During the month of September

14 – Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross

O God, who willed that your Only Begotten Son should undergo the Cross to save the human race, grant, we pray, that we, who have known his mystery on earth, may merit the grace of his redemption in heaven.

15 – Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows

O God, who willed that when your Son was lifted high on the Cross, his Mother should stand close by and share his suffering, grant that your Church, participating with the Virgin Mary in the Passion of Christ, may merit a share in his Resurrection.

24 – Feast of St. Vincent Strambi, Passionist

All-powerful and ever-living God, you made your bishop Saint Vincent Mary a devoted shepherd of your flock and a faithful servant of the Church. Strengthen us by his example to love our neighbour and work for justice as members of your Church.

Disturb us, O Lord

Disturb us, O Lord, when we are too well-pleased with ourselves when our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little, because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, O Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess, we have lost our thirst for the water of life when, having fallen in love with time, we have ceased to dream of eternity and in our efforts to build a new earth, we have allowed our vision of Heaven to grow dim.

Stir us, O Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture into wider seas where storms show your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars.

In the name of him who pushed back the horizons of our hopes and invited the brave to follow.

[Archbishop Desmond Tutu]

Silence

“St. Isaac the Syrian noted the need for sacred silence when he wrote: ‘What watering is to plants is exactly the same as silence for the growth of the spiritual life.’ Our relationship with Christ is a delicate plant, it still needs watering daily. In sacred silence we are able to hear the Gospel ever anew and be drawn into the silence of God. Indeed this kind of silence becomes not just a discipline or an environment for prayer – it gradually becomes the content of our prayer – and it seeps into all aspects of our lives.”

Hide My Sins In Your Wounds

“If my own life, I have so often seen God’s merciful countenance, his patience; I have also seen so many people find the courage to enter the wounds of Jesus by saying to him: I am here, accept my poverty, hide my sin in your wounds, wash it away with your blood. And I have always seen that God did just this – he accepted them, consoled them, cleansed them, loved them.

[Pope Francis, Homily, 7 Aril 2013]

St. Mary Major and Pope Francis

September 1721 – “At the Church of St. Mary Major, Paul of the Cross prayed a long time before the painting of the Blessed Virgin attributed to St. Luke. It was there he made the vow to promote devotion to the Passion in the hearts of the faithful and to strive to gather companions around himself.” [St. Paul of the Cross, Charles Almeras, p. 67]