Are you
Afraid?
Is Christ
speaking to your heart? Are you afraid to believe? Are you unsure of your
ability to carry the burden of true religious convictions? Assuage your fears
and begin again asking Mary to help you. She is the first of the warrior saints
to enter heaven. She as our mother and wants us to entertain the same joys of
eternal life and find new ways of being sons and daughters.
Saturday Litany of the Hours Invoking the Aid of Mother
Mary[1]
say hourly upon waking
till you go to sleep
- Through
the consent of Our Lady, the New Eve, the Son of God became Man and
crushed the head of the ancient Serpent who had deceived the first Eve. By
the Blessed Mother’s assistance, we are able to take part in her Son’s
victory over the Devil and his legions. The Hail Mary: Hail, Mary, full of
grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women, and blessed is
the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
sinners, now and at the hour of our death. AMEN.
At Morning
O most holy
Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ: by the overwhelming grief you
experienced when you witnessed the martyrdom, the crucifixion, and the death of
your divine Son, look upon me with eyes of compassion, and awaken in my heart a
tender commiseration for those sufferings, as well as a sincere detestation of
my sins, in order that, being disengaged from all undue affection for the
passing joys of this earth, I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem, and that
henceforward all my thoughts and all my actions may be directed towards this
one most desirable object. Honor, glory, and love to our divine Lord Jesus, and
to the holy and immaculate Mother of God. Amen. --Saint Bonaventure
- The
Memorare to Our Lady: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never
was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help,
and sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this
confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of Virgins, my mother; to you I come,
before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions; but in your clemency hear and answer me.
AMEN.
- Queen
of Heaven, Reign with your Son over the Enemy. Queen of Angels Summon the
heavenly hosts to war. New Eve of the New Creation Crush the head of the
Serpent. Our Lady of Victory Come to our aid in battle. Help of Christians
Be our comfort and strength. Virgin Most Powerful, Guard us from all harm.
Holy Mother of God, we fly to your protection. AMEN.
- O
Mary, powerful Virgin, you are the mighty and powerful protector of the
Church; you are the marvelous help of Christians; you are terrifying as an
army in battle array; you alone have destroyed every heresy in the whole
world. In the midst of our anguish, our struggles, and our distresses,
defend us from the power of the Enemy, and at the hour of our death, receive
our souls in paradise. AMEN.
- We
fly to your protection, O holy Mother of God. Despise not our petitions in
our necessities, but deliver us always from all dangers, O glorious and
blessed Virgin. AMEN.
At Noon
Mary, most holy
Virgin and Queen of Martyrs, accept the sincere homage of my filial affection.
Into thy heart, pierced by so many swords, do thou welcome my poor soul.
Receive it as the companion of thy sorrows at the foot of the Cross, on which
Jesus died for the redemption of the world. With thee, O sorrowful Virgin, I
will gladly suffer all the trials, contradictions, and infirmities which it
shall please our Lord to send me. I offer them all to thee in memory of thy
sorrows, so that every thought of my mind, and every beat of my heart may be an
act of compassion and of love for thee. And do thou, sweet Mother, have pity on
me, reconcile me to thy divine Son Jesus, keep me in His grace, and assist me
in my last agony, so that I may be able to meet thee in heaven and sing thy
glories. Amen.
- Most
holy Virgin, who was pleasing to the Lord and became His mother,
immaculate in body and spirit, in faith and in love, look kindly on the
wretched ones who implore your powerful patronage. The wicked Serpent,
against whom was hurled the first curse, continues fiercely to attack and
ensnare the unhappy children of Eve. So then, O Blessed Mother, our queen
and advocate, who from the first instant of your conception crushed the
head of the Enemy, receive the prayers which, united with you in our
single heart, we implore you to present at the throne of God; so that we
may never fall into the snares that are laid out for us, and may all
arrive at the harbor of salvation. And in so many dangers, may the Church
and Christian society sing once again the hymn of deliverance and of
victory and of peace. AMEN.
- O
Queen of Angels, Bane of Devils: The proud spirits of wickedness were
humiliated by your perfect humility; their rebellion was scattered by your
perfect obedience. Your fiat overthrew Eve’s baleful consent to the ancient
Serpent, crushing his head, exposing his deceits, and healing the wounds
inflicted by his venom, through the Son you conceived, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Come to our aid, Our Lady of Victory! When the battle rages, when
our strength fails, when the Enemy wounds us, when defeat seems certain:
With your mantle, cover and protect us; with your bright banner above us,
dispel the darkness; so that we may rally again in combat through the
invincible power of your Son. Then, when our warfare is complete, and our
victory won, lead us from the battlefield to His glorious Throne, so that
we may join you there in a glad song of everlasting triumph! AMEN.
- O
holy Virgin, Mother of God, my mother and patroness, I place myself under
your protection; I throw myself with confidence into the arms of your
compassion. Be to me, O Mother of Mercy, my refuge in distress; my
consolation in suffering; and my advocate with your Son, who is worthy to
be adored, now and at the hour of my death. AMEN.
At 3PM
Most holy Virgin.
and Mother, whose soul was pierced by a sword of sorrow in the Passion of thy
divine Son, and who in His glorious Resurrection wast filled with never-ending
joy at His triumph; obtain for us who call upon thee, so to be partakers in the
adversities of Holy Church and the sorrows of the Sovereign Pontiff, as to be
found worthy to rejoice with them in the consolations for which we pray, in the
charity and peace of the same Christ our Lord. Amen.
- O
Mother of God, we take refuge in your loving care. Do not let our plea to
you pass unheeded in the trials that beset us, but deliver us from danger,
for you alone are truly pure, you alone are truly blessed. AMEN.
- My
Queen and my Mother, I give myself entirely to you; and in proof of my
affection, I give you my eyes, my ears, my tongue, my heart, my whole
being without reserve. Since I am your own, keep me and guard me as your
property and possession. AMEN.
- August
Queen of Heaven! Sovereign Mistress of the angels! You who from the
beginning have received from God the power and mission to crush the head
of Satan: We humbly beg You to send your holy legions of angels so that,
under your command and by your power, they may pursue the evil spirits,
encounter them on every side, resist their bold attacks, and drive them
away from here into the abyss of eternal woe. O good and tender Mother,
you will always be our love and hope! O Mother of God, send your holy
angels to defend us and to drive far away from us the cruel Enemy. Holy
angels and archangels, defend us, guard us! AMEN.
- Mary,
Mother of Grace, Mother of Mercy, protect me from the Enemy and receive me
at the hour of death. AMEN.
At Twilight
O most holy and
afflicted Virgin! Queen of Martyrs! thou who didst stand motionless beneath the
Cross, witnessing the agony of thy expiring Son--through the unceasing
sufferings of thy life of sorrow, and the bliss which now more than amply
repays thee for thy past trials, look down with a mother's tenderness and pity
on me, who kneel before thee to venerate thy dolors, and place my requests,
with filial confidence, in the sanctuary of thy wounded heart; present them, I
beseech thee, on my behalf, to Jesus Christ, through the merits of His own most
sacred death and passion, together with thy sufferings at the foot of the cross,
and through the united efficacy of both obtain the grant of my present
petition. To whom shall I resort in my wants and miseries if not to thee, O
Mother of Mercy, who, having so deeply drunk of the chalice of thy Son, canst
compassionate the woes of those who still sigh in the land of exile? Offer for
me to my Savior one drop of the Blood which flowed from His sacred veins, one
of the tears which trickled from His divine eyes, one of the sighs which rent
His adorable Heart. O refuge of the universe and hope of the whole world, do
not reject my humble prayer, but graciously obtain the grant of my petition.
- We
fly to your patronage, O holy Mother of God; despise not our petitions in
our necessities but deliver us always from all dangers. O glorious and blessed
Virgin. AMEN.
- Allow
me to praise you, Virgin, most holy; give me strength against your
enemies! Tender heart of Mary be my safety!
At Slumber
Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us.
Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us.
[1]Thigpen, Paul. Manual for Spiritual Warfare . TAN Books. Kindle Edition.
Acts, Chapter 15,
Verse 33
After they had spent some time there, they were sent off with greetings of PEACE from the brothers to those who had commissioned them.
We are all sent off with the message as are the angels that the only way to be without fear and to have true peace is by living in the truth and the truth is we were created to know, love and serve God and our neighbor. America is special in that the founders realized this when they wrote our constitution which was established to ensure that laws are enacted and enforced that support life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Much of our misery in this country is caused by laws that reverse the order ensuring that wealth trumps liberty and liberty trumps life. No, it must be life first.
Saturday dedicated to the Mother of God
1. Quia fecit mihi
magna[1].
"For he who is mighty has done great things for me" (Lk. 1:49).
We conclude the work of the ninth
ordinary general assembly of the Synod of Bishops, dedicated to consecrated
life and its mission in the church and in the world, with this celebration. We
close them on a Saturday - a day traditionally dedicated to the mother of God.
Therefore, we address ourselves to Mary in a particular way in today's
eucharistic sacrifice, borrowing the words of thanks from the Magnificat, which
the church repeats every day in the Liturgy of the Hours: "He has done
great things for me." Fecit mihi magna.
Vatican Council II was a "great
thing" for the church, which could correctly be defined as the most
significant ecclesial event of our century. On the background of this first and
fundamental "great thing," given to us by the Lord, other "great
things" can be recognized, achieved by him during the recent past. The
institution of the Synod of Bishops may surely be placed among these, which by
now has its own history, developed during the postconciliar period. This last
synodal assembly can now be recorded in its history, which was greatly expected
and - we all hope - not less fruitful than the preceding ones.
To the apostolic exhortations Familiaris
Consortio, Christifideles Laici, Pastores Dabo Vobis thus now
we will have the joy of following with a new postsynodal document, of which we
still do not know the incipit but which certainly will reflect what has
emerged during the course of the assembly, which ends today. There have been
weeks of intense work during which consecrated life and its mission have been
at the center of reflection and prayer by the church.
2. My soul thirsts
for God, for the living God" (Ps. 42:3). The readings proclaimed now
contain many lights able to make clear the singular state of ecclesial life
which is consecrated life. The responsorial psalm remembers the liturgy of
baptism with the blessing of the holy water during the great paschal vigil of
Holy Saturday.
Baptism is the first and fundamental
consecration of the human person. Beginning new existence in Christ, the
baptized-man or woman -participates in this consecration, in this total
donation to the Father which is proper to his eternal Son. It is he himself-the
Son-who incites in man's soul the desire to give oneself without reservation to
God: My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and behold
the face of God?" (Ps. 42:3).
Religious consecration, with its
distinct eschatological dimension, is inserted on baptismal consecration. No
one has ever seen God (cf. Jn. 1:18) during this life. This is however the
beatific vision, that is, the seeing of the visage of God "face to
face" (1 Cor. 13:12), the definite vocation beyond time of each man.
Consecrated persons have the duty of reminding everyone of this. Faith prepares
us for this beatific vision, in which God gives himself to man with the measure
of love with which this last one answered to the eternal love, revealed in the
incarnation and in the cross of Christ.
3. "For to me,
to live is Christ" (Phil. 1:21), writes Paul the apostle. Amori Christi
nihil praeponatur, St. Benedict proclaims in his rules. Amori Christi in
pauperibus nihil praeponatur, St. Vincent de Paul will say 1,000 years
later.
What marvelous strength these words
contain! Could one think about culture and European civilization without them?
And the great missionary epics of the first and the second millennium, could
they be imagined without them? And what to say about monasticism of the Eastern
Christian, whose beginnings go back to the first centuries of Christianity?
Thus, those who in following the poor, chaste and obedient Christ had abandoned
the world, at the same time transformed it. In them was achieved the
invocation: "Send forth thy Spirit and renew the face of the earth"
(cf. Ps. 103:30). The Holy Spirit knows the "times and the moments"
in which one must call upon persons suited for the duties required by the
historical circumstances.
At that time, he called upon Benedict
and his sister Scholastica. He called Bernard, Francis and Clare of Assisi,
Bonaventure, Dominic, Thomas Aquinas and St. Catherine of Siena. From the
public squares the Gospel reached the university chairs. At the time of the
Eastern schism and the Reformation he called upon Ignatius Loyola, Teresa of
Avila, John of the Cross and then Francis Xavier and Peter Claver. With them, a
deep spiritual reform was achieved, and the missionary epic in the East and in
the West began.
During the centuries closest to us the
Spirit, which renews the face of the earth, called upon others such as John
Baptist de La Salle, Paul of the Cross, Alphonse Maria Liguori and John Bosco,
to only mention but a few of the most noteworthy ones. At the end of the last
century and during the present, the same Spirit of the Father and of the Son
spoke through Teresa of the Infant Jesus, through Maximilian Kolbe and through
Sister Faustina.
What would the world be, ancient and
modern, without these figures-and those of many others? They learned from
Christ that "his yoke is easy and his burden is light" (cf. Mt.
11:30), and they taught this to others.
4. We conclude this
synodal assembly almost on the eve of the solemnity of All Saints. The Book of
the Apocalypse mentions this immense multitude, coming from every nation,
people and tongue, standing before the heavenly throne and before the Lamb of
God (cf. Rv. 7:9). The significant question follows: "Who are these
clothed in white robes, and whence have they come?"
From where do they come? we also ask
ourselves. Do they not come from the innumerable institutes of consecrated
life, male and female, present in the church? The canonizations and the
beatifications proclaimed through the centuries give witness of this. The
beatifications, which during this month have almost accompanied the synodal
way, give particular witness of this.
5. Today, the last
Saturday of October, we offer up to you, Mary, mother and virgin, humble
handmaiden of the Lord and queen of all the saints, the fruits of the work of
the synod. We entrust them to you, queen of the holy rosary, queen of this
beautiful prayer which has sustained us day by day during the entire month.
Make it possible that these fruits,
through a singular exchange of gifts, may be useful also to the cause of the
family, complying with the design of divine providence, which desired the
celebration of this symbol on consecrated life during the Year of the Family.
They praise you, Lord, the consecrated
persons. They praise you, the Christian families of the entire world. She
praises you, the church, for the gift of the synod.
This
item 5454 digitally provided courtesy of CatholicCulture.org
World
Stroke Day seeks to raise awareness about the possibilities of stroke and how
to prevent it. This day encourages and promotes preventative measures such as
maintaining a healthy diet and exercising regularly. It also raises awareness
about treatment and recovery for victims of stroke. World Stroke Day was
established in 2006 by the World Stroke Organization. World Stroke Day is
observed annually on October 29th.
World Stroke Day Facts
·
1
in 4 adults will have a stroke according to the World Stroke Organization.
·
Preventative
measures include controlling high blood pressure, maintaining a healthy weight,
and managing stress. For more, click Stroke Risks and Prevention
·
90%
of strokes are associated with 10 avoidable risk factors according to the World
Stroke Organization. Some of these risk factors include hypertension, unhealthy
diet, smoking, and lack of exercise.
The
COVID-19 pandemic has had a major impact on stroke. While there was marked drop
in hospitalized stroke cases worldwide particularly during the first wave,
epidemiological data have shown a real increase in stroke incidence with cases
primarily occurring out of hospital and especially in care homes. Therefore,
COVID-19 infection itself is a risk factor for stroke, and a recent systematic
review reported it occurred in 1.4% of COVID-19 infections.[3]
Catechism
of the Catholic Church
PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST
SECTION ONE-MAN'S VOCATION LIFE IN THE
SPIRIT
CHAPTER ONE THE DIGNITY OF THE HUMAN
PERSON
Article 7-THE VIRTUES
IN BRIEF
1833 Virtue is a habitual and firm disposition to do good.
1834 The human virtues are stable dispositions of the intellect
and the will that govern our acts, order our passions, and guide our conduct in
accordance with reason and faith. They can be grouped around the four cardinal
virtues: prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance.
1835 Prudence disposes the practical reason to discern, in
every circumstance, our true good and to choose the right means for achieving
it.
1836 Justice consists in the firm and constant will to give God
and neighbor their due.
1837 Fortitude ensures firmness in difficulties and constancy
in the pursuit of the good.
1838 Temperance moderates the attraction of the pleasures of
the senses and provides balance in the use of created goods.
1839 The moral virtues grow through education, deliberate acts,
and perseverance in struggle. Divine grace purifies and elevates them.
1840 The theological virtues dispose Christians to live in a
relationship with the Holy Trinity. They have God for their origin, their
motive, and their object - God known by faith, God hoped in and loved for his
own sake.
1841 There are three theological virtues: faith, hope, and
charity. They inform all the moral virtues and give life to them.
1842 By faith, we believe in God and believe all that he has
revealed to us and that Holy Church proposes for our belief.
1843 By hope we desire, and with steadfast trust await from
God, eternal life and the graces to merit it.
1844 By charity, we love God above all things and our neighbor
as ourselves for love of God. Charity, the form of all the virtues, "binds
everything together in perfect harmony" (Col 3:14).
1845 The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon
Christians are wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and
fear of the Lord.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast: The
Sick, afflicted, and infirmed.
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: October
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
· Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Rosary
[2] https://www.wincalendar.com/World-Stroke-Day
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