Today, I am going back to The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus Liguori. In the excerpt I am posting, the Marian saint speaks of the clemency of Mary and of her great charity. St. Alphonsus relates that: …. to our Lady’s great compassion for sinners, St. Bernard calls her the Promised Land flowing with milk and honey. And St. Leo tells us that, when he looks at her, he no longer sees God’s justice but only His mercy, for Mary is full of the mercy of God. She is like a fair olive tree in the field (Sir 24: 14). Only oil (a symbol of mercy) is extracted from the olive; only grace and mercy flow from the hands of Mary… And what safer refuge can we find than the compassionate heart of Mary? There the poor find a home, the sick a cure, the afflicted consolation, the doubtful counsel, and the abandoned help. We would be poorly off indeed if we had no Mother of Mercy to attend to us all the time and relieve us in our needs. Where there is no woman,…
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Candlemas 2024
“Let us run to Mary, and, as her little children, cast ourselves into her arms with a perfect confidence.”–Saint Francis de Sales Today, on the feast of Candlemas, I am re-posting a poem in which the English Catholic writer Gilbert Keith Chesterton (b. 1874- d. 1936) professed his love of, and need for, the Blessed Virgin Mary. The poem is titled Confessional, and it is quite beautiful. The last line strikes a poignant chord as Chesterton confesses that his heart is a heavy load to bear. At the conclusion of the poem, the reader is left with a sense that Chesterton had made a heartfelt and childlike entreaty to Our Lady that she might assist him in bearing the load of his heart (paraphrase GKC). This poem expresses the essence of Catholic devotion to Our Lady: giving oneself to Jesus through the Blessed Virgin Mary, and subsequently trusting in Our Lady’s loving (maternal) care. For more on Candlemas, you might read here, here, and here. May you have a good Candlemas day 2024. ~SCF Confessional by G.K. Chesterton Now that I…
Merry Christmas!
“I don’t know what to do! I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a school-boy. I am as giddy as a drunken man. A merry Christmas to every-body! A happy New Year to all the world! Hallo here! Whoop! Hallo!” ~ Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens A Child of The Snows There is heard a hymn when the panes dimAnd never before or again,When the nights are strong with a darkness long,And the dark is alive with rain. Never we know but in sleet and in snow,The place where the great fires are,That the midst of the earth is a raging mirthAnd the heart of the earth a star. And at night we win to the ancient innWhere the child in the frost is furled,We follow the feet where all souls meetAt the inn at the end of the world. The gods lie dead where the leaves lie red,For the flame of the sun is flown.The gods lie cold where the leaves lie gold.And…
The Miraculous Medal
“O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.” -words inscribed on the front side of the Miraculous Medal as requested by Our Lady Today is the commemoration of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. On this day, we remember the 1830 apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Catherine Laboure in Paris, France. In this Church approved series of apparitions, the Blessed Virgin Mary presented to St. Catherine the much beloved Catholic devotional item now referred to as the Miraculous Medal. St. Catherine described the apparitions of Our Lady in the following words, subsequent events are also detailed, here: “On the 27th of November, 1830 … while making my meditation in profound silence … I seemed to hear on the right hand side of the sanctuary something like the rustling of a silk dress. Glancing in that direction, I perceived the Blessed Virgin standing near St. Joseph’s picture. Her height was medium and Her countenance, indescribably beautiful. She was dressed in a robe the color of the dawn, high-necked, with plain sleeves. Her head…
The Soul at the Moment of Death
November is upon us, and the brisk air, darkening skies, and falling leaves remind us of what the Church has dedicated this beloved month to: death. In the Catholic Church, death is not shoved off into a false closet of make-believe where we live an eternal youth romping about in adolescent clothing. In fact, the Church has always spoken of the grandeurs, and dignities, of the old who have labored in Christ’s vineyard, who prayerfully watch, and await, that fine moment when they shall see Christ; the moment when they shall hear enter into my Kingdom, wait for a purification period, or, be gone. Catholics are also aware, through following the liturgical year, and facing the realities of life, that the moment of death may strike the young, too. Preparation is the order of the day, and there is something pleasant in being prepared. Being prepared actually takes the fear out, or at least reduces it, on the matter of death. One who has been preparing for the moment is not taken by surprise. There are stories of saints who…