Catholic Maronite Readings

After you are satisfied, give thanks thus: “We give you thanks, Holy Father, for your holy name, which you have made dwell in our hearts, and for knowledge and faith and immortality, which you have made known to us through Jesus your servant; glory to you forever. Amen!… Above all we thank you that you are mighty; glory to you forever. Amen! Remember, Lord, your church, to save it from all evil and to make it perfect in your love, and gather it together in its holiness from the four winds, into your kingdom which you have pre-pared for it. For the power and the glory are yours forever. Amen! Let your favour come and this world pass away. Hosanna to the God of David! If anyone is holy, let him come; if anyone is not, let him repent. “Lord, come quickly! Amen” (Rv 22,20)… “Be watchful” for your life; “your lamps must not go out,” and you must not be unprepared, but be ready, for “you do not know the hour when our Lord is coming” (Lk 12,35; Mt 24,42f.). Gather together often to seek the things that benefit your souls, for the whole time of your faith will not profit you unless you are found perfect at the last.
maronite readings – rosary,team

I must warn each of you about his vine: for who has never cut back everything that is superfluous in himself to the point of thinking that there is nothing more to cut? Believe me, what has been cut, grows back; the vices that have been chased away return, and we see tendencies that had gone to sleep waking up again. It is therefore not enough to cut one’s vine once; rather, we have to do it again and often, and if possible, even without ceasing. For if you are sincere, you ceaselessly find in yourself something to cut… Virtue cannot grow among the vices; for virtue to develop, we must prevent the vices from increasing. So suppress what is superfluous; then the necessary will be able to spring up. For us, Brothers, it is always the time for cutting; it is always necessary. For I am sure that we have already left winter behind us, we have left behind the fear without love, which introduces us all to wisdom, but which doesn’t let anyone grow in perfection. When love comes, it chases away that fear just as the summer chases away the winter… So may the winter rains stop, that is say, the tears of anguish that arise because of the memory of your sins and the fear of judgment… If “the winter is over” and “the rain has stopped” (Song 2:11)…, the sweetness of the spring of spiritual grace shows us that the time has come to cut our vine. What else is there for us to do other than to become entirely committed to this work?

maronite readings – rosary,team

It is with our bodily eyes that we notice what is happening in life and all around us: we observe the difference between light and darkness, white and black, ugly and beautiful… ; the same thing happens with regard to what comes to us through our sense of hearing : high-pitched, low-pitched, concordant. However, we also have ears of the heart and eyes of the soul and with these it is possible to grasp God. Thus God is perceived by those who can see him when the eyes of their souls have been opened. We all have physical eyes but, for some of us, they are veiled and don’t see the light of day. If the blind can’t see, this is not because the light of the sun is not shining! It is themselves and their eyes that the blind are handicapped by. The same applies to you : the eyes of your soul are covered over by your sins and evil deeds… ; when someone sins, they can’t see God anymore… Nevertheless, if you want to, you can be healed. Entrust yourself to the doctor and he will operate on the eyes of your soul and heart. Which doctor is this ? It is God, who heals and gives life through his Word and Wisdom. For it is through his Word and Wisdom that God made all things… If you understand this and your life is pure and pious and upright, then you are able to see God. But before all else let faith and the fear of God enter your heart first and then you will understand it. When you have put off mortality and put on immortality (1Cor 15:53) then you will see God according as you deserve. He is the God who will raise up your flesh to immortality along with your soul. And then, when you have become immortal, you will see the immortal God insofar as you have believed in him now.

maronite readings – rosary,team

All-powerful God, Benefactor and Creator of the universe,
hearken to my groaning in my peril.
Deliver me from fear and anguish;
free me by the strength of your might, you who can do all…
O Lord Christ, cut the threads of my net with the sword of your triumphant cross, with the weapon of life.
This net encompasses me on every side, holding me captive so as to bring me to my death;
Guide to their rest my tottering and unsteady steps;
heal the stifling fever of my heart.
I stand guilty before you: take away from me my distress, the devil’s ploy;
remove the darkness of my anguished soul… Renew in my soul the light-filled image of the glory of your name, so great and so powerful.
Intensify the brilliance of your grace upon the beauty of my face
and on the image of the eyes of my spirit, I who am born of the earth (Gn 2,7).
Let my darkness vanish in a radiant purity, sinner that I am.
Drown my soul in your living, eternal, heavenly divine light
so that the likeness of God the Trinity may increase within me.
You alone, O Christ, are blessed, together with the Father
for the praise of your Holy Spirit
for endless ages. Amen.

maronite readings – rosary,team

What did that criminal do that he received a share in the paradise following the cross?… While Peter denied Christ, this criminal, high on the cross, bore witness to him. I’m not saying this to denigrate Peter but to draw attention to the criminal’s greatness of soul… While a whole rabble were standing around him, murmuring, yelling and heaping oaths and abuse on them both, this criminal paid no attention. He didn’t even consider the wretched condition of the crucifixion right before his eyes. All this he passed over with a glance full of faith… He turned towards our heavenly Lord and entrusted himself to him and said: “Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom” (Lk 23,42). Let us not casually avoid this criminal’s example or be ashamed of taking as teacher the man whom our Lord was not ashamed to lead first into paradise…       He didn’t say to him, as he said to Peter: “Come after me, and I will make you a fisher of men” (Mt 4,19). Nor did he say to him as to the Twelve: “You will sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel” (Mt 19,28). He favored him with no title, showed him no miracle. This criminal did not see him raise a dead man nor cast out demons; he did not see the sea obeying him. Christ said nothing to him about the Kingdom nor yet about hell. And yet he bore witness to him before all and inherited the Kingdom.
maronite readings – rosary,team