Prayer of Thanksgiving

 "Bless the Lord, O my soul: O Lord my God, thou art exceedingly great."

Did you see the wonderful news from the Fraternity?  On February 11, the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes and the day of the consecration of the Fraternity of St. Peter to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pope Francis issued a decree concerning the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter and the Traditional Mass.  The link is at the Fraternity website.

"The Holy Father Francis, grants to each and every member of the Society of Apostolic Life “Fraternity of Saint Peter”, founded on July 18, 1988 and declared of “Pontifical Right” by the Holy See, the faculty to celebrate the sacrifice of the Mass, and to carry out the sacraments and other sacred rites, as well as to fulfill the Divine Office, according to the typical editions of the liturgical books, namely the Missal, the Ritual, the Pontifical and the Roman Breviary, in force in the year 1962..."

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May we remember to offer Our Blessed Lord and His Holy Mother prayers and penance of thanksgiving for the protection and help granted to the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter.  May we never take for granted this amazing gift we have been given.  May we also remember to pray for the Holy Father and all of the priests and bishops throughout the Church.  Attending Mass tomorrow on the Feast of the Chair of St. Peter would also be a fitting way to offer thanksgiving.

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An Act of Adoration and Thanksgiving 

 O Eternal God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost; the beginning and end of all things, in Whom we live and move and have our being; prostrate before Thee in body and soul, I adore Thee with the most profound humility. I bless Thee and give Thee thanks for all the benefits Thou has conferred upon me, especially that Thou hast created me out of nothing, made me after Thine own image and likeness, redeemed me with the Precious Blood of Thy Son, and sanctified me with Thy Holy Spirit. I thank Thee that Thou hast called me into Thy Church, helped me by Thy grace, admitted me to Thy Sacraments, watched over me by Thy special Providence, blessed me, not withstanding my sins and unworthiness, with Thy continuing and gracious protection, and for all the innumerable blessings which I owe to Thy undeserved bounty. I thank Thee especially for having preserved me during the past night and for bringing me in safety to the beginning of another day. What return can I make to Thee, O my God, for all that Thou hast done for me? I will bless Thy Holy Name and serve Thee all the days of my life. Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all that is within me praise His Holy Name. Amen.

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Litany of Salutations to Mary 

Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father. Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son. Hail Mary, Spouse, of God the Holy Ghost. Hail Mary, Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity. Hail Mary, Pure Lily of the Trinity, One God. Hail Mary, Celestial Rose of the love of God. Hail Mary, Virgin pure and humble, of whom the King of Heaven willed to be born. Hail Mary, Virgin of virgins. Hail Mary, Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed. Hail Mary, my Queen and my Mother, my life, my sweetness and my hope. Hail Mary, Mother most amiable. Hail Mary, Mother most admirable. Hail Mary, Mother of Divine Love. Hail Mary, Immaculate, conceived without sin. Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. 

Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Blessed be your spouse, Saint Joseph, Blessed be your father, Saint Joachim. Blessed be your mother, Saint Anne. Blessed be your guardian, Saint John. Blessed be your holy Angel, Saint Gabriel. Glory be to God the Father, Who chose you. Glory be to God the Son, Who loved you. Glory be to God the Holy Spirit, Who espoused you. O Glorious Virgin Mary. May all people love and praise you. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us and bless us, Now and at death, in the name of Jesus, your Divine Son. Amen.

--St. John Eudes

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Marian Prayer of St. Francis de Sales

Most Holy Mary Virgin Mother of God, I am unworthy to be your servant. Yet moved by your motherly care for me and longing to serve you, I choose you this day to be my Queen, my Advocate, and my Mother. I firmly resolve ever to be devoted to you and to do what I can to encourage others to be devoted to you. My loving Mother, through the Precious Blood of your Son shed for me, I beg you to receive me as your servant forever. Aid me in my actions and beg for me the grace never by thought, word, or deed to be displeasing in your sight and that of your most holy Son. Remember me, dearest Mother, and do not abandon me at the hour of death.

--St. Francis de Sales

God bless!

+JMJ+

On the Feast of the Most Blessed Trinity

                                                        

As a Catholic we begin our life as a child of God "in the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit;" in this same Name we also end our lives on earth, with the hope of attaining the vision of our beloved Triune God.  

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The Feast of Trinity Sunday found its origins during the time of the Arian heresy in the fourth century.  Arius denied Christ's divinity, and therefore, he also denied the Trinity--that there are three Person in one God.  The doctrine of the Trinity was upheld during the Council of Nicea, from whence comes the Nicene Creed.  Other Church Fathers continued fighting the Arian heresy by writing prayers and hymns as part of the Divine Office in honor of the the Blessed Trinity.  Eventually a version of these prayers were recited on the Sunday after Pentecost Sunday, and in the fourteenth century Pope John XXII made the Feast of Trinity Sunday a universal feast within the Church.

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The prayer below is fitting to recite on Trinity Sunday, providing us an act of adoration and thanksgiving to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  May we pause on this great feast of God and bring to mind the great blessings, graces, and love we have received, although unworthy, from the most Blessed Trinity.  May we be mindful of the goodness, mercy, and power of God and seek to praise Him-- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit--through each moment of our lives, in imitation of our most Blessed Mother.  

"Hail Mary, daughter of God the Father!  Hail Mary, Mother of God the Son!  Hail Mary, Spouse of God the Holy Spirit!  Greater than you--no one but God!"  --The Way

Act of Adoration to the Most Blessed Trinity

I adore Thee, O God, I count myself as nothing before Thy divine Majesty.  Thou alone art Being, Life, Truth, Beauty, and Goodness.  I glorify Thee, I praise Thee, I give Thee thanks, and I love Thee, all helpless and unworthy as I am, in union with Thy dear Son, Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Brother, in the merciful kindness of His Heart and through His infinite merits.  I desire to serve Thee, to please Thee, to obey Thee, and to love Thee always, in union with Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our Mother, loving also and serving my neighbor for the love of Thee.

Wherefore give me Thy Holy Spirit, to enlighten me, to correct me, and to guide me in the way of Thy commandments and in all perfection, the while I look for the happiness of heaven, where we shall glorify Thee for ever and ever.  Amen.  

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us!

***You can find an additional prayer for Trinity Sunday here.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Prayer for Sunday to the Blessed Trinity

 On this feast of Trinity Sunday, on which we adore the most Blessed Trinity, may we strive to ensure all our acts and thoughts are worthy of being offered to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Every Sunday is sanctified and consecrated to the Blessed Trinity as we thank the Father for creating us, the Son for redeeming us, and the Holy Spirit for sanctifying us. Trinity Sunday, however, especially offers the Church's prayers of gratitude as it is a day that culminates all the preceding feasts. We remember the blessings bestowed on us through the Christmas and Easter seasons, which includes the great feasts during which the Blessed Trinity acted to redeem us.

Prayer for Sunday to the Blessed Trinity

O Blessed Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, the source and fountain of all good, I most firmly believe in You, I most humbly adore You, and thank You with a grateful heart for all the blessings and benefits I have received from Your infinite goodness. I most fervently consecrate and offer to You an unreserved sacrifice of my whole being.

O my God, Who hast a right to every day, hour, and moment of my existence, accept the thoughts, words, and actions of this day, which I offer Thee in testimony of my sincere desire to satisfy my obligation of keeping it holy and as the first-fruits of the week; mercifully assist me to spend it in such a manner as may draw down Thy blessing. Increase in my soul the heavenly virtues of faith, hope, and charity which I received at Baptism, and teach me to make faith the rule of my conduct, that thereby it may avail me to life everlasting.

Eternal Father, take possession of my memory; efface from it all images of vanity, and engrave therein the recollection of Thy adorable presence. Eternal Son, enlighten my understanding, and conduct me in the path of salvation by the light of faith. Holy Spirit, sanctify my will by the most ardent love; render it submissive under the contradictions of this life, and never permit that by attachment to my own ideas or judgment, I should forfeit the blessings of peace offered to men of good-will and obedient minds.

Holy, adorable, undivided Trinity, by Whose power, mercy, and providence I was created, redeemed, regenerated, and preserved to this moment, receive the oblation of my whole being, and take me out of the world rather than permit me to efface Your sacred image in my soul by mortal sin. I adore You, O Holy Trinity, I worship You, I most humbly give You thanks for having revealed to man this glorious, this incomprehensible mystery, and for granting to those who persevere until death in the faithful profession of it, the reward of beholding and enjoying in heaven what we now believe and adore upon earth, one God in three Persons, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.  Amen.

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I thought you might also like to read the Athanasian Creed on Trinity Sunday.  Because St. Athanasius spent much of his life combating the Arian heresy, which denied the divinity of Christ by denying that there are three Persons in one God, this Creed focuses on the doctrine of the Blessed Trinity.

The Athanasian Creed

Whoever wishes to be saved, needs above all to hold the Catholic faith; unless each one preserves this whole and inviolate, he will without a doubt perish in eternity.

But the Catholic faith is this, that we venerate one God in the Trinity, and the Trinity in oneness; neither confounding the persons, nor dividing the substance; for there is one person of the Father, another of the Son, and another of the Holy Spirit; but the divine nature of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is one, their glory is equal, their majesty is coeternal.

Of such a nature as the Father is, so is the Son, so also is the Holy Spirit; the Father is uncreated, the Son is uncreated, and the Holy Spirit is uncreated; the Father is infinite, the Son is infinite, and the Holy Spirit is infinite; the Father is eternal, the Son is eternal, and the Holy Spirit is eternal; and nevertheless there are not three eternals but one eternal; just as there are not three uncreated beings, nor three infinite beings, but one uncreated, and one infinite; similarly the Father is almighty, the Son is almighty, and the Holy Spirit is almighty; and yet there are not three almightys but one almighty; thus the Father is God, the Son is God, and the Holy Spirit is God; and nevertheless there are not three gods, but there is one God; so the Father is Lord, the Son is Lord, and the Holy Spirit is Lord; and yet there are not three lords, but there is one Lord; because just as we are compelled by Christian truth to confess singly each one person as God, and also Lord, so we are forbidden by the Catholic religion to say there are three gods or three Lords.

The Father was not made, nor created, nor begotten by anyone. The Son is from the Father alone, not made nor created, but begotten. The Holy Spirit is from the Father and the Son, not made, nor created, nor begotten, but proceeding.

There is, therefore, one Father, not three Fathers; one Son, not three Sons; one Holy Spirit, not three Holy Spirits; and in this Trinity there is nothing first or later, nothing greater or less, but all three Persons are coeternal and coequal with one another, so that in every respect, as has already been said above, both unity in Trinity, and Trinity in unity must be venerated. Therefore, let him who wishes to be saved, think thus concerning the Trinity.

But it is necessary for eternal salvation that he faithfully believes also the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Accordingly, it is the right faith, that we believe and confess, that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God is God and man. He is God begotten of the substance of the Father before time, and He is man born of the substance of His mother in time: perfect God, perfect man, consisting of a rational soul and a human body, equal to the Father according to His Godhead, less than the Father according to humanity.

Although he is God and man, yet He is not two, but He is one Christ; one however, not by the conversion of the Divinity into a human body, but by the assumption of humanity in the Godhead; one absolutely not by confusion of substance, but by unity of person. For just as the rational soul and body are one man, so God and man are one Christ.

He suffered for our salvation, descended into hell, on the third day arose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead; at His coming all men have to arise again with their bodies and will render an account of their own deeds: and those who have done good, will go into life everlasting, but those who have done evil, into eternal fire.

This is the Catholic faith; unless every one believes this faithfully and firmly, he cannot be saved. Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+