Veteran's Day's Prayer

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Dear Lord Jesus Christ,

those whom we honor today

are examples of your words:

"Greater love than this no one has:

that he lay down his life for  his friends."

They gave up their lives in the defense of freedom

for their loved ones and t heir country.

Teach me to appreciate the virtue of patriotism-

a true and Christian love of country.

Let me love my country not to follow it blindly

but to make it the land of goodness

that it should be...

New Saint Joseph People's Prayer Book

Short Prayer to Our Lady for the Holy Souls

Picture source

Dear Blessed Mother,

please bring as many souls as possible to heaven today.

Daily Indulgenced Aspirations to the Sacred Heart

This holy card was shared by a friend.  It is very efficacious to the soul who offers up these aspirations as often as possible.


Merciful Jesus, I consecrate myself today and always to Thy Most Sacred Heart.   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus I implore, that I may ever love Thee more and more.   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee.   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!   Sacred Heart of Jesus, I believe in Thy love for me.   Jesus, meek and humble of heart, make my heart like unto Thine.   Sacred Heart of Jesus Thy Kingdom Come.   Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, convert sinners, save the dying, deliver the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Visit a Cathedral on Friday - plenary indulgence

Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace - Honolulu

Mahalo Mary Jane!

A plenary indulgence is granted to the faithful who visit a cathedral on the feast of the dedication of the Archbasilica of the Most Holy Saviour (November 9) and there recite an Our Father and the Creed. 
  
Requirements for obtaining a plenary indulgence: 
•  Do the work while in a state of grace, 
•  Receive Sacramental confession within 20 days of the work (several plenary 
indulgences may be earned per reception), 
•  Receive Eucharistic communion (one plenary indulgence may be earned per 
reception), 
•  Pray for the pope's intentions (Our Father and Hail Mary, or other appropriate 
prayer, is sufficient), 
•  Have no attachment to sin (even venial) - i.e., it is sufficient that the Christian 
makes an act of the will to love God and despise sin. 
 
Requirements for a partial indulgence: The work must be done while in a 
state of grace and with the general intention of earning an indulgence. 
 
Notes:
Only baptized persons in a state of grace who generally intend to do so may
earn indulgences.
Indulgences cannot be applied to the living, but only to the one doing the
work or to the dead.
Only one plenary indulgence per day can be earned (except for prayer at the
hour of one's own death).
Several partial indulgences can be earned during the same day.
If only part of a work with plenary indulgence attached is completed, a partial indulgence still obtains.
If the penance assigned in confession has indulgences attached, the one work
can satisfy both penance and indulgence.
Confessors may commute the work or the conditions if the penitent cannot
perform them due to legitimate obstacles.
In groups, indulgenced prayer must be recited by at least one member while
the others at least mentally follow the prayer.
If speech/hearing impairments make recitation impossible, mental expression
or reading of the prayer is sufficient.
For an indulgence attached to a particular day requiring a church visit, the
day begins at noon the day before and ends at midnight.

Help the Holy Souls and they will help you.

"Meeting Between Dante and Beatrice in Purgatory" by Andrea Pierini

Picture source

"Now who can be in more urgent need of our charity than the souls in Purgatory?  What hunger, or thirst, or dire sufferings on Earth can compare to their dreadful torments?  Neither the poor, nor the sick, nor the suffering, we see around us, have such an urgent need of our help.  Yet we find many goodhearted people who interest themselves in every other type of suffering, but alas, scarcely one who works for the Holy Souls.

Who can have more claim on us?  Among them too, there may be our mothers and fathers, our friends and near of kin.

When they are finally released from their pains and enjoy the beatitude of Heaven, far from forgetting their friends on earth  their gratitude knows no bounds.  Prostrate before the throne of God, they never cease to pray for those who help them.  By their prayers they shield their friends from many dangers and protect them from the evils that threaten them."

Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

"Our Lord told St. Gertrude the Great, that the following prayer would release 1000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said."

O Eternal Father,

I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood

of Thy Divine Son, Jesus,

in union with the Masses said 

throughout the world today,

for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory,

for sinners everywhere, 

for sinners in the Universal Church,

for those in my own home and within my family.

Amen

Source:  Our Lady of the Rosary Library

Year of Faith - CATECHISMS AND CATECHISTS

by Brother John Samaha, S.M.

          As we begin the observe the Year of Faith marking the 20^th anniversary of the publication if the Catechism of the Catholic Church,

it is helpful to examine the various meanings attached to the term “catechism” and “catechist” throughout past history.

          Long before the invention of the printing press in 1450, learning was passed on primarily by word of mouth.  Learning was an oral and aural experience. “Catechism” comes from an ancient Greek verb that means “to echo.”   A teaching would be explained or recited and the listener would be asked to “echo” it, or repeat it until it was learned.  This method of learning reached back to ancient times.  Even before the establishment of the Church, Jewish teachers in the Old Testament era had taught the Scriptures by asking the learner to repeat verses again and again. This was a common method of teaching and learning.

          With the development of the printing press the speak-and-echo method of catechesis was adapted to a question-and-answer approach that could be set in print.  The Church adopted this system, and it was successful.  This is evident in the influence of the catechisms authored by St. Peter Canisius (d. 1597) and St. Robert Bellarmine (d. 1621).

          On a deeper and more personal level, both catechist and catechized were expected to interiorize the truth being studied and

“echo” it in their personal lives by the faithful living of the lesson.  It is with this intent that the late Cardinal John Wright chose as his episcopal motto Resonare Jesum.  Echo Jesus!

Our Lady of Intercession for Poor Souls

Picture source

Shared by a friend.

   Most holy Mary, Our Lady of Intercession, your motherly

tenderness gathers in one embrace all the souls redeemed by the

Precious Blood of your Son Jesus. We come before your royal

throne with sadness in our hearts, but also with boundless

confidence in your intercession, as we remember those who have

gone before us. Death, which tore apart the bonds of earth, has

not destroyed the love that binds us to those who lived in the

same faith as we do.

       Mary, countless souls in that place of expiation await with

unspeakable anxiety the help of our prayers, and the merits of

our good works. Urged by the charity of Jesus Christ, we raise

our face and heart in prayer to you, merciful Mother of all the

faithful, in favor of those suffering souls. Make our prayers

effective, O Mary. Through your motherly intercession obtain

for them the power to move the Heart of Jesus, our Redeemer.

Let your matchless holiness supply the defects of our misery,

your love make good our weak affection, your power strengthen

our helplessness.

       Queen of heaven, grant that the burning desire of the souls

of the departed to be admitted to the Beatific Vision may soon

be satisfied. Mother, we pray to you especially for the souls of

our relatives, of priests, of those who were zealous in honoring

you, of those who did good to the souls of others, of those who

wept with them and for them and, finally, for the souls of those

who are forgotten. Grant that one day, when we are all reunited

in heaven, we may be able to rejoice in the possession of God, in

the happiness of your dear presence, in the company of all the

saints, thanking you forever for all the blessings you have

obtained for us, O Mother, our unfailing consolation. Amen.

Hail Mary (3 times).

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine

upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed through the

mercy of God rest in peace. Amen.

Mary, Mother of God and Mother of mercy, pray for us and for all

who have died in the embrace of the Lord. Holy Mary, our Lady

of Deliverance, pray for us and for the holy souls in purgatory.

FOR THE DYING

Most Merciful Jesus, lover of souls, I pray You, by the agony of

Your most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Your Immaculate

Mother, to wash in Your Most Precious Blood, the sinners of

the world who are now in their agony, and who will die today.

Heart of Jesus, once in agony, have mercy on the dying.   Amen.

__._,_.___

Prayer For the Grace to be Merciful to Others

The following was shared by a friend.

 

I want to be completely transformed into Your Mercy and

to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine

attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my

heart and soul to my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that

I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for

what is beautiful in my neighbors' souls and come to their rescue.

 

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give

heed to my neighbors' needs and not be indifferent to their pains

and moanings.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I

should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of

comfort and forgiveness for all.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with

good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors

and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

 

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to

assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My

true rest is in the service of my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I

myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse

my heart to no one, I will be sincere even with those who, I

know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in

the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in

silence. May Your Mercy, O Lord, rest upon me. (163)

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Imprimatur

 

Franciszek Cardinal Macharski

Kraków, Poland

August. 1, 1994

 

The Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy

ul, Siostry Faustyny 3/9, 30-420

Kraków, Poland

Chaplet for the Holy Souls

Picture source

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be.

On the large beads (or Our Father beads) say:

"O Holy Souls draw the fire of God's love into my soul, to REVEAL Jesus Crucified in me here on earth, rather than hereafter in Purgatory".

On the small beads (or Hail Mary Beads) say:

"Crucified Lord Jesus, have mercy on the souls in Purgatory".

At the end in place of the Hail Holy Queen, say three times:

"Glory be to the Father".

- Source:  Old prayer card.

Message from Mother Angelica

EWTN

Photos from Saint Marianne's Day Celebration

In honor of Hawaii's newly canonized saint, the diocese of Honolulu and friends joined in together for a Mass of Thanksgiving, procession of her relic to Iolani Palace, followed by an inter-faith civic celebration, veneration of the relic back at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.  I was pleasantly surprised to see Bishop Salvatore J. Cordileone of San Francisco.  (I actually got close enough to mouth "Hello Bishop!  Welcome!  He smiled as if pleased that he was recognized.)

The following is from our dear Holy Father Pope Benedict XVI:

Plenary Indulgence for Celebrations Honoring St. Marianne Cope

"By decree of His Holiness, Pope Benedict XVI, through he Apostolic Penitentiary, a Plenary Indulgence is granted to any of the faithful who take part in any celebration honoring the Sainthood of Mother Marianne Cope, especially the veneration of her holy relic, anytime during the Year of Faith (Oct. 11, 2012 - November 24, 2012).  The conditions that must be fulfilled:  sacramental confession  reception of Holy Communion, and prayers for the intentions of the Holy Father  with the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be, and the invocation, 'St. Marianne Cope, pray for us.'  The plenary Indulgence may be applied to oneself or to a faithful soul in Purgatory.

Those believers, who, due to old age, sickness, or for any other serious reason, are incapacitated, will be able to obtain the plenary indulgence, if, abhorring any type of sin and with the intention to fulfill, as soon as possible  the three usual conditions  they are spiritually close to the celebrations in honor St. Marianne Cope, through their own prayers and sufferings, or with the difficulties of their own life offered by them to the mercy of God."

Waiting for the Procession to Iolani Palace

Faithful waiting for the relic's procession

Bishop Silva being greeted by the faithful 

Our dear bishop looking content

Bishop Cordileone

The Knights of Columbus escorting St. Marianne Cope's holy relic

Visiting bishops processing with St. Marianne Cope's relic

Arrival at the gate of Iolani Palace - Oli Kahea and Oli Komo (Hawaiian
tradition - Seek Permission to enter the grounds of Iolani Palace - Chanted

The Royal Societies including the Royal Order of Kamehameha I welcoming the Holy relic at its arrival

Mamo Hawaii Les Correa of teh Royal Order of Kamehameha I
carrying the Reliquary to the grounds of Iolani Palace

The bishops' arrival at the Pavillion

A prayer of welcome by Bishop Larry Silva

A very joyful Knight of Columbus

Iolani Palace