#United Hearts of Jesus and Mary

[doverstar]

Hey Doverstar. Fellow Christian here. :) What do you think about The Chosen? They just started releasing Season 4 eps in theaters this February in the United States. I really love this show. What about you? If you do...I think that would be groovy! If not...well. That would also be groovy too. ✌

Hi there! Woah, it's in theaters, that's crazy! Back in my day it was barely stream-able and we had to be in a specific person's living room to get it on the TV, how far we've come by matchbox twenty- I'm glad you asked, this will be long-ish!

I used to attend the church that the creator of the show had been attending at the time when we lived in IL (his name is Dallas, I think we had dinner with him? don't remember). That was before The Chosen was a thing. He had great ideas about what Christian media could be, but The Chosen in particular went downhill fast for me. I think it's an excellent show, but I also think that when you're using historical, real people in the content, you have to be very careful. Especially when it's biblical figures in history. Then you have to be insanely careful, and Dallas is not being as careful as one would hope. Because you don't want people who know nothing about Jesus to watch that show and have that expectation in their minds when they go to read the Bible. Jesus probably didn't talk like that, may not have looked like that, and may not have even smiled like that during His ministry here. But I've literally spoken with people who say things like if Jesus doesn't smile like Jonathan Roumie when they get to Heaven, "what's the point". That's dangerous. (And theologically the show is not sound.) I get taking creative liberties in order to make a television show more engaging for a modern audience, but not with the Bible. I get trying to make it easier to understand and follow for people who are just not brought up in the church and don't know the language. But I've decided for me, personally, not to continue watching The Chosen. For one thing, I don't want those actors/actresses in my head when I'm reading the Bible, and for another, I don't want to start being in a "fandom" for a show that's supposed to be portraying the events in the Bible. I don't want to start treating the Bible like it's fiction, like Peter's my blorbo (as the kids say), like it's just entertainment. It's not. It's real. It's all real, and I know me, and I know I have a tendency to over-romanticize the media I consume. I'm not going near that show with a 39-and-a-half foot pole anymore. It would be too easy to start thinking the wrong way about what I believe based on the way the show makes me feel. That, and I think the show is disrespectful and wrong. Great idea, good execution, went off the rails. And yeah, The Chosen is so good at making you feel things! I saw that first Season. I loved that first Season! Little ideas like having the Jesus-character laugh in bed while knowing exactly what the family of the lame man he cured is waking up to, literally able to see them rejoicing miles away? That's beautiful. When the Jesus-character cries with the woman at the well, and he tells her from now on it will all be about the heart, not about works? And she says "You promise?" And he cries and smiles and promises and she's so happy? That's beautiful. I cried too. And my favorite was the line when Mary says that before she met Jesus, "I was one way. And now I am completely different. And the thing that happened in between was Him." That's perfect. That's so good. That's what it's like, in three sentences. Excellent. Well done. Oh, and the music swelling at the end of each episode? Fantastic. Emotions everywhere. But like I said, I don't trust it. I got through about four episodes of Season 2 before I was like, okay, that's enough. This isn't good for me. Does that make sense? I could go into the discrepancies and how they often treat Jesus in the show as though He wasn't fully man and fully God (He was), and how they often make it seem like you can believe He was or He wasn't and it's all fine, when it's not all fine. But that would take a while! In a nutshell: I'm glad the creators had the right heart to start out with, and I'm pleased to see it proven that Christians can make excellent media, but not if it's like this, and I don't think the show should continue. If it does, I think they need to get their heads on straight and be super clear about the Truth, otherwise there's no point. I won't be watching it. Doesn't make you evil if you watch it! This is just what I think. Since you asked. Glad to hear from you! <3

#asked #answered #ask doverstar #doverstar's thoughts #the chosen #the chosen tv series #christianity #jesus #jesus christ #faith #dashdotdashdotdashdot #christian #jonathan roumie #dallas jenkins #christian tumblr #bible

[tinyshe]

A Prayer to the Sacred Heart for Those in Purgatory

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, remembering the promise of the Resurrection, I humbly and sincerely offer these prayers and Masses for (Mention your intentions here…) and all the departed. With joy, I thank You for what we shared in this earthly life. With hope, I pray this offering will help them on their journey to the fullness of life and happiness with You in Heaven. Purify them from all that is not holy so they may dwell in the mystery of Your perfect love forever. With blessed anticipation, I look forward to the coming age, when, with Your grace, I shall be united with them again in Paradise.

[Say 1 of each prayer: Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be]

Amen

#catholic #prayer #purgatory #sacred heart

[angeltreasure]

Hello, can you please explain what "Offering it up" means? I have watched and read multiple articles on it, yet I still can't understand it. I read that it means the suffering you give to God, and this is also Redemptive Suffering where we add our suffering with Jesus on the Cross. I heard other people say when they offer it up, in return people get comfort. I heard one mother say she offered up labrious pain to women who couldn't conceive, or that they may have an easier and painless birth. Lonely people offer it up so others can have friends and feel loved.

Absolutely!

The Catholic phrase “offer it up” means to offer up any form of pain we experience up to God in a form of prayer, in intercession for anyone else. So yes, when I offer up my suffering as small as stubbing my toe to as big as a fever and flu, I can have God use it to lessen the pains of souls in Purgatory, for the conversion of sinners, to stop others from feeling temptation into great sin (such as a mother considering abortion for her child/children in her womb), to heal the pain of offenses felt in the hearts of Jesus, Mary, and St. Joseph….the possibilities of praying for others can be endless.

When I pray like this by offering up my pain to help people, I immediately do get a sense of comfort and peace. It doesn’t mean that my pain is immediately gone, but rather, I receive the strength to endure the pain knowing God can use it for a greater good.

Most of the time when we Catholics tell each other to “offer it up” we will mean offer it up the pain for the souls of Purgatory. The souls in Purgatory must go through a process of purification in order to enter Heaven because no one can enter Heaven with sin. Souls in Purgatory cannot pray for themselves, they rely on us to help them and in turn, they pray for us when we need prayers.

So, here’s a simple example. Right now, I have a cold. I was praying earlier silently:

“God, I offer up all my pains and suffering for the conversion of sinners and to save souls in Purgatory…”.

When I have a bad migraine, a really bad one that makes me lay in bed in a dark room, that’s the one where I’m in the most pain where I personally do unite my pain to Jesus on the cross to offer up the pain. The pounding migraine on my head like the crown of thorns, the aches and sweats like whipping and sweat of blood. That’s another good way to offer up pain. It requires humility and a total surrender.

All the ones you listed in your question are amazing examples.

Thank you for the question! May God bless you. 🙏🏻

#asks #offer it up #prayer #prayer life #Purgatory #Catholic #Catholicism

[catholike]

For all the intentions of the united Hearts of Jesus and Mary.

May peace come into our land and homes.

Hail Mary

Full of Grace

The Lord is with thee

Blessed art thou among women

And Blessed is the Fruit of Thy Womb

Jesus

Holy Mary

Mother of God

Pray for us sinners

Now

And at the hour of our death.

.

.

.

.

(Ask me to pray for you, I will in whatever way you ask)

#catholic #mother mary #prayer #catholic church #rosary #our lady of the rosary #pray for one another #pray for me #catholiscism #love #isreal #palestine #isreal and palestine #isreal attack #send in asks #ask me stuff #ask me to pray for you #prayer request #prayer requests

[fuck-you-upmusicbracket]

ロウワー Lower One's Eyes (Nuyuri)

I wonder how many times I’ll be made to remember it again/It’s only us/If we are to be separated, if we are to lose our way/I’ll make sure we’ll be connected this time, no matter how many times it takes/If you will stay here with me, if I could just keep you from leaving/I’ll make sure this feeling no one else knows —everything I live for— is right.

"Good God. Good Lord. Have you ever wanted to be emotionally rent from your bones by lesbian witch anime Jesus? Now You Can. This song is based on An Urgent Appeal, a short story written by Osamu Dazai - a retelling of the betrayal of Jesus Christ from Judas's perspective. The original story goes from high, reverent adoration and praise to insults, but throughout the whole piece, the purest emotion is devotion. Jealousy and devotion, devotion so powerful it is wrenched and warped into something far worse. It's love so powerful it corrupts. It's codependency. It's loving someone so powerfully that betraying them feels like an act of love in and of itself. It's spiraling so deeply into love that you've lost your way, that you can't go anywhere without their hand, that their hand is gripping your heart and strangling you and you can't breathe anymore. It's doing anything to breathe again. You'd do anything for them. Lower One's Eyes is this, distilled into song form. Aside from the absolutely unhinged blorbo-able emotional basis and absolutely slappin music, the MV for this song is GORGEOUS. The masks that bathe the same scene or silhouette in different colors and patterns are incredible - especially the parts where it shows something else (like the witch's seat being occupied with Madonna lilies, symbolic of the Virgin Mary; or the fact that, whenever the witch is silhouetted, there's always a cross pattern in her shape). The animator went ALL OUT with the symbolism. The Judas trees in the background. The maid (Judas)'s association with yellow, the color that became representative jealousy and betrayal BECAUSE OF JUDAS. The album art showing the maid with a snake coiled around her neck and taking a bite from the original forbidden fruit!!! The witch's earrings being shaped like an ichthys!!!! The level of detail is insane!!! There's probably even some things I MISSED. It's an incredible piece of art both visually and aurally. 25/10 would hyperfixate on for 3 months in a row again."

Brothers Unite (Brothers of Metal)

Warriors unite, we will stand up and fight/See the flagons fly in Valhalla/If we all die, we will feast on a high/For the mead is flowing in Valhalla

"WE ARE GOING TO BATTLE AND IF WE DIE WE ARE GOING TO VALHALLA 💥💥💥 i also fucking love Powersnake from the same album but i forget if i submitted that already"

Lower One's Eyes submitted by @bitter--unicorns

Brothers Unite submitted by @g-thrice

#fuck you up bracket #tournament #polls #nuyuri #brothers of metal

[pamphletstoinspire]

Meditations of St. Padre Pio – Part 5 (Concluding Meditation)

Padre Pio was at the height of his priestly apostolate with multitudes of pilgrims visiting him, for his Mass, to confess to him, and to ask him for prayers and counsel. He was a master of souls; he directed everyone with penetrating words full of deep meaning. His series of "Meditations" was the first complete text of Padre Pio's thoughts. These texts consists of Padre Pio's meditations upon the fundamental dogmas of the Catholic faith. The Immaculate Conception and the Incarnation of Jesus. He then relives Jesus' agony in the garden of olives. Next he reflects on the human condition, and on our need to turn to God in the passing of our days. These are not conventional texts; they are reflections derived from the contemplation of the absolute Truth. “Mary Immaculate” is a more theological text. The others are more human and simple.

Padre Pio, in the first years of his residence in San Giovanni Rotondo (1918 – 1920), when he was freer from the care of souls, wrote a few meditations for his novices and his spiritual daughters of the Franciscan Third Order. They were the text of his lectures or instructions that he gave weekly as their Spiritual Director. After that, between the years 1925 – 1928, Padre Pio compiled other meditations. Fr. Agostino of San Marco in Lamis affirms it in his "Diary:" The Provincial, Fr. Bernardo of Alpicella, once suggested to Padre Pio to “compile a few meditations for the principal feasts of the year for our seminarians.” When Padre Pio was shown the possibility of publishing these meditations, he said: "I have written these things for myself." But, when it was explained to him that "they would do a lot of good to our souls" he smilingly said: "if it is as you say, bonum est diffu sivum sui (good, by its nature, is destined to be spread).

Meditation - Part 5 - The Agony of Jesus In The Garden - Holy Hour

J. M. J. – D. F. C. Note: The initials J. M. J. – D. F. C. Stands for Jesus, Mary, Joseph – Dominic, Francis, Catherine

The cross is always ready and awaits you at every turn." – Imitation of Christ

(Maxim which appears on the door of Padre Pio's cell No. 1)

O Divine Spirit, enlighten and inflame me as I meditate on the Passion of Jesus. Help me to fathom this mystery of the infinite love and suffering of a God who clothed himself in our human nature and endured suffering, agony and death for love of his creatures. The eternal, immortal God stoops down and humbles himself to the point of enduring the greatest martyrdom, the ignominious death of the Cross, covered with insults, contempt and infamy, in order to save the creature who has offended him and wallowed in the filth of sin. Man takes pleasure in sin and because of his sin his God is saddened, suffers and sweats blood in the most appalling spiritual agony. No, I cannot fathom this boundless ocean of love and sorrow unless your grace sustains me. Let me enter into the deepest recesses of the Heart of Jesus, to read there the essence of his bitter sorrow which reduced him to the point of death there in the Garden. Let me comfort him with my love, forsaken as he is by his Father and by his own. May I be able to join him in order to expiate in union with him.

O most sorrowful Mother Mary, unite me with you that I may follow Jesus and share his sufferings and your own sorrow.

O my dear Guardian Angel, guard my faculties and keep them recollected in my suffering Jesus, so that they may not stray far from him. Amen.

I

At the end of his earthly life, the divine Redeemer, having left us his whole self in the form of food and drink in the Sacrament of Love and having fed his Apostles with his immaculate Flesh, makes his way together with his own to the Garden of Olives, a place well-known to the disciples and to Judas himself. Along the way leading from the Cenacle to the Garden, Jesus instructs his disciples. He makes them ready for the coming separation, for his imminent Passion, and prepares them to suffer calumnies, persecution and even death itself for his sake, showing them how to imitate him, their divine Model.

I shall be with you. Do not be troubled. O disciples, for the divine promise will never fail; of this you will receive proof at this solemn hour.

He is about to enter on his grievous Passion and rather than thinking of himself he is full of concern for them.

Oh, what immense love is contained in that Heart. His countenance is suffused with sadness and love at the same time and his words come from the depths of his Heart. He speaks with deep affection, he encourages and comforts them; he promises to console them and explains the deepest mysteries of his Passion.

O Jesus, I have always been deeply moved by this journey from the Cenacle to the Garden, by the effusion of a love that poured itself out so freely and was merged with your loved ones, by the outpouring of a love that is about to sacrifice itself for others to redeem them from slavery. You have taught us that there is no greater proof of love than to lay down one's life for one's friends and you are now about to seal this proof of love with the sacrifice of your own life.

Who can fail to marvel in such a generous oblation?

When they reach the Garden, the divine Master dismisses the disciples and takes with him only three of them, Peter, James, and John, that they may witness his suffering. Would this same trio who saw him transfigured on Tabor between Moses and Elias and acknowledge him as God, would they be strong enough to recognize him now as the Man-God in the midst of mortal agony and sorrow? As they enter the Garden he says to them: Remain here, watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. Be on your guard, he seems to tell them, because the enemy does not sleep; protect yourselves against him beforehand with the weapon of prayer, so that you may not be led into sin. This is the hour of darkness. With this recommendation he goes apart from them a stone's throw and falls prostrate on the ground.

He is extremely sad: his soul is a prey to indescribable sorrow. The night is far advanced and the air is clear. The moon glows high above, leaving the Garden in semi-shadow. Occasional ominous flashes of light breakthrough the shadows, seeming to herald some serious and sinister events, producing shivers and freezing the blood in one's veins. The light seems tinged with the color of blood. A wind which gives warning of a coming storm stirs the olive trees and with the rustling of the leaves seems to reach one's very bones like a herald of death, going right down into the soul and filling it with mortal sadness.

This is the most dreadful night, the like of which will never again be known.

What a contrast, O Jesus. How beautiful was the night of your birth, when the jubilant angels announced peace and chanted their Gloria. Now it seems to me that they are circling around you at a respectful distance, as if in recognition of the supreme anguish of your soul.

This is the place to which Jesus comes to pray. He deprives his sacrosanct human nature of the strength conferred on it by his divinity and subjects it to indescribable sadness, to extreme weakness, to sorrow and desolation, to mortal anguish. His soul is plunged in this grief as in a boundless sea which at every moment seems about to overwhelm him. There appears before his mind the entire martyrdom of this approaching Passion which, like a torrent overflowing its banks, pours into his Heart to torture, oppress and tear it to pieces. First of all, he sees Judas, the disciple he loves so dearly, who sells him for a few coins, who is at this moment drawing near to the Garden to betray him and hand him over to his enemies. He, the friend and disciple whom only a short while earlier he has fed with his Flesh. Prostrate before him he has washed his feet and clasping them to his Heart has kissed them with all the tenderness of a brother, as if he intended by the power of love to dissuade him from his impious and sacrilegious plan, or at least that when he has committed this crazy crime he may enter into himself and recalling all these proofs of love, repent and be saved. But no, he is lost, and Jesus weeps over his willful loss.

Jesus beholds himself bound by his enemies and dragged through the streets of Jerusalem, through those same streets which a few days earlier he traversed in triumph, acclaimed as the Messiah. He sees himself before the High Priest where he is beaten, declared guilty and deserving of death. He, the Author of life, led from one court to another to appear before judges who condemn him. By his own people whom he has loved and to whom he has given so much he sees himself insulted and ill treated, while with devilish shouts and hisses they clamor for his death, his death on the Cross. He hears their false accusations, sees himself condemned to the most merciless scourging, crowned with thorns, derided, mockingly addressed as King, slapped in the face.

Finally, he beholds himself condemned to the shameful death of the Cross and mounting the hill of Calvary, reduced to extreme weakness from loss of blood, falling to the ground several times beneath the weight of the Cross. Then he sees himself reaching the hilltop where he is stripped and laid upon the Cross, mercilessly crucified and raised up on the Cross in the sight of all, where he hangs by three nails which tear and dislocate veins and bones and flesh. O God! What a long three hours of agonizing torture he endures amid the insults of an insane and merciless throng.

He sees himself with throat and internal organs racked by burning thirst, while this agonizing torture is increased by the taste of vinegar and gall.

He sees himself abandoned by the Father, and witnesses the desolation of his Mother at the foot of the Cross.

Finally, he beholds his ignominious death between two thieves, one of whom recognizes and acknowledges him as God and is saved, while the other blasphemes and insults him and dies in despair.

He sees Longinus approach him and with supreme insolence and contempt rip open his side. Then, like all mortal men, he is subjected to the humiliation of the tomb.

All these things pass before his gaze to torture him and Jesus is seized with terror. This terror takes possession of his divine Heart, holds it fast and lacerates it. He trembles as though in the throes of a very high fever, he is overcome by terror and his soul languishes in deadly sorrow. He, the innocent Lamb, alone, abandoned to the wolves, deprived of all defense. He, the Son of God, the Lamb who has offered himself voluntarily to be sacrificed for the glory of that same Father who abandons him to the fury of the powers of Hell, for the Redemption of the human race. His own disciples have become cowards and desert him, fleeing from him as from the most dangerous of men. He, the Eternal Word of God, becomes the laughingstock of his enemies.

Does he withdraw? No, from the very start he generously embraces all without reserve.

What is this terror and what is its origin? What is this deadly fear? Ah! He has exposed his human nature as a target to receive all the blows of divine Justice injured by sin. In his naked soul he experiences keenly all that he will have to suffer, each single sin that he will have to expiate with its own particular punishment. He falls prostrate because his human nature is a prey to weakness, fear and terror.

He seems to have reached the extreme limit. He lies prostrate, face to the ground, before the Majesty of his Father. That divine countenance, which keeps the angels and saints of heaven in ecstasy in eternal admiration of its beauty, on earth is completely disfigured. My God! My Savior! Are you not the God of heaven and earth, equal in all things to your Father, you who humble yourself to the point of almost losing the likeness of man?

Ah, yes, I understand that it is in order to teach me, proud as I am, that I must be plunged into the depths of the earth if I am to have relations with heaven. It is in order to make reparation and to expiate for my arrogance that you bow down in this way before your Father; it is so draw down on mankind his merciful gaze which has been withdrawn because of man's rebellion against him. Because of your humiliation he forgives the proud creature. It is in order to make peace between earth and heaven that you fall prostrate to the ground as if to bestow on it the kiss of peace. O Jesus, may you be blessed and thanked forever by all men for all the humiliations and abasement by which you have given us God and united us to him in an embrace of holy love.

II

Jesus rises and looks up beseeching and sorrowfully to heaven. He raises his arms and prays. Dear God, how deadly pale is that face! He prays to the Father who seems to turn his gaze elsewhere and appears ready only to strike him with his avenging sword, with all the fury of an offended God. Jesus prays with all the trust of a Son, but he is fully aware of the task that is his. He recognizes that he alone, on behalf of all, is the One who has outraged the divine Majesty. He realizes that it is he alone, by the sacrifice of his life, who can satisfy the divine Justice and reconcile the creature with the Creator. He longs for this and he desires it efficaciously. But his human nature is terrified at the sight of his bitter Passion. It wants to refuse it all, but his soul is prepared for the sacrifice and does battle with all its strength. He feels stricken but he struggles furiously.

O my Jesus, how can we draw strength from you when we see you so exhausted and stricken?

I understand how it is: you have taken upon yourself all our weaknesses. It is in order to bestow your strength on us that you have collapsed like this. It is in order to teach us that we must placed our trust in you alone during life's battles, even when heaven seems closed against us.

In his extreme affliction Jesus cries out to the Father: If it be possible, let this cup pass from me. This is the cry of his human nature which in its affliction has recourse with confidence to heavenly aid. Although he is aware that his plea will not be granted, since this is his own will, he prays. O my Jesus, why do you ask for what you do not want to be granted? The reason is suffering and love.

Here is the great secret. The sorrow that afflicts you leads you to us for help and comfort, but your desire to appease the divine Justice and restore us to God makes you cry out: Not my will, but thine, be done. In face of this prayer, heaven remains hard as stone.

His broken Heart is in need of comfort. The abandonment he experiences, the battle he is bearing all alone seems to drive him to look for someone who will comfort him. Slowly, then, he rises, and almost staggering he moves off in the direction of his disciples in search of comfort. These men who have lived with him for so long, these trusted ones, will be able to understand his interior anguish and the trial he must undergo in order to end it. They will be able to give him a little comfort.

But what a disappointment! He finds them fast asleep and he feels even more fully alone in that boundless spiritual solitude. He draws near to them and calls them. Then turning quietly to Peter he says: Simon, are you asleep? You who protested that you would follow me until death and would give your life for me, are you sleeping? Then turning to the others he adds: So, could you not watch with me one hour? The complaint of the Lamb who has offered himself to be sacrificed, the complaint of a wounded Heart that is suffering intensely, alone and deprived of all comfort.

But he revives as if from a weakness and forgetful of himself and of what he is suffering, full of concern and love for them, he adds: Watch and pray that you may not enter into temptation. It is as if he meant to say: If you have forgotten me so quickly, while I struggle and suffer, watch and pray and least for your own sake. But the disciples, heavy with sleep, hardly notice the voice of Jesus. They barely distinguish him as a shadowy figure, so that they do not observe his face is disfigured by the interior anguish which torments him.

O Jesus, how many generous souls, touched by your cry of grief, have kept you company there in the Garden, sharing your sorrow and your mortal anguish. How many hearts in the course of the centuries have replied generously to your invitation. In this supreme hour, then, may this company of souls bring you some comfort, sharing with you more than your disciples did the sorrow of your Heart and cooperating with you towards their own salvation and the salvation of others. Allow me also to be numbered among them so that I too may bring you a little relief.

III

Jesus has returned to his place of prayer and another picture more dreadful than the previous one is presented to his gaze. All our sins with all their filthiness past in detail before his eyes. He beholds all the wickedness and malice of creatures as they commit these sins. He knows to what an extent these sins injure and outrage the Majesty of God. He sees all the obscenity, the immodesty, the blasphemies which rise up from the lips of creatures, accompanied by the wickedness of their hearts, of those hearts and lips which were made to send up nothing but hymns of praise and blessing to the Creator. He sees the sacrileges by which priests and people are defiled, indifferent to the Sacraments instituted for our salvation as the necessary means for the communication of divine grace, but which have become, instead, the means of sin and condemnation for souls. With this filthy mass of human corruption he has clothed himself and appears before the holiness of his Father, to expiate for each sin by a separate punishment, to render to God all the glory they have denied him, to cleanse that sewer in which men are plunged with contemptuous indifference.

Nothing of all this holds him back. Like a surging sea this mass sweeps down on him, surrounds and overwhelms him. Behold him before his Father, facing all the anger of his divine Justice. He who is the essence of purity, he who is holiness by nature, in contact with sin! In fact it is as if he himself has become a sinner. Who can fathom the disgust he experiences in the depths of his soul? The horror he feels? The nausea, the repugnance he experiences? Since he has taken all these things without exception upon himself, this immense load crushes and overwhelms him, throws him to the ground and leaves him prostrate. Exhausted, he groans beneath the weight of the divine Justice, before his Father who turns on him ready to strike him like an accursed being with his full fury.

He would like to shake off this immense load that is crushing him. He would like to throw off this dreadful weight which makes him shudder. His very purity rejects him as does the angry gaze of his Father who abandons him to these turbid and polluted waters of sin in which he sees him immersed. Everything combines within his soul to induce him to withdraw from this bitter Passion. Nature fights against itself and everything tells him to cast off this filthiness and to refuse this mediation. But the image of Justice unappeased, on the sinners not yet reconciled, prevails in his Heart brimming over with love.

These two forces, these two loves, one holier than the other, fight for victory in the Savior's Heart. Which will prevail? Undoubtedly he wants to grant the victory to outraged Justice. This takes first place and he wants it to triumph. But what is the image he is to show forth? The image of one sullied by all the filthiness of men? Is he, the very substance of holiness, to see himself filthied by sin, even apparently? No, not this. It frightens him, it fills him with fear and terror.

As if seeking the solution to this harsh situation he has recourse to prayer. Prostrate before the Majesty of his Father, he cries out: Father, let this cup pass from me. As if he wanted to say: My Father, I want your glory, I want your Justice to be satisfied in full. I want the family of mankind to be reconciled to you. Must I who am the same holiness as yourself see myself sullied by sin? Ah, no, this is not to be! Let this cup pass from me, then, and you, to whom all things are possible, find some other means in the infinite treasury of your Wisdom. But if you do not want this, then: Not my will, but thine, be done!

IV

This time also the Savior's prayer fails to have affect. He feels he is dying and with great difficulty he interrupts his prayer to go in search of comfort. He feels utterly deprived of strength and he staggers, panting, towards his disciples. Once more he finds them sleeping. This increases his sorrow and he merely arouses them. How confused they must feel. But Jesus says nothing to them this time; he only appears immensely distressed. He keeps to himself all the pain and affliction of that desertion, of that indifference and by his silence he seems to regard with indulgence the weakness of his own.

O Jesus, what suffering I read in your Heart already brimming over with anguish. I see you withdraw from your disciples in such deep grief. Ah! If I could only relieve you and comfort you even to a slight extent. But since I am unable to do anything else, I remain beside you and weep. Aware as I am of your great suffering, may my tears of love for you and of sorrow for my sins mingle with your own and made they rise up to the Father's throne and induce him to have mercy on you and on many souls who are still plunged in the sleep of sin and death.

Jesus returns once more to his place of prayer in great affliction and in a state of collapse. He falls to the ground rather than prostrating himself upon it. A mortal agony seizes him and he prays with greater vehemence than before. The Father keeps his gaze averted, as if this were the most despicable of men.

I seem to hear all the laments of the Savior. Oh! If at least men for whom I am agonizing – he seems to say – and on behalf of whom I am ready to embrace everything, if only they were grateful and were to repay me with love for all the suffering I am enduring for them. If they only realized the high price with which I am about to ransom them from the death of sin so as to give them the true life of God's children. Ah, it is love that rends my Heart, more than the executioners will tear my flesh to pieces. But no, he sees men who are unable to profit from all this because they do not want to. Men will continue to curse this divine Blood and the loss will become more irreparable and unpardonable. Only a few will draw profit from it while the majority will hasten on their way to perdition! In the extreme anguish of his broken Heart, Jesus continues to repeat: Of what use is my blood? And he falls down again, utterly overcome.

But those few induce his divine Heart to remain on the battlefield, to face up to all the suffering and sorrow of his Passion and Death, in order to win for them the palm of victory. He no longer has anywhere to go to find comfort. Heaven is closed against him. Even men on their deathbed, beneath the load of their sins, indifferent and ungrateful, ignore Jesus' love for them. Jesus is in mortal agony, he is torn and tortured by love. His countenance has taken on the pallor of death, his eyes are dimmed, an indefinable sadness invades his whole being. My soul is sorrowful even unto death.

O Jesus, I seem to hear from your lips these words in tones of infinite sorrow! They reveal a profound sadness which wells up from the deepest recesses of your soul!

Fear shakes him and makes him tremble all over as a deadly anguish crushes him. He is nauseated by the evil smell of many sins and intense grief invades his soul: My soul is sorrowful unto death. O Jesus, my generous guarantor, these words of yours go straight to my heart. Oh, if I could only raise you up and comfort you. O Jesus, the contemplation of your great torment makes me weep with you.

Jesus! Jesus! He no longer listens to my cry! Love has made him his own executioner. He has fainted and fallen to the ground and from his face and his whole person blood is flowing to the ground. At first, I see it issuing in great drops from his pores, then these drops unite and the blood flows in streams to the ground. He no longer lies face downwards, but on his left side with outstretched arms, in a deadly collapse, his face and his whole body bathed in Blood, his eyes half-closed and almost lifeless, his mouth half-open, while his breast which previously was heaving is now enfeebled and almost motionless.

Jesus, my adored Jesus! Let me die along with you. Jesus! My contemplative silence, as I remain close to you in your death-throes, is more eloquent. Jesus! Your sufferings pierce my heart and I cast myself down beside you. My tears have dried and I groan along with you, for the cause that has reduced you to such agony and for your intense and infinite love which has brought you to this.

O Divine Blood. You pour spontaneously from the loving Heart of my Jesus; the flood-tide of pain, the extreme anguish, the fierce struggle he endures in driving you out of that Heart to ooze from his pores and stream down to the ground. Allow me to gather you up, O Divine Blood, especially your first drops, for I want to keep you in the chalice of my heart. This is the most convincing proof that nothing but love has forced you from the veins of my Jesus. Through you I want to cleanse myself and to purify every place that is contaminated by sin; I want to offer you to the Father.

This is the Blood of his beloved Son which has descended to the earth in order to purify it; it is the Blood of his Son, the Man-God, which goes up to his throne to placate his Justice which has been outraged by our sins. He is profusely satisfied.

But what am I saying? While the Father's Justice is satisfied; Jesus is not yet satiated with suffering. No, Jesus does not want to arrest at this point the outpouring of his love for men.

Man must be given an infinite proof of his love, he must see to what depths of ignominy this love will bring his Savior. He must recognize that his Redemption has been abundant. Even though the Father's infinite Justice measures the infinite value of his Most Precious Blood and is appeased, man, on the other hand, must have tangible proof that Jesus' love is not weary of suffering for him and does not stop here, but goes on to the extreme agony on the Cross, to the point of his ignominious death upon it.

Perhaps completely spiritual men can assess at least partially the love which brings Jesus to endure quite voluntarily this Agony here in the Garden, but those who are engrossed in material things and whose hopes are centered more on this world than on heaven need to see him agonizing and bleeding to death for them on a Cross, in order that they may be shaken by the sight of that Blood and that heartrending torment.

No, his loving Heart is not yet satisfied. He enters into himself once more and prays again: My Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, not my will, but thine, be done.

From now on, Jesus answers the loving cry of his Heart, the cry of the human race which, in order to be redeemed, demands his death. When the Father pronounces his death sentence, heaven and earth want to see him die. Jesus bows his adorable head in acceptance. Father, if this cup cannot pass unless I drink it, not my will, but thine, be done.

Now the Father sends an angel, an angelic messenger, to console Jesus. What comfort does God's angel bring to the strong God, the Master of the universe, invincible and omnipotent? Jesus allows himself to be susceptible to suffering. He has taken our weakness upon himself and it is the Man who suffers and agonizes. It is the miracle of his infinite love that makes him sweat Blood and reduces him to agony.

There are two reasons for his prayer to the Father: he prays on his own behalf and on ours. The Father does not hear him for his own sake, but wants him to die for us. I believe the angel, bowed down in reverence before Jesus, before this eternal Beauty now covered with Blood and dust, in deferent homage brings him the consolation of resignation to the divine will, imploring him for the glory of the Father and in the name of sinners to drink the chalice which from all eternity he has offered to drink for men's salvation. He prays in order to teach us once again that when our soul is desolate as his own, it is only through prayer that we should seek comfort from heaven.

He, our strength, will be ready to rescue us because he willed to take our miseries upon himself.

Yes, O Jesus, you have to drink the chalice to the very dregs, for you have now taken upon yourself the most agonizing death. O Jesus, may nothing ever have the power to separate me from you, neither life nor death. Following you during life, passionately attached to you, may it be granted to me to breathe my last with you on Calvary, so that I may ascend to you in glory. May I follow you in trials and persecution so that I may one day be worthy to come to you, to love you in the unveiled glory of heaven, to sing you a hymn of thanksgiving for all you have suffered.

But now Jesus rises to his feet, strong and invincible as a lion in battle. This Jesus who desired with great longing this banquet of Blood – with desire I have desired it – smooths his disheveled hair, wipes the blood from his face and with strong and decided steps makes his way to the exit of the Garden.

Where are you going, O Jesus? Are you not that Jesus whom I saw languishing there, a prey to fear, weariness, dread, prostration, desolation and terror? The same Jesus whom I saw trembling and crushed beneath the immense load of evil which was bearing down upon you?

Where are you going now so readily and resolutely and full of courage? To what are you exposing yourself?

Oh! I hear you say: The weapon of prayer has enabled me to win through and the spirit has overcome the weakness of nature; from prayer I have drawn strength and I am now ready to face up to anything. Follow my example and, when you suffer, deal with heaven just as I have done.

Jesus draws near to the three Apostles who are still sleeping. Emotion, the late hour of the night, the presentiment of some grievous event, of something irreparable that seems to be drawing near, as well as their own weariness, all this has plunged them into sleep, into an oppressive sleep that it seems impossible to shake off and which, even when it is shaken off, comes over them inexplicably again, so much so that Jesus has pity on them and says: The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.

At the same time he has felt so keenly this desertion by his own that he exclaims: Are you still sleeping and taking your rest? He pauses there. With a great effort, at the sound of his footsteps, they open their eyes. Then Jesus continues: Behold, the hour is at hand, and the Son of man is betrayed into the hands of sinners. Rise, let us be going; see, my betrayer is at hand.

Jesus beholds everything with his all-seeing eye. He seems to be saying: You who are my friends and disciples are sleeping, but my enemies are on the watch and are busying themselves about my capture. You, Peter, who felt strong enough to follow me even to death, you are sleeping. From the very beginning you showed me signs of your weakness; but do not worry, for I have taken your weakness upon myself and have prayed for you. When you mend your ways, I shall be your strength and you will feed my lambs. You, John, are also sleeping. You who only a few hours ago, in ecstasy by reason of my love for you, counted the beats of this Heart, are you asleep? Rise, let us be going, this is no longer the time for sleep. The enemy is at the gates and the hour of the powers of darkness has come. Yes, let us be going. I am going forth voluntarily to my death. Judas is drawing near to betray me and I go forward with a step that is firm and sure and intend to place no obstacle to the fulfillment of the prophecies. My hour has come, the hour of great mercy for mankind.

In point of fact, there is the sound of approaching footsteps, a reddish glare from lighted torches shows through the trees of the Garden, while Jesus followed by his three disciples goes forward calmly and without flinching.

O Jesus, give me the same strength when in the light of misfortunes my weak nature rebels. Help me to face, as you did, cheerfully and tranquilly, all the sufferings and torments I may encounter in this land of exile. I unite entirely with your merits, your pains, your expiation, your tears, in order that I may cooperate with you in my salvation and flee from sin, which was the only reason for your sweat of Blood and which brought you to your death.

Destroy in me everything that is displeasing to you and with the fire of your love imprint your sufferings on my heart. Bind me so strongly to you, with bonds so tight and so delectable, that I may never more abandon you in your sufferings. Let me rest on your Heart in all the sorrows of life, to draw from it strength and refreshment. Let my soul cherish no other desire than to live by your side in the Garden and to be satiated by the sorrows of your Heart. Let my soul be inebriated by your Blood and be nourished by you on the bread of your sufferings. Amen.

#padre pio

[eternal-echoes]

“Jesus never acts completely alone, and never for the sake of pleasing others. The Father is always the starting-point of his actions, and this is what unites him to Mary, because she wished to make her request in this same unity of will with the Father. And so, surprisingly, after hearing Jesus' answer, which apparently refuses her request, she can simply say to the servants: “Do whatever he tells you” (Jn 2:5). Jesus is not a wonder-worker, he does not play games with his power in what is, after all, a private affair. No, he gives a sign, in which he proclaims his hour, the hour of the wedding-feast, the hour of union between God and man. He does not merely “make” wine, but transforms the human wedding-feast into an image of the divine wedding-feast, to which the Father invites us through the Son and in which he gives us every good thing, represented by the abundance of wine. The wedding-feast becomes an image of that moment when Jesus pushed love to the utmost, let his body be rent and thus gave himself to us for ever, having become completely one with us - a marriage between God and man. The hour of the Cross, the hour which is the source of the Sacrament, in which he gives himself really to us in flesh and blood, puts his Body into our hands and our hearts, this is the hour of the wedding feast. Thus a momentary need is resolved in a truly divine manner and the initial request is superabundantly granted. Jesus' hour has not yet arrived, but in the sign of the water changed into wine, in the sign of the festive gift, he even now anticipates that hour.”

- Pope Benedict XVI, Kapellplatz, Altötting, 11 September 2006

#Catholic #Christianity #quotes #Pope Benedict

[gilmores-glorious-blog]

episode 4 thoughts!!

- we’re off to a strong start when the recap starts with buttons the sea witch

- what a goofy-ass reunion… not what any of the fanfictions were like but i love it

- jim is so hot

- god i love roach

- HELLO???? ED TIED UP IS???? SO SEXY????

- frenchie is slaying this outfit

- GOD the scene of ed leaving the ship is making me insane…”you’re no fucking mermaid” 😩

- ed randomly quoting here i go again was very funny

- ed explaining his tattoos to a rabbit… he wears gloves because he’s scared of spiders and has a spider tattoo…. he’s so special to me 😭😭

- anne is so hot i am. gay.

- loving the lesbian-gay solidarity happening here

- “you’re good at that” ouch.

- wee john and his knitting <3

- ed is so petty,, as he should be!!

- not them eating the rabbit 😭😭😭

- ed’s soft little thank you when stede says he likes the beard :’)

- loving ed and stede’s live slug reaction to mary and anne being insane

- god i love wee john, roach, olu, and pete trying to help out the more traumatized crew members

- *heart eyes* “stede stabbed me once”

- okay but “artsy outsider was always your type” is so intriguing to me

- olu calling jim babe :’’)

- oh god izzy’s cracked.

- buttons is so goofy

- ed hiding under a blanket he’s just like me for real

- godddd i’m so unwell,,, the whole conversation between the two of them,, ohhhh my fucking god 😭

- they’re! a! united! front!

- are they making izzy a leg?? 🥺

- not the “you are harassing a cripple!” 💀

- ohhh my god con. i’ll say it every time but. what a phenomenal fucking actor. holy shut.

- “the sea is my love” “jesus christ”

- buttons what the fuck. how and why did that just happen.

- i love that stede has no response to his first mate turning into a seagull

- “the new unicorn” 😭😭

#this show is my happy place i love them all so much #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd spoilers #ofmd season 2 #eli.posts

[anastpaul]

Our Morning Offering – 17 October – Be My Strength, O Sacred Heart! By St Margaret Mary

Our Morning Offering – 17 October – St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) Virgin Be My Strength, O Sacred Heart!By St Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690)Visionary of the Sacred Heart O Sacred Heart of Jesus,I fly to Thee,I unite myself to Thee,I enclose myself in Thee!Receive my call for help, O my Saviour,as a sign of my horror, of all within mecontrary to Thy holy love.Let me die rather a…

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#bemystrengthofsacredheart #prayerofstmargaretmaryalacoque #stmargaretmaryalacoque

[allaboutjoseph]

Litany to the Chaste Heart of St. Joseph

Image from The Filipino Pilgrim - Facebook. 

Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us. God the Father of Heaven have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the World have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Illuminator of Souls have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, One God have mercy on us. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us. Most Chaste Heart of St. Joseph, pray for us. Chaste Heart of Joseph, sanctified in the womb, Chaste Heart of Joseph, graced with holy reasoning, Chaste Heart of Joseph, graced with charity, Chaste Heart of Joseph, son of David, Chaste Heart of Joseph, who knew much anxiety and sorrow, Chaste Heart of Joseph, who communed with angels in dreams, Chaste Heart of Joseph, protector of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Chaste Heart of Joseph, guardian of Christ, Chaste Heart of Joseph, companion of joyful hearts, Chaste Heart of Joseph, help of husbands and fathers, Chaste Heart of Joseph, health of the sick, Chaste Heart of Joseph, father to orphans, Chaste Heart of Joseph, united to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, Chaste Heart of Joseph, beloved servant of God, Chaste Heart of Joseph, heart of workers, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most obedient to God’s Will, Chaste Heart of Joseph, filled with holy love, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most innocent, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most faithful, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most hopeful, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most joyful, Chaste Heart of Joseph, most humble, Chaste Heart of Joseph, help of Christians, Chaste Heart of Joseph, refuge of sinners, Chaste Heart of Joseph, terror of demons, Chaste Heart of Joseph, defender against lies and heresies, Chaste Heart of Joseph, friend of the angels, Chaste Heart of Joseph, consoler of the dying, Heart of St. Joseph, Prince of Patriarchs, Heart of St. Joseph, Prince of Confessors, Heart of St. Joseph, Prince of All Saints, Heart of St. Joseph, Prince of the Church, Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, spare us O Lord. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. Pray for us, O Most Chaste Heart of Joseph, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. O God, who by Your power and love did fashion and form the Heart of St. Joseph to be in likeness to the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, grant, we beg You, that what of ourselves we cannot possibly obtain may, through the Most Chaste Heart of Joseph, be granted to us by Thee who livest and reignest, God forever and ever. + Amen.

[fear-not-beloved]

Mary, pure and humble Virgin—Daughter, Bride, and Mother, united unceasingly to the Holy Trinity—I entrust myself entirely to you, in trust, gratitude, and simplicity. May I be a little child before you always—in your presence, in your arms, sheltered by your mantle and your love. Just as Jesus himself lived in your presence, both Son of Mary and Son of God, so may I also abide, Mary, at every moment, in the truth of childhood, cradled, close to you, in the arms of God’s perfect Love. I ask you to help me to gaze ever more deeply into the tender and loving gaze of God, who ceaselessly looks upon me and cries out: “You are my beloved, child, in whom I delight!” Yes, and through the radiance of this communication, may he live in me, and I in him. Dear Mary, form Jesus in me completely, just as he was formed in your heart and in your womb. And may I, in turn, let myself be ever more deeply and intimately cradled in his embrace. Bring to full flowering in me, healing all that hinders it, the fullness of his own mystery, and my own unique mystery in him, beautiful before the Father and before every person…this mystery that is already alive within my heart through God’s gift. Yes, grant me, through your motherly care, to rejoice to be a little, infinitely loved child of God. And with you, may this childhood blossom in the beauty of nuptial intimacy with Christ and of ever-deepening communion with my brothers and sisters. Finally, my Mother, grant me to radiate, in humble and joyful transparency, with the Father’s own healing paternal light. Fashion in me Jesus’ own perfect humility, his filial intimacy with the Father, his own tender and reverent compassion for every person. And may you do this, Mary, by conforming me to your own virginal love, your own perfect acceptance and surrender of self, your own docility to the Spirit’s slightest touch. It is thus that I will share, as you do, in the beauty of the love of God, bound together inseparably to the mystery of Christ who is the perfect Image of Divine Beauty. Grant me to abide, dearest Mother, entirely within the enfolding arms of God, and thus to be, and to rejoice to be, one of the littlest and the least, utterly poor, utterly obedient, utterly chaste. In this littleness, allow the gratuitous gift of God, passing through your virginal and maternal heart, to also pass into me, and through me into the hearts of others. Touching all of us together, uniting us in the bosom of the holy Church, one Body and Bride of the Son, let this Love at last draw us into the inmost heart of Jesus’ loving embrace, there to abide forever, with him, upon the Father’s breast—in the intimacy and joy in which all things are made new, in the bliss of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer of Entrustment to Mary || Joshua Elzner

[nehswritesstuffs]

Intro Post, GO!

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph--I last did one of these in 2018... fucking...

Info under the cut, if you’re into that sort of thing.

Hi! My name is Nehs and I write stuffs. I’m a trained screenwriter and hope to one day break into that, but I also know that since it’s a lot of work and luck I might as well enjoy myself along the way. I’ve been writing fan fiction since about 1998 and sharing online since 2004, so when I say I’ve been writing fic for most of my life, I mean it. More recently I’ve been very active in the Doctor Who/Whouffaldi fandom and back in One Piece. These things are more alike than one would think. My life force feeds off of weird, rare, and otherwise less-popular ships as well as alternate universe settings.

Aside from being here I’m also on fanfiction.net and Archive of Our Own. In the past nine years I’ve put out about 1.78mil words on AO3. My totals on FFN (which begin in high school (beware weird/lower quality work earlier on) and are skewed due to author’s notes and review replies bc i’ve been on the site for so long) are at ~2.38mil. Not everything from here is on my FFN or AO3 and not everything on FFN is on AO3 and vice versa. I do tend to crosspost a lot of my work, however, so when one site is down, there’s usually a good place to find my stuff otherwise if you were in the middle of something!

(No, seriously, my FFN hits took off during the latest mass-AO3 outage and it was mainly for stuff that was crossposted, so don’t be afraid to come on over!)

Uhh... big things I’m known for...

The Time That We Love Best: slice of life Whouffaldi AU set from WWII-1960; a hundred chapters of a relationship and lots of period-related plot; there are prompt fills to add to the story

The Thick of UNIT: crossover involving Doctor Who and The Thick of It, prominently showcasing the crackship of Kate Stewart/Malcolm Tucker; contains many OCs, canon cameos from both shows, weird shit, and current events; lots of offshoots and even has spawned fic of the fic

The March of Kasterborous and Gallifrey: pseudo-fantasy/nobility Whouffaldi AU that starts with an arranged marriage and morphs into a loving relationship and the building of a dynasty; consists of In Want of An Heir, Stars in A Sky of Blood and Blue, a prompt fill fic, and an AU of the AU that’s a remix of the first fic

Getting the Hang of Things: my attempt at a close-as-possible-to-canon Whouffaldi AU where they raise kids

a bunch of different fantasy-related Whouffaldi AUs, incorporating things such as selkies, werewolves, vampires, a How to Train Your Dragon setting, and more

Father Like Son, Mother Like Daughter, Parent Like Child: a One Piece Bellazón AU where Cora-san and Bell-mère raise their six kids in the East Blue, they’re all better adjusted, and proceed to make it everyone’s problem

little seagull, little seagull, where shall you go?: a One Piece AU where the Heart Pirates find a kid during the timeskip and Law completes the circle and becomes her Cora-san; is pretty much becoming a pick-your-own adventure story as I write varying branches to the plot

Love, Loss, and Finding One’s Self on the High Seas; I wanted to write Sanji/Pudding that gave her agency and made things less creepy; there’s lots of other ships too and it’s just weird af trust me

Other than that I am generally friendly and willing to interact with people. Drop me a line anytime, about fic or fandom or anything else, even if you think it’s negative. My personal blog is escapaldi. I enjoy hearing from readers (I’m one of those people that stalk reblogs for fun tags) and anything is better than nothing. There’s always room for improvement in a writer’s craft, so if you catch something then please let me know. Anon is on and if you prefer to confer in private just say so. Another thing to note is that I tend to reblog fanart for things I’ve written,things I find neat/important, and any other projects I may be in at the moment. If you got a problem with that, then I’m not really sure what to tell you. *shrugs* Oh, and yeah, don’t feed my fics to an AI for any reason whatsoever or I’ll astral-project myself to your computer and no one will enjoy themselves. :D

#welcome new followers! #your patronage of the nehswritesstuffs blog is appreciated and I hope you have a pleasant stay #I'm gonna pin this just in case

[thepastisalreadywritten]

Everything you need to know about Pentecost

By CNA Staff | 26 May 2023

This weekend, the Church celebrates Pentecost, one of the most important feast days of the year that concludes the Easter season and celebrates the beginning of the Church.

The timing and origins of Pentecost

Pentecost always occurs 50 days after the resurrection of Jesus and 10 days after his ascension into heaven.

Because Easter is a moveable feast without a fixed date, and Pentecost depends on the timing of Easter, Pentecost can fall anywhere between May 10 and June 13.

The timing of these feasts is also where Catholics get the concept of the novena — nine days of prayer — because in Acts 1, Mary and the Apostles prayed together “continuously” for nine days after the Ascension leading up to Pentecost.

Traditionally, the Church prays the novena to the Holy Spirit in the days before Pentecost.

The name of the day itself is derived from the Greek word “pentecoste,” meaning 50th.

There is a parallel Jewish holiday, Shavu’ot, which falls 50 days after Passover.

Shavu’ot is sometimes called the festival of weeks, referring to the seven weeks since Passover.

Originally a harvest feast, Shavu’ot now commemorates the sealing of the Old Covenant on Mount Sinai, when the Lord revealed the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.

Every year, the Jewish people renew their acceptance of the gift of the Torah on this feast.

What happens at Pentecost?

In the Christian tradition, Pentecost is the celebration of the person of the Holy Spirit coming upon the Apostles, Mary, and the first followers of Jesus, who were gathered together in the Upper Room.

A “strong, driving” wind filled the room where they were gathered and tongues of fire came to rest on their heads, allowing them to speak in different languages so that they could understand each other.

It was such a strange phenomenon that some people thought the Christians were just drunk.

However, Peter pointed out that it was only the morning and said the phenomenon was caused by the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit also gave the apostles the other gifts and fruits necessary to fulfill the great commission — to go out and preach the Gospel to all nations.

It fulfills the New Testament promise from Christ (Luke 24:46-49) that the Apostles would be “clothed with power” before they would be sent out to spread the Gospel.

Where’s that in the bible?

The main event of Pentecost (the strong driving wind and tongues of fire) takes place in Acts 2:13, though the events immediately following (Peter’s homily, the baptism of thousands) continue through verse 41.

Happy Birthday, Church!

It was right after Pentecost that Peter, inspired by the Holy Spirit, preached his first homily to Jews and other non-believers in which he opened the scriptures of the Old Testament, showing how the prophet Joel prophesied events and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.

He also told the people that the Jesus they crucified is the Lord and was raised from the dead, which “cut them to the heart.”

When they asked what they should do, Peter exhorted them to repent of their sins and to be baptized.

According to the account in Acts, about 3,000 people were baptized following Peter’s sermon.

For this reason, Pentecost is considered the birthday of the Church — Peter, the first Pope, preaches for the first time and converts thousands of new believers.

The apostles and believers, for the first time, were united by a common language, a common zeal, and a common purpose to go and preach the Gospel.

Pentecost vestments and customs around the world

Typically, priests will wear red vestments on Pentecost, symbolic of the burning fire of God’s love and the tongues of fire that descended on the apostles.

However, in some parts of the world, Pentecost is also referred to as “WhitSunday,” or White Sunday, referring to the white vestments that are typically worn in Britain and Ireland.

The white vestment is symbolic of the dove of the Holy Spirit and typical of the vestments that catechumens desiring baptism wear on that day.

An Italian Pentecost tradition is to scatter rose leaves from the ceiling of the churches to recall the miracle of the fiery tongues.

In some places in Italy, Pentecost is sometimes called Pascha Rosatum (Easter roses).

In France, it is tradition to blow trumpets during Mass to recall the sound of the driving wind of the Holy Spirit.

In Asia, it is typical to have an extra service, called genuflexion, during which long poems and prayers are recited.

In Russia, Mass-goers often carry flowers or green branches during Pentecost services.

#Pentecost #Pentecost Sunday #novena #Shavu’ot #pentecoste #Holy Spirit #WhitSunday #White Sunday #Pascha Rosatum

[rythyme]

virgin mary statue explanation proposal: there's a parallel being drawn between porsche and mary. they both got involved in something major (the mafia, the birth of jesus lmao) but not of their own volition. mary is accused of cheating when she didn't do anything the same way kinn initially accuses porsche of getting flirty with vegas. despite reluctance they do their best with the situations they've been basically forced into. almost like victims of their situations but they're active (disclaimer: im christian not catholic and the catholics are the ones with the mary statues i really don't know what that's about lol)

OOOH i like this!! the mary statue is show REALLY prominently in this scene — in fact, it's the brightest thing in the bar — so we're definitely being told to pay attention to it.

we even get a full 4-second shot of just the statue right before porsche gets drunk and vegas leads him off to the bathroom.

and then, of course, we have the shots of porsche drinking framed through mary's circular cutout in the wall. mary is out of focus in the lower center of the screen, while porsche is consistently right in the middle with vegas watching him from the back.

honestly i REALLY like @hael987 's interpretation of this shot (read it here!). i totally agree with everything they said about the green envy lighting and the target / rifle scope of the shot framing and the way it literally traps porsche in vegas’s sight. their ideas on the virgin mary statue also really resonate with me, and i think a lot of those ideas can coexist with the idea that porsche IS mary, in the figurative sense.

the virgin mary is a very powerful and important figure. like hael987 said, she is viewed as one of the holiest saints and is placed in one of the highest positions across lots of religions. that said, she doesn't have a ton of her own agency and is secondary to male figures (jesus and G*d, i guess haha).

in kinnporsche, there's already textual evidence to draw a parallel between kinn and a god (especially with porsche's "are you a god?" in episode 1). there's ALSO already been parallels drawn between porsche and the queen in the chess board (also in episode 1), which i feel is pretty analogous to the virgin mary in terms of symbolism. they both have a lot of power and weight in the "story" (potentially even power OVER their male counterparts) but in the greater hierarchy are still below those male counterparts.

the fact that porsche has (potentially) been linked to these two female symbols gives me a lot of thoughts about gender and gender roles. it would be easy to say on a surface level that this has something to do with porsche being "the woman" in his and kinn's relationship (yikes). i think that's a little reductive and probably isn't what the directors and screenwriter are going for. i think it's more about the role porsche plays in the larger plot of the show and the archetype he embodies.

porsche is, to use your words anon, a victim of his situation. he's poor, which puts him in a different social class than kinn and his family, and yet porsche is super desirable to these other characters as a love interest. his agency is frequently in question and he has to fight against kinn, vegas, and others for that autonomy. he is also the emotional heart of the story and enables other characters to share their true feelings through his own emotional honesty and authenticness.

to be clear, none of these things are inherently feminine. however, a lot of characters with the above traits in film, literature, etc. tend to be women. the fact that porsche is filling this role as a queer working class male character creates an interesting intersection of gender, sexuality, and class. for porsche and all the female characters who fall into that same archetype, a core part of their story is structural power imbalance and social hierarchies. this is a uniting theme for a variety of folks who experience oppression.

this answer definitely got WAY out of hand, but i hope this interpretation was at least interesting! let me know what you think. :)

#kinnporsche #kinnporsche meta #ALSO! #while i was writing this i also just thought of an interpretation where the virgin mary statue represents vegas #maybe i'll write that up separately lmaoo #yes my interpretations can be wildly conflicting but all can be true simultaneously bc that's how media analysis works babyyyy #also as a disclaimer i had literally no knowledge of christianity at all for most of my life and was raised in a jewish / atheist household #so everything i know about the virgin mary is from english lit class and just like. generally existing in the united states #lgbt drama #thai drama #ask theo

[tinyshe]

Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

This novena prayer was recited every day by Padre Pio for all those who asked for prayers. The faithful are invited to recite it daily, so as to be spiritually united with the prayer of Padre Pio.

I. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and it will be given you, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of [insert your intention.] Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be to the Father…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask any thing of the Father in my name, He will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of [insert your intention.] Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be to the Father…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of [insert your intention.] Our Father…Hail Mary…Glory be to the Father…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender mother and ours.

Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.

#sacred heart #padre pio #prayer #novena

[globalworship]

Nativity with 7-Headed Red Dragon

"Full of Eyes" is an art ministry; the artist (Pastor Christopher) creates some stunning art with commentary.

Here is one of his Nativity-themed piece, followed by the artist's extensive commentary. All is from https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=799464305550239&set=a.457134836449856

+++

Rev 12:1-6

As we look back on Christmas, I wanted to share this year’s new Christmas picture; a visual exegesis of Christ’s birth as found in the book of Revelation… At the literary center of John’s vision lies the ‘great sign’ of a celestial woman in the agonies of giving birth (v.1-2). A seven-headed dragon (‘that ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan,’ v.9) stands before her, ready to devour her child (v.3-4), however, the woman safely delivers her son who is ‘caught up to God and to His throne’ (v.5). Scholarly discussion surrounds the identity of this woman (Israel? The Church? Mary?); I don’t intend to discuss that here (other than to suggest that these identifications need not be mutually exclusive). Rather, I want to consider what the ‘birth’ that John presents to us here is intended to convey. At first it might seem a fairly straightforward (if apocalyptic) depiction of Jesus birth in Bethlehem…But it is not so simple. Firstly, when we consult John’s other book (his Gospel), we find that Jesus likens his crucifixion to a birth (Jn 16:20-22), and that, at Jesus’ elevation to the throne of the cross (the cross becomes a metaphorical throne in the symbolic imagery of the Gospel), Satan—the dragon—is decisively overcome (Jn 12:31). Additionally, the Greek John uses for the woman’s birth pangs in v.2 is unique and suggests great torment or agony. These reasons and others have led some to suggest that the ‘birth’ of Rev 12:1-6 is, in fact, the resurrection-illumined *crucifixion* presented under the apocalyptic guise of a birth…From the vantage point of the resurrection, John perceives the crucifixion as the installation of the divine King upon the throne of the cosmos, as the decisive victory of God over the draconic power of Satan, and as the ‘birth’ of the true, Messianic Human Being, the beginning of redeemed humanity. It is this birth—the birth of Calvary, rather than Bethlehem (though, it is a birth indivisibly tied to and is, in fact, the consummation of that prior birth)—it is this birth that John sees as a ‘great sign’ in heaven and places at the heart of his great apocalyptic book. At the center of the image is the newborn Christ. The beams of glory shining from his halo form a cross upon which he is symbolically portrayed as crucified. This is an attempt to show that, for John, the ‘birth’ of Rev.12:1-6 is an apocalyptic depiction of the crucifixion (as that crucifixion finds authoritative interpretation in light of the resurrection); Jesus is ‘born’ as the divine ruler who is ‘caught up’ to the throne of God as He hangs before the eyes of faith on the resurrection-illumined cross. The crucified / newly born Christ is pictured in the midst of his mother (Mary? Israel? The Church?) in an attempt to show that the grievous pangs of His birth are supremely born in Himself; He bears the curse (Gen.3:16; Gal.3:13) in place of His people, even as He is the first born *from* those pangs so that all united to Him by faith might share in that same new—and true—birth. At the base of the image, Satan—that ancient serpent—crushes Jesus’ heal, even as his own head (and, therefore, all seven of his heads) are crushed. The ‘protoevangelium’ (Gen. 3:15) finds fulfillment at the cross, which is the achievement of the promise made to Eve, and her salvation ‘through childbearing’ (1 Tim. 2:15). Ultimately, the Dragon is slain by the blood of the Lamb (Rev.12:11). Other details are present, but the last I’ll mention here is that the entire image is backed by the crescent moon (Rev 12:1) which doubles as a picture of the opening tomb of Christ. This is intended to visually emphasize the crucial point that Jesus’ crucifixion becomes the enthronement of the Divine King, the birth of the Human Being, and the defeat of the Dragon *only* in light of the resurrection, *only* because the Crucified One is, now and forevermore, the Living One (Rev. 1:18). Hallowed be His Name, and Merry Christmas to you!