Kiss of Mercy Apostolate + 1st Anniversary

The Kiss of Mercy Apostolate began on March 19, 2016, the Feast Day of Saint Joseph, during the Extraordinary Jubilee Year of Mercy. We sought the spiritual guidance of Rev. Gregory Staab, OMV, Rev. William Kelly, S.T.D. and Bishop Arthur Kennedy and the Apostolate is under the spiritual direction of Rev. Wayne Belschner.

It was inspired by Venerable Fulton Sheen. During his talk on Confession, he prophetically said,

"Just think how many mentally disturbed women we are going to have in the United States...when the guilt of abortion begins to attack the mind and soul...Years from now, the guilt will come out in a peculiar way, though at present there may not be any."

My friend Helen and I were so struck by his words and we thought about how abortion effects so many, not only the women. Today the problem of abortion seems insurmountable. As we prayed about this, we thought of Saint Therese of Lisieux and the simplicity and power of her Little Way which is the Love and Mercy of God. An imprimatur was received on the Kiss of Mercy Prayer.

We wrote a simple prayer which is the essence of the Apostolate:

Kiss of Mercy Prayer

To be recited while kissing an image of Jesus

Jesus I trust in You.
May my kiss, 
and Your grace,
convert, heal and 
reconcile to the Father 
one soul wounded by abortion.

Recite one Hail Mary

Nihil Obstat  +Arthur L. Kennedy S.T.L., Ph.D. Auxiliiary Bishop of Boston
Permission  +Sean P. Cardinal O'Malley, O.F.M., Cap., Archbishop of Boston
Date  January 25, 2017

Through this Kiss of Mercy Apostolate, we call upon Saint Therese of Lisieux, the Little Flower, to intercede for those who have been harmed by abortion. She took the name Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Her Little Way was a way of simple trust and love of God. She said she could not do great things but she could do little things with great love for God. We can do something little, a kiss and a prayer, Saint Therese prayed, in confident trust, that God would hear and answer her prayers. We can pray with that confident trust too!

"If God only stooped to the level of the most beautiful flowers, the symbol of the Holy Doctors, His love wouldn't be quite absolute, because it is Love's nature to stoop to the farthest limit...Just as the sun shines at the same time on the cedars and on every little flower as if it were the only one on earth, so does Our Lord take care of every soul as if there were no other soul like it."  Saint Therese, the Little Flower

Let us pray with the bold, audacious and confident trust of Saint Therese of Lisieux that Jesus will take all our Kisses of Mercy and make them flow into a River of Mercy for these suffering souls. In this Little Way, we ask Jesus to bring hope and healing out of so much suffering.

A Mass will be celebrated for the 1st Anniversary of the Kiss of Mercy Apostolate on Monday March 20, 2017 at 7:00 PM at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church 420 High Street Dedham, Massachusetts.

Saint Therese of Lisieux and Venerable Fulton Sheen, pray for us!

Kiss of Mercy Apostolate for healing from abortion