"Hell is full of Good Intentions"

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There are two sorts of good wills. The one says, "I would do well, but it give me trouble, and I will not do it." The other, "I wish to do well, but I have not as much power as I have will; it is this which holds me back." The first fills Hell, the second Paradise. The first only begins to will and to desire, but it does not finish willing. Its desires have not enough courage; they are only abortions of will, and that is why it fills Hell. But the second produces entire and well formed desires; it is for this that Daniel was called a "man of desires..."

- St. Francis de Sales, Thy Will Be Done, Sophia Press

Intercessory Prayer for the Souls in Purgatory

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Ye souls of the faithful! who sleep in the Lord;
But as yet are shut out, from your final reward!
Oh! would I could lend you, assistance to fly;
From your prison below, to your palace on high.

O Father of mercies! Thine anger withhold;
These works of Thy hand in Thy mercy behold;
Too oft from Thy path, they have wandered aside:
But Thee, their Creator, they never denied.

O tender Redeemer! Their misery see;
Deliver those souls that were ransomed by Thee;
Behold how they love Thee, despite of their pain:
Restore them, restore them to favour again.

O Spirit of grace! O Consoler divine!
See how for Thy presence they longingly pine;
Ah, then, to enliven their sadness, descend;
And fill them with peace, and with joy in the end.

O Mother of mercy! Dear soother in grief!
Lend thou to their torments a balmy relief;
And temper the rigour of justice severe;
And soften their flames with a pitying tear.

All ye who would honour the Saints and their Head,
Remember, remember, to pray for the dead;
And they, in return, from their misery freed,
To you will be friends in the hour of need.

Shared by Sue Cifelli

A village of vocations on the Silk Road

Our Lady of She-Shan pray for China

A small village on Silk Road, inhabited by 660 people, of whom 400 are Catholic (about 130 families), has given 14 vocations to the Church in recent years: 7 priests, 1 deacon, 3 religious sisters, 2 major seminarians and 1 minor seminarian. The village is Zan Jia Cun, Fu Feng district in the Diocese of Zhou Zhi, Shaan Xi province.

Read the rest here.

Our Lady of Fatima's Words

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"Make sacrifices for sinners, and say often, especially while making a sacrifice: 'O Jesus, this is for love of Thee; for the conversion of sinners and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.'"

"You have seen hell, where the souls of poor sinners go. It is to save them that God wants to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If you do what I tell you, many souls will be saved, and there will be peace." Before Our Lady spoke these words, she opened her hands, as Lucia says in her Memoirs, and 'we saw a sea of fire. Plunged in this flame were devils na d souls that looked like transparent embers; others were black or bronze and in human form; these were suspended in flames..."

"If my requests are not heeded, Russia will spread her errors throughout the world, provoking wars and persecutions of the Church; the good will be martyred, the Holy Father will have much to suffer, and various entire nations will be annihilated."


"I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, to all who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months:
(1) Confess,
(2) Receive Holy Communion,
(3) Pray five decades of the Rosary and
(4) Keep me company for fifteen minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, all with the intention of making reparation to my Immaculate Heart."

- Our Lady of Fatima's words to the three shepherd children.

St. Agatha, Virgin and Martyr

"The Martyrdom of St. Agatha" by Felice Ficherell

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Saint Agatha was a beautiful young woman of noble birth. She caught the eye of a Roman governor by the name of Quintanius, who wanted to make her his wife. During this time there was a persecution of Christians under the Emperor Decius. It was Decius who ordered her arrest for being a Christian.

Her prayer during the time of her arrest:

"O Jesus Christ,
Lord of all things,
Thou seest my heart and
knowest my desire,
which is to possess only Thee,
since I have consecrated myself entirely to Thee.
Preserve me, dear Lord,
from this tyrant and
enable me to overcome the
devil, who layeth snares for my soul."

by Cariani (Giovanni Busi)

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..."When the saint appeared before Quintanius, in order the more easily to overcome her modesty, he gave her up to Aphrodisia, an abominable woman, who, together with her daughters, publicly professed immodesty. In her infamous house the saint suffered greater torture than the darkest and most fetid dungeon could afford.

All the arts of Aphrodisia and her partners in crime were unceasingly applied, in order to induce the saint to comply with the wishes of Quintianus; but Agatha, who from her infancy had been consecrated to Jesus Christ, was enable by His divine grace to overcome all their attempts..."

by Cagnacci

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The saint was once again brought before Quintanius. She courageously confessed to being a Christian.

"In order to give the governor to understand how infamous were the deities which he adored and desired her to worship, she asked whether he would wish that his wife should be a prostitute, like Venus, or that he himself should be considered an incestuous adulterer like Jupiter."

The next day she was again brought before the governor and was asked if she would like to save her life. She replied: "God is my life and my salvation." She was then tortured but "perceiving how little it affected her, he commanded her breasts to be lacerated, and afterward cut off, which was executed with barbarous cruelty.

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When she perceived her life coming to a close she prayed:

"O Lord, my Creator, who hast preserved me from my infancy,
hast given me strength to
overcome these torments, and
hast taken from me the love of the world,
receive now my soul.
It is time that I should at last
pass from this miserable life
to the fruition of Thy glory."

St. Agatha died in the year 251.

Source of her story and the prayers - Victories of the Martyrs by St. Alphonsus of Liguori

by Andrea Vaccaro

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At Mass this morning my mom told me the Polish priest blessed bread. He explained it was a Polish tradition to bless bread on the Feast of St. Agatha. This bread is not to be eaten. Instead,  it becomes a sacramental in order to protect the home against the ravages of fire. This tradition was new to me. I did find this blog post that explains more on the St. Agatha bread blessing.

by Allessandro Allori

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Prayer to St. Agatha

Oh St. Agatha, who withstood the unwelcome advances from unwanted suitors,
and suffered pain and torture for her devotion to Our Lord,
we celebrate your faith, dignity and martyrdom.
Protect us against rape and other violations,
guard us against breast cancer and other
afflictions of women, and inspire us to overcome adversity.
Oh St. Agatha, virgin and martyr,
mercifully grant that we who venerate your sacrifice,
may receive your intercession. Amen.

Prayer source: Nancy's blog

Prayer of Saint Gertrude to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

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

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Shared by Sue Cifelli

Reparation to the Sacred Heart

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, Your loving Heart is subjected throughout the world to cruel indifferences, injury and sacrilege. Mindful of my own failing to show You proper adoration and love, I come to You now to ask Y our forgiveness for myself and for the sins of others.

- I seek to offer atonement for the sins of those straying from the path of salvation who refuse to follow You, their Shepherd and Leader, and

- who strike out against our chief Vicar on earth, our holy Father, the Pope.

- Many have renounced their baptismal vows and cast off the sweet yoke of Your law. Bring them back, dear Shepherd of our souls.

- I desire to make amends for the many offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior,

- for the foul seductions which ensnare the feet of innocent children and youth and

- for the blasphemies uttered against You and Your saints.

- I wish to make amends to Your most Sacred Heart for the insults in which Your chief Vicar on earth and Your priests are subjected and

- for those who neglect or receive You in sacrilege in the very Sacrament of Your Divine love while not in the state of sanctifying grace.

- I wish to offer reparation for the public crimes of nations who resist the rights and the teaching authority of the Church which You have founded and for governments which permit the murders of innocent human beings by abortion, even before these children have seen the light of day.

- I offer to Your eternal. Father that Sacrifice Your Sacred Heart once made on the Cross as perpetuated on our altars today.

- I offer this act of atonement in union with Your ever-Virgin Mother as she stood beneath the Cross and I join my intention to those of all the Saints and pious faithful throughout the world.

Henceforth, I shall live a life of uncompromising faith, in purity of conduct, in the observance of the precepts of the Gospel especially that of charity. I promise to influence others to the best of my ability not to offend you.

Amen.

-Prayerbook for Catholics, Father Robert J. Fox

The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus

Magnificat's Reflection on the Presentation of Jesus in the temple.

...Our Saviour having been conceived by the Holy Ghost, and His Blessed Mother remaining always a spotless virgin, it is evident that She was not subject to the law of purification, but devotion and zeal to honor God by every observance prescribed by His law, prompted Mary to perform this act of religion...

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Women for Faith and Family: Presentation of the Lord

by Giovanni Bellini

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Canticle of Simeon

Lord, now let you servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit,
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and will be for ever. Amen.

by Giovanni Bellini

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Gradual

We have received Thy mercy, O God,
in the midst of Thy temple:
according to Thy Name,
O God, so also is Thy praise
unto the ends of the earth.

V. As we have heard,
so have we seen,
in the city of our God,
and in His holy mountain.

Alleluia, alleluia.

V. (St. Augustine)

The old man carried the Child: but the Child governed the old man. Alleluia.

- Source: The New Marian Missal

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Troublemakers in Church

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The pastor did not give out Holy Communion yesterday. I'm sure none of us really thought much of it since he has had a cold. An extraordinary minister of Holy Communion instead gave out Communion.

Later though Father addressed the fact that he had not given out Holy Communion because he did in fact have a cold. He sadly told us that someone had reported him to the bishop for letting an EMHC give out Holy Communion instead of him.


1. Going behind someone's back to complain is always cowardly.

2. We should be grateful we have a priest who joyfully and with a deep love of the Holy Eucharist, celebrates Mass week after week; hears confessions whenever someone asks, etc. May I remind you that many churches offer a Communion service instead of daily Mass because of a lack of priests.

3. Bothering the bishop when he has many more important things to deal with is just wrong. This will only diminish the importance of a more serious grievance or problem the next time.

Next time, please talk to the priest first in a kind and Christian-like manner.