Saint Faustina
Kowalska
(1905-1938)
O Jesus, outwardly I want to be hidden just
like this little wafer wherein the eye perceives
nothing, and yet I am a host consecrated to you.
-- St. Faustina Kowalska (Diary 641)
I am a host in
Your Hand, Jesus. Make use of me so that You may
enter into sinners Yourself. Demand
anything You like; no sacrifice will seem too much
for me when souls are at stake.
--Saint Faustina Kowalska (Diary, 1622)
There's nothing so great, my children, as the
Eucharist. If you were to put all the good
actions in the world against a Communion well made,
it would be like a grain of dust against a mountain.
--St. John Vianney
Yesterday, on approaching the Most Blessed
Sacrament, I felt myself burning so violently that I
felt obliged to move away. I was burning all
over; it rose even to my face. Living Jesus!
I am astonished that so many who receive Jesus are
not reduced to ashes.
-- St. Gemma Galgani
Last Supper
by Jacopo Bassano (1542)
"Repent and believe the Good News!"
Penance means conversion. The Confraternity of
Penitents is a world wide private Catholic
association of the faithful, completely loyal to our
Pope and the Magisterium.
Our Rule of Life has been reviewed by our bishop and
recognized in these words: "this Rule does not
contain anything contrary to our faith; therefore it
may be safely practiced privately by you or by
anyone inclined to do so. . . . His Excellency
is appreciative of your efforts to live and promote
Franciscan spirituality and especially promote the
neglected practice of penance and he wishes you
success" (January 30, 1998).
Members of the Confraternity of Penitents live this
Rule in their own homes, devoted to prayer, penance,
fasting, conversion, and works of mercy modeled on
Jesus Christ and inspired by the lives and teachings
of
St. Francis,
St. Dominic,
St. Therese,
St. Benedict,
St. Augustine,
St. Ignatius,
and all the saints, most especially Mary, the Mother
of God, who lived a life of true penance
(conversion) in perfect union with our Lord.
May Our Lady and all the saints intercede for all
who wish to embrace a life of penance, anywhere in
the world, so that the grace of God will assist them
to obtain every virtue necessary for a life of
holiness and surrender to the Will of God! Amen.
PRAYER OF PENITENTS
"Most High, Glorious God, enlighten the darkness
of my mind, give me right faith, a firm hope and
perfect charity, so that I may always and in all
things act according to Your Holy Will. Amen."
(Saint Francis's prayer before the San Damiano
Crucifix)
MISSION OF PENITENTS
"Go and repair My House
which, as you can see, is falling into ruin." (The
message given to St. Francis in a voice from the San
Damiano Crucifix.)
ACTION OF PENITENTS
To pray for God's
specific direction in one's life so that, through
humbly living our Rule of Life, each penitent may
help to rebuild the house of God by bringing love of
God and neighbor to his or her own corner of the
world.
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LISTENING TO THE
EUCHARIST
ROME, MARCH 23, 2005 (Zenit.org).- Here are
selected passages of the meditation of a French
monk, Father Daniel Ange, offered last Thursday
to young people in the Basilica of St. John
Lateran, in preparation for forthcoming World
Youth Day (WYD). Father Ange is founder of the
school of prayer Jeunesse Lumière.
* * *
How can we speak of the Eucharist without
trembling? Our words can so deform what is the
greatest mystery of all God's mysteries. We are
like Moses before the burning bush, and we would
like to prostrate ourselves on the ground. The
fire of the Spirit, the fire of Love burns in
the Host, and it seems to us only bread, and we
do not see it reduced to ashes!
When I receive this Body in which loves burns,
it is a miracle that my flesh does not catch on
fire! I would like to show you how the Eucharist
continues among and for us the three mysteries
of the coming of Jesus into the world, of his
passion and of the resurrection. …
And now we immerse ourselves in silence. Why
silence? Because it is the most beautiful song
of adoration.
The Eucharist is Christmas: At Bethlehem,
everything was enveloped in silence. Besides the
heavenly music of the angels, Mary, Joseph, the
shepherds and the Wise Men did not say a single
word. Their wonder was so great before the
beauty of the Child, that they couldn't say
anything! And he spoke only with his smile and
his eyes. The light of heaven shone in his eyes,
and light is silent.
The Eucharist is Jesus' passion. And during the
passion, Jesus is silent. Only a few words,
above all the seven words on the cross: the
last, his testament. But stronger than all the
words, a sign, a signature at the end of all the
others, at the end of the Gospel: a silent word,
a gesture: his heart pierced by the spear: an
immense, silent cry.
Mary and Joseph do not speak: silent witnesses,
gripped by the mystery ...
And our Holy Father has become a cry of silence,
immense, who cries out before the world, as
Francis: "Love is unloved!" And like little
Thérèse: "To love is to make Love loved." To
love so much that all may love Love, and let
themselves be loved.
The Eucharist is the resurrection. On Easter
day, Jesus invites us to contemplate him in
silence: Mary Magdalen, the disciples of Emmaus,
Thomas ... from their astonished silence a few
words gush forth, cry of joy: Beloved Master!
Stay with us! -- My Lord and my God!
So, behind Francis, we also cry out this
evening: "My God and my all!" And Jesus now, in
heaven, walks again with us and speaks to us.
How? Above all, with the Eucharist. And the
Eucharist is the mystery of silence. Jesus waits
for us. He listens to us. He loves us. Is
silence not the strongest language of Love? The
language of a heart that is too full and, at the
same time, too wounded. …
The silence of adoration is a silence that loves
and listens. It listens because it loves.
Certainly, he must be acclaimed, praised, sung,
as young people did on the morning of palms in
Jerusalem -- the first World Youth Day!
Jesus was so happy that he challenged them: If
they kept quiet, the stones would cry out. But
after having sung at the top of our voices, and
before receiving his blessing, we must open our
ear, and listen to the silence; perhaps he has
something to say to us.
Let us give him the microphone. He does not ask
for it, because the Lord is timid. ... His
discreet voice never imposes itself beyond our
decibel. He whispers, and I do not hear him ...
his voice is more gentle than a light midnight
breeze, than a mountain stream. ... Let us stay
here. Let us listen.
Father Daniel Ange
Confraternity of Penitents
520 Oliphant Lane
Middletown RI USA
02842-4600
401/849-5421
bspenance@hotmail.com
copenitents@yahoo.com
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