Of the Measure of Food (XXXIX)

Saturday, 17 November 2018

CHAPTER XXXIX. Of the Measure of Food
18 Mar. 18 July. 17 Nov.
We think it sufficient for the daily meal, whether at the sixth or the ninth hour, that there be at all seasons of the year two dishes of cooked food, because of the weakness of different people; so that he who perchance cannot eat of the one, may make his meal of the other. Let two dishes, then, suffice for all the brethren; and if there be any fruit or young vegetables, let a third be added. Let one pound weight of bread suffice for the day, whether there be but one meal, or both dinner and supper. If they are to sup, let a third part of the pound be kept back by the Cellarer, and given to them for supper. If, however, their work chance to have been hard, it shall be in the Abbot’s power, if he think fit, to make some addition, avoiding above everything, all surfeiting, that the monks be not overtaken by indigestion. For there is nothing so adverse to a

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Through the tangle of thorns

Friday, 16 November 2018

Saint-Gertrude-the-Great.jpg

She had a vision of a young man who, in order to guide her through the tangle of thorns that surrounded her soul, took her by the hand. In that hand Gertrude recognized “the precious traces of the wounds that abrogated all the acts of accusation of our enemies”, and thus recognized the One who saved us with his Blood on the Cross: Jesus.

At the General Audience of Wednesday, 6 October 2010, His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI spoke of Saint Gertrude the Great, mystic of the Sacred Liturgy and of the Heart of Jesus.

A Woman Great by Nature and by Grace
Dear Brothers and Sisters, St Gertrude the Great, of whom I would like to talk to you today, brings us once again this week to the Monastery of Helfta, where several of the Latin-German masterpieces of religious literature were written by women. Gertrude belonged to this world. She is one of the most famous mystics, the only German woman to be called “Great”, because of her cultural and evangelical stature: her life and her thought had a unique impact on Christian spirituality. She was an exceptional woman,

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Lest Thy Church suffer too great a darkness

Friday, 16 November 2018

Pere HermannBeloved Lord Jesus,
I adore Thee, who art present here,
with all the love of my heart.
Sinner that I am, I would offer Thee reparation
for all the irreverence, coldness, and ignorance
that surround Thee in the Sacrament of Thy Love.
Would that I could make the surpassing wonder of Thy real presence known
over the entire length and breadth of this land.
Not only art Thou hidden
— Vere tu es Deus absconditus —
Thou art also unknown.
Even those who frequent Thy churches are in darkness
concerning the miracle of Thy real presence.
Thou art forgotten.
Thou art treated as a thing, as an object of little worth.
To me, Thou art all,
and apart from Thee I want nothing on earth.

O reveal Thyself!
Give words to Thy priests
that they might proclaim this adorable Sacrament
and make known its wonders at every opportunity.
Inspire Thy priests to speak of Thee and, even more,
to give worthy example

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A thousand thousand lifetimes would be too little time to thank Thee

Friday, 16 November 2018

18C Oil/Canvas MASS OF ST GREGORY THE GREAT

Convert Thou me entirely, O my beloved Jesus, that I may live every moment—up to and including the very moment of my death— with my eyes fixed on Thine adorable Face, and with my heart hidden in Thy piercèd Heart. Thou hast called me to be the priest-adorer of Thy Eucharistic Face; make me, I pray Thee, what Thou hast called me to be. Let me so love Thee and adore Thee that I may be for Thine afflicted Heart the consoling friend for whom Thou hast waited so long. Leave me not alone, never forsake me, so that I may never leave Thee alone, and never forsake Thee. Fix my vagrant heart before Thy tabernacle—before the one where Thou art least adored and most forgotten—that I may persevere in a watch of adoration, of reparation, and of love before Thy Eucharistic Face.

What can I give Thee that Thou hast not given me? Give Thou, then, to me superabundantly so that I may give back to Thee superabundantly. Give Thou me, I beseech Thee, but a

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Praying for Priests

Thursday, 15 November 2018


O my beloved Jesus,
I bring Thee the poverty of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst enrich them.
I bring Thee the emptiness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst fill them.
I bring Thee the coldness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst warm them.

I bring Thee the loneliness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst embrace them.
I bring Thee the sorrows of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst console them.
I bring Thee the illnesses of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst heal them.

I bring Thee the impurities of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst wash them clean.
I bring Thee the nakedness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst clothe them.
I bring Thee the silence of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst speak to them.

I bring Thee the brokenness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst repair them.
I bring Thee the infirmities of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst heal them.
I bring Thee the nothingness of Thy priests that Thou wouldst be their all.

I bring Thee the darkness of Thy priests, that Thou wouldst

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Support the monks of Silverstream Priory:

Situated amidst pasture land and forest in the eastern reaches of County Meath, Silverstream Priory was founded in 2012 at the invitation of the Most Reverend Michael Smith, Bishop of Meath, and canonically erected as an autonomous monastery of diocesan right on 25 February 2017. The property belonged, from the early 15th century, to the Preston family, premier Viscounts of Ireland and Lords of Gormanston. In 1843 Thomas Preston (1817-1903), son of Jenico Preston, the 12th Viscount (1775-1860), built what today is Silverstream Priory.

Silverstream Priory is a providential realisation of the cherished project of Abbot Celestino Maria Colombo, O.S.B. (1874–1935), who, following the impetus given by Catherine–Mectilde de Bar in the 17th century, sought to establish a house of Benedictine monks committed to ceaseless prayer before the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar in a spirit of reparation. The community of Silverstream Priory holding to the use of Latin and Gregorian Chant, celebrate the Divine Office in its traditional Benedictine form and Holy Mass in the “Usus Antiquior” of the Roman Rite. Praying and working in the enclosure of the monastery, the monks of Silverstream keep at heart the sanctification of priests labouring in the vineyard of the Lord. They undertake various works compatible with their monastic vocation, notably the development of the land and gardens, hospitality to the clergy in need of a spiritual respite, scholarly work, and publishing.

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