Greetings on Divine Mercy Sunday!

In the words of Jesus:

"I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls... On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment."

-St. Faustina's Diary p. 699

Here's a beautiful website explaining the devotion, Feast, graces, and more:

www.thedivinemercy.org

Happy Feast Day!

Today is the feast of St. Joseph. What do we know about this man?

He was a “just man.” (Matthew 1:19)
He lived a simple life.
He was a carpenter.
He was a descendant of King David.
He lived in Nazareth, in Galilee.
He was the husband of Mary.
He was the foster-father of Jesus.
He was protector of the Holy Family.


He often received messages in dreams.
He is the patron saint of fathers.
He is the patron saint of families.
He is patron of the Universal Church.
He is the patron saint of workers.

He has a second feast day:
May 1 is “St. Joseph the Worker”,
when we honor him as patron of all workers.

He is the patron of a happy death,
because he died in the arms of Jesus and Mary.


Prayer to St. Joseph
(from the 1st Century)

O St. Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

O St. Joseph, do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power, I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the most Loving of Fathers. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.

Press him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us. Amen.

Reflection:

“Fathers of families find in Joseph the best personification of paternal solicitude and vigilance; spouses a perfect example of love, of peace, and of conjugal fidelity; virgins at the same time find in him the model and protector of virginal integrity.”

– Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII
On Devotion to St. Joseph

Happy Feast Day, everyone!

Impressive

In honor of St. Patrick's Day...

HT: Catholic Fire

Today: Feast of the Chair of St. Peter

One of my favorite verses:

"Always be ready to give an explanation

to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope,
but do it with gentleness and reverence..."

(1 Peter 3:15-16)

Here's something that is only slightly related, but amusing enough to mention — the two or three times today that I typed "Chair", my fingers automatically added an "e" to the end. After all, how many thousands of times have I typed my own name? :) Similarly, whenever I need to type the name "Tim", it always becomes "time" first... typing autopilot, I suppose!

St. Patrick's Breastplate

Today is not just a day to celebrate being Irish. It’s about celebrating the great saint and bishop, Patrick, who brought the light of the Christian Catholic Faith into the great nation of Ireland 1600 years ago!

From the Catholic Encyclopedia at New Advent:

The beautiful prayer of St. Patrick, popularly known as "St. Patrick's Breast-Plate", is supposed to have been composed by him in preparation for this victory over Paganism. The following is a literal translation from the old Irish text:

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.

I bind to myself today
God's Power to guide me,
God's Might to uphold me,
God's Wisdom to teach me,
God's Eye to watch over me,
God's Ear to hear me,
God's Word to give me speech,
God's Hand to guide me,
God's Way to lie before me,
God's Shield to shelter me,
God's Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the ship,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

~~~

What a glimpse into the powerful spirituality of Patrick... too often we hear only a part of something like this, instead of the richness of the whole thing!

So, bind yourself today to Christ, in the true spirit of Patrick!

Advent Day 7

God of joy and cheer,
we thank you for your servant,
the good bishop Nicholas.
In loving the poor,
he showed us your kindness;
in caring for your children,
he revealed your love.
Make us thoughtful
without need of reward
so that we, too, may be
good followers of Jesus.

Happy St. Nicholas Day! If you haven't been to StNicholasCenter.org yet, there's no better time! Both the beautiful picture and prayer are from there.

May the generous spirit of this saint inspire us today and the whole year through.

God bless!

All Saints

All Saints' Day was actually Saturday (Nov 1), but this song was too fun not to share. Enjoy!

"Saint Song"

Feast Day of The Little Flower

One little Carmelite nun...

one great missionary heart.

One hidden soul....

one courageous conquerer of self.

One simple girl...

one passionate life.

Quiet keeper of the "Little Way"...

today, one of our greatest saints.

~ ~ ~

"We can never have too much confidence in the good God who is so powerful and so merciful. We obtain from him as much as we hope for."

Saint Therese of the Child Jesus,

pray for us!

For more, visit The Society of the Little Flower

P.S. Happy Feast Day to my sister and goddaughter Veronica! :)

Beautiful picture from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration

Birthday Mother

Thy birth, O Virgin Mother of God,
heralded joy to all the world.
For from thou hast risen the Sun of justice,
Christ our God.

Destroying the curse, He gave blessing;
and damning death,
He bestowed on us life everlasting.
Blessed art thou among women
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

For from thou hast risen of Sun of justice,
Christ our God.

­ from The Divine Office - Matins (Morning Prayer)

Today, we celebrate with joy the day that Our Lady came into the world — for that brought mankind gloriously near to the coming of its Redeemer. The body of this tiny maiden would one day bear within it the Word Made Flesh...and bring forth that Word to dwell among us.

For more on this tradition and history of this Feast, see these excellent articles:

Birth of Mary at EWTN.org

The Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Women for Faith and Family

Children of Fatima

Today is the feast of Blesseds Francisco and Jacinta Marto of Fatima, who at the ages 9 and 7, were graced with visits from the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God.

“Give my greetings

to Our Lord and to Our Lady,

and tell them that I am ready

to suffer as much as they wish

for the conversion of poor sinners.”

–Bl. Jacinta to her brother Bl. Francisco as he was dying

Lord, make us so ready to suffer for the salvation of souls!

Little Francisco and Jacinta, pray for us.

For more about the children of Fatima, click here.