope Saint Pius V and his feast day has traditionally been celebrated on March 7th up until the Second Vatican Council. It still is in the Traditional Roman Calendar. The Dominican Rite Calendar keeps his feast on March 7th and keeps a second feastday in his honor on January 28th in honor of the translation of his relics.

Thomistic Philosophy has been the cornerstone of seminary formation since the formation of seminaries themselves after the Protestant Revolt in the 1500s. A Catholic would be hard-pressed to study any area of Theology where the writings and teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas are not integral to the doctrine at hand. St. Thomas Aquinas is truly the glory of the Dominican Order and one of the most intelligent saints that God has blessed His Church with.

The Angelic Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas, is one of the greatest sources of intellectual inspiration in the history of the world. It is especially ironic that St. Thomas, who was dubbed the "dumb ox" by some, would become recognized as the most brilliant scholar in the history of the Church. Having written more than just the Summa, we sing hymns written by him each time at Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament when we sign the "O Salutaris Hostia" and "Tantum Ergo."

Studiorum Ducem:
In a recent apostolic letter confirming the statutes of Canon Law, We declared that the guide to be followed in the higher studies by young men training for the priesthood was Thomas Aquinas. The approaching anniversary of the day when he was duly enrolled, six hundred years ago, in the calendar of the Saints, offers Us an admirable opportunity of inculcating this more and more firmly in the minds of Our students and explaining to them what advantage they may most usefully derive from the teaching of so illustrious a Doctor. For science truly deserving of the name and piety, the companion of all the virtues, are related in a marvelous bond of affinity, and, as God is very Truth and very Goodness, it would assuredly not be sufficient to procure the glory of God by the salvation of souls-the chief task and peculiar mission of the Church-if ministers of religion were well disciplined in knowledge and not also abundantly provided at the same time with the appropriate virtues.

Encyclical of Pope Pius XI promulgated on June 29, 1923


Litany of St. Thomas Aquinas:

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.

Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.

God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Glorious Mother of the King of kings, Pray for us.

Saint Thomas of Aquinas, Pray for us.
Worthy child of the Queen of virgins, Pray for us.
St. Thomas most chaste, Pray for us.
St. Thomas most patient, Pray for us.
Prodigy of science, Pray for us.
Silently eloquent, Pray for us.
Reproach of the ambitious, Pray for us.
Lover of that life which is hidden with Christ, Pray for us.
Fragrant flower in the garden of Saint Dominic, Pray for us.
Glory of the Friars Preachers, Pray for us.
Illumined from on high , Pray for us.
Angel of the Schools, Pray for us.
Oracle of the Church, Pray for us.
Incomparable scribe of the Man-God, Pray for us.
Satiated with the odor of His perfumes, Pray for us.
Perfect in the school of His Cross, Pray for us.
Intoxicated with the strong wine of His charity, Pray for us.
Glittering gem in the cabinet of the Lord, Pray for us.
Model of perfect obedience, Pray for us.
Endowed with the true spirit of holy poverty, Pray for us.

Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on us.
Oh, how beautiful is the chaste generation with glory, For the memory thereof is immortal.

Because it is known with God and man,
And it triumpheth crowned forever.

V. What have I in Heaven, or what do I desire on earth!
R. Thou art the God of my heart, and my portion forever.
Let Us Pray. O God, Who hast ordained that blessed Thomas should enlighten Thy Church, grant that through his prayers we may practice what he taught, through Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.

Prayer:

O God, through Whom Thy Church is glorified by the wonderful learning of Thy blessed Confessor Thomas and profiteth still from his holy labors: grant, we pray, that we may grasp his teaching with our minds and show it, as he did, in our lives. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Read more >>
Another Catholic Blog

I wanted to announce another good Catholic blog by Ed called To Jesus Through Mary. He writes well and has some very good posts and novenas at his blog. I've been working on helping him create a good sidebar. So please go on over, have a look around, and say hello.

2007 Update: His blog is no longer online.

Image Source: The Assumption of the Virgin by Veronese
Read more >>
Thank you for the Prayers for Kathleen

First, thank you everyone that commented on my post below about a friend of the family dying. It really comforts me to know that other people are out there praying for her. My family recently saw her in November, and she was setting up a camper for the summer. In a few weeks we were supposed to go down and have a little vacation. But it's not going to happen.

But, I entrust her soul completely to Christ, the Most Merciful. Thank you all for your prayers. It really means a lot to me.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

Image Source: At Prayer by Edwin Longs den Long
Read more >>
Friday, January 27, 2006
Please Pray for the Repose of the Soul of Kathleen

A friend of my family just died a few hours ago. Her name was Kathleen and she was Catholic. It is very hard for my family. Please pray that she might now be in God's mercy in His glorious love. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son," and God loves us still.

Please pray for her soul. Please offer up indulgences and prayers. She was so kind to us. It is very upsetting to write about. I ask for your prayers.

Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.

Image Source: Photo of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen believed to be in the Public Domain
Read more >>


Copyright Notice: Unless otherwise stated, all items are copyrighted under a Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. If you quote from this blog, cite a link to the post on this blog in your article.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, for instance, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made by those who click on the Amazon affiliate links included on this website. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”