Category: Catholic Prayers and Devotions

The Little Novena of Our Lady of Fatima, October 2023

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Today, we re-post this Novena to to remind us all (me included!) to prepare for Our Lady of Fatima’s 6th visit on October 13, 1917.  It is a very short and simple prayer, easy to add before your first Rosary each day.

 

Ideally, this Novena should begin tomorrow in order to be completed on October 12th, the Eve of the Sixth Visit of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, October 13, 1917. We have been trying to offer this little Novena each year during the Fatima cycle (May-October) during this spiritual chastisement.

Suggested intentions:

  • Reparation for the outrages against the Immaculate Heart of Mary
  • Spread of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her Message of Fatima
  • The grace of true repentance and conversion for the Pope and Church leaders
  • Bless and protect all priests especially those of tradition
  • Healing of our families and the salvation of their souls.
  • For a pope and hierarchy that will Consecrate Russia in true obedience

Thank you for participating!.

 Novena to Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima

Most Holy Virgin, who deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds and to all your children the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with a sincere love of this devotion, so that by meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in it, we may gather its fruits and obtain the conversion of sinners, the Consecration of Russia and the return of the Church to Christ Our Lord, and also the special favor I ask of you in this novena ______________ for the greater glory of God, for your own honor and for the salvation of souls, especially those most in need of mercy. Amen.

To be said before the daily Rosary.

This little Novena is all the more important because of the Synod on Synodality which is the latest – and most likely worst – of the assaults on the faith by the usurpers who now eclipse the true Church. Please pray!

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

The Spirits Who Guard Us 2023

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Today  we honor our holy and powerful guardian angels. There are many testimonies of saints, such as Saint Gemma Galgani and the great Saint Dominic who were favored with a particular ability to converse and interact with their angel guardians.

SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS

But given the assault which is occurring to our priests, perhaps it would profit us to recount the lovely story of Saint Thomas Aquinas, which we take from  “All About The Angels”, by Father Paul O’Sullivan.

When St. Thomas Aquinas, who came of a very noble and illustrious family . . . joined the Dominican Order, his family was furious at his action. His brothers, who were officers in the army of Emperor Frederick, seized him and put him in prison in one of the family castles.
Continue reading “The Spirits Who Guard Us 2023” →

Litany and Novena to Our Lady of Victory

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We offer the  Novena to Our Lady of Victory to be prayed from 28 September (tomorrow)  to the eve of her feastday, that is, 6 October.

At Lepanto, 7 October, 1571, Our Lady of the Rosary triumphed over the muslims who were determined to eradicate the Catholic faith from the world. Today, she stands ready to deliver an even more impressive victory, asking only a humble and contrite obedience to her requests at Fatima, Portugal in 1917.

The same satanic power that waged a bloody war against the Bride of Christ in the muslim wars against the Church is even now locked in a mortal combat with the Woman who will, in God’s time, crush its hateful head.

The following Litany and its accompanying prayers, when combined with our Lady’s Holy Rosary form the basis for our Novena to Our Lady of Victory. Continue reading “Litany and Novena to Our Lady of Victory” →

St. Mary Magdalen in the Passion of the Church 2023

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Today is the Feast Day of Saint Mary Magdalen, model for penitents.

Of Mary Magdalen, Lacordaire said,

“Mary Magdalene touches both sides of our life: the Sinner anoints us with her tears, the Saint with her tenderness, the one soothes our wounds at the feet of Christ, the other tries to exalt us to the ravishment of her ascension.”

We often see Magdalen at the feet of Christ. Luke tells us that Mary sat at the feet of Christ, listening to Him, while Martha complained. When Jesus returned to Bethany to raise Mary’s brother, Lazarus, she ran to Him and cast herself at His feet. Before His Passion, she knelt at His feet and anointed them. At the Crucifixion, she stood at His feet, beside Our Lord’s most Blessed Mother, comforting Mary and adoring her Master. Each time, Our Lord defended her. “Mary has chosen the better part.” After the anointing, “Let her alone. That which she has done will be told in memory of her.” But note this change: on that glorious Easter Sunday, when she discovered her Risen Lord, she threw herself at His feet once again, but this time Our Lord pointed her to their heavenly Father, “I ascend to my Father and to your Father, to my God and your God.” Thus, we see Our Lord urging Mary to aspire to a higher union, dying with Christ in contemplation to rise with Him in eternal glory.

Penitent to Contemplative

Father Alban Butler’s Life of Mary Magdalen tells us that the Magdalen is the first in a “new order of souls”, which he describes as a school of love by the martyrdom of the heart which by learning to die to the world and to inordinate self-love, lives to God and His pure love. This happiness we attain to, by being united in spirit to Jesus crucified, as Magdalen was at the foot of His cross. She suffered by love what He suffered in His body by the hands of the Jews. The same cross crucified Jesus and Magdalen in Him and with Him. … so that she could say in a twofold sense; “My love is crucified.”

Mary Magdalen Patron of Penitents

“My Love is Crucified.”

She spent the last thirty years of her life in contemplation of her Beloved, in the wilderness of Provence, where legend has it that she was elevated from her grotto to the peak of the mountain seven times each day until she died. What saw she from her celestial heights?

In Sacred Scripture, of all the figures which surrounded Our Lord Jesus Christ, it appears as though Mary Magdalen has chosen the surest path to His heart. Why did Our Lord choose such a notorious sinner as Mary Magdalen? Was it not to show us His unfailing mercy towards repentant sinners? Some may read this and think that they at least have never been such a reprobate as Mary Magdalen. Well, perhaps we each of us should rather say,

“My Jesus, mercy, for I have never repented of my sins so completely, so fervently as Magdalen. My faith has been lukewarm at best!”

Many great spiritual writers assure us that no sinner goes to hell without damning himself by refusing to repent and refusing to beseech God’s mercy. But see the Magdalen! She, like St. Peter, never ceased to offer reparation; most of all, never ceased to offer herself as an oblation of love to Him whi is Love eternal. For it is all about love. Mary Magdalen great love for Jesus Christ, became an abyss of love in imitation of Him.  It is a fruitful practice to consider both the Blessed Virgin Mary, most pure and perfect Virgin Mother of God and Mary Magdalen, wretched repentant sinner, so different these two and yet united in their tremendous love for Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And perhaps now is a good time to ask Mary Magdalen, patroness of penitents, to intercede for us that God grant us a generous and sacrificial heart like hers. May her generous heart embrace our small and cautious hearts and free us of that most pernicious disorder of these times, indifference to the sufferings of Christ in the Passion of His Church.

Saint Mary Magdalen, teach us the martyrdom of love, that we may die daily to the world and to our own self-love in order to be consumed in the fire His love.

O my Jesus, forgive us our sins and save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy.

previously posted on July 22, 2020 by evensong

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

From the Heart of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, 2023

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On her feast day, we offer a few excerpts from the Autobiography which St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote in obedience to her superiors. Her flawless humility and obedience made her the perfect choice to reawaken devotion to Our Lord’s most Sacred Heart, and this extraordinary saint still inspires us with her devotion to serving Our Lord with mortifications and the most perfect obedience.

When you read the following words of this saint, do not get disheartened, but instead be thankful that we have Our Lady of the Rosary to keep us close to her Immaculate Heart. For she leads her children securely to the safety of the most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and we know that He has reserved a place for her children.

St. Margaret Mary’s heroic virtues seem to place her on a hopelessly high level, too far above us to even aspire towards, but she arrived there by love, and so we too, petition our Blessed Mother for the grace to ever love her Son more and more. We beg her for generous, sacrificial hearts. The following is a personal favorite; it’s useful to review from time to time to ward off self-indulgence and renew our resolution. In her own words . . .

Saint Margaret Mary’s Recipe for Success:

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place my trust in Thee!† . He willed that I should receive everything as coming from Him without procuring anything for myself; that I should abandon all to Him without disposing of anything; and that I should thank Him for suffering as well as for enjoyment.

† . On the most painful and humiliating occasions I should consider that I not only deserved these, but even greater ones, and should offer the pain I experienced for the persons who afflicted me.

† . Further, I was always to speak of Him with great respect, of my neighbor with esteem and compassion, and of myself never, or, at least, briefly and with contempt, unless for His glory He should make me do otherwise.

† . I was ever to attribute all the good and the glory to His sovereign Greatness, and all the evil to myself; never to seek consolation out of Him, and even when He granted it to me, to renounce and offer it to Him.

† . I was to cling to nothing, to empty and despoil myself of everything, to love nothing but Him, in Him and for the love of Him, to see in all things naught but Him and the interests of His glory in complete forgetfulness of myself.

† . And though I was to do all my actions for Him, He willed that His Divine Heart should have a special part in each one. For example, when at recreation, I was to offer Him Its share by enduring sufferings, humiliations, mortifications and the rest, with which He would always provide me, and which on that account I was to accept willingly.

† . In like manner in the refectory I was to give up for Its satisfaction whatever was most to my taste, and so on with all my other exercises.

† . He likewise forbade me to judge, accuse or condemn anyone but myself.

† . He gave me many other instructions, and as I was astonished at their number, He told me to fear nothing, for He was a good Master, being as powerful to have His teaching carried into effect, as He was all-wise both to teach and to govern well.

† . Thus I can affirm that, whether I would or not, I was obliged to do what He wished in spite of my natural repugnance.

Note that Our Lord requires that Saint Margaret Mary consider herself deserving of painful humiliations, that she was to consider herself with contempt. This is a bit “off-putting” to modern ears, isn’t it? That is meant to show you how far we have strayed! We all tend to feel entitled to think well of ourselves and only desire to follow devotions that reassure our very sensitive natures with flattery and cloying platitudes. But Saint Margaret Mary, like Saint John of the Cross, understands that the only way forward is through “less of me, less of me and more of Thee, until all is Thee.”

THE PRAYER OF ST. MARGARET MARY

My God, I offer Thee Thy well-beloved Son, in thanksgiving for all the benefits I have received from Thee. I offer Him as my adoration, my petition, my oblation and my resolutions; I offer Him as my love and my all. Receive, O Eternal Father, this offering for whatever Thou willest of me, since I have nothing to offer which is not unworthy of Thee, except Jesus, my Saviour, Whom Thou hast given me with so much love. Amen.

CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS (Composed by St. Margaret Mary.)

O Sacred Heart of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, to Thee I consecrate and offer up my person and my life, my actions, trials and sufferings, that my entire being may henceforth only be employed in loving, honoring and glorifying Thee. This is my irrevocable will, to belong entirely to Thee, and to do all for Thy love, renouncing with my whole heart all that can displease Thee.

I take Thee, O Sacred Heart, for the sole object of my love, the protection of my life, the pledge of my salvation, the remedy of my frailty and inconstancy, the reparation for all the defects of my life, and my secure refuge at the hour of my death. Be Thou, O most merciful Heart, my justification before God Thy Father, and screen me from His anger which I have so justly merited.

I fear all from my own weakness and malice, but placing my entire confidence in Thee, O Heart of Love, I hope all from Thine infinite goodness. Annihilate in me all that can displease or resist Thee. Imprint Thy pure love so deeply in my heart that I may never forget Thee or be separated from Thee. I beseech Thee, through Thine infinite goodness, grant that my name be engraved on Thee, for in this I place all my happiness and all my glory, to live and to die as one of Thy devoted servants. Amen.

PRAYER TO ST. MARGARET MARY

O St. Margaret Mary, permitted by the Sacred Heart of Jesus to become partaker of Its divine treasures, obtain for us, we beseech thee, from that adorable Heart, the graces that we need. We ask for them with boundless confidence; may the divine Heart be willing to grant them to us through thy intercession, so that once again It may, through thee, be glorified and loved. Amen.

(St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. The Autobiography of Saint Margaret Mary TAN Books. Kindle Edition.)

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey: First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

† Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

A Victory and a Tragedy, 2021

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Today we honor the Carmelite martyrs of Compeigne, victorious in death againt the satanic, masonic Revolution. And we note that on this day in 1967, Pope Paul VI, true son of the French Revolution within the Holy Church, used his authority to abolish the Oath Against Modernism.  See how these people love to commemorate holy days by attacking the very Church they pretend to serve.

And now, a true son of Pope Paul’s, Pope Francis, has attacked the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It’s worth noting that Pope Paul’s abolition of the Anti-Modernist Oath came just in time so that Bergoglio did not have to take it; thus, he is the first pope since the Oath was instituted who had not taken the Oath Against Modernism.

I’d like to add the following thoughts from beloved Archbishop Lefebvre:

“The parallel I have drawn between the crisis in the Church and the French Revolution is not simply a metaphorical one. The influence of the philosophes  of the eighteenth century, and of the upheaval that they produced in the world, has continued down to our times. Those who have injected that poison into the Church admit it to themselves. It was Cardinal Suenens who exclaimed, “Vatican II is the French Revolution in the Church” and among other unguarded declarations he added “One cannot understand the French or the Russian revolutions unless one knows something of the old regimes which they brought to an end… It is the same in church affairs: a reaction can only be judged in relation to the state of things that preceded it”.

What preceded, and what he considered due for abolition, was that wonderful hierarchical construction culminating in the Pope, the Vicar of Christ on earth.

He continued: “The Second Vatican Council marked the end of an epoch; and if we stand back from it a little more we see it marked the end of a series of epochs, the end of an age”.

“Père Congar, one of the artisans of the reforms, spoke likewise:  “The Church has had, peacefully, its October Revolution.” Fully aware of what he was saying, he remarked “The Declaration on Religious Liberty states the opposite of the Syllabus.” I could quote numbers of admissions of this sort. In 1976 Fr. Gelineau, one of the party-leaders at the National Pastoral and Liturgical Centre removed all illusions from those who would like to see in the Novus Ordo something merely a little different from the rite which hitherto had been universally celebrated, but in no way fundamentally different: “The reform decided on by the Second Vatican Council was the signal for the thaw… Entire structures have come crashing down… Make no mistake about it. To translate is not to say the same thing with other words. It is to change the form. If the form changes, the rite changes. If one element is changed, the totality is altered.., of must be said, without mincing words, the Roman rite we used to know exists no more. It has been destroyed.”8

What we see today is the continuing unfolding of the same forces behind the French Revolution, the Communist Revolution, and the Modernist Revolution of Vatican Council II which is still ongoing  in the Holy Catholic Church.

Continue reading “A Victory and a Tragedy, 2021” →

Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Her Scapular, 2023

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!
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I was unable to post this timely, and had to back date it. Thank you for your patience.

Mary Immaculate, Beauty of Carmel, you offer us your scapular, the very garment of your grace. By it, grant us grace to be your true children and grow in humility, obedience, purity and love of Our Lord Jesus Christ..

Today, 16 July, we honor Our Blessed Mother under her title, Our Lady of Mount Carmel. It is a title particularly pleasing to her, as she appeared at Fatima on 13 October, 1917 wearing the Carmelite habit and holding the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel as if offering it to mankind. To her children, Mary’s suggestions are her commands and we would have expected that this apparition alone caused all devout Catholics worldwide to subsequently become enrolled in the Brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. There should have been a vast movement of priests preaching this devotion, with Pope and Bishops leading the way. However, we all know that nothing of the sort happened.

And yet the Scapular is an important sign of predestination. Our Lady revealed her desire that her children wear the scapular on this day in 1251 when she gave the first scapular to Saint Simon Stock. Her words to him: Continue reading “Our Lady of Mount Carmel and Her Scapular, 2023” →

The Little Novena to Our Lady of Fatima, July 2023

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Today, we re-post this Novena to to remind us all (me included!) to prepare for Our Lady of Fatima’s 3rd visit on July 13, 1917.  It is a very short and simple prayer, easy to add before your first Rosary each day.

 

Ideally, this Novena should begin tomorrow in order to be completed onJuly 12th, the Eve of the Third Visit of Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima, July 13, 1917. We try to offer this little Novena each year during the Fatima cycle (May-October) during this spiritual chastisement.

Suggested intentions:

  • Reparation for the outrages against the Immaculate Heart of Mary
  • Spread of devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and her Message of Fatima
  • The grace of true repentance and conversion for the Pope and Church leaders
  • Bless and protect all priests especially those of tradition.
  • Healing of our families and the salvation of their souls.
  • For a pope and hierarchy that will Consecrate Russia in true obedience.

Thank you for participating!.

 Novena to Our Lady of the Rosary at Fatima

Most Holy Virgin, who deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds and to all your children the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with a sincere love of this devotion, so that by meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in it, we may gather its fruits and obtain the conversion of sinners, the Consecration of Russia and the return of the Church to Christ Our Lord, and also the special favor I ask of you in this novena ______________ for the greater glory of God, for your own honor and for the salvation of souls, especially those most in need of mercy. Amen.

To be said before the daily Rosary.

Remember – Our Lady needs us to obey:  First Saturdays of Reparation, daily rosary, at least 5 mysteries, wear her brown scapular and live your Total Consecration to her Immaculate Heart, offering daily duties in reparation and for the conversion of poor sinners.

Open your hearts to the Lord and serve Him only: and He will free you from the hands of your enemies. With all your heart return to Him, and take away from your midst any strange gods” (I Kings 7:3)

†  Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of our hearts, Mother of the Church, do thou offer to the Eternal Father the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, for the conversion of poor sinners, especially our Pontiff.

The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.
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Today, we commemorate Our Lady’s Visitation to Elizabeth, her kinswoman who was in the sixth month of her pregnancy with her son John.  At this time, Our Lord performed His first miracle through the Blessed Virgin Mary, to free John the Baptist from original sin. The Visitation is also the second Joyful Mystery of Our Lady’s Rosary.

This beautiful feast invites us to enter into the intimate life of our Savior, healing and sanctifying souls almost immediately after the Incarnation. It also is the testimony of the Holy Ghost to the sanctity of life from the moment of conception. So much to savor in this delightful scene from Holy Scripture!

The Magnificat of the Blessed Virgin Mary

“And Mary said: My soul doth magnify the Lord.
And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Savior.
Because He hath regarded the humility of His handmaid;
For behold from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.
For He that is mighty, hath done great things to me; and holy is His name.
And His mercy is from generation unto generations to them that fear Him.
He hath shewed might in His arm:
He hath scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart.
He hath put down the mighty from their seat,
And hath exalted the humble.
He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich He hath sent empty away.
He hath helped Israel His servant, being mindful of His mercy:
As He spoke to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed for ever.” [Luke 1, 46-55]

Our Lady’s Hymn of Praise

Continue reading “The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary” →

The Precious Blood of our Salvation

The Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ
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July is the month of the Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ,  and today is the Feast of the Precious Blood, a day rich in beautiful reminders of God’s gracious providence for us. Our reference today is  Father Faber’s tender tribute to the Precious Blood of Our Lord.

Father Faber on the Precious Blood

Father Faber’s beautiful essay,  “The Precious Blood, or the price of our Salvation“, remarks that the Angels wonder in awe as they adore this Precious Blood.

“Their superior intelligence ministers more abundant matter to their love. From the very first God invited the angels to adore It. He made their adoration a double exercise of humility,—of humility toward Himself, and of humility toward us their inferior fellow-creatures. It was the test to which He put their loyalty. He showed them His beloved Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, in His Sacred Humanity, united to a lower nature than their own, and in that lower nature crowned their King and Head, to be worshipped by them with absolute and unconditional adoration. The Son of a human Mother was to be their Head, and that Daughter of Eve to be herself their Queen. …

Continue reading “The Precious Blood of our Salvation” →