Saturday, October 23, 2010
Prayer for the Spirit of Mary
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| Our Lady with St. Louis Marie de Montfort |
My Powerful Queen,
you are all mine through your mercy,
and I am all yours.
Take away from me all that may displease God
and cultivate in me all that is pleasing to him,May the light of your faith
dispel the darkness of my mind,
your deep humility
take the place of my pride,
your continual sight of God
fill my memory with his presence;
may the fire of the charity of your heart
inflame the lukewarmness of my own heart;
may your virtues take the place of my sins;
may your merits be my enrichment
and make up for all
that is wanting in me before God.
My beloved Mother,
grant that I may have no other spirit but your spirit,
to know Jesus Christ and his divine Will
and to praise and glorify the Lord,
that I may love God with burning love like yours.
- St. Louis de Montfort
Friday, October 22, 2010
Prayer for Homemakers
Dear Lord,
in the minds of most people
making a home is a job of little import
and even less talent.
Help me to realize that the opposite is the case -
it is the most important job of all
and it requires a multitude of talents.
Providing a home for living persons
who are made in your image
means helping them inevitably get closer to you.
By my slight efforts
I can influence the members of my family
in hundreds of ways
to become better people and better Christians.
Grant me the grace to know how to handle any situation,
the strength to do the ordinary every day things,
the love to overcome all animosities,
and the joy to dispel all boredom.
Help me to grow as a person every day,
to fulfill myself in all the areas
that are necessary for a homemaker -
loving relationships, mental effort, manual work.
Give me the strength to bring my family closer to Jesus
not so much by my words as by my actions.
- New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book, Catholic Book Publishing
World Over - Suffering - Raymond Arroyo with Jeni Stepanek, Ph.D. and Da...
Many of you will recognize Dr. Stepanek's son Mattie. Caution: Sometimes a tear-jerker.
Very pro-life witness of a mother who suffered the loss of all her children.
Eight Reasons Why Men Only Should Serve at Mass
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| Mass Celebrating the Closing of the Year for Priests |
To raise the possibility of an all-male liturgical ministry is to invite tribulation. Those who prefer the traditional arrangement of male altar servers, lectors, and so on are nervous about vocalizing their convictions, let alone acting upon them. This in itself is significant: Regardless of where one stands on the issue, it should give us pause that many Catholics, from the pious in the pews to prelates in the Vatican, stand in fear of being stigmatized as supporters of a 4,000-year-old tradition, faithfully kept by God's chosen people from the days of Abraham until the Catholic Church began changing its practices in the 1970s.Inside Catholic: Eight Reasons Why Men Only Should Serve at Mass
But let us have courage and look again with fresh eyes. Such an investigation is necessary, especially if we wish to continue admitting women into the service of the sanctuary. G. K. Chesterton once complained of would-be reformers that they "do not know what they are doing because they do not know what they are undoing." His grievance was that reformers either do not sufficiently study the original rationale for the thing they are dismantling, or they assume "all their fathers were fools." Yet advocates for female liturgical ministers might go further and say that our fathers were not fools but worse: oppressors, sexists, misogynists. This forces us to ask: Are sins of bias the real reason behind an all-male liturgical ministry? What precisely are we undoing?
To address these questions, we turn to eight distinctions...
H/T Pewsitter
Meet the 24 new cardinals - Special Congratulations to Archbishop Raymond Burke!
The cardinals wear red to symbolize "their willingness to shed blood for the increase of the Christian Faith."
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| Archbishop Raymond Leo Burke |
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Thursday, October 21, 2010
St. Andre Bessette
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| Bust of St. Andre Bessette with Painting of the Death of St. Joseph in background |
Saint Andre Bessette was canonized by Pope Benedict XVI, on October 17, 2010. I cannot express enough how happy I was to see this simple and humble soul officially proclaimed a saint of the Catholic Church.
A Prayer for Saint Andre Bessette
Lord our God,
friend of the lowly,
you gave your servant, Saint André Bessette,
a great devotion to St. Joseph
and a special commitment to the poor and afflicted,
Through his intercession,
help us to follow his example of prayer and love
and so come to share with him in your glory,
We ask this in the name of Jesus the Lord. Amen
Saint André, pray for us.
Prayer Source Holy Cross Vocations
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...Three years later, Alfred presented himself as a candidate at the novitiate of the Congregation of Holy Cross in Montreal. Because of his uncertain health, his superiors had doubts concerning his religious vocation. Finally, he was accepted and given the name Brother Andre. He was made porter at Notre Dame college and was known to say: "When I entered the community, my superiors showed me the door, and I remained there 40 years without leaving." He also washed floors and windows, cleaned lamps, brought in firewood, and worked as messenger.Source: EWTN
Soon Brother Andre started to welcome the sick and broken-hearted. He invited them to pray to St. Joseph to obtain favors. Before long, many people reported their prayers were being answered. For 25 years, in his small office or in the tramway station across the street from the college, Brother Andre spent six to eight hours a day receiving visitors. He built a chapel with the help of friends and with the money he earned giving haircuts to the students of the college. He was certain that St. Joseph wanted a place on the mountain and he spent his whole life preparing a beautiful shrine in the saint's honor.
In the meantime, there was talk of healings which doctors could not explain. Brother Andre began visiting the sick and earned the reputation of miracle-worker. But he strongly protested: "I am nothing ... only a tool in the hands of Providence, a lowly instrument at the service of St. Joseph." He went even further: "People are silly to think that I can perform miracles. It is God and St. Joseph who can heal you, not I..."
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On the humility of Brother Andre, Father Ronald Raab, CSC wrote:
...Brother Andre expressed his reliance on members of Holy Cross by asking for the basics of life. His black religious habit that he always wore was threadbare. He never wanted to spend money on himself. The soles of his shoes were worn out and he only reluctantly accepted new ones. Brother Andre’s room was decorated with a single bed, a wooden chair and crucifix. He was quoted often, “There’s no point in seeking material comfort because it’s more difficult, then, to follow God’s way, as one should.”Brother Bessette CSC - Humility
Brother Andre’s ideas about material belongings were not just pious, scrupulous notions. He continued to live from his upbringing of poverty and suffering. He wanted to model his religious life on people who are forced to ask for the essentials of life in order to survive. He needed to live the struggle of finding a coat that fit him and shoes that would survive the winter. Andre humbly desired to open his life to the grace of God. He timidly relied on God for everything, including every material possession. He depended on God’s grace in such practical matters so he could be an instrument of God’s greater physical and spiritual healing for all the strangers who knocked on his door...
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Photos from the 4th Annual Rosary in the Park
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| WAF - Honolulu Division Banner with Our Lady of Fatima statue in the background |
The Chilean Miners Knew Who Was Ultimately Responisble for Their Rescue
“We find them with God’s help and rescued them as Chileans. In this regard, [the Chilean president] expressed that, ‘God put us to the test this year, but God never puts us a burden that we are not able to cope with.’” Chile.com
“We always knew that we would be rescued, we never lost faith.” News Tribune
Thanks to Sue Cifelli for sharing the video.
Thanks to The Catholic League for sharing the quote source.
US National Anthem by the Academy Choirs
This is from 2006 but it was so beautifully sung, I had to share it.
Mahalo to Sue Cifelli for sharing.
BTW, please say a prayer for Michael Douglas, who you will see in the video as he battles cancer of the throat.
St. Paul of the Cross
"In everything that happens the best thing you can do is abandon yourself to His will." - St. Paul of the Cross
Prayer to Mary to Embrace the Cross with Patience
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| Luis de Morales "La Piedad" |
O my sweet Lady, you who were innocent endured suffering with so much patience. Why do I, who deserve hell, refuse to suffer at all? My Mother, I now ask you for this favor - not to be delivered from crosses, but to bear them more patiently. For the love of Jesus, I beg you to obtain at least this grace from God. I confidently hope for this from you. - The Glories of Mary by St. Alphonsus di Liguori
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
St. Isaac Jogues, St. John Brebeuf and Companions - The North American Martyrs
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| North American Martyrs |
"Theirs is a story of educated and cultured men who willingly entered the Indian wilderness to live under the most primitive and dangerous conditions, ever ready to sacrifice their lives for the advancement of Christianity. It is a story of heroism and love that demonstrates the best in the missionary tradition of the Church." - Father Albert J. Nevins, M.M.
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| North American Martyrs |
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The following Jesuits were canonized and it is their feast day we celebrate today:
1. St. Isaac Jogues
2. St. Jean de Brébeuf
3. St. Antoine Daniel
4. St. Charles Garnier
5. St. René Goupil
6. St. Noël Chabanel
7. St. Jean de Lalande
8. St. Gabriel Lallemant
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| St. Isaac Jogues |
Father Isaac Jogues was captured along with Father Rene Goupil, when he returned to the site of the Indian attack, because some of his converted Indian guides had been taken captive.Father Jogues eventually escaped with the help of the Protestant Dutch aboard their boat.
"There Jogues and Goupil were savagely tested. Father Jogues was beaten with sticks; his hair and nails were torn out; his fingers were chewed by Indian women, and his left thumb cut off. Both men survived the terrible ordeal and were forced to serve as slaves. Goupil died a few weeks later; he was murdered for making the Sign of the Cross over a child.
For the next ten months, Father Jogues occupied the lowest position in the Indian village...yet he dared to tend the Huron captives and secretly baptized seventy Indians."
"A Protestant minister, seeing how horribly Father Jogues' hands had been mutilated, fell on his knees and asked the priest's blessing. Later that same man introduced the priest to the pupils of his school ,declaring: "Today you have the privilege of beholding a saint."
Upon his return to France, the Holy Father conferred on him the rare privilege of offering Mass although the "canonical fingers" were largely useless. "It would be unjust, if a martyr of Christ were not to drink the blood of Christ." - Pope Urban VII
Amazingly, Father Jogues begged to be sent back to the Indians and was finally given consent by his superior. He knew he would not return.
Upon entering the Indian village where he had been held captive, he was tomahawed from behind and died a martyrs' death.
"The blood of martyrs is the seed of Christians...It was on such sacrifices that the Church and the United States have been built." - Father Albert Nevins, M.M.
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| St. Jean de Brébeuf |
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"...The Indians stripped their prisoners naked and tied them to posts. They tore the nails from their fingers, and beat them with clubs all over their bodies. Boiling water was poured upon Father de Brébeuf in imitation of baptism; then a string of red-hot hatchets were hung about his neck. Then the Indians put a belt of pitch on him and lighted it, roasting his body. Next they cut out his tongue and began to peel the flesh from his bones."
"Those butchers seeing that the good Father began to grow weak, made him sit down on the ground; and one of them, taking a knife, cut off the skin covering his skull. Another one, seeing that the good Father would soon die, made an opening in the upper part of his chest, and tore out his heart, which he roasted and ate. Others came to drink his blood still warm, which they drank with both hands." - Father Christopher Regnaut's account of the martyrdom of Saint John de Brébeuf
"...until Father de Brébeuf tongue was cut out, he did not cease continually to speak of God, and to encourage all the new Christians who were captives like himself to suffer well, that they might die well, in order to go in a company with him to Paradise."
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| North American Martyrs |
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| St. René Goupil |
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| St. John de la Lande |
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| St. Noël Chabanel |
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| St. Antoine Daniel |
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| St. Charles Garnier |
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| St. Gabriel Lalemant |
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Text Source: Our American Catholic Heritage by Albert J. Nevins, M.M.
Monday, October 18, 2010
A Prayer to the Holy Spirit
O Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore You.
Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me.
Tell me what I should do; give me Your orders.
I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me
and to accept all that You permit to happen to me.
Let me only know Your Will.
by Cardinal Mercier:
Is anointing of the sick a substitute for confession?
Please watch this segment because it seems like everyone goes up for an anointing of the sick at Healing Masses at some parishes.
The Catholic Church is not an "it"
In Christian usage, the word "church" designates the liturgical assembly, but also the local community or the whole universal community of believers. These three meanings are inseparable. "The Church" is the People that God gathers in the whole world. She exists in local communities and is made real as a liturgical and above all a Eucharistic assembly. She draws her life from the word and the Body of Christ and so herself becomes Christ's Body.
752 Catechism of the Catholic Church I Believe in the Holy Catholic Church
The comparison of the Church with the body casts light on the intimate bond between Christ and his Church. Not only is she gathered around him; she is united in him, in his body. Three aspects of the Church as the Body of Christ are to be more specifically noted: the unity of all her members with each other as a result of their union with Christ; Christ as head of the Body; and the Church as bride of Christ.
789 Catechism of the Catholic Church The Church: The Body of Christ
The proper pronoun to use when speaking of the Catholic Church is "she". She is Holy Mother Church. She is the Bride of Christ. Why is it then, that more Catholics now refer to the Church as "it"?
For example, during the reading of the Prayers for the Faithful intentions at this past Sunday Mass, the following was read..."for the Catholic Church, that "it" continue..."
That same day that the above referred to intention was read at Mass, the meditation for the day in the Magnifcat, happened to be one of St. Catherine of Siena's writing on patience and perseverance.
She wrote: "For you know well, most holy Father, that when you accepted Holy Church as your bride you agreed to work hard for her. You expected all these contrary winds of pain and difficulty to confront you in battle over her... So we see that the Church's being persecuted, and every difficulty virtuous souls experience will end in peace, won through true patience and perseverance..." - October 2010 Issue
On a similar note, God should never be referred to as "she". He is Abba Father; God the Father. God should never be referred to with feminine pronouns as some will now lead Catholics to believe; their arguments being that God is a spirit, neither male or female. 370 Catechism of the Catholic Church: Equality and Difference Willed By God
Our profession of faith begins with God, for God is the First and the Last,1 the beginning and the end of everything. The Credo begins with God the Father, for the Father is the first divine person of the Most Holy Trinity; our Creed begins with the creation of heaven and earth, for creation is the beginning and the foundation of all God's works.198 Catechism of the Catholic Church I Believe in God the Father.
Jesus taught as to pray as follows:
"This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven. Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one. If you forgive others their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions." Matthew Chapter 6:9-16.