Act of Consecration to the Holy Spirit

On my knees before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses, I offer myself soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace, and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for You light and listen to Your voice and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You Adorable Spirit, helper of my infirmity, so to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Ghost, Spirit of the Father and the Son, to say to You always and everywhere, Speak Lord, for Thy servant is listening. Amen. ShareThis

---

Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post

ST. EPHREM

{Making a prostration}

O LORD, Master of my life, grant that I may not be infected with the
spirit of slothfulness and inquisitiveness, with the spirit of ambition and vain talking.

{Making a prostration}

Grant instead to me, your servant, the spirit of purity and of
humility, the spirit of patience and neighborly love.

{Making a third prostration}

O Lord and King, grant me the grace of being aware of my sins and of not thinking evil of those of my brethren.
For you are blessed, now and ever, and forever.

Amen.

Lord Jesus Christ, King of Kings, You have power over life
and death. You know what is secret and hidden, and neither our
thoughts nor our feelings are concealed from You.
Cure me of duplicity; I have done evil before You.
Now my life declines from day to day and my sins increase.
O Lord, God of souls and bodies, You know the extreme frailty of
my soul and my flesh.
Grant me strength in my weakness, O Lord, and sustain me in my misery. Give me a grateful soul that I may never cease to recall
Your benefits, O Lord most bountiful.
Be not mindful of my many sins, but forgive me all my misdeeds.
O Lord, disdain not my prayer - the prayer of a wretched
sinner; sustain me with Your grace until the end, that it may
protect me as in the past.
It is Your grace which has taught me wisdom; blessed are they who follow her ways, for they shall receive the crown of glory.
In spite of my unworthiness, I praise You and I glorify You,
O Lord, for Your mercy to me is without limit.
You have been my help and my protection. May the name of Your majesty be praised forever.
To you, our God, be glory.
Amen.

-*-

The Prayer of St. Ephrem is taken in the Byzantine Church during the Liturgy of the Presanctified (Liturgy of Pope St. Gregory the Great, taken by both Catholic and Orthodox alike during this period), during all services of the Divine Office during Lent and at various other times during the day recommended at morning, noon, evening - upon arising and before retiring for night night

Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post

Necessity of Prayer

Let us also reflect on the necessity of prayer. St. Chrysostom says that, as the body without the soul is dead, so the soul is dead without prayer. He also teaches that, as water is necessary to prevent the decay of plants, so prayer is necessary to preserve us from perdition. God wills that all men be saved (1Tim 2:4DR. See NIV and AMP and NAB), - and is unwilling that any be lost. The Lord. . . dealt patiently for Your sake, not willing that any one should perish, but that all should return to penance. (2 Peter 3:9DR; NIV-AMP, NAB) But he also wishes that we ask him for the gracesnecessary for salvation. For, on the one hand, it is impossible for us to observe the divine commands, and save our souls, without the actual assistance of God; and on the other, ordinarily speaking, God will not give us his graces unless we ask them from him, Hence the holy Council of Trent has declared that God has not commanded impossibilities; because he either gives us the proximate and actual grace to fulfill his precepts, or he gives us the grace to ask him for this actual aid. (session 6, c 11.) St. Augustine teaches, that God gives without prayer the first graces, such as vocation to the faith and to repentance; but all other graces, and particularly the gift of perseverance, he gives only to those who ask them.

Hence, theologians, after St. Basil, St. Augustine, St. John Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, and others, teach, that for adults prayer is necessary as a means of salvation; so that, without it, it is impossible to be saved. And the most learned Lessius says that this doctrine must be held as of faith.

The Scriptures are clear on this point. We ought always to pray.( Luke 18:1 DR; NAB; NIV ) Pray, lest you enter into temptation.(Luke 22:40 DR;NAB; NIV) Ask, and You shall receive.(Matt. 7:7 DR; NAB; NIV ) Pray without ceasing.(1 Thess. 5:17 DR; NAB; NIV ) The words, we ought pray, ask, according to St. Thomas (3 part, qu. 39, art. 5; on prayer, and Christ's prayer.) and the generality of theologians, imply a strict precept, which binds under grievous sin particularly in three cases. First, when a person is in the state of sin; secondly, when he is in danger of death; and thirdly, when he is in great danger of falling into sin. Theologians teach that, ordinarily, he who neglects prayer for a month, or at most, for two months, is guilty of a mortal sin (Less., loco citato). The reason is, because prayer is a means without which we cannot obtain the helps necessary for salvation.

[Pastor's note: I am not aware of a section of the modern catechism that asserts it is mortal sin to fail to pray however it would be very dangerous spiritually to do this. Attending mass would mean engaging in prayer and worship and we are required to attend on the Lord's Day so if we refuse, we sin, but there are some who cannot attend. If they would refuse to pray in some way in place of mass presumably they would endanger their souls. See, especially the Catechism of the Catholic church sec. 2744. See also the Short Catechism on Prayer, #6 & #7.]

Ask, and you shall receive. He who asks, receives; then, says St. Teresa, he who does not ask, does not receive. And before her, St. James said the same thing. You have not, because you ask not.(James 4:2 DR; NIV ; NAB) Prayer is particularly necessary to obtain the virtue of continence. And said the wise man, as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, . . . I went to the Lord, and besought Him. Let us conclude this point. He who prays, is certainly saved; he who does not pray, is certainly lost. All the elect are saved by prayer; all the damned are lost by neglect of prayer, and their greatest despair is, and will be forever, caused by the conviction, that they had it in their power to save their souls so easily by prayer, and that now the time of salvation is no more.

Affections and Prayers.

Ah, my Redeemer how have I been able hitherto to live in such forgetfulness of You? You were prepared to grant me all the graces that I should ask of you; you only waited for me to ask them. But I have thought only of indulging my senses, and have been indifferent about the privation and loss of your love and of your grace. Lord forget all my ingratitude, and have mercy on me. Pardon me all the displeasure I have given you, and grant me perseverance. O God of my soul give me the grace always to ask your aid not to offend you. Do not permit me to be, as I have hitherto been, negligent in the performance of this duty. Grant me light and strength always to recommend myself to you, and particularly when my enemies tempt me to offend you again. Grant, O my God this grace through the merits of Jesus Christ, and through the love which you bear to him. O Lord I have offended you enough. I wish to love you during the remainder of my life. Give me your love; and may this love remind me to ask your aid whenever I am in danger of losing you by sin. Mary, my hope after Jesus through your intercession I hope for the grace to recommend myself in all my temptations to you and to your Son. Hear me, O my Queen, through the love which you bear to Jesus Christ.

---

Rev. Eugene Grimm, editor, Preparation for Death or "Considerations on the Eternal Truths" by St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Redemptorist Fathers, NY (1926) pp. 304-306. Imprimatur, Patrick Cardinal Hayes, July 26, 1926.

From:http://landru.i-link-2.net/shnyves/necessity_of_prayer.htm




Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post

The Angelus

The Angel of the Lord declared to Mary:
And she conceived of the Holy Spirit.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Behold the handmaid of the Lord:
Be it done unto me according to Thy word.

Hail Mary . . .

And the Word was made Flesh:
And dwelt among us.

Hail Mary . . .

Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God,
that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray: Pour forth, we beseech Thee, O Lord, Thy grace into our hearts; that we, to whom the incarnation of Christ, Thy Son, was made known by the message of an angel, may by His Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of His Resurrection, through the same Christ Our Lord.Amen.

-*-

"Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you" (Lk 1:28) "Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the fruit of your womb"
(Lk 1:42).

Technorati Cosmos: other blogs commenting on this post

Hail Mary

Hail Mary full of Grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb Jesus. Holy Mary Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death Amen.

Filipino
Aba Ginoong Maria, napupuno ka ng Grasya, ang Panginoong Diyos ay sumasaiyo. Bukod kang pinagpala sa babaeng lahat, at pinagpala naman ang iyong anak na si Jesus
Sta. Maria, Ina ng Diyos, ipanalangin mo kaming makasalanan ngayon at kung kami ay mamamatay. Amen.

Ang Aba Ginoong Maria ( kung minsan ay tinatawag na" mala-anghel na pagbati", "Angelical Salutation" ay tinatawag din mula sa mga unang salita nito sa latin. ang "Ave Maria".

Ang Panalanging ito ay may tatlong bahagi. Una, "Aba (Ginoong Maria) napupuno ka ng Grasya, Ang Panginoong Diyos ay sumasaiyo, Bukod kang pinagpala sa babaeng lahat" ay kumakatawan sa mga salitang ginamit ng angel Gabriel sa kanyang pagbati sa Mahal na Birheng Maria (Lukas 1:28). Ikalawa, "at pinagpala naman ang nasa iyong sinapupunan (Jesus)" ay mula sa maka-Diyos na pagbati ni Sta. Elizabeth (Isabel), (Luke 1:42), ay idinugtong sa unang bahagi sapagkat ang mga salitang "benedicta tu in mulieribus" (1:28) o "inter mulieres" (1:42) ay pareho sa dalawang pagbati. Panghuli, ang panalanging Sta. Maria, Ina ng Diyos, ipanalangin mo kaming makasalanan ngayon at kung kami ay mamamatay. Amen." ay mula sa opisya na Katesismo ng Konsilyo ng Trent na itinalaga ng Simbahan. "Karapat-dapat lamang, sabi ng Katesismo" na ang Banal na Iglesia ng Diyos ay idagdag ito sa pasasalamat, paghingi at ang panalangin ng banal na Ina ng Diyos. Ito ay nagpapahayag na rin na mataimtim na lumapit sa kanya na sa pamamagitan niya ay manumbalik tayong mga makasalanan sa Diyos upang makamtan natin ang pagpapala na kailangan natin sa mundong ito at sa buhan na walang hanggan"

Maraming nagtatanong kung bakit ginagamit natin ang "Ginoong" at hindi "Ginang". Sang-ayon sa historia ng paggamit ng Filipino ito ay hindi lamang ginagamit sa mga lalaki. Ito ay ginagamit din sa mga babaeng itinuturing na at kinikilala sa lipunan na may malaking ibinahagi sa paglago nito. Ito ay isang pagpaparangal sa isang babae na higit na kinikilala bilang higit sa lahat ng mga babae.


source:www.newadvent.org