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Some prayers and meditations
To ask with Mary for the gifts of the Spirit
- O God, thou hast filled with the Holy Spirit the Blessed
Virgin Mary when she prayed with the Apostles in the solitude
of the Cenacle, let us love, we pray you, silence of the
heart, so that by praying better, thus recollected, we deserve
to be filled of the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Marthe
Robin
Letter of St. Francis Borgia
What a great remedy to all our ills, is the
meditation of the Cross of Christ!
We are all in motion towards the Lord; by pronouncing our vows, we
have donned the necessary equipment for this journey; our
religious profession is thus vain if we do not walk cheerfully
along this road and if we do not race in the way of perfection
until we reach "the divine mountain of Horeb."
The first advice I have to give you, I find it stated as follows
at the beginning of the tenth part of the Constitutions, where it
is question of the means to maintain and enhance the Company: "The
means by which an instrument is united to God, which dispose it to
be handled regularly by his divine hand, are much more efficient
than those which dispose it to serve men. These means are justice
and generosity, charity especially, purity of intention in the
divine service, the familiar union with God in the Spiritual
Exercises, a very pure zeal for the salvation of souls, without
further quest than the glory of who has created and redeemed
them."
Words well worthy to be the object of our most serious attention,
since our blessed Father wrote them with so much care and love for
is children. Indeed, if we wish to think about this seriously, we
recognize that neglect in using the means which unite the
instrument to God gives rise to, and exacerbates, the dissension
and the miseries dividing religious societies. For as the drought
of a land withers the flowers and the fruit of trees, thus usual
aridity in the meditations and other exercises of piety, devours
in the religious soul, the spiritual flowers and fruits.
Thus the religious who does not exercise himself/herself at the
meditation and imitation of Jesus crucified, this one will work
without eagerness to the glory of the Divine Master, more even, he
will bring to it only cowardice, and yet he will not let away with
being satisfied with himself while despising the others.
What a great remedy for all our ills than to meditate the Cross of
Christ!
(Letter 717 in the month of April 1569 addressed to the
whole company. Text in Spanish MHSI S. Franciscus Borgia, vol.
5, Madrid, 1911, p. 78-79, tr. Fr.: Selected Letters of
Generals, t . I, Lyon, 1878, p. 32-33).
Prayers to Saint Bruno
- Father, You called Saint Bruno to serve You in solitude. In
answer to his prayers help us to remain faithful to You amid
the changes of this world. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus
Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy
Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen. - [Or
revised translation of the Roman Missal: O
God, who called Saint Bruno to serve you in solitude grant,
through his intercession, that amid the changes of this world
we may constantly look to you alone. Through our Lord Jesus
Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.]
- All powerful, eternal God, you prepare dwelling places in
heaven for those who renounce this world. We humbly beg of
your boundless clemency that through the intercession of our
blessed Father Bruno, your Confessor, we may faithfully
fulfill the vows of our profession, and safely attain those
things you have promised to all who persevere in your
friendship. This we ask of you through Christ our Lord. Amen.
O loving Father and glorious St. Bruno, pray for us sinners
now and at the hour of our death!
- Source
- Print
Saint Bruno's
Profession of Faith, which he pronounced in the presence of
all his assembled brothers, when he felt the time was approaching
for him to go the way of all flesh, because he had urgently
requested us to be witnesses of his faith before God:
1. I firmly believe in the Father, the Son, and the
Holy Spirit: the Father unbegotten, the only begotten Son, the
Holy Spirit proceeding from them both; and I believe that these
three Persons are but one God.
2. I believe that the same Son of God was conceived by the Holy
Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary. I believe that the Virgin
was chaste before she bore her child, that she remained a virgin
while she bore her child, and continued a virgin ever after. I
believe that the same Son of God was conceived among men, a true
man with no sin. I believe the same Son of God was captured by
the hatred of some of the Jews who did not believe, was bound
unjustly, covered with spittle, and scourged. I believe that he
died, was buried, and descended into hell to free those of his
who were held there. He descended for our redemption, he rose
again, he ascended into heaven, and from there he will come to
judge the living and the dead.
3. I believe also in the sacraments that the Church believes
and holds in reverence, and especially that what has been
consecrated on the altar is the true Flesh and the true Blood of
our Lord Jesus Christ, which we receive for the forgiveness of
our sins and in the hope of eternal salvation. I believe in the
resurrection of the flesh and everlasting life.
4. I acknowledge and believe the holy and ineffable Trinity,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to be but only one God, of only
one substance, of only one nature, of only one majesty and
power. We profess that the Father was neither begotten nor
created but that he has begotten. The Father takes his origin
from no one; of him the Son is born and the Holy Spirit
proceeds. He is the source and origin of all Divinity. And the
Father, ineffable by his very nature, from his own substance has
begotten the Son ineffably; but he has begotten nothing except
what he is himself: God has begotten God, light has begotten
light, and it is from him that all Fatherhood in heaven and on
earth proceeds. Amen.
The Creed
Every late of the night, in cell at the end of the Office of
Lauds of Our Blessed Virgin Mary, about around 2:30 AM is
always recited by Carthusians a choice between three
catholic creeds: The Athanasian Creed [QUICUNQUE
VULT] | The Apostle's Creed | The Nicene Creed. This deep
transforming contemplative prayer of our revealed
Creed, like a constant heartbeat, is defining
of the heart of the Carthusian souls in Trinitarian life, and
of Saint Bruno's followers vocation of devoted presence like
the Seraphim before the revealed God, in the Church for the
world.
Novena
- Novena
to Our Lady of Good Counsel - April
17 to 25 for: the feast of Our Lady of Good Counsel
April 26 1467 - and the transmission of the 11 guidelines
April 26 2003
- Novena
to Saint Bruno - September 27 to October 5
for: the feast of Saint Bruno October 6 1101
- Novena
to Saint Bruno - July 10 to July 18 for:
the anniversary of the Equipollent Canonization* of
Saint Bruno July 19 1514
- *Saint Bruno died October 6, 1101, in Serra San
Bruno, Italy. He was buried in the little cemetery of the
hermitage of Santa Maria of Calabria. In 1513, his bones
were discovered with the epitaph "Haec sunt ossa magistri
Brunonis" over them. Since the Carthusian Order
maintains a strict observance of humility, Saint Bruno was
never formally canonized or beatified. In 1514, following
the Carthusians of Calabria reinstallation on the site of
the hermitage where Bruno had died, the Order obtained oral
permission from the Pope to celebrate the cult of its
founder, whose remains had come to be found in the church of
the hermitage. No pontifical act has been established on
this occasion. But the Cardinal Protector of the Carthusian
order, in an act dated 19 July 1514, gave notice to
the Order that he had obtained assurances from the Pope "by
verbal notice" permission for the Carthusians to celebrate
the liturgical memorial of St. Bruno. No bulls or preserved
pontifical document come to certify that permission, sent to
the Order, reports Father Dom François Dupuis, author of a
life of St. Bruno. The tacit approval of the Church and St.
Bruno's entry in the universal liturgical calendar,
eventually, constitutes though an equivalent confirmation.
This is why therefore that, canonists speak about it as an "equipollent
canonization". Saint Bruno was not included in the
Tridentine Calendar, but in the year 1623 Pope Gregory XV
included Bruno in the General Roman Calendar for celebration
on 6 October. Source
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Pour demander avec Marie les dons de l'Esprit
- Ô Dieu, tu as comblé de l'Esprit Saint la Bienheureuse
Vierge Marie quand elle priait avec les Apôtres dans la
solitude du Cénacle; fais-nous aimer, nous t'en prions, le
silence du coeur, afin que priant mieux, ainsi recueillis,
nous méritions d'être comblés des dons du Saint-Esprit. Marthe
Robin
Lettre de saint François de Borgia
Quel grand remède pour tous nos maux que de méditer la Croix du
Christ !
Nous sommes tous en marche vers le Seigneur ; en prononçant nos
vœux, nous avons revêtu l'équipement nécessaire à ce voyage ; notre
profession religieuse est donc vaine si nous ne marchons pas
allégrement sur cette route et si nous ne courons pas dans la voie
de la perfection jusqu'à ce que nous arrivions à « la divine
montagne de l'Horeb ».
Le premier avis que j'ai à vous donner, je le trouve formulé comme
il suit au commencement de la dixième partie des Constitutions, où
il est question des moyens de conserver et d'accroître la Compagnie
: « Les moyens qui unissent un instrument à Dieu, qui le disposent à
être manié régulièrement par sa main divine, sont bien plus
efficaces que ceux qui le disposent à servir les hommes. Ces moyens
sont la justice et la générosité, la charité surtout, la pureté
d'intention dans le service divin, l'union familière avec Dieu dans
les exercices spirituels, un zèle très pur pour le salut des âmes,
sans autre recherche que la gloire de celui qui les a créées et
rachetées ».
Paroles bien dignes d'être l'objet de notre plus sérieuse attention,
puisque notre bienheureux Père les a écrites avec tant de soin et
d'amour pour ses enfants. En effet, si nous voulons y réfléchir
sérieusement, nous reconnaîtrons que la négligence à employer les
moyens qui unissent l'instrument à Dieu suscite et aggrave les
dissensions et les misères qui déchirent les sociétés religieuses.
Car comme la sécheresse d'un terrain fait dépérir les fleurs et les
fruits des arbres, ainsi l'aridité habituelle dans les méditations
et autres exercices de piété dévore dans l'âme religieuse les fleurs
et les fruits spirituels.
Donc le religieux qui ne s'exerce pas à la méditation et à
l'imitation de Jésus crucifié, celui-là travaillera sans ardeur à la
gloire de ce divin Maître ; bien plus, il n'y apportera que lâcheté,
et, cependant, il ne laissera pas d'être satisfait de lui-même et de
mépriser les autres.
Quel grand remède pour tous nos maux que de méditer la Croix du
Christ !
(Lettre 717 du mois d'avril 1569 adressée à toute la
Compagnie. Texte espagnol dans MHSI : S. Franciscus Borgia, t. 5,
Madrid, 1911, pp. 78-79 ; tr. fr. : Lettres choisies des Généraux,
t. I, Lyon, 1878, pp. 32-33).
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