Friday in the Octave of Ascension
ST MATTHIAS-Novena St. Rita-Chicken
Dance Day
1 Samuel, Chapter 12, Verse 23-24
23As for me, far be it from me to sin
against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you and to teach you the good and right
way. 24But you must FEAR the Lord and serve him faithfully with all your heart, for you
have seen the great things the Lord has done among you.
Samuel
here is reminding the Israelites at the coronation of Saul that even though
they now have a king like all the other nations they are not to be like all the
other nations; that they must serve first the Lord of heaven and earth. Yet,
they did not nor could not; they like all men needed a savior. “We have no king but Cesar.”
Priestly Pentecost Novena
FIRST DAY (Friday after Ascension)
Holy Spirit! Lord of Light! From Your clear celestial height, Your pure beaming radiance give!
Special Intention
“Johanninise the souls of our
priests and bishops. Please, Lord, grant a Priestly Pentecost.”
The Holy Spirit
Only one thing is important — eternal salvation. Only one thing, therefore, is to be feared–sin? Sin is the result of ignorance, weakness, and indifference The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Light, of Strength, and of Love. With His sevenfold gifts He enlightens the mind, strengthens the will, and inflames the heart with love of God. To ensure our salvation we ought to invoke the Divine Spirit daily, for “The Spirit helpeth our infirmity. We know not what we should pray for as we ought. But the Spirit Himself asketh for us.”
Prayer
Almighty and eternal God, Who hast vouchsafed to regenerate us by water and the Holy Spirit, and hast given us forgiveness all sins, vouchsafe to send forth from heaven upon us your sevenfold Spirit, the Spirit of Wisdom and Understanding, the Spirit of Counsel and fortitude, the Spirit of Knowledge and Piety, and fill us with the Spirit of Holy Fear. Amen.
Our Father and Hail Mary ONCE. Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.
ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE HOLY SPIRIT
On my knees I before the great multitude of heavenly witnesses I offer myself, soul and body to You, Eternal Spirit of God. I adore the brightness of Your purity, the unerring keenness of Your justice, and the might of Your love. You are the Strength and Light of my soul. In You I live and move and am. I desire never to grieve You by unfaithfulness to grace and I pray with all my heart to be kept from the smallest sin against You. Mercifully guard my every thought and grant that I may always watch for Your light, and listen to Your voice, and follow Your gracious inspirations. I cling to You and give myself to You and ask You, by Your compassion to watch over me in my weakness. Holding the pierced Feet of Jesus and looking at His Five Wounds, and trusting in His Precious Blood and adoring His opened Side and stricken Heart, I implore You, Adorable Spirit, Helper of my infirmity, to keep me in Your grace that I may never sin against You. Give me grace O Holy Spirit, Spirit of the Father and the Son to say to You always and everywhere, “Speak Lord for Your servant heareth.” Amen.
PRAYER FOR THE SEVEN GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
O Lord Jesus Christ Who, before ascending into heaven did promise to send
the Holy Spirit to finish Your work in the souls of Your Apostles and
Disciples, deign to grant the same Holy Spirit to me that He may perfect in my
soul, the work of Your grace and Your love. Grant me the Spirit of Wisdom that
I may despise the perishable things of this world and aspire only after the
things that are eternal, the Spirit of Understanding to enlighten my mind with
the light of Your divine truth, the Spirit on Counsel that I may ever choose
the surest way of pleasing God and gaining heaven, the Spirit of Fortitude that
I may bear my cross with You and that I may overcome with courage all the
obstacles that oppose my salvation, the Spirit of Knowledge that I may know God
and know myself and grow perfect in the science of the Saints, the Spirit of
Piety that I may find the service of God sweet and amiable, and the Spirit of
Fear that I may be filled with a loving reverence towards God and may dread in
any way to displease Him. Mark me, dear Lord with the sign of Your true
disciples, and animate me in all things with Your Spirit. Amen.
Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle
The
feast of Saint Matthias[1]
was included in the Roman Calendar in the 11th century and celebrated on
the sixth day to the Calends of March (24 February usually, but 25 February in
leap years). In the revision of the General Roman
Calendar in
1969, his feast was transferred to 14 May, so as not to celebrate it in Lent but instead in Eastertide close to the Solemnity of the
Ascension, the
event after which the Acts of the Apostles recounts that Matthias was selected
to be ranked with the Twelve Apostles.
OF[2]
this apostle nothing certain is known beyond what is contained in the epistle.
In the Introit of the Mass the Church sings: “To me Thy friends, O God, are
made exceedingly honorable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened.
Lord, Thou hast proved me and known me; Thou hast known my sitting down and my
rising up.”
Prayer. O God, Who didst associate blessed
Matthias to the company of the apostles, grant, we beseech Thee, that, by his
intercession, we may ever experience Thy tender mercy towards us.
EPISTLE. Acts i.
15-26.
In
those days Peter rising up in the midst of the brethren said (now the number of
persons together was about a hundred and twenty): Men, brethren, the Scripture
must needs be fulfilled which the Holy Ghost spoke before by the mouth of David
concerning Judas, who was the leader of them that apprehended Jesus: who was
numbered with us, and had obtained part of this ministry. And he indeed hath
possessed a field of the reward of iniquity, and being hanged burst asunder in
the midst: and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the
inhabitants of Jerusalem: so that the same field was called in their tongue,
Haceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. For it is written in the book of
Psalms: Let their habitation become desolate, and let there be none to dwell
therein. And his bishopric let another take. Wherefore of these men who have
companied with us, all the time that the Lord Jesus came in and went out among
us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day wherein He was taken up
from us, one of these must be made a witness with us of His resurrection. And
they appointed two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and
Matthias. And praying, they said: Thou, Lord, Who knowest the hearts of all
men, show whether of these two Thou hast chosen to take the place of this
ministry and apostleship, from which Judas hath by transgression fallen, that
he might go to his own place. And they gave them lots, and the lot fell upon
Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
GOSPEL. Matt. xi.
25-30.
At that time
Jesus answered and said I confess to Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth,
because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed
them to little ones. Yea, Father: for so hath it seemed good in Thy sight. All
things are delivered to Me by My Father. And no one knoweth the Son, but the
Father: neither doth anyone know the Father, but the Son, and he to whom it
shall please the Son to reveal Him. Come to Me, all you that labor and are burdened,
and I will refresh you. Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me, because I am
meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls. For My yoke
is sweet and My burden light. The wise and prudent referred to in this gospel
are the proud scribes and Pharisees, who, in their imaginary wisdom, would not
receive the incarnate and suffering Son of God, but despised and rejected Him;
in general, they represent also all who in their pride would measure everything
by their own understanding, and to whom, consequently, the mysteries of faith
seem foolishness. The little ones are the apostles, who, although taken from a
low condition of life, without a learned education, but rather ignorant, were
enlightened by God to know the deepest mysteries, because they had docile and
humble hearts, desirous of salvation. Thus, God gives grace to the humble,
while the proud go away empty. To those who bear His yoke, and follow Him,
Christ promises peace of mind, temporal and eternal happiness; and, indeed, we
must confess that as often as we are disquieted and discontented the cause of
it is our selfishness and want of submission to the will of God, our pride and
vanity. Learn, then, to love to be meek and humble, if you would enjoy peace,
here or here after.
Prayer
to St. Matthias. O
St. Matthias, glorious apostle and martyr of Jesus Christ, who, by the special
providence of God, wast added to the eleven apostles in the room of the
traitor, I humbly beseech thee to obtain for us the grace of Him Who chose thee
from all eternity, that, assisted thereby, we may, after thy example, keep the
commandments of God, practice good works, and thus merit to be numbered with
the elect. Amen.
Novena of St. Rita[3]
This novena prayer,
although short is sufficient. It would be better of course to add, if time
permits, three Hail Mary’s 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 begins on May 14 and ends on May 22. Rita
is the patron of the impossible.
Prayer:
O
glorious St. Rita! You who so wonderfully participated in the Passion of our
Lord Jesus Christ, obtain for me the grace to suffer with patience the pains of
this life and protect me in all my needs.
Mental Prayer[4]
Mental prayer according to St. Teresa of Avila is nothing more than, “A close sharing between friends; it means taking time frequently to be alone with him who we know loves us.” Mental prayer is the raising of our mind to God in a quiet intimate conversation. We acquire the “mind of Christ” (I Cor. 2:16) by spending time in his company, in quiet, intimate conversation. We need to set time aside for mental prayer (20 minutes should be the minimum) Most of that time we should be listening for God’s word in our soul. The best place for our conversations is before the Blessed Sacrament but any quiet place with few distractions will do. It is best to begin by making an “act of the presence of God” which is a short prayer addressing God and acknowledging his presence. During our time with the Lord we should tell him about the things of our heart, what we think we are doing well and not so well and what are our concerns. We may bring along a Bible or spiritual book to discuss with our Lord. It is always a good idea to invite the Mother of Christ into the conversation. Mental Prayer can be a one-shot deal but it is always better when we set aside time every day for our conversation with God.
Mental Prayer
was the premise of my book, “Coffee with
Christ” here is an excerpt from the book.
The idea of this book is to seek
friendship with God through Christ, the Holy Spirit and His mother-Mary. Prayer is, in its purest sense, a personal
journey or intimacy with Our Lord. There is no greater help in our life’s
journey in this world than through friendship with Jesus Christ and His mother.
The imaginary premise of this book is to
have a regular “Coffee Clutch” with Christ and gather for coffee and
conversation through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Ideally this book will
serve as encouragement for you to enter into your own “coffee clutch” with
Christ. Having a regular or daily set time or appointment to meet and discuss
with Him your hopes, dreams, plans and goals. To bear your heart to Him: To
just sit down with Christ and talk, laugh, and enjoy each other’s company, over
a cup of coffee and to make the common Holy and grow in the love and likeness
to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The plan of the journal is to talk with
Christ over the next 30 days and enjoy a cup of coffee with Him and contains my
personal reflections with Him. Ideally this little saga of mine will inspire
you to have the habit of talking intimately with our Lord yourself and I will
at the end of my reflections in this book include 10 days of questions for your
own “Coffee Clutch” with Christ. The
forty days (30 + 10) in this journal are ideally suited for reflection during
the season of Lent; however, it is also suitable for anytime during the year.
Note: This journal is merely my own reflections on
spiritual matters and may or may not be in accord with the magisterium of the
Holy Roman Catholic Church.
Today
it is my daughter Dara Hope’s
birthday; (her name means: House of Compassion and Hope) please pray the Novena
of St. Rita for her. Also today is National Chicken Dance Day! Yes, she loves
to do the chicken dance.
Chicken Dance Day[5]
We’ve all seen it, it’s
utterly ridiculous and usually performed in a bout of intoxicant driven lunacy.
You tuck your hands into your armpits to make ‘wings’, and then you flap like
an idiot in time with some particularly unfortunate music. All that aside,
you’re having complete giggle fits with a bunch of your friends while you
behave in a fashion that has the local sanitarium eyeballing you for
membership. What are we talking about? The Chicken Dance of course! Chicken
Dance Day commemorates this dance and its origins, and even gives you a chance
to learn WHY anyone would do this terrible, terrible thing.
History of Chicken
Dance Day
“Der Ententanz” was the
name of the song that inspired all of this, and while the dance has come to be
called “The Chicken Dance”, the song itself is called The Duck Dance.
At least that was its original name, and now it has spread all over the world,
undergoing multiple name changes in the process. It has been known as
everything from The Little Bird Dance to De Vogeltjesdans, or
“The dance of the little birds.” This rendition was actually the B-Side of a
single released by a band called “De Electornica’s”. The A-Side simply wasn’t
being well received by the radio stations audiences, so they flipped it over.
At that moment, history was made and it rocketed to the Dutch charts and stayed
there for nearly a year. So much has its popularity exploded that it has been
recorded in no less than 140 versions with over 40,000,000 records published
over its lifetime. In 1981 the dance brought to Oktoberfest in the United
States, and due to a complete lack of duck costumes anywhere near the event,
they had to settle for chicken costumes instead. The result of which is the
name by which it is now known. The song responsible gets new covers done almost
every year, with new lyrics added all the time. That’s right, there’s lyrics.
You’re welcome.
How to Celebrate
Chicken Dance Day
The Dance of polios and Prelates
Need we say it? The best
way to celebrate Chicken Dance Day is by getting out there and doing the
Chicken Dance! It’s quite simple, and it all starts with making a beak with
your hands, and ‘squawk’ them four times in beat with the music, then you make
wings as described earlier, and flap them four times in time with the music.
Then… ya know what? Just watch this: How to Chicken Dance.
Daily Devotions
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
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