Quote/s of the Day – 20 February
“We were burning in that light
which is God and we were not consumed.
What is God like?
It is impossible to say.
In fact we will never be able to tell people”
~~~~~ Blessed Francisco Marto of Fatima
“Speak ill of no one and avoid the company
of those who talk (bad) about their neighbours.”
~~~~~ Blessed Jacinta Marto of Fatima
One Minute Reflection – 20 February
“Father, … to you I offer praise; for what you have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children” ………….Mt 11: 25
REFLECTION – “Francisco bore without complaining the great sufferings caused by the illness from which he died. It all seemed to him so little to console Jesus: he died with a smile on his lips. Little Francisco had a great desire to atone for the offences of sinners by striving to be good and by offering his sacrifices and prayers.
The life of Jacinta, his younger sister by almost two years, was motivated by these same sentiments……………….In her motherly concern, the Blessed Virgin came here to Fátima to ask men and women “to stop offending God, Our Lord, who is already very offended”. It is a mother’s sorrow that compels her to speak; the destiny of her children is at stake. For this reason she asks the little shepherds: “Pray, pray much and make sacrifices for sinners; many souls go to hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them”. …St Pope John Paul on the Beatification of the siblings, 13 May 2000
PRAYER – “Father, to You I offer praise, for what You have hidden from the learned and the clever you have revealed to the merest children”.
Father, to you I offer praise for all Your children, from the Virgin Mary, Your humble Servant, to the little shepherds, Francisco and Jacinta.
May the message of their lives live on for ever to light humanity’s way! Blessed Francisco and Jacinta, pray for us! Amen. (Prayer by St Pope John Paul)
Our Morning Offering – 20 February
The Angel of Fatima’s Prayer
O Most Holy Trinity,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
I adore Thee profoundly.
I offer Thee
the most precious Body, Blood, Soul
and Divinity of Jesus Christ
present in all the tabernacles of the world,
in reparation for the outrages,
sacrileges and indifferences
by which He is offended.
By the infinite merits of
the Sacred Heart of Jesus
and the Immaculate Heart of Mary
I beg the conversion of poor sinners.
Amen
Saint/s of the Day – 20 February – Blessed Francisco (11 June 1908 – 4 April 1919 died aged 10), his sister Jacinta Marto (11 March 1910 – 20 February 1920 died aged 9) and their cousin Lúcia Santos (1907–2005) were children from Aljustrel near Fátima, Portugal, who said they witnessed three apparitions of an angel in 1916 and several apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in 1917. Mary was given the title Our Lady of Fátima as a result and Fátima became a major centre of world Christian pilgrimage. Patrons of Bodily ills, captives, people ridiculed for their piety, prisoners, sick people, against sickness.
The youngest children of Manuel and Olimpia Marto, Francisco and Jacinta were typical of Portuguese village children of that time. They were illiterate but had a rich oral tradition. According to Lúcia’s memoirs, Francisco had a placid disposition, was somewhat musically inclined, and liked to be by himself to think. Jacinta was affectionate if a bit spoiled. She had a sweet singing voice and a gift for dancing. Following their experiences, their fundamental personalities remained the same. Francisco preferred to pray alone, saying that this would “console Jesus for the sins of the world”. Jacinta said she was deeply affected by a terrifying vision of Hell shown to the children at the third apparition and deeply convinced of the need to save sinners through penance and sacrifice as the Virgin had told the children to do. All three children but particularly Francisco and Jacinta, practised stringent self-mortifications to this end.
Apparitions
The brother and sister, who tended to their families’ sheep with their cousin Lucia in the fields of Fatima, Portugal, are said to have witnessed several apparitions of an angel in 1916. Lucia later recorded the words of several prayers she said they learned from this angel. Lucia wrote in her memoirs that she and her cousins saw the first apparition of Mary on May 13, 1917. At the time of the apparition, Francisco was 9 years old and Jacinta was 7. During the first apparition, Mary is said to have asked the three children to say the Rosary and to make sacrifices, offering them for the conversion of sinners. She also asked them to return to that spot on the thirteenth of each month for the next six months.
Illness and death
The siblings were victims of the great 1918 influenza epidemic that swept through Europe that year. In October 1918, Mary appeared and said she would take them to heaven soon. Both lingered for many months, insisting on walking to church to make Eucharistic devotions and prostrating themselves to pray for hours, kneeling with their heads on the ground as they said the angel had instructed them to do. Francisco declined hospital treatment on April 3, 1919 and died at home the next day. Jacinta was moved from one hospital to another in an attempt to save her life, which she insisted was futile. She developed purulent pleurisy and endured an operation in which two of her ribs were removed. Because of the condition of her heart, she could not be fully anesthetized only local and later suffered terrible pain, which she said would help to convert many sinners. On February 19, 1920, Jacinta asked the hospital chaplain who heard her confession to bring her Holy Communion and administer Extreme Unction because she was going to die “the next night”. He told her that her condition was not that serious and that he would return the next day. The next day Jacinta was dead; she had died, as she had often said she would, alone. In 1920, shortly before her death at age nine, Jacinta Marto reportedly discussed the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary with a then 12-year-old Lúcia Santos and said:
“When you are to say this, don’t go and hide. Tell everybody that God grants us graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; that people are to ask her for them; and that the Heart of Jesus wants the Immaculate Heart of Mary to be venerated at His side. Tell them also to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary for peace, since God entrusted it to her.”
Jacinta and Francisco are both buried at the Our Lady of Fátima Basilica.
Beatification
The cause for the siblings’ canonisation began in 1946. Exhumed in 1935 and again in 1951, Jacinta’s face was found incorrupt; Francisco’s had decomposed.
In 1937 Pope Pius XI decided that causes for minors should not be accepted as they could not fully understand heroic virtue or practice it repeatedly, both of which are essential for canonisation. For the next four decades, no sainthood processes for children were pursued. In 1979 the bishop of Leiria-Fatima asked all the world’s bishops to write to the Pope, petitioning him to make an exception for Francisco, who had died at age 10 and Jacinta, who had died at age 9. More than 300 bishops sent letters to the Pope, writing that “the children were known, admired and attracted people to the way of sanctity. Favours were received through their intercession.” The bishops also said that the children’s canonization was a pastoral necessity for the children and teenagers of the day. In 1979 the Congregation for the Causes of Saints convened a general assembly. Cardinals, bishops, theologians and other experts debated whether it was possible for children to display heroic virtue. Eventually, they decided that, like the very few children who have a genius for music or mathematics, “in some supernatural way, some children could be spiritual prodigies.” They were declared venerable by Pope John Paul II in 1989. On May 13, 2000, they were declared “blessed” in a decree from the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Jacinta is the youngest non-martyred child ever to be beatified.
In her biography of Jacinta, Lúcia said that Jacinta had told her of having had many personal visions outside of the Marian visitations; one involved a pope who prayed alone in a room while people outside shouted ugly things and threw rocks through the window. At another time, Jacinta said she saw a pope who had gathered a huge number of people together to pray to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
When Pope John Paul II arrived in Fatima for the first time, in 1982, he said that he had come “because, on this exact date last year in St. Peter’s Square, in Rome, there was an attempt on the life of your Pope, which mysteriously coincided with the anniversary of the first vision at Fatima, that of 13 May 1917. The coincidence of these dates was so great that it seemed to be a special invitation for me to come here.”
Sister Lúcia, when questioned about the Third Secret, said that the three of them had been very sad about the suffering of a Pope and that Jacinta kept saying: Coitadinho do Santo Padre, tenho muita pena dos pecadores! (“Poor Holy Father, I feel a lot of pity for the sinners!”) Another miracle was found to have been attributed to their intercession and the process that investigated the miracle was validated on 8 February 2013. Reports indicate the canonisation could occur on the centenary of the apparitions in 2017, together with Lúcia.
Quote/s of the Day – 17 February
“Mary means enlightener, because She brought forth the Light of the world. In the Syriac tongue, Mary signifies Lady.”
~~~~~ St Isidore of Seville
“Let me say something concerning this name also, which is interpreted to mean Star of the sea, and admirably suits the Virgin Mother.”
~~~~~ St Bernard
“Mary means Star of the sea, for as mariners are guided to port by the ocean star, so Christians attain to glory through Mary’s maternal intercession.”
~~~~~St Thomas Aquinas
“God the Father gathered all the waters together
and called them the seas or maria [Latin, seas].
He gathered all His grace together
and called it Mary or Maria . . .
This immense treasury is none other than Mary
whom the Saints call the ‘treasury of the Lord.’
From Her fullness all men are made rich.”
~~~~~ St Louis de Montfort
“This most holy, sweet and worthy name was ’eminently fitted to so holy, sweet and worthy a virgin. For Mary means a bitter sea, star of the sea, the illuminated or illuminatrix. Mary is interpreted Lady. Mary is a bitter sea to the demons; to men She is the Star of the sea; to the Angels She is illuminatrix, and to all creatures She is Lady .”
~~~~~St Bonaventure
“When you find yourself tossed by the raging storms on this great sea of life, far from land, keep your eyes fixed on this Star to avoid disaster. When the winds of temptation or the rocks of tribulation threaten, look up to the Star, call upon Mary!”
~~~~~ St Bernard
One Minute Reflection – 17 February
O children, listen to me; instruction and wisdom do not reject!…………Proverbs 8:32-33
REFLECTION – “Let Mary never be far from your lips
and from your heart.
Following her, you will never lose your way.
Praying to her, you will never sink into despair.
Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”
……St Bernardine of Siena
PRAYER – Heavenly Father, grant me the grace to have Mary as my constant intercessor. Allow me to reach out to her as my mother, to lead me to her Son, for she is Your beloved Daughter, who carried Your Son to us in order that we might see our way and be able to reach our home in heaven. Holy Founders of the Servites, pray for us all that we may be blessed by the intercession and protection of Mary our Mother and please pray for us all, amen.
Our Morning Offering – 17 February
Loving Mother,
woman of prayer,
we turn to you and pray:
support our prayers
for ourselves,
for all your Servants,
for our friends and families,
for those who share the Christian faith
and for every person on earth
that all may know peace and salvation.
Ask the Father that we may truly know Christ,
be filled with the gifts of the Spirit,
protected in all adversity
and freed from every evil.
Help us to build God’s kingdom:
a kingdom of everlasting praise,
a kingdom of justice and peace
that will endure forever and ever.
R. Amen.
Let us pray!
Catholics have been asked to republish this article from Listening in the Desert on our blogs. We are happy to oblige.
This year is the 100th anniversary of the Fatima apparitions. And today, February 13th is the anniversary of the death of the Carmelite nun, Sr. Lucia of Fatima.
It seems fitting that today should be the day we begin praying for her intercession for a a sweet 4 year old girl named Christina Thomas. Last week, Christina was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. The doctors have said there is nothing they can do.
4 year old Christina Thomas
We need a miracle. Christina’s father, Kenny, is a secular Carmelite, like myself, and we both have a great devotion to Fatima. We have informed Kenny’s Bishop that we will ONLY be asking for the intercession of Sr. Lucia, as this is very important in the beatification process.
Please join…
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Thought for the Day – 11 February
Today we celebrate the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. We may never travel to Lourdes and join in the processions but we can know always that we have a Mother to help us and lead us to her Son, Jesus. And so we pray to her:
Grant us, O merciful God, protection in
our weakness,
that we, who keep the Memorial of the
Immaculate Mother of God,
may, with the help of her intercession,
rise up from our iniquities.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
Who lives and reigns with you in the unity
of the Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
(Collect Prayer from the Memorial of Our Lady of Lourdes)
Lourdes has become a place of pilgrimage and healing, but even more of faith. Church authorities have recognized over 60 miraculous cures, although there have probably been many more. To people of faith this is not surprising. It is a continuation of Jesus’ healing miracles—now performed at the intercession of his mother. Some would say that the greater miracles are hidden. Many who visit Lourdes return home with renewed faith and a readiness to serve God in their needy brothers and sisters.
There still may be people who doubt the apparitions of Lourdes. Perhaps the best that can be said to them are the words that introduce the film The Song of Bernadette: “For those who believe in God, no explanation is necessary. For those who do not believe, no explanation is possible.”
Our Lady of Lourdes Pray for us!
Quote of the Day – 11 February
“I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Our Lady of Lourdes to St Bernadette
One Minute Reflection – 11 February
The Almighty has done great things for me……………..Lk 1:49
REFLECTION – “Like Saint Bernadette, we stand beneath the watchful gaze of Mary. The humble maiden of Lourdes tells us that the Virgin, whom she called “the Lovely Lady”, looked at her as one person looks at another. Those simple words describe the fullness of a relationship. Bernadette, poor, illiterate and ill, felt that Mary was looking at her as a person. The Lovely Lady spoke to her with great respect and without condescension. This reminds us that every person is, and always remains, a human being, and is to be treated as such. The sick and the those who are disabled, even severely, have their own inalienable dignity and mission in life. They never become simply objects. If at times they appear merely passive, in reality that is never the case.”………..Pope Francis from his message for the World Day of the Sick 2017
PRAYER – Holy Mary, Mother of God, stay with me that I might be a light unto those who are sick in body and soul. Teach me that I might reflect your Son. Succour me, that I might not disappoint my Lord God, that I might always be your true child and the sibling of your Son. Pray for us all dear Mother and most especially for the sick, amen!
MESSAGE OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS
FOR THE TWENTY-FIFTH WORLD DAY OF THE SICK 2017
Amazement at what God has accomplished:
“The Almighty has done great things for me…” (Lk 1:49)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
On 11 February next, the Twenty-fifth World Day of the Sick will be celebrated throughout the Church and in a special way at Lourdes. The theme of this year’s celebration is “Amazement at what God has accomplished: ‘The Almighty has done great things for me….’” (Lk 1:49). Instituted by my predecessor Saint John Paul II in 1992, and first celebrated at Lourdes on 11 February 1993, this Day is an opportunity to reflect in particular on the needs of the sick and, more generally, of all those who suffer. It is also an occasion for those who generously assist the sick, beginning with family members, health workers and volunteers, to give thanks for their God-given vocation of accompanying our infirm brothers and sisters. This celebration likewise gives the Church renewed spiritual energy for carrying out ever more fully that fundamental part of her mission which includes serving the poor, the infirm, the suffering, the outcast and the marginalized (cf. John Paul II, Motu Proprio Dolentium Hominum, 11 February 1985, 1). Surely, the moments of prayer, the Eucharistic liturgies and the celebrations of the Anointing of the Sick, the sharing with the sick and the bioethical and theological-pastoral workshops to be held in Lourdes in those days will make new and significant contributions to that service.
Even now, I am spiritually present at the grotto of Massabielle, before the statue of the Immaculate Virgin, in whom the Almighty has done great things for the redemption of mankind. I express my closeness to all of you, our suffering brothers and sisters, and to your families, as well as my appreciation for all those in different roles of service and in healthcare institutions throughout the world who work with professionalism, responsibility and dedication for your care, treatment and daily well-being. I encourage all of you, the sick, the suffering, physicians, nurses, family members and volunteers, to see in Mary, Health of the Infirm, the sure sign of God’s love for every human being and a model of surrender to his will. May you always find in faith, nourished by the Word and by the Sacraments, the strength needed to love God, even in the experience of illness.
Like Saint Bernadette, we stand beneath the watchful gaze of Mary. The humble maiden of Lourdes tells us that the Virgin, whom she called “the Lovely Lady”, looked at her as one person looks at another. Those simple words describe the fullness of a relationship. Bernadette, poor, illiterate and ill, felt that Mary was looking at her as a person. The Lovely Lady spoke to her with great respect and without condescension. This reminds us that every person is, and always remains, a human being, and is to be treated as such. The sick and the those who are disabled, even severely, have their own inalienable dignity and mission in life. They never become simply objects. If at times they appear merely passive, in reality that is never the case.
After her visit to the Grotto, thanks to her prayer, Bernadette turned her frailty into support for others. Thanks to her love, she was able to enrich her neighbours and, above all, to offer her life for the salvation of humanity. The fact that the Lovely Lady asked her to pray for sinners reminds us that the infirm and the suffering desire not only to be healed, but also to live a truly Christian life, even to the point of offering it as authentic missionary disciples of Christ. Mary gave Bernadette the vocation of serving the sick and called her to become a Sister of Charity, a mission that she carried out in so exemplary a way as to become a model for every healthcare worker. Let us ask Mary Immaculate for the grace always to relate to the sick as persons who certainly need assistance, at times even for the simplest of things, but who have a gift of their own to share with others.
The gaze of Mary, Comfort of the Afflicted, brightens the face of the Church in her daily commitment to the suffering and those in need. The precious fruits of this solicitude for the world of suffering and sickness are a reason for gratitude to the Lord Jesus, who out of obedience to the will of the Father became one of us, even enduring death on the cross for the redemption of humanity. The solidarity shown by Christ, the Son of God born of Mary, is the expression of God’s merciful omnipotence, which is made manifest in our life – above all when that life is frail, pain-filled, humbled, marginalized and suffering – and fills it with the power of hope that can sustain us and enable us to get up again.
This great wealth of humanity and faith must not be dissipated. Instead, it should inspire us to speak openly of our human weaknesses and to address the challenges of present-day healthcare and technology. On this World Day of the Sick, may we find new incentive to work for the growth of a culture of respect for life, health and the environment. May this Day also inspire renewed efforts to defend the integrity and dignity of persons, not least through a correct approach to bioethical issues, the protection of the vulnerable and the protection of the environment.
On this Twenty-fifth World Day of the Sick, I once more offer my prayerful support and encouragement to physicians, nurses, volunteers and all those consecrated men and women committed to serving the sick and those in need. I also embrace the ecclesial and civil institutions working to this end, and the families who take loving care of their sick. I pray that all may be ever joyous signs of the presence of God’s love and imitate the luminous testimony of so many friends of God, including Saint John of God and Saint Camillus de’ Lellis, the patrons of hospitals and healthcare workers, and Saint Mother Teresa of Calcutta, missionary of God’s love.
Dear brothers and sisters – the sick, healthcare workers and volunteers – I ask you to join me in praying to Mary. May her maternal intercession sustain and accompany our faith, and obtain for us from Christ her Son hope along our journey of healing and of health, a sense of fraternity and responsibility, a commitment to integral human development and the joy of feeling gratitude whenever God amazes us by his fidelity and his mercy.
Mary, our Mother,
in Christ you welcome each of us as a son or daughter.
Sustain the trusting expectation of our hearts,
succour us in our infirmities and sufferings,
and guide us to Christ, your Son and our brother.
Help us to entrust ourselves to the Father who accomplishes great things.
With the assurance of a constant remembrance in my prayers, I cordially impart to all of you my Apostolic Blessing.
8 December 2016, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception
Francis
Consecration to Our Lady of Lourdes
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Virgin Immaculate,
you appeared 18 times to Bernadette at the grotto in Lourdes
to remind Christians of what the truths in the Gospel require of them.
You call them to prayer, penance, the Eucharist and the life of the church.
To answer your call more fully,
I dedicate myself, through you, to your Son Jesus Christ.
Make me willing to accept what He said.
By the fervour of my faith,
by the conduct of my life in all its aspects,
by my devotion to the sick,
let me work with you in the comforting of those who suffer
and in the reconciliation of people
that the church may be one
and there be peace in the world.
All this I ask, confident that you, Our Lady,
will fully answer my prayer.
Blessed be the Holy and Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of God. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us!
St. Bernadette, pray for us!
Our Morning Offering – 11 February
PRAYER OF POPE FRANCIS FOR THE TWENTY FIFTH WORLD DAY OF THE SICK 2017
Mary, our Mother,
in Christ you welcome each of us
as a son or daughter.
Sustain the trusting expectation of our hearts,
succour us in our infirmities and sufferings,
and guide us to Christ, your Son and our brother.
Help us to entrust ourselves to the Father
who accomplishes great things. Amen
Blessed Memorial of the Apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes/Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception – 11 February 1858 – Patron of the ill and infirm, protection from disease, France, 6 cities and a Diocese.
On December 8, 1854, Pope Pius IX proclaimed the dogma of the Immaculate Conception in the apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus. A little more than three years later, on February 11, 1858, a young lady appeared to Bernadette Soubirous. This began a series of visions. During the apparition on March 25, the lady identified herself with the words: “I am the Immaculate Conception.”
Bernadette was a sickly child of poor parents. Their practice of the Catholic faith was scarcely more than lukewarm. Bernadette could pray the Our Father, the Hail Mary and the Creed. She also knew the prayer of the Miraculous Medal: “O Mary conceived without sin.”
During interrogations Bernadette gave an account of what she saw. It was “something white in the shape of a girl.” She used the word aquero, a dialect term meaning “this thing.” It was “a pretty young girl with a rosary over her arm.” Her white robe was encircled by a blue girdle. She wore a white veil. There was a yellow rose on each foot. A rosary was in her hand. Bernadette was also impressed by the fact that the lady did not use the informal form of address (tu), but the polite form (vous). The humble virgin appeared to a humble girl and treated her with dignity.
Through that humble girl, Mary revitalized and continues to revitalize the faith of millions of people. People began to flock to Lourdes from other parts of France and from all over the world. In 1862 Church authorities confirmed the authenticity of the apparitions and authorized the cult of Our Lady of Lourdes for the diocese. The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes became worldwide in 1907.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY NINE– 10 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY NINE
O glorious Mother of God,
to you we raise our hearts and hands to implore your powerful intercession
in obtaining from the benign Heart of Jesus all the graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare, particularly for the grace of a happy death.
O Mother of our Divine Lord, as we conclude this novena for the special favoUr we seek at this time.
(make your request)
Mary and Bernadette
We feel animated with confidence that your prayers in our behalf
will be graciously heard. O Mother of My Lord,
through the love you bear to Jesus Christ and for the glory of His Name,
hear our prayers and obtain our petitions.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY EIGHT– 9 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY EIGHT
O Immaculate Mother of God,
from heaven itself you came to appear to the little Bernadette
in the rough Grotto of Lourdes!
And as Bernadette knelt at your feet
and the miraculous spring burst forth
and as multitudes have knelt ever since before your shrine, O Mother of God,
we kneel before you today to ask that in your mercy
you plead with your Divine Son to grant the special favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SEVEN– 8 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SEVEN
O Almighty God,
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary
did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son,
we humbly beseech You,
that as we contemplate the apparition of Our Lady in the Grotto of Lourdes,
we may be blessed with health of mind and body.
O most gracious Mother Mary, beloved Mother of Our Lord and Redeemer,
look with favour upon us as you did that day on Bernadette
and intercede with Him for us
that the favour we now so earnestly seek may be granted to us.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes, glorious in your assumption, triumphant in your coronation, show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God, Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY SIX– 7 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY SIX
O glorious Mother of God,
so powerful under your special title of Our Lady of Lourdes,
to you we raise our hearts and hands
to implore your powerful intercession in obtaining
from the gracious Heart of Jesus
all the helps and graces necessary
for our spiritual and temporal welfare
and for the special favour we so earnestly seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Lady of Bernadette,
with the stars of heaven in your hair and the roses of earth at your feet,
look with compassion upon us today as you did so long ago on Bernadette in the Grotto of Lourdes.
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Thought for the Day – 7 February
Perhaps we wonder how we could possibly endure the sufferings that the martyrs suffered, such terrible and prolonged sufferings and where would we find the strength and endurance to suffer to death, for our faith? The martyrs do not endure by their own strength and they are well aware of this. If that time should ever come to us, the strength would be given us by God. Believe it!
Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs and all Martyrs of the Faith, Pray for us!
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FIVE– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FIVE
O Mary Immaculate, Mother of God and our mother,
from the heights of your dignity look down mercifully upon us while we,
full of confidence in your unbounded goodness
and confident that your Divine Son
will look favourably upon any request you make of Him on our behalf,
we beseech you to come to our aid
and secure for us the favour we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity, Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes – DAY FOUR– 5 February (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
DAY FOUR
O Immaculate Queen of Heaven,
we your wayward, erring children,
join our unworthy prayers of praise and thanksgiving
to those of the angels and saints and of your own-
that the One, Holy, and Undivided Trinity may be glorified
in heaven and on earth.
Our Lady of Lourdes,
as you looked down with love and mercy upon Bernadette
as she prayed her rosary in the grotto,
look down now, we beseech you,
with love and mercy upon us.
From the abundance of graces granted you by your Divine Son,
sweet Mother of God,
give to each of us all that your motherly heart sees we need
and at this moment look with special favour
on the grace we seek in this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
NOVENA to OUR LADY of LOURDES – DAY ONE – 2 FEBRUARY (we Pray the Novena for our own intentions and for the sick, the infirm within our own communities but also for all those throughout the world who suffer, especially those who have no-one to pray for them in preparation for the Wold Day of the Sick on 11 February.)
O Mary Immaculate,
Our Lady of Lourdes,
virgin and mother, queen of heaven,
chosen from all eternity to be the Mother of the Eternal Word
and in virtue of this title preserved from original sin,
we kneel before you as did little Bernadette at Lourdes
and pray with childlike trust in you
that as we contemplate your glorious appearance at Lourdes,
you will look with mercy on our present petition
and secure for us a favorable answer to the request
for which we are making this novena.
(make your request)
O Brilliant star of purity,
Mary Immaculate, Our Lady of Lourdes,
glorious in your assumption,
triumphant in your coronation,
show unto us the mercy of the Mother of God,
Virgin Mary, Queen and Mother,
be our comfort, hope, strength, and consolation. Amen.
Our Lady of Lourdes, pray for us.
Saint Bernadette, pray for us.
Quote of the Day – 2 February
“O Blessed Mother, the sword is already in your heart.
You foreknow the future of the Fruit of your womb.
May our fidelity in following Him through the coming mysteries
of His public life bring some alleviations
to the sorrows of your maternal heart. ”
Abbot Gueranger
Presentation of the Lord (Feast)
Our Lady of Candelaria
World Day for Consecrated Life
—
St Adalbald of Ostrevant
St Adeloga of Kitzingen
St Agathodoros of Tyana
St Andrea Carlo Ferrari
St Apronian the Executioner
St Bruno of Ebsdorf
St Burchard of Wurzburg
St St Candidus the Martyr
Catherine del Ricci
St Columbanus of Ghent
St Cornelius the Centurion
St Felician the Martyr
St Feock
St Firmus of Rome
St Flosculus of Orléans
St Fortunatus the Martyr
St Giovanni Battista Clemente Saggio
St Hilarus the Martyr
St Jean Theophane Venard
St Jeanne de Lestonnac
St Lawrence of Canterbury
Bl Louis Alexander Alphonse Brisson
Bl Maria Domenica Mantovani
St Marquard of Hildesheim
St Mun
Bl Peter Cambiano
St Rogatus the Martyr
St Saturninus the Martyr
St Sicharia of Orleans
St Simon of Cassia Fidati
Bl Stephen Bellesini
St Theodoric of Ninden
St Victoria the Martyr
—
Martyrs of Ebsdorf
The 11th of February is World Day of the Sick. It is also the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes! Join me in praying a novena through Our Lady’s intercession for the sick and suffering here.
The novena begins tomorrow (February 2). If you sign up the prayers will come to your e-mail inbox each day for the next nine days. The prayers are brief but powerful. Please lift up in prayer all of your family members, friends and those unknown throughout the world who have no-one to pray for them. God is with us and Mary our Mother stands at His side to intervene for all our needs!
Our Lady of Lourdes Pray for us all.
Thought for the Day – 30 January
A Christian, who seriously considers that he is to live here but a moment and will live eternally in the world to come, must confess that it is a part of wisdom to refer all his actions and views to prepare himself for that everlasting dwelling, which is his true country. Our only and necessary affair is to live for God. to do His will and to sanctify and save our souls. If we are employed in a multiplicity of exterior business, we must imitate St Bathilde, when she bore the whole weight of the state. In all we do, God and His holy will must be always before our eyes and to please Him must be our only aim and desire.
Shunning the anxiety of Martha and reducing all our desires to this one of doing what God requires of us, we must with her call in Mary to our assistance. In the midst of action, while our hands are at work, our mind and heart ought to be interiorly employed on God, at least virtually, that all our employments may be animated with the spirit of piety: and hours of repose must always be contrived to pass at the feet of Jesus, where in the silence of all creatures we may listen to His sweet voice, refresh in Him our wearied souls and renew our fervour.
While we converse with the world, we must tremble at the sight of its snares, and be upon our guard that we never be seduced so far as to be in love with it, or to learn its spirit. o love the world, is to follow its passions; to be proud, covetous and sensual, as the world is. The height of its miseries and dangers, is that blindness by which none who are infected with its spirit, see their misfortune, or are sensible of their disease. Happy are they who can imitate this holy queen in entirely separating themselves from it! Not only a slave but a queen – St Bathilde was both and yes, BOTH MAY BE SAINTS!
St Bathilde PRAY FOR US!
(Partially taken from Vol. I of “The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs and Other Principal Saints” by the Rev. Alban Butler, the 1864 edition published by D. & J. Sadlier, & Company)
Quote of the Day – 30 January
”Let not that man presumes to look for mercy from God, who offends His Holy Mother!”
–Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
One Minute Reflection – 30 January
O children, listen to me, instruction and wisdom do not reject!…………Prv 8:32-33
REFLECTION – “Let Mary never be far from your lips and from our heart.
Following her, you will never lose your way. Praying to her, you will never sink into despair. Contemplating her, you will never go wrong.”………………St Bernardine of Siena
PRAYER – Lord Jesus, help me to have continual recourse to Your holy Mother. Grant that she may watch over me as she lovingly watched over You in Your home in Nazareth. Amen
Our Morning Offering – 30 January
Prayer to Spend the Day Well by Blessed James Alberione
Dear and sweet Mother Mary,
keep your holy hand upon me;
guard my mind,
my heart and my senses,
that I may never commit sin.
Sanctify my thoughts,
affections,
words and actions,
so that I may please you and your Jesus, my God,
and reach heaven with you.
Jesus and Mary,
give me your holy blessing;
In the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
AnaStpaul 
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