From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   On God's Graciousness to Those who Love Him  [I]    
      
   THE DISCIPLE.   
    Oh, my God and my All! (1 Cor.15:28; John 20:28) What more can I   
   possess? What greater joy can I desire? Word of sweetness and delight   
   to all who love the Word better than the world and its treasures? My   
   God and my All! To the wise, these words suffice and he who loves You   
   will delight to repeat them again and again. When You are present, all   
   is joy; when you are absent, all is gloom. You bring rest to the   
   heart, true peace and true gladness. You cause us to think well of   
   all, and to praise You in all, for nothing can give us lasting joy   
   without You.   
   --Thomas à Kempis --Imitation of Christ Bk 3, Ch 34   
      
      
   <<>><<>><<>>   
   September 15th - Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows   
      
   Up until the Second Vatican Council there were two feasts   
   commemorative of the sorrows of the Blessed Virgin. The more ancient,   
   dating from the 15th century, was the feast of the Seven Dolors   
   (“Seven Sorrows”) celebrated on the Friday in Passion Week. It honored   
   Mary’s compassionate suffering during the dark clays of Jesus’ capture   
   and death. Its theme was expressed by incorporating in the day’s   
   liturgy the famous Marian hymn “Stabat Mater”, written in 1306 by   
   Jacopone da Todi.   
      
   The second celebration of Mary’s sorrows, fostered by the Servite   
   Fathers (who concentrate on Mary’s griefs), was approved in 1668. It   
   was first assigned to the third Sunday of September. Since then it has   
   been set at September 15.   
      
   The orientation of this second feast was slightly different from that   
   of the Passiontide observance. The Servite Fathers had been   
   popularizing devotion to Mary’s sufferings not only on Calvary but   
   throughout her life – a form of piety that dated from the Middle Ages.   
   The list of Mary’s “sorrows” had been gradually extended from five to   
   seven. In religious art you will often see “Our Lady of Sorrows”   
   embracing in pain her heart penetrated by seven swords. One   
   illustration of this image is the bust of Mary over her altar on the   
   top of Mount Calvary in the Basilica of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem.   
   The Spaniards who colonized America brought with them their devotion   
   to the Mother of Sorrows under at least two separate aspects. Thus the   
   California Spanish Mission of Our Lady of “Soledad” (“lonesomeness”),   
   commemorates Mary’s day of lonely grief between the burial and the   
   resurrection of Jesus. The name “Nuestra Senora de Dolores” (“Our Lady   
   of Dolors”) was given to still another old mission center in northern   
   Mexico. It is this Spanish Marian title, of course, from which the   
   girls’ name “Dolores” is drawn.   
      
   What are the seven sorrows chosen to represent Mary’s constant sharing   
   in the pains of her divine Son?   
      
   The first is the prophecy that Simeon made to our Lady at the   
   Presentation: “You yourself shall be pierced with a sword – so that   
   the thoughts of many hearts may be laid bare.” (Luke, 2:35).   
      
   The second sorrow is the flight into Egypt. Joseph was suddenly told   
   in a dream, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to   
   Egypt.” (Matt. 2:13).   
      
   The third is the losing of Jesus in Jerusalem. When she and Joseph   
   finally found Him, Mary reproached Him, “You see that your father and   
   I have been searching for you in sorrow.” (Luke 2:48).   
      
   The fourth is Mary’s encounter with our Lord bearing the cross to   
   Calvary. This is based on a devout conclusion rather than a specific   
   event in Scripture.   
      
   The fifth: Mary’s standing before the cross: “Near the cross of Jesus   
   there stood His mother.” (John, 19:25).   
      
   The sixth: Mary’s receiving the dead Christ in her arms. The   
   scriptures only tell us that Joseph of Arimathea “took Him down” and   
   laid Him in the tomb. (Mark 15:46). Although Mary’s embracing His dead   
   body in grief is not recorded in the scripture, it is most plausible.   
      
   The seventh is Christ’s burial. Our Lady is not mentioned by name in   
   the bible as witnessing the burial, but this was perhaps because   
   others wanted to spare her the pain of laying out her beloved Son in   
   the tomb.   
      
   That the Blessed Virgin shared like no other the pains of her Son, is   
   a foregone conclusion. Her feast of the Seven Dolors should remind us   
   of our need to pick up our crosses and follow Him.   
      
      
   Saint Quote:   
   "God both is and is said to be the nature of all beings, in so far as   
   all partake of Him and subsist by means of this participation not,   
   however, by participation in His nature--far from it--but by   
   participation in His energy. In this sense He is the Being of all   
   beings, the Form that is in all forms as the author of form, the   
   Wisdom of the wise and, simply, the All of all things."   
   --St. Gregory Palamas.   
      
   Bible Quote   
   "There is one Body, one Spirit, just as one hope is the goal of your   
   calling by God.  There is one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one   
   God and Father of all, over all, through all and within all."   
   [Ephesians 4:4-6]   
      
      
   <><><><>   
   My Triple Prayer    
   Most Extraordinary Graces have been received through   
   The use of this prayer, which in one cry of confidence,   
   Directly and immediately calls upon Father, Son [JESUS],   
   Holy Spirit! and Mary, Joseph!   
   O Eternal FATHER! for the love of the Eternal Son, and for   
   the love of the Eternal Holy Spirit, grant my request.   
   O Eternal SON! for the love of the Eternal Father, and for   
   the love of the Eternal Holy Spirit, grant my request.   
   O Eternal HOLY SPIRIT! for the love of the Eternal Father, and for   
   the love of the Eternal Son, grant my request.   
   O my Crucified JESUS, for the love of the ever adorable Trinity,   
   and for the love of Mary and Joseph, grant my request.   
   O MARY, my Mother, for the love of the ever adorable Trinity,   
   and for the love of Jesus and Joseph, grant my request.   
   O Holy ST. JOSEPH, for the love of the ever adorable Trinity,   
   and for the love of Jesus and Mary, grant my request.    
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)