November 2007 Archives

Cousin Carlo de Lellis met me at the station in Caianello on Saturday evening. I celebrated Mass at 8:00 a.m. in our church of San Michele for the repose of the soul of my brother Michael; November 25 is the anniversary of his death. Returned to the church to hear confessions at the request of Don Salvatore, the parish priest.

In the afternoon: a wonderful Sunday pranzo with Carlo, Nora, Ettore, Giovanna (Bambolina), Gabriele, and Denise.
Back to the church for Eucharistic Holy Hour with the parish in the afternoon. After a good night's sleep in a very comfortable bed (see the photos below) I returned to Rome on Monday morning for a very busy day of appointments and visits.

I left the Monastery of Notre-Dame d'Orient in Laval-Roquecezière this morning at 5:00. At the moment I am sitting in the airport waiting for my light to Toulouse. Here are a few photos taken during my stay at Notre-Dame d'Orient. The statue of Our Lady is atop a mountain peak from which one can see both the Alps and the Pyrenees.

Tomorrow I will go to the Casa San Francesco in Carsoli (Aquila) to preach a retreat to the Benedettine Riparatrici del Santo Volto Please pray for me during this ministry.

Among the very first people to commit themselves to an hour of adoration every Thursday in thanksgiving for the Gift and Mystery of the Most Holy Eucharist and of the Priesthood, and in reparation for priests who do not adore Our Lord in the Sacrament of His Love, was none other than my own Dad! Thank you, Dad! Others have responded too, some by posting a comment, and others by sending me an e-mail. One other priest has responded so far.

Concerning this work of adoration and reparation, Our Lord deigned to say to one of His priests:

Respond to my call, just as you are doing today, and I will do all the rest. I am the Friend who never fails, the Friend whose love is a rock of stability and a refuge. I am the Friend whom you have always sought. Now, I have called you to live in the radiance of my Face and to remain close to my Eucharistic Heart. Do this, trusting in my promises, and many priests will be rescued from the plots laid for them by the Evil One. Many will discover that they too are loved, that my Eucharistic Face shines upon them, that my Heart is open to receive them, and that my Mother is their Mother too, their life, their sweetness, and their hope. Your very presence here, in obedience to the call you heard, obtains many graces for my priests. For this have I called you to live in adoration and in reparation.

This was the view from my window this morning, shortly after I got up. The Jura mountain region tends to be cold on these early November mornings. I am told that tomorrow, in the Aveyron, the temperature will be exceedingly mild.

I took this photo of the sacred relics of the saints exposed in the monastery chapel after Second Vespers of All Saints. At Holy Mass I preached on Our Lady of the Beatitudes, Queen of All Saints. Here is the French text, just as I gave it at the Monastère Saint-Benoît in Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne:

« Voici le peuple immense de ceux qui t’ont cherché ».
Oui, Seigneur Jésus, tous ils ont cherché ton Visage.
Tous, ils ont pris à cœur cette parole
que ton Esprit Saint a fait chanter le roi prophète :
« Mon cœur t’a déclaré : je cherche le Seigneur. . .
c’est ta Face, Seigneur, que je rechercherai.
Ne détourne pas de moi ton Visage » (Ps 26, 8-9).

Tous, ils sont devenus miroirs vivants de ta Sainte Face,
selon ce que dit ton Apôtre :
« Et nous tous qui, le visage découvert,
réfléchissons comme en un miroir la gloire du Seigneur,
nous sommes transformés en cette même image,
toujours plus glorieuse,
comme il convient à l’action du Seigneur, qui est l’Esprit » (2 Cor 3, 18).

Seigneur Jésus, la beauté de la gloire de tes saints nous ravit
parce qu’elle est le reflet sur leurs visages de la beauté de la gloire de ta Face !
Aujourd’hui tu nous révèles,
aujourd’hui tu nous redis le secret de toute sainteté :
la recherche de ta Face.

À quiconque cherche ta Face, Seigneur Jésus, tu la révèles,
et celui à qui tu révèles ta Face ne peut que l’adorer.
Cette adoration de ta Sainte Face est transformante,
C’est toujours le roi prophète qui nous donne de chanter chaque nuit :
« Sur nous s’est imprimé, Seigneur, la lumière de ta Face » (Ps 4, 7).

Parmi tous ces visages illuminés par la beauté de ta Face,
il y a un visage qui rayonne d’une splendeur qui fait pâlir le soleil.
C’est le visage de ta Mère, la toute belle, la toute pure.
Tu es toute belle, ô Marie, car sur ton visage nous voyons
le reflet éblouissant de Celui
qui est « le resplendissement de la gloire du Père
et l’effigie de sa substance » (Hb 1, 3).

Toi, la reine de tous les saints,
tu es le signe grandiose qui apparaît dans le ciel :
la Femme revêtue du soleil,
ayant la lune sous ses pieds,
et portant une couronne sertie de douze étoiles.

Thursday evening I received I call from Mère Marie-Anne du Sacré Coeur, the prioress of the monastery of Craon, asking if I would consider going to serve a monastery in the Aveyron that would, otherwise, be without a priest and without Holy Mass for a fortnight. The monastery is attached to an ancient sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary called Notre Dame d'Orient. The origin of this title of the Blessed Virgin is the phrase, Virgo auriens — the Virgin who gives heed — which came to be translated as Notre Dame d'Orient. Here are two photos of Notre Dame d'Orient. I will leave Nans-sous-Sainte-Anne early Sunday morning. You can imagine my delight at being asked to serve in a sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin!