The State of Hawaii was shut down on Friday in expectation of two hurricanes threatening the islands. For the first time since I can recall, Holy Mass was also cancelled at most churches throughout the island chain. However, in the late afternoon a friend text-ed me that there would be a Holy hour of adoration as well as mass that evening, at nearby Star of the Sea Church.
For those who attend daily mass, it was a very strange feeling not being able to go to Mass. A friend quoted Saint Padre Pio to remind us that it is a privilege to be able to attend Holy Mass: "It would be easier for the world to survive without the sun than to do so without the Holy Mass."
So off another friend and I went to adoration and Holy Mass. We wanted to give thanks to God for once again sparing Hawaii from any devastation and to pray for the Iraqi Christians persecuted relentlessly for their faith. Apparently, we were not the only ones as the small chapel was filled to capacity.
The reason I referred to no coincidences with God is because as I picked up a book to recite prayers the following prayers were what I found.
Come Lord Jesus
Come, Lord Jesus, into our hearts,
souls, and homes.
We love, welcome and need You.
So come, King of Kings,
Prince of Peace,
and bring with You Your wonderful Mother,
Mediatrix of Peace.
In Your Mercy, please
hold back,
lessen the severity and shorten the duration of Your divine
Chastisement already in effect with
storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, fires and earthquakes.
Hear and answer our prayers
so Your Sacred and Her immaculate Hearts may reign supreme, granting us and the World True Peace.
Glory be to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.
A Prayer to the Blessed Virgin
(Never Found to Fail)
O Most beautiful Flower of Mount Carmel,
Fruitful Vine, Splendour of Heaven, Blessed Mother of the Son of God, Immaculate Virgin,
assist me in this my necessity.
O Star of the Sea, help me and show me herein you are my Mother.
Oh Holy Mary, Mother of God, Queen of Heaven and Earth,
I humbly beseech you from the bottom of my heart,
to succour me in this necessity; there are none that can withstand your power.
O, show me herein you are my Mother, O Mary,
conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. (3 times)
Sweet Mother, I place this cause in your hands. (3 times)
Then as I continue to pray for the suffering Iraqi Christians, I was reading about how to really pray the Our Father in the same little book and read the following:
"Thy Kingdom Come." Actually, what could be better for the world than that the Kingdom, which Christ came on earth to establish, should be founded everywhere and should flourish wherever it would exist. That by His peace, love and law it may reign supreme all over the world, especially in our own native land which is naturally so dear to all of us.
We must remember too, in our prayers those countries where religion is so cruelly persecuted by the enemies of God what prayer is the mightiest arm we can use against them. If all the millions who would each send up to the Throne of God this burning petition "Thy Kingdom Come" what help would not all countries each receive that are now so cruelly treated!
By saying these words with devotion, we are actively spreading the Gospel in all nations, carrying on the every work of the Apostles. By prayer and preaching, we can be apostles. In fact by preaching without prayer, it is of no avail...
Thank you Lord.
Excerpts from Read Me or Rue it. by Father Paul O'Sullivan, O.P.
