"HE Loved Us"

[litany-of-trust]

That my life is a gift…

Jesus, I trust in You.

[portraitsofsaints]

Our Lady of the Rosary

Feast Day: October 7

"If you say the Rosary faithfully until death, I do assure you that, in spite of the gravity of your sins 'you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory.' Even if you are on the brink of damnation, even if you have one foot in hell, even if you have sold your soul to the devil as sorcerers do who practice black magic, and even if you are a heretic as obstinate as a devil, sooner or later you will be converted and will amend your life and will save your soul, if-- and mark well what I say-- if you say the Holy Rosary devoutly every day until death for the purpose of knowing the truth and obtaining contrition and pardon for your sins." -St. Louis de Montfort from The Secret of the Rosary

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[servantoftheagonizingheart]

God loves the world!!

[catholic-shieldmaiden-deactivat]

Is it wrong to believe the Jews killed Jesus? Or was it the Romans?

They both did, in fact every one of us played a role in crucifying Jesus with our sins.

[apenitentialprayer]

Should anyone inquire why the Son of God underwent His most bitter Passion, he will find that besides the guilt inherited from our first parents the principal causes were the vices and crimes which have been perpetrated from the beginning of the world to the present day, and those which will be committed to the end of time. In His Passion and death the Son of God, our Savior, intended to atone for and blot out the sins of all ages, to offer for them to His Father a full and abundant satisfaction. Besides, to increase the dignity of this mystery, Christ not only suffered for sinners, but even for those who were the very authors and ministers of all the torments He endured. Of this the Apostle reminds us in these words addressed to the Hebrews: Think diligently upon him that endured such opposition from sinners against Himself; that you may not be wearied, fainting in your minds [12:3]. In this guilt are involved all who fall frequently into sin; for, as our sins consigned Christ the Lord to the death of the Cross, most certainly those who wallow in sin and iniquity crucify themselves again the Son of God, as far as in them lies, and make a mockery of Him. This guilt seems more enormous in us than in the Jews, since according to the testimony of the same Apostle: If they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory [1 Corinthians 2:7-8]; while we, on the contrary, professing to know Him, yet denying Him by our actions, seem in some sort to lay violent hands on Him.

- The Catechism of Trent (Part I, Article IV, Subarticle XI), trans. John McHugh, O.P., and Charles Callan, O.P. Original Latin of bolded phrasing: Atque hac culpa omnes teneri iudicandum est, qui in peccata saepius prolabuntur; nam quum peccata nostra Christum Dominum impulerint, ut crucis supplicium subire … Quod quidem scelus eo gravius in nobis videri potest, quam fuerit in Iudaei.

[servantoftheagonizingheart]

God bless Pope Francis ❤️ Please pray for his health

[apenitentialprayer]

Given that Pope Francis's papacy has so emphasized the sacredness of human dignity and the need to fight against the "throw-away culture" that sidelines people once their "usefulness" has ended, I sure hope that everyone speculating about his death, wondering whether he'll resign, or predicting who the next pope will be remembers that the Chair of Saint Peter is occupied by a living, breathing, suffering human being in need of support and prayers right now

[seraphim-eternal]

Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you.

Ephesians 5:14

[servantoftheagonizingheart]

Months pass and the world progresses with anger and disdain. Little joy seems to be multiplied and even less sorrow is divided. It is almost as though the world ended long ago.

Being a introverted person I spend a lot of time in my own head, left to focus on my thoughts and feelings. Paradoxically I am also eager to speak with others and have long conversations. The last few months have been tense and it feels like it only has gotten more strained in the last week or so. American politics feels like rot to so many, including myself. It weakens hearts and brings tears to the meek. It's difficult to hear from friends, from people you hold dear, how worried they are. It's difficult to see the news and feel weakened in your power to change things. It is the most difficult when you feel like you can never comfort or be comforted.

However, what keeps me and many others, hopefully you too, is that we are not alone. God loves. Not an abstract concept of God who exists as just energy, nor an impersonal God who does not step foot on Earth, but GOD. The God of Israel, of Mary and Joseph, has set foot on Earth. He has become Flesh, Incarnate as Man.

Jesus Christ is a loving God, the most personable, but we sometimes forget that He lived in a trying time. The Jewish population subjugated under pagan rule, under the threat of being crushed and dismantled by secular powers. Death was very close by. Of course, many saints faced this fate by their Roman overlords. Ss. Peter, Paul, Lawrence, and Clement all died violently. Many likely saw these horrific deaths and thought the faith would die out. An inevitability.

It didn't. The Martyrs were welcomed into Heaven and showered with love and guidance. They joined Christ in the celestial singing and praise. The Church on Earth continued, oppression after oppression, until it now sits as the totality of the world. Forever and ever.

If you believe the world is a place of pain, or if is descending into pain, remember that this is not a game of inevitable failure. Hope is never lost. The world could decline to the lowest point of absolute suffering, but it will inevitably get better. It will rise and things will be okay once again.

God have mercy and gives us strength, let no worry find us unguarded!

[by-grace-of-god]

Mary and Jesus by Bernadette Carstensen

Proceeds go to Little Flower Showers, a ministry supporting women in crisis pregnancies.  

[portraitsofsaints]

Nicholas Black Elk

Servant of God

December 1, 1863 - August 19, 1950

Nicholas Black Elk, an Oglala Lakota Indian and cousin to Crazy Horse was a medicine man and healer. He fought in the Battle of Little Bighorn and the Wounded Knee Massacre and toured with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. In 1904 Black Elk was baptized a Catholic, chose the Christian name Nicholas, and became a Catechist, promoting the Rosary, Sacred Heart Devotion, and reading the Bible. Nicholas was smart and passionate about his culture and faith, uniting them to save souls. The Diocese of Rapid City, SD opened his cause for canonization in 2017.

Prints, plaques & holy cards available for purchase. (website)

[teaologyofthebody-deactivated20]

Receiving Communion in a state of Grace.

Reblog if you agree

[deedsandcreeds]

“Christianity is a paradoxical religion because the Jew of Nazareth is a paradoxical character. No figure in history or fiction contains as many multitudes as the New Testament’s Jesus. He’s a celibate ascetic who enjoys dining with publicans and changing water into wine at weddings. He’s an apocalyptic prophet one moment, a wise ethicist the next. He’s a fierce critic of Jewish religious law who insists that he’s actually fulfilling rather than subverting it. He preaches a reversal of every social hierarchy while deliberately avoiding explicitly political claims. He promises to set parents against children and then disallows divorce; he consorts with prostitutes while denouncing even lustful thoughts. He makes wild claims about his own relationship to God, and perhaps his own divinity, without displaying any of the usual signs of megalomania or madness. He can be egalitarian and hierarchical, gentle and impatient, extraordinarily charitable and extraordinarily judgmental. He sets impossible standards and then forgives the worst of sinners. He blesses the peacemakers and then promises that he’s brought not peace but the sword. He’s superhuman one moment; the next he’s weeping. And of course the accounts of his resurrection only heighten these paradoxes, by introducing a post-crucifixion Jesus who is somehow neither a resuscitated body nor a flitting ghost but something even stranger still—a being at once fleshly and supernatural, recognizable and transfigured, bearing the wounds of the crucifixion even as he passes easily through walls. The boast of Christian orthodoxy, as codified by the councils of the early Church and expounded in the Creeds, has always been its fidelity to the whole of Jesus. Its dogmas and definitions seek to encompass the seeming contradictions in the gospel narratives rather than evading them. Was he God or was he man? Both, says orthodoxy. Is the kingdom he preached something to be lived out in this world or something to be expected in the next? Both. Did he offer a blueprint for moral conduct or a call to spiritual enlightenment? Both. Did he mean to fulfill Judaism among the Jews, or to convert the Gentile world? Both. Was he the bloodied Man of Sorrows of Mel Gibson; the hippie, lilies-of-the-field Jesus of Godspell; or the wise moralist beloved by Victorian liberals? All of them and more….”

Ross Douthat, “Bad Religion”

[kaijuno]

[disgruntledexplainer]

based and kindness-pilled.

But I say to you that hear: Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you. Bless them that curse you, and pray for them that calumniate you. And to him that striketh thee on the one cheek, offer also the other. And him that taketh away from thee thy cloak, forbid not to take thy coat also. Give to every one that asketh thee, and of him that taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.

-Luke 6:27-30

[servantoftheagonizingheart]

Christ, Man of Sorrows (Antonio de Pereda, 1641)

The world is very cruel at the moment. People despise each other and it's hard to find trust. Everyone wishes harm on each other because others are hurting them. I know a lot of people feel their hearts twisting and writhing in their chest with sadness. Look out for kindness and try to make the world a better place. Please be kind.

Remember God, remember His Bleeding and Sacred Heart made YOU with the utmost devotion.

Have Mercy,