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 SOLEMNITY
OF THE MOST HOLY BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
The Catholic faithful celebrates the Solemnity of the
Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ on June 10. This Eucharistic
celebration, which is also called Corpus Christi, is a solemn
commemoration of the institution of that sacrament. It is
also the Church's official act of homage and gratitude to
Christ, who by instituting the Holy Eucharist gave to the
Church her greatest treasure.
We Catholics believe that the historical event of Jesus' Last
Supper, described in each of the four Gospels, is one of the
greatest mysteries of our holy faith. During that evening,
the Lord Jesus, while he ate with his disciples, took bread,
blessed it, broke the bread and gave it to them saying: “Take;
this is my body”. He then took the cup, gave thanks
and gave it to them. And all drank from it. “This is
my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many”
The observance of Corpus Christi, therefore, accents the joyous
aspect of Holy Thursday. The wondrous mystery of the Lord’s
real presence under the Eucharistic celebration is also carried
out in the transubstantiation. May we venerate then this wonderful
sacrament by a special form of adoration as we share Jesus’
joy in His resurrection.
For more information on the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body
and Blood of Christ, please click on the following links:
 Novena
Honoring the Body and Blood of Christ
Novena
for Corpus Christi
Adoration
Prayer
Litany
of the Most Blessed Sacrament
Chaplet
of the Blessed Sacrament
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| SPECIALS |
 On
Mary’s Month and Brazil Pilgrimage
“I would like to entrust to the Holy Virgin, Mother
of the Church, my apostolic voyage to Brazil March 9-14.”
Pope Benedict XVI delivered his address for the month
of Mary on May 6 before reciting the Regina Caeli in
St. Peter’s Square. Below is a copy of his message
as translated by Zenit. * * *
Dear Brothers and Sisters!
The month of May began several days ago. For many Christian
communities this is the Marian month par excellence.
As such, in the course of the centuries it has become
one of the peoples' dearest devotions and has been valued
by pastors as a propitious occasion for preaching, catechesis
and community prayer.
After the Second Vatican Council, which emphasized
the role of Mary most holy in the Church and in salvation
history, Marian devotion underwent a profound renewal.
And the month of May, coinciding at least in part with
the Easter season, is quite propitious for illustrating
the figure of Mary as the Mother who accompanies the
community of disciples united in prayer in expectation
of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 1:12-14).
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| TEACHING
CATHOLIC FAITH |
 THE
SACRED HEART OF JESUS
The Month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart.
The Church celebrates the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart
of Jesus on the Friday following the second Sunday after
Pentecost. In addition to the liturgical celebration,
many devotional exercises are connected with the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. Of all devotions, devotion to the Sacred
Heart was, and remains, one of the most widespread and
popular in the Church.
The feast of the Sacred Heart was approved for specified
dioceses by Clement XIII in 1765, and extended to the
whole Church by Pius IX in 1856. In 1889 Pope Leo XIII
elevated it to the rank of first class, and through
an encyclical letter in 1899 dedicated the whole Catholic
world to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
According to the Scriptures, the term "Sacred Heart
of Jesus" denotes the entire mystery of Christ,
the totality of his being, and his person considered
in its most intimate essential: Son of God, uncreated
wisdom; infinite charity, principal of the salvation
and sanctification of mankind. The "Sacred Heart"
is Christ, the Word Incarnate, Saviour, intrinsically
containing, in the Spirit, an infinite divine-human
love for the Father and for his brothers.
Specifically, the Gospel of St. John recounts the showing
of the Lord's hands and his side to the disciples and
of his invitation to Thomas to put his hand into his
side. This event has also had a notable influence on
the origin and development of the Church's devotion
to the Sacred Heart.
Devotion to the Sacred Heart is then a wonderful historical
expression of the Church's piety for Christ, her Spouse
and Lord: it calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion
and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment
and dedication to Christ and his saving work.
Hence, the faithful are invited to penetrate the mysteries
of Christ by contemplating the wound opened in his side.
As St. Augustine writes: "Access is possible: Christ
is the door. It was opened for you when his side was
opened by the lance. Remember what flowed out from his
side: thus, choose where you want to enter Christ. From
the side of Christ as he hung dying upon the Cross there
flowed out blood and water, when it was pierced by a
lance. Your purification is in that water, your redemption
is in that blood".
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| SCRIPTURES |
 "Receive
the Holy Spirit!"
John
20:19-23
On the evening of that day, the first day of the week,
the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear
of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said
to them, "Peace be with you." When he had
said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then
the disciples were glad when they saw the Lord. Jesus
said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the
Father has sent me, even so I send you."2 And when
he had said this, he breathed on them, and said to them,
"Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins
of any, they are forgiven; if you retain the sins of
any, they are retained."
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| LIVES
OF THE SAINTS |
| June
13
St. Anthony of Padua (1231).
There is no more loved and admired saint of the Catholic Church
than Anthony of Padua. Though his work was in Italy, he was
born in Portugal. He first joined the Augustiian Order and
then left it in 1221 to join the Franciscan Order, at the
age of 26.
June
14
St. Eliseus (Ninth
Century B.C.).
He was an Old Testament prophet, the disciple and companion
of St. Elias. When Elias, whose feast is July 20, was taken
up in a fiery chariot, he let his cloak fall upon St. Eliseus,
who then became his successor.
June
15
St. Vitus (303).
Vitus, whose name can also be Guy, was a child saint, entrusted
by his pagan parents to the care of a Catholic nurse, Crescentia,
and her husband, Modestus. They secretly baptized him and
brought him up as a Catholic. When his father discovered that
he had become a Catholic, he handed him over to the pagan
governor of Sicily, where he lived as punishment.
June
16
St. John Francis Regis (1640).
He was one of the greatest priests of the Society of Jesus.
He entered the Society of Saint Ignatius when he was 19 years
old, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception. His great
crusade was to bring all Protestants back from the heresies
into which they had fallen in the 16th century.
June
17
St. Botolph
(680).
Botolph was a Benedictine, and an Englishman, with over 70
churches dedicated to him in England. An English town, originally
called Saint Botolphstown, was later contracted by the style
of utterance for which the English are famous, to Botolphstown,
then Botolphston, then Botoston, and then Boston.
June
18
Sts.
Mark and Marcellian (Third Century).
They were twin brothers and deacons of the Church at Rome
who were martyred under Diocletian.
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PRIEST
OF THE MONTH |
 FATHER
THADEUS NGUYEN VAN LY
Father
Nguyen Van Ly, a Vietnamese Roman Catholic priest and advocate
for religious freedom, had spent a lifetime attempting to
exercise his right to freedom of expression and freedom of
worship.Father Nguyen Van Ly was ordained as a priest in 1974.
He taught at a seminary in Hue, and served as secretary to
the then Bishop of Hue Monsignor Philippe Nguyen Kim Dien. |
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| QUOTE
OF THE MONTH |
ON
THE
SACRED HEART OF JESUS
The Saviour's Heart invites us to return to the Father's
love, which is the source of every authentic love: "In
this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins".
Jesus ceaselessly receives from the Father, rich in mercy
and compassion, the love which he lavishes upon human beings.
His Heart particularly reveals the generosity of God towards
sinners. God's reaction to sin is not to lessen his love,
but to expand it into a flow of mercy which becomes the
initiative of the Redemption.
- Pope John Paul II, Message on the centenary of the
consecration of mankind to the Sacred Heart of Jesus
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| PHOTO
OF THE MONTH |
Tour
of the Relics of the Passion
(International Center
for Holy Relics)
www.HolyRelics.org |
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INSPIRATIONAL
STORY OF THE MONTH |
 THE
MYSTERIOUS STAIRCASE
City
of Santa Fé, in New Mexico, USA.
A mystery of over 130 years and attracting around 250 thousand
visitors every year. Point of attention : Loretto Chapel
What makes this chapel different from all others is that the
subject of the supposed miracle that took place in it is a
Staircase....
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| REFLECTIONS |
 “The
Gift of the Holy Spirit”
Do
you know and experience in your life the gift and power of
the Holy Spirit? After his death and resurrection Jesus promised
his disciples the gift of the Holy Spirit. Receive the Holy
Spirit! Jesus knew his disciples would need the power of the
Holy Spirit to carry out the mission entrusted to them.
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Pope Benedict Speaks on Corpus Christi