Stories
Sister Maria Celeste – Part IV
by Ray at THCIn the last account we gave of Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa and her Eucharistic experiences related to the founding of a new religious order, she had just informed her spiritual and her superioress of these events. After that, Jesus appeared to her again, after Holy Communion, and told her the He would actually dictate the rule for the new order and that she was to write it all down just as He relayed it to her.
Her “spiritual father” had gone to Rome, but when he returned, she presented him with four pages that she had written, which contained this new rule. He then wrote to her a letter instructing her to burn the rule. He further denied her the ability to receive Holy Communion for a month and a half, no doubt believing she was being misled by deceitful spiritual forces, perhaps during periods of reflection after Holy Communion, or was given to flights of fancy. The letter did not reach her until after that month and a half had already passed.
Despite this initial resistance, the order of the Redemptoristine nuns was indeed formed. Moreover, it still continues to this day, almost three full centuries later. During that time, it has spread around the world on five continents. The rule for the order does in fact derive from the one which Sister Maria Celeste wrote down — as she was directed in His Presence.
Source: Miller, Fr. D.F., C.SS.R, and Aubin, Fr. L.X., C.SS.R, St. Alphonsus Liguori (Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1987) p. 48-49.
Authentic Prayer
by Ray at THCThe holy hour in our modern rat race is necessary for authentic prayer. Our world is one of speed in which intensity of movement is a substitute for lack of purpose; where noise is invoked to drown out the whisperings of conscience; where talk, talk, talk gives the impression that we are doing something when really we are not; where activity kills self-knowledge won by contemplation…
– Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
He Was Not Catholic
by Ray at THCA woman signed up herself and her husband for a regular hour of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament. The hour to which they had committed was quite late and the woman, at one point, stopped attending. The husband continued, alone. He was not Catholic.
It was on one night, in June of 2017 that he experienced something special. When he walked into the church, he saw an image inside the Host. He describes what happened:
“The host had two shades of blue, cobalt and ocean blue in a swirl, starting from the top left and circling around to a small dark round hole in the center, it was kind of like an eye of a hurricane that you would see on the weather channel from a satellite image. I thought it was some kind of reflection at that time, but I did switch side of the alter and noticed that the image slightly changed, but was still very strong and clear.
“2017 was a very difficult year, we had personal troubles, health issues, financial, career, family and friends passing, later that year two of my old friends that are in their 40s were diagnosed with stage four cancer. i kept on doing research throughout the year and believe that I saw the eye of Saint Michael, or maybe he was looking at me. I could be wrong, but I certainly saw something.”
Source: a posting by “DJ” at https://spiritualdirection.com/2013/01/11/a-miracle-in-adoration.
Best Time on Earth
by Ray at THC“The time you spend with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament is the best time that you will spend on earth. Each moment that you spend with Jesus will deepen your union with Him and make your soul everlastingly more glorious and beautiful in heaven, and will help bring about an everlasting peace on earth.”
– Mother Teresa of Calcutta
Sister Maria Celeste – Part III
by Ray at THCWhen last we reported on certain revelations of Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa, we related that she had doubts whether these experiences were real. Again after Holy Communion one morning, she received a further revelation. In this one, Jesus told her, “Will you refuse to make My will known?” At that same time, she was given to know the persecutions she would suffer if she did proceed as asked and the anxieties she would feel in response. It was then that she told her spiritual director and her superioress of these incidents.
Source: Miller, Fr. D.F., C.SS.R, and Aubin, Fr. L.X., C.SS.R, St. Alphonsus Liguori (Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1987) p. 48.
Jesus on the Eucharist
by Ray at THC“I have a burning thirst to be honored by men in the Blessed Sacrament, and I find hardly anyone who strives, according to My desire, to allay this thirst by making Me some return of love.”
– Words of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque
Sister Maria Celeste – Part II
by Ray at THCA week ago, we related an account of Sister Maria Celeste Crostarosa. After Communion, she received instructions on a new order of nuns. Then, on another morning, she received even more. During Holy Communion, she saw the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He was wearing a habit that had the appearance of the habit the nuns in the new order were to wear. Sister Maria was a young novice and did not know what to think. She wondered if what she was experiencing was truly from God. Later, things would become more clear.
Source: Miller, Fr. D.F., C.SS.R, and Aubin, Fr. L.X., C.SS.R, St. Alphonsus Liguori (Rockford, Illinois: Tan Books and Publishers, Inc., 1987) p. 48.
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
by Ray at THC“The greatest love story of all time is contained in a tiny white Host.”
– Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen
Ciudad Juarez
by Ray at THCIn 2017, Fr. George Rutler wrote a small article on Eucharistic adoration. He recounted how it was tried in Ciudad Juarez, in Mexico. It seems that some missionaries opened an adoration chapel there in 2013. The murder rate was high, reports ranging from 40 a day to 3,766 a year. The situation was rather grim. Soldiers and policemen were joining the ranks of the gangs, rather than risk their lives trying to stop them. That did not stop the missionaries from opening their chapel, nor did it stop them from soliciting the soldiers to perform Holy Hours before the Blessed Sacrament. Within 5 years, Ciudad Juarez was a different place in at least one way. The murder rate had fallen to an amazingly low 256 people a year.
Source: https://abyssum.org/2017/02/11/eucharistic-adoration-can-result-in-miracles-try-it-you-will-be-surprised/
Mother Theresa
by Ray at THC“When you look at the Crucifix, you understand how much Jesus loved you then, when you look at the Sacred Host you understand how much Jesus loves you now.”
– Mother Teresa of Calcutta