Prayer consecrating the upcoming election in the United States to the Blessed Virgin Mary

Prayer consecrating the upcoming election in the United States to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Voting now till November 5-we hope?!

NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

NINE-MONTH NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Start March 12 to December 12

Patrolman's Fraternity of St. Michael

Patrolman's Fraternity of St. Michael
Fedelis ad Mortem

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Tuesday, July 23, 2024

July 23

 Saint of the day:

Saint Bridget

Patron Saint of Sweden

 

Joshua, Chapter 2, Verse 8-9

8Before the spies lay down, Rahab went up to them on the roof 9and said: “I know that the LORD has given you the land, that a dread of you has come upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land tremble with FEAR because of you.

 

Rahab saved the spies of Israel.

 

Why?

 

She knew the truth that God was with Israel. Rahab was a survivor and a sinner; she knew God had given the land to Israel. If you know the truth you do not swerve from it. Rahab was saved from the fate of Jericho because of her action not just good will toward Israel.

 

James in his epistle puts it this way:

 

20Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith without works is useless? 21 Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered his son Isaac upon the altar?

 

22 You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by the works. 23 Thus the scripture was fulfilled that says, “Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness,” and he was called “the friend of God.”24 See how a person is justified by works and not by faith alone.

 

 25 And in the same way, was not Rahab the harlot also justified by works when she welcomed the messengers and sent them out by a different route?

 

Rahab was saved by her faith and actions by the God of Israel and as a result she is not only saved but the Christ the Messiah descends from Boaz her son.

 

St. Bridget of Sweden[1]



Bridget was born in Sweden of noble and pious parents and led a most holy life. While she was yet unborn, her mother was saved from shipwreck for her sake. At ten years of age, Bridget heard a sermon on the Passion of our Lord; and the next night she saw Jesus on the cross, covered with fresh blood, and speaking to her about his Passion. Thenceforward meditation on that subject affected her to such a degree, that she could never think of our Lord's sufferings without tears. She was given in marriage to Ulfo prince of Nericia; and won him, by example and persuasion, to a life of piety. She devoted herself with maternal love to the education of her children. She was most zealous in serving the poor, especially the sick; and set apart a house for their reception, where she would often wash and kiss their feet. Together with her husband, she went on pilgrimage to Compostela, to visit the tomb of the apostle St. James. On their return journey, Ulfo fell dangerously ill at Arras; but St. Dionysius, appearing to Bridget at night, foretold the restoration of her husband's health, and other future events. Ulfo became a Cistercian monk but died soon afterwards. Whereupon Bridget, having heard the voice of Christ calling her in a dream, embraced a more austere manner of life. Many secrets were then revealed to her by God. She founded the monastery of Vadstena under the rule of our Savior, which was given her by our Lord himself. At his command, she went to Rome, where she kindled the love of God in very many hearts. She made a pilgrimage to Jerusalem; but on her return to Rome she was attacked by fever and suffered severely from sickness during a whole year. On the day she had foretold, she passed to heaven, laden with merits. Her body was translated to her monastery of Vadstena; and becoming illustrious for miracles, she was enrolled among the saints by Boniface IX. Excerpted from the Liturgical Year, Abbot Gueranger O.S.B

Things to do

 

·         From the Catholic Culture Library, two articles by Pope John Paul II — St. Bridget: A Unique Model of Feminine Holiness, Three Co-Patronesses of Europe and Saint Birgitta.

·         St. Bridget was a member of the Franciscan Third Order. If you have never considered joining one of the Church's order's for lay people today might be a good time to think about it. Learn more about becoming a secular Franciscan.

·         You may want to purchase a copy of which contains excerpts from her revelations.

·         You might like to read about St. Birgitta of Sweden's Influence in Finland.

·         The Birgittine Order now has thirteen monasteries of contemplative nuns and a congregation of contemplative-apostolic sisters whose motherhouse is in Rome, in the actual former dwelling of St. Birgitta. For information about the sisters here are some websites: About the Birgittine Nuns in Vadstena, Birgittine Sisters and About the Brigittine sisters

·         The Brigittine Monks existed from the 14th to the middle of the 19th century, when they were dispersed, largely due to European wars. (In 1970, a Brigittine Monk, Richard Reynolds, martyr, was declared a saint.) This monastery, the 1st in over 100 years, was founded in 1976 and has the Canonical status of a Priory “Sui Juris.” If you want to know about the monks visit Brigittine Monks of the Order of the Most Holy Savior.

·         Read about the saints of the Brigittine order and more about Bl. Elizabeth Hesselblad who refounded the order.

·         The Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about the Brigittines.

·         You may want to buy some delicious fudge made by the monks or purchase a Brigittine Rosary.

 

Novena of St. Ann[2]


 

Daily Prayer to Saint Ann

 

O glorious St. Ann, you are filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer! Heavily burdened with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present intention which I recommend to you in your special care.

Please recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and place it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Continue to intercede for me until my request is granted. But, above all, obtain for me the grace one day to see my God face to face, and with you and Mary and all the saints to praise and bless Him for all eternity. Amen.

 

Our Father, . . . Hail Mary . . .

 

O Jesus, Holy Mary, St. Ann, help me now and at the hour of my death. Good St. Ann, intercede for me.

 

SEVENTH DAY

 

Once again, Good St. Ann, I choose you for my advocate before the throne of God. By the power and grace that God has placed in you, extend to me your helping hand. Renew my mind and my heart.

 

Dear St. Ann, I have unbounded confidence in your prayers. To your blessed hands I entrust my soul, my body and all my hopes for this world and the next. Direct my actions according to your goodness and wisdom. I place myself under your motherly care. Receive me, good mother. Cover me with the mantle of your love. Look kindly on me. By your powerful intercession, may I obtain from God grace and mercy. Obtain for me remission for sin and release from the punishment my offenses have deserved. Pray that I may receive grace to lead a devout life on earth and that I may obtain the everlasting reward of heaven.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 39

Paragraph 3. THE ALMIGHTY

268 of all the divine attributes, only God's omnipotence is named in the Creed: to confess this power has great bearing on our lives. We believe that his might is universal, for God who created everything also rules everything and can do everything. God's power is loving, for he is our Father, and mysterious, for only faith can discern it when it "is made perfect in weakness".

"He does whatever he pleases"

269 The Holy Scriptures repeatedly confess the universal power of God. He is called the "Mighty One of Jacob", the "LORD of hosts", the "strong and mighty" one. If God is almighty "in heaven and on earth", it is because he made them. Nothing is impossible with God, who disposes his works according to his will. He is the Lord of the universe, whose order he established and which remains wholly subject to him and at his disposal. He is master of history, governing hearts and events in keeping with his will: "It is always in your power to show great strength, and who can withstand the strength of your arm?

"You are merciful to all, for you can do all thing"

270 God is the Father Almighty, whose fatherhood and power shed light on one another: God reveals his fatherly omnipotence by the way he takes care of our needs; by the filial adoption that he gives us ("I will be a father to you, and you shall be my sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty"): finally by his infinite mercy, for he displays his power at its height by freely forgiving sins.

271 God's almighty power is in no way arbitrary: "In God, power, essence, will, intellect, wisdom, and justice are all identical. Nothing therefore can be in God's power which could not be in his just will or his wise intellect."

The mystery of God's apparent powerlessness

272 Faith in God the Father Almighty can be put to the test by the experience of evil and suffering. God can sometimes seem to be absent and incapable of stopping evil. But in the most mysterious way God the Father has revealed his almighty power in the voluntary humiliation and Resurrection of his Son, by which he conquered evil. Christ crucified is thus "the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." It is in Christ's Resurrection and exaltation that the Father has shown forth "the immeasurable greatness of his power in us who believe".

273 Only faith can embrace the mysterious ways of God's almighty power. This faith glories in its weaknesses in order to draw to itself Christ's power. The Virgin Mary is the supreme model of this faith, for she believed that "nothing will be impossible with God", and was able to magnify the Lord: "For he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name."

274 "Nothing is more apt to confirm our faith and hope than holding it fixed in our minds that nothing is impossible with God. Once our reason has grasped the idea of God's almighty power, it will easily and without any hesitation admit everything that [the Creed] will afterwards propose for us to believe - even if they be great and marvelous things, far above the ordinary laws of nature."

IN BRIEF

275 With Job, the just man, we confess: "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted" (Job 42:2).

276 Faithful to the witness of Scripture, the Church often addresses her prayer to the "almighty and eternal God" (“omnipotens sempiterne Deus. . ."), believing firmly that "nothing will be impossible with God" (Gen 18:14; Lk 1:37; Mt 19:26).

277 God shows forth his almighty power by converting us from our sins and restoring us to his friendship by grace. "God, you show your almighty power above all in your mercy and forgiveness. . ." (Roman Missal, 26th Sunday, Opening Prayer).

278 If we do not believe that God's love is almighty, how can we believe that the Father could create us, the Son redeem us and the Holy Spirit sanctify us?

Candace’s Corner

·         Vanilla Ice Cream Day

·         Let Freedom Ring Day 17 Freedom from Lukewarmness

Hike of West Fork Oak Creek Sedona, Arizona


 

West Fork Oak Creek is a popular trail. There is a pleasant little stream that ripples along the canyon floor as you hike it where you can look up at the dizzying cliffs that tower above it. 

 

During this hike you will meditate on each of the ways you may have been walking away from God; marking each of the meditations as you cross the stream multiple times. On the return hike, you will meditate using the walking towards God meditations as you cross the stream. Remember every journey away from something is a journey toward something—the first meditations are the seven deadly sins with fear added as an eighth; and you will be meditating on the Beatitudes of Christ on the way back in reverse order.

 

Walking away from GOD


 

(Have I been/Shown?)

 

1 FEAR:  Terror, Dread; Horror, Fright; Panic, Alarm; Trepidation, Apprehension.

 

2 PRIDE/HUBRIS:  Arrogant; Conceit; Smugness; Self-importance; Satisfaction; Pleasure; Delight.

 

3 ENVY:  Jealousy, Desire; Resentment, Spite, Malice, Meanness.

 

4 WRATH:  Anger, Annoyance, Rage; Fury, Aggravation, Frustration.

 

5 AVARICE:  Greed; Materialism; Covetousness, Acquisitiveness.

 

6 SLOTH:  Laziness, Idleness; Sluggishness, Inactivity; Indolence (condition that is slow to develop or be healed and causes no pain-i.e. fail to resist evil) Apathy.

 

7 GLUTTONY:  Excess, Exclusivity; Over indulgence; Intemperance.

 

8 LUST:  Yearn, Desire; Long for, Hanker for; Hunger for, Ache for, Crave.

 

Walking toward GOD

 

(Have I failed to be, do; or show?)

 

8 CHASTITY (PURITY OF HEART):  Cleanliness, Wholesomeness; Spotlessness, Clarity; Transparency, Knowledge, Honesty, Wisdom.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: LUST

 

Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God. The clean of heart are those who preserve with care the innocence with which they are invested at holy Baptism, or seek to regain it, when lost, by penance; those who keep their hearts and consciences unspotted from all sinful thoughts, particularly from all unchaste thoughts, desires, words, and acts, and who endeavor in all things to have a pure intention directed to God alone. They shall see God, that is, they shall know Him even here upon earth, for as the eye that is to see must be clean, so only souls that are pure and unstained can behold God. But further, our knowledge is like our hearts; the purer the heart the clearer and greater is the knowledge of God. But in the world above they shall see, know, and possess Him as He is. What blessedness! Strive, therefore, to keep your heart clean.

 

7 TEMPERANCE (POOR IN SPIRIT):  Sacrifice, Give Up; Forgo, Let Go; Surrender, Tithe, Self-Control, Abstention.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: GLUTTONY


 

The poor in spirit are: 1. Those who, like the apostles, readily forsake all earthly things, and for Christ’s sake become poor. 2. Those who, happening to lose their property by misfortune or injustice, suffer the loss patiently, in resignation to the will of God. 3. Those who, like Jesus, are content with their poor and humble position, seek no higher or happier one, and would rather suffer want than enrich themselves by unlawful acts, by fraud or theft. 4. The rich and noble who set not their hearts upon the riches and greatness of the world who use their riches and influence to relieve the misery of the needy and oppressed. 5. Finally, the truly humble, who, convinced of their weakness, their helplessness and misery, think lowly of themselves, and regard themselves but as beggars, who are always in need of the grace of God. To all these, therefore, in whose hearts the world has no place, there is assured, as their inheritance, the kingdom of heaven; here the kingdom of grace there the kingdom of glory.

 

6 DILIGENCE (HUNGER & THRIST FOR RIGHTEOUSNESS):  Fairness, Impartiality; Righteousness, Evenhandedness; Fair Dealing, Persistence, Effort, Ethics, Rectitude.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: SLOTH

 

Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice, for they shall have their fill. Hunger and thirst denote the most ardent longing after those virtues which constitute Christian perfection, such as humility, meekness, the love of God and of our neighbor, penance. Whoever longs for these virtues as the hungry man does for food and drink, and prays to God for them with perseverance and earnestness, shall have his fill; that is, he shall be enriched with them, and one day shall be satisfied with eternal Happiness.

 

5 CHARITY (MERCIFUL):  Compassion; Kindness, Pity; Bigheartedness, Clemency; Openhandedness, Forgiveness; Liberality, Understanding; Leniency, Will, Benevolence, Generosity. Opposing Deadly Sin: AVARICE

 

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. The merciful here spoken of are: 1. Those who willingly forgive the injuries done to them. 2. Those who have compassion on their poor neighbors, and, according to their ability, sustain them by alms. These shall obtain mercy; that is, God will forgive them their sins and endow them abundantly with the goods of this world and of the world to come. Thus God deals with us as we deal with others.

 

4 PATIENCE (PEACEMAKERS):  Relations, Mediation; Negotiation—Prevents Destruction, I.E. Stem Cell/Abortion, Sufferance.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: WRATH


 

Blessed are the peace-makers, for they shall be called the children of God. By peacemakers we are to understand those who have peace with themselves, that is, a quiet conscience, and who endeavor to maintain peace among others, or to restore it when broken. Such are called the children of God, because they follow God, Who is a God of peace, and Who even gave His only Son to reconcile the world with Him, and to bring down upon earth that peace which the world itself could not give.

 

3 KINDNESS (MOURNING):  Grief, Sorrow; Remembrance, Respect, Loyalty, Integrity.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: ENVY

 

Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted. By them that mourn we are not to understand such as grieve and lament over a death, a misfortune, a loss of worldly goods, or the like; but those who are grieved that God should be in so many ways offended by themselves and by others that His Church should be so heavily oppressed, and thereby so many souls lost that have been redeemed with the precious blood of Christ. The only evil really to be grieved for is sin, and the tears shed on account of sin are the only tears that are profitable, for they shall be recompensed with everlasting joy.

 

2 HUMILITY (MEEK): Modesty, Not Assuming, Reverence, Altruism.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: PRIDE/HUBRIS

 

Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land. That man is meek who does not murmur against God for sending afflictions upon him, who is not angry at men who do him injury, but who rather suppresses impatience, anger, envy, and revenge, nay, who seeks to recompense the evil done him by his neighbor with good. Such a one is greater than he who takes by storm fortified cities (Prov. xvi. 32); he possesses an unfailing fountain of peace, quiet, and cheerfulness; by his meekness prevails over the most hostile minds, is by such means truly a ruler upon earth, and will one day, for his portion, obtain heaven, the land of the living, there to enjoy eternal peace.

 

1 LOVE & COURAGE (FAITH-BE NOT AFRAID):  Affection, Adoration; Friendship, Confidence; Courageous, Trust; Valiant, Reliance; Heroic, Assurance; Bold, Conviction; Daring, Belief; Fearless, Devotion; Plucky, Loyalty.

 

Opposing Deadly Sin: FEAR


 

Love Brothers and sisters do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind. Do not be afraid: Open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of States, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows “what is in man”. He alone knows it. So often today man does not know what is within him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt which turns into despair. We ask you therefore, we beg you with humility and trust, let Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of eternal life.

Daily Devotions

·         Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: An end to the use of contraceptives.

·         Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

·         Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

·         Drops of Christ’s Blood

·         Universal Man Plan

·         Rosary




[1]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2016-07-23

[2]Blessed Sacrament Fathers, ST. ANN’S SHRINE, Cleveland, Ohio

 


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