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NOVENA HONORING THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
This novena may be said privately as a preparation for the feast
of Corpus Christi.
I thank You, Jesus, my Divine Redeemer, for coming upon the earth
for our sake, and for instituting the adorable Sacrament of the
Holy Eucharist in order to remain with us until the end of the world.
I thank You for hiding beneath the Eucharistic species Your infinite
majesty and beauty, which Your Angels delight to behold, so that
I might have courage to approach the throne of Your Mercy. I thank
You, most loving Jesus, for having made Yourself my food, and for
uniting me to Yourself with so much love in this wonderful Sacrament
that I may live in You.
I thank You, my Jesus, for giving Yourself to me in this Blessed
Sacrament, and so enriching it with the treasures of Your love that
You have no greater gift to give me.
I thank You not only for becoming my food but also for offering
Yourself as a continual sacrifice to Your Eternal Father for my
salvation. I thank You, Divine Priest, for offering Yourself as
a Sacrifice daily upon our altars in adoration and homage to the
Most Blessed Trinity, and for making amends for our poor and miserable
adorations. I thank You for renewing in this daily Sacrifice the
actual Sacrifice of the Cross offered on Calvary, in which You satisfy
Divine justice for us poor sinners.
I thank You, dear Jesus, for having become the priceless Victim
to merit for me the fullness of heavenly favors. Awaken in me such
confidence in You that their fullness may descend ever more fruitfully
upon my soul. I thank You for offering Yourself in thanksgiving
to God for all His benefits, spiritual and temporal, which He has
bestowed upon me. In union with Your offering of Yourself to Your
Father in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, I ask for this special
favor:
(Mention your request).
If it be Your holy Will, grant my request. Through You I also hope
to receive the grace of perseverance in Your love and faithful service,
a holy death, and a happy eternity with You in Heaven. Amen.
O Lord, You have given us this Sacred Banquet, in which Christ is
received, the memory of His Passion is renewed, the mind is filled
with grace, and a pledge of future glory is given to us. You have
given them bread from Heaven. Having all sweetness within. Let us
pray. God our Father, for Your glory and our salvation You appointed
Jesus Christ eternal High Priest. May the people He gained for You
by His Blood come to share in the power of His Cross and Resurrection
by celebrating His Memorial in this Eucharist, for He lives and
reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever. Amen.
O Jesus, since You have left us a remembrance of Your Passion beneath
the veils of this Sacrament, grant us, we pray, so to venerate the
sacred mysteries of Your Body and Blood that we may always enjoy
the fruits of Your Redemption, for You live and reign forever. Amen.
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| LIVES
OF THE SAINTS |
MARCH 1
St. Felix II
St Felix II, the pope is an ancestor of the future Pope St. Gregory the Great who lived from 540 to 604. 
MARCH 2
Blessed Charles the Good
Count Charles of Flanders, was called "the good" by the people of his kingdom. They named him for what they found him to truly be.
MARCH 3
Blessed Katharine Drexel
Blessed Katharine was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on November 26, 1858. Katharine's mother died when she was a baby.
MARCH 4
St. Casimir
St. Casimir was born in 1458, son of Casimir IV, king of Poland. Casimir was one of thirteen children.
MARCH 5
St. John Joseph of the Cross
St. John Joseph of the Cross was born in southern Italy on the feast of the Assumption, 1654. He was a young noble, but he dressed like a poor man.
MARCH 6
St. Colette
St. Nicolette was named in honor of St. Nicholas of Myra. She was born in 1380. Her loving parents nicknamed her Colette from the time she was a baby.
MARCH 7
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity
St. Perpetua and St. Felicity lived in Carthage, North Africa, in the third century. It was the time of the fierce persecution of Christians by Emperor Septimus Severus.
MARCH 8
St. John of God
St. John was born in Portugal on March 8, 1495. His parents were poor, but deeply Christian. John was a restless boy.
MARCH 9
St. Frances of Rome
St. Frances was born in 1384. Her parents were wealthy, but they taught Frances to be concerned about people and to live a good Christian life.
MARCH 10
St. Simplicius
St. Simplicius became pope in 468. Sometimes it seemed to him that he was all alone in trying to correct evils that were everywhere.
MARCH 11
St. Eulogius of Spain
St. Eulogius lived in the ninth century. His family was well-known and he received an excellent education. While he learned his lessons, he also learned from the good example of his teachers.
MARCH 12
St. Fina (Seraphina)
St. Fina was born in a little Italian town called San Geminiano. Her parents had once been well off, but misfortune had left them poor.
MARCH 13
St. Euphrasia
St. Euphrasia was born in the fifth century to deeply Christian parents. Her father, a relative of the emperor, died when she was a year old.
MARCH 14
St. Matilda
St. Matilda was born about 895, the daughter of a German count. When she was still quite young, her parents arranged her marriage to a nobleman named Henry.
MARCH 15
St. Zachary
St. Zachary was a Benedictine monk from Greece who lived in the eighth century. He became a cardinal and then pope.
MARCH 16
Blessed Torello
Blessed Torello was born in 1202, in Poppi, Italy. His life as a child in the village was ordinary and uneventful. But after his father's death.
MARCH 17
St. Patrick
St. Patrick was believed born in fifth-century Britain to Roman parents. When he was sixteen, he was captured by pirates and taken to Ireland.
MARCH 18
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
St. Cyril was born around 315 when a new phase was beginning for Christians. Before that date, the Church was persecuted by the emperors.
MARCH 19
St. Joseph
St. Joseph is a great saint. He was Jesus' foster-father and Mary's husband.
MARCH 20
St. Cuthbert
St. Cuthbert lived in England in the seventh century. He was a poor shepherd boy who loved to play games with his friends.
MARCH 21
St. Serapion
St. Serapion lived in Egypt in the fourth century. Those were exciting times for the Church and for St. Serapion.
MARCH 22
St. Deogratias
St. Deogratias was ordained bishop of the City of Carthage when it was taken over by barbarian armies in 439.
MARCH 23
St. Turibius of Mongrovejo
St. Turibius was born in 1538 in Leon, Spain. He became a university professor and then a famous judge.
MARCH 24
Blessed Didacus
Blessed Didacus Joseph was born on March 29, 1743, in Cadiz, Spain. He was baptized Joseph Francis.
MARCH 25
ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD
The time arrived for Jesus to come down from heaven. God sent the Archangel Gabriel to the town of Nazareth where Mary lived.
MARCH 26
St. Ludger
St. Ludger was born in northern Europe in the eighth century. After he had studied hard for many years, he was ordained a priest.
MARCH 27
St. John of Egypt
St. John was man who desired to be alone with God was to become one of the most famous hermits of his time.
MARCH 28
St. Tutilo
St. Tutilo lived in the late ninth and early tenth centuries. He was educated at the Benedictine monastery of Saint-Gall.
MARCH 29
St. Jonas and St. Barachisius
King Sapor of Persia reigned in the fourth century. He hated Christians and persecuted them cruelly. He destroyed their churches and monasteries.
MARCH 30
St. John Climacus
St. John was believed born in Palestine in the seventh century. He seems to have been a disciple of St. Gregory Nazianzen.
MARCH 31
Blessed Joan of Toulouse
In 1240, some Carmelite brothers from Palestine started a monastery in Toulouse, France.
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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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| REFLECTIONS |
 “Jesus’
Baptism”
Why did Jesus, the sinless one sent from the Father in heaven,
submit himself to John’s baptism? John preached a
baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins (Luke
3:3). In this humble submission we see a foreshadowing of
the “baptism” of Jesus bloody death upon the
cross. Jesus’ baptism is the acceptance and the beginning
of his mission as God’s suffering Servant (Isaiah
52:13-15; 53:1-12). He allowed himself to be numbered among
sinners. Jesus submitted himself entirely to his Father’s
will. Out of love he consented to this baptism of death
for the remission of our sins. Do you know the joy of trust
and submission to God?
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