Ministry of Altar Servers Vicariate of St. Matthew

04/04/2023

23/11/2022

It is in His dying that we are born again to eternal life. Thank You for the sacrifices, Lord. 🥰 May you heal all the wounds we have this Red Wednesday.


Red Means Love.
Red for the sick.
Red for our persecuted brothers and sisters.

Edited by: Gabriel Gonzales

20/11/2022

𝙉𝙊𝙑 20 | 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙊𝙇𝙀𝙈𝙉𝙄𝙏𝙔 𝙊𝙁 𝘾𝙃𝙍𝙄𝙎𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙆𝙄𝙉𝙂

On the last Sunday of the liturgical year, Catholics celebrate the Solemnity of Christ the King. A relative newcomer to the Church calendar — established in the 20th century — this feast is designed to give special recognition to the dominion Christ our Lord has over all aspects of our lives. But why and how did it come about? And why is it so important today?

When Cardinal Ambrogio Achille Ratti was elected pope and took the name Pope Pius XI, much of the world was in shambles. The year was 1922, and while the bloodletting of World War I (1914-1918) had ended, widespread peace and tranquility were not evident.

The war to end all wars had been especially devastating to England and the countries of continental Europe. Additionally, the overthrow of the Romanov tsars by the Russian Revolution had created great upheaval in Russia and brought immense suffering. Governments were in economic chaos, unemployment was rampant and people in many places were literally starving to death.

The stability of the old social and political orders that had embraced royal houses and crowned heads of state were crumbling. The victorious warring powers sought severe penalties and unreasonable reparations from the vanquished Germans through the Treaty of Versailles.

Pessimism, a sense of helplessness compounded by hatred among the nations, was overwhelming. The time was ripe for the rise of tyrants, and rise they did. The festering philosophies of fascism, National Socialism (the N***s) and communism now spawned the likes of Benito Mussolini, Adolf Hi**er and Joseph Stalin. Pope Pius XI’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XV, had warned about this prophetically in 1920 when he wrote, “There can be no stable peace or lasting treaties, though made after long and difficult negotiations and duly signed, unless there be a return of mutual charity to appease hate and banish enmity.”

In their distress, people clung to anyone who offered them hope, offered some kind of direction out of the chaos and promised to put food on their tables. They gravitated to the emerging dictators, and as they did they often sought to be self-sufficient to the exclusion of God from their everyday lives.

Many considered the basics of morality and the teachings of the Church to be out of date, no longer relevant in 20th-century society. Modern thinking allowed that, at most, Christ might be king in the private life of the individual, but certainly not in the public world.

Some political regimes advocated the banishment of Jesus altogether, not only from society, but from the family as well. As nations were reborn and governments restructured, their foundations, policies and laws were often being fashioned without regard to Christian principles.

Edited by: Gabriel Gonzales

19/11/2022

FRIENDLY REMINDER THIS CHRIST THE KING:
KNEEL BEFORE THE TRUE KING

Tomorrow, there will be processions of the Blessed Sacrament in honor of our Lord Jesus Christ. Our Savior is truly present in that tiny white host - Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity. If such procession passes right in front of you, take a courageous act of faith and submission. Everyone is encouraged to PAY ADORATION to and KNEEL before the TRUE KING. 👑
________________________

Edited by: Gabriel Gonzales

15/11/2022

𝐒𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐃𝐀𝐘

𝐒𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭 𝐆𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭

✨”𝑶 𝑺𝒂𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝑱𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒔, 𝒇𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏 𝒐𝒇 𝒆𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆, 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒈𝒍𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒂𝒄𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒖𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒕𝒖𝒂𝒓𝒚. 𝑶 𝒎𝒚 𝒂𝒅𝒐𝒓𝒂𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒐𝒓, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒔𝒖𝒎𝒆 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒇𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂𝒇𝒍𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒅. 𝑷𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒐𝒏 𝒎𝒚 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒔𝒆 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒄𝒉 𝒇𝒍𝒐𝒘 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆. 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝒃𝒆 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔. 𝑳𝒆𝒕 𝒎𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔. 𝑴𝒂𝒚 𝒀𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝑾𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒎𝒚 𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔. 𝑨𝒎𝒆𝒏.”✨
-Sᴀɪɴᴛ Gᴇʀᴛʀᴜᴅᴇ ᴛʜᴇ Gʀᴇᴀᴛ

𝗗𝗶𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄❓

𝗦𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁, a Benedictine nun and one of the 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝘄𝗲𝗹𝗹-𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁t, is today's Saint of the Day. She is the only woman saint to have "𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝓖𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓽" in her name and the patron saint of the West Indies. Born in Eisleben, Germany in 1256 during the Feast of the Epiphany. She was regarded as one of the 𝗴𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗺𝘆𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝗰𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗿𝘆, engaging in spirituality called "𝓷𝓾𝓹𝓽𝓲𝓪𝓵 𝓶𝔂𝓼𝓽𝓲𝓬𝓲𝓼𝓶".She lived a life of Trinity and viewed herself as the Bride of our Lord Jesus Christ as a result of her profound personal union with the Sacred Heart and Jesus Christ. She described her intellectual pursuits as a "𝓽𝓸𝔀𝓮𝓻 𝓸𝓯 𝓿𝓪𝓷𝓲𝓽𝔂 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓬𝓾𝓻𝓲𝓸𝓼𝓲𝓽𝔂," and after having a spiritual encounter with Jesus Christ, St. Gertrude turned her attention to studying the Scripture and theological texts. She contributed to the growth of devotion in the West by writing about the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Being a brilliant mystic, 𝗦𝘁. 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗽𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘀 𝟭,𝟬𝟬𝟬 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝗹𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗣𝘂𝗿𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆. St. Gertrude passed away on November 16, 1302, and Pope Paul V gave his approval for a liturgical office of prayer, readings, and hymns to be held in her honor 300 years after her passing. 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗦𝘁. 𝗚𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗱𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘇𝗲𝗱.

15/11/2022

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Every year.
Ephesians 2:10

Happy Birthday Boc. Mark Ivan Tolentino 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

15/11/2022

𝙎𝘼𝙄𝙉𝙏 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝘿𝘼𝙔 | 𝙉𝙊𝙑𝙀𝙈𝘽𝙀𝙍 15
𝙎𝙏. 𝘼𝙇𝘽𝙀𝙍𝙏 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙂𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙏

O God, who did richly adorn St. Albert with your heavenly gifts and decorated him with all virtues, grant that, following in his footsteps, we may persevere in your service until death and securely obtain an everlasting reward. Through Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord. Amen

Sources:

(1) Litany of St. Albert the Great—Nashville Dominican (Retrieved on November 14, 2022);

10/11/2022

𝙃𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙔 𝙎𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙇𝙀𝙎' 𝘿𝘼𝙔!


'Wag kang malungkot kung single ka, dahil bokasyon rin ang pag-iisa. ♥️♥️

Sa lahat ng mga SINGLES diyan, let this be our mantra: "I may be single, but I am still Blessed." Happy National Singles' Day sa mga bok at 'ter nating pinili ang buhay Single-blessed kasama ang Panginoon.

Edited by: Gabriel Gonzales

10/11/2022

SAINT OF THE DAY | NOV 10, 2022
POPE ST. LEO THE GREAT

Dear Lord, we thank You for giving us Pope St. Leo the Great as an example of holiness. Help us to imitate the love of You he showed in choosing to respond to your call to the diaconate and the papacy.

Pope St. Leo the Great, we know little for certain about your early life. But we know that you answered God’s call to serve His Church in the diaconate.

Please bring my petitions before God Whose call you answered!

You served the Church faithfully as a deacon, and you became known for your virtues. Then, you answered God’s call to lead His Church as the Pope.

Pray for me, that I may always be open to doing God’s will in my life, no matter what He might call me to. Pray that I may be as devoted a servant of God as you were.

Please also pray for (mention your intentions here).

Pope St. Leo the Great, pray for us!

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

Sources:

(1) Pope St. leo the Great Novena—Pray more Novenas