Monday 30 December 2013

 
O God, the beginning and the end of all things, Who are always the same, and Whose years never fail, we now, at the close of another year, pray in thanksgiving and gratitude, and offer You our deepest thanks for the fatherly care with which You has watched over us during the past, for the many times You have protected us from the dangers of soul and body, and for the numberless blessings, both temporal and spiritual, which You have showered upon us. May it please You to accept the homage of our grateful hearts which we offer You in union with the infinite thanksgiving of Your divine Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you forever and ever. Amen.
 
Te Deum at the close of the Year and beginning of the New Year
 
We praise you, O God: we acclaim you as the Lord. Everlasting Father, all the world bows down before you. All the angels sing your praise, the hosts of heaven and all the angel powers, all the cherubim and seraphim call out to you in unending song: Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God of angel hosts! The heavens and the earth are filled with your majesty and glory. The glorious band of apostles, the noble company of prophets, the white-robed army who shed their blood for Christ, all sing your praises. And to the ends of the earth your holy Church proclaims her faith in you. Father, whose majesty is boundless, your true and only Son, who is to be adored, the Holy Spirit sent to be our advocate. You, O Christ, are the King of glory, Son of the eternal Father. When you took our nature to save mankind, you did not shrink from birth in the Virgin's womb. You overcame the power of death opening the Father's kingdom to all who believe in you. Enthroned at God's right hand in the glory of the Father, you will come in judgment according to your promise. You redeemed your people by your precious blood. Come, we implore you, to our aid. Grant us with the saints a place of glory everlasting. Lord, save your people and bless your inheritance. Rule them and uphold them for ever and ever. Day by day we praise you: we acclaim you now and to all eternity. In your goodness, Lord, keep us free from sin Have mercy on us, Lord, have mercy. May your mercy always be with us, Lord, for we have hoped in you. In you, Lord, we put our trust: we shall not he put to shame.

Tuesday 24 December 2013

 
"God is glorious,God is pure light, the radiance of truth and love. He is good. He is true goodness, goodness par excellence. The angels surrounding him begin by simply proclaiming the joy of seeing God’s glory. Their song radiates the joy that fills them. In their words, it is as if we were hearing the sounds of heaven. There is no question of attempting to understand the meaning of it all, but simply the overflowing happiness of seeing the pure splendour of God’s truth and love. We want to let this joy reach out and touch us: truth exists, pure goodness exists, pure light exists. God is good, and he is the supreme power above all powers. All this should simply make us joyful tonight, together with the angels and the shepherds."
Benedict XVI
 
With every good wish and blessing of the Infant King born for us this night from the Dominican Rosary Apostolate in Ireland.

Monday 23 December 2013


“Let not your heart be disturbed… Am I not here, who is your Mother? Are you not under my protection? Am I not your health? Are you not happily within my fold? What else do you wish? Do not grieve nor be disturbed by anything.” (Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego)

Saturday 21 December 2013


Stay very close to the crib of this most beautiful Child, especially during these days of his birth. If you love riches, here you will find the gold the Kings left Him. If you love the smoke of honors, here you will find that of incense. And if you love the delicacy of the senses, you will smell the perfumed myrrh which perfumes the entire holy stable. St. Padre Pio

Thursday 19 December 2013

 
Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot image your majesty, power and wonder; nor is it fitting for us to try. But your mercy reaches from the heavens, through the clouds, to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but you have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of your eternal love. Caress us with your tiny hands, embrace us with your tiny arms, and pierce our hearts with your soft, sweet cries.

St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Thursday 5 December 2013

 
"The veneration of Mary is the surest and shortest way to get close to Christ in a concrete way. In meditating on her life in all its phases we can learn what it means to live for and with Christ – in the everyday, in an unsentimental matter-of-factness that nonetheless enjoys perfect inner intimacy, Contemplating Mary’s existence, we also submit to the darkness imposed on our faith, yet we learn how we must always be ready when Jesus suddenly asks something from us."
Hans Urs Von Balthasar.

Wednesday 4 December 2013

 
“In vigilance, she received the announcement that changed the history of humanity. In vigilance, she kept and contemplated, more than any other, the Almighty, who became her Son...In the vigilance of her maternal heart, Mary followed Christ right up to the foot of the cross where, in the immense sorrow of a pierced heart, she accepted us as her new sons. In vigilance, she waited with certainty for the Resurrection and was assumed into Heaven.”
 Cardinal Piacenza