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A fellow blogger who goes by the name of Festes has been leaving blasphemous and disgusting comments on this blog. In one sense I rejoice in this because it indicates that this blog is doing much good in bringing people closer to God. Were this not the case such things would not be happening.

Festes' Blogger profile indicates that he is a 27 year old male living in Alberta, Canada. He proudly proclaims that he desecrates the Most Blessed Sacrament and other sacred objects. There is only one way to deal with such people. I ask everyone who reads this blog, whether regularly or occasionally to take a moment each day and pray the Hail Mary and the Saint Michael Prayer for Festes. Consciously direct your thoughts to him as you do so asking God to surround him with love and mercy. I also ask those of you who are able to make a Holy Hour of Reparation for the sins and blasphemies of this young man and for his conversion. Remember, the only way for evil to prevail is for the good to do nothing.

For your convenience:

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee, blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the Fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the devil. Rebuke him, O God, we humbly pray and beseech thee. And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast unto hell, satan and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world and seek the ruin of souls. Amen.

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My Jesus, for all the blasphemies and outrages Thou hast received, we console Thee and implore Thy mercy upon us and those who offend against Thee.

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For the sake of Thy sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!

The Fifth Day of July

The High Esteem in Which God Holds St. Anne.

Let us pause yet a while and consider in what high esteem St. Anne is held by Our Lord. While thereby increasing our own confidence in her, this consideration will teach us what we ourselves must do if we wish to merit the esteem of the most Holy Trinity.

St. Anne is most dear to the Heavenly Father, because she so greatly loved Our Savior. For JESUS Himself has said: "He who loveth me shall be loved by my Father." Perhaps devout soul, you will say: "How could she love JESUS, if, as many believe, she never knew him, having died before his birth?" But, you must remember, faith in the promised Redeemer, including a desire for his coming, and, consequently, love of Him, was a devotion much practiced by the Saints of the Old Testament. It was that of Moses, of whom St. Paul has said that "he chose rather to be afflicted with the people of God, than to have the pleasure of sin for a time." In the Psalms, one might almost say that the holy king David sang only of the sufferings and glory of JESUS-CHRIST. Isaias spoke in such unmistakable terms of the Passion of Our Savior, that he has been called the fifth Evangelist. The aged Simeon and Anna the prophetess were continually fasting and praying in preparation for his coming. Who can doubt that the two Saints who were destined to become the parents of the Mother of CHRIST equaled, if they did not surpass, all the just of the Old Law in this respect? St. Joachim and St. Anne assiduously studied what was said by the Psalmist and the Prophets concerning the loving abasement of the Son of God; and by this recital their hearts were inflamed even as those of the Saints of the New Testament were inflamed by reading the Gospel. Like all the just of those days, they were burning with the desire of at length seeing the Lord Christ; at times they would address the Eternal Father with David, saying to Him: "Lord, show us. thy mercy and give us the promised Savior;" at times they would address the Son of God Himself, exclaiming with Isaias: "O that Thou wouldst rend the heavens and come down; the mountains would melt away at Thy presence." They would melt as at the burning of fire; the waters would burn with fire. — Our two Saints well knew that although the birth of the Redeemer had been promised to Abraham and to David, yet God desired that this coming of the Messiah should be in answer to the prayers of the just, and therefore they persevered in fasting, watching, praying and giving alms. It is quite allowable, therefore, to believe that the Father and Mother of Mary were surpassed by none of the Saints of the Old Dispensation in their ardent love of JESUS-CHRIST; and that thereby they merited being chosen from among all others for giving Him to the world by means of their Daughter and, as we desire to prove, they thus gained a high place in the favor of our Heavenly Father. To these holy spouses then may be applied what JESUS said to the Apostles: "In that day you shall ask in my name, and I say not to you that I will ask the Father for you; for the Father Himself loveth you, because you have loved me." That is to say that in consideration of the love which they bore to JESUS, they can without difficulty obtain whatsoever they ask in our favor.

Here then there is not only a powerful motive for confidence in our beloved patroness, but also a great lesson to be learned. At times we complain that we do not perceive that our prayers take effect. Let us strive ardently to love Christ: let us take delight in meditating on His Passion during the Holy Sacrifice, while making the Way of the Cross, when ever we have the happiness of receiving Him at the Holy Table, whenever we say our beads. By this means we shall make ourselves very agreeable in God’s eyes and, so to speak, force Him to listen favorably to our prayers.

EXAMPLE.

From the records of the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre.

On Sunday morning, June 28th, 1885, the steamer Canada arrived at St. Anne de Beaupre with a pilgrimage from the parish of St. John the Baptist, Montreal. Among the pilgrims was Georgiana Tremblay, the niece of the parish-priest of St. John, who had been carried on board as she was quite unable to walk on account of her lower limbs having become paralyzed after an attack of typhoid fever.

After receiving Holy Communion, the young girl found herself much relieved and able to sit up. Immediately after Mass, she told her father that she could walk, for she felt she had been cured. The priest announced the miracle to the assembled multitude who pressed around the child manifesting their joy by tears and sobs. The young girl walked from the altar rail to one of the furthest pews of the church, and shortly afterwards returned to the altar rail quite unassisted, in order to show how completely she had been cured.

PRAYER.

August Mother of Mary, would that I could love JESUS with my whole heart, even as thou lovest Him. All the treasures of this world are as nothing in comparison with such a love. He, indeed, has done every thing to gain my love, but my heart is so filled with worldly attachments and anxieties that divine love can find no place therein. My sweet protectress, do thou obtain for me a pure heart in which no created things can find a place; obtain for me habitual recollection, the spirit of prayer and a perpetual remembrance of the benefits conferred on me by my Savior, His loving abasement, His sufferings, His loving care of my soul. And since thy blessed Daughter Mary has been entrusted by Our Lord with the glorious task of distributing to souls that precious liquor of divine love, do thou beg of her to pour a large measure of it into my heart, so that intoxicated by this heavenly drought, I may forget all things, myself included, and no longer think of aught but my loving JESUS who is so worthy of all my love.

Good St. Anne, obtain for me an ardent and pure love for JESUS-CHRIST.

PRACTICE.

Since in the love of Our Lord JESUS-CHRIST is comprised all Christian holiness, let us strive to acquire that love by employing the means here pointed out, and let us daily ask this grace through the intercession of St. Joachim and St. Anne.

The Fourth Day of July

St. Anne S Intercession Is All-powerful.

In order to be able to have recourse with confidence to our beloved St. Anne, we must first be well convinced that she is able to help us. Can she indeed do so? Yes, certainly, for she is a holy and great Saint.

There is no created power like that of being a Saint. All the kings of the earth with their armies by sea and by land, with their battalions of infantry, their squadrons of cavalry, their parks of artillery, in comparison with the least of the Saints are but like a little child, or like a dying person exhaling his last sigh. With no arms but those of prayer, the holy prophet Moses annihilated the mighty Pharaoh s armies; he gained the victory over the Amalekhites; it might almost be said that he forced God Himself to spare the Israelites whose extermination had been determined by the Almighty as a punishment for their turbulence and idolatry. With the same arms, the holy widow Judith delivered Bethulia when it was besieged by Holophernes, putting to flight and destroying his enormous army. All the Saints have performed miracles. Cloths that had touched St. Paul, when laid on the sick, produced an instantaneous cure and even the shadow of St. Peter healed those on whom it fell. The marvels wrought by the saintly Cure d Ars are innumerable. What king, unless he were a Saint, ever restored sight to the blind, cured paralytics or raised the dead to life? Alas! with all their guards they cannot for one single minute retard death from entering into their palaces! What place does the Mother of Mary occupy among the Saints? I cannot tell, but I cannot be accused of rashness if I affirm that she occupies one of the highest. God performs all His works with due deliberation and, in all that He does, has regard to the fitness of things. Great stress was laid on this by those who defended the dogma of the Immaculate Conception before its definition. It was not fitting, they said, that the Mother of God should ever have been the slave of Satan, even for one single instant. Now, if, as Mother of God, Mary must necessarily be the purest and holiest of creatures, who will not perceive that it is only fitting that Mary’s Mother, the Grand mother of JESUS, should likewise be of exalted and sublime holiness? Yes, she who was to bring forth, nourish and bring up Mary, she who was so often to bless her, embrace her, impress maternal kisses on her, must necessarily be radiant with innocence and virtue. Besides, do not reason and piety alike proclaim that the Mother of the Queen and Grandmother of the King of Heaven must necessarily occupy one of the highest places in glory, that she must necessarily be resplendent like a sun in the house of the Lord, that she must necessarily be conspicuous among the Elect, that she must necessarily have the happiness of beholding her blessed Daughter very closely? To speak in a human manner, would it be fitting that when Mary wishes to speak to her beloved Mother, she should be obliged to leave her throne and go in search of her, or else send an envoy to her? Now, in Heaven each one occupies the place he has acquired by his virtues. Since, then, St. Anne is so near to Mary in glory, she must have been equally near to her in holiness here on earth. The holiness of each of the elect is the measure of his power with God. From all this, we may conclude that the power of this beloved Saint is very great with JESUS and with Mary, and through them with the Heavenly Father. A good proof of this is the number of prodigious favors obtained through her intercession in her various sanctuaries; specially in that of St. Anne de Beaupre in Canada, where the miracles performed are as numerous as those which are performed at Lourdes.

EXAMPLE.

A genlteman writes thus from Riviere du Loup, PQ:

For nearly a month I had been suffering from a most extraordinary kind of sore throat and in spite of the most skillful treatment on the part of doctors, the malady made rapid progress. I was reduced to taking only liquid nourishment, for my throat was so swollen as to be nearly closed. Very soon my tongue began to swell and I could neither speak nor take any nourishment whatever. Up to this time the doctor had held out hopes to me, but when his treatment produced no beneficial results, he told me I was in imminent danger and was also threatened with inflammation of the brain. My family had already commenced a novena to St. Anne and I promised to publish my cure in the Annals of St. Anne if that good Mother would only grant our prayers. For two whole days there was no change and I prepared for death. One evening, when my friends were gathered round me and trying to encourage me, I thought of all those who had the happiness of being cured by St. Anne’s intercession and I said interiorly: Never is St. Anne invoked in vain, shall I be the only one to whose prayers she will turn a deaf ear? A few minutes afterwards I felt my tongue be coming less stiff; I could move it and make my friends understand that there was a miraculous improvement taking place. In fact I was saved and cured, for the very next morning I could explain to the doctor the wonderful changes that had taken place and which change he himself attributed to St. Anne’s powerful protection.

PRAYER.

MY beloved Protectress, I recognize that all is vanity except loving God, serving Him and working out our salvation. Of what avail to thee would have been thy titles of "Mother of Mary" and "Grandmother of Our Savior," if thou hadst not added to them that of being a great Saint? And for me likewise, of what avail to me will be health, strength, beauty, fortune and every other earthly possession; death will rob me of them all; it is only my good works and the virtues I have practised that will follow me beyond the tomb. How insensate then should I be, if I neglected the means of working out my salvation which have been vouchsafed me by God!

Like the Saints, I have divine grace at my disposal, as also the Sacraments which are its source, prayer which is its channel, Mary who dispenses it. And thou too, good and beloved St. Anne, thou with thy glorious spouse and all the Angels and Elect, art ready to intercede for me with JESUS and Mary. It is specially in the interests of my soul that I would honor and invoke thee. If perchance I ask of thee that which is useless or hurtful to my salvation, grant not my prayer, but pray daily for me, that I may follow in thy footsteps, that I may strive untiringly to correct my faults, to reform that which is amiss in me, to become a Saint and thus glorify JESUS and Mary.
Ejaculation. Good St. Anne, pray for me, that I may become a Saint.

PRACTICE.

Holiness is the highest possession to which a creature can aspire; by the help of divine grace we may attain to it and God commands us to do so, since it was to this end that he made us Christians. Resolve then, henceforth, to spare no pains to acquire this treasure. There have been Saints in every station of life; and what they have been able to do with God’s help, why cannot you do?

The Third Day of July

St. Anne is the worthy Grandmother of Jesus.

The holy patriarch Jacob was a simple-minded man leading a wandering life, a shepherd. Nevertheless, because he was the father of Joseph, the savior of Egypt, the great king Pharaoh, albeit so proud, received him at court, overwhelmed him with marks of esteem, conversed familiarly with him, and caused some of the finest land in the territory to be given to him and his children. The honor of children redounds to that of their parents, and so it should be, since, says the Scripture, were it not for their parents the children would never have been born. Well then! St. Anne was the Mother of the glorious Virgin Mary, and Mary was the Mother of JESUS! In what honor, then, must she have been held by the King of the universe, by the Father of JESUS! What homage, then, is there not due to her from the human race, to whom, by means of her Daughter, she gave a Redeemer! Anne is the Grandmother of the Savior of the world! The Saints are always represented with the attributes of their special claim to heavenly glory and to our worship: St. Paul with the sword which was the instrument of his martyrdom; St. Joseph with the lily emblem of his purity; St. Louis with the crown of thorns, recalling his devotion to the Passion of Our Savior and to the Holy Sepulchre. The pious artists of the middle ages represent St. Anne holding on her knees her glorious Daughter, the Virgin Mary, who herself is holding the Infant JESUS in her arms. An ingenious idea indeed, but a very just one, since the glory of Anne is being the Mother of Mary, the Mother of Our Lord God JESUS.

The real merit before God of this great Saint is not so much her having given birth to the Mother of the Savior, as her having been found worthy of becoming so. Even as Mary was the worthy Mother of God, even so was St. Anne his worthy Grandmother. A woman having once, while speaking to JESUS, exclaimed: "Blessed is the womb that bore thee, and the breasts that gave thee suck." He replied in a way to show that His Mother’s real happiness consisted in her sanctity, which had caused her to be chosen for this dignity, the highest to which a creature could aspire. As much may be said about St. Anne, and we may thence conclude that her sanctity was very great. Have you ever attentively observed a lily? The leaves nearest to the ground are of dark green; they are large, thick and somewhat coarse. Nothing in them announces the glorious flower that will surmount them. But, in proportion as the leaves grow higher on the stem, they become smaller, finer and are of a lighter and more delicate hue, as if nature were striving to form that balmy masterpiece which, in the words of the Gospel, surpasses all the magnificence of Solomon. Even thus, on the royal stem of David, whence the Messiah was to spring, there were some disfiguring shoots, I mean to say some souls but little worthy of Him who is called the Lily ot the valleys, there were sinners, such as Joram, Ozias, Manasses, Amon. But it was fitting that the more immediate ancestors of JESUS should be Saints, especially the two last, Joachim and Anne. Otherwise, the Jews, who had known the parents of Mary, might have said to JESUS, what they said to the man who had been born blind: "Thou wast born in sins and dost thou teach us?" There is no doubt then that these two holy persons merited the eulogium pronounced by the Holy Spirit on Zacharias and Elizabeth, the parents of John the Baptist: "Both were just in the eyes of the Lord, and walked in all the commandments of the Lord without blame."

EXAMPLE.

It so happened that there was an expedition to Egypt of 400 Canadian boatmen who were sent for by the English government to aid the British soldiers in passing themselves and their baggage up the rapids of the river Nile. This brave band consisted of French, English, and Irish Canadians and about seventy Indians.

It was towards the end of October, that these Canadians commenced the passage of the Nile rapids and many were the feats of daring and cool courage accomplished by them. The mothers of many of these brave fellows had, on parting with them, specially recommended them to the protection of St. Anne and impressed on their minds that never was St. Anne invoked in vain. On one occasion, a boatman perceived that his boat was being driven against a most dangerous rock in the midst of a formidable rapid. Snatching up his only remaining oar, he hurled it into the middle of the rapid, calling out: "Good St. Anne of the Canadians, save me!" After having passed through awful whirlpools for upwards of a mile, he arrived safely on the shore. "St. Anne’s oar saved my life," he exclaimed. A few days afterwards, this brave man perceived one of his companions in danger of perishing in a rapid which he himself had just passed with difficulty. Not being able to go to his assistance, he threw him his oar, calling out: "Catch hold of St. Anne’s oar and fear nothing." The other man soon reached the shore and they decided on bringing the miraculous oar to Canada and laying it at the feet of the statue of St. Anne de Beaupre.

PRAYER.

Great St. Anne, like thee I also have glorious privileges! By my baptism I became a child of the Eternal Father, a member of JESUS-CHRIST, a temple of the Holy Ghost, a brother and fellow-citizen of the Angels and the Elect. But, alas! I am altogether unworthy of these privileges! By how many vices and sins have I not dishonored these names which are a thousand times nobler than that of a king! How greatly should I fear that they should lead to my everlasting confusion and condemnation! For the Judge of the living and the dead will ask much of him to whom much has been given. My charitable Protectress, thou canst plead for my entire conversion and complete change of life; and I beg thee to do so. Plead for me with the Advocate of sinners, that she may obtain me the grace of repentance and the pardon of all my iniquities, the strength to fight against those inclinations which most defile my soul, as well as the lights to perceive how worthy is our God of being loved and how great is my obligation of serving Him with all my strength. Thus wilt thou rejoice the Hearts of JESUS, and Mary and glorify the august Trinity, and there will be one soul the more to love It here on earth and to sing Its glories with thee in Heaven.

Good St. Anne, obtain for me the victory over my predominant fault.

PRACTICE.

Ask of God, through the intercession of St. Joachim and St. Anne, the virtues proper to your state of life and the grace worthily to fulfil all its obligations.

The Second Day of July

St. Anne is the Mother of Mary and the Grandmother of Jesus.

The sacred Scriptures, so scanty in details as to the Blessed Virgin, are wholly silent on the subject of her glorious Mother, not even mentioning her name: the ever blessed and beloved name of St. Anne having been transmitted to us only by tradition and by the gratitude of Christian nations. But is not what we know about her quite sufficient? It is her glory to have been the Mother of Mary and Grandmother of JESUS.

St. Anne is the Mother of her whom the Saints proclaim to be their Mother, whom the devils fear, whom the Angels bless and revere, whom God loved above all others of his creatures. She is the Mother of her who, after God, sees none superior or equal to herself either in holiness, in glory, or in power. She is the Mother of her who was promised to Adam as the last resort of himself and his descendants after the shipwreck of their innocence. She is the Mother of her who was typified by the various holy women of the Old Testament and sung by the Prophets. She is the Mother of her who was immaculate in her Conception, who was a Virgin and yet a mother, and the Mother of virgins, who never knew the stain of original sin nor of present sin, not even the slightest shadow of an imperfection. She is the Mother of her who is purer than the Angels, holier than the Archangels, higher than the Thrones, more powerful than the Dominations, more enlightened than the Cherubim, more inflamed with divine love than the Seraphim. She is the Mother of her who is called and who is the eldest Daughter of the Father, the true Mother of the Son, preeminently the Spouse of the Holy Ghost. She is the Mother of her who is "full of grace," the fountain-head and channel of all grace; of her who from out her own plenitude has bestowed and still bestows ransom on the captive, strength to the weak, sight to the blind, consolation to the afflicted, hope to the desponding, an overflow of joy to the Angels, human flesh to the Divine Word, a Worshiper worthy of His greatness to the Eternal Father, a temple worthy of His holiness to the Holy Ghost. Anne is the Mother of her who is the ladder to heaven, the anchor of the shipwrecked, the star of the mariner, the bridge whereby God crossed the abyss which separated us from him. Lastly, St. Anne is the Mother of her whom no tongue, not even an Angel’s, can worthily praise, whose greatness cannot be conceived by any created intelligence, whom no heart, save that of her Son, can sufficiently love: St. Anne is Mother of the Mother of God!

St. Anne is the Grandmother of JESUS-CHRIST, our Redeemer, our Savior, our Mediator, our Advocate, our Pontiff, our Victim, our Bread of Life, our King, our Lord, our God. She is the Grandmother of Him who was before Abraham and all ages, of Him who, in the beginning, rested in the bosom of God, who was begotten by the Father before the commencement of all things, who is God like unto His Father, by whom all things were made and who sustains and preserves all things by His power and word. Yes, the Heir of the universe, the Angel of good counsel, the Strong, the Hope of nations, the Desire of the eternal hills, the Father of centuries to come, the Conqueror of hell, the Destroyer of death, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, JESUS, our Light, our Way, our Life, JESUS, the only Son of God the Father, is Grandson to St. Anne! A very noble born lady was accustomed to dress very simply and to wear neither diamonds nor other jewels. On one occasion, when surprise at this simplicity was testified, she pointed to her two sons, whom she was bringing up most carefully and who gave great hopes for the future. "Here are my jewels," she said. Might not Anne also say, when pointing to JESUS and Mary, "Here are my jewels!" The Wise Man has said that children are a crown to their parents: what a crown is JESUS! what a crown is Mary! JESUS has said that a tree is to be judged by its fruits: Anne is the tree, Mary the flower, JESUS the fruit! O glorious and well-beloved Saint, thou art indeed truly and singularly the most blessed of women after Mary, Mother of JESUS our God, to whom be honor, glory, adoration, blessing and praise, world without end!

EXAMPLE.

From the records of the Shrine of St. Anne de Beaupre.

In the month of July 1884, a pilgrimage arrived from St. Alban’s and among the pious pilgrims may be mentioned Eliza Perron, a young lady aged 18, a daughter of Joseph Perron, miller of St. Alban’s. The previous year, having visited Lowell, Mass, she had contracted an illness for which the doctors attended her for a whole year, but with out procuring her any alleviation. She had an abscess in her left leg which obliged her to use a crutch in walking. Finding human means failed her, she decided on making a pilgrimage to St. Anne’s and asking her cure of that great Saint. On July 2, she went to Confession, heard Mass and received Holy Communion at St. Alban’s, but without perceiving any amendment in her state. Again on July 3, she approached the Holy Table in the sanctuary of St. Anne de Beaupre , but there was no change for the better up to the time of her venerating the relic. At that moment, however, something extraordinary seemed to take place within her which she herself could not describe, but, on rising, she found herself completely cured and able to move away without her crutch which she left on the altar-step and has never since required.

PRAYER.

Eternal Father, I bless Thee for having from all eternity chosen St. Anne from among all the daughters of Adam, to be the Mother of Mary and Grandmother of Thy Son made flesh. JESUS, only Son of God, I thank Thee for having vouchsafed, for our salvation, to become Son of the Daughter of this glorious Saint. Holy Ghost, I praise Thee for having rendered St. Anne worthy of her high vocation. Blessed Anne, I rejoice in thy happiness and glory; I rejoice for thee and also for myself. For I know that, like thy blessed Daughter, thou art eminently good and filled with compassion for the unfortunate, and that thou askest no better than to use thy influence with JESUS and Mary in favor of those who invoke thy name. Behold, I now invoke thee from the depths of my misery: thou knowest the grace that I desire to obtain by celebrating this month which is consecrated to thee. Do thou vouchsafe to ask it for me, a poor sinner quite undeserving of all grace, only meriting chastisement; and certainly I shall obtain it, if such be God’s Will and if it be for the good of my soul. However this may be, there is one grace which thou wilt not fail to obtain for me, and which I prize above every other: that of never again offending my God, of loving JESUS and Mary, and of one day seeing them face to face and praising them with thee for all eternity.

Good St. Anne, obtain for me by thy prayers that I may love JESUS and Mary above all things.

PRACTICE.

When you pray to St. Anne, do not fail to ask of her the love of JESUS and Mary. It is the most beneficial prayer you can offer, and will always be granted.

July - The Month of Saint Anne

Holy Church has a particular dedication for each month of the year. May is dedicated to our Blessed Lady and June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. July is dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of our Lord, the price paid for our salvation which was part of our Lenten devotions. However, during the month of July, we shall take a diversion from the official dedications and reflect on Good Saint Anne, the mother of our Lady and the grandmother of Jesus. This is especially appropriate since the festival of Sts. Anne and Joachim is celebrated on the 26th of July. Additionally, St. Anne is one of the most beloved of all the saints and thousands of pilgrims will be making their way to her shrines in Auray and Apt (France) Jerusalem (Palestine), Fall River and Sturbridge (Massachusetts), Isle la Motte (Vermont), Detroit (Michigan), New York (New York), Scranton (Pennsylvania), New Orleans and Metairie (Louisiania), and of course the world center of devotion, Saint Anne de Beaupre, Quebec. In spirit let us join them each day as we pray our devotions and grow in our love for this good saint.

Our reflections will be taken from the Pilgrim's Manual of St. Anne de Beaupre written by a Redemptorist Priest. I have rearranged the material to keep the order we have been using over the past months and edited only spelling and obscure words no longer in use.

It is my hope that you will find these devotions profitable. Let us pray for one another.

Fr. Scott, C.Ss.R.

The First Day of July

St. Anne has a right to our homage.

It is an article of faith that the worship of the Saints is not only permissible, but also most agreeable to God and beneficial to our own souls. The Catholic Church, the infallible teacher of the truth, has condemned all who deny this. This teaching is based not only on the Scriptures and sound reason, but also on the immemorial tradition of Christian nations. St. Paul commanded that honor should be given where honor was due. Now, who could be more worthy of honor than those great servants of God, those glorious members of JESUS-CHRIST, those temples of the Holy Ghost, who, by their labors, their examples, sufferings and their prayers have done so much for the glory of God and the salvation of souls? And has not God taught us to honor them by Himself bestowing on them the gift of miracles both during their life and after their death? But heretics reply: You are wrong in invoking them and praying to them. But why? It is quite allowable to ask prayers of my friends, of even the worst of men: St. Paul himself gives me the example, since in his Epistles, he asks for the prayers of the faithful; and why then may I not solicit the prayers of those already dwelling in the heavenly Jerusalem? Why should this privilege be denied me, since they, being already united to God, delivered from the dangers of this life, and freed from all the trials and miseries of life, can have no other care than for such of their brethren, as are still in exile here below.

Among all the Saints now reigning in glory, few have more right to our homage than St. Anne. Is not her being the Mother of Mary, a sufficient proof of this? This is the very reason that this devotion is so beneficial to us. Mary is our great and universal Mediatrix with JESUS-CHRIST, it is she who renders our prayers agreeable to Him and seconds them with her all-powerful intercession; it is she who opens the treasure-house of the merits of JESUS-CHRIST when she will, and as she will, and in favor of whom she will. So that whoever merits Mary’s favor is certain of having his name written in the book of the predestined, and this doctrine is held by all the Saints. Now, who does not perceive that doing honor to her Mother is one of the surest ways of attracting the merciful eyes of our all-powerful Queen? The Holy Ghost tells us to honor our parents, since without them we should never have existed. This law concerns Mary the same as it concerns the other children of Adam: after God, it was to St. Joachim and St. Anne that she owed her existence, and what an existence! The happiest, the most glorious that can be conceived and one which will always remain unequaled. After her Divine Son, Mary fills the highest place in the universe and this happiness comes to her, after God, through St. Joachim and St. Anne. How deeply then must she love them and how gladly behold the honors paid them!

It is not that St. Anne has any need of our homage, she is in perfect bliss, and nothing that we can offer her is to be compared with the homage she is receiving from the Saints, the Angels, St. Joseph, Mary and JESUS. She does us credit and honor by accepting the marks of our devotion, even as a great Queen seated on her throne and surrounded by her court, would do great honor to some simple peasant by returning his salutation. But she is so good that she is pleased to accept every pious offering we make her; in one way, she even takes more pleasure in our homage than in the praises offered her by the heavenly citizens, since, like all noble hearts, like Mary, like JESUS, like the Eternal Father, her chief delight is in lending ear to the prayers of the miserable and afflicted. She loves our prayers too, because they afford her an opportunity of conferring benefits upon us.

EXAMPLE.

We read of the following miracle in the Annals of St. Anne:

While living in Lowell, Mass., U.S., one of my little girls, aged three years, was taken seriously ill and we called in an experienced doctor. After attending her for a week, he acknowledged that he could do nothing for her. Another doctor who had been summon ed, visited her daily and did all that lay in his power to alleviate the terrible sufferings of his little patient, but, at the end of a fortnight, found her state so aggravated that he said death alone would bring her relief.
One Saturday evening, her state was so pitiable that every one expected an immediate termination to her sufferings. She appeared to be dying, and a cold sweat bedewed her face. Three times she fainted away, and on the third occasion, she remained insensible a very long time. As our only recourse, I then fastened a medal of St. Anne round her neck, promising to make known the grace that the great miracle-worker had obtained for us, if she would but restore my beloved child to health. My prayers were heard and my child is now in a state of perfect health. It is to St. Anne alone that we owe this blessing, for the doctors had been unable to cure her malady.

E.B. St. Boniface, Manitoba.

PRAYER.

Blessed was the womb that bore thee, O Mary! and the breasts that gave thee suck! Blessed was she who had the happiness of carrying thee in her arms, of watching over thy slumbers, of imprinting kisses on thy fair pure forehead, of seeing thee respond to her caresses by thy first sweet smile! Blessed was she who had the happiness of hearing thee call her "Mother"! Blessed was she whose glory it was to teach thee, "the Seat of Wisdom," how to speak, to pray, to walk!

Glorious St. Anne, I rejoice with thee because thou wert chosen by God to fulfil so great a destiny; I take part in the joy which thrilled through thee when, beholding Mary seated on the right hand of JESUS higher than the elect, than the Angels, Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim, thou didst say to thyself: "She is my daughter!" Great Saint! be thou for ever filled with joy at thy great happiness, but vouchsafe not to forget a poor sinner who cries to thee. I ask but one grace: ask thy most admirable daughter to take me under her special protection. Obtain this favor for me and I will ask no more; for if she deigns to protect me, I am sure of salvation.

St. Anne, Mother of her who is our Life, our Sweetness and our Hope, pray to her for us!

PRACTICE.

Make the firm resolution of saying daily three times "Glory be to the Father, etc. " in honor of St. Joachim and St. Anne after your evening prayer, or after your beads, if you say them, every day. Or you may say twice "Hail Mary, etc." with the same intention.