For First Saturday and Year of Faith from the World Apostolate of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima, Blue Army Shrine, Washington, NJ

Today is First Saturday.  Please remember to fulfill the requirements to the best of your ability.

The World Apostolate of Fatima shrine in Washington, NJ, (otherwise known as the Blue Army Shrine) has been named a place of pilgrimage for the Year of Faith.

By decree of His Excellency Most Reverend Paul G. Bootkoski, Bishop of the Metuchen diocese, the Blue Army Shrine has been named a site of pilgrimage during the Year of Faith.  Visitors may receive a plenary induglence each time they visit the shrine during this period, which concludes November 24, 2013.  We encourage you to take advantage of this great spiritual benefit.  We are grateful to Bishop Bootkoski for bestowing this honor upon us and promise to welcome all in his name.

ToThe flyer can be viewed here.

Special Corpus Christi Plenary Indulgence This Week

Mahalo Mary Jane!

A special plenary indulgence is available for Corpus Christi:

Grant #7.1.3

Eucharistic Adoration and Procession

Plenary indulgence

The faithful who piously participate in solemn Eucharistic procession, either inside or outside of a Church, especially on the Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, may receive a plenary indulgence.

A partial indulgence is granted for visiting the Blessed Sacrament for adoration or for offering any approved prayer to Jesus present in the Blessed Sacrament.

You can read the details at Taylor Marshall's blog

The Ugandan Martyrs and the Ugandan Seminarians

Picture source

On Monday the Catholic church celebrates the feast of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. They are also known as the Ugandan Martyrs. These where young and very devout Catholic men who died at the hands of their depraved ruler.

The blood of these martyrs and others like them are indeed the seeds of the Catholic Church.  The Church in the continent of Africa is teeming with vocations.  In Uganda, the homeland of St. Charles Lwanga and companions, there are seminarians who long to celebrate the Mass yet because of financial difficulties, are unable to finish their priestly education.  It is very sad to learn that one seminarian has been in the seminary for twelve years!  He wrote:

...one's lack of school fees may lead him to losing vocation. I have been in the seminary for over 12yrs and I dream serving at God's altar..."

Thank God for the internet!  There is a Facebook page who is bringing their story of their struggles to us.  If you are interested in helping you can visit Facebook's AdoptACatholicSeminarian to learn how you can help sponsor these seminarians.  At present there are four seminarians in need of a sponsor.

If you prefer to help a seminarian in your own diocese, contact the office for vocations to learn how.

Let us try to find ways of making sacrifices such as giving up buying a piece of clothing, or going out for dinner, or a movie and sent that money to the seminarian in need.  Please consider sponsoring one if you can.  

It is also very vital that we pray for them and for more vocations.

St. Charles Lwanga, pray for the Church in Uganda.  Pray for her seminarians.

"Happy the Man..."

Saintly Quote on Grieving

Saintly Prayer - St. Bernadette

Memorial Day - In Flanders Field

by John McCrae, May 1915

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Picture source


Source for Poem