PRAYERS of the CHURCH – Page 23

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph – Day Seven – 16 March

Posted on March 16, 2018March 15, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Day Seven
PATRON OF WORKERS
Saint Joseph, you devoted your time at Nazareth to the work of a carpenter. It was the Will of God that you and your foster-Son should spend your days together in manual labour. What a beautiful example you set for the working classes!

It was especially for the poor, who compose the greater part of mankind, that Jesus came upon earth, for in the synagogue of Nazareth, He read the words of Isaiah and referred them to Himself: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed Me to bring good news to the poor…” (Luke 4:18). It was God’s Will that you should be occupied with work common to poor people, that in this way Jesus Himself might ennoble it by inheriting it from you, His foster-father and by freely embracing it. Thus our Lord teaches us that for the humbler class of workmen, He has in store His richest graces, provided they live content in the place God’s Providence has assigned them and remain poor in spirit for He said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 5:3).

The kind of work to which you devoted your time in the workshop of Nazareth offered you many occasions of practicing humility. You were privileged to see each day the example of humility which Jesus practised — a virtue most pleasing to Him. He chose for His earthly surroundings not the courts of princes nor the halls of the learned but a little workshop of Nazareth. Here you shared for many years the humble and hidden toiling of the God-Man. What a touching example for the worker of today!

While your hands were occupied with manual work, your mind was turned to God in prayer. From the Divine Master, who worked along with you, you learned to work in the presence of God in the spirit of prayer, for as He worked He adored His Father and recommended the welfare of the world to Him, Jesus also instructed you in the wonderful truths of grace and virtue, for you were in close contact with Him who said of Himself, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life.”

As you were working at your trade, you were reminded of the greatness and majesty of God, who, as a most wise Architect, formed this vast universe with wonderful skill and limitless power.

The light of divine faith that filled your mind, did not grow dim when you saw Jesus working as a carpenter. You firmly believed that the saintly Youth working beside you was truly God’s own Son.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being able to work side by side with Jesus in the carpenter shop of Nazareth. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to respect the dignity of labour and ever to be content with the position in life, however lowly, in which it may please Divine Providence to place me. Teach me to work for God and with God in the spirit of humility and prayer, as you did, so that I may offer my toil in union with the sacrifice of Jesus in the Mass as a reparation for my sins and gain rich merit for heaven.

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Saint Joseph, I, your unworthy child, greet you.
You are the faithful protector and intercessor of all who love and venerate you.
You know that I have special confidence in you and that, after Jesus and Mary,
I place all my hope of salvation in you, for you are especially powerful with God
and will never abandon your faithful servants.
Therefore I humbly invoke you and commend myself,
with all who are dear to me and all that belong to me, to your intercession.
I beg of you, by your love for Jesus and Mary, not to abandon me during life
and to assist me at the hour of my death.
Glorious Saint Joseph, spouse of the Immaculate Virgin,
obtain for me a pure, humble, charitable mind
and perfect resignation to the divine Will.
Be my guide, my father and my model through life
that I may merit to die as you did in the arms of Jesus and Mary.
Loving Saint Joseph, faithful follower of Jesus Christ,
I raise my heart to you to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the Divine Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary
for my spiritual and temporal welfare,
particularly the grace of a happy death and the special grace I now implore:
…………………………………………
(Mention your request)
Guardian of the Word Incarnate, I feel confident that your prayers
on my behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God.
Amen. NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY SEVEN - 16 MARCH - PATRON OF WORKERS-2017

Memorare to St Joseph

Remember, most chaste spouse of Mary, ever Virgin,
my loving protector, Saint Joseph,
that never was it known
that anyone who implored your help
or sought your intercession was left unaided.
Full of confidence in your power
I fly unto you and beg your protection
Despise not my petitions,
O Guardian of the Redeemer,
my humble supplication
but in your bounty,
hear and answer me.
Amen

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph – 15 March – Day Six

Posted on March 15, 2018March 14, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Day Six
PATRON OF FAMILIES
Saint Joseph, I venerate you as the gentle head of the Holy Family. The Holy Family was the scene of your life’s work in its origin, in its guidance, in its protection, in your labour for Jesus and Mary and even in your death in their arms. You lived, moved and acted in the loving company of Jesus and Mary. The inspired writer describes your life at Nazareth in only a few words: “And (Jesus) went down with them and came to Nazareth and was subject to them” (Luke, 2:51). Yet these words tell of your high vocation here on earth and the abundance of graces which filled your soul during those years spent in Nazareth.

Your family life at Nazareth was all radiant with the light of divine charity. There was an intimate union of heart and mind among the members of your Holy Family. There could not have been a closer bond than that uniting you to Jesus, your foster-Son and to Mary, your most loving wife. Jesus chose to fulfil toward you, His foster-father, all the duties of a faithful son, showing you every mark of honour and affection due to a parent. And Mary showed you all the signs of respect and love of a devoted wife. You responded to this love and veneration from Jesus and Mary with feelings of deepest love and respect. You had for Jesus a true fatherly love, enkindled and kept aglow in your heart by the Holy Spirit. And you could not cease to admire the workings of grace in Mary’s soul and this admiration caused the holy love which you had consecrated to her on the day of your wedding grow stronger every day.

God has made you a heavenly patron of family life because you sanctified yourself as head of the Holy Family and thus by your beautiful example sanctified family life. How peacefully and happily the Holy Family rested under the care of your fatherly rule, even in the midst of trials. You were the protector, counsellor and consolation of the Holy Family in every need. And just as you were the model of piety, so you gave us by your zeal, your earnestness and devout trust in God’s providence and especially by your love, the example of labour according to the Will of God. You cherished all the experiences common to family life and the sacred memories of the life, sufferings and joys in the company of Jesus and Mary. Therefore the family is dear to you as the work of God and it is of the highest importance in your eyes to promote the honour of God and the well-being of man. In your loving fatherliness and unfailing intercession, you are the patron and intercessor of families and you deserve a place in every home.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of living in the Holy Family and being its head. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain God’s blessing upon my own family. Make our home the kingdom of Jesus and Mary — a kingdom of peace, of joy and love.

I also pray for all Christian families. Your help is needed in our day when God’s enemy has directed his attack against the family in order to desecrate and destroy it. In the face of these evils, as patron of families, be pleased to help and as of old, you arose to save the Child and His Mother, so today arise to protect the sanctity of the home. Make our homes sanctuaries of prayer, of love, of patient sacrifice and of work. May they be modelled after your own at Nazareth. Remain with us with Jesus and Mary, so that by your help we may obey the commandments of God and of the Church; receive the holy sacraments of God and of the Church; live a life of prayer and foster religious instruction in our homes. Grant that we may be reunited in God’s Kingdom and eternally live in the company of the Holy Family in heaven. NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY SIX - 16 MARCH - PATRON OF FAMILIES-2017

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

memorare to st joseph - day six - 15 march 2018

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph – Day Five

Posted on March 14, 2018March 13, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph

Day Five
PATRON OF THE CHURCH
Saint Joseph, God has appointed you patron of the Catholic Church because you were the head of the Holy Family, the starting-point of the Church. You were the father, protector, guide and support of the Holy Family. For that reason you belong in a particular way to the Church, which was the purpose of the Holy Family’s existence.

I believe that the Church is the family of God on earth. Its government is represented in priestly authority which consists above all in its power over the true Body of Christ, really present in the Blessed Sacrament of the Altar, thus continuing Christ’s life in the Church. From this power, too, comes authority over the Mystical Body of Christ, the members of the Church — the power to teach and govern souls, to reconcile them with God, to bless them and to pray for them.

You have a special relationship to the priesthood because you possessed a wonderful power over our Saviour Himself. Your life and office were of a priestly function and are especially connected with the Blessed Sacrament. To some extent you were the means of bringing the Redeemer to us — as it is the priest’s function to bring Him to us in the Mass — for you reared Jesus, supported, nourished, protected and sheltered Him. You were prefigured by the patriarch Joseph, who kept supplies of wheat for his people. But how much greater than he were you! Joseph of old gave the Egyptians mere bread for their bodies. You nourished and with the most tender care, preserved for the Church, Him who is the Bread of Heaven and who gives eternal life in Holy Communion.

God has appointed you patron of the Church because the glorious title of patriarch also falls by special right to you. The patriarchs were the heads of families of the Chosen People and theirs was the honour to prepare for the Savior’s incarnation. You belonged to this line of patriarchs, for you were one of the last descendants of the family of David and one of the nearest forebears of Christ according to the flesh. As husband of Mary, the Mother of God, and as the foster-father of the Saviour, you were directly connected with Christ. Your vocation was especially concerned with the Person of Jesus; your entire activity centred about Him. You are, therefore, the closing of the Old Testament and the beginning of the New, which took its rise with the Holy Family of Nazareth. Because the New Testament surpasses the Old in every respect, you are the patriarch of patriarchs, the most venerable, exalted and amiable of all the patriarchs.

Through Mary, the Church received Christ and, therefore, the Church is indebted to her. But the Church owes her debt of gratitude and veneration to you also, for you were the chosen one who enabled Christ to enter into the world according to the laws of order and fitness. It was by you that the patriarchs and the prophets and the faithful reaped the fruit of God’s promise. Alone among them all, you saw with your own eyes and possessed the Redeemer promised to the rest of men.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being the Patron of the Church. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to live always as a worthy member of this Church, so that through it I may save my soul. Bless the priests, the religious and the laity of the Catholic Church, that they may ever grow in God’s love and faithfulness in His service. Protect the Church from the evils of our day and from the persecution of her enemies, both within and without her. Through your powerful intercession may the church successfully accomplish its mission in this world — the glory of God and the salvation of souls!

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

Remember, most pure spouse of Mary, ever Virgin,
my loving protector, Saint Joseph,
that no one ever had recourse to your protection
or asked for your aid without obtaining relief.
Confiding, therefore, in your goodness,
I come before you and humbly implore you.
Despise not my petitions,
foster-father of the Redeemer
but graciously receive them.
Amen

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The HOLY CROSS

Our Morning Offering – 14 March 2018 – Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Posted on March 14, 2018March 13, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 14 March 2018 – Wednesday of the 4th Week of Lent

Prayer in Honour of the Holy Cross
from the Seven Penitential Psalms Devotion

Lord Jesus Christ,
glorious Creator of the World,
splendour of the Father’s glory,
co-eternal with Him and the Holy Spirit,
Who deigned to take flesh of the spotless Virgin
and permitted Your glorious hands to be
fixed to the gibbet of the Cross,
that You might overthrow the gates of hell
and free the human race
from everlasting death,
look down frpm heaven
and have mercy on me,
a wretch borne down by the weight of sin
and polluted by the stains of my many misdeeds,
in Your mercy, do not forsake me,
most loving Jesus
but forgive that which I have sinned.
Hear me, prostrate before Your most
glorious Cross,
that I may stand before You,
pure and pleasing in Your sight,
Who reigns with the Father,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.
Amen. prayer in honour of the holy cross from the 7 penitential psalms devotion - prayer 2 - 14 march 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

5 March 2018 – The Fifth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis

Posted on March 13, 2018March 13, 2018 by AnaStpaul

5 March 2018 – The Fifth Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis

Congratulations on your Fifth Anniversary
Pope Francis! – 13 March 2018

Pope Francis: five years, five important gestures

The writings and homilies of a pope indicate much about his papacy. Also his international presence and work within the Vatican demonstrate a large part of his mission.

Thus, Pope Francis’ actions transmit a more direct message than any encyclical ever could. It is in this “encyclical of gestures” that the richness of his papacy lies.

1 – THE LEAST

From the first minute of his pontificate, he made it clear that the sick or poor have priority in every public meeting. As an example, he has eaten lunch with them several times and some of his hugs with the sick have gone viral.

2 – WOMEN

Pope Francis was the first pope to visit a female prison. He also washed the feet of several inmates on Holy Thursday and visited ex-prostitute victims of the mafia. He has firmly denounced labour abuse and sexual exploitation, especially facing women.

POPE FRANCIS
“Today I apologize to all of you. For all the Christians, Catholics, who have abused you.”

POPE FRANCIS
“None of us is a ‘thing.’ We are all people.”

To him, the sensibility of women and motherhood are two key elements that he asks both the Church and the world to rediscover. He says we must give women a greater role in the Church but this does not mean ordaining female priests or deacons.

3 – DESTROY WALLS, BUILD BRIDGES

This is one of his most political gestures but it sends a very Christian message.

During his visit to Bethlehem, the pope surprised the crowds by getting off the popemobile and praying before the wall built by Israel.

Something similar happened in Mexico when he prayed at the border that lines with the United States. These are two places with different problems but both symbolise the great lack of dialogue that the pontiff is constantly calling out.

4 – SIMPLICITY

Pope Francis impacted the world by his simplicity. He presented himself to the world without boasting, nor did he try to hide his weaknesses that have come with age. He wears orthopaedic shoes and had to buy new ones in 2016. To do so, he went to a normal business outside the Vatican. It was the same when buying his glasses, which he bought like any citizen from an optician in the centre of Rome.

5 – CLOSENESS

This is a gesture composed of hundreds of small actions, which are performed every week when he lets youngsters take a selfie with him, when he drinks mate or when he jokes with those he meets.

They are the small, but continuous daily gestures that crown him as one of the most-valued people in the world.

The latest poll conducted by Gallup International reveals that Pope Francis is the most-esteemed world leader, with 56 percent acceptance, seven points more than the second in the ranking: German Chancellor Angela Merkel… RomeReports happy 5th anniversary - 13 march 2018

Let us pray:

Prayer for Pope Francis

O God, Shepherd and Ruler of all the faithful,
look favourably on Your servant Francis,
whom You have set
at the head of Your Church as her shepherd;

Grant, we pray, that by word and example
he may be of service to those over whom he presides
so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care,
he may come to everlasting life.

Lord Jesus, shelter our Holy Father, Pope Francis
under the protection of Your Sacred Heart.
Be his light, his strength and his consolation.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You in the
unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.
Amen.

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph – Day Four

Posted on March 13, 2018March 5, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph – Day Four
Day Four
FAITHFUL SERVANT

Saint Joseph, you lived for one purpose — to be the personal servant of Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh. Your noble birth and ancestry, the graces and gifts, so generously poured out on you by God — all this was yours to serve our Lord better. Every thought, word, and action of yours was a homage to the love and glory of the Incarnate Word. You fulfilled most faithfully the role of a good and faithful servant who cared for the House of God.

How perfect was your obedience! Your position in the Holy Family obliged you to command, but besides being the foster-father of Jesus, you were also His disciple. For almost thirty years, you watched the God-Man display a simple and prompt obedience, and you grew to love and practice it very perfectly yourself. Without exception you submitted to God, to the civil rulers, and to the voice of your conscience.

When God sent an angel to tell you to care for Mary, you obeyed in spite of the mystery which surrounded her motherhood. When you were told to flee into Egypt under painful conditions, you obeyed without the slightest word of complaint. When God advised you in a dream to return to Nazareth, you obeyed. In every situation your obedience was as simple as your faith, as humble as your heart, as prompt as your love. It neglected nothing; it took in every command.

You had the virtue of perfect devotedness, which marks a good servant. Every moment of your life was consecrated to the service of our Lord: sleep, rest, work, pain. Faithful to your duties, you sacrificed everything unselfishly, even cheerfully. You would have sacrificed even the happiness of being with Mary. The rest and quiet of Nazareth was sacrificed at the call of duty. Your entire life was one generous giving, even to the point of being ready to die in proof of your love for Jesus and Mary. With true unselfish devotedness you worked without praise or reward.

But God wanted you to be in a certain sense a cooperator in the Redemption of the world. He confided to you the care of nourishing and defending the Divine Child. He wanted you to be poor and to suffer because He destined you to be the foster-father of His Son, who came into the world to save men by His sufferings and death, and you were to share in His suffering. In all of these important tasks, the Heavenly Father always found you a faithful servant!

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being God’s faithful servant. As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to be a faithful servant of God as you were. Help me to share, as you did, the perfect obedience of Jesus, who came not to do His Will, but the Will of His Father; to trust in the Providence of God, knowing that if I do His Will, He will provide for all my needs of soul and body; to be calm in my trials and to leave it to our Lord to free me from them when it pleases Him to do so. And help me to imitate your generosity, for there can be no greater reward here on earth than the joy and honor of being a faithful servant of God. NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY FOUR - 13 MARCH - FAITHFUL SERVANT

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – the Memorial of St Leander (c 534-c 600)

Posted on March 13, 2018March 12, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 13 March – the Memorial of St Leander (c 534-c 600), who as Bishop of Seville, was responsible for including this Creed in the Holy Mass.

The Nicene Creed

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.

I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through Him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
He came down from heaven
(we bow here)
and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
and became man.

For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
He suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and His kingdom will have no end.

I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.

I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen. the nicene creed and st leander - 13 march 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY

Saint of the Day – 13 March – St Leander (c 534-c 600)

Posted on March 13, 2018March 12, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Saint of the Day – 13 March – St Leander (c 534-c 600) Bishop, Monk, Confessor, apostle of Spain, teacher, writer. Patron of episcopal attire and liturgical garments.

The next time you recite the Nicene Creed at Mass, think of today’s saint. For it was Leander of Seville who, as bishop, introduced the practice in the sixth century. He saw it as a way to help reinforce the faith of his people and as an antidote against the heresy of Arianism, which denied the divinity of Christ.

st leander statue 2

St Leander, a close friend of St Gregory the Great, was born in Carthagena to a family of high nobility. He was the eldest brother of several saints. His brother, St Isidore, succeeded him as Bishop of Seville and is a Doctor of the Universal Church. Another brother, St Fulgentius, became Bishop of Carthagena and his sister, St Florentina, became an Abbess in Carthagena.

When he was still young, Leander retired to a Benedictine monastery where he became a model of learning and piety. In 579 he was raised to the episcopal see of Seville, where he continued to practice his customary austerities and penances. 313leander13

At that time, a part of the territory of Spain was dominated by the Visigoths. Those barbarians were Arians and had spread their errors in the cities they had conquered. The Iberian Peninsula had been infected by that heresy for 170 years when St Leander was chosen Bishop of Seville. He began to combat it immediately. His efforts were successful and the heresy began to lose hold on its followers. He also played an important role in the conversion of Hermenegild, the eldest son of the Visigoth King.

King Leovigild, however, became angry over his son’s conversion and St Leander’s activity. He exiled the Saint and condemned his son to death. Later, he repented, recalled the Saint to Spain and asked him to educate and form his other son and successor, Reccared, who became a Catholic and helped the Saint to convert the rest of his subjects.

313leander10 — King Leovigild rejects Arianism and embraces the true faith – St Leander on the left

St Leander played a central role at two councils, the Council of Seville and the Third Council of Toledo, where Visigothic Spain abjured Arianism in all its forms. He also wrote an influential Rule for his sister with instructions on prayer and renunciation of the world. He reformed the liturgy in Spain, adding the Nicene Creed to the Mass in order to make an express profession of the Faith against Arianism. After a long life of fighting heresies and preaching the truth, St Leander died around the year 600. He was succeeded by his brother, Isidore. Benson_Saint_Leander

(Last year’s post -https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2017/03/13/saint-of-the-day-13-march-st-leander-of-seville/)

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph – Day Three

Posted on March 12, 2018March 4, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Day Three
CHOSEN BY THE BLESSED TRINITY

Saint Joseph, you were the man chosen by God the Father.
He selected you to be His representative on earth, hence He granted you all the graces and blessings you needed to be His worthy representative.

You were the man chosen by God the Son.
Desirous of a worthy foster-father, He added His own riches and gifts and above all, His love.
The true measure of your sanctity is to be judged by your imitation of Jesus.
You were entirely consecrated to Jesus, working always near Him, offering Him your virtues, your work, your sufferings, your very life.
Jesus lived in you perfectly so that you were transformed into Him.
In this lies your special glory and the keynote of your sanctity.
Hence, after Mary, you are the holiest of the saints.

You were chosen by the Holy Spirit.
He is the mutual Love of the Father and the Son – the heart of the Holy Trinity.
In His wisdom He draws forth all creatures from nothing, guides them to their end in showing them their destiny and giving them the means to reach it.
Every vocation and every fulfillment of a vocation proceeds from the Holy Spirit.
As a foster-father of Jesus and head of the Holy Family, you had an exalted and most responsible vocation – to open the way for the redemption of the world and to prepare for it by the education and guidance of the youth of the God-Man.
In this work you cooperated as the instrument of the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit was the guide, you obeyed and carried out the works.
How perfectly you obeyed the guidance of the God of Love!

The words of the Old Testament which Pharaoh spoke concerning Joseph of Egypt can well be applied to you:
“Can we find such another man, that is full of the spirit of God, or a wise man like to him?” (Gen. 41:38).
No less is your share in the divine work of God than was that of Egypt.
You now reign with your foster-Son and see reflected in the mirror of God’s Wisdom the Divine Will and what is of benefit to our souls.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for having made you the man specially chosen by Him.
As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to imitate your virtues so that I too may be pleasing to the Heart of God.
Help me to give myself entirely to His service and to the accomplishment of His Holy Will, that one day I may reach heaven and be eternally united to God as you are. NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY THREE - 12 MARCH - CHOSEN

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph Day Two 11 March

Posted on March 11, 2018March 3, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph – Day Two: 11 March

Day Two
VIRGINAL HUSBAND OF MARY

Saint Joseph, I honour you as the true husband of Mary.
Scripture says: “Jacob begot Joseph, the husband of Mary and of her was born Jesus who is called Christ” (Matt. 1:16). Your marriage to Mary was a sacred contract by which you and Mary gave yourselves to each other.
Mary really belonged to you with all she was and had.
You had a right to her love and obedience and no other person so won her esteem, obedience and love.

You were also the protector and witness of Mary’s virginity.
By your marriage you gave to each other your virginity and also the mutual right over it – a right to safeguard the other’s virtue.
This mutual virginity also belonged to the divine plan of the Incarnation, for God sent His angel to assure you that motherhood and virginity in Mary could be united.

This union of marriage not only brought you into daily familiar association with Mary, the loveliest of God’s creatures but also enabled you to share with her a mutual exchange of spiritual goods.
And Mary found her edification in your calm, humble and deep virtue, purity and sanctity.
What a great honour comes to you from this close union with her whom the Son of God calls Mother and whom He declared the Queen of heaven and earth!
Whatever Mary had belonged by right to you also and this included her Son, even though He had been given to her by God in a wonderful way. Jesus belonged to you as His legal father.
Your marriage was the way which God chose to have Jesus introduced into the world, a great divine mystery from which all benefits have come to us.

God the Son confided the guardianship and the support of His Immaculate Mother to your care.
Mary’s life was that of the Mother of the Saviour, who did not come upon earth to enjoy honours and pleasures but to redeem the world by hard work, suffering and the cross.
You were the faithful companion, support and comforter of the Mother of Sorrows.
How loyal you were to her in poverty, journeying, work and pain.
Your love for Mary was based upon your esteem for her as Mother of God.
After God and the Divine Child, you loved no one as much as her.
Mary responded to this love.
She submitted to your guidance with naturalness and easy grace and childlike confidence.
The Holy Spirit Himself was the bond of the great love which united your hearts.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of being the virginal husband of Mary.
As a token of your own gratitude to God, obtain for me the grace to love Jesus with all my heart, as you did and love Mary with some of the tenderness and loyalty with which you loved her. NOVENA TO ST JOSEPH - DAY TWO - 11 MARCH - VIRGINAL HUSBAND OF MARY

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

MORNING Prayers, NOVENAS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, St JOSEPH

Novena to St Joseph Day One 10 March

Posted on March 10, 2018March 3, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Novena to St Joseph – Day One: 10 March

*NOVENA PRAYER
*(prayer to be said at the end of each day’s devotion)

Memorare to St Joseph

Day One
FOSTER-FATHER OF JESUS

Saint Joseph, you were privileged to share, in the mystery of the Incarnation as the foster-father of Jesus.
Mary alone was directly connected with the fulfillment of the mystery, in that she gave her consent to Christ’s conception
and allowed the Holy Spirit to form the sacred humanity of Jesus from her blood.
You had a part in this mystery in an indirect manner, by fulfilling the condition necessary for the Incarnation –
the protection of Mary’s virginity before and during your married life with her.
You made the virginal marriage possible and this was a part of God’s plan, foreseen, willed and decreed from all eternity.

In a more direct manner you shared in the support, upbringing and protection of the Divine Child as His foster-father.
For this purpose the Heavenly Father gave you a genuine heart of a father — a heart full of love and self-sacrifice.
With the toil of your hands you were obliged to offer protection to the Divine Child, to procure for Him food, clothing and a home.
You were truly the saint of the holy childhood of Jesus – the living created providence which watched over the Christ-Child.

When Herod sought the Child to put Him to death, the Heavenly Father sent an angel but only as a messenger, giving orders for the flight; the rest He left entirely in your hands.
It was that fatherly love which was the only refuge that received and protected the Divine Child.
Your fatherly love carried Him through the desert into Egypt until all enemies were removed.
Then in your arms the Child returned to Nazareth to be nourished and provided for during many years by the labour of your hands.
Whatever a human son owes to a human father for all the benefits of his up-bringing and support, Jesus owed to you, because you were to Him a foster-father, teacher and protector.
You served the Divine Child with a singular love. God gave you a heart filled with heavenly, supernatural love – a love far deeper and more powerful than any natural father’s love could be.

You served the Divine Child with great unselfishness, without any regard to self-interest but not without sacrifices.
You did not toil for yourself, but you seemed to be an instrument intended for the benefit of others, to be put aside as soon as it had done its word, for you disappeared from the scene once the childhood of Jesus had passed.

You were the shadow of the Heavenly Father not only as the earthly representative of the authority of the Father but also by means of your fatherhood – which only appeared to be natural – you were to hide for a while the divinity of Jesus.
What a wonderfully sublime and divine vocation was yours – the loving Child which you carried in your arms and loved and served so faithfully, had God in Heaven as Father and was Himself God!

Yours is a very special rank among the saints of the Kingdom of God, because you were so much a part of the very life of the Word of God made Man.
In your house at Nazareth and under your care the redemption of mankind was prepared.
What you accomplished, you did for us.
You are not only a powerful and great saint in the Kingdom of God but a benefactor of the whole of Christendom and mankind.
Your rank in the Kingdom of God, surpassing far in dignity and honour of all the angels, deserves our very special veneration, love and gratitude.

Saint Joseph, I thank God for your privilege of having been chosen by God to be the foster-father of His Divine Son.
As a token of your own gratitude to God for this your greatest privilege, obtain for me the grace of a very devoted love for Jesus Christ, my God and my Saviour.
Help me to serve Him with some of the self-sacrificing love and devotion which you had while on this earth with Him. Grant that through your intercession with Jesus, your foster-Son, I may reach the degree of holiness God has destined for me, and save my soul.

*NOVENA PRAYER

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY, St JOSEPH, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE

Catholic Devotion for the Month: March is the Month of St Joseph!

Posted on March 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Devotion for March
St Joseph

The month of March is dedicated to St Joseph. Joseph was the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the foster-father of Jesus. Holy Scripture proclaims him as a “just man” and the Church has turned to Joseph for his patronage and protection. Pope Leo XIII in his encyclical Quamquam Pluries (On the Devotion to St Joseph) in 1889 explains why we place so much trust in this saint:

“Thus in giving Joseph the Blessed Virgin as spouse, God appointed him to be not only her life’s companion, the witness of her maidenhood, the protector of her honor, but also, by virtue of the conjugal tie, a participator in her sublime dignity. And Joseph shines among all mankind by the most august dignity, since by divine will, he was the guardian of the Son of God and reputed as His father among men.

Hence it came about that the Word of God was humbly subject to Joseph, that He obeyed him, and that He rendered to him all those offices that children are bound to render to their parents. From this two-fold dignity flowed the obligation which nature lays upon the head of families, so that Joseph became the guardian, the administrator, and the legal defender of the divine house whose chief he was. And during the whole course of his life he fulfilled those charges and those duties.

…It is, then, natural and worthy that as the Blessed Joseph ministered to all the needs of the family at Nazareth and girt it about with his protection, he should now cover with the cloak of his heavenly patronage and defend the Church of Jesus Christ.”

Daily Morning Prayer to St Joseph

Blessed Joseph, husband of Mary
Be with us this day.
You defended the Virgin
loving the Child Jesus as your son,
you rescued Him from danger of death.
Defend the Church, the household of God,
purchased by the blood of Christ.
Guardian of the Holy Family,
be with us in our trials,
may your prayers obtain for us
the grace to flee from error
and wrestle with the powers of corruption,
so that in life we may grow in holiness
and in death rejoice in the Crown of Victory.
Amen

MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for March 2018

Posted on March 1, 2018March 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

The Holy Father’s
Prayer Intentions for March 2018

Formation in Spiritual Discernment

That the Church may appreciate the urgency of formation in

spiritual discernment, both on the personal and communitarian levels.

A Living Message of God

1. The joy of the gospel fills the hearts and lives of all who encounter Jesus. Those who accept His offer of salvation are set free from sin, sorrow, inner emptiness and loneliness. With Christ joy is constantly born anew. In this Exhortation I wish to encourage the Christian faithful to embark upon a new chapter of evangeliSation marked by this joy, while pointing out new paths for the Church’s journey in years to come.

115. The People of God is incarnate in the peoples of the earth, each of which has its own culture. The concept of culture is valuable for grasping the various expressions of the Christian life present in God’s people. It has to do with the lifestyle of a given society, the specific way in which its members relate to one another, to other creatures and to God. Understood in this way, culture embraces the totality of a people’s life. Each people in the course of its history develops its culture with legitimate autonomy. This is due to the fact that the human person, “by nature stands completely in need of life in society” and always exists in reference to society, finding there a concrete way of relating to reality. The human person is always situated in a culture: “nature and culture are intimately linked”. Grace supposes culture and God’s gift becomes flesh in the culture of those who receive it.

117. When properly understood, cultural diversity is not a threat to Church unity. The Holy Spirit, sent by the Father and the Son, transforms our hearts and enables us to enter into the perfect communion of the blessed Trinity, where all things find their unity. He builds up the communion and harmony of the people of God. The same Spirit is that harmony, just as He is the bond of love between the Father and the Son. It is He who brings forth a rich variety of gifts, while at the same time creating a unity which is never uniformity but a multifaceted and inviting harmony. Evangelisation joyfully acknowledges these varied treasures which the Holy Spirit pours out upon the Church. We would not do justice to the logic of the incarnation if we thought of Christianity as monocultural and monotonous. While it is true that some cultures have been closely associated with the preaching of the Gospel and the development of Christian thought, the revealed message is not identified with any of them; its content is transcultural. Hence in the evangelisation of new cultures, or cultures which have not received the Christian message, it is not essential to impose a specific cultural form, no matter how beautiful or ancient it may be, together with the Gospel. The message that we proclaim always has a certain cultural dress but we in the Church can sometimes fall into a needless hallowing of our own culture and thus show more fanaticism than true evangelising zeal…EVANGELII GAUDIUM OF THE HOLY FATHER, FRANCIS

Reflection: The Holy Father says that the expression of truth can take different forms. In the same way that each individual member of the community needs to re-examine themselves and critically establish if we are not too set in our ways, in practising and promoting customs, which are no longer relevant and also labelling any changes within the Church, as wrong and undesirable. The message of God remains the same – that really is all that matters. However, the manner in which we express and live it, has to adapt to the society and culture that is being addressed. Let us keep an open heart and mind always and know, that where we are in the world, is not where my brother or sister, in the Mystical Body, is!

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CHRIST, the WAY,TRUTH,LIFE, GOD ALONE!, LENT, MORNING Prayers, POETRY, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES for CHRIST, QUOTES on LOVE of GOD, The WORD, Thomas a Kempis

Lenten Reflection – 26 February 2018 – Monday of the Second Week of Lent

Posted on February 26, 2018September 24, 2020 by AnaStpaul

26 February 2018 – Monday of the Second Week of Lent
Daniel 9:4-10, Psalms 79:8-9, 11, 13, Luke 6:36-38

Daniel 9:4-5 – “I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and terrible God, who keepest covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances…”

Luke 6:36-38 – Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful. “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not and you will not be condemned; forgive and you will be forgiven; give and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”

Daniel confesses that his people’s sufferings in exile are due to their own lack of fodelity to God. This sort of confession is a frank admission that evil has consequences. It is similar to Jesus’ teaching – “one who takes up the sword will perish by the sword.”

The argument may be turned round – good deeds have beneficial consequences. “The measure you give will be the measure you get back” whether it be mercy, forgiveness or sympathetic understanding.

If we keep giving out good things consistently, the blessings we will receive will be beyond measure. Every giving enriches the giver, whether gift be in the form of material assistance, psychologival affirmation or spiritual admonition, giving up an argument, settling a quarrel or going out of our way to help someone who deserves it least!

Be not afraid then to give, for you will receive beyond anything you could ever expect.

Am I generous with my time, material gifts, with my love?
Am I patient and willing to be forgiving, even when I was not in error?
Am I aware that as part of the Body of Christ, my good and my bad, affect all?
Archbishop Thomas Menamparampil SDB – God’sWord

“Desire not the praises of men, seeing they are vain. Be not fearful of their reproach, for instead of doing harm to your soul, humiliations cleanses it and renders it more meet to receive a brighter crown in heaven and none are worthy to be glorified in heaven who are unable to bear reproach on earth for the love of God.”… Thomas a Kempis

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name;
deliver us and forgive our sins, for thy name’s sake! …Psalm 79:9

For ah! the Master is so fair,
His smile so sweet to banished men
That they who meet it unaware
Can never rest on earth again.

And they who see Him risen afar
At God’s right hand to welcome them
Forgetful stand of home and land,
Desiring fair Jerusalem.

Praise God! the Master is so sweet;
Praise God! the country is so fair,
We would not hold them from His feet.
We would but haste to meet them there.

English Missal 1936

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DEVOTIO, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 18 February – The First Sunday of Lent, Year B

Posted on February 18, 2018February 17, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 18 February – The First Sunday of Lent, Year B

Act of Oblation before Holy Mass

Eternal Father,
we offer You the sacrifice
wherein your Son Jesus
offered Himself upon the Cross
and which He now renews upon this altar.
We adore You and render to You
that honour which is Your due,
acknowledging Your dominion over all things
and our absolute dependence on You.
You are our first beginning and our last end;
we give You thanks for countless benefits received;
we ask You to forgive our sins
and to offer You worthy satisfaction for the same.
Finally to implore Your grace and mercy
for all of us who will offer this sacrifice today,
for all those who are in tribulation and distress,
for all of us sinners,
for the whole world and for the souls in purgatory.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen. act of oblation before holy mass - prayer of the church - 18 feb 2018 2nd sun of lent year B

CONFESSION/PENANCE, DEVOTIO, FATHERS of the Church, LENT, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on REPENTANCE, The WORD

Ash Wednesday – 14 February 2018

Posted on February 14, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Ash Wednesday – 14 February 2018

Joel 2:12-18, 2 Corinthians 5:20 — 6:2, Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

At the beginning of Lent, on Ash Wednesday, ashes are blessed during Mass, after the homily. The blessed ashes are then “imposed” on the faithful as a sign of conversion, penance, fasting and human mortality. The ashes are blessed at least during the first Mass of the day but they may also be imposed during all the Masses of the day, after the homily and even outside the time of Mass to meet the needs of the faithful. Priests or deacons normally impart this sacramental but instituted acolytes, other extraordinary ministers or designated lay people may be delegated to impart ashes, if the bishop judges that this is necessary. The ashes are made from the palms used at the previous Passion Sunday ceremonies. …— Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year, Msgr. Peter J Elliott

The act of putting on ashes symbolises fragility and mortality and the need to be redeemed by the mercy of God. Far from being a merely external act, the Church has retained the use of ashes to symbolise that attitude of internal penance to which all the baptised are called during Lent. — Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy

From the very early times the commemoration of the approach of Christ’s passion and death was observed by a period of self-denial. St Athanasius in the year 339 enjoined upon the people of Alexandria the 40 days’ fast he saw practised in Rome and elsewhere, “to the end that while all the world is fasting, we who are in Egypt should not become a laughing stock as the only people who do not fast but take our pleasure in those days.” On Ash Wednesday in the early days, the Pope went barefoot to St Sabina’s in Rome “to begin with holy fasts the exercises of Christian warfare, that as we do battle with the spirits of evil, we may be protected by the help of self-denial.

“In the course of this trial of forty days, which our weakness only finds long, we shall not be deprived of our Saviour’s presence. He has preceded and outpaced us on the royal road. He has tried it and accomplished its course before us, in order to answer, by His example, the excuses and arguments our self-indulgence or pride may urge. Let us accept the lesson fully and so arrive at an understanding of the law of expiation. “Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is drawing near.” Let us open our heart to this appeal, that the Saviour may not be compelled to awake us from our lethargy by the terrible threat He employed on another occasion: “If you do not repent you shall all perish.”...Abbot Dom Prosper Gueranger

“The enormity of the fact that Christ has, on our behalf, already taken the most extreme punishment upon Himself, should move us, not to leave Him isolated. It should also inspire us to rejoice that another has taken our place in representing sin before God – for not to rejoice at that, would be a further enormity. Instead of leaving Him alone, we should be moved to enter into His suffering for us, doing together with Him, what little we can do, to atone for the world’s sin!”…Hans Urs von Balthasar “Light of the World”

ACT OF CONTRITION

Forgive my sins, O my God, forgive my sins:
the sins of youth,
the sins of age;
the sins of my soul
and the sins of my body;
the sins which, through frailty, I have committed;
my deliberate and grievous sins,
the sins I know and the sins I do not know,
the sins I have laboured so long to hide from others,
that now they are hidden from my own memory;
let me be absolved from all these iniquities
and delivered from the bond of all these evils,
by the Life, Passion, and Death
of my Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Amen

MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering on The FOURTH International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons – 8 February 2018

Posted on February 8, 2018February 7, 2018 by AnaStpaul

PRAYER to END HUMAN TRAFFICKING

O God, when we hear of children and adults
deceived and taken to unknown places
for purposes of sexual exploitation, forced labour
and organ ‘harvesting’,
our hearts are saddened and our spirits angry
that their dignity and rights are ignored
through threats, lies and force.
We cry out against the evil practice
of this modern slavery,
and pray with Saint Bakhita for it to end.
Give us wisdom and courage to reach out
and stand with those whose bodies, hearts and spirits
have been so wounded, so that together we may
make real Your promises to fill these sisters and brothers
with a love that is tender and good.
Send the exploiters away empty-handed
to be converted from this wickedness,
and help us all to claim the freedom
that is Your gift to Your children, amen. thrid-int-day-of-prayer-humantrafficking-st-bakhita-8-feb 2018

MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

The FOURTH International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons under the Patronage of St Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947) – 8 February 2018

Posted on February 8, 2018February 7, 2018 by AnaStpaul

The FOURTH International Day of Prayer and Awareness against Trafficking in Persons under the Patronage of St Josephine Bakhita (1869-1947) – 8 February 2018

2018 theme of the Day of Prayer and Awareness:

“Migration without trafficking. Say yes to Freedom and No to slavery”

Speaking on the eve of the Day of Prayer and Awareness Raising against Human Trafficking, 7 February 2018, Pope Francis urged civil society and institutions to take concrete action to protect the victims and eliminate this terrible scourge that affects so many forced migrants and refugees.

Pope Francis noted that many migrants are forced to choose illegal channels of migration where they are submitted to “abuse of every kind, exploitation and slavery.”

He noted that criminal organizations that engage in the trafficking of persons make use of migratory routes to hide their victims among the migrants and refugees.

Pope Francis also asked for prayers so that “the Lord may convert the hearts of traffickers and give hope to those who suffer because of this shameful scourge so they may regain their freedom”.

“You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know” said William Wilberforce, an English politician, philanthropist, theologian and a leader of the movement to abolish the slave trade who lived in the XVIII/XIX century.

Daily Prayer to End Human Trafficking

God of goodness and mercy,
Rewarder of the humble,
You blessed St Josephine Bakhita of Sudan
with charity and patience.
May her prayers help us and her example
inspire us to carry our cross
and to love You always.
Pour upon us the spirit of wisdom
and love with which you filled St Josephine Bakhita,
by serving You as she did.
May her prayers on behalf of those enslaved
bring awareness and an end to this evil practice.
May we too please You by our faith and actions,
through our Lord, Jesus Christ, Your Son, in union
with the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever, amen.

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, SAINT of the DAY, The HOLY GHOST

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Posted on February 4, 2018February 3, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 4 February – The Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Veni Creator Spiritus
By Blessed Rabanus Maurus (776-856)

Come, Creator, Spirit,
come from Your bright heavenly throne,
come take possession of our souls
and make them all Your own.
You who are called the Paraclete,
best gift of God above,
the living spring,
the vital fire,
sweet christ’ning and true love. . . .
O guide our minds with Your best light,
with love our hearts inflame
and with Your strength,
which ne’er decays,
confirm our mortal frame.
Far from us drive our deadly foe,
true peace unto us bring
and through all perils lead us safe
beneath Your sacred wing.
Through You may we the Father know,
through You th’eternal Son
and You the Spirit of them both,
thrice-blessed Three in One. . . . Veni, Creator Spiritus - bl rabanus maurus - 4 feb 2018

Today, 4 February, us the Memorial of Blessed Rabanus Maurus.

Rabanus Maurus was a young boy who loved to study and became a disciple of the great Englishmen who brought learning and holiness to the kingdom of Charlemagne. He was born in 784, when the Carolingian renaissance was at its height and his parents sent him to be educated at St Boniface’s great monastery of Fulda, which had a famous school. So remarkable was he as a student that the Abbot of Fulda sent him to study under Charlemagne’s own schoolmaster, Alcuin, at Tours and it was under this teacher that he received the name Maurus, after St. Benedict’s favourite disciple. On returning to Fulda, he was first a teacher, then head of the school there, which became famous all over Europe.

He continued the tradition of sacred learning begun by St Boniface and Alcuin. He wrote homilies, scientific treatises, poetry, hymns and commentaries on most of the books of the Bible. Like St Bede, he was the marvel of his time for his learning and was unequalled in his time for his scriptural and patristic learning.

In 822, Blessed Rabanus Maurus was elected abbot of Fulda and the monastery flourished under his guidance. He increased the library, built new buildings and fostered learning of every kind. In 842, he retired, planning to live a life of prayer in solitude for the rest of his life.

In 847, he was chosen to be archbishop of Mainz, at the age of sixty-three and the last years of his life were spent directing the affairs of his diocese, holding provincial synods, and directing a multitude of charitable works. During a famine, he fed three hundred poor people at his own house. He became bedridden shortly before his death and from the moment of his death was regarded as a saint.

He was buried at the monastery of St Alban’s in Mainz but later his relics were transferred to Halle.

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

BLESSING of ST BLAISE

Posted on February 3, 2018February 3, 2018 by AnaStpaul

3 February – The Memorial of St Blaise – Martyr (Died c 316)

THROAT BLESSING of ST BLAISE

Although separated by customs, language, politics and more, Catholics around the world celebrate many of the same God-inspired devotional acts, practices and rituals handed down through the centuries by Holy Mother Church. Such a devotion is the optional memorial celebrating St Blaise and the blessing of throats today, every 3 February.

Throat blessings
The candles used in the blessing of throats may be those blessed yesterday, on Candlemas, or when blessed during the St. Blaise memorial.

With the crossed candles touched to the throat of each person, the celebrant says immediately:

Through the intercession of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness. In the name of the Father and of the Son + and of the Holy Spirit.

Each person responds: Amen. blessing of st blaise - 3 feb 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, CONSECRATION Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, The BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, The CHRIST CHILD, VOCATIONS

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

Posted on February 2, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Thought for the Day – 2 February – Feast of the Presentation of the Lord and the World Day of Prayer for Consecrated Life

On this holy feast-day we each have an opportunity to consecrate our lives anew to the Lord. How do we do this? We can simply make a prayer of re-dedication to God which can take many forms. It can be a simple heartfelt prayer reaffirming our baptismal promises or a re-visiting of our religious or marriage vows. Or it can be a prayer which asks the Holy Spirit to renew our sense of vocation as a priest or religious or as a lay person in our chosen job, trade or profession.
We gave our life to the Lord when we were baptised but the call to conversion continues to resound throughout our lives and ‘this second conversion is an uninterrupted task for the whole church’ (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1428). A re-dedication or renewal of vows or promises is a movement of conversion within our heart and is always a work of the Holy Spirit.
Today, step out in faith, whatever your vocation, whatever your calling and give your life to the Lord, in the assurance of God’s grace, blessing and renewal in the power of the Holy Spirit.

LET US PRAY FOR ALL CONSECRATED MEN & WOMEN AND FOR VOCATIONS:

Loving God, You call all who believe in You
to grow perfect in love
by following in the footsteps
of Christ Your Son.
Call from among us more men and women
who will serve You as religious.
Open the hearts of many, raise up
faithful servants of the Gospel, dedicated,
holy priests, sisters, brothers and deacons,
who will spend themselves for Your people
and their needs.
Bless those who are serving now
with courage and perseverance.
Grant that many will be inspired by their
example and faith.
By their way of life, may they provide a convincing sign
of Your Kingdom for the Church and the whole world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. prayer for the consecrated and vocations - 2018

BREVIARY Prayers, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, HYMNS, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 2 February – The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Posted on February 2, 2018February 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 2 February – The Feast of the Presentation of the Lord

Hail to the Lord who Comes
Prayers/Hymns “Liturgy of the Hours”

Hail to the Lord who comes,
comes to His temple gate,
not with His angel host,
not in His kingly state.

But borne upon the throne
of Mary’s gentle breast,
thus to His Father’s house
He comes, the heavenly guest.

The world’s true light draws near
all darkness to dispel,
the flame of faith is lit
and dies the power of hell.

Our bodies and our souls
are temples now for Him.
for we are born of grace –
God lights our souls within.

O Light of all the earth!
We light our lives with Thee.
The chains of darkness gone,
all sons of God are free. hail to the lord who comes - presentation of the lord - from the breviary - 2 feb 2018

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, THE HOLY FAMILY - FAMILIAE SANCTAE, Uncategorized

Monthly Catholic Devotions: FEBRUARY is the Month of THE HOLY FAMILY

Posted on February 1, 2018February 1, 2018 by AnaStpaul

FEBRUARY – THE MONTH OF THE HOLY FAMILY

In January, the Catholic Church celebrated the Month of the Holy Name of Jesus and in February, we turn to the entire Holy Family—Jesus, Mary and Joseph. feb the month of the holy family - 1 feb 2018

In sending His Son to earth as a Baby, born into a family, God elevated the family beyond a mere natural institution. Our own family life reflects that lived by Christ, in obedience to His mother and foster father. Both as children and as parents, we can take comfort in the fact that we have the perfect model of the family before us in the Holy Family.

One commendable practice for the month of February is a Consecration to the Holy Family – I will post this pray during this month. If you have a prayer corner or a home altar, you can gather the entire family and recite the consecration prayer, which reminds us that we aren’t saved individually. We all work out our salvation in conjunction with others—first and foremost, together with the other members of our family.

There’s no need to wait until next February to repeat the consecration, it’s a good prayer for your family to pray every month.

Grant unto us, Lord Jesus,
ever to follow the example of Your holy Family,
that in the hour of our death
Your glorious Virgin Mother
together with blessed Joseph
may come to meet us
and we may be worthily received by You
into everlasting dwellings
who lives and reigns, world without end.
Amen prayer for the help of the holy family - 1 feb 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, DEVOTIO, DOCTORS of the Church, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY EUCHARIST / The HOLY MASS

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – The Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor angelicus (Angelic Doctor) and Doctor communis (Common Doctor)

Posted on January 28, 2018January 27, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 28 January – The Memorial of St Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) Doctor angelicus (Angelic Doctor) and Doctor communis (Common Doctor)

PRAYER before HOLY MASS
By St Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)
Angelic Doctor and Common Doctor

Almighty and ever-living God,
we approach the sacrament
of Your only-begotten Son,
Our Lord Jesus Christ.
We come to the Doctor of Life
unclean, to the Fountain of Mercy,
blind, to the Radiance of Eternal Light
and poor and needy
to the Lord of heaven and earth.
Lord, in Your great generosity,
heal our sicknesses,
wash away our defilements,
enlighten our blindness,
enrich our poverty
and clothe our nakedness.
May we receive the bread of angels,
the King of kings and Lord of lords,
with humble reverence,
with the purity and faith,
the repentance and love
and the determined purpose
that will help to bring us to salvation.
May we receive the sacrament
of the Lord’s Body and Blood
and its reality and power.
Loving Father, as on our earthly pilgrimage
we now receive Your beloved Son
in the holy sacrifice of this Mass,
may we one day see Him face to face in glory,
who lives and reigns with You for ever,
AMEN. prayer before holy mass - st thomas aquinas - 28 jan 2018

PRAYER after HOLY COMMUNION
By St Thomas Aquinas
(1225-1274)
Angelic Doctor and Common Doctor

Lord, Father all-powerful and ever-living God,
I thank You, for even though I am a sinner,
Your unprofitable servant,
not because of my worth
but in the kindness of Your mercy,
You have fed me
with the Precious Body and Blood
of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that this Holy Communion,
may not bring me condemnation
and punishment
but forgiveness and salvation.
May it be a helmet of faith
and a shield of good will.
May it purify me from evil ways
and put an end to my evil passions.
May it bring me charity and patience,
humility and obedience
and growth in the power to do good.
May it be my strong defense
against all my enemies,
visible and invisible
and the perfect calming
of all my evil impulses,
bodily and spiritual.
May it unite me more closely to You,
the One true God
and lead me safely through death
to everlasting happiness with You.
And I pray that You will lead me, a sinner,
to the banquet where You,
with Your Son and holy Spirit,
are true and perfect light,
total fulfillment, everlasting joy,
gladness without end
and perfect happiness to Your saints.
Grant this through Christ our Lord,
AMEN. prayer after holy communion by st thomas aquinas - 28 jan 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS for VARIOUS NEEDS, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, VATICAN Resources

The Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 18-25 January 2018

Posted on January 19, 2018January 19, 2018 by AnaStpaul

The Octave of Prayer for Christian Unity 18-25 January 2018

BIBLICAL REFLECTIONS AND PRAYERS DAY 2 – 19 JANUARY

Your right hand, O Lord,
glorious in power
(Ex 15:6)

Day 2: No longer as a slave but a beloved brother

Genesis 1:26-28 God created humankind in God’s own image

Psalm 10:1-10 Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?

Philemon No longer as a slave but more than a slave, a beloved brother

Luke 10:25-37 The Parable of the Good Samaritan

Human trafficking is a form of modern-day slavery in which victims are forced or tricked into sex work, child labour and the harvesting of organs for the profit of the exploiters. It is a global, multimillion-dollar industry. It is also a growing problem across the Caribbean. Reformed Churches in the Caribbean have joined with the Council for World Mission and the Caribbean and North American Council for Mission to educate Christian communities to end the scourge of human trafficking.

Reflection

One of the first things we learn about God in the Hebrew and Christian Bible is that God created humankind in his own image. However, this profound and beautiful truth has often been obscured or denied throughout human history. For instance, in the Roman Empire, the dignity of those enslaved was denied. The Gospel message is entirely different to this. Jesus challenged the social norms that devalued the human dignity of Samaritans, describing the Samaritan as the ‘neighbour’ of the man who had been attacked on the road to Jericho – a neighbour to be loved, according to the Law. And Paul, made bold in Christ, describes the once-enslaved Onesimus as ‘a beloved brother’, transgressing the norms of his society and affirming Onesimus’s humanity.

Christian love must always be a courageous love that dares to cross borders, recognising in others a dignity equal to our own. Like St Paul, Christians must be ‘bold enough in Christ’ to raise a united voice in clearly recognising trafficked persons as their neighbours and their beloved brothers and sisters, and so work together to end modern-day slavery.

Prayer

Gracious God,
draw near to those who are victims of human trafficking,
assuring them that you see their plight and hear their cry.

May your Church be united in compassion and courage to work for that day
when no one will be exploited
and all will be free to live lives of dignity and peace.
This we pray in the name of the Triune God
who can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine.
Amen.

The right hand of God
is lifting in our land,
lifting the fallen one by one;
each one is known by name,
and rescued now from shame,
by the lifting of the right hand of God.

For DAY ONE go here: https://anastpaul.wordpress.com/2018/01/18/the-octave-of-prayer-for-christian-unity-18-25-january-2018/

BREVIARY Prayers, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS

Our Morning Offering – 16 January

Posted on January 16, 2018January 15, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 16 January

St Patrick’s Morning Prayer

As I arise today,
may the strength of God pilot me,
the power of God uphold me,
the wisdom of God guide me.
May the eye of God look before me,
the ear of God hear me,
the Word of God speak for me.
May the hand of God protect me,
the way of God lie before me,
the shield of God defend me,
the host of God save me.
May Christ shield me today.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit,
Christ when I stand,
Christ in the heart of everyone
who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone
who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Amen. as i arise today - st patrick's morning prayer - 16 jan 2018

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, PRAYERS of the SAINTS, The HOLY NAME

Our Morning Offering – 12 January – Month of the Holy Name of Jesus

Posted on January 12, 2018January 11, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 12 January – Month of the Holy Name of Jesus

The Golden Arrow

May the most holy,
most sacred,
most adorable,
most mysterious
and unutterable Name of God
be always praised,
blessed,
loved,
adored
and glorified in heaven.
on earth and under the earth,
by all the creatures of God
and by the Sacred Heart
of our Lord Jesus Christ
in the most Holy Sacrament
of the altar.
Amen

This prayer is said to have been revealed by Jesus Himself to a Carmelite Nun of Tours in 1843 as a reparation for blasphemy. “This Golden Arrow will wound My Heart delightfully,” He said “and heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy.”

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

Our Morning Offering – 11 January

Posted on January 11, 2018January 10, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 11 January

The Universal Prayer
Pope Clement XI

I believe, O Lord but may I believe more firmly
I hope but may I hope more securely,
I love but may I love more ardently
I sorrow but may I sorrow more deeply.

I adore You as my first beginning;
I long for You as my last end;
I praise You as my constant benefactor;
I invoke You as my gracious protector.

By Your wisdom direct me,
by Your righteousness restrain me,
by Your indulgence console me,
by Your power protect me.

I offer You, Lord,
my thoughts to be directed to You,
my words, to be about You;
my deeds, to respect Your will,
my trials to be endured for You.

I will whatever You will,
I will it because You will it,
I will it in the way You will it,
I will it for as long as You will it.

Lord, enlighten my understanding, I pray:
arouse my will,
cleanse my heart,
sanctify my soul.

May I weep for past sins,
repel future temptations,
correct evil inclinations,
nurture appropriate virtues.

Give me, good ‘God,
love for You, hatred for myself,
zeal for my neighbour,
contempt for the world.

May I strive to obey superiors,
to help those dependent on me,
to have care for my friends,
forgiveness for my enemies.

May I conquer sensuality by austerity,
avarice by generosity,
anger by gentleness,
lukewarmness by fervour.

Render me prudent in planning,
steadfast in danger,
patient in adversity,
humble in prosperity.

Make me, O Lord, attentive at prayer,
moderate at meals,
diligent in work,
steadfast in intent.

May I be careful to maintain interior innocence,
outward modesty,
exemplary behavior,
a regular life.

May I be always watchful in subduing nature,
in nourishing grace,
in observing Your law,
in winning salvation.

May I learn from You
how precarious are earthly things,
how great divine things,
how fleeting is time,
how lasting things eternal.

Grant that I may prepare for death,
fear judgment,
flee hell,
gain paradise.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen. excerpt from the universal prayer - pope clement XI - 11 jan 2018

CATHOLIC-PRAYERS OF THE CHURCH, FEASTS and SOLEMNITIES, MORNING Prayers, PRAYERS of the CHURCH, SAINT of the DAY

Our Morning Offering – 7 January – The Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Posted on January 7, 2018January 6, 2018 by AnaStpaul

Our Morning Offering – 7 January – The Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ

Traditional Epiphany Prayer

Lord Jesus
may Your light shine on our way,
as once it guided the steps of the Magi:
that we too may be led into Your presence
and worship You,
the Child of Mary,
Mother of God,
the Word of the Father,
the King of nations,
the Saviour of mankind;
in union with Your heavenly Father
and the Holy Spirit,
You are One God
forever and ever, amen. epiphany prayer - 7 jan 2018

CATHOLIC DEVOTIONS of the Month, DEVOTIO, MORNING Prayers, PAPAL PRAYERS, PRACTISING CATHOLIC, PRAYERS of the CHURCH

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention for January 2018

Posted on January 1, 2018December 31, 2017 by AnaStpaul

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intention
for January 2018

Religious Minorities in Asia

That Christian and other religious minorities
in Asian countries, may be able to practise
their faith in full freedom.

the holy father's prayer intention january 2018

	Santa Maria Alfonsin… on Saint of the Day – 25 Ma…
	Santa Katarina dari… on Saint of the Day – 24 Ma…
	AnaStpaul on Saint of the Day – 22 March –…
	Stacy A. on Saint of the Day – 22 March –…
	Prayer for the Feast… on Saint of the Day – 20 Ma…

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Congratulations on your Fifth Anniversary Pope Francis! – 13 March 2018

Pope Francis: five years, five important gestures

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Devotion for March St Joseph

Daily Morning Prayer to St Joseph

Share this:

The Holy Father’s Prayer Intentions for March 2018

Formation in Spiritual Discernment

A Living Message of God

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

“Migration without trafficking. Say yes to Freedom and No to slavery”

Daily Prayer to End Human Trafficking

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

FEBRUARY – THE MONTH OF THE HOLY FAMILY

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

This prayer is said to have been revealed by Jesus Himself to a Carmelite Nun of Tours in 1843 as a reparation for blasphemy. “This Golden Arrow will wound My Heart delightfully,” He said “and heal the wounds inflicted by blasphemy.”

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Religious Minorities in Asia

That Christian and other religious minorities in Asian countries, may be able to practise their faith in full freedom.

Share this:

Congratulations on your Fifth Anniversary
Pope Francis! – 13 March 2018

Devotion for March
St Joseph

The Holy Father’s
Prayer Intentions for March 2018

That Christian and other religious minorities
in Asian countries, may be able to practise
their faith in full freedom.