Jesus' First Message to Segatashya

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This is the first message that the Lord Jesus Christ gave to Segatashya to share with the world while he was still a young boy in his native Rwanda in Africa:

“Jesus Christ sent me here today to tell you, 

and all men to renew your hearts. 

The day is coming 

when things will really get hard for humanity. 

You must change your heart while there is still time. 

Soon those who have refused to repent 

will not be able to do so. 

Let those who know that I set foot on earth, 

know that I am on my way back 

to take those who have worked well for Me 

to heaven for their eternal reward.”

Messages from Segatashya:

Jesus Speaks to the Boy from Kibeho

Neither Segatashya nor his parents had ever been in a school or a church. While not yet approved by the Catholic Church, I am a firm believer in the veracity of Emmanuel Segatashya and all that he said and did in his too short life.

Emmanuel Segatashya

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From Traherne, on Blessed Mother Mary

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Previously I posted a phrase from the saintly Thomas Traherne that I thought worth committing to memory on the Solemnity of the Assumption and the octave following.  Today, dear Reader, please allow me to share a bit more of this mid-seventeenth century Anglican Priest-Poet's praise of God for the Holy Virgin.  

Keep in mind that this is written by an Anglican priest in the Church of England a number of centuries ago,  but is it not an expression of praise at the very heart of the teachings of the Apostolic, Catholic, and Orthodox Church of those early centuries after the Out-Pouring and Indwelling of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost?  Is it not one with the same heart of devotion as found in the writings of St. Ephrem, the prayerful petitions of the Litany of Loreto, and the praises of the Akathist Hymn to the Theotokos?


Thomas Traherne writes:

"And first, O Lord, I praise and magnify thy Name

For the Most Holy Virgin-Mother of God,

who is the Highest of thy Saints.

The most Glorious of thy Creatures.

The most Perfect of all thy Works.

The nearest unto Thee in the Throne of God.

Whom thou didst please to make

Daughter of the Eternal Father,

Mother of the Eternal Son.

Spouse of the Eternal Spirit,

Tabernacle of the most Glorious Trinity.

Mother of Jesus.

Mother of the Messias.

Mother of him who was the Desire of all Nations.

Mother of the Prince of Peace.

Mother of the King of Heaven.

Mother of our Creator.

Mother and Virgin.

Mirror of Humility and Obedience.

Mirror of Wisdom and Devotion.

Mirror of Modesty and Chastity.

Mother of Sweetness and Resignation.

Mirror of Sanctity.

Mirror of all Virtues.

The most illustrious Light in the Church,

wearing over all her beauties the veil of Humility

to shine the more resplendently in thy Eternal Glory ..."

Assumption of the Mother of God by Francesco Botticini

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Ruminating upon the Assumption

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On this Feast of the Dormition and Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary,   I have been enjoying a blog post entitled Blessed are the Pure in Heart by Dr. Peter Howard on the Spiritual direction.com website that I especially appreciate.  It also includes an image of the Assumption of Mary by Corbert Gauthier that may appeal to those who do not usually relate to the typical Roman Catholic paintings of the same.  Click here for the article by Dr. Howard wherein one may find the beautiful Gauthier painting.

I am spending most of this day ruminating upon the Falling-Asleep (Dormition) and Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary and how my Anglo-Catholic background leads me to think and feel about this solemnity.  But chiefly I am contemplating how I relate to and love St. Mary, the Virgin Mother of God, who is our own Mother through Christ Jesus.

There is a short but passionate phrase from Thomas Traherne (the catholic-minded Anglican Priest-Poet of the mid seventeenth century) that is found in his 'Church's Year Book' which I think is worthy to pray and contemplate many times during the day of the Assumption and during the octave of the great feast which I knew once upon a time as Assumptiontide.

And first O Lord I praise and magnify thy Name

For the Most Holy Virgin-Mother of God, 

who is the Highest of thy Saints.

The most Glorious of thy Creatures.

The most Perfect of all thy Works.

The nearest unto Thee in the Throne of God ...

Perhaps like me you will commit this to memory so that a prayer learnt by heart will become a prayer of the heart.  Today and the week ahead is a good time to engrave this act of praise in our hearts and souls so that daily we may say the same to God Most High.

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Mercy

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When the Year of Mercy begins on December 8th, the Vatican has chosen the following hymn by Paul Inwood to serve as the official hymn of the holy year:



It is mercifully not the happy-clappy song that I was expecting.   It has the feel of a chant from Taizé.  It is not in any sense a hymn of procession.  (I hope liturgists around the globe realise that this sort of hymn is not a processional.) It is suitable for Adoration or during the sharing of the Blessed Eucharist at Mass.  It may not be your cup of tea, but to my tired ears it is a merciful relief, a worthy companion to prayerful contemplation of the Living Lord and the Father's Mercy.

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My own sense is that this Year of Mercy will be more of one in which the peoples' of the world will turn to God and beg for and cry out "Mercy!  Lord, mercy! Please!  Have mercy upon us."  

My eyes keep looking forward a bit to the Feast of St. Pio (Padre Pio Santo as I say here in my hermitage).  My calendar has a big red circle around his feast day this September 23rd.     So each day as we move forward I am wanting to move forward in prayer and intercession for humanity with Padre Pio Santo.  I feel as though we desperately need his intercession with God the Most Highest.

There is much more I would like to say, but the sudden return of psoriatic arthritis in my body makes typing insanely painful at the moment.  ...  Then why post anything at all today?  Because we need God's Mercy now.  We need to beseech the Holy Trinity for His Mercy right now and each day.  And we need a prayer partner in Heaven as we pray before the Year of Mercy, and I am convinced that it is St. Pio, Padre Pio Santo, who should be that intercessor for me ... and possibly for you, dear reader, today and every day for the immediate future.

Lord, may thy Kingdom come.

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10 Year Old plays Chopin's “Fantasie Impromptu“

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This is the sort of revelation that renews one's hope for humanity and the future:



Jeneba Kanneh-Mason, pianist 10 years old


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T.S. Eliot: The Song of the Women

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We praise thee, O God, 
for thy glory displayed in all the creatures of the earth.
In the snow, in the rain, in the wind, in the storm;
in all of thy creatures, both the hunters and the hunted.
For all things exist only as seen by thee, 
only as known by thee, all things exist
Only in thy light, and thy glory is declared 
even in that which denies thee;
the darkness declares the glory of light.
Those who deny thee could not deny, if thou didst not exist;
and their denial is never complete, 
for if it were so, they would not exist.
They affirm thee in living; all things affirm thee in living;
the bird in the air, both the hawk and the finch;
the beast on the earth, both the wolf and the lamb.
Therefore we, whom thou hast made to be conscious of thee,
must consciously praise thee, in thought and in word and in deed.

Canticle: The Song of the Women 

T. S. Eliot

A New Zealand Prayer Book

I have had to break the lines above as they were written 

so this text could fit pleasingly on the small blog space allotted.

My apologies to the poet and the reader.

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Stop and Pray

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Stop what you are doing and pray for the many Christians who have just been captured and kidnapped by ISIS/ISIL/Daesh in Syria.  

Click on the link below for the story from the Catholic Herald:

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2015/08/07/dozens-of-christians-kidnapped-by-isis-gunmen-after-capture-of-syrian-town/

Remember we are praying the Novena for the Assumption.  

Pray. Pray. Pray.  

The world is in the grip of a terrible darkness.  

May Christ Jesus, the Light of the world, shine upon us all. 

Hallelujah!  Shine, Lord, shine!

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