Sunday, February 14, 2010

A Cause for Joy and Praise to God

As promised yesterday, here are some quick glimpses of Lorenzo's baptism and confirmation in the Catholic Church.

Father: Lorenzo, What is it you ask of God's Church?

Lorenzo: Faith

Father: Let us pray. Almighty, everlasting God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, look graciously down upon this Thy servant, Lorenzo,whom Thou hast graciously called unto the beginnings of the faith; drive out from him all blindness of heart; break all the toils of Satan wherewith he was held: open unto him O Lord, the gate of Thy loving kindness, that, being impressed with the sign of Thy wisdom, he may be free from the foulness of all wicked desires, and in the sweet odor of Thy precepts may joyfully serve Thee in Thy Church, and grow in grace from day to day. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

I baptize thee in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
It was at this point in the ceremony that the church bells began to sound the "Angelus"!

The anointing with oils.

Lighting the candle that represents the Light of faith.

Lorenzo did well answering questions about the faith just before the imposition of the Holy Spirit upon him by Father Petronio.

Confirming the 7 Gifts of the Holy Spirit within Lorezo

Lorenzo's "support group"--notice the joy on everyone's faces!

For the "post-ceremony" pictures, look on Lily's blog!

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"I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me. You are to show mercy to your neighbors always and everywhere. You must not shrink from this or try to excuse or absolve yourself from it.

I am giving you three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor:
the first — by deed, the second — by word, the third — by prayer. In these three degrees is contained the fullness of mercy, and it is an unquestionable proof of love for Me. By this means a soul glorifies and pays reverence to My mercy.

Many souls ... are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul.

If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy".