The Church as One

My heart burns... it yearns. I wish every day was the eve in anticipation towards a Sunday morning. It is not that every Sunday has its note be the sweetest... though we must do our part. No, it is the anticipation of something even greater, greater than even the Mass present before us in our hearts of the day. That is why we are called forth, the Mass is a sending into the Vineyard. So must we... and to not grumble when we see gifts greater than our own. Even that morning, the arresting breath! A turn of the corner, a flash of light, a peace not my own. The Eucharist is our highest joy on this earth.

My heart returns to these successive weeks... for me, they're enveloped within the consciousness of the Domestic Church. At Mass a few weeks ago, again and again at that early morning offering—the young families present. We mustn't grow weary of their participation—of the coos, the noise, the shaking of the Church. It is a good and necessary thing! It reminds us of our vitality, of our love for one another. They do not belong behind, away, or shuttered. They belong in front.

I wish to take the latter of this into my arms... and ultimately into my prayers. My prayers are for those who deal with such deep loss within the Domestic Church. There is good in desires and better in their purification. We are not a Church at rest! We are a Church active, a Church Militant. A Church in Love is a Church active, not doing Her own will but the One who sent Her, who Baptized Her, who Commissioned Her for the great good She does because She is empowered by Jesus Christ himself and the same Spirit that fills us as believers in the true Faith of Jesus Christ. We are the Church, but not in our isolation... in dissident, fractious belief or in our vanity, our impatience, our own self-centeredness... We are the Church in Communion, called to be One, called to be Holy, called to be Apostolic... called to be Catholic.

Lord, repair what I have undone, what I have done poorly. Fix what I have broken, heal where I have made division, speak where I have remained silent. Make known Your love to us. Take us back into Your own heart, a people set apart. Let us see You in the Other.

Guide us into the Way of Peace, into the Way of Truth, into the Way of Love together as One. Amen.

The Little Flower

What shall I say? Let us make a return to the Lord, for He is good and forgiving, slow to anger and rich in kindness. To the hungry He brings good things, and the rich He has sent away empty. Let us pour ourselves out as the Little Flower did, be rich in word and deed for others, and sacrificial in our service—no matter or place in life. We are called to do good and to be love for one another. Let us seek out the good, for our time is short. Let us seek out the good and think better of others and trust in the Lord. Let us share that goodwill and be present to those in our midst and count not the cost of love.

"O little martyr of Love, you know now even better than in the days of your pilgrimage that Love embraces all vocations; that it is Love alone which counts, which unites us perfectly to God and conforms our will with His. All you sought on earth was love; to love Jesus as He had never yet been loved. Use your power in heaven to make us love Him. If only we love Him we shall desire to make Him loved by others; we shall pray much for souls. We shall no longer fear death, for it will unite us to Him forever. Obtain for us the grace to do all for the love of God, to give Him pleasure, to love Him so well that He may be pleased with us as He was with you.

Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen."

"Thought for the day: Love of God. I will love God alone and will not have the misfortune of attaching myself to creatures, now that my heart perceive what He has in store for those who love Him.

What attracts me to the kingdom of Heaven is the call of our Lord, the hope of loving Him as I have so desired and the thought that I shall be able to make Him loved by a great number of souls who will bless Him forever.

When Christ said, "Give Me a Drink," it was the love of His poor creatures that He, the Creator of all things, desired. He thirsted for love.

Remember that the dear Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you, for you alone. Remember that He is consumed with a desire to come into your heart." - EWTN's "Little Flower Novena"

Prayer of the Family

How do I foolishly desire to be rid of the darkness of trial and temptation, insofar as my dimmed understanding permits me even to express now. It is not a matter of temptation to love something more than God that ones striving towards the Holy One should be most concerned about, though proper ordering of love is a prudent necessity. No, it is the temptation to doubt the gift given to one who experiences great trial and doubt in response. This darkness in question is the poisonous fumes of doubt that question the gifts because of oneself. They wrongly question the giver's sanity and not the standard of the gifted that one visits review upon and to whom the talents have been given.

A lack of response to prayer is not a lack of prayer. A lack of receptivity in so-called prayer is itself the absence of true prayer, not the feeling of emptiness or fullness. We are earthen vessels who are prone to seeping that which we are filled with; neither can we fill without first being open to receiving. Love must be the act of will present in prayer to be open to the blinding fires of Love before us if we are ready to be refined in and proved through this refining fire of Love.

O Act of Love... in thee I stand. With thee I pray, those indescribable words in exaltation to Him Who Is... May I too be bound by the Holy Family through which all instruction took form and place from of youth and until His Bloody Passion as the Paschal Lamb.

O St. Joseph, patron of the Universal Church and patron saint of families... I choose thee in this same love for my family to be. Dear St. Joseph, pray for all of our families in all their states and dispositions, that they may mirror the Trinity in love. St. Joseph, especially pray for my family and spouse to be. May I mirror your love in chastity to give myself to her in fruitful and unyielding love. May your prayers usher God's grace in me to be patient in its timing and form, that I may not grow hasty or worried over any outward appearance of failure but trust in the Heralds of God who announce the Good News. May God grant the peace necessary to answer this prayer in the silence as well as in the active. Patron Saint of the Family, guide me with your prayer to the works God has prepared within me, those works of great love He wills for me.

Lord God, Eternal Father, grant this prayer and petition in the name of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ who lives and reigns forever with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

St. Joseph, Patron Saint of the Universal Church and of all families, pray for us!

To All Whom Sleep Doth Possess

To all whom sleep doth possess,
May all honor and glory in the Christ believed
Be now at once seen, and all with one voice confess
That Christ is King and reigneth over the See Eternal
With one voice in compact unity and share the Kingdom Blessed.

To all whom labors doth distress,
May all glory in the Royal Road trod be seen,
That Christ's road is ours now, too, in our egress,
And the joy of following the Master on the Way
Be at once made sweet and sorrowful in times of duress.

To all in the Holy Train, to all who Confess...
Join us here below, in our thoughts and in our prayer,
Join us in the dying of the night and the rising of day,
That with newness of heart we purge all that would keep us away
From that Communion in the Sacred Heart of Him who is,
Who was, and who will be ever be, One God Living and True.
To Him be all honor and glory, world without end. Amen.

In Memoriam Benita Eggemeyer Bankston, October 30, AD 2012.

Confession

In my loneliness,
I have reached out.
In my pain,
I have sought dry wells of grace.

I have sought things,
Things that are not my own,
Things I should have not,
Things that do not satisfy the thirst.

In my loneliness,
I have have failed one; I have failed all.
In my pain,
I have sought an empty place.

In my sorrow,
I have run.
In my pain,
I have run from guideposts of grace.

I have run from hearts,
Hearts ready to love,
Hearts ready to give,
Hearts filled with good things.

In my sorrow,
I fall down.
In my pain,
I fall to my knees.

Forgive me, Lord:
It is You whom I seek.

Litany of Love

Mercy, O Lord,
What mercy do You desire?
What love do You require?
What trust, what kindness,
What heart so blessed?

Love, O Lord,
What love do You find fitting?
What path to me are You committing?
What heart to love requiting?

Hope, O Lord,
What hope do You so give!
What Spring Eternal,
What Font of Every Blessing!

Faith, O Lord,
What faith do You desire!
Seeing beyond the bend,
We turn to You, our hearts transcendent!

Trust, O Lord,
What trust do we have in You!
We trust in Your Word
To perfect our love renewed.

Word, Thy Word,
What Word so greatly blessed!
Teach us, Thy Word,
To be love for one another;
Teach us to be love renewed!

Lost

I want to be lost in You,
In Your spirit,
In Your beauty,
In Your love.

I want to wash in Your pools of compassion,
Completely in Your peace,
In Your grace,
In Your love.

I want to breathe in Your presence
Away from my vain thoughts,
Away from my senseless worries,
Away from my hatred.

I want to see Your glory,
In the brightness of day,
In the beauty that remains,
In Your love that sustains.

I want to lose myself
In the humbleness of this world,
In the daily toils,
In the little moments of love.

I want to feel the sufferings
In gentleness of heart,
In waiting for You—the One,
In waiting for the fullness of Your love.

I want to be free in Your love,
In Your fatherly care,
In waiting for Your gifts,
In the robes of Your care.

I want nothing but to be in You,
All the days of my life,
To find myself overshadowed by You,
In the completeness of Your love.

I want to lose myself,
In spirit, body, and soul,
In no other hope but Your own
To live out a life filled with Your love.

A Prayer at Eventide

Lord, I come to You,
My whole self trembling.
Tell me of my wrongs.

Lord, I see You now,
Passing before my broken soul.
Show me Your way of peace.

Lord, I feel Your presence,
Burning into the depths of my soul.
Give me grace through Your counsel.

Lord, I know Your love,
Overflowing in my heart.
Turn my mourning into Your joy.

See my devotion, O Lord,
To the Call You have given me.
Give me peace through Your love.

Feel my yearning, O Lord,
To know You even more.
Show me the paths to Your wisdom.

Come to me, O Lord,
To guide me in my sleeping and my waking.
Tell me of Your will.

Give me peace in tonight's tranquil rest
And resolve each day to love all of You
With a heart so greatly blessed.

When the Saints Go Marching In

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 Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
Holy Mother of God, pray for us.

Holy Virgin of virgins,
Saint Michael,
Saint Gabriel,
Saint Raphael,
All you holy angels and archangels,
All you holy orders of blessed spirits,
Saint John the Baptist,
Saint Joseph,
All you holy patriarchs and prophets,
Saint Peter,
Saint Paul,
Saint Andrew,
Saint James,
Saint John,
Saint Thomas,
Saint James,
Saint Philip,
Saint Bartholomew,
Saint Matthew,
Saint Simon,
Saint Thaddeus,
Saint Matthias,
Saint Barnabas,
Saint Luke,
Saint Mark,
All you holy apostles and evangelists,
All you holy disciples of Our Lord,
All you holy innocents,
Saint Stephen,
Saint Lawrence,
Saint Vincent,
Saints Fabian and Sebastian,
Saints John and Paul,
Saints Cosmas and Damian,
All you holy martyrs,
Saint Sylvester,
Saint Gregory,
Saint Ambrose,
Saint Augustine,
Saint Jerome,
Saint Martin,
Saint Nicholas,
All you holy bishops and confessors,
All you holy doctors,
Saint Anthony,
Saint Benedict,
Saint Bernard,
Saint Dominic,
Saint Francis,
All you holy priests and brothers,
All you holy monks and hermits,
Saint Mary Magdalen,
Saint Agatha,
Saint Lucy,
Saint Agnes,
Saint Cecilia,
Saint Catherine,
Saint Anastasia,
All you holy virgins and widows,

All you holy men and women, saints of God,
Pray for us.

St. Therese of Lisieux's Prayers

St. Therese the Little Flower, also know as St. Therese of Lisieux or St. Therese of the Child Jesus, is not the same person as St. Teresa of Avila. Teresa of Avila lived in the 1500's and did many great things. She was a reformer of the Carmelite Order who re-introduced a more rigorous prayer and fasting in the communities she was associated with. St. Therese of Lisieux, also a Carmelite, lived in the late 1800's and did no huge things. She reveled in doing very small things and to the very best of her ability and offering them to Jesus as her sacrifice. She wrote about her "Little Way" of holiness in her diary, which her convent published after shed died of tuberculosis before reaching the age of 24.

Find out more on St Therese of Lisieux at the Society of the Little Flower, the largest organization in the world promoting devotion to St. Therese of Lisieux. The commune of Lisieux itself is in Normandy, France.

Below are two prayers attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux, and I thought it would be nice to share since it is so exceptionally simple and pertinent:


St. Therese of Lisieux & Her Prayer to Know God's Will:

Lord, grant that I may always allow myself to be guided by you,
always follow your plans, and perfectly accomplish Your holy will.
Grant that in all things, great and small,
today and all the days of my life,
I may do whatever you may require of me.
Help me to respond to the slightest prompting of Your grace,
so that I may be your trustworthy instrument.
May Your will be done in time and eternity,
by me, in me, and through me.

Amen.


Another one that was sent to me by e-mail that I am not positive on the origin but is readily attributed to St. Therese of Lisieux:

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing, dance, praise and love. It is there for each and every one of you.

Dona Nobis Pacem

Dominus exaudi nos
Dominus misrere
Dona nobis pacem
Sanctus, Gloria
dona nobis pacem
e dona eis requiem
inter ovas locum
voca me cum benedictis
pie jesu domine, dona eis requiem
dominus deus, Sanctus, Gloria