Prayer, Fasting, Mercy sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus

St. Peter Chrysologus

Prayer knocks, fasting obtains, mercy receives

From a sermon by Saint Peter Chrysologus, bishop

There are three things, my brethren, by which faith stands firm, devotion remains constant, and virtue endures.  They are prayer, fasting and mercy.  Prayer knocks at the door, fasting obtains, mercy receives.  Prayer, mercy and fasting: these three are one, and they give life to each other.

Fasting is the soul of prayer, mercy is the lifeblood of fasting.  Let no one try to separate them; they cannot be separated.  If you have only one of them or not all together, you have nothing.  So if you prayer, fast; if you fast, show mercy; if you want your petition to be heard, hear the petition of others.   If you do not close your ear to others you open God’s ear to yourself.

When you fast, see the fasting of others.  If you want God to know that you are hungry, know that another is hungry.  If you hope for mercy, show mercy.  If you look for kindness, show kindness.  If you want to receive, give.  If you ask for yourself what you deny to others, your asking is a mockery.

Saint Peter Chrysologus, Quote

Let this be the pattern for all men when they practice mercy: show mercy to others in the same way, with the same generosity, with the same promptness, as you want others to show mercy to you.

Therefore, let prayer, mercy and fasting the one single plea to God on our behalf, one speech in our defense, a threefold united prayer in our favor.

Let us use fasting to make up for what we have lost by despising others.  Let us offer our souls in sacrifice by means of fasting.  There is nothing more pleasing that we can offer to God, as the psalmist said in prophecy: A sacrifice to God is a broken spirit; God does not despise a bruised and humbled heart.

Offer your soul to God, make him an oblation of your fasting, so that your soul may be a pure offering, a holy sacrifice, a living victim, remaining your own and at the same time made over to God.  Whoever fails to give this to God will not be excused, for if you are to give him yourself you are never without the means of giving.

To make these acceptable, mercy must be added.  Fasting bears no fruit unless it is watered by mercy.  Fasting dries up when mercy dries up.  Mercy is to fasting as rain is to the earth.  However much you may cultivate your heart, clear the soil of your nature, root out vices, sow virtues, if you do not release the springs of mercy, your fasting will bear no fruit.

When you fast, if your mercy is thin your harvest will be thin; when you fast, what you pour out in mercy overflows into your barn.  Therefore, do not lose by saving, but gather in by scattering.  Give to the poor, and your give to yourself.  You will not be allowed to keep what you have refused to give to others.

Lent and Repent

Repent

From a letter to the Corinthians by Saint Clement, pope

Let us fix our attention on the Blood of Christ and recognize how precious it is to God His father, since it was shed for our salvation and brought the grace of repentance to all the world.

Jonah preaching to the Nenevites

If we review the various ages of history, we will see that in every generation the Lord has offered the opportunity of repentance to any who were willing to turn to Him.  When Noah preached God’s message of repentance, all who listened to him were saved.  Jonah told the Nenevites they were going to be destroyed, but when they repented, their prayers gained God’s forgiveness for their sins, and they were saved, even though they were not of God’s people.

Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit the ministers of God’s grace have spoken of repentance; indeed the Master of the whole universe Himself spoke of repentance with an oath: As I live, says the Lord, I do not wish the death of the sinner but his repentance. He added this evidence of His goodness: House of Israel, repent of your wickedness.  Tell the sons of my people: 

If their sins should reach from earth to heaven, 

if they are brighter than scarlet and blacker than sackcloth, 

you need only turn to me with your whole heart and say, 

“Father”, and I will listen to you as to a holy people.

In other words, God wanted all His beloved ones to have the opportunity to repent and He confirmed this desire by His own Almighty Will.  That is why we should obey His sovereign and glorious Will and prayerfully entreat His Mercy and Kindness.  We should be suppliant before Him and turn to His compassion, rejecting empty works and quarreling and jealousy which only lead to death.

Brothers, we should be humble in mind, putting aside all arrogance, pride and foolish anger.  Rather, we should act in accordance with the Scriptures, as the Holy Spirit says: 

The wise man must not glory in his wisdom 

nor the strong man in his strength 

nor the rich man in his riches.  

Rather, let him who glories 

glory in the Lord 

by seeking Him 

and doing what is right and just.  

Recall especially what the Lord Jesus said when He taught gentleness and forebearance.  

Be merciful, He said, 

so that you may have mercy shown to you.  

Forgive, 

so that you may be forgiven.  

As you treat others, 

so you will be treated.  

As you give, 

so you will receive.  

As you judge, 

so you will be judged. 

 As you are kind to others, 

so you will be treated kindly.  

The measure of your giving 

will be the measure of your receiving.

Let these commandments and precepts strengthen us to live in humble obedience to His Sacred Words.  As Scripture asks: 

Jesus Teaching the people

Whom shall I look upon with favor 

except the humble, 

peaceful man 

who trembles at my words?

Sharing then in the heritage of so many vast and glorious achievements, let us hasten toward the goal of peace, set before us from the beginning.

Let us keep our eyes firmly fixed on the Father and Creator of the whole universe, and hold fast to His splendid and transcendent gifts of peace and all His blessings.

Divine Mercy Jesus speaks

(St. Faustina) In the evening , when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment.  One hand [was] raised in the gesture of blessing, the other was touching the garment at the breast.  From beneath the garment, slightly drawn aside at the breast, there were emanating two large rays, one red, the other pale.  

In silence I kept my gaze fixed on the Lord; my soul was struck with awe, but also with great joy.  After a while, Jesus said to me,

"Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: 

"Jesus, I trust in You." 

I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world.

I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish. 

I also promise victory over [its] Enemies already here on earth, especially at the hour of death, I Myself will defend it as My own glory…

I desire that there be a 

Feast of Mercy.  

I want this image, which you will paint with a brush, to be solemnly blessed on 

the first Sunday after Easter; 

that Sunday to be the Feast of Mercy……

I desire that priests proclaim this great mercy of Mine towards souls of sinners.  

Let the sinner not be afraid to approach Me.  The flames of mercy are burning Me – clamoring Me to be spent; I want to pour them out upon these souls.

… Distrust on the part of souls is tearing at My insides.  The distrust of a chosen soul causes Me even greater pain; despite My inexhaustible love for them they do not trust Me.  

Even My death is not enough for them.  

Woe to the soul that abuses these [gifts]."

Diary of St. Faustina, 47, 48, 49, 50

My daughter, tell the world about My inconceivable mercy, 

shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners.  

On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open.  

I pour out a whole ocean of graces 

upon those souls who approach the Fount of My Mercy.  

The soul that will go to Confession 

and receive Holy Communion shall obtain 

complete forgiveness of sins and punishment.  

On that day all the divine floodgates through 

which graces flow are opened.  

Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, 

even though its sins be as scarlet.  

My mercy is so great that no mind, 

be it of man or of angel, 

will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity.  

Everything that exists has come forth 

from the very depths of My most tender mercy.  

Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate 

My love and mercy throughout eternity.  

The Feast of Mercy emerged from 

My very depths of tenderness.  

It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated 

on the first Sunday after Easter.  

Mankind will not have peace 

until it runs to the Fount of My Mercy.  

Diary of St. Faustina, 699

Consecration of the Human Race

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus

Consecration of the Human Race 

to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Ordered by His Holiness, Pope Pius XI, December 11, 1925 

For One Fold and One Shepherd

Most Sweet Jesus, Redeemer of the human race, look down upon us humbly prostrate before Thee.  We are Thine and Thine we wish to be; each one of us freely consecrates himself today to Thy Most Sacred Heart.

Many indeed have never known Thee; many too, despising Thy precepts, have rejected Thee.

Have mercy on them all, most merciful Jesus, and draw them to Thy Sacred Heart. 

Be Thou King, O Lord, not only of the faithful who have never forsaken Thee, but also of the prodigal children who have abandoned Thee.  Grant that they may quickly return to their Father’s house lest they die in wretchedness and hunger.

Be Thou King of those who are deceived by erroneous opinions, or whom discord keeps aloof, and call them back to the harbor of truth and unity of faith, so that soon there may be but one flock and one Shepherd.

Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm; give peace and order to all nations, and make the earth resound, from pole to pole  with one cry:  

Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation; 

to It be glory and honor  forever!!

Amen.

Sacred Heart of Jesus, 

Thy Kingdom Come!

Taken from the book – Holy Hour of Reparation, copyright 1945

Intercession Prayer to St. Faustina for Graces

Prayer to Obtain Graces 

through the Intercession of Saint Faustina

O Jesus, who filled Saint Faustina 

with profound veneration for 

Your boundless Mercy, deign, 

if it by Your holy will, 

to grant me, through her intercession, 

the grace for which I fervently pray 

(your prayer request)…

My sins render me unworthy 

of Your Mercy, 

but be mindful of Sister Faustina’s 

spirit of sacrifice and self-denial, 

and reward her virtue by granting 

the petition which, with childlike trust, 

I present to You through her intercession.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Saint Faustina, pray for us

Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus by St. Alphonsus Liguori

          Sacred Heart of Jesus

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, 

living and life-giving fountain of eternal life, infinite treasure of the Divinity, 

and glowing furnace of love, 

You are my sanctuary.

O Adorable and Glorious Savior, 

consume my heart with that burning fire 

that ever inflames Your Heart.

Pour down on my soul those graces 

which flow from Your Love.  

Let my heart be one with, 

and in all things conformed to Yours.

May Your Will 

be the rule of both my desires and my actions.

Amen

St. Alphonsus Liguori

AN ACT OF MERCY - PRAYERS FOR THE DYING

 

Three Very Beautiful Prayers
 For Dying Souls
An ancient Christian writer wrote that, "of all divine things, the most divine is to share with God in the saving of souls."
The following Prayers are very useful to a dying person, and should be prayed often as an act of mercy. First, where these prayers originated.
There once was a Pope in Rome who was surrounded by many sins.  The Lord God struck him with a fatal illness.  When he say that he was dying he summoned Cardinals, Bishops and learned persons and said to them: "My dear friend!  What comfort can you give me now that I must die, and when I deserve eternal damnation for my sins?"  No one answered him.  One of them a pious curate named John, said: Father, why do you doubt the Mercy of God?"  The Pope replied: "What comfort can you give me now that I must die and fear that I'll be damned for my sins?"  John replied: "I'll read three prayers over you: I hope, you'll be comforted and that you'll obtain Mercy from God."  The Pope was unable to say more.  The curate and all those present knelt and said an Our Father, the then following prayers:
1.       Lord Jesus Christ!   Thou Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, God and Man, Thou Who in fear sweated blood for us on the Mount of Olives in  order to bring peace, and to offer Thy Most Holy Death to God Thy Heavenly Father for the salvation of this dying person...If it be, however, that by his sins he merits eternal damnation, then may it be deflected from      him.  This, O Eternal Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, They Dear Son, Who liveth and reigneth in union with The Holy Spirit now and forever.  Amen
 
2.       Lord Jesus Christ!  Thou Who meekly  died on the trunk of the Cross for us, submitting Thy Will completely to Thy Heavenly Father in order to bring peace and to offer They most Holy Death to Thy Heavenly Father in order to free ....(this person)... and to hide from him what he has earned with his sins; grant this O Eternal Father!  Through Our Lord Jesus Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in union with the Holy Spirit now and forever.  Amen.
 
3.       Lord Jesus Christ!  Thou Who remained silent to speak through the mouths of the Prophets:  I have drawn Thee to me through Eternal Lord, which Lord drew Thee from Heaven into the body of the Virgin into the valley of this needful  world, which Love kept Thee 33 years in this world, and as a sign of Great Lord, Thous hast given Thy Holy Body as Teue Food and Thy Holy Blood as True Drink, as a sign of Great Love, Thous has consented to be a prisoner and to be led from one judge to another  and as a sign of Great Love Thous hast consented to be condemned to death, and hast consented to die and to be buried and truly risen, and appeared to Thy Holy Mother and all the Holy Apostles, and as a sign of Great Love Thou hast ascended, under Thy own Strength and Power, and sitteth at the Right Hand of God Thy Heavenly Father, and Thou has sent Thy Holy Spirit into the hearts of Thy Apostle and the hearts of all who hope and believe in Thee.  Through Thy Sign of Eternal Love, open Heaven today and take this dying person …  and all his sins into the Realm of Thy Heavenly Father, that he may reign with Thee now and forever . Amen
Meanwhile the Pope died.  The curate persevered to the third hour, then the Pope appeared to him in body and comforting  him; his countenance as brilliant as the sun, his clothes as white as snow, and he said: “My  dear brother!   Whereas I was supposed to be a child of damnation I’ve become a child of happiness.  As you recited the first Prayer many of my sins fell from me as rain from Heaven, and as you recited the second Prayer I was purified, as a goldsmith purifies gold  in a hot fire.  I was still further purified as you recited the third Prayer.  Then I saw Heaven open and the Lord Jesus standing on the Right Hand of God the Father Who said to me, “Come, all thy sins are forgiven thee, you’ll be and remain in the Realm of My Father forever.  Amen!
With these words my soul separated from my body and the Angels of God led it to Eternal Joy.
As the curate heard this he said, “O Holy Father, I can’t tell these things to anyone, for they won’t believe me.”  Then the Pope said:  “Truly I tell thee, the Angel of God stands with me and has written the prayers in letters of gold for the consolement of all sinners.  If a person had committed  all the sins in the world, but that the three Prayers shall have been read (over him) at his end (death), all his sins will be forgiven him, even though his soul was supposed to suffer until the Last Judgement, it will be redeemed (freed).
The person who hears them read, he won’t die un unhappy death, also in whose house they will be read.  Thereford take these prayers and carry them into St. Peter’s Basilica and lay them in the Chapel named the Assumption of Mary, for certain consolation.  The person who will be near death, who reads them or hears them read gains 400 years indulgence for the days he was supposed to suffer in Purgatory because of his guilt.  Also who reads this Prayer or hears it read, the hour of his death shall be revealed to him. Amen

 
 

God's Mercy for Sinners

Remember to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet at least on Good Friday through to 2nd Sunday of Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday) 
as Christ requested.

Divine Mercy article separate. But here is the link to the Chaplet that I spoke of

http://thedivinemercy.org/message/devotions/praythechaplet.php

The Mercy of God to the Penitent

From a letter by Saint Maximus the Confessor, abbot

Christ forgives sinner

God’s will is to save us, and nothing pleases him more than our coming back to him with true repentance.  The heralds of truth and the ministers of divine grace have told us this form the beginning, repeating it in every age. Indeed, God’s desire for our salvation is the primary and preeminent sign of his infinite goodness.  It was precisely in order to show that there is nothing closer to God’s heart that the divine Word of God the Father, with untold condescension lived among us in the flesh, and did, suffered, and said all that was necessary to reconcile us to God the Father, when we were at enmity with him, and to restore us to the life of blessedness from which we had been exiled.  He healed our physical infirmities by miracles; he freed us from our sins, many and grievous as they were, by suffering and dying, taking them upon himself as if he were answerable for them, sinless though he was.  He also taught using many different ways that we should wish to imitate him by our own kindness and genuine love for one another.

So is was that Christ proclaimed that he had come to call sinners to repentance, not the righteous, and that it was not the healthy who required a doctor, but he sick.  He declared that he had come to loof for the sheep that was lost, and that is was to the lost sheep of the house of Israel that he had been sent.  Speaking more obscurely in the parable of the silver coin, he tells us that the purpose of his coming was to reclaim the royal image, which had been coated with the filth of sin.  You can be sure there is joy in heaven, he said, over one sinner who repents.

To give the same lesson he revived the man who, having fallen into the hands of the brigands, had been left stripped and half-dead from his wound; he poured wine and oil on the wounds, bandaged them, placed the many on his own mule and brought him to an inn, where he left sufficient money to have him cared for, and promised to repay any further expense on his return.

Again, he told of how the Father, who is goodness itself, was moved with pity for his profligate son who returned and made amends by repentance; how he embraced him, dressed him once more in the fine garments that befitted his own dignity, and did not reproach him for any of his sins.

So too, when he found wandering in the mountains and hills the one sheep that had strayed from God’s flock of a hundred, he brought it back to the fold, but he did not exhaust it by driving it ahead of him.  Instead, he placed it on his own shoulders and so, compassionately, he restored it safely to the flock.

So also he cried out: Come to me, all you that toil and are heavy of heat.  Accept my yoke, he said, by which he meant his commands, or rather, the whole way of life that he taught us in the Gospel.  He then speaks of a burden, but that is only because repentance seems difficult.  In fact, however, my yoke is easy, he assures us, and my burden is light.

Then again he instructs us in divine justice and goodness, telling us to be like our heavenly Father, hold, perfect and merciful.  

Forgive, he says, and you will be forgiven.  

Behave toward other people 

as you would wish them 

to behave toward you.

taken from the Liturgy of the Hours Wednesday, 3rd Week of Lent

Novena of the Three Hail Marys

 Efficacious Novena 

                of
         The Three 

        Hail Marys

      In honor of the Power, Wisdom, and Loving Mercy 

of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Oh, Immaculate Mary, Virgin most Powerful, I beseech you, through that immense Power which you have received from the Eternal Father, obtain for me Purity of heart, - Strength to overcome all the enemies of my soul; -and the special favor I implore in my present necessity.

( Name It)

Mother most pure! Forsake me not, despise not my prayer, graciously hear me for God's glory, your honor, and the welfare of my soul.

To obtain this favor I honor your Power by reciting:

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 death.

Amen.

               

Oh Virgin Mary, My Mother, through that ineffable Wisdom bestowed upon you by the Incarnate Word of God, I humbly beseech you, obtain for me Meekness and humility of heart; - a perfect knowledge of the divine Will and strength to accomplish it always.

Oh Mary, Seat of Wisdom; as a tender Mother lead me in the path of Christian Virtue and perfection; enlighten and enable me to do what is most pleasing to your beloved Son. and obtain my petition.

To obtain this grace I honor your Wisdom by reciting:

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 death.

Amen.

Oh, Mother of Mercy, Mother of penitent sinners, I stand before you sinful and sorrowful, beseeching you through the immense Love given to you by the Holy Spirit for us poor sinners, obtain for me true and perfect contrition for my sins, which I hate and detest with all my heart, because I love God.

Mother  most Merciful, help me in my present necessity.

Turn, then those eyes of Mercy toward us, Oh Clement, Oh Loving oh Sweet Virgin Mary!

To obtain this precious gift, I honor Your Loving Mercy by reciting:

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 death.

Amen.

Three Hail Mary’s a Day 

Keeps Mortal Sin Away

One of the greatest and most powerful Marian devotions is the practice of reciting three Hail Mary’s every day in honor of the three Divine Persons of the Trinity and for the grace avoid all mortal sins, specifically sexual sins.

The Blessed and Immaculate Virgin Mary taught the “Three Hail Mary Devotion” to St. Mechtilde about the year 1270. It’s rather simple. Pray the three Hail Mary’s in honor of the Holy Trinity who lavished so many graces upon Mary and then end with: “O my Mother, preserve me this day (or night) from mortal sin.” 

St. Anthony of Padua

The great doctor of the Church, Saint Anthony of Padua practiced the Three Hail Mary’s devotion and exhorted others to do so, as well. The other great Franciscan missionary St. Leonard of Port Maurice (1675-1751) also openly exhorted his listeners to practice this devotion as a remedy against sexual sins.

The doctor of the Church St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori, in his book The Glories of Mary, says the following about the devotion:

St. Alphonsus Maria Liguori,

“Each morning and each night, when arising and when going to bed, say three Hail Mary’s prostrate on the ground, or at least kneeling, and to each Hail Mary add the short aspiration: ‘By thy pure and Immaculate Conception, O Mary, make my body pure and my soul holy.’

Pope Leo XIII later indulgenced the daily Three Hail Mary’s. Why not add this easy and simply devotion to your spiritual tool belt.

And don’t forget, the daily Holy Rosary is the greatest weapon you have against concupiscence, sin, and the devil.

Article borrowed to share from a writing of Taylor Marshall.
http://taylormarshall.com/2010/10/three-hail-marys-day-keeps-mortal-sin.html