Virtual monastery gives ideas for Lent

MARDI GRAS TABLE BLESSING

(On the eve of Ash Wednesday)

Lord our God,
on this eve of Ash Wednesday,
we ask that You bless our celebration
of the feast of Mardi Gras.

Bless our table, our food and wine,
as well as all of us
who sit about this feast day table.

Come, Gracious Lord,
and join us at this feast
as we prepare to join Your Son, Jesus,
by prayerfully entering into
these forty days of Lent.

As the food and wine of this feast
give nourishment and strength
to our bodies and spirits,
so may we, during this coming season of Lent,
give strength and support to each other
and to all who accompany us
on this pilgrimage of prayer
from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.

As this Lenten roadway causes us to reflect
upon the death of our Lord,
may we also remember His victory
in His resurrection from the dead.

May this dinner
on the eve of the day of ashes
be a joyful foretaste
of the rebirth and new life that is the promise
of the feast of the Resurrection.

Together for the final time before these forty days,
let us sing the ancient song of joyful victory:
Alleluia!


Shared by my friend Ann.

My Lenten Goals

UPDATE: I thought I would share something for Holly's Pay it Forward: I haven't been too busy blogging as it is Lent. So please forgive if I share this older post.

The other day before confession I had time to reflect on my sins and failings. I took this opportunity to write down a list of goals in my spiritual journal. The only reason I am sharing this here on my blog is that perhaps it will encourage others to make similar Lenten goals.

1. Curbing the Tongue

- I will not give opinions especially when not asked.

- I will not complain about little aches and pains.

- I will not criticize anyone, and that includes politicians and celebrities.

- I will not make small talk just for the sake of speaking.

- I will listen to the person speaking to me and give them my undivided attention.

- I will try to curb leaving comments on social networks unless really necessary...(e.g. correcting erroneous Catholic teaching).

- I will limit my time on social networks, especially Twitter and Facebook.

- I will think (and pray) before speaking.

2. Reading books that will help me grow spiritually.  The following are the books I have chosen from the bookshelf.

Blessed Mother - The True Story of Fatima by Father John de Marchi, I.M.C.

Spiritual Direction - The Dialogue of Saint Catherine of Siena

- In Silence with God by Benedict Baur, O.S.B.

- Consoling the Heart of Jesus: A Dopit-Yourself Retreat Inspired by the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius by Father Michael E. Gaitley, MIC

- Spiritual Doctrine of St. Augustine by Ignatius M. Barrachina, O.C.D.

- Time Management: A Catholic Approach by Marshall J. Cook

Female Saint - Saint Philomena: Powerful with God by Sister Marie Helene Mohr. S.C. (I want to find out why both St. Jean Vianney, St. Damien of Molokai and my mom had a deep devotion to her)

Saint during the Liturgical Season of Lent - The Divine Favors Granted to St. Joseph by Pere Binet

Male Saint: The Life of Saint Claude de la Colombiere: Spiritual Director of St. Margaret Mary by Ruth H. Lavigne

The Holy Eucharist: - The Eucharist by Father Lawrence G. Lovasik

- 7 Secrets of the Eucharist by Vinny Flynn

Spiritual Direction:

Although the priest I asked to be my spiritual director accepted my request, we still have not been able to meet based on conflicts of time. There I will pause at least three times during the day to pray for the intercession of St. Padre Pio, Our Blessed Mother and the Holy Spirit to help guide me spiritually.

Holy Mass:

I will pay special attention to the suffering and death Jesus experienced for love of a sinner like me, especially during the Consecration. I will remember to pray for the grace to love God more.

The Virtual St. Joseph's Altar Opens on Ash Wednesday

Evann's  Annual St. Joseph's Altar can be found here

Praying the St. Michael the Archangel Prayer at the End of Mass

PRAYER TO
SAINT MICHAEL
THE ARCHANGEL
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen..



Source: EWTN

The vision of Pope Leo XIII

Exactly 33 years to the day prior to the great Miracle of the Sun in Fatima, that is, on October 13, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a remarkable vision. When the aged Pontiff had finished celebrating Mass in his private Vatican Chapel, attended by a few Cardinals and members of the Vatican staff, he suddenly stopped at the foot of the altar. He stood there for about 10 minutes, as if in a trance, his face ashen white. Then, going immediately from the Chapel to his office, he composed the above prayer to St. Michael, with instructions it be said after all Low Masses everywhere.
When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:
The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord: "I can destroy your Church."
The gentle voice of Our Lord: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."
Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power."
Our Lord: "How much time? How much power?
Satan: "75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those who will give themselves over to my service."
Our Lord: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will."
In 1886, Pope Leo XIII decreed that this prayer to St. Michael be said at the end of "low" Mass (not "high", or sung Masses) throughout the universal Church, along with the Salve Regina (Hail, Holy Queen); and the practice of the congregation praying these prayers at the end of Mass continued until about 1970, with the introduction of the new rite of the Mass.

Read the rest at Michael Journal

I mentioned in my post regarding the Novena to St. Joseph that it is very clear and without doubt, that we are in a war of good vs. evil. Therefore, Catholics and Christians everywhere must fight back. One way is by praying a novena as I mentioned yesterday but also another important way is by restoring the recitation of the St. Michael the Archangel prayer at the end of Mass.

So far two bishops have already done this. The first to restore the prayer is Bishop Paprocki of the Springfield diocese. I learned of this through Father Daren Zehnle's blog post last April and which can be found here

The next bishop to restore the prayer was Bishop Daniel Jenky, of the Peoria Diocese. His excellency did so because of the recent attack on religious freedom by the Obama Administration, through the now infamous HHS Mandate. The letter to the faithful can be found here.

I asked Bishop Larry Silva of the Diocese of Honolulu do please consider restoring the St. Michael the Archangel prayer. I would suggest you respectfully and more importantly, humbly ask your bishops to do so as well.

At the end of this morning's Mass, Father E. asked that we pray together the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.

My family and I have been including this prayer after receiving Holy Communion, at every Mass we attend, for a time now.  We will continue to do so now more than ever.

Catholics do not have to have a directive from the bishop to pray the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, at the end of Mass. You can pray this prayer as a private devotion for the protection of our country, our religious freedom and of course, for our church.

St. Michael, defend us in battle...

THIRTY DAYS PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH - For the Intentions of Rick Santorum

The following was shared by Mary Jane.

I debated whether or not to make it public that I would be praying this novena for Mr. Santorum's intentions. We are now engaged in a battle of good vs. evil. Catholics...Christians and all people of good will must rely on those weapons that will make good victorious over evil and that weapon is prayer.

A friend of Mr. Santorum has told me he is quite well and in very joyful spirits. This friend has asked that "everyone, Catholic and non-Catholic, pray for religious freedom in America."

I would ask that Catholics join in praying a novena for Rick Santorum as he seeks to ensure freedom in America for people of all faith or no faith. Although, he has not specifically asked for us to pray for him, there have been many occasions during his campaign that he has asked for prayer publicly and formally and that tonight a friend of his is asking you to "please get Catholics to storm heaven for him."

I'd also ask that you keep all those on the Santorum team and who are advocating for him, in your prayers!

There are many saints who can intercede for you for this intention, of course, I would recommend St. Joseph for many reasons, the main one being he was THE model of a father and Mr. Santorum has shown himself to be a very devoted father. We need this type of leadership in our country... one who puts the family in a place of importance.

If you prefer, please consider the intercession of St. Sebastian, St. Joan of Arc, St. Catherine of Alexandria, St. Thomas More, St. Thomas Aquinas, but most especially our Blessed Mother.

Thank you and God bless.

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow.
Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection. Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.
I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.
I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the Holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.
I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.
I ask it by the painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.
I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan, you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt.
I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.
I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country.
I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows. I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His mother for three days.
I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus.
I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.
I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary.
I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.
I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.)
Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of:
JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
"A blameless life,
St. Joseph,
may we lead,
by your kind patronage
from danger freed."

Blessed Seelos' Miracle - Formerly Paralyzed Maryland Priest Sees Miracle as He Begins Walking

The following article was shared by a friend at the pet prayer blog. Mahalo Lou Ann!:


"...but it certainly was miraculous.” Reaching into his pocket, Father Murray pulled out a small object he carries with him at all times. Encased in a small locket, it houses a relic – a piece of bone – of Blessed Francis X. Seelos, a 19th-century Redemptorist priest under consideration for sainthood, who had been a rector of the same Annapolis parish Father Murray once led. The two also share a good sense of humor and a love for preaching..". You can read the entire article on page 17 here

Our Lady of Lourdes

Picture source

Prayer

O my Mother,
O immaculate,
O pure,
O holy,
O spotless virgin Mary!
if we only knew thee,
how many hearts would cease to be wicked,
how many souls viewing the dazzling splendors of thy graces would hasten to walk in thy footsteps.
Then,
O dear Mother,
show thyself to the world,
lost in the darkness of sin.
O resplendent Morning Star,
remove from our eyes the veil which sin has placed there;
open them to the divine light,
and may its heavenly influence blot out our stains,
enliven our actions,
and increase in our hearts a pure and ardent love for Jesus,
thy Divine Son, by the sweet and delightful tears of holy penance.
O Mary, the immaculate heart was Jesus' earthly home;
deign to make my heart also His home.
O Mary, be by me when Jesus comes to judge me.
May my last words in this life and my first in the next be "Jesus, my savior; and Mary, my Mother."

The Prayer Book

Quis ut Deus

by Cima de Conegliano

Picture Source

Who is like God?

According to Father Charles Arminjon, the above was the war-cry uttered in heaven at the very beginning of time. This was cried out right from the moment when Lucifer the most "dazzling and radiant of the archangels" rebelled against God and became the ugliest and basest of the devils.

"There was then a great battle, in which truth and justice triumphed. The archangel Michael drew attention to the excellence and dignity of the Most High God. He reminded the good angels of the beneficence of Him who had created them... he kept them in fidelity and submission by saying to them, 'Quis ut Deus? Who is like God?'"...

At the time Father wrote his book The End of the Present World, (that is to say in 1881) he enjoined Christians to utter that battle-cry in order to awake the complacent and those blinded to the growing evils in the world. He wrote:

"Modern society today, in the face of heaven and earth, has proclaimed the most audacious boast every conceived by human pride; it declares that it will exclude God from laws and institutions, creating a social order and felicity completely independent of Him; and, confronted with this satanic design, it is our duty to protest loudly, saying, with the archangel, Quis ut Deus?

The foregoing could have been written in the present! We see our society more and more accepting of sin and evil and those who oppose it are maligned as the enemy. But take heart! Good will triumph over evil! It may not be an easy road to follow, but Christians cannot lose sight of God; we cannot lose hope.

The answer to combating the devil is the sacrifice of the Holy Mass.

"The Church teaches that Jesus Christ truly dwells upon our altars...He immolates Himself to His Father, for the sins of the world. However, in order that the sublime mystery of our altars may produce an effect on our lives, the faithful must be rightly disposed. It cannot purify a soul that is attached to its disorderly ways, nor restore to goodness a heart obdurate in evil. The Real Presence and sacrifice detach man from the life of the senses, and make him live a spiritual life..."

The following should then give Christians much hope:

"You, then, feeble and fainted-hearted souls, who feel your faith faltering and weakening, shaken by the effrontery and arrogant clamor of thew wicked, turn your eyes for a moment upon the Christian world, where, in spite of ingenious, mendacious conspiracies, Jesus Christ continues to be loved and adored. See those crowds who fill our churches at the times of the major solemnities, kneeling humbly and invoking Jesus Christ with the unshakable conviction that their prayer will reach heaven. See the dying, as they press His blessed picture to their lips so as to fortify themselves against he anguish and the fears of t heir final agony. See those sorrowful countenances, bowing down at the steps of His lonely altars and straightening up again, beaming with an indescribable joy. See those sinners, stricken with remorse, beating their breast and departing, trusting that they have regained pardon. Such is the infallible voice of mankind; the striking testimony of popular faith; the profound cry of public conscience, which can be diminished for a day but which all the threats of the mighty and the artifices of atheistic science will never succeed in stifling.

How to Personalize Jesus' Passion and Death and become a Better Christian

We ask ourselves:  "When I see a crucifix, do I realize that of Jesus suffered and died for me? Do I realize He was thinking of me and praying for me as He hung on the cross? In fact, that is what He did!

The following is a good way of meditating on our Lord's Passion and Death and overcoming our sins.

- If you are tempted, remember that He was tried before you.

- If you are governed by pride, self-love, or vanity, think of Jesus during His Passion, covered with blows, spat upon, humiliated, and crowned with thorns.

- If you are beset by laziness and sensuality, think of Jesus covered with a bloody sweat, scourged, carrying His Cross, think of Him hanging upon it, His hands and feet pierced, His sacred body torn, devoured by thirst and shattered by pain.

- If you are a slave to material things, think of Jesus poor and wholly destitute at Bethlehem, at Nazareth, and during His public life; think of Him upon the cross, rendering His soul in the supreme embrace of poverty.

- If you fall into sin, remember that Jesus fell three times on the road to Calvary so that He might merit for you the grace to rise again after your falls as H e rose after His, and so that discouragement might never enter your heart.

- If at times the trails and the burden of life are too heavy, if nature rebels and, in spite of yourself, you cry out, "I can bear no more," remember that Jesus in His human nature knew this extremity, the very brink of despair, and that He, too, cried out: "My Father...let this chalice pass from me! My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"

From Keep it Simple by Emmanuel de Gibergues