The Holy Innocents

Beloved, now this is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christ and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

Today is the Feast Day of the Holy Innocents, the patron saints of babies. These innocent little children were the first martyrs for Jesus Christ.  We remember the 20 children and 6 adults who were murdered in the massacre in Newtown, CT one year ago. These kindergarten children were the faces of goodness and light.  Jesus came to us as a vulnerable little baby like these little ones.  Today, let us pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy for their families. 

Matthew 2:12-18
And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed for their country by another way. When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the child to destroy him." Joseph rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. He stayed there until the death of Herod, that what the Lord had said through the prophet might be fulfilled, "Out of Egypt I called my son." When Herod realized that he had been deceived by the magi, he became furious. He ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had ascertained from the magi. Then was fulfilled what had been said through Jeremiah the prophet: "A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children, and she would not be consoled, since they were no more." Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.

Herod became furious and ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under. The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children...”Rachel was the wife of Jacob. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.

They have been ransomed as the firstfruits of the human race for God and the Lamb. Revelation 14:4



We remember the Holy Innocents today.  We pray for all the babies lost in our time to the horror of abortion and we pray for their families. The greatest treasure God put on the earth is a baby, destined for eternity and graced by the birth, death and resurrection of Jesus.  Lord, You are the Giver of life. We pray that ALL LIFE will be protected, in Your Holy Name, through the powerful intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn.

Behold, thy Mother.

Saint John, known as the Evangelist and the "beloved disciple" was born in Bethsaida. Today we celebrate his feast day. He was called to follow Jesus while mending his fishing nets. John wrote the fourth Gospel, three Epistles and the book of Revelation. His passages before the existence of the Word, his writings are among the most powerful of the New Testament. He wrote of how Jesus became the light of the world and life of our souls.

John, the Evangelist, wrote of Christ and His Divine and brotherly love. With James, his brother, and Simon Peter, he was one of the witnesses of the Transfiguration. John is thought to have been especially close to Jesus; he alone was at the foot of the cross when Our Lord died, and it was to John that Jesus said, "Behold thy Mother."

According to legend, the emperor Diocletian once tried to poison John by ordering him to drink a cup of poisoned wine. Saint John blessed the wine and the poison slithered away in the form of a snake.

1 John 1: 1-4 Beloved: What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes; what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life, for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us, what we have seen and heard we proclaim now to you so that you too may have fellowship with us; for our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.

What we have seen and heard, we proclaim now to you, we speak of the Word of life. 1 John 1:1,3

O Beloved Disciple Saint John, the Evangelist, help us to have a personal encounter with Jesus each day. Help us to be His disciples.  We ask your intercession for all the intentions we receive through this ministry for babies, little ones and their families.

Reflection: A Child is born...

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that the whole world should be enrolled. This was the first enrollment, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. So all went to be enrolled, each to his own town. And Joseph too went up from Galilee from the town of Nazareth to Judea, to the city of David that is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David, to be enrolled with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. While they were there, the time came for her to have her child, and she gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Christ and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  Luke 2:1-14

God’s sign is simplicity. God’s sign is the baby. God’s sign is that he makes himself small for us. This is how he reigns. He does not come with power and outward splendor. He comes as a baby, defenseless and in need of our help. He does not want to overwhelm us with his strength. He takes away our fear of his greatness. He asks for our love: so he makes himself a child. He wants nothing other from us than our love, through which we spontaneously learn to enter into His feelings, His thoughts and His Will. We learn to live with Him and to practice with Him that humility of renunciation that belongs to the very essence of love.
Pope Benedict XVI Homily Saint Peter's Basilica December 24, 2006

Heavenly Father, bless us as we contemplate the newborn Baby Jesus, all holy, full of innocence, the Son of God. May we realize on this Christmas day, the absolute dignity of each human person who is "fearfully and wonderfully made" in Your "image and likeness."

Let us enter the stable in Bethlehem.  The little lamb nuzzles close to the crib.  Mary and Joseph are gazing tenderly at their newborn baby.  Light radiates from the baby.  Love pours forth from Him.  Sweet baby Jesus, we rejoice on this day of Your birth.  Come into our hearts and bring Your peace and love.  May we gaze upon You and fall deeply in love more and more each day.  

We entrust to You all the names we receive through this prayer ministry and ask our Mother Mary to always be our Comforter and our Most Powerful Intercessor.

The Christmas crib...

The cherished tradition of the Christmas Crib and the Nativity scene was begun by Saint Francis of Assisi. On Christmas Eve in 1223, Saint Francis so longed to see with his own eyes the circumstances of Jesus' coming to Bethlehem, that he arranged to have the scene recreated in a cave at Greccio, using live people and animals. During the solemnities of the Mass being offered there, a little child was seen lying in the manger. From that celebration began the custom of the Christmas crib or crèche."


Pope Benedict XVI spoke on the tradition of the Christmas Crib:

"Following a beautiful and firmly rooted tradition, many families set up their crib immediately after the feast of the Immaculate Conception, to set up the crib at home can be a simple but effective way of presenting the faith and transmitting it to one's children. The manger helps us to contemplate the mystery of God's love who revealed himself in the poverty and simplicity of the Bethlehem cave.

Saint Francis of Assisi was so overwhelmed by the mystery of the Incarnation that he wanted to present it again in Greccio with the living manger, thus becoming the initiator of a long popular tradition which still keeps its value for evangelization today.

The crib can help us, in fact, to understand the secret of the true Christmas, because it speaks of humility and the merciful goodness of Christ, who "though He was rich, yet for your sake He became poor." 2 Corinthians 8:9  His poverty enriches those who embrace it and Christmas brings joy and peace to those who, as the shepherds, accept in Bethlehem the words of the Angel: "And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger". Luke 2:12  It continues to be a sign also for us, men and women of the 21st century. There is no other Christmas."

May our own Nativity scenes which rest under our Christmas trees be a visible reminder of that night when our Savior was born. May we never forget to see in our hearts the the Holy Family, Mary and Joseph and the little Babe of Bethlehem, who came to save us from sin. May we always remember that the wood of the manger that held Him so securely would one day give way to the wood of the cross. May we too embrace Jesus with all of our love as did Saint Francis.

Jesus, Mary and Joseph, pray for us and all the names we receive through this ministry.

Reflection: Gazing at a baby...

What happens when we gaze at a baby?  Our hearts are lifted and we smile.  Gazing at a baby brings love, joy, peace, wonder, comfort and hope.  In the tender embrace of holding my babies, it is love that passed between us.  God is love.  In His tiny creation, God manifests His love for us.  It is a mutual exchange of love.  A baby is innocent, vulnerable, pure, dependent and trusting.  Gazing at a baby, we see beauty, goodness and light.  

As we prepare our hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus, let us ponder His birth by gazing at His Face.  He comes to us in love. His Face is love.  His little hands stretch out to draw us close in love.  When His gaze comes upon us, we are forever transformed in love.      

The baby Jesus is calling you. "Come to Me and I will give you rest."  

Let us peer into the tiny stable in Bethlehem and gaze at the baby Jesus.  

Now there were shepherds in that region living in the fields and keeping the night watch over their flock. The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."

When the angels went away from them to heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let us go, then, to Bethlehem to see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us." So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. When they saw this, they made known the message that had been told them about this child. All who heard it were amazed by what had been told them by the shepherds. And Mary kept all these things, reflecting on them in her heart. Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, just as it had been told to them.  Luke 2:4-20

On Christmas Eve in 1937, Saint Faustina encountered the Holy Child Jesus:

"When I arrived at Midnight Mass, from the very beginning I steeped myself in deep recollection, during which time I saw the stable of Bethlehem filled with great radiance. The Blessed Virgin, all lost in the deepest of love, was wrapping Jesus in swaddling clothes, but Saint Joseph was still asleep. Only after the Mother of God put Jesus in the manger did the light of God awaken Joseph, who also prayed. But after a while, I was left alone with the Infant Jesus who stretched out His little hands to me, and I understood that I was to take Him in my arms. Jesus pressed His head against my heart and gave me to know, by His profound gaze, how good He found it to be next to my heart."  Diary of Saint Faustina, 1442

For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given; upon His shoulder dominion rests.  They name Him Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Father-Forever, Prince of Peace.  Isaiah 9:5 

The story of Christmas draws us toward complete trust in God. This Christmas season, let us carry Saint Faustina’s vision of the baby Jesus in our hearts. Let us be inspired by God’s message of hope in the story of Christmas. Let us gaze upon the baby Jesus stretching out His little hands to touch us with His love and peace. Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.  Let us embrace the baby Jesus and hold His love and peace in our hearts. 

The Heart of Mary

The Virgin’s love conceived first in her heart and then in her womb. Saint Augustine stated this when commenting on the Gospel of the Annunciation: “The angel announces; the Virgin listens, believes and conceives. Christ is believed and conceived through faith. The Virgin Mary first conceived in her heart, and then fruitfulness came to the Mother’s Womb”.

A promise of love can only be fulfilled in love! The sign that God chose to give humanity to reveal the promise of his presence in history, as John Paul II taught us, found its full meaning in the mystery of the Incarnation of the Word. The sign was a virgin’s heart, receiving with love the Heart of God who is Love. A Virgin’s love will conceive, a Virgin’s heart will receive the fullness of life and give birth to the Life of the World!

Therefore, the Lord himself will give you this sign: the virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall name him Emmanuel. 
Isaiah 7:14

A Virgin, a pure and humble heart, dedicated totally to loving God, completely available and generously disposed to His designs, was the one to cooperate, with her fiat, in the fulfillment of the plan of salvation. In the Virgin’s undivided, prayerful, generous and pure human heart a miraculous conception, a miraculous fecundity, took place. A love so pure, so total, and so unconditional became so powerfully life-giving. The pure, immaculate love of a human heart was the soil, the perfect soil, to bear the child and thus, to be the sign of the presence of God among men. This is the great sign promised by Isaiah: love, pure, unconditional love is so powerful that it gives life. Only love creates, said St. Maximilian Kolbe, because love is the force, the powerful force, that calls forth life.

O Mary, the Mighty One has done great things for you and Holy is His Name. Help us, Mother Mary, to prepare our hearts for the baby Jesus. Help us to be a sign of love to those we meet. We entrust all the names we receive through this ministry to you, Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. Protect them and bring them to the baby Jesus.

Lamb of God: A mother's reflection on the loss of her child in Newtown, CT

She Pondered These Things in Her Heart 

                    Lamb of God

                Jennifer Hubbard

Jennifer Hubbard is a resident of Newtown, CT.  The younger of her two children, Catherine Violet, was a victim of Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting on 
December 14, 2012  From the December edition of the Magnificat Pages 187-188

It is the time during Mass where my tears flow steadily: 


Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. 
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us. 
Lamb of God, you take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.

It is then that the pain becomes overwhelmingly raw. The wound that I think has started to heal is suddenly ripped open. 

Lambs are innocent, exposed, and vulnerable, and yet they are always protected. My lamb is Catherine. I knew her cry before it came from her lungs. I knew it was Catherine calling “Mamma” even though she was in a room full of children calling out. I knew where she was, even when I couldn’t see her. She is the lamb I knew had been called home before I truly understood what had happened. Just knowing- it is a gift God gave me when he placed her next to my heart for nine months. A gift he gave me when he allowed the quiet beating of our hearts to find rhythm next to each other’s. 

It is always a lamb I see when I think of Catherine. She is the lamb that would nuzzle right beside Mary in the Nativity. She is the lamb that greets us from the pasture as we walk on a foggy spring morning. She is the lamb that I have carved into the footstone at her resting place. And now, as I tuck it into the pages when I close my Bible, it is Catherine that I see walking confidently beside Jesus on her prayer card. 

“The Lord is my Shepherd there is nothing I shall want” (Ps 23:1). It was Jesus who was waiting for her as he welcomed his flock. He led her to still waters, and she fears no evil. She is the lamb, innocent and vulnerable- naïve to what the world was capable of. She is sheltered under vigilant watch; she is whole and is resting peacefully at his feet. 

And I too am his lamb. It is myself he has cradled across his shoulders. He knows my heart aches to feel the beating of hers against mine. He acknowledges my cry, even when it hasn’t yet left my lungs. He hears my quiet calling through all the voices and comes to me. I know that he will guide me as I seek his guidance, and that he will answer my voice when I call out. He continues to scoop me up and carry me when the days seem too much. He shows his unending love in the simplest things that are undeniably Catherine. In doing so he reminds me that his promise has not been broken. He reminds me that one day he will gently lift me from his shoulders and place me beside her. When that day comes, I will close my eyes and relish the quiet rhythm of our beating hearts.

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Patroness of the Unborn  Today is the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe. A poor Indian Juan Diego was a 57 year old widower who lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning December 9, 1531, he was on his way to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady. He was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it a young Native American maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.

The picture is Our Lady of Guadalupe at the Shrine of the Holy Innocents at the National Shrine of Divine Mercy in Stockbridge, Massachusetts. This shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe is a beautiful place to remember a child who was lost. It is a place of healing and hope.

Mary to Juan Diego: “My dearest son, I am the eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, Author of Life, Creator of all and Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth...and it is my desire that a church be built here in this place for me, where, as your most merciful Mother and that of all your people, I may show my loving clemency and the compassion that I bear to the Indians, and to those who love and seek me.”

The bishop told Juan Diego to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan Diego’s uncle became seriously ill. Poor Diego was to try to avoid the lady. The lady found Diego and assured him that his uncle would recover and she provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma. Juan Diego told his story to the Spanish bishop, who instructed him to return and ask the Lady for a miraculous sign to prove her claim. The Virgin told Juan Diego to gather some flowers from the top of Tepeyac Hill. It was winter and no flowers bloomed, but on the hilltop Diego found flowers of every sort, and the Virgin herself arranged them in his tilma, or peasant cloak. When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop sank to his knees. On Juan Diego’s tilma appeared an image of Mary miraculously imprinted exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. It was December 12, 1531.

Our Lady's apparition was an event of great significance for Native Americans. Nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. Our Lady of Guadalupe shows us God's love for the poor and for the unborn that stems from the Gospel itself.

The Image on the Tilma
The imprint of Mary on the tilma is striking, and the symbolism was primarily directed to Juan Diego and the Aztecs. Mary appears as a beautiful young Indian maiden with a look of love, compassion, and humility, her hands folded in prayer in reference to the Almighty God. Her rose dress, adorned with a jasmine flower, eight petal flowers, and nine heart flowers symbolic to the Aztec culture, is that of an Aztec princess. Her blue mantle symbolized the royalty of the gods, and the blue color symbolized life and unity. The stars on the mantle signified the beginning of a new civilization. La Morenita appeared on the day of the winter solstice, considered the day of the sun's birth; the Virgin's mantle accurately represents the 1531 winter solstice! Mary stands in front of and hides the sun, but the rays of the sun still appear around her, signifying she is greater than the sun god, the greatest of the native divinities, but the rays of the sun still bring light. Twelve rays of the sun surround her face and head. She stands on the moon, supported by an angel with wings like an eagle: to the Aztec, this indicated her superiority to the moon god, the god of night, and her divine, regal nature. Most important are the black maternity band, a jasmine flower, and a cross that are present in the image. Mary wore a black maternity band, signifying she was with child. At the center of the picture, overlying her womb, is a jasmine flower in the shape of an Indian cross, which is the sign of the Divine and the center of the cosmic order to the Aztec. This symbol indicated that the baby Mary carried within her, Jesus Christ, the Word made Flesh, is Divine and the new center of the universe. On the brooch around her neck was a black Christian cross, indicating she is both a bearer and follower of Christ, the Son of God, our Savior, who died on the Cross to save mankind. The image signified Mary bringing her Son Christ to the New World through one of their own.

Mary to Juan Diego:Am I not here, who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not the fountain of your joy?

Our Lady of Guadalupe, we entrust all the names we receive through this prayer ministry to you, our most loving and merciful Mother.

Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Because today is the second Sunday of Advent, many dioceses will celebrate the Feast Day of the Immaculate Conception tomorrow.  On this day, we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was conceived without sin. The Immaculate Conception means that the Blessed Virgin Mary was free from Original Sin from the very moment of her conception in the womb of her mother, Saint Anne. We celebrate the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8; nine months before is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Today is the Patronal Feast Day of the United States of America. May Our Lady bless our country and protect and guide us.  This year, we are called to pray and fast for the protection of Life, Marriage and Religious Freedom in our beloved country. 

You are all beautiful, my beloved, and there is no blemish in you. Song of Solomon 4:7

Mary, the one who is "full of grace" and the one whom "all generations will called 'blessed'" has been viewed as unique since the earliest days of the Christian faith. Just as Christ has been called the "new Adam," the Church Fathers, especially Saint Justin in 150AD and Saint Irenaeus 180AD, saw Mary as the "new Eve," who humbly obeyed God, even though Eve disobeyed. The Church Fathers also called Mary the "new ark of the covenant" and theotokos, God-bearer. It is from these titles that the doctrine of Mary's Immaculate Conception and sinlessness unfolded. Saint Ephrem, the Syrian, in 373AD spoke of Mary as without stain or blemish, calling her "all pure, all immaculate, all stainless, all undefiled, all incorrupt, all inviolate." Saint Augustine left open the possibility of Mary's sinlessness, even using language similar to the Catholic dogma of the Immaculate Conception.



Heavenly Father, You prepared the Virgin Mary to be the worthy mother of your Son. You let her share beforehand in the salvation Christ would bring by His death and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception. Help us by her prayers to live in Your presence without sin. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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

Reflection: Advent with Mary

Today is the First Sunday of Advent.  Over these special weeks before Christmas, we gather and give thanks.  We pray and sing together, inviting the Lord into our lives, our homes, the Church and into the world which God loves so much that He sent His only Beloved Son.

The best way to prepare for Advent is to spend Advent with Mary.  Let us reflect on the Annunciation and Mary's yes, her Fiat to God when the Angel appeared to her.  She heard the Word of God and she believed.  Mary was still.  She pondered God's Word.  She invites us to be still and to listen as God speaks to us during this beautiful season of Advent, as we prepare our hearts for the birth of Jesus.

Luke 1:26-31  In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favored one!  The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be.  The the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus."

How can we prepare our hearts for the coming of the baby Jesus on Christmas Day?  Think about how we prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, cleaning our homes, shopping for food, cooking and serving a delicious meal for family, friends and neighbors.  What is the best way to prepare for the coming of the baby Jesus?  It is through the healing power of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The best way to prepare our hearts for the baby Jesus is to go to confession.  It is there, the priest, in the person of Jesus Christ, hears and forgives our sins.  With the forgiveness of sins comes an outpouring of God's grace and mercy.

What is the best way to go to confession?  Ask Our Lady to accompany us.  When we pray to her and invite her to be with us in confession, she is there as our most loving Mother.  Through the Sacrament of Reconciliation, Jesus heals our hearts and shines His light and love upon us.  If you have not been to confession for a while, ask Mary to accompany you and go.  Run to Jesus.  He is waiting for you with His love, mercy and peace.  It is the best way to prepare for the coming of the King.

The heart of the message of Advent is to bring light into a world of darkness.  The Advent candles symbolize Jesus Christ, the True Light of the world.  It is He who can dispel darkness and bring hope.  The Lord is always coming to those who seek Him!  Let us seek Him through the eyes and heart of Mary.

Saint Andrew, Apostle and Martyr

Today is the feast day of Saint Andrew the Apostle. As Our Blessed Mother Mary always leads us to Jesus, Saint Andrew brought others to Jesus.  

Andrew told his brother Simon: We have found the Messiah, the Christ; and he brought him to Jesus. John 1:41-42

When Jesus called Andrew and his brother Simon Peter, he said to them, Come follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Matthew 4:19 They immediately dropped their fishing nets and followed him. Let us say Yes to Jesus the way Andrew, Simon and Our Blessed Mother Mary did. Let us call on their intercession in our need.

A novena is normally a nine day prayer, the term is sometimes used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. This prayer is often called the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle until Christmas. The first Sunday of Advent is the Sunday closest to the Feast of Saint Andrew.

The novena is not actually addressed to Saint Andrew but to God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once; or divide up the recitation as necessary, perhaps five times at each meal. Prayed as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very good way to help focus the attention of your children on the Advent season.

Saint Andrew Christmas Novena
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.

Saint Andrew, you gave your life to follow Jesus. Help us offer our lives to follow Him in all we do and in all we say.

Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving Day, we give thanks for all your prayers for the babies, little ones and families. We never know how our prayers are used.  The Lord takes our prayers and little offerings and places them where they are needed.

Our Blessed Virgin Mary offered her life and gave her Fiat through her obedience and humble service. This is true worship of God, surrendering to His Will. In heaven, she leads a song of eternal praise, like incense raising up to God.

Catechism of the Catholic Church #1330 
The Eucharist is a sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Father, a blessing by which the Church expresses her gratitude to God for all His benefits, for all He has accomplished through creation, redemption, and sanctification.  Eucharist means, first of all, "thanksgiving."

Listen, my faithful children: open up your petals, like roses planted near running waters; send up the sweet odor of incense, break forth in blossoms like the lily.  Send up the sweet odor of your hymn of praise; bless the Lord for all He has done!  Sirach 39:13-14

O give thanks to the Lord for He is good; His love endures forever. Psalm 136:1

Christ the King

The good thief, hanging next to Jesus on the cross said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom." Jesus replied to him, "Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise."
Luke 23:42-43

Today we celebrate the Feast Day of Christ, King of the Universe, the conclusion of the Year of Faith and the Church’s journey through the life of Christ and the Gospel message. This Sunday provides a bridge to the new Church Year that begins next Sunday on the first Sunday of Advent, a time of waiting in hope and expectation, a time of longing for the coming of the Kingdom of God amid the darkness of a sinful world. It is through the Virgin Mary that we receive Christ the King into our hearts. She walked with Jesus and always brings us to Him.

“In that first ‘fusion’ with Jesus in Holy Communion, it was my Heavenly Mother again who accompanied me to the altar for it was she herself who placed her Jesus into my soul.”  Saint Therese of Lisieux, Doctor of the Church

"The Virgin Mary, being obedient to His Word, received from an angel the glad tidings that she would bear God."  Saint Irenaeus, Father of the Church

"I am not only the Queen of Heaven, but also the Mother of Mercy."  Our Lady to Saint Faustina

“King” was one of the earliest titles given to the Son of God. The title does not refer to a status of an earthly king, which many of the Jews had been expecting; someone to overthrow the Roman rule and be an earthly king of the Israel. Rather He came to be the spiritual king; His kingdom is in heaven, not confined to the earth alone. It is an eternal Kingdom of light and truth, of holiness and grace, of justice, love and peace.

And this will be made manifest at the proper time by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords.  1 Timothy 6:15

Mary is the guardian of our life, hidden in Christ. It is through Our Mother Mary's love that we have the knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord.



Christ, King of Divine Majesty, have mercy on us. Remember us when You come into Your Kingdom. Blessed Mother Mary, Queen of Heaven and Earth, pray for us.

Reflection: Through the eyes of a little child...

Have you ever looked at the sky at night with a little child?  You can hear the wonder and awe in the child's voice.  Have you ever watched a child jump into the arms of a grandparent?  You can see the love and total trust between them.  Have you ever told an imaginary story to a child?  "Once upon a time..."  The story is all about the child.  The little child squeals with delight and wants to hear the story again and again.  Have you ever seen the excitement of a little child at their birthday party?  It is a celebration of pure joy with family and friends! 

Jesus calls us to be like little children in wonder, awe, love, trust, delight and joy!

I have had the blessing of bringing a little child to visit Jesus in Eucharistic Adoration.  The visits are short and beautiful.  Once when we were driving down the street to the little chapel, she said, "I really want to see Jesus."  She said it with such a beautiful yearning and anticipation in her heart.  One day, we arrived before adoration had begun.  She stepped into the chapel and said, "Why is it different?"  Jesus had not been placed on the altar yet.  She noticed and missed His Presence on the altar.  We waited and the priest came and took Jesus out the tabernacle and placed Him on the altar.    She climbed up on the kneeler and talked with Him, as she does at each visit.

Taking a child, He placed it in their midst, and putting His arms around it He said to them, “Whoever receives one child such as this in My name, receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but the One who sent Me.  Mark 9:36-37

What does a little child see in Eucharistic Adoration?  Jesus.  Little children sense His Presence. Jesus wants us to come to Him with that sense of yearning to be in His Presence.  When we come to Him with childlike trust, He fills us with His love and peace.

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux lived each day with complete confidence in God’s love. She wrote, “What matters in life, is not great deeds, but great love.” Saint Thérèse’s spirituality, her Little Way, is the trust of a little child. 

Saint Thérèse of Lisieux, The Story of a Soul 

But I will look for some means of going to heaven by a little way which is very short and very straight, a little way that is quite new[...] It is your arms, Jesus, which are the lift to carry me to heaven, And so there is no need for me to grow up. In fact, just the opposite: I must stay little and become less and less.  

Saint Faustina had a great love for the Blessed Sacrament.  She said that only one thing is needed to please God: to do even the smallest things out of great love.

Diary of Saint Faustina 332
When I started the Holy Hour, I wanted to immerse myself in the agony of Jesus in the Garden of Olives. Then I heard a voice in my soul: Meditate on the mystery of the Incarnation. And suddenly the Infant Jesus appeared before me, radiant with beauty. He told me how much God is pleased with simplicity in a soul. Although My greatness is beyond understanding, I commune only with those who are little. I demand of you a childlike spirit.

 

Do you realize that Jesus is there in the Blessed Sacrament expressly for you, for you alone?  He burns with the desire to come into your heart.  Saint Thérèse of Lisieux

 

Jesus is waiting for you.  Come away and rest awhile...

Totus Tuus Totally Yours

Immaculate Conception, Mary, my Mother. Live in me. Act in me. Speak in and through me. Think your thoughts in my mind. Love, through my heart. Give me your dispositions and feelings. Teach, lead and guide me to Jesus. Correct, enlighten and expand my thoughts and behavior. Possess my soul. Take over my entire personality and life. Replace it with yourself. Incline me to constant adoration and thanksgiving. Pray in me and through me. Let me live in you and keep me in this union always.  Blessed Pope John Paul II

We give thanks to Our Blessed Mother Mary.  This prayer ministry is dedicated to her and consecrated to Jesus Christ, Our Divine Healer. It began on May 1, 2010 with a posting of this sweet video for all the precious little ones.



We entrust all the names we have received and all the names we will receive to Our Lady of the Rosary. We thank Jesus for giving His Mother to us.  Jesus we trust in You.

In honor of our Veterans

America, our country is truly blessed; God, through the powerful intercession of Mary, the Immaculate Conception, has shed His grace on America. May He continue to do so from sea to shining sea! Let us reflect and remember all those who have served our country, past and present.

Prayer by Susan Helene Kramer
"You gave for peace with courage that families may be free so children could grow strong and safe they'd ever be.  In giving for the sake of peace, you may have suffered loss. Your body may still show its wounds from taking up the cause.  May remembrance of your time away, your sacrifice for peace spur us on to strive more strongly for freedom, that there'll be release.  From causes that sent some away to fight that we may freely live with gratefulness we thank you,  Veterans, for all you gave and give!"



Blessed Mother Mary, protect our veterans and their families, especially their children. Bring comfort and peace to those who have lost loved ones defending our country. We are honored to have Mary as the patron saint of America because she is the most powerful intercessor. By a decree from the First Council of Baltimore, Mary in her Immaculate Conception, was elected as our principal Patron. A patron is one who has been assigned, or in this case, chosen by election, as a special intercessor before God.

Saint Louis de Montfort, in his renowned manuscript True Devotion to Mary, boldly suggests that Christ is weak in front of his Mother. It’s as if he can’t say “No” to her! The Catechism of the Catholic Church (969) states that the Blessed Virgin is invoked under the title Mediatrix of all grace. While no creature measures up to the one and only Redeemer, we profess that Mary cooperates in a unique way in her Son’s redemptive mission. She knows what is best for her children and so intercedes for us before the very source of all grace, Jesus Christ.


Today is the feast day of Saint Martin of Tours. Martin was in the military, but attempted to live the life of a monk. Though he was entitled to a servant because he was an officer, he insisted on switching roles with his servant, cleaning the servant's boots instead of the other way around! On a bitterly cold winter day, the young tribune Martin rode through the gates, probably dressed in the regalia of his unit, gleaming, flexible armor, ridged helmet, and a beautiful white cloak whose upper section was lined with lambswool. As he approached the gates he saw a beggar, with clothes so ragged that he was practically naked. The beggar must have been shaking and blue from the cold, but no one reached out to help him. Martin, overcome with compassion, took off his mantle. In one quick stroke he slashed the lovely mantle in two with his sword, handed half to the freezing man and wrapped the remainder on his own shoulders. Many in the crowd thought this was so ridiculous a sight that they laughed and jeered but some realized that they were seeing Christian goodness. That night, Martin dreamed that he saw Jesus wearing the half mantle he had given the beggar. Jesus said to the angels and saints that surrounded him, "See! this is the mantle that Martin, yet a catechumen, gave me." When he woke, it was the "yet a catechumen" that spurred Martin on and he went immediately to be baptized. He was eighteen years old.

Saint Martin of Tours, pray for all veterans on this special day in their honor.

In tribute to a special Vietnam veteran, Poppy, grandfather of Lily Grace and Norah.

All for Jesus through Mary

On the Cross, Jesus gave us Mary as our Mother.

Behold, your Mother. John 19:27

The way to be close to Jesus and Mary is by praying and meditating on the mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary.

I will espouse you to me forever: I will espouse you in right and justice, in love and mercy; I will espouse you in fidelity, and you shall know the Lord.
Hosea 2:21-22

We will know the Lord by drawing close to Mary in prayer through the rosary.



Caryll Houselander, British mystic, poet and spiritual teacher
"Mary never resisted the Holy Spirit by whom she had conceived Jesus because she was passionately devoted to the Will of God and because she loved the world. Her values were his values. Their own miracle went on, and it went on as mysteriously as a pure, bright stream running underground. Just as Christ received God's love from Mary in his infancy, He did God's Will in the little acts of obedience that filled the loveliness of their lives in the loss in the Temple and the temptation in the wilderness. That which had been the secret of her strength from the beginning is the secret of the communion between them."

Blessed Mother Mary, hear our prayers and petitions for these babies, little ones and families. We entrust them to you and ask that you intercede and bring their needs to Jesus. We offer our rosaries and Memorares in His Holy Name.

All Souls Day



Today we celebrate All Souls Day. Our Lord dictated the following prayer to Saint Gertrude the Great to release 1,000 Souls from Purgatory each time it is said.

Prayer of Saint Gertrude the Great
"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Most Precious Blood of Thy Divine Son, Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the holy souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

Saint Gertrude's life was the mystic life of the cloister, a Benedictine nun. She meditated on the Passion of Christ, which many times brought a flood of tears to her eyes. She did many penances and Our Lord appeared to her many times. She had a tender love for the Blessed Virgin and was very devoted to the suffering souls in Purgatory. She died in 1334. Her feast day is November 16th.

The Holy Souls Will Repay Us A Thousand Times Over
Now who can be in more urgent need of our charity than the souls in Purgatory? What hunger, or thirst, or dire sufferings on Earth can compare to their dreadful torments? Neither the poor, nor the sick, nor the suffering, we see around us, have such an urgent need of our help, yet we find many good-hearted people who interest themselves in every other type of suffering, but few who works for the Holy Souls. Who can have more claim on us? Among them, there may be our mothers and fathers, our friends and near of kin. When they are finally released from their pains and enjoy the beatitude of Heaven, far from forgetting their friends on earth, their gratitude knows no bounds. Prostrate before the Throne of God, they never cease to pray for those who helped them. By their prayers they shield their friends from many dangers and protect them from the evils that threaten them.

The Holy Souls are those who die in God's grace but are still imperfectly purified. By undergoing purification after death in purgatory, they achieve the holiness necessary to enter heaven. May all the Holy Souls through the mercy of God rest in peace.

The Lord said to me, Enter into Purgatory often, because they need you there. O my Jesus, I understand the meaning of these words which You are speaking to me, but first let me enter the treasury of Your mercy. Diary of Saint Faustina 1738

All Saints Day

Today we honor all the saints. They continually intercede with The Father for us. A saint is a person who reflects the holiness of God by living the virtues in a heroic way and showing boundless charity and total faith in God. The early history of the Church is filled with stories of the heroic faith of these of witnesses to Christ's truth. The stories of these saints, of all ages and all states in life, whose fidelity and courage led to their sanctity or holiness, have provided models for us throughout history.

Many of those especially holy people whose names and stories were known, the Church later canonized or formally recognized that the life of that person was holy, or sanctified. A saint is an example for us. The Church's calendar contains many saint's days, which Catholics observe at Mass, some with special festivities, but there were thousands and thousands of early Christian martyrs, the majority of whose names are known only to God. Throughout the history of the Church, there have been countless others who are saints, who are with God in heaven, even if their names are not on the list of canonized saints.

In order to honor the memory of these unnamed saints and to recall their example, the Church dedicated a special feast day Mass so that we can celebrate the lives and witness of those who have died and gone before us into the presence of the Lord.

Hebrews 12:1-2 Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Holy Mary, all the angels and the communion of saints, we call on you as a cloud of witnesses to help us each day and to pray for us and for all the names we receive through this ministry.

Our Lady's weapons to defeat satan

Just as God gave David five stones with which to defeat Goliath, Our Lady, Queen of Peace, gives us five stones or weapons we can use to defeat satan.

Daily Prayer and the Rosary
Message of June 12, 1986 “Dear children! Today I call you to begin to pray the Rosary with a living faith. That way I will be able to help you. You, dear children, wish to obtain graces, but you are not praying. I am not able to help you because you do not want to get started. Dear children, I am calling you to pray the Rosary and that your Rosary be an obligation which you shall fulfill with joy. That way you shall understand the reason I am with you this long. I desire to teach you to pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Fasting on Wednesday and Fridays
Message of July 21, 1982 “The best fast is on bread and water. Through fasting and prayer one can stop wars, one can suspend the natural laws of nature. Works of charity cannot replace fasting …Everyone except the sick, has to fast.”

Daily Reading of the Bible
Message of October 18, 1984 “Dear children! Today I call on you to read the Bible every day in your homes and let it be in a visible place so as always to encourage you to read it and to pray. Thank you for having responded to my call.”

Monthly Confession
Message of June 26, 1981 “Make your peace with God and among yourselves. For that, it is necessary to believe, to pray, to fast, and to go to confession.” Message of November 7, 1983 “Do not go to confession through habit, to remain the same after that. No, it is not good. Confession should give an impulse to your faith. It should stimulate you and bring you closer to Jesus. If confession does not mean anything for you, really, you will be converted with great difficulty.”

Holy Communion
Message of May 16, 1985 “Dear children! I am calling you to a more active prayer and attendance at Holy Mass. I wish your Mass to be an experience of God. I wish especially to say to the young people: be open to the Holy Spirit because God wished to draw you to Himself in these days when Satan is at work. Thank you for having responded to my call.”




O Mother Mary, Queen of Peace, help us to use the five weapons you give to us.  Pray for us and for all the intentions we receive through this ministry. 

Blessed John Paul II

“Do not be afraid. Open wide the doors for Christ.”

On October 22, 1978, the late Pope John Paul II began his pontificate with these words. This is a call to a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ.

His beatification was on Divine Mercy Sunday, May 1, 2011.  Pope Francis will canonize him on April 27, 2014, Divine Mercy Sunday.



The witness of the life of this great man, and the words he spoke in his many homilies, speeches, and encyclicals are more relevant today than ever, especially to today's teenagers, who may be too young to remember or recognize John Paul II's influence on the Church and on the world. Today let us pray to Blessed John Paul II for our priests, who were so dear to his heart. Many vocations were revealed to men through his powerful witness.

PRAYER TO THE BLESSED MOTHER FOR PRIESTS
O Mary, Mother of Jesus Christ and Mother of priests,
accept this title which we bestow on you to celebrate your motherhood and to contemplate with you the priesthood of, your Son and of your sons, O holy Mother of God.

O Mother of Christ, the Messiah, to priests you gave a body of flesh through the anointing of the Holy Spirit for the salvation of the poor and contrite of heart. Guard priests in your heart and in the Church, O Mother of the Savior.

O Mother of Faith, you accompanied to the Temple the Son of Man, the fulfillment of the promises given to the fathers; give to the Father for his glory the priests of your Son, O Ark of the Covenant.

O Mother of the Church, in the midst of the disciples in the upper room you prayed to the Spirit for the new people and their shepherds; obtain for the Order of Presbyters a full measure of gifts, O Queen of the Apostles.

O Mother of Jesus Christ, you were with him at the beginning of his life and mission and you sought the Master among the crowd, you stood beside him when he was lifted up from the earth consumed as the one eternal sacrifice, and you had John, your son, near at hand; accept from the beginning those who have been called, protect their growth, in their life ministry accompany your sons, O Mother of Priests. Amen.

Blessed John Paul II, on your feast day today, we ask you to bless and protect our priests and keep them holy. Blessed Mother Mary, watch over our priests and wrap your mantle around them. We ask you to pray for our priests who bring us the Eucharist, the source of all life and love.

Our Lady of Czestochowa and Saint Luke

Today is the feast day of Saint Luke the Evangelist. He is well known as the writer of one of the four books of the Gospels. It is less known that he was a painter. Legend attributes the painting of Our Lady of Czestochowa to Saint Luke, the Evangelist. It is thought that the original and first Black Madonna to be made into an icon came after Saint Luke the Evangelist experienced an apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary and painted her. While painting the image, it is said that the Holy Virgin related to Saint Luke the life of Jesus which he later incorporated into the Gospel of Saint Luke in the New Testament. He painted a portrait of Our Lady of Czestochowa on the cedar wood table at which she had taken her meals. Saint Helena, the Queen-Mother of Emperor Constantine was said to have located the portrait during her visit to the Holy Land and to have brought it to Constantinople in the fourth century. After remaining there for five centuries, it was transferred in royal dowries until it made its way to Poland, and the possession of Saint Ladislaus in the fifteenth century.

The legend continues: During Ladislaus' time, the image was damaged during a siege, by a Tartar arrow, "inflicting a scar on the throat of the Blessed Virgin." In 1430, Hussites stole and vandalized the precious image, breaking it into three pieces. Adding insult to injury, one of the robbers drew his sword, struck the image and inflicted two deep gashes. While preparing to inflict a third gash, he fell to the ground and writhed in agony until his death. The two slashes on the cheek of the Blessed Virgin, together with the previous injury to the throat, have always reappeared, despite repeated attempts to repair them. Many miracles were worked by Our Lady of Czestochowa. In more recent times, the Czestochowa Madonna has also been acknowledged for her protection of and cooperation with the Polish nation. Pope John Paul II of Poland had a personal devotion and prayed often before her.

Our Lady of Czestochowa, Saint Luke and Blessed John Paul II, pray for us and all those for whom we pray through this ministry.

Our Lady of Fatima: I am the Lady of the Rosary.

The Blessed Mother appeared to the children in Fatima from May to October, 1917. The news of Fatima spread more, and people learned that a miracle was to happen. The children began to speak of the miracle which was to happen. On October 13, 1917, seventy to one hundred thousand pilgrims came to the Cova da Iria. It was pouring down rain and everything was very muddy. The children's families were very uncertain and feared that if the miracle did not take place, the people would want to kill the three children. Once there, moved by an interior impulse, one of the children, Lucia, asked the people to shut their umbrellas and pray a Rosary. Soon after that there was a flash of light, and Our Lady appeared above the oak tree.

"What do you want of me?" asked Lucia.

"I want to tell you that a chapel is to be built here in my honor.

I am the Lady of the Rosary.

Continue always to pray the Rosary every day. The war is going to end, and the soldiers will soon return to their homes."

Lucia said: "I have many things to ask you: the cure of some sick persons, the conversion of sinners, and other things . . . "

"Some yes, but not others. They must amend their lives and ask forgiveness for their sins." Looking very sad, Our Lady said: "Do not offend the Lord our God any more, because He is already so much offended."

Then, opening her hands, she made them reflect onto the sun, and as she ascended, the reflection of her own light continued to be projected on the sun itself.

Lucia cried out to the people to look at the sun. Her aim was not to call their attention to the sun, because she was not even aware of their presence. She was moved to do so under the guidance of an interior impulse.

After Our Lady had disappeared into the distance, Saint Joseph appeared with the Child Jesus and Our Lady was robed in white with a blue mantle, beside the sun. Saint Joseph and the Child Jesus appeared to bless the world, for they traced the Sign of the Cross with their hands. When this apparition disappeared, Our Lord and Our Lady appeared; it seemed that it was Our Lady of Sorrows. Our Lord appeared to bless the world in the same manner as Saint Joseph had done. This apparition also vanished, and Our Lady appeared once more, this time resembling Our Lady of Mt. Carmel, holding the child Jesus in one hand and the brown scapular in the other hand.

The rain stopped and a thick mass of clouds broke. The sun looked like a disc of dull silver, and began dancing wildly. The people shouted out: "MIRACLE!" It seems that the majority of the people saw the sun trembling and dancing, whirling around; it descended almost low enough to burn the earth with its rays. It shone with an intensity never before seen, but was not blinding. This lasted only an instant. Then the immense ball began to "dance". The sun began to spin rapidly like a gigantic circle of fire. Then it stopped momentarily, only to begin spinning again. Its rim became scarlet; whirling, it scattered red flames across the sky. Their light was reflected on the ground, on the trees, on the bushes, and on the very faces and clothing of the people, which took on brilliant hues and changing colors.

After performing a zigzag bizarre pattern three times, the globe of fire seemed to tremble, shake, and then plunge in a zigzag toward the terrified crowd. All this lasted about ten minutes. Finally, the sun zigzagged back to its original place and once again became still and brilliant, shining with its everyday brightness. The cycle of the apparitions had ended. Many people noticed that their clothes, soaking wet from the rain, had suddenly dried. The miracle of the sun was also seen by numerous witnesses up to twenty-five miles away from the place of the apparition. Many thought the end of the world had come, as the sun seemed to fall upon them. People reported color changes in objects on earth, caused by the rays of the sun. Some expressed sorrow for their sins aloud. Some who had come to ridicule now believed.



This was the great Miracle of the Sun which Our Lady had performed so that all may believe. Our Lady of Fatima, Our Lady of the Rosary, this prayer ministry is consecrated to Jesus through you. Pray for us and all those for whom we pray.

Our Lady of the Rosary

This prayer ministry is dedicated to Our Lady of the Rosary.  Today is her Feast Day.  The month of October is dedicated to the "Most Holy Rosary." 

Miracle of the rosary
On Sunday, October 7, 1571, the Christian and Turkish fleets met in Lepanto Gulf, off the coast of Greece. The bitter battle finished with a brilliant victory of the Christians who where vastly outnumbered. That very evening Pope Saint Pius V had at Rome a clear knowledge of this success. The same afternoon, the Confraternities of the Rosary, particularly in Rome, had marched through the streets in procession reciting the Rosary. This victory put an end to the naval power of the Turks and saved Christian Europe. To this day this victory has been attributed to the praying of the Rosary.



The Power of the Rosary
The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls. Conversation between Sr. Lucy of Fatima and Fr. Fuentes, Dec. 26, 1957

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors."
Pope Pius XI

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion." Pope Pius IX

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying." Pope Leo XIII

"The rosary is a magnificant gift of God to humanity because through this prayer, we attain extraordinary graces. With the rosary in your hand, you will not be discouraged and you will have clarity of mind and extraordinary freedom in your heart." Mother Elvira Petrozzi, Foundress of the Cenacolo Community in Medjugorje, with fifty-six houses in fifteen countries, welcoming the lost and desperate.

Saint Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would force the devils who possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were forced by Our Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."

The development of the rosary has a long history. First, a practice developed of praying 150 Our Fathers in imitation of the 150 Psalms. Then there was a parallel practice of praying 150 Hail Marys. Soon a mystery of Jesus' life was attached to each Hail Mary. Though Mary's giving the rosary to Sant Dominic is recognized as a legend, the development of this prayer form owes much to the followers of Saint Dominic. One of them, Alan de la Roche, was known as "the apostle of the rosary." He founded the first Confraternity of the Rosary in the 15th century. In the 16th century, the rosary was developed to its present form, with the 15 mysteries: joyful, sorrowful and glorious. In 2002, Pope John Paul II added the Luminous Mysteries to this devotion.

The purpose of the rosary is to help us meditate on the great mysteries of our salvation. Pius XII called it a compendium of the Gospel. The main focus is on Jesus, his birth, life, death and resurrection. The Our Fathers remind us that Jesus' Father is the initiator of salvation. The Hail Marys remind us to join with Mary in contemplating these mysteries. They also make us aware that Mary was and is intimately joined with her Son in all the mysteries of his earthly and heavenly existence. The Glorys remind us that the purpose of all life is the glory of the Trinity. The rosary appeals to many. It is simple. The constant repetition of words helps create an atmosphere in which to contemplate the mysteries of God. We sense that Jesus and Mary are with us in the joys and sorrows of life. We grow in hope that God will bring us to share in the glory of Jesus and Mary.



Our Lady of the Rosary, we entrust to you all the little ones and names we receive through this prayer ministry. Keep them under your protective mantle and always in your loving care.

Saint Maria Faustina and Divine Mercy

Today we celebrate the feast day of Saint Maria Faustina. Born in Poland, which was part of Germany before World War I, she was the third of ten children. She worked as a housekeeper before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in 1925. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses. In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, she generously served the needs of the sisters and the local people.

In the 1930's, Sister Faustina received from the Lord a message of mercy that she was told to spread throughout the world. She was asked to become the apostle of God's mercy, a model of how to be merciful to others, and an instrument for God's plan of mercy for the world. Her entire life, in imitation of Christ's, was to be a sacrifice, a life lived for others. At the Lord's request, she willingly offered her personal sufferings in union with Him to atone for the sins of others; in her daily life she was to become a doer of mercy, bringing joy and peace to others, and by writing about God's mercy, she was to encourage others to trust in Him and thus prepare the world for His coming again. Her special devotion to Mary Immaculate and to the sacraments of Eucharist and Reconciliation gave her the strength to bear all her sufferings as an offering to God on behalf of the Church and those in special need, especially great sinners and the dying.

She wrote and suffered in secret, with only her spiritual director and some of her superiors aware that anything special was taking place in her life. After her death from tuberculosis in 1938, even her closest associates were amazed as they began to discover what great sufferings and deep mystical experiences had been given to this Sister of theirs, who had always been so cheerful and humble. She had taken deeply into her heart, God's gospel command to "be merciful even as your heavenly Father is merciful" as well as her confessor's directive that she should act in such a way that everyone who came in contact with her would go away joyful. The message of mercy that Sister Faustina received is now being spread throughout the world; her diary, Divine Mercy in my Soul, has become the handbook for devotion to the Divine Mercy.

She had a deep interior life and had a great devotion to the Blessed Mother. She received revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors. Jesus told her to have the image of Divine Mercy painted. The two rays emanating from Christ's heart, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus' death.

Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.” (Diary 1107).



Sister Maria Faustina died of tuberculosis in Krakow, Poland, on October 5, 1938. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1993 and canonized her seven years later. Saint Faustina's name is forever linked to the feast of the Divine Mercy, celebrated on the Second Sunday of Easter, the Divine Mercy chaplet and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day by so many people at 3 o'clock, Mercy Hour.

Jesus, we trust in You. Saint Maria Faustina, pray for us.

Guardian Angels

Today is the feast day of The Guardian Angels. Every person on earth has a guardian angel who watches over him and helps him to attain his salvation beginning at the moment of birth. Prior to this, the child is protected by the mother's guardian angel. It continues throughout our whole life and ceases at the moment of death. Our guardian angel accompanies the soul to purgatory or heaven, and becomes our coheir in the heavenly kingdom.

“Dear friends, the Lord is always near and active in human history, and follows us with the unique presence of His angels, that today the Church venerates as 'Guardian,' in other words those who minister God's care for every man. From the beginning until death,” he said, “human life is surrounded by their constant protection.”  Pope Benedict XVI

The Pope's comments come on the Feast of the Guardian Angels, a day celebrating the Catholic Church's teaching that each person is assigned an angel to help protect and guide them through life. It was Pope Clement X who first extended the feast day to the entire Church in the early 17th century.

Guardian Angels are servants and messengers from God. "Angel" in Greek means messenger. In unseen ways, the angels help us on our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation and protecting us from physical danger.

See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared.  
Exodus 23:20

The idea that each soul has assigned to it a personal guardian angel has been long accepted by the Church and is a truth of our faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith (328)." From our birth until our death, man is surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our guardian angel. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.



There have been many times in my life when I have felt the presence of my guardian angel's protection. There have been many times when I have felt the presence of the guardian angels of my loved ones. This prayer ministry began through prayers for a precious little baby, Lily Grace. When she needed heart surgery as an infant, I believe Our Blessed Mother was standing with her, surrounded by angels. This comforted me knowing she had Lily Grace under her loving protection.

"Brethren, we will love God's angels with a most affectionate love; for they will be our heavenly co-heirs some day, these spirits who now are sent by the Father to be our protectors and our guides. With such bodyguards, what are we to fear? They can neither be subdued nor deceived; nor is there any possibility at all that they should go astray who are to guard us in all our ways. They are trustworthy, they are intelligent, they are strong — why, then, do we tremble? We need only to follow them, remain close to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the Most High God. So as often as you sense the approach of any grave temptation or some crushing sorrow hangs over you, invoke your protector, your leader, your helper in every situation. Call out to him and say: Lord, save us, we are perishing."  Saint Bernard

Guardian Angels, protect all these little ones for whom we pray.

Our Mother of Perpetual Help Novena

Through the novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, Mary is always ready to intercede to Jesus on our behalf, according to His Will.  We approach her as we do Him, with sincerely humble and contrite hearts.  We can count on her aid and guidance.  Mary’s last spoken words in the Gospels concerned her Son when she said at the wedding feast at Cana “Do whatever he tells You.” John 2:5



In this novena to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, we pay tribute to the Blessed Virgin Mary in asking for her assistance. This picture of the Blessed Mother with her Divine Son above has helped her provide strength, comfort and even miracles to the faithful for centuries!

Oh Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke your powerful name, the protection of the living and the salvation of the dying. Purest Mary, let your name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, Blessed Lady, to rescue me whenever I call on you. In my temptations, in my needs, I will never cease to call on you, ever repeating your sacred name, Mary, Mary. What a consolation, what sweetness, what confidence fills my soul when I utter your sacred name or even only think of you! I thank the Lord for having given you so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering your name. Let my love for you prompt me ever to hail you, Mother of Perpetual Help. O Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for me and grant me the favor I confidently ask of you.  Pray three Hail Marys.

First placed in the Church of San Matteo in Rome in 1499, this picture was thought to be lost at one point after Napoleon’s armies sacked that church in 1798. Fortunately, however, it was in the care of the Augustinian fathers until Pope Pius IX ordered that the icon be given to the Redemptorist order at the Church of St. Alphonsus in Rome in 1866 for public viewing once again. Since then it has been copied and venerated in churches and homes all over the world.

Note in this picture how Jesus, while safely cradled in his mother’s arms, looks anxiously at St. Gabriel the Archangel, who holds the cross and nails for His Crucifixion. (St. Michael the Archangel, at left, holds the lance, spear, and the vessel of vinegar and gall for our Lord's Passion as well.) The Blessed Mother looks at us solemnly, perhaps as if in contemplation of her beloved Son’s future Passion and death for our salvation!

O Mother of Perpetual Help, pray for us and all the intentions we receive through this prayer ministry.