From: richarra@gmail.com   
      
   May 24th - Our Lady, Help of Christians   
   (1815)   
      
   Pope Pius VII, after he returned to Rome in 1815 from several years of   
   captivity imposed by the emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, instituted this feast   
   day in honor of the assistance which the Blessed Virgin had accorded the   
   Church. The occasion of the Pope's exile and captivity was the emperor's   
   resistance to the authority of the Vicar of Christ, superior before God to   
   his own.   
      
   A decree of the emperor in 1809 had ordered that the papal States be joined   
   to the French empire; violence followed in Rome, when the French tricolor   
   flag was set up and the papal arms broken. The Pope's very courageous bull   
   of excommunication of the emperor was made public in the following month.   
   Then, one morning, a group of armed men entered the Quirinal Palace by   
   breaking down the doors with axes, and its leader announced that the pope   
   must either renounce his sovereignty over Rome or be taken by the troop to a   
   French General, who would communicate to him his next destination.   
      
   The sacrilegious seizure of his person was executed, and he spent five years   
   in exile in various places, finally at Fontainebleau, France. After 1815 the   
   clemency of the great Pope towards the Emperor and his family are a matter   
   of history; the latter were afforded a secure refuge in Rome itself, when   
   Napoleon was exiled. And for the Emperor himself, relegated to the island of   
   Saint Helena, the Pope pleaded for clemency with the Prince-Regent of   
   England. When Napoleon died, it was with the assistance of chaplains sent to   
   him by Pius VII.   
      
   Our Lady, Help of Christians, was made better known by Saint John Bosco, who   
   consecrated his Order of Salesian priests to Her. And in Turin, beginning in   
   1865, he began to raise in Her honor a vast and magnificent church. Without   
   ever having a penny in advance, always the needed sums of money arrived in   
   time. About three-fourths of the gifts offered were presented in   
   thanksgiving for favors obtained through Her intercession.   
      
   We will relate just one of those. A certain Senator of the Kingdom of Italy   
   was ill; Don Bosco went to visit him and found him very discouraged and   
   speaking of his imminent death. "What would you do," said Don Bosco, "if Our   
   Lady Auxiliatrix obtained your cure from God?" "My cure! Well, I would give   
   two thousand francs a month for Her church, for six months." "Be of good   
   courage," said the Saint on rising; "I will see that prayers are said for   
   you." Three days later, Baron Gotta, perfectly cured, went to Don Bosco to   
   make his first payment, giving more than he had promised; and he did not   
   cease to outdo himself in generosity.   
      
   Sources: L'histoire ecclésiastique, by M. l'Abbé Darras (Louis Vivès: Paris,   
   1888), Vol. 40; Les deux intendants de la Providence à Turin (Joseph   
   Cottolengo and Don Bosco) (Librairie St. Paul: Paris, 1904).   
      
      
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   Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth. -Matt. 5:4   
      
    "The only consideration of Superiors ought to be the love of God, and the   
   sanctification of the souls committed to their care. This cannot be better   
   attained than by humility, combined with a peaceable disposition and good   
   example"   
    -St. Vincent de Paul   
      
   (Taken from the book "A Year with the Saints".  May - Meekness)   
      
   Today's Bible Quote   
      
   4 And eating together with them, he commanded them, that they should not   
   depart from Jerusalem, but should wait for the promise of the Father, which   
   you have heard (saith he) by my mouth. 5 For John indeed baptized with   
   water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost, not many days hence.   
   (Acts 1:4-5)   
      
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   Daily Thoughts and Prayers for Our Beloved Dead   
      
   "Have pity on me, have pity on me, at least you my friends, because the hand   
   of the Lord hath touched me" Job. 19-21.   
      
      
   TWENTY-SEVENTH DAY   
      
   Let us accept without a murmur all that God sends us. Every morning let us   
   offer God in behalf of the Souls in Purgatory all our prayers and good works   
   and we shall help them immeasurably.   
      
   Prayer:  Our Father, Three Hail Marys, Gloria, De Profundis.   
      
   De Profundis   
      
      Out of the depths, I have cried to Thee,   
   O Lord, Lord, hear my voice.   
      Let Thine ears be attentive to the   
   voice of my supplication.   
      If Thou, O Lord, shalt mark my iniquities,   
   O Lord, who shall stand it?   
      For with Thee there is merciful   
   forgiveness: and by reason of Thy   
   law I have waited for Thee, O Lord.   
   My soul hath relied on His word;   
   my soul hath hoped in the Lord.   
      From the morning watch even until   
   night; let Israel hope in the Lord.   
   Because with the Lord there is mercy;   
   And with Him plenteous redemption.   
      And He shall redeem Israel from   
   all its iniquities.   
      Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord,   
   And let perpetual light shine upon them:   
      May they rest in peace. Amen.   
      
   Most merciful Jesus, by the merits of Thy Holy Childhood, deliver from the   
   pains of Purgatory all the Holy Souls, particularly the soul longest in   
   paying the debt exacted for his imperfections on earth. Take him today to   
   Paradise that he may join the Heavenly Choir in praising Thee and will   
   intercede for me in the hour of need.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)