About the Rosary ......

..... from Rosarium Virginis Maria

The “Our Father”

32. After listening to the word and focusing on the mystery, it is natural for the mind to be lifted up towards the Father. In each of his mysteries, Jesus always leads us to the Father, for as he rests in the Father's bosom (cf. Jn 1:18) he is continually turned towards him. He wants us to share in his intimacy with the Father, so that we can say with him: “Abba, Father” (Rom 8:15; Gal 4:6). By virtue of his relationship to the Father he makes us brothers and sisters of himself and of one another, communicating to us the Spirit which is both his and the Father's. Acting as a kind of foundation for the Christological and Marian meditation which unfolds in the repetition of the Hail Mary, the Our Father makes meditation upon the mystery, even when carried out in solitude, an ecclesial experience.

The ten “Hail Marys”

33. This is the most substantial element in the Rosary and also the one which makes it a Marian prayer par excellence. Yet when the Hail Mary is properly understood, we come to see clearly that its Marian character is not opposed to its Christological character, but that it actually emphasizes and increases it. The first part of the Hail Mary, drawn from the words spoken to Mary by the Angel Gabriel and by Saint Elizabeth, is a contemplation in adoration of the mystery accomplished in the Virgin of Nazareth. These words express, so to speak, the wonder of heaven and earth; they could be said to give us a glimpse of God's own wonderment as he contemplates his “masterpiece” – the Incarnation of the Son in the womb of the Virgin Mary. If we recall how, in the Book of Genesis, God “saw all that he had made” (Gen 1:31), we can find here an echo of that “pathos with which God, at the dawn of creation, looked upon the work of his hands”.⁽ The repetition of the Hail Mary in the Rosary gives us a share in God's own wonder and pleasure: in jubilant amazement we acknowledge the greatest miracle of history. Mary's prophecy here finds its fulfilment: “Henceforth all generations will call me blessed” (Lk 1:48). 36)

The centre of gravity in the Hail Mary, the hinge as it were which joins its two parts, is the name of Jesus. Sometimes, in hurried recitation, this centre of gravity can be overlooked, and with it the connection to the mystery of Christ being contemplated. Yet it is precisely the emphasis given to the name of Jesus and to his mystery that is the sign of a meaningful and fruitful recitation of the Rosary. Pope Paul VI drew attention, in his Apostolic Exhortation Marialis Cultus, to the custom in certain regions of highlighting the name of Christ by the addition of a clause referring to the mystery being contemplated.⁽ This is a praiseworthy custom, especially during public recitation. It gives forceful expression to our faith in Christ, directed to the different moments of the Redeemer's life. It is at once a profession of faith and an aid in concentrating our meditation, since it facilitates the process of assimilation to the mystery of Christ inherent in the repetition of the Hail Mary. When we repeat the name of Jesus – the only name given to us by which we may hope for salvation (cf. Acts 4:12) – in close association with the name of his Blessed Mother, almost as if it were done at her suggestion, we set out on a path of assimilation meant to help us enter more deeply into the life of Christ. 37)

From Mary's uniquely privileged relationship with Christ, which makes her the Mother of God, Theotókos, derives the forcefulness of the appeal we make to her in the second half of the prayer, as we entrust to her maternal intercession our lives and the hour of our death.

The “Gloria”

34. Trinitarian doxology is the goal of all Christian contemplation. For Christ is the way that leads us to the Father in the Spirit. If we travel this way to the end, we repeatedly encounter the mystery of the three divine Persons, to whom all praise, worship and thanksgiving are due. It is important that the Gloria, the high-point of contemplation, be given due prominence in the Rosary. In public recitation it could be sung, as a way of giving proper emphasis to the essentially Trinitarian structure of all Christian prayer.

To the extent that meditation on the mystery is attentive and profound, and to the extent that it is enlivened – from one Hail Mary to another – by love for Christ and for Mary, the glorification of the Trinity at the end of each decade, far from being a perfunctory conclusion, takes on its proper contemplative tone, raising the mind as it were to the heights of heaven and enabling us in some way to relive the experience of Tabor, a foretaste of the contemplation yet to come: “It is good for us to be here!” (Lk 9:33).

for full text:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_20021016_rosarium-virginis-mariae_en.html

Pope Benedict at the Eucharistic Congress in Ancona

The human being is incapable of giving life to himself, he understands himself only by starting from God: it is the relationship with him that gives our humanity consistence and makes our life good and just. In the “Our Father” we ask that his name be hallowed, that his kingdom come, that his will be done. It is first and foremost God’s primacy that we must recover in our world and in our life, because it is this primacy that enables us to discover the truth of what we are, and it is in knowing and following God’s will that we find our own good; giving time and space to God, so that he may be the vital centre of our existence. 

Yet what does starting from the Eucharist in order to reaffirm God’s primacy entail for our daily life? Eucharistic communion, dear friends, wrenches us from our individualism, communicates to us the spirit of Christ dead and risen, and conforms us to him. It closely unites us with our brethren in that mystery of communion, which is the Church, where the one Bread makes many one body (1 Cor 10:17), fulfilling the prayer of the Christian community recorded in the Book of the Didaché: “As this broken bread was once scattered on the mountains and after it had been brought together became one, so may your Church be gathered together from the ends of the earth unto your kingdom” (ix, 4).

The Eucharist sustains and transforms the whole of daily life. As I recalled in my first Encyclical: “Eucharistic communion includes the reality both of being loved and of loving others in turn”, therefore, “A Eucharist which does not pass over into the concrete practice of love is intrinsically fragmented” (Deus Caritas Est, n. 14).

Extract from Pope Benedict XVI's homily on 11th September 2011

For Full Text:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20110911_ancona_en.html

Feast of our father - St. Francis of Assisi 04th October

Francis and Clare not only became brother and sister to every human being but to all animate and inanimate creatures.  In contemplating nature, when Francis discovers that everything speaks to him of God, his eyes are filled with joy and he exclaims in the Canticle of Brother Sun:  everything "... from you Most High, bears significance" (FF 263).

Dear young people, may you too learn to look at your neighbor and at creation with God´s eyes.  Mainly respect its summit, which is the human person.  At the school of such excellent teachers, learn the careful and attentive use of goods.  Do your utmost to see that they are better distributed and shared, with full respect for the rights of every person.  In reading the great book of creation, may your spirit open to grateful praise to the Creator."

from Blessed Pope John Paul II's address to "Young People to Assisi," August 26, 2001.

 

Canticle of Creatures

 

Most High, all-powerful, all-good Lord,
All praise is Yours, all glory, all honour and all blessings.
To you alone, Most High, do they belong,
and no mortal lips are worthy to pronounce Your Name.

Praised be You my Lord with all Your creatures,
especially Sir Brother Sun,
Who is the day through whom You give us light.
And he is beautiful and radiant with great splendour,
Of You Most High, he bears the likeness.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Sister Moon and the stars,
In the heavens you have made them bright, precious and fair.

Praised be You, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all weather's moods,
by which You cherish all that You have made.

Praised be You my Lord through Sister Water,
So useful, humble, precious and pure.

Praised be You my Lord through Brother Fire,
through whom You light the night
and he is beautiful and playful and robust and strong.

Praised be You my Lord through our Sister,
Mother Earth
who sustains and governs us,
producing varied fruits with coloured flowers and herbs.

Praise be You my Lord through those who grant pardon
for love of You and bear sickness and trial.
Blessed are those who endure in peace,
By You Most High, they will be crowned.

Praised be You, my Lord through Sister Death,
from whom no-one living can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin!
Blessed are they She finds doing Your Will.
No second death can do them harm.

Praise and bless my Lord and give Him thanks,
And serve Him with great humility.

Mass and Adoration - October 2011

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am among them"  Matthew 18:20

Mass and Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament on

Wednesday 12th October 2011 at 19:00 hrs

at St Clare's Monastery, St Julians

17th September - Feast of the Stigmata of St. Francis



Stigmatization of St. Francis - Giotto di Bondone



In the year 1224, two years before his death, whilst St. Francis was spending his customary 40-day retreat on Mount La Verna, prior to the feast of St. Michael Archangel, our Lord granted him the gift that he had so much longed for by imprinting His five wounds upon the saint's body. Pope Benedict XI gave the Franciscan Order permission to publicise this event and to remember it every year by liturgical celebration. St. Francis had imitated our Lord so perfectly that God chose to manifest him to the whole world as an example for all. Thus, the feast of the stigmata commemorates something which goes beyond the life of any single man. It signifies that Christ made man lives on in His Church, as He reproduces His mysteries on His Spouse which Christ wants to be similar to Himself. 

Since his conversion St. Francis had a devotion for Jesus Crucified, a devotion which he sought to spread by his words but mostly by his life. The saint imitated Jesus in his passion and crucifixion by accepting his daily trials and difficulties with love for Christ and thus he made himself similar to Christ. Commemorating this event we are invited to imitate St. Francis by joining our everyday difficulties, sorrows and suffering to those of Jesus. We will be thus become living witnesses of Christ allowing Him to live through us. Participating in this manner in His Passion we will also participate in His resurrection, a joy which will experience from this world. Whilst thanking God for providing us with saintly guides to encourage us and teach us the way to Him, may we today and every day open our hearts to receive the grace to live through Him, with Him and in Him.

BIBLICAL READINGS

Gal 6,14-18;  Gal 2,16-20;  Fil 1,20-22;  Lk 9,23-26

From the Legenda Minor of St. Bonaventure

(de Stigmatibus sacris, 1-4; ed. Quaracchi, 1941; pgg. 202-204)

Two years before Francis, the faithful servant of Christ, gave his soul back to God, he was alone on the top of Mt. Alverna. There he had begun a fast of forty days in honor of the archangel Michael and was immersed more deeply than usual in the delights of heavenly contemplation. His soul became aglow with the ardor of fervent longing for heaven as he experienced within himself the operations of grace.

As he was drawn aloft through ardent longing for God one morning near the feast of the Exaltation of the Cross, and was praying on the mountainside, he saw what appeared as a seraph with six bright wings gleaming like a fire descending from the heights of heaven. As this figure approached in swift flight and came near the man of God it appeared not only winged but also crucified. The sight of it amazed Francis and his soul experienced joy mingled with pain. He was delighted with the sight of Christ appearing to him so graciously and intimately and yet the awe-inspiring vision of Christ nailed to the cross aroused in his soul a joy of compassionate love.

When the vision vanished after a mysterious and intimate conversation it left Francis aglow with seraphic love in his soul. Externally, however, it left marks on his body like those of the Crucified as if the impression of a seal had been left on heated wag. The figures of the nails appeared immediately on his hands and feet. The heads of the nails were inside his hands but on top of his feet with their points extending through to the opposite side. His right side too showed a blood-red wound as if it had been pierced by a lance, and blood flowed frequently from it.

Because of this new and astounding miracle unheard of in times past, Francis came down from the mountain a new man adorned with the sacred stigmata, bearing in his body the image of the Crucified not made by a craftsman in wood or stone , but fashioned in his members by the hand of the living God.

Defying nature, he lived on with his side opened; blood flowed from it; a memorial of the blood of the living God, shed for us. Breathtaking are these signs; they call for maximum veneration of the Saint and love of the exceedingly good Jesus. They make for an unshakable confidence in those contemplating the following of Jesus. 

They are reminders of God;

they are evidence of the sanctity of the man;

they are indications of what we are to be.

For by this sublime imprinting,

Jesus in his exceeding goodness, demonstrated:

His benevolent approval of Francis,

His divine providence in sustaining him,

His justice in upholding him,

His power by imprinting upon him what was beyond the limits of nature. 

(taken from The Tree of the Crucified Life of Jesus excerpts by Ubertino Da Casale 1305)

 

The Praises of God - St. Francis of Assisi 

 You are holy Lord God Who does wonderful things.
You are strong. You are great. You are the most high.
You are the almighty king. You holy Father,
King of heaven and earth.
You are three and one, the Lord God of gods;
You are the good, all good, the highest good,
Lord God living and true.
You are love, charity; You are wisdom, You are humility,
You are patience, You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are security, You are rest,
You are gladness and joy, You are our hope, You are justice,
You are moderation, You are all our riches to sufficiency.
You are beauty, You are meekness,
You are the protector, You are our custodian and defender,
You are strength, You are refreshment. You are our hope,
You are our faith, You are our charity,
You are all our sweetness, You are our eternal life:
Great and wonderful Lord, Almighty God, Merciful Savior.

September 14 - Exaltation of the Glorious Cross

September 14th, brings us to one of the twelve great feasts in the yearly Church cycle - the feast of the Exaltation of the Glorious Cross (Triumph of the Cross). On this day we commemorate the miraculous finding of the cross by St. Helen (mother of Constantine) in the year 326, after it had disappeared during the first centuries of persecutions of Christianity when pagans tried to destroy all evidence relating to the life of Jesus Christ.

Furthermore, we celebrate the full significance of the victory of the Cross of Christ as instrument of salvation. By His obedience unto death, Jesus Christ accomplished universal redemption. Through Christ we are thus able to look at the entire universe through the light of the Cross the new Tree of Life which provides nourishment for those who have been redeemed in Christ.

Adoration of the Cross is adoration of Jesus Christ, God made man, who suffered and died for our redemption from sin and death. Contemplating the Cross, we contemplate the true image of God as He bends down to embrace all humans in their suffering. As we celebrate this feast, we as Christians are invited to remember the true beatitude that as disciples we are called to live, namely  the fullness of life through the participation in the Son of God's paschal journey.  Dear Brothers and Sisters, we are invited to look upon the Cross. It is the “privileged place” where the love of God is revealed and shown to us.… On the Cross human misery and divine mercy meet. The adoration of this unlimited mercy is for man the only way to open himself to the mystery which the Cross reveals.  (Pope John Paul II in his homily on 14th September 2003)

Representing the Passion, Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Cross is the most potent and universal sign of Christian faith. By wearing a Crucifix (the cross with an image of Christ’s body upon it) or by placing it in our environments we are a constant reminder and witness of Christ's ultimate triumph over sin and death. Meditating the mysteries of Christ together with the Virgin Mary by praying the Holy Rosary underneath the Crucifix we open our hearts to experience the abundance of graces and life-giving mercy and forgiveness pouring out from the Crucified One's pierced side.

BIBLICAL READINGS

1 Cor 1:18-25 (vigil); Num 21:4-9; Phil 2:6-I1; Jn 3:13-17 (or Jn 19:25-27)

Cross, light of Christians

O Holy Cross, ineffable love of God and glory of heaven! O Holy Cross eternal salvation support of the just, light of Christians, God has made Himself man and slave for you; in God through you man has been made king; true light has emerged from you and night has been won. You are the soul of peace which unites men in Christ the mediator. You are the ladder by which man rises to heaven. Remain always for us, your faithful, a column and anchor; sustain our residences and our environments. May our faith remain strong in the cross and may our crown be prepared in it.


Prayer in front of the Cross

Lord Jesus, your Cross has been planted on this earth. Refused by the crowds, abandoned by your friends, confused with criminals, stripped from your dignity, tortured in body and soul, you have descended unto the very abyss of suffering where it seems that even God is far away. And yet your arms, nailed to the cross, remain open to embrace everyone. And yet your mouth speaks only words of pardon and promises of happiness. Lord Jesus, your story is continued in the everyday life where betrayals, infidelities, refusals, and revenges are present. At times, there seems to be no end to destruction, daily crimes and suffering imposed on those who are weak and in need help. We pray to you for all men especially those who use the power of arms to offend, humiliate and to impose their power. May they open their eyes to realise the pain that they are causing and the devastating consequences of war and the desperation of many people. Through the intercession of our Mother Mary ever Virgin we ask you to please open their hearts that they may recognise the semblances of your Christ in the disfigured faces of the oppressed, the blood of your Christ falling from His cross in the blood of victims and may they recognise a brother in every suffering man. Amen.

Adoramus te, christe, et benedicimus tibi,
quia per crucem tuam redemisti mundum.

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you,
for by your cross you have redeemed the world.

St. Francis' Prayer Before the Crucifix

Most High
glorious God,
enlighten the darkness
of my heart.
Give me
right faith,
sure hope
and perfect charity.
Fill me with understanding
and knowledge
that I may fulfill
your command.

Solemn Profession - Sr. Claire Helene



Sr. Claire Hélène in our internal chapel

One of our sisters, sr. Claire Hélène, took her final vows on 05th August 2011. Solemn mass was celebrated in our chapel in St. Julians followed by a small reception for family members and friends in our garden. We thank all who were present for the celebration most especially His Grace Archbishop Paul Cremona OP who led mass. We thought of sharing the Archbishop's homily on the occasion as we feel that it would benefit all who wish to grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Archbishop Paul Cremona spoke about how God created us in His image and His wish is that His image in us reaches perfection. There are two things we can do in order for this to happen. The first is to create space within us as God can only fill an empty space. He gave the example, that if we allow 5 mins of prayer in our life, God will be able to fill that space but if our lives are full of other things and we leave no space for God than God cannot fill us as we allow Him no option. The other thing we should do is to accept the gift of God's love. There is no other way we can become His image unless we allow Him to fill us with His love.

Solemn profession in religious life is the greatest radicality in the Church as a way to put the above into action. It is the greatest space imaginable that a person can offer to God. Archbishop Cremona made reference to the reading of the day  “Therefore I am now going to allure her; I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. There I will give her back her vineyards, and will make the Valley of Anchor a door of hope......" taken from the second chapter Hosea and explained how solemn profession means that if a person is offering an open space in all her life, then that person will be totally His (of God).

Archbishop Cremona then moved on to explain the three evangelical votes which sr. Claire Hélène was taking namely Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. Jesus came to earth in a specific way:  celibate, poor and obedient to the Father. Each of these three votes creates a space which God will fill as follows:  the space created by chastity will be filled with God's love, the space created by poverty will be filled with spiritual richness and that of obedience will be filled with God's will, being that which God wishes sr. Claire Hélène to accomplish.

Another vote specific for contemplative life is that of living in cloister. The cloister offers the opportunity to the person taking the vote, to be free and empty from all the alienations of the world so that attention can be focused all on God. Making reference to the Gospel according to John chapter 17, Archbishop Cremona explained how Jesus said that the empty space inside us is to be filled with God's Word. Thus the first mystery that a consecrated person is to be filled with is that of the Incarnation of Jesus. He further explained how Jesus invites us to be one like the mystery of the Holy Trinity which is 'communion'. Thus a consecrated person is to live this in the community so that the world believes that as Jesus said "... you have sent me". "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me...." Jn 17:20-23

The consecrated person is also to be filled with a love and thirst for souls, just like Jesus was, and believe that a person who is given the gift of prayer, is gifted with a value which will give fulfillment and all the spirit necessary to be there. Hence the importance of the quality of prayer, so that those who come in contact with the person can see it. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world." Jn 17:24 The Archbishop explained that, this is the escatological dimension which means that here (this world) is only the passage. Its true glory, which at the time being we are foretasting, is what we will enjoy in God the Father in the future when we become all in all.

Referring to the Gospel (vs 17), Archbishop Cremona concluded his thoughts as follows: "I pray for those who hear your Word and follow it".

BIBLICAL READINGS

Hos 2:16,21-22;    Salm 33;    Fil.2:1-11;    John 17:20-26

To the Archbishop's thoughts we wish to add a little prayer by St. Nicholas of Flüe: My Lord and my God, take from me everything that distances me from you. My Lord and my God, give me everything that brings me closer to you. My Lord and My God, detach me from myself and give my all to you.

Further suggested readings:  http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/audiences/2011/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20110817_en.html

Sr. Claire Hélène now forms part of our community at 'Nazaret', Triq Santa Dminka, Rabat in Gozo. For those of you who would be interested to join our sisters for prayers you are welcome to do so at the following times:

Lauds / Morning Prayers:          7:00am
Mass                                          7:30am

Vespers / Evening Prayers:        5:00pm
Silent Adoration                          5:30pm - 6:30pm