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Pope Francis recalls St. Alphonsus’ prayer for spiritual Communion..

April 1, 2020

In this time of health emergency in which Masses with the participation of the faithful are suspended in Italy and other countries, the Pope calls for spiritual Communion. During the morning celebration at Casa Santa Marta, he often recites the prayer of Saint Alphonsus Maria de Liguori.

Not being able to receive the Eucharist does not mean not being able to welcome Jesus within one’s heart. In the history of the Church, there is an ancient praxis, confirmed in particular by the Council of Trent, which Pope Francis recalled several times during this pandemic time. It is a spiritual communion, that is, with a prayer one expresses the ardent desire since it is not possible to receive sacramental communion, to welcome Jesus Christ at least spiritually. Inviting to Spiritual Communion, Pope Francis often recites this prayer of Saint Alphonsus Maria de’ Liguori during Masses in Santa Marta:

“My Jesus, I believe that you are truly present in the Most Blessed Sacrament. I love you above all things and desire you in my soul. Since I cannot receive you sacramentally now, come at least spiritually into my heart. As you have already come, I embrace you and with all my being unite myself with you; never let me be separated from you.”

“In this pandemic situation, in which we find ourselves living more or less isolated, – the Pope said at the Angelus of March 15th – we are invited to rediscover and deepen the value of communion that unites all members of the Church. United to Christ we are never alone, but we form one Body, of which He is the Head. It is a union that is nourished by prayer, and also by spiritual communion in the Eucharist, a practice very much recommended when it is not possible to receive the Sacrament”.

[…]

by Amedeo Lomonaco – Città del Vaticano – see full text (in Italian) on the page www.vaticannews.va

Fr Richard CSsR celebrating Mass - Sat 4th April 2020...

Get ready for Palm Sunday with Fr Denis CSsR...

Drawing on his extensive scriptural knowledge, and profound love of art,

Fr Denis McBride C.Ss.R. offers us a reflection for Palm Sunday.

Fr Casper CSsR celebrating Mass in Clapham SW4...

Lenten Narrative - Raising of Lazarus...

Our thank to Fr Denis McBride CSsR and Redemptorist Publications

We now reflect on the raising of Lazarus, which appears only in the fourth Gospel.
When someone we love dies, we become acutely aware of a large absence in our life, an absence that seems to fill the world. One person is dead; the world is depopulated. So much that appeared important before now pales into insignificance beside this hard loss.

Jesus felt this loss too but addresses it in the most remarkable way.

The Way of the Cross...

Read for us by Fr Dominic O'Toole CSsR

3 Lenten Narratives from the Gospel of John...

These four videos will help enorously in understanding the scriptures

and getting us in the right place to celebrate Easter.

We are grateful to Fr Denis McBride CSsR

Come back tomorrow!

Fr Denis McBride CSsR says

Welcome to our exploration of the great narrative in John’s Gospel where Jesus meets the woman of Samaria at a well; she immediately tries to end the conversation and disconnect from the encounter. Why?

In everyday life, what do you say after you say “Hello”? More basically, some people might ask, “How do you get to say hello to some people?” In a world where difference can often be seen as oddness, how do you go beyond the usual suspects and reach people totally different from you? The point about other people is that they are other. How do you devise a way of connecting with them, so that a conversation can begin? Or do you remain within the boundaries of your own limited world, connecting only with your “ain folk”?

Mass celebrated in St Mary's CSsR Church, Clapham, London...

3 Lenten Narratives from the Gospel of John...

These four videos will help enorously in understanding the scriptures

and getting us in the right place to celebrate Easter.

We are grateful to Fr Denis McBride CSsR

Come back tomorrow!

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St. Alphonsus in times of famine and epidemic...

Between the last quarter of 1763 and the autumn of 1764, R. Tellería, biographer of our saint, painted St. Alphonsus who lived in those years, a situation similar (except for the differences) to the one we live today with the Covid 19 virus.

“Father of the poor” he was called, and he was so not only because he distributed all his goods to them but also because he put in the distribution the warmth of the soul, the paternal entrails of the one who loved them in Jesus Christ and through Jesus Christ.

After a long year of taking possession of St. Agatha of the Goths; her diocese and the kingdom of Naples suffered months of famine (people died in the streets and on the roads) and mortality (plague of typhus).

How St. Alphonsus, Bishop of St. Agatha the Goths, lived, suffered and acted:

– Months before the Autumn of 1763, Alphonsus, while travelling through the parishes of his Diocese, had “seen with a superior light” the frost (famine) that threatened his whole Diocese and the Kingdom of Naples. For this purpose he bought 10 tons of beans and sent his secretary to provide himself with dry vegetables, to then distribute them to the poor.

– To make further purchases since the 10 tons of beans and the provisions of vegetables were gone in a flash, says R. Telleria: he had to sell or pawn: two valuable Episcopal rings, a golden breastplate, valuable tableware (spoons, forks…silver), the carriage and the mules…and other things; since the moneylenders did not want to give him credit because he was an old Bishop, a beggar and in debt.

– With some valuable objects from the episcopal see, refers his secretary Versella, we took a radical measure: to dent them so that they would not have buyers.

– He used all his ingenuity and eloquence to get help from the noble and rich of the Kingdom. His requests reached the Pope himself.

– As Bishop of St. Agatha, he had to be an intermediary, a peacemaker, between the people desperate for food and the wheat hoarders (municipal, dukes…etc.). Thanks to St. Alphonsus, the blood did not reach the river.

– Alfonso cried when he saw his people suffering from hunger and not being able to help them.

– He prayed to God and consoled his people by giving them material and spiritual bread (meditations, triduums…homilies…etc.)