Hands and Heart..........July 20

"Show me your hands.

Do they have scars from giving?

Show me your feet.

Are they wounded in service?

Show me your heart.

Have you left a place for divine love?"

Fulton J. Sheen

Our Example..........July 19

"Words call us but examples draw us."

Author Unknown

What an example we have in Jesus!

In Latin, at the top:"In the Cross, salvation"

In German, at the bottom:"My pain is ever before my face."

Madlener (artist) He Is..........July 18

He is Light,

Longevity,

and Lord.

He is Goodness,

Kindness,

Gentleness,

and God.

His is Holy,

Righteous,

Mighty,

Powerful,

and Pure.

Author Unknown

Our Lady of Treille, France..........July 17

Our Lady of Treille, France

Patron of Lille, France

"Hold Him fast,

O sweet Lady::

hold Him Whom thou lovest,

............"

St. Aefred of Rievaulx

Let us always look for Jesus...

He will be in Mary's arms.

"Lille had been known for the miraculous statue of the Virgin protected by an iron trellis (hence the name 'Notre-Dame de la Treille' – Our Lady of the Trellis) since the Middle Ages."

Our Lady of Mount Carmel..........July 16

O God,

the order of Carmel was singularly honored

when the title of the most blessed ever-virgin Mary, your mother, was given to it.

Grant that we who commemorate this solemn feast today may be shielded by her protection

and attain everlasting happiness; who lives and rules with God the Father.

To read more about Our Lady of Mount Carmel
click here.

Translation:
The Latin words on the card mean (literally),
"Queen, Ornament of Carmel."

Prayer..........July 15

"When we pray,

the voice of the heart must be heard

more than the proceedings from the mouth."

St. Bonaventure

Translation:

"Jesus, Jesus, come to me. Oh, how I myself long for Thee!"

Feast of Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha..........July 14

From the Litany of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Kateri, lily of purity, pray for us.

Kateri, bright light for all Indians, pray for us.

Kateri, lover of the cross of Jesus, pray for us.

Kateri, leader of many Indians to the true faith through your love for Mary, pray for us.

Kateri, who loved Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, pray for us.

Kateri, who traveled many miles to learn the faith, pray for us.

Kateri, who loved to pray the rosary for all people, pray for us.

Kateri, humble servant to the sick, pray for us.

Kateri, whose scarred face in life became beautiful after death, pray for us.

Heart of a Mother..........July 13

"The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you always find forgiveness."

Honore De Balzac

Looking Down to Heaven..........July 12

"Every mother, when she picks up the young life

that has been born to her, looks up to the heavens

to thank GOD for the gift which made the world young again.
But here was a Mother,

a Madonna,

who did not look up.

She looked down to Heaven

for this was Heaven in her arms.

Bishop Fulton J. Sheen

Disease..........July 11

"The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis,
but rather the feeling of being
unwanted, uncared for and deserted
by everybody."

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Painting by Edward Ostendorf

Borrowed Time..........July 10

"When God gave you to me

He never said that you were mine,

that I could keep you always--only borrowed for a time. Now, He's called you home,

I'm sad and I shed tears.

Yet, I'm glad He loaned you to me and we had

these many years."

(words on the back of a memorial death card)

Hands of a Priest..........July 9

Meditation of St. Francis of Assisi

Let everyone be struck with fear,

the whole world tremble,

and the heavens exult

when Christ, the Son of the living God,

is present on the altar in the hands of a priest!

O wonderful loftiness

and stupendous dignity!

O sublime humility

The Way To Go..........July 8

"If then,

you are looking for the way

by which you should go,

take Christ,

because He Himself

is the way."

St.Thomas Aquinas

Earthly Possessions..........July 7

"Live in the world as if only God and your soul were in it; then your heart will never be made captive by any earthly thing."

Saint John of the Cross

Translation:
At the top: "Dreams of Youth" In the beam of light:"

And then afterwards ..."At the bottom:

"O God, divert my heart from vanity!

... Show me your truth, that sun shining past everything which slips away."

Feast of St. Maria Goretti..........July 6

St. Maria Goretti

Patroness of Youth

"...raised to sainthood by Pope Pius XII, with her mother, brothers, and sisters present, a unique event in the history of the Church. By that time her prayers for her murderer had long since been heard and answered. After eight years of unrepentant imprisonment, Alexander had a complete change of heart; released for good behavior after twenty-seven years, he hastened to beg forgiveness of the Saint's mother and then became a Capuchin laybrother, who gave evidence at the canonical inquiry about Blessed Maria and lived to see her canonized."

"Lives of the Saints for every day of the year"

Angel..........July 5

"Make yourself familiar with the angels,

and behold them frequently in spirit,

for without being seen, they are present with you."

St. Francis De Sales

God Bless America.........July 4

"If My people, which are called by My name,
shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face,
and turn from their wicked ways;
then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin,
and will heal their land."

II CHRONICLES 7:14

Feast of St. Thomas Apostle..........July 3

Unfortunately always thought of as "Doubting Thomas."

Yet because of that doubt he proclaimed words that

we use today to give our utmost praise to God.

"My Lord and My God"

Thank you St. Thomas for those words of love and praise.

Prayer..........July 2

"Do not turn to prayer hoping to enjoy spiritual delights;

rather come to prayer totally content to receive nothing

or to receive great blessings from God's hand,

whichever should be your heavenly Father's will

for you at that time."

Madame Jeanne Guyon

The German words at the bottom of the card are from

verse 10 of Psalm 143 (numbered 142 in older Catholic bibles).

They mean:"Teach me to do Thy will, for Thou art my God."

Jesus Fishing..........July 1, 2008

Fisher of Men

"...............the call which Peter and his brother Andrew heard from Jesus continues to resound in the world: 'Put out into the deep and lower your nets for a catch.' And after the miracle of a huge catch of fish, the Lord revealed to Peter that he would become 'a fisher of men'

(Lk 5:4 and 10)."--- .....From "Doctrinal Note on Some Aspects of Evangelization" -- Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith -- December 3, 2007

Translation of
Latin at bottom of card
With a lifegiving sweetness,
You draw in those who are saved,
the innocent fish from the hostile waves of a wicked sea

Beuron Sacred Heart..........June 30

"Our Beloved does not need our brilliant deeds

nor our beautiful thoughts.

If He wanted sublime concepts,

has He not the angels,

who surpass in knowledge the greatest geniuses

of the world?"

St. Therese of Lisieux

Feast of St. Peter and Paul..........June 29th

O God,

this day is sacred because of the martyrdom

of your apostles Peter and Paul.

May your Church follow the

teachings of these two saints

in every respect, for from them she received

the faith in the beginning.

Through our Lord.

Latin words mean, "But we preach Christ crucified."

Will of the Soul..........June 28

One ship drives east, and another west

With the self-same winds that blow:

'Tis the set of the sails

And not the gales,

Which decides the way to go.

Like the winds of the sea are the ways

of fate:

As the voyage along through life;

'Tis the will of the soul

That decides the goal,

And not the calm or the strife.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

The ship's banner says, "Foreign Missions."

At the bottom: "Star of the Sea, pray for us and for sailing missionaries."

Our Lady of Japan..........June 27

O Mary, you are forever connected with Jesus

as His Mother and as His closest disciple.

Let me never hesitate to honor you

for in doing so

I am honoring your Divine Son.

Birds Sing..........June 26

"The other day--the little birds were singing in the woods. I began to weep. Poor little creatures, I thought within myself, the good God has made you to sing, and you sing. Yet man, who was created that he might love God, loves Him not!

St. John Vianney

God's Company..........June 25

"Prayer purifies us, reading instructs us. If a man wants to be always in God's company, he must pray regularly and read regularly. When we pray, we talk to God; when we read, God talks to us."

St. Isidore of Seville

The Latin words on the card mean,
"Go, teach all nations"

Nativity of John the Baptist..........June 24

Jesus said "Among those born of women there had not risen a greater than John the Baptist."

The Baptist practiced virtues of purity, penance, and incessant prayer and selfless humility.

"He must increase, but I must decrease."

Can we "bear witness" to our friends and neighbors?

Be Watchful..........June 23

Card dated 1858

(guess they liked to paint Jesus

with long hair)

"Be watchful and vigilant. It is by design that Jesus concealed the last day from us.

He wants us to be on the lookout for Him every day of our lives.

St. Augustine

Rays of Sun..........June 22

The sun's rays light up the world
without separating themselves from the sun.

In like manner,

the Son of God comes down to earth to enlighten us without separating himself from the Father with Whom He is entirely one.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Aloysius Gonzaga..........June 21

To read about St. Aloysius click here

He who wishes to love God does not truly love Him if he has not an ardent and constant desire to suffer for His sake."

St. Aloysius Gonzaga

He is Waiting for You....June 20

"Nowhere on earth are you more welcomed,
no where on earth are you more loved,
than by Jesus,
living and truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament... He is really there in person waiting just for you."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

[At the top:] The pause on the journey -- or the daily visit.
[At the bottom:] It is only there that my heart is at rest. Everything is taken away from my sight before that tabernacle. If someone were to ask me, "Where is your happiness?" -- I would answer, "Look! Jesus, through a miracle, has placed His home in the midst of my exile."

Adore Jesus June 19

"Adore Jesus through Jesus Himself;
that is the most perfect adoration.
He is both
God and Man,
your Savior and Brother."

St. Peter Julian Eymard

Mother of Mercy..........June 18

"Have recourse to that dear Mary who is the Mother of Mercy.

She will take you into her Son's presence and use her Motherly intercession with Him on your behalf, so that He will be merciful toward you."

St. Catherine of Siena

Tabernacle..........June 17

Jesus are you there?

"What is faith save to believe

what you do not see?"

St. Augustive of Hippo

"Oh, a splendor very surely, dear Lord!"

Hummel Guardian Angel..........June 16

"Happy the soul who after obeying

the counsels of her Guardian Angel,

shall be led by him to heaven."

St. Louis of Gonzague

Father's Day..........June 15

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY TO ALL FATHERS

A model for fathers, Saint Joseph is invoked as a protector of the family.

Almighty God, You entrusted you Son, Jesus, and His blessed mother, Mary, to the faithful care of Joseph.

We ask that St. Joseph also protects and guides all the earthly "fathers" we remember today.

Mary and Jesus..........June 14

"Mother of Christ, Mother of Christ,

Come with thy Babe to me;

Though the world be cold, my heart shall hold

A shelter for Him and for thee."

(A Notre Dame Hymn)

Feast of St. Anthony of Padua..........June 13

"Happy the man whose words come from the Holy Spirit and not from himself."

Saint Anthony of Padua



Go here

to read more about St. Anthony

The German words mean this:

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God."

Pain..........June 12

"Pain that is not offered up is wasted pain."

Bishop Sheen

I believe that the German words mean this:

"Suffer patiently, and your bed of pain will give you joy and bliss."

The Cross..........June 11

The Cross is the way to paradise, but only when it is borne willingly.

St. Paul of the Cross

The Latin words mean, "Show yourself to be a mother."The French words mean, "Show that you are my mother."

Thanks again to John for translations.

Let The Storm Come..........June 10

"The Church is like a great ship

being pounded by the waves of life's different stresses. Our duty is not to abandon ship,

but to keep her on her course."

St. Boniface of Mainz

Happines..........June 9

"Happiness is inward,

and not outward;

and so,

it does not depend on what we have,

but on what we are."

Henry Van Dyke

Dear Lord,

Let me be all that YOU want me to be.

Confession..........June 8

"Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is mercy. Believe it firmly, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God."

St. Isidore of Seville

The German words mean this:"I absolve you of your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. (Roman Ritual)"

Thanks to John for translation

Devotion to Mary..........June 7

"Devotion to the Blessed Virgin in no way detracts from the glory of God.

Rather it leads us directly back to that Author of all good who has willed her to be so great and so pure."

Pope Pius XII

Wishes..........June 6

"When we hear people talk of riches, honors and amusements of the world, let us remember that all things have an end, and let us then say: "My God, I wish for You alone and nothing more."

St. Alphonsus Ligouri

Perfection..........June 5

"God does not ask of us perfection of tomorrow, nor even of tonight, but only of the present moment."

St. Madeline Sophie Barat

The Latin words mean, "Hail, o Queen, our life, sweetness, (and) hope."

Translation thanks to John

Host..........June 4

"I adore the host which Jesus instituted

to be forever the memorial of His death.

I adore my Savior who was crucified,

dying and entombed on Calvary."

St. Katherine Drexel

(thank you Janette)

Mother Nealis, Walk with Jesus......June 3

Just a closer walk with thee,

Grant it, Jesus, is my plea;

Daily walking close to thee,

Let it be, dear Lord, let it be.

I am weak, but thou art strong;
Jesus, keep me from all wrong;
I'll be satisfied as long
As I walk; let me walk close to thee.

Unknown Author

Traditional Folk Song

Latin for "Permit the little children ..."

Translation thanks to John.

Silence..........June 2

Let us adore Jesus in our hearts, who spent 30 years out of 33 in silence; who began his public life by spending 40 days in silence; who often retired alone to spend the night on a mountain in silence. He who spoke with authority, now spends his earthly life in silence. Let us adore Jesus in the eucharistic silence.

Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Blessing of Fishing Boats..........June 1

"We shall steer safely through every storm so long as our heart is right, our intention fervent, our courage steadfast, and our trust fixed on God."

St. Francis de Sales