NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Start March 12 to December 12

Total Consecration to St. Joseph

Total Consecration to St. Joseph
Total Consecration to St. Joseph-Day 31

Saint's Michael's Lent Day 40

Saint's Michael's Lent Day 40
August 15-Sep 29

Featured Post

Saturday, December 7, 2024

  Vinny’s Corner- Go to Mass First Saturday   ·           Catholic Prayer: Novena to the Immaculate Conception ·           Saturday Litany o...

Saturday, August 15, 2020

Sunday, August 16, 2020

 RUM DAY


DAY 2 - HOLY MOTHER OF GOD, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE VIRTUE OF FAITH!

GOD'S WORD
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1)
HEROES' WORDS
"To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible." -Attributed to St. Thomas Aquinas
MEDITATION
The theological virtues are the foundation of Christian moral activity; they animate it and give it its special character. They inform and give life to all the moral virtues. They are infused by God into the souls of the faithful to make them capable of acting as his children and of meriting eternal life. They are the pledge of the presence and action of the Holy Spirit in the faculties of the human being. There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity (CCC 1813). Faith is the theological virtue by which we believe in God and believe all that he has said and revealed to us, and that Holy Church proposes for our belief, because he is truth itself.

By faith "man freely commits his entire self to God." For this reason the believer seeks to know and do God's will. "The righteous shall live by faith." Living faith "work[s] through charity" (CCC 1814). "Our faith must be complete. We completely submit our intellect and will to God. Our faith therefore illuminates our daily life. Our fallen race inherits from its first parents a propensity to sin, but our constant objective must be to live as Holy Mother Church teaches. We seek to live by the theological and cardinal virtues. We consciously avoid the seven capital sins. We go to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day if possible, or every Sunday at minimum. We go to Confession every month if possible. We do all this because we have faith that the Catholic Church has Christ's authority to teach us how to prepare for heaven."
PRAY A ROSARY
Choose either:
  1. Rosary of the Day: Glorious Mysteries
  2. Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Sorrowful Mysteries
PRAYERS FOR TRADITIONAL 54 DAY NOVENA

THE SORROWFUL MYSTERIES OF THE HOLY ROSARY

Prayer before the recitation: Sign of the cross. Hail Mary.

In petition (first 27 days): Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I humbly kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses, blood red roses to remind thee of the passion of thy divine Son, with Whom thou didst so fully partake of its bitterness, each rose recalling to thee a holy mystery, each 10 bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, dispenser of God's graces, and Mother of all who invoke thee! Thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my petition; from thy bounty thou wilt give me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly seek. I despair of nothing that I ask of thee. Show thyself my Mother!

In thanksgiving (last 27 days): Hail, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, my Mother Mary, hail! At thy feet I gratefully kneel to offer thee a Crown of Roses blood red roses to remind thee of the passion of thy divine Son, with Whom thou didst so fully partake of its bitterness each rose recalling to thee a holy mystery; each ten bound together with my petition for a particular grace. O Holy Queen, dispenser of God's graces, and Mother of all who invoke thee! Thou canst not look upon my gift and fail to see its binding. As thou receivest my gift, so wilt thou receive my thanksgiving; from thy bounty thou hast given me the favor I so earnestly and trustingly sought. I despaired not of what I asked of thee, and thou hast truly shown thyself my Mother.

Say: The Apostles' Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

The Agony in the Garden - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these blood red roses with a petition for the virtue of resignation to the will of God and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Scourging at the Pillar - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these blood red roses with a petition for the virtue of mortification and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Crowning with Thorns - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these blood red roses with a petition for the virtue of humility and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Carrying of the Cross - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these blood red roses with a petition for the virtue of patience in adversity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

The Crucifixion - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these blood red roses with a petition for the virtue of love of our enemies and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

Say: The Hail Holy Queen.

Spiritual Communion: My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You. Amen.

In petition (first 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this spiritual communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow. O my Mother! Look with favor upon my gift, and in thy love obtain for me (specify request, see below). Hail Mary ...

In thanksgiving (last 27 days): Sweet Mother Mary, I offer thee this Spiritual Communion to bind my bouquets in a wreath to place upon thy brow in thanksgiving for (specify request, see below) which thou in thy love hast obtained for me. Hail, Mary, etc.

PETITION: For the protection and provision for the USA and the world. Mary, Queen of Peace, pray for us!


All of the daily Novena Prayers and Reflections are also posted at usgraceforce.com



Luke, Chapter 9, Verse 44-45

44 “Pay attention to what I am telling you. The Son of Man is to be handed over to men.” 45 But they did not understand this saying; its meaning was hidden from them so that they should not understand it, and they were AFRAID to ask him about this saying.

 

The apostles were so caught up with the glory of Christ and their own dreams of power that they dared not look at the truth.

 

We often prefer to live in fantasy rather than face the present and see what is really going on.

 

We like the apostles must “Pay Attention.” We must be mindful of others and support them where we can.

 

We must check in with others, exercise forgiveness and engage in service to others. (first to our families, charity begins at home-there should be no orphans in your family).

 

Amoris Lætitia[1] Looking to Jesus: The Vocation of the Family-Jesus restores and fulfills God’s plan (61-65)

 

Contrary to those who rejected marriage as evil, the New Testament teaches that “everything created by God is good and nothing is to be rejected.” Marriage is “a gift” from the Lord. At the same time, precisely because of this positive understanding, the New Testament strongly emphasizes the need to safeguard God’s gift: “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled.” This divine gift includes sexuality: “Do not refuse one another.”

 

God’s original plan for man and woman, reaffirmed the indissoluble union between them, even stating that ‘it was for your hardness of heart that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so’ (Mt 19:8). The indissolubility of marriage – ‘what God has joined together, let no man put asunder’ (Mt 19:6) – should not be viewed as a ‘yoke’ imposed on humanity, but as a ‘gift’ granted to those who are joined in marriage… God’s indulgent love always accompanies our human journey; through grace, it heals and transforms hardened hearts, leading them back to the beginning through the way of the cross.

 

Through his Church, Christ bestows on marriage and the family the grace necessary to bear witness to the love of God and to live the life of communion. The Gospel of the family spans the history of the world, from the creation of man and woman in the image and likeness of God (cf. Gen 1:26-27), to the fulfillment of the mystery of the covenant in Christ at the end of time with the marriage of the Lamb (cf. Rev 19:9).”

 

He began his public ministry with the miracle at the wedding feast of Cana (cf. Jn 2:1-11). In this way he demonstrated the true meaning of mercy, which entails the restoration of the covenant (cf. John Paul II, Dives in Misericordia, 4). We need to enter into the mystery of Jesus’ birth, into that “yes” given by Mary to the message of the angel, when the Word was conceived in her womb. We need to contemplate the joy of the shepherds before the manger. We need to contemplate the religious expectation of Zechariah and his joy at the birth of John the Baptist. We then need to peer into those thirty long years when Jesus earned his keep by the work of his hands, reciting the traditional prayers and expressions of his people’s faith and coming to know that ancestral faith until he made it bear fruit in the mystery of the Kingdom. This is the mystery of Christmas and the secret of Nazareth, exuding the beauty of family life!

 

Eleventh Sunday after Pentecost[2]

 

Daily dying to our sins and rising to new life in Christ.

AT the Introit of the Mass, with the priest, pray God for brotherly love, and for protection against enemies, within and without. God, in His holy place; God, Who maketh men of one mind to dwell in a house, He shall give power and strength to His people. Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered; and let them that hate Him flee before His face (Ps. Ixvii.).

Prayer. almighty and everlasting God, Who in the abundance of Thy mercy dost exceed the desires and deserts of Thy suppliants, pour forth Thy mercy upon us, that Thou mayest forgive what our conscience fears, and grant what our prayer does not presume to ask.

EPISTLE, i. Cor. xv. 1-10.

I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you have received, and wherein you stand, by which also you are saved: if you hold fast after what manner I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received: how that Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures: and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day, according to the Scriptures: and that He was seen by Cephas, and after that by the eleven. Then was He seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, of whom many remain until this present, and some are fallen asleep. After that He was seen by James, then by all the apostles: and last of all, He was seen also by me as by one born out of due time. For I am the least of the apostles, who am not worthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace in me hath not been void.

Explanation. This epistle teaches us that as the holy apostle Paul was not elated with vanity by the revelations he had received from God, but rather felt himself unworthy of them, ascribing it to God’s grace that he was what he was, even so the truly humble man thinks little of himself, is willing to be despised by others, and gives glory to God alone. Such humility is a most difficult lesson to our sensual nature. But are we not sinners, and far greater sinners, than St. Paul was? and shall we then esteem ourselves highly? And granting that we have not to reproach ourselves with any great sins, and have even done much good, is it not presumption and robbery to claim for ourselves what belongs to grace? Let us learn, therefore, to be humble, and to count ourselves always unprofitable servants.

Aspiration. O most humble Savior, banish from my heart the spirit of pride, and impart to me the most necessary grace of humility. Give me grace to know that, of myself, I can do nothing that is pleasing to Thee, that all my sufficiency for good comes from Thee, and that Thou workest in us both to will and to accomplish (n. Cor. iii. 5; Phil. ii. 13).

 

GOSPEL Mark vii 31-37


 

At that time, Jesus, going out of the coasts of Tyre, came by Sidon to the Sea of Galilee, through the midst of the coasts of Decapolis. And they bring to Him one deaf and dumb: and they besought Him that He would lay His hand upon him. And taking him from the multitude apart, He put His fingers into his ears, and spitting, He touched his tongue: and looking up to heaven, He groaned, and said to him: Ephpheta, which is, Be thou opened. And immediately his ears were opened, and the string of his tongue was loosed, and he spokeright. And He charged them that they should tell no man. But the more He charged them, so much the more a great deal did they publish it: and so much the more did they wonder, saying: He hath done all things well; He hath made both the deaf to hear, and the dumb to speak.

 

Who among Christians are like the deaf and dumb of this gospel?  Those who are deaf to the voice of God, and dumb in prayer, in the praise of God, in the defense of religion, and of the good name of their neighbor, and in confessing their sins.

 

Why did Christ take the deaf and dumb man aside? Because He did not seek the praise of men, and at the sametime was loath to provoke too soon the hatred of His enemies.

 

Why did Jesus put His fingers into the ears of the deaf and dumb, and spitting, touched his tongue? To show this unfortunate person by signs that it was He Who freed him from his bodily evils, and that the healing power was not the consequence of secretly given remedies but proceeded immediately from Himself.

 

Why did Jesus look up to heaven and groan?

 

1. To show that He acted not as mere man, but that He had received all power from His eternal Father.

 

2. That He might thereby awaken and animate the deaf and dumb man to confidence in His power and belief in His divine mission. Learn hence to practice the beautiful virtue of compassion for others sufferings, and to acknowledge that every good gift is from above.

 

Why did Christ charge them that they should tell no man? That we might learn not to seek the praise of men for our good deeds. Let us learn to make known the works of God to His glory; for He is continually working before our eyes everyday so many wonders, in order that we may praise His benignity and omnipotence.

 

Aspiration: O Jesus, great physician of souls, open mine ears to attend to Thy holy will; loosen my tongue to proclaim and praise forever Thy love and goodness.

 

Total Consecration to St. Joseph-Day 28[3]

On Day 28 Father Calloway relays that St. Joseph was not only a comfort to his family; he was in fact a comfort to his neighbors for Jewish law required:

“You shall love your neighbor as yourself” appears in the Bible for the first time in Leviticus 19:18. In Hebrew, v’ahavta l’re’akha kamokha (v’a-HAHV-tah l’RAY’ah-KHA Kah-MOE-kha). The verse ends with, “Ani Adonai” (Ah-NEE Ah-doe-NYE, actually Ani יהוה). It is as if God signs His signature to the command to love one’s neighbor as oneself, to give it special emphasis. We are to do to others as we would wish them to do to us.[4]

Lord, have mercy. 
Christ, have mercy
Lord, have mercy. 
Christ, hear us. 
Christ, graciously hear us. 

God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.

God the Son, Redeemer of the world, Have mercy on us.

God the Holy Spirit have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.

Saint Joseph, Pray for Us.

Noble offspring of David, Pray for Us.

Light of Patriarchs, Pray for Us.

Spouse of the Mother of God, Pray for Us.

Chaste Guardian of the Virgin, Pray for Us.

Foster Father of the Son of God, Pray for Us.

Zealous Defender of Christ, Pray for Us.

Head of the Holy family, Pray for Us.

Joseph Most Just, Pray for Us.

Joseph Most Chaste, Pray for Us

Joseph Most Prudent, Pray for Us.

Joseph Most Courageous, Pray for Us.

Joseph Most Obedient, Pray for Us.

Joseph Most Faithful, Pray for Us.

Mirror of Patience, Pray for Us.

Lover of Poverty, Pray for Us.

Model of Workmen, Pray for Us.

Glory of Domestic Life, Pray for Us.

Guardian of Virgins, Pray for Us.

Pillar of Families, Pray for us. 

Comfort of the Afflicted, Pray for Us. 

Joseph still cares for his neighbor of which you are one. 

·         Saint Joseph will comfort you in difficult times. 

Joseph wants you to know that neither he nor God will ever abandon you. From the Torah Joseph knew: 

·         Exodus 15: 1-3

 Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the LORD: I will sing to the LORD, for he is gloriously triumphant; horse and chariot he has cast into the sea. My strength and my refuge is the LORD and he has become my savior. This is my God, I praise him; the God of my father, I extol him. The LORD is a warrior; LORD is his name!

·         Deuteronomy 31:6

Be strong and steadfast; have no fear or dread of them, for it is the LORD, your God, who marches with you; he will never fail you or forsake you.

·         Joshua 1:9

I command you: be strong and steadfast! Do not fear nor be dismayed, for the LORD, your God, is with you wherever you go.

·         Nehemiah 8:10

He continued: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD is your strength!”

·         Habakkuk 3:19

GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.

·         Psalm 9:10-11

LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. Those who know your name trust in you; you never forsake those who seek you, LORD.

·         Psalm 27:1-3

The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom should, I fear? The LORD is my life’s refuge; of whom should I be afraid? When evildoers come at me to devour my flesh, these my enemies and foes themselves stumble and fall. Though an army encamp against me, my heart does not fear; Though war be waged against me, even then do I trust.

Pious Union of St. Joseph[5]

Joseph was a person of hope. He trusted in God, even in times of uncertainty and suffering, and he has been consoled by the presence of Jesus, the Son of God and his foster son, and Mary, his wife, and Mother of Our Lord. He shared his life, feelings, his whole being with them; they were the source of his strength, faith and courage. Jesus and Mary were with St. Joseph at the hour of his death.

Saint Louis Guanella, priest (1842 – 1915), was deeply devoted to St. Joseph and expressed an unconditional trust in his intercession.

Under the protection of Pope St. Pius X, who sponsored his project, Fr. Guanella began in 1909 to build a church in Rome, named for St. Joseph and dedicated on March 19, 1912. Today it is a Minor Basilica.

When the construction was complete, he confided to St. Pius X his desire to establish an association of devotees to St. Joseph, who pray each day for his intercession for the benefit of the suffering and dying. “Your idea has been inspired by God,” said the Pope. “We ourselves wanted to suggest it to you. We will be the first to be enrolled in this great Crusade of prayer.”

Canonically recognized on February 12, 1914, the Pious Union of St. Joseph for the Salvation of the Dying was declared a “Primary Confraternity” by Pope St. Pius X. wrote: “We desire to make known how much we appreciate this most praiseworthy Association and we wish our name to be the first inscribed among the members of the same, exhorting all our dear Brothers in the priesthood not to forget the dying each day in the Divine Sacrifice. We, likewise, exhort all the faithful, and especially Religious, to accustom themselves to raise up special prayers to God and to St. Joseph in favor of the dying”

Fr. Guanella felt deeply, “there is a need to live well, but there is even a greater need to die well. A peaceful death is everything, especially today when people value only material things and earthly enjoyments, rejecting eternal values.”

Members of the Pious Union of St Joseph honor St. Joseph on his Feast Day, March 19th, and every Wednesday. We rely on his intercession to aid us all as we pass from this world.  We pray to him every day asking for his intercession for the dying while sacrificing and offering our good works for their benefit.

Membership is without charge. A free-will offering when enrolling and an annual stipend accomplishes many good works but is not a requirement of membership. The sole commitment of membership is to pray every day to St. Joseph for the benefit of the suffering and dying, trusting in his intercession while praying the short and powerful prayer of the Pious Union.

If you wish to become a member of the Pious Union of St. Joseph, first search your heart before making a promise to pray each day to St Joseph for all those who will die that day.

Pray the Litany of St. Joseph.

Rum Day[6]

“The only way that I could figure they could improve upon Coca-Cola, one of life’s most delightful elixirs, which studies prove will heal the sick and occasionally raise the dead, is to put rum or bourbon in it.” ~ Lewis Grizzard

Rum is a fantastic drink, one that has served as the stuff of legends for pirates of every walk of life. Rum also appears in everything from dinners to desserts, with rum balls being one of our particular favorites. Of course, as the great Lewis Grizzard said, it also is an amazing mixer, and one of the only ones capable of improving Coca-Cola. So, we all know that pirates like rum and that rum is an alcoholic beverage but many of us are less than clear on what, exactly, makes rum RUM. Let’s start with the basics, shall we? Rum is a distilled alcohol, specifically distilled from byproducts of sugarcane. Some varieties are made from molasses, others from sugarcane juice but all rum, when its finished being distilled, is clear. The color you see in rum is from additives or seasonings and are not in any way a bad thing. Rum first was created in the Caribbean after it was discovered that molasses could be fermented into alcohol. Ironically, it was the slaves who made this discovery, but it was the Colonials who discovered how to distil it into true rum. So important did rum become in the years to follow that it played a major role in the political system of the colonies. How? By being offered as a bribe to those the candidates wished to curry favor with. The people thus coerced were no fools, however. They would attend multiple hustings to determine which of their patrons might provide them with the largest quantity of rum. Thus, it can be fairly said that rum was of such note that it literally decided elections.

How to Celebrate Rum Day

Yo ho ho matey! The best way to celebrate Rum Day is to indulge in this most ignoble and distinguished of drinks. A contradiction? Not at all! Rum has long had a reputation for being the devil’s drink by dint of the ease of production, the delicious flavor, and the powerful kick it carried. Rum Day is your opportunity to sample as many varieties as you like and decide which one will be coming aboard your vessel for the next pillage.

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.

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Rosary




[1] Pope Francis, Encyclical on Love.

[2]Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896.

[3]https://catholicexchange.com/now-is-the-time-to-consecrate-yourself-to-saint-joseph

[4]https://www.jewishjewels.org/blog/love-god-love-your-neighbor/

[5] http://www.piousunionofstjoseph.org/

No comments:

Post a Comment