DAY 5 - MOTHER OF DIVINE GRACE, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE GIFT OF PRUDENCE!
GOD'S WORD
"The simple believe anything, but the prudent give thought to their steps." (Proverbs 14:15)
HEROES' WORDS
"The prudent man considers things afar off, in so far as they tend to be a help or a hindrance to that which has to be done at the present time." -St. Thomas Aquinas
MEDITATION
Human virtues are firm attitudes, stable dispositions, habitual perfections of intellect and will that govern our actions, order our passions, and guide our conduct according to reason and faith. They make possible ease, self-mastery, and joy in leading a morally good life. The virtuous man is he who freely practices the good (CCC 1804). Four virtues play a pivotal role and accordingly are called "cardinal"; all the others are grouped around them. They are: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance. "If anyone loves righteousness, [Wisdom's] labors are virtues; for she teaches temperance and prudence, justice, and courage." These virtues are praised under other names in many passages of Scripture (CCC 1805).
Prudence is the virtue that disposes practical reason to discern our true good in every circumstance and to choose the right means of achieving it; "the prudent man looks where he is going." "Keep sane and sober for your prayers." Prudence is "right reason in action," writes St. Thomas Aquinas, following Aristotle. It is not to be confused with timidity or fear, nor with duplicity or dissimulation. It is called auriga virtutum (the charioteer of the virtues); it guides the other virtues by setting rule and measure. It is prudence that immediately guides the judgment of conscience. The prudent man determines and directs his conduct in accordance with this judgment. With the help of this virtue we apply moral principles to particular cases without error and overcome doubts about the good to achieve and the evil to avoid (CCC 1806).
PRAY A ROSARY
Choose either:
Rosary of the Day: Sorrowful Mysteries
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: May truth be revealed, and may America and the Catholic Church become strong in God's power. - Ephesians 6:10
Please consider adding these prayers, until the election is called (more information HERE):
Fr. Ripperger's Recommended Prayers for
Breaking Oppression and Sending Back Evil
Until the Election is Called
Consecration of One's Exterior Goods to the Blessed Virgin Mary
(This prayer is particularly useful for breaking various forms of oppression. By relinquishing what belongs to us into the hands of the Blessed Virgin, Satan cannot touch them. This is a strong prayer of protection on you and yours):
I; (Name), a faithless sinner, renew and ratify today in thy hands the vows of my Baptism; I renounce forever Satan, his pomps and works; and I give myself entirely to Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Wisdom, to carry my cross after Him all the days of my life, and to be more faithful to Him than I have ever been before. In the presence of all the heavenly court, I choose thee, O Mary, this day for my Mother and Mistress. Knowing that I have received rights over all my exterior goods by the promulgation of the Natural Law by the Divine Author, I deliver and consecrate to thee, as thy slave, all of my exterior goods, past, present and future; I relinquish into thy hands, my Heavenly Mother, all rights over my exterior goods, including our President, the fairness, honesty and accuracy of the outcome of the election, and our country and I retain for myself no right of disposing the goods that come to me but leave to thee the entire and full right of disposing of all that belongs to me, without exception, according to thy good pleasure, for the greater glory of God in time and in eternity. As I now interiorly relinquish what belongs to me exteriorly into thy hands, I entrust to thee the protection of those exterior goods against the evil one, so that, knowing that they now belong to thee, he cannot touch them. Receive, O good and pious Virgin, this little offering of what little is, in honor of, and in union with, that subjection which the Eternal Wisdom deigned to have to Thy maternity; in homage to the power which both of You have over this poor sinner, and in thanksgiving for the privileges with which the Holy Trinity has favored thee. Trusting in the providential care of God the Father and thy maternal care, I have full confidence that thou wilst take care of me as to the necessities of this life and will not leave me forsaken. God the Father, increase my trust in Thy Son's Mother; Our Lady of Fair Love, give me perfect confidence in the providence of Thy Son. Amen.
Sending Evil Back
(Fr. Chad Ripperger comments that the following prayer may appear harsh, in that it seems to seek evil befall on another, yet it is meant to expose evil and to teach that evil does not win. And, in fact, choosing evil will, eventually, lead to bad repercussions)
Jesus and Mary, I ask that if it be Your Holy Will, that any curses or evil sent against the President or the election process be sent back from whence they came.
Also, today is a waning crescent moon. Please pray this "Lorica Prayer for Protection" for the President (see HERE)
All of the daily Novena Prayers and Reflections are also posted at usgraceforce.com
Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern
MOTHER
CABRINI
1 Corinthians,
Chapter 14, Verse 32-33
32 Indeed, the spirits of prophets
are under the prophets’ control, 33 since he is not the God of
disorder but of PEACE.
Peace is not maintained in
anarchy. Paul is expressing the need for order in church meetings and for rules
of order. Paul concludes with specific directives regarding exercise of the
gifts in their assemblies and enunciates the basic criterion in the use of any
gift: it must contribute to “building up.”
He that hesitates is lost. Yet, to
act to quickly is also to be rash. Paul wrote to bring order to a church in
chaos. Like our modern world churches can be in chaos when there is no
leadership. The Corinthian’s were abusing their gifts and calling attention to
themselves rather than to Christ. Paul therefore suggests for them to do
everything “decently and in order.” John Maxwell submits that there is a
leadership lesson that can bring peace to chaos.
1.Identify and pursue your top priorities (v.1).
2.Seek to practice what will benefit the most people
(v.2-12).
3.Communicate clearly (v. 7-8).
4.See things through the eyes of an outsider (v. 23-25).
5.Order activities simply for the purpose of adding value
to others (v. 26-33).
6.Make sure everything is done in an appropriate manner
(v. 40).
Mother
Cabrini, the Saint of Italians in America[2]
Frances
Xavier Cabrini, born in the province of Lodi in Lombardy, eventually came to
the United States toward the end of the nineteenth century. It was due to total
serendipity that she became the saint for Italian immigrants in this country.
It is also a sweet paradox that she, from the north, arrived during the great
wave of southern Italian emigration to the United States. Having taken her vows
in 1877, three years later she and six other nuns founded the religious
institute Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. As we read earlier,
wanting to provide help to immigrants beginning in the U.S., Pope Leo XIII
suggested instead that she go west, where, according to him, the already
thousands of Italian immigrants in the U.S. were in great need of assistance.
Mother Cabrini and six others arrived in the United States in 1889 and hit the
ground running, so to speak. As they did in Italy, here, too, Mother Cabrini
and her team founded the requisite housing, a series of schools and orphanages,
and the necessary hospitals that chiefly served the Italian immigrant
communities. Actions supported by the Church, for sure, but actions also
emblematic of what Italians can do in order to help other Italians in need.
In
all, they founded close to 70 institutions of all types in numerous cities
throughout the United States — Chicago and New York the two principal cities
associated with Mother Cabrini today, as well as Cabrini College in
Pennsylvania. Undoubtedly, Mother Cabrini was an exemplar of all things
possible and thus a symbol of hope for all. She herself had crossed the ocean
in 1889 and, in so doing, had followed the same route that thousands of other
immigrants had and were taking. Privileged as she was in her role as nun — and
let us underscore at this juncture her gender — she was a woman of great
acumen, having succeeded in overcoming great obstacles of the time and
demonstrating how all things were possible. In this sense, then, she was also
an example of how one can get things done and, more important, how we can still
today — and let us say should — open doors for all people who are in need of
such assistance.
Her
legacy clearly lives on both within and beyond the Italian/ American community.
Italian Americans continue to serve and donate to many Catholic and social institutions
today, at times even beyond. If there is one thing to bemoan, it is that her
medical institutions of New York — Columbus Hospital and the Italian Hospital,
which eventually became the Cabrini Medical Center — could not be sustained and
consequently closed in 2008. Nonetheless, Mother Cabrini remains that shining
light not only for all those whom she helped, but to be sure, that exemplar par
excellence that we, today, should emulate for the dedication so necessary to
get things done for the better good.
·Prepare an Italian dinner in honor of St. Francis
Cabrini. For dessert make a ship cake (symbolizing her missionary work), a
heart cake (she founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart) or a Book
Cake (symbolizing her founding a religious order).
Purgatory is not eternal. Its duration varies according to
the sentence pronounced at each particular judgment. It may be prolonged for
centuries in the case of the guiltier souls, or of those who, being excluded
from the Catholic communion, are deprived of the suffrages of the Church,
although by the divine mercy they have escaped hell. But the end of the world,
which will be also the end of time, will close forever the place of temporary
expiation. God will know how to reconcile His justice and His goodness in the
purification of the last members of the human race, and to supply by the
intensity of the expiatory suffering what may be wanting in duration. But,
whereas a favorable sentence at the particular judgment admits of eternal
beatitude being suspended and postponed and leaves the bodies of the elect to
the same fate as those of the reprobate; at the universal judgment, every
sentence, whether for heaven or for hell, will be absolute, and will be
executed immediately and completely.
Let us, then, live in expectation of the solemn hour, when
"the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God." He that is to come
will come, and will not delay, as the Doctor of the Gentiles reminds us; His
arrival will be sudden, as that of a thief, we are told, not only by St. Paul,
but also by the prince of the apostles and the beloved disciple; and these in
turn are but echoing the words of our Lord Himself: "As lightning cometh
out of the east and appears even unto the west: so shall also the coming of the
Son of Man be."
Things to Do
·Say a prayer for the Poor Souls; for instance,
recite the Little Litany of the Holy Souls.
·Offer up some small sacrifice for the relief of
the most abandoned soul. "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to
pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins" (Mc. 12:46).
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