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In September of 1224,
St. Francis was on retreat on Alvernia, a mountain in Tuscany, where a
chapel to Saint Mary of the Angels had been built for the Franciscans.
Francis spent 40 days on the mountain at the end of which he beheld a
seraph
with six wings, between which the Crucified Christ was descried. He was
overwhelmed by the vision, and then, in the words of St. Bonaventure, "
as the vision disappeared, it left his heart ablaze with eagerness and
impressed upon his body a miraculous likeness. Then and there the marks
of nails began to appear in his hands and feet, just as he had seen in
the vision . . ." THIRTY-THREE VISITS TO OUR LORD THE CHRIST: DEVOTION GIVEN TO ST. MARGARET MARY ALACOQUE BY OUR LORD For the Conversion of Sinners This is what the
Saint wrote about the devotion: "One Friday, during holy Mass, I felt a
great desire to honor the sufferings of my crucified Spouse. He told me
lovingly that He desired me, every Friday, to adore Him thirty-three
times
upon the Cross, the throne of His mercy. I was to prostrate myself
humbly
at His feet, and try to remain there in the dispositions of the Blessed
Virgin during His Passion. I was to offer these acts of adoration to
the
Eternal Father together with the sufferings of her Divine Son, to beg
Him
the conversion of all hardened and faithless hearts who resist the
impulse
of His grace. He told me, moreover, that at the hour of death He will
be
favorable to those who have been faithful to this practice. These 33 acts
of adoration of Our Lord on the Cross may be made anywhere on Fridays,
and even while attending to one's ordinary duties. They require no
special
attitude, formula or vocal prayer. A simple look of love and contrition
coming from the depths of our heart and sent up to Our Crucified Lord
is
sufficient to express our adoration and gratitude to Him. It is also an
appeal to the Virgin Mary to intercede on behalf of sinners, for their
conversion. My God, I offer Thee Thy well-beloved Son, in thanksgiving for all the benefits I have received from Thee. I offer Him as my adoration, my petition, my oblation, and my resolutions; I offer Him as my love and my all. Receive, O Eternal Father, this offering for whatever Thou willest of me, since I have nothing to offer which is not unworthy of Thee, except Jesus, my Savior, Whom Thou hast given me with so much love. Amen. "When you fail
in simplicity and humility, you lose the friendship of the Sacred
Heart.
Your heart is then left like barren soil which only produces the thorns
and thistles of faults and imperfections-----
this refers to willful faults." St. Margaret Mary ----- Thought for November 13th. |
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