Music: St. Hildegard von Bingen – Veni Creator Spiritus – Performers: Anonymous 4

O God I Love you,
not simply to be saved,
and not because those who fail in love to you
will be punished with eternal fire.

You, you, my JESUS, have all-embraced me on the cross.
You have borne the nails, the lance, much ignominy,
numberless griefs, sweatings and anguish, and death,
and these on account of me and for me, a sinner.

Why therefore, should I not love you,
O, most loving JESUS?
Not that in heaven you shall save me,
nor lest for eternity you shall condemn me;
not with the hope of any reward,
but as you have loved me, so also will I love you,
only because you are my King,
and because you are my God.

Also check out:  St. Francis Xavier…for the love of neighbor

Trial and execution

Committed to the Tower of London, he was questioned in the presence of Queen Elizabeth, who asked him if he acknowledged her to be the true Queen of England. He replied she was, and she offered him wealth and dignities, but on condition of rejecting his Catholic faith, which he refused to accept. He was kept a long time in prison and reputedly racked twice. Despite the effect of a false rumour of retraction and a forged confession, his adversaries summoned him to four public conferences (September 1, 18, 23 and 27, 1581). Although still suffering from his ill treatment, and allowed neither time nor books for preparation, he reportedly conducted himself so easily and readily that he won the admiration of most of the audience. Tortured again on October 31, he was indicted at Westminster on a charge of having conspired, along with others, in Rome and Reims to raise a sedition in the realm and dethrone the Queen.

Edmund Campion, in a 1631 print.

Campion was sentenced to death as a traitor. He answered: “In condemning us, you condemn all your own ancestors, all our ancient bishops and kings, all that was once the glory of England — the island of saints, and the most devoted child of the See of Peter.” He received the death sentence with the Te Deum laudamus. After spending his last days in prayer he was led with two companions, Ralph Sherwin and Alexander Briant, to Tyburn where the three sainted martyrs were hanged, drawn and quartered on December 1, 1581. He was 41 years of age.

Veneration and Feast Day

Edmund Campion was beatified by Pope Leo XIII on December 9, 1886. Blessed Edmund Campion was canonized nearly eighty-four years later in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales with a common feast day of May 4. His feast day is celebrated on December 1, the day of his martyrdom.

The actual ropes used in his execution are now kept in glass display tubes at Stonyhurst College in Lancashire; each year they are placed on the altar of St Peter’s Church for Mass to celebrate Campion’s feast day—which is always a holiday for the school. – wiki

A Daily Prayer of St. Edmund

“I have made a free oblation of myself
to your Divine Majesty,
both of life and of death,
and I hope that
you will give me
grace and force to perform.
This is all I desire. Amen.”
-St. Edmund Campion

VATICAN CITY, 30 NOV 2011 (VIS) – This morning’s general audience was celebrated in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 5,500 faithful. Having recently completed a series of catecheses dedicated to prayer in the Old Testament, the Pope today began a new cycle on the subject of the prayer of Christ which, he said, was “like a hidden canal irrigating His life, relationships and actions, and guiding Him with increasing firmness to the total gift of self, in keeping with the loving plan of God the Father”.

One particularly significant moment of prayer followed the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. This, the Pope noted, poses a query as to why Jesus, Who was without sin, should have chosen to submit Himself to John’s Baptism of penance and conversion. John the Baptist himself raised the question, saying “I need to be baptised by you, and do you come to me?”. The Holy Father explained how “by emerging Himself in the Jordan River, Jesus … expressed His solidarity with people who recognise their sins, who chose to repent and change their lives. He helps us to understand that being part of the people of God means entering into a new life, a life in conformity with God. By this gesture Jesus anticipated the cross, beginning His active life by taking the place of sinners, bearing the weight of the sin of all humankind on His shoulders”.

By praying after His Baptism, Jesus demonstrates His intimate bond with the Father, “experiencing His paternity and apprehending the demanding beauty of His love. Speaking to God, Jesus receives confirmation of His mission”, with the words that resound from on high: “This is my son, the Beloved” and with the descent of the Holy Spirit upon Him. “Through prayer”, the Pope said, “Jesus lives in uninterrupted contact with the Father in order to achieve His project of love for mankind”. It is in this profound union with the Father that Jesus made the move for the hidden life of Nazareth to His public ministry. (more…)

In this episode, Monsignor Moroney answers the question, where does the Mass come from?

The New and Eternal Word, Monsignor James P. Moroney explores how the Church celebrates the Holy Mass in our day. In particular, he examines how a new Missale Romanum and a new English translation of these prayers can draw us more deeply into the words and rites of the Mass.

“Beyond Words” The First Sunday of Advent

Mark Hart is an author, speaker, director and teacher, Mark’s work both written and spoken, is known across the country and world. While he serves as the Vice President of LIFE TEEN, he is known to tens of thousands simply as the “Bible Geek ®” Mark passionately echoes the gospel to all he encounters. He is as deep as he is funny, and his love for his wife and daughters is second only to his immense love for Jesus Christ.

Monsignor James P. Moroney introduces to us the Collect for the First Sunday of Advent (from the new English translation of the Roman Missal, Third Typical Edition).

The last part of the introductory rites is the Collect prayer, or what is commonly referred to as the opening prayer. In the early Church, this prayer probably served to gather the assembly for worship, but now it serves to collect or focus the assembly’s prayer at the beginning of the liturgy.

The Collect is a carefully constructed prayer and can be broken down into several parts: the priest’s invitation to prayer, “Let us pray;” a brief period of silence for private prayer and recalling one’s own intention; the prayer itself (containing praise of God, a petition, and the hoped outcome for the petition); a concluding doxology, “Through Christ our Lord;” and the people’s response, “Amen.”

All of the Collect prayers have been retranslated in a way that more accurately captures their original structure and meaning in Latin. Obviously, some of the literary devices such as rhyme and word play, among others, will not shine through as they do in the Latin, and some of the sentences are long and complex. However, the words matter; the words articulate the truths of the Christian faith. The words shape and form us as a believing community, and the words contribute to the unity of the Church across the world.

In this episode “Ars Celebrandi”, he explains how we are praying the Mass from the inside out.

The New and Eternal Word, Monsignor James P. Moroney explores how the Church celebrates the Holy Mass in our day. In particular, he examines how a new Missale Romanum and a new English translation of these prayers can draw us more deeply into the words and rites of the Mass.

Viva Cristo Rey

take a look…you won’t be disappointed
and maybe moved to learn about this extradodinary man…saint

Now…visit the website first put together by the wonderful Ann Ball to
learn everything you can know about Blessed Miguel Pro

According to one of Fr. Pro’s biographers, Rec. M.D. Forrest, M.S.C., the following was composed shortly before his death:

Does our life become from day to day more painful, more oppressive, more replete with afflictions?  Blessed be He a thousand times who desires it so. If life be harder, love makes it also stronger, and only this love, grounded on suffering, can carry the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ. Love without egotism, without relying on self, but enkindling in the depth of the heart an ardent thirst to love and suffer for all those around us: a thirst that neither misfortune nor contempt can extinguish… I believe, O Lord; but strengthen my faith… Heart of Jesus, I love Thee; but increase my love. Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee; but give greater vigor to my confidence. Heart of Jesus, I give my heart to Thee; but so enclose it in Thee that it may never be separated from Thee. Heart of Jesus, I am all Thine; but take care of my promise so that I may be able to put it in practice even unto the complete sacrifice of my life.

St. Cecilia, her story is an extraordinary one of faithulness and commitment. Some would have you believe it was all “legend”, but the discovery of her incorrupt body in 1599 would bear otherwise. It seems to me the Lord is encouraging us to believe the witness of this courageous virgin martyr.

In St. Cecilia’s in Rome,  I had one of the most peaceful and prayerful experiences while on pilgrimage to the “City of the Saints”.

It is said that Saint Cecilia was born of a patrician family in Rome and raised as a Christian. She wore a coarse horsehair garment beneath her clothes of rank, fasted, and vowed herself to God.

Against her will she was married by her father to a young, pagan patrician named Valerian. While everyone sang and danced at their wedding, Cecilia sat apart, saying only the Psalms. Valerian turned out to be a man of great understanding. On their wedding night, she told Valerian, “I have an angel of God watching over me. If you touch me in the way of marriage, he will be angry and you will suffer. But if you respect my maidenhood, he will love you as he loves me.”

Valerian replied, “Show me this angel.” She told him that if he believed in the living and one true God and was baptized, he would see the angel. Thus, she persuaded Valerian to respect her vow of virginity.

He was impressed and attracted by his wife’s Christian graces, and so Valerian was baptized by Pope Saint Urban (which would be c. 222-230). When he returned to Cecilia, he found her standing by the side of an angel as she promised. The angel told him: “I have a crown of flowers for each of you. They have been sent from paradise as a sign of the life you are both to lead. If you are faithful to God, He will reward you with the everlasting perfumes of heaven.”

The angel then crowned Cecilia with roses, and Valerian with a wreath of lilies. The delightful fragrance of the flowers filled the whole house. At this point Valerian’s brother, Tiburtius, appeared. He, too, was offered salvation if he would renounce false gods. Cecilia converted him, and he was baptized.

From that time the two young men dedicated themselves to good works. Because of their ardor in burying the bodies of martyred Christians, they were arrested. The prefect Almachius told them that if they would sacrifice to the gods, they could go free. They refused, and Valerian rejoiced when he was handed over to be scourged.

The prefect wanted to give them another chance, but his assessor warned him that they would simply use the interim to give away their possessions so that they couldn’t be confiscated. They were beheaded in Pagus Triopius, four miles from Rome. With them was an officer named Maximus, who had declared himself a Christian after witnessing their fortitude.

Cecilia buried the three and then decided to turn her home into a place of worship. Her religion was discovered and she herself asked to refute her faith. She converted those who were sent to convince her to sacrifice to the gods. When Pope Urban visited her at home, he baptized over 400 people.

In court, Almachius debated with her for some time. She was sentenced to be suffocated to death in the bathroom of her own house. The furnace was fed seven times its normal amount of fuel, but the steam and heat failed to stifle her. A soldier sent to behead her struck at her neck three times, and she was left dying on the floor. She lingered for three days, during which time the Christians thronged to her side, and she formally made over her house to Urban and committed her household to his care.

She was buried next to the papal crypt in the catacombs of Saint Callixtus. In 817, Pope Saint Paschal I discovered her grave, which had been concealed from the Lombard invader Aistulf in 756, and translated her body to beneath the main altar of what was later called the titulus Sanctae Caeciliae, which translates as “the church founded by a lady named Cecilia.” In 1599, during the renovation of the church, Cardinal Sfondrati opened her tomb and found her holy remains incorrupt. Even the green and gold of her rich robe had not been injured by time. Thousands had the privilege of seeing her in her coffin, and many have been blessed by miracles. The body disintegrated quickly after meeting with the air.

Under the high altar in Saint Cecilia’s Church is a beautiful marble statue by Maderna portraying the “martyr” bathed in her own blood as she fell after the stroke of the sword. A replica of this statue occupies the the original resting place of the saint in the catacomb of Callixtus. Other artists were allowed to paint pictures of her after her tomb was opened.

Until the middle ages, Pope Saint Gregory had been the patron of music and musicians, but when the Roman Academy of Music was established in 1584, it was put under the protection of Saint Cecilia; thus, her patronage of music originated. Dryden wrote a “Song for Saint Cecilia Day” and Pope an “Ode for Music on Saint Cecilia Day.”

Valerian, Tiburtius, and Maximus are historical characters; they were Roman martyrs, buried in the cemetery of Praetextatus, but nothing else is known of them. Her story was the basis for the Second Nun’s Tale in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales.

St. Cecilia is regarded as the patroness of music [because of the story that she heard heavenly music in her heart when she was married], and is represented in art with an organ or organ-pipes in her hand.– From The Lives of the Saints by the Rev. S. Baring-Gould, M.A., published in 1914 in Edinburgh.

 

Dear Saint Cecilia, one thing we know for certain about you is that you became a heroic martyr in fidelity to your divine Bridegroom.

We do not know that you were a musician but we are told that you heard Angels sing.

Inspire musicians to gladden the hearts of people by filling the air with God’s gift of music and reminding them of the divine Musician who created all beauty.

Amen.

 

I love this feast day of the Blessed Virgin Mary!!!

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary (as it is known in the West), or The Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (its name in the East), is a liturgical feast celebrated by the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Churches.

wiki - The feast is associated with an event recounted not in the New Testament, but in the apocryphal Infancy Narrative of James. According to that text, Mary’s parents, Joachim and Anne, who had been childless, received a heavenly message that they would bear a child. In thanksgiving for the gift of their daughter, they brought her, when still a child, to the Temple in Jerusalem to consecrate her to God. Mary remained in the Temple until puberty, at which point she was assigned to Joseph as guardian. Later versions of the story (such as the Gospel of Pseudo-Matthew and the Gospel of the Nativity of Mary) tell us that Mary was taken to the Temple at around the age of three in fulfillment of a vow.

The feast originated as a result of the dedication of the Basilica of Saint Mary the New, built in the year 543 by the Byzantines under Emperor Justinian I near the site of the ruined Temple in Jerusalem. Although this basilica was destroyed by the Sassanid Persians under Khosrau II after the Siege of Jerusalem (614), the feast continued to be celebrated throughout the East. The feast was celebrated in the monasteries of Southern Italy by the ninth century and was later introduced into the Papal Chapel in Avignon in the year 1372 by a decree of Pope Gregory XI.  It was included in the Roman Missal in 1472. But, as the fact of the “Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” is only a pious belief, but not a defined matter of faith, it was suppressed by Pope Pius V in 1568.  As a result, it did not appear in the Tridentine Calendar. Pope Sixtus V reintroduced it into the Roman Calendar in 1585. Pope Clement VIII made this feast a Greater Double in 1597. The feast also continued as a memorial in the Roman Calendar of 1969.

Entry of the Most Holy Theotokos into the Temple (Russian icon, 16th century).The Eastern Orthodox Church celebrates it as one of its twelve Great Feasts on November 21 (for those churches which follow the Julian Calendar, November 21 falls on December 4 of the modern Gregorian Calendar). The first documented celebration of the feast in any calendar is the mention of the Εἴσοδος τῆς Παναγίας Θεοτόκου (Entry of the All-Holy Theotokos – i.e. into the Temple) in the 11th-century Menology of the Eastern Roman (also known as Byzantine) emperor Basil II. In the Orthodox Church the feast always falls during the Nativity Fast, and on the day of the feast the fasting rules are lessened somewhat so that fish, wine and oil may be eaten.

For the Roman Catholic Church, on the day of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, “we celebrate that dedication of herself which Mary made to God from her very childhood under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who filled her with grace at her Immaculate Conception.”

November 21 is also a “Pro Orantibus” Day, a day of prayer for cloistered religious “totally dedicated to God in prayer, silence and concealment.”

The Presentation in art

Western depictions usually focused on the lone figure of the young Mary climbing the steep steps of the Temple, having left her parents at the bottom, and climbing towards the Chief Priest and other Temple figures at the top of the steps. The Presentation was one of the usual scenes in larger cycles of the Life of the Virgin, although it was not usually one of the scenes shown in a Book of hours.  – wiki

Collect:
Eternal Father,
we honor the holiness and glory of the Virgin Mary.
May her prayers bring us
the fullness of your life and love.

We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

First Reading: Zechariah 2:14-17 (2:10-13 RSV)
Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion; for lo, I come and I will dwell in the midst of you, says the Lord. And many nations shall join themselves to the Lord in that day, and shall be My people; and I will dwell in the midst of you, and you shall know that the Lord of hosts has sent Me to you. And the Lord will inherit Judah as His portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.”

Be silent, all flesh, before the Lord; for He has roused Himself from His holy dwelling.

Gospel Reading: Matthew 12:46-50
While He was still speaking to the people, behold, His mother and His brethren stood outside, asking to speak to Him. But He replied to the man who told Him, “Who is My mother, and who are My brethren?” And stretching out His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Here are My mother and My brethren! For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother, and sister, and mother.”

 

 

November 19, 2011. (Romereports.com) The pope visited a shelter that welcomes dozens of abandoned children, some of whom are sick or malnourished. It’s called “Peace and Joy,” and it’s run by the Missionaries of Charity in Benin.

Cotonou’s Archbishop and the Mother Superior welcomed the pope, while children sang and danced for Benedict XVI.

Another 800 people, many of them children, waited for the pope in the nearby church of St. Rita. There, the pope talked about the day of his First Communion.

Benedict XVI
“The day of my First Communion was one of the most beautiful days of my life.”

He also said that during Communion, one should be ready to “receive Jesus with love and attention.”

Talking to others about God is also key, said the pope. He described it as a treasure that should be used generously. The pope then explained to children how he prays.

Benedict XVI
“I can also use the Gospels. That way, I keep within my heart a passage which has touched me and which will guide me throughout the day.”

When it comes to praying, the pope asked them to pray as a family. He also called on children to encourage their parents to pray together as a unit.

Benedict XVI
“Ask your parents to pray with you! Sometimes you may even have to push them a little. But do not hesitate to do so. God is that important.!”  

The pope also explained what a rosary is and how to pray it.

At the end of the gathering, the pope gave a rosary to each one of the children.

During the pope’s international trips he usually sets time aside to meet with underprivileged children.

  I’m not 100% comfortable with Father’s connection in the video above with St. Rose and failure…my gosh, she survived the French Revolution, traveled to a foreign and scary wilderness land, had difficulty learning English (which is a REALLY tough language to learn compared to the romance languages), and yet she persevered in educating and establishing a legacy of education which survives today…failure?  I don’t think so, but you decide….

Vatican.va -ROSE PHILIPPINE DUCHESNE Was born August 29, 1769 in Grenoble, France. She was baptized in the Church of St. Louis and received the name of Philip, the apostle, and Rose of Lima, first saint of the new continent. She was educated at the Convent of the Visitation of Ste. Marie d’en Haut, then, drawn to the contemplative life, she became a novice there when she was 18 years old.

At the time of the Revolution in France, the community was dispersed and Philippine returned to her family home, spending her time nursing prisoners and helping others who suffered. After the Concordat of 1801, she tried with some companions to reconstruct the monastery of Ste. Marie but without success.

In 1804, Philippine learned of a new congregation, the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and offered herself and the monastery to the Foundress, Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat. Mother Barat visited Ste. Marie in 1804 and received Philippine and several companions as novices in the Society.

Even as Philippine’s desire deepened for the contemplative life, so too her call to the missions became more urgent – a call she had heard since her youth. In a letter she wrote to Mother Barat, she confided a spiritual experience she had had during a night of adoration before the Eucharist on Holy Thursday: “I spent the entire night in the new World … carrying the Blessed Sacrament to all parts of the land … I had all my sacrifices to offer: a mother, sisters, family, my mountain! When you say to me ‘now I send you’, I will respond quickly ‘I go”‘. She waited, however, another 12 years.

In 1818 Philippine’s dream was realized. She was sent to respond to the bishop of the Louisiana territory, who was looking for a congregation of educators to help him evangelize the Indian and French children of his diocese. At St. Charles, near St. Louis, Missouri, she founded the first house of the Society outside France. It was in a log cabin – and with it came all the austerities of frontier life: extreme cold, hard work, lack of funds. She also had difficulty learning English. Communication at best was slow; news often did not arrive from her beloved France. She struggled to remain closely united with the Society in France. (more…)

VATICAN CITY, 16 NOV 2011 (VIS) – During today’s general audience in St Peter’s Square, attended by over 11,000 pilgrims, the Holy Father imparted the final catechesis of his cycle dedicated to the Psalms. He focused on Psalm 110, which “Jesus Himself cited, and which the authors of the New Testament referred to widely and interpreted in reference to the Messiah. … It is a Psalm beloved by the ancient Church and by believers of all times”, which celebrates “the victorious and glorified Messiah seated at the right hand of God”.

The Psalm begins with a solemn declaration: “The Lord says to my lord: ‘Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool”. Benedict XVI explained that “Christ is the Lord enthroned, the Son of man seated at the right hand of God. … He is the true king who by resurrection entered into glory, … higher than the angels, seated in the heavens over all other powers, … and with all His adversaries at His feet until the last enemy, death, is definitively defeated by Him”.God and the king celebrated in the Psalm are inseparably linked. “The two govern together, to the point that the Psalmist confirms that God Himself grants the regal sceptre, giving the king the task of defeating his adversaries. … The exercise of power is a task the king receives directly from the Lord, a responsibility which involves dependence and obedience, thus becoming a sign to the people of God’s powerful and provident presence. Dominion over enemies, glory and victory are gifts the king has received, that make him a mediator of divine triumph over evil”.The priestly dimension, linked to that of regality, appears in verse four. “The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind ‘You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek'”. This priest, the king of Salem, had blessed Abraham and offered bread and wine following the victorious military campaign conducted by the patriarch to save Lot from the hands of his enemies. The king of the Psalm “will be a priest forever, mediator of the divine presence among His people, a catalyst for the blessing of God”. Jesus Christ “is the true and definitive priest, Who will complete and perfect the features of Melchizedek’s priesthood”. In the bread and wine of the Eucharist, Christ “offers Himself and, defeating death, brings life to all believers”.The final verses portray “the triumphant sovereign who, with the support of the Lord, having received power and glory from Him, opposes his enemies, defeating adversaries and judging nations”. (more…)

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see also Pope Benedict’s teachings on St. Gertrude on the Discerning Hearts Holy Women page

(1256-1302 A.D.) Few men have merited the title, “the Great”; fewer women. I know of only one nun so honored, St. Gertrude of Helfta, a mystic whose spiritual writings have remained influential up to the present.

Nothing is known of this German woman’s family background. When five years old, she was entrusted to the sisters of Helfta Abbey to be educated. From a very young age she gave evidence of her brilliance and quickly outstripped her companions. In her teen years she asked to join the community. Therefore, she probably spent her whole life from childhood on within the abbey walls.

Her love for secular studies made the common life wearisome, pride and vanity ate away at her soul and she soon became an unhappy young woman until Christ appeared to her. The day was branded in her memory, it was in her 26th year, when as she says “in a happy hour, at the beginning of twilight, thou O God of truth, more radiant than any light, yet deeper than any secret thing, determined to dissolve the obscurity of my darkness.” From then on her biographer tells us “she became a theologian instead of a grammarian.” She did not give up her intellectual ardor but now, all her labors were for her sisters, to cure what she termed “the wound of ignorance”. Her many gifts and mystical graces did not prevent her from giving herself wholeheartedly to the common life with its joys and sorrows. In fact many of her special graces came to her as she took part in the ordinary routine of convent life. She felt keenly for those whose burdens involved them in distracting duties, for example those responsible for meeting the debts of the monastery.

She prayed that they might have more time to pray and fewer distractions. The Lord’s answered “It does not matter to me whether you perform spiritual exercises or manual labor, provided only that your will is directed to me with a right intention. If I took pleasure only in your spiritual exercises, I should certainly have reformed human nature after Adam’s fall so that it would not need food, clothing or the other things that man must find or make with such effort.”

Many of her writings are lost, but fortunately she left to the world an abundance of spiritual joy in her book The Herald of Divine Love, in which she tells of the visions granted her by our divine Lord. She wrote this excellent, small book because she was told that nothing was given to her for her own sake only. Her Exercises is an excellent treatise on the renewal of baptismal vows, spiritual conversion, religious vows, love, praise, gratitude to God, reparation, and preparation for death.

She began to record her supernatural and mystical experiences in what eventually became her Book of Extraordinary Grace (Revelation of Saint Gertrude), together with Mechtilde’s mystical experiences Liber Specialis Gratiae, which Gertrude recorded. Most of the book was actually written by others based on Gertrude’s notes. She also wrote with or for Saint Mechtilde a series of prayers that became very popular, and through her writings helped spread devotion to the Sacred Heart (though it was not so called until revealed to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque).

Gertrude is inseparably associated with the devotion to the Sacred Heart. The pierced heart of Jesus embodied for her the Divine Love, an inexhaustible fountain of redemptive life. Her visions and insights in connection with the Heart of Jesus are very enlightening. In one such intellectual vision, she perceived the unceasing love of Christ for us in two pulsations of his Heart – one accomplished the conversion of sinners, the other the sanctification of the just. Just as our own faithful heart keeps right on whether we advert to it or not, these pulsations will endure till the end of time despite the vicissitudes of history.

Our Lord wishes people to pray for the souls in purgatory. He once showed Gertrude a table of gold on which were many costly pearls. The pearls were prayers for the holy souls. At the same time the saint had a vision of souls freed from suffering and ascending in the form of bright sparks to heaven.

In one Vision, Our Lord tells Gertrude that he longs for someone to ask Him to release souls from purgatory, just as a king who imprisons a friend for justice’s sake hopes that someone will beg for mercy for his friend. Jesus ends with:

“I accept with highest pleasure what is offered to Me for the poor souls, for I long inexpressibly to have near Me those for whom I paid so great a price. By the prayers of thy loving soul, I am induced to free a prisoner from purgatory as often as thou dost move thy tongue to utter a word of prayer.” (more…)