Marantha, Come Lord Jesus

Our Advent Wreath is ready.  We had a mishap with two of our candle holders so we had to make do with another set.  This year there is a tiny Christmas tree in the wreath and the four Advent candles are along side the wreath.  We have our copies of the Magnificat Advent Companion ready for our evening prayer readings.  These were generously provided by our church.  Tomorrow we will light the first candle and usher in the Advent season with a few resolutions:

1.  Make sure to eat dinner together at the table, as a family.  (Lately, everyone's schedule kept us from doing just that)
2.  Watch Father Robert Barron's Catholicism nightly as well as more of EWTN programming.
3.  Not stressing about the preparations, purchasing gifts, etc.  We refuse to lose sight of the beauty of Advent in the rush to get ready for Christmas.

This Advent it will be particularly busy for our family.  My husband and I are celebrating our twentieth wedding anniversary, our son is graduating from the university, of course, and more importantly, our Lord is celebrating His birthday.

My family and I hope you and your family have a very blessed and joyful Advent with all the eager childhood anticipation which makes Christmas such a miraculous and blessed time.

Feast of Our Lady of Kibeho - Nov. 28

Shared by Mary Jane.

Today is the feast of Our Lady of Kibeho. The Blessed Virgin Mother of God appeared in Kibeho Rwanda as Our Lady of Sorrows.
This apparition has the official approval from the Roman Catholic Church. 

http://www.marian.org/mary/prayers/sorrows.php

Prayer to Our Lady of Kibeho

Imprimatur:
Gikongoro, the 25th of March, 2006-05-29
+ Augustin Misago - Bishop of Gikongoro


Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Word,
Mother of all those who believe in Him
and who welcome Him into their life,
we are here before you to contemplate You.
We believe that you are amongst us,
like a mother in the midst of her children,
even though we do not see You with our bodily eyes.

We bless You, the Sure Way that leads us to Jesus the Saviour,
for all the favours which You endlessly pour out upon us,
especially, that, in your meekness, You were gracious enough
to appear miraculously in Kibeho, just when our world needed it most.

Grant us always the light and the strength necessary to accept,
with all seriousness, Your call to us to be converted,
to repent, and to live according to your Son’s Gospel.
Teach us how to pray with sincerity,
and to love one another as He loved us,
so that, just as You have requested,
we may always be beautiful flowers
diffusing their pleasant fragrance everywhere and upon everyone.

Holy Mary, Our Lady of Sorrows,
teach us to understand the value of the cross in our lives,
so that whatever is still lacking to the sufferings of Christ
we may fill up in our own bodies for His mystical Body,
which is the Church.

And, when our pilgrimage on this earth comes to an end,
may we live eternally with You in the kingdom of Heaven.

Amen.

Guru or Jesus - Why Christians Should Not Get involved in Eastern Mysticisms

Mahalo to Father Luis for sharing the video which can be found here.