The Traditional Mass returns to Sts. Peter and Paul in Naperville this afternoon after an absence of nearly 40 years. Deo gratias!
+++A lesson from the Epistle of Blessed Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians:
Brethren, we exhort you that you receive not the grace of God in vain. For He saith: In an accepted time have I heard thee, and in the day of salvation have I helped thee. Behold, now is the acceptable time, behold now is the day of salvation. Giving no offense to any man, that our ministry be not blamed: but in all things let us exhibit ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulation, in necessities, in distresses, in stripes, in prisons, in seditions, in labors, in watchings, in fastings, in chastity, in knowledge, in long-suffering, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity unfeigned, in the word of truth, in the power of God, by the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left: by honor and dishonor, by evil report and good report: as deceivers and yet true, as unknown and yet known: as dying, and behold we live: as chastised and not killed: as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing: as needy, yet enriching many: as having nothing and possessing all things.
+++
A prayer from Saint Thomas Aquinas. Thanksgiving After Holy Communion:
I thank You, O holy Lord,
almighty Father, eternal God,
who have deigned, not through any merits of mine,
but out of the condescension of Your goodness,
to satisfy me a sinner, Your unworthy servant,
with the precious Body and Blood of Your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this Holy Communion
be not a condemnation to punishment for me,
but a saving plea to forgiveness.
May it be to me the armor of faith
and the shield of a good will.
May it be the emptying out of my vices
and the extinction of all lustful desires;
and increase of charity and patience,
of humility and obedience, and all virtues;
a strong defense against the snares
of all my enemies, visible and invisible;
the perfect quieting of all my evil impulses
of flesh and spirit,
binding me firmly to You, the one true God;
and a happy ending of my life.
I pray too that You will deign to bring me, a sinner,
to that ineffable banquet where You
with Your Son and the Holy Spirit,
are to your Saints true light, fulfillment of desires, eternal joy,
unalloyed gladness, and perfect bliss.
Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
Labels: Bible, parish, prayer, thanksgiving, traditional Mass
Father Gordon Mahoney, an associate priest at Sts. Peter and Paul for several years, and a pastor in his own right before that, passed into eternal life today. He kindly visited my mother in the hospital a decade ago when she was battling cancer. May God grant them now a happier meeting.
