Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(Homily of Saint Peter Canisius, Doctor of the Church) The Church both reverently and frequently celebrates Feasts of the Mother of God. For She knows with certainty that it is a work pleasing to God and worthy of the faithful to honor, among all the Saints, the most saintly Mother of Our Lord and God…
Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ
[Sermon of Pope Saint Leo The Great, Father and Doctor of the Church] I. Peter’s confession shown to lead up to the Transfiguration The Gospel lesson, dearly-beloved, which has reached the inner hearing of our minds through our bodily ears, calls us to the understanding of a great mystery, to which we shall by the…
Feast Saint Anne, Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[“The Liturgical Year” by the Right Rev. Dom Prosper Gueranger, Abbot of Solesmes] Uniting the blood of kings with that of pontiffs, the glory of Anne’s illustrious origin is far surpassed by that of her offspring, without compare among the daughters of Eve. The noblest of all, who have ever conceived by virtue of the…
Feast Of Our Lady Of Mount Carmel
(“Mary In Her Scapular Promise”, 1940) It is eight hundred and sixty years before Christ. A striking scene is being enacted in Palestine. The entire Jewish nation is assembled there on the summit of the Scripturally famous Mount Carmel. Within a circle formed by the thousands of Israelites, eight hundred and fifty pagan priests are…
Feast Of The Visitation Of The Blessed Virgin Mary
[Sermon of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] God, who is One, loves unity and union; and all that is not unified is displeasing to Him, as the great Apostle Paul says: One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all. [Gal. 3:20; Eph. 4:5-6]. But if He…
Feast Of The Most Precious Blood Of Our Lord Jesus Christ
[“The Liturgical Year” by the Right Rev. Dom Prosper Gueranger, Abbot of Solesmes] John the Baptist has pointed out the Lamb, Peter has firmly established his throne, Paul has prepared the bride; their joint work, admirable in its unity, at once suggests the reason for their feasts occurring almost simultaneously in the cycle. The alliance…
Feast Of The Nativity Of Saint John The Baptist
(from the writings of Archbishop Alban Goodier, S.J.) THE COMING OF JOHN THE BAPTIST It was the fulness of time. That strange, unruly people had waited long. Jericho, as they passed it on their way to and from the Holy City, had stood there through the centuries, to remind them forever of that day when…
Feast Of The Blessed Virgin Mary, Queen
(Homily of Saint Bonaventure, Doctor of the Church) The Blessed Virgin Mary is the Mother of the great King by reason of a noble kind of Conception, according to the message given her by the Angel. “Behold,” he said, “thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and thou shalt bring forth a Son”; and again, “The…
Feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[Sermon of Saint Bernard, Abbot and Doctor of the Church] The martyrdom of the Virgin is set before us both in Simeon’s prophecy and in the narrative of the Lord’s Passion. “This Child is destined,” the holy elderly man said of the Child Jesus, “for a sign that shall be contradicted; and thine own soul,”…
The Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel
(“The Liturgical Year”, by the Right Rev. Dom Prosper Gueranger) David foretold that the Emmanuel’s coming into this world would be greeted by the Angels, and that they would humbly adore him on his first appearing among us. We saw this prophecy fulfilled on the Night ever blessed, when Mary brought forth the Fruit of…
Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
(Sermon of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Bishop and Doctor of the Church) Saint Thomas Aquinas calls the mystery of the Incarnation of the Eternal Word, “the miracle of miracles”. What greater prodigy could the world behold, than a woman become the Mother of God, and a God clothed in human flesh. Let us therefore…
Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary
[From a sermon of Saint Francis de Sales, Bishop and Doctor of the Church] Our Lord comes to the Temple today to be offered to God His Father, subjecting Himself to the observance of the Law which He had formerly given to Moses, written on stone tablets [Exodus 24:12; 34:1; 2 Cor. 3:7]. In this…
Feast of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
[Pope Saint Leo the Great] Rejoice in the Lord, my dearly beloved brethren; again I saThe Adoration of the Magiy, rejoice. For it is but a few days since the solemnity of the Birth of Christ, and the world is already illumined by the Feast of His manifestation. On this Feast Day the world acknowledges…
Feast of The Most Holy Name of Jesus
[Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, Abbot, Doctor and Father of the Church] Holy Name of Jesus altar – Lublin Dominican Church. Baroque pulpit Not in vain does the Holy Ghost compare the Name of the Bridegroom with oil when He makes the bride say to the Bridegroom, “Thy Name is an oil poured out.” For oil…
Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
[Saint Augustine, Bishop, Doctor and Father of the Church] And so the Child is circumcised. Who is this Child but He of Whom it was said, “A Child is born to us, a Son is given us”? He became as one under the Law that He might gain those under the law. “… to present…
Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
(Homily of Saint Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor of the Church) One of the soldiers thrust a lance into the side of Christ; and Divine Pro vidence had reasons for permitting this: that from the Sacred Side of Jesus Christ, the New Adam, as He slept on the Cross, there might be formed the Church, the…
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