THE THREE VERY BEAUTIFUL PRAYERS

Three Very Beautiful Prayers
Which are very useful to a dying person, and should be prayed often as an act of mercy.

There once was a Pope in Rome who was surrounded by many sins. The Lord God struck him with a fatal illness. When he saw that he was dying he summoned Cardinals, Bishops and learned persons and said to them: "My dear friends! What comfort can you give me now that I must die, and when I deserve eternal damnation for my sins?" No one answered him. One of them, a pious curate named John, said: "Father, why do you doubt the Mercy of God?" The Pope replied: "What comfort can you give me now that I must die and fear that I'll be damned for my sins?" John replied: "I'll read three prayers over you; I hope, you'll be comforted and that you'll obtain Mercy from God." The Pope was unable to say more. The curate and all those present knelt and said an Our Father, then the following prayers:

Prayer 1.
Lord Jesus Christ! Thou Son of God and Son of the Virgin Mary, God and Man, Thou who in fear sweated blood for us on the Mount of Olives in order to bring peace, and to offer Thy Most Holy Death to God Thy Heavenly Father for the salvation of this dying person. If it be, however, that by his sins he merits eternal damnation, then may it be deflected from him. This, O Eternal Father through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Dear Son, Who liveth and reigneth in union with The Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.

Prayer 2.
Lord Jesus Christ! Thou who meekly died on the trunk of the Cross for us, submitting Thy Will completely to Thy Heavenly Father in order to bring peace and to offer Thy most Holy Death to Thy Heavenly Father in order to free.(this person).and to hide from him what he has earned with his sins; grant this O Eternal Father! Through Our Lord Jesus Thy Son, who liveth and reigneth with Thee in union with the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.

Prayer 3.
Lord Jesus Christ! Thou Who remained silent to speak through the mouths of the Prophets; I have drawn Thee to me through Eternal Love, which love drew Thee from Heaven into the body of the Virgin, which love drew Thee from the body of the Virgin into the valley of this needful world, which Love kept Thee 33 years in this world, and as a sign of Great Love, Thou hast given Thy drink, as a sign of great love, Thou has consented to be a prisoner and to be led from one judge to another and as a sign of great love Thou has consented to be condemned to death, and hast consented to die and to be buried and truly rise, and appeared to Thy Holy Mother and all the Holy Apostles, and as a sign of great love Thou hast ascended, under Thy own strength and power, and sitteth at the right hand of God Thy heavenly Father, and Thou has sent Thy Holy Spirit into the heart of Thy Apostles and the hearts of all who hope and believe in Thee. Through Thy sign of Eternal love, open heaven today and take this dying person. and all his sins into the realm of Thy Heavenly Father, that he may reign with Thee now and
forever. Amen.


Meanwhile the Pope died. The curate persevered to the third hour, then the Pope appeared to him in body and comforting him; his countenance as brilliant as the sun, his clothes as white as snow, and he said: "My dear brother! Whereas I was supposed to be a child of damnation I've become a child of happiness. As you recited the first prayer many of my sins fell from me as rain from Heaven, and as you recited the second Prayer I was purified, as a goldsmith purifies gold in a hot fire. I was still further purified as you recited the third prayer. Then I saw Heaven open and the Lord Jesus standing on the Right Hand of God the Father who said to me: "Come, all thy sins are forgiven thee, you'll be and remain in the realm of My Father forever. Amen!"

With these words my soul separated from my body and the angels of God led it to Eternal Joy.

As the curate heard this he said: "O Holy Father! I can't tell these things to anyone, for they won't believe me." Then the Pope said: "Truly I tell thee, the Angel of God stands with me and has written the prayers in letters of gold for the consolement of all sinners. If a person had committed all
the sins in the world, but that the three prayers shall have been read (over him) at his end (death), all his sins wil be forgiven him, even though his soul was supposed to suffer until the Last Judgment, it will be redeemed (freed).

The person who hears them read, he won't die an unhappy death also in whose house they will be read. Therefore take these prayers and carry them into St. Peter's Basilica and lay them in the Chapel named the Assumption of Mary, for certain consolation. The person who will be near death, who reads them or hears them read gains 400 years indulgence for the days he was supposed to suffer in Purgatory because of his guilt. Also who reads this prayer or hears it read, the hour of his death shall be revealed to him. Amen! (Taken from the Pieta Book)

A SHORT WAY OF THE CROSS

PRAYER IN THE STEPS OF THE PASSION

Most dear Jesus, filled with sorrow during the agony in the garden,
covered with a sweat of blood while praying, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, delivered into the hands of the wicked by a kiss,
bound like a robber, and abandoned by Your disciples, have mercy on
us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, condemned to death by an unjust Council, taken as an
evildoer before Pilate, and ridiculed by the wicked Herod, have mercy
on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, publicly shorn of Your garments, and most cruelly
scourged at the pillar, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, crowned with thorns, beaten and blindfolded, clothed
in rich purple and mocked, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, likened to the infamous Barabbas, rejected by Your
people, and unjustly sentenced to death, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, burdened with the weight of the Cross and led to the
place of execution like a lamb to the slaughter, have mercy on us, O
Lord.
Most dear Jesus, reckoned with the wicked, blasphemed, and derided,
and given gall to drink to mitigate Your pain, have mercy on us, O
Lord.

Most dear Jesus, dying on the Cross in the presence of Mary, pierced
with a lance that drew blood and water from Your side, have mercy on
us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, taken down and placed in the arms of Your Sorrowful
Mother, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, horribly bruised and marked with five wounds,
annointed for burial and placed in a tomb, have mercy on us, O Lord.

My Jesus, I thank You for dying on the
Cross for my sins. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Amen.

Meditations and Prayers on the Seven Last Words of Jesus

V. O God, come to my assistance.
R. O Lord, make haste to help me.
V. Glory to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. R. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be. Amen.

First Word:
"Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." Dear Jesus, Who for my love, suffered upon the Cross in order to pay with Your sufferings the debt of my sins and opened Your Divine Lips to obtain for me their remission from the eternal justice of God, have pity on me and on all the faithful who are in their last agony. When I come to that last hour, by the merits of Your most Precious Blood, which was shed for my salvation, give me such a lively sorrow for my sins that my soul will then expire in the bosom of Your Divine Mercy. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Second Word:
"This day you shall be with Me in paradise." Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross, and with such readiness and bounty responds to the Good Thief when he acknowledges You to be the Son of God, and assures him of paradise, have pity on me and all the faithful who are in their last agony. When I shall come to the end
of my life, by the merits of Your most Precious Blood, inspire in my soul a faith so firm and constant that it shall not waver at any suggestions of the evil one, so I may obtain the reward of holy paradise. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Third Word:
"Behold your mother; behold your son." Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross and Who, forgetting Your own sufferings, gifted
me with Your Holy Mother as a pledge
of Your love through her, I pray that I will be enabled to call upon You with confidence in my greatest need. Have pity on me and all the faithful who are in their last agony. Through the interior martyrdom of Your dear Mother, inspire in my heart a firm trust in the infinite merits of Your most Precious Blood, so that I may be able to escape the eternal damnation, which I have merited by my sins. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Fourth Word:
"My God, my God, why have You forsaken Me?" Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross and Who, adding suffering to suffering, in addition to Your bodily pains, endured with infinite patience the most painful
affliction of spirit at being abandoned by Your Eternal Father, have pity on me and all the faithful who are in their last agony. When I come to the hour of my own death, by the merits of Your Precious Blood, grant me the grace of suffering with true patience all the pains and agony of my death struggle, so that by uniting my sufferings to Yours, I may be able at last to share Your glory in paradise. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Fifth Word:
"I thirst." Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross, and Who, not yet satisfied with so many reproaches and sufferings, suffered even more so that all people might be saved. The whole torrent of Your Passion is not enough to slake the thirst of Your Loving Heart. Have pity on me and all the faithful who are in their last agony, and upon me, so when I arrive at my final hour I will have lighted within me a fire of love so great that my heart will be filled with the desire of being united with You for all of eternity. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Sixth Word:
"It is finished." Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross, and from that pulpit of truth proclaimed that You had finished the work of our redemption, whereby humankind, from being children of wrath and perdition, have been made children of God and heirs of heaven, have pity on me and all the faithful who are in their last agony. When I arrive at my final hour, by the merits of Your most Precious Blood, detach me completely from the world and from myself, granting me the grace to offer You from my heart the
sacrifice of my life in expiation of my sins. My God, I believe in You, I hope in You, and I love You. I repent of having offended You by my sins. Amen.

Seventh Word:
"Father, into Your Hands I commend My Spirit." Dear Jesus, Who for my love hung in agony upon the Cross, and in order to complete the great sacrifice embraced the Will of Your Eternal Father, resigning Your Spirit into His Hands and then bowing Your Head and dying. Have pity on all the faithful who are in their last agony and upon me. When I have come to my final moment, by the merits of Your Precious Blood, grant me a perfect conformity to Your Divine Will, so that I may be ready to live or die as it pleases You. I desire nothing else except the perfect fulfillment in me of Your Divine Will. Amen.

PRAYER TO OUR CRUCIFIED LORD

Heavenly Father, in the Holy Name of
Your Son Jesus, crucified for my sins, and in the love of the Holy Spirit, I come very humbly before You, with sorrow for my sins. I acknowledge that You suffered so much for me and for all, and that we are indebted to You forever.

Father, I appreciate very much Your sufferings for me and for the rest of humanity. I thank You for saving me through Your crushing pain, through Your many wounds, through Your tiredness and agony and through Your Precious Blood shed with so much pain and love for us; through Your difficulty to breath, through Your sweat and tears, through Your merciful patience, through every effort that You made and through Your total
offering for my sins and for the sins of the whole world.

Lord, I complain sometimes when I have a little misfortune, a wound or when I am sick or tired, rejected, despised or prosecuted. But You were covered through Your entire Body with painful wounds; You were pierced with pain by the crown of thorns, You were stripped of Your Flesh by the scourging, You were insulted with terrible blasphemies, You were spat upon, You were humiliated, You were inflicted new wounds upon Your wounded shoulder by the crushing weight of the cross, You were inflicted more wounds upon Your wounds by the brutal stripping of Your garments, You were pierced painfully by the nails on the cross, You were hanged upon the cross to bleed painfully to death, You suffered asphyxiation as You found it very painful to breathe, and yet Your physical agony was only part of Your suffering compared to Your spiritual agony because You are God, and Your
Holy Soul was sorrowful unto death as You surrendered Your life in exchange for our eternal life.

You saw the ingratitude of men for Your great sacrifice, and You suffered for the pride of our sins, for the aggressiveness of those whom You created with so much love, for the hatred of men who always receive all Your love if only they come to You. My Lord Jesus, I come humbly before You, everlasting fountain of healing and life, Powerful Source of our Resurrection, food for our souls, eternal refuge of Divine Light, gate to the Majesty and Glory of the Father and our only hope and salvation.

Divine Merciful Lord, I pray and beseech on behalf of all humanity for Your Mercy and compassion, for Your healing and blessings and for Your Salvation.

O Precious Treasure from Heaven, You who are hidden to the proud, fill my heart with humility and purity that I may be worthy to receive the promises of everlasting life in Your Glory with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Lord into Your Sacred Heart I place my heart united to all my needs and desires, I present humbly my petitions, please listen to my plea, embrace me with Your love, respond to my soul, look at me Your child who comes attracted by Your love. Father, in Your crucified Body I reverently place my sinfulness, my sicknesses and those of the people that I pray for; since You bore our
diseases and infirmities, since You endured our sufferings and paid for our sins. Please dissolve them in Your mercy; grant me these petitions in Your Holy Name. Amen.

Little Chaplet of the Five Wounds of Jesus Crucified

Meditation 1:
O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your left Foot. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would grant
me the pardon of my sins of which I repent with my whole heart, because they have offended Your infinite goodness. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.


Meditation 2:
O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your right Foot. I thank You
for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would give me the strength not to fall into mortal sin and to persevere in Your grace until my death. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.


Meditation 3:
O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your left Hand. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would deliver me from hell which I have so often deserved, a place where I could never love You again. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.


Meditation 4:
O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your right Hand. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would give me the glory of paradise where I shall love You perfectly and with all my strength. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.


Meditation 5:
O my Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the Wound in Your Side. I thank You for having suffered this Wound for me with so much sorrow and with so much love. I feel compassion for Your pain and for the pain of Your afflicted Mother, who alone felt all Your pain. By the merit of this Sacred Wound, I pray that You would grant me the gift of holy love for You, so that I may love You in this life and in the other life-- face to face, for all eternity in paradise. O Sorrowful Mother, pray to Jesus for me.

NOVENA PRAYERS FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS AND THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS

NOVENA PRAYERS FOR THE SALVATION OF SOULS AND THE CONVERSION OF SINNERS

After each invocation say:
My Jesus, pardon and mercy through Thy Sacred Wounds

O Jesus, Thou didst suffer and die that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness. Through the Agony of Thine Crown of Thorns I offer it to Thy Eternal Father that Thou wilt hear our pleas for further the grace of final perseverance for the just and mercy on sinners:
My dear parents and grandparents,
My brothers and sisters and other near relatives,
My godparents and sponsors of Confirmation,
My spiritual and temporal benefactors,
My friends and neighbors,
All for whom love or duty bids me pray,
Those who have offended me, Those who will offend me, Those who have suffered disadvantage of harm through me,
Those whom I, still a sinner, will offend,
Those who are especially beloved by Thee,
Those whose death is near at hand,
Those who desire most to be united to Thee,
Those who endure the greatest sufferings and trials, especially spiritual torments, Those whose death is most remote,
Those sinners have no one to pray for them,
Those who are most deserving on account of their services to the Church,
The rich who do not need Thee and are thus the most destitute,
The mighty who spurn Thee, The spiritually blind, that they might see their folly,
The frivolous, who spend their time in idleness,
The poor, who do not seek the treasures of Heaven,
The tepid, who devote little time to prayer,
The indolent, who neglect to perform good works,
Those of little faith, who neglect the frequent reception of the Sacraments,
The habitual sinners, who require for their salvation to a miracle of grace,
Parents who fail to watch over their children,
Superiors who are not solicitous for the salvation of those entrusted to them, Those who strive for worldly riches and pleasures,
The worldly minded, who fail to use their wealth and talents in the service of God, Those who witness the death of others, but do not think of their own,
Those who blaspheme and commitsacrilege,
Those who violate the dignity of the human body and mind through impurity,
Those who sin because of my sins and bad example,
Those who do not provide for the life hereafter,
Those whose judgment will be severe because of the great things entrusted to them,
The pope, kings and rulers, The bishops and their counselors,
My teachers and spiritual advisors,
The priests of this diocese,
The priests and religious of the Catholic Church,
The defenders of the holy Catholic Faith,
Those who die on the battlefield,
Those who fight for their country,
Those who will be buried in the sea,
Those who are to die suddenly, in accidents and from other causes,
Those who will die of heart attacks,
Those who suffer with cancer, Those who suffer with AIDS, Those who shall die without the last rites of the Church, Those who shall die within the next twenty-four hours,
For Catholic apostates, heretics, and other unbelievers,
For Catholics who hold Masonic membership or in other secret societies,
For the conversion of the Jews, Thy chosen people of old,
For abortionsists and those who aid them,
For women who seek abortions,
For those who promote or practicre contraception,
For those who give scandal, especially to children,
My own poor soul when I shall have to appear before Thy judgment seat.

PRAYER

Final perseverance and pardon grant unto all of these, O Lord; and let Thy graces through these petitions flow unto them and be fruitful. Amen.

Searching for Signs of God in a Distracted World ¤ Pope Benedict XVI

Dear Brothers and Sisters, In our Catechesis last week I spoke of
the Revelation of God as a
communication he makes of himself
and of his benevolent and loving
purpose. This Revelation of God fits
into human time and history: a history that becomes "the arena where we
see what God does for humanity. God
comes to us in the things we know
best and can verify most easily, the
things of our everyday routine, apart
from which we cannot understand ourselves" (cf. John Paul II, Encyclical
Fides et Ratio, n. 12). St Mark the Evangelist - as we have
heard - records the very start of
Jesus' preaching in clear and concise
words: "the time is fulfilled, and the
kingdom of God is at hand" (Mk 1:15).
What illuminates and gives full meaning to the history of the world
and of man begins to shine out in the
Bethlehem Grotto; it is the Mystery
which, in a little while, we shall be
contemplating at Christmas: salvation,
brought about in Jesus Christ. In Jesus of Nazareth God shows his face and
asks man to choose to recognize and
follow him. God's revelation of himself
in history in order to enter into a
relationship of loving dialogue with
man, gives new meaning to the whole human journey. History is not a mere
succession of centuries, years or days,
but the time span of a presence that
gives full meaning and opens it to
sound hope. Where can we read the stages of this
Revelation of God? Sacred Scripture is
the best place for discovering the
steps of this process, and, I would like
- once again - to invite everyone, in
this Year of Faith, to open the Bible more often, to hold, read and meditate
on it and to pay greater attention to
the Readings of Sunday Mass; all this is
precious nourishment for our faith. In
reading the Old Testament we can see
how God intervenes in the history of the chosen people, the people with
whom he made a covenant: these are
not fleeting events that fade into
oblivion. Rather, they become a
"memory", taken together they
constitute the "history of salvation", kept alive in the consciousness of the
People of Israel through the
celebration of the salvific events. Thus,
in the Book of Exodus, the Lord
instructs Moses to celebrate the Jewish
Passover, the great event of the liberation from slavery in Egypt, with
these words: "This day shall be for you
a memorial day, and you shall keep it
as a feast to the Lord; throughout your
generations you shall observe it as an
ordinance for ever" (12:14). Commemorating what God has
brought about becomes a sort of
constant imperative for the whole
People of Israel, so that the passing of
time may be marked by the living
memory of past events which, in this way, day after day, form history and
live on. In the Book of Deuteronomy Moses
addresses the people saying: "Only
take heed, and keep your soul
diligently, lest you forget the things
which your eyes have seen, and lest
they depart from your heart all the days of your life; make them known to
your children and your children's
children" (4:9). Consequently he also tells us: "be
careful not to forget the things that
God has done for us". Faith is
nourished by the discovery and
memory of the ever faithful God who
guides history and constitutes the sound and permanent foundation on
which to build our life. The Canticle of
the Magnificat, which the Virgin Mary
addresses to God, is a lofty example of
this history of salvation, of this
memory that makes and keeps God's action present. Mary exalts God's
merciful action in the actual journey of
his people, his fidelity to the promises
of the covenant that he made to
Abraham and his descendents; and all
this is a living memory of the divine presence that is never absent (cf. Lk
1:46-55). For Israel, the Exodus is the central
historical event in which God reveals
his powerful action. God sets the
Israelites free from slavery in Egypt so
that they may return to the Promised
Land and worship him as the one true Lord. Israel does not set out to be a
people like others - so that it might
have national independence - but
also to serve God in worship and in
life, to create a place for God where
men and women are obedient to him, where God is present and worshipped
in the world - and of course, not only
among the Israelites - but to witness
to him also among the other peoples. The celebration of this event is to
make him present here and now, so
that God's action may not be lacking.
He fulfilled his plan of liberation and
continues to pursue it so that men and
women may recognize and serve their Lord and respond to his action with
faith and love. So it was that God revealed himself not
only in the primordial act of the
Creation, but also by entering our
history, the history of a small people
which was neither the largest nor the
strongest. And this self- revelation of God, which develops through history,
culminates in Jesus Christ: God, the
Logos, the creative Word who is the
origin of the world, took on flesh in
Jesus and in him showed the true face
of God. In Jesus every promise is fulfilled, the
history of God with humanity
culminates in him. When we read the
account of the two disciples on their
way to Emmaus which St Luke has
written down for us, we become clearly aware of the fact that the
Person of Christ illuminates the Old
Testament, the whole history of
salvation, and shows the great unitive
design of the two Testaments, it shows
the path to his oneness. Jesus, in fact, explains to the two bewildered and
disappointed wayfarers that he is the
fulfilment of every promise: "and
beginning with Moses and all the
prophets, he interpreted to them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself" (24:27). The Evangelist
records the exclamation of the two
disciples after they had recognized
that their travelling companion was
the Lord: "Did not our hearts burn
within us while he talked to us on the road, while he opened to us the
scriptures?" (v. 32). The Catechism of the Catholic Church
summarizes the development of Divine
Revelation (cf. nn. 54-64): From the
very first the Lord invited men and
women to intimate communion with
himself and, even when through disobedience they lost his friendship,
God did not abandon them to the
power of death but time and again
offered them covenants (cf. Roman
Missal, Eucharistic Prayer IV). The Catechism retraces God's journey
with man from the Covenant with
Noah after the flood, to the call to
Abraham to leave his land to be made
the father of a multitude of peoples.
God forms his People Israel in the event of the Exodus, in the Covenant
of Sinai and in the gift, through Moses,
of the Law, in order to be recognized
and served as the one living and true
God. With the prophets, God forms his
People in the hope of salvation. We know - through Isaiah - of the
"second Exodus", the return of the
People from the Babylonian Captivity
to their own land, its refoundation; at
the same time, however, many were
dispersed and in this way began the universality of this faith. In the end,
not only a King, David, a son of David,
was awaited, but a "Son of man", the
salvation of all peoples. Encounters
between cultures took place, first with
Babylon and Syria, then also with the Greek multitude. Thus we see how
God's path broadens, how it unfolds
increasingly towards the Mystery of
Christ, King of the Universe. In Christ
the Revelation in its fullness, God's
benevolent purpose, is brought about at last: he makes himself one of us. I have reflected on remembering
God's action in human history to show
the stages of this great plan of love,
witnessed in the Old and New
Testaments. It is a single plan of
salvation, addressed to the whole of humanity, gradually revealed and
realized through the power of God, in
which God always reacts to man's
responses and finds the new
beginnings of a covenant when man
strays. This is fundamental in the journey of
faith. We are in the liturgical season of
Advent which prepares us for Holy
Christmas. As we all know, "advent"
means "coming", "presence", and in
ancient times it meant, precisely, the arrival of the king or emperor in a
specific province. For Christians the
word means a marvellous and
overwhelming reality: God himself has
crossed the threshold of his heaven
and has lowered himself to man; he has made a covenant with him,
entering the history of a people; he is a
king who came down to this poor
province which is the earth, and made
a gift to us of his visit, taking our flesh
and becoming a man like us. Advent invites us to retrace the journey of this
presence and reminds us over and
over again that God did not take
himself away from the world, he is not
absent, he has not left us to ourselves,
but comes to meet our needs in various ways that we must learn to
discern. And we too, with our faith,
our hope and our charity, are called
every day to perceive this presence
and to witness to it in the world that is
often superficial and distracted, and to make the light that illuminated the
Grotto of Bethlehem shine out. Thank
you.

THE FIFTEEN BEAUTIFUL PRAYER

The Fifteen Prayers Revealed by Our Lord to Saint Bridget of Sweden In the Church of St. Paul at Rome Are published under sanction of the Decree of November 18, 1966, published in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis, Vol. 58, No. 16 of December 29, 1966. Prayers Approved by Pope Pius IX Magnificent Promises to Saint Bridget of Sweden Pope Benedict XV expressed himself as follows on the Revelations of St. Bridget: "The approbation of such revelations implies nothing more than, after mature examination, it is permissible to publish them for the unit of the faithful. Though they don't merit the same credence as the truths of religion, one can, however, believe them out of human faith, conforming to the rules of prudence by which they are probable, and supported by sufficient motives that one might believe in them piously.
(Les Petits Bollandistes, tome XII) The 14th of June 1303, at the moment Bridget was born, Benedict, the curate of Rasbo, prayed for the happy deliverance of Ingeborde. Suddenly he found himself enveloped by a luminous cloud out of which Our Lady appeared:
"A child has been born at Birger; her voice will be heard by the entire world."
Sagii, die XXIV Aprilis 1903
Imprimature.
FJ. Girard, V.G.
These prayers and these Promises have been copied from a book printed in Toulouse in 1740 and published by the P. Adrien parvilliers of the Company of Jesus, Apostolic Missionary of the Holy Land, with approbation, permission and recommendation to distribute them.
Parents and teachers who will read them to young infants for at least one year will assure their being preserved for life from any grave accident which would involve the loss of one of their five senses.
Pope Pius IX took cognizance of these Prayers with the prologue; he approved them May 31, 1862, recognizing them as true and for the good of Souls. This sentence of Pope Pius IX has been confirmed by the realization of the promises by all persons who have recited the prayers and by numerous supernatural facts by which God wanted to make known their exact truth. A collection of small books, these prayers among them, was approved by the Great Congress of Malines on August 22, 1863. Question - Must one recite the prayers everyday without interruption to obtain the privileges?

Answer - One should miss saying them as few times as possible; but if for a serious reason one is obliged to miss them, one doesn't lose the privileges attached to them, as long as one recites 5480 Prayers during the year. One must say them with devotion and concentrate on the words one pronounces. These prayers
can serve as the Way of the Cross.
Visitors to the Church of St. Paul at Rome can see the crucifix, above the Tabernacle in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel, sculptured by Pierre Cavallini, before which St. Bridge knelt when she received these 15 prayers from Our Lord. The following inscription is placed in the church to commemorate the event: "Pendentis, Pendente Dei verba accepit aure accipit et verbum corde Brigitta Deum. Anno Jubilei MCCCL." As St. Bridget for a long time wanted to
know the number of blows Our Lord received during His Passion, He one day appeared to her and said: "I received 5480 blows on My Body. If you wish to honor them in some way, say 15 Our Fathers and 15 Hail Mary's with the following Prayers (which He taught her) for a whole year. When the year is up, you will have honored each one of My Wounds." Our Lord made the following promises to anyone who recited the 15 St. Bridget Prayers for a whole year:
Promises
1. I will deliver 15 souls of his lineage from Purgatory.
2. 15 souls of his lineage will be confirmed and preserved in grace.
3. 15 sinners of his lineage will be converted.
4. Whoever recites these Prayers will attain in the first degree of perfection.
5. 15 days before his death I will give him My Precious Body in order that he may escape eternal starvation; I will give him My Precious Blood to drink lest he thirst eternally.
6. 15 days before his death he will feel a deep contrition for all his sins and will have a perfect knowledge of them.
7. I will place before him the sign of My Victorious Cross for his help and defense against the attacks of his enemies.
8. Before his death I shall come with My Dearest Beloved Mother.
9. I shall graciously receive his soul, and will lead it into eternal joys.
10. And having led it there I shall give him a special draught from the fountain of My Deity, something I will not for those who have not recited My Prayers.
11. Let it be known that whoever may have been living in the state of mortal sin for 30 years, but who will recite devoutly, or have the intention to recite these Prayers, the Lord will forgive him all his sins.
12. I shall protect him from strong temptations.
13. I shall preserve and guard his 5 senses.
14. I shall preserve him from a sudden death.
15. His soul will be delivered from eternal death.
16. He will obtain all he asks for from God and the Blessed Virgin.
17. If he has lived all his life doing his own will and he is to die the next day, his life will be prolonged.
18. Every time one recites these Prayers he gains 100 days indulgence.
19. He is assured of being joined to the supreme Choir of Angels.
20. Whoever teaches these Prayers to another, will have continuous joy and merit which will endure eternally. 21. There where these prayer are being said or will be said in the future God is present with His grace.


First Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus Christ! Eternal Sweetness to those who love Thee, joy surpassing all joy and all desire, Salvation and Hope of all sinners, Who hast proved that Thou hast no greater desire than to be among men, even assuming human nature at the fullness of time for the love of men, recall all the sufferings Thou hast endured from the
instant of Thy conception, and especially during Thy Passion, as it was decreed and ordained from all eternity in the Divine plan.

Remember, O Lord, that during the Last
Super with Thy disciples, having washed their feet, Thou gavest them Thy Most Precious Body and Blood, and while at the same time Thou didst sweetly console them, Thou didst foretell them Thy coming Passion.

Remember the sadness and bitterness which Thou didst experience in Thy Soul as Thou Thyself bore witness saying: "My Soul is sorrowful even unto death."

Remember all the fear, anguish and pain that Thou didst suffer in Thy delicate Body before the torment of the Crucifixion, when, after having prayed three times, bathed in a sweat of blood, Thou wast betrayed by Judas, Thy disciple, arrested by the people of a nation Thou hadst chosen and elevated, accused by false witnesses, unjustly judged by three judges during the flower of Thy youth and during the solemn Paschal season.

Remember that Thou wast despoiled of Thy garments and clothed in those of derision; that Thy Face and Eyes were veiled, that Thou wast buffeted, crowned with thorns, a reed placed in Thy Hands, that Thou was crushed with blows and overwhelmed with affronts and outrages. In memory of all these pains and sufferings which Thou didst endure before Thy Passion on the Cross, grant me before my death true contrition, a sincere and entire confession, worthy satisfaction and the remission of all my sins. Amen



Second Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! True liberty of angels, Paradise of delights, remember the horror and sadness which Thou didst endure when Thy enemies, like furious lions, surrounded Thee, and by thousands of insults, spits, blows, lacerations and other unheard-of- cruelties, tormented Thee at will. In consideration of these torments and insulting words, I beseech Thee, O my Savior, to deliver me from all my enemies, visible and invisible, and to bring me, under Thy protection, to the perfection of eternal salvation. Amen



Third Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Creator of Heaven and earth Whom nothing can encompass or limit,
Thou Who dost enfold and hold all under Thy Loving power, remember the very bitter pain Thou didst suffer when the Jews nailed Thy Sacred Hands and Feet to the Cross by blow after blow with big blunt nails, and not finding Thee in a pitiable enough state to satisfy their rage, they enlarged Thy Wounds, and added pain to pain, and with indescribable cruelty stretched Thy Body on the Cross, pulled Thee from all sides, thus dislocating Thy Limbs. I beg of Thee, O Jesus, by the memory of this most Loving suffering of the Cross, to grant me the grace to fear Thee and to Love Thee. Amen.



Fourth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Heavenly Physician, raised aloft on the Cross to heal our wounds with Thine, remember the bruises which Thou didst suffer and the weakness of all Thy Members which were distended to such a degree that never was there pain like unto Thine. From the crown of Thy Head to the Soles of Thy Feet there was not one spot on Thy Body that was not in torment, and yet , forgetting all Thy sufferings, Thou didst not cease to pray to Thy heavenly Father for Thy enemies, saying "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Through this great Mercy, and in memory of this suffering, grant that the remembrance of Thy Most Bitter Passion may effect in us a perfect contrition and the remission of all our sins. Amen.



Fifth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Mirror of eternal splendor, remember the sadness which Thou experienced, when contemplating in the light of Thy Divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy Sacred passion, Thou didst see at the same time, the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and Thou didst complain bitterly of those hopeless lost and unfortunate sinners. Through this abyss of compassion and
pity, and especially through the goodness which Thou displayed to the good thief when Thou saidst to him: "This day, thou shalt be with Me in
paradise." I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, that at the hour of my death, Thou wilt show me mercy. Amen.



Sixth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Beloved and most desirable King, remember the grief Thou didst suffer, when naked and like a common criminal, Thou was fastened and raised on the Cross, when all Thy relatives and friends abandoned Thee, except Thy Beloved Mother, who remained close to Thee during Thy agony and whom Thou didst entrust to Thy faithful disciple when Thou saidst to Mary: "Woman, behold thy son!" and to St. John: "Son, behold thy
Mother!" I beg of Thee O my Savior, by the sword of sorrow which pierced the soul of Thy holy Mother, to have compassion on me in all my affliction and tribulations, both corporal and spiritual, and to assist me in all my trials, and especially at the hour of my death. Amen



Seventh Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Inexhaustible Fountain of compassion, Who by a profound gesture of Love, said from the Cross: "I thirst!" suffered from the thirst for the salvation of the human race. I beg of Thee O my Savior, to inflame in our hearts the desire to tend toward perfection in all our acts; and to extinguish in us the concupiscence of the flesh and the ardor of worldly desires. Amen



Eighth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Sweetness of hearts, delight of the spirit, by the bitterness of the vinegar and gall which Thou didst taste on the Cross for Love of us, grant us the grace to receive worthily Thy Precious Body and Blood during our life and at the hour of our death, that they may serve as a remedy and consolation for our souls. Amen



Ninth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Royal virtue, joy of the mind, recall the pain Thou didst endure when, plunged in an ocean of bitterness at the approach of death, insulted, outraged by the Jews, Thou didst cry out in a loud voice that Thou was abandoned by Thy Father, saying: "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken me?" Through this anguish, I beg of Thee, O my Savior, not to abandon me in the terrors and pains of my death. Amen



Tenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Who art the beginning and end of all things, life and virtue, remember that for our sakes Thou was plunged in an abyss of suffering from the soles of Thy Feet to the crown
of Thy Head. In consideration of the enormity of Thy Wounds, teach me to keep, through pure love, Thy Commandments, whose way is wide and easy for those who love Thee. Amen



Eleventh Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Deep abyss of mercy, I beg of Thee, in memory of Thy Wounds which penetrated to the very marrow of Thy Bones and to the depth of Thy being, to draw me, a miserable sinner, overwhelmed by my offenses, away from sin and to hide me from Thy Face justly irritated against me, hide me in Thy Wounds, until Thy anger and just indignation shall have passed away. Amen



Twelfth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Mirror of Truth, symbol of unity, link of Charity, remember the multitude of wounds with which Thou was covered from head to foot, torn and reddened by the spilling of Thy adorable blood. O great and universal pain which Thou didst suffer in Thy virginal flesh for love of us! Sweetest Jesus! What is there that Thou couldst have done for us which Thou hast not done! May the fruit of Thy sufferings be renewed in my soul by the faithful remembrance of Thy passion, and may
Thy love increase in my heart each day, until I see Thee in eternity, Thou Who art the treasury of every real good and every joy, which I beg Thee to grant me, O sweetest Jesus, in Heaven. Amen



Thirteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Strong Lion, Immortal and Invincible King, remember the pain which Thou didst endure when all Thy strength, both moral and physical, was
entirely exhausted, Thou didst bow Thy head, saying: "It is consummated!" Through this anguish and grief, I beg of Thee Lord Jesus, to have mercy on me at the hour of my death when my mind will be greatly troubled and my soul will be in anguish. Amen



Fourteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! Only Son of the Father, splendor and figure of His substance remember the simple and humble recommendation Thou didst make of Thy Soul to Thy Eternal Father, saying: "Father, into Thy Hands I commend My Spirit!" And with Thy body all torn, and Thy Heart broken, and the bowels of Thy mercy open to redeem us, Thou didst expire. By this precious death, I beg of Thee O King of Saints, comfort me and help me to resist the devil, the flesh and the world, so that being dead to the world I may live for Thee alone. I beg of Thee at the hour of my death to receive me, a pilgrim and an exile returning to Thee. Amen



Fifteenth Prayer

Our Father - Hail Mary.
O Jesus! True and fruitful Vine! Remember the abundant outpouring of Blood which Thou didst so generously shed from Thy Sacred Body as juice from grapes in a wine press. From Thy Side, pierced with a lance by a soldier, blood and water issued forth until there was not left in Thy Body a single drop, and finally, like a bundle of myrrh lifted to the top of the Cross, Thy delicate flesh was destroyed, the very Substance of Thy Body withered, and the Marrow of Thy Bones dried up. Through this bitter Passion and through the outpouring of Thy precious Blood, I beg of Thee, O Sweet Jesus, to receive my soul when I am in my death agony. Amen



Conclusion O Sweet Jesus! Pierce my heart so that my tears of penitence and love will be my bread day and night; may I be converted entirely to Thee, may my heart be Thy perpetual habitation, may
my conversation be pleasing to Thee, and my the end of my life be so praiseworthy that I may merit Heaven and there with Thy saints, praise Thee forever. Amen

PRAYERS IN HONOR OF CHRIST'S WOUNDS, PASSION, AND DEATH

PASSION OF CHRIST, STRENGTHEN ME!


Passion of Christ, strengthen me! Strengthen me under the pressure of temptation. Strengthen me when principle is at stake. Strengthen me to do Your Will, My God. Strengthen me in moments of suffering, in times of loneliness, in periods of depression. Strengthen me that I may never swerve from You, dear Christ, nor weaken through human respect, through a desire to be popular, through hope of social distinction. Strengthen me to accept my cross and carry it generously to the end. On the battlefield of life, stand by me that I may never prove a traitor in the ranks. Stand by me that I may not be dazzled by the glitter and glow of the enemy camp. Amen.





PRAYER IN THE STEPS OF THE PASSION


Most dear Jesus, filled with sorrow during the agony in the garden, covered with a sweat of blood while praying, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, delivered into the hands of the wicked by a kiss, bound like a robber, and abandoned by Your disciples, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, condemned to death by an unjust Council, taken as an evildoer before Pilate, and ridiculed by the wicked Herod, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, publicly shorn of Your garments, and most cruelly scourged at the pillar, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, crowned with thorns, beaten and blindfolded, clothed in rich purple and mocked, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, likened to the infamous Barabbas, rejected by Your people, and unjustly sentenced to death, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, burdened with the weight of the Cross and led to the place of execution like a lamb to the slaughter, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, reckoned with the wicked, blasphemed, and derided, and given gall to drink to mitigate Your pain, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, dying on the Cross in the presence of Mary, pierced with a lance that drew blood and water from Your side, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, taken down and placed in the arms of Your Sorrowful Mother, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Most dear Jesus, horribly bruised and marked with five wounds, annointed for burial and placed in a tomb, have mercy on us, O Lord.
My Jesus, I thank You for dying on the
Cross for my sins. Have mercy on us, O Lord. Amen.





PAYER TO IMITATE THE SUFFERING CHRIST


Christ O Jesus, You have called me to suffer because You on Your part suffered for me, leaving me an example that I might follow. When You were insulted, You did not return the insult. When You were mistreated, You did not counter with threats but entrusted Yourself to the One Who judges justly. By Your wounds we are healed. Help
me to imitate You in suffering. Let me break with sin by means of my sufferings, so that I may no longer live according to the lusts of sinners but according to the will of the Father. Since You Yourself have suffered and been tempted, I know that You are able to bring aid to all who suffer and are tempted. I entrust myself to You and to the Father, my Creator, knowing that You will never fail me. Amen.





PRAYER TO JESUS ON THE CROSS


O Jesus, for how many ages have You been on the Cross and yet people pass by in utter disregard of You except to pierce once again Your Sacred Heart. How often have I passed You by, heedless of Your overwhelming sorrow, Your countless wounds, Your infinite love. How often have I stood before You, not to comfort and console You, but to offend You by my conduct or neglect of You, to scorn Your love. You have stretched out Your Hands to comfort me, and I have seized those Hands - that might have consigned me to hell - and have bent them back upon the Cross, nailing them rigid and helpless to it. Yet I have only succeeded in imprinting my name
on Your palms forever. You have loved me with an infinite love and I have taken advantage of that love to sin all the more against You. Yet my ingratitude has only succeeded in piercing Your Sacred Heart and causing Your Precious Blood to flow forth upon me. O Jesus, let Your Blood be upon me, not for a curse, but for a blessing. Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world. Have mercy on me. Amen.





BY THE PASSION OF YOUR BLESSED SON


O God, by the passion of Your blessed Son You made an instrument of shameful death to be for us the means of life: Grant us so to glory in the cross of Christ, that we may gladly suffer shame and loss for the sake of Your Son, our Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.





PRAYER TO THE WOUND OF JESUS' SHOULDER


(It is related in the annals of Clairvaux that St. Bernard asked Our Lord which was His greatest unrecorded suffering, and Our Lord answered: "I had on My Shoulder, while I bore My cross on the Way of Sorrows, a grievous Wound, which was more painful than the others, and which is not recorded by men. Honor this Wound with thy devotion, and I will grant thee whatsoever thou dost ask through Its virtue and merit. And in regard to all those who shall venerate this Wound, I will remit to them all their venial sins, and will no longer remember their mortal sins.")



O most loving Jesus, meek Lamb of God, I, a miserable sinner, salute and worship the most sacred Wound of Thy Shoulder on which Thou didst bear Thy heavy cross, which so tore Thy Flesh and laid bare Thy Bones as to inflict on Thee an anguish greater than any other wound of Thy most blessed Body. I adore Thee, O Jesus most sorrowful; I praise and glorify Thee, and give Thee thanks for this most sacred and painful Wound, beseeching Thee by that exceeding pain, and by the crushing burden of Thy heavy cross, to be merciful to me, a sinner, to forgive me all my mortal and venial sins, and to lead me on toward heaven along the Way of the Cross. Amen.

IF YOU CAN'T BEAT THEM! PLEASE RUN!

There is an adage which says that "IF YOU CAN NOT BEAT THEM! YOU JOIN THEM! This is absolutely wrong. Please IF YOU CAN NOT BEAT THEM! RUN! RUN AWAY FROM THEM! Don't let them to deceive YOU!

Message for the World Day of Peace 2013 Pope Benedict XVI

Message of Pope Benedict XVI for the
celebration of the World Day of Peace
on 1 January 2013 Blessed are the peacemakers The following is the English text of
ther Holy Father's message for the
World Day of Peace that will be
celebrated on 1 January 2013. The
Message was dated 8 December
[2012]. 1. EACH NEW YEAR brings the
expectation of a better world. In light
of this, I ask God, the Father of
humanity, to grant us concord and
peace, so that the aspirations of all for
a happy and prosperous life may be achieved. Fifty years after the beginning of the
Second Vatican Council, which helped
to strengthen the Church's mission in
the world, it is heartening to realize
that Christians, as the People of God in
fellowship with him and sojourning among mankind, are committed within
history to sharing humanity's joys and hopes, grief and anguish, 1 as they proclaim the salvation of Christ and
promote peace for all. In effect, our times, marked by
globalization with its positive and
negative aspects, as well as the
continuation of violent conflicts and
threats of war, demand a new, shared
commitment in pursuit of the common good and the development of all men,
and of the whole man. It is alarming to see hotbeds of tension
and conflict caused by growing
instances of inequality between rich
and poor, by the prevalence of a
selfish and individualistic mindset
which also finds expression in an unregulated financial capitalism. In
addition to the varied forms of
terrorism and international crime,
peace is also endangered by those
forms of fundamentalism and
fanaticism which distort the true nature of religion, which is called to
foster fellowship and reconciliation
among people. All the same, the many different efforts
at peacemaking which abound in our
world testify to mankind's innate
vocation to peace. In every person the
desire for peace is an essential
aspiration which coincides in a certain way with the desire for a full, happy
and successful human life. In other
words, the desire for peace
corresponds to a fundamental moral
principle, namely, the duty and right to
an integral social and communitarian development, which is part of God's
plan for mankind. Man is made for the
peace which is God's gift. All of this led me to draw inspiration
for this Message from the words of
Jesus Christ: "Blessed are the
peacemakers, for they will be called
children of God" (Mt 5:9). Gospel beatitude 2. The beatitudes which Jesus
proclaimed (cf. Mt 5:3-12 and Lk
6:20-23) are promises. In the biblical
tradition, the beatitude is a literary
genre which always involves some
good news, a "gospel", which culminates in a promise. Therefore, the
beatitudes are not only moral
exhortations whose observance
foresees in due time - ordinarily in
the next life - a reward or a situation
of future happiness. Rather, the blessedness of which the beatitudes
speak consists in the fulfilment of a
promise made to all those who allow
themselves to be guided by the
requirements of truth, justice and love.
In the eyes of the world, those who trust in God and his promises often
appear naïve or far from reality. Yet
Jesus tells them that not only in the
next life, but already in this life, they
will discover that they are children of
God, and that God has always been, and ever will be, completely on their
side. They will understand that they
are not alone, because he is on the
side of those committed to truth,
justice and love. Jesus, the revelation
of the Father's love, does not hesitate to offer himself in self-sacrifice. Once
we accept Jesus Christ, God and man,
we have the joyful experience of an
immense gift: the sharing of God's
own life, the life of grace, the pledge of
a fully blessed existence. Jesus Christ, in particular, grants us true peace,
which is born of the trusting
encounter of man with God. Jesus' beatitude tells us that peace is
both a messianic gift and the fruit of
human effort. In effect, peace
presupposes a humanism open to
transcendence. It is the fruit of the
reciprocal gift, of a mutual enrichment, thanks to the gift which has its source
in God and enables us to live with
others and for others. The ethics of
peace is an ethics of fellowship and
sharing. It is indispensable, then, that
the various cultures in our day overcome forms of anthropology and
ethics based on technical and practical
suppositions which are merely
subjectivistic and pragmatic, in virtue
of which relationships of coexistence
are inspired by criteria of power or profit, means become ends and vice
versa, and culture and education are
centred on instruments, technique and
efficiency alone. The precondition for
peace is the dismantling of the
dictatorship of relativism and of the supposition of a completely
autonomous morality which precludes
acknowledgment of the ineluctable
natural moral law inscribed by God
upon the conscience of every man and
woman. Peace is the building up of coexistence in rational and moral
terms, based on a foundation whose
measure is not created by man, but
rather by God. As Psalm 29 puts it:
"May the Lord give strength to his
people; may the Lord bless his people with peace" (v. 11). Peace: God's gift and the fruit of
human effort 3. Peace concerns the human person
as a whole, and it involves complete
commitment. It is peace with God
through a life lived according to his
will. It is interior peace with oneself,
and exterior peace with our neighbours and all creation. Above all,
as Blessed John XXIII wrote in his
Encyclical Pacem in Terris, whose
fiftieth anniversary will fall in a few
months, it entails the building up of a
coexistence based on truth, freedom, love and justice.2 The denial of what makes up the true nature of human
beings in its essential dimensions, its
intrinsic capacity to know the true and
the good and, ultimately, to know God
himself, jeopardizes peacemaking.
Without the truth about man inscribed by the Creator in the human heart,
freedom and love become debased,
and justice loses the ground of its
exercise. To become authentic peacemakers, it
is fundamental to keep in mind our
transcendent dimension and to enter
into constant dialogue with God, the
Father of mercy, whereby we implore
the redemption achieved for us by his only-begotten Son. In this way
mankind can overcome that
progressive dimming and rejection of
peace which is sin in all its forms:
selfishness and violence, greed and
the will to power and dominion, intolerance, hatred and unjust
structures. The attainment of peace depends
above all on recognizing that we are,
in God, one human family. This family
is structured, as the Encyclical Pacem in
Terris taught, by interpersonal
relations and institutions supported and animated by a communitarian
"we", which entails an internal and
external moral order in which, in
accordance with truth and justice,
reciprocal rights and mutual duties are
sincerely recognized. Peace is an order enlivened and integrated by love, in
such a way that we feel the needs of
others as our own, share our goods
with others and work throughout the
world for greater communion in
spiritual values. It is an order achieved in freedom, that is, in a way consistent
with the dignity of persons who, by
their very nature as rational beings,
take responsibility for their own actions.3 Peace is not a dream or something
utopian; it is possible. Our gaze needs
to go deeper, beneath superficial
appearances and phenomena, to
discern a positive reality which exists
in human hearts, since every man and woman has been created in the image
of God and is called to grow and
contribute to the building of a new
world. God himself, through the
incarnation of his Son and his work of
redemption, has entered into history and has brought about a new creation
and a new covenant between God and
man (cf. Jer 31:31-34), thus enabling
us to have a "new heart" and a "new
spirit" (cf. Ez 36:26). For this very reason the Church is
convinced of the urgency of a new
proclamation of Jesus Christ, the first
and fundamental factor of the integral
development of peoples and also of
peace. Jesus is indeed our peace, our justice and our reconciliation (cf. Eph
2:14; 2 Cor 5:18). The peacemaker,
according to Jesus' beatitude, is the
one who seeks the good of the other,
the fullness of good in body and soul,
today and tomorrow. From this teaching one can infer that
each person and every community,
whether religious, civil, educational or
cultural, is called to work for peace.
Peace is principally the attainment of
the common good in society at its different levels, primary and
intermediary, national, international
and global. Precisely for this reason it
can be said that the paths which lead
to the attainment of the common good
are also the paths that must be followed in the pursuit of peace. Peacemakers are those who love,
defend and promote life in its fullness 4. The path to the attainment of the
common good and to peace is above
all that of respect for human life in all
its many aspects, beginning with its
conception, through its development
and up to its natural end. True peacemakers, then, are those who
love, defend and promote human life
in all its dimensions, personal,
communitarian and transcendent. Life
in its fullness is the height of peace.
Anyone who loves peace cannot tolerate attacks and crimes against life. Those who insufficiently value human
life and, in consequence, support
among other things the liberalization
of abortion, perhaps do not realize
that in this way they are proposing the
pursuit of a false peace. The flight from responsibility, which degrades human
persons, and even more so the killing
of a defenceless and innocent being,
will never be able to produce
happiness or peace. Indeed how
could one claim to bring about peace, the integral development of peoples
or even the protection of the
environment without defending the
life of those who are weakest,
beginning with the unborn. Every
offence against life, especially at its beginning, inevitably causes
irreparable damage to development,
peace and the environment. Neither is
it just to introduce surreptitiously into
legislation false rights or freedoms
which, on the basis of a reductive and relativistic view of human beings and
the clever use of ambiguous
expressions aimed at promoting a
supposed right to abortion and
euthanasia, pose a threat to the
fundamental right to life. There is also a need to acknowledge
and promote the natural structure of
marriage as the union of a man and a
woman in the face of attempts to make
it juridically equivalent to radically
different types of union; such attempts actually harm and help to destabilize
marriage, obscuring its specific nature
and its indispensable role in society. These principles are not truths of faith,
nor are they simply a corollary of the
right to religious freedom. They are
inscribed in human nature itself,
accessible to reason and thus common
to all humanity. The Church's efforts to promote them are not therefore
confessional in character, but
addressed to all people, whatever
their religious affiliation. Efforts of this
kind are all the more necessary the
more these principles are denied or misunderstood, since this constitutes
an offence against the truth of the
human person, with serious harm to
justice and peace. Consequently, another important way
of helping to build peace is for legal
systems and the administration of
justice to recognize the right to invoke
the principle of conscientious
objection in the face of laws or government measures that offend
against human dignity, such as
abortion and euthanasia. One of the fundamental human rights,
also with reference to international
peace, is the right of individuals and
communities to religious freedom. At
this stage in history, it is becoming
increasingly important to promote this right not only from the negative point
of view, as freedom from - for
example, obligations or limitations
involving the freedom to choose one's
religion - but also from the positive
point of view, in its various expressions, as freedom for - for
example, bearing witness to one's
religion, making its teachings known,
engaging in activities in the
educational, benevolent and
charitable fields which permit the practice of religious precepts, and
existing and acting as social bodies
structured in accordance with the
proper doctrinal principles and
institutional ends of each. Sadly, even
in countries of long-standing Christian tradition, instances of religious
intolerance are becoming more
numerous, especially in relation to
Christianity and those who simply
wear identifying signs of their religion. Peacemakers must also bear in mind
that, in growing sectors of public
opinion, the ideologies of radical
liberalism and technocracy are
spreading the conviction that
economic growth should be pursued even to the detriment of the state's
social responsibilities and civil society's
networks of solidarity, together with
social rights and duties. It should be
remembered that these rights and
duties are fundamental for the full realization of other rights and duties,
starting with those which are civil and
political. One of the social rights and duties
most under threat today is the right to
work. The reason for this is that labour
and the rightful recognition of
workers' juridical status are
increasingly undervalued, since economic development is thought to
depend principally on completely free
markets. Labour is thus regarded as a
variable dependent on economic and
financial mechanisms. In this regard, I
would reaffirm that human dignity and economic, social and political factors,
demand that we continue "to prioritize
the goal of access to steady employment for everyone."4 If this ambitious goal is to be realized, one
prior condition is a fresh outlook on
work, based on ethical principles and
spiritual values that reinforce the
notion of work as a fundamental good
for the individual, for the family and for society. Corresponding to this
good are a duty and a right that
demand courageous new policies of
universal employment. Building the good of peace through a
new model of development and
economics 5. In many quarters it is now
recognized that a new model of
development is needed, as well as a
new approach to the economy. Both
integral, sustainable development in
solidarity and the common good require a correct scale of goods and
values which can be structured with
God as the ultimate point of reference.
It is not enough to have many
different means and choices at one's
disposal, however good these may be. Both the wide variety of goods
fostering development and the
presence of a wide range of choices
must be employed against the horizon
of a good life, an upright conduct that
acknowledges the primacy of the spiritual and the call to work for the
common good. Otherwise they lose
their real value, and end up becoming
new idols. In order to emerge from the present
financial and economic crisis - which
has engendered ever greater
inequalities - we need people,
groups and institutions which will
promote life by fostering human creativity, in order to draw from the
crisis itself an opportunity for
discernment and for a new economic
model. The predominant model of
recent decades called for seeking
maximum profit and consumption, on the basis of an individualistic and
selfish mindset, aimed at considering
individuals solely in terms of their
ability to meet the demands of
competitiveness. Yet, from another
standpoint, true and lasting success is attained through the gift of ourselves,
our intellectual abilities and our
entrepreneurial skills, since a
"liveable" or truly human economic
development requires the principle of
gratuitousness as an expression of fraternity and the logic of gift.5 Concretely, in economic activity,
peacemakers are those who establish
bonds of fairness and reciprocity with
their colleagues, workers, clients and
consumers. They engage in economic
activity for the sake of the common good and they experience this
commitment as something
transcending their self-interest, for the
benefit of present and future
generations. Thus they work not only
for themselves, but also to ensure for others a future and a dignified
employment. In the economic sector, states in
particular need to articulate policies of
industrial and agricultural
development concerned with social
progress and the growth everywhere
of constitutional and democratic states. The creation of ethical
structures for currency, financial and
commercial markets is also
fundamental and indispensable; these
must be stabilized and better
coordinated and controlled so as not to prove harmful to the very poor.
With greater resolve than has hitherto
been the case, the concern of
peacemakers must also focus upon
the food crisis, which is graver than
the financial crisis. The issue of food security is once more central to the
international political agenda, as a
result of interrelated crises, including
sudden shifts in the price of basic
foodstuffs, irresponsible behaviour by
some economic actors and insufficient control on the part of governments
and the international community. To
face this crisis, peacemakers are called
to work together in a spirit of
solidarity, from the local to the
international level, with the aim of enabling farmers, especially in small
rural holdings, to carry out their
activity in a dignified and sustainable
way from the social, environmental
and economic points of view. Education for a culture of peace: the
role of the family and institutions 6. I wish to reaffirm forcefully that the
various peacemakers are called to
cultivate a passion for the common
good of the family and for social
justice, and a commitment to effective
social education. No one should ignore or
underestimate the decisive role of the
family, which is the basic cell of society
from the demographic, ethical,
pedagogical, economic and political
standpoints. The family has a natural vocation to promote life: it
accompanies individuals as they
mature and it encourages mutual
growth and enrichment through
caring and sharing. The Christian
family in particular serves as a seedbed for personal maturation
according to the standards of divine
love. The family is one of the
indispensable social subjects for the
achievement of a culture of peace. The
rights of parents and their primary role in the education of their children in the
area of morality and religion must be
safeguarded. It is in the family that
peacemakers, tomorrow's promoters
of a culture of life and love, are born and nurtured.6 Religious communities are involved in
a special way in this immense task of
education for peace. The Church
believes that she shares in this great
responsibility as part of the new
evangelization, which is centred on conversion to the truth and love of
Christ and, consequently, the spiritual
and moral rebirth of individuals and
societies. Encountering Jesus Christ
shapes peacemakers, committing
them to fellowship and to overcoming injustice. Cultural institutions, schools and
universities have a special mission of
peace. They are called to make a
notable contribution not only to the
formation of new generations of
leaders, but also to the renewal of public institutions, both national and
international. They can also contribute
to a scientific reflection which will
ground economic and financial
activities on a solid anthropological
and ethical basis. Today's world, especially the world of politics, needs
to be sustained by fresh thinking and
a new cultural synthesis so as to
overcome purely technical approaches
and to harmonize the various political
currents with a view to the common good. The latter, seen as an ensemble
of positive interpersonal and
institutional relationships at the service
of the integral growth of individuals
and groups, is at the basis of all true
education for peace. A pedagogy for peacemakers 7. In the end, we see clearly the need
to propose and promote a pedagogy
of peace. This calls for a rich interior
life, clear and valid moral points of
reference, and appropriate attitudes
and lifestyles. Acts of peacemaking converge for the achievement of the
common good; they create interest in
peace and cultivate peace. Thoughts,
words and gestures of peace create a
mentality and a culture of peace, and a
respectful, honest and cordial atmosphere. There is a need, then, to
teach people to love one another, to
cultivate peace and to live with good
will rather than mere tolerance. A
fundamental encouragement to this is
"to say no to revenge, to recognize injustices, to accept apologies without
looking for them, and finally, to forgive",7 in such a way that mistakes and offences can be acknowledged in
truth, so as to move forward together
towards reconciliation. This requires
the growth of a pedagogy of pardon.
Evil is in fact overcome by good, and
justice is to be sought in imitating God the Father who loves all his children
(cf. Mt 5:21-48). This is a slow process,
for it presupposes a 2spiritual
evolution, an education in lofty values,
a new vision of human history. There
is a need to renounce that false peace promised by the idols of this world
along with the dangers which
accompany it, that false peace which
dulls consciences, which leads to self-
absorption, to a withered existence
lived in indifference. The pedagogy of peace, on the other hand, implies
activity, compassion, solidarity,
courage and perseverance. Jesus embodied all these attitudes in
his own life, even to the complete gift
of himself, even to "losing his life" (cf.
Mt 10:39; Lk 17:33; Jn 12:25). He
promises his disciples that sooner or
later they will make the extraordinary discovery to which I originally alluded,
namely that God is in the world, the
God of Jesus, fully on the side of man.
Here I would recall the prayer asking
God to make us instruments of his
peace, to be able to bring his love wherever there is hatred, his mercy
wherever there is hurt, and true faith
wherever there is doubt. For our part,
let us join Blessed John XXIII in asking
God to enlighten all leaders so that,
besides caring for the proper material welfare of their peoples, they may
secure for them the precious gift of
peace, break down the walls which
divide them, strengthen the bonds of
mutual love, grow in understanding,
and pardon those who have done them wrong; in this way, by his power
and inspiration all the peoples of the
earth will experience fraternity, and
the peace for which they long will ever flourish and reign among them.8 With this prayer I express my hope
that all will be true peacemakers, so
that the city of man may grow in
fraternal harmony, prosperity and
peace. From the Vatican, 8 December 2012