Showing posts with label Head of Jesus - sacred. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Head of Jesus - sacred. Show all posts

Sunday, June 12, 2011

Teresa's Prayer To Mary

O Mary, I implore Thee by all the love and homage Thou hast bestowed on this Seat of Divine Wisdom before which the Cherubim and Seraphim lie prostrate in awe and trembling, fear and love, by this Sacred Head which Thou hast so often pressed on Thy Immaculate Heart and pillowed on Thy bosom. Oh Mary and Joseph, oh ye Choirs of Angels and glorious Assembly of Saints, raise now your minds, your hearts, and your hands to the adorable Trinity and beg the holy of Holies to look upon these warm vermilion drops of priceless worth, The Precious Blood of Jesus that have obeyed to the orders of His Divine Wisdom, ask Him through His obedience unto death, through the Wisdom and Love He has displayed towards His creatures, to arise and spread this light over the whole face of the earth. Where should we all be if it were not for His Infinite Wisdom and Love? In the Nothingness out of which He called all things. Then let all creatures acknowledge, praise, bless and love this Wisdom, let them adore the Sacred Head of Jesus as its Seat. Not my will but Thine be done. I mean that I am ready to await Thy good pleasure, but Oh Lord, Thou knowest how this fire burns within me, Thou knowest all things. My love and my desires are not hidden from Thee. Amen.

From the booklet: Teresa Helena Higginson and the devotion to The Sacred Head of Christ, Seat of Divine Wisdom

Prayer to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament

O DIVINE Jesus, lonely to-night in so many Tabernacles, without visitor or worshipper, I offer Thee my lonely heart, and may its beatings be a prayer of love to Thee. Thou art ever watching under Sacramental veils; in Thy Love Thou never sleepest, and art never weary in Thy vigil for sinners. O Loving Jesus, O Lovely Jesus, may my heart be a lamp, the light of which shall burn for Thee alone. Watch Sacramental Sentinel, watch for the weary world, for the erring soul and for Thy poor lonely child. Amen.
O Sacred Heart of Jesus, that I could water with my tears those places where the marks of Thy Love have been received only with contempt and indifference. In reparation for such injuries, I offer Thee the love of all just souls, the ardour of the angels, and above all, the tender sentiments of Thine Immaculate Mother. Permit me to unite with that offering the affections of my heart. Amen.

Complaints of the Soul of Our Blessed Lord

MY Soul is not known. My Soul is not loved. Night and day I see living lamps burning before My Altar. My Sacrament of love finds worshippers and victims; but My Soul does not meet with sympathising souls. Every day I give Myself to My creatures, and, swallowed up in this union, they praise everything in Me but My Soul and My Sacred Head crowned with thorns, the Seat of divine Wisdom... Each day My Cross is bathed with tears, and the daughters of Zion cannot be comforted, because they see me without brightness and beauty, but few there are who compassionate the anguish of My Soul, sorrowful unto death. My Heart has found thousands of hearts, but My Soul remains solitary, and My Thorn crowned Brow unhonoured. My Face besmeared, and My Eyes and Mouth filled with congealing Blood, and no one is there to wipe It away and refresh My parched Lips and swollen tongue.
"My Soul is Sorrowful even unto death, and I have looked for some one to comport Me and there is none."

From: Devotions to the Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord; Imprimatur: Jacobus Canonicus Carr, Pro Episcopo Liverpolitano.

Memorare to the Divine Soul

REMEMBER, O most Holy Soul of my Jesus, all Thou hast done  and suffered for my soul, and let it not perish. I beseech Thee, through the anguish that forced Thy very Hearts Blood from Thy Sacred Veins, and I conjure Thee to bathe mine, and all poor sinners in that precious Stream, which ran down in ruby drops upon the ground. Remember the deep and boundless love Thou hast shown to it, and drive not away from Thee, fainting under the weight of its miseries and sorrows. O deign to feel for its weakness; behold the dangers which encompass it on all sides, the evils which cause it to sigh and groan.
Full of trust and love, it comes to Thee, O most tender and compassionate of all Souls; receive it in Thy Mercy and Goodness; cause it to feel the effects of Thy most plentiful Redemption, and the excess of Thy burning love. Show Thyself its advocate with Thy Heavenly Father, in the name of all Thy merits, Thy humiliations, and sufferings, and grant its strength in all its struggles and grace to love and  console Thee in time, that it may possess, praise, and thank Thee for all eternity. Amen.
Soul of Jesus, sorrowful unto death, would that I could console Thee in Thy bitter anguish and grief.

From: Devotions to the Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord; Imprimatur: Jacobus Canonicus Carr, Pro Episcopo Liverpolitano.

Prayer to the Soul of Jesus Sorrowful unto Death

REMEMBER, O most sorrowful Soul of my Jesus, the fearful agony that Thou didst endure, when plunged into the depths of Thy Father's Justice and Wrath, Thou didst cry out, "My Father, if it be possible, let this bitter Chalice pass from me, nevertheless not My Will but Thine be done"; and when overwhelmed in deepest woe, Thou didst complain that "Thy Soul was sorrowful, even unto death"; and when agonising, dying, and deserted by all, even by Thine eternal Father, these words of wondrous mystery were wrung from Thee, "My God! My God! why hast Thou forsaken Me!"
Remember the sighs, the groans, the anguish of soul, the agony of mind, and the breaking of Thy Loving Heart. Remember the many stripes, the blows, the insults, the blasphemies, the thorns, the Blood, the Tears, the stripping of Thy garments, the shame, the prayers, the separation of Thy Holy Soul from Thine adorable Body.
Remember the Wisdom of Thy Sacred Head that contrived so much suffering, and would thus prove the Love of Thy Sacred Heart, for the souls of Thy children. Remember, too, what Mary suffered. Remember the price I have cost Thee, and when Thou beholdest all these fearful tortures, have mercy and pity on my soul, and forgive me through Thy Precious Blood. Why O my crucified, loving Jesus, are so many souls in darkness and sin? Art Thou not the Almighty God? the God of Wisdom, of Knowledge, of Light? Art Thou not our Creator, our Redeemer, our Sanctification, our holy and strong God? Why then is our enemy and Thine so bold? O Lord, for the love Thou hast for souls, for the price we have cost Thee, for the glory of Thy name, arise and show that Thou art the Living God. Lighten up every darkness by the Light of Thy Divine Wisdom; expel all heresies by spreading the Truth of Thy doctrines, and the beauty of the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Faith throughout all nations. Consume all hearts with the burning Fire of Thy Love. Draw all souls to Thy Soul, that we may console and comfort Thee here, by weeping over sin, which is the cause of Thine intense sorrow. Hide us, dear Jesus, in Thy Wounds, bathe our souls in Thy most precious Blood. Stamp Thy sacred Head and Face deeply in our hearts and souls, that we may never forget Thee, nor the sorrow we have caused Thee. Remember us, Lord in Thy Kingdom. Grant us Pardon and peace here, and eternal happiness in the world to come. Let us keep near Thee, Jesus, in Thy Sorrow, that we may be found worthy to dwell for ever with Thee, the Father, and the Holy Spirit, One God in Three distinct Persons, in the world without end.
Amen. Jesus, Mary, Joseph. Amen.

From: Devotions to the Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord. Imprimatur: Jacobus Canonicus Carr, Pro Episcopo Liverpolitano.

Prayer in Honour of the Sacred Head as The Seat of Divine Wisdom

MY Lord and my God, humbly prostrate before Thee, I adore Thy Sacred Head as the seat of Divine Wisdom, the Shrine of the Powers of Thy most holy Soul and Intellectual Faculties, and the centre of five Senses of Thine adorable Body.
When I gaze into the depths of this fathomless abyss of Goodness, Power, and Wisdom, which has contrived and instituted such unheard of ways and means of proving Thine infinite Love, and lavishing Thy choicest gifts upon me, Thy poor child, I am lost in astonishment and admiration.
O Light of lights, in whose glorious rays I see fresh mines of Wealth in the Sacred Heart; O Sun of Justice, in whose intense heat I feel the burning Love that consumes the Sacred Heart:
O Will, which was always in meek subjection to Thy heavenly Father's, control me in all things, as Thou didst govern all the affections and motions of the Sacred Heart of the God made Man.
O Understanding, which knows all things, ever guide me with Thy Light.
O Memory, in which past, present, and future are at once reflected, which is ever mindful of me, and always seems studying some new means of giving fresh favours, force me to love Thee more and more.
Oh! by the bright shining light of Thine Eyes, teach me to see Thee in all things; and by Thine Ears, which are ever open to the prayers of the needy, grant that I may ever hear the voice of Thy Church, and listen to Thy holy inspirations. Oh, give me always a love and a relish for what is right and just. Let me taste how sweet Thou art. Let me be drawn by the odour of Thy Virtues, and feel forever the intense joy of seeing, loving, praising, blessing and glorifying Thee for all eternity. O Flood of Light! Mine of Wealth! Ocean of Goodness! Sea of Mercy! Fountain of Living Waters! Fire of Love! Source of all Good! to Thee I consecrate myself with that I am or have. O Sacred Head, Seat of Divine Wisdom, Tabernacle of God with man; in Thee I behold at once a celestial and terrestrial Paradise, a new heaven, and a new Earth; the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven prepared and adorned as a bride glowing with light and glory, in whose sparkling crystals I behold all the attributes of the Godhead reflected as a sea of glass. O Rainbow of Peace! O Burning Bush! O Peerless Pearl! Storehouse of the Treasures of God! O Lamp, ever burning! Brightness unfading! Sun for ever shining! O Tree of Life! Life and Light of those who are Thine! O Seal of the Elect.
O Wisdom without beginning or end! Boundless knowledge! Love so great that we cannot understand it! To Thee I raise my prayer of love, reparation and thanksgiving from the centre of the Sacred Heart, where I safely hide; and I beg of Thee to accept, O my Jesus, all the treasures of this infinite mystery of love and riches, in atonement for my coldness, misery, and poverty. O Jesus, my beloved Jesus, I love Thee far more than I can tell; Jesus, my Spouse, and my treasure, I grieve that Thou art so little known and so much offended. Jesus, my Life and my Light, may all minds know Thee, all hearts love Thee, and all tongues praise Thee, now and for ever more, Amen. Jesus! Jesus! Jesus! O Seat of Divine Wisdom, have mercy on me, O Sacred Head and loving Heart, guide me with Thy Light, and consume me with Thy fire. Amen.

From: Devotions to the Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord, Imprimatur: Jacobus Canonicus Carr, Pro Episcopo Liverpolitano.

Prayer to the Sacred Head

O WISDOM of the Sacred Head, guide me in all my ways. Love of the Sacred Heart, consume me with thy fire.
Three Glorias, in honour of the Divine Will, Memory and Understanding.
O Seat of Divine Wisdom, and guiding Power, which governs all the motions and love of the Sacred Heart, may all minds know Thee, all hearts Love Thee, and all tongues praise Thee, now and for ever more.

Let Us Pray
DEAREST Jesus, teach me to be generous, teach me to serve Thee as Thou deservest, to give and not to count the cost, to fight and not to heed the wounds, to toil and not to seek for rest, to labour and not to ask for any reward, except to know that I do Thy Will, O my God.

From: Devotions to the Sacred Head of Our Blessed Lord - Imprimatur: Jacobus Canonicus Carr, Pro Episcopo Liverpolitano.

Saturday, February 05, 2011

Prayer of Teresa Higginson for the spread of devotion to the Sacred Head of Our Lord

O infinite Wisdom, boundless Love, how unsearchable are Thy ways! Make known, O Lord, Thy desire to have Thy Sacred Head honoured as the Seat of divine Wisdom, and to have Thy holy Soul, sorrowful unto death, comforted. Arise and show that Thou art the Almighty God. Make known the burning desire of Thy Sacred Heart. Make haste, O Lord, for Thy own dear sake.
Do not delay; I conjure Thee through Thy most Precious Blood, and for Thy bitter Passion's sake.
I ask Thee, O ever Blessed Trinity, in the holy name of Jesus, in honour of this same Seat of Divine Wisdom, and through the burning love of His Sacred Heart; I ask Thee in the name of Mary and Joseph, and for the salvation of souls, that Thou  wilt make known and spread this Devotion.
O Lord Thou knowest the desire with which I desire to satisfy Thee; yet how weak and helpless I am; and how little is yet done.
Speak, Lord, and say what Thou wouldst have us do.
Amen.

Imprimatur: Liverpolii die 13 Sep. 1931, + Ricardus Archiepiscopus Liverpolitanus.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Teresa Helena Higginson

Teresa HigginsonHere is the complete text of Teresa's biography by Lady Cecil Kerr, first published in 1926:

Haupt Christi - The Sacred Head of ChristServant of God, The Spouse of the Crucified, 1944-1905,
by Cecil Kerr

Teresa Higginson's great mission was to promote devotion to the Sacred Head of Our Lord as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, not as a substitute for devotion to the Sacred Heart, but as its perfection. At first this sounds a little strange! But it only takes some reflection to recognise the extraordinary sense it makes. It is the head that controls and directs the heart; wisdom guides love.

Sunday, June 22, 2008

The Healing Flame of Love

Herz Jesu IkoneHave you been disappointed in love? Alas, many people have. Even the great Saint Teresa complained that God had few friends because He treated them so roughly. (I'll bet she paid for this!) Many are frustrated in their hopes and dreams of an ideal love; disillusioned after a few years of married life; still unsatisfied after the endless pursuit of the pleasure they call love.
But, if God is love, our natural idea of love must of necessity be elevated if we are to be oriented to an eternal life of love. To many in religion, "vocation" was a story of falling in love with God. What dreams of peace and great conquests of souls! Alas, after many years of struggling, the heights look too chilly for climbing; the discomfort of the effort is seemingly out of proportion to what we are to get out of it.
We had fallen in love with God, I say, but now He does not seem to give us a feeling of being loved in return. He does not seem to speak to us to answer either our questions or our pleas for help. He must have forgotten all about us or there would be more communication between us. So we kind of sulk and miss the great significance of encountering God in the staggering possibilities that grace presents to us at each moment.
But, Christ has said "Behold this Heart which loves men so much". Do we really believe this? If we did, our eyes would sparkle, our hearts would be aflame and love would flow from our fingertips. God does speak to us but we must study and watch closely if we are to learn His language.
I must learn to understand what God wants of me by effects - what happens when I do this, when I ask for that. I must strive to penetrate the arrangement of circumstances, to see in each situation a setup for perfect success - or perfect failure. No, He does not seem to speak to me, but He does, though communication is below the level of consciousness - and this is where faith comes in. Many times He uses people to give answers - to push you when you need a push, a kind word when you need help. (You may be the instrument to bring someone into line, so take care that it is done with charity). Faith puts Him right near me when I am disposed to notice Him.
There are fabulous graces available to a person disappointed in love, for one of the wounds of crucifixion is to the heart. Crucifixion is following Christ and the short cut to sanctity.

GOD HAS A PLAN

God does have a plan - to save each one of us and to save th world. My life is not just a hit-or-miss business; there is a way planned out for me that will bring me to heaven. This is for everyone. He does not argue with us if we choose to deviate, but He gives us plenty of signals to make us stop and listen to Him. Just look around and see (in the various kinds of suffering) how hard He has to hit, yet people still will not listen.
Let us start with the fact that here is sufficient grace for all men to be saved (Christ redeemed all men). Therefore there is enough potential supernatural (not merely spiritual) energy available to save the world, if it is put to work. (Work is energy applied over a period of time.) Note that the activity must be supernatural, that is, directed by the will to God. The way to put it to work is to cooperate with God's will, God's plan to save the world. A reservoir can be a potential supply of water for a city. It is a supply, if there is a pipeline.
The Church is God's plan for the world. He works in an orderly way. Salvation is accomplished through the channels set up, that is, the Church. We can supply living water by willing to receive and transmit grace, and so give that extra something that St. Paul said was lacking. If there is not enough living water flowing - not enough supernatural work being done - we should endeavor to find out how we can increase our output.
The following sections endeavor to point out the possibilities.

KNOWING HOW GRACE ACTS

a. Grace is completely available.
There is not just one thing to do at each moment, or I fail to do God's will; there are a multitude of actions presented to me by grace. Different ways to act are as available as different items in a supermarket - yet appointed for my needs with great care.
b. Grace gives physical ability to do the things necessary for salvation.
Example: You cannot put your hand in a fire and hold it there. St. Joan of Arc could put her whole body in a fire because God desired it. She was given the ability through grace.
c. Cooperation with grace puts me in touch with a tremendous power. If we believe that we are and can do nothing, we must believe that here is a power that can do everything. This power is, of course, God. Cooperation with His ideas, acceptance of His plans can make the power available.
Example: You cannot push a freight train, yet a small movement of the throttle and the whole train starts to move.
d. Grace operates below the level of consciousness.
Wonderful things - like the operation of grace, God speaking to us, the Spirit moving us, etc. - are continually causing changes in our soul. We are unaware either of their action or their significance.
Example: Consider what happens in baptism, etc., or what happened when the prodigal son said, "I will return..."
e. God will not sanctify me against my will, but He can change my will to make it agree with His desires.
f. Grace is a receiving.
The really important thing to understand about grace is that we receive it as a gift. We do not earn it or receive it because we seem to have done something to deserve it. If we are at all interested in arriving at a high degree of prayer (in order to increase our output) we must appreciate this function if grace, for in contemplation our activity is a receiving.

HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL

One of the great puzzles for anyone seeking to make progress in the spiritual life is in knowing God's will. "How do I know right now what God wants me to do?" In answer, I would say that 90% of your questions can be answered by your state in life. The other 10% are rather unpredictable, because it is in this area that God can arrange special circumstances that will orient you, reorient you, change your life etc. tc., in accordance with His plans, His providence. The way you accept, fight, or are indifferent to this orientation can be significant in your movement towards or away from God.
Let us take another view of it. In order to be saved, we have to follow God's will. In order to follow God's will we have to know what to do. He has to let us know what to do without forcing the action on me. (I have a will free to accept or reject). To do this He uses a vehicle. For example, He uses the vehicle of a hen to give us fresh eggs. The hen can be sick, well or lame, yet the egg can be a good. one. Sickness, failure, suffering can be a vehicle that brings the underlying, all-important will. Or, consider a broker scanning a ticker tape. Ordinary figures on a strip ofpaper being fed to him moment by moment engender all kinds of ideas about buying or selling, etc. So, too, God is showing us a multiplicity of things to do through grace, yet not forcing them on us.
One way of becoming more completely in accord with God and His will is to try often to put oneself in agreement with everything that is happening up to the ever-advancing 'now'. If there is anything in the world of events or in your interior thoughts that fails of a complete rapprochement with God - Who directly wills or permits these things - it is an indication that your will is not in accord with Divine Wisdom. Over a period of time obstacles to grace can thus be brought into spiritual focus and if there is willingness to remove them the ability will be forthcoming. This can be very effective in regard to acceptance of events of life that affect your personally.
Again, completely disassociate yourself from the work you do (teaching, selling, nursing etc.) insofar as it is your livelihood. Then, re assimilate it objectively as the means whereby God is sanctifying you. In this way when things occur that are difficult to reconcile with your work as a career, they can be associated with your sanctification and seen for what they are.

Monday, June 19, 2006

The Adoration of the Sacred Head of Christ as the Seat of Divine Wisdom, the crowning and perfection of all devotions

Haupt Christi - The Sacred Head of Christ

On April 27th 1880, Teresa Higginson wrote in a tone of triumph and in a trembling hand as though still half rapt in ecstasy:

“Our divine Lord says the time is at hand when the Wisdom of the Father shall be adored and the Love of God for man shall be revealed in the Light which shineth in darkness and enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world. It is the Will of our dear Blessed Lord that His Sacred Head be adored as the Seat of Divine Wisdom: not the Sacred Head alone, (I mean as we worship His sacred Hands and Feet) no, but the Head as the shrine of the powers of the Soul and the faculties of the Mind and in these the Wisdom which guided every affection of the Sacred Heart and motions of the whole Being of Jesus our Lord and our God. It is not His divine Will that the attributes or abstracts of the soul or mind, or that divine Wisdom which guided, governed and directed all in Him (the God Man) should have a distinct worship, but that they should all be specially honoured and His sacred Head adored as their Temple. And our dear Blessed Lord has shown me too how the head is also the centre of all the senses of the body, and that this devotion is the completion, not only of the devotion of the Sacred Heart, but the crowning and perfection of all devotions; and He showed me how the adorable Trinity at His baptism revealed to the world this special devotion, for His Sacred Humanity is the tabernacle of the thrice holy Trinity; and that St. John had specially spoken of this devotion for the Most High revealed to him that he should be thus worshipped before the end of the world, and he spoke of it as a magnificent city, etc. seeing the multitudes of variety and beauty and splendour of this Seat of divine Wisdom. It is a world of infinite magnitude, a sea of fathomless depths, a never setting sun of light inaccessible and immeasurable heights of untold mysteries of perfection and beauty. Our dear Blessed Lord did not positively state the precise time that this should be made a public devotion but He gave me to understand that whoever should venerate His sacred Head in this manner should draw down on themselves the choicest gifts of Heaven; and those who shall try by words or means to hinder or reject it shall be as glass that is cast down, or as an egg that is thrown to the wall, that is that they shall be shattered and become as naught, and shall be dried up and wither as grass on the housetop.

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