Novena to St. Joseph the Worker

St. Joseph, Patron of Workers
(Feast – May 1)


GLORIOUS ST. JOSEPH,
Model of all who are devoted to toil,
Obtain for me the grace to toil
In the spirit of penance,
In order thereby to atone
For my many sins;

To toil conscientiously,
Putting devotion to duty
Before my own inclinations;
To labor with thankfulness and joy,
Deeming it an honor
To employ and to develop by my labor
The gifts I have received from Almighty God;

To work with order,
Peace, moderation and patience,
Without ever shrinking
From weariness and difficulties;

To work, above all,
With a pure intention
And with detachment from ourselves,
Having always before my eyes
The hour of death
And the accounting
Which I must then render
Of time ill-spent,
Of talents unemployed,
Of good undone
And of empty pride in success,
Which is so fatal to the work of God.

All for Jesus,
All through Mary,
All in imitation of you,
O Patriarch Joseph!

This shall be my motto
In life and in death.

Amen.

Source My Catholic Tradition

A Prayer for Priests

Father, send us many holy priests;
for it is through Christ's presence in the priest,
that we, at the Holy Sacrifice,
partake of the Sacred Feast.
Amen.

Thank you Sue

Deliverance Prayer

"Almighty God and Father we beg you through the intercession and help of the archangels Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel for the deliverance of our brothers and sisters who are enslaved by the evil one. All saints of Heaven, come to our aid.

From anxiety, sadness and obsessions, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From hatred, fornication, envy, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From thoughts of jealousy, rage and death, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From every thought of suicide or abortion, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From every form of sinful sexuality, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From every division in our family, and every harmful friendship, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

From every sort of spell, malefice, witchcraft, and every form of the occult, we implore Thee, deliver us O Lord.

Thou who said "Peace I leave you, my peace I give unto you." Grant that, through the intercession of the Virgin Mary, we may be liberated from every demonic influence and enjoy Thy peace always. In the name of Christ, Our Lord. Amen."

Source

H/T to Sue

Congratulations to the New Archbishop of St. Louis

Picture source American Papist

There is news on all over the Catholic blogosphere about this new appointment.

But I would like to add what my mom said "What a very handsome archbishop!"...and pro-life :-)

Scenes from a Church's Rededication Mass

Rose Window

The interior of the beautiful Blessed Sacrament Church
Blessed Sacrament Altar Servers
Bishop Rodimer in the Processional
Bishop Serratelli in the Processional
Father Patrick
Associate Pastor Fr. Heriberto Guerra and the Gospel Reading
Bishop's Homily
Bishop Serratelli Giving Holy Communion to the Faithful
Gift presented to the Bishop by the Blessed Sacrament parishioners
Legionaries of Christ in the Recessional
Bishop Serratelli greeting the faithful after Mass. I got to kiss the Bishop's ring
This past Divine Mercy Sunday, Bishop Arthur Serratelli of the Diocese of Paterson, celebrated the rededication Mass of Blessed Sacrament Church in Paterson, New Jersey.

This is the church that I remember as a little girl of 4 or 5. The huge edifice and marble interior used to intimidate me. Actually, I used to be afraid to go into the Church. This was supposed to be our parish church.

We were parishioners there during my early youth. Then we attended Our Lady of Victories Church for a few years. When we were enrolled at St. John's Cathedral school, (I was in 8th grade then), we attended Mass at the beautiful Cathedral in downtown Paterson.

In our early adult years, nearby Our Lady of Lourdes Church became our church home.

Now over 20 years later, my mother, sister and her husband are back home at Blessed Sacrament Church.

This rededication Mass was very beautiful and fitting for a glorious Divine Mercy Sunday.

It was standing room only. My brother in law who was an usher that day said there were over 100 people standing in the back. There were many invited guests too. A few notables were past pastors like Fr. Trapasso, Monsignor Vincent Puma, former bishop of Paterson, Frank Rodimer, Father Eugene Palumbo, the Legionaries of Christ priests, brothers and seminarians, civic leaders, the Sheriff of Passaic County, etc. We felt privileged to be among the many faithful that day.

The day before was Bishop Serratelli's birthday. We all sang Happy Birthday to him at Father Patrick's prompting.

Credit for this successful and very special occasion has to go to the pastor Fr. Patrick Ryan. He really did a spectacular job in ensuring that everything went well.

Here are some photos from the Mass.

Happy Birthday Mother Angelica

A very happy and blessed birthday to dear Mother Angelica of the Eternal Word Television Network.

Thanks to Heather, the Catholic Mom in Sweden for the reminder!

Divine Mercy Sunday

This is the Divine Mercy image at Blessed Sacrament Church. I caught my mom praying prior to Mass.

Happy Divine Mercy Sunday Everyone!

Divine Mercy Sunday

Before and after photos of the Vilnius Image after the restoration process in 2003 by the Archbishop of Vilnius, Lithuania.

"Jezu Ufam Tobie"

Today there are many variations of the Divine Mercy Image around the world, the most famous being the Hyla, Vilnius, and Skemp Images. The Vilnius Image, featured on this page, is the original and only Divine Mercy Image painted under Sister Faustina's direction. It was painted in 1934 by Vilnius artist Eugene Kazimirowski, who was retained by Fr. Michael Sopocko, Sister Faustina's spiritual director. This image is named after the town where the Image was painted and first hung for public display. Both the Hyla and the Skemp are named after the artists who painted them...

Vilnius Image and the Shroud of Turin

Because Sister Faustina was not an artist, her spiritual director, Father Michael Sopocko, took her to a local Vilnius artist named Eugene Kazimirowski, who painted this Image directly under Faustina’s supervision. From the time Sister received the vision in 1931 to paint this Image, to the time it was finished, three and one-half painful years had elapsed. Painful because of the many conflicts Sister Faustina had to endure. Sadly remarking, “Lord, who will paint You as beautiful as you are” (Diary 313), Faustina had the artist change the face at least 10 times. Finally, Our Lord told Faustina that it was good enough - to leave it in the state it’s in. In the mid 1990's it was accidentally discovered that the face on this Image perfectly matched the one on the Holy Shroud of Turin...

I will save those cities and houses in which this Image will be found. He also said: I will likewise protect the persons who will honor and trust in My Mercy."

To learn more about the history of this original image of the Divine Mercy, please visit Mercy Images

Divine Mercy Sunday Videos

Jesus, I Trust in You by Angelina

Angelina traveled to Krakow, Poland then on to Lagiewniki Sanctuary of Divine Mercy where she met with the Congregation of Sister's of Our Lady of Mercy. Angelina's favorite place to have visited, Lagiewniki is filled with love and peace. A person can meditate and pray as they walk the grounds of this enormous area. The Basilica is truly magnificant with the tabernacle in the shape of the world.

The Cat Came Back

Honey when we first rescued her as an abandoned kitten

After almost 4 months MIA, our pet Honey has returned to the fold. The prodigal cat is back home!

It was quite an adventure for our wayward kitty. She went missing the day after my birthday in December and found while my father was in the hospital a little over two weeks ago. (Note: She was actually brought home a couple of days ago.) My husband shared a detailed account with me on how he eventually got her home. Suffice to say, that he saw a wild cat transformed into the sweet and affectionate cat we knew, as soon as she got home.

There are a few people that need to be thanked.

First of all, I truly believe my dear ol' dad helped me get my cat back. He knew how heartbroken I was about her being lost. Now that he is able to help his loved ones, he didn't hesitate us recover our pet.

My husband also believes St. Francis' intercession had a hand in this small miracle. My sister who also firmly believes my dad helped us, reminded me that my father had a deep devotion to St. Francis, the patron saint of animals. He had a big garden statue of St. Francis in a prominent place in room.

It was my father and mother's love of animals that all of us inherited.

Okay, now for the people who helped:

- My friends like Betty, who knew Honey would be found. She shared with me a St. Martin de Porres connection one morning when she walked home from Mass. St. Martin de Porres is another patron saint of animals.

- My homeschooling friends who prayed for Honey to be found and continually asked about any updates.

- Our neighbors who actually went beyond the call of duty in helping us search high and low for this cat! Jon, Barbara, Takeo, Wyman, et al.

- The security guards all over town who couldn't have been nicer when we posted signs and asked them to keep an eye open for the krazy kat.

- The many people who called us when they saw our Lost Cat signs all over our neighborhood. The last one, actually paid off. It was a good thing we never dismissed any call even though it seemed like a slim chance it was Honey.

It was a feral cat colony caregiver who called us. She was sure this cat was different than the rest. She called because she saw the sign I posted in the area where she fed the cats.

- My family who commiserated with me.

I know I am forgetting many, many people for their help and I'm sorry about that. We are very appreciative though.

And, last but not least my husband Dan who suffered with me when we lost Honey. He actually felt my pain and prayed, prayed and never gave up hope.

He is the actually cat-lover in the family.