This is why the Blessed Virgin is called Powerful-nay, sometimes, All-powerful, because she has, more than anyone else, more than all Angels and Saints, this great, prevailing gift of prayer. No one has access to the Almighty as His Mother has; none has merit such as hers. Her Son will deny her nothing that she asks; and herein lies her power.
The Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament is one of the simplest rites of the Church … It is our Lord’s solemn benediction of His people, as when He lifted up His hands over the children, or when He blessed His chosen ones when He ascended up from Mount Olivet.
O most Sacred, most loving Heart of Jesus, Thou art concealed in the Holy Eucharist, and Thou beatest for us still… I worship Thee with all my best love and awe, with my fervent affection, with my most subdued, most resolved will.
“Another year is now opening upon us; it speaks to the thoughtful, and is heard by those, who have expectant ears, and watch for Christ’s coming. The former year is gone, it is dead, there it lies in the grave of past time, not to decay however, and be forgotten, but kept in the view of God’s omniscience…”
Pope John Paul II in the Apostolic letter Tertio millenio adveniente invited us to “a renewed appreciation of the theological virtue of hope … The basic attitude of hope, on the one hand encourages the Christian not to lose sight of the final goal which gives meaning and value to life, and on the other, offers solid and profound reasons for a daily commitment to transform reality in order to make it correspond to Gods plan” (n. 46).
In his writings, Newman speaks more often of faith and love than he does of hope. But what is meant by hope becomes apparent here and there, above all in his sermons.
Nearly two hundred years ago, John Henry Newman was born in London, the son of a banker and the first of six children. That this event would be celebrated two hundred years later could be known only by Divine Providence, Who ordained the day of birth itself. As a young man, it was Newman’s custom, especially on his birthday, to look back at the past, not in a purely human way, with only regrets and joys, but in the light of Divine Providence, and to write what he called his “birthday account”.
With an Introdcution and Notes by J. Tolhurst, Gracewing, Leominster Notre Dame 2007, 399 pp.
Introd., traduction et notes D. GORCE, Écrits newmaniens, Ad Solem Éditions, Genève 2007, 528 pp.
Trad. : RENAUDIN P., Introd. M. NÉDONCELLE, Écrits newmaniens, Ad Solem Éditions, Genève 2007, 426 pp.
(PPS I), Introd. & translation V. GARCIA RUIZ, Ensayos 302, Encuentro Ediciones, Madrid 2007, 321 pp.
