Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Our Lady holding Jesus as He accepts flowers from the shepherd child

Welcome to our intercessory prayer ministry for families, babies, little ones and those who love them.

In our prayers for families, we pray for the sanctity of all life and for vocations to marriage, the priesthood and consecrated life, which are born and nurtured in families.

The
Prayer of Entrustment to Mary was prayed for this ministry at the icon of the Madonna Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the Roman People, Our Lady of Good Health) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore (Basilica of Mary Major) in Rome, Italy, in Nossa Senhora do Rosario da Fatima (Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary) in Fatima, Portugal, in Eglise du Sacre-Coeur (Sacred Heart Parish Church), the site of St. Bernadette's baptismal font, in Lourdes, France and at The National Shrine of The Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents before Our Lady of Guadalupe and at Basilica Papale de San Pietro in Vaticano (St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City) at the Tomb of St. John Paul II in Rome, Italy and at the Basílica de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe (Basilica of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe) in Mexico City, Mexico.

This ministry is consecrated to Jesus Christ, Wisdom Incarnate, through the hands of Mary and dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary. In our prayers to Mary, we honor and worship her Son Jesus. When He was on the Cross, He gave His Mother to John and she became our Mother as well. "Behold, your Mother." John 19:27

Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam
For the greater glory of God

February 28, 2015

Mary Seat of Wisdom

Wisdom is a gift from God that helps us understand what God’s plan and purpose for our lives. Wisdom is a gift that needs to be cultivated so that the soil of our hearts can hear God’s voice, as Mary did. Mary’s parents helped her to use her gift of wisdom so that she was ready to understand God’s plan and purpose for her life when the angel came to announce it. The Scriptures tell us that Jesus, too, “grew in wisdom, age and grace” so that He came to understand what God wanted of Him. Wisdom is our gift.

Sirach 51:12 cd-20
I thank the LORD and I praise him; I bless the name of the LORD. When I was young and innocent, I sought wisdom openly in my prayer. I prayed for her before the temple, and I will seek her until the end, and she flourished as a grape soon ripe. My heart delighted in her, My feet kept to the level path because from earliest youth I was familiar with her. In the short time I paid heed, I met with great instruction. Since in this way I have profited, I will give my teacher grateful praise. I became resolutely devoted to her, the good I persistently strove for. My soul was tormented in seeking her, My hand opened her gate and I came to know her secrets. I directed my soul to her, and in cleanness I attained to her.

Mary, Seat of Wisdom (also known as Our Lady of the Chair or the Latin name Sedes Sapientiae), is a very old title for Mary.  As with all of Mary’s titles, it highlights one specific aspect of her life and experience, specifically, her role as the one who gave birth to Christ.  Artistic representations of Mary, Seat of Wisdom often show her seated on a throne, holding the Christ child on her lap and offering him for adoration.  Many early Christians saw Christ as Wisdom incarnate; therefore, by holding him on her lap, Mary becomes the “seat” of wisdom.  On another, deeper level, the title also refers to the fact that Mary “held” wisdom inside her by carrying Christ in her womb.

O Mary, Seat of Wisdom, teach us to turn to Jesus for His wisdom in our lives and pray for us and for all the names we receive through this prayer ministry.

February 21, 2015

Reflection: Pope Francis "I see the church as a field hospital after battle."

The thing the church needs most today is the ability to heal wounds and to warm the hearts of the faithful; it needs nearness, proximity. I see the church as a field hospital after battle. It is useless to ask a seriously injured person if he has high cholesterol and about the level of his blood sugars! You have to heal his wounds. Then we can talk about everything else. Heal the wounds, heal the wounds...and you have to start from the ground up. Pope Francis 

When a person is seriously wounded, the most life threatening issues must be addressed first.  A person in great pain or deep sin or addiction or loneliness needs care for these issues first and then given time to heal.  

In today's first Reading, the Lord speaks about healing wounds.  

Is this not, rather, the fast that I choose; releasing those bound unjustly, untying the thongs of the yoke; setting free the oppressed, breaking off every yoke?  Is it not sharing your bread with the hungry, bringing the afflicted and the homeless into your house; clothing the naked when you see them, and not turning your back on your own flesh?  Then your light shall break forth like the dawn, and your wound shall quickly be healed. Isaiah 58:6-8

How does the Lord heal wounds?  The Sacraments are the way to healing.  In the Sacrament of Reconciliation, you receive healing, grace, mercy and peace. Run to Jesus. His hands are outstretched waiting for you. Don't worry if you have not been to confession for a while. The priest will help you. Ask Our Lady to accompany you into confession. She is your most loving Mother. She will guide you, as she guides the priest. She is the Mother of all priests. The priest is, "in Persona Christi" which means, in confession, you are speaking to Jesus Himself. You receive healing in the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Receiving the Body and Blood of Jesus brings healing and unimaginable graces. Run to Jesus in the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus. When you receive Jesus in the Eucharist, give Him your wounds and ask Him to heal you. Jesus comes to bring us healing in this great Sacrament of Love. 

If you live in New England, you know firsthand about the harshness of winter.  During the past month, more than seven feet of snow has fallen in Boston. The continued harsh weather has caused great hardship for so many. Properties have been damaged and there are more storms in the forecast. 

Consider the problems of ice dams, leaky roofs and potholes. They cause great harm to property. Consider your soul. When we have sin, it causes harm to us and to others. The way to heal the soul is through the Sacraments. It is through the Sacraments that Jesus will heal the ice dams, leaky roofs and pot holes in your soul. the places where you have been wounded, by your own sin or by the harm caused to you by someone else. Jesus is the Divine Physician. The touch of His Hand heals.

Then the Lord will guide you always and satisfy your thirst in parched places, will give strength to your bones, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail. Your people shall build the ancient ruins; the foundations from ages past, you shall raise up; "Repairer of the breach," they shall call you, "Restorer of ruined dwellings." Isaiah 58:11-12

When you come to the Lord in the Sacraments of Reconciliation and the Eucharist, Jesus comes to you with His everlasting love and mercy. Jesus is the "Repairer of the breach, Restorer of ruined dwellings." He will heal your soul and give you strength to sin no more. You will be like a watered garden, like a flowing spring whose waters never fail.

Loving Jesus, teach us Your ways and draw us to Your Sacraments where You heal. Through these Sacraments, You will transform the winter of our souls into a glorious springtime!

February 18, 2015

30 Day Novena to Saint Joseph

The Feast Day of Saint Joseph is March 19th. We begin this 30 Days of Prayer today Ash Wednesday and end on Saint Joseph's Feast Day. This is a powerful novena. Ask Saint Joseph to intercede for your intentions.

Thirty Days Prayer to St. Joseph
In honor of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.

Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.

I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.

I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.

I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.

I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.

I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask: (Name your petitions or think of them.)

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of: JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH. 

O Holy Family, pray for us and for all the intentions we bring to you.

February 13, 2015

Reflection: Ephphatha...Be opened...

Jesus heals, even when we are not seeking Him. In today's Gospel of Mark, the people brought a deaf man who had a speech impediment, begging Jesus to heal him.  The man did not come to Jesus on his own.  He was brought to Jesus and Jesus laid His hands on the man and immediately, the man was healed. 

"Ephphatha...Be opened." Beautiful words of love, hope and healing!

“And people brought to him a deaf man who had a speech impediment and begged him to lay his hand on him. He took him off by himself away from the crowd. He put his finger into the man’s ears and, spitting, touched his tongue; then he looked up to heaven and groaned, and said to him, 'Ephphatha!' (that is, 'Be opened!') And immediately the man’s ears were opened, his speech impediment was removed, and he spoke plainly.” Mark 7:32-35

Jesus is calling you to come to Him.  This week we begin the season of Lent.  Come to Jesus in the Sacrament of Reconciliation where He can pour His love, sanctifying grace and mercy into your heart. Come to Him in the Mass where you will hear His Word and receive Him in the Holy Eucharist. When you receive the Body of Christ in the Eucharist, He heals you and gives you strength and grace to do His Will.  Come to Him in Eucharistic Adoration and He will give you rest.  Come, come as you are...  

Once Jesus fills you with His grace and healing love, He calls you to bring others to Him. He calls you to bring those who have ears but can not hear; those who have mouths but can not speak truth; those who have minds but can not understand reason; those who have eyes but can not see beauty. Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.  He makes the blind see, the deaf hear, the mute speak, the paralytic walk and He frees those who are chained by demons and sin.  

Go out in love today and bring the love of Jesus to those you meet. Through prayer, fasting and offering little sacrifices, Jesus changes hearts.  Pope Francis calls you to an encounter with Jesus. When He comes to you, you can not help sharing His love with others.  


Through this ministry, I was blessed to meet the mother of a young blind teen Christopher who has an amazing gift of singing.  His life is a miracle, a story of love, hope and healing which his Mom gives witness to. One of the beautiful songs he sings is, "Open the eyes of my heart, Lord."


Acts 16:13-15

On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there. One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying. After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,” and she prevailed on us.  

Open the eyes of our hearts, Lord, that we may see You and invite others to come to You.

February 06, 2015

Reflection: Deliver us from evil...

Prayer to Our Blessed Mother Mary for assistance in the Spiritual Battle From a book of prayers, "The Lion Roars, Prayers for the Remnant" by Dave VanVickle.

"O Mary, conceived without sin! O Woman clothed with the Sun! Come now and intercede for us in this battle against evil. You who are despised and feared by the father of lies, help us powerfully. You whose beauty is so bright, so pure that devils tremble in fear, help us powerfully. You who strike at the head of the old serpent, the devil, help us powerfully. O Mary whose name is so sweet, come and cover us with your protective mantle and protect us in this battle with evil. O humble Woman, vanquish the evil one. O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee."

For our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.  Ephesians 6:12  

O Mary, Undoer of Knots, you are our most powerful intercessor.  We ask you to undo the knots of evil in our midst and protect our families. Take the ribbon of our lives, undo the knots and make the ribbon smooth.  O Mary, we trust in your tender mercy and maternal care and ask you to bring our prayers to the Father to deliver us from evil.

I will put enmities between you (satan) and the woman, and your seed and her seed; she shall crush your head, and you shall lie in wait for her heel.  Genesis 3:15

Not long ago, a little five year old was sharing with me something that a classmate did that upset her. I gave her a prayer card with a picture of Mary Undoer of Knots.  I told her to look at Mary and how she takes the knots of the ribbon and she makes the ribbon smooth.  This little one loves ribbons!  I told her that she could give Mary this problem with her classmate and Mary will help her.  Mary will undo the knots and make the ribbon smooth for her.  She loved it, smiled and held onto the prayer card.  Mary Undoer of Knots, will do the same for you.

Let us pray the Rosary daily and let the heel of our Mother crush the enemy.  Let us pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy daily "in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world."  Let us fast and make little offerings and pray the Our Father daily for the undoing of evil in our world. We place our prayers and offerings in the hands of Mary Undoer of Knots.  She will entrust them to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit.

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.