Category: LENT

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, Uncategorized

Thought for the Day – 1 March 2017- Ash Wednesday

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“And so we begin a new spiritual journey today – a journey of preparation to rise with the Risen Lord on the day of Easter.   As part of our preparation, the Gospel sets before us reflections on three cardinal works necessary for our spiritual life: prayer, fasting and almsgiving.   These three works deal with three important areas of our life.   Prayer is our relationship with God;  fasting aims at our personal growth and almsgiving reveals our relationship with our neighbour and our responsibilities toward them.

During the Eucharistic celebration today we will be marked with ashes.   By imposing ashes on our foreheads, we are reminded to repent of our sins, to believe in the Gospel and to aim at what is permanent – life with the Risen Lord.” Fr Devasia Joseph SSP

“What the Christian should be doing at all times
should be done now (during Lent) with greater care and devotion,
so that the Lenten fast enjoined by the apostles
may be fulfilled, not simply by abstinence from food
but above all by the renunciation of sin.” – St Pope Leo the Great

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Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Quote of the Day – 1 March

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Quote of the Day – 1 March

“There is still time for endurance, for patience, time for healing, time for change.   Have you slipped?   Rise up.   Have you sinned?   Cease.   Do not stand among sinners but leap aside.   For when you turn away and weep, then you will be saved.”

St Basil the Great

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Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, QUOTES of the SAINTS, The WORD

One Minute Reflection – 1 March

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One Minute Reflection – 1 March

“Whoever is not with me is against me and whoever does not gather with me
scatters”………Luke 11:23

REFLECTION – “The devil desires to keep souls prisones but the Lord desires to set them free.   The devil incites us to evil but the Saviour invites us to practise good.   What accord is there between works that are so contrary?”…………..St Jerome

PRAYER – My Lord and my Saviour let me never give up the freedom from sin which You won for me. Help me to cling to You and shun all contact with evil. Help me Lord to renew my zeal and ambition to attain holiness in my Lenten journey. May my daily striving be because I love You, Lord Jesus, my love above all things! Amen

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i-love-you-olord-jesuslent-fulton-sheen

 

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 1 March

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Our Morning Offering – 1 March

St Augustine’s Penitential Prayer

O Lord,
The house of my soul is narrow;
enlarge it that You may enter in.
It is ruinous, O repair it!
It displeases Your sight.
I confess it, I know.
But who shall cleanse it,
to whom shall I cry but to you?
Cleanse me from my secret faults, O Lord,
and spare Your servant from strange sins.

St. Augustine of Hippo (AD 354-430)

o-lord-the-house-of-my-soul-is-narrow-st-augustine

Posted in LENT

Ash Wednesday – 1 March 2017

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Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent, the season of preparation for the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.   (In Eastern Rite Catholic churches, Lent begins two days earlier, on Clean Monday.)

Ash Wednesday always falls 46 days before Easter.   While Ash Wednesday is not a Holy Day of Obligation, all Roman Catholics are encouraged to attend Mass on this day in order to mark the beginning of the Lenten season.

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The Distribution of Ashes

During Mass, the ashes which give Ash Wednesday its name are distributed.  The ashes are made by burning the blessed palms that were distributed the previous year on Palm Sunday; many churches ask their parishioners to return any palms that they took home so that they can be burned.   After the priest blesses the ashes and sprinkles them with holy water, the faithful come forward to receive them. The priest dips his right thumb in the ashes and, making the Sign of the Cross on each person’s forehead, says, “Remember, man, that thou art dust, and to dust thou shalt return” (or a variation on those words).

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A Day of Repentance

The distribution of ashes reminds us of our own mortality and calls us to repentance. In the early Church, Ash Wednesday was the day on which those who had sinned and who wished to be readmitted to the Church, would begin their public penance.   The ashes that we receive are a reminder of our own sinfulness and Catholics should leave them on their foreheads all day as a sign of humility.

Fasting and Abstinence Are Required

The Church emphasises the penitential nature of Ash Wednesday by calling us to fast and abstain from meat.   Catholics who are over the age of 18 and under the age of 60 are required to fast, which means that they can eat only one complete meal and two smaller ones during the day, with no food in between.   Catholics who are over the age of 14 are required to refrain from eating any meat, or any food made with meat, on Ash Wednesday.

Taking Stock of Our Spiritual Life

This fasting and abstinence is not simply a form of penance, however; it is also a call for us to take stock of our spiritual lives.   As Lent begins, we should set specific spiritual goals we would like to reach before Easter and decide how we will pursue them—for instance, by going to daily Mass when we can and receiving the Sacrament of Confession more often.

Posted in LENT, NOVENAS

Lenten Preparation Novena

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REFLECTION – “Give back some of God’s gifts to God, that you may safely enjoy the rest. Fast, or watch, or abound in alms, or be instant in prayer, or deny yourselves society, or pleasant books, or easy clothing, or take on you some irksome task or employment; do one or other, or some, or all of these, unless you say that you have never sinned and may go like Esau with a light heart to take your crown”

“But, O ye sons and daughters of men, what if this fair weather but ensure the storm afterwards? what if it be, that the nearer you attain to making yourselves as gods on earth now, the greater pain lies before you in time to come, or even (if it must be said), the more certain becomes your ruin when time is at an end? Come down, then, from your high chambers at this season to avert what else may be. Sinners as ye are, act at least like the prosperous heathen, who threw his choicest trinket into the water, that he might propitiate fortune. Let not the year go round and round, without a break and interruption in its circle of pleasures. Give back some of God’s gifts to God, that you may safely enjoy the rest. Fast, or watch, or abound in alms, or be instant in prayer, or deny yourselves society, or pleasant books, or easy clothing, or take on you some irksome task or employment; do one or other, or some, or all of these, unless you say that you have never sinned and may go like Esau with a light heart to take your crown. Ever bear in mind that Day which will reveal all things and will test all things “so as by fire” and which will bring us into judgment ere it lodges us in heaven.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY NINE

O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies;
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever, and forever. Amen

day-nine-lentprepnovena

Posted in LENT, NOVENAS

Lenten Preparation Novena

Posted on by AnaStpaul

REFLECTION – “Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness; it is thought a great point to get rid of annoyance or discomfort of mind and body; it is thought allowable and suitable to make use of all means available for making life pleasant.”

“Such advice is especially suitable to an age like this, when there is an effort on all hands to multiply comforts and to get rid of the daily inconveniences and distresses of life. Alas! my brethren, how do you know, if you avail yourselves of the luxuries of this world without restraint but that you are only postponing, and increasing by postponing, an inevitable chastisement? How do you know, but that, if you will not satisfy the debt of daily sin now, it will hereafter come upon you with interest? See whether this is not a thought which would spoil that enjoyment which even religious persons are apt to take in this world’s goods, if they would but admit it. It is said that we ought to enjoy this life as the gift of God. Easy circumstances are generally thought a special happiness; it is thought a great point to get rid of annoyance or discomfort of mind and body; it is thought allowable and suitable to make use of all means available for making life pleasant. We desire and confess we desire, to make time pass agreeably and to live in the sunshine. All things harsh and austere are carefully put aside. We shrink from the rude lap of earth and the embrace of the elements and we build ourselves houses in which the flesh may enjoy its lust and the eye its pride. We aim at having all things at our will. Cold and hunger and hard lodging and ill usage and humble offices and mean appearance, are all considered serious evils. And thus year follows year, tomorrow as today, till we think that this, our artificial life, is our natural state and must and ever will be.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY EIGHT

Loving Father,
may I live this Lent as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer, grant me a spirit to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting, fortify my resolve to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
Any by my almsgiving, renew and purify my heart so that I may hold to the
things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
Teach me and help me Lord, my God,
to relinquish the comforts of this world,
to leave my house and follow only the
Way of the Cross,
to sell al, give to the poor, and follow Your Son.
And thus, united with Him,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen

day-eight-lentprepnovena

Posted in DOCTORS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, SAINT of the DAY
Posted on by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 27 February

We welcome you St Gregory of Narek as our newest Doctor of the Universal Church, with gratitude and joy! Gregory’s Book of Lamentations was the source of consolation and guidance for generations in times of immense suffering. His monastery survived for a thousand years but was destroyed by the Turks during the genocide. Armenians lost Narek but they still have the book they call by that name in his honour and many Armenians have traditionally slept with a copy of the work under their pillows. The words of Gregory, too, are consonant with Pope Francis’ call on all Catholics to reach out to God in our brokenness with humble and contrite hearts. Perhaps we should allow St Gregory to lead us through Lent this year? As Gregory wrote in the Lamentations, “Hear the prayers of my embattled heart for mercy, when I cry out to you, ‘Lord,’ in my time of need.”

St Gregory of Narek- Doctor of the Universal Church, pray for us!

All you Holy Martyrs and Saints of Armenia, pray for us!

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Posted in LENT

POPE FRANCIS’ MESSAGE FOR LENT 2017

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Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SUFFERING, QUOTES on TEMPTATION

Lenten Preparation Novena

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REFLECTION – “LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.”

“And be sure of this: that if He has any love for you,
if He sees aught of good in your soul, He will afflict you,
if you will not afflict yourselves. He will not let you escape.
He has ten thousand ways of purging those whom He has chosen,
from the dross and alloy with which the fine gold is defaced.
He can bring diseases on you, or can visit you with misfortunes,
or take away your friends, or oppress your minds with darkness,
or refuse you strength to bear up against pain when it comes upon you.
He can inflict on you a lingering and painful death.
He can make “the bitterness of death pass” not.
We, indeed, cannot decide in the case of others,
when trouble is a punishment and when not;
yet this we know – that all sin brings affliction.
We have no means of judging others
but we may judge ourselves.
LET US JUDGE OURSELVES, that we be not judged.
Let us afflict ourselves, that God may not afflict us.
Let us come before Him with our best offerings,
that He may forgive us.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY SEVEN

Today Lord I choose life,
I choose Your love and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens, day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power ever more deeply in my life.
I choose to judge and afflict myself.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering, for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me a time of new life, of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day. Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen.

day-seven-lentprepnovena

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, QUOTES on SANCTITY

Lenten Preparation Novena

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REFLECTION – “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.”

“These are thoughts, I need hardly say, especially suited to this season. From the earliest times down to this day, these weeks before Easter have been set apart every year, for the particular remembrance and confession of our sins. From the first age downward, not a year has passed but Christians have been exhorted to reflect how far they have let go their birthright, as a preparation for their claiming the blessing. At Christmas we are born again with Christ; at Easter we keep the Eucharistic Feast. In Lent, by penance, we join the two great sacraments together. Are you, my brethren, prepared to say,—is there any single Christian alive who will dare to profess,—that he has not in greater or less degree sinned against God’s free mercies as bestowed on him in Baptism without, or rather against his deserts? Who will say that he has so improved his birthright that the blessing is his fit reward, without either sin to confess, or wrath to deprecate? See, then, the Church offers you this season for the purpose. “Now is the accepted time, now the day of salvation.” Now it is that, God being your helper, you are to attempt to throw off from you the heavy burden of past transgression, to reconcile yourselves to Him who has once already imparted to you His atoning merits and you have profaned them.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY SIX

O gracious Father,
infuse in our hearts
the spotless light of Your Divine Wisdom
and open the eyes of our mind
that we may understand the teachings of Your Gospel.
Instill in us also the fear of Your blessed commandments,
so that having curbed all carnal desires,
we may lead a spiritual life,
both thinking and doing everything to please You.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intention
(Mention your intention)
For You, our God,
are the enlightenment of our souls and bodies;
and to You we render glory,
together with Your Suffering Son,
and with Your all holy,
life-creating Spirit,
now and ever, and forever. Amen

day-six-lentprepnovena

Posted in CONFESSION/PENANCE, LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, Uncategorized

Lenten Preparation Novena

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REFLECTION – “The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery. “

“Would you see how a penitent should come to God? turn to the parable of the Prodigal Son. He, too, had squandered away his birthright, as Esau did.   He, too, came for the blessing, like Esau.   Yes; but how differently he came! he came with deep confession and self-abasement.   He said, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants:” but Esau said, “Let my father arise and eat of his son’s venison, that thy soul may bless me.”    The one came for a son’s privileges, the other for a servant’s drudgery.   The one killed and dressed his venison with his own hand and enjoyed it not; for the other the fatted calf was prepared and the ring for his hand and shoes for his feet and the best robe and there was music and dancing.” (Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY FIVE

Dear Lord,
we are fast approaching the holy season of Lent.
We begin to realise anew that these are the days of salvation,
these are the acceptable days.
We know that we are all sinners.
We know that in many things we have all offended Your infinite majesty.
We know that sin destroys Your life in us
as a drought withers the leaves and chokes the life from the land,
leaving an arid, dusty desert.
Help us now, Lord,
in our feeble attempts to make up for past sin.
Bless our efforts with the rich blessing of Your grace.
Make us realize ever more our need of penance and of mortification.
Help us to see,
in our ordinary difficulties and duties,
in the trials and temptations of every day,
the best opportunity of making up for past infidelities.
Every day we are so often reminded in field and wood,
in sky and stream,
of Your own boundless generosity to us.
Help us to realize that You are never outdone in generosity,
and that the least thing we do for You will be rewarded,
full measure, pressed down, shaken together and flowing over.
Then we shall see, in our own souls,
how the desert can blossom,
and the dry and wasted land can bring forth the rich,
useful fruit that was expected of it from the beginning.

United with Your Son, who makes His way to Calvary,   I offer You my intention

(Mention your intention)
Amen.

day-five-lent-prep-novena

Posted in LENT, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS

Lenten Preparation Novena

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Reflection – “We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter; we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”

“And then, alas! the truth flashed upon him; he uttered a great and bitter cry, when it was too late. It would have been well, had he uttered it before he came for the blessing, not after it. He repented when it was too late—it had been well if he had repented in time. So I say of persons who have in any way sinned. It is good for them not to forget that they have sinned. It is good that they should lament and deplore their past sins. Depend upon it, they will wail over them in the next world, if they wail not here. Which is better, to utter a bitter cry now or then?—then, when the blessing of eternal life is refused them by the just Judge at the last day, or now, in order that they may gain it? Let us be wise enough to have our agony in this world, not in the next. If we humble ourselves now, God will pardon us then. We cannot escape punishment, here or hereafter; we must take our choice, whether to suffer and mourn a little now, or much then.”
(Blessed John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY FOUR

 

Loving Father,
may I live this Lent as an unceasing act of love for You.
Let me grow in understanding of the riches hidden in Christ.
In my prayer, grant me a spirit to see what must be done
and the strength to do what is right.
Make me radiant in Your presence
with the strength of my yearning for You.
By my fasting, fortify my resolve to carry out Your loving commands.
Bless me with an increase in devoutness of life so that I may be found steadfast in faith.
Any by my almsgiving, renew and purify my heart so that I may hold to the
things that eternally endure.
Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen

day-four-lent-prep-novena

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE

Lenten Preparation Novena

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Reflection – “He thought he was as sure of the blessing as if he had not sold the birthright.”

And then, when all is done and over and their souls sold to Satan, they never seem to understand that they have parted with their birthright.   They think that they stand just where they did, before they followed the world, the flesh, and the devil; they take for granted that when they choose to become more decent, or more religious, they have all their privileges just as before.   Like Samson, they propose to go out as at other times before, and shake themselves.   And like Esau, instead of repenting for the loss of the birthright, they come, as a matter of course, for the blessing.    Esau went out to hunt for venison gaily and promptly brought it to his father.   His spirits were high, his voice was cheerful.   It did not strike him that God was angry with him for what had past years ago. He thought he was as sure of the blessing as if he had not sold the birthright.     (Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY THREE

Today Lord I choose life,
I choose Your love and the challenge to live it and share it,
I choose hope, even in moments of darkness,
I choose faith, accepting You as Lord and God,
I choose to let go of some part of my burdens, day by day handing them over to You,
I choose to take hold of Your strength and power ever more deeply in my life.
I choose repentance and reparation and suffering, for all my sins
and those of all the world.
Forgive me my Lord!
May this truly be for me a time of new life, of change, challenge and growth.
May I come to Easter with a heart open to dying with You
and rising to Your new life, day by day.   Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)
Amen.

day-three-novena-prep-lent

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES of the SAINTS, QUOTES on CONVERSION

Lenten Preparation Novena

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Reflection – Do I despise the great gift of God’s Love?

“Is it not, I say, quite a common case for men and for women to neglect religion in their best days? They have been baptised, they have been taught their duty, they have been taught to pray, they know their Creed, their conscience has been enlightened, they have opportunity to come to Church.   This is their birthright, the privileges of their birth of water and of the Spirit;  but they sell it, as Esau did.    They are tempted by Satan with some bribe of this world and they give up their birthright in exchange for what is sure to perish and to make them perish with it.    Esau was tempted by the mess of pottage which he saw in Jacob’s hands.    Satan arrested the eyes of his lust and he gazed on the pottage, as Eve gazed on the fruit of the tree of knowledge  of good and evil.    Adam and Eve sold their birthright for the fruit of a tree—that was their bargain.    Esau sold his for a mess of lentils—that was his.   And men now-a-days often sell theirs, not indeed for any thing so simple as fruit or herb but for some evil gain or other, which at the time they think worth purchasing at any price; perhaps for the enjoyment of some particular sin, or more commonly for the indulgence of general carelessness and spiritual sloth because they do not like a strict life and have no heart for God’s service.    And thus they are profane persons, for they despise the great gift of God.”  –    (Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman)

is-it-not-i-say-quite-a-common-case-bl-john-henry-newman

Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY TWO

Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.

Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)

Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.  Amen

day-two-21-feb

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, QUOTES on CONVERSION, QUOTES on REPENTANCE

Lenten Preparation Novena

Posted on by AnaStpaul

A Meditation for this ‘Prelude to Lent’

“Each of us must come to the evening of life.   Each of us must enter on eternity.   Each of us must come to that quiet, awful time, when we will appear before the Lord of the vineyard and answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or bad.   That, my dear brethren, you will have to undergo. … It will be the dread moment of expectation when your fate for eternity is in the balance and when you are about to be sent forth as the companion of either saints or devils, without possibility of change.   There can be no change; there can be no reversal.   As that judgment decides it, so it will be for ever and ever.   Such is the particular judgment. … when we find ourselves by ourselves, one by one, in His presence and have brought before us most vividly all the thoughts, words and deeds of this past life.   Who will be able to bear the sight of himself?   And yet we shall be obliged steadily to confront ourselves and to see ourselves.   In this life we shrink from knowing our real selves.   We do not like to know how sinful we are.   We love those who prophecy smooth things to us and we are angry with those who tell us of our faults.   But on that day, not one fault only but all the secret, as well as evident, defects of our character will be clearly brought out.   We shall see what we feared to see here and much more.   And then, when the full sight of ourselves comes to us, who will not wish that he had known more of himself here, rather than leaving it for the inevitable day to reveal it all to him! …………………….We can believe what we choose.   We are answerable for what we choose to believe.”– (Blessed Card. John Henry Newman)

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Lenten Preparation Novena

DAY ONE

Lord, during this Lenten Season,
nourish me with Your Word of life
and make me one
with You in love and prayer.

Fill my heart with Your love
and keep me faithful to the Gospel of Christ.
Give me the grace to rise above my human weakness.
Give me new life by Your Sacraments, especially the Mass.

Father, our source of life,
I reach out with joy to grasp Your hand;
let me walk more readily in Your ways.
Guide me in Your gentle mercy,
for left to myself I cannot do Your Will.

Father of love, source of all blessings,
help me to pass from my old life of sin
to the new life of grace.

Help me to repent of my sins now and make reparation throughout
this Lenten season and each day thereafter.
United with your Son,
who makes His way to Calvary,
I offer You my intentions
(Mention your special intention)

Prepare me for the glory of Your Kingdom.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
Who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever.

Amen.

day-one-20-feb

Posted in LENT, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS

Announcing a Novena in preparation for LENT – ASH WEDNESDAY is on 1 MARCH 2017

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Each year as Lent approaches, we decide that “this one” will be our best ever but it is so easy to lose momentum halfway through the 40 days.  This year let us prepare by the most perfect method – by praying for help!   Let us ask that we may:

  • deepen our understanding of Jesus’ passion?
  • walk with Jesus through his passion and resurrection?
  • work on overcoming a temptation that keeps us from fully entering into life with Christ?
  • foster a new spiritual practice to ignite or inflame our relationship with Jesus?

In these last few days before Lent begins, let us to begin our preparatory prayer. We can turn to Jesus and ask, “What is the grace You desire to deepen within me over these next 40 days?”

announcement-of-lenten-novena

 

 

Posted in ADVENT, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DEVOTIO, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES on SUFFERING

Our Morning Offering – 13 December

Posted on by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 13 December

Lord Jesus Christ,
by Your patience in suffering
You made holy earthly pain
and gave us the example
of obedience to Your Father’s will:
Be near me
in the trials of my day
and in time of weakness;
sustain me by Your grace,
that my strength and courage
may not fail;
bless me according to Your will;
and help me always to believe
that what happens to me here
is of little account
if You hold me in eternal life,
my Lord and my God. Amen.

Book of Common Prayer, 1979, adapted

13-dec-prayer