Daily Archives: 29 May 2006

A Bedtime PrayerOf A Catholic Marine Corps Officer – Luke 18:17- Now I lay me down to sleep.I pray Thee Lord my soul to keep.If I should die before I wake,I pray Thee Lord my soul to take. For ‘ere … Continue reading →

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EXCERPT:
One might ask why roses were given to Catholic rulers and other figures. The papal letters and documents that came with the rose hint at the meaning attached to it. Innocent III wrote about the significance of the rose and Laetare Sunday: “As Lætare Sunday, the day set apart for the function, represents love after hate, joy after sorrow, and fullness after hunger, so does the rose designate by its color, odor, and taste, love, joy, and satiety respectively.” Innocent also says that the rose is the flower spoken of in Isaiah 11, 1: “there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root”. Centuries later Pope Leo XIII wrote that the beautiful golden flower signifies Christ in His majesty, spoken of by the prophet as “the flower of the field and the lily of the valleys”; the flower’s fragrance shows the sweet odor of Christ which should be diffused through the whole world by His faithful followers. The thorns and red color symbolize His Passion, harkening to both the real event of the Crucifixion and its foretelling by the prophet Isaiah 43,2: “Why then is thy apparel red, and thy garments like theirs that tread in the winepress?” These themes are in the prayer that was used to bless the golden roses:… Continue reading →

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