This novena prayer, although short is sufficient. It would be better of course to add, if time permits, three Hail Marys or say five times the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory be to the Father,
or to use some of the many well-loved novena prayers from other
sources. Remember that prayers must be said with the lips in order to
gain the indulgences. This novena starts on February 2 and ends on
February 11.
Prayer:
O most beautiful lady, who appeared to the humble little Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes, look with pitying eye upon the sick and the afflicted. Let me remember to say to you each day as do the pilgrims at Lourdes, "Ave, Ave, Ave Maria."
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1217
Science is a great gift to
mankind, yet it does not erase the fear of death; only Christ can do this. In fact,
we are engaged in a great spiritual battle where our fears are the very chains
that enslave us.
Napoleon Hill writes in his tale “Outwitting the Devil”[2] his thoughts on fear during an imaginary interview with the devil to obtain his secrets.
Prayer:
O most beautiful lady, who appeared to the humble little Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes, look with pitying eye upon the sick and the afflicted. Let me remember to say to you each day as do the pilgrims at Lourdes, "Ave, Ave, Ave Maria."
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=1217
CANDLEMASS-super bowl-GROUND HOG DAY
Hebrews, Chapter 2,
Verse 14-15
14 Now since the
children share in blood and flesh, he likewise shared in them, that through
death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and
free those who through fear of death
had been subject to slavery all their life.
On today’s date science by the use of a heart and lung
transplant was able to save the life of Jamie Gavin who was recorded as the
youngest transplant patient.
Jamie Gavin made
headlines worldwide in 1985 when he became the world's youngest heart and lung
transplant patient in Harefield hospital, Middlesex. Jamie's surgery was
regarded as a success and he returned to Dublin to his brother John and his
three sisters Leslie, Katie and Melanie. He was able to live a normal life to a
certain extent and attended school with his friends, despite having to
regularly return to England for tests and checkups, as well Crumlin hospital in
Dublin. The bravery of Jamie was recognized a year after his surgery when
Princess Diana presented him with a child of courage award. Tragedy
struck the household when Jamie passed away from lymphoma at the age of 11.
Napoleon Hill writes in his tale “Outwitting the Devil”[2] his thoughts on fear during an imaginary interview with the devil to obtain his secrets.
Q.
Go ahead and describe your clever tricks, Your Majesty.
A. One of my
cleverest devices for mind control is fear. I plant the seed of fear in the
minds of people, and as these seeds germinate and grow, through use, I control
the space they occupy. The six most effective fears are the fear of poverty,
criticism, ill health, loss of love, old age, and death.
Q.
Which of these six fears serves you most often, your majesty?
A.
The first and the last-poverty and death! At one time or another during life I
tighten my grip on all people through one or both of these. I plant these fears
in the minds of people so deftly that they believe them to be their own
creation. I accomplish his end by making people believe I am standing just
beyond the entrance gate of the next life, waiting to claim them after death
for eternal punishment. Of course, I cannot punish anyone, except in that
person's own mind, through some form of fear-but fear of the thing which does
not exist is just as useful to me as fear of that which does exist. All forms
of fear extend the space I occupy in the human mind.
Although Napoleon
thoughts may not be theologically correct; he still makes a strong case as does
our God that fear is the root of
sin.
Until 1969[3], the ancient
feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, which is of Oriental origin, was known
in the West as the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, and closed the
Christmas Cycle, forty days after the Lord's birth. This feast has for long
been associated with many popular devotional exercises. The faithful:
- gladly
participate in the processions commemorating the Lord's entry into the
Temple in Jerusalem and His encounter with God, whose house He had come to
for the first time, and then with Simeon and Anna. Such processions, which
in the West had taken the place of licentious pagan events, always had a
penitential character, and were later identified with the blessing of
candles which were carried in procession in honor of Christ, 'the light to
enlighten the Gentiles' (Lk 2, 32);
- are sensitive
to the actions of the Blessed Virgin in presenting her Son in the Temple,
and to her submission to the Law of Moses (Lk 12, 1-8) in the rite of
purification; popular piety sees in the rite of purification the humility
of Our Lady and hence, 2 February has long been regarded as a feast for
those in humble service.
Popular piety is sensitive to the
providential and mysterious event that is the conception and birth of new life.
Christian mothers can easily identify with the maternity of Our Lady, the most
pure Mother of the Head of the mystical Body — notwithstanding the notable
differences in the Virgin's unique conception and birth.
These too are mothers in God's plan and
are about to give birth to future members of the Church. From this intuition and
a certain mimesis of the purification of Our Lady, the rite of
purification after birth was developed, some of whose elements reflect
negatively on birth.
The revised Rituale Romanum
provides for the blessing of women both before and after birth, this latter
only in cases where the mother could not participate at the baptism of her
child.
It is a highly desirable thing for mothers
and married couples to ask for these blessings which should be given in accord
with the Church's prayer: in a communion of faith and charity in prayer so that
pregnancy can be brought to term without difficulty (blessing before birth),
and to give thanks to God for the gift of a child (blessing after birth).
In some local Churches, certain elements
taken from the Gospel account of the Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2, 22-40),
such as the obedience of Joseph and Mary to the Law of the Lord, the poverty of
the holy spouses, the virginity of Our Lady, mark out 2 February as a special
feast for those at the service of the brethren in the various forms of
consecrated life.
The feast of 2 February still retains a
popular character. It is necessary, however, that such should reflect the true
Christian significance of the feast. It would not be proper for popular piety
in its celebration of this feast to overlook its Christological significance
and concentrate exclusively on its Marian aspects. The fact that this feast
should be 'considered [...] a joint memorial of Son and Mother' would not
support such an inversion. The candles kept by the faithful in their homes
should be seen as a sign of Christ 'the light of the world' and an expression
of faith.
Commonly Called Candlemas-Day.
FEBRUARY 2.
ON this day the Church solemnly celebrates the
presentation of Jesus in the temple, and the obedience and humility both of
Mary and her divine Son, who, though not subject to the law in regard to
purification and presentation, yet subjected themselves to it. Hence this feast
is called the Purification of the Virgin Mary.
In common speech we call it also Candlemas, because on this day the
candles required for the divine service are blessed and carried in procession.
What is the design of this custom?
1. It is to remind
us that Jesus, the light of the world, was offered up to His heavenly Father,
by Mary, in the temple at Jerusalem, where He was called by Simeon “a light for
the revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of the people of Israel.”
2. To remind us,
also, of several important truths, to which the priest refers in the prayers at
the blessings. Thus he prays that as the earthly light dispels the darkness of
night, so Jesus, with the light of His divine doctrine, may clear away our
spiritual blindness and ignorance, and lead us in the way of virtue; that as
the Holy Ghost enlightened Simeon, so He may also enlighten us to acknowledge
Jesus as the true light, to love Him and follow Him, to keep our hearts from
the way of sin, and to guide them in the way of virtue, and to kindle them with
the fire of holy love; finally, that God may preserve, in soul and body, those
who use blessed candles with devotion, may hear their prayers, and grant them
entrance into the kingdom of the eternal and ever-blessed light. In the Introit
of the Mass the Church sings: We have received Thy mercy, O God, in the midst
of Thy temple; according to Thy name, O God, so also is Thy praise unto the
ends of the earth; Thy right hand is full of justice. Great is the Lord and
exceedingly to be praised in the city of our God, in His holy mountain.”
Prayer.
Almighty,
everlasting God, we suppliantly beseech Thy majesty that, as Thy only begotten Son
was this day presented in the temple in the substance of our flesh, so Thou
wouldst grant us to be presented to Thee with purified souls.
EPISTLE. Mai iii. 1-4.
Thus, saith the Lord:
Behold I send My angel, and he shall prepare the way before My face. And
presently the Lord Whom you seek, and the angel of the testament whom you
desire, shall come to his temple. Behold he cometh, saith the Lord of hosts:
and who shall be able to think of the day of his coming? and who shall stand to
see him? for he is like a refining fire, and like the fullers herb: and he
shall sit refining and cleansing the silver, and he shall purify the sons of
Levi, and shall refine them as gold, and as silver, and they shall offer sacrifices
to the Lord in justice. And the sacrifice of Juda and of Jerusalem shall please
the Lord, as in the days of old, and in the ancient years, saith the Lord
Almighty.
GOSPEL. Luke ii. 22-32.
At that time: After the days of Mary s
purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they carried
Jesus to Jerusalem, to present Him to the Lord, as it is written in the law of
the Lord: Every male opening the womb shall be called holy to the Lord; and to
offer a sacrifice according as it is written in the law of the Lord, a pair of
turtle-doves, or two young pigeons. And behold there was a man in Jerusalem
named Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel:
and the Holy Ghost was in him. And he had received an answer from the Holy
Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the Christ of the Lord.
And he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when His parents brought in the
child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law: he also took Him
into his arms, and blessed God, and said: Now Thou dost dismiss Thy servant, O
Lord, according to Thy word, in peace: because my eyes have seen Thy salvation,
which Thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples; a light to the
revelation of the gentiles, and the glory of Thy people Israel.
Explanation.
The Blessed Virgin presented herself and
her divine Son at the temple so as not to give scandal to such as were ignorant
of their being exempt from the law, to show from the first that Jesus was come
to redeem sinners, and to leave us an example of humility and obedience. Mary
offered the gift of a pair of doves, like the poor, because she was poor, and
was not ashamed to acknowledge it before the world.
INSTRUCTION FOR
WOMEN AFTER CHILDBIRTH.
The law of purification in the Old
Testament, it is true, no longer applies to Christian women, because the Church
has done away with Jewish ceremonies. But the spirit and intention of that law
the Church would yet have complied with. She permits women, therefore, to
remain at home, with a good conscience, for six weeks after childbirth, or so
long as circumstances may require, without attending divine service, in order
to care for their health. This permission is, at the same time, an excellent
admonition to women, that, in order to their recovery, they should refrain from
anger, from exposure, from hard labor, from injurious food; to men, not to
refuse their wives during this period, set apart by God Himself under the Old
Law, the rei and attention which their nature requires. But when this time is
past the Church desires that women should, after the example of Mary, repair to
the church with their children, to procure the blessing of the priest, to give
thanks to God for their safe delivery, to dedicate their children to Him, and
to implore of Him, with the priest, grace to bring up their offspring in piety
and holiness. In this consists the so-called “churching of women”; and, from
what has been said, it is evident, not only that it contains nothing to be
ashamed of, but that it should by no means be omitted by such as desire God’s blessing.
The feeble health of both women and children after childbirth is almost always
owing to their having injured themselves by want of care.
Prayer for Women after Childbirth.
Almighty and
merciful God, Who didst lay upon our mother Eve the tit punishment for her
disobedience that she should bear children in sorrow, I offer to Thee all the
pains of my child-bearing in propitiation for my sins; and I thank Thee that,
through Thy help, the fruit of my womb has been safely brought forth into the
world, and new-born in Baptism. According to the example of the Mother of Thy only
begotten Son, I also offer to Thee my child for Thy holy service, and will
earnestly strive to bring it up to Thy honor. To this end give me, through the
intercession of the most blessed Virgin, thy grace; bless me and my child, and
grant that we may live according to Thy will here, and hereafter may obtain
everlasting happiness. Amen.
Things to Do[5]
- Ask your parish priest to
bless the candles that you will be using on your home altar this year.
- Read Luke 2:22-35, the
account of the presentation including the Canticle of Simeon.
- Meditate on the constant fiat
of Our Lady of Sorrows, who embraced the will of God even as Simeon
predicted that a sword would pierce her heart.
Since the children share in blood and
flesh, Jesus likewise shared in them, that through death he might destroy the
one who has the power of death, that is, the Devil, and free those who through
fear of death had been subject to slavery all their life.
One of the grandest feasts of the
Middle Ages and one of only three feasts in the English language verbally
denoted by a Mass (Christmas and Michaelmas being the other two), Candlemas, or the Feast of the Purification
of the Blessed Virgin Mary, commemorates Our Lady's visit to the Temple in
humble obedience to that clause of the Old Law which requires a woman to be
ritually purified forty days after bearing a son. On the assumption that Our
Lord was born on December 25, the date of Mary's visit to the Temple would be
February 2. It was on this day that Simeon the aged prophet, upon seeing the
infant Jesus, proclaimed him to be "a Light to the gentiles" (Lk.
2.32). Hence the day has always involved a celebration of light. The most
famous of these customs -- and the one from which the feast takes its common
name -- is the blessing of, and
procession with, candles. The day begins with five beautiful blessings of candles that invoke God's
aid in living out allegorically what the light and fire of a candle symbolize:
wisdom and illumination, purification and charity, and so on. A solemn and
penitential procession (in which the
celebrant wears purple) exits and then re-enters the church, at which point the
purple is cast aside for the jubilance of white and a joyful Mass is offered.
One of the more distinctive features of this Mass is that the candles are held lighted in the hand during the
Gospel and from the Sanctus to the Communion. Candles used in the
procession are not the only ones blessed on this day. Many families
traditionally had most or all of their special candles -- for Advent, St.
Lucy's Day, Christmas, or the family shrine -- blessed on this day.
The Feast's association with light
also made it a great day for predicting the weather. According to an old
legend, if the sun shines bright for the better part of the day, it means forty
more days of winter. Subsequently this quaint superstition became Groundhog Day. Finally, Candlemas is the
absolute last day for ending the
Christmas season. Any Christmas items that had not been taken down on
Epiphany or its Octave were now carefully put away.
The Super Bowl is the season final
championship game of National Football League (NFL) in the United States of
America. The matchup for this game is the winning teams of the National
Football Conference (NFC) and the American Football Conference (AFC). Super
Bowl 1 was held in February of 1967. The 2016 game was Super Bowl 50. The Super
Bowl is one of the most watched television events in the United States. Nielsen
Media Research, in had over 114.4 million viewers in 2015. It is held on
the first Sunday in February.
Super Bowl Facts
·
Super
Bowl Sunday is the second biggest eating day of the year - after Thanksgiving.
According to the National Chicken Council, in 2015 a total of 1.25
million chicken wings were eaten during the game.
·
The
winner receives the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Vince Lombardi was the coach
for the Green Bay Packers who won the first two Super Bowls back-to-back.
·
The
record for the most points scored by a single team during a Super Bowl, is held
by San Francisco. San Francisco scored a total of 55 points against
Denver in Super Bowl XXIV.
Super Bowl Top Events and
Things to Do
·
Attend
the Super Bowl. You can purchase second-hand tickets through various
online marketplaces. According to Seat Geek, the average price for a ticket in
2015 was $2,670.
·
Have
a Super Bowl party with friends and family.
·
Organize
or purchase boxes in a football pool. A football pool is a table that
contains all of the score combinations based on the last digit of each team’s
score. The score numbers are drawn at random after all boxes are
assigned. Because of this, the odds of winning are the same regardless of
each participant’s knowledge of the game.
·
Watch
the Super Bowl commercials. Commercials for the big game are the most
expensive on TV and for many, more entertaining than the game.
·
Make
guacamole. This is the quintessential (and healthy!) super bowl dip.
Political
Football[8]
WASHINGTON—Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of
Kansas City, KS and Chairman of the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life
Activities has issued the following statement in response to several states
moving forward with legislation that would permit a baby to be aborted at nine
months.
Archbishop Naumann’s full statement follows:
“Abortion has always been built on a lie.
Today, the lie is switching from 'abortion is a choice' to 'abortion is
healthcare.' A law recently passed in New York not only legalizes abortion
essentially for any reason through all nine months of pregnancy but removes any
protection for children born alive after abortion. A similar bill was proposed
in Virginia along with several other states, all in the name of women’s
health.
This legislation is evil, pure and simple.
And it shocks the conscience to see such evil legislation greeted with raucous
cheers and standing ovations. Most grieving to our Lord of Life is that those
who advocate for abortion put their eternal souls in jeopardy.
It is sickeningly dishonest to claim that
women’s lives or health depend on intentionally killing their children. This is
especially true for late-term abortion, which always involves the purposeful
destruction of a child which could have been born alive, with much less risk to
the mother, had they both received real healthcare.
Now is the time for all Catholics—bishops,
priests, and laity—to fight for the unborn with renewed vigor. We must educate
family, friends, legislators, and fellow citizens about how it is never
necessary to intentionally kill unborn children in order to save their mothers.
Local action is especially important. Though ending Roe v. Wade is a central
goal of the pro-life movement, if the decision were overturned, only eleven
states would immediately ban abortion; the other thirty-nine states would still
allow it.
I urge Catholics, and thoughtful Americans
of all religions or none at all to advocate for local change. Sign up for your
State Catholic Conference or diocesan pro-life advocacy network, which can help
you communicate to elected officials. Or seek out state and local pro-life
groups, including parish respect life groups, that are making a difference at
the state level.
Though we live in very dark days, we know
that the Lord has already triumphed over death. But we must use this time on earth
to be His hands and feet. This means each of us rededicating ourselves to
prayer, and fighting for the most vulnerable among us, especially unborn
children and their mothers.”
I ask Christ if he has seen the movie, “Ground Hog day”. He laughs
and says playfully, “No, but I inspired it”. I continue, well today is Ground
Hog day and tradition say that if the ground hog sees his shadow there will be
six more weeks of winter. Christ asks,
“So what happens in the movie?” I state it is a story of a cranky young man who
keeps magically repeating his ground hog day until he has a life changing
attitude toward people and life in general. Christ says that is the reason for
His coming to these coffee clutches with me and that He wants to give me a
whole new view of life. This is what I referred to when I told Nicodemus that a
person must be born again to enter the kingdom. That is, you must awaken or
give birth to the Spirit of the Father that is in you-the spirit of love and
you must also live in the truth. Your action and behavior must be true to the
spirit the Father reveals to you.
John McCain in
his book “Character is Destiny” portrays the life of “The Four Chaplains” as a
model of great religious tolerance that
allowed them to risk all to protect others of a different faith or race.
It was the
evening of Feb. 2, 1943, and the U.S.A.T. Dorchester was crowded to capacity,
carrying 902 service men, merchant seamen and civilian workers. Once a luxury
coastal liner, the 5,649-ton vessel had been converted into an Army transport
ship. The Dorchester was one of three ships steadily moving across the icy
waters from Newfoundland toward an American base in Greenland. Hans J.
Danielsen, the ship’s captain, was concerned and cautious because he knew he
was in dangerous waters. German U-boats were constantly prowling these vital
sea lanes, and several ships had already been blasted and sunk. The Dorchester
was now only 150 miles from its destination, but the captain ordered the men to
sleep in their clothing and keep life jackets on. Many soldiers sleeping deep
in the ship’s hold disregarded the order because of the engine’s heat. Others
ignored it because the life jackets were uncomfortable. On Feb. 3, at
12:55 a.m., a periscope broke the chilly Atlantic waters. Through the
cross hairs, an officer aboard the German submarine U-223 spotted the
Dorchester. The U-223 approached the convoy on the surface, and after
identifying and targeting the ship, he gave orders to fire the torpedoes, a fan
of three were fired. The one that hit was decisive–and deadly–striking
the starboard side, amid ship, far below the water line. Captain
Danielsen, alerted that the Dorchester was taking water rapidly and sinking,
gave the order to abandon ship. In less than 20 minutes, the Dorchester would
slip beneath the Atlantic’s icy waters. Aboard the Dorchester, panic and chaos
had set in. The blast had killed scores of men, and many more were seriously
wounded. Others stunned by the explosion were groping in the darkness. Those
sleeping without clothing rushed topside where they were confronted first
by a blast of icy Arctic air and then by the knowledge that death awaited. Men
jumped from the ship into lifeboats, over-crowding them to the point of
capsizing, according to eyewitnesses. Other rafts, tossed into the Atlantic, drifted
away before soldiers could get in them. Through the pandemonium, according to
those present, four Army chaplains brought hope in despair and light
in darkness. Those chaplains were Lt. George L. Fox, Methodist; Lt. Alexander
D. Goode, Jewish; Lt. John P. Washington, Roman Catholic; and Lt. Clark V.
Poling, Dutch Reformed. Quickly and quietly, the four chaplains spread out
among the soldiers. There they tried to calm the frightened, tend the wounded
and guide the disoriented toward safety. “Witnesses of that terrible night
remember hearing the four men offer prayers for the dying and encouragement for
those who would live,” says Wyatt R. Fox, son of Reverend Fox. One witness,
Private William B. Bednar, found himself floating in oil-smeared water surrounded
by dead bodies and debris. “I could hear men crying, pleading, praying,” Bednar
recalls. “I could also hear the chaplains preaching courage. Their voices were
the only thing that kept me going.” Another sailor, Petty Officer John J.
Mahoney, tried to reenter his cabin but Rabbi Goode stopped him. Mahoney,
concerned about the cold Arctic air, explained he had forgotten his gloves.
“Never mind,” Goode responded. “I have two pairs.” The rabbi then gave the
petty officer his own gloves. In retrospect, Mahoney realized that Rabbi Goode
was not conveniently carrying two pairs of gloves, and that the rabbi had
decided not to leave the Dorchester. By this time, most of the men were
topside, and the chaplains opened a storage locker and began distributing
life jackets. It was then that Engineer Grady Clark witnessed an
astonishing sight. When there were no more lifejackets in the storage room, the
chaplains removed theirs and gave them to four frightened young men. “It was
the finest thing I have seen or hope to see this side of heaven,” said John
Ladd, another survivor who saw the chaplains’ selfless act. Ladd’s response is
understandable. The altruistic action of the four chaplains constitutes
one of the purest spiritual and ethical acts a person can make. When giving
their life jackets, Rabbi Goode did not call out for a Jew; Father Washington
did not call out for a Catholic; nor did the Reverends Fox and Poling call out
for a Protestant. They simply gave their life jackets to the next man in line.
As the ship went down, survivors in nearby rafts could see the four
chaplains–arms linked and braced against the slanting deck. Their voices could
also be heard offering prayers. Of the 902 men aboard the U.S.A.T. Dorchester,
672 died, leaving 230 survivors. When the news reached American shores, the
nation was stunned by the magnitude of the tragedy and heroic conduct of the four
chaplains.
Daily
Devotions
·
Today in honor of the Holy Trinity do
the Divine Office giving
your day to God. To honor God REST: no shopping after SUNSET ON SATURDAY till
Monday. Don’t forget the internet.
[4]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.
[7]http://www.wincalendar.com/Super-Bowl
[8]http://www.usccb.org/news/2019/19-026.cfm
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