Printed on the First Easter Sunday by Christ Himself!

The victory of Christ over death!

Happy Easter everyone!

How the very first GPS was used

Now you know.

20 + C + M + B + 14

Today is the great feast of the Divine Mercy

The Essence of the Divine Mercy Devotion

1. Trust

- expresses the disposition we should have toward God. It includes not only the virtue of hope, but also a lively faith, humility, perseverance and remorse for sins committed. It is simply the attitude of a child who trusts boundlessly in the merciful love and omnipotence of the Heavenly Father in every situation.

Trust is so essential to the Divine Mercy devotion that without it the devotion cannot exist; this is because our worship of the Divine Mercy is first and foremost an expression of trust. An attitude of trust alone (even without the practice of other forms of the devotion) already assures the trusting soul of grace that will receive God's mercy.

I desire, Jesus promised, to grant unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy. (687) Let them approach this sea of mercy with great trust. Sinners will attain justification, and the just will be confirmed in good. Whoever places his trust in My mercy will be filled with My divine peace at the hour of death. (1520)

Trust is not only the essence or soul of this devotion, but also the condition for obtaining graces.

The graces of mercy, Jesus told Sister Faustina, are drawn by means of one vessel only, and that is - trust. The more a soul trusts, the more it will receive. Souls that trust boundlessly are a great comfort to Me, because I pour all the treasures of My graces into them. I rejoice that they ask for much, because it is My desire to give much, very much. (1578) The soul which will trust in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it. (1273) No soul that has called upon My Mercy has been disappointed or brought to shame. I delight particularly in a soul which has placed its trust in My goodness. (1541)


2. Mercy

- expresses the disposition we should have towards every human being.

Jesus told Sister Faustina, I demand ... deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it. I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first - by deed, the second - by word, the third - by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My Mercy. (742)

This attitude of an active love of neighbor is also a condition for obtaining graces.

Jesus recalled the Gospel maxim when He said, If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgement. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgement with their mercy. (1317) The Lord desires that those who worship Him perform at least one act of mercy every day. My daughter, Jesus told Sister Faustina, know that My Heart is mercy itself. From this sea of mercy, graces flow out upon the whole world. ... I desire that your heart be an abiding place of My mercy. I desire that this mercy flow out upon the whole world through your heart. Let no one who approaches you go away without that trust in My mercy which I so ardently desire for souls. (1777)

Consider this!

And that moment when Mary said "Yes" to the archangel Gabriel's invitation.

And we will recall THAT MOMENT when God the Son became a human embryo...

This SUNDAY!

The Feast of the Annunciation!

FIAT!

***

Consider this also.

A human embryo is a unique being, with a unique DNA pattern.  It is not just a blob of blood.  It is not even just a simple part of a woman's body.  It is a human being!

There are contraceptives that either expel the embryo from the woman's womb or it makes the womb such a hostile environment that the embryo cannot implant itself on the uterine wall, thus the embryo, the unborn human being, is expelled from the body.

So, what do you call that process when a human life in the womb is terminated?

ABORTION.

See, why Holy Mother Church has been firm in its condemnation of oral contraceptive pills?

Happy Candlemas!

Today is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple!

Traditionally, this is the day when all candles are blessed.

No, not for the three days of darkness or for the End of the World in 2012 thing.

It is just that.  Candles are traditionally blessed on this feast day.

It is the 40th day after Christmas.  Did you know that?  :)

In the Missal of Paul VI, it is called the Feast of Presentation of the Lord, to give emphasis to Jesus being presented to the prophet Simeon and his prophecy we now call "Nunc Dimittis".  In the older Missal, today is called the "Feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin" because the Virgin Mary, a devout Jew, followed the ritual purification of women who gave birth, and it must be done 40 days after (Leviticus 12:2-8).  That is why this tradition of bringing candles and of "churching of women" continues in the traditional movement and even in the Anglican Communion, though this may not be on the actual feast day.

So for this wonderful day when "a light for revelation to the nations, and the glory of your people Israel" has been presented to the Temple of the Lord, I offer this wonderful poem/hymn.

Angels from the realms of glory,

Wing your flight o’er all the earth;

Ye who sang creation’s story

Now proclaim Messiah’s birth.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Shepherds, in the field abiding,

Watching o’er your flocks by night,

God with us is now residing;

Yonder shines the infant light:

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Sages, leave your contemplations,

Brighter visions beam afar;

Seek the great Desire of nations;

Ye have seen His natal star.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Saints, before the altar bending,

Watching long in hope and fear;

Suddenly the Lord, descending,

In His temple shall appear.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Though an Infant now we view Him,

He shall fill His Father’s throne,

Gather all the nations to Him;

Every knee shall then bow down:

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

James Montgomery (1771-1854)

On this great feast of Christ the King of the Universe!

Hymn of the Cristero

La Virgen María es nuestra protectora y nuestra defensora cuando hay que temer,

Vencerá a los demonios gritando "¡Viva Cristo Rey!",

Vencerá a los demonios gritando "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"

Soldados de Cristo: ¡Sigamos la bandera que la Cruz enseña el ejército de Dios!

Sigamos la bandera gritando, "¡Viva Cristo Rey!"

***

The Virgin Mary is our protector and defender when there is something to fear,

She will defeat the demons crying "Long live Christ the King!"

She will defeat the demons crying "Long live Christ the King!"

Soldiers of Christ let us follow the flag that the Cross shows the army of God!

Let us follow the flag crying, "Long live Christ the King!"

Read more about the Cristero War and why it matters to you as a Catholicf whose faith is being attacked by secularists, modernists and neo-atheists!

FYI, many great martyrs are beatified and canonized because of this war.

In the meantime, enjoy this classic Catholic Hymn while it is on YouTube since you would rarely hear them in our Catholic churches anymore.

And I thought we have a world-class liturgist in the Philippines...

How to celebrate Halloween, the Catholic way

Taylor Marshall of Cantervury Tales has an interesting post about doing the All Hallow's eve celebration....the Catholic way.

He posted this last year and still makes for a good read.

Click here for more.

You can also read this interesting post from the "Association of Catholic Women Bloggers" about the Catholic way of doing things in this highly secularized commemoration of All Saint's Day Eve.

The demonic forces are being paraded on the streets. Why not people worth emulating like the saints, eh?

A brief background, Halloween has its origins from the Celtic festival for Samhain, the Celtic god of the dead, or in some literature, a demon who roams the earth together with otehr vile creatures on Oct. 31. According to legend, people dress up looking like the dead or other scary creature to confuse Samhain, thinking that he is looking at one of his kind because if he sees a human being, he would kill the person or possess the person. So in a way, the festival of dressing up like scary creatures is a way of "escaping the wrath of Samhain", more like a paganistic ritual. The TV series, Supernatural, even had one episode about this.

So, if you want to teach a valuable Catholic lesson to your kids, dress them up as saints and angels. Not as demons or zombies.

You don't want your kids to know more about these vile creatures in exchange for sweets.

The bishop's conference of England and Wales also made the similar appeal last year.