Ash Wednesday
GRAND CANYON Established
Sirach,
Chapter 26, Verse 3
A good wife is a
generous gift bestowed upon him who fears
the Lord.
So, does this mean that if you don’t fear the Lord you
are to be cursed with a bad wife? I don’t think that is the message here
though; the point is that if our primary relationship with the Lord is right
then as a natural result all our relationships will be improved. If you fear
the Lord, that is Love the Lord, then you will love those around you and not
see others as objects to be used but as persons of worth and dignity. As a husband
seek to love your wife as Christ loved the church giving Himself up for her.
Today we are a community living in the fulfillment of faith
in Christ and He asks us to do something unthinkable, “Amen, amen, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man
and drink his blood, you do not have life within you. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day. For my
flesh is true food, and my blood is true drink. Whoever eats my flesh and
drinks my blood remains in me and I in him. Just as the living Father sent me
and I have life because of the Father, so also the one who feeds on me will
have life because of me. This is the bread that came down from heaven. Unlike
your ancestors who ate and still died, whoever eats this bread will live
forever.”(John 6:53-58)
The
solemn season begins with a reminder of our mortality and our profound need for
repentance and conversion.[2]
Why
is this day so called? Because on this day the Catholic Church blesses ashes
and puts them on the foreheads of the faithful, saying, “Remember, man, that
thou art dust, and unto dust shalt thou shall return” (Gen. iii. 19).
Why
are the ashes blessed?
1. That all who receive them with a contrite heart may
be preserved in soul and body.
2.
That God may give them contrition and pardon their sins.
3.
That He may grant them all they humbly ask for, particularly the grace to do
penance, and the reward promised to the truly penitent.
Why
are the faithful sprinkled with ashes? The sprinkling with ashes was always a
public sign of penance as such God enjoined it upon the Israelites (Jer. xxv.
34). David sprinkled ashes on his beard (Ps. ci. 10). The Ninevites (Jonas iii.
6), Judith (Jud. ix. 1), Mordechai (Esther iv. 1), Job (xlii. 6), and others,
did penance in sackcloth and ashes. To show the spirit of penance and to move
God to mercy, the Church, at the Introit of the Mass, uses the following words:
“Thou hast mercy upon all, O Lord, and hatest none of the things which Thou
hast made, and winkest at the sins of men for the sake of repentance, and
sparing them, for Thou art the Lord our God” (Wis. xi. 24, 25).
Prayer.
Grant to Thy faithful, O Lord, that they may begin the venerable solemnities of
fasting with becoming piety, and perform them with undisturbed devotion.
EPISTLE. Joel ii.
12-19.
Therefore,
saith the Lord: Be converted to Me with all your heart, in fasting, and in
weeping, and in mourning. And rend your hearts and not your garments and turn
to the Lord your God: for He is gracious and merciful, patient and rich in
mercy, and ready to repent of the evil. Who knoweth but he will return, and
forgive, and leave a blessing behind him, sacrifice and libation to the Lord
your God? Blow the trumpet in Sion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly,
gather together the people, sanctify the church, assemble the ancients, gather
together the little ones, and them that suck at the breasts: let the bridegroom
go forth from his bed, and the bride out of her bride-chamber. Between the
porch and the altar, the priests, the Lord s ministers, shall weep, and shall
say: Spare, O Lord, spare Thy people; and give not Thy inheritance to reproach,
that the heathens should rule over them; why should they say among the nations:
Where is their God? The Lord hath been zealous for His land, and hath spared
His people: and the Lord answered and said to His people: Behold I will send
you corn, and wine, and oil, and you shall be filled with them: and I will no
more make you a reproach among the nations, saith the Lord Almighty.
Explanation.
The
prophet, in these words, calls upon the Israelites to be converted, reminding
them of the great mercy of God, and exhorting them to join true repentance for
their sins with their fasting and alms. They should all, without exception, do
penance and implore the mercy of God, Who would then forgive them, deliver them
from their enemies, and bring peace and happiness upon them.
GOSPEL.
Matt. vi. 16-21.
At that time Jesus said to His
disciples: When you fast, be not as the hypocrites, sad: for they disfigure
their faces that they may appear unto men to fast. Amen I say to you, they have
received their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash
thy face, that thou appear not to men to fast, but to thy Father Who is in
secret: and thy Father, Who seeth in secret, will repay thee. Lay not up to
yourselves treasures on earth: where the rust and moth consume, and where
thieves break through and steal. But lay up to yourselves treasures in heaven:
where neither rust nor moth doth consume, and where thieves do not break
through, nor steal. For where thy treasure is, there is thy heart also.
Instruction
on Lent
What
is the origin of fasting? Under the Old Law the Jews fasted by the command of
God; thus, Moses fasted forty days and forty nights, on Mount Sinai, when God
gave him the Ten Commandments; Elias, in like manner, fasted in the desert.
Jesus also fasted and commanded His apostles to fast also. The Catholic Church,
says St. Leo, from the time of the apostles, has enjoined fasting upon all the
faithful.
Why
has the Church instituted the fast before Easter?
1. To imitate Jesus Christ, who fasted forty days.
2.
To participate in His merits and passion; for as Christ could only be glorified
through His sufferings, so in order to belong to Him we must follow Him by a
life answering to His.
3.
To subject the flesh to the spirit, and thus,
4,
prepare us for Easter and the worthy reception of the divine Lamb.
5.
Finally, to offer to God some satisfaction for our sins, and, as St. Leo says,
to atone for the sins of a whole year by a short fast of the tenth part of a
year.
Was
the fast of Lent kept in early times as it is now?
Yes,
only more rigorously; for:
1.
The Christians of the early ages abstained not only from flesh-meat, but from
those things which are produced from flesh, such as butter, eggs, cheese, and
also from wine and fish.
2.
They fasted during the whole day, and ate only after vespers, that is, at
night.
How
shall we keep the holy season of Lent with advantage? We should
endeavor not only to deny ourselves food and drink, but, still more, all sinful
gratifications. And as the body is weakened by fasting, the soul, on the other
hand, should be strengthened by repeated prayers, by frequent reception of the
holy sacraments, attending Mass, spiritual reading, and good works,
particularly those of charity. In such manner we shall be able, according to
the intention of the Church, to supply by our fasting what we have omitted
during the year, especially if we fast willingly, and with a good intention.
Prayer. O Lord
Jesus, I offer up to Thee my fasting and self-denial, to be united to Thy
fasting and sufferings, for Thy glory, in Gratitude for so many benefits
received from Thee, in satisfaction for my sins and those of others, and to
obtain Thy holy grace that I may overcome my sins and acquire the virtues which
I need. Look upon me, O Jesus, in mercy. Amen.
Ash
Wednesday Top Events and Things to Do[3]
·
Go
to your local parish to get ashes and reflect on your own mortality and
sinfulness. Non-Christians are also welcomed to get ashes.
·
Fast
during Ash Wednesday to commemorate Jesus fasting for forty days in the desert.
Catholics are specifically instructed to not eat meat and are only
permitted to eat one full meal. However, they may have 2 snacks in the
form of some food in the morning and evening.
·
Make
fiber-rich vegetarian versions of popular dishes. Some good ideas are
Veggie Burgers, Vegetarian Chili and salads with Tempeh. The fiber will
help keep you feeling full - useful if you fast for the rest of the day!
·
Rent
a movie that reflects on Mortality or Repentance. Some suggestions: Les Misérables (2012), Dorian
Gray
(2009), What Dreams May Come (1998), Flatliners (1990) and The
Seventh Seal
(1957).
·
Discuss
mortality, repentance and the meaning of life with your friends or with a
church group.
Of all
the observances of Lent, the
chief among these is the Great Fast.
So, intertwined are the words Lent and the Great Fast, that in fact the Fathers
of the Church sometimes used the terms interchangeably. This solemn obligation
is believed to be of Apostolic origin and takes its precedent, as we mentioned
above, from the examples of Moses, Elias, and Jesus Christ. The Great Fast used
to consist of both abstinence and fasting. Christians were expected to abstain
not only from flesh meat, but from all things that come from flesh, e.g. milk,
cheese, eggs, and butter. Eastern rite Christians still observe this practice,
while the Western church gradually kept only abstinence from meat (reference to
all lacticinia, or "milk foods," was dropped in the 1919 Roman
Code of Canon Law). Both East and West, however, agree on the importance of
fasting. Originally this meant taking only one meal a day, though the practice
was modified over the centuries. The
preconciliar practice in the U.S. was for all able-bodied
Catholics ages 21 to 60 to have one full meal a day which could include meat,
and two meatless meals which together could not equal one full meal. Snacking
between meals was prohibited, though drinking was not. Ash Wednesday, Fridays
and the Ember Days were days of total abstinence from meat, while
Sundays were completely exempted from all fasting and abstaining. The idea
behind the Great Fast -- as well as other periods of fasting -- is that by
weakening the body it is made more obedient to the soul, thereby liberating the
soul to contemplate higher things. St. Augustine gives perhaps the best
example: if you have a particularly high-spirited horse, you train it at the
times when it is too weak to revolt. It is our opinion that this venerable practice
should still be taken seriously.
Even though current ecclesiastical law has reduced the fast from forty days to
two and eliminated the thirty-three days of partial abstinence, this does not
mean that observing the Great Fast is not salubrious or praiseworthy. This
said, however, the Great Fast should not be adhered to legalistically. In the
words of St. John Chrysostom: "If your body is not strong enough to
continue fasting all day, no wise man will reprove you; for we serve a gentle
and merciful Lord who expects nothing of us beyond our strength."
1.
Remember the formula. 10 Commandments, 7 sacraments, 3 persons in the
Trinity. For Lent, the Church gives us almost a slogan—Prayer, Fasting and
Almsgiving—as the three things we need to work on during the season.
2.
It’s a time of prayer. As we pray, we go on a journey over 40 days,
one that hopefully brings us closer to Christ and leaves us changed by the
encounter with him.
3.
It’s a time to fast. With the fasts of Ash Wednesday and Good
Friday, meatless Fridays, and our personal disciplines interspersed, Lent is
the only time many Catholics these days actually fast. And maybe that’s why it
gets all the attention. “What are you giving up for Lent? Hotdogs? Beer? Jellybeans?”
It’s almost a game for some of us, but fasting is actually a form of penance,
which helps us turn away from sin and toward Christ.
4.
It’s a time to work on discipline. Set time to work on personal
discipline in general. Instead of giving something up, it can be doing
something positive. “I’m going to exercise more. I’m going to pray more. I’m
going to be nicer to my family, friends and coworkers.”
5.
It’s about dying to yourself. The more serious side of Lenten
discipline is that it’s about more than self-control – it’s about finding
aspects of yourself that are less than Christ-like and letting them die. The
suffering and death of Christ are foremost on our minds during Lent, and we
join in these mysteries by suffering, dying with Christ and being resurrected
in a purified form.
6.
Don’t do too much. It’s tempting to make Lent some ambitious period of
personal reinvention, but it’s best to keep it simple and focused. There’s a
reason the Church works on these mysteries year after year. We spend our entire
lives growing closer to God. Don’t try to cram it all in one Lent. That’s a
recipe for failure.
7.
Lent reminds us of our weakness. Of course, even when we set simple
goals for ourselves during Lent, we still have trouble keeping them. When we
fast, we realize we’re all just one meal away from hunger. Lent shows us our
weakness. This can be painful but recognizing how helpless we are makes us seek
God’s help with renewed urgency and sincerity.
8.
Be patient with yourself. When we’re confronted with our own
weakness during Lent, the temptation is to get angry and frustrated. “What a
bad person I am!” But that’s the wrong lesson. God is calling us to be patient
and to see ourselves as he does, with unconditional love.
9.
Reach out in charity. As we experience weakness and suffering during Lent,
we should be renewed in our compassion for those who are hungry, suffering or
otherwise in need. The third part of the Lenten formula is almsgiving. It’s
about more than throwing a few extra dollars in the collection plate; it’s
about reaching out to others and helping them without question as a way of
sharing the experience of God’s unconditional love.
10. Learn to love like Christ. Giving of
ourselves in the midst of our suffering and self-denial brings us closer to
loving like Christ, who suffered and poured himself out unconditionally on the
cross for all of us. Lent is a journey through the desert to the foot of the
cross on Good Friday, as we seek him out, ask his help, join in his suffering,
and learn to love like him.
Read:
Take
inspiration for your Lenten journey from prayer and the reading of Scripture,
from fasting and from giving alms. – Lent is essentially an act of prayer
spread out over 40 days. As we pray, we are brought closer to Christ and are
changed by the encounter with him. Fasting – The fasting that we all do
together on Fridays is but a sign of the daily Lenten discipline of individuals
and households: fasting for certain periods of time, fasting from certain
foods, but also fasting from other things and activities. Almsgiving – The
giving of alms is an effort to share this world equally—not only through the
distribution of money, but through the sharing of our time and talents.
Reflect:
“Even
now, says the LORD, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting, and
weeping, and mourning” (Joel 2:12, Lectionary)
Pray:
As
we begin Lent, we pray for the strength to commit ourselves to prayer, fasting,
and almsgiving so that we may grow to love God more each day.
Act:
Have
you picked up your Catholic Relief Services Rice Bowl for Lent this year? Make
a commitment to dropping in spare change every day. Another way to give alms today is by giving
to the National Collection for the Church in Central and Eastern Europe.
This
prayer is designed to be said within the family before a Crucifix from Ash
Wednesday to Saturday at the beginning of Lent.
Prayer
Mother or a child: From the words of
St. John the Evangelist (14:1-6).
Let not your
hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's
house there are many mansions. Were it not so, I would have told you, because I
go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I am
coming again, and I will take you to myself, that where I am, there you also
may be. And where I go, you know, and the way you know.
Father: We ought to glory
in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
Family: in whom is our salvation, life and
resurrection.
Father: Let us pray.
Grant to your faithful, Lord, a spirit generous enough to begin these solemn
fasts with proper fervor and to pursue them with steadfast devotion. This we
ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Family: Amen. Favor this dwelling, Lord,
with your presence. Far from it repulse all the wiles of Satan. Your holy
angels—let them live here, to keep us in peace. And may your blessing remain
always upon us. This we ask of you through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son.
Father: Let us bless the
Lord.
Family: Thanks be to God.
Father: May the almighty
and merciful Lord, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless and keep us.
Family: Amen.
Prayer Source: Holy Lent by
Eileen O'Callaghan, The Liturgical Press, Collegeville, Minnesota, 1975
A
Practical Guide to Fasting
Fasting
– a word we normally reserve for Lent. Once Easter comes, we box it up and
package it away until the next Lent. Yet this should not be so among Catholic
men. A while ago, Sam discussed the great benefits of fasting.
Now
you may be thinking … Fasting sounds great, but where do I start? … Let’s
take some time to look at the basics of fasting well.
Preparation: It is important to develop a strategy
before beginning to fast. This starts with setting a realistic goal. For
example, you should start simple, such as a bread and water fast for one meal,
one day a week. Also, select your fast day. I recommend Wednesday or Friday, as
these are the two traditional Catholic days to fast, commemorating Jesus’
betrayal and crucifixion. As you grow in fasting discipline, you could increase
your fast to multiple meals on fast day or even multiple days a week.
Water: Water helps purify our bodies of toxins,
while providing only the basic hydration we need to survive. When fasting, make
sure to bring a water bottle with you throughout the day and drink frequently
to stay hydrated. One temptation may be to slip in a cup of coffee or soft
drink during the day. However, stay strong against this temptation. The bread
and water will satisfy your basic needs even if they do not bring the comfort
of your favorite food or beverage.
Fasting Bread
Taken
from Sr. Emmanuels' book[8], "Healing and Liberation Through Fasting". This bread is very hearty and really sustains one who chooses
to fast on bread and water.
3
cups white flour
4 cups wheat flour
1 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
2 cups of very hot water
1 beaten egg
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar or Honey
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of butter
1 cup Raisins (or fresh apple peeled and cut)
1 cup Almonds or Walnuts
1 cup Plain Oats
4 cups wheat flour
1 pkg dry yeast
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
2 cups of very hot water
1 beaten egg
1 Tablespoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Sugar or Honey
2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 teaspoon of butter
1 cup Raisins (or fresh apple peeled and cut)
1 cup Almonds or Walnuts
1 cup Plain Oats
In a
medium sized bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup lukewarm water. Cover with a plate
and wait a few minutes until bubbly. In a large bowl, combine the flours. Make
a well in the flour and add the yeast mixture. Mix a bit.
Reusing
the now empty medium bowl, combine Salt, Sugar, Butter, Oil, Raisins, Nuts, 1
beaten egg, and the two cups of very hot water. Pour this over the yeast
mixture. Mix/knead the dough, adding flour and or water as needed.
Knead
the dough until it comes clean from the bowl. Cover with a plate or towel and
let it rise ten minutes. (I often skip this step and the bread still tastes
fine) Knead it again until it has spring to it. Place in well-greased bowl and
cover, letting it rise until doubled in size, 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending
on room temp.
Form
into desired shapes. This will make two large or three medium loaves. Place in
greased pan. Brush the top with remaining egg (if you did not use it in recipe)
and sprinkle with sesame seeds, oats or poppy seeds, if desired.
Bake
at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, until done and golden brown.
Bread: Selecting the proper fasting bread is
crucial to a successful fast. Since the typical bread we eat is processed and
devoid of most nutritional value, I recommend the bread made by the group, Live the Fast. As a bonus, if you are a priest, seminarian or religious, they
will send you bread free! Their bread is all-natural. They bake the bread,
freeze it, and then ship it to your home along with a booklet of fasting
instructions. Once you receive it, you place it in the freezer. On fast day,
you take the bread out of the freezer and heat it in the oven for a few minutes. The bread is filling
but austere; to give the one fasting the nutrition needed to complete the day’s
tasks and nothing more.
Prayer: While you are heating up the bread, grab
a notebook and write down your prayer intentions for the day. Maybe a friend
has lost a job, a relative is sick, or someone has asked for your prayers. Keep
the list with you and offer up prayers for these people throughout the day. After
the bread is finished baking, take it out of the oven, say a prayer and then
eat your first piece. As you go throughout the day, look for extra
opportunities to pray, especially during mealtimes. Maybe you could attend
daily Mass or stop to visit the Blessed Sacrament during your lunch break.
Intentional prayer during fasting helps remind us that fasting is not purely an
ascetical practice. We forgo food to grow closer to God, not to show how tough
we can be on our bodies. The hunger we experience while fasting instills in us
the truth that nothing in this world can satisfy us but God alone.
Temptations: You will undergo many temptations while
you fast, so stay close to God in prayer. One may be to boast to your friends
about how great you are for fasting. Jesus warned us in the Gospel that those
kinds of people are hypocrites. The purpose of fasting is to draw us closer to
Christ, not draw others closer to us for our own greatness. Another temptation
may be free food. Just like during Lent when meat becomes more available and
appealing on Fridays, expect more temptations to eat during the fast. A
co-worker may offer you a snack or tell you about some leftovers from a
department’s lunch in the break room. Stay vigilant against these temptations
and focus your mind on other things. The
less you think about food during the day, the easier it will be to fast.
Breaking the Fast: End your fast day with a prayer. Thank
God for the day and then prepare a normal sized meal. The temptation can be to
gorge yourself with food after eating less during the day, but this is not
beneficial. Eat your meal slowly and mindfully. Thank God for the gift of food
and the grace he gave you to fast well. Just like any other habit, fasting can
be difficult to begin and you may want to quit. You will have days where you
fast well and others where you give into hunger easily. Do not be discouraged
but persevere! God has great graces for those who fast and will help draw near
to him those who seek him through the discipline of fasting.
“Fasting
purifies the soul. It lifts up the mind, and it brings the body into
subjection to the spirit. It makes the heart contrite and humble, scatters
the clouds of desire, puts out the flames of lust and enkindles the true light
of chastity.” (St. Augustine)
What the Grand Canyon tells us about God[9]
Many years ago, I was telling my spiritual director that I found it easiest to pray in a beautiful garden, and I was warming to my sense of myself as a contemplative. The wise Dominican asked with disarming candor: “But are you in the garden, or is the garden in you?” It took a long time even to realize what the question meant. I remember another similarly disarming question at the very beginning of my adult search for God. I was an undergraduate and took myself to a Benedictine monastery for a few days’ retreat in Lent. I was captivated by the silence, prayer and retreat from the world, swept up in the chant and the romance of monastic life. What I did not realize was that I was attracted to it as something that would make it less painful to be what I thought I was – something I needed for my religious amour-propre. Thus, many searches for God begin, but one can only search for God because he has already found you. What must happen is that someone else must put a belt around you and lead you where you would rather not go. It is not the intensity of the search, but of the willingness to be led that is ultimately the measure of vocation. Vocation is not finding the garden in you, it is finding yourself in the garden.
Perhaps the wise abbot sensed this. Anyway, I remember being rather discombobulated by his direct manner. As I emoted about the spiritual life, he looked at me carefully and asked: “Is God real to you?” It was like a torpedo below the waterline of all my high-sounding talk about my attraction to the monastic life versus secular priesthood, the script I was busy constructing of an encounter with the living God in which I remained firmly the star. The best answer I could manage was: “I think so.” In the moment of asking I doubted it, or rather I realized suddenly that so much of what I thought was God wasn’t actually God. It was the paraphernalia of God, of religion. (In fact, the moment wasn’t too confounding, for soon there came another answer from deep inside: “He’s real to me in the Blessed Sacrament.” There – perhaps because, as Aquinas put it, “Sight, touch and taste in thee are each deceived” – I couldn’t confuse feeling for the reality. I realized that I had been given something to work with.) All of this came to mind when I visited the Grand Canyon at the end of my trip to America. What’s the connection? One may grasp what one might call the paraphernalia of the Grand Canyon. It was formed by billions of years of imperceptibly slow change, of almost every possible kind of geological activity: sediment layering, tectonic plates shifting, glaciers melting and rivers carving a gorge a mile and a half deep into solid rock. These are processes that can be mapped and understood, but the result overwhelms the sum and the mind of man. Its astonishing, ancient beauty can only be contemplated – that is, it must act on you, overwhelm your mind with its four-billion-year-old scale, stillness and silence which is in constant change. Spontaneously, the words of the psalmist rose from my heart at the breathtaking sight: “Before the mountains or the hills were brought forth, you are God, without beginning or end.” Contemplation always involves knowledge of one’s true scale, of a reality that dwarfs the ego. As if this were not enough, as the sun set, the sky above came alive with stars. I have never seen so many or so clearly. They were like the lights of some vast celestial city calling, a million points of light and security like some distant homeland, like the medieval fantasy that the stars were rents in the sky through which one could see the light of heaven. To count them I must be eternal, like God. The psalmist said: “When I see the heavens, the work of your hands, the moon and stars which you have made, what is man, that thou art mindful of him?” And the answer comes back that in Jesus Christ the Father has united himself to the heart of every person in such a way that the vastness of the universe becomes an image not of alienation, but of the vastness of a love that was there before the hills were set in order. This love causes even rocks to exude a soft beauty which seems like the desire of the Eternal Hills for the Heart of their maker.
Freeing My Own Self from the Power of Evil
·
Through
his passion, death, and resurrection, Jesus has broken the power of the Evil
One. When the influence of evil is perceived in one's own life, it most
frequently comes about from personal sin. Family members suffer because of the
sin of an individual member of the family. It is through the sacred power that
the Lord has placed in his Church that the evil of sin is conquered.
·
Through
medicine, psychology and other human means, suffering can often be alleviated.
But Jesus in his Church, has given us basic helps that are often neglected.
·
In
our day the Sacrament of Reconciliation has fallen into disuse. There exists a
power in this sacrament to break the power of the Evil One and sin that is not
possible otherwise.
·
Our
faith in the Eucharist is weakened. In this sacrament is the power and presence
of Jesus Himself. Persons who have actually needed exorcism from the power of
the Evil One have been cured by sitting in church in the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament, an hour each day, for one or two months. These were very
difficult cases.
·
Our
Blessed Mother has been designated by God as the one who crushes the head of
the serpent (Gen. 3:1s). The Rosary is a very powerful means of protection and
salvation. Many sons and daughters have been saved from the power of sin and
the loss of faith through the perseverance of their parents in saying the Holy
Rosary.
Daily
Devotions
·
Manhood of the Master-Day 18
[1]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896
[5]http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/journey-to-the-foot-of-the-cross-10-things-to-remember-for-lent.cfm
[6]
http://www.usccb.org/prayer-and-worship/liturgical-year/lent/march-6.cfm
[9]http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/issues/february-27th-2015/what-the-grand-canyon-tells-us-about-god/
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