CATHOLIC

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION

 

"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven."   --Saint Pope Pius X

 SAINT ISIDORE

FEAST DAY:  MAY 15TH

Isidore was born  to poor parents living in Madrid, Spain.  He became a farmer and worked on the great estate owned by John de Vergas.  John de Vergas valued the hard work that Isidore did for him and treated with love and respect and allowed him to attend his church.   Isidore married StMary de la Cabeza. Isidore prayed constantly and worked hard as a ploughman on the farm.  The angels would come to assist him in his farm work at times. He was a special friend to the poor and sick and had the ability to work miracles. He died in 1170.  He was canonized in 1622 and is the patron saint of Madrid.


        

        
INTERCESSORY PRAYER:  Ask Saint Isidore to 
        assist you with your needs today.  Saint Isidore, please pray for 
        (state your prayer request.)



     

      

     

       


     

      

     

        


     

      

     

       


     

      

     

       


     

      

     

       


     

      

     

        


     

      

     

       


     

      

     

        

      

 



     

        

      

 



 
  



  










SPIRITUAL 
DIRECTION FOR TODAY

[The works of a well known 
Catholic Spiritual Director will be featured in this space each week.]




	

		

			

				

					

						

							

								

									

										

											

											THE LITTLE 
											FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
											

											

											
											by: Ugolino of 
											Montegiorgio

											
 

											

												

												
												
												
												
												PART II: THE LIFE OF BROTHER 
												JUNIPER

											

											
 

											

											
											CHAPTER VI 
											(Part II)

											

											HOW BROTHER JUNIPER 
											KEPT SILENCE FOR SIX MONTHS 
											

											

											Brother Juniper once determined with 
											himself to keep silence for six 
											months together, in this manner. The 
											first day for love of the Eternal 
											Father. The second for love of Jesus 
											Christ his Son. The third for love 
											of the Holy Ghost. The fourth in 
											reverence to the most holy Virgin 
											Mary; and proceeding thus, each day 
											in honour of some saint, he passed 
											six whole months without speaking.
											

											
 

											

											
											CHAPTER VII 
											(Part II)

											
 HIS 
											REMEDY FOR TEMPTATIONS OF THE FLESH
											

											

											One day as Brother Giles, Brother 
											Simon of Assisi, Brother Ruffino, 
											and Brother Juniper were discoursing 
											together concerning God and the 
											salvation of the soul, Brother Giles 
											said to the other brethren: "How do 
											you deal with temptations to 
											impurity?" Brother Simon said: "I 
											consider the vileness and turpitude 
											of the sin till I conceive and 
											exceeding horror of it, and so 
											escape from the temptation." And 
											Brother Ruffino said: "I cast myself 
											on the ground, and with fervent 
											prayer implore the mercy of God and 
											of the Mother of Jesus Christ till I 
											am freed from the temptation." And 
											Brother Juniper answered: "When I 
											feel the approach of a diabolical 
											suggestion, I run at once and shut 
											the door of my heart, and, to secure 
											its safety, I occupy myself in holy 
											desires and devout meditations; so 
											that when the suggestion comes and 
											knocks at the door of my heart, I 
											may answer from within: `Begone; for 
											the room is already taken, and there 
											is no space for another guest'; and 
											so I never suffer the thought to 
											enter my heart; and the devil, 
											seeing himself baffled, retires 
											discomfited, not from me alone, but 
											from the whole neightbourhood." Then 
											Brother Giles made answer and said: 
											"Brother Juniper, I hold with thee; 
											for there is no surer way of 
											overcoming this enemy than flight; 
											inasmuch as he attacks us within by 
											means of the traitor appetite, and 
											without through our bodily senses; 
											and so by flight alone can this 
											masterful foe be overcome. And he 
											who resists it in any other way, 
											after all the toil of the conflict, 
											rarely comes off victorious. Fly, 
											then, from this vice, and thou shalt 
											gain the victory." 

											

											    ______________

											
 

									

								

							

						

					

				

			

		

	




THE ENTIRE 
WORK:  

THE LITTLE FLOWERS OF SAINT FRANCIS 
OF ASSISI


 


PRAYER  
TO

SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI


O Beloved Saint Francis,
gentle and poor,
your obedience to God,
and your simple,
deep love for all God's creatures
led you to the heights of heavenly perfection
and turned many hearts to follow God's will.
Now in our day,
in our ministry to the many
who come here searching for peace
and intercede for us
we come before the Lord with our special requests...

(Mention your special intentions here...)

O Blessed Saint of God,
from your throne among the hosts of heaven,
present our petitions before our faithful Lord.
May your prayers on our behalf be heard
and may God grant us the grace
to lead good and faithrful lives.

Amen

Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us.




Catholic Spiritual Direction



     

        

      

 



 
  




PRAYERS 
FOR THE DAY



MORNING PRAYER
  
AFTERNOON PRAYER 
 
  
EVENING PRAYER







 


       

      

 



 
  
 

        
       

      

 



 
  












        




PRAYER TO BLESSED  JOHN PAUL II FOR HIS INTERCESSION:


        






Blessed Pope John Paul II, you spent your life deeply 
immersed in the truths of the Catholic Faith.  You led us by your great 
example of love and self-sacrifice and you successively led millions to love Our 
Lord Jesus Christ and His Holy Church.  



We now ask for your intercession for those who are troubled 
and in need: 



 


        
  
  




Pope John Paul II, please pray for the Holy Catholic 
Church and for the following prayer request: 
 [state your prayer request.]


        
  
  




 


        
  
  








SEE:  EWTN  Biography on Pope John Paul II


        




CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL DIRECTION


        


        

        
        

      

 



 
  



PRAY 
FOR THE END OF ABORTION

END THE ABORTION HOLOCAUST

OVER 
50 
MILLION CHILDREN 
HAVE BEEN MURDERED SINCE 1973 BY ABORTION
PRAY THAT 
THE NEXT U.S. PRESIDENT WOULD BE PROLIFE AND WOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION TO 
OUTLAW ABORTION


PRAY THE ROSARY TODAY FOR 
ABORTION TO BE MADE ILLEGAL
 THROUGHOUT THE WORLD




REPUBILICAN CANDIDATES STAND ON ABORTION IN 2012


MORE ON 
ABORTION

 
  

        
        

      

 



 
  



MARIAN 
PRAYERS




 Saint 
Louis De Montfort stresses that people should give there hearts and wills to 
Jesus through Mary and that by doing this a soul will be able to soar toward 
God.  See Saint Louis's book  
True Devotion To Mary.  
Saint Louis warns of the devil's great ability to deceive 
souls, including souls of saints:





  

  "Because the devils, who are skillful thieves, wish to surprise us unawares, 
  and to strip us.  They watch day and night for the favorable moment.  
  For that end they go round about us incessantly to devour us and to snatch 
  from us in one momsin, all the graces and merits we have gained for 
  many years.   Their malice, their experience, their stratagems and 
  their number ought to make us fear this misfortune immensely, especially when 
  we see how many persons fuller of grace than we are, richer in virtues, better 
  founded in experience and far higher exalted in sanctity, have been surprised, 
  robbed and unhappily pillaged.  Ah!  How many cedars of Lebanon, how 
  many stars of the firmament, have we not seen fall miserably, and in the 
  twinkling of an eye lose all their height and their brightness!  Whence 
  comes that sad and curious change?  It was not for want of grace, which 
  is wanting to no man; but it was for want of humility.  They thought 
  themselves capable of guarding their own treasures.  They trusted in 
  themselves, relied upon themselves.  They thought their house secure 
  enough, and their coffers strong enough, to keep the precious treasure of 
  grace.  It is because of that scarcely perceptible reliance upon 
  themselves, though all the while it seemed to them that they were relying only 
  on the grace of God, that the most just Lord permitted them to be robbed by 
  leaving them to themselves.  Alas!  If they had but known the 
  admirable devotion which I will unfold presently, they would have confided 
  their treasure to a Virgin powerful and faithful, who would have kept it for 
  them as if it had been her own possession; nay, who would have even taken it 
  as an obligation of justice on herself to preserve it for them. "   
  (Part One, Chapter 2, #88.)   


  
See Saint 
  Louis's book: 
  
  True Devotion To Mary.

	
 







PRAYER TO
 THE VIRGIN MARY


          Holy Mary, my Queen and sovereign Lady, I give you myself, trusting in your fidelity and your protection. I surrender myself entirely to your motherly tenderness, my body, my soul, all that I am, all that I possess,  for the whole of this day, for every moment of my life,  and especially at the hour of my death. I entrust to you once more all my hopes, all my consolations, all my anxieties, all my troubles, my life, my dying breath, so that by your prayers and merits, I may have, in all I do, one only goal, your good pleasure and the holy will of your Son.  Amen!

      

        
PURPOSE OF THIS WEB SITE
Welcome 
        to this Catholic Spiritual Direction Web Site.   It is the 
        intention of this site to lead people to a closer relationship with 
         
          
        God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit through the 
        promotion of prayer and Christian teaching which will enable Christians 
        to adhere to the straight and narrow path Jesus speaks of in the 
        Gospels.  Included in these web pages are the Douay-Rheims Bible 
        and the works of Saint John of the Cross, Thomas à Kempis and Saint 
        Louis de Montfort, and the works of other saints of the Catholic faith,   
        all of whose teachings on spiritual direction have been followed by 
        priests, ministers, clergymen, Popes and Saints. These teachings adhere 
        to the teachings of the Catholic Church.   This site is 
        dedicated to Blessed Anne 
        Catherine Emmerich (Biography) (1774-1824) 
        Mystic, Stigmatist,  Prophet, and Great Visionary, a saintly Augustinian nun from Flamske, Germany.  
        Her highly descriptive visions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, The 
        Sorrowful Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, 
        are presented here.   In time more works from the Saints of 
        the Catholic Church will be added to these pages.    
          

       

          
          
          
EVENING PRAYER:

      Jesus gave us the very essence of 
      spiritual direction in the Bible:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
      God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  
      This is the first and great commandment." Matthew 22:37-38
Each evening we should 
      reflect on the good things and on the bad things we did during the day and 
      ask God to help us to improve in the future.  It is good if we say an 
      Act of Contrition each evening to help us acknowledge our imperfections 
      and to ask God to give us the graces to improve.
ACT OF CONTRITION

      O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all 
      my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they 
      offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I 
      firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid 
      the near occasions of sin. 
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Prayer of Saint Catherine of Siena for Physical and Spiritual Healing


PRECIOUS 
BLOOD, ocean of divine mercy:
 Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, most pure 
offering:
Procure us every grace!

Precious Blood, hope and refuge of sinners:
Atone for us!
Precious Blood, 
delight of holy souls:
Draw us! Amen.





      












 
  
        




      



  
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