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SAINT FOR TODAY OR FEAST DAY Saint Faustina Kowalska
October 5
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Maria Faustina (Kowalska)
of the Blessed Sacrament
OLM
Virgin, Religious, Christian Mystic,
"Apostle of Divine Mercy"
Born 25 August 1905
Głogowiec, Łęczyca County, Congress Poland, Russian Empire
Died 5 October 1938 (aged 33)
Krakσw, Second Polish Republic
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified 18 April 1993, St. Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Canonized 30 April 2000, St. Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope John Paul II
Major shrine Basilica of Divine Mercy, Krakσw, Poland
Feast 5 October
Divine Mercy Sunday Chaplet of the Divine Mercy Hour of Mercy Divine Mercy image Apostleship
People
Faustina Kowalska Michał Sopoćko Jσzef Andrasz Eugeniusz Kazimirowski Adolf Hyła John Paul II
Places
KrakσwŁagiewniki Vilnius Płock GłogowiecŚwinice Warckie Białystok Rome Stockbridge ManilaMarilao El Salvador
Other
O Blood and Water Dives in misericordia Misericordiae Vultus Crucifixion of Jesus Atonement in Christianity Mercy Charity Faith Hope Trust World Apostolic Congress on Mercy Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy Congregation of the Sisters of Merciful Jesus Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy Works of mercy
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Maria Faustyna Kowalska (born Helena Kowalska; 25 August 1905 5 October 1938[1]), also known as Saint Maria Faustyna Kowalska of the Blessed Sacrament and popularly spelled Faustina, was a Polish Roman Catholic nun and mystic. Her apparitions of Jesus Christ inspired the Roman Catholic devotion to the Divine Mercy and earned her the title of "Secretary of Divine Mercy".
Throughout her life, Kowalska reported having visions of Jesus and conversations with him, which she noted in her diary, later published as The Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska: Divine Mercy in My Soul. Her biography, submitted to the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, quoted some of the conversations with Jesus regarding the Divine Mercy devotion.[2]
At the age of 20 years, she joined a convent in Warsaw. She was later transferred to Płock and then to Vilnius, where she met Father Michał Sopoćko, who was to be her confessor and who supported her devotion to the Divine Mercy. With this priest's help, Sister Faustina commissioned an artist to paint the first Divine Mercy image, based on her vision of Jesus. Father Sopoćko celebrated Mass in the presence of this painting on Low Sunday, also known as the Second Sunday of Easter or (as established by Pope John Paul II), Divine Mercy Sunday.
The Roman Catholic Church canonized Kowalska as a saint on 30 April 2000.[3][4] The mystic is classified in the liturgy as a virgin[5] and is venerated within the church as the "Apostle of Divine Mercy". Her tomb is in Divine Sanctuary, Krakσw-Łagiewniki, where she spent the end of her life and met confessor Jσzef Andrasz, who also supported the message of mercy.
Early life
The registered birth certificate of Helena Kowalska
She was born Helena Kowalska on 25 August 1905 in Głogowiec, Łęczyca County, northwest of Łσdź, in Poland. She was the third of ten children of Stanisław Kowalski and Marianna Kowalska. Her father was a carpenter and a peasant, and the family was poor and religious.[6]
She later stated that she first felt a calling to the religious life while she attended the Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament at the age of seven.[7] She wanted to enter the convent after she had completed her time at school, but her parents would not give her permission. When she was 16, she went to work as a housekeeper, first in Aleksandrσw Łσdzki, where she received the Sacrament of Confirmation, then in Łσdź, to support herself and to help her parents.[2]
Entering a Warsaw Convent
In 1924, at the age of 19, Kowalska went with her sister Natalia to a dance in a park in Łσdź. Kowalska said that at the dance, she had a vision of a suffering Jesus. She then went to the Łσdź Cathedral, where, as she later said, Jesus instructed her to depart for Warsaw immediately and to enter a convent.[8] She took a train for Warsaw, some 85 miles away, without asking her parents' permission and despite the fact that she knew nobody in Warsaw. The only belongings she took were the dress that she was wearing.[9] Upon arrival, she entered the first church that she saw (Saint James Church, in the Ochota district) and attended Mass. She asked the priest, Father Dąbrowski, for suggestions, and he recommended staying with Mrs. Lipszycowa, a local woman whom he considered trustworthy, until she found a convent.
The girl approached several convents in Warsaw but was turned down each time, in one case being told that "we do not accept maids here", a reference to her evident poverty. Kowalska could read and write and had three or four years of education. After several weeks of searching, the Mother Superior at the convent of Zgromadzenie Siσstr Matki Bożej Miłosierdzia (Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy) decided to give Kowalska a chance and accepted her under the condition that she could pay for her religious habit. Kowalska knew nothing of the convent that she was entering except that she believed she was being led there.
In 1925, the girl worked as a housemaid to save the money she needed, making deposits at the convent throughout the year and was finally accepted, as the Mother Superior had promised. On 30 April 1926, at the age of 20 years, she was clothed in the habit and received the religious name of Sister Maria Faustina of the Blessed Sacrament.[4] Richard Torreto sees it as the feminine form of the name of a Roman martyr Faustinus, who was killed in AD 120.[10] In April 1928, having completed the novitiate, she took her first religious vows as a nun, with her parents attending the rite.[4] She was to be a nun for the rest of her short life.
From February to April 1929, she was posted to the convent in Wilno, then in Poland, now known as Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, where she served as a cook. Although her first posting to Vilnius was short, she returned there later and met Father Michael Sopoćko, who supported her mission. A year after her first return from Vilnius, in May 1930, she was transferred to the convent in Płock, Poland, for almost two years.[4]
Life as nun
Płock and Divine Mercy image
See also: Divine Mercy image and Divine Mercy Sunday
The first Divine Mercy painting, by Eugene Kazimierowski, (1934) at the Divine Mercy Sanctuary (Vilnius)
Kowalska arrived in Płock in May 1930. That year, the first signs of her illness, which was later thought to be tuberculosis, appeared, and she was sent to rest for several months in a nearby farm owned by her religious order. After her recovery, she returned to the convent, and by February 1931, she had been in the Płock area for about nine months.[4]
Kowalska wrote that on the night of Sunday, 22 February 1931, while she was in her cell in Płock, Jesus appeared wearing a white garment with red and pale rays emanating from his heart.[11] In her diary (Notebook I, Items 47 and 48), she wrote that Jesus told her:
Paint an image according to the pattern you see, with the signature: "Jesus, I trust in You" (in Polish: "Jezu, ufam Tobie"). I desire that this image be venerated, first in your chapel, and then throughout the world. I promise that the soul that will venerate this image will not perish.[12]
Not knowing how to paint, Kowalska approached some other nuns at the convent in Płock for help, but she received no assistance.[13] Three years later, after her assignment to Vilnius, the first artistic rendering of the image was produced under her direction.
In the same 22 February 1931 message about the Divine Mercy image, as Kowalska also wrote in her diary (Notebook I, item 49), Jesus told her that he wanted the Divine Mercy image to be "solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter Sunday; that Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy."[14]
In November 1932, Kowalska returned to Warsaw to prepare to take her final vows as a nun, by which she would become in perpetuity a sister of Our Lady of Mercy.[4] The ceremony took place on 1 May 1933, in Łagiewniki.[4]
Vilnius and meeting Sopoćko
The small convent building where Faustina lived in Vilnius
See also: Chaplet of Divine Mercy
Devotions
Act of Consecration Prayer Feast Scapular
People
Saint Lutgarde Saint Mechtilde of Hackeborn Saint Gertrude the Great Saint Bridget of Sweden Saint John Eudes Kasper Drużbicki Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque Blessed Mary of the Divine Heart Estelle Faguette Sister Consolata Betrone
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In late May 1933, Kowalska was transferred to Vilnius to work as the gardener, here tasks including growing vegetables. She remained in Vilnius for about three years until March 1936. The convent in Vilnius then had only 18 sisters and was housed in a few scattered small houses, rather than a large building.[15]
Shortly after arriving in Vilnius, Kowalska met Father Michael Sopoćko, the newly-appointed confessor to the nuns. He was also a professor of pastoral theology at Stefan Batory University, now called Vilnius University.
When Kowalska went for the first time to this priest for confession, she told him that she had been conversing with Jesus, who had a plan for her.[15] After some time, Sopoćko insisted on a complete psychiatric evaluation of Kowalska by Helena Maciejewska, a psychiatrist and a physician associated with the convent. This took place in 1933 and Kowalska passed the required tests and was declared of sound mind.[16]
Sopoćko then began to have confidence in Kowalska and supported her efforts. He also counselled her to begin keeping a diary and to record the conversations and messages from Jesus of which she had told him.[15] Kowalska told Sopoćko about the Divine Mercy image, and in January 1934, Sopoćko introduced her to the artist Eugene Kazimierowski, who was also a professor at the university.[17]
By June 1934, Kazimierowski had finished painting the image, based on the direction of Kowalska and Sopoćko[18], the only Divine Mercy painting that Kowalska saw.[19] A superimposition of the face of Jesus in the Image of the Divine Mercy upon that in the already-famous Shroud of Turin shows great similarity.[20]
Kowalska wrote in her diary (Notebook I, Item 414) that on Good Friday, 19 April 1935, Jesus told her that he wanted the Divine Mercy image to be publicly honoured.[4] A week later, on 26 April 1935, Sopoćko delivered the first sermon ever on the Divine Mercy, and Kowalska attended the sermon.[18]
The first Mass during which the Divine Mercy image was displayed occurred on 28 April 1935, the second Sunday of Easter, and was attended by Kowalska. It was also the celebration of the end of the Jubilee of the Redemption by Pope Pius XI. Sopoćko obtained Archbishop Romuald Jałbrzykowski's permission to place the Divine Mercy image within the Gate of Dawn Church, in Vilnius, during the Mass that Sunday, and he celebrated the Mass himself.[21]
On 13 September 1935, while still in Vilnius, Kowalska wrote of a vision about the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in her diary (Notebook I, Item 476).[22] The chaplet is about a third of the length of the Rosary.[23] Kowalska wrote that the purpose for chaplet's prayers for mercy are threefold: to obtain mercy, to trust in Christ's mercy and to show mercy to others.[24]
In November 1935, Kowalska wrote the rules for a new contemplative religious congregation devoted to the Divine Mercy. In December, she visited a house in Vilnius that she said she had seen in a vision as the first convent for the congregation.[4]
In January 1936, Kowalska went to see Jałbrzykowski to discuss a new congregation for Divine Mercy. However, he reminded her that she was perpetually vowed to her current order.[25] In March 1936, Kowalska told her superiors that she was thinking of leaving the order to start a new one that was specifically devoted to Divine Mercy, but she was transferred to Walendσw, southwest of Warsaw.[4] She reported that Jesus had said to her: "My Daughter, do whatever is within your power to spread devotion to My Divine Mercy, I will make up for what you lack."[26]
Krakσw and Kowalska's final years
In 1936, Sopoćko wrote the first brochure on the Divine Mercy devotion, and Jałbrzykowski provided his imprimatur for it. The brochure carried the Divine Mercy image on the cover. Sopoćko sent copies of the brochure to Kowalska in Warsaw.[27]
Faustina's chapel at her resting place, the Basilica of Divine Mercy in Krakσw, Łagiewniki.
Later in 1936, Faustina became ill in what had since been speculated to be tuberculosis. She was moved to the sanatorium in Prądnik, Krakσw. She continued to spend much time in prayer in reciting the chaplet and praying for the conversion of sinners. The last two years of her life were spent by praying and keeping her diary.[28]
On 23 March 1937, Kowalska wrote in her diary (Notebook III, Item 1044) that she had a vision that the feast of the Divine Mercy would be celebrated in her local chapel and would be attended by large crowds and also that the same celebration would be held in Rome, attended by the Pope.[17]
In July 1937, the first holy cards with the Divine Mercy image were printed. In August, Sopoćko asked Kowalska to write the instructions for the Novena of Divine Mercy, which she had reported as a message from Jesus on Good Friday, 1937.[18]
Throughout 1937, progress was made in promoting the Divine Mercy, and in November 1937, a pamphlet was published with the title Christ, King of Mercy. The pamphlet included the chaplet, the novena and the litany of the Divine Mercy. The Divine Mercy image appeared on the cover, with the signature "Jesus I Trust in You". On 10 November 1937, Mother Irene, Kowalska's superior, showed her the booklets while Kowalska rested in her bed.[29]
As her health deteriorated at the end of 1937, Kowalska's reported visions intensified, and she was said to be looking forward to an end to her life.[18] In April 1938, her illness had progressed, and she was sent to rest in the sanatorium in Prądnik for what was to be her final stay there.[29]
In September 1938, Sopoćko visited her at the sanatorium and found her very ill but in ecstasy, as she was praying. Later that month, she was taken back home to Krakσw to await her death there. Sopoćko visited her at the convent for the last time on 26 September 1938.[18]
Kowalska died at the age of 33, on 5 October 1938, in Krakσw. She was buried on 7 October and now rests at Krakσw's Basilica of Divine Mercy.[30]
Saint Faustina Kowalska
, PRAY FOR US [SAY YOUR PRAYER REQUEST.]
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OCTOBER II.
THE FEAST OF THE HOLY ANGEL-GUARDIANS.
AMONGST the adorable dispensations of the
divine mercy in favour of men, it is not the least, that he has been pleased to
establish a communion of spiritual commerce between us on earth and his holy
angels, whose companions we hope one day to be in the kingdom of his glory. This
communion is entertained on our side by the religious veneration with which we honour them as God's faithful, holy, and glorious ministering spirits, and beg
their charitable succour and intercession with God ; on their side by their
solicitude and prayers for us, and the many good offices they do us. The
providence of God, always infinitely wise, infinitely holy, and infinitely
gracious, vouchsafes to employ superior created beings in the execution of his
will in various dispensations towards other inferior creatures. According to
St. Thomas, when he created the angels, he enlightened the lowest amongst them
by those that are supreme in those glorious orders of spirits, It is clear, in
the holy scriptures, that those blessed spirits which we call angels (as
much as to say God's messenger) receive this very name from their office, in
being employed by him in frequently executing his commissions in our favour and
defence. That he does this on many occasions, both general and particular, has
been abundantly shown elsewhere from the testimony of the holy scriptures.Ή One
of the most-merciful appointments of God relating to this economy established by
him between the blessed angels and men, is, that he commissions chosen high
spirits to be particular guardians to each of us. In this rovidence are
displayed the infinite majesty, wisdom, and power of God, and the excess of his
goodness towards his creatures; also a deep foundation is laid of the greatest
charity and the highest mutual joy in each other between the angel sand the
elect for all eternity in their happy society of heaven.
That particular angels are
appointed and commanded by God to guard and watch over each particular person
among his servants, that is, all the just, or such as are in the state of grace,
is an article of the Catholic faith, of which no ecclesiastical writer within
the pale of the church, in. any age, ever, entertained the least doubt. That
every man, even among sinners and infidels, has a guardian angel, is the
doctrine of the most eminent among the fathers, and so strongly supported by the
most sacred authority, that it seems not to be called in question, especially as
to all the faithful. The psalmist assures us,² "He hath given his angels charge
over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways." And in another place,³ " The angel of
the Lord shall encamp round about them that fear him, and he shall deliver
them." The patriarch Jacob prayed his good angel to bless his two grandsons,
Ephraim and Manasses;4 "The angel that delivereth
(1) See on the two Festivals of St. Michael, May 8, and Sept.
29. Also Instruction Pastorale de M. Jean Joseph de la Bastie, Evegne de St.
Maio, Sur les Saints Anges, ann. 1758. (2) Ps. xc. 11. (3) Ps. xxxiii. 8. (4)
Gen. xlviii.16.
me from all evils bless these boys "-Judith.
said,Ή- " His angel hath been my keeper,
both going hence, and abiding there, and returning from thence." Christ deters
us from scandalizing any of his little ones, because their angels always behold
the face of God, who, with zeal, and indignation, will demand vengeance of God
against any by whose malice precious souls, which were their wards, have
perished.² Upon which passage St. Hilary
writes ; ³ "It is dangerous to despise one
whose cries and prayers are carried up to the eternal and invisible God by the
gracious ministry of the angels." So certain and general was the belief of
a guardian angel being assigned to every one by God, that when St. Peter was
miraculously delivered out of prison, the disciples, who, upon his coming to
them, could not at first believe it to be him, said, "It is his angel."4 That
St. Michael was the protector of the, Jewish nation, or of the people of God,
and that countries or collective bodies of men have, at least several, their
tutelar angels, is clear from holy scripture.5 So unanimous and so express is
the doctrine of the fathers, in asserting and illustrating this article of the
Catholic faith concerning guardian angels, that it would require a volume to
copy their testimonies. The devils, with implacable envy and malice, study to
compass our eternal ruin, both by stratagems and open assaults. - God is pleased
to oppose to their efforts his good angels, - by making them our defenders. If
Almighty God permits the devils various ways to assail and tempt us, and, both
by wiles and open violence, to endeavour to draw us into eternal ruin, will he
not allow his good angels to exert their zeal for his honour, and their charity
for us. No sooner had Lucifer and his adherents set up the standard of their
revolt from God, but St Michael and all the good angels entered upon a war
against them, and executing the sentence which God passed upon them, expelled
them out of their blessed abodes.
(1) Judith xiii. 20. SeeExod. xxiii. 20. (2) Matt. xviii. 10.
(3)- St. Hilar. in Matt. &vii. (4) Acts xi. 15. (5) Dan. xi. 1; ail. 1, &c.
Man being created to fill up the places of
these apostates, Lucifer, with his associates, is permitted by God to spread his
snares, andexert the efforts of his malice against us, that in these trials we
may give proof of our fidelity, and may purchase, by victories and triumphs,
that bliss for which we are created. Satan thus effects the ruin of innumerable
souls, and the Holy Ghost gives us this warning : "The devil is come down unto
you, having great wrath."Ή And such is his
arrogance, that he trusteth that Jordan, that is, the whole race of mankind, may
flow into his mouth, and be swallowed up by him.
The good angels, out of the
same zeal with which they continue their war against these wicked spirits, come
to our relief, according to the order established by divine providence. And God,
out of his infinite tenderness and compassion for us, commands his highest
spirits to watch over and to guard us. 0 my God! what is man that you should
take such care of him, and give him for his governors the sublime princes of
your heavenly court, the assistants of your throne ! What am I but a worm of the
earth, a slave to it, and to this body of filth, sin, and corruption ? Must an
angel, a creature so noble, so pure and holy, attend on me? " 0 wonderful
condescension! 0 excess of goodness and love!" cries out St. Bernard.² " He hath
given his angels charge over thee."³ Who is he that
hath given this charge ? To
whom and of whom hath he given this order? And what is its import? Let us
seriously consider and weigh every part of this mystery ? Who is he that hath
given this charge ? The Lord of angels, whom they obey. The supreme majesty of
God hath laid a comand upon the angels, and his own angels,
those sublime, those happy spirits, who approach so near his divine majesty, his
own domestics; and it is the care of thee that by this sacred command he bath intrusted
to them.
(1) Apoc. xii.12. - (2) Serra. 12, in Ps. xe. p. 862. (3)
Ps. xc. 11.
What art thou? Is not man rottenness, corruption, and the
pasture of worms? But what dost thou think hehath commanded them concerning
thee? "That they guard thee; that they keep thee in all thy ways. Nor do they
loiter; they even bear thee up in their bands, as it were, lest thou dash thy
foot against a stone." Shall we not praise such a goodness? We are also to
consider the watchful attention of these blessed spirits over us.
A second motive or
inducement which exceedingly endears us to their protection is, their compassion
and charity for us. They mushier that we are shortly to be their companions in
eternal bliss; and are at present, by grace and the divine adoption their
brethren, their dear fellow-members in God, dear to him who is their God and our
God, and precious in his sight, being purchased by him at the infinite price of
his incarnation, passion, and death. They, on the other side, see the miseries
of sin into which we are fallen, the dangers which surround us, and the infinite
evils under which we groan. Their compassion is the more tender as their charity
is the more perfect and more pure, and as they are seated nearer to the infinite
source or fountain of charity. They see the snares which the devils lay to
entrap. us, and they remember the cause of God, and the sacred war in which they
are engaged against those his enemies. They, there. fore, earnestly exert
themselves in defeating their. projects, and in protecting us: " For they love
their fellow-citizens, by whom they long to see their breaches and ruins
repaired," as the devout author of the Soliloquies of the Soul, among the works
of St. Austin,Ή and with him Hugh of St. Victor, write. " Therefore they
watch over and guard us with great care and diligence, in all places and at all
hours assisting us, providing for our necessities with solicitude they intervene
between us and thee, 0 Lord, conveying to thee our sighs and groans, and
bringing down to us the desired blessing of thy graces:"
(1)
Cap. 27, Op. St. Aug. t. vi. Append. p. 86, ed. Ben.
St. BernardΉ observes, that
we owe to our guardian-angel "great reverence, devotion, and confidence :
reverence," says he, "for his presence, devotion for his charity, and confidence
in his watchfulness. Penetrated with awe, walk always with circumspection,
remembering the presence of angels, to whom you are given in charge in all your
ways. In every apartment, in every closet, in every corner, pay a respect to
your angel. Dare you do before him what you durst not commit if I saw you?" In
another place he thus urges the same motive :²" Consider with how great
respect, awe, and modesty, we ought to behave in the sight of the angels, lest
we offend their holy eyes, and render ourselves unworthy of their company. Wo to
us if they who could chase away our enemy be offended by our negligence, and
deprive us of their visit. We must shun what grieves them, and practise that
which gives them delight, as temperance, chastity, voluntary poverty, prayer
with fervour, and tears. Above all things, the angels of peace expect in us
unity and peace. Should not they be most delighted with that in us which
represents the form of their own holy city, that they may admire a new
Jerusalem, or heaven on earth? On the contrary, nothing so much provokes them as
scandals and dissensions, if they discern any in us." St. Basil enlarges upon
the same argument to recommend to virgins the strictest modesty in all places.
" Let the virgin, when she is alone," says he,³ fear and respect, first,
herself and her own conscience; then her
guardian-angel,
who is always with her:
(1) Serm. 12, in Ps. sc. (2) Serm 1, in feato St. Michael. n.
5 (3) Lip. de Vera Virginit. n. 740.
'Their angels always see the face of my
Father.'Ή A man ought not to contemn the
face of the angel to whose care his soul is intrusted, especially a virgin,
whose paranymph he is appointed, and the guardian of her fidelity to her spouse.
Above all, she must respect her spouse himself, who is always with her, and
together with him the Father and the Holy Ghost ; not to mention the infinite
multitudes of the angels, and the blessed souls of the holy fathers; for though
they are not visible to our carnal eyes, they behold us with their incorporeal
sight. If the virgin fears the eye of others, much more must she the sight of
these who are so holy and excellent, anti se much greater than any men. She
dreads particularly the eyes of the multitude; now, it being impossible she
should escape the observation of this so great and holy a multitude, she will be
careful never to do any thing unbecoming her state."
We must not only respect,
but gratefully and devoutly love and honour our tutelar spirit. He is a faithful
guardian, a true friend, a watchful shepherd, and a powerful protector. He is a
high spirit of heaven, and a courtier of the immortal king of glory ; yet his
tender charity, goodness, and compassion move him, through the divine
appointment, to employ his whole power in guarding and defending us. He often
protects our bodies, as the devils have sometimes power to hurt them. But what
does not he do for our souls ! He instructs, encourages, secretly exhorts, and
reproves us; he defends us against our enemy, often discovers his stratagems,
averts many dangers, and comforts and supports us in our trials, and in the
terrible hour of our death. He invisibly performs for us the offices which that
angel who led the Jews into the promised land, did for them, and which Raphael
performed to the younger Toby, in his journey to Rages : for he is our good and
sure guide through the dangers of this life to eternal glory.
(1) Matt. xviii. 10.
What return shall we make by gratitude,
confidence, respect, and obedience to this our faithful Raphael,.our good angel!
what praise and thanks do not we owe to God for. so inestimable a benefit! Toby,
reflecting on the great favours he had received from the angel Raphael, his
faithful conductor, said to his father, What shall we give him? or what can be
worthy of his benefits ? He conducted me, and brought me safe again; he received
the money for me; he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil
spirit ; he gave joy to her parents; myself he delivered from being devoured by
the fish; thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled
with all good things through him. What can we give him sufficient for these
things?"Ή That holy family, seeing the immense goodness and condescension of God
in the benefits conferred upon them by his angel, "falling prostrate on their
faces for three hours, blessed God:"² Ought not we to imitate their gratitude ?
"In God," says St. Bernard,³ " let us affectionately love the angels, these;
glorious spirits which are to be one day our companions in glory and co-heirs,
and are at present appointed our tutors and guardians by our Father. Let us be
devout; let us be grateful to such protectors ; let us love them, let us honour
them as much as we are able," &c.
We likewise ought to place
a confidence in the protection of our good angel. To deserve his protection, we
must, above all things, fly sin. Even venial sin troubles him. "As smoke chases
away bees, and stench doves, so the ordure of sin driveth away the angel, the
keeper of life," says St. Basil.4 Impurity is a vice particularly abominable to
holy spirits; and sins of scandal make the angels of the little ones whom we
scandalize demand vengeance against us. God says, " Behold, I will
(1) Tobe iii. 21. (2) Tole 22. (3) . In Ps. ire. (4) Horn, in
Ps. xxxiii.
send my angel, who shall go before thee, and
keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared.
Respectfully observe him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be
contemned : for he will not forgive when thou halt sinned, and my name is in
him. But if thou wilt hear his *eke, and do all that I shall speak, I will be an
enemy to thy enemies, and will afflict them that afflict thee : and my angel
shall go before thee, and shall bring thee into the place which I have prepared.
"Ή
(1) Exod. xxiii. 20, &c.
THE LITANY OF
THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGEL
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy .
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Queen of Angels
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my guardian
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my prince
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my monitor
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my counselor
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my defender
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my steward
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my friend
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my consoler
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my brother
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my teacher
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my shepherd
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my witness
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my helper
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my watcher
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my negotiator
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my intercessor
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my patron
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my ruler
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my protector
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my defender
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my leader
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my preserver
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my preacher
pray for us.
Holy Angel, my enlightener
pray for us.
Holy Angel, guard and keep us
pray for us.
From every sin
guard and preserve us!
From every danger
guard and preserve us!
From every snare of the devil
guard and preserve us!
From every enemy, visible and invisible
guard and preserve us!
From pestilence, hunger, and war
guard and preserve us!
From the works of darkness
guard and preserve us!
From sluggishness in the service of God
guard and preserve us!
From sadness and anxiety
guard and preserve us!
From hardness of heart
guard and preserve us!
From the unworthy reception
of the Most Holy Body and Blood of the Lord
guard and preserve us!
From a sudden and unprovided death
guard and preserve us!
From the eternal death
guard and preserve us!
Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God,
who takes away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God,
who takest away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
Christ,hear us,
Christ,hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name;
thy kingdom come;
thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For the kingdom, the power, and the glory are yours
now and for ever.
Amen.
Hail, Mary! Full of grace,
The Lord is with thee;
Blessed are thou among women,
And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary, Mother of God,
Pray for us sinners,
Now, and at the hour of our death.
Amen.
V. He has commanded his Angels to watch over thee,
R. That they may guard thee in all thy ways.
V. Lord, hear my prayer,
R. Let my cry come before Thee.
Let us pray;
Almighty and eternal God,
who hast created me in Thy image,
though unworthy that I am,
and hast assigned Thy holy Angel as my guardian,
grant me, Thy servant,
that I may happily pass over the dangers of every evil,
both of body and soul,
and after the course of this life,
to come to eternal joy.
Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen
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 SAINT
THΙRΘSE OF LISIEUX
THE LITTLE FLOWER
1873-1897
FEAST
DAY: OCTOBER 1ST
The photo is
a picture of the Little Flower as a Novice at the age of 16.
Saint Thιrθse was born on January 2, 1873 to her parents, her father, Louis
Martin, a watchmaker of Alencon, and her mother Azιlie-Marie Guιrin.
Her parents were devout Catholics and had five daughters. She had a
happy childhood and was surrounded with love from her family members.
Her mother died in 1877 when Thιrθse was only five years of age. The
father became greatly responsible for his five daughters: Celine,
Mary, Leonie, Pauline and Thιrθse. The father moved his family to Lisieux
where with the help of the children's aunt, raised the family. Mary,
the eldest daughter, helped her father to run the household and Pauline saw
to the religious instruction of her sisters.
Her sister, Pauline eventually entered the Carmelite order to become a nun and
later her sister Mary also entered the Carmelite order. Thιrθse also tried
to enter the Carmelite order, but was turned down by the Carmelite order and by
the bishop. Thιrθse went on a pilgrimage to Rome and had a chance to meet
the Pope. She asked Pope Leo XIII to waive the age restriction to allow
her to become a Carmelite nun. She was only 15 years of age. The
Pope agreed with the Carmelite age restriction and turned her down, but told her
if it was God's will for her to enter, she would. In that same year, the
local bishop gave Thιrθse permission to enter the Carmelite order where her two
sisters were located. She entered the order on April 9, 1988 at the age of
15. She made her profession in 1890 and was given the name Thιrθse of the
Child Jesus.
She served as a novice for a while, but came down with tuberculosis, which
eventually took her life. As a Carmelite nun she prayed hard for the
foreign missionaries and for priests in general. She prayed for the
salvation of a man named, Pranzini, who had murdered two women and a
girl in Paris. He had no desire of repentance, but Saint Thιrθse's prayers
touched Heaven and the on his way to the guillotine for execution, he asked to
kiss the crucifix, which he kissed three times. It is believed that her
prayers helped bring about this murderer's salvation.
She entered the Carmelite house at the age of 15 and died from tuberculosis, at
the age of 24. In those short years, Our Lord, allowed her soul, to suffer
the
"Dark Night of the Soul" which is a very extreme purification of t he
soul which prepares a soul for their entrance into Heaven. This included
great spiritual aridity and horrible spiritual attacks from demons. She
said before she died that "after my death I will
let fall a shower of roses,"
and "I will
spend my Heaven doing good upon the earth." Saint Thιrθse was
canonized (made a saint) in 1925 by Pope Pius XI and was declared patroness of
foreign missions with St. Francis Xavier in 1927. She was declared
Protectoress of France with Saint Joan of Arc by Pope Pius XIII. In 1997,
Pope John Paul II declared Saint Thιrθse to be a
Doctor of the Church.
MORE ON
SAINT
THΙRΘSE:
The Life of the Little Flower,
book about St. Therese written by Rev. Albert M. Hutting.
Litany of Saint Therese: Prayer litany to Saint
Therese.
Autobiography of Saint Therese of Lisieux
INTERCESSORY PRAYER:
O
glorious Saint Therese, whom Almighty God has raised up to aid and counsel
mankind, I implore your Miraculous Intercession.
So powerful are you in obtaining every need of body and soul our Holy Mother
Church proclaims you a "Prodigy of Miracles...the Greatest Saint of Modern
Times." Now I fervently beseech you to answer my petition (mention specifics
here) and to carry out your promises of spending Heaven doing good upon the
earth...of
letting fall from Heaven a Shower of Roses.
Henceforth, dear Little Flower, I will fulfill your plea "to be made known
everywhere" and I will never cease to lead others to Jesus through you.
Amen.
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Our Lady of Ransom or of Mercy
(Her Orders establishment 1218)
The story of Our Lady of
Ransom is, at its outset, that of Saint Peter Nolasco, born in Languedoc about
1189. At the age of twenty-five he took a vow of chastity and made over his vast
estates to the Church. After making a pilgrimage to Our Lady of Montserrat, he
went to Barcelona where he began to practice various works of charity. He
conceived the idea of establishing an Order for the redemption of captives
seized by the Moors on the seas and in Spain itself; they were being cruelly
tormented in their African prisons to make them deny their faith. He spoke of it
to the king of Aragon, James I, who knew him well and already respected him as a
Saint; for the king had already asked for his prayers when he sent out his
armies to combat the Moors, and he attributed his victories to those prayers.
In effect all the
Christians of Europe, and above all of Spain, were praying a great deal to
obtain from God the remedy for the great evil that had befallen them. The divine
Will was soon manifested. On the same night, August 1, 1218, the Blessed Virgin
appeared to Saint Peter, to his confessor, Raymund of Pennafort, and to the
king, and through these three servants of God established a work of the most
perfect charity, the redemption of captives.
On that night, while the
Church was celebrating the feast of Saint Peter in Chains, the Virgin Mary came
from heaven and appeared first to Saint Peter, saying that She indeed desired
the establishment of a religious Order bearing the name of Her mercy. Its
members would undertake to deliver Christian captives and offer themselves, if
necessary, as a gage. Word of the miracle soon spread over the entire kingdom;
and on August 10th the king went to the
cathedral for a Mass celebrated by the bishop of Barcelona. Saint Raymund went
up into the pulpit and narrated his vision, with admirable eloquence and fervor.
The king besought the blessing of the bishop for the heaven-sent plan, and the
bishop bestowed the habit on Saint Peter, who emitted the solemn vow to give
himself as a hostage if necessary.
The Order, thus solemnly
established in Spain, was approved by Gregory IX under the name of Our Lady
of Mercy. By the grace of God and under the protection of His Virgin Mother,
the Order spread rapidly. Its growth was increased as the charity and piety of
its members was observed; they very often followed Her directive to give
themselves up to voluntary slavery when necessary, to aid the good work. It was
to return thanks to God and the Blessed Virgin that a feast day was instituted
and observed on September 24th, first in this
Order of Our Lady, then everywhere in Spain and France. It was finally extended
to the entire Church by Innocent XII.
Reflection:
Saint Peter Nolasco and his knights were not priests, and yet they considered
that the salvation of their neighbor was entrusted to them. We, too, can by good
counsel and by prayer, but above all by holy example, assist the salvation of
our brethren, and thereby secure our own.
Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints,
by Msgr. Paul Guιrin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 11; Little
Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler's Lives
of the Saints
and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894).
Our Lady of Ransom,
pray for us.
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FEAST DAY:
SEPTEMBER 12TH
The honored name of the
Virgin Mary, which is said to mean "star of the sea," is most fitting for the
Virgin Mother. She may well be compared to a star; for, as a star beams forth
its rays without any diminution of its own luster, so too the Virgin gave birth
to a Son with no loss to her virginity. The departing rays do not lessen the
star's brightness, nor Mary's Son her inviolate maidenhood. She is, therefore,
that noble star risen from Jacob and raised by nature above this great and wide
sea. She shines with merits, she enlightens with her example. You, all you who
are cast about upon the sea of temporalities in storms and tempests more than
you walk on solid land, do not turn your eyes away from the brightness of this
star. Think of Mary, call upon Mary, so that you may experience for yourself how
fittingly it was said, "And the Virgin's name was Mary." -- Pope Innocent XI
ordered the feast of this most holy name, which had already been honored with a
special rite in some parts of the Christian world, to be celebrated each year by
the universal Church as a perpetual memorial of the great blessing of that
signal victory won at Vienna in Austria over the cruel Turkish tyrant who had
been grinding down the Christian people in 1683.
(From Matins of the feast of the Most Holy Name of the Blessed Virgin
Mary)
The Most Holy Name of Mary
St. Bernard says and we say with him: "Look to the star of the sea, call
upon Mary... in danger, in distress, in doubt, think of Mary, call upon
Mary. May her name never be far from your lips, or far from your
heart... If you follow her, you will not stray; if you pray to her, you
will not despair; if you turn your thoughts to her, you will not err. If
she holds you, you will not fall; if she protects you, you need not
fear; if she is your guide, you will not tire; if she is gracious to
you, you will surely reach your destination."
(Pope Benedict XVI address at Heiligenkreuz Abbey, September 9, 2007)
Ask the Blessed Virgin
Mary to assist you with your special needs today.
DEAR BLESSED MOTHER,
PLEASE PRAY FOR [STATE YOUR PRAYER REQUEST.]
Litany of the Holy Name of Mary
For private use only.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.
Lord,
have mercy.
Son of Mary, hear us.
Son of Mary, graciously hear us.
Heavenly Father, of Whom Mary is the Daughter,
Have mercy on us.
Eternal Word, of Whom Mary is the Mother,
Have mercy on us.
Holy
Spirit, of Whom Mary is the spouse,
Have mercy on us.
Divine
Trinity, of Whom Mary is the Handmaid,
Have mercy on us.
Mary , Mother of the Living God, pray for us.
Mary, daughter of the
Light Eternal, pray for us.
Mary, our light, etc.
Mary, our sister,
Mary, flower of Jesse,
Mary , issue of kings,
Mary, chief work of
God,
Mary, the beloved of God,
Mary, Immaculate Virgin,
Mary,
all fair,
Mary, light in darkness,
Mary, our sure rest,
Mary,
house of God,
Mary, sanctuary of the Lord,
Mary, altar of the
Divinity,
Mary, Virgin Mother,
Mary, embracing thy Infant God,
Mary, reposing with Eternal Wisdom,
Mary, ocean of bitterness,
Mary,
Star of the Sea,
Mary, suffering with thine only Son,
Mary, pierced
with a sword of sorrow,
Mary, torn with a cruel wound,
Mary,
sorrowful even to death ,
Mary, bereft of all consolation,
Mary,
submissive to the law of God,
Mary, standing by the Cross of Jesus,
Mary, Our Lady,
Mary, Our Queen,
Mary, Queen of glory ,
Mary,
glory of the Church Triumphant,
Mary, Blessed Queen,
Mary, advocate
of the Church Militant,
Mary, Queen of Mercy,
Mary, consoler of the
Church Suffering,
Mary, exalted above the Angels,
Mary, crowned with
twelve stars,
Mary, fair as the moon,
Mary, bright as the sun,
Mary, distinguished above all,
Mary, seated at the right hand of Jesus,
Mary, our hope,
Mary, our sweetness,
Mary, glory of Jerusalem ,
Mary, joy of Israel,
Mary, honor of our people,
Mary, Our Lady
of the Immaculate Conception,
Mary, Our Lady of the Assumption,
Mary, Our Lady of Loreto,
Mary, Our Lady of Lourdes,
Mary, Our Lady
of Fatima,
Mary, Our Lady of Czestochowa,
Mary, Our Lady of the
Miraculous Medal,
Mary, Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
Mary, Our Lady of
the Angels,
Mary, Our Lady of Dolors,
Mary, Our Lady of Mercy,
Mary, Our Lady of the Rosary,
Mary, Our Lady of Victory ,
Mary, Our
Lady of La Trappe,
Mary, Our Lady of Divine Providence,
Lamb of
God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord Jesus.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us,
O Lord Jesus.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us, O Lord Jesus.
Son of Mary , hear us.
Son of Mary,
graciously hear us.
V. I will declare thy name unto my brethren.
R.
I will praise thee in the assembly of the faithful.
Let Us Pray.
O Almighty
God, Who beholdest Thy servants earnestly desirous
of placing themselves
under the shadow of the name and protection
of the Most Holy Virgin
Mary, vouchsafe, we beseech Thee,
that by her charitable intercession,
we may be delivered from all
evil on earth, and may arrive at
everlasting joys in Heaven,
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. R. Amen.
ARTICLE ON THE HOLY NAME OF MARY
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 SACRED
HEART OF JESUS
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus came into the Catholic faith through a
Catholic sister known as Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690). At the age of
24, Margaret Mary entered the Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial in
France. She began to have visions of Our Lord and on December 27, 1673, on the
Feast of St. John, she began to have visions that lasted for eighteen months.
Jesus told her that she was to become his instrument in spreading devotion to
his Sacred Heart. While kneeling before the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord appeared
to her and invited her to "rest a long time on His Divine Breast". Jesus
revealed to her the marvels of the love that His Sacred Heart had for mankind.
Jesus said to her:
"MY DIVINE HEART IS SO FULL OF LOVE FOR MEN AND FOR YOU
IN PARTICULAR THAT, NO LONGER ABLE TO CONTAIN WITHIN ITSELF THE FLAMES OF ITS
BURNING CHARITY, IT MUST SPREAD THESE FLAMES BY MEANS OF YOU, AND IT MUST
MANIFEST ITSELF TO MEN IN ORDER TO ENRICH THEM WITH ITS PRECIOUS TREASURES. I
HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO ACHIEVE THIS GRAND CRUSADE OF LOVE."
Saint Margaret Mary had frequent visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
According to Saint Margaret Mary, His Divine Heart was "more radiant than the
sun and as transparent as crystal," with its adorable wound visible, and as
a "furnace" of burning flames.
In June, 1675: during the feast of Corpus Christi, while praying before Our Lord
in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Monstrance. Our Lord revealed His Heart to
her and said:
"HERE IS THE HEART THAT HAS SO LOVED MEN AS TO SPARE NOTHING FOR THEM,
EXHAUSTING AND CONSUMING ITSELF IN ORDER TO PROVE ITS LOVE FOR THEM; AND IN
RETURN I RECEIVE, FROM MOST OF THEM, ONLY INGRATITUDE."
Jesus asked her to have a special feast established in honor of His Sacred Heart
on the Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi. Jesus asked his followers
to receive Holy Communion on that day and to make atonement for the sins of the
world by an act of reparation.
Jesus asked her to have an image made of His Sacred Heart and to have
it promoted throughout the world with special promises to those
souls who would display His image of His Sacred Heart.
She consulted with her enlightened spiritual director whom God had
given her. On the following Friday, June 21, Father de la
Colombiere, her priest-director, and Saint Margaret Mary consecrated
themselves to the Sacred Heart. With great sufferings and
humiliations, Father de la Colombiere and Saint Margaret Mary made
every effort to spread the new devotion to the Sacred Heart of
Jesus.
The Lord Jesus
revealed to Saint Margaret Mary the following promises to those souls who would
honor the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus:
"1. I will give them all the
graces necessary in their state of life.
"2. I will establish peace in
their homes.
"3. I will comfort them in
all their afflictions.
"4. I will be their secure
refuge during life and above all in death.
"5. I will bestow a large
blessing upon all their undertakings.
"6. Sinners shall find in My
Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy.
"7. Tepid souls shall grow
fervent.
"8. Fervent souls shall
quickly mount to high perfection.
"9. I will bless every place
where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored.
"10. I will give to priests
the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
"11. Those who shall promote
this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted
out.
"12. I promise you in the
excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those
who communicate on the first Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of
final perseverance; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving
their Sacraments; My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last
moment."
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Sin,
especially abortion brings down the wrath of God on nations.
What did Our Lady of Fatima say about war?
In the
second, she warned that World War I would be
followed by a far worse conflict unless people
stopped "offending God." She called for the
"consecration of Russia to my immaculate heart";
otherwise, Russia would "spread her errors
throughout the world."
Bring peace to
the world; outlaw abortion.
Mother Teresa on abortion:
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion,
because it is a war against the child, a direct killing of the innocent
child, murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a mother can
kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one
another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always,
we must persuade her with love and we remind ourselves that love means
to be willing to give until it hurts. Jesus gave even His life to love
us. So, the mother who is thinking of abortion, should be helped to
love, that is, to give until it hurts her plans, or her free time, to
respect the life of her child. The father of that child, whoever he is,
must also give until it hurts.
By abortion, the mother does
not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her problems.
And, by abortion, that father is told that he does not have to take any
responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. The
father is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion
just leads to more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not
teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what they
want. This is why the greatest
destroyer of love and peace is abortion.
Many people are very, very
concerned with the children of India, with the children of Africa where
quite a few die of hunger, and so on. Many people are also concerned
about all the violence in this great country of the United States. These
concerns are very good. But often these same people are not concerned
with the millions who are being killed by the deliberate decision of
their own mothers. And this is what is the greatest destroyer of peace
today abortion which brings people to such blindness."
Quotes from Mother Teresa on Abortion
"Please don't kill the child. I want the child.
Please give me the child. I am willing to accept any child who would be aborted,
and to give that child to a married couple who will love the child, and be loved
by the child. From our children's home in
Calcutta alone, we have saved over 3,000
children from abortions. These children have brought such love and joy to their
adopting parents, and have grown up so full of love and joy!"
"Any country that accepts abortion, is not
teaching its people to love, but to use any violence to get what it wants."
"It is a poverty to decide that a child must die
so that you may live as you wish." "America needs no words from me to see how
your decision in Roe v. Wade has deformed a great nation. The so-called right to
abortion has pitted mothers against their children and women against men.
It has sown violence and discord at the heart of the most intimate human
relationships. It has aggravated the derogation of the father's role in an
increasingly fatherless society. It has portrayed the greatest of gifts -- a
child -- as a competitor, an intrusion, and an inconvenience. It has nominally
accorded mothers unfettered dominion over the independent lives of their
physically dependent sons and daughters" And, in granting this unconscionable
power, it has exposed many women to unjust and selfish demands from their
husbands or other sexual partners. Human rights are not a privilege conferred by
government. They are every human being's entitlement by virtue of his
humanity. The right to life does not depend, and must not be declared to be
contingent, on the pleasure of anyone else, not even a parent or a sovereign."
(Mother Teresa -- "Notable and Quotable," Wall Street Journal, 2/25/94, p. A14)
"But I feel that the greatest destroyer of peace
today is abortion, because it is a war against the child - a direct killing of
the innocent child - murder by the mother herself. And if we accept that a
mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one
another? How do we persuade a woman not to have an abortion? As always, we must
persuade her with love, and we remind ourselves that love means to be willing to
give until it hurts. Jesus gave even his life to love us. So the mother who is
thinking of abortion, should be helped to love - that is, to give until it hurts
her plans, or her free time, to respect the life of her child. The father of
that child, whoever he is, must also give until it hurts. By abortion, the
mother does not learn to love, but kills even her own child to solve her
problems. And by abortion, the father is told that he does not have to take any
responsibility at all for the child he has brought into the world. That father
is likely to put other women into the same trouble. So abortion just leads to
more abortion. Any country that accepts abortion is not teaching the people to
love, but to use any violence to get what they want. That is why the greatest
destroyer of love and peace is abortion. "
"What is taking place in America," she said, "is
a war against the child. And if we accept that the mother can kill her own
child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another." February 1997
- National Prayer Breakfast in
Washington attended by the President and the First Lady.
Bible Verses About
Punishment Of Sin
Bible verses related to
Punishment Of Sin from the King James Version (KJV) by Relevance
Romans 6:23 -
For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Psalms 145:20 - The LORD
preserveth all them that love him: but all the wicked will he destroy.
Matthew 25:46 - And these shall
go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life
eternal.
Ezekiel 18:20 - The soul that
sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the
father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the
righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of
the wicked shall be upon him.
Galatians 6:7 - Be not deceived;
God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
James 1:15 - Then when lust hath
conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth
forth death.
Romans 5:12 - Wherefore, as by
one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death
passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Ezekiel 18:4 - Behold, all souls
are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is
mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
2 Corinthians 5:10 - For we must
all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may
receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done,
whether it be good or bad.
Acts 3:19 - Repent ye therefore,
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of
refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;
1 John 3:4 - Whosoever committeth
sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
Romans 2:6-10 -
Who will render to every man according to his
deeds:
(Read More...)
2 Corinthians 5:21 -
For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin;
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
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How to Recite the Divine Mercy
ChapletThe Chaplet of Mercy is recited using ordinary
Rosary beads of five decades. The Chaplet is preceded by two opening prayers
from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska and followed by a closing
prayer.
1. Make the Sign of the Cross
In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
2. Optional Opening Prayers
St. Faustina s
Prayer for Sinners
O Jesus, eternal Truth, our Life, I call upon You and I beg Your mercy for
poor sinners. O sweetest Heart of my Lord, full of pity and unfathomable mercy,
I plead with You for poor sinners. O Most Sacred Heart, Fount of Mercy from
which gush forth rays of inconceivable graces upon the entire human race, I beg
of You light for poor sinners. O Jesus, be mindful of Your own bitter Passion
and do not permit the loss of souls redeemed at so dear a price of Your most
precious Blood. O Jesus, when I consider the great price of Your Blood, I
rejoice at its immensity, for one drop alone would have been enough for the
salvation of all sinners. Although sin is an abyss of wickedness and
ingratitude, the price paid for us can never be equalled. Therefore, let every
soul trust in the Passion of the Lord, and place its hope in His mercy. God will
not deny His mercy to anyone. Heaven and earth may change, but God's mercy will
never be exhausted. Oh, what immense joy burns in my heart when I contemplate
Your incomprehensible goodness, O Jesus! I desire to bring all sinners to Your
feet that they may glorify Your mercy throughout endless ages (Diary of Saint
Maria Faustina Kowalska, 72).
You expired, Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the
ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, unfathomable
Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.
(Repeat three times)
O Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of
mercy for us, I trust in You!
3. Our Father
Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name; Thy kingdom come; Thy
will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and
forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead
us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil, Amen.
4. Hail Mary
Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou amongst
women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God,
pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
5. The Apostles
Creed
I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth, and in
Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born
of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was
buried; He descended into hell; on the third day He rose again from the dead; He
ascended into heaven, and is seated at the right hand of God the Father
almighty; from there He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe in
the Holy Spirit, the holy catholic Church, the communion of saints, the
forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and life everlasting. Amen.
6. The Eternal Father
Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your
Dearly Beloved Son, Our Lord, Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those
of the whole world.
7. On the 10 Small Beads of Each Decade
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole
world.
8. Repeat for the remaining decades
Saying the "Eternal Father" (6) on the "Our Father" bead and then 10 "For the
sake of His sorrowful Passion" (7) on the following "Hail Mary" beads.
9. Conclude with Holy God (Repeat three times)
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the
whole world.
10. Optional Closing Prayers
Eternal God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury
of compassion
inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase
Your mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become
despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Your holy will, which
is Love and Mercy itself.
O Greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from
the abyss of its misery to Your mercy to Your compassion, O God; and it is
with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out. Gracious God, do not reject
the prayer of this earth's exiles! O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding,
Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own
power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You: anticipate us with Your grace and
keep on increasing Your mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will
all through our life and at death's hour. Let the omnipotence of Your mercy
shield us from the darts of our salvations enemies, that we may with
confidence, as Your children, await Your [Sons] final coming that day known
to You alone. And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite
of all our wretchedness. For Jesus is our Hope: through His merciful Heart, as
through an open gate, we pass through to heaven (Diary, 1570).
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John 15:7 "If
you abide in me, and my words abide in you, you shall
ask whatever you will, and it shall be done unto you."
Promise made by the Lord Jesus Christ
"My daughter, encourage souls to say
the chaplet which I have given you. It pleases Me to grant
everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet."
(Diary, 1541) Promise of Jesus made to Saint Faustina
Kowalska about Divine Mercy Chaplet
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SAINT JOSEPH
Spouse of the Blessed
Virgin and Patron of the Universal Church.
March 19TH
ST. JOSEPH was by birth of the royal family of David, but was
living in humble obscurity as a carpenter when God raised him to the highest
sanctity, and fitted him to be the spouse of His Virgin Mother, and
foster-father and guardian of the Incarnate Word. Joseph, says the Holy
Scripture, was a just man; he was innocent and pure, as became the husband of
Mary; he was gentle and tender, as one worthy to be named the father of Jesus;
he was prudent and a lover of silence, as became the master of the holy house;
above all, he was faithful and obedient to divine calls. His conversation was
with angels rather than with men. When he learned that Mary bore within her womb
the Lord of heaven, he feared to take her as his wife; but an angel bade him
fear not, and all doubts vanished. When Herod sought the life of the divine
Infant, an angel told Joseph in a dream to fly with the Child and His Mother
into Egypt. Joseph at once arose and obeyed. This sudden and unexpected flight
must have exposed Joseph to many inconveniences and sufferings in so long a
journey with a little babe and a tender virgin, the greater part of the way
being through deserts and among strangers; yet he alleges no excuses; nor
inquires at what time they were to return. St. Chrysostom observes that God
treats thus all His servants, sending them frequent trials to clear their hearts
from the rust of self-love, but intermixing seasons of consolation. "Joseph,"
says he, "is anxious on seeing the Virgin with child; an angel removes that
fear. He rejoices at the Child's birth, but a great fear succeeds: the furious
king seeks to destroy the Child, and the whole city is in an uproar to take away
His life. This is followed by another joy, the adoration of the Magi; a new
sorrow then arises: he is ordered to fly into a foreign unknown country, without
help or acquaintance." It is the opinion of the Fathers that upon their entering
Egypt, at the presence of the child Jesus, all the oracles of that superstitious
country were struck dumb, and the statues of their gods trembled and in many
places fell to the ground. The Fathers also attribute to this holy visit the
spiritual benediction poured on that country, which made it for many ages most
fruitful in Saints. After the death of King Herod, of which St. Joseph was
informed in another vision, God ordered him to return with the Child and His
Mother into the land of Israel, which our Saint readily obeyed. But when he
arrived in Judea, hearing that Archelaus had succeeded Herod in that part of the
country, and apprehensive that he might be infected with his father's vices, he
feared on that account to settle there, as he would otherwise probably have done
for the education of the Child; and therefore, being directed by God in another
vision, he retired into the dominions of Herod Antipas, in Galilee, to
his former habitation in Nazareth. St. Joseph, being a strict observer of the
Mosaic law, in conformity to its direction annually repaired to Jerusalem to
celebrate the Passover. Our Saviour, now int the twelfth year of His age,
accompanied His parents thither. Having performed the usual ceremonies of the
feast,they were returning with many of their neighbors and acquaintance towards
Galilee; and never doubting but that Jesus was with some of the company, they
travelled on for a whole day's journey before they discovered that He was not
with them. But when night came on and they could hear no tidings of Him among
their kindr ed
and acquaintance, they, in the deepest affliction, returned with the utmost
speed to Jerusalem. After an anxious search of three days they found Him in the
Temple, discoursing with the learned doctors of the law, and asking them such
questions as raised the admiration of all that heard Him, and made them
astonished at the ripeness of His understanding; nor were His parents less
surprised on this occasion. When His Mother told Him with what grief and
earnestness they had sought Him, and asked, "Son, why hast Thou thus dealt with
us? Behold Thy Father and I sought Thee in great affliction of mind," she
received for answer, "How is it that you sought Me? Did you not know that I must
be about My Father's business?" But though thus staying in the Temple unknown to
His parents, in all other things He was obedient to them, returning with them to
Nazareth, and there living in all dutiful subjection to them. As no further
mention is made of St. Joseph, he must have died before the marriage of Cana and
the beginning of our divine Saviour's ministry. We cannot doubt that he had the
happiness of Jesus and Mary attending at his death, praying by him, assisting
and comforting him in his last moments; whence he is particularly invoked for
the great grace of a happy death and the spiritual presence of Jesus in that
hour.
Reflection. -St. Joseph, the shadow of the Eternal Father
upon earth, the protector of Jesus in His home at Nazareth, and a lover of all
children for the sake of the Holy Child, should be the chosen guardian and
pattern of every true Christian family.
PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
Blessed Saint Joseph,
your intercession can make possible impossible things
come to help me in these moments of anguish and hardship.
Take under your protection
the difficult and grave situations I commend to you,
so they have a happy solution according to God's will.
My beloved father:
I trust you entirely
and abandon myself as a small child
sleeping in his dad's arms.
That could not be said I appealed to you in vain.
And as you, through the Lord,
can everything accomplish in front of Jesus and Mary,
show me your kindness is as greater as your power.
Nine Day Novena to Saint
Joseph |
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[MENTION YOUR PRAYER
REQUEST]
[Ask Saint Joseph to end all
abortions world-wide and for the end of war in Ukraine]
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, spouse of St. Joseph,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, confirmed in grace,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, guardian of the Word Incarnate,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, favorite of the King of Heaven,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, ruler of the family of Jesus,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, spouse of the ever-blessed Virgin,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, foster father to the Son of God,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, example of humility and obedience,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, mirror of silence and resignation,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, patron of innocence and youth,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, exited with Christ into Egypt,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, intercessor for the afflicted,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, advocate of the humble,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, model of every virtue,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, honored among men,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, in whom is the union of all Christian perfections,
Pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O holy Saint Joseph,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray.
Assist us, O Lord,
we beseech Thee,
by the merits of the spouse
of Thy most holy Mother,
that what our unworthiness cannot obtain,
may be given us by his intercession with Thee,
Who livest and reignest with God the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without end.
Amen.
PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
O Saint Joseph,
whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the
throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O
thou Saint Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession,
and obtain for me from thy divine Son all spiritual blessings,
through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that, having engaged here
below thy heavenly power, I may offer my thanksgiving and homage
to the most loving of fathers. O Saint Joseph, I never weary
contemplating thee, and Jesus asleep in thy arms; I dare not
approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name
and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss
when I draw my dying breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of departing
souls, pray for me. Amen!
___________
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NINE DAY NOVENA IN HONOR OF
SAINT JOSEPH
PRAYER BEFORE THE NOVENA
GREAT Saint Joseph, prostrate at thy feet with
feelings of unlimited confidence we beg thee to bless the Novena that I began in
thy honor. I will meditate upon thy virtues; grant that I may learn fully to
appreciate them. The knowledge of them will be the source of great confusion for
me because of the poverty and destitution of my soul.
Great dispenser of the heavenly treasures,
assist me in my poverty, help me to display thy virtues in my own soul. "Thou
art never invoked in vain," says the seraphic Theresa of Jesus; be thou to me
what thou hast been to that Spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus; graciously
hearken to me as thou didst hearken to her. Amen.
(MAKE YOUR PRAYER REQUEST)
PRAYERS TO BE SAID OVER THE NINE DAYS
FIRST DAY
SECOND DAY
THIRD DAY
FOURTH DAY
FIFTH DAY
SIXTH DAY
SEVENTH DAY
EIGHTH DAY
NINTH DAY
FIRST DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF THE LIFE OF FAITH
THE words of the great Apostle: "The just man
liveth by faith," may be applied particularly to Saint Joseph who was the most
just of men and whose life was ever guided by faith. Joseph submitted his
intelligence to the holy truths of religion. He applied his heart from his
tenderest infancy to the observance of the divine precepts.
In the trials and sorrows of life, Joseph was
sustained by faith. He shaped his whole conduct by the desire to please God and
he attained the great aim of man upon earth, which is to adore God, to serve
Him, and hence to deserve the everlasting Truth.
Let us glorify this great Servant of God who
possessed faith so universal, so simple, so enlightened, so firm, so constant,
and, above all, so fruitful in good works.
Let us examine ourselves with regard to this
great virtue and see how we resemble him.
Is my faith firm, unshaken? Is my conduct
animated by faith! Is the predominant thought that directs my acts to please
God, and to obtain merit for everlasting life? Have I tried to derive
consolation and strength from the thought of faith in time of trial?
PRAYER
GREAT Saint,
model of the just living by faith,
revive that virtue in our souls.
May it be principle,
the motive,
the aim of all my actions; consolation and
my strength in the trials of this life, the source of abundant merit for
everlasting life.
Amen
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
SECOND DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF HOPE
JOSEPH, abandoning himself entirely to the
care of Divine Providence, glorified God by his life. Among all the virtues,
hope is the most pleasing to God, because it is based upon His infinite
goodness. In the sufferings of this life it is the source of the greatest
consolation and encouragement.
Joseph hoped in the Lord. He hoped for His
grace in the accomplishment of His adorable will; for His help in time of trial;
for His light in the difficulties of life. By hope he detached his heart from
the perishable goods and the deceitful affections of this world. In the hour of
trial he sustained his courage by hope, and fortified his heart with a peace
that nothing could alter.
Let us imitate Saint Joseph. Let us elevate
our hopes towards the only veritable and imperishable treasures. Let us trust in
the wisdom and solicitude of Divine Providence. Let us rely upon the grace of
the Lord; upon His goodness, and upon His power. Let us renew our confidence in
the hour of trial. Let us avoid discouragement, which outrages the wisdom and
goodness of God.
PRAYER
JOSEPH,
do thou cause the gift of Christian hope
to descend into my heart. May it enlighten
me, console me,
defend me.
May it detach me from the earth so as to
elevate my thoughts and my affections towards Heaven.
May it henceforward inspire my whole
conduct and give me the right to die like
thee, saying: "Lord, I have hoped in Thee;
I shall not be confounded."
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
THIRD DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF CHARITY
JOSEPH loved God from his earliest youth and
loved Him during his whole life. Joseph loved God with his whole heart, with his
whole soul, with his whole strength. Joseph loved God with a love of preference,
giving Him his first affections, and cutting off his heart from all that could
hinder or alter his love for his Lord and Sovereign Master. Joseph loved God
with a love of union, keeping himself; constantly united to God by prayer,
meditation, the thought of His holy presence, and the most perfect conformity to
the will of God.
Joseph loved God with a love of immolation
which prompted him to perfect devotedness, enabling him to perform with joy the
greatest and most numerous sacrifices. Joseph loved God with a love of
perseverance that experienced neither decrease nor alteration. He always loved
God with all his power to love, and constantly endeavored to love Him more and
more.
PRAYER
BLESSED Saint,
enkindle in my cold heart a spark of
thy charity.
May God be always the first and only
object of my affections.
Keep my soul always, in sanctifying
peace,
and, if I should be so unhappy as to lose
it,
give me the strength to recover it
immediately by a sincere repentance.
Grant me such a love of my God
as will always keep me united to
Him,
and will be the principle and motive of
all my actions.
Grant me a generous love that will make me
overcome all obstacles,
and accept the greatest sacrifices rather
than separate myself from the charity of my God.
Amen.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
FOURTH
DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF PURITY
"How beautiful is the chaste generation!"
(Wisdom iv) "The whole weight of gold is as nothing in comparison with a pure
soul." (Eccles. xxv)
SAINT Joseph was preeminent in purity because
he feared God and faithfully observed His holy law; because he safeguarded his
virtue by fear of the Sovereign Good and by prudence; because he sheltered it
under the virginity of Mary, and felt the influence of Jesus, the divine Son of
all sanctity.
How pure must he have been who was to become
the worthy spouse of the Immaculate Virgin! How holy must he have been whose
relations with the thrice holy God were so intimate.
PRAYER
JOSEPH,
help me to understand the excellence of purity
and how dear it is to the heart of God.
Teach me to preserve carefully this delicate virtue
and the shadow of the fear of God;
to safeguard it by prayer, by vigilance,
by shunning the world,
by careful watch over my heart and my
senses.
Grant that I may hence forward close my
heart to all disorderly affections;
that I may deserve to enjoy like thee upon
earth
the friends and intimacy of Jesus,
and that it may be given to me one day to
sing in Heaven the canticle reserved for Virgins.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
FIFTH DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF HUMILITY
JOSEPH excelled in humility because he
realized that glory is due to God alone, and that, of himself, man is but misery
and nothingness. By reason of his humility Joseph was accorded the most glorious
privileges and entrusted with the most sublime mission. To accomplish His
designs, God employs only the humble who do not claim for themselves the glory.
As Foster Father of Jesus and Spouse of the
Queen Heaven and earth, Joseph was more highly honored than any king in this
world. What pretexts, furnished by zeal for the glory of God, might have
prompted him to speak, to put himself forward, to attribute to himself the
greatness of the precursor of the Messiah, and the glories of the apostles! He
rather conceals the astonishing prodigies which have been revealed to him, and
the sublimity of the functions he exercises. Under an impenetrable veil he hides
all that can draw upon him the esteem of men.
PRAYER
O JOSEPH,
what a lesson for me
ever so eager to appear,
so anxious to display before the eyes of
men
the graces that I owe entirely to the
liberality of God.
Obtain that I may attribute to God the
glory of all things;
that I may love the humble and hidden
life;
that I may not desire any other position
than the one given by Providence;
and that I may always be a docile
instrument in the hands of God.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
SIXTH DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF PATIENCE
CONSIDER how Joseph suffered in his life time.
He tasted, indeed, ineffable consolations, but he also endured much suffering.
In contrast with the glories of his fallen family, his was a life of labor and
self denial. What did he not have to suffer, especially after the Incarnation of
the Son of God? It is verily Joseph who experienced that wherever Jesus enters,
He comes with His Cross and His Crown of Thorns.
He suffers in perfect conformity with the
Divine Will. Joseph renews his courage in the hope of eternal joys and
treasures, in the examples of patience which are given him by Jesus and Mary.
Thus, whatever may be his trials they cannot trouble the peace of his soul.
PRAYER
JOSEPH, model of patience,
teach me this virtue; which is so
necessary
in the midst of the sufferings and trials
of this sorrowful life.
Grant that your example and that of Mary,
as well as the hope of celestial joys,
may ever renew my courage. Amen.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
SEVENTH DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF PRUDENCE
LET US honor in Saint Joseph the faithful and
prudent servant to whom Almighty God entrusted the care of His family. Prudence
inspired Saint Joseph to adopt as the foundation and rule of his conduct, the
great principles of faith; God, the end of man in this world; God, the reward of
man in eternity.
Remembering that life is short and uncertain,
that upon a moment may depend our eternity, Saint Joseph wisely employs his
time. He is careful to make a holy use of his senses and his other faculties in
order to give to his Lord and Master a faithful account of the talents entrusted
to him; he watches over the world around him, yielding to the world in the
measure willed by God, but not giving himself up to it. He makes within himself
a retreat accessible to God alone and impenetrable to creatures.
PRAYER
FAITHFUL and prudent servant,
watch over my weakness and my
inexperience;
obtain for me that prudence which reminds
me of my end,
which directs my paths,
and which protects me from every danger.
Amen.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
EIGHTH DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF OBEDIENCE
JOSEPH regarded obedience as rendering man
particularly pleasing to God. What esteem Joseph had particularly for obedience,
when he heard Mary answering the Angel: "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it
done unto me according to thy word!" When he saw Jesus submit to his orders,
anticipate his wishes, execute them faithfully and promptly! When he considered
that the Incarnate Word would be obedient until death, even the death of the
Cross.
PRAYER
JOSEPH, so faithful to display in thy conduct
the obedience of Jesus and Mary,
obtain for me this important virtue.
Obtain for me a perfect docility of heart
to accomplish the will of God,
and that of those who replace Him.
Inspire me by your example,
to obey with promptness and generosity;
obtain for me above all,
the grace to obey without murmuring,
without reasoning
upon the orders given me,
in spite of every pretext,
and with an entire immolation of my own
will.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
******
NINTH DAY
SAINT JOSEPH, MODEL OF DETACHMENT
SAINT Joseph loved poverty because it detaches
man from all passing and perishable goods, delivers the soul from dangerous
obstacles, and from a thousand evils and cares, and permits him to keep his eyes
raised toward Heaven, instead of stooping, like a slave, toward the earth.
Saint Joseph loved poverty, because he saw it
practised in the highest degree by Jesus Christ. Did he not regard it as a
hidden and priceless treasure, when he contemplated Jesus in His abnegation,
when he saw Him stretch out His divine hands to ask for the most necessary needs
of life?
Saint Joseph suffered the privations of life
with patience, without murmur of complaint, using his poverty to detach himself
more and more from worldly goods, and to seek the goods of Heaven.
PRAYER
() JOSEPH, make me understand the excellence
of poverty.
Grant that I may enter into the interior
dispositions
which animated thee in regard to that
virtue.
Disclose to me the snares of riches,
the dangers which are attached to them,
the solicitude which they engender. Make
me understand how much God favors us,
when he refuses us riches,
since he furnishes us a precious occasion
to detach us from ourselves
and from creatures,
and to increase our merit for Heaven.
Amen.
SAY THE LITANY OF SAINT JOSEPH
Litany
of Saint Joseph
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven, Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have
mercy on us.
God the Holy Ghost, Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God, Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, Pray for us.
Renowned offspring of David,
Pray for us.
Light of patriarchs, Pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God,
Pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin,
Pray for us.
Foster Father of the Son of God, Pray for
us.
Diligent protector of Christ,
Pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, Pray for us.
Joseph, most just, Pray for us.
Joseph, most chaste, Pray for us.
Joseph, most prudent, Pray for us.
Joseph, most strong, Pray for us.
Joseph, most obedient,
Pray for us.
Joseph, most faithful,
Pray for us.
Mirror of patience, Pray for us.
Glory of home life, Pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, Pray for us.
Pillar of families, Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, Lover of poverty,
Pray for us.
Model of laborers,
Pray for us.
Solace of the wretched,
Pray for us.
Hope of the sick, Pray for us.
Patron of the dying, Pray for us.
Terror of demons, Pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church,
Pray for us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world,
Spare us, 0 Lord,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world,
Graciously hear us, 0 Lord,
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the
world, Have mercy on us.
V. He made him the lord of His household.
R. And prince over all his possessions.
Let Us Pray
GOD, WHO in Thy ineffable providence didst
vouchsafe to choose blessed Joseph to be the spouse; of Thy most holy Mother;
grant, we beseech Thee, that we may have for our advocate in heaven him whom we
venerate as our protector on earth: Who livest and reignest world without end.
Amen.
SAINT TERESA OF AVILA HIGHLY RECOMMENDS PRAYING TO
SAINT JOSEPH TO OBTAIN FAVORS FROM GOD
FROM:
THE LIFE OF SAINT TERESA,
Chapter 6, The following are the words of Saint Teresa of Avila:
"I took for my advocate and lord the
glorious Saint Joseph and commended myself earnestly to him; and I found that
this my father and lord delivered me both from this trouble and also from other
and greater troubles concerning my honour[91] and the loss of my soul, and that
he gave me greater blessings than I could ask of him. I do not remember even now
that I have ever asked anything of him which he has failed to grant. I am
astonished at the great favours which God has bestowed on me through this
blessed saint, and at the perils from which He has freed me, both in body and in
soul. To other saints the Lord seems to have given grace to succour us in some
of our necessities but of this glorious saint my experience is that he succours
us in them all and that the Lord wishes to teach us that as He was Himself
subject to him on earth (for, being His guardian and being called His father, he
could command Him) just so in Heaven He still does all that he asks. This has
also been the experience of other persons whom I have advised to commend
themselves to him; and even to-day there are many who have great devotion to him
through having newly experienced this truth.
I used to try to keep his feast with the greatest possible solemnity[92]; but,
though my intentions were good, I would observe it with more vanity than
spirituality, for I always wanted things to be done very meticulously and well.
I had this unfortunate characteristic that, if the Lord gave me grace to do
anything good, the way I did it was full of imperfections and extremely faulty.
I was very assiduous and skilful in wrongdoing and in my meticulousness and
vanity. May the Lord forgive me. I wish I could persuade everyone to be devoted
to this glorious saint, for I have great experience of the blessings which he
can obtain from God. I have never known anyone to be truly devoted to him and
render him particular services who did not notably advance in virtue, for he
gives very real help to souls who commend themselves to him. For some years now,
I think, I have made some request of him every year on his festival and I have
always had it granted. If my petition is in any way ill directed, he directs it
aright for my greater good.
If I were a person writing with authority, I would gladly describe, at greater
length and in the minutest detail, the favours which this glorious saint has
granted to me and to others. But in order not to do more than I have been
commanded I shall have to write about many things briefly, much more so than I
should wish, and at unnecessarily great length about others: in short, I must
act like one who has little discretion in all that is good. I only beg, for the
love of God, that anyone who does not believe me will put what I say to the
test, and he will see by experience what great advantages come from his
commending himself to this glorious patriarch and having devotion to him. Those
who practise prayer should have a special affection for him always. I do not
know how anyone can think of the Queen of the Angels, during the time that she
suffered so much with the Child Jesus, without giving thanks to Saint Joseph for
the way he helped them. If anyone cannot find a master to teach him how to pray,
let him take this glorious saint as his master and he will not go astray. May
the Lord grant that I have not erred in venturing to speak of him; for though I
make public acknowledgment of my devotion to him, in serving and imitating him I
have always failed. He was true to his own nature when he cured my paralysis and
gave me the power to rise and walk; and I am following my own nature in using
this favour so ill."
**********
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Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet with
thousands of Catholics at Relevant Radio, the Drew Mariani Show, at 4pm
Eastern
Time, for Spiritual help and healing of sickness and the end of
abortion:
https://relevantradio.com/listen/
Whoever will recite it will receive great mercy
Jesus
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy is a prayer of
intercession prayed on ordinary rosary beads in as
little as ten minutes, yet its prayerful recitation
comes with a plethora of graces and promises.
Jesus instructed Saint Faustina,
My daughter, encourage souls to say the
chaplet which I have given you. It pleases Me
to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the
chaplet. (Diary, 1541)
If the Lord is saying It pleases Me to grant
everything they ask of Me by saying the chaplet,
shouldnt we take every opportunity to recite this
prayer with intentions for our country, our neighbors,
our world?
As are many of us today, St. Faustina was greatly
concerned for all mankind. Her lamentations then
sound remarkably familiar to what one might hear today.
She records in Diary passage 929:
When I had rested near His sweetest Heart, I told
Him, Jesus, I have so much to tell You. And
the Lord said to me with great love, Speak, My
daughter. And I started to enumerate the
pains of my heart; that is, how greatly concerned I
am for all mankind, that they all do not know You,
and those who do know You do not love You as You
deserve to be loved. I also see how terribly
sinners offend You; and then again, I see how
severely the faithful, especially Your servants, are
oppressed and persecuted. And then, too, I see
many souls rushing headlong into the terrible abyss
of hell. You see, Jesus, this is the pain that
gnaws at my heart and bones. And, although You
show me special love and inundate my heart with
streams of Your joys, nevertheless, this does not
appease the sufferings I have just mentioned, but
rather they penetrate my poor heart all the more
acutely. Oh, how ardently I desire that all
mankind turn with trust to Your mercy. Then,
seeing the glory of Your name, my heart will be
comforted.
How kindly and tenderly Jesus deals with her
outpourings. What a consolation for us who share
St. Faustinas heart. St. Faustina continues:
Jesus listened to these outpourings of my heart
with gravity and interest, as if He had known
nothing about them, and this seemed to make it
easier for me to talk. And the Lord said to
me,
My daughter, those words of your heart are
pleasing to Me, and by saying the chaplet you are
bringing humankind closer to Me.
After these words, I found myself alone, but the
presence of God is always in my soul.
The Lord asked St. Faustina to pray the chaplet for
many causes as outlined below. Let us pray the
Chaplet of Mercy as often as possible for all the things
St. Faustina prayed for and more. Seek her
intercession. Ask her to pray each chaplet with
you thankful for the goodness and generosity of the
Lord.
Promises of the Chaplet for all Things
I desire to grant unimaginable graces to
those souls who trust in My mercy.
(687)
My daughter, encourage souls to say the
chaplet which I have given to you. It pleases
Me to grant everything they ask of Me by saying the
chaplet. (1541)
Promises of the Chaplet to Appease Gods Anger
This prayer will serve to appease My
wrath. (476)
When this chaplet is said by the bedside of a
dying person, Gods anger is placated. (811)
This chaplet mitigates Gods anger, as He Himself
told me. (1036)
It [the chaplet] appeases the anger of God.
(1565)
Promises of the Chaplet for Sinners
Priests will recommend it to sinners as
their last hope of salvation. Even if there
were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite
this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from
My infinite mercy. (687)
When hardened sinners say it, I will fill
their souls with peace, and the hour of their death
will be a happy one. (1541)
Promises of the Chaplet for Storms
Today I was awakened by a great storm. The
wind was raging, and it was raining in torrents,
thunderbolts striking again and again. I began
to pray that the storm would do no harm, when I
heard the words: Say the chaplet I
have taught you, and the storm will cease.
I began immediately to say the chaplet and hadnt
even finished it when the storm suddenly ceased, and
I heard the words: Through the chaplet
you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is
compatible with My will. (1731)
When a great storm was approaching, I began to
say the chaplet. Suddenly I heard the voice of an
angel: I cannot approach in this storm, because
the light which comes from her mouth drives back
both me and the storm. Such was the angels
complaint to God. I then recognized how much
havoc he was to have made through this storm; but I
also recognized that this prayer was pleasing to
God, and that this chaplet was most powerful.
(1791)
Promises of the Chaplet for the Faithful
The souls that say this chaplet will be
embraced by My mercy during their lifetime and
especially at the hour of their death.
(754)
While I was saying the chaplet, I heard a voice
which said, Oh, what great graces I will
grant to souls who say this chaplet; the very depths
of My tender mercy are stirred for the sake of those
who say the chaplet. O what a great
multitude of souls I see! They worshiped the
Divine Mercy and will be singing the hymn of praise
for all eternity. (848)
Promises of the Chaplet for the Dying
I realize more and more how much every soul needs
Gods mercy throughout life and particularly at the
hour of death. This chaplet mitigates Gods
anger, as He Himself told me. (1036)
At the hour of their death, I defend as
My own glory every soul that will say this chaplet;
or when others say it for a dying person, the pardon
is the same. When this chaplet is said by the
bedside of a dying person, Gods anger is placated,
unfathomable mercy envelops the soul, and the very
depths of My tender mercy are moved for the sake of
the sorrowful Passion of My Son.
(811)
Source:
https://divinemercyforamerica.org/action-plan/utilize-the-promises/promises-of-the-chaplet/
OUR LORDS
PROMISES ATTACHED TO THE
PRAYING OF THE
CHAPLET OF DIVINE MERCY
AS REVEALED TO ST. FAUSTINA KOWALSKA
- I promise that the soul that will
venerate this image (of Divine Mercy) will
not perish. I also promise victory over
(its) enemies already here on earth,
especially at the hour of death. I Myself
will defend it as My own glory. (Diary,
48)
- The souls that say this chaplet will be
embraced by My mercy during their lifetime
and especially at the hour of their death.
(Diary, 754)
- When hardened sinners say it, I will
fill their souls with peace, and the hour of
their death will be a happy one. (Diary,
1541)
- When they say this chaplet in the
presence of the dying, I will stand between
My Father and the dying person, not as a
just Judge but as a merciful Savior. (Diary,
1541)
- Whoever will recite it will receive
great mercy at the hour of death. (Diary,
687)
- Priests will recommend it to sinners as
their last hope of salvation. Even if there
were a sinner most hardened, if he were to
recite this chaplet only once, he would
receive grace from My infinite mercy
I
desire to grant unimaginable graces to those
souls who trust in My mercy. (Diary,
687)
- To priests who proclaim and extol My
mercy, I will give wondrous power; I will
anoint their words and touch the hearts of
those to whom they will speak. (Diary,
1521)
- The prayer most pleasing to Me is
prayer for the conversion for sinners. Know,
my daughter, that this prayer is always
heard and answered. (Diary,
1397)
- At three oclock, implore My mercy,
especially for sinners; and, if only for a
brief moment, immerse yourself in My
Passion, particularly in My abandonment at
the moment of agony
I will refuse nothing to
the soul that makes a request of Me in
virtue of My Passion. (Diary,
1320; also, cf. Diary, 1572)
- Souls who spread the honor of My
mercy
at the hour of death I will not be a
Judge for them, but the Merciful Savior. (Diary,
1075)
- The two rays denote Blood and
Water
These two rays issued from the very
depths of My tender mercy when My agonized
Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross.
These rays shield souls from the wrath of My
Father
I desire that the first Sunday after
Easter be the Feast of Mercy
whoever
approaches the Fount of Life on this day
will be granted complete remission of sins
and punishment. Mankind will not have peace
until it turns with trust to My mercy. (Diary,
299-300)
- I desire that the Feast of Mercy
be
solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday
after Easter
The soul that will go to
Confession and receive Holy Communion (in a
state of grace on this day) shall obtain
complete forgiveness of sins and
punishment. (Diary, 699)
- Through this chaplet you will obtain
everything, if what you ask for is
compatible with My will. (Diary,
1731)
- My mercy is greater than your sins and
those of the entire world. (Diary,
1485)
Note:
Excerpts taken from the Diary
of St. Faustina Kowalska, titled
Divine Mercy in My Soul,
©1987, Congregation of Marians of the Immaculate
Conception, Stockbridge, MA 01263.
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SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES
Feast Day: January 24th
(1567-1622)
Bishop of Geneva, Switzerland and a Doctor of the Church
FRANCIS was born of noble and pious parents, near
Annecy, A.D. 1567, and studied with brilliant success at Paris and
Padua. On his return from Italy he gave up the grand Career which
his father had marked out for him in the service of the State, and
became a priest. He studied at Annecy, Paris, France and Padua,
Italy. He received a doctorate in law at the age of
twenty-four. He was ordained a priest in 1593. When the Duke of
Savoy had resolved to restore the Church in the Chablais, Francis
offered himself for the work, and set out on foot with his Bible and
breviary and one companion, his cousin Louis of Sales. It was a work
of toil, privation, and danger. Every door and every heart were
closed against him. He was rejected with insult and threatened with
death. But nothing could daunt or resist him, and ere long the
Church burst forth into a second spring. It is stated that he
converted 72,000 Calvinists. He was then compelled by the Pope to
become Coadjutor Bishop of Geneva, and succeeded the see A.D. 1602.
At times the exceeding gentleness with which he received heretics
and sinners almost scandalized his ends, and one of them said to
him, " Francis of Sales will go to Paradise, of course; but I am not
so sure of the Bishop of Geneva: I am almost afraid his gentleness
will play him a shrewd turn." "Ah," said the saint, " I would
rather account to God for too great gentleness than for too great
severity. Is not God all love? God the Father is the Father of
mercy; God the Son is a Lamb; God the Holy Ghost is a Dove, that is,
gentleness itself. And are you wiser than God ?" He
became an outstanding confessor and spiritual director and
spiritually guided Blessed Marie Acarie and St. Jane Francis de
Chantal. He founded several schools. He was gifted in
spiritual writing and wrote the spiritual classics:
Introduction to the Devout Life and the
Treatise on the Love of God. In union with St: Jane Frances of
Chantal he founded at Annecy the Order of the Visitation, which soon
spread over Europe. Though poor, he refused provisions and
dignities, and even the great see of Paris. He died at
Avignon, A.D. 1622. He was canonized in 1653 and declared a Doctor
of the Church in 1877.
REFLECTION.-"You will catch more flies," St. Francis used to
say, " with a spoonful of honey than with a hundred barrels of vinegar. Were
there any thing better or fairer on earth than gentleness, Jesus Christ would
have taught it us ; and yet he has given us only two lessons to learn of
himmeekness and humility of heart."
Excerpt from Saint Francis de Sales' book,
Introduction to the Devout Life:
CHAPTER XVII.
NINTH MEDITATION.
On the Choice upon to you between Heaven and Hell.
Preparation.
1. PLACE yourself in the Presence of God. 2.
Humble yourself before Him, and ask His inspiration.
Considerations.
1. Imagine yourself alone with your good
angel (46) in an open plain, as was Tobit on his way to Rages. Suppose
the Angel to set before you Paradise, full of delights and joys; and on
the other hand Hell, with all its torments. Contemplate both, kneeling
in imagination before your guardian Angel. Consider that you are most
truly standing between Hell and Paradise, and that both the one and the
other are open to receive you, according to your own choice.
2. Consider that the choice you make in this
life will last for ever in the next.
3. Consider too, that while both are open to
receive you according to your choice, yet God, Who is prepared to give
the one by reason of His Justice, the other by reason of His Mercy, all
the while desires unspeakably that you should select Paradise; and your
good Angel is urging you with all his might to do so, offering you
countless graces on God's part, countless helps to attain to it.
4. Consider that Jesus Christ, enthroned in
Heaven, looks down upon you in loving invitation: "O beloved one, come
unto Me, and joy for ever in the eternal blessedness of My Love!" Behold
His mother yearning over you with maternal tenderness--" Courage, my
child, do not despise the Goodness of my Son, or my earnest prayers for
thy salvation." Behold the Saints, who have left you their example, the
(47) millions of holy souls who long after you, desiring earnestly that
you may one day be for ever joined to them in their song of praise,
urging upon you that the road to Heaven is not so hard to find as the
world would have you think. "Press on boldly, dear friend,"--they cry.
"Whoso will ponder well the path by which we came hither, will discover
that we attained to these present delights by sweeter joys than any this
world can give."
The Choice.
1. O Hell, I abhor thee now and for ever; I
abhor thy griefs and torments, thine endless misery, the unceasing
blasphemies and maledictions which thou pourest out upon my God;--and
turning to thee, O blessed Paradise, eternal glory, unfading happiness,
I choose thee for ever as my abode, thy glorious mansions, thy precious
and abiding tabernacles. O my God, I bless Thy Mercy which gives me the
power to choose--O Jesus, Saviour, I accept Thine Eternal Love, and
praise Thee for the promise Thou hast given me of a place prepared for
me in that blessed New Jerusalem, where I shall love and bless Thee for
ever.
2. Dwell lovingly upon the example set
before you by the Blessed Virgin and the Saints, and strive to follow
where they point you. Give (48) yourself up to your guardian Angel, that
he may be your guide, and gird up your courage anew to make this choice.
******
To see the entire book, go to this link:
Introduction to the Devout Life
MORE ON SAINT FRANCIS DE SALES FROM BUTLER'S
LIVES OF THE SAINTS
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The purpose and meaning of the Fifth Commandment
Who possesses the authority to take human life? Who has the
right to make that decision? The emphasis in the Fifth
Commandment is on the word you. You shall not
murder! You are not to deliberately kill premeditatedly or in
the anger of the moment.You
shall not kill.
Exodus 20:13
What makes human life precious? Consider it
from God's point of view. He made us in His own image for the
purpose of creating in us His own character. For that reason He
is not willing that any should perish, but that all should
come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9.
Compare 1 Timothy 2:4 As Jesus Christ explained, God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the
world through him might be saved.
John 3:17
In our world however, human life is so often
treated with indifference. We settle our differences with war,
killing hundreds of thousands of other people in the process.
Criminals steal not only possessions but their victims' lives.
So many people view an unwanted pregnancy as simply an
inconvenience or an unexpected consequence of their sexual
activity that millions of unborn babies are aborted every year.
What a sad contrast to our Creator who
promises us the greatest gift possible, the opportunity to share
eternal life with Him. The murder of the day is commonly the
first topic featured on television news program, especially in
larger cities. Many such slayings are committed by family
members or formerly close associates or friends. Random killings
from gang and street violence add to the climate of fear in many
communities. Homicides linked to other crimes and drugs are all
too common. Untold thousands around the world fall victim to
mass murder in the name of politics and ideology. Murder touches
the life of almost everyone on earth.
In supposedly advanced societies, television
and motion pictures barrage citizens with murders and carnage.
Violence is so inextricably woven into the fabric of society
that we glamorize it in our literature and entertainment. It's
ironic that in spite of our fascination with murder, we follow
the example of most societies throughout history in passing
strict laws against it. Few people indeed have ever needed to be
convinced that murder within their own community was wrong.
However, other challenges concerning the value and sanctity of
human life tend to generate controversy, particularly the
execution of criminals by the state. Is capital punishment the
same as murder? And what does God say about war? Why did God
allow ancient Israel to take human life in battles with other
nations? Was that a violation of the Sixth Commandment?
The real issue
At the heart of these questions is this issue: Who possesses the
authority to take human life? Who has the right to make that
decision? The emphasis in the Sixth Commandment is on the word
you. You shall not murder! You are not to deliberately
kill premeditatedly or in the anger of the moment. We must
control our tempers. Taking another person's life is not our
right to decide. That judgment is reserved for God alone. That
is the thrust of this Commandment. God does not allow us to
choose to wilfully, deliberately take another person's life. The
Fifth Commandment reminds us that God is the giver of life, and
He alone has the authority to take it or to grant humans
permission to take it.
The Sixth Commandment does not specifically
apply to manslaughter, deaths caused accidentally through
carelessness or other unintentional actions. Such deaths
although serious occurrences are not considered by the laws of
God or man to fall into the same category as premeditated
murder. Protect the lives of the Unborn.
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THE LITANY OF
MARY,
MOTHER OF GOD.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy,
Christ, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy,
Lord, have mercy.
Christ, hear us,
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of heaven,
have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, one God,
have mercy on us.
Holy Mary,
pray for us.
Holy Mother of God,
pray for us.
Holy Virgin of virgins,
pray for us.
Mother of Christ,
pray for us.
Mother of the Church,
pray for us.
Mother of Divine grace,
pray for us.
Mother most pure,
pray for us.
Mother most chaste,
pray for us.
Mother inviolate,
pray for us.
Mother undefiled,
pray for us.
Mother most amiable,
pray for us.
Mother most admirable,
pray for us
Mother of good counsel,
pray for us.
Mother of our Creator,
pray for us.
Mother of our Saviour,
pray for us.
Virgin most prudent,
pray for us.
Virgin most venerable,
pray for us.
Virgin most renowned,
pray for us.
Virgin most powerful,
pray for us.
Virgin most merciful,
pray for us.
Virgin most faithful,
pray for us.
Mirror of justice,
pray for us.
Seat of wisdom,
pray for us.
Cause of our joy,
pray for us.
Spiritual vessel,
pray for us.
Vessel of honour,
pray for us.
Singular vessel of devotion,
pray for us.
Mystical rose,
pray for us.
Tower of David,
pray for us.
Tower of ivory,
pray for us.
House of gold,
pray for us.
Ark of the covenant,
pray for us.
Gate of heaven,
pray for us.
Morning star,
pray for us.
Health of the sick,
pray for us.
Refuge of sinners,
pray for us.
Comforter of the afflicted,
pray for us.
Help of Christians,
pray for us.
Queen of angels,
pray for us.
Queen of patriarchs,
pray for us.
Queen of prophets,
pray for us.
Queen of apostles,
pray for us.
Queen of martyrs,
pray for us.
Queen of confessors,
pray for us.
Queen of virgins,
pray for us.
Queen of all saints,
pray for us.
Queen conceived without original sin,
pray for us.
Queen assumed into heaven,
pray for us.
Queen of the most holy Rosary,
pray for us.
Queen of peace,
pray for us.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,
spare us, 0 Lord.
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, 0 Lord
Lamb of God, You take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, 0 Holy Mother of God,
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of
Christ.
Let us pray:
Grant, we beg You,
0 Lord God,
that we Your servants
may enjoy lasting health
of mind and body,
and by the glorious intercession
of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin,
be delivered from present sorrow
and enter into the joy
of eternal happiness.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
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"At the evening of life, you will be examined
in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own
ways of acting." --- Saint John of the Cross |
RECEIVING HOLY
COMMUNION IN THE STATE OF GRACE
"Anyone
who desires to receive Christ in Eucharistic communion must be in the
state of Grace. Anyone aware of having sinned mortally must not
receive communion without having received absolution in the sacrament
penance." Sec. 1415. From the
Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition, revised in accordance
with the official Latin text promulgated by Saint and Pope John Paul II.
Catholic Government officials
who endorse the legalization and the acceptance of abortion are involved
with mortal sin and should not receive Holy Communion until they have
repented and confessed their sins to a priest. They have violated the
sixth commandment, "Thou Shall not Kill."
Anyone who has voted
intentionally for Pro Abortion candidates with the intent of allowing
abortions to take place in a country should not receive Holy Communion
until they have repented and confessed their sins to a priest.
"If a person conscious of
mortal sin receive this sacrament, he "eateth and drinketh judment to
himself" (1 Corinthians 11:29). Such receiving adds to the sin
already on the reciver's soul, the new mortal sin of sacrilege."
Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica, The Third Part, Question 80.
Tour of the Summa, Msgr. Paul J. Glenn.
Summa Theologica:
https://www.newadvent.org/summa/4080.htm#article4
I answer that,
In this sacrament,
as in the others, that which is a
sacrament is a
sign of the reality of the
sacrament. Now
there is a twofold reality of this
sacrament, as
stated above (III:73:6):
one which is signified and contained, namely,
Christ
Himself; while the other is signified but not contained, namely,
Christ's mystical
body, which is the fellowship of the
saints.
Therefore, whoever receives this
sacrament,
expresses thereby that he is made one with
Christ, and
incorporated in His members; and this is done by living
faith, which
no one has who is in mortal
sin.
And therefore it is manifest
that whoever receives this
sacrament
while in mortal
sin, is guilty of lying to this
sacrament, and
consequently of
sacrilege, because he profanes the sacrament: and therefore he
sins mortally.
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LITANY OF THE
MOST
PRECIOUS
BLOOD OF
JESUS
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal
Father,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, of the new and Eternal Testament,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with
Thorns,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, poured out on the Cross,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Price of our salvation,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, without which there is no
forgiveness,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of
souls,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, river of mercy,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Victor over demons,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Courage of martyrs,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Strength of confessors,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, bringing forth virgins,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Help of those in peril,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Relief of the burdened,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Solace in sorrow,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Hope of the penitent,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, consolation of the dying,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Peace and Tenderness of hearts,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, Pledge of Eternal Life,
heal us.
Blood of Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
Blood of Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
heal us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have mercy on us.
V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy blood,
R. And made of us a kingdom for our God.
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 OUR
LADY OF THE ROSARY
FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 7TH
HAIL MARY, FULL OF GRACE,
THE LORD IS WITH THEE,
BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST WOMEN,
AND
BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB JESUS,
HOLY MARY, MOTHER OF
GOD,
PRAY FOR US SINNERS
NOW AND AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH.
AMEN!
SEE SAINT LOUIS DE MONTFORT'S BOOK ON THE ROSARY:
THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY
THE VIRGIN MARY POURS OUT
SPECIAL GRACES FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY THE ROSARY!
SAINT PADRE PIO PRAYED HIS
ROSARY THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND WOULD SAY AT LEAST 15 DECADES OF THE
ROSARY EACH DAY. THE MESSAGE HE WANTED TO LEAVE THE
WORLD WITH BEFORE HE DIED WAS FOR PEOPLE TO PRAY THE ROSARY.
Our
Lady of the Rosary
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Our Lady of the Rosary,
also known as Our Lady of the Most Holy
Rosary, is a title of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
in relation to the
Rosary.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is on October 7, the anniversary of
the decisive victory of the combined Christian fleet in 1571 at the
Battle of Lepanto,
defeating an Ottoman fleet off western Greece. It was formerly sometimes
known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.
According to
Dominican tradition, in 1214,
St. Dominic
was in
Prouille,
France attempting to convert the
Albigensians
back to the Catholic faith. The young priest had little success
until one day he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who gave
him the Rosary as a tool against heretics.[1]
While Mary's giving the rosary to St. Dominic is generally
acknowledged as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes
much to the followers of St. Dominic, including the 15th century
priest and teacher,
Alanus de Rupe.[2]
On December
3, 1836, Fr. Charles Elιonor des Genettes had an interior locution
directing him to dedicate the parish of Our Lady of Victory to the
Immaculate Heart of Mary.[3]
In 1987,
during the civil war with the anti-clerical
Sandinista
government in
Nicaragua,
sacristan Bernardo Martinez reported seeing an apparition of Our
Lady who urged him to pray the rosary and work for peace. One of the
appearances was in the parish church of Our Lady of Victories near
Cuapa.
CATHOLIC ENCYLOPEDIA:
Apart from the signal defeat of the
Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in 1213 which legend has
attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by St. Dominic, it is
believed that Heaven has on many occasions rewarded the faith of
those who had recourse to this devotion in times of special danger.
More particularly, the naval victory of Lepanto gained by Don John
of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the first Sunday of October in
1571 responded wonderfully to the processions made at Rome on that
same day by the members of the Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V
thereupon ordered that a commemoration of the Rosary should be made
upon that day, and at the request of the Dominican Order Gregory
XIII in 1573 allowed this feast to be kept in all churches which
possessed an altar dedicated to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the
observance of this festival was extended by Clement X to the whole
of Spain, and somewhat later Clement XI after the important victory
over the Turks gained by Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast
of our Lady of the Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the
feast of the Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. A set
of "proper" lessons in the second nocturn were conceded by Benedict
XIII. Leo XIII has since raised the feast to the rank of a double of
the second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the
invocation "Queen of the Most Holy Rosary". On this feast, in every
church in which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a
plenary indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions
to all who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady.
This has been called the "Portiuncula" of the Rosary.
 THE POWER AND THE BLESSINGS THAT COME FROM PRAYING
THE ROSARY
THE FIFTEEN
PROMISES OF MARY TO CHRISTIANS WHO RECITE THE ROSARY
These promises were given by the
Blessed Mother to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan.
1. Whoever shall faithfully serve me
by the recitation of the rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special protection and the greatest graces to all
those who shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will
destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4.
It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for
souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men
from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to
the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify
themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the
rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the
rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred
mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not
chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided
death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become
worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true
devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the
Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary
shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and
the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall
participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the
rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall
merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall
obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in
their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine
Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors
the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of
death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and
brothers of my only Son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of
my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
SEE SAINT LOUIS DE MONTFORT'S BOOK ON THE ROSARY:
THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY
THE VIRGIN MARY POURS OUT
SPECIAL GRACES FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY THE ROSARY!
SAINT PADRE PIO PRAYED HIS
ROSARY THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND WOULD SAY AT LEAST 15 DECADES OF THE
ROSARY EACH DAY. THE MESSAGE HE WANTED TO LEAVE THE
WORLD WITH BEFORE HE DIED WAS FOR PEOPLE TO PRAY THE ROSARY.
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- I will grant peace to their families.
- They will be englightened about the divine mysteries.
- I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.
- I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the
adorable will of my divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.
- I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I
will protect them at every instant of their lives.
- I will visibly help them at the moment of their death, they will see the
face of their Mother.
I have obtained(This Grace) from my divine Son, that those who propagate
this devotion to my tears and dolors, will be taken directly from
the earthly life to eternal happiness since all their sins will be forgiven and
my Son and I will be their eternal consolation and joy.
CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA:
SEVEN SORROWS OF THE VIRGIN MARY
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SACRED
HEART OF JESUS
Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus came
into the Catholic faith through a Catholic sister known as Saint Margaret Mary
Alacoque (1647-1690). At the age of 24, Margaret Mary entered the
Visitation convent at Paray-le-Monial in France. She began to have visions of
Our Lord and on December 27, 1673, on the Feast of St. John, she began to have
visions that lasted for eighteen months. Jesus told her that she was to become
his instrument in spreading devotion to his Sacred Heart. While kneeling before
the Blessed Sacrament, Our Lord appeared to her and invited her to "rest a long
time on His Divine Breast". Jesus revealed to her the marvels of the love that
His Sacred Heart had for mankind.
Jesus said to her:
"MY DIVINE HEART IS SO FULL OF LOVE FOR MEN AND FOR YOU
IN PARTICULAR THAT, NO LONGER ABLE TO CONTAIN WITHIN ITSELF THE FLAMES OF ITS
BURNING CHARITY, IT MUST SPREAD THESE FLAMES BY MEANS OF YOU, AND IT MUST
MANIFEST ITSELF TO MEN IN ORDER TO ENRICH THEM WITH ITS PRECIOUS TREASURES. I
HAVE CHOSEN YOU TO ACHIEVE THIS GRAND CRUSADE OF LOVE."
Saint Margaret Mary
had frequent visions of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. According to
Saint Margaret Mary, His Divine Heart was "more radiant than the sun and as
transparent as crystal," with its adorable wound visible, and as a
"furnace" of burning flames.
In June, 1675:
during the feast of Corpus Christi, while praying before Our Lord in the Most
Blessed Sacrament of the Monstrance. Our Lord revealed His Heart to her and said:
"HERE IS THE HEART THAT HAS SO LOVED MEN AS TO SPARE NOTHING FOR THEM,
EXHAUSTING AND CONSUMING ITSELF IN ORDER TO PROVE ITS LOVE FOR THEM; AND IN
RETURN I RECEIVE, FROM MOST OF THEM, ONLY INGRATITUDE."
Jesus asked her to have a special feast established in honor of His Sacred Heart
on the Friday after the feast of Corpus Christi. Jesus asked his followers
to receive Holy Communion on that day and to make atonement for the sins of the
world by an act of reparation.
Jesus asked her to have an image made of His Sacred Heart and to have
it promoted throughout the world with special promises to those
souls who would display His image of His Sacred Heart.
She
consulted with her enlightened spiritual director whom God had given
her. On the following Friday, June 21, Father de la Colombiere, her
priest-director, and Saint Margaret Mary consecrated themselves to
the Sacred Heart. With great sufferings and humiliations, Father de
la Colombiere and Saint Margaret Mary made every effort to spread
the new devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
The Lord Jesus revealed to Saint
Margaret Mary the following promises to those souls who would honor the Most
Sacred Heart of Jesus:
"1. I will give them all the graces necessary in
their state of life.
"2. I will establish peace in their homes.
"3. I will comfort them in all their afflictions.
"4. I will be their secure refuge during life and
above all in death.
"5. I will bestow a large blessing upon all their
undertakings.
"6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and
the infinite ocean of mercy.
"7. Tepid souls shall grow fervent.
"8. Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high
perfection.
"9. I will bless every place where a picture of My
Heart shall be set up and honored.
"10. I will give to priests the gift of touching the
most hardened hearts.
"11. Those who shall promote this devotion shall
have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out.
"12. I promise you in the excessive mercy of My
Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the
first Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final perseverance; they
shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Divine
Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."
The Litany of the Sacred Heart of
Jesus
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ graciously
hear us
R. Have mercy on us.
God the Father of Heaven,
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
God the Holy Spirit,
Holy Trinity, One God,
Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father,
Heart of Jesus, formed in the womb of the Virgin Mother by the
Holy Ghost,
Heart of Jesus, united substantially with the word of God,
Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty,
Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God,
Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High,
Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven,
Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity,
Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love,
Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love,
Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues,
Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise,
Heart of Jesus, king and center of all hearts,
Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge,
Heart of Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fullness of the
Divinity,
Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father is well pleased,
Heart of Jesus, we have all received,
Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills,
Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy,
Heart of Jesus, rich to all who invoke Thee,
Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness,
Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, saturated with revilings, .
Heart of Jesus, crushed for our iniquities,
Heart of Jesus, made obedient unto death,
Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance,
Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation,
Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection, .
Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation,
Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins,
Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in Thee,
Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in Thee,
Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints,
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Spare us, oh
Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, Christ
graciously spare us.
Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy on
us.
V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart. R. Make our hearts like
unto Thine.
Let us pray - Almighty and everlasting God, look upon the
Heart of Thy well-beloved Son and upon the acts of praise and
satisfaction which He renders unto Thee in the name of sinners;
and do Thou, in Thy great goodness, grant pardon to them who
seek Thy mercy, in the name of the same Thy Son, Jesus Christ,
who liveth and reigneth with Thee, world without end.
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MOST
PRECIOUS
BLOOD OF
JESUS
[PLEASE PRAY FOR THE SICK,
ESPECIALLY THOSE WITH THE
CORONA VIRUS]
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ,
have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy on us. God the
Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us. Holy
Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.
Blood of Christ, only-begotten Son of the Eternal Father,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Incarnate Word of God,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, of the new and Eternal Testament,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, falling upon the earth in the Agony,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, shed profusely in the Scourging,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, flowing forth in the Crowning with Thorns,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, poured out on the Cross,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Price of our salvation,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, without which there is no forgiveness,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Eucharistic drink and refreshment of souls,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, river of mercy,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Victor over demons,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Courage of martyrs,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Strength of confessors,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, bringing forth virgins,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Help of those in peril,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Relief of the burdened,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Solace in sorrow,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Hope of the penitent,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, consolation of the dying,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Peace and Tenderness of hearts,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, Pledge of Eternal Life,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, freeing souls from Purgatory,
heal us.
Blood of
Christ, most worthy of all glory and honor,
heal us.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord. Lamb of
God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O Lord. Lamb of God, Who
takest away the sins of the world, Have mercy
on us.
V. Thou hast redeemed us, O Lord, in Thy blood,
R. And made of us a kingdom for our God.
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Feast Day:
June 20th
Veneration and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
[Source: Wikipedia.org]
Veneration of the Heart of Mary is analogous to
worship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is, however, necessary to indicate
a few differences in this analogy, the better to explain the character of
Roman Catholic devotion to the Heart of Mary. Some of these differences are
very marked, whereas others are barely perceptible. Devotion to the Heart of
Jesus is especially directed to the "Divine Heart" as overflowing with love
for humanity, presented as "despised and outraged". In the devotion to the
Mary, on the other hand, the attraction is the love of this Heart for Jesus
and for God. Its love for humans is not overlooked, but it is not so much in
evidence nor so dominant.
A second difference is the
nature of the devotion itself. In devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, the
Roman Catholic venerates in a sense of love responding to love. In devotion
to the Heart of Mary, study and imitation hold as important a place as love.
Love is more the result than the object of the devotion, the object being
rather to love God, and Jesus better by uniting themselves to Mary for this
purpose and by imitating her virtues. It would also seem that, although in
the devotion to the Heart of Mary the heart has an essential part as symbol
and sensible object, it does not stand out as prominently as in the devotion
to the Heart of Jesus; devotion focuses rather of the thing symbolized, of
love, virtues, and sentiments, of Mary's interior life.
History of devotion
The history of the devotion to the Heart of Mary is connected on many
points with that to the Heart of Jesus. The attention of Christians was
early attracted by the love and virtues of the Heart of Mary. The Gospels
recount the prophesy delivered to her at Jesus' presentation at the temple:
that her heart would be pierced with a sword. This image (the pierced heart)
is the most popular representation of the Immaculate Heart. The Gospels
further invited attention to Mary's heart with its depictions of Mary at the
foot of the cross at Jesus' crucifixion. St. Augustine said of this that
Mary was not merely passive at the foot of the cross; "she cooperated
through charity in the work of our redemption".
Another Scriptural passage to help in bringing out the devotion was the
twice-repeated saying of Saint Luke, that Mary kept all the sayings and
doings of Jesus in her heart, that there she might ponder over them and live
by them. A few of Mary's sayings, also recorded in the Gospel, particularly
the Magnificat (the words Mary is reported to have said to describe the
experience of being pregnant with Jesus), disclose new features in Marian
psychology. Some of the Church Fathers also throw light upon the psychology
of Mary, for instance, Saint Ambrose, when in his commentary on The Gospel
of Luke he holds Mary up as the ideal of virginity, and Saint Ephrem, when
he poetically sings of the coming of the Magi and the welcome accorded them
by the humble mother. Some passages from other books in the Bible are
interpreted as referring to Mary, in whom they personify wisdom and her
gentle charms. Such are the texts in which wisdom is presented as the mother
of lofty love, of fear, of knowledge, and of holy hope. In the New Testament
Elizabeth proclaims Mary blessed because she has believed the words of the
angel who announced that she would become pregnant with Jesus, although she
was still a virgin; the Magnificat is an expression of her humility. In
answering the woman of the people, who in order to exalt the son proclaimed
the mother blessed, Jesus himself said: "Blessed rather are they that hear
the word of God and keep it." The Church Fathers understood this as an
invitation to seek in Mary that which had so endeared her to God and caused
her to be selected as the mother of Jesus, and found in these words a new
reason for praising Mary. St. Leo said that through faith and love she
conceived her son spiritually, even before receiving him into her womb, and
St. Augustine tells us that she was more blessed in having borne Christ in
her heart than in having conceived him in the flesh.
It is only in the twelfth, or towards the end of the eleventh century, that
slight indications of a regular devotion are perceived in a sermon by St.
Bernard (De duodecim stellis), from which an extract has been taken by the
Church and used in the Offices of the Compassion and of the Seven Dolours.
Stronger evidences are discernible in the pious meditations on the Ave Maria
and the Salve Regina, usually attributed either to St. Anselm of Lucca (d.
1080) or St. Bernard; and also in the large book "De laudibus B. Mariae
Virginis" (Douai, 1625) by Richard de Saint-Laurent. Penitentiary of Rouen
in the thirteenth century. In St. Mechtilde (d. 1298) and St. Gertrude (d.
1301) the devotion had two earnest adherents. A little earlier it had been
included by St. Thomas Becket in the devotion to the joys and sorrows of
Mary, by Blessed Hermann (d.1245), one of the first spiritual children of
Saint Dominic, in his other devotions to Mary, and somewhat later it
appeared in St. Bridget's "Book of Revelations". Johannes Tauler (d. 1361)
beholds in Mary the model of a mystical, just as St. Ambrose perceived in
her the model of a virginal soul. St. Bernardine of Siena (d.1444) was more
absorbed in the contemplation of the virginal heart, and it is from him that
the Church has borrowed the lessons of the Second Nocturn for the feast of
the Heart of Mary. St. Francis de Sales speaks of the perfections of this
heart, the model of love for God, and dedicated to it his "Theotimus".
During this same period one finds occasional
mention of devotional practices to the Heart of Mary, e.g. in the
"Antidotarium" of Nicolas du Saussay (d.1488), in Julius II, and in the
"Pharetra" of Lanspergius. In the second half of the sixteenth century and
the first half of the seventeenth, ascetic authors dwelt upon this devotion
at greater length. It was, however, reserved to Saint Jean Eudes (d. 1681)
to propagate the devotion, to make it public, and to have a feast celebrated
in honor of the Heart of Mary, first at Autumn in 1648 and afterwards in a
number of French dioceses. He established several religious societies
interested in upholding and promoting the devotion, of which his large book
on the Coeur Admirable (Admirable Heart), published in 1681, resembles a
summary. Jean Eudes' efforts to secure the approval of an Office and feast
failed at Rome, but, notwithstanding this disappointment, the devotion to
the Heart of Mary progressed. In 1699 Father Pinamonti (d. 1703) published
in Italian a beautiful little work on the Holy Heart of Mary, and in 1725
Pere de Gallifet combined the cause of the Heart of Mary with that of the
Heart of Jesus in order to obtain Rome's approbation of the two devotions
and the institution of the two feasts. In 1729 his project was defeated, and
in 1765 the two causes were separated, to assure the success of the
principal one.
In 1799 Pius VI, then in captivity at Florence,
granted the Bishop of Palermo the feast of the Most Pure Heart of Mary for
some of the churches in his diocese. In 1805 Pius VII made a new concession,
thanks to which the feast was soon widely observed. Such was the existing
condition when a twofold movement, started in Paris, gave fresh impetus to
the devotion. The two factors of this movement were first of all the
revelation of the "miraculous medal" in 1830 and all the prodigies that
followed, and then the establishment at Notre-Dame-des-Victoires of the
Archconfraternity of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Refuge of Sinners, which
spread rapidly throughout the world and was the source of numberless alleged
graces. On July 21, 1855, the Congregation of Rites finally approved the
Office and Mass of the Most Pure Heart of Mary without, however, imposing
them upon the Universal Church.
During the third apparition at Fatima, Portugal
on July 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary said that "God wishes to establish
in the world devotion to Her Immaculate Heart" in order to save souls from
going into the fires of hell and to bring about world peace. She also asked
for the consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart. On March 25, 1984,
Pope John Paul ll fulfilled Our Lady's request when he made the solemn act
of consecration of the world and implicitly, Russia to the Immaculate Heart
of Mary before the miraculous statue of Our Lady of Fatima brought to Saint
Peter's Square in the Vatican for the momentous occasion. Sister Lucia,
(then) the only surviving visionary of Fatima confirmed that the request of
Our Lady for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary was
accepted by Heaven and therefore, was fulfilled. Again on October 8, 2000,
Pope John Paul made an act of entrustment of the world to Immaculate Heart
of Mary for the new millenium.
__________
PRAYER TO THE
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY
Heart of Mary ever Virgin, you are full of grace. You are the dearest daughter
of the heavenly Father, the tabernacle of the Word made Flesh, and the beloved
home of the Holy Spirit. You are the wonder and delight of angels, of saints,
and of men. I offer you my deepest reverence. With great love and thanksgiving I
consecrate myself, body and soul, to you this day, and will never take back my
word. You are the marvel of God's creation; a Virgin's heart, yet a Mother's
too, with a mother's love of Jesus and of men. Dear Mother, fashion in my heart
a child's true love of you. Fill me with your own bright virtues: simplicity and
innocence, meekness and courage, and unfailing devotedness to Jesus Christ.
Since I belong to you then, holy Mother, save me from my enemies, from the
world, from Satan, from myself. Keep me always in your sinless Heart to make my
poor heart more and more like your Heart and the Heart of Jesus. Dear, merciful
Mother, look with a mother's love and pity on the poor, sinful, suffering
children of the whole human family. Our Holy Father Pius XII has consecrated
them to your Immaculate Heart. Do not turn them away. Remember the cruel pain
your heart suffered for their salvation with Jesus Christ on Calvary. Save them
by His precious Blood. Draw them out of the darkness and despair of their sin
and misery into the light, peace, and holiness of the Church. Then with the
angels and saints, may they join us in singing the everlasting Magnificat of
praise, gratitude, and love to your tender and Immaculate Heart, and to the
adorable and merciful Heart of Jesus. Amen.
Universal Treasurer of
Gods Graces
10. God has entrusted Mary with the keeping, the administration and
distribution of all His graces, so that all His graces and gifts
pass through her hands; and , as St. Bernardine teaches, Mary gives
to whom she wills, the way she wills, when she wills and as much as
she wills, the graces of the Eternal Father, the virtues of Jesus
Christ and the gifts of the Holy Ghost.---THE
SECRET OF MARY,
Saint Louis de Montfort
Prayer of
Petition
O Ever-Virgin Mother of God
and Mediatrix of Grace who art the House of Gold within which dwells
thy Son, our Mediator, Jesus Christ, we humbly beseech thee to grant
our requests for our salvation and the salvation of the entire
world. (Here pause and make your requests) Keep us close to the
Vicar of thy Son in the unity of the One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic
and Roman Church. Hear our prayer and grant the requests we make to
thee.
St. Joseph, Intercede for us.
St. Jude Thaddeus, Pray for us.
St. Mary of Cleophas, Pray for us.
St. Philip Neri, Pray for us.
St. Louis Grignion de Montfort, Pray for us.
St. Maximillian Kolbe, Pray for us.
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WORLD-WIDE REPENTANCE IS REQUIRED:
The Bible says:
"If my people, which are
called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my
face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven,
and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
2 Chronicles 7:14
Abortion was the number one
cause of human death worldwide in 2019 by far, with over 42 million
killed.
"There have been 42.4 million abortions in 2019 as of December 31st,
according to
Worldometers, an organization that keeps a running tally of
major world statistics and was
recognized as one of the best free reference websites by
the American Library Association (ALA). Worldometers calculates
abortion numbers based on the latest statistics published by the
World Health Organization (WHO)."
The governments of the world
need to outlaw abortion as soon as possible.
God will not overlook the
immensity of this sin of abortion. The world must repent.
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The Most Reverend Venerable Fulton J. Sheen
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Titular Archbishop of Newport
Bishop Emeritus of Rochester
Archbishop Sheen on a set for one of his regular television programs
Church Catholic Church
Appointed October 21, 1966
Term ended October 6, 1969
Predecessor James Edward Kearney
Successor Joseph Lloyd Hogan
Other posts
Titular Archbishop of Neoportus (Latin: Newport, Wales; personal
title, 19691979)
Auxiliary bishop of New York (19511966)
Titular bishop of Caesariana (19511966)
Orders
Ordination September 20, 1919
by Edmund M. Dunne
Consecration June 11, 1951
by Adeodato Giovanni Piazza
Personal details
Birth name Peter John Sheen
Born May 8, 1895[1]
El Paso, Illinois,[1] United States
Died December 9, 1979 (aged 84)
New York City, United States
Buried St. Patricks Cathedral, New York City (19792019)
St. Mary's Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Peoria, Illinois
(since 2019)
Nationality American
Denomination Roman Catholic
Residence El Paso, Illinois
Peoria, Illinois
Bourbonnais, Illinois
Minnesota
Washington, D.C.
Louvain, Belgium
Rome, Italy
London, UK
New York City
Rochester, New York
Occupation Catholic archbishop, and televangelist and radio host on
philosophy and theology
Profession Catholic archbishop and evangelist
Alma mater
St. Viator College
St. Paul Seminary
Catholic University of America
Catholic University of Leuven
Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas
Motto Da per matrem me venire (English: Grant that I may come [to
You] through the mother [Mary])
Signature Fulton J. Sheen's signature
Coat of arms Fulton J. Sheen's coat of arms
Sainthood
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church (especially in the United States
sees of Peoria, Rochester, and New York City)
Title as Saint Venerable
Attributes Archbishop's attire
Shrines Tomb (presently in St. Mary's Cathedral, Peoria, Illinois;
formerly in St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York City); birthplace
museum in El Paso, Illinois; Fulton Sheen Museum in the Diocesan
Museums, Spalding Pastoral Center, Peoria; papers held at a theology
school near Rochester, New York)
Ordination history of
Fulton J. Sheen
History
Episcopal succession
Styles of
Fulton J. Sheen
Reference style The Most Reverend
Spoken style Your Excellency
Religious style Your Excellency
Posthumous style Venerable
Fulton John Sheen (born Peter John Sheen, May 8, 1895 December 9,
1979) was an American bishop (later archbishop) of the Catholic
Church known for his preaching and especially his work on television
and radio. Ordained a priest of the Diocese of Peoria in 1919,[1]
Sheen quickly became a renowned theologian, earning the Cardinal
Mercier Prize for International Philosophy in 1923. He went on to
teach theology and philosophy at the Catholic University of America
as well as acting as a parish priest before being appointed
Auxiliary Bishop of the Archdiocese of New York in 1951. He held
this position until 1966, when he was made the Bishop of Rochester.
He resigned in 1969[2] as his 75th birthday approached, and was made
the Archbishop of the titular see of Newport, Wales.
For 20 years as Father Sheen, later Monsignor, he hosted the
night-time radio program The Catholic Hour on NBC (19301950) before
moving to television and presenting Life Is Worth Living
(19521957). Sheen's final presenting role was on the syndicated The
Fulton Sheen Program (19611968) with a format very similar to that
of the earlier Life is Worth Living show. For this work, Sheen twice
won an Emmy Award for Most Outstanding Television Personality, and
was featured on the cover of Time Magazine.[3] Starting in 2009, his
shows were being re-broadcast on the EWTN and the Trinity
Broadcasting Network's Church Channel cable networks.[4] Due to his
contribution to televised preaching, Sheen is often referred to as
one of the first televangelists.[5]
The cause for his canonization was officially opened in 2002. In
June 2012, Pope Benedict XVI officially recognized a decree from the
Congregation for the Causes of Saints stating that he lived a life
of "heroic virtues" a major step towards beatification and he is
now referred to as "Venerable."[6][7] On July 5, 2019, Pope Francis
approved a miracle that occurred through the intercession of
Archbishop Sheen, clearing the way for his beatification.[8]
Contents
Miracle of Venerable
Fulton J. Sheen:
Source:
https://catholicherald.co.uk/news/2014/07/01/fulton-sheen-and-the-miracle-of-baby-james/
Fulton Sheen and the miracle
of baby James
Madeleine Teahan
1 July, 2014
Bonnie Engstrom with her son, James Below:
Bonnie Engstroms third pregnancy was unlike any of her others. My
husband Travis and I had a really beautiful experience during the
pregnancy with God providing for us and taking care of us, she
tells me. We really felt like we were on the brink on something
really special and amazing, even more than with the other babies. We
would joke about how I must be pregnant with the future Pope because
God was really faithful and generous with us throughout.
I spoke to Bonnie days before the Vatican announced that its
theologians had approved the miracle that occurred in her life,
after she sought the intercession of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the
charismatic American televangelist who died in 1979.
Fulton Sheen was born in El Paso, Illinois, close to where Bonnie
Engstrom was raised. He was ordained for the Diocese of Peoria,
Illinois, where Bonnie, her husband and five children now live.
Ive always kind of known who he was because he was a local boy,
she explains when I ask how her devotion to Fulton Sheen developed.
But when I was pregnant with James, I started doing some research
into his life and I started watching YouTube videos. So that was how
I really started to appreciate who he was. Listening to him preach
and seeing how powerful and dynamic he was that was when my
devotion to him started to grow.
Bonnies beautiful pregnancy, coloured by a deepening devotion to
Sheen, was followed by a beautiful labour covered in prayer.
Jamess pregnancy had been a really healthy and normal pregnancy
and we were planning my third home birth with him. The day I went
into labour was a pretty normal day so I just kind of did what you
do when youre going to give birth. I have to say it was a really
beautiful September evening and it felt really special. I was in
active labour at night. I was praying, which was really important,
and I knew that I had a bunch of people praying for me. It was a
beautiful
labour. It really was.
It is especially cruel when tragedy strikes within seconds of
euphoria. Moments after Jamess birth, the abundant joy of the
previous nine months abruptly died: Bonnies baby was stillborn.
When James was born the midwife scooped him up and put him in my
hands. But I noticed that his legs and arms dangled down. He wasnt
moving. He wasnt breathing. He wasnt crying, he was kind of a blue
colour. So I held him for a second and then my midwife took him and
she began CPR.
It was at this point that Bonnie fell into a state shock. Her
friend, who was present at the birth, called an ambulance and her
husband calmly performed an emergency baptism. At the moment that
Travis traced water on his sonΉs forehead and baptised him James
Fulton, Bonnies friend began to pray for the intercession of the
newbornΉs namesake.
At that moment, in my head I couldnt really think of anything,
Bonnie says. But in my head I was saying Fulton Sheens name over
and over again. And that was my way of praying by calling on his
name.
By the time the paramedics arrived there was still no pulse. Bonnie
spent the 20-minute journey to the hospital in a separate ambulance
from her husband and baby, lying alone, unaware if her son was dead
or alive.
Fulton
When they arrived at the hospital it was Traviss turn to endure a
solitary, harrowing wait. He lingered outside the hospital emergency
room while doctors desperately tried to resuscitate his baby.
Five men eventually emerged with tears in their eyes. They said to
him: Your son is alive and Travis understood in that moment that
what they were really saying was: Hes alive now but just for right
now. The fact that they were crying meant that he knew that things
were really bad.
But when he came to see me, what he said to me was: James is alive
and everythings going to be OK, because he just had faith. My
husband had faith. It was amazing. And because I was still in a
state of shock I naοvely accepted it. My husband just had the faith
in that moment.
The miraculous breath had come after 61 excruciating minutes. James
had breathed again at the moment doctors gave up their efforts and
stopped to record his time of death.
They then took me to the neonatal intensive care unit and then I
saw how bad he looked. He was covered in wires and he wasnΉt
breathing on his own. They had knocked him out. They had intubated
him. Yeah, it was really
Bonnies voice begins to crack and she summons up the composure to
complete the sentence:
it was really sad.
A small pause follows before she quietly adds: Its such a little
word but I hope it conveys
She trails off again. It was really
sad.
Bonnie starts to explain to me the full extent of the miracle. The
way my doctor explained it to me was: Its amazing that James came
back to life and itΉs a miracle that he is doing as well as he is.Ή
Because he should have had massive organ failure and then they
expected him to be very severely disabled. Then they thought that he
would have very severe cerebral palsy. They thought that he would
have to be strapped to a wheelchair for the rest of his life, have a
feeding tube and probably be blind. They thought that mentally he
would not be aware of anything. It was supposed to be pretty grim
and that was if he even lived.
Bonnie was able to bring her baby home after seven weeks in
hospital. As he continued I think they gave us an increasingly
better prognosis. So it went from very severely disabled to: OK, so
hes going to have cerebral palsy. We just donΉt know what it will
look like. But he continued to get better and seemed more and more
like a normal baby
I mean, there was always some big question marks
for about the first six to 12 months just because he was a baby, so
we had to wait for him to hit his milestones to know how complete
the miracle was.
But my husband, and I and family and friends, were all at home
interacting with James when he was two and a half months old, when
he was five months old, and were sitting there thinking: This kid
is normal. Hes like any of our other babies weΉve seen at this age.
This really is a miracle.'
Bonnie still prays to Fulton Sheen and he remains a central figure
in her familys life. I asked her what she most admired about him.
The day he was ordained he made a promise to God that he would keep
a holy hour every single day for the rest of his life and he kept
that promise, she says. So for over 60 years he made a holy hour
every single day and that devotion to the Eucharist is really a
wonderful example for me. I think it would be a wonderful example to
the world, which is why I hope he is a canonised saint.
He would have to be really creative sometimes and he would find a
church in the middle of nowhere to make that holy hour to keep that
promise. He was really loyal to Christ and that prayer time meant a
lot to him. His example is really beautiful to me.
Bonnie also tells me that Sheen heroically carried many burdens, but
only confided them to very few people who have refused to speak
about them since. When St John Paul II visited St Patricks
Cathedral in New York City in 1979 he was surprised to discover
Sheen was not concelebrating Mass. When Sheen was invited to come
forward, the pope embraced him, telling him: You are a loyal son of
the Church. Sheen died a few months later.
He suffered a lot, Bonnie says. But he never really talked about
his suffering. Only the people closest to him knew about the pain in
his body and the pain in his heart, and even they will not talk
about it. Fulton Sheen didnΉt want to talk about it, because he
didnΉt want to create scandal and feed gossip. ThatΉs just
beautiful.
Nowadays if we have a problem with someone we write it on Facebook.
But he really bore that internally. So when John Paul II sought him
out and embraced him that was a really powerful moment.
I think it was two months later that he died so it was a really
beautiful ending to his life, to have the Holy Father tell him: You
are a faithful son of the Church. I mean, gosh, I would probably
die too if Pope Francis said that to me.
PRAYER TO OBTAIN A FAVOR THROUGH
THE INTERCESSION OF THE SERVANT OF GOD
ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN
Eternal Father, You alone
grant us every blessing in Heaven and on earth, through the
redemptive mission of Your Divine Son, Jesus Christ, and by
the working of the Holy Spirit. If it be according to Your
Will, glorify Your servant, ARCHBISHOP FULTON J. SHEEN, by granting
the favor I now request through his prayerful intercession (mention
your request). I make this prayer confidently through Jesus
Christ,our Lord. Amen.
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OUR
LADY OF THE ROSARY
FEAST DAY:
OCTOBER 7TH
HAIL MARY, FULL
OF GRACE,
THE LORD IS WITH THEE,
BLESSED ART THOU AMONGST
WOMEN,
AND BLESSED IS THE FRUIT OF THY WOMB JESUS,
HOLY
MARY, MOTHER OF GOD,
PRAY FOR US SINNERS
NOW AND AT THE HOUR
OF OUR DEATH.
AMEN!
SEE SAINT LOUIS DE MONTFORT'S BOOK ON
THE ROSARY:
THE SECRET OF THE ROSARY
THE VIRGIN MARY
POURS OUT SPECIAL GRACES FOR THOSE PEOPLE WHO SAY THE ROSARY!
SAINT PADRE PIO
PRAYED HIS ROSARY THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND WOULD SAY AT LEAST 15
DECADES OF THE ROSARY EACH DAY. THE MESSAGE HE WANTED TO
LEAVE THE WORLD WITH BEFORE HE DIED WAS FOR PEOPLE TO PRAY THE
ROSARY.
Our
Lady of the Rosary
From Wikipedia, the free
encyclopedia
Our Lady of the Rosary,
also known as Our Lady of the Most Holy
Rosary, is a title of the
Blessed Virgin Mary
in relation to the
Rosary.
The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is on October 7, the anniversary of
the decisive victory of the combined Christian fleet in 1571 at the
Battle of Lepanto,
defeating an Ottoman fleet off western Greece. It was formerly sometimes
known as the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.
According to Dominican tradition, in 1214,
St. Dominic
was in
Prouille,
France attempting to convert the
Albigensians
back to the Catholic faith. The young priest had little success
until one day he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin, who gave
him the Rosary as a tool against heretics.[1]
While Mary's giving the rosary to St. Dominic is generally
acknowledged as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes
much to the followers of St. Dominic, including the 15th century
priest and teacher,
Alanus de Rupe.[2]
On December 3, 1836, Fr. Charles Elιonor des Genettes had an
interior locution directing him to dedicate the parish of Our Lady
of Victory to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.[3]
In 1987, during the civil war with the anti-clerical
Sandinista
government in
Nicaragua,
sacristan Bernardo Martinez reported seeing an apparition of Our
Lady who urged him to pray the rosary and work for peace. One of the
appearances was in the parish church of Our Lady of Victories near
Cuapa.
CATHOLIC
ENCYLOPEDIA:
Apart from the
signal defeat of the Albigensian heretics at the battle of Muret in
1213 which legend has attributed to the recitation of the Rosary by
St. Dominic, it is believed that Heaven has on many occasions
rewarded the faith of those who had recourse to this devotion in
times of special danger. More particularly, the naval victory of
Lepanto gained by Don John of Austria over the Turkish fleet on the
first Sunday of October in 1571 responded wonderfully to the
processions made at Rome on that same day by the members of the
Rosary confraternity. St. Pius V thereupon ordered that a
commemoration of the Rosary should be made upon that day, and at the
request of the Dominican Order Gregory XIII in 1573 allowed this
feast to be kept in all churches which possessed an altar dedicated
to the Holy Rosary. In 1671 the observance of this festival was
extended by Clement X to the whole of Spain, and somewhat later
Clement XI after the important victory over the Turks gained by
Prince Eugene on 6 August, 1716 (the feast of our Lady of the
Snows), at Peterwardein in Hungary, commanded the feast of the
Rosary to be celebrated by the universal Church. A set of "proper"
lessons in the second nocturn were conceded by Benedict XIII. Leo
XIII has since raised the feast to the rank of a double of the
second class and has added to the Litany of Loreto the invocation
"Queen of the Most Holy Rosary". On this feast, in every church in
which the Rosary confraternity has been duly erected, a plenary
indulgence toties quoties is granted upon certain conditions to all
who visit therein the Rosary chapel or statue of Our Lady. This has
been called the "Portiuncula" of the Rosary.
THE POWER AND THE BLESSINGS THAT COME FROM
PRAYING THE ROSARY
THE
FIFTEEN PROMISES OF MARY TO CHRISTIANS WHO RECITE THE ROSARY
These promises were
given by the Blessed Mother to Saint Dominic and Blessed Alan.
1.
Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the rosary,
shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my special
protection and the greatest graces to all those who shall recite the
rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a powerful armour against hell, it will
destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4.
It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for
souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men
from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to
the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify
themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the
rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the
rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred
mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not
chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided
death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become
worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true
devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the
Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite the rosary
shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and
the plentitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall
participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory those who have been devoted to the
rosary.
10. The faithful children of the rosary shall
merit a high degree of glory in heaven.
11. You shall
obtain all you ask of me by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in
their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine
Son that all the advocates of the rosary shall have for intercessors
the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of
death.
14. All who recite the rosary are my sons, and
brothers of my only Son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of
my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
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Prayer to Mary, Undoer of Knots
Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come
to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to
serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine
love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your
compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in
my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I
am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the
undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into
your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the Evil One
himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands
there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your
grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus,
take into your hands today this knot.
[Mention your request here]
I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my
hope. O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the
fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my
destitution, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains. Hear my
plea. Keep me, guide me, protect me, o safe refuge!
Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me. |
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Divine Mercy 
On February 22, 1931, Our Lord appeared to this
simple nun, bringing with Him a wonderful message of
Mercy for all mankind. Sister Faustina Kowalska tells us
in her diary under this date:
"In the evening, when I was in my cell, I became aware
of the Lord Jesus clothed in a white garment. One hand
was raised in blessing, the other was touching the
garment at the breast. From the opening in the garment
at the breast there came forth two large rays, one red,
and the other pale, In silence I gazed intently at the
Lord; my soul was overwhelmed with fear, but also with
great joy. After a while Jesus said to me:
'paint an image according to the pattern you see, with
the inscription: Jesus, I trust in You.' "
Some time later, Our Lord again spoke to her:
"The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls
righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood which is the
life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the
depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My
agonizing Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross . . .
Fortunate is the one who will dwell in their
shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of
him."
Some time late r,
Our Lord again spoke to her: "The pale ray stands for the
Water which makes souls righteous; the red ray stands for the Blood
which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the
depths of My most tender Mercy at that time when My agonizing Heart
was opened by a lance on the Cross . . . Fortunate
is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of
God shall not lay hold of him."
GO TO CONFESSION ON SATURDAY, APRIL 27TH OR SUNDAY,
APRIL 28TH, DURING DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY WEEKEND.
JESUS TOLD SISTER FAUSTINA:
"I want
this image to be solemnly blessed on the first Sunday after Easter; that
Sunday is to be the Feast of Mercy. On that day, the depths of My Mercy
will be open to all.
Whoever will go to confession and Holy Communion on that day will
receive complete forgiveness of sin and punishment. Mankind
will not enjoy peace until it turns with confidence to My Mercy."
DIVINE MERCY LITANY
Divine Mercy, gushing forth from
the bosom of the Father, I trust in You
Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery, I trust
in You
Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most
Blessed Trinity, I trust in You
Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, better than the heavens, I trust
in You
Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of
Jesus, I trust in You
Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for
sinners, I trust in You
Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, in the founding of the Holy Church,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, crown of all God?s handiwork, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls, I
trust in You
Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls,
I trust in You
Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope,
I trust in You
Prayer:
Eternal
God, in whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion
inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Your mercy in us, that
in difor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves
to Your holy will, which is Love and Mercy itself.
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SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR TODAY
Introduction to the
Devout Life
Saint Francis of Sales Bishop and Prince of Geneva
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Preface by the Author
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COUNSELS AND PRACTICES SUITABLE FOR THE SOUL'S GUIDANCE FROM
THE FIRST ASPIRATION AFTER A DEVOUT LIFE TO THE POINT WHEN
IT ATTAINS A CONFIRMED RESOLUTION TO FOLLOW THE SAME.
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I.
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What
True Devotion is . . . 1
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II.
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The
Nature and Excellence of Devotion . . . 5
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III. |
Devotion
is suitable to every Vocation and Profession . . . 8
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IV. |
The
Need of a Guide for those Who Would enter upon and
advance in the Devout Life ...11 |
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V. |
The First Step must be Purifying the Soul . . . 15
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VI. |
The First Purification, namely, from Mortal Sin . . . 18
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VII. |
The Second Purification, from all Sinful Affections . . . 20
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VIII.
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How to effect this Second Purification . . . 22
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IX.
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First Meditation--Of Creation . . . 24
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X. |
Second Meditation--Of the End for which we were Created . . . 27
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XI.
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Third Meditation--Of the Gifts of God . . . 30
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XII. |
Fourth Meditation--On Sin . . . 32
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XIII.
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Fifth Meditation--On Death . . . 35
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XIV.
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Sixth Meditation--On Judgment . . . 38
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XV.
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Seventh Meditation--Of Hell . . . 41
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XVI.
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Eighth Meditation--On Paradise . . . 43
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XVII. |
Ninth Meditation On the Choice open to you between Heaven and
Hell . . . 45
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XVIII.
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Tenth Meditation--How the Soul chooses the Devout Life . . . 48
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XIX.
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How to make a General Confession . . . 51
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XX. |
A hearty Protest made with the object of confirming the Soul's
resolution to serve God, as a conclusion to its Acts
of Penitence . . . 53
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XXI.
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Conclusion of this First Purification . . . 56
|
|
XXII. |
The Necessity of Purging away all tendency to Venial Sins . . .
57 |
|
XXIII. |
It is needful to put away all Inclination for Useless and
Dangerous Things . . . 60
|
|
XXIV. |
All Evil Inclinations must be purged away . . . 62
|
|
CONTAINING SUNDRY COUNSELS AS TO UPLIFTING THE SOUL TO GOD
IN PRAYER AND THE USE OF THE SACRAMENTS.
|
|
I.
|
The Necessity of Prayer . . . 64 |
|
II.
|
A short Method of Meditation. And first, the Presence of God,
the First Point of Preparation . . . 68 |
|
III.
|
Invocation, the Second Point of Preparation . . . 72 |
|
IV.
|
The Third Point of Preparation, representing the Mystery to be
meditated to your Imagination . . . 73 |
|
V. |
Considerations, the Second Part of Meditation . . . 74 |
|
VI.
|
The Third Part of Meditation, Affections and Resolutions . . .
75 |
|
VII. |
The Conclusion and Spiritual Bouquet . . . 77 |
|
VIII.
|
Some Useful Hints as to Meditation . . . 78 |
|
IX.
|
Concerning Dryness in Meditation . . . 81 |
|
X.
|
Morning Prayer . . . 83 |
|
XI. |
Evening Prayer and Examination of Conscience . . . 85 |
|
XII. |
On Spiritual Retirement . . . 87 |
|
XIII.
|
Aspirations, Ejaculatory Prayer and Holy Thoughts . . . 90 |
|
XIV. |
Of Holy Communion, and how to join in it . . . 98 |
|
XV.
|
Of the other Public Offices of the Church . . . 101 |
|
XVI. |
How the Saints are united to us . . . 103 |
|
XVII. |
How to Hear and Read God's Word . . . 105 |
|
XVIII. |
How to receive Inspirations . . . 107 |
|
XIX. |
On Confession . . . 111 |
|
XX.
|
Of Frequent Communion . . . 116 |
|
XXI. |
How to Communicate . . . 120 |
|
CONTAINING COUNSELS CONCERNING THE PRACTICE OF VIRTUE.
|
|
I.
|
How to select that which we should chiefly Practise . . . 124 |
|
II.
|
The same Subject continued . . . 131 |
|
III. |
On Patience . . . 136 |
|
IV. |
On Exterior Humility . . . 142 |
|
V. |
On Interior Humility . . . 147 |
|
VI.
|
Humility makes us rejoice in our own Abjection . . . 153 |
|
VII.
|
How to combine due care for a Good Reputation with Humility . .
. 158 |
|
VIII. |
Gentleness towards others and Remedies against Anger . . . 163 |
|
IX.
|
On Gentleness towards Ourselves . . . 169 |
|
X.
|
We must attend to the Business of Life carefully, but without
Eagerness or Over-anxiety . . . 173 |
|
XI.
|
On Obedience . . . 176 |
|
XII. |
On Purity . . . 180 |
|
XIII. |
How to maintain Purity . . . 182 |
|
XIV. |
On Poverty of Spirit amid Riches . . . 185 |
|
XV. |
How to exercise real Poverty, although actually Rich . . . 188 |
|
XVI. |
How to possess a rich Spirit amid real Poverty . . . 193 |
|
XVII. |
On Friendship: Evil and Frivolous Friendship . . . 196 |
|
XVIII. |
On Frivolous Attachments . . . 198 |
|
XIX. |
Of Real Friendship . . . 201 |
|
XX. |
Of the Difference between True and False Friendship . . . 205 |
|
XXI. |
Remedies against Evil Friendships . . . 208 |
|
XXII. |
Further Advice concerning Intimacies . . . 212 |
|
XXIII. |
On the Practice of Bodily Mortification . . . 215 |
|
XXIV. |
Of Society and Solitude . . . 223 |
|
XXV. |
On Modesty in Dress . . . 227 |
|
XXVI. |
Of Conversation; and, first, how to Speak of God . . . 229 |
|
XXVII. |
Of Unseemly Words, and the Respect due to Others . . . 231 |
|
XXVIII. |
Of Hasty Judgments . . . 234 |
|
XXIX. |
On Slander . . . 241 |
|
XXX. |
Further Counsels as to Conversation . . . 249 |
|
XXXI. |
Of Amusements and Recreations: what are allowable . . . 252 |
|
XXXII. |
Of Forbidden Amusements . . . 254 |
|
XXXIII. |
Of Balls, and other Lawful but Dangerous Amusements . . . 255 |
|
XXXIV. |
When to use such Amusements rightly . . . 259 |
|
XXXV. |
We must be Faithful in Things Great and Small . . . 260 |
|
XXXVI. |
Of a Well-balanced, Reasonable Mind . . . 264 |
|
XXXVII. |
Of Wishes . . . 267 |
|
XXXVIII. |
Counsels to Married People . . . 270 |
|
XXXIX. |
The Sanctity of the Marriage Bed . . . 280 |
|
XL. |
Counsels to Widows . . . 281 |
|
XLI. |
One Word to Maidens . . . 289 |
|
CONTAINING NEEDFUL COUNSELS CONCERNING SOME ORDINARY
TEMPTATIONS.
|
|
I. |
We must not trifle with the Words of worldly Wisdom . . . 290 |
|
II. |
The need of a Good Courage . . . 294 |
|
III. |
Of Temptations, and the difference between experiencing them and
consenting to them . . . 296 |
|
IV. |
Two striking illustrations of the same . . . 300
|
|
V. |
Encouragement for the Tempted Soul . . . 302 |
|
VI. |
When Temptation and Delectation are Sin . . . 304 |
|
VII. |
Remedies for Great Occasions . . . 307 |
|
VIII. |
How to resist Minor Temptations . . . 310 |
|
IX. |
How to remedy Minor Temptations . . . 311 |
|
X. |
How to strengthen the Heart against Temptation . . . 313 |
|
XI. |
Anxiety of Mind . . . 315 |
|
XII. |
Of Sadness and Sorrow . . . 319 |
|
XIII. |
Of Spiritual and Sensible Consolations, and how to receive them
. . . 323 |
|
XIV. |
Of Dryness and Spiritual Barrenness . . . 333 |
|
XV. |
In Illustration . . . 340
|
|
CONTAINING COUNSELS AND PRACTICES FOR RENEWING AND
CONFIRMING THE SOUL IN DEVOTION.
|
|
I. |
It is well yearly to renew Good Resolutions by means of the
following Exercises . . . 346 |
|
II. |
Meditation on the Benefit conferred on us by God in calling us
to His Service . . . 348 |
|
III. |
Examination of the Soul as to its Progress in the Devout Life .
. . 351 |
|
IV. |
Examination of the Soul's Condition as regards God . . . 354 |
|
V. |
Examination of your Condition as regards yourself . . . 357 |
|
VI. |
Examination of the Soul's Condition as regards our Neighbour . .
. 358 |
|
VII. |
Examination as to the Affections of the Soul . . . 359 |
|
VIII. |
The Affections to be excited after such Examination . . . 361 |
|
IX. |
Reflections suitable to the renewal of Good Resolutions . . .
362 |
|
X. |
First Consideration--Of the Worth of Souls . . . 363 |
|
XI. |
Second Consideration--On the Excellence of Virtue . . . 364 |
|
XII. |
The Example of the Saints . . . 366 |
|
XIII. |
The Love which Jesus Christ bears to us . . . 367 |
|
XIV. |
The Eternal Love of God for us . . . 369 |
|
XV. |
General Affections which should result from these
Considerations, and Conclusion of the Exercise . . . 370 |
|
XVI. |
The Impressions which should remain after this Exercise . . .
372 |
|
XVII. |
An Answer to Two Objections which may be made to this Book . . .
373 |
|
XVIII. |
Three Important and Final Counsels . . . 375
|
|
|
|
|
|
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[MENTION
YOUR PRAYER REQUEST]
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God the Father of Heaven,
Have mercy
on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us.
God the Holy Spirit,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Trinity, One God,
Have mercy on us.
Holy Mary, spouse of St.
Joseph,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, confirmed in grace,
Pray
for us.
Saint Joseph, guardian of the Word Incarnate,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, favorite of the King of Heaven,
Pray for us.
Saint
Joseph, ruler of the family of Jesus,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
spouse of the ever-blessed Virgin,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
foster father to the Son of God,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
example of humility and obedience,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
mirror of silence and resignation,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph,
patron of innocence and youth,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, exited
with Christ into Egypt,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, intercessor for
the afflicted,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, advocate of the humble,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, model of every virtue,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, honored among men,
Pray for us.
Saint Joseph, in
whom is the union of all Christian perfections,
Pray for us.
Lamb
of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Graciously hear us, O
Lord.
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world,
Have
mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O holy Saint Joseph,
R. That we may
be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let Us Pray.
Assist
us, O Lord,
we beseech Thee,
by the merits of the spouse
of Thy
most holy Mother,
that what our unworthiness cannot obtain,
may be
given us by his intercession with Thee,
Who livest and reignest with God
the Father
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, world without
end.
Amen.
PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before
the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O thou
Saint Joseph, do assist me by thy powerful intercession, and obtain for me
from thy divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, Our Lord;
so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer my
thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. O Saint Joseph, I
never weary contemplating thee, and Jesus asleep in thy arms; I dare not
approach while He reposes near thy heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His
fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying
breath. Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me. Amen!
___________
BLESSED ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH'S
VISION:
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"At the evening of
life, you will be examined in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and
abandon your own ways of acting." ---Saint John of the Cross |
|
PRAYERS FOR TODAY
THIRTY-THREE PETITIONS IN HONOUR OF THE SACRED HUMANITY
OF OUR LORD JESUS
O good Jesus, Word of the Eternal Father, Convert me.
O good
Jesus, Son of Mary, Make me her child.
O good
Jesus, My Master, Teach me.
O good
Jesus, Prince of peace, Give me peace.
O good
Jesus, my Refuge, Receive me.
O good
Jesus, my Pastor, Feed my soul.
O good
Jesus, Model of patience, Comfort me.
O good
Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Make my heart like
unto Thine.
O good
Jesus, my Redeemer, Save me.
O good
Jesus, my God and my All, Possess me.
O good
Jesus, the true Way, Direct me.
O good
Jesus, Eternal Truth, Instruct me.
O good
Jesus, Life of the blessed, Make me live in Thee.
O good
Jesus, my Support, Strengthen me.
O good
Jesus, my Justice, Justify me.
O good
Jesus, my Mediator, Reconcile me to Thy Father.
O good
Jesus, Physician of my soul, Heal me.
O good
Jesus, my Judge, Absolve me.
O good
Jesus, my King, Govern me.
O good
Jesus, my Sanctification, Sanctify me.
O good
Jesus, Abyss of goodness, Pardon me. O good Jesus,
Living Bread from Heaven, Satiate me.
O good
Jesus, the Father of the prodigal, Receive me.
O good
Jesus, Joy of my soul, Refresh me.
O good
Jesus, my Helper, Assist me.
O good
Jesus, Magnet of love, Attract me.
O good
Jesus, my Protector, Defend me.
O good
Jesus, my Hope, Sustain me.
O good
Jesus, Object of my love, Make me love Thee.
O good
Jesus, Fountain of life, Cleanse me.
O good
Jesus, my Propitiation, Purify me.
O good
Jesus, my Last End, Let me obtain Thee.
O good
Jesus, my Glory, Glorify me. Amen.
V. Jesus,
hear my prayer.
R. Jesus,
graciously hear me.
O Lord
Jesus Christ, Who hast said, "Ask and you shall
receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall
be opened unto you," mercifully attend to our
supplications, and grant us the gift of Thy Divine
charity, that we may ever love Thee with our whole
hearts, and may never cease from praising Thee, Who
livest and reignest world without end. R.
LITANY TO
SAINT JOSEPH
Lord, have mercy on us Christ, have mercy on us Lord,
have mercy on us Christ, hear us Christ, graciously hear
us God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us God, the
Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us God, the
Holy Spirit, have mercy on us Holy Mary, pray for us St.
Joseph, pray for us Blessed offspring of David, pray for
us Light of patriarchs, pray for us Spouse of the mother
of God, pray for us Chaste custodian of the Blessed
Virgin, pray for us Guardian of the Son of God, pray for
us Defender of Christ, pray for us Head of the Holy
Family, pray for us O Joseph, most just, pray for us O
Joseph, most chaste, pray for us O Joseph, most prudent,
pray for us O Joseph, most forceful, pray for us O
Joseph, most obedient, pray for us O Joseph, most
faithful, pray for us Mirror of patience, pray for us
Lover of poverty, pray for us Model of laborers, pray
for us Patriarch of the home, pray for us Protector of
virgins, pray for us Strength of the family, pray for us
Comforter of the afflicted, pray for us Hope of the
sick, pray for us Patron of the dying, pray for us
Terror of demons, pray for us Protector of the church,
pray for us Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of
the world, forgive us O Lord Lamb of God, you who take
away the sins of the world, hear us O Lord Lamb of God,
you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on
us. Let us pray Lord Jesus, through the merits of the
devoted spouse of your most holy Mother, help us, we
beseech thee, that what of ourselves we cannot obtain,
may be granted through the intercession of the Most Holy
Patriarch, Saint Joseph. You who reign with God, the
Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit now and forever.
Amen.
GAELIC LITANY TO OUR
LADY
O Great Mary,
pray for us.
O Mary, greatest of Maries,
pray for us.
O Greatest of women,
pray for us.
O Queen of angels,
pray for us.
O Mistress of the heavens,
pray for us.
O Woman full and replete with the grace of the Holy Spirit,
pray for us.
O Blessed and most blessed,
pray for us.
O Mother of Eternal Glory,
pray for us.
O Mother of the heavenly and earthly Church,
pray for us.
O Mother of Love and Indulgence,
pray for us.
O Mother of the Golden Heights,
pray for us.
O Honor of the sky,
pray for us.
O Sign of tranquillity,
pray for us..
O Gate of Heaven,
pray for us.
O Golden Vessel,
pray for us.
O Couch of Love and Mercy,
pray for us.
O Temple of Divinity,
pray for us.
O Beauty of virgins,
pray for us.
O Mistress of the tribes,
pray for us.
O Fountain of gardens,
pray for us.
O Cleansing of sins,
pray for us.
O Purifying of souls,
pray for us.
O Mother of orphans,
pray for us.
O Breast of infants,
pray for us.
O Solace of the wretched,
pray for us.
O Star of the sea,
pray for us.
O Handmaid of the Lord,
pray for us.
O Mother of Christ,
pray for us.
O Resort of the Lord,
pray for us.
O Graceful like the dove,
pray for us.
O Serene like the moon,
pray for us.
O Resplendent like the sun,
pray for us.
O Cancelling Eve's disgrace,
pray for us.
O Regeneration of life,
pray for us.
O Beauty of women,
pray for us.
O Leader of virgins,
pray for us.
O Garden Enclosed,
pray for us.
O Fountain sealed up,
pray for us.
O Mother of God,
pray for us.
O Perpetual Virgin,
pray for us.
O Holy Virgin,
pray for us.
O Prudent Virgin,
pray for us.
O Serene Virgin,
pray for us.
O Chaste Virgin,
pray for us.
O Temple of the Living God,
pray for us.
O Royal Throne of the Eternal King,
pray for us.
O Sanctuary of the Holy Spirit,
pray for us.
O Virgin of the Root of Jesse,
pray for us.
O Cedar of Mount Lebanon,
pray for us.
O Cypress of Mount Sion,
pray for us.
O Crimson Rose of the Land of Jacob,
pray for us.
O Blooming like the palm tree,
pray for us.
O Fruitful like the olive tree,
pray for us.
O Glorious Son-bearer,
pray for us.
O Light of Nazareth,
pray for us.
O Glory of Jerusalem,
pray for us.
O Beauty of the world,
pray for us.
O Noblest-Born of the Christian flock,
pray for us.
O Queen of Life,
pray for us.
O Ladder of Heaven,
pray for us.
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PRAYER TO OUR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY FOR ABORTION TO BE OUTLAWED WORLD-WIDE
HISTORY
Over 800 years ago Christians were being captured and sold into slavery
by the thousands, and nobody knew what to do about it. Then, in the year
1198, a man had an idea. St. John of Matha founded the Trinitarians to
go to the slave markets, buy the Christian slaves and set them free. To
carry out this plan, the Trinitarians needed large amounts of money. So,
they placed their fund-raising efforts under the patronage of Mary. They
were so successful at that, over the centuries, the Trinitarians were
able to free thousands and thousands of people and to return them safely
home. In gratitude for her miraculous assistance, St. John of Matha
honored Mary with the title of "Our Lady of Good Remedy." Devotion to
Mary under this ancient title is widely known in Europe and Latin
America, and the Church celebrates her feast day on October 8. Our Lady
of Good Remedy is often depicted as the Virgin Mary handing a bag of
money to St. John of Matha. When in need - for whatever reason, but
especially where you have had difficulty obtaining help - invoke the aid
of Our Lady of Good Remedy, and you will surely experience the power of
her intercession.
(We ask the Virgin Mary to bring end to all
abortion.)
O QUEEN OF HEAVEN AND EARTH, Most Holy Virgin, we venerate
thee. Thou art the beloved Daughter of the Most High God, the chosen
Mother of the Incarnate Word, the Immaculate Spouse of the Holy
Spirit, the Sacred Vessel of the Most Holy Trinity. O Mother of the
Divine Redeemer, who under the title of Our Lady of Good Remedy
comes to the aid of all who call upon thee, extend thy maternal
protection to us. We depend on thee, Dear Mother, as helpless and
needy children depend on a tender and caring mother.
Hail, Mary.... O LADY OF GOOD REMEDY,
source of unfailing help, grant that we may draw from thy treasury of
graces in our time of need.
Touch the hearts of sinners, that they
may seek reconciliation and forgiveness. Bring comfort to the afflicted
and the lonely; help the poor and the hopeless; aid the sick and the
suffering. May they be healed in body and strengthened in spirit to
endure their sufferings with patient resignation and Christian
fortitude.
Hail, Mary.... DEAR LADY OF GOOD REMEDY, source of
unfailing help, thy compassionate heart knows a remedy for every
affliction and misery we encounter in life. Help me with thy prayers and
intercession to find a remedy for my problems and needs, especially
for... (Indicate your special intentions here).
On my part, O loving Mother, I pledge myself to a more intensely
Christian lifestyle, to a more careful observance of the laws of God, to
be more conscientious in fulfilling the obligations of my state in life,
and to strive to be a source of healing in this broken world of ours.
Dear Lady of Good Remedy, be ever present to me, and through thy
intercession, may I enjoy health of body and peace of mind, and grow
stronger in the faith and in the love of thy Son, Jesus.
Hail, Mary..... V. Pray for us, O Holy
Mother of Good Remedy,
R. That we may deepen our dedication
to thy Son, and make the world alive with His Spirit.
MORE ON ABORTION:
http://jesus-passion.com/ABORTION.htm
Jesus suffered as a baby so that unborn children
would be protected from abortion.
9. ADORATION OF THE SHEPHERDS. DEVOUT VISITS TO THE CRIB
In the early dawn after the birth of Jesus, the three
oldest of the shepherds came to the Crib Cave with the gifts they had
gathered together. These consisted of little animals bearing some
resemblance to deer. They were very lightly built and nimble, had long necks
and clear, beautiful eyes. They followed or ran along beside the shepherds
who led
them with fine, guiding cords. The shepherds carried also
large, live birds under their arms, and dead ones slung over their
shoulders.They told Joseph at the entrance of the cave what the angel had
announced to them, and that they had come to do homage to the Child of
Promise and to offer Him gifts. Joseph accepted their presents and allowed
them to lead the animals into the space that formed a kind of cellar near
the side entrance of the cave. Then he conducted them to the Blessed Virgin,
who was sitting on the ground near the Crib, a rug under her, the Infant
Jesus on her lap. The shepherds, their staves resting on their arms, fell on
their knees and wept with joy. They knelt long, tasting great interior
sweetness, and then entoned the angelic canticle of praise, and a Psalm that
I have forgotten. When they were about to take leave, Mary placed the Child
in their arms.Some of the other shepherds came in the evening, accompanied
by women and children, and bringing gifts. They sang most sweetly before the
Crib the Gloria, some Psalms, and short refrains of which I remember the
words: "0 Child, blooming as a rose art Thou! As a herald Thou comest
forth!" They brought gifts of birds, eggs, honey, woven stuffs of various
colors, bundles of raw silk, and ears of corn, also several bundles of a
corn with heavy grains growing on a stalk with large leaves like those of
rushes.
CAVE OF THE NATIVITY, BETHLEHEM
(There should be a picture here)
The Site of the Nativity is attested to by an unbroken
tradition dating back to the 2nd Century. This plan is asuggested
reconstruction of the original arrangement based on the description in the
"Life of Mary" and the present form of the caves (shaded areas). During the
centuries there have been many additions and enlargements. She stated that
new grottoes were Cut in the rock even during the lifetime of Our Lord. The
basilica, erected by Constantine over the cave in the 4th Century, and still
in use, is one of the oldest Christian churches in the world. R.L.
The three oldest shepherds came back in turn and helped
Joseph to make the Crib Cave and its surroundings more comfortable. I saw
also several pious women with the Blessed Virgin, performing some services
for her. They were Essenians, and lived in the valley, not far from the Crib
Cave, in little rocky cells adjoining one another. They owned little gardens
near their cells, and they taught the children of their community. St.
Joseph had invited them to come, for he was acquainted with them even in
early youth. When he was hiding in the Crib Cave, from his brethren, he
visited these pious women who dwelt in the side of the rock. They now came
in
turn to the Blessed Virgin, bringing little necessaries and
bundles of wood. They cooked and washed for the Holy Family.Some days after
the birth of Jesus, I saw a touching scene in the Crib Cave. Joseph and Mary
were standing by the Crib and gazing with emotion upon the Infant Jesus,
when suddenly the ass fell upon its knees and lowered its head to the
ground. Mary and Joseph shed tears. I saw Mary at another time standing by
the Crib. As she gazed upon the Child, the deep conviction stole upon her
that It had come upon earth to suffer. That reminded me of a vision I had
had at an earlier period in which I had been shown how Jesus, while still in
His Mothers womb and from the movement of His birth, had suffered. I saw
under the heart of Mary a glory and in it a bright shining Child. As I gazed
upon It, it seemed as if Mary were hovering over It and surrounding It.
I beheld the Child growing and all the torments of the Crucifixion inflicted
upon It. It was a sad, a fearful sight! I wept and sobbed aloud.
I saw other forms around It beating and pushing, scourging and crowning It.
Then they laid the Cross upon It, next nailed It to the same, and pierced It
in the side. I saw the whole Passion of Christ in the Child. It was a
frightful sight! As the Child hung on the Cross, It said to me: "All this
did I suffer from My conception until My thirty fourth year, when My Passion
was outwardly consummated." (The Lord died when He was thirty three years
and three months old.) "Go and announce it to men!" But how can I announce
it to men?
I saw Jesus
also as the newborn Child, and I saw how many of the children that went to
the Crib ill treated the Infant Jesus. The Mother of God was not there to
protect the Child, and the children went with all kinds of switches and
rods, and struck It in the face until the Blood flowed. The Child meekly
extended Its little hands before Its face, in order to ward off the blows.
The smallest children were they that struck the most maliciously. The
parents of some even twisted and wrapped the rods for them. They brought
thorns, nettles, whips, little rods of all kinds, each having its own
signification. One came with a very slender rod, like a reed. But when it
was about to strike the Child, the rod snapped, and fell back upon itself. I
knew several of the children. Some went about boasting in their fine
clothes, but I stripped them, and whipped some of them well.
While Mary was still standing by the Crib in deep meditation,
some shepherds drew near with their wives, in all about five persons. To
give them room to approach the Crib, the Blessed Virgin withdrew a little to
the spot upon which she had given birth to the Child. The people did not
actually adore, but they gazed down upon the Child deeply moved, and before
leaving they bowed low over It as if kissing It.It was day. Mary sat in her
usual place with the Infant Jesus on her lap. He was swathed, the hands and
face alone free. Mary had something like
a piece of linen in her hands with which she was busied.
Joseph was at the fireplace near the entrance of the cave, and appeared to
be making a shelf to hold some vessels. I was standing next the ass. And now
came in three aged female Essenians, who were cordially welcomed, though
Mary did not rise. They brought quite a number of presents: small fruits,
birds with red, awl-shaped beaks as large as ducks, which they carried by
the wings, oval rolls about an inch in thickness, some linen, and other
stuff. All were received with rare humility and gratitude. The women were
very silent and recollected. Deeply moved, they gazed down upon the Child,
but they did not touch It. When they withdrew, it was without farewells or
ceremony. Meanwhile, I was taking a good look at the ass. It had a very
broad back, and I thought to myself:"You good beast! You have carried a
great burden!" (The Creator) and I wanted to feel it, to see if it were
real. I ran my hand over itshair, and it felt as smooth as silk.Now came two
married women with three little girls about eight years old. They appeared
to be strangers and people of distinction, who had come in obedience to a
call more miraculous than that received by any previous visitor. Joseph
welcomed them very humbly. They brought presents less in size than the
others, but of greater value: grain in a bowl, small fruits, and a cluster
of thick, triangular, gold leaves on which was a stamp like a seal. I
thought: "Strange! That looks like the representation of the eye of God! But
no! How can I compare the eye of God with red earth!" Mary arose and placed
the Child in the ladies arms. Both held Him a little while, praying silently
with uplifted heart, and then kissed Him. The three little girls were silent
and deeply impressed. Joseph and Mary conversed with their visitors and when
they left, Joseph accompanied them part of the way. Ah! Could we, like these
women, behold the beauty, the purity, the innocent wisdom of Mary! She
knewall things! But in her humility, she appears unconscious of her gifts.
Like a child, she casts down her eyes; and when she raises them, her glance,
like a flash of lightning, like the truth, like a ray of unsullied light,
pierces one through and through. That is because she is perfectly pure,
perfectly innocent, full of the Holy Ghost, and without any reflection on
self. No one can resist her glance.These people appeared to have come at
least some miles and that secretly, for they avoided being seen in the city.
Joseph behaved with great humility during such visits, retiring and looking
on from some distant corner.I saw also Annes maid and an old man servant
coming from Nazareth to the Crib. The maid was a widow and related to the
Holy Family. She broughtall sorts of necessaries from Anne to Mary, with
whom she took up her abode. The old man shed tears of joy, and returned with
news to Anne.
The day after, I saw the Blessed Virgin and the Infant
Jesus leave the Crib Cave with the maid for some hours. Stepping from the
door of the cave, Mary turned toward the shed on the right, went some steps
forward, and concealed herself in that side cave in which, at the birth of
Jesus, a spring had welled up. She remained there four hours, because some
men, spies of Herod, had come from Bethlehem, in consequence of the rumor
set afloat by the words of the shepherds, that a miracle had there taken
place in connection with a child. These men met St. Joseph in front of the
Crib Cave. After exchanging a few words with him, they left him with a
contemptuous smile at his humility and simplicity.The Crib Cave was retired,
and very pleasantly situated. No one from Bethlehem went there, only the
shepherds whose duties called them thither. No one in Bethlehem took any
interest inwhat was going on outside for, in consequence of the influx of
strangers, the city was all alive, and much buying and selling going on.
Cattle was being bought and slaughtered, for many people paid their taxes in
cattle. There were numbers of pagans in the city in the capacity of
servants.The wonderful apparition of the angels was soon noised among the
dwellers of the mountain valleys far and near, and with it the birth of the
Child in the cave. The innkeepers from whom the Holy Family on their journey
had received hospitality now came, one after another, to do homage to Him
whom unknown they had entertained. I saw that hospitable keeper of the last
inn, first sending presents by a servant, and then coming himself to honor
the Child. I saw also the good wife of that man who had been so cross to
Joseph, and other shepherds and good people coming to the Crib. They were
very much affected by what they saw. All were in holiday attire, and were
going up to Bethlehem for the Sabbath. The good wife might have gone to
Jerusalem which was nearer, but she preferred coming here to Bethlehem.A
relative of Joseph, and father of that Jonadab who, at the Crucifixion of
Jesus presented a strip of linen to Him, had also come to the Crib Cave on
his way to Bethlehem for the Sabbath. Joseph was very kind to him. This
relative had heard from pepple of his place of Josephs wonderful situation;
he came therefore to bring him gifts and to visit the Infant Jesus and Mary.
But Joseph would not accept anything, although he pawned thelittle she-ass
to this relative with the understanding that she might be redeemed for the
same amount of money received. After that, Mary, Joseph, the maid, and two
of the shepherds who were standing in front of the entrance, celebrated the
Sabbath in theCrib Cave. A lamp with seven wicks was lighted, and upon a
small table covered with white and red, lay the prayer rolls.The numerous
eatables presented by the shepherds were either given to the poor or handed
around for the entertainment of others. The birds were hung on a spit before
the fire, turned from time to time, and
sprinkled with the flour of a reed-like plant which was
very plentiful around the area of Bethlehem and Hebron. From its grain a
shining, white jelly was prepared and cakes baked. I saw under the fireplace
very hot and clean holes in which birds could be roasted.After the Sabbath,
the Essenian women got a meal ready under the arbors which Joseph, with the
help of the shepherds, had put up at the entrance of the cave. Joseph went
into the city to engage priests for the circumcision of the Child. The cave
was cleared and put in order. The partition that Joseph had put up in the
passage was removed, and the ground spread with carpets, for in this passage
near the Crib Cave, the place for the ceremony was prepared.
_____________
MORE WRITINGS:
THE LOWLY LIFE AND BITTER PASSION OF
OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST AND HIS BLESSED MOTHER
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FEAST DAY: OCTOBER 19TH
PETER, while still a youth, left his
home at Alcantara in Spain, and entered a convent of Discalced Franciscans.
He rose quickly to high posts in the Order, but his thirst for penance was
still unappeased, and in 1539, being then forty years old, he founded the
first convent of the "Strict Observance." The cells of the friars resembled
graves rather than dwelling-places. That of St. Peter himself was four feet
and a half in length, so that he could never lie down ; he ate but once in
three days; his sackcloth habit and a cloak were his only garments, and he
never covered his head or feet. In the bitter winter he would open the door
and window of his cell that, by closing them again, he might experience some
sensation of warmth. Amongst those whom he trained to perfection was St.
Teresa. He read her soul, approved of her spirit of prayer, and strengthened
her to carry out her reforms. St. Peter died, with great joy, kneeling in
prayer, October 18th, 1562, at the age of sixty-three.
REFLECTION.-If men do not go about
barefoot now, nor under-go sharp penances, as St. Peter did, there are many
ways of trampling on the world; and our Lord teaches them when He finds the
necessary courage.
INTERCESSORY PRAYER: Saint Teresa of Avila said concerning
Saint Peter of Alcantara that, "The Lord once told me that no one
should ask Him for anything in his name and not be heard."
Saint Peter of Alcantara, please pray
for us today [state your prayer request.] |
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POPE FRANCIS PRAYER
INTENTIONS FOR 2022
JANUARY
For true human fraternity
We pray for all those suffering from religious
discrimination and persecution; may their own rights and dignity be
recognized, which originate from being brothers and sisters in the human
family.
FEBRUARY
For religious sisters and consecrated women
We pray for religious sisters and consecrated women;
thanking them for their mission and their courage; may they continue to
find new responses to the challenges of our times.
MARCH
For a Christian response to bioethical
challenges
We pray for Christians facing new bioethical
challenges; may they continue to defend the dignity of all human life
with prayer and action.
APRIL
For health care workers
We pray for health care workers who serve the sick and
the elderly, especially in the poorest countries; may they be adequately
supported by governments and local communities.
MAY
For faith-filled young people
We pray for all young people, called to live life to
the fullest; may they see in Marys life the way to listen, the depth of
discernment, the courage that faith generates, and the dedication to
service.
JUNE
For families
We pray for Christian families around the world; may
they embody and experience unconditional love and advance in holiness in
their daily lives.
JULY
For the elderly
We pray for the elderly, who represent the roots and
memory of a people; may their experience and wisdom help young people to
look towards the future with hope and responsibility.
AUGUST
For small businesses
We pray for small and medium sized businesses; in the
midst of economic and social crisis, may they find ways to continue
operating, and serving their communities.
SEPTEMBER
For the abolition of the death penalty
We pray that the death penalty, which attacks the
dignity of the human person, may be legally abolished in every country.
OCTOBER
For a Church open to everyone
We pray for the Church; ever faithful to, and
courageous in preaching the Gospel, may the Church be a community of
solidarity, fraternity and welcome, always living in an atmosphere of
synodality.
NOVEMBER
For children who suffer
We pray for children who are suffering, especially
those who are homeless, orphans, and victims of war; may they be
guaranteed access to education and the opportunity to experience family
affection.
DECEMBER
For volunteer not-for-profit organisations
We pray that volunteer non-profit organisations
committed to human development find people dedicated to the common good
and ceaselessly seek out new paths to international cooperation.
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 PRAYER
Queen of Heaven and earth,
most Holy Virgin,
we venerate thee.
Thou art the beloved daughter
of the Most High God,
the chosen
mother of the
Incarnate Word,
the immaculate spouse of
the Holy Spirit,
the sacred vessel of the
Most Holy Trinity.
O Mother of the Divine Redeemer,
who under the title of
Our
Lady of Good Remedy
comes to the aid of all
who call upon
thee,
extend thy maternal protection to us.
We depend on thee,
dear Mother,
as helpless and needy children
depend on a tender
and caring mother.
Pray the
Hail Mary...
O Lady of Good Remedy,
source of
unfailing help,
grant that we may draw
from thy treasury of
graces
in our time of need.
Touch the hearts of sinners,
that they may seek
reconciliation and forgiveness.
Bring
comfort to
the afflicted and the lonely;
help the poor and the
hopeless;
aid the sick and the suffering.
May they be healed
in body
and strengthened in spirit
to endure their sufferings
with patient resignation
and Christian fortitude.
Pray the
Hail Mary...
Dear Lady of Good Remedy,
source of
unfailing help,
thy compassionate heart knows a remedy
for
every affliction and misery
we encounter in life.
Help me with
thy prayers and intercession
to find a remedy for my problems and
needs,
especially for...
(Mention your personal
intention)
On my part,
O loving Mother,
I pledge myself to a more
intensely Christian lifestyle,
to a more careful observance of
the laws of God,
to be more conscientious
in fulfilling the
obligations of my state in life,
and to strive to be a source of
healing
in this broken world of ours.
Dear Lady of Good
Remedy,
be ever present to me,
and through thy intercession,
may I enjoy health of body and peace of mind,
and grow stronger
in the faith
and in the love of thy Son, Jesus.
Pray the
Hail Mary...
V. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of Good Remedy,
R. That we may deepen our dedication to thy Son,
and make the world alive with His Spirit. | | | |
Unfailing Novena To The Virgin Mary Untier of Knots
Prayer to Mary, Undoer of Knots
Virgin Mary, Mother of fair love, Mother who never refuses to come
to the aid of a child in need, Mother whose hands never cease to
serve your beloved children because they are moved by the divine
love and immense mercy that exists in your heart, cast your
compassionate eyes upon me and see the snarl of knots that exist in
my life. You know very well how desperate I am, my pain, and how I
am bound by these knots. Mary, Mother to whom God entrusted the
undoing of the knots in the lives of his children, I entrust into
your hands the ribbon of my life. No one, not even the Evil One
himself, can take it away from your precious care. In your hands
there is no knot that cannot be undone. Powerful Mother, by your
grace and intercessory power with Your Son and My Liberator, Jesus,
take into your hands today this knot.
[Mention your request here]
I beg you to undo it for the glory of God, once for all. You are my
hope. O my Lady, you are the only consolation God gives me, the
fortification of my feeble strength, the enrichment of my
destitution, and, with Christ, the freedom from my chains. Hear my
plea. Keep me, guide me, protect me, o safe refuge!
Mary, Undoer of Knots, pray for me.
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AMERICAN WAR CASUALTIES
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Each standard size cross-mark represents 50,000 people killed.
The smaller cross-marks represent less than 50,000 deaths.
The war casualties represent all American combat-related deaths.
Statistics from 1982 World Almanac. |
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REVOLUTIONARY WAR
25,324 |
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CIVIL WAR
496,332
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WORLD WAR
I
116,708
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WORLD WAR
II
407,316
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KOREAN
WAR 54,246
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VIETNAM WAR
58,655 |
WAR
ON UNBORN CHILDREN OVER 59,440,015
...since abortion
was legalized in 1973
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PRAY THAT ABORTION WOULD BE OUTLAWED
THROUGHOUT THE WORLD
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THE FIFTEEN PROMISES OF MARY TO
CHRISTIANS WHO RECITE THE ROSARY
These promises were given by the Blessed Mother to Saint Dominic
and Blessed Alan.
1.
Whoever shall faithfully serve me by the recitation of the
rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise my
special protection and the greatest graces to all those who
shall recite the rosary.
3. The rosary shall be a
powerful armour against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease
sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will
obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the
hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and
will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls
would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul
which recommends itself to me by the recitation of the rosary,
shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the rosary
devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred
mysteries shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not
chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an
unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of
God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall
have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the
sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to
recite the rosary shall have during their life and at their
death the light of God and the plentitude of His graces; at the
moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the
saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory
those who have been devoted to the rosary.
10. The
faithful children of the rosary shall merit a high degree of
glory in heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of me
by the recitation of the rosary.
12. All those who
propagate the holy rosary shall be aided by me in their
necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Divine Son that all the advocates of
the rosary shall have for intercessors the entire celestial
court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All
who recite the rosary are my sons, and brothers of my only Son
Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion of my rosary is a great sign of predestination.
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Graces Derived from Going to Mass
(Note: Assisting at
Mass simply means attending Mass. By attending a Mass Catholics
are actually assisting in Mass.)
THE FOLLOWING IS FROM THE
PIETA PRAYER BOOKLET,
Published in U.S.A. by MLOR Corporation, 1186 Burlington
Drive, Hickory Corners, MI 49060-9330:
1. The Mass is Calvary continued.
2. Every Mass is worth as much as the sacrifice of our Lord's life,
sufferings and death.
3. Holy Mass is the most powerful atonement for your sins.
4. At the hour of death the Masses you have heard will be your
greatest consolation.
5. Every Mass will go with you to judgment and plead for pardon.
6. At Mass you can diminish more or less temporal punishment due to
your sins, according to your fervor.
7. Assisting devoutly at Holy Mass you render to the sacred humanity
of Our Lord the greatest homage.
8. He supplies for many of your negligences and omissions.
9. He forgives the venial sins which you have not confessed.
The power of Satan over you is diminished.
10. You afford the souls in Purgatory the greatest possible relief.
11. One Mass heard during life will be of more benefit to you than
many heard for you after your death.
12. You are preserved from dangers and misfortunes which otherwise
might have befallen you. You shorten your Purgatory.
13. Every Mass wins for you a higher degree of glory in Heaven.
14. You receive the priest's blessing which Our Lord ratifies in
Heaven.
15. You kneel amidst a multitude of holy angels, who are present at
the adorable Sacrifice with reverential awe.
16. You are blessed in your temporal goods and affairs.
In eternity, we shall fully realize that it was certainly worthwhile
to have assisted at Holy Mass daily. PRAY FOR PRIESTS THAT
THEY MAY OFFER THE MASS WITH HOLY LOVE AND REVERENCE.
**********
"The Mass is the most perfect form of prayer!"
For each Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort
us at death. (revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the great).
Padre Pio, the stigmatic priest, said, the world could exist more easily
without the sun than without the Mass.
The Cure'd' Ars, St. Jean Vianney said, if we knew the value of the Mass
we would die of joy.
A great doctor of the Church, St. Anselm, declares that a single Mass
offered for oneself during life may be worth more than a thousand
celebrated for the same intention after death. St. Leonard of Port
Maurice supports this statement by saying that one Mass before death may
be more profitable than many after it.
"The Holy Mass would be of greater profit if people had it offered in
their lifetime, rather than having it celebrated for the relief of their
souls after death." (Pope Benedict XV).
Once, St. Teresa was overwhelmed with God's Goodness and asked Our Lord,
"How can I thank you?" Our Lord replied, "ATTEND ONE MASS".
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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 moment, 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".
 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, 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! | | |
One day, Saint Michael the Archangel appeared to Antonia d'Astonac,
a most devout Servant of God and told her that he wished to be
honoured by nine salutations corresponding to the nine Choirs of
Angels, which should consist of one Our Father and three Hail Marys
in honour of each of the Angelic Choirs.
Promises of St. Michael
"Whoever would practice this devotion in his honour would have, when
approaching the Holy Table, an escort of nine angels chosen from
each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for the daily recital of these
nine salutations, he promised his continual assistance and that all
the holy angels during life, and after death deliverance from
Purgatory for themselves and all their relations."
The Chaplet of St. Michael
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory
be to the Father, etc.
[Say one Our Father and three Hail Marys after each of the following
nine salutations in honor of the nine Choirs of Angels]
[STATE YOUR PRAYER REQUEST]
1. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of
perfect charity.
Amen.
2. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin
and run in the paths of Christian perfection.
Amen.
3. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere
spirit of humility.
Amen.
4. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Dominations may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and
overcome any unruly passions.
Amen.
5. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into
temptation. Amen.
6. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and
temptations of the devil.
Amen.
7. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of
obedience. Amen.
8. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all
good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven.
Amen.
9. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of
Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal
life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven.
Amen.
Say one Our Father in honor of each of the following
leading
Say one Our Father in honor
of each of the following leading Angels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel,
St. Raphael and our Guardian Angel.
Angels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael and our Guardian
Angel.
Concluding prayers:
O glorious prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly
hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in
the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who
shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all
evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious
protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus
Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a
merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most
glorious Archangel St. Michael Prince of Your Church, make us
worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none
of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be
conducted by him into Your Presence.This we ask through the merits
of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen. | | |
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 a Kempis and
Saint Louis de Montfort, Saint Teresa of Avila, 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. | | |
 OVERCOMING
DIFFICULTIES AT WORK OR AT HOME:
When difficulties come to us at work or at home it important to pray
your way through these difficulties. At work, it could be trouble
with a supervisor or a co-worker, with the result that misery is brought
into our lives. Or at home a wife or a husband, or a child or a
relative may be causing you trouble. It is important to pray your
way through these difficulties. The different forms of prayers
listed above, the Rosary, the Chaplet of Saint Michael, the Divine Mercy
Chaplet and the Holy Mass, can move God to assist us with the things the
bother us the most during our lives. Try these prayers, they
work.
And sometimes, it takes the prayers of others to help
change the current situations that are going on in our lives.
On the following web page, there are several prayer groups that will
pray for yours needs; this a great tool against our daily problems and
against the assaults of demons. Sometimes it takes the prayers of
many people to change things.
http://www.jesus-passion.com/catholic_groups_that_will_pray_for_you.htm
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From the Autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila , Chapter 31. 1562 A.D. 
"From long experience I have learned that there is nothing like holy
water to put devils to flight and prevent them from coming back
again. They also flee from the Cross, but return; so holy water must
have great virtue. For my own part, whenever I take it, my soul
feels a particular and most notable consolation. In fact, it is
quite usual for me to be conscious of a refreshment which I cannot
possibly describe, resembling an inward joy which comforts my whole
soul. This is not fancy, or something which has happened to me only
once it has happened again and again and I have observed it most
attentively. It is let us say, as if someone very hot and thirsty
were to drink from a jug of cold water: he would feel the
refreshment throughout his body. I often reflect on the great
importance of everything ordained by the Church and it makes me very
happy to find that those words of the Church are so powerful that
they impart their power to the water and make it so very different
from water which has not been blessed."
The Catholic Church around the world uses Holy Water in every church
to make the church a fortress against the demons which assault men
and women. The Holy Water is usually situated near every
entrance to the church for people to use to anoint themselves with
the Sign of the Cross. When an individual puts on Holy Water
any demons present will flee. Catholics should put Holy Water
in containers and place them in their homes and their offices; by
doing so they make their homes and offices fortresses against the
demons which are always lurking about. Catholics should also
consider carrying the Holy Water in small containers in their
pockets to ward off demonic attacks during each day.
____________
GRACE POURED OUT FROM HOLY WATER | | |
PRAYER
OF INTERCESSION TO
SAINT JOHN XXIII.
Saint John XXIII, you spent your life deeply immersed in the truths
of the Catholic Faith. You led us by your great example of
sacrifice and love as 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:
Saint
John XXIII, please pray for the Holy Catholic Church and for the
following prayer request:
[state your prayer request.] |
SAINT JOHN PAUL II
PRAYER FOR THE INTERCESSION
OF SAINT JOHN PAUL II
O Blessed Trinity, we thank you
for having graced the Church with
Saint John Paul II and for allowing
the tenderness of your
fatherly care,
the glory of the Cross of Christ
and the
splendor of the Spirit of love
to shine through him.
Trusting fully in your infinite mercy
and in the maternal
intercession of Mary,
he has given us a living image of
Jesus the Good Shepherd.
He has shown us that holiness
is
the necessary measure of ordinary
Christian life and is the
way of
achieving eternal communion with you.
Grant us, by his
intercession,
[MENTION PRAYER REQUEST]
and according to your will,
the graces we implore,
through Christ our Lord. Amen. | | |
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.
Are you sick or do you know someone who is ill. Say the
prayer above for them everyday. Also, there is greater power of
prayer when many people are praying for the sick. Ask many fellow
Catholics to join in prayer with you for the sick. You can send
prayer requests to Catholic Groups that will join you in prayer at:
http://www.jesus-passion.com/catholic_groups_that_will_pray_for_you.htm
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