Saturday, August 19, 2023

- August 13, 2023

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).

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. Fatima Prayer.

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. Fatima Prayer.

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. Fatima Prayer.

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. Fatima Prayer.

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. Fatima Prayer.

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 our Church and our country find hope as we unite at the foot of the cross. (Please add your own petitions to this powerful novena)

All of the daily Novena Prayers and Reflections are found in this book: 54 Day Basic Training in Holines s

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

You can join the United State Grace Force Facebook group HERE, to receive the reflections each day.

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.

Enroll in the worldwide Confraternity of the Most Holy Rosary! Click here: https://championshrine.org/confraternity/ to enroll in the Confraternity through the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion WI; the only approved Marian apparition site in the US!

You are welcomed to join Fr. Richard Heilman as he prays the rosary "over our country" at sunrise from a lookout tower atop Blue Mounds State Park:

Saturday in the Octave of the Assumption

WORLD HUMANITARIAN DAY

1 Chronicles, Chapter 28, Verse 20

David said to his son Solomon: “Be strong and steadfast, and go to work; do not FEAR or be dismayed, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or abandon you before you have completed all the work for the service of the house of the LORD.

We all long to hear this from our fathers but the ultimate truth is He tells us this every day in the quiet of our hearts. We merely reflect His grace when we pray. When we give Him all our strength, He makes us strong and steadfast; when we give Him our mind He breaks our fears and gives us a purposeful mind; when we give Him our heart He does not abandon us and when we give Him our soul, He gives us the vision to see the work He has laid before us.

World Humanitarian Day^{^[1]}

World Humanitarian Day seeks to recognize the compassion and bravery of humanitarian workers. The day also serves to gain international cooperation to meet the needs of humanitarian work around the world. Humanitarian workers provide life-saving assistance consisting of first aid, nutrition, shelter and help rebuild after disaster has struck. These workers often battle violence, local diseases and hunger while attempting to save lives and provide relief to those most in need. World Humanitarian Day was designated by the United Nations in December of 2008 in an effort to honor the sacrifices of humanitarian workers. It is celebrated annually on August 19, a day that commemorates the 2003 bombing of the UN Headquarters in Iraq.

Today is Afghan Independence Day is celebrated as a national holiday in Afghanistan on 19 August to commemorate the Anglo-Afghan Treaty of 1919 and relinquishment from British protectorate status. The treaty granted a complete neutral relation between Afghanistan and Britain. Wikipedia

Catholics in Afghanistan in 2015[2]

What Americans have, which very few people in the world do not, is a decision to make their country what they would like it to be and very real choice for their own future. I think many are losing sight of this. They can’t. We cannot lose sign of this. Just as with America, we cannot ever lose sight of the foundational principles of our Creed, and what they mean.

· A Father who is in control.

· A Mother who can help us become Saints.

· A Son who gives us an inheritance.

· A faith that is solitary and unchangeable.

· Faith is universal to all the souls who embrace it.

· A faith that is unblemished from the lips of Christ.

· A faith that offers forgiveness, a true novelty among religions.

· A faith with a family.

· A faith with hope in the resurrection, and the future of this world and the next.

Our faith and our country are sacred, and we should remember that as much as they have in common, they complement each other. Today, I’m still proud to be an American and a Catholic. Today, and every day, I’ll live my life in service to defend the beliefs of both.

Catholics in Afghanistan in today[3]

The Christian community is very small in the Islamic country of Afghanistan, where Afghan people can be ostracized or can even face violence and death for professing the Christian faith.

There is a single Catholic Church, located in the Italian embassy in Kabul, which is operated under the Catholic mission sui juris of Afghanistan. In 2018, there were an estimated 200 Catholics in the country, many of them foreigners working in embassies.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

PART ONE: THE PROFESSION OF FAITH

SECTION TWO-I. THE CREEDS

CHAPTER THREE-I BELIEVE IN THE HOLY SPIRIT

Article 12-"I BELIEVE IN LIFE EVERLASTING"

III. The Final Purification, or Purgatory

1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.

1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned. The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. the tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:

As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.

1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin." From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God. The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead:

Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.

MEDICINAL PLANTS Day 5 Nervous System-Revealed by Heaven to Luz De María

Protects the brain from senile dementia, stroke, and neurodegenerative diseases. Cognitive benefits, improved thinking, and memory. Regulates hypertension, asthma, depression, vertigo, and atherosclerosis. Ginko has the following properties related to the nervous system: GINKO BILOBA Scientific name: Ginkgo biloba L Family: Ginkgoaceae Known as: ginkgo o gingo

The Blessed Mother announced to me a disease that will attack the nervous and immune system causing serious problems on the skin, for which she told me to use the leaf of the nettle and ginkgo plants. Luz de María Reflection, 11.10.2014

Daily Devotions

· 30 DAY TRIBUTE TO MARY 5^th ROSE: Two Powerful Armors from Mother Mary, the Rosary and the Scapular

o 30 Days of Women and Herbs – Frauendreissiger

§ Comfrey (Symphytum officinalis L.)