Veneration

“ Worship is the symbol of veneration and of honour. Let us understand that there are different degrees of worship. First of all the worship of latreia, which we show to God, who alone by nature is worthy of worship. ”

“ How natural this power is, in certain stages of society, becomes evident if we examine the basis on which veneration is itself supported. The origin of veneration is wonder and fear. These two passions, either alone or combined, are the ordinary source of veneration ”

“ Since I entertained my new principles, however, I celebrate it with greater veneration:—penetrated by reflecting on the majesty of the Supreme Being, and the insufficiency of the human mind that is so little able to form conceptions relative to its author, I consider that I offer up the prayers of a people under a prescribed form of worship, and therefore carefully observe all its rites. ”

“ Great awe and veneration were experienced by both father and son when they discovered that an Angel of the Most High had appeared to them in the form of a man. “Being seized with fear they fell upon their faces on the ground.” How much more reverence ought we to feel each time we are in the presence of the most holy Sacrament, in which our Lord is really and personally present with His Divinity and sacred Humanity. ”

“ I have long listened with veneration to our noble Liturgy, and I have always been struck with the deep personally religious feeling which pervades it, especially those parts of it which are for 'The People.' And an earnest Priest, earnestly pressing these parts by his vocal example on the notice of the People, can scarcely fail to excite a corresponding earnestness in them. ”

“ Though veneration and adoration be distinguished in holy things to show that adoration given to them is idolatry, but veneration given to them is not idolatry, yet in profane things, such as images are, veneration given to them is idolatry, as well as adoration; and we are idolaters for doing so much as to respect and reverence them as things sacred or holy ”

“ From the time when, God disposing as it pleased himself, we received the charge of the universal church, we have so taken care to honour thy Highness that, from day to day, thy mind ought to have been inflamed more and more with love for us and with veneration for the apostolic see. ”

“ Direct me in the way of salvation/ and obtain for me that I may, day after day, without interruption, live and labor for God and my neighbor in the rigorous observance of my vows. From the height of thy throne, where thou reignest in heaven near Jesus and Mary, cast thy paternal and compassionate looks upon all Religious, and especially upon those of our own Order, who are filled with the most profound respect and tender veneration for thee. Be a father to us all; inspire our Superiors; protect our interests; shield us from danger and aid us in the spread of God's kingdom on earth. ”

“ Finally, a plenary indulgence, at the point of death, to those who practised this devotion during life, provided they confess and receive, or at least be contrite of heart, at that awful hour.
This devotion is practised in order to repair, in some manner, the offences committed against the homage due to Mary, the Mother of God, and to the saints, and to protect and in crease the veneration of their sacred pictures. ”

“ This is offered to God alone; all else that is offered to God in worship, prayer, praise, love, veneration, may, in kind at least, be offered to men. We honor the chief magistrate, whether called king or emperor, president or governor; we honor the prelates whom the Holy Ghost has placed over us in the church; we pray to or petition rulers and men in authority; we chant the praises of the great and the heroic; we love our country, our family, and friends; we venerate the wise and the good, who, in services to the cause of truth, morals, and religion, prove themselves godlike. ”

“ That laudable veneration, which they feel for the word of God, easily acts in them, in the absence of more solid theological attainments, as a check to the liberty of thought and judgment, to which Christianity leads ”

“ We hold the Christian religion in sacred veneration, and shall never, therefore, suffer an aspersion to be cast upon it through our columns.
“As the happiness of most of mankind lies in their social domestic circles, we shall hold them sacred. ”

“ In this world there is one godlike thing, the essence of all that was or ever will be of godlike in this world: the veneration done to Human Worth by the hearts of men. ”

“ We praise Thee, we sing hymns to Thee, we bless Thee, we glorify Thee, we worship Thee by Thy great High Priest; Thee who art the true God, who art the One Unbegotten, the only inaccessible Being. For Thy great glory, O Lord and heavenly King, O God the Father Almighty, O Lord God, the Father of Christ the immaculate Lamb, who taketh away the sin of the world, receive our prayer, Thou that sittest upon the cherubim. For Thou only art holy, Thou only art the Lord Jesus, the Christ of the God of all created nature, and our King, by whom glory, honour, and worship be to Thee. ”

“ To venerate is to hold in exalted honor without fear, and is applied to objects less removed from ourselves than those we revere, being said especially of aged persons, of places or objects having sacred associations, and of abstractions; we venerate an aged pastor, the dust of heroes or martyrs, lofty virtue or self-sacrifice, or some great cause, as that of civil or religious liberty; we do not venerate God, but revere or reverence him. We adore with a humble yet free outflowing of soul. ”

“ All the earth is full of thy glory. Glory be to the Father; glory be to the Son ; glory be to the Holy Ghost.
Blessed be the most holy and undivided Trinity, now and for ever, world without end. Amen.
Most holy and undivided Trinity, prostrate at the throne of thy mercy, we do, with all the powers of our souls, adore thy divine Majesty, and acknowledge that to thee alone are due all love, praise and thanksgiving for thy infinite goodness. ”

“ A poor mendicant no longer, the King of glory himself ushered you into the unrevealed splendors of that region which mortal eye hath never seen. You have beheld the glorious face of the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ; your eyes have seen the Queen of heaven; and the veiled vision of the Eternal Father has greeted you. Oh, what cheer! Oh, what hope, to make joyful the purifying sufferings of purgatory! and now, on your altar, Jesus, the high-priest and powerful Lord, full of clement mercy and majestic power, offers himself for thy speedy liberation and admission into the beatific vision. ”

“ To fall upon one's knees before the relics of a saint, and beg his prayers, as if he could see and hear? To implore the Blessed Virgin to succor and defend, as if she were not a creature, but omnipotent and divine? To reverence the priest as a being immaculate, an angel with hidden wings walking upon earth, unto whose feet you must kneel, and unveil, as unto God, all the thoughts and interests of your heart? ”

“ O Almighty and Eternal God! prostrate at the feet of Thy holy and awful Majesty, I adore Thee with all possible reverence. I believe and hold for certain all Thou hast revealed to Thy holy Church. I hope in Thy infinite goodness and mercy, and I love Thee with all my heart. ”

“ O Lord Jesus Christ, I adore the sacred wound in thy blessed side. I thank thee for the infinite love manifested towards us at the opening of thy sacred Heart. Grant me a pure and perfect charity, that loving all things for thy sake, and thee above all things, I may breathe my last in the purest sentiments of divine love. Protect thy holy Catholic Church, direct thy governing Vicar upon earth, all ecclesiastical orders, and all pious persons who are instrumental in the conversion of souls. ”

“ Just as reasonably would a pagan justify his worship of the sun, the moon, and the stars, by this passage of Scripture, as our Roman Catholic brethren would justify themselves by the former passage in their ascription of praise and glory to the holy angels, and saints, and the blessed Virgin. We honour the holy angels, we praise God for the glory which He has imparted to them, and for the share which He has been pleased to assign to them in executing his decrees of mercy in the heavenly work of our salvation ”

“ To you, most holy father, and to all your successors, and to the holy Roman church, who has been a true mother to us, with a humble heart and devout spirit we will always show all obedience, honor, and reverence, such as our ancestors, catholic kings and emperors, have shown your predecessors. And in order that our devotion to you may be shown to be greater than theirs we will pay you greater obedience, honor, and reverence than they did. ”

“ I offer to Thee, O Lord, my whole being, and in particular all my thoughts, words, actions, and sufferings of this day. I consecrate them all to the glory of Thy name, beseeching Thee that through the infinite merits of Jesus Christ, my Saviour, they may all find acceptance in Thy sight. May Thy divine love animate them, and may they all tend to Thy greater glory. ”

“ Most sacred Heart of Jesus, pour down Thy blessings abundantly on Thy holy Church, on the Supreme Pontiff, and on all the clergy; grant perseverance to the just, convert sinners, enlighten infidels, bless our parents, friends, and benefactors, assist the dying, free the souls in purgatory, and extend over all hearts the sweet empire of Thy love. ”

“ The people cried out at this wonder, the gods have come down to us, and when the rumour reached the High Priest that the gods had come to their city, he drove out two oxen, garlanded, and would have sacrificed them in our honour, but we tore our garments, saying, we are men like yourselves and have come to preach that you should turn from vanities and false gods and worship the one true living God, who created the earth, and all the firmament. ”

“ We venerate thee, O glorious favorite of God, and bow our guilty heads before thee in humble reverence, while we raise our sad hearts full of hope toward the throne of divine mercy, and to thee, our intercessor. He who placed Himself in thy arms will now fill thy hands with all we ask of thee. ”

“ The priests chant texts, and the people wait upon the worship. And we see faces-in-the-fire of the time to be, when the eyes of the poet shall rest upon the sacrifice, and shall fashion therefrom this mighty vision of God and nature, the soul and life. ”

“ I shall only add, that till such a degree of heavenly love, such a sense of the holiness and heavenly nature of the sacred calling, till such a desire of perfection is awakened in the clergy, as shuts out all carnal love and worldly tempers from their hearts, they cannot be such priests and intercessors with God, such patterns of holiness, such kindlers of divine love and heavenly desires amongst men, as the nature of their office both intends and requires of them. ”

“ If your venerable foundress could in bodily presence be here to-day to rejoice with us in all that God has wrought through the handmaidens of the Sacred Heart, she would crave not laudatory utterance, but elevation of soul, thoughts that breathe faith and hope, courage and love. ”

“ I adore thee, O God of infinite Majesty! whom we can never sufficiently adore and reverence; and to make reparation for all the impious oaths pronounced against thee, I offer up to thee all the pious discourses made in thy honour by the holy Doctors of the Church. ”

“ I believe that whatever is meant as an act of devotion to God, or as an acknowledgment of His greatness and glory, whether expressed by the simple prayer of a Covenanter on the hill-side or by the ceremonies of a Catholic priesthood, or even by the prostrations of a Mahometan, or by the self-torture of a Hindoo, may and ought to inspire us with respect and with a devout feeling, at least when the worshippers themselves are pious and sincere. ”

“ In the elect ones’ choir, and in the joy of paradise, O thou compassionate one, give rest to him whom thou from us in faith removed hast; for thou, our Saviour, hast divine repentance laid on all men who have sinn’d; and him, as Master, of thy kingdom worthy count.
According to thy might as God, thou art, in lordly wise, unto thy creature merciful, whom thou subjected hast to human law, O Lord, sole lover of mankind. Therefore remit, forgive the sins of him gone hence in faith, and him, O Saviour, of thy kingdom worthy count. ”

“ Your creed should be your mirror. Examine yourself therein as to whether you firmly believe everything you profess to believe, and rejoice daily in the possession of faith." Well, then, let us bear in mind this beautiful advice. Let us say the Creed daily, in order to strengthen ourselves in the faith but especially let us say it with great devotion as part of the holy Rosary. If here below we are true to the faith we shall one day behold in reality what we now see only with the eyes of faith, and in this vision enjoy eternal glory and bliss without end. ”

“ Let us therefore, says the Apostle, come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Calling upon the name of the Lord is the usual scripture-phrase for statedly looking to him as the fountain of light, of goodness, of wisdom, of mercy, and of power, by prayer, that we may obtain all the blessings, whether pertaining to the present or future world, which our circumstances and condition may render necessary. ”

“ And the Sacrament of God's precious flesh and blood;
Marriage, the Holy Extreme Unction, and Penance.
These seven be good to have in remembrance,
Gracious sacraments of high divinity.
Everyman. Fain would I receive that Holy Body,
And meekly to my ghostly father I will go.
[Pg 299]
Five Wits. Everyman, that is the best that ye can do:
God will you to salvation bring,
For good priesthood exceedeth all other thing.
To us holy scripture they do teach,
And converteth man from sin, heaven to reach.
God hath to them more power given
Than to any angel that is in heaven. ”