Tuesday, September 12, 2023
DAY 29 - MARY, TOWER OF IVORY, PRAY FOR US!
Join us for Rosary Coast to Coast!
In the Battle of Lepanto, the Turks believed Christianity had become so weak, it was time to move in and "deal the last blow." Outnumbered, Pope St. Pius V called upon the world to pray the rosary. Miraculously, victory was won on October 7, 1571, which brought the Feast of Our Lady of Victory.
Here we are again, my brothers and sisters. The enemy appears to be attempting to "deal the last blow." There is no doubt we are living in diabolically influenced times. This, while Godless leaders and influencers in our nation have usurped the phrase, “This is a battle for the soul of America,” as their evil abominations unto God easily become a “new normal” in the lives of our loved ones?! Those who choose to stand in the “Spirit of Truth” are mocked, persecuted, abandoned and put out?! The time is now to do the "Lepanto thing!"
PLEASE join us for Rosary Coast to Coast on the Feast of Our Lady of Victory, October 7, 2023 at 3:00pm CST to pray the Glorious Mysteries as a nation. It simply means to gather with a group of 2 or more outside (if possible) as we call upon the powerful intercession of Our Lady to Heal Our Land!!
Go to RosaryCoasttoCoast.com to find more information and register your group.
Let’s … UNITE AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS!!
SUMMONED TO COURAGE
A society increasingly disengaged from the Divine Life has no place to go but down. Definitely not progress, but a radical descent away from our greatest potential. “Tens of millions of unborn babies have been slaughtered; illegitimacy rates have soared; divorce has skyrocketed; pornography is rampant; drug use has exploded; sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS have killed millions; birth control is a way of life; sex outside of wedlock has become the norm; countless children have been permanently damaged — their innocence lost forever — because of the proliferation of broken homes; and sodomy and homosexuality are celebrated openly. America has become the new Babylon” (Jeffrey Kuhner, Washington Times).
Summoning us to courage, a popular saying challenges us to fight: “Hope has two beautiful daughters: their names are anger and courage. Anger that things are the way they are. Courage to make them the way they ought to be.”
St. Cyril of Jerusalem in his Mystagogical Catechesis insists, “Just as the Savior, after his baptism and the coming of the Holy Spirit, went forth to vanquish the Enemy (in the wilderness), so you too, after Holy Baptism and Mystical Chrismation, having put on the whole armor of the Holy Spirit, are to resist the power of the Adversary and to vanquish him, saying, ‘I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me’ (Phil. 4:13).”
“Let us be filled with confidence,” St. John Chrysostom exhorts, “and let us discard everything so as to be able to meet this onslaught. Christ has equipped us with weapons more splendid than gold, more resistant than steel, weapons more fiery than any flame and lighter than the slightest breeze ... These are weapons of a totally new kind, for they have been forged for a previously unheard-of type of combat. I, who am a mere man, find myself called upon to deal blows to demons; I, who am clothed in flesh, find myself at war with incorporeal powers.” (Excerpt from Church Militant Field Manual).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Holiness
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.
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.
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:
HOLY NAME OF MARY
Tobit, Chapter 2,
Verse 8
A
righteous person cannot just ignore justice. Tobit must do the work the Lord
has appointed him, hell or high water.
Tobit[1]
- Within forty
days, however, Sennacherib’s sons assassinated him.
- His successor
appointed Ahiquar (Tobit’s nephew) over all the treasury accounts.
- Previously,
Ahiquar had held the position of cupbearer in Sennacherib’s court.
So he had a long history of court service and was well-respected.
- Ahiquar’s name
means “My divine brother is precious.”
- Because of his
position, he was able to intercede on behalf of Tobit.
- Tobit was
forgiven and allowed to come out of hiding.
- Later, when he
and his family were about to celebrate the festival of Weeks/Pentecost,
Tobit was filled with gratitude because they had so much food and saddened
because so many others had little/none.
- He told his
son to go out into the city and invite to dinner those who were homeless
and poor. In so doing, Tobit was trying to instill the same
values into his son.
- Tobias came
back with a report that another Jew was lying dead in the marketplace
(obviously a public execution of sorts).
- Without
hesitation, Tobit rose up from the table and grabbed the body and buried
it.
Helping the Poor[2]
Righteous people have a
professed interest in helping the poor. It is hard to find anyone who’s
anti-poor. What matters are not platitudes— we’re all in favor of clean air,
too—what counts are the kinds of policies we adopt. Good intentions matter, but
not much: great damage has been done in the name of helping people. Hitler said his policies would save Western
civilization. Stalin and Mao said they would create a utopia. They were all
genocidal maniacs.
If we want to help the
poor, we should at least know who they are. Census data tell us that nearly all
the poor in this country live in houses or apartments that are in good
condition and aren’t overcrowded.
·
More
than 80 percent of the poor own an air conditioner, two-thirds have cable TV,
and half own a computer. Fully 96 percent of poor parents say their children
were not hungry for even a single day in the past year. By any historical
measure, there are practically no poor people left in America.
·
When
we compare our “poor” to the poor in other nations today, we learn why I chose
quotation marks to describe ours.
·
It
would be wrong to conclude that we should therefore do nothing to help those
who are not affluent. As Catholics, we have a moral obligation to help those in
need.
·
At
a minimum, our energy and dollars should be directed at those who can’t help
themselves. As for able bodied persons who are not affluent, the most
charitable thing we can do is to enable them to become self-reliant.
·
Champions
of the poor who oppose school vouchers cannot be taken seriously; it is
minority children in the inner city who suffer.
·
Fraud
is rampant.
When my oldest daughter
was a 12-year-old, I brought her to the office on “Bring Your Daughter to Work
Day” (this trendy idea didn’t last long). On our way to work, a man was standing
next to a table with a huge jug; UHO was inscribed on it (United Homeless
Organization). He asked us to give, but I refused. My daughter wanted to know
why. When we got to my office, I explained my reasoning. I downloaded stories
on my computer showing what a fraud UHO was. Caryn learned that virtually all
the money went to the operators and the street hustlers. Three years ago, New
York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (now governor) said, “UHO exploits the good
intentions of people who thought their charitable donations were helping to
fund services for the homeless. Instead, their donations go directly to UHO’s principals and workers, who abused the
organization’s tax-exempt status to line their own pockets.” Some things
never change. Over the summer, it was reported that those who live in New York
City’s Caribbean neighborhoods are buying groceries with their Electronic
Benefit Transfer cards (food stamps for those on welfare) and sending them
overseas. There are literally hundreds of 45-to-55-gallon cardboard and plastic
barrels that line the walls in virtually every Caribbean supermarket. The food
is being shipped to relatives in Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. But
not all of it: some is being resold by rip-off artists.
Dishonesty
is also rampant.
Bread
for the World is a
prominent liberal organization that collects donations for the alleged purpose
of helping the poor. Not a dime pays for bread: All proceeds go to lobbyists
who pressure politicians to spend more money on poverty programs.
Back in the 1980s,
celebrities organized a well-publicized campaign to help the poor. “Holding Hands Across America” garnered
the support of legions of public figures (even the Reagans were roped into it).
It raked in hundreds of millions.
Unfortunately for the
poor, two out of every three dollars raised was spent to pay for the bash. More
recently, when a donor sent great New York pastrami sandwiches to the “Occupy
Wall Street” gang, the pro-poor demonstrators told the homeless who asked for
some to get lost. The soup was for the poor.
Helping the poor is a
noble cause, but it can also become a fool’s errand.
·
We
need to ask who the intended beneficiaries are, and what, if anything, can be
expected of them in return.
·
We
need to know how much of the money goes to administrative costs, and how much
is spent on the target group.
·
We
need to know if there is a face-to-face relationship between donors and
recipients, or just a money transfer.
·
We
need to know about fraud and dishonesty.
One of the great things
about Mother Teresa is that she never sought the limelight. She simply went
about her business helping the poor and comforting the sick and dying. It’s our
good fortune that she was “discovered” and introduced to the world. She’s the
proper role model, not those who stand on street corners asking for “spare
change,” or white-collared professionals who manipulate public sentiment for
self-serving reasons.
Eight
Levels of Charity-seek the highest good.[3]
Maimonides
defines eight levels in giving charity (tzedakah),
each one higher than the preceding one.
On an ascending level,
they are as follows:
8. When donations are
given grudgingly.
7. When one gives less
than he should, but does so cheerfully.
6. When one gives directly
to the poor upon being asked.
5. When one gives directly
to the poor without being asked.
4. Donations when the
recipient is aware of the donor's identity, but the donor still doesn't know
the specific identity of the recipient.
3. Donations when the
donor is aware to whom the charity is being given, but the recipient is unaware
of the source.
2. Giving assistance in
such a way that the giver and recipient are unknown to each other. Communal
funds, administered by responsible people are also in this category.
1. The highest form of
charity is to help sustain a person before they become impoverished by
offering a substantial gift in a dignified manner, or by extending a suitable
loan, or by helping them find employment or establish themselves in business so
as to make it unnecessary for them to become dependent on others.
Imagine
if we did this…what would the world be like?
Most Holy Name of Mary[4]
In accordance with Jewish
custom our Lady's parents named her eight days after her birth and were
inspired to call her Mary. The feast of the Holy Name of Mary therefore follows
that of her Birthday, as the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus follows Christmas.
The feast originated in Spain and was approved by the Holy See in 1513;
Innocent XI extended its observance to the whole Church in 1683 in thanksgiving
to our Lady for the victory on September 12, 1683, by John Sobieski, king of
Poland, over the Turks, who were besieging Vienna and threatening the West.
This day was commemorated in Vienna by creating a new kind of pastry and
shaping it in the form of the Turkish half-moon. It was eaten along with coffee
which was part of the booty from the Turks. The ancient Onomastica Sacra
have preserved the meanings ascribed to Mary's name by the early Christian
writers and perpetuated by the Greek Fathers. "Bitter Sea,"
"Myrrh of the Sea," "The Light Giver," "The
Enlightened One," "Lady," "Seal of the Lord," and
"Mother of the Lord" are the principal interpretations. These
etymologies suppose that the Hebrew form of the name is Maryãm, not Miryãm.
From the time of St. Jerome until the 16th century, preferred interpretations
of Mary's name in the West were "Lady," "Bitter Sea,"
"The Light Giver," and especially "Star of the Sea." Stella
Maris was by far the favored interpretation. The revival of Hebraic
studies, which accompanied the Renaissance, led to a more critical appraisal of
the meanings assigned to Our Lady's name. Miryãm has all the appearance of a
genuine Hebrew name, and no solid reason has been discovered to warrant
rejecting the Semitic origin of the word. The Hebrew name of Mary, Miryãm, (in
Latin Domina) means lady or sovereign; this Mary is in virtue of her
Son's sovereign authority as Lord of the World. We call Mary our Lady as we
call Jesus our Lord, and when we pronounce her name, we affirm her power,
implore her aid and place ourselves under her protection.
Catechism of the Catholic
Church
PART TWO: THE CELEBRATION OF THE CHRISTIAN
MYSTERY
SECTION ONE-THE
SACRAMENTAL ECONOMY
CHAPTER TWO-THE SACRAMENTAL CELEBRATION OF
THE PASCHAL MYSTERY
Article 1-CELEBRATING THE CHURCH'S LITURGY
IN BRIEF
1187 The liturgy is the work of the
whole Christ, head and body. Our high priest celebrates it unceasingly in the
heavenly liturgy, with the holy Mother of God, the apostles, all the saints,
and the multitude of those who have already entered the kingdom.
1188 In a liturgical celebration,
the whole assembly is leitourgos, each member according to his own function.
the baptismal priesthood is that of the whole Body of Christ. But some of the
faithful are ordained through the sacrament of Holy Orders to represent Christ
as head of the Body.
1189 The liturgical celebration
involves signs and symbols relating to creation (candles, water, fire), human
life (washing, anointing, breaking bread) and the history of salvation (the
rites of the Passover). Integrated into the world of faith and taken up by the
power of the Holy Spirit, these cosmic elements, human rituals, and gestures of
remembrance of God become bearers of the saving and sanctifying action of
Christ.
1190 The Liturgy of the Word is an
integral part of the celebration. the meaning of the celebration is expressed
by the Word of God which is proclaimed and by the response of faith to it.
1191 Song and music are closely
connected with the liturgical action. the criteria for their proper use are the
beauty expressive of prayer, the unanimous participation of the assembly, and
the sacred character of the celebration.
1192 Sacred images in our churches
and homes are intended to awaken and nourish our faith in the mystery of
Christ. Through the icon of Christ and his works of salvation, it is he whom we
adore. Through sacred images of the holy Mother of God, of the angels and of
the saints, we venerate the persons represented.
1193 Sunday, the "Lord's
Day," is the principal day for the celebration of the Eucharist because it
is the day of the Resurrection. It is the pre-eminent day of the liturgical
assembly, the day of the Christian family, and the day of joy and rest from
work. Sunday is "the foundation and kernel of the whole liturgical
year" (SC 106).
1194 The Church, "in the
course of the year, . . . unfolds the whole mystery of Christ from his
Incarnation and Nativity through his Ascension, to Pentecost and the
expectation of the blessed hope of the coming of the Lord" (SC 102 # 2).
1195 By keeping the memorials of
the saints - first of all the holy Mother of God, then the apostles, the
martyrs, and other saints - on fixed days of the liturgical year, the Church on
earth shows that she is united with the liturgy of heaven. She gives glory to
Christ for having accomplished his salvation in his glorified members; their
example encourages her on her way to the Father.
1196 The faithful who celebrate the
Liturgy of the Hours are united to Christ our high priest, by the prayer of the
Psalms, meditation on the Word of God, and canticles and blessings, in order to
be joined with his unceasing and universal prayer that gives glory to the
Father and implores the gift of the Holy Spirit on the whole world.
1197 Christ is the true temple of
God, "the place where his glory dwells"; by the grace of God,
Christians also become the temples of the Holy Spirit, living stones out of
which the Church is built.
1198 In its earthly state the
Church needs places where the community can gather together. Our visible
churches, holy places, are images of the holy city, the heavenly Jerusalem,
toward which we are making our way on pilgrimage.
1199 It is in these churches that
the Church celebrates public worship to the glory of the Holy Trinity, hears
the word of God and sings his praise, lifts up her prayer, and offers the
sacrifice of Christ sacramentally present in the midst of the assembly. These
churches are also places of recollection and personal prayer.
Daily
Devotions
·
Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them
in fasting: Today's Fast:
Holy Priests, Consecrated, & Religious
·
Make
reparations to the Holy Face-Tuesday
Devotion
·
Pray Day 9 of
the Novena for our Pope and Bishops
·
Religion
in the Home for Preschool: September
·
Tuesday:
Litany of St. Michael the Archangel
·
Litany of the Most Precious
Blood of Jesus
·
Offering to
the sacred heart of Jesus
·
Go to MASS
·
Rosary
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