[powerpress]
Episode 3 –  Confession: the history of mercy

Roots of the Faith – From the Church Fathers to You with Mike Aquilina,makes clear that just as an acorn grows into a tree and yet remains the same plant, so the Catholic Church is a living organism that has grown from the faith of the earliest Christians into the body of  Christ we know today.

Pick up a copy of Mke’s book.  You’ll find so much more and invaluable references and resoources, as well

Also visit Mike’s “Discerning Hearts” page for more audio downloads and information!

 

Back To Prayer Room Lobby
Back to Jesus Devotionals

The Litany of Humility – text and mp3 audio download

[powerpress]

by Merry Cardinal del Val, secretary of state to Pope Saint Pius X
from the prayer book for Jesuits, 1963

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being honored, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being praised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being approved, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being despised, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged, Deliver me, Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected, Deliver me, Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,
That others may be esteemed more than I,
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.  Amen.

 

[powerpress]

On this last day of 2013, I hope you can take just a couple of minutes to listen to the audio above.

With the addition of our new apps for Iphone, Ipad and Android devices our work has expanded greatly.

Did you know that we average over 175,000 audio downloads a month?  And that figure  does not include the video hits, page views, which exceed 5000 a day.  But it’s not really about numbers, it’s about hearts…hearts seeking answers and peace…hearts seeking, ultimately,  The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  God is so very good!

This brings about new challenges, and honestly, expenses.

First, I ask that you please pray for the work of “Discerning Hearts”…this is the most important thing.  But then I would also ask those who have been blessed to please consider helping us with a year end donation.

Discerning Hearts is a 501 c 3 non-profit public charity with ALL donations FULLY tax-deductible in the U.S.  We receive no funding from any Catholic Radio Station or Catholic Diocese.  We are truly 100% donor supported. Please check out the DONATE page.  It’s safe and secure and you will be helping us to continue the work that God has called us to.

Thanks for your time and prayerful consideration.

May our patrons, St. Padre Pio, Blessed Mother Teresa, and Blessed John Paul II, pray for us.

May the Immaculate Heart of our Blessed Mother, pray for us.

And may the Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us all.

Amen.

 

[powerpress]

We discovered an incredible audio of a conference talk given in the late 70’s by the Baroness herself, Servant of God Catherine de Hueck Doherty.  She is  co-founder of the Madonna House Apostolate and one of our absolute favorite authors.  We dare you not to be moved by her words!

Reflection on Catherine’s talk by Omar Gutierrez:

Catherine de Hueck Doherty speaks with the kind of prophetic fire that one imagines would have poured from the mouth of Isaiah or out of the minds of the early Church fathers. Her spirit and message are as thoroughly Catholic as any you have ever heard. With the kind of salty swagger of a woman who knew what it was to live with the poorest of the poor, she understood intimately what it meant to live the social teaching of the Church. “Service without prayer,” she says, “is paternalism, social service work, something that the poor do not accept.” “In order to do what we must do, in order to be what we must be we have to pray.”

As she loudly asks why it is that our cities do not applaud and cry at the manifest love for the poor that should be there but isn’t, and demands that we pray for the souls of the owners of multi-million dollar corporations, and points out the “stupid” behavior of Church governors she can at the same time turn around and insist that we all have the faith of a St. Perpetua in order to renew the ancient Church. She demands that we pray for our priests who are manifestations of God’s love for us. “We don’t need psychiatrists from our priests. We don’t need counselors from our priests. We need priests to take us by the hand and lead us to sanctity.”

Doherty is a lioness, a spirit that could move mountains. We would all do well to listen to her advice and seek union with Christ in His Church and in obedience to the teachings therein. So, in Catherine’s words, “Get cracking”!

 

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 10 & 11

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Teaches that detachment from the things aforementioned is insufficient if we are not detached from our own selves and that this virtue and humility go together.

Continues to treat of mortification and describes how it may be attained in times of sickness.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 8 & 9

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Treats of the great benefit of self-detachment, both interior and
exterior, from all things created.

Treats of the great blessing that shunning their relatives brings
to those who have left the world and shows how by doing so they
will find truer friends.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 7

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Treats of the same subject of spiritual love and gives certain counsels for gaining it.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 6

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Returns to the subject of perfect love, already begun.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 5

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Continues speaking of confessors. Explains why it is important that they should be learned men.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 4 & Appendix

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Exhorts the nuns to keep their Rule and names three things which are important for the spiritual life. Describes the first of these three things, which is love of one’s neighbour, and speaks of the harm which can be done by individual friendships

Appendix

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
By
St. Teresa of Avila

Chapter 3

[powerpress]

For the pdf containing the complete text and footnotes click here

Continues the subject begun in the first chapter and persuades the sisters to busy themselves constantly in beseeching God to help those who work for the Church. Ends with an exclamatory prayer.

For other audio chapters of
“The Way of Perfection”

THE WAY OF PERFECTION
by
ST. TERESA OF AVILA
Translated & Edited by
E. ALLISON PEERS
from the Critical Editon of
P. SILVERIO DE SANTA TERESA, C.D.

Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus  

[powerpress]

I. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.” Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…… (here name your request)
Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father….Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

II. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you.” Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of…….(here name your request) Our Father…Hail Mary….Glory Be To the Father….Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

III. O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away.” Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of…..(here name your request) Our Father….Hail Mary….Glory Be to the Father…Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours.
Say the Hail, Holy Queen and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
— St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

(This is the prayer offered daily by St. Padre Pio for his spiritual children’s intentions)

This prayer is offered in audio form by Msgr. John Esseff

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

[powerpress]

Third day:

Bible reading:

« Mary said, “ Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.  May it be done to me according to your word. “Then the Angel departed from her.” » ( Luke 1, 38 )

Brief Reflection:

The Virgin Mary meekly undergoes the designs of God, although with certain reservations. “.. How can this be if I do not know man?…she accepts, with some concerns. How many doubts will we have when we have moved away from God, and in our mistakes, we have knitted a useless cobweb of knots. Let us give our griefs to the council of Mary.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

Second day: [powerpress]

Bible reading:

…« And the Angel said to her in reply, ”The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God.

( Luke 1, 35 )

Brief Reflection:

The Holy Spirit, Third Person of God, overshadowed the womb of the Virgin Mary full of grace, and the power of the most High was with her so that she would give birth to our savior made man. That is why the Virgin Mary is blessed and holy. In her, The Son of God inhabited. ¡ Who better than his Mother, to aid us and help us to dismantle our tangled conflicts!

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)

(A brief note why I felt the Novena is so important to promote…you can find the text for Day 1 lower in the post)

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

“Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; whereas Mary, by Her obedience, undid it…For what the virgin Eve had bound fast through unbelief, this did the Virgin Mary set free through faith.” Saint Irenaeus,  in his writings titled Adversus Haereses (Against Heresies).

I once experienced a situation in which I was totally flummoxed in how to proceed; the result was a tremendous piercing of the heart, all very painful and sad.  A large messy misunderstanding arose  and the ability to communicate with the other person involved completely disappeared.  I wasn’t sure how to pray or even what to pray for, and frankly, it just hurt so much I couldn’t think what to do next.  So, like any confused child, I went to my mother for help…our Blessed Mother to be more specific.

As indicated by the great saint above, St. Irenaeus,  the role of Our Lady as the one who “unties” the knots in our lives goes way back to the early years of the Church.  The “knots” of course can be anything that separates us from God and our fellow man.  And in particular those knots that tie up and strangle loving relationships in families and friendships.

The image most closely associated with this devotion was one in the 1700s by an unknown painter.  As you can see in the picture, in her hands is a knotted white ribbon, which, with the aid of the angels, she is peacefully untying.   All of this is done under the watchful gaze of the Holy Spirit.   All the while she is crushing,  under her feet, the head of the serpent who’s body is coiled and knotted.

In her booklet, Dr. Suzel Frem Bourgerie’s writes about the knots each of us suffer. “How they suffocate the soul, beat us down, betray the heart’s joy and even the will to continue living.” She goes on to say: “… The Virgin Mary does not want this to continue anymore in your life. She comes to you today for you to give her all these snarls because she will undo them one by one.”

In the personal situation that I cited above, I found great comfort and peace knowing that our Blessed Mother was  handling everything .  I grew to trust in her loving care for the relationship.  She, in turn, has taught me to totally trust her Son in all things  That was the first knot she needed to untie for me,  now she’s working on the others.

Click here for the complete text and audio for the Mary, Untier of Knots Novena

Sign of the Cross
Act of Contrition

First Day

[powerpress]

Bible reading:

…« and now she will bear a son. You shall call him ‘Jesus’ for he will save his people from their sins.»

( Mathew 1, 21 )

Brief Reflection:

Our Lord Jesus, was born of the flesh and blood of the Holy Virgin Mary, spouse of the Holy Spirit. Jesus,  untied the tongues of the mute, the obstacles to the paralytics, he remove the yoke of the oppressed , and he liberated the sinners with his death. Jesus, through his Death and Resurrection is the Great Untier of Knots of our humanity united to sin. His Mother, first disciple and co re-demptrix, will untie our knots.

( Brief meditation: meditate with one decade of the Holy Rosary: One Our Father, 10 Hail Mary’s, One Glory be and the Prayer to “The Virgin Mary untier of Knots”)