Mystical Rose

Virgin Mother, daughter of thy Son, humble, yet exalted

more than any creature, fixed goal of eternal counsel,

thou art she who didst so ennoble human nature

that its Maker did not disdain to become its creature.

In thy womb was rekindled the Love under whose warmth

this flower in eternal peace has thus unfolded.

Here thou art for us the noonday torch of charity,

and below, among mortals,

thou art the living fount of hope.

(Dante, Paradiso, Canto XXXIII)

Memorial Day

A Prayer for the Navy

Eternal Lord God, Who alone spreadest out the heavens, and rulest the raging of the sea: vouchsafe to take into thy almighty and most gracious protection our country's Navy, and all who serve therein. Preserve them from the dangers of the sea, and from the violence of the enemy, that they may be a safeguard unto the United States of America, and a security unto such as pass upon the sea on their lawful occasions: that the inhabitants of our land may in peace and quietness serve Thee our God, to the glory of thy Name. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

A Prayer for the Army

Lord God of Hosts, whose power is from everlasting to everlasting, and whose Name is above every name in heaven and earth: keep, we pray Thee, under thy protecting care the Army of our country and all who serve therein. Defend them amid violence on land or sea or in the heavens, and grant that they may be a sure defense and a safeguard for the people of the United States and a security for such as come and go in peaceful and lawful pursuit. In time of peace keep them from evil, and in the day of conflict suffer not their courage to fail: that they may guard the American heritage against those who would destroy or straiten the liberties of government by the people, and to the end that the blessings of religion and law may be preserved to posterity. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

[from The Hymnal: Army and Navy, 1942]


                                       "Thou hast covered my head in the day of battle..." (Psalm 140)

Mater Amabilis

 

"God is the Author...of all beauty. He has made the world so beautiful with its starry sky, its enchanting landscapes, lovely mountains and valleys, rivers and lakes, its flowers and birds. Surely He must have made her beautiful who was to be the Queen of all creation....Physical beauty is surpassed by the beauty of the soul....This divine beauty shines through man's mortal frame and explains why saints are so attractive, even though they may be of homely features. Yet among all angels and saints there is none that can compare in grace and holiness with the Blessed Mother of God." --Rev. A. Biskupek, S.V.D., Our Lady's Litany (1954)

 

Mater Amabilis

Lord Jesus, Thou hast known / A mother's tender love and tender care / And thou wilt hear while for my own mother most dear / I make this Sabbath prayer.

Protect her life, I pray / Who gave the gift of life to me / And may she know from day to day the deepening glow / Of joy that comes from Thee.

I cannot pay my debt / For all the love that she has given / But thou, love's Lord, wilt not forget her due reward / Bless her in earth and heaven. / Amen.

(Prayer: "Before You Leave the Chapel" from The Hymnal: Army and Navy, 1942)

Holy Oils

"For you go down into the water, bearing your sins, but the invocation of grace, having sealed your soul...you come up quickened to righteousness....And to you, after you had come up from the pool of the sacred streams, was given an unction...[T]his holy ointment is no more simple ointment...but is Christ's gift of grace and, by the advent of the Holy Spirit, made fit to impart his divine nature." --St. Cyril of Jerusalem, d. 386.   

"Wherefore we are called Christians, because we are anointed with the oil of God."--St. Theophilus of Antioch, second century A.D.

Olive tree.