Let Freedom Ring: Freedom from Lack of Trust in Divine Providence
You are the source of all truth. You are the source of all strength.
By the power of your Cross and Resurrection, we beseech You, O Lord
To extend Your saving arm and to send Your holy angels
To defend us as we do battle with Satan and his demonic forces.
Exorcise, we pray, that which oppresses Your Bride, The Church,
So that within ourselves, our families, our parishes, our dioceses, and our nation
We may turn fully back to You in all fidelity and trust.
Lord, we know if You will it, it will be done.
Give us the perseverance for this mission, we pray.
Amen
St. Joseph...pray for us
St. Michael the Archangel...pray for us
(the patron of your parish )... pray for us
(your confirmation saint)...pray for us
Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,
Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled, etc.
From the desire of being honored,
From the desire of being praised,
From the desire of being preferred to others,
From the desire of being consulted,
From the desire of being approved,
From the fear of being humiliated,
From the fear of being despised,
From the fear of suffering rebukes,
From the fear of being calumniated,
From the fear of being forgotten,
From the fear of being ridiculed,
From the fear of being wronged,
From the fear of being suspected,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase
and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I,
provided that I may become as holy as I should,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
__ Daily reflection and prayers
__ Litany of the day
__ Pray a Rosary
__ Divine Mercy Chaplet
__ Spiritual or corporal work of mercy
__ Fast/abstain (according to level)
__ Exercise (according to level/ability)
__ Refrain from conventional media (only 1 hr. of social)
__ Examination of conscience (confession 1x this week)
FEAST
OF SAINT ANN
Judith, Chapter 4,
Verse 1-2
1 When
the Israelites who lived in Judea heard of all that Holofernes, the ranking
general of Nebuchadnezzar king of the Assyrians, had done to the nations, and
how he had looted all their shrines and utterly
destroyed them, 2
they were in very
great FEAR of him, and greatly
alarmed for Jerusalem and the temple of the Lord, their God.
Join
the resistance! No not the fake news one but the resistance to all that is
evil. Godly resistance is much different than the guttural take no prisoners of
modern time’s resistance with our pink devil horned hats.
Holy
Resistance[1]
·
The
Israelites’ reaction to invasion differs from their neighbors in two respects:
The nature of their fear and their response.
·
Their
fear is not only for themselves but primarily for Jerusalem and the temple of
the Lord.
·
Most
secularists surrender to evil with joy; but the holy prepare to defend its most
precious possession: faith and trust in He who is.
·
We
must prepare to defend the mountain passes by defending our faith
·
However
the most important preparation for siege is spiritual through prayer and
fasting.
·
Note
Mary the Mother of Christ via Fatima apparitions tell us that we like the
Israelites must continue in prayer,
making reparation and consecration to God.
·
The
key is cry unto the Lord.
The Book of Judith symbolic of the
Virgin Mary[2]
Judith was a
holy widow. She wore haircloth and fasted almost every day. She spent
most of her time in a chamber of her home, praying. The land of Israel was in
distress, being under siege by Holofernes. It is when Israel is in its greatest
need that she comes forth from the chamber to save them by her intercession.
This is symbolic of the Blessed Virgin Mary and her victory over Satan in the
very last days to come. What is most interesting and noteworthy is the talk she
gave to the leaders of the people. Her words apply to us in the latter days of
this great apostasy from the Catholic faith. We should pay heed and learn from
her as they are words Our Lady would no doubt address to each of us:
Have patience, be humble, pray to God for mercy, it was our fathers that drew down this chastisement upon us: Our part is to suffer these tribulations as penance for our sins. It is for our sanctification.
Judith was symbolic of the Virgin Mary
And they came to her, and she said to them: What is this word, by which Ozias hath consented to give up the city to the Assyrians, if within five days there come no aid to us? And who are you that tempt the Lord? This is not a word that may draw down mercy, but rather that may stir up wrath, and enkindle indignation. You have set a time for the mercy of the Lord, and you have appointed him a day, according to your pleasure. But forasmuch as the Lord is patient, let us be penitent for this same thing, and with many tears let us beg his pardon: For God will not threaten like man, nor be inflamed to anger like the son of man. And therefore, let us humble our souls before him, and continuing in an humble spirit, in his service: Let us ask the Lord with tears, that according to his will so he would shew his mercy to us: that as our heart is troubled by their pride, so also we may glorify in our humility. For we have not followed the sins of our fathers, who forsook their God, and worshiped strange gods. For which crime they were given up to their enemies, to the sword, and to pillage, and to confusion: but we know no other God but him. Let us humbly wait for his consolation, and the Lord our God will require our blood of the afflictions of our enemies, and he will humble all the nations that shall rise up against us, and bring them to disgrace. And now, brethren, as you are the ancients among the people of God, and their very soul resteth upon you: comfort their hearts by your speech, that they may be mindful how our fathers were tempted that they might be proved, whether they worshiped their God truly. They must remember how our father Abraham was tempted, and being proved by many tribulations, was made the friend of God. So Isaac, so Jacob, so Moses, and all that have pleased God, passed through many tribulations, remaining faithful. But they that did not receive the trials with the fear of the Lord, but uttered their impatience and the reproach of their murmuring against the Lord, Were destroyed by the destroyer, and perished by serpents. As for us therefore let us not revenge ourselves for these things which we suffer. But esteeming these very punishments to be less than our sins deserve, let us believe that these scourges of the Lord, with which like servants we are chastised, have happened for our amendment, and not for our destruction. And Ozias and the ancients said to her: All things which thou hast spoken are true, and there is nothing to be reprehended in thy words. Now therefore pray for us, for thou art a holy woman, and one fearing God. JUDITH 8, 10-34
Feast of Saint Ann,
Mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary[3]
ALL that we know of St. Ann is that she was married to St.
Joachim of the tribe of David, and lived with him in all virtue and piety, but
for a long time was childless. This she bore with all patience, till at last
the Lord heard her supplications, and made her the mother of the most blessed
Virgin. This distinction on the part of God is praise enough for her. On this
account the faithful have always shown great veneration for her, and
continually invoke her intercession. “Let us all rejoice in the Lord, keeping
festival in honor of St. Ann, on whose solemnity the angels rejoice, and with
one voice praise the Son of God. My heart hath uttered a good word; I speak my
works to the King.”
Prayer.
O God, Who wast pleased
to confer upon St. Ann the grace whereby she became the mother of her who
brought forth Thine only-begotten Son, mercifully grant that we, who keep her festival,
may, through her intercession, find help with Thee.
Aspiration to St.
Ann.
Hail, O blessed
mother Ann! Blessed art thou, who, for our consolation, didst bear the Mother
of our Redeemer. With the greatest veneration, therefore, and full of confidence,
we approach thee, beseeching thee that thou wouldst supplicate our divine Savior
to bestow upon us the graces which we need to follow thy ardent devotion, thy
fear of God, and to render us worthy one day to behold in heaven the blessed
fruit of thy virgin daughter’s womb, Jesus, and to rejoice forever in the
contemplation of Him.
The
Mysterious Relics of Saint Anne[4]
On Easter AD 792,
Charlemagne discovered the relics of Saint Anne. Below is the account,
preserved in the correspondence of Pope Saint Leo III, concerning the
mysterious discovery of the relics of Saint Anne.
Fourteen years after Our
Lord’s death, Saint Mary Magdalen, Saint Martha, Saint Lazarus, and the others
of the little band of Christians who were piled into a boat without sails or oars
and pushed out to sea to perish — in the persecution of the Christians by the
Jews of Jerusalem — were careful to carry with them the tenderly loved body of
Our Lady’s mother. They feared lest it be profaned in the destruction, which
Jesus had told them was to come upon Jerusalem. When, by the power of God,
their boat survived and finally drifted to the shores of France, the little
company of saints buried Saint Anne’s body in a cave, in a place called Apt, in
the south of France. The church, which was later built over the spot, fell into
decay because of wars and religious persecutions, and as the centuries passed,
the place of Saint Anne’s tomb was forgotten. The long years of peace, which
Charlemagne’s wise rule gave to southern France, enabled the people to build a
magnificent new church on the site of the old chapel at Apt. Extraordinary and
painstaking labor went into the building of the great structure, and when the
day of its consecration arrived, the beloved Charlemagne, little suspecting
what was in store for him, declared himself happy indeed to have journeyed so
many miles to be present for the holy occasion. At the most solemn part of the
ceremonies, a boy of fourteen, blind, deaf and dumb from birth — and usually
quiet and impassive — to the amazement of those who knew him, completely
distracted the attention of the entire congregation by becoming suddenly
tremendously excited. He rose from his seat, walked up the aisle to the altar
steps, and to the consternation of the whole church, struck his stick
resoundingly again and again upon a single step. His embarrassed family tried
to lead him out, but he would not budge. He continued frantically to pound the
step, straining with his poor muted senses to impart a knowledge sealed
hopelessly within him. The eyes of the people turned upon the emperor, and he,
apparently inspired by God, took the matter into his own hands. He called for
workmen to remove the steps. A subterranean passage was revealed directly below
the spot, which the boy’s stick had indicated. Into this passage the blind lad
jumped, to be followed by the emperor, the priests, and the workmen. They made
their way in the dim light of candles, and when, farther along the passage,
they came upon a wall that blocked further advance, the boy signed that this
also should be removed. When the wall fell, there was brought to view still
another long, dark corridor. At the end of this, the searchers found a crypt,
upon which, to their profound wonderment, a vigil lamp, alight and burning in a
little walled recess, cast a heavenly radiance. As Charlemagne and his
afflicted small guide, with their companions, stood before the lamp, its light
went out. And at the same moment, the boy, blind and deaf and dumb from birth,
felt sight and hearing and speech flood into his young eyes, his ears, and his
tongue. “It is she! It is she!” he cried out. The great emperor, not knowing
what he meant, nevertheless repeated the words after him. The call was taken up
by the crowds in the church above, as the people sank to their knees, bowed in
the realization of the presence of something celestial and holy. The crypt at
last was opened, and a casket was found within it. In the casket was a winding
sheet, and in the sheet were relics, and upon the relics was an inscription
that read, “Here lies the body of Saint Anne, mother of the glorious Virgin
Mary.” The winding sheet, it was noted, was of eastern design and texture.
Charlemagne, overwhelmed, venerated with profound gratitude the relics of the
mother of Heaven’s Queen.
Things to
Do[5]
·
See more about the Shrine
of Sainte Anne de Beaupré in Quebec, Canada. Several relics of St. Anne are also located in this shrine. Take a
video tour of the Shrine here accompanied by beautiful Gregorian chant.
·
Foods related to St. Ann and Joachim: It
seems shellfish, particularly lobster, is one traditional type of food served
in France for this feast day.
The Modern Church Also Honors Saint Joachim on this
day.[6]
St. Joachim, the father of the Blessed Virgin, was a native of Nazareth,
a little town in Galilee. His parents, though occupying a humble position in
the world, were descendants of the holy king David. It was not without
inspiration that, at his circumcision, the name of Joachim was given him; it
means “Preparation for the Lord,” or, as others translate it, a preparation for
the arrival of the Lord. It has been understood by many to signify that he
would have a daughter whom he would prepare, by a holy education, to be the
mother of Our Lord. Arriving at the years of manhood, he married Anna, a
virtuous and chaste maiden of Bethlehem, whom, without doubt, God gave special
graces, as she was chosen by Him to be the mother of the Queen of Heaven.
Joachim and Anna continued, after their union, to serve God with the greatest
fidelity. The most perfect charity and harmony reigned in their dwelling. They
had divided their possessions into three parts.
The first they devoted exclusively to the honor of God and to the
adornment of the Temple; the second, to the poor; and the third they kept for
themselves. One thing saddened the lives of Joachim and Anna. They had been
married many years without being blessed with a child, and their advancing age
made them despair of ever having one. Barrenness was considered a great
disgrace and Joachim lived under that cross for many years. He never ceased to
implore God with tears, prayers, and fasts to remove it from him; but it seemed
that he was not heard, which gave him great grief. He, however, never murmured
against the Almighty, but, submitting to His will, continued his prayer. It is
also believed that he and his spouse made a vow that, if they were blessed with
a child, they would consecrate it to His service. St. Epiphanius relates that,
one day, while St. Joachim was praying, an angel appeared to him and assured
him that God had heard his prayer, and that a daughter should be given him, who
would become the mother of the promised Messiah. The angel informed him also of
the name which God had destined for her. When he heard this, the joy of St.
Joachim was beyond all description. He went immediately to tell his spouse of
it, who, according to some authors, had received the same revelation. Both gave
fervent thanks to the Almighty and praised His mercy. The angel’s prophecy was
fulfilled, and St. Anna gave birth to a daughter, who was born free from the
stain of original sin, full of the Holy Spirit, blessed above all women, and
destined by heaven to be the mother of the only begotten Son of God. St.
Joachim, renewing his thanks to the Almighty, redoubled his zeal in His
service. As soon as the lawful time arrived, St. Joachim and his holy spouse
carried their new-born child into the temple and offered her with great
devotion to God, redeemed her again according to the custom, and returned with
her to their home. Three years they kept their daughter with them, after which
they brought the tender child, who was, however, gifted with the full use of
mind, into the Temple of Jerusalem, and having consecrated her, with the usual
ceremonies, to the service of the Almighty, gave her in charge of the priests
for education and instruction. In this manner, St. Joachim fulfilled his vow
and showed how truly he loved God. For although his love for his daughter, no
doubt, surpassed the love of most parents for their children, yet he deprived
himself of that which was most dear to him on earth and consecrated it to the
Most High. It cannot be doubted that God rewarded his self-sacrificing love
with great graces and favors. After having made this sacrifice to the Almighty,
Joachim and Anna lived for many years in great sanctity. It is believed that
St. Joachim expired in the eightieth year of his age.
Parents'
Day[7]
Parents’ Day celebrates
and recognizes the important role of
responsible parenting in everyday family life. Families are a fundamental human
institution; they are bonded by unconditional love and commitment. Parents' Day
was established in 1994 and the National Parents’ Day Coalition was developed
to support Parents’ Day by annually selecting ‘Parents’ of the Year’ at local,
national and state levels. The Coalition also provides educational
programs for parents and aims to promote the stability of family by encouraging
fidelity between husbands and wives, as well as abstinence in young people
prior to marriage. In addition to The National Parents’ Day Coalition,
other organizations use Parents’ Day to promote the traditional two parent
nuclear family model. Parents' Day is held annually on the fourth Sunday in
July.
Parents' Day Facts & Quotes
·
In 2015, 3.3 million unmarried or cohabiting
couples in America had children under the age of 18. This is in
comparison to 1.2 million cohabiting couples with children in 1996. In 1960,
73% of U.S. children lived in a traditional home with two married heterosexual
parents in their first marriage. By 1980, this figure had dropped to 61%.
By 2013, 46% of children lived in a traditional home.
·
All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel
mother. — Abraham Lincoln.
·
By the time a man realizes that maybe his father
was right, he usually has a son who thinks he's wrong. — Charles Wadsworth,
Classical Pianist
Daily Devotions
·
Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels
·
Monday: Litany of
Humility
·
Rosary
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