Mary of Nazareth Project

You may already be familiar with the Mary of Nazareth Project. The Association of Mary of Nazareth based in Paris, France, is well organized and sponsors an attractive and informative web site on the Internet. The project has the endorsement of many church leaders and Marian organizations worldwide, and they encourage the support and publicity of the Mary of Nazareth Project and the International Marian Center at Nazareth opposite the Basilica of the Annunciation.

Mary of Nazareth Project

Thanks to Bro. John Samara for sharing this with me.

On Parental Duty and How Parents Let Their Children Risk Chastity

On Parental Duty and How Parents Let Their Children Risk Chastity

"What are you doing at home if you do not busy yourselves in the upbringing of your children? It is the only thing you have to do. It is in this that God wishes you to serve Him. It is for this that He has established Christian marriage. It is of this that He will demand an account of you. You have amassed property for them. Is this what God expects of you? 'Come now,' He will say to you on the day of judgment, 'give me an account of that soul that I have confided to you. What has become of it? That was your field, the vineyard which the Lord had given you to cultivate;' To what degree of holiness have you led them? With what principles have you inspired them? Are they good? Do they fear God? Are they instructed in our mysteries? Some will have no answer to make, for they will not know what to make of these questions."

Holy Cards All Over the Place

One of my New Year's resolution was to declutter our home. But this time I am taking a different approach. I started in one area of our bedroom. I completely organize that area before moving on to the next area. I do one area a day so not to overwhelm myself like I have done in the past. It is my estimation that by this time next year, I will have have reached my goal of complete decluttering of our home.

As I declutter and organize I am finding lots of holy cards that I have tucked into books, the Family Bible, drawers, etc. I now have a little pouch full of holy cards I had forgotten I had saved. I know somewhere by my desk is another pouch full of Holy cards. I don't know where exactly where they are, but it's here somewhere...at least I hope so.

So now the Holy cards are getting out of hand. Whenever, I need just one, I have to go through an entire pile just to get the one I am looking for. This is not counting the Holy card collection Joey started when he was a little boy. Like for instance, this past Christmas I wanted to tuck a Holy card in the Christmas Cards we sent out. I had to make sure the Holy cards I chose where not ones that were given at someone's funeral. I was really careful about that.

Well it seems I am not the only one with this kind of problem.

The Pious Sodality of Church Ladies have a tip on organizing one's holy cards.

There tip is a good one. I don't know if it will work for me but I'm going to give it a try.

Thanks to Dora G. for sharing this.

If you are married, then the central goal of your life should be to get to Heaven, and to help your spouse and children get there too. Every other dream, decision, and direction ought to be subservient to that central focus of your life. You cannot afford to undermine your own life mission by sanctioning family activities and customs which jeopardize your primary purpose.

This is what I mean: most families have a desire to be healthy. In order for the family to remain in good health, each member must embrace that goal. If one member forgets to wash his hands, cover his mouth when he sneezes, wear warm clothes in cold weather, or clean the dishes thoroughly with soap and hot water, then the health of the entire family is at risk because of the bad health habits of just one person in the family.

Or again, most families strive to be financially stable. In order to remain solvent, the entire family must commit themselves to that goal. If one member buys compulsively, wastes food and electricity, neglects essential maintenance, gambles irresponsibly, or otherwise spends money excessively, then the solvency of the entire family is compromised because of the bad fiscal habits of just one person in the family.

So, if your family is striving for holiness (and I hope you are!), then all the members of the family must understand this as your central family focus. If one member uses foul or biting language, or is disrespectful, or lies, or compromises marital fidelity, or neglects prayer and duty to God, then the sanctity of the entire family is belittled because of the bad sinful habits of just one person in the family.

To foster this family sanctity, I strongly encourage families to commit to the following code:

1) To pray together as a family daily

2) To honor the Lord on His day by attending Mass as a family weekly

3) To avail ourselves of God’s mercy by going to sacramental confession monthly, and then extending forgiveness received from God to each member of the family.

4) To take part in a retreat or mission as a family annually (this can be combined with vacation, as long as the vacation has a spiritual dimension).

Fr. Rory Pitstick

IHRC

Fine Art Friday Special - Tribute to Andrew Wyeth

Christina's World,
1948,New York, Museum of Modern Art
This is one of Mr. Wyeth's most famous works. He painted Christina Olsen who was paralyzed, dragging herself to her farmhouse.

Helga's Braids

Easterly
Meter Box

I am sorry to report that artist Andrew Wyeth died.

American painter Andrew Wyeth dies at 91 in Pa.

May he rest in peace.

Fine Art Friday - Angelino Medoro

Santa Rosa de Lima
Virgen de la Antigua
Attributed to Angelino Medoro
The Virgin and Child With
St. Francis of Assisi and St. Clare of Assisi
Monasterio de Las Clarisas de Puente Alto.

The Virgin Mother and Child, Saint John the Baptist,
St. Joseph and St. Dominic
Séville, Museo de Bellas Artes

Coronación de la Virgen del Rosario.
16th Century. Museo de Arte Colonial Bogotá
La Virgen de la Leche
I have my brother in law Rich to thank for introducing me to this artist. He is known to have painted Saint Rosa de Lima prior to her death.

Angelino Medoro (1567 – 1633)
He was born in Rome in 1567. In 1586 he traveled to Seville. Before arriving in Peru, he was in Bogotá, Cali, Colombia and Quito, Ecuador. He was in Peru during the years 1600 and 1620. He painted The Immaculate Conception in 1618 in the Saint Augustine Convent. He was friends with Saint Rosa de Lima, whose portrait he painted shortly before her death.

Source: Peru Routes and
Wikipedia

St. Francis de Sales - That We Must Be Faithful, Both on Great and Small Occasions

...Be ready then, my child, to bear great afflictions for your Lord, even to martyrdom itself; resolve to give up to Him all that you hold most precious, if He should require it of you;--father, mother, husband, wife, or child; the light of your eyes; your very life; for all such offering your heart should be ready.

But so long as God's Providence does not send you these great and heavy afflictions; so long as He does not ask your eyes, at least give Him your hair.

I mean, take patiently the petty annoyances,
the trifling discomforts,
the unimportant losses which come upon all of us daily;
for by means of these little matters, lovingly and freely accepted, you will give Him your whole heart, and win His.

I mean the acts of daily forbearance,
the headache, or toothache, or heavy cold;
the tiresome peculiarities of husband or wife,
the broken glass,
the loss of a ring,
a handkerchief,
a glove;
the sneer of a neighbour,
the effort of going to bed early in order to rise early for prayer or Communion,
the little shyness some people feel in openly performing religious duties; and be sure that all of these sufferings, small as they are, if accepted lovingly, are most pleasing to God's Goodness,
Which has promised a whole ocean of happiness to His children in return for one cup of cold water.

And, moreover, inasmuch as these occasions are for ever arising, they give us a fertile field for gathering in spiritual riches, if only we will use them rightly...

From Introduction to the Devout Life

Inauguration Day Mass Intentions - 50 States

According to Simply Catholic all 50 States will be having Masses celebrated for the intention of our new president.

It is not too late to have Masses requested for this intention. Just let the organizers know.

I put all my efforts into requesting Masses for the unborn during that time and did not request Masses for this particular intention. Glad to see someone in Hawaii did see that a Mass will be celebrated here. Mahalo for doing that!

Message to Kay - He Gently Calls Us

A couple of us noticed you lovely blog is now by invitation only. If you are accepting requests to join, Joan and I would love to be invited. Please let us know. Thanks. You can email me privately at pick39(at)yahoo(dot)com.

The Beautiful Hands of a Priest

We need them in life's early morning,
We need them again at its close;
We feel their warm clasp of true friendship,
We seek them when tasting life's woes.

At the altar each day we behold them,
And the hands of a king on his throne
Are not equal to them in their greatness;
Their dignity stands all alone;

And when we are tempted and wander,
To pathways of shame and of sin,
It's the hand of a priest that will absolve us--
Not once, but again and again.

And when we are taking life's partner,
Other hands may prepare us a feast,
But the hand that will bless and unite us--
Is the beautiful hand of a priest.

God bless them and keep them all holy,
For the Host which their fingers caress;
When can a poor sinner do better,
Than to ask Him to guide thee and bless?

When the hour of death comes upon us,
May our courage and strength be increased,
By seeing raised over us in blessing--
The beautiful hands of a priest.

This came off of an old prayer card, anonymous author.

Source: EWTN

Shared by Half the Kingdom

A Mother's Prayer for Her Son to Become a Priest

This is a prayer that I pray nightly.

O God, grant that my son my become a priest!
I myself want to live as a good Christian
and want to guide my child always to do what is right,
so that I may receive the grace,
O God, to be allowed to give you a holy priest!
Amen.

(Mothers' prayer from Lu, Italy) Prayer Source

Prayer for Vocations

Picture source Diocese of Austin

Prayer for Vocations

GOD OUR FATHER, Who wills that all men be saved and come to the knowledge of Your Truth, we beg you to send laborers into Your harvest, and grant them grace to speak Your Word with all boldness; so that Your Word may spread and be glorified, and all nations may know You, The only God, and Him Whom You have sent, JESUS CHRIST YOUR SON, OUR LORD.
Amen.

Shared by Sue

Vocation Awareness Week

Diocese of Honolulu Prayer for Vocations
Prayer for Vocations

Heavenly Father,
your divine Son taught us
to pray to the Lord of the harvest
to send laborers into His vineyard.

We earnestly beg you
to bless our Diocese and our world
with many priests and religious
who will love you fervently and gladly
and courageously spend their lives
in service to your Son's Church,
especially the poor and the needy.

Bless our families and our children,
and choose from our homes those who you desire for this holy work.

Teach them to respond generously
and keep them ever faithful
in following your Son Jesus Christ,
that under the guidance of the Holy
Spirit
and with the inspiration of
Blessed Damien and Blessed Marianne
the Good News of redemption
may be brought to all.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Diocese of Honolulu Office of Vocations

Why Believe?

I received the following in an email from Cindy S.

Remember in December JoEllen Murphy, whose response to a humanist who-needs-God? ad campaign on Washington DC's Metro buses was to raise money to give voice to those of us who're not ashamed to say we do?

She raised the money! They're here!

But it gets even better! JoEllen writes:

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

We did it! We raised $14,000! From the bottom of my heart, I want to thank all of you for your donations, your prayers, your encouragement, interest, and support. Your enthusiasm for the project enabled us to reach the goal in only two weeks and two days!

We have purchased the ads, and due to a delay, the interior ads, which were scheduled to begin the 15th, will now start December 22, along with the taillight ads. We have enough money to run these ads for five weeks instead of four. This means that the ads will run through January 25th, and thus be up through the Inauguration and March for Life! The ads for the sides of the buses have also been purchased and will run December 29th - January 25.

Read the rest - and buy bumper stickers if you like - at I Believe Too.

Novena to Fight FOCA

Clarification re: U.S. Bishops’ pro-life office corrects ‘misleading’ FOCA novena message

FOCA which I received in an email today 1/12/09:

Freedom of Choice Act is set to be signed January 21-22. This information is somewhat misleading and may cause people to think that Fight-FOCA postcard campaign is not necessary.

Thank you for forwarding this message to me. While the Freedom o! f Choice Act (FOCA) is a very real threat (it is the most radical abortion legislation ever to be introduced in Congress), it is almost logistically impossible for Congress to pass it and send it on to President-elect Obama in the time frame mentioned in this message.

First, Congress has just gone back into session, and has not set an agenda for consideration of the bill - no testimony has been given, no votes have been scheduled. Also, if the bill were to pass before Inauguration Day, President Bush would most certainly veto it.

While I do not know the author of the original message, and I do not know where they obtained their information, I believe they may have been confused the possibility of President-elect Obama signing some "executive orders" that would overturn current pro-life policies. This is a real possibility, and could happen in the time mentioned. However, at this point, our contacts in Washington have not been able to determine further details on this.

Of course, prayer and fasting is definitely our most effective weapon, and I wholeheartedly support that part of the message, and hope that many people will participate in that effort.
Mary M. Boyert, Pro-Life Director
Catholic Archdiocese of Atlanta
mboyert@archatl. com

Please sign the Fight FOCA postcards that should be distributed in your churches this weekend.

I received the following email from my friend Becca:

If you are opposed to abortion then there is bad news on the horizon.
For those of you who do not know, the Freedom of Choice Act (FOCA) is
set to be signed if Congress passes it on January 21-22 of 2009. The
FOCA is the next sick chapter in the book of abortion. If made a law
then all limitations on abortion will be lifted which will result in
the following:

1) All hospitals, including Catholic hospitals will be required to perform abortions upon request. If this happens Bishops vow to close down all Catholic hospitals,
more than 30% of all hospitals in the United States.

2) Partial birth abortions would be legal and have no limitations.

3) All U.S. tax payers would be funding abortions.

4) Parental notification will no longer be required.

5) The number of abortions will increase by a minimum of 100,000 annually.

Perhaps most importantly the government will now have control in the issue of abortion. This could result in a future amendment that would force women by law to have abortions in certain situations (rape, down syndrome babies, etc.) and could even regulate how many children women are allowed to have.

Needless to say this information is disturbing, but sadly true. As Catholics, as Christians, as anyone who is against the needless killing of innocent children, we must stand as one. We must stop this horrific act before it becomes a law.

The Plan:

To say a novena (9 days of prayer) along with fasting starting on January 11th. For Catholics, the prayer of choice will be the rosary with intentions to stop the FOCA. For non Catholics I encourage you to pray your strongest prayers with the same intentions, also for nine consecutive days. The hope is that this will branch and
blossom as to become a global effort with maximum impact. We have very
little time so we all must act fast. Just do three things:

1) Pass this letter to 5 or more people

2) Do it in three days or less

3) Start the novena on January 11th and pray for nine consecutive days.

(Please also fast for at least two days during the novena)

Remember that with God all things are possible and the power of prayer is undeniable. If you are against the senseless killing of defenseless children then the time is now to do something about it!

Learn more about FOCA and to sign the petition against at Fight FOCA

Prayer Request for Fr. Joe Whalen

In God's Country - Prayer Request for Father Joe Whalen

Please pray the following Novena to St. Raphael (for nine days) for a successful surgery and speedy recovery for Fr. Joe and his back surgery. The Novena will start Monday January 12, and end on January 20. (surgery Jan 21) Thank you all from the bottom of our hearts, and may Almighty God continue to bless you abundantly. The St. Raphael Ministry

NOVENA TO SAINT RAPHAEL (The Novena Prayer to Saint Raphael must be said for nine consecutive days.)

Glorious Archangel Saint Raphael, great prince of the heavenly court, you are illustrious for your gifts of wisdom and grace. You are a guide of those who journey by land or sea or air, consoler of the afflicted, and refuge of sinners. I beg you, assist us in all our needs and in all the sufferings of this life, as once you helped the young Tobias on his travels. Because you are the medicine of God, I humbly pray you to heal the many infirmities of our souls and the ills that afflict our body. I especially ask of you the favour:

We ask you to intercede for a successful surgery and a speedy recovery for Fr. Joseph Whalen, we ask that you guide and bless Dr. Weaver's hands and may the Precious Blood of Jesus heal and protect God's humble servant Fr. Joe. and the great grace of purity to prepare us to be the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Amen.

St. Raphael, of the glorious seven Archangels who stand before the throne of Almighty God, who lives and reigns forever, Angel of health, the Lord has filled your hand with balm from heaven to soothe and cure our pains. We beg you to heal and cure Fr. Joe according to the Will of the Father in the In the Holy Name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

St. Therese's Novena

I completed a novena to St. Therese yesterday. I have not received any shower of roses or even one rose for that matter. However, I have received or read three emails/blog posts about St. Therese and her photo. In fact, even one of my brothers in law who has a big devotion to St. Therese (or as my sister says, a big connection) emailed me today, something he rarely does.

So, does that mean she will be answering my prayers? I believe so...

The Baptism of the Lord

Sts. Peter and Paul, Honolulu
Photo by Joey