Tag Archives: Novena

Start your novena in preparation for Christ the King today

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Today, 15 Nov 2012, is the day to begin a novena in preparation for the Solemnity of Christ the King, which occurs this year on 25 Nov 2012. Part of the devotion to Jesus, King of All Nations is a prayer novena to which is attached some wonderful promises.

The promise goes like this:

“I promise you that every time you say these Novena prayers I will convert ten sinners, bring ten souls into the One True Faith, release ten souls from Purgatory, many of whom are the souls of priests, and be less severe in My judgment of your nation.”

These are promises that are inspire me to remember to pray them each year prior to the Solemnity of Christ the King and sometimes as novenas prior to other special feast days during the year, especially Christmas.

Consisting of three sets of prayers, and a concluding prayer, I find Rosary beads helpful in praying them: starting three decades out, I pray each set of the daily novena prayer on the 10 decade beads praying the introductory prayer and then the (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be) three times.

The Novena consists of praying once a day over a period of nine days these prayers:

O Lord our God, You alone are the Most Holy King and Ruler of all nations. We pray to You, Lord, in the great expectation of receiving from You, O Divine King, mercy, peace, justice and all good things. (Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…) x 3

Protect, O Lord our King, our families and the land of our birth. Guard us, we pray, Most Faithful One! Protect us from our enemies and from Your Just Judgment.    (Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…) x 3

Forgive us, O Sovereign King, our sins against You. Jesus, You are King of Mercy. We have deserved Your Just Judgment. Have mercy on us, Lord, and forgive us. We trust in Your Great Mercy.   (Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…) x 3

O most awe-inspiring King, we bow before You and pray; may Your Reign, Your Kingdom,  be recognized on earth! Amen.

Jesus said, “I desire that this Novena be prayed on the nine days preceding My Feast of Christ the King, but I encourage souls to pray this Novena at any time throughout the year. My promises will be granted whenever it is prayed.”

For more information about the devotion to Jesus, King of All Nations, visit the Resources page and scroll a long way down.

May the reign of Jesus, King of All Nations be recognized in all hearts. Amen.

Her soul was cultivated carefully by God

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Today, 5 Oct 2012, is the memorial of St Flora of Beaulieu, (a.k.a. St Fleur or St Flor), a French Saint of the 14th century who was called by God to walk along the extraordinary / mystical path of the spiritual life. To balance those favours God sent her many trials, trials through which she grew closer to Him and more pleasing to Him. 

St Flora was born in France around the year 1309 to a noble family. While still a girl she learned to love prayer and when it came time for her family to choose a husband for her it took her some time to convince them that she wanted to be the spouse of Jesus and of nobody else. In 1324 she entered the religious life with the Sisters of the Order of St John of Jerusalem at the priory of Beaulieu, in the Cahors region of south-western France.

To prepare her for special gifts, God sent her times of trial, difficulties, temptations and ridicule from the other nuns. Sometimes she felt discouraged and sad, and even intense depression.  Later our Lord Jesus gave her visions of Himself, and times when she physically experienced a share in the sufferings  of His Passion. She accepted these sufferings as a great gift from her divine spouse. She experienced God’s love to the point of ecstasy and was also given gifts of prophecy and of discerning spirits. Once when she was meditating on the Holy Spirit she was raised over a 120 cm from the ground. So emotional were many of her experiences; weepings, odd bodily movements, the passion of her response to God seen in wild rushings through the cloister, that many people thought she was mad and treated her accordingly. 

She served God with prayer and with humility, with the praises of the Divine Office and her tasks in the priory and loved to be generous to the poor. In fact she even took the trouble to learn how to read so as to pray the Divine office better. Many people came to St Flora to ask for her prayers and to seek God’s wisdom for their problems from her. Having a strong devotion to Our Lady, she loved to ponder over the wonder of the Annunciation. She also had a special devotion to St John the Baptist, the patron of her order. God called her into heaven in 1347.

People seek St Flora’s intercession for healing, moral problems, bullying and protection against storms. Over 100 miracles were attributed to her intercession during the medieval centuries following her death. She is called St Flora because of the time the abbess caught her taking gifts to the poor, and these turned into purple red flowers in her cloak when it was opened.

Novena to St. Flora

O loving God Who has deigned to take into heaven Your blessed virgin, Saint Flora, we ask You, by her merits and prayers, to pardon us our sins, to defend us in our perils, to deliver us from all our enemies, visible and invisible and to make us think often of heavenly things. Almighty and merciful God, who wished blessed Flora to love and live as a virgin in the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, grant that, following her example, we also may love You more and more. 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. Amen.

Dear St Flora, happy spouse of Jesus, please pray for us that we may learn to appreciate the difficulties in our lives as gifts from the Heart of Jesus that will draw us closer to Him, and increase our love for Him who underwent so many bitter difficulties and sufferings for us. Help us to know God’s loving will in our lives and how best to put it into practice. Please grant us a share in your great love for Jesus, and for His holy Passion, for Mary His virgin mother and for St John the Baptist. With your aid may we learn to use the gifts that God has given us with humility and with a grateful heart.

St Flora, pray for us always. Amen.

 

Transformed by Grace

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Today, 28 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Augustine of Hippo, well-known convert, bishop and doctor of the Church. Following the success of the prayers of his mother, St Monica, Augustine went on to become a prolific writer about all kinds of Christian subject matter and the instructions he wrote for the clergy who lived a monastic life with him at Hippo formed the basis of the Rule of St Augustine upon which many religious orders have modelled their own Rules. So important are St Augustine’s 5th century writings that the Church includes them in Her Office of Readings about once a week on average; which is twice as often as other Saintly writers.

St Augustine of Hippo was born in late 354 in North Africa, and was blessed with considerable gifts of intellect and rhetoric. From his late teens until the Grace of God won him over completely in his baptism in Milan at the Easter vigil of 387, Augustine lived a pagan life and found heretical sects more to his taste than the disciplines of Catholicism. Returning to North Africa soon afterwards, he spent the rest of his life there until his death at Hippo on 28 August 430.

Even translated into English the works of St Augustine are a delight to read. His arguments are cogent and help us rediscover the wonder and the power of God. St Teresa of Avila had a special devotion to him. From St Augustine comes the tradition of reciting the 7 penitential Psalms in preparation for death – he arranged for them to be written about the walls. He also had a strictly enforced rule that no one was to say anything negative about anyone. What I didn’t know until recently was how much St Augustine valued humility and how often he wrote about it.  

Now for a few gems from his heart and pen, to whet our appetites for more….

From The Confessions of St Augustine, Book X, Chapter I : ‘Let me know Thee, O Lord, who knowest me: let me know Thee, as I am known. Power of my soul, enter into it, and fit it for Thee, that Thou mayest have and hold it without spot or wrinkle. This is my hope, therefore do I speak; and in this hope do I rejoice, when I rejoice healthfully. Other things of this life are the less to be sorrowed for, the more they are sorrowed for; and the more to be sorrowed for, the less men sorrow for them. For behold, Thou lovest the truth, and he that doth it, cometh to the light. This would I do in my heart before Thee in confession: and in my writing, before many witnesses.’

From St Augustine’s explanation of the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew Chapter 5: Chapter VII, Section 18: ‘ “Let your light,” says He, “so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” If He had merely said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works,” He would seem to have fixed an end in the praises of men, which hypocrites seek, and those who canvass for honours and covet glory of the emptiest kind. Against such parties it is said, “If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ;” and, by the prophet, “They who please men are put to shame, because God hath despised them;” and again, “God hath broken the bones of those who please men;” and again the apostle, “Let us not be desirous of vainglory;” and still another time, “But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” Hence our Lord has not said merely, “that they may see your good works,” but has added, “and glorify your Father who is in heaven:” so that the mere fact that a man by means of good works pleases men, does not there set it up as an end that he should please men; but let him subordinate this to the praise of God, and for this reason please men, that God may be glorified in him. For this is expedient for them who offer praise, that they should honour, not man, but God; as our Lord showed in the case of the man who was carried, where, on the paralytic being healed, the multitude, marvelling at His powers, as it is written in the Gospel, “feared and glorified God, which had given such power unto men.” And His imitator, the Apostle Paul, says, “But they had heard only, that he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed; and they glorified God in me.” ‘

From St Augustine’s ‘On Christian Doctrine, in Four Books’, Book 1, Chapter 24, Section 24: ‘No man, then, hates himself. On this point, indeed, no question was ever raised by any sect. But neither does any man hate his own body. For the apostle says truly, “No man ever yet hated his own flesh.” And when some people say that they would rather be without a body altogether, they entirely deceive themselves. For it is not their body, but its corruptions and its heaviness, that they hate. And so it is not no body, but an uncorrupted and very light body, that they want. But they think a body of that kind would be no body at all, because they think such a thing as that must be a spirit. And as to the fact that they seem in some sort to scourge their bodies by abstinence and toil, those who do this in the right spirit do it not that they may get rid of their body, but that they may have it in subjection and ready for every needful work. For they strive by a kind of toilsome exercise of the body itself to root out those lusts that are hurtful to the body, that is, those habits and affections of the soul that lead to the enjoyment of unworthy objects. They are not destroying themselves; they are taking care of their health.’

To read more, go to http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine?show=biography and then choose ‘Works By (13)’.

We thank You, Lord, for Your Grace which transformed St Augustine from a talented yet troubled young man into a powerhouse of holiness and an inspiration for centuries of believers.

Novena to Saint Augustine

Saint Augustine, great Bishop of Hippo and Doctor of the Church, may your life of conversion to the Catholic Faith be an example to both those who have never been a part of the Church, and to those who have fallen away from Christ’s Church. Through your closeness with Our Lord in Heaven, intercede for us and bring to the One True Faith the following people (mention names).
May your conversion centuries ago continue to inspire those who are lost today and with the help of your prayers, may God bring them to a full understanding of the Faith. Most importantly, may your struggle to find Truth, through many sins and failings be an example of the Lord Jesus’ forgiveness and eternal saving Grace. Amen.

Oh Merciful God, hear the prayer of Your servant, St Augustine, and bring the message of salvation to all who seek You in sincerity. Amen.

St Augustine, pray for us.

Our Father, Who art in heaven hallowed be Your Name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. (3 times)

Encouragement to persevere in prayer

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Today, 27 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Monica, the mother of St Augustine of Hippo. On her feast day everyone who has been praying for the conversion of a loved one for a long time – especially one’s menfolk – is encouraged by her example to keep on praying. The life of St Monica reminds us all that God only delays to answer our heartfelt prayers if He is preparing an answer for us beyond our wildest imaginings. For Monica, she wanted Augustine to make His peace with Jesus, follow His teachings and get to Heaven. For God, He wanted Augustine to serve Him as priest, bishop, theologian, Saint and Doctor of the Church. Obtaining the transformation God wanted required years upon years of prayers, tears and sacrifices.

St Monica was born around the year 332 and was raised in a Christian home. Monica was married to Patricius, a pagan citizen of Tagaste, a city in Northern Africa. He is said to have had a bad temper and other vices. By her prayers and example she obtained the grace of baptism for her husband before his death. Monica had other children besides Augustine but we do not know much about them.

Augustine was living a sinful life, cohabiting with his girlfriend and accepting heretical teachings. Monica prayed, wept and did a lot of penance over about 20 years to obtain the conversion of Augustine. When he went to Rome, she followed, when he went to Milan, she followed. Without losing heart she asked others to pray, too, and she asked bishops and priests to speak to her son. When she found out that her son had met St Ambrose, she prayed even harder. 

When Augustine finally accepted Baptism at Easter in 387 she was filled with joy. Augustine recalled ‘You had granted her much more than she had asked for in her tears, prayers, plaints and lamenting.’ On their way home to Africa that same year, Monica had a special vision from God at Ostia before she died. She told him ‘Now I find no joy in anything of this life. All my hopes have been accomplished.’ She was no longer concerned about where she would be buried, only that Augustine would remember her at the altar of God.

Augustine later became a priest and bishop and Doctor of the Church. Writing of his mother, ‘She had a woman’s weak body but a man’s strong faith, the composure appropriate to her years, a mother’s love for her son, and a Christian’s devotion.’ He also wrote, ‘If I am Your child, O my God, it is because You gave me such a mother!’

Novena to St Monica

Dear St Monica, exemplary Mother of the great St Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats, but with prayerful cries to heaven. Please intercede for all mothers in our day, so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray.  Dear St Monica, troubled wife and mother, many sorrows pierced your heart during your lifetime, yet you never despaired or lost faith. With confidence, persistence and profound faith, you prayed daily for the conversion of your beloved husband, Patricius and your beloved son, Augustine. Grant me that same fortitude, patience and trust in the Lord Jesus.  You sought these conversions with prayers, with tears, with penance, and with daily offering to the Holy Trinity the sacrifice of the holy Mass.So great was your confidence in God’s goodness in the Eucharist that you asked St Augustine to always remember you at holy Mass. Intercede for me, dear St. Monica, that God may favourably hear my plea for  (mention your petition here) And grant me the grace to accept His will in all things, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever. St Monica, pray for us, and pray with us. Amen.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be world without end. Amen. (3 times)

St Monica, pray for us.

Beautiful in God’s Eyes

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Today, 23 Aug 2012, is the feast day of St Rose of Lima, (a.k.a. Rosa de Lima) a young woman of Peru in the 17th century who followed Jesus along the royal way of the Cross and discovered the beauty of suffering for Him and with Him.

St Rose was my patron Saint for the year in 2007, and her prayers and example helped me get through a time of unexpected distress and bewilderment. It is only through perplexing times like that we begin to comprehend the value of suffering.

St Rose of Lima was born in 1586 in Lima, Peru, and christened Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that everyone called her Rose. From her parents she received both Spanish and Inca heritage. She was confirmed by St Turibius, archbishop of Lima. As she grew up she grew more beautiful, and yet she worked willingly to help her family when they fell on hard times, growing flowers, doing needlework and embroidery. She greatly admired St Catherine of Siena. In life she only wanted Jesus to notice her, and wanted to love Jesus only, and after several years of trying finally persuaded her parents to let her live a life of virginity as a Dominican Tertiary.

Because she didn’t want her beauty to become a cause of sin to anyone, sometimes she would do things to make herself look blotchy and ugly. When she talked about Jesus, her face would glow with love. She retired to a little house in the family garden, here she prayed and did much penance. To modern eyes her penances might seem extreme, but Rose was experiencing many mystical graces and ardently desired to co-operate in the salvation of souls. So fasting three times a week, wearing a circlet around her head which had sharp inner points, hair shirts and other bodily penances were part of her regular spiritual life together with frequent Holy Communion. Often these penances and prayers were offered for the archbishop and for the conversion of souls. Her friends and others caused her suffering when they made fun of her.

Rose understood the value of suffering in the Christian life when it is united to the suffering of Jesus. At some point she wrote ‘Listen, all you people! At Christ’s bidding and in His very words, I warn you: We cannot win grace if we do not suffer affliction; toil upon toil must be ours if we are to attain an intimate share in the divine nature, the glory of God’s children, and perfect happiness. If only men knew how beautiful, noble, and priceless a thing God’s grace is!’

This is one of her prayers, simple and poignant :

“Help me to remember what is really important: that I am Your child You are my Father
You love me for who I am and how I live not what I look like or what I own. Let me praise You, Who sees into my heart, Who is always with me and Who eases my suffering.”

Rose also overcame many temptations and cared for those who were sick and suffering, often in her own dwelling. Eventually she herself became very ill, with a very long painful sickness. But even in her sickness she prayed, ‘Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart’.  She died aged 31, on 24 August 1671 and was mourned by everyone, with her body remaining incorrupt for a considerable time.

For more information on St Rose of Lima, refer to http://www.catholickingdom.com/AAA_load_in_pages/Monastery/Lives%20of%20the%20Saints/Female/Rose%20of%20Lima.html

Novena to St. Rose of Lima

God our Father, for love of you St. Rose gave up everything to devote herself to a life of penance. By the help of her prayers may we imitate her selfless way of life on earth and enjoy the fullness of Your blessings in heaven. Almighty God, the beginning  and giver of all good things, Who willed that Blessed Rose should be prepared by the dew of grace from Heaven, and should bloom as a most beautiful flower of virginity and patience, grant us to be drawn by the perfume of her virtue, that we may deserve to become a sweet fragrance of Christ. You filled St. Rose with love for You and enabled her to leave the world and be free for You through the austerity of penance. Through her prayers, help us to follow her footsteps on earth and enjoy the torrent of Your delights in heaven. Amen.

Glorious St. Rose of Lima, you knew what it was to love Jesus with such a fine a generous heart. Since infancy you despised the world’s vanities in order to embrace His Cross. You loved with unfailing devotion our Heavenly Mother and professed a great tender dedication to the destitute, serving them the same way Jesus did. Teach us to imitate your greatest virtues, so that we, following your example, will enjoy your glorious protection in Heaven. We ask this through Our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns world without end. Amen.

St Rose of Lima, pray for us always. Amen.

Our Father…..Hail Mary….Glory Be….

 

 

In honour of a great patron

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Today, 26 Jul 2012, is the happy feast day of St Anne, the woman especially chosen by God to be the mother of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. What an awesome responsibility was hers: to co-operate with God in the nurturing and education of the one who was to become the mother of Jesus. 

Although in my quest for 2012 to study the Saints named after St Bartholomew the Apostle I should be writing about St Bartholomea Capitanio, it would be very wrong of me not to pay due and high honour to my Confirmation patron, St Anne, today. So in a bit over a week’s time I’ll write about St Bartholomea.

Choosing a Confirmation patron Saint wasn’t easy, particularly since in those days you couldn’t take any of your baptismal name Saints. Given that my parents had chosen so well for me all the St Catherines and Our Lady herself, finding anyone who inspired me just as much wasn’t easy. Eventually the choice rested upon St Anne, and an excellent patron she has been in many surprising ways.

We know that St Anne and her husband St Joachim were both very holy, and yet suffered for many years not being able to have children. When God did bless their prayers, He gave them the Immaculate One who was to become the mother of His Son, Jesus. When Mary was still young, about 3 years old, they made the immense sacrifice of presenting her to the Temple and God’s service as did Hannah with Samuel so many centuries before.

The tender and intimate love between this mother, Anne, and her child, Mary, has not stopped in heaven. If we wish to love our Lady better, let us ask St Anne for help.

It is said that Our Lady once appeared and requested an Our Father and Hail Mary in honour of St Anne after the recitation of the Rosary.  She said, ‘those who honour St Anne will obtain great aid in every need, especially at the hour of death’. To another person Our Lady said, ‘The honour you show to my mother is doubly dear and pleasing to me.’ Great saints such as St Augustine, St John Damascene, St Thomas Aquinas, St Theresa of Avila and St Bridget all encouraged devotion to St Anne.

Novena to Saint Anne

Remember O holy mother, St Anne, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided, for you are a most merciful mother, and you aid all who are in distress. Inspired by this confidence I take refuge in you, and beseech you by your great prerogative of being the mother of the Queen of Heaven and grand-parent of the Saviour of the world, to come to my aid with your powerful intercession, and obtain from your Immaculate Daughter this favour I seek……………..

In honour of the nine months during which you carried the ever Blessed Virgin in your womb, and whom you brought forth without stain of original sin, I now offer up these nine Hail Marys, which I offer you through my guardian angel. Amen.

Hail Mary… x 9

O holy mother, St Anne, so rich in graces that you will never leave unheard the pleadings and tears of a mother who invokes you for a wayward child. You indeed know my grief and the anguish of my heart. Look down with your maternal eyes upon this poor erring child, and bring it back upon the way of salvation, that it may again serve God faithfully and obtain eternal happiness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.                   Hail Mary…  x 3

 

 

 

An example of true nobility

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Today, 25 Jul 2012, we will look into the inspiring life of St Matilda (a.k.a. Mathilda) whose memorial is on 14 March each year. Growing up in a noble family, St Matilda was educated at a monastery, became the Queen of Saxony, was widowed and after sorting out family squabbles over inheritance, lived out her remaining days in the 10th century at a monastery she founded. For mothers and grandmothers her patronage has particular relevance.

Why are we looking at the life of St Matilda ‘out of course’ ? It’s like this. On Sunday our parish is celebrating the Sacrament of Confirmation, and three young girls have chosen St Matilda as their Confirmation patron. As you might imagine devotional material ( holy cards , medals, prayers, statues etc) for St Matilda could be found in Germany, but on this side of the world it’s a rarity. So I need to come up with a short life of St Matilda and a novena prayer for her intercession between now and Friday afternoon and the time just isn’t available to do more than one Saint today or tomorrow.

St Matilda was born around the year 895, a daughter of the Count of Westphalia. As soon as she was old enough Matilda was sent to a convent in Erfurt – where her grandmother was abbess – to be educated. She learned to read, to pray and to sew as befitted a young noble woman and to do her work well for the glory of God. Around the age of 14 Matilda was old enough for her father to seek an advantageous marriage for her. Since the Duke of Saxony’s son Henry had recently had his first marriage annulled, and Matilda came with a hefty dowry, the ‘horse-trading began’. What Matilda thought of this is anyone’s guess, but becoming a second wife to anyone is daunting at any age.

For the next few years following her marriage to Henry the Fowler in 909, Matilda was busy becoming a mother to three boys and two girls; Hedwig 910, Otto 912, Gerberga 913, Henry c.919 and Bruno 925. Matilda looked upon her role as a noble woman as an opportunity to serve God and to serve those in need. She dedicated time to pray, and time to intercede for all those under her husband’s authority. She visited the sick and those in prison, worked to bring souls back to God and used her resources for charitable purposes. With the funds at her disposal, Matilda built churches and monasteries and gave donations to support monasteries.   

Increasing responsibilities filled Matilda and Henry’s days when he became Duke of Saxony in 912 and King of Germany (known then as East Francia) in 919. Matilda’s holy influence taught Henry how to be a better ruler by being actively concerned for those in need.

In 936 Henry died suddenly and plunged Matilda into grief. Immediately she began to pray for the happy repose of his soul and had Mass offered for him. Then she divested herself of all royal trappings and retired to the site of Quedlinburg upon which a new monastery staffed by canonesses had been built with royal funds.

Matilda could see that her second son would make a better ruler than her first son, so she lobbied against primogeniture being the criteria for choosing the next king. Because both boys now thought they had a right to the throne, they squabbled fiercely. Naturally Matilda got blamed; blamed for the fight and blamed for spending too much of the treasury on religious purposes. Eventually it all got sorted out.

At Quedinburg Matilda became abbess, and the monastery often played host to kings,  emperors and important meetings. After dedicating her remaining years to prayer and penance, Matilda’s health eventually declined and she died at Quedlinburg on 14 March 968 and was buried there beside her husband, Henry. 

Matilda was certainly noble by birth, but used every resource she had to bring alleviation to the suffering. Thus she traded worldly nobility, for nobility in God eyes. 

St Matilda, pray for us.

Novena to St Matilda

St Matilda in the midst of the royal courts of Europe and as a wife and mother you sought to serve God with all your heart. You prayed intensely for your family and for the peoples your husband, Henry the Fowler, ruled over. Your good example led him to be a better king. You know the heartache that comes from family conflict and accusations. For you the love of God was everything. Please help me to learn how to love God and how to use all of the gifts, talents and resources that He has given me in the ways most pleasing to Him and most beneficial to souls. Please obtain for me a deeper love for God and the ability to pray and to intercede for others.

Dear St Matilda, please intercede for me before God’s throne and seek His help for me in all my troubles, especially……………………….

Almighty God, You bring joy to our hearts through the memory of the holy life of St Matilda. Grant that whenever we honour her, that we may be led to imitate her good example in our lives and so come safely to the joys of heaven through her intercession. Amen.                St Matilda, pray for us.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. (3 times)

 

 

Signs and wonders he worked in the power of Jesus

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Today, 24 Jul 2012, is the feast day of St Declan of Ardmore (a.k.a. Deaglan), a fifth century Bishop of Ireland. Some years ago one of the boys in my Confirmation class chose the name of Declan. Naturally this meant that I needed to learn something about this Saint. I’ve been grateful ever since for gift of being introduced to St Declan of Ardmore and for being inspired by the signs and wonders God worked through him.

St Declan was born to a noble Irish family. As soon as St Colman had evangelized his parents, Declan was baptized and St Colman said that Declan was destined to be holy and to convert his nation to Jesus. Declan was sent to study with Dioma, a wise and holy man. Later on, Declan went to Rome to further his knowledge and to seek ordination. In time he was ordained a Bishop and sent to preach the Gospel in Ireland.

Declan returned to the Decies of Munster where he preached, and baptized many and built churches. He followed the promptings of the Holy Spirit. Many people came to Declan to learn how to live holy lives. A plague came to Munster, and 7 noble hostages died of it. The king worried that their deaths might provoke a war, so he asked Declan in the name of Jesus to raise them to life again. Declan went and prayed and sprinkled holy water on the bodies while invoking the power of God, and they returned to life.

The people of Cashel then asked Declan to bless their city and banish the plague, so Declan prayed and made the sign of the cross to the North, South, East and West and all of those who were ill were cured. He went to Bregia and began a monastery there, giving it a copy of the Gospel that he always carried with him.

A wealthy man who mocked religion once asked Declan to be his guest. To trick him and have a laugh at Declan’s expense, the pagan host arranged for a dog to be slaughtered and to be cooked in such a way that it looked like mutton. God revealed to Declan the trickery, and as a result none ate the questionable food. Following this the wealthy man and his household were all baptized.

A childless couple asked Declan to pray that they might have children, and God granted them twin sons. Many other miracles were worked by God through Declan. When it came time for Declan to pass from this life to the next, he returned to Ardmore, the place that God had already revealed to him, and he blessed all those who gathered about him before he died. St Declan ministered in Ireland around the same time that St Patrick did, in the fifth century AD.

To read the full account of St Declan’s life, go to http://www.ccel.org/d/declan/life/declan.html and scroll through the introduction until you get to the main text.

St Declan of Ardmore, pray for us.

Novena to St Declan of Ardmore

Eternal Father, I thank You for all of the wonders You worked in the life of St Declan, and for the gifts of holiness with which you filled his soul. Through his faith and trust and dedication to You, many souls entered into the Kingdom of God. You showed to all how pleasing his life was to You by great miracles. I ask that St Declan would pray for me before the throne of the Most Holy Trinity, that he may obtain for me the gifts which I need in order to follow Jesus faithfully with all my heart. Through his prayers, help me to study the holy scriptures, and to fully understand the teachings of the Church. Amen.

St Declan please pray that I too may grow in great trust and faith in God, so that His Will may be done in my life, and that I may serve Him as He deserves to be served. With much love you travelled from place to place to bring God’s Gospel message to your people, help me to love God as ardently as you loved Him. I entrust to you the special prayer request of my heart……………., knowing that you never refused to pray when asked, even if their case looked hopeless. St Declan, pray for us. 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen. (3 times)

 

 

She defended her innocence and showed mercy to her attacker

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Today, 6 Jul 2012, is the feast day of St Maria Goretti, a young Italian martyr who preferred death to any consent to sin. She witnesses to our age the power of forgiveness that is found in Jesus, being able to pardon the person who mortally attacked her and to wish for his eternal salvation. Because her intercession in heaven obtained his complete conversion we know that her innocent life was exceptionally pleasing to God.

Maria Teresa Goretti was born in October 1890 into a family of farmers at Corinaldo, a town close to the east coast of central Italy. In the hope of making ends meet, her father moved his family in 1896 to Le Ferriere around 60kms SE of Rome. Her father died of malaria in 1900, so the family already struggling with poverty found life harder than ever. At every opportunity Maria would pray for her deceased father. Through these prayers she came to rely upon the Rosary and to appreciate the saving power of Jesus upon the Cross and the horror of sin. Cheerfully and helpfully Maria assisted her mother in teaching the three younger ones their prayers and with many household chores.

At Le Ferriere, her father had worked as a share-cropper. When his health weakened he was forced to accept the help of Alessandro and his father and to add them to his household. They definitely did not make life easy for the family, especially after their bereavement. In May 1902, Maria received her first Holy Communion, something she had ardently longed for. In June, Alessandro a 19 year old began making sexual advances to Maria, which she steadfastly refused. On July 5, as he tried again, Maria struggled and gasped that she would rather die than submit to this sinfulness. Alessandro stabbed her in anger several times and then fled.

Maria was found and taken to the local hospital where she knew she was dying. Desperately the surgeons tried to save her life, but soon realised that she was beyond mortal help. She was able to receive Communion for the last time and to say that she forgave Alessandro for the love of Jesus and hoped that God would forgive him also. Holding a crucifix, Maria passed into her eternal reward on 6 July 1902.

Alessandro was sentenced to 30 years jail. In 1910 Alessandro began to change his life, after a dream in which Maria appeared and offered him some lilies. When released from prison, Alessandro went to beg Maria’s mother’s forgiveness. In the process of beatification, Alessandro testified that Maria’s appeals had been for the safety of his soul and that she had urged him not to commit such a grave sin.

For more detail about St Maria Goretti’s holy life, read Dom Antoine Marie OSB’s account at http://www.clairval.com/lettres/lettre_1.php?id=2120100

Several miracles have taken place after asking for her intercession. St Maria Goretti is the patron of teenage girls and of the Children of Mary. Pope Pius XII said at her canonisation in 1950 ‘May the holy virgin and martyr pray to the Redeemer that each of us may joyfully follow her.’

Novena to Saint Maria Goretti

St Maria Goretti, strengthened by God’s grace, you did not hesitate, even at the age of eleven, to shed your blood and to sacrifice life itself to defend your virginal purity. Deign to look graciously on the unhappy human race, which has strayed far from the path of eternal salvation. Teach us all, and especially youth, with what courage and promptitude we should flee anything that could offend Jesus. Obtain for me from God a great horror of sin, so that, keeping my soul undefiled, I may live a holy life on earth and win eternal glory in heaven. Dear St Maria Goretti, I place this special prayer of my heart into your keeping ………………………., asking that you may obtain for me a happy outcome from God our Father.  Amen.

St Maria Goretti, pray for us.

Our Father, Who art in heaven hallowed be Your Name; Your kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen. (3 times)

 

 

Please join your prayers to ours

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When life is tough it sometimes does us a lot of good to reflect on the life of someone who is, humanly speaking, a lot worse off than ourselves. So I’d like to tell you about a very special friend of mine who, if all goes according to plan, faces a very serious neurological operation on Friday. Already she is a walking miracle, as you will see, but those who love her can see that the day is fast approaching when the doctors will be unable to ease her sufferings any further. It is time to start praying for the ‘big’ miracle, and I ask you to join me.

Our friend K was born with a big portion of her body’s immune system missing. Whenever she gets an infection it takes a long time for it to clear her system, and it generally takes intravenous top-notch antibiotics or very painful self-administered antibiotic injections to get her better. Well over 10 years ago one of those infections got inside her skull and caused great pain. The doctors were puzzled because all of the regular neurological testing options didn’t show anything untoward. Only when an old fashioned, out dated testing procedure was used was the infection found.

Other parts of K’s body chemistry don’t work well either. She needs special blood products every two weeks or so, (another painful process), and she can eat practically nothing and still put on kilos of weight. Her pituitary gland doesn’t function normally either. During the almost 27 years she has been on earth this unusual metabolism of hers has caused her all kinds of suffering. Despite all of her efforts, people of all walks of life freely insult her and make her life miserable because she carries a lot more weight than current society deems beautiful.

For some reason the good Lord saw fit to let K still look and act normal, even though her body is falling apart. This makes it hard for people – and doctors as well – to believe that she is as sick as she really is. Regular doses of morphine keep her going.

Within the last year she has hung suspended between life and death several times. The bad ones were traced to an infection in the bladder/kidneys and to an infection surrounding a device inserted into her chest to make receiving the blood product easier. 

For reasons that are still baffling the medical community, the pressure inside her skull is at abnormally high levels. Because the optic nerves are sensitive to cranial pressure, and don’t seem to bounce back when the pressure reduces, K has lost a lot of sight in both eyes. Legally blind on top of everything else, she had to give away her driving license and is now dependant on family to go anywhere. The cranial pressure produces a horrible swishing sound in her ears, and that constant internal noise would be enough to make any lesser person lose it completely. The pressure has also severely damaged what used to be a brilliant memory.

Over the last 6 months K has had two sets of stents placed in her skull to reduce the cranial pressure, but it hasn’t really worked. The risk of stroke is ever present. On Friday, since the medics have now found an anomaly on the other side of her skull, K will have another dangerous neurological operation to put at least one stent in this ‘new’ side of her skull. 

Why has the good Lord permitted her to go through so much suffering? We don’t know for sure, but we do know that He often asks His most special friends to grow in union with Him through suffering. It is how He forges Saints. Her faith is strong, and she has one of the most beautiful and generous hearts I’ve ever come across.

At 27 no one wants to die, and in particular K doesn’t want to die under anaesthetic. After two stent operations with minimal positive results, only the good Lord knows whether this operation will be any different.

If the Lord Jesus wants to put his finishing touches on this masterpiece before taking her home to heaven, then K needs His grace to face all the suffering between now and then and for Him to take away her fear of death and to give her a longing for heaven. If the Lord Jesus has need of even more of her innocent sufferings to repair for the misdeeds of others, then K needs His grace to keep on going and the kind of encouragement that only heaven can give. If the Lord Jesus so wills, He can restore K to full health in the twinkling on an eye, confounding all of her doctors and showing His majesty.

Whatever His holy will is for her, K is in serious need of our prayers. Please pray for her, and for her family who have several other members with chronic medical conditions.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the good Lord gave K the grace of total healing through the intercession of Blessed Pope John Paul the Great? I’ve already started my novena, perhaps you might like to pray it, too, praying for K’s total healing. It can only be to His greater glory if we trust the Lord Jesus enough to pray for the ‘big’ miracle for K. Here’s the novena…

Prayer for the Canonization of Blessed Pope John Paul II

O Blessed Trinity, we thank You for having graced the church with Blessed Pope John Paul II and for allowing the tenderness of Your Fatherly care, the glory of the Cross of Christ, and the splendour of the Holy Spirit, to shine through him. Trusting fully in Your infinite mercy and in the maternal intercession of Mary, he has given us a living image of Jesus the Good Shepherd, and has shown us that holiness is the necessary measure of ordinary Christian life and is the way of achieving eternal communion with You. Grant us, by his intercession, and according to Your will, the graces we implore ……..…………, hoping that he will soon be numbered among Your Saints. Amen.

Blessed Pope John Paul II, please pray for K and for us.

Update 25 Jun 2012. K came through the 7 hour operation on Friday, thanks be to God. However she has been greatly knocked around by it, her memory is scrambled and her hands have tremors. Hopefully when the swelling from the operation goes down, improvements will be seen. But for now, we still watch, wait, pray and hope. Thank you for your prayers for K, please keep them up.

Update 26 Jul 2012. The novena has come and gone, and there is as yet no visible sign of so many prayers being answered. K continues to suffer, and her condition seems to be gradually deteriorating. Whenever the good Lord delays to answer our prayers, it is always for a good reason, and only to grant us a better answer than we could ever have hoped for or imagined. That K’s total healing will come, on earth or in heaven, is a certainty. The timing belongs to God. Our prayers haven’t been forgotten, and on a day – probably one significant to Blessed Pope John Paul the Great – the wonder will happen.