Monday, March 4, 2019

march 4 Carnival Monday

Psalm 15, Verse 1-5

¹ LORD, who may abide in your tent? Who may dwell on your holy mountain? ² Whoever walks without blame, doing what is right, speaking truth from the heart; ³ Who does not slander with his tongue, does no harm to a friend, never defames a neighbor; ⁴ Who disdains the wicked, but honors those who fear the LORD; Who keeps an oath despite the cost, ⁵ lends no money at interest, ^[1] accepts no bribe against the innocent.

In life we are always moving toward the future. Our destination is life eternal with our creator. In our little sailboat of life, we tend to be either moving toward God by taking advantage of His graces which provide the wind for our sails or we do nothing but drift.

Napoleon Hill noted in his manuscript on a book he never published entitled “Outwitting the devil” stated drifting was one of the tools the devil uses to keep us off tack and not sailing towards God’s mountain.

A Protection against drifting lies within easy reach of every human being who has a normal body and a sound mind. The self-defense can be applied through these simple methods: 

1.      Do your own thinking on all occasions. The fact that human beings are given complete control over nothing save the power to think their own thoughts is laden with significance.

2.      Decide definitely what you want from life; then create a plan for attaining it and be willing to sacrifice everything rather than accept permanent defeat.

3.      Analyze temporary defeat, no matter of what nature or cause, and extract from it the seed of an equivalent advantage.

4.      Be willing to render useful service equivalent to the value of all material things you demand of life and render the service first.

5.      Recognize that your brain is a receiving set that can be attuned to receive communications from the universal storehouse of Infinite Intelligence, to help you transmute your desires into their physical equivalent.

6.      Recognize that your greatest asset is time, the only thing except the power of thought which you own outright, and the one thing which can be shaped into whatever material things you want. Budget your time so none of it is wasted.

7.      Recognize the truth that fear generally is a filler with which the Devil occupies the unused portion of your mind. It is only a state of mind which you can control by filling the space it occupies with faith in your ability to make life provide you with whatever you demand of it.

8.      When you pray, do not beg! Demand what you want and insist upon getting exactly that, with no substitutes.

9.      Recognize that life is a cruel taskmaster and that either you master it or it masters you. There is no half-way or compromising point. Never accept from life anything you do not want. lf that which you do not want is temporarily forced upon you, you can refuse, in your own mind, to accept it and it will make way for the thing you do want.

10.  Lastly, remember that your dominating thoughts attract, through a definite law of nature, by the shortest and most convenient route, their physical counterpart. Be careful what your thoughts dwell upon.

A simple formula combining all the ten points:

Be definite in everything you do and never leave unfinished thoughts in the mind. Form the habit of reaching definite decisions on all subjects.

Can the habit of drifting be broken, or does it become permanent once it has been fanned?

The habit can be broken if the victim has enough willpower, providing it is done in time. There is a point beyond which the habit can never be broken. Beyond that point the victim is mine. He resembles a fly that has been caught in a spider’s web. He may struggle, but he cannot get out. Each move he makes entangles him more securely. The web in which I entangle my victims permanently is a law of nature not yet isolated by, or understood by, men of science.

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Carnival Monday-Carnival Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago[2]

You can’t really understand Trinidad unless you come for Carnival, or mas (for masquerade), as it’s locally known. Trinidad is a melting pot of West African, East Indian, Chinese, South American, and European, which has influenced both its music and Carnival itself. The country’s West African roots gave birth to the steel pan (or steel drum, originally made from empty oil barrels), calypso music, and its more recent souped-up version, soca (“soul-calypso”), which makes this Carnival the loudest and wildest in all the Caribbean. It’s the national obsession, with Port of Spain at its heart. Bands and masqueraders begin their preparations a year in advance. Things start to hum after Christmas, gradually building to a crescendo of rehearsals, concerts, open-air fêtes, and calypso duels. The final 2-day explosion of color, music, and unbridled excess officially kicks off at 4 A.M. on Carnival Monday with the “opening day” parade called J’Ouvert (pronounced joo-VAY). Fueled by copious amounts of beer, revelers covered in mud, grease, body paint, and chocolate form a mass of happy humanity as they follow trucks blasting soca and “chip” (dance) until sunrise. Monday (“old mas”) continues with bands and dancers along a 6-mile parade route. The glitter and glamorous costumes of “pretty mas” are saved for Shrove Tuesday (Mardi Gras), the day before Ash Wednesday. Tens of thousands take to the streets in costume (often sequined bikinis and feather headdresses), with groups as large as 3,000 in identical costume following flatbed trucks carrying steel bands competing for the title of “Masquerade Band of the Year.” Getups are at their most extravagant for the Kings and Queens Costume Competition— some can weigh up to 200 pounds (and are attached to wheels for mobility) and incorporate fog, fireworks, and other special effects. “Pan” bands with as many as 100 musicians perform nonstop in a riotous celebration of King Carnival.

NOVENA TO THE HOLY FACE

DAILY PREPARATORY PRAYER

 O Most Holy and Blessed Trinity, through the intercession of Holy Mary, whose soul was pierced through by a sword of sorrow at the sight of the passion of her Divine Son, we ask your help in making a perfect Novena of reparation with Jesus, united with all His sorrows, love and total abandonment.

We now implore all the Angels and Saints to intercede for us as we pray this Holy Novena to the Most Holy Face of Jesus and for the glory of the most Holy Trinity, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Ninth Day

Psalm 51, 18-21.

For in sacrifice you take no delight, burnt offering from me you would refuse, my sacrifice a contrite spirit. A humbled, contrite heart you will not spurn. In your goodness, show favor to Zion; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem Then you will be pleased with lawful sacrifice, holocausts offered on your altar.

Sacred Face of our Lord and our God, what words can we do to express our gratitude? How can we speak of our joy? That you have deigned to hear us, that you have chosen to answer us in our hour of need. We say this because we know that our prayers will be granted. We know that you, in your loving kindness, listened to our pleading hearts, and will give, out of your fullness, the answer to our problems. Mary, our Mother, thank you for your intercession on our behalf. Saint Joseph, thank you for your prayers.

Through the merits of your precious blood and your Holy Face, O Jesus, grant us our petition, Pardon and Mercy.

Prayer to the Holy Trinity 


Most Holy Trinity, Godhead indivisible, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, our first beginning and our last end. Since you have made us after your own image and likeness, grant that all the thoughts of our minds, all the words of our tongues, all the affections of our hearts and all our actions may be always conformed to your most Holy Will, so that after having seen you here on earth in appearances and in a dark manner by the means of faith, we may come at last to contemplate you face to face, in the perfect possession of you forever in paradise. Amen.

Pray one (1) Our Father, (3) Hail Mary’s, (1) Glory Be. 

O Bleeding Face, O Face Divine, be every adoration Thine. (Three times)  

Preparing for Battle[3]

Know Your Commander and Comrades

Our Commander, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Conqueror of hell and death, calls us to battle alongside Him against the Enemy so that we can have a share in His victory. To fight the good fight, however, we must know not only our adversary and his strategies; we must also know the comrades that our great Commander has given to us. Our comrades in arms are our Lady and the Saints. Just as Eve’s yes to the Enemy’s temptation brought death and the Devil’s domination into the world, so Mary’s yes to God opened the door for the ultimate victory of her Son over Satan. Whenever the Enemy’s assaults on us seem to multiply, we should call on Mary not just as our Blessed Mother, but as a mighty warrior before whom the demons tremble. St. Bonaventure once put it: “Men do not fear a powerful, hostile army as much as the powers of hell fear the name and protection of Mary.” We also have the aid of St. Michael and the Angels. “The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them” (Ps 34: 7). We also have our fellow Christians. We must not focus so much on heavenly warriors that we forget our earthly comrades-in-arms. Our brother and sister soldiers in the battles of this life need our support, and we need theirs. We should be praying daily with them and for them, spiritual soldiers “vigilant in all perseverance and supplication for all” our fellow combatants (Eph 6: 18). We should be offering them encouragement and counsel when we find them weary or confused, tempted by the Devil’s lies, accusations, doubts, enticements, and provocations. Roman soldiers were taught to fight alongside comrades with their backs toward one another. That way, as they battled the enemy, they were protecting one another’s backs. One man’s sword was another man’s shield. If they didn’t fight in this way, they were exposed to mortal danger. The same is true in spiritual warfare. Wherever a fellow soldier is vulnerable to the Enemy’s onslaught, we must make up the difference with the shield of our faith. This is one important reason why Our Lord established the Church. His grace to conquer the Enemy comes to us through her worship, her sacraments, and her teaching.

The Way[4] Examination of conscience

"Read these counsels slowly. Pause to meditate on these thoughts. They are things that I whisper in your ear-confiding them-as a friend, as a brother, as a father. And they are being heard by God. I won't tell you anything new. I will only stir your memory, so that some thought will arise and strike you; and so you will better your life and set out along ways of prayer and of Love. And in the end you will be a more worthy soul."

Your particular examination should be directed towards the acquisition of a definite virtue or the rooting out of your predominant defect.

Daily Devotions

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Nivevah 90 day 41

·         Hike and Meditate on the Divine Mercy Novena Day 6 and pray for the souls of the meek and humble and of children especially those who are to be born.

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[1]* [15:5] Lends no money at interest: lending money in the Old Testament was often seen as assistance to the poor in their distress, not as an investment; making money off the poor by charging interest was thus forbidden

[2]Schultz, Patricia. 1,000 Places to See Before You Die

[3]Thigpen, Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare. TAN Books.

[4]http://www.escrivaworks.org/book/the_way-point-1.htm