The Cure of Ars on Prayer

On the feast of the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, Friday 19 June 2009 our Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI inaugurated a “Year for Priests” under the patronage of St. John Mary Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests worldwide. Let us pray for our Priests!

The Cure of Ars had the gift of prophecy. On May 14th, 1854, the bishop of Ullathorne called the saint and asked him to pray for England. The bishop of Birmingham narrates that the holy man said with extraordinary conviction: “ Monseigneur, I believe the Church in England will be restored to its full splendor.”
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The Cure of Ars preached constantly about the importance of prayer:


1. “Prayer is the elevation of our heart to God, a sweet conversation between creature and Creator”. (Sermon on prayer)



2. “Through prayer you can do everything, you possess, as it were, the Mountain of God”. (Sermon on perseverance)



3. “Prayer opens the eyes of the soul; it makes us feel the extent of our miseries, the need to have recourse to God, and to be fearful of our own weakness”. (Sermon on prayer)



4. “All the miseries that befall us on earth come from the fact that either we do not pray, or we do not pray properly”. (Sermon on prayer)



5. “All the saints began their conversion through prayer, and with it they persevered; all those who were damned, were damned because they neglected prayer. I affirm therefore, that prayer is absolutely necessary for our perseverance”. (Sermon on perseverance)



6. “How often we come to Church without knowing why we come, or what we want to ask for. But when we go to somebody's house we know exactly why we are going. Some seem to say to God ‘I just came to fulfil an obligation.’ Often, I think that when we come to adore our Lord, we could obtain everything we desire if we would ask for it with a strong faith and a pure heart”.



7. “Our prayers ought to be made with trust, and with the firm hope that God can, and wants to, give us what we ask for if we ask for it properly”. (Sermon on prayer)



8. “We have to pray frequently, but we must double our prayers in time of trial, and in moments when we are assailed by temptation”. (Sermon on prayer)



9. “Great though our sufferings may be, if we pray, we will have the joy of enduring them entirely submitted to God’s Will; however strong our temptations may be, if we turn to prayer we will overcome them”. (Sermon on prayer)



10. “The third condition that a prayer should fulfil, in order to be agreeable to God, is that we persevere in it. Many times God does not give us what we ask. He does this so that we may desire it more intensely, or so that we may appreciate it better. This delay is not a refusal, but a trial which prepares us better to receive what we have asked”. (Sermon on prayer)

St. Dominic Savio’s Vision of England

We are living exciting times in England, with the historic move by the Holy Father to allow the Anglicans come back into the Church of Our Lord Jesus Christ. The publication of the wise and paternal Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum Coetibus, providing for personal ordinariates for Anglicans entering into full communion with the Catholic Church, reminded us of a prophecy by St. Dominic Savio about the conversion of England. In a vision, he saw a man wearing papal robes, whom he took to be the blessed Pope Pius IX. Perhaps it was Pope Benedict. Let us pray for our Anglo-Catholic brethren, asking Jesus and Mary to help them not to hesitate and to overcome all the obstacles which could delay their homecoming.


Excerpt from: Heralds of the Gospel Magazine No:41 [Mar-Apr 2007]

St. Dominic Savio, a young disciple of St. John Bosco, died in 1857, before reaching age 15. Dominic once told Dom Bosco of a vision he received regarding England, which marked him deeply. Following is the actual account of the vision as told by St. John Bosco in his famous book, The Life of St. Dominic Savio.

He [Dominic Savio] often spoke about the Roman Pontiff, giving ample proof of his desire to see him before dying, and affirming on repeated occasions that he had something very important to tell him. As he repeated this many times, I asked him what it was that was so important that he had to tell the Pope.
“If I could speak with the Pope, I would tell him, that in the midst of the great trials that await him, he should not cease to work with special solicitude for England. God is preparing a great triumph for Catholicism in
that kingdom.
“But for what reason do you say this?”
“I am going to tell you, but please do not tell anyone else, because I am afraid that the others will laugh at me. However, if you go to Rome, tell it to Pius IX. Listen carefully: One morning as I was making my thanksgiving after Communion, a very strong distraction took hold of me. I thought I saw a great plain full of people enveloped in thick fog. They were walking about like people who had lost their way and did not know which way to turn. Someone near me said: ‘This is England’. I was just going to ask some questions, when I saw Pope Pius IX just like I have seen him in pictures. He was robed magnificently and carried in his hand a torch alive with flames. As he walked slowly toward that immense gathering of people, the leaping flames from the torch dispelled the fog, and the people stood in the splendour of the noonday sun. ‘That torch’, said the one beside me, ‘is the Catholic Faith, which is going to light up England.’”

In 1857, [the year St. Dominic Savio died], as I visited Rome, I wanted to tell the Holy Pontiff about this, and he gladly and kindly listened to what I had to say: “This”, the Pope said, “only serves to reinforce my resolution to tirelessly work for the good of England, which is already the object of all my solicitude. If nothing else, what you have told me will at the very least provide me with the counsel of a pious soul.”
There are many other similar facts which I will not transcribe here, being content to write them down, and leaving it to others to publish them when they see fit, for the greater glory of God.

The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Heralds of the Gospel


Cordially invite you to celebrate

The Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On Saturday, 21 November 2009

Holy Mass 10:00 am
Followed by Rosary at Our Lady’s altar and
Consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary according to St Louis de Montfort

At St. Raphael’s Catholic Church,
Portsmouth Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey KT12NA

A light lunch will follow at the house of the Heralds,
29 Lower Teddington Road
Hampton Wick, KT14EU. You are all welcome.



St Raphael’s Church is walking distance from the Kingston train Station. The Church looks on the River Thames. 10 minutes walking from Kinston Bridge.------------------------------------------------------------

Please confirm by calling Br Arthur on 0208 943 4159
Or by writing to Heralds of the Gospel
29 Lower Teddington Rd
Hampton Wick, KT14EU

e-mail: lumenmaria@aol.com
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A SHORT HISTORY OF THE CHURCH AND BUILDING
http://www.straphael.org.uk/our_church.htm

This beautiful church was designed by the eminent architect Charles Parker in an Italianate style, with early Christian and Renaissance influences. The entire cost was met by Alexander Raphael, a Catholic Armenian whose family came from India. He became the first Roman Catholic to be elected Sheriff of London after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act in 1829. Raphael built the Church in 1846 as a family chapel and named it after St Raphael. It was completed in 1848. But soon after, in November 1850, he died.

His nephew, Edward, inherited the property and opened it to the public as the first Catholic church in Kingston. Fr Ainsworth was appointed as the first parish priest.

Through successive bequests, the Church and land became the property of Captain Hon. George Savile, brother to the Sixth Earl of Mexborough, a Yorkshire family. Lady Anne Savile, daughter of the fourth Earl, lived nearby in Thames Ditton and a plaque is to be seen inside the Church commemorating her death. Unlike many other members of the Savile family buried in the vault under the High Altar, she has no known grave.

The church was sold to the Diocese of Southwark after the Second World War and is now on the Registered List of Buildings of historical and architectural interest. It is one of the finest examples of Victorian Italianate architecture in Britain [see Structure].

A memorial tablet to Alexander Raphael was placed over the main door, leading from the porch to the main body of the church. Written in Latin, it testifies to his generosity, unswerving faith and deep integrity. It also refers to the honours bestowed upon him, because of his great merits, by Pope Pius IX.

Most Rev Bishop Bernard Longley at Our Lady of the Rosary Church, Marylebone, London.

On the 31 of October the Heralds of the Gospel attended the installation of Rev Fr Terrence McGuckin, the new parish Priest at the Church of Our Lady of the Rosary in Marylebone, London.

The ceremony was presided over by the Most Rev Bishop Bernard Longley, recently appointed new Archbishop of Birmingham by Pope Benedict XVI.

NOVEMBER - PRAY FOR HOLY SOULS

'More souls of the dead than the living climb this mountain to attend my Masses and seek my prayers.' (Padre Pio)

Padre Pio had a very special relationship with the Holy Souls..indeed such was the relationship that they were his frequent visitors..and led him to make the statements quoted above.

Padre Pio said "We must pray for the Souls in Purgatory. It is unbelievable, what they can do for our spiritual good, out of gratitude they have towards those on earth who remember to pray for them."

The existence of Purgatory or a 'purifying process' after death is a Catholic Dogma of the Faith which means every Catholic must believe in order to remain a Catholic. The Church does not insist that it is a place, but may be a process only. It is not a destination ~ but a sort of passage through which all who must experience it, will eventually be purified enough to see God face to face.

It's understood that the souls undergoing this purification may benefit from the prayers of the living, but that the opportunity of grace to pray for their own relief has passed.

Just as a prisoner who awaits his trial - may be released from jail by a friend who pays the cost of his bail. So we may help to gain the release of a holy soul from the prison of his suffering. It's considered a great act of spiritual mercy by the Church to pray for the dead.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

1030 - All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 - The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.

The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence (1439) and Trent (1563). The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

"But if someone's work is burned up, that one will suffer loss; the person will be saved, but only as through fire." (I Cor 3:15)

SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE FOR THE HOLY SOULS:

1) Offer up the Sacrifice of the Holy Mass for souls

2) Offer up the Daily Rosary that Our Lady of Fatima asked of us.

3) The Way of the Cross ~ It was revealed to a chosen soul that when one offers up the stations of the cross for the holy souls in Purgatory he obtains the release of 10,000 souls!

4) The Holy Wounds of Christ

5) The Holy Face prayers and devotions of reparation

6) Praying many short indulgenced prayers:

'Jesus, Mary, I love You, save souls.'
(Each time this simple aspiration is said, a soul is released from Purgatory.)

"Eternal Rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them, may they rest in peace. Amen."

"May the Divine assistance remain always with us, and may the souls of the faithful departed through the Mercy of God; rest in peace. Amen."
7) Offer up our daily actions, sacrifices and fasts united to Jesus' life and suffering here on earth.

8) Offer up our daily sufferings and pains to relieve theirs.

9) Spread devotion to the Holy Souls

10) Give Alms on behalf of the Holy Souls

11) Offer The Heroic Act in favor of the Holy Souls

12) Join the Association of the Holy Souls:


The Assoc. of the Holy Souls
Dominican Nuns of the
Perpetual Rosary,
Monastery Pius XII
Rua do Rosa'rio, 1
Fatima, Portugal