SAINT AGNES CATHEDRAL 533 South Jefferson Springfield, MO 65806
EXTRAORDINARY FORM OF THE MASS (LATIN)
CELEBRANT Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
January 20th, 2013 Second Sunday after Epiphany
Epistle: Rom. 12:6-16; Gospel: Jn. 2:1-11
Mass schedule January 21st through January 25th
Monday-Saint Agnes * Virgin & Martyr-NO LATIN MASS
Tuesday-SS. Vincent & Anastasius, Martyrs
Wednesday-Saint Raymond of Penafort, Confessor
Thursday-Saint Timothy, Bishop & Martyr
Friday-Conversion of Saint Paul
The Wedding Feast at Cana in Galilee is the second luminous mystery of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ works His first public miracle because His Mother asks Him to! When we ponder this mystery in the life of Christ we should realize how it pleases God when we approach Him through His Blessed Mother. Mary is the most powerful intercessor of all the saints. In fact, one single sigh to her Son is more powerful than the prayers of all the angels and saints combined! Mary’s prayer is the prayer of a Mother, whereas the prayers of saints and angels are prayers of servants. All that the Mother asks of the Son is granted to her.
Mary has a heart full of love and mercy for poor sinners. She desires to see us happy in this life. We have only to turn to her if we want to be heard. It is true that God loved us so much that He died for us, but in the heart of Our Lord there is also justice for sinners. In the heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary there is nothing but mercy. When Jesus Christ is ready to punish a sinner, Mary intercedes and begs pardon for the sinner and Jesus cannot refuse her anything! The Most Holy Virgin places herself between her Son and us. The greater we sin, the more tenderness and compassion she feels for us.
Let us renew our devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary and approach God through her with all our needs.
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Jeff Fasching
Prayers at the Foot of the Altar
Showing posts with label Holy Rosary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Holy Rosary. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2013
Monday, February 13, 2012
The Theological Virtues
Saint Paul in his letter to the Corinthians speaks of the three theological virtues; faith, hope and love. The theological virtues are among our greatest gifts from God. They are infused into our hearts through divine grace. However, we must remember our responsibility to nourish these God-given gifts. We must always and everyday pray for them. We should beg God that we grow in them, never take them for granted, but instead cherish them as our most prized possessions.
We are all people of faith. Perhaps we may know somebody whom we believe to be a person of great faith. Chances are we know somebody who seems to have little, if any faith at all. Faith is a precious gift. The strength of our faith depends a great deal on how we ourselves nourish it. We should constantly ask God for an increase in faith.
We see in the Gospel another great example of Jesus Christ demanding faith from the blind man who wishes to see. Our Lord gives the blind man his sight because “thy faith hath made thee whole.” The blind man believed in his heart that Jesus had the power to heal him. Therefore when the blind man asked for his sight, it was given to him.
Our Lord wants the exact same faith from each one of us. One of the easiest and most effective ways of nourishing our faith and praying for the other virtues is meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When we mediate upon the resurrection, for example, we must beg God for a greater faith. We should contemplate the unprecedented faith that was given to the Blessed Virgin Mary and ask God for a share in this same faith. When we focus on the ascension we should ask God for a greater hope that where He has gone, we will one day follow.
Saint Paul explains that the virtues of faith and hope mean nothing if we do not put them into practice, therefore the greatest of these virtues is love. “Holy” people are people who exercise on a regular basis the virtue of charity. Hence, charity is the key to holiness and sanctity. We can find charitable things to do each and every day that help us grow in holiness. These can be the smallest of acts, because God looks at the intention of one’s heart, not the magnitude of the act.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
We are all people of faith. Perhaps we may know somebody whom we believe to be a person of great faith. Chances are we know somebody who seems to have little, if any faith at all. Faith is a precious gift. The strength of our faith depends a great deal on how we ourselves nourish it. We should constantly ask God for an increase in faith.
We see in the Gospel another great example of Jesus Christ demanding faith from the blind man who wishes to see. Our Lord gives the blind man his sight because “thy faith hath made thee whole.” The blind man believed in his heart that Jesus had the power to heal him. Therefore when the blind man asked for his sight, it was given to him.
Our Lord wants the exact same faith from each one of us. One of the easiest and most effective ways of nourishing our faith and praying for the other virtues is meditating on the mysteries of the Holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary. When we mediate upon the resurrection, for example, we must beg God for a greater faith. We should contemplate the unprecedented faith that was given to the Blessed Virgin Mary and ask God for a share in this same faith. When we focus on the ascension we should ask God for a greater hope that where He has gone, we will one day follow.
Saint Paul explains that the virtues of faith and hope mean nothing if we do not put them into practice, therefore the greatest of these virtues is love. “Holy” people are people who exercise on a regular basis the virtue of charity. Hence, charity is the key to holiness and sanctity. We can find charitable things to do each and every day that help us grow in holiness. These can be the smallest of acts, because God looks at the intention of one’s heart, not the magnitude of the act.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Charity
What is Charity? It is a theological virtue that God infuses into our heart by which we learn to love God with our whole heart and our neighbor as ourselves for the love of God. We should pray every day that we learn to love God above all things, even ourselves. To love God above all things means to be willing to lose fortune, good name, parents, friends children, husband, wife, and even our own life, than to lose God by committing a mortal sin.
Saint Augustine says that to love God perfectly means to love Him without measure, even if there were no heaven to hope for or no hell to fear. Saint Paul knew all too well that to really love God means that neither sufferings, persecutions, contempt, life, or death are capable of taking this love away from us. We owe this kind of love to God.
Those who possess Charity do not strive to accumulate the goods of this world. The things of this world are nothing to them. They realize that those who cling to this world’s goods are unhappy people. They strive constantly to atone for their sins through good works. They are kind to everybody.
When we meditate upon the second mystery of the Holy Rosary, we ask God for a spirit of Charity.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Saint Augustine says that to love God perfectly means to love Him without measure, even if there were no heaven to hope for or no hell to fear. Saint Paul knew all too well that to really love God means that neither sufferings, persecutions, contempt, life, or death are capable of taking this love away from us. We owe this kind of love to God.
Those who possess Charity do not strive to accumulate the goods of this world. The things of this world are nothing to them. They realize that those who cling to this world’s goods are unhappy people. They strive constantly to atone for their sins through good works. They are kind to everybody.
When we meditate upon the second mystery of the Holy Rosary, we ask God for a spirit of Charity.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Friday, February 25, 2011
The Rosary Continued
In the words of Saint Louis Marie Grignion De Montfort:
From the time Saint Dominic established the devotion to the Holy Rosary up to the time when Blessed Alan de la Roche reestablished it in 1460, it has always been called the Psalter of Jesus and Mary. This is because it has the same number of Hail Marys as there are psalms in the Book of the Psalms of David. Since simple and uneducated people are not able to say the Psalms of David, the Rosary is held to be just as fruitful for them as David's Psalter is for others.
Ever since Blessed Alan de la Roche re-established this devotion, the voice of the people, which is the voice of God, gave it the name of the Rosary, which means "crown of roses." That is to say that every time people say the Rosary devoutly they place on the heads of Jesus and Mary 153 white roses and sixteen red roses. Being heavenly flowers, these roses will never fade or lose their beauty.
Our Lady has approved and confirmed this name of the Rosary; she has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose, and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. So the complete Rosary is a large crown of roses and each chaplet of five decades is a little wreath of flowers or a little crown of heavenly roses which we place on the heads of Jesus and Mary. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of devotions and the most important one.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
From the time Saint Dominic established the devotion to the Holy Rosary up to the time when Blessed Alan de la Roche reestablished it in 1460, it has always been called the Psalter of Jesus and Mary. This is because it has the same number of Hail Marys as there are psalms in the Book of the Psalms of David. Since simple and uneducated people are not able to say the Psalms of David, the Rosary is held to be just as fruitful for them as David's Psalter is for others.
Ever since Blessed Alan de la Roche re-established this devotion, the voice of the people, which is the voice of God, gave it the name of the Rosary, which means "crown of roses." That is to say that every time people say the Rosary devoutly they place on the heads of Jesus and Mary 153 white roses and sixteen red roses. Being heavenly flowers, these roses will never fade or lose their beauty.
Our Lady has approved and confirmed this name of the Rosary; she has revealed to several people that each time they say a Hail Mary they are giving her a beautiful rose, and that each complete Rosary makes her a crown of roses. So the complete Rosary is a large crown of roses and each chaplet of five decades is a little wreath of flowers or a little crown of heavenly roses which we place on the heads of Jesus and Mary. The rose is the queen of flowers, and so the Rosary is the rose of devotions and the most important one.
In Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Mortification
Saint Paul writes: "For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live." Mortification of the flesh means "putting the flesh to death." Jesus Himself preached repentance from the slavery to fleshly desires when He said: "Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago, sitting in sackcloth and ashes."
Mortification can mean simply denying oneself pleasures such as meat or alcohol. More severe forms of mortification include self inflicted pain such as scourging. When we meditate on the sorrowful Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for the grace to be mortified. Mortification obtains for us union with God and in some cases a higher place in heaven. When we mortify ourselves we can obtain the conversion of sinners and expiate our sins as well as the sins of others.
The redemptive value of mortification allows us to grow in virtue. It keeps us from becoming soft and lukewarm which is what our Lord despises. Let us pray today for a true spirit of mortification.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Mortification can mean simply denying oneself pleasures such as meat or alcohol. More severe forms of mortification include self inflicted pain such as scourging. When we meditate on the sorrowful Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray for the grace to be mortified. Mortification obtains for us union with God and in some cases a higher place in heaven. When we mortify ourselves we can obtain the conversion of sinners and expiate our sins as well as the sins of others.
The redemptive value of mortification allows us to grow in virtue. It keeps us from becoming soft and lukewarm which is what our Lord despises. Let us pray today for a true spirit of mortification.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
Friday, January 21, 2011
Whole-Hearted Love for God
We must constantly battle against our natural desire for self-love. We must always seek God's glory and what He offers in His true and eternal home, not our own glory. In order to win God's favor, we must learn humility. We should always echo the words of Saint John the Baptist: "He must increase, I must decrease."
If people praise us for our accomplishments or good works, we should never have any feelings of self-importance. We must humble ourselves and never think of our own dignity. We must simply always think of ourselves as useless servants. It must be our aim to run from all honor and glory in this life and seek only that glory and honor that God promises us in our true and heavenly home.
The more we become aware of how mush God really loves us, the more we learn to love God. We must strive to allow ourselves to be transformed by the love of God. This is the grace we pray for in the first luminous mystery of the Holy Rosary. Our love of God must ultimately take away our self-love.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
If people praise us for our accomplishments or good works, we should never have any feelings of self-importance. We must humble ourselves and never think of our own dignity. We must simply always think of ourselves as useless servants. It must be our aim to run from all honor and glory in this life and seek only that glory and honor that God promises us in our true and heavenly home.
The more we become aware of how mush God really loves us, the more we learn to love God. We must strive to allow ourselves to be transformed by the love of God. This is the grace we pray for in the first luminous mystery of the Holy Rosary. Our love of God must ultimately take away our self-love.
Sincerely in Christ,
Rev. Jeffery A. Fasching
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