DEVOTIONAL THOUGHTS FOR NOVEMBER  2007.

+Thoughts for the Month of All Saints and All Holy Souls Departed+

O Lord of all worlds,we bless Thy name for all those who have entered into their rest,and reached the promised land where Thou art seen face to face. Give us grace to follow in their footsteps,as they followed in the footsteps of Thy holy Son. Keep alive in us the memory of those dear to ourselves whom Thou hast called to Thyself; and grant that every remembrance which turns our hearts from things seen to things unseen may lead lead us always upwards to Thee, till we come to our eternal rest. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.  (Fenton John Hort, 1828 – 1892)

May He give us all the courage we need to go the way He shepherds us.
That when He calls we may go unfrightened.
If He bids us come to Him across the waters, that unfrightened we may go.
And if He bids us climb a hill, we may not notice that it is a hill:
Mindful only of the happiness of His company.
He made us for Himself, that we should travel with Him
And see Him at the last in His unveiled beauty in the abiding city
Where He is light and happiness and endless Home.   (Bede Jarrett, 1881 – 1934)

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Bishop Anthony writes: As Saint Paul tells us: “You are fellow citizens of God’s holy ones and members of God’s household (Ephesians 2 v.19). In other words we are already part of God’s kingdom which consists of the Church militant in earth, the Church expectant in Purgatory and the Church  triumphant in Heaven. Each of us is a living member of that One Holy Church and what we do in Christ and for Him we do in living union with one another. The invocation of the saints and angels is a Catholic custom, part of the instinct of Christians to join with others in prayer. As it is natural for us to ask our friends and family to pray for us, it is equally natural to ask not just the saints in glory to pray for us but also the holy souls on their journey through Purgatory. And we must pray for those holy souls too. Let us think during November when we remember those we love and who are now in God’s keeping, that we are “compassed around with a great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12) and that those witnesses – the holy souls, the saints and the angels – can and do pray for us powerfully before the throne of God. But all the prayers of and to the saints are made in union with Christ who was sacrificed for our salvation and who reigns in glory as our chief Advocate.

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Let us pray: Eternal God, by Whose Will we pay homage to the merits of all Thy saints: bestow on us, we beseech Thee, at their loving intercession, the fulness of Thy mercy for which we long. Through Jesus Christ our Lord, God living and reigning with Thee and the Holy Ghost unto ages of ages. Amen.
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And a passing thought

One and the same love embraces both God and our neighbour. This love is the Holy Ghost, Who is Himself Divine Love.  (Saint Anthony of Padua)

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SACRED AND EUCHARISTIC HEART OF JESUS, HAVE MERCY UPON US!
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY, BE OUR SALVATION!
MOST HOLY SAINTS AND ANGELS, PRAY FOR US AND PROTECT US ALWAYS!

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