ICEMANforChrist: Thursday, December 3, 2020

This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. By “the power of the Holy Spirit” we can be witnesses and “communicators” of a new and redeemed humanity “even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 8). This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.

Wednesday, December 2, 2020

Thursday, December 3, 2020

ATTENTION! Operation Overlord 2.0: November 30 - December 8

OPERATION OVERLORD 2.0

If God is calling you, I am asking that you add this "Operation Overlord 2.0" (see HERE) to your daily prayers, knowing December 8 could be our "make or break" moment in time. Here's how it works ...

Starting Monday, November 30, we will enter into the St. Maximillian Kolbe Nine-Day Preparation for Total Consecration
Be in a State of Grace = Go to Confession
Add whatever intense fasting, penance and mortification God is calling you to during these nine days. Renew fitness goals
On December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, we will all make our Marian Consecration (or renew it)
Dedicate yourself to wear the Miraculous Medal every day (or carry it. The Combat Rosary has the Miraculous Medal)
We call upon the intercession of the Blessed Mother, St. Michael, St. Maximillian Kolbe, Pope St. John Paul II and Mother Angelica
PETITION: May truth be revealed, and may America and the Catholic Church become strong in God's power. - Ephesians 6:10

Today is Day 4 of Operation Overlord. Prayers and Reflections found HERE.

DAY 25 - MARY, VESSEL OF HONOR, PRAY THAT WE RECEIVE THE FRUIT OF MODESTY!

GOD'S WORD

"But the Lord said to Samuel, 'Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.'" (1 Samuel 16:7)

HEROES' WORDS

"The dress of the body should not discredit the good of the soul." -St. Cyprian

"The purpose of clothing is to keep warm in winter and to cover your nakedness, not to serve your vanity." -St. Cyril of Jerusalem

MEDITATION

Purity requires modesty, an integral part of temperance. Modesty protects the intimate center of the person. It means refusing to unveil what should remain hidden. It is ordered to chastity to whose sensitivity it bears witness. It guides how one looks at others and behaves toward them in conformity with the dignity of persons and their solidarity. (CCC 2521)

PRAY A ROSARY

Choose either:

Rosary of the Day: Luminous Mysteries
Traditional 54 Day Rotation: Joyful Mysteries

PRAYERS FOR TRADITIONAL 54 DAY NOVENA

THE JOYFUL 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, snow white buds to remind thee of thy joys, each bud 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 snow white buds to remind thee of thy joys each bud 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 Annunciation - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of humility and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

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

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of charity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

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

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of detachment from the world and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

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

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of purity and humbly lay this bouquet at thy feet.

Finding the Child Jesus in the Temple - Our Father, 10 Hail Marys, Glory Be.

Concluding Prayer: I bind these snow-white buds with a petition for the virtue of obedience to the will of God 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.

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

Spanish language Novena prayers and reflections are available at https://rosarycoasttocoast.com/nfon-espanol/.

Those who would like to pray with others via The Telephone Rosary, call 1-951-799-9866 daily at 6 pm Eastern.SAINT FRANCIS XAVIER

Isaiah, Chapter 26, Verse 1-3

… “A strong city have we; he sets up victory as our walls and ramparts. ²Open up the gates that a righteous nation may enter, one that keeps faith. ³With firm purpose you maintain PEACE; in PEACE, because of our trust in you.”

This text is a mixture of praise for the salvation that will take place, a confession of Judah’s inability to achieve deliverance on its own, and earnest prayer that God may quickly bring about the longed-for salvation. Jerusalem is the strong city and the antithesis of a “City in Chaos”.

St. Francis Xavier[1]

FANCIS XAVIER, surnamed the apostle of the indies, was born of noble parents April 7, 1506, at Xavier, a castle near Pamplona, in Spain. In his eighteenth year he became one of the first members of the society of Jesus, at Paris, and from that moment gave himself up so earnestly and perseveringly to meditation, self-denial, and the practice of Christian virtues that by no desire was he so much animated as by that of laboring and suffering for the glory of god and the salvation of men, wherever and however it might please god. In the year 1541 he was sent as missionary to India. Of his labors and sufferings there his works bear witness. He preached the gospel in fifty-two kingdoms, great and small, of India and Japan, and baptized about a hundred thousand pagans and Mahametan’s. Wherever he came, the idols temples were thrown down, and churches built to the true god. He died in 1552, poor and destitute of all bodily comforts, but rejoicing in the lord, with these words, “Lord, in Thee have I hoped; let me never be confounded.” let us learn from St. Francis Xavier to labor, according to our ability, for the glory of god and the salvation of our neighbor. Although we cannot become missionaries, we yet can pray, and we can join the association for the propagation of the faith.

The introit of the mass is as follows: “I spoke of thy testimonies before kings and was not ashamed. I meditated also on thy commandments, which I loved exceedingly. Praise the lord, all ye nations; praise him, alive people: for his mercy is confirmed upon us, and the truth of the lord remaineth forever.”

Gospel. Mark xvi. 16-18.

At that time Jesus said to his disciples: go ye into the whole world and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved: but he that believeth not, shall be condemned. And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall cast out devils: they shall speak with new tongues: they shall take up serpents: and if they shall drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay their hands upon the sick and they shall recover.

Prayer.

O god, who, by the preaching and miracles of blessed Francis, wast pleased to add unto thy church the nations of the Indies, mercifully grant That we who venerate his glorious merits may also follow the example of his virtues.

Things to Do:[2]

· What does it mean to be an apostle? Consider how you might imitate St. Francis Xavier in apostolic works in your own situation. Read this letter from St. Francis to St. Ignatius to get an idea of his zeal.

· Read some more about St. Francis and ideas for Celebrating the Feast of St. Francis Xavier.

· St. Francis was sent to India and Japan. Pray for the Church in these countries, and learn more about the modern Church in India here and here, read about the history of the Church in Japan.

· Find out about and support the Holy Childhood Association (St. Francis always started with the children first).

· Teach your children to pray St. Francis' favorite prayer, "Give me souls" when they have some suffering to offer up.

· Spend some time meditating on St. Ignatius' response to St. Francis before his conversion, "What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world but suffers the loss of his soul?"

· Say the Litany of St. Francis Xavier.

· Make a big pot of soup for the Feast of St. Francis Xavier.

· Study some beautiful art depicting St. Francis Xavier at Olga's Gallery.

Jesse Tree[3]

The Jesse Tree dates back to the middle ages and came from Europe. Even some ancient cathedrals have Jesse Tree designs in their stained-glass windows. The "tree" is usually a branch or sapling and is decorated with various symbols that remind us of the purpose and promises of God from Creation to the Birth of Jesus Christ. Jesse was the father of King David and God promised David that his Kingdom would last forever. Two centuries after the death of King David, God spoke through the prophet Isaiah and said: And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots: and the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and fortitude, the spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. (Isaiah 11:1-2) Each Jesse Tree ornament usually consists of a handmade symbol or drawing that represents one of the major stories of the Old Testament along with a brief verse of Scripture from that story.

Jesse Tree Ornaments

If you decide to use one symbol each day during December, there are 24 symbolic ornaments to make for your Jesse Tree, so each family member will need to make several. Making the ornaments is a good project for Sunday afternoons during Advent. To make an ornament, first read the Scripture verses for the day. Then pick out one or two short verses that give the main idea. Copy these verses on the back of the ornament. By this time, you will probably be thinking of various ways to illustrate your Scripture verses. Use lots of creativity in making your ornament! You can use pictures from magazines or old greeting cards. Or draw pictures or symbols yourself. Color them with crayons, pencils, markers or paint. Look around the house for bits and pieces that will make your design beautiful! If you prefer to have a pattern already made, Caryn Talty, at Organic Living for a Healthy Family, has created 26 excellent ornaments which she graciously offers free – both full color and black and white.

Jesse Tree Scriptures (The Symbols Are Only Suggestions)

December 1 Creation: Gen. 1:1-31; 2:1-4 Symbols: sun, moon, stars, animals, earth

December 2 Adam and Eve: Gen. 2:7-9, 18-24 Symbols: tree, man, woman

December 3 Fall of Man: Gen. 3:1-7 and 23-24 Symbols: tree, serpent, apple with bite