Homily #100115 ( 05min) Play – Fr. Ignatius explains how St Paul the Hermit (229-342) showed extraordinary zeal and devotion by spending almost one hundred years of his very long life in the deserts of Egypt, alone with God. Then he asks why should this be so extraordinary.
Ave Maria! St. Paul the First Hermit, Confessor – Mass: EF, Iustus Ut Palma – Readings: 1st: phi 3:7-12 – Gsp: mat 11:25-30

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Marycast #101 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Mark Miravalle continues with his discourse on the Second Vatican Council’s teaching on Mary. Here he covers Lumen Gentium 66-68 on the two extremes of devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, of attributing divinity to Mary or, on the other extreme, not acknowledging her prerogatives, especially in regard to accepting her as our mother.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com

Ave Maria!

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Marycast #95 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Miravalle outlines the events since the apparitions in 1948 which he describes as tragedy and persecution followed by the fidelity of the seers and the trust of the devotees and the final victory when in 1991, after further miraculous signs, the bishops of the Philippines approve the apparitions and even start a national day of prayer in honor of Our Lady of Lipa, Mediatrix of Grace.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com
Ave Maria!

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Marycast #94 ( 10min) Play – Dr. Mark Miravalle explains the final messages of Our Lady of Lipa to do prayer and penance for non-believers, then the golden two years of growing devotion to Our Lady of Lipa and then the tragic events that followed which were prophesied in the apparitions themselves.

To ask questions regarding Mary, email Dr Mark Miravalle: marycast@airmaria.com
Ave Maria!

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With all the many things that could be said about the Apostle of Divine Mercy, St. Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament, let us look at this beautiful litany of love to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament composed by the Saint.

Prayer of St. Faustina While in Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament:

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the testament of God’s mercy for us, and especially for poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the Body and Blood of the Lord Jesus as proof of infinite mercy for us, and especially to poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained life eternal and of infinite mercy, dispensed in abundance to us and especially to poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the mercy of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit toward us, and especially toward poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the infinite price of mercy which will compensate for all our debts, and especially those of poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the fountain of living water which springs from infinite mercy for us, and especially for poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the fire of purest love which blazes forth from the bosom of the Eternal Father, as from an abyss of infinite mercy for us, and especially for poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the medicine for all our infirmities, flowing from infinite mercy, as from a fount, for us and especially for poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom is contained the union between God and us through His infinite mercy for us, and especially for poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, in whom are contained all the sentiments of the most sweet Heart of Jesus toward us, and especially poor sinners.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in all the sufferings and adversities of life.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the midst of darkness and of storms within and without.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in life and at the hour of our death.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the midst of adversities and floods of despair.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the midst of falsehood and treason.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the midst of the darkness and godlessness which inundate the earth.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the longing and pain in which no one will understand us.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the toil and monotony of everyday life.

O Blessed Host, our only hope amid the ruin of our hopes and endeavors.

O Blessed Host, our only hope in the midst of the ravages of the enemy and the efforts of hell.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when the burdens are beyond my strength and I find my efforts are fruitless.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when storms toss my heart about and my fearful spirit tends to despair.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when my heart is about to tremble and mortal sweat moistens my brow.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when everything conspires against me and black despair creeps into my soul.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when my eyes will begin to grow dim to all temporal things and, for the first time, my spirit will behold the unknown worlds.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when my tasks will be beyond my strength and adversity will become my daily lot.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when the practice of virtue will appear difficult for me and my nature will grow rebellious.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when hostile blows will be aimed against me.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when my toils and efforts will be misjudged by others.

O Blessed Host, I trust in You when Your judgments will resound over me; it is then that I will trust in the sea of Your mercy.

(357) +Most Holy Trinity, I trust in Your infinite mercy. God is my Father and so I, His child, have every claim to His divine Heart; and the greater the darkness, the more complete our trust should be.

(358) I do not understand how it is possible not to trust in Him who can do all things. With Him, everything; without Him, nothing. He is Lord. He will not allow those who have placed all their trust in Him to be put to shame.

from http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=510

St. Faustina

Feastday: October 5
1905 – 1938

Saint Faustina was born Helena Kowalska in a small village west of Lodz, Poland on August 25, 1905. She was the third of ten children. When she was almost twenty, she entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, whose members devote themselves to the care and education of troubled young women. The following year she received her religious habit and was given the name Sister Maria Faustina, to which she added, “of the Most Blessed Sacrament”, as was permitted by her congregation’s custom. In the 1930’s, Sister Faustina received from the Lord a message of mercy that she was told to spread throughout the world. She was asked to become the apostle and secretary of God’s mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for reemphasizing God’s plan of mercy for the world. It was not a glamorous prospect.

Her entire life, in imitation of Christ’s, was to be a sacrifice, a life lived for others. At the Divine Lord’s request, she willingly offered her personal sufferings in union with Him to atone for the sins of others; in her daily life she was to become a doer of mercy, bringing joy and peace to others, and by writing about God’s mercy, she was to encourage others to trust in Him and thus prepare the world for His coming again. Her special devotion to Mary Immaculate and to the sacraments of the Eucharist and Confession that gave her the strength to bear all her sufferings as an offering to God on behalf of the Church and those in special need, especially great sinners and the dying.

She wrote and suffered in secret, with only her spiritual director and some of her superiors aware that anything special was taking place in her life. After her death from tuberculosis in 1938, even her closest associates were amazed as they began to discover what great sufferings and deep mystical experiences had been given to this Sister of theirs, who had always been so cheerful and humble. She had taken deeply into her heart, God’s gospel command to “be merciful even as your heavenly Father is merciful” as well as her confessor’s directive that she should act in such a way that everyone who came in contact with her would go away joyful. The message of mercy that Sister Faustina received is now being spread throughout the world; her diary, Divine Mercy in my Soul, has become the handbook for devotion to the Divine Mercy.

Homily #090922 ( 11min) Play – Today’s Gospel is used by Protestants and Catholics alike to support the idea that Marian devotion should be minimized. Fr. Angelo counters that this is not the correct interpretation and the early Christians thought that way.
Ave Maria! Mass readings

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St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253)

Feast Day is August 11th

In the year 1240, St Clare saved her sisters and her convent from plundering hordes of Saracen mercenaries through the miracle of the Eucharist. As the Saracens were placing ladders against the walls of the convent she placed a monstrance containing the Eucharist in the sight of the men while she lay prostrate before Jesus and prayed. Here is an account of the incident from The History of Saint Clare, Virgin, written by Tommaso da Celano:

“By imperial order, regiments of Saracen soldiers and bowmen were stationed there (the convent of San Damiano in Assisi, Italy), massed like bees, ready to devastate the encampments and seize the cities. Once, during an enemy attack against Assisi, city beloved of the Lord, and while the army was approaching the gates, the fierce Saracens invaded San Damiano, entered the confines of the monastery and even the very cloister of the virgins. The women swooned in terror, their voices trembling with fear as they cried to their Mother, Saint Clare.

“Saint Clare, with a fearless heart, commanded them to lead her, sick as she was, to the enemy, preceded by a silver and ivory case in which the Body of the Saint of saints was kept with great devotion. And prostrating herself before the Lord, she spoke tearfully to her Christ: ‘Behold, my Lord, is it possible You want to deliver into the hands of pagans Your defenseless handmaids, whom I have taught out of love for You? I pray You, Lord, protect these Your handmaids whom I cannot now save by myself.’ Suddenly a voice like that of a child resounded in her ears from the tabernacle: ‘I will always protect you!’ ‘My Lord,’ she added, ‘if it is Your wish, protect also this city which is sustained by Your love.’ Christ replied, ‘It will have to undergo trials, but it will be defended by My protection.’ Then the virgin, raising a face bathed in tears, comforted the sisters: ‘I assure you, daughters, that you will suffer no evil; only have faith in Christ.’

Upon seeing the courage of the sisters, the Saracens took flight and fled back over the walls they had scaled, unnerved by the strength of she who prayed. And Clare immediately admonished those who heard the voice I spoke of above, telling them severely: ‘Take care not to tell anyone about that voice while I am still alive, dearest daughters.’”

Go forth in peace, for you have followed the good road. Go forth without fear, for he who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you as a mother. Blessed be you, my God, for having created me.

–Saint Clare of Assisi

He, Christ, is the splendor of eternal glory, “the brightness of eternal light, and the mirror without cloud.” Behold, I say, the birth of this mirror. Behold Christ’s poverty even as he was laid in the manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes. What wondrous humility, what marvelous poverty! The King of angels, the Lord of heaven and earth resting in a manger! Look more deeply into the mirror and meditate on his humility, or simply on his poverty. Behold the many labors and sufferings he endured to redeem the human race. Then, in the depths of this very mirror, ponder his unspeakable love which caused him to suffer on the wood of the cross and to endure the most shameful kind of death. The mirror himself, from his position on the cross, warned passers-by to weigh carefully this act, as he said: “All of you who pass by this way, behold and see if there is any sorrow like mine.” Let us answer his cries and lamentations with one voice and one spirit: “I will be mindful and remember, and my soul will be consumed within me.” - from a letter to Bl. Agnes of Prague from St. Clare of Assisi

Litany of St. Clare

Lord, have mercy

Christ, have mercy

Lord, have mercy

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 Spirit, have mercy on us!

Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us!

Holy Mary, Queen of Virgins, R:..pray for us

St. Clare chosen of Christ…R..

St. Clare, lover of chastity…R

St. Clare, vessel of holiness…R

St. Clare, prayerful daughter of St. Francis…R

St. Clare, morning light…R

St. Clare, Mother and Foundress of thePoor Clares…R
St. Clare, humble follower of Christ…R

St. Clare, faithful imitator of St. Francis…R

St. Clare, humble servant of the servants of Christ…R

St. Clare, brilliant light of holiness…R

St. Clare, wonderful helper in need…R

St. Clare, full of joy…R

St. Clare, poor with the poor…R

St. Clare rich in merit and grace…R

St. Clare, loving spouse of the Crucified…R

St. Clare, seraphic adorer of the Blessed Sacrament…R

St. Clare, mighty protector of Assisi…R

St. Clare, mirror of patience in suffering…R

St. Clare, comforter of the ill and infirm…R

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world….have mercy on us

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world….graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world…..have mercy on us

Pray for us , St. Clare….that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

LET US PRAY

O God, who inspired St. Clare of Assisi to shine her light on the Gospel and live a life of uncompromising fidelity, grant that through her merits and intercession, we may walk in the path of righteousness in this life so as to enjoy the life that will never end. We ask this through Christ our Lord….AMEN

St Clare, pray for conversion of the world to Christ and His Church–and for Christians to realize the immense gift Jesus gave us in the Eucharist. It is precisely because the world has lost its faith in Jesus and the Eucharist that we now face the suicidal depopulation of the West and the ensuing invasion of Islam. Only through the eating of the flesh of the Son of God will we carry Jesus life within us and bravely command every evil to flee our midst.

Air Maria is Dedicated to
St. Clare of Assisi
Patron Saint of TV

St. Dominic: Feast Day is August 8th

Tradition associates the origin of the Rosary with St. Dominic as you can see depicted in this painting but it was not exactly the Rosary as we know it today.

Dominic Guzman (1170-1221 AD) was a Spanish priest who in southern France encountered the Albegensian heresy. He was having great difficulty and not very successful in touching hard hearts. But when he began to preach the rosary, he had great success.  It was Our Lady’s special devotion and her intercession was strong with its praying.

Tradition tells us that in a vision Mary told him that he should pray the Marian Psalter along with his preaching. The Marian Psalter in the 12th century consisted only of 150 Hail Maries follows:

“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is

with thee, blessed art thou among

women and blessed is the fruit of

thy womb.”

It does not appear that the Our Father was part of the Marian Psalter but the Paternoster or the practice of praying 150 Our Fathers was the earliest way to pray the Psalter for the average person. So, Dominic along with preaching the mysteries of faith lead the people in praying a decade of the Marian Psalter. In this way the grace of God opened their hearts and he brought about many conversions.

The Rosary we have today was not directly given to St. Dominic by Mary. St. Dominic used the Marian Psalter along with his preaching. It was left to the Confraternity of the Rosary promoted by Blessed Alan de la Roche in about 1475 to think over the selection and order of Mysteries in association with the Aves and Paternosters. Since St. Dominic began this process, it is fitting to consider him as the originator of the Rosary.

Directions on how to pray the rosary can be found at http://www.ewtn.com/Devotionals/prayers/rosary/how_to.htm

August 1st: St. Alphonsus Liguori, founder of the Redemptorist Order

SAINT ALPHONSUS LIGUORI Bishop and Doctor of the Church (1696-1787)

An Act of Spiritual Communion

My Jesus, I believe that You are truly in the Blessed Sacrament. I love You above all things and I long for you in my soul. Since I cannot now receive you sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart as though You have already come. I embrace You and unite myself entirely to you; never permit me to be separated from You!

I say that it is the will of God that all graces should come to us by the hands of Mary. Sooner would heaven and earth be destroyed than would Mary fail to assist anyone who asks for her help, provided he does so with a good intention and with confidence in her.

To learn more of this good doctor, continue on…

Saint Alphonsus was born near Naples, in 1696. He was a devout child and also a prodigy in many ways. At sixteen he became a doctor in civil law; and upon entering this career he met great success and fame A mistake, however, by which he lost an important case, showed him the vanity of human fame and glory. He decided to abandon the legal profession at the age of twenty-seven, to serve God alone.

Saint Alphonsus was ordained a priest in 1726, and he soon became as renowned a preacher as he had been a lawyer. He was an excellent confessor, and wrote a manual which has been used ever since for the instruction of those who administer the sacrament of Penance. A musician, Saint Alphonsus gave up his instruments to devote himself more perfectly to his priestly duties; he nonetheless composed joyous religious hymns for the poor folk he heard singing in the streets, that they might glorify God and not waste their voices and efforts in vain and worldly songs.

He later founded the missionary Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, for the evangelization of the poor. At the age of sixty-six he became Bishop of Saint Agatha and undertook the reform of his diocese . He made a vow never to waste a moment of time, and, though his life was spent in prayer and work, he also wrote many books. These volumes were filled with such great wisdom that in 1871 he was declared by Pius IX a Doctor of the Church.

Saint Alphonsus wrote his first book at the age of forty-nine, and in his eighty-third year had published about sixty volumes; at that time his director forbade him to continue writing. The best known of his books is his volume entitled “The Glories of Mary”, by which he exalts the graces and narrates the wondrous deeds of mercy of the Mother of God for those who invoke Her. He is also well known for his writings on the Holy Eucharist.

St. Alphonsus lived a long life and he came to know much suffering in his later years with arthritis and is the patron of those who suffer with this disease. He died in 1787 at age 91.

Reflection: Let us do with all our heart and attention the duty of each day, leaving to God the result as well as the care of the future.

To Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

My Lord Jesus Christ, Who, through the love which You bear toward men, does remain with them day and night in this Sacrament, full of mercy and love, awaiting, inviting and receiving all who come to visit You, I believe that You are present in the Sacrament of the Altar.

From the abyss of my nothingness, I adore You. I thank You for all the graces which You have bestowed upon me, particularly for having given me Yourself in this Sacrament, for having given my Your most holy Mother Mary for my advocate, and for having called me to visit You in this church.

I pay my homage to Your most loving Heart for these three ends: first in thanksgiving for this great Gift; second to make amends to You for all the outrages which You do receive in this Sacrament from all Your enemies; third I intend by this visit to adore You in all the places on earth in which You are present in this Sacrament and in which You are the least honored and the most abandoned.

My Jesus, I love You with my whole heart. I am sorry for having offended Your infinite goodness so many times. I purpose, with the help of Your grace, never more to offend You; and, at this moment, mniserable as I am, I consecrate my whole being to You.

I give You my entire will, all my affections and desires and all that I have. From this day forward, do what You will with me and with everything that belongs to me.

I ask and desire only Your holy love, the gift of final perseverance and the perfect fulfillment of Your will. I commend to You the souls in Purgatory, particularly those who were most devoted to the Most Blessed Sacrament and to the Blessed Virgin Mary; and I also commend to You all poor sinners.

Finally, my dear Saviour, I unite all my affections with the affections of Your most loving Heart; and thus united, I offer them to Your Eternal Father, and I entreat Him, in Your Name and for Your sake, to accept and answer them. Amen.

When we have recourse to this Divine Mother, not only we may be sure of her protection, but that often we shall be heard more quickly, and be thus preserved, if we have recourse to Mary and call on her holy name, than we should be if we called on the name of Jesus our Savior. And the reason is that to Jesus, as a Judge, it belongs also to punish; but mercy alone belongs to the Blessed Virgin as a patroness. Meaning, that we more easily find salvation by having recourse to the Mother than by going to the Son–not as if Mary was more powerful than her Son to save us, for we know that Jesus Christ is our only Savior, and that He alone by His merits has obtained and obtains salvation for us; but it is for this reason: that when we have recourse to Jesus, we consider Him at the same time as our Judge, to whom it belongs to chastise ungrateful souls, and therefore the ,confidence necessary to be heard may fail us but when we go to Mary, who has no other office than to compassionate us as Mother of mercy, and to defend us as our advo­cate, our confidence is more easily established, and is often greater.

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We often obtain more promptly what we ask by calling on the name of Mary than by invoking that of Jesus. Her Son is Lord and  Judge of all, and discerns the merits of each one; and therefore if He does not immediately grant the prayers of all, He is just. When, however, the Mother’s name is invoked, though the merits of the suppliant are not such as to deserve that his prayer should be granted, those of the Mother supply that he may receive,  Many things are asked from God, and are not granted but if they are asked from Mary, and are obtained. And how is this?  It is because God has thus decreed to honor His Mother.

It is impossible for a client of Mary, who is faithful in honoring and recommending himself to her, to be lost. To some this proposition may appear, at first sight, ex­aggerated; but anyone to whom this might seem to be the case I would beg to suspend his judgment, and, first of all, read what I have to say on this subject. When we say that it is impossible for a client of Mary to be lost, we must not be understood as speaking of those clients who take advantage of this devotion that  they may sin more freely.

And therefore, those who disapprove of the great praises bestowed on the clemency of this most Blessed Virgin, because it causes the wicked to take advantage of it to sin with greater freedom, do without foundation, for such presumptive people deserve chastisement, and not mercy, for their rash confidence. It is therefore to be understood of those clients who, with a sincere desire to amend, are faithful ­in honoring and recommending themselves to the Mother of God. It is, I say, morally impossible that such as these should be lost.