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Ave Maria Meditations

How Friar Leo saw a terrible vision in a dream

ONCE, in a dream, Friar Leo beheld a vision of the making ready of the Divine judgment. He beheld the Angels making music with trumpets and divers instruments, and calling together a marvellous great crowd in a meadow. And on one side of the meadow was set a ladder all rosy red, which reached from earth even unto heaven, and on the other side of the meadow was set another ladder all white, which descended from heaven to earth. On the top of the red ladder, Christ appeared a Lord offended and exceeding wrath. And St. Francis was nigh unto Christ but a few steps lower down; and he came farther down the ladder, and with a loud voice and great fervour called and said: “Come ye, my friars, come confidently, fear not, come, draw nigh unto the Lord, for He calleth you”. At the voice of St. Francis and at his bidding, the friars went and climbed up the red ladder with great confidence. And, when they were all thereon, some fell off the third step, and some off the fourth step, others off the fifth and the sixth; and at the last all fell, so that there remained not one upon the ladder. And so great ruin of his friars, St. Francis, as a pitiful father, was moved to compassion, and besought the Judge for his sons, that He would receive them to His mercy. And Christ showed His wounds all bloody, and said unto St. Francis: “This have thy friars done unto Me”.

And St. Francis delayed not, but, even as he interceded, came down certain steps, and cried unto the friars that were fallen from the red ladder and said: “Come ye, rise up, my sons and friars, be of good courage and despair not, but run to the white ladder and climb up it, for by it ye shall be received into the Kingdom of Heaven; run, friars, through paternal admonishment, to the white ladder”. And on the top of the ladder appeared the glorious Virgin Mary, the Mother of Jesus Christ, all pitiful and kind, and welcomed those friars; and without any difficulty they entered into the eternal kingdom. To the praise of Christ. Amen.

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Ave Maria Meditations

“See, My daughter, My heart surrounded by thorns which ungrateful men pierce at every moment by their blasphemies and ingratitude… Say to all those who, for five months, on the first Saturday, confess, receive Holy Communion, recite the Rosary and keep Me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary, in a spirit of reparation, I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls.”

The confession may be made on the First Saturday itself or some days before or after the First Saturday. This reparatory devotion was requested to atone for the five ways in which people offend the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1. attacks upon Mary’s Immaculate Conception;
2. attacks against her Perpetual Virginity;
3. attacks upon her Divine Maternity and the refusal to accept Her as the Mother of all mankind;
4. for those who try to publicly implant in children’s hearts indifference, contempt and even hatred of this Immaculate Mother, and
5. for those who insult her directly in her sacred images.

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Ave Maria Meditations

The fairest flower of them all…

We honor the Mother of God and we have put all our hope in her because we know she can do everything. And do you know she can do everything? Her Son does not refuse anything she wishes, because He has not been able to give back to her what He took on loan from her.  He took His flesh from her, and made it divine, but He did not give it back. This is why we feel ourselves so safe in the garden of the Mother of God.

A Greek Orthodox monk to Pope Benedict XVI

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Immaculate Music #39 – Communion Hymn of our FI Sisters ( 03min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

In March of 2011, our friars and sisters celebrated a Pontifical High Mass with Cardinal Raymond Burke in Rome at the Church of St. Nicolas (imprisoned).  Here’s a “short-short” of one of the sister’s hymns sung after Holy Communion, with Sr. Maria Cecilia Manelli as conductor of the choir.

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Ave Maria Meditations

This month we will concentrate on Our Lady!

 ”The mood of springtime informs the church’s interior; nature’s blossoming, the warm air of May evenings, human gladness in a world that is renewing itself — all these things enter in. Veneration of Mary has its place in this very particular atmosphere, for she, the Virgin, shows us faith under its youthful aspect, as God’s new beginning in a world that has grown old. In her we see the Christian life set forth as a youthfulness of the heart, as beauty and a waiting readiness for what is to come.”

-- Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, Seek That Which is Above

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Ave Maria Meditations

“I am all thine, and all that I have is thine, O most loving Jesus, through Mary Thy most holy and Immaculate Mother.

23. God the Father gathered all the waters together and called them the seas (maria). He gathered all his graces together and called them Mary (Maria). The great God has a treasury or storehouse full of riches in which he has enclosed all that is beautiful, resplendent, rare, and precious, even his own Son. This immense treasury is none other than Mary whom the saints call the “treasury of the Lord”. From her fullness all men are made rich.

24. God the Son imparted to his mother all that he gained by his life and death, namely, his infinite merits and his eminent virtues. He made her the treasurer of all his Father had given him as heritage. Through her he applies his merits to his members and through her he transmits his virtues and distributes his graces. She is his mystical channel, his aqueduct, through which he causes his mercies to flow gently and abundantly.

25. God the Holy Spirit entrusted his wondrous gifts to Mary, his faithful spouse, and chose her as the dispenser of all he possesses, so that she distributes all his gifts and graces to whom she wills, as much as she wills, how she wills and when she wills. No heavenly gift is given to men which does not pass through her virginal hands. Such indeed is the will of God, who has decreed that we should have all things through Mary, so that, making herself poor and lowly,, and hiding herself in the depths of nothingness during her whole life, she might be enriched, exalted and honored by almighty God. Such are the views of the Church and the early Fathers.

28. Mary has authority over the angels and the blessed in heaven. As a reward for her great humility, God gave her the power and the mission of assigning to saints the thrones made vacant by the apostate angels. (more…)

Ave Maria Meditations

To You, O God, Fountain of Mercy, I come, a sinner. May You wash away my impurity.

O Sun of Justice, give sight to the blind. O Eternal Healer, cure the wounded. O King of Kings, restore the despoiled. O Mediator of God and man, reconcile the sinful. O Good Shepherd, lead back the straying. O God, have pity on the wretched, show leniency to the guilty, bestow life on the dead, reform the impious, and give the balm of grace to the hard of heart.

O most merciful God, call back the one who flees, draw back the one who resists, lift up the one who falls, support the one who stands, and accompany the one who walks.

Do not forget those who forget You. Do not desert those who desert You. Do not despise those who sin against You. For in sinning, I have offended You, my God.

I have harmed my neighbor; I have not even spared myself injury. I have sinned, 0 my God, against You, almighty Father, because of my weakness; against You, all-knowing Son, because of my ignorance; against You, merciful Holy Spirit, because of my malice. Thus have I offended You, most high Trinity.

(more…)

Ave Maria Meditations

The message of The Divine Mercy is simple. It is that God loves us — all of us. And, he wants us to recognize that His mercy is greater than our sins, so that we will call upon Him with trust, receive His mercy, and let it flow through us to others. Thus, all will come to share His joy. (more…)

Ave Maria Meditations

Through the tender mercy of our God when the day shall dawn upon us from on high to give light to those who sit in darkness…(Lk 1:78-79)

Lauds II

The darkness flees, and dew-kissed earth Sings welcome to the waking day;

Hope holds to Christ the mirror high To catch the Dayspring’s healing ray!

You fill with light this sacred time, Give tears as well to purify;

Give flames of love to purge our hearts; In us your mercy magnify.

The hidden wound whence flow our sins, Wash clean by bathing in the tide;

Remove the things that, of ourselves, We cannot reach, or put aside.

The Day draws near when all re-blooms — Your Day, O Christ, life-giving Lord!

We too will joy, by your right hand From death’s dark tomb to joy restored.

To God, the loving Trinity, Let earth and sky adoring bend;

And evermore from hearts renewed Let songs fresh sprung of praise ascend. Amen.

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Ave Maria Meditations

Jesus, Man of Sorrows, at last the dearest wish of Your life is granted: ­You are crucified.

You have been the Victim of the envy of the high priests, of the mockery of Herod, of the weakness of Pilate, of the ingratitude of the people; but You will to die unavenged. Patiently You hang there on the open wounds of Your hands and feet, exhausted almost to death by the long stretch of the physical and mental suffering (more…)

Ave Maria Meditations

Immaculate Music #38 - Concert at Comacchio 2011 ( 14min) >>> Play

Ave Maria!

It’s become a tradition that the FI clerics here in Italy – that is, those who are studying for the priesthood – hold a concert every September in honor of the Feast of Our Lady of the Royal Hall at our sanctuary in Comacchio, Italy.  Here’s the third of the three-part series from that concert.  The friars are from all different parts of the globe, including the US, Italy, the Philippines, Nigeria, Chad, Benin, and France, among others.  Fr. Giovanni Manelli was conductor of the choir on this occasion.  Our Lady of the Royal Hall, o pray for us!

Ave Maria!

Audio (MP3)

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Ave Maria Meditations

On Corporal Mortification

As a result of original sin, man no longer has complete dominion over his senses and his flesh; therefore he is filled with evil tendencies which try to push him toward what is base. St. Paul humbly admits: “I know that there dwelleth not in me, that is to say, in my flesh, that which is good…. For the good which I will, I do not; (more…)

Ave Maria!

The pro-life movie October Baby is out now (for over a week) and I am finally getting around to blogging about it. (Thanks to all those who emailed me.) It is about a woman who survived an abortion attempt and was raised by her adopting parents and her journey to find her biological mother and to forgive after she learned the facts of her early life. It was produced by Samuel Goldwyn Co. a division of MGM and has received some favorable commments even from secular critics like this from LA Times Gary Goldstein:

“October Baby,” a film whose poignancy is hard to deny whatever side of the abortion debate you fall on.

Further, it has performed well at the boxoffice, coming in (more…)

Ave Maria Meditations

 Unite me to Yourself, O adorable Victim, life-giving heavenly Bread, feed me, sanctify me, reign in me, transform me to Yourself – live in me, and let me live in You, let me adore You in your life-giving sacraments as my God – listen to you as to my Master – obey you as my King – imitate you as my Model – follow you as my Shepherd – love you as my Father – seek you as my Physician who will heal all the maladies of my soul – be indeed my Way, Truth, and Life, sustain me O heavenly Manna through the desert of this world, till I shall behold You unveiled in Your glory.

 +St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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