Maureen's thoughts: Father Hezuk Shroff

Showing posts with label Father Hezuk Shroff. Show all posts

Friday, January 1, 2021

Solemnity of Mary the Mother of God - January 2, 2021-

Outstanding Homily - Best I've ever heard on Mary, Mother of God

Thank you Father Hezuk Shroff

I joined Father Shroff's ZOOM meeting at 11 this morning and I am so happy I did.

Father gave an in depth presentation of Mary the Mother of God.

( It's all there in Father's Homily as well)

We began with a prayer and closed with this beautiful Advent Christmas antiphon

sung in Gregorian Chant by the Benedictine Nuns of Saint Cecilia in the UK.

It was so beautiful and I tried to find it on youtube.

I found this version by Benedictine nuns but from another Abbey.

Very beautiful as well

Translation

Loving Mother of the Redeemer

who remains the accessible gateway of Heaven

And Star of the Sea,

Come to the aid of a fallen people

That strives to rise again.

Thou who didst engender

Thy Holy Engenderer, O Marvel of nature,

Virgin before and ever after,

Reciting that Ave from the mouth of Gabriel,

Have Mercy on us!

Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Christ is the King of all things!

Pat and I attended mass at Saint Catherine of Sienna Parish in Metcalfe this past Sunday and I have to say that Father Shroff gave one of the best Christ the King homilies that I have ever heard and I asked him if I could put it on my blog. Father refers to Pope Pius XI Encyclical Letter Quas Primas (December 11, 1925) | PIUS XI (vatican.va)

Thank you Father Shroff and God bless you!

Homily on the Solemnity of Christ the King Given at St. Catherine of Siena Parish on November 22, 2020 AD

by Fr. Hezuk Shroff

Today is the last Sunday of the Liturgical Year. In the modern liturgy,

this Sunday goes by the title of The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ,

King of the Universe. This title in English is somewhat unfortunate,

because it is not an exact translation of the original Latin. In the Latin title

of this feast day, Christ is not called “King of the Universe,” which might

give the connotation that we are celebrating a cosmic Christ or even a

New-Age Christ. The Latin title is Rex universorum, which means literally

“The King of All Things.” Christ is the King of all things. He is the King of

individuals (the King of hearts, of minds, of souls); He is the King of nations

and kingdoms and principalities; He is the King of institutions and

societies. He is even the King of governments and houses of parliament.

Jesus Christ is King of all things! Rex universorum.

Today’s feast day of Christ the King is not a very ancient liturgical

feast. In fact, it only goes back to 1925 (less than a hundred years, which

is a very short time in the history of the Church). It was then, in 1925, that

Pope Pius XI issued his famous encyclical letter Quas Primas. This

encyclical established in the universal Church calendar the feast day of

Christ the King and gave it the highest rank of feast possible: known at

that time as a Double of the First Class. In the modern liturgy, it is called a

Solemnity: the highest rank of feast.

Pope Pius XI decreed that the feast of Christ the King was to be

celebrated every year on the last Sunday in October. This date was chosen

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because this is the Sunday immediately preceding All Saints’ Day. Pope

Pius XI wanted to show the link between the holiness of Christ and the

holiness of His Saints. He wanted to show that the Saints were those who

willingly submitted themselves to the Kingship of Christ. The primary

reason for establishing this feast day, however, was to respond to the

growing spirit of secularism that was sweeping throughout the world in the

period between the First and Second World Wars. The rapid spread of the

secularist ideology wanted a world and a society in which man reigned

supreme, with no reference whatsoever to the primacy of God: and in fact,

even with no acknowledgement of His existence. Most of this took place

under the covert work of freemasonry, which wanted to destroy the

influence of the Catholic Church in order to set up its own ideology of the

Universal Brotherhood of Man, a brotherhood that is fully secular and fully

atheistic: a Brotherhood of Man without God.

Seeing all of this occurring in 1925, Pope Pius XI instituted the feast

of Christ the King and taught that the only truly sovereign monarch is

Christ Himself. All worldly kingship, all worldly authority and power, derives

itself from His. Pope Pius XI knew that when a society rejects the primacy

of God, this very quickly leads to an erosion of the rights of man. Man’s

rights quickly fall by the wayside, and the human race becomes

dehumanized, when God is set aside. This is because the dignity of man is

founded on the fact that he is created in the image and likeness of God.

So when God is cast aside, man loses his dignity. We saw the proof of this

recently in the fall of Ireland from grace, within this past decade. Catholic

Ireland (until she fell) was one of the greatest strongholds of the Catholic

Faith, even throughout the 20th century. But then, almost overnight,

Catholic Ireland rejected the primacy and Kingship of Christ; and as soon

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as it rejected its Catholic roots, it rapidly began spiraling downward,

legalizing almost every form of immoral behavior and lifestyle that it had

previously forbidden.

When Christ is rejected by a society or by a people, the members of

that society very quickly lose their human dignity. This is why Pope Pius XI

instituted the great feast of Christ the King. He wanted to show the world

that without Christ, there is no real dignity or freedom, and that a worldly

kingdom will quickly fall unless it acknowledges the primacy of Christ’s

Kingship.

Now the Kingship of Christ is fully revealed to us on the Cross. In

Mediaeval Europe, crucifixes often portrayed a Christ who was not naked,

but rather clothed in royal garments; and instead of a crown of thorns on

His head, He wore a royal crown with precious jewels. These Mediaeval

crucifixes were meant to convey one very important fact: it is from the

Cross that Christ reigns as King! In fact, a beautiful hymn that is sung

traditionally on Good Friday attests to this very truth. The hymn’s title is

Vexilla Regis. And in that hymn, there is a very powerful verse that says,

Regnavit a ligno Deus! Literally: God hath reigned from the Wood (that is,

from the Cross). These words remind us that Christ’s Kingdom is not of

this world, because no earthly king reigns from a cross. And yet, as Pope

Pius XI taught very clearly, even though His Kingdom is not of this world,

Christ’s Kingship must enter into this world and He must reign in this

world! St. Paul teaches the same thing in today’s second reading, from his

First Epistle to the Corinthians. He says, “[When the end of time comes],

Christ will deliver the Kingdom to God the Father after destroying every

rule and every authority and power. For He must reign until he has put all

His enemies under his feet.” (I Cor. 15:24-25). He must reign. In the Latin:

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opportet illum regnare. These words have been the battle-cry of Christians

from the very beginning. Pope Pius XI comments on this in his great

encyclical letter, where he writes the following words: “If to Christ Our Lord

is given all power in Heaven and on earth; if all men, purchased by His

Precious Blood, are by a new right subjected to His Dominion; if this

power embraces all men, it must be clear that not one of our faculties is

exempt from His Empire. He must reign in our minds, which should

assent with perfect submission and firm belief to revealed truths and to the

doctrines of Christ. He must reign in our wills, which should obey the laws

and precepts of God. He must reign in our hearts, which should spurn

natural desires and love God above all things, and cleave to Him alone. He

must reign in our bodies and in our members, which should serve as

instruments for the interior sanctification of our souls, or to use the words

of the Apostle Paul, as instruments of justice unto God. Indeed, He must

reign until, at the end of the world, He has put all His enemies under the

feet of God the Father.”

These powerful words from the Roman Pontiff express the Church’s

belief that Christ must reign, and that we must do everything that we can

to ensure that He does reign. In the words of another hymn that the

Church sings with great pride on the feast of Christ the King (a hymn that

we heard chanted at the 11am Mass this morning): Christus vincit,

Christus regnat, Christus imperat. Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ

commands!

In 1969, Pope Paul VI moved the feast of Christ the King from the

last Sunday of October to the last Sunday of the liturgical year. One effect

of this was that the focus of the feast day shifted. Nowadays, because

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Christ the King closes the liturgical year, we often think of this feast day as

a celebration of Christ’s Kingship at the end of time. Christ will reign as

King after the Second Coming, and He will reign especially in Heaven. We

also tend to think of His Kingship primarily as an interior kingship: Christ is

King of our hearts. Now while this is true (while Christ’s Kingship is one of

the heart, and while He will be King at the end of time, after the Second

Coming, in His Kingdom of Heaven), the problem is that we often forget

today that Christ’s Kingship is not just for the end of time. In fact, the

reason why Pope Pius XI instituted this great feast day was precisely to

show the faithful (and to show the rulers of nations) that Christ must reign

even in the here and now, even in our worldly societies: that is, in the

secular domain. Christ is not just to reign in our churches, in our homes, in

our families, and in our hearts. He must also reign in the public forum: that

is, in our schools, our hospitals, our business and industries, and Yes,

even in our Houses of Parliament! Many Catholics today have a faulty

understanding of what has been called the principle of separation of

Church and State. They think that the Catholic Church endorses this

understanding of Church-State religions. It doesn’t. The real teaching of

our Faith is not that the Church and State should be separate,

independent entities; but rather, that the Church has the right to impose

Christ’s reign even in the public sphere. A Parliament that makes laws

without taking into account the teachings of Christ will one day collapse;

and a State that passes legislation that contravenes the Commandments

of God will one day fall. In the end, the only principalities that will remain

are those kingdoms and nations that have submitted themselves willfully

to the one true Kingship: the Kingship of Our Lord Jesus Christ!

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And so, on this feast of Christ the King, I would like to leave you with

a final quote to ponder over. It is a quotation from the great encyclical

letter of Pope Pius XI, Quas Primas:

The Catholic Church, founded by Christ as a perfect society, has a

natural and inalienable right to perfect freedom and immunity from the

power of the State. In fulfilling the task committed to her by God of

teaching, ruling, and guiding to Eternal Bliss those who belong to the

Kingdom of Christ, [the Church] cannot be subject to any external

power. Nations will be reminded by the annual celebration of this feast

day [of Christ the King] that not only private individuals, but also rulers

and princes, are bound to give public honour and obedience to Christ.

[This feast day of Christ the King] will call to their minds the thought of

the Last Judgement, wherein Christ, who has been cast out of public

life, despised, neglected and ignored, will most severely avenge these

insults; for His kingly dignity demands that the State should take

account of the Commandments of God and of Christian principles,

both in making laws and in administering justice, and also in providing

for the young a sound, moral education. It is Our fervent desire that

those who are outside of the Fold may seek after and accept the

sweet yoke of Christ, and that we, who by the mercy of God are of the

Household of the Faith, may bear that yoke, not as a burden but with

joy, with love, with devotion; that having lived our lives in accordance

with the laws of [Christ’s] Kingdom, we may receive full measure of

good fruit, and, counted by Christ good and faithful servants, we may

be rendered partakers of Eternal Bliss, and glory with Him in His

Heavenly Kingdom.

Christ conquers, Christ reigns, Christ commands! To Him, Christ the

King, be the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Wednesday, March 25, 2020

March 25th 2020 - Solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord

In honour of Our Lady and our parish of  we will be hosting mass at 6 pm today online through YouTube. Make sure to check our YouTube site for 6 pm.


Annunciation of the Lord Parish will be offering drive-by confession (  from 7-9 pm this evening / details below )

Legion of Mary - Acies Ceremony   ( 6:30 pm details below )

Updates with Father Rob Arsenault

Annunciation of the Lord Parish, Ottawa, ON, Canada

Annunciation will be offering drive-by confession

this evening from 7-9 pm.

For instructions on participating, watch the video below:

Legion of Mary - Acies Ceremony

This year, in lieu of the annual Acies where we reconsecrate ourselves to Our Lady

on the feast of the Annunciation we are recommending an alternative to us gathering for the ceremony. This year we are hoping you will join us in doing a Spiritual Acies.

These prayers in a sense are going to take the place of the spiritual portion of the Acies.

Everyone will be on their own doing this in their own homes.

PROGRAM for Wednesday 25 March:

At 6:30 pm we will begin with the opening prayers in the Tessera,

followed by five decades of the Holy Rosary.

Then right after we will recite the Catena.

Then in front of a statue or image of Our Lady we will renew our consecration to Jesus through Mary by reciting the following prayer: "I am all yours, my Queen, my Mother, and all that I have is yours."

Then recite the concluding prayers in the Tessera.

At 7:30 pm EST please pause and recollect as

Father Shroff will recite an act of consecration for the Regia as a whole.
If you do join us in this Spiritual Acies,

we would love to know so would you kindly reply to Jennifer Snell Jennifersnell2000@yahoo.ca

Prayers of the Tessera

Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima, Good Shepherd Parish, Ottawa ON

Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of Our Lady of Fatima

and the 6th Anniversary

of the Ordination of Father Hezuk Shroff to the Priesthood

With Holy Mass and Consecration to Mary
( text of Consecration below )

at the Good Shepherd Parish in Blackburn Hamlet

Mother Mary Bernadette led us in the prayers of the rosary before mass

A beautiful reception followed which was hosted by the Parish

and the Queenship of Mary Community

Act of Consecration to Jesus through Mary

from St. Louis Marie de Montfort’s “Total Consecration”

O Eternal and Incarnate Wisdom! O sweetest and most adorable Jesus! True God and true man, only Son of the Eternal Father, and of Mary, always virgin! I adore Thee profoundly in the bosom and splendours of Thy Father during eternity; and I adore Thee also in the virginal bosom of Mary, Thy most worthy Mother, in the time of Thine incarnation.

I give Thee thanks for that Thou hast annihilated Thyself, taking the form of a slave in order to rescue me from the cruel slavery of the devil. I praise and glorify Thee for that Thou hast been pleased to submit Thyself to Mary, Thy holy Mother, in all things, in order to make me Thy faithful slave through her. But, alas! Ungrateful and faithless as I have been, I have not kept the promises which I made so solemnly to Thee in my Baptism; I have not fulfilled my obligations; I do not deserve to be called Thy child, nor yet Thy slave; and as there is nothing in me which does not merit Thine anger and Thy repulse, I dare not come by myself before Thy most holy and august Majesty. It is on this account that I have recourse to the intercession of Thy most holy Mother, whom Thou hast given me for a mediatrix with Thee. It is through her that I hope to obtain of Thee contrition, the pardon of my sins, and the acquisition and preservation of wisdom.

Hail, then, O immaculate Mary, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the Eternal Wisdom willed to be hidden and to be adored by angels and by men! Hail, O Queen of Heaven and earth, to whose empire everything is subject which is under God. Hail, O sure refuge of sinners, whose mercy fails no one. Hear the desires which I have of the Divine Wisdom; and for that end receive the vows and offerings which in my lowliness I present to thee.

I, ________________, a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court I choose thee this day for my Mother and Mistress. I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, my body and soul, my goods, both interior and exterior, and even the value of all my good actions, past, present and future; leaving to thee the entire and full right of disposing of me, and all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity.

Receive, O benignant Virgin, this little offering of my slavery, in honour of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to thy maternity; in homage to the power which both of you have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. I declare that I wish henceforth, as thy true slave, to seek thy honor and to obey thee in all things.

O admirable Mother, present me to thy dear Son as His eternal slave, so that as He has redeemed me by thee, by thee He may receive me! O Mother of mercy, grant me the grace to obtain the true Wisdom of God; and for that end receive me among those whom thou lovest and teachest, whom thou leadest, nourishest and protectest as thy children and thy slaves.

O faithful Virgin, make me in all things so perfect a disciple, imitator and slave of the Incarnate Wisdom, Jesus Christ thy Son, that I may attain, by thine intercession and by thine example, to the fullness of His age on earth and of His glory in Heaven. Amen.

Short video clips

Ave Maria - Solo

Video of Homily -
Father Shroff

Text of homily

Today is exactly 100 years, to the day, when a miraculous series of events began to take place at Fatima in Portugal. Fatima is situated in the municipality of Ourem. Both the names Fatima and Ourem were given to this region because of a popular legend concerning the Christian re-conquest of Portugal.

Portugal was under attack by the Muslims — as was much of Europe. The Muslims of Northern Africa, known as the Moors, had passed into southern Europe, with the attempt to convert Catholic Europe to Islam. According to a popular story (which some say is a legend), during one such attack, a Moorish princess, by the name of Fatima (which is an Arabic word meaning “captivating” or “enchanting”)…this Muslim princess was captured by a Catholic Knight, Gonçalo Hermigues, and fell in love with him. She later converted from Islam to Christianity, and was baptized and given the Christian name Oureana. This is where the municipality of Ourem gets its name, and the parish therein was given the name Fatima in honour of this famous convert. The parish of Fatima was officially founded in the year 1568. For centuries, most of the parishioners of Fatima were sheepherders. Their main work consisted in two things: (1) allowing their flock to graze, and (2) practising subsistent farming. Thus the three young children (Lucia (10), Francisco (9), and Jacintha (7)) were all employed in watching over their parents’ flock of sheep when the apparitions at Fatima first took place.

It was May 13, 1917. One hundred years to this very day, the children were pasturing their parents’ flock as usual at the Cova da Iria, a little over a kilometre from their homes. They were playing games as their flock pastured, when suddenly they beheld a bright light piercing through the sky. They described it as a sudden flash of lightning. The sun was bright in the sky; there was no wind and no sign of a storm at hand. Nevertheless, the children decided to head homeward. As they began to descend the hill, another flash of lightning took them by surprise. They began to panic. Then, all of a sudden, standing over the foliage of an oak tree, they saw a dazzling sight: a Lady dressed in a white mantle edged with gold. From her, there emanated rays of clear and intense light, just like a crystal goblet full of pure water when the fiery sun passes through it. She was not the light, but the light passed through her. She was so close to them that they could almost touch her: only a metre or two away. Because the children were afraid, the Lady reassured them gently: “Do not be afraid of me,” she said, “I will do you no harm.” Lucia asked, “Where are you from?” As she asked this question, the three children saw the brilliant Rosary in her hands: the crystal beads shone like stars in the sky, and the Crucifix was the most radiant gem of all. “What do you want of me?” Lucia asked. “I want you to return here on the 13th of each month for the next six months,” the Lady said, “and at the very same hour. Later I shall tell you who I am, and what it is that I most desire. And I shall return here yet a seventh time.” Lucia then got the courage to ask her a very bold question: “Will I go to Heaven one day?” “Yes, you will.” “And Jacintha?” “Yes, she will too.” “And Francisco?” Our Lady replied, with a hint of sadness in her eyes, “Francisco too, my dear. But he will first have to pray many Rosaries.” “Is Maria Neves in Heaven?” Lucia asked. “Yes, she is.” And Amelia?” Lucia pursued her questioning. To which Our Lady replied, “She is in Purgatory.” The Lady then made a request to the children: “Will you offer yourselves to God, and bear all the sufferings He sends you, in atonement for all the sins that offend Him, and for the conversion of sinners?” “Oh yes,” Lucia cried out, “We will! We will!” Our Lady replied, “Then you will have a great deal to suffer, but the grace of God will be with you and will strengthen you.”

Lucia then recounts the following (and these are her words) [quote]: “As the Lady pronounced these words, she opened her hands, and we were bathed in a heavenly light that appeared to come directly from her hands. The rays of light cut into our hearts and our souls, and we knew somehow that this light was God, and we could see ourselves embraced in it. By an interior impulse of grace we fell to our knees, repeating in our hearts: "O, Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee. My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.” [end quote]

After this, the children remained kneeling, as they bathed in that grace-filled light. Then Our Lady spoke again, about the war that was ravaging Europe [World War I]; and finally she ended with these words, “Pray the Rosary every day, to bring peace to the world and an end to the war.” Lucia then recounted, “After that, the Lady began to rise slowly in the direction of the east, until she disappeared in the immense distance. The light that encircled Her seemed to make a way amidst the stars, and that is why we sometimes said that we had seen the heavens open.”

The days that followed this first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima on May 13, 1917 (exactly 100 years ago today) were filled with great excitement. Lucia had cautioned the other children to keep their visitor a secret, correctly perceiving the difficulties they would experience if the events were to become known. However, the joy of 7-year-old Jacinta could not be contained, and she promptly forgot her promise and revealed everything to her mother, who patiently listened but gave it little credence. Her brothers and sisters piped in with their questions and jokes. Only her father, “Ti Marto,” immediately accepted the story as true. He believed in the honesty of his children, and he had a simple appreciation of the workings of God, such that he became the first believer in the apparitions of Fatima. They say that women are often more religiously inclined than men, and thus believe more easily in alleged apparitions and supernatural phenomena. But in this case, it was Jacintha’s father whose simple and humble faith led him to believe in Our Lady of Fatima.

Lucia's mother, on the other hand, when she heard what had transpired, believed her daughter to be the instigator of a fraud, if not a blasphemy. Lucia would quickly learn what the Lady meant when she said they would suffer a great deal for her. For in those next few weeks, the word would spread around Fatima and the surrounding area, and the little children would indeed suffer a great deal because of that first apparition.

As you know, Our Lady appeared to the three children at Fatima on the 13th of every month, from May to October, as she had promised. The only exception was in August. Since the children were locked up in prison, Our Lady appeared to them at the Cova da Iria only later, once they had been released: on August 19. In the June 13 apparition, Our Lady taught the children to pray the Fatima Prayer, the one that we all know so well because we pray it at the end of every decade of the Holy Rosary. She told them as well that many souls are perishing in Hell, and that, in order to save them, Her Son, Jesus, wanted to establish in the world devotion to her Immaculate Heart. The third apparition, on July 13, would be the most controversial one. At that time, Our Lady showed the children an ominous vision of Hell, as a reminder to all that Hell is real. It is at this apparition that she also asked for the Holy Father to consecrate Russia to her Immaculate Heart, and gave to Lucia the famous Third Secret that was supposed to be revealed in 1960. It was also at the July 13 apparition that Our Lady promised to perform a great miracle in October, so that many might see and believe, and turn back to God. At this July 13 apparition, Our Lady asked the children to do penance and make reparation for sins. To this effect, she taught them this prayer: “O my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of poor sinners, and in reparation for all the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”

Since the children were in prison on August 13, the August apparition was delayed until August 19. On that day, once again, Our Lady appeared at the Cova da Iria. She mentioned for the first time that a chapel was to be built there in her honour. She also renewed her request to the children to pray and make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. “Many sinners go to Hell,” she said, “because no one is willing to aid them with their sacrifices.”

The September 13 apparition was a short one. Despite the jeers of the atheist and communist government officials, more than 30,000 people gathered at the Cova when Our Lady appeared. She renewed her request to pray the Rosary daily for an end to the war, and she announced a very special appearance on October 13. “In October,” she said, “Our Lord will come, as well as Our Lady of Sorrows and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel. Saint Joseph will appear with the Child Jesus to bless the world.”

And finally, the last apparition took place on October 13 as the Blessed Virgin said it would. Our Lady repeated her request for the building of a chapel, for the daily recitation of the Rosary, and said, “I am the Lady of the Rosary.” The famous miracle promised by Our Blessed Mother then took place: the miracle of the spinning sun. It is well documented that the crowd that witnessed the miracle numbered around 70,000.

In my homily, I focused mainly on the first apparition in May 1917 since we celebrate the 100th anniversary of that apparition today. Every month, on the 13th day of the month, a different parish in the Archdiocese of Ottawa will have a time of prayer of the Rosary and a talk on the apparition of that month, with this statue of Our Lady of Fatima being present. (By the way, I mentioned to some of you that this statue was blessed by Pope Paul VI. I was mistaken. It was actually blessed by Pope St. John Paul II). And so I invite you, dear brothers and sisters, to make this six-month pilgrimage, from the 13th of May through to the 13th of October, through the various parishes of our diocese, with great fervour and joy! On the 13th of October, we will have a beautiful procession with the statue of Our Lady of Fatima from Immaculata High School to Notre-Dame Cathedral and there, the Archbishop will offer a Solemn Mass to close the centenary of Our Lady of Fatima.

The message of Fatima is really very simple. It does not take a rocket scientist to hear and carry out the requests made by Our Lady one hundred years ago — requests that are still as pertinent today as they were when they were first made. Pray the Rosary daily. Pray it for the restoration of peace in the world. There is no prayer that is more pleasing to the Blessed Virgin, or that brings more graces into the world. The Rosary is second only to the Mass and the Divine Office of the Church in terms of its power to sanctify and transform lives. Secondly, do acts of penance for sinners. Make amends or reparation for sin: the sins of others, who are hardened in their hearts and turned away from God, but also for our own sins. Accept your crosses and sufferings as penance, and embrace them out of love for God and for the conversion of the world. Strive to live a life of holiness, and to avoid all sin (including venial sin) at all costs. As the Angel said to the children when he appeared to them in 1916, before the apparitions of Our Lady [quote]: “Offer up everything in your power as a sacrifice to the Lord in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners . . . More than all else, accept and bear with resignation the sufferings that God may send you.” Thus, the daily prayer of the Rosary, the acceptance of sacrifices and sufferings in reparation for sin: and then the third part of the message of Fatima: practise devotion towards the Immaculate Heart of Mary. This devotion includes, among other things, the practice of the First Saturdays: on Five Consecutive First Saturdays of the month, go to Confession, receive Holy Communion, pray 5 decades of the Holy Rosary, and keep company with Our Lady for at least 15 minutes by meditating on the 15 mysteries of the Holy Rosary. And do all of this with the intention of making reparation for the sins committed against Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart.

The message of Fatima should not just be lived by us, personally, brothers and sisters, but it should also be spread by us to others. Make known the message of Fatima to all those you encounter, and you can be sure that you will have a very special place in the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

I would also like to mention that the Holy Father has granted particular indulgences during this centenary year of Our Lady of Fatima. One that concerns us in a particular way today is this: a plenary indulgence is granted, under the usual conditions, to the pious faithful who visit with devotion an image or statue of Our Lady of Fatima solemnly displayed for public veneration in any church, oratory or adequate place, during the days of the anniversary of the apparitions (the 13th of each month, from May to October 2017), and who devotedly participate there in any celebration or prayer in honour of the Virgin Mary, pray the Our Father, recite the symbol of faith (Creed) and invoke Our Lady of Fatima.

And so, the Our Father that we pray at this Mass, and the Creed, will fulfill some of these requirements today. And the Marian Consecration, at the end of Mass, will fulfill the requirement of invoking Our Lady of Fatima.

Finally, today is my sixth anniversary of ordination to the Holy Priesthood. I was ordained on the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. My ordination date was originally supposed to be May 14 (the feast of St. Matthias), but I asked the Archbishop whether he would agree to do the ordination on the 13th instead in honour of Our Lady of Fatima, and he graciously agreed. In the seminary, I had always hoped that I would be ordained on a feast day of Our Lady, and I guess it was Our Lady of Fatima who saw to that. I am offering this Mass as a Mass of thanksgiving to Our Lady for the gift of the Priesthood, and I offer it as well for all the intentions of her Immaculate and Maternal Heart. Since Our Lady asked us to make reparation for sin, I am offering this Mass as well in reparation for all the sins committed against the Eucharistic Heart of Jesus or the Immaculate Heart of Mary. We can make amends for sin through our love. Because love is more powerful than sin. Love conquers sin. That is the message that Jesus taught us on the Cross, and it is also at the heart of the message of Our Lady of Fatima. And so, let us end with that prayer that is so loved by Our Blessed Mother as we pray it with our whole heart in honour of Our Lady of Fatima. Hail, Mary….

Photos

Monday, October 24, 2016

Canada Needs Our Lady, at the Good Shepherd Parish, October 23, 2016

Father Shroff, the Parish Priest at The Good Shepherd Parish in Ottawa started the event by crowning a statue of Our Lady of Fatima. Mark from "Canada Needs Our Lady" gave a talk on the apparitions at Fatima and this was followed by a 30 minute video describing the events that took place in the small town of Fatima in Portugal from the 13th May through to the 13th October 1917. Father Shroff led us in praying the Rosary and the Litany of Lorretto. Participants completed prayer requests that will be taken to Fatima in 2017. To finish the day, we sang the hymn Immaculate Mary. There were about 50 people who attended this beautiful afternoon at The Good Shepherd Parish. Home and parish visits may be arranged by contacting the organizers at:

http://www.canadaneedsourlady.org/

Sunday, June 14, 2015

Salve Regina

Salve, Regina

Salve, Regina, mater misericordiae;
vita, dulcedo et spes nostra, salve.
Ad te clamamus exsules filii Hevae.
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
in hac lacrimarum valle.
Eia ergo, advocata nostra,
illos tuos misericordes oculos ad nos converte.
Et Iesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui,
nobis post hoc exsilium ostende.
O clemens, o pia, o dulcis Virgo Maria.

Saturday, June 13, 2015

Legion of Mary Celebration in honour of the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Sat., June 13, 2015

On the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary the Ottawa Regia of the Legion of Mary was consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. An outdoor mass was celebrated by Ottawa Auxiliary Bishop Christian Riesbeck at Notre Dame de Lourdes Grotto. The mass was Concelebrated by Fr. Hezuk Shroff, Spiritual Director of the Ottawa Regia and assisting was Deacon Jim Scheer, Spiritual director of Our Lady of Victory Praesidium from St. Patrick's Basilica. Our Blessed Mother surely interceded on the behalf of the Regia as ideal weather prevailed with lots of sunshine, a beautiful blue sky and white clouds, all wrapped in gentle breezes. All were invited to a reception provided by the host Praesidium Notre Dame du Bon Accueil in the parish hall of Notre Dame de Lourdes Church following the Mass.

Jennifer Snell, President of Our Lady of Guadalupe Praesidium, Good Shepherd Parish

Photos - Jennifer Snell