MAY THE LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST, BE ALWAYS IN OUR HEART TO KEEP US HUMBLE, GRATEFUL, MERCIFUL, FORGIVING --- O GOD, BLESS ALL THAT IS COMING FROM YOU AND BREAK ALL THAT IS NOT COMING FROM YOU, AMEN --- This site is just a drop from the immeasurable ocean in JESUS, THE IMAGE OF THE INVISIBLE GOD, HOLY TRINITY ONE GOD - HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH, THE LIFE - TEACHER, HEALER, REDEEMER --- The main purpose of this site is to make an easier access to Catholic Religion-related links.
Ecumenical Ceremony for the Reopening of the Edicule, containing the tomb of Our Lord Jesus Christ, after 10 months of restoration, from the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, Israel. Representing the Eastern Orthodox Church are; His All Holiness Bartholomew I, Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople; and His Most Godly Beatitude Theophilus III, Patriarch of the Holy City of Jerusalem and all Palestine, Israel, Syria, beyond the Jordan River, Cana of Galilee, and Holy Zion. Representing the Catholic Church are The Most Reverend Archbishop Pierbattista Pizzaballa, O.F.M., Titular Archbishop of Verbe, Apostolic Administrator of Jerusalem; The Most Reverend Archbishop Giuseppe Lazzarotto, Titular Archbishop of Numana, Apostolic Nuncio to Israel, Apostolic Nuncio to Cyprus, Apostolic Delegate to Jerusalem and Palestine; and The Very Reverend Fr. Francesco Patton O.F.M., Custos of the Holy Land
Pictures of Christ's tomb restored at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem
Jesus Christ's tomb has been resurrected – in time for Easter.
At this Pastoral Visit to the Roman Parish of San Paolo della Croce a
Corviale, Pope Francis answered questions from children in their
Catechism class. One child, Emanuele, at the moment to address his
question, burst into tears at the microphone. Then the Pope invites him
to get closer. As soon as the child is near the Pope he falls into his
arms. Emanuele asks Pope Francis, if his father, an atheist but who had
his four sons baptized (Emanuele, two other brothers and a sister),
after his death went to Heaven, and is not in hell. Here's what Pope
Francis answers (explaining that he asked Emanuele permission to
publicly report the question, which the child had whispered in his ear):
"Maybe we could cry like Emanuele when we have pain in our heart. He
cries for his father who died and has had the courage to do it in front
of us because there is love in his heart - he underlines - his father
was an atheist but he had his four children baptized, he was a good man.
It's nice that a son says his dad was "good." If that man was able to
make children like that he was a good man, God is proud of your father.
God has a father's heart, your dad was a good man, he's in heaven with
him, I'm sure. God has a father's heart and before an unbelieving father
who was able to baptize his children, would God be able to abandon him?
God surely was proud of your father, because it is easier to be a
believer and to have children baptized than to be a NON-believer and to have children baptized. Pray for your dad, talk to your dad. This is
the answer ".
Surely the man who said: My sin is too great to merit pardon, was wrong. He was speaking as though he were not a member of Christ and had no share in his merits, so that he could claim them as his own, as a member of the body can claim what belongs to the head.
As for me, what can I appropriate that I lack from the heart of the Lord who abounds in mercy? They pierced his hands and feet and opened his side with a spear. Through the openings of these wounds I may drink honey from the rock and oil from the hardest stone: that is, I may taste and see that the Lord is sweet.
Through these sacred wounds we can see the secret of his heart, the great mystery of love, the sincerity of his mercy with which he visited us from on high. Where have your love, your mercy, your compassion shone out more luminously than in your wounds, sweet, gentle Lord of mercy? More mercy than this no one has than that he lay down his life for those who are doomed to death.
My merit comes from his mercy; for I do not lack merit so long as he does not lack pity. And if the Lord's mercies are many, then I am rich in merits. For even if I am aware of many sins, what does it matter? Where sin abounded grace has overflowed.
And if the Lord's mercies are from all ages forever, I too will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. Will I not sing of my own righteousness? No, Lord, I shall be mindful only of your justice. Yet that too is my own; for God has made you my righteousness.
St. Bernard of Clairvaux
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O God, Marvel of those devoted to You, I do not deny for one moment that if You were to weigh my many evil deeds on the scales of justice, nothing would await me but eternal darkness and the deep abyss. But You, O Lord, harbour other intentions and Your Mercy is preponderant so as to consign Your just anger to last place.
I, used to glory in declaring myself Your enemy. You, however, have not only pardoned my every fault but You have counted me as one of Your children and promised me the Kingdom of Heaven as an inheritance which You have prepared for me. This is an excess of divine liberality by which my soul is so flooded with joy that it is able to express nothing except thanks and gratitude to You, O God.
Pope Francis celebrates Holy Mass for the Vatican maintenance staff
Pope: 'Let us give Jesus our sins' - July 7th, 2017 http://en.radiovaticana.va/news/2017/07/07/pope_let_us_give_jesus_our_sins/1323818 (Vatican Radio)Pope Francison Friday celebrated Massfor the maintenance staff of Vatican City State, reminding them that our joy and our salvation lies in the fact that Jesus came so that we can all be forgiven our sins. Speaking to a group of Vatican employees who take care of maintenance and general services, the Pope reflected on the Gospel reading of the day which speaks of how Jesus invited Matthew, a tax collector, to dine with him at his house.
He illustrated his words recalling a Caravaggio painting “The Calling of St. Matthew” which he said, he used to like going to see when he could walk the streets of Rome freely,before becoming Pope, and he described the scene that features Matthew counting his money, and Jesus pointing at him with his finger as he chooses him to dine at his table.
“When the Pharisees saw this – the Pope said - they said to his disciples ‘Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’ the answer they received was ‘Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do”.
“This, the Pope said, is an immense consolation because it means that Jesus came for me”. “We are all sinners” he continued, “We all have a degree in sin.”
The Pharisees, Francis explained, considered themselves just and criticized Jesus for spending time in bad company, but the Lord said ‘I did not come to call the righteous but sinners.’
Each of us, Pope Francis said, must recognize our strengths, our weaknesses, our sins. He pointed out that Jesus condemned the Pharisees because they were arrogant, vain and considered themselves to be superior to others.
But Jesus, he said, comes to us because we are sinners, and those who acknowledge this also know that Jesus “always forgives, always heals our souls.
“And when you are afraid of being weak and of falling, Jesus will help you back to your feet, he will heal you. This is our consolation. (…) Do not be afraid. In bad times, in moments in which we feel weighed down from things we may have done, during the many slippery slopes of life… remember: Jesus love me because this is who I am” he said.
Pope Francis then recalled the figure of Saint Jerome who offered the Lord his work of many years to which Jesus replied “No. Jerome. That is not what I want most.” Finally Jerome asked Jesus to tell him what would give him the most joy, and Jesus replied “Give me your sins…”
“Today, he concluded, let us give Jesus our sins, let us think of His merciful heart. May it be our joy.”
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GOD
Even to Judas God gave many opportunities of coming to his senses. He did not deny him His companionship. He did not take away from him the dignity of his apostleship. He did not even take the purse-strings from him, even though he was a thief.
He admitted the traitor to the fellowship of His beloved disciples at the Last Supper. He deigned to stoop down at the feet of the betrayer and to wash with His most innocent and sacred hands Judas’ dirty feet, a fit symbol of hisfilthy mind.... Finally, when Judas, coming with his crew to seize him, offered him a kiss, a kiss that was in fact the terrible token of his treachery, Christ received him calmly and gently.
Therefore, since God showed His great mercy, in so many ways even toward Judas, an apostle turned traitor, since he invited him to forgiveness so often and did not allow him to perish except through despair alone, certainly there is no reason why, in this life, anyone should despair of any imitator of Judas. Rather, according to that holy advice of the apostle, "Pray for one another, that you may be healed," if we see anyone wandering wildly from the right road, let us hope that he will one day return to the path, and meanwhile let us pray humbly and incessantly that God will hold out to him chances to come to his senses, and likewise that with God's help he will eagerly seize them, and having seized them will hold fast and not throw them way.
St. Thomas More
0 Eternal Mercy, you who cover over your creatures' faults! By your mercy we were created. And by your mercy we were created anew in your Son’s blood. It is your mercy that preserves us. Your mercy made your Son play death against life and life against death on the wood of the cross. In him life confounded the death that is our sin.
I see your mercy pressing you to give us even more when you leave yourself with us as food to strengthen our weakness, so that we forgetful fools should be reminded forever of your goodness.
Who was conquered? Death! And how? By your mercy! You temper your justice with mercy. In mercy you cleansed us in the blood; in mercy you kept company with your creatures.
O mad lover! It was not enough for you to take on our humanity, you had to die as well! Nor was death enough: you descended to the depths to summon our holy ancestors and fulfil your truth and mercy in them.
And what has done this? Your mercy. O mercy! My heart is engulfed with the thought of you! For wherever I turn my thoughts, I find nothing but mercy!
St. Catherine of Siena
....... Oh Christ, teach us never to be ashamed of your cross, to not use it but to honour it and adore it - because through it You have shown us - THE MONSTROSITY OF OUR SINS, - THE GREATNESS OF YOUR LOVE, - THE INJUSTICE OF OUR JUDGEMENTS AND - THE POWER OF YOUR MERCY .......
Pope Francis in Fatima: God is not a ruthless judge restrained by Mary's arm - Published on 13 May 2017 on the centennial of Our Lady's apparitions in Fatima
--- "Great injustice is done to God's grace whenever we say that sins are punished by His judgement without first saying - as the Gospel clearly does - that they are forgiven by His mercy !" ...
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O Immaculate, Queen of heaven and earth, Refuge of sinners and our most loving Mother, to whom God willed to entrust the entire order of mercy, I, an unworthy sinner cast myself at your feet, humbly begging you to be so good as to accept me wholly and completely as your possession and property, and to do with me, with my whole life, death and eternity, whatever pleases you.
If it pleases you, use my whole self without reserve to accomplish what has been said of you: "She will crush your head," (Gen. 3:15), and also: "You alone have destroyed all heresies in the whole world" so that I may become a useful instrument in your immaculate and most merciful hands for promoting and increasing your glory to the maximum in so many strayed and indifferent souls, and thus extend as much as possible the blessed Kingdom of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
For wherever you enter, you obtain the grace of conversion and sanctification, since it is through your hands that all graces comes to us from the Most Sweet Heart of Jesus.Allow me to praise you, O most holy Virgin. Give me strength against your enemies.
St. Maximilian Kolbe
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Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC recounts his remarkable journey from a youth filled with sex, drugs and crime to a dramatic encounter with Our Lady and a life transformed through the grace of God’s mercy.
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For our Lord, when He was born man, was condemned in order that He might show mercy, was bound in order that He might loose,
was seized in order that He might release,
suffered in order that He might feel compassion,
died in order that He might give life,
was laid in the grave that He might raise from the dead.
St. Melito of Sardis
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Beautiful Homily from Fr Alan: St Joseph, Protector of Purity
- on The Solemnity of Saint Joseph, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary - celebrated on March 20th in 2017
Beautiful Homily from Fr. Hilary Tagliaferro - on the 6th Sunday of Year A, 2017-02-12
Pope Francis in Santa Marta: Jesus did not seek popularity, he was looking for people
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Top 10 takeaways from “Amoris Laetitia”
Pope Francis’s groundbreaking new document “Amoris Laetitia”(“The Joy of Love”) asks the church to meet people where they are, to consider the complexities of people’s lives and to respect people’s consciences when it comes to moral decisions. The apostolic exhortation is mainly a document that reflects on family life and encourages families. But it is also the pope’s reminder that the church should avoid simply judging people and imposing rules on them without considering their struggles. Read more…http://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2016/04/08/top-10-takeaways-amoris-laetitia
Free download Audio & Text ---
AMORIS LAETITIA - The Joy of Love ... in the family
Read how SAINTS meditate on how Jesus - God and human, does not hesitate to infiltrate in the dining rooms of sinners to brighten their consciousness, and awaken their conscience ...
Pope Francis' Homily: The Church should be like a field hospital
Another fall, and what a fall! Must you give up hope? No. Humble yourself and, through Mary, your Mother, have recourse to the merciful Love of Jesus. A Miserere [A Prayer for Mercy], and lift up your heart! And now begin again.
St. Josemaria Escriva
While Jesus was at table in the house of Matthew, the Pharisees challenge the disciples: ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners’? (Matthew 9:11). God is being blamed for turning tohumanity, reclining with a sinner, hungering for a penitent, thirsting for sinners to return, receiving dishes of mercy, and taking up the cup of devotion. Brethren, Christ came to the meal; Life came to the feast, that He might make those destined for death, live with Him. The Resurrection lay down so that those who were lying down might rise from the tombs. Forgiveness reclined, that He might lift sinners up to pardon. Divinity came to humanity in order that humanity might come to divinity. The Judge sat at the table of the guilty, so that the guilty might escape conviction. The Doctor came to the sick, to heal them by eating with them. The Good Shepherd lowered His Shoulders to carry back to the fold of salvation the sheep who were lost.
Eat with sinners in order that you can eat with Christ. Enter with sinners into the feast of your Lord, so that you can be a sinner no more. Enter the house of mercy with the forgiveness of Christ, so that your own righteousness will not be excluded from this house. Recognize Christ, listen to Christ. Listen to your Lord, hear the heavenly Doctor. ‘It is not the healthy who need the Physician, but the sick’ (Matthew 9:12). If you want to be healed, acknowledge your illness. ‘I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’ (Matthew 9:13). Christ does not refuse the righteous, but without Him no one on earth is immune from sin. The Lord does not overlook the righteous, but rather He has revealed that all are sinners. Listen to Scripture: ‘The Lord from heaven looks down upon men to see if any are wise or seeking God. All have turned away; all are corrupt. There is no one who does good, not even one’ (Psalm 13:2-3). Brethren, let us be sinners by our own admission, so that with Christ’s forgiveness we might be sinners no more.
St. Peter Chrysologus
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" I had many 'friends' to help me to fall; but as to rising again, I was so much left to myself, that I wonder now I was not always on the ground. I praise God for His mercy; for it was He only Who stretched out His hand to me. May He be blessed forever ! "
St. Teresa of Jesus (Avila
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Jesus compares humans to sheep: insecure, vulnerable - sheep that depend on a faithful shepherd's guidance - They tend to wander away from the flock. They notice danger from afar and run away in panic, not aware of the crevices in front of them !
We can make complicated decisions. We are not very much like sheep. Yet, Jesus uses the parable of the good shepherd to teach His followers about the relationship offered and sought by God with God’s creation. Jesus recognized an important tendency of humanity. Perhaps we are more like sheep than we realized !- If only we always find time to meditate on the Word of God ... as they chew their cud ... most of the time !
Pope: Jesus is the good shepherd
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We are not worthy to take part in our Lord's feast - The Holy Mass - If we are not conscious of this, we are being misguided by our own pride and presumptuousness ! Yet, through the consecration of the Eucharist, Jesus invites every person to receive Him - the Body, Blood, Soul and the Divinity of the Holy Trinity - our Creator
--- The responsibility is on the person receiving the Eucharist --- no one should ever think of fooling GOD, or abuse of His silence: He knows our every thought before we think it.
(During an exorcism, satan said that during Holy Mass he knows those who believe IN GOD'S REAL PRESENCE IN THE EUCHARIST and those who do not) Through our enlightened conscience and the guidance from a priest, we avoid detaching ourselves from God.
Card. Coccopalmerio: When can the divorced receive the sacraments?
New documentary on confession and stories of reconciliation with God
Confession heals, confession justifies, confession grants pardon of sin. All hope consists in confession. In confession there is a chance for mercy. Believe it firmly. Do not doubt, do not hesitate, never despair of the mercy of God. Hope and have confidence in confession.
St. Isidore of Seville
--- We have to admit to ourselves that we decide our eternity by our decisions - through our responsible or irresponsible intentions and actions. BUT no one should throw stones on to others because everyone of us is a sinner - God is the just Judge: His mercy is above the law: He reaches to us not only when we have detached ourselves from our sins but He drowns with us in every mistake we fall into, to help us stand up again, encouraging us to trust in His infinite empathy. He is with us in our trials, our failures, our difficult situations; He knows us inside out - our fears, our weaknesses, our doubts, our efforts, our trust in Him. He knows when we are willing to listen to Him. God will give us graces for free, out of His love for us.
Satan gives us nothing for free: Consciously or unconsciously we must never fall into asking him anything, not even as a stupid joke, for he always comes with the bill...in his perfect timing for temptation and deceit - when we are not sure of which decision to take - right or wrong ... and be sure that he wants to destroy our peace of mind by luring us to the most disappointing decision ! When the devil is tempting you, he will make you think he is your best friend, your best buddy, oh so sympathetic ... then when you fall into sin he turns on you and he becomes the accuser, your accuser ... Let us keep our eyes fixed on Jesus ! Let us keep our thoughts in contact with Jesus ! Let us cry out the Holy name of JESUS !
Top Five | Amoris Laetitia "The Joy of Love"
Lk 15:1-3, 11-32 -- The Parable of the Lost Son - Dan ħuk kien mejjet u raġa’ qam.
Receive and Share His Mercy
Jn 4:5-42 -- Jesus Talks With a Samaritan Woman - Għajn ta’ ilma li jnixxi sal-ħajja ta’ dejjem.
Living Thirsts
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My God have mercy on me! You ask for mercy? Then fear nothing. Where there is
mercy there are no judicial investigations regarding guilt, nor courts, nor the
need to offer reasonable excuses. Great is the torment of my sins, O my God but
far greater is the treasure of your mercy! Let no one mourn that
he has fallen again and again; for forgiveness has risen from the
grave !
St. John Chrysostom
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“My soul is like a house, small for you to enter, but I pray you to enlarge it. It is in ruins, but I ask you to remake it. It contains much that you will not be pleased to see: this I know and do not hide. But who is to rid it of these things? There is no one but You”
― Augustine of Hippo, Confessions
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Pope in Santa Marta: God always loves and waits for us, even if we go astray - Published on Mar 30, 2017
King David, who praised God for all He had done for him: Choosing him, from a shepherd boy to become the second king of Israel; He wrote and sang beautiful psalms from the heart and offered sacrifices all for God as thanksgiving ... yet God permitted that he becomes conscious of a great weakness that blinded his self-control ... and King David committed adultery and murder ! --- These are the dangerous results of the deceitful evil we can fall into, each time we feel immune, better or stronger than others, even above God !
But in His mysterious ways God 'knocks' us conscious, back to our senses in order to bring us down yet again on solid ground ... and penitently declare - " Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner ".
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God is loving to man, and loving in no small measure. I have done dreadful things, and not once only, but often: will He forgive? Will He grant pardon? Hear what the Psalmist says: How great is the multitude of Your goodness, O Lord!
Your accumulated offenses surpass not the multitude of God’s mercies: your wounds surpass not the great Physician’s skill. Only give yourself up in faith: tell the Physician your ailment: say thou also, like David: I said, I will confess me my sin unto the Lord: and the same shall be done in your case, which he says immediately: And you forgave the wickedness of my heart.
St. Cyril of Jerusalem
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Do not be impatient with your trials, and at seeing yourselves as receiving no other consolation but God’s. Oh, if we only knew God’s secrets when He places us in this state, we would see that this must be the time of our greatest consolation. In fact, you will see a great amount of misery that you cannot relieve. God sees it as well and does not want to give those who suffer greater abundance. Share their trials with them; do all you can to provide them with a little assistance and remain at peace. Perhaps you share in this need; in that is your consolation because, if you had plenty, your hearts would be troubled to use it while seeing our lords and masters suffering so. Since God chastises His people for our sins, is it not reasonable for us to suffer with the others? Who are we to think that we should be exempt from public evils? If the goodness of God does not expose us to the worst miseries, let us be truly thankful to Him for this, and let us believe that it is due solely to His mercy and is in no way merited.
St. Louise de Marillac
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- If you ever doubt the presence of God in the Eucharist, ask yourself " Why do satanists steal consecrated hosts ?" ... It is because these misguided persons obey satan, who knows well that God is present in the Eucharist. He can never accept that God can humiliate Himself so, so as to be reached by all humans. God's blessing is unconditional love and humility. Pride and conceit are satan's power and curse - "Incarnation (God became man) is the most obscene and humiliating thing He could have done !" So says satan during an exorcism, "only we know with what disgust we were filled when He accepted this disgusting human corpse." --- disgusting for satan because GOD humbled Himself; born as a human in the stable ... satan hates CHRISTMAS because that is his humiliation to his pride. God became man to make war with satan; to reveal to all those who want to listen, all his deceptions and to guide us to live in peace, solidarity and unity, in true faith.
(1 Corinthians 1:23-25) ...we proclaim Christ crucified, ... foolishness to Gentiles, but to those who are called, ... Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.
The miraculous Crucifix at Ta' Giesu Church, Valletta Malta.
On the cross Jesus fooled the world, fooled satan, fooled death. His death turned the tables on satan and on death itself; through His death on the cross, Jesus conquered death and restored life completely through His resurrection. He is with us and in us.
No one in the history of the world has ever been more inclusive of the broken hearted than Jesus. And no one has unveiled satan's deception so, even for the impenitent, in order to become aware and convert to the Truth. Jesus is a friend of sinners ... but no friend of sin.
But if, [by some chance], men turn out so wicked that you can do nothing with them by gentleness, then sometimes use severity; for, after all, it is a work of mercy to correct those who are wrong, and be sure that it is a great sin not to chastise sinners, especially when they cause scandal to others.
St. Francis Xavier
Pope\'s Mass: Prophets are always persecuted, at times even the Church
Jn 11:1-45 -- The Death of Lazarus - Jien hu l-qawmien u l-ħajja.
- Let us keep in mind - No one and nothing can harm God the Creator. He lives and reigns forever. Amen
435 L-isem ta’ Ġesù hu fil-qalba tat-talb nisrani. It-talbiet liturġiċi kollha jagħlqu bil-formula B’Ibnek Ġesù Kristu Sidna.....U l-“Ave Maria” tilħaq il-quċċata tagħha bil-kliem “u mbierek il-frott tal-ġuf tiegħek, Ġesù”. U t-talba tal-qalb tal-orjentali, magħrufa bħala “Talba lil Ġesù” tgħid: "Ġesù Kristu, Iben Alla, Mulej, ħenn għalija l-midneb". Ħafna nsara jmutu huma u jtennu b’fommhom, bħal Santa Ġovanna d’Arco, kelma waħda biss: “Ġesù!”
The prayer of Angel of Peace on the third Apparition at Fatima
'Most Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly and offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the earth, in reparation for the insults, sacrileges, and indifference with which He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg Thee for the conversion of poor sinners.'
It-talba ta' l-anġlu tal-Paċi fit-tielet Dehra ġewwa Fatima
'O Trinita Qaddisa, Missier, Iben u Spirtu s-Santu, jien nadurak
profondament u noffrilek il-Ġisem, id-Demm, ir-Ruħ u d-Divinita' l-aktar
prezzjużi ta' Ġesù Kristu, prezenti fit-tabernakli tad-dinja, bi tpattija
għall-insulti, is-sagrileġġi u l-indifferenza li bihom Hu qed ikun offiż u biex
niġbed il-merti ineffabbli tal-Qalb 'l aktar Imqaddsa ta' Ġesù u l-Qalb
Immakulata ta' Marija għall-konverżjoni tal-imsejkna midimbin.'
