Angel Wings
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Feast of the Holy
Innocents, martyrs
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Matthew 2:13-18
When the magi had
departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and
said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there
until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child, to destroy
him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night, and
departed for Egypt, and stayed there until the death of Herod, so that what
he had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, “Out of Egypt I called my
son.” When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became
furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its
vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time that he had
ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through the
prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children; and she would not be consoled, since they
were no more.”
Introductory Prayer: Father, I come into Your Holy presence this day aware that You
guide my life with love. I believe that nothing happens to me unless You will
it. I renew my faith in Your promise of heaven, where every tear will be
wiped away. Thank You for getting involved in our cruel world in order to
heal it with Your love.
Petition: Lord, may my presence today be a help to
those in need.
1. Angels: We want to cry with these women who have had their children
stolen from them in the most defenseless time of their lives. Human cruelty
reaches so deep that it desires to maintain power by snuffing out the lives
of others! Yet these children silently remind us of another reality. They
remind us that there is a place where tyranny does not reign. There is a King
who rules by love and whose kingdom cannot be defeated by cruelty. These
children are messengers of that kingdom. They have been called to give a
brief but powerful witness of the fight that this King will wage for love.
They have gone ahead of him, and their mothers will find them and hold them
forever one day in the presence of their King.
2. Prophets: Thy Kingdom Come! This is the cry of these
children. One day this new King will reign, but it will happen through a
terrible fight with death and cruelty. These children are powerful prophets
of the struggle of this King. They are prophets of the drama of human history
where everything is at stake. Their cries are powerful prayers that will be
heard by the Father, and their cries begin to stir in that special Child the
desire to give his life as a ransom for souls. He will reign by pouring out
his life as a gift for these children and for many souls.
3. Children: The Church has declared these children
martyrs. The first saints of Christ are infants. Infants speak to us at
Christmas, and their witness does not go unnoticed. These children inspire
the Church and pray for her. A child speaks to us of goodness and innocence.
A child reminds us of the attitude we should have before God. Christ always
lives with a heart of a child, a heart that trusts completely in his Father.
He shows special predilection for children. He knows that often they are his
most powerful apostles, inviting others to God’s house by the simplicity and
intimacy of their love for him. How many parents have been converted or
discovered a deeper relationship with Christ through the example of their
children!
Conversation with
Christ: Jesus, it saddens me
so much to see how these children were taken from their mothers and killed.
It tears my heart apart to see how today so many children are never given the
chance to know their mother’s love because of the evil of abortion. I want to
be a consolation to Your heart, Lord. I want to give the very best of myself
to You today in order to offer You some of the love that these children
wanted to give. Let my life be a witness of unselfish love. Let me be like You.
Resolution: I will find some way of encouraging a mother
of a young child
Excerpts
from the DIARY of Saint Faustina Kowalska
20 Shortly after this, I fell ill [general exhaustion].
The dear Mother Superior sent me with two other sisters for a rest to
Skolimow, not far from Warsaw. It was at that time that I asked the Lord who
else I should pray for. Jesus said that on the following night He would let
me know for whom I should pray.
[The Next night] I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her "The Star of the Sea." She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering.[I heard and interior voice] which said, My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls.
195 O Jesus, today my soul is as
though darkened by suffering. Not a single ray of light. The storm is raging,
and Jesus is asleep. O my Master, I will not wake You; I will not interrupt
Your sweet sleep. I believe that You fortify me without my knowing it.
Throughout the long hours I adore You, O living Bread, amidst the great drought in my soul. O Jesus, pure Love, I do not need consolations; I am nourished by Your will, O Mighty One! Your will is the goal of my existence. It seems to me that the whole world serves me and depends on me. You, O Lord, understand my soul with all its aspirations. Jesus, when I myself cannot sing You the hymn of love, I admire the singing of the Seraphim, they who are so dearly loved by You. I desire to drown myself in You as they do. Nothing will stem such love, for no might has power over it. It is like lightning that illuminates the darkness, but does not remain in it. O my Master, shape my soul according to Your will and Your eternal designs!
314 +When I went to the garden one
afternoon, my Guardian Angel said to me, "Pray for the dying." And
so I began at once to pray the rosary with the gardeners for the dying. After
the rosary, we said various prayers for the dying. After the prayers, the
wards began to chat gaily among themselves. In spite of the noise they were
making, I heard these words in my soul: "Pray for me!" But as I
could not understand these words very well, I moved a few steps away from the
wards, trying to think who it could be who was asking me to pray. Then I
heard the words: "I am Sister ...."[78] This sister was in Warsaw while I was, at
the time, in Vilnius. "Pray for me until I tell you to stop. I am
dying." Immediately, I began to pray fervently for her, [addressing
myself] to the expiring Heart of Jesus. She gave me no respite, and I kept
praying from three [o'clock] until five. At five, I heard the words:
"Thank you!" and I understood that she had died. But during Holy
Mass on the following day, I continued to pray fervently for her soul. In the
afternoon, a postcard came saying that Sister ... had died at such and such a
time. I understood that it was at the same hour when she had said to me,
"Pray for me."
The following day, Friday, September 13, 1935. 474 In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw an Angel, the executor of divine wrath. He was clothed in a dazzling robe, his face gloriously bright, a cloud beneath his feet. From the cloud, bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning were springing into his hands; and from his hand they were going forth, and only then were they striking the earth. When I saw this sign of divine wrath which was about to strike the earth, and in particular a certain place, which for good reasons I cannot name, I began to implore the Angel to hold off for a few moments, and the world would do penance. But my plea was a mere nothing in the face of the divine anger. Just then I saw the Most Holy Trinity. The greatness of Its majesty pierced me deeply, and I did not dare to repeat my entreaties. At that very moment I felt in my soul the power of Jesus' grace, which dwells in my soul. When I became conscious of this grace, I was instantly snatched up before the Throne of God. Oh, how great is our Lord and God and how incomprehensible His holiness! I will make no attempt to describe this greatness, because before long we shall all see Him as He is. I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly. As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel's helplessness: he could not carry out the just punishment which was rightly due for sins. Never before had I prayed with such inner power as I did then. 475 The words with which I entreated God are these: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us.
1111 Today is the renewal; that is, the profession of vows
[193] in the course of a solemn celebration. As
the sisters were making their vows, I heard angels singing in various tones,
"Holy, Holy, Holy," with chanting so delightful that no human
tongue could ever match it.
1126 Oh, how sweet it is to live
in a convent among sisters, but I must not forget that these angels are in
human bodies.
1276 September 16, 1937. I wanted very much to make a Holy
Hour before the Blessed Sacrament today, but God's will was otherwise. At
eight o'clock I was seized with such violent pains that I had to go to bed at
once. I was convulsed with pain for three hours; that is, until eleven
o'clock at night. No medicine had any effect on me, and whatever I swallowed
I threw up. At times, the pains caused me to lose consciousness. Jesus had me
realize that in this way I took part in His Agony in the Garden, and that He
himself allowed these sufferings in order to offer reparation to God for the
souls murdered in the wombs of wicked mothers. I have gone through these
sufferings three times now. They always start at eight o'clock in the evening
and last until eleven. No medicine can lessen these sufferings. When eleven
o'clock comes, they cease by themselves, and I fall asleep at that moment.
The following day, I feel very weak.
This happened to me for the first time when I was at the sanatorium. The doctors couldn't get to the bottom of it, and no injection or medicine helped me at all nor did I myself have any idea of what the sufferings were about. I told the doctor that never before in my life had I experienced such sufferings, and he declared he did not know what sort of pains they are. But now I understand the nature of these pains, because the Lord himself has made this known to me.... Yet when I think that I may perhaps suffer in this way again, I tremble. But I don't know whether I'll ever again suffer in this way; I leave that to God. What it pleases God to send, I will accept with submission and love. If only I could save even one soul from murder by means of these sufferings!
1277 On the day after these sufferings, I can sense the
condition of souls and their disposition towards God; I am pervaded with true
knowledge.
1278 I receive Holy Communion in the manner of the angels,
so to speak. My soul is filled with God's light and nourishes itself from
Him. My feelings are as if dead. This is a purely spiritual union with God;
it is a great predominance of spirit over nature.
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-I-20, 195, 314, 474-475)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-III-1111, 1126)
(Diary of Sister Faustina Kowalska Notebook-IV-1276-1778)
http://www.saint-faustina.com/Diary/DMIMS10.shtml
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