It is Easy to Pray

From An Easy Way to Become a Saint by Father Paul O’Sullivan, 1950’s

SUGGESTIONS

In order to aid those who wish to meditate, we shall now suggest some thoughts on a few important subjects that may help them. Remember what has been said: “Read a little, think a little, pray a little, apply the truths to yourself, make your resolution.”

THOUGHTS ON PRAYER

Prayer is the greatest power in the world, even the prayer of the ordinary Christian. Few, very few know how to pray, and yet it is so easy.

Because they do not know how to pray, they are losing immense graces, immense blessings every day. Thousands are going to Hell every day because they do not pray. Thousands and thousands are sad and unfortunate because they do not know how to pray.

Our morning and evening prayers, if well said, save us from countless evils and obtain for us countless blessings.

Many Catholics have not the faintest idea of the immense importance of these prayers. They have many pressing occupations, but the gravest of all their duties, the most important and urgent work of the day is morning and evening prayer. As a result of these prayers, God Himself and His Blessed Mother bless and protect us.

PRAYER IS A PLEASURE

Few enjoy prayer, for the same reason: that they have never learned to pray. The first thing we must understand clearly is that when praying we are talking to God personally, intimately, really. God is looking at us, giving us all His attention, ready to give us all we need. What an immense joy and consolation it is to realize that we are talking to God Himself.

But so many pray as if they were gramophones, talking machines, not even thinking of the words they are saying. Many say their prayers in haste! That surely is not speaking to God. St. Augustine says that God prefers the barking of dogs to prayers said hastily.

We must pray intelligently, slowly, thinking of what we are saying. Then our prayer is a pleasure, for we know that it is pleasing to God and that it is bringing us great graces.

The writer had once a long private audience with Pope [St.] Pius X. He was all alone with the Pope in his private room. The Holy Father was most gracious and kind and gave him all he asked for and even more.

Yet we have a private audience with God whenever we pray. We are all alone with Him, and He is infinitely sweet and merciful. But how few enjoy this intimate, personal converse with God. If they understood that they were actually speaking to God, they would not think it a penance to pray; they would not be so easily distracted.

The Arabs give us a lesson in prayer. When they pray to Allah, they are so wrapped up in their prayer that they think of nothing else. In fact, frequently their enemies, knowing this, choose the moment they are praying to rush on them and kill them.

GOD HEARS EVERY PRAYER

Still another most consoling thing about prayer is that God hears every prayer. Every prayer well said, as any ordinary Christian can say it, brings us back a great grace, a favor, though we may not see it. True, God does not always give us exactly what we ask, because He sees that it would not be good for us, but then He gives us something better, which He knows is good for us. Good businessmen, wise statesmen, great generals, place all their trust in prayer.

THREE CONDITIONS OF PRAYER

*We must persevere in prayer; we must storm Heaven as the Apostle tells us.

*We must pray with the fullest confidence, for the greater our confidence, the greater will be the graces we receive.

*We must pray with humility. God loves the humble and gives them what they ask in rich abundance.

(Photo of my mom teaching me my prayers)♥️🙏🏻
“The Church does not often canonize whole groups of people
And though you and I may regard mothers as martyrs, the Church will never canonize them as a class, because they do not fit her definition. Still, if ever the Church should start to canonize whole groups of people, she would certainly begin with mothers, mothers like yours and mine.

For she remembers gratefully the fact that almost every saint in heaven, whether canonized or utterly unknown by the Church on earth, is a saint because a saintly mother set the feet of her child on the road to perfection.” -Rev. Daniel A. Lord, 1950’s

We cannot serve the flesh and the spirit; the two masters. What we are seeking to do is more important than what we seek to avoid. The positive aspects of the Kingdom are good works, piety, prayer and sanctity….

Do you need some good reading suggestions?

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Painting by Gregory Frank Harris

Loving and Thanking God – How to Raise Good Catholic Children

Tags

loving God, morning offering, teadning your child to pray, thanking God, traditional catholic prayers

The devil trembles when, in spite of your not wanting to, you get on your knees and pray!

How to Raise Good Catholic Children, by Mary Reed Newland

Spiritual and temporal needs over with, children can turn to the joy that is simply loving God. “I love You, Blessed Jesus, and I love Your Blessed Mother.”

This must be the part He listens for the hardest. It’s really all He asks, because if love is there and a right disposition, with grace the rest will follow.

So we encourage children to say it over and over until their whole idea of God is bound inseparably to their love for Him. After the loving comes the thanking; one follows the other with ease.

“And thank You for . . .” each night a different blessing, from babies and books to lollipops and circuses — anything and everything — so that they will see that their world is full of blessings straight from the hand of God.

Gradually, as they grow older, the form of their prayers will change. If they attend parochial school and Sister recommends certain practices, we should help to put these into effect. They will learn formal prayers, prayers proper to each liturgical season, the family Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, Mass preparations, and much more.

But the approach of their prayers remains unchanged, the contrition, asking, praising, and thanksgiving are in all these, and if they understand, above all, that prayer is talking to God, the knowledge will never leave them.

Knowing all this, however, is still no guarantee that children will always want to pray. Would that all grown-ups always wanted to pray. But they don’t, and their own perversity is not always the reason.

Many times God allows it to be hard to pray, simply to school us in applying our wills, to teach us that the value of prayer does not depend on the amount of emotion we can whip up.

So when “Time for prayers” is greeted with moans and groans, it’s time to explain that saying prayers when you least want to, simply because you love God and have a kind of dry respect and a sense of obedience, is to gain the greatest merit for them.

Many times the saints had trouble getting excited about prayers, but they said them, because prayers were due and their value had nothing to do with how eagerly they went about saying them.

“But with so many people in the world praying, I get the feeling God can’t really be listening to me.” Here we can remind our children of how our Lord said that God counts even the hairs on our heads, and all the sparrows that fall.

It’s hard to understand, but we need not understand; we need only believe that every word and sigh and flick of an eyelash is watched and weighed and counted, and every word is heard as though we were the only one praying.

The morning offering can be a simple form of gathering up the day and all it will hold and giving it to God.

Our children say, “I offer You this day as a prayer of love and thanksgiving, and thank You for keeping me safe through the night. Please help me to be pure and good, and keep me safe from harm. Please help us all with our work.”

They can offer it for one or many intentions, or simply give it to Jesus and Mary and ask them to apply its merits as they wish.

The “safe through the night” isn’t meant to imply that dying in the night would be the horror of horrors, but to remind them of God’s watchfulness while we sleep and to teach that, if we have survived the night, obviously God’s will for us includes another day of work and play and prayer to be lived as best we can.

When the older children started catechism classes (we have no parochial schools in our town), Sister taught them the traditional Morning Offering; so now they like to say that. But whatever form of offering they use, the important thing is to think of it like the net that strained with many fishes but still did not break. It will hold all the good a child can say and think and do in his entire day and give him a wonderful sense of having used every minute.

Many times I have heard one or another of our children (who are really no more pious than other children) say, “There, now wiping the dishes is part of my prayers because I made my Morning Offering.”

 

“Life is too short to spend it doing things that don’t get you where you want to go. For instance, if it’s important to you to read aloud to your kids, but you find yourself rarely doing that, you’ll feel the disconnect and it will discourage you. You’ll feel off track and out of sorts, but might not be able to put your finger on why.
Spend some time thinking about what you DO want in your life. Then make those choices each day. When you live intentionally and with purpose, it will make a tremendous difference in your life and the lives of those you love.” – Charlotte Siems

 

When my children were young I loved to read to them stories, poems and nursery rhymes! They knew those rhymes inside and out and it was such a happy pastime! I did yearn, at times, for little ditties that had more meaning…….So I decided to write a book myself for the generation after me….especially thinking of my grandchildren, but for all Catholic children everywhere!

These books give us some lovely rhymes that can, and should, be committed to heart by your children. Not only will they provide all the benefits of reading and memorizing, but they will supply some simple reflections that will turn those little minds to what is most important in their life….their Catholic Faith…. Available here.

 

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The Rosary and the Bargain

Happy Feast of the Holy Rosary!

The surest and easiest way to heaven is taking Our Lady’s hand and letting her guide and direct our footsteps. She is the “vehicle” to help us up the laborious climb to the top of the mountain!

Do something special this week to remind your children of her very important role!

And don’t forget the daily Rosary!

by Joseph A. Breig

When I get to heaven – as I trust I shall – something very embarrassing is bound to happen. As sure as shooting; somebody who has known me rather too well for comfort on this earth is going to come up to me and say, in a loud voice enough for everybody to hear, “How in the world did you get in here?”

I am not going to answer in words. I am simply going to pull a rosary out of my pocket and dangle it in front of my questioner. That will be my reply; and it will be perfectly true. It will also be true for my family, which I have every reason to hope will be there with me. We will all pull our rosaries out of our pockets and wave them.

I think that we will wave them for all eternity; or at least wear them around our necks for everybody to see. It will save a lot of explaining, and it will give credit where credit is due.

I am not humble enough for public confession of my sins: besides, it would be scandalous; and the readers would be writing to the editor denouncing him for printing such shocking stuff.

I will simply say this: there is a period of my life that I want to forget; and I would still be in it if it weren’t for the rosary.

The rosary is the rope by which I climbed hand over hand out of the pit into which I had fallen.

I started climbing out after I discovered one basic rule for any kind of success in life. The way to get something done is to do it. I will never forget how that realization suddenly popped into my head and transformed me.

Ever since then, I have been getting things done, simply by doing them. And the thing that taught me that lesson was the rosary. I do not remember how or why or when I started saying the rosary daily. But I do remember that doing it was the hardest thing I ever did in my life.

When people say to me now that they just can’t seem to get at it, I chuckle. They’re telling me! They complain about the irregularity of their lives, about visitors dropping in, and whatnot. And I chuckle again.

When I started saying the daily rosary, I was a reporter for a Hearst newspaper in the big city. It was not in the least unusual for me to be out on a story half the night, or three-quarters of the night, or all night.

At any moment during the day, the city editor might answer the telephone, look across the desk at me, and order me to high-ball by automobile, or train or other conveyance to some city or town or crossroads 100, 500, 1000 miles distant.

At any hour of the night, I might be awakened by the telephone and told to dash into the office, or dash somewhere else. As for social and other affairs, I had more than my share of them. But I had discovered that the way to get something done is to do it. I had learned that the way to get the rosary said is to say it. And I said it – and I don’t think anybody ever said it harder.

Meditation? It came as naturally to me as eating glass or swallowing swords. Praying? It was hard, sweaty, ditch-digging heavy labor for me. I was going it alone then; and the going was all uphill. It was all mountain climbing.

More than once, I awoke in the wee hours of the night, still on my knees, with the upper half of my body sprawled over the bed, and the rosary still clutched in my fingers at the second or third decade.
But the way to get something done was to do it; and I wouldn’t allow myself to crawl into bed until the rosary was finished.

I tell all this only in order that the reader may know that I am not one to whom prayer came easily. You say that it is hard for you; I answer that it was hard for me.

Then suddenly, somewhere along the line, I met Father Patrick Peyton, and discovered an additional rule for success. I discovered that whereas it was exceedingly difficult for me to say the rosary alone, it was as easy as rolling off a log to say it with my family.

We were one of the early families in Father Peyton’s Family Rosary Crusade; and what he gave to us when he talked us into it, we wouldn’t trade today for all the Fords and Lincolns in Henry Fords factory for the next thousand years.

I state a simple fact; and you needn’t take it just from me. Ask my wife. Ask the children. Ask the neighbors. Ask our visitors. They’ll all tell you the same thing: that ever since we started the daily family Rosary, and kept it up, our house has been one of the happiest and healthiest homes in the world.

To use a popular jive expression, the place simply jumps with joy. And there were times when it didn’t. There were a great many times when it didn’t. There was a time when the doctor told us we might as well make up our minds to sell our home for whatever we could get and go to Florida, with or without a job, if we didn’t want to see our children dying one by one before our eyes.

He said they simply couldn’t stand the climate in which we were living; and they’d be better off living on bananas under a tree in the south than suffering what they were suffering in the north.

The rosary changed all that; and today our youngsters, everyone of them, can whip their weight in wildcats; and would do it at the drop of a hat if there were any Wildcats in sight.

But that is the least of the blessings that have come to us from the family Rosary. I remember vividly my first conversation with Father Peyton, long before he became world famous as the originator of the family hour on the radio, in which the greatest stars of Broadway and Hollywood donate their talents to popularize the slogan, “The family that prays together, stays together.”

Father Peyton, knitting his brows in the way he has, and speaking in that wonderful Irish brogue which I won’t try to reproduce, told me that, when he was first ordained, he planned to start a crusade for daily mass, communion and the rosary.

The longer he prayed and puzzled over it, the more he became convinced that if he asked for everything at first, he’d get nothing; whereas if he could get people to say the rosary, the rosary would lead them to the other things.
Today I can testify that, in our case at least, he was perfectly right. We have learned that the rosary, if you will just say it, takes care of the full spiritual development of the family.

I would say this – that by far the easiest and least troublesome way of rearing a family of which you can be proud is to institute the family rosary in your home, and keep it up.

It knits the family together with bonds 10,000 times stronger than any that can be forged by merely natural means.

I think that I’ve heard all the objections to the family rosary. Fully half the fathers and mothers who have talked with me about it have shrugged their shoulders helplessly and said that there simply doesn’t seem to be any time of the day when all the members of the family can be brought together in prayer.

The answer to that, of course, is exceedingly simple. If you can’t get all the members of the family together, say the rosary with the members who are present.

Sooner or later, something will happen to make it possible for the others to join in.

The rosary is like that. Give it a chance, and it’ll take care of the problems. The Mother of God can have whatever she wants from her divine Son; and one of the things she wants is Rosary Families.

Mothers have said to me that the smaller members of the family won’t behave during the rosary. What of it? The smaller members of our family won’t behave either.

Between them, our two-year-old Jimmy and eight month old Regina put on something resembling a three ring circus while we are saying the rosary. We don’t interfere. It’s our business to say to say the rosary; it’s theirs to have a circus. God made them that way; and if He doesn’t mind, why should we? We pray above and between their shouts and gurgles, and it works out very well.
I have also heard people say that the antics of the smaller children interfere with their meditations. They interfered with mine, too, until I learned to include the youngsters in the meditation.

Now, while saying the Joyful Mysteries, I look at Regina, cooing and bouncing in her crib, and I think, “Why, Christ was just like that once! He cooed and gurgled too, and waved his arms, and kicked his legs, and rolled over on his stomach, then worked like a Trojan to get turned to his back again.”
Or if the baby is sitting on her mother’s lap, I look at them and realize that the Christ child sat in Mary’s lap too, and clutched at her garments, and tried to pull Himself upright, and swung His hands at her face, and laughed when she smiled at Him.

I think of the fact that He, too, had to be fed; that although He held the universe in the palm of His hand and kept the planets on their courses. He depended on his mother for everything.
Perhaps we are saying the Sorrowful Mysteries. If so, sometimes I look at Jimmy and think how I would feel if he were crucified in front of my eyes. Then I know something about what Mary felt.

I know something, too, about the infinite love of God which caused Him to send His only Son to die for us.

Could I send one of my sons to die in agony for someone who had insulted me? I think of that; and then I am better able to thank God for the redemption.
If we are saying the Glorious Mysteries, I consider often what a moment it will be when all the family rises from the grave and is reunited, nevermore to be parted; when we are all together to stay together, in perfect happiness, forever.

If the happy family is a thing of rollicking joy – and it is – then what must a perfectly happy family in heaven be like! It is very well worth looking forward to. It is very well worth the trouble of saying the daily rosary.
Ten or fifteen minutes a day is what it takes; and eternity is what it purchases. I wasn’t born yesterday; and I’m not passing up a bargain like that.

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“Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself…do not be disheartened by your imperfections, but always rise up with fresh courage.”
Introduction the the Devout Life― St. Francis de Sales

I used this book when my children were young. It was a valuable tool in helping them to incorporate True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort into their little lives…. “PREFACE: This Marian program has but one purpose, to imbue the little ones with a genuine devotion to Mary. It is a copying of Mary- a way of life. It is the De Montfort Method simplified for young minds.” Available here. (afflink)

A sermon for your day!

Beautiful Handcrafted Rosaries and Rosary Bracelets at my Meadows of Grace Shoppe!

Wire wrapping is one of the oldest techniques for making jewelry or rosaries by hand.

In wire wrapping, rosaries are made using jewelry wire to make components.

Frequently, in this approach, a wire is bent into a loop or other decorative shape and then the wire is wrapped around itself to finish the wire component making that loop or decorative shape permanent.

Because of this technique for wrapping wire around itself this craft is called wire wrapping.

Not only is it quite beautiful but it makes the rosaries sturdy and durable.

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Seventh & Eighth Letters Written by Brother Lawrence, Practice of the Presence of God – 17th Century

Seventh Letter (Written by Brother Lawrence)

Live and Die with God

Worship God with Confidence, Love and Humility

I pity and sympathize with you much. It will be of great importance if you can spend the remainder of your life worshiping God, and leave the care of your affairs to Him.

He requires no great things of us: a little remembrance of Him from time to time, a little adoration, sometimes to pray for His grace, sometimes to offer Him your sufferings, and sometimes to give Him thanks for the favors He has given you.

He gives you favors in the midst of your troubles. Console yourself with Him as often as you can. Lift up your heart to Him even at your meals and when you are with others. The least little remembrance will always be acceptable to Him.

You need not cry very loud, for He is nearer to us than we are aware.

It is not necessary to always be at church to be with God. We may make a silent speech with our heart, where we can retire from time to time to converse with Him in meekness, humility and love.

Everyone is capable of such intimate conversation with God, some more, some less. He knows what we can do. Let us begin then.

Perhaps He expects but one generous and charitable resolution from us. Have courage. We have but little time to live. You are nearly 64, and I am almost 80. Let us live and die with God.

Suffering will be sweet and pleasant to us while we are with Him, and the greatest pleasures will be a cruel punishment to us without Him.

May He be praised and blessed. Amen. Worship Him, beg His grace, offer Him your heart from time to time in the midst of all your work–every moment if you can.

Do not always follow certain rules or set forms of devotion, but act with a general confidence in God, with love and humility.

You may be assured of my poor prayers, and that I am their servant, and yours particularly.

Eighth Letter (Written by Brother Lawrence)

Confess Your Sins and Faults, and Humble Yourself

 How to Address Wandering Thoughts 

You are telling me nothing new. You are not the only one who is troubled with wandering thoughts. Our mind naturally roves about. As the will is mistress of all our faculties, she must recall such wandering thoughts and carry them to God as their last end.

The mind is not sufficiently focused when we first engage in devotion and worship. The mind develops certain bad habits of wandering and dissipation which are difficult to overcome, and commonly draw us even against our wills to the things of the earth.

I believe one remedy for this is to confess our sins and faults, and humble ourselves before God.

I do not advise you to use many words in prayer. Many words and long discourses are often the times when wandering thoughts occur. Use few words and be willing to be silent and still in prayer and devotion before God, like a mute or paralytic beggar at a rich man’s gate.

Let it be your business to keep your mind within the presence of the Lord.

If your mind sometimes wanders and withdraws itself from Him, do not become anxious. Trouble, anxiety and rumination tend to distract the mind, rather than allowing one to gather oneself and refocus.

Our wills must bring our minds back into tranquility. If you persevere in this manner, God will have pity on you.

One way to refocus the mind easily in the time of prayer and preserve it in tranquility is to prevent it from wandering too far at other times. Keep your mind strictly in the presence of God, and be accustomed to think of Him often. You will then find it easy to keep your mind calm in the time of prayer, or at least to refocus it from its wanderings.

I have told you already in detail within my former letters of the advantages we may draw from this practice of the presence of God. Let us pursue this practice seriously and pray for one another.

Foster Joy and Optimism….Insist upon joy and optimism as opposed to the sadness and discouragement which sometimes seem so natural. Do this by briefly changing your occupation and busying yourself with thoughts, readings and conversations which make the mind happy and elevate it. -Fr. Irala, Achieving Peace of Heart https://amzn.to/39e9tvq (afflink)

Painting by Albert Lynche, 1860

In the words of this humble seventeenth-century lay Carmelite, “We must trust God once and for all and abandon ourselves to Him alone.” This difficult task necessarily requires perseverance and continual conversation with God in all activities great and small: “speaking humbly and talking lovingly with Him at all times, at every moment, without rule or system…” In reading these conversations, letters, and spiritual maxims, we learn the key to endless joy.

In short, this little spiritual classic — in its fresh, contemporary English translation — renders the simple wisdom of Brother Lawrence accessible to every Christian who yearns for the fullness of life….
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My Morning and Night Prayers – Sharing With You….

A Throwback Thursday post….

I am going to share with you something close to my heart, rather personal, and that I do every day….

It is my Morning and Night prayers.

Someone wrote to me about a year ago and asked what I say for morning and night prayers and it made me think that not everyone has a guideline for this sort of thing.

Through the years and my own research…good prayer books, wise mentors, etc., I have come up with some basic prayers that I say for morning and night prayers that I think could be helpful to some.

Please know that this is just a guideline….the most important being the Morning Offering (in the morning) and the Examination of Conscience and Act of Contrition (in the evening). Everything else is optional, can be changed, tweaked, etc. Most of you already have your morning and night prayers in place, so you may just want to snag a couple of prayers or ideas….

A Note About the Morning Offering and the Evening Examen of Conscience:

Our Morning and Night Prayers are so important! They are like the Bookends that hold up the rest of the day. There are other prayers I/we as a family say each day, but these Morning and Night prayers are vital.

What about that Morning Offering? Why would you even make your bed or brush your teeth before saying it? Do you realize that when you say that offering you are giving everything you think, say and do in the day and offering it as a prayer and a sacrifice to be used for yours and your loved ones benefit? Next time, think before you decide to delve into your day’s work. Did I say my Morning Offering?? Even if you have to say the rest of your prayers a little later, get that Morning Offering in!

It’s like our priest says, if you write a bunch of 000’s on a board what does it equal? Nothing.

Now….put a 1 in front of them….kind of changes the value, doesn’t it?

And that is just what a Morning Offering does for us! It is the 1 before the 0’s!

What about at night….Do we take a moment to ask God’s forgiveness for those sins we may have committed that day or for things we should have done but didn’t (sins of omission)?

This is very important…it is a tallying up of the day and asking God’s forgiveness so we can gather strength for the next day. It also helps us when it comes time to go to Confession. If we keep up with this, we can think of our sins more clearly.

We also don’t know if we will die in the night. Things happen. We’ve seen it. We want to be prepared, right?

Just lately one of my girls said their night prayers are so loooong. I questioned her. She asks blessings for many people and feels like she has to name them all. Being a sensitive soul, she just can’t leave out ANYONE!

Now, I understand that…and I feel the same way. But I explained to her that she can mention the ones that are most in need at the time and ask Our Lady (who she is consecrated to) to take care of all the rest of her loved ones she cares for. That is what Our Lady does. She knows who to distribute these prayers to…for us! She knows more than we do!

So….the following are the prayers I say in the morning and in the evening.. They are just suggestions. It is important you do not take on too much but say them well. Quantity is not the important thing here.

MORNING PRAYERS

Traditional Morning Offering:

O Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer Thee my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for the intentions of Thy Sacred Heart, the salvation of souls, reparation for sins, and in union of all Christians. I offer them for the intentions of our bishop, the apostleship of prayer and for those recommended by Our Holy Father the Pope for this month.

Prayer to St. Joseph: (over 1900 years old)

Oh 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. Oh 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 you my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of fathers. Oh St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach Him 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.

Memorare:

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

Spiritual Communion…Read this post if you want to be inspired about this powerful prayer!

O My Jesus,
I believe that Thou art in the Blessed Sacrament.

I love Thee above all things,
and I long for Thee in my soul.
Since I cannot now receive Thee sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. As though You have already come, I unite myself entirely to Thee. Never permit me to be separated from Thee.

(Take some time here to meditate. Just a minute or two.)

I add these personal petitions at this time, you could add a short list of your own:

For the gift of loving You above all things, to do Your will in all things, for a spirit of self-sacrifice, to be poor in spirit and detached from the things of this world, to love my husband as the Blessed Mother loved St. Joseph, for patience, humility, charity, faith, purity and final perseverance.

Come Holy Ghost Prayer: (very important, we need His wisdom and guidance throughout the day). Read The Holy Ghost, Our Greatest Friend to help you realize the importance of the Holy Ghost in your life.

Come, Holy Ghost, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and enkindle in them the fire of Thy love. Send forth Thy Spirit and they shall be created. And Thou shalt renew the face of the earth. … O God, Who didst instruct the hearts of Thy faithful by the light of the Holy Ghost,, grant us in the same Spirit to be truly wise, and ever to rejoice in His consolation. Through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Eternal Rest Prayer: (for our dearly departed)

Eternal rest grant unto them O Lord and let perpetual light shine upon them, May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

3 Hail Mary’s (To learn more about the 3 Hail Mary’s listen to this sermon.)

Now, say your 3 Hail Mary’s. You can offer them for purity, or for whatever. I have a special intention(s) for each of the three. Or you can just say the 3 Hail Marys. They are powerful…don’t forget them!

Morning Prayer:

O God we thank thee that Thou has protected us during the past night and has protected us from a sudden and unexpected death. Please give us Thy grace that we may not offend Thee this day but that we may faithfully do Thy holy Will in all things. Amen.

Prayer for those who will die this day:

O Most Merciful Jesus, lover of souls, I pray Thee by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart and by the sorrows of Thy Immaculate Mother, cleanse in Thine own Blood, the sinners of the whole world who are in their agony and will die this day. Amen. Agonizing Heart of Jesus, have mercy on the dying.

St. Raphael, Pray for us.

(St. Raphael is the patron of happy meetings, he guides us in our vocations, he is the help of the sick and the protector of travelers.)

NIGHT PRAYERS

Act of Faith

O My God, I firmly believe that Thou art one God in Three Divine Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. I believe that Thy Divine Son became Man, and died for our sins, that He will come to judge the living and the dead. I believe these and all the truths which the Holy Catholic Church teaches, because Thou hast revealed them, Who canst neither deceive nor be deceived.

Act of Hope

O my God, relying on Thy almighty power and infinite mercy and promises, I
hope to obtain the pardon of my sins, the help of Thy grace, and Life Everlasting, through the merits of Jesus Christ, my Lord and Redeemer.

Act of Charity

O my God, , I love Thee above all things, with my whole heart and soul, because Thou art all-good and worthy of all love. I love my neighbor as myself for the love of Thee. I forgive all who have injured me, and ask pardon of all whom I have injured.

Examination of Conscience

Spend just a few moments recalling the sins you committed during the day….and also your omissions (the things you should’ve done but didn’t).

Act of Contrition

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins because I dread the loss of Heaven and the pains of Hell; but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, Who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to confess my sins, to do penance, and to amend my life. Amen.

Other Prayers:

O God we thank Thee for all the benefits and blessings which Thou hast given us this day. We offer Thee the good that we have done with Thy grace and the hardships that we have sustained.

O Angel of God, to whose holy care I am committed, enlighten, defend and protect me this night from all sin and danger. Amen.

PRAYER FOR THE HOME

(I have married children and siblings I care about so when I say this prayer, I put “these habitations” in place of “this habitation”.)

Visit, We beseech Thee, O Lord, this habitation, and drive far from it all the snares of the enemy; let Thy holy angels dwell herein to preserve us in peace; and may Thy blessing be upon us forever. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to Jesus, Mary and Joseph:

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, Joseph, let my soul depart in peace with you.

Prayer for Peace:

O God from whom are holy desires, just works and right counsels, give to Thy servants that peace which the world cannot give, that our hearts may be disposed to obey Thy commandments and the fear of our enemies being removed, our times, by Thy protection, may be peaceful. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ Who liveth and reigneth world without end. Amen.

Every morning, we may be tempted to put off our prayers until “later” or skip them altogether because we have much to do and action is where it is at. If we allow the devil to win in this very first struggle of the day, he will win many more of the battles throughout the day. Our Morning Prayers, whether they be said while nursing a baby or changing a diaper, need to be a priority and the very foundation of our daily life. -Finer Femininity

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Revised under Pope Pius XII, this official collection (raccolta) of the Church’s prayers and devotions was published in English in 1957. It includes a timely supplement of additional prayers for many urgent needs all of which were composed under the same pontiff. Many of the more commonly used prayers and devotions are followed by the Latin text, thus providing the perfect aid for teachers and parents anxious to keep the Church’s language both alive and spiritually efficacious. These eight hundred prayers touch practically every spiritual and physical need, and every personal and societal hope. They are the confidently suppliant voice of the Catholic Church in her maternal zeal, joy and agony, nobility and militancy.

* Prayers and Devotions 1958 Edition Reprint

* Red Bonded Leather Hardcover

This unique book of powerful prayers and devotions, compiled by Joan Carroll Cruz, includes wonderful promises made by Our Lord or Our Lady, most of which were revealed to famous Saints, including: St. Faustina, St. Gertrude, and St. Catherine Laboure. Author Joan Carroll Cruz has carefully selected and compiled devotions to Our Lady, the Infant Jesus, Precious Blood, Sacred Heart, Divine Mercy, St. Michael, and more in one place so that your daily prayer can be more powerful and more fruitful than ever before.

God & Prayer – Talks to Catholic Children

The lessons in this talk is just as good for any adult as it is for your children. Take some time to read it to them.

From Christopher’s Talks to Catholic Children by David L. Green stock, 1944

I have mentioned to you in some of the former chapters that, because Jesus was God, He knew all about us while He was on this earth and long before we ever came into this world. He knew who our parents were going to be, where we were going to be born, where we should be going to school, how we were going to live and how we were going to die. In fact, He knew everything about us.

This thought is expressed in the Catechism in these words, “God knows and sees all things, even our most secret thoughts.” I want to talk to you about that for a moment before we go on to anything else.

First of all, there are two ways in which we can think of this complete knowledge God has of all our actions however small. We can picture God, for example, as a big policeman, always watching us to see when we do something wrong and always ready to catch us when the chance arises. To look at it in that way would not only be very wrong but also a great pity. God is not like that at all, and if we go on thinking of Him that way, it will mean that we shall stand a very poor chance of making Him our friend, and that is what we should aim to do.

God is love. He loves us much more than our parents can ever hope to do, and He is always ready and willing to help us in every way possible. I want you to think of this Presence of God and this knowledge of all that we think and do, in that way.

Here are two pictures of very ordinary things in the life of any child. One shows a little child going to school in the morning with his school books in his hand. You will notice that God is there with him, and is always watching over him to see that he is perfectly safe. In the other picture you can see some children swimming. God is there too.

In other words, think of yourself and God as two friends who are always together. You are never alone. Your faithful companion through life is God Himself. In all your actions He is there, not to catch you out in something which is wrong but to be a help and guide through all the actions of your daily life.

Of course, He also sees your sins, too, if you have the misfortune to commit any, but He does not condemn you for them unless there is nothing else to be done. On the contrary, He tries very hard to lead you away from those sins and back to His Love and Friendship. That is the only thing which interests Him.

Think of what a wonderful thing that companionship with God can really mean to us all. If He is with us all day, and if we are never really all alone to face the dangers and the difficulties of this life, how much more pleasant that makes things! That thought naturally leads us on to think about the subject of prayer.

Prayers are really nothing more than little conversations with God, our Friend. If we could only see them in that light, perhaps it would be much easier for us to remember our prayers and to say them well.

Here is a little child saying his morning prayers. Now let us see what that really means. He knows that God is really and truly present in that room with him although he cannot see God. God has not been far away from him all through the night, but has been there watching over him and waiting for him to wake in the morning to begin another day.

Accordingly, when he gets up, he kneels down for just a moment or two and says what we call his morning prayers. That is another way of saying that he says “Good morning,” to God.

Perhaps he says the Morning Offering, which is just simply the offering of all the actions of the coming day to God. Perhaps he says the “Our Father” and the “Hail Mary” to sanctify his day by calling on God and Our Lady to help him to live it well. Whatever it is that he says, it is really nothing more or less than, “Good morning,” to God.

Exactly the same is true of our night prayers. We are just going to sleep and we know that God will be there all the time to watch over us while we are asleep, so we just offer ourselves to Him again and say the Act of Contrition for all the little wrong things which we may have done during the day. He will love us very much for that offering and for that sorrow, and He will forgive us as He always does, because He loves us so much.

You see how much easier prayer becomes if you think of it in this way. It is not just a very unpleasant duty which has to be done first thing in the morning and last thing at night. It is a conversation between us and our best Friend, to offer ourselves to Him, and to say “Good morning,” and “Good night,” to Him as we should.

There are many prayers which you will learn while you are at school and also from your mother. They are all very good, and you should try to learn them well and to say them when you are in church, and say them as well as you can. But that should not be all you do in the way of prayer.

God loves us to take an interest in Him and to talk to Him in the same way in which we would talk to one of our friends. That is to say, with our own words and in our own way. It is a good thing to use a prayer book, and you should always take one to church with you, but you will find that there are many thoughts in your head at times about which you may want to talk to God and which are not contained in any book.

Then the thing for you to do is to talk to God about them in your own words and in your own way. Remember that He is your greatest friend, and that He understands you so very well. He will not mind if the things you are trying to say are not very clearly expressed or in the best possible form of words. It means a great deal to Him you are trying to talk to Him, and we should all try to get away from prayer book language occasionally and rely on our own words.

Here is a boy walking along a road. He has had a quarrel with one of his friends, and he is rather unhappy about it.

God is there with him and they are talking it over between them. How happy God is to be able to listen and to help in some way.

Even the very smallest things in our life are of great importance to God. Our holidays, our friends, our interests—they are His too, and He wants us to tell Him all about them and to talk to Him of them when we feel like it.

There is no need for us to go to church every time we want to talk to God. We can do that wherever we are, because God is always there. Of course He will love it very much if we do go into church occasionally during our walks, because that is His home and He likes to see us there. It shows Him that we do know that He is there, and that we remember Him, not only on Sundays when we have to go to church, but also some other times in the week too.

Here is a little child going to see his great Friend in His own home.

They have very many things to talk about, and you may be sure that God is going to be very interested, and that He will help in every possible way.

Remember that you are never alone, that God is always with you, not to catch you out, but to help and to guide you in all that you do. Talk to Him, that is what is meant by prayer, and don’t be afraid to use your own words or to talk to Him in your heart while you are walking about or while you are playing quietly by yourself or with others.

He is there, and He loves to see that you are enjoying yourself. He probably gave you that find day today just because He knew that it would please you and that you would enjoy it so very much. When you come to say your evening prayers just remember to say a big “Thank you” for everything that He has done for you during the day.

He loves you so very much, and you must try to love Him a little in return. He will always be your friend, and will never turn against you whatever you do. The only way you can drive Him away is to commit some big sin against Him. Then He has to leave you because you have forced Him to, but even then He is always trying to get you to call Him back so that He can be with you again.

God is your best friend, remember that, and try to treat Him as a friend and love Him all you can.

Forgive. “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgivers.” ~ Ruth Bell Graham. This is one of the truest statements ever made. Decide you’re not only going to be his lover – you’re going to be his forgiver. Be quick to forgive and get good at it. You’ll probably have lots of opportunity to practice it. -Lisa Jacobson, 100 Ways to Love Your Husband https://amzn.to/2EkBO3F (afflink)

What are some errors in parenting with raising our children in modern times? Fr. Ripperger has some thoughts….

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Martinez shows how you can make better sense of your life once you realize that God has actually been closest to you when He seemed farthest away; and once you learn why He often speaks to you only in silence. Best of all, Martinez teaches you the secret of true happiness, which you can achieve even amid the troubles that are inescapable elements of every human life. With sober realism and simple faith, this book will show you how to discover — and then to take refuge in — the comfort our Lord offers you, even when He seems to sleep.

Drawing on the wealth of the Church’s living tradition, Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC, calls on all of us to turn to St. Joseph, entrust ourselves, our Church, and our world to our spiritual father’s loving care, and then watch for wonders when the Universal Patron of the Church opens the floodgates of Heaven to pour out graces into our lives today. Definitely a book for our time, Consecration to St. Joseph is dedicated to meeting the challenges of the present moment and restoring order to our Church and our world, all through the potent paternal intercession and care of St. Joseph. This book has everything you need to take your love and devotion to St. Joseph to a whole different level: a thorough program of consecration to St. Joseph; information on the 10 wonders of St. Joseph; and prayers and devotions to St. Joseph. Accessible, motivating, this book will kick off a great movement of consecration to our spiritual father and change the world.

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Family Prayer

by Fr. Francis X. Weiser. S.J., 1956

Going home from church, the newlyweds are not going out of the spiritual atmosphere into a worldly one. They are not leaving the Sacrament behind in the house of God. Their union in marriage, their home and their hearts must remain filled with the grace and love of the Lord. A family is actually a little kingdom of God.

These thoughts have prompted Christians at all times to express their union with God, not only as individuals, but also as a family.

It was the ancient custom among Catholics that, at least once a day, father, mother and children would gather in the home for common prayer. This practice deeply impresses its lasting mark on the hearts of the children.

It is not only an addition of individual praying, but a special source of grace and blessings which far transcends the power of an individual’s prayer and unites us with the Lord more deeply and intimately, according to His own word, “Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

If this is true of any group, how much more does it apply to the prayerful union of parents and children! In fact, it is a common experience that even the small children who cannot yet talk, quickly adjust themselves to the spirit of devotion when the whole family prays. They seem to be inspired by the grace of Baptism, which gives them an instinctive grasp of the supernatural far beyond their natural capacities.

Held in the arms of the mother, such a little child will watch the praying family with large and solemn eyes, even try to fold his hands and assume an attitude of reverence, which is  entirely different from his usual behavior.

When parents sometimes complain that their smaller children are not quiet or silent in church, perhaps the reason is in many cases that their children have never breathed the atmosphere of prayer at home.

There is a radiance of warmth and attractive dignity about a father and mother who not only give their children the example of individual prayer, but join with them in a common practice of devotion and family prayer.

In recent times this practice has died out in many homes.

Some people still keep a trace of it in the form of grace at meals; but even this custom is fast disappearing, especially among the younger ones. They are either ashamed or careless, or they persuade themselves there is not enough time to pray before meals. Thus many a “Catholic” home never unites the family in common prayer, to the great spiritual loss of each individual member.

Thank God, in recent years the practice of the family Rosary has spread far and wide. Besides obtaining graces and blessings, it has also resulted in a revival of family prayer. All those who have at heart the kingdom of God in the home can do no better apostolic work than spreading the family Rosary among their friends.

Even in our attendance at liturgical services, especially Holy Mass and Communion, the participation of the family as a whole should be the ideal. It is a pity that practical considerations make it seem necessary in many churches to separate the children from their parents on Sunday, that special children’s Masses should have to be held at which the parents are not allowed, and vice versa.

Our Lord loves every good family so much that one cannot help thinking how greatly He would enjoy seeing parents and children together at His Holy Sacrifice and receiving Him together, as a family.

Besides the act of prayer, there are many ancient customs of sanctifying the home through the use of the sacramentals of the Church: holy water, blessed candles, food blessed by the priest on certain feast days, blessed palms, Easter water, etc.

As we have the altars and shrines in our churches, so a Catholic family would do well to keep a simple but dignified shrine in the home. It would be a symbol to all members that their lives belong to God, that religion and prayer are not merely a Sunday affair, and that the home of Christians is a holy place. How cold are the houses and homes in which no trace of a religious object is found!

More and more Catholic homes in the United States are adopting the custom of Mary gardens. A fairly large statue of the Blessed Virgin is placed outside the house, surrounded by nature’s tribute of trees, shrubs and flowers.

This is not only an honor to Our Lady and a public profession of our faith, but also a powerful encouragement of our devotion to Mary and a source of pious inspiration for many who behold this beautiful sight.

In this troubled world we need the prayers of children. Their souls are innocent, their petitions special in the Eyes of God. Let us get our children on their knees, and with fervor and the remarkable confidence of a child, let us get them to pray for our families, our country, our world….. www.finerfem.com

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The Principal Duties of the Day (Part Two)

Painting by John William Waterhouse

Do you wish to live a vibrant Catholic life? Father Paul O’Sullivan doesn’t pull any punches. He tells you, in a focused and potent format, how you can do just that. This is the second part to the article and there is more to come. Here is Part One.

From An Easy Way to Become a Saint by Father Paul O’Sullivan, 1950’s

We shall now consider the principal duties of the day, each in particular, and see how we may avoid the many grave faults commonly committed in their performance, and on the contrary, we shall see how we may derive from these same duties the very greatest graces.

These duties are Prayer, Work, Eating, Sleeping and Suffering.

Part One is here.

OUR DAILY PRAYERS

Our first and most important prayer is the Morning Offering. Immediately on arising, we should fall on our knees and make this offering, slowly and deliberately, as already explained above.

Morning and evening prayers are most important factors in human life. Far from being a matter of minor importance, they are the most urgent of our daily obligations. If well said, they obtain for us all needful graces and protect us from the many evils that may be awaiting us in the course of the day. (See my post on Morning and Night Prayers for an easy-to-use format).

If badly said or omitted, we expose ourselves to grievous calamities. Many fall victims to disease or are killed by accidents or meet with premature deaths because they had not prayed.

There is certainly one peril that we have to face every day of our lives, which comes, as St. Peter and St. Paul warn us, from the fearful malice of the devil, who is ever using his keen angelic intelligence to work our ruin. We are as defenseless as children in his hands. Woe to us if we have not God’s help in this daily conflict with our implacable enemy!

That infallible help is obtained by prayer. Many Catholics seem to have little fear of the devil. They take no precautions against his attacks. He is the greatest evil and the most terrible danger that menaces us during all our life and most especially at the hour of death.

For this last moment he reserves his most awful attack. He hates us with a malignant hate, for we are destined to occupy the glorious throne in Heaven which he has lost. This thought lashes him into fury.

He has made a careful study of us and knows our every weakness; he notes our evil inclinations and when we are off our guard, as a result of having omitted our prayers, he redoubles his temptations.

Many fall in this unequal combat, and if death surprises them in this state, they are plunged into Hell for all eternity. Such is the oft-recurring story of thousands of lost souls. This fact alone should be enough to make us careful in saying our daily prayers well.

But there is a far more powerful incentive to make us love prayer, and this is that our prayers are the expression of our filial love for our dear Heavenly Father, they are our loving homage and adoration to our Creator.

Morning prayers as found in prayerbooks are five, viz., the Our Father, the Hail Mary, the Apostles’ Creed, the Confiteor and Hail Holy Queen. At night we add to these a short examination of conscience with a fervent Act of Contrition.

Had we the misfortune to fall into mortal sin, we must redouble our contrition and go to Confession as soon as possible. By mortal sin we expel God from our souls and give His place to the devil.

These prayers must be said slowly, reverently, on our knees and in our bedroom. In this room we spend a third part of our lives, and here we shall probably die. Therefore, it is well to sanctify it by our daily prayers.

The Rosary

All good Christians say the Rosary daily, thereby insuring the most special protection of God’s Holy Mother, which she promises to those who daily say her favorite prayer. Devotion to Our Lady is looked on by the Saints as a sure guarantee of our eternal salvation.

The Popes, the Bishops of the entire world, priests in every country, all the Religious Orders have been urging the faithful for the past 700 years to say the Rosary.

The Saints not only recommended it, but said it themselves with unspeakable devotion and confidence.

Why this universal and extraordinary love for the Rosary? Because by it we deliver ourselves from every danger and obtain every grace and blessing.

God’s sweet Mother has come in recent years to Fatima to preach the Rosary as the easiest and most certain way of saving the world from the dire calamities that are threatening it. Millions and tens of millions of men and women, hearkening to her message, are sending up their daily pleas for mercy. Woe to the foolhardy Christian who turns a deaf ear to this message of salvation!

The Catholic homes where the Rosary is said by the members of the family are visibly protected by God.

Daily Mass and Communion

Better than the most lengthy prayers and the severest penances, the surest of all means of becoming holy is by assisting at daily Mass and receiving Holy Communion.

The Mass is Calvary here again; it has the same infinite value and brings us the same oceans of graces as Our Lord’s death on Mount Calvary. Our Lord offered His sufferings and death for each one of us in particular. In the Mass He mystically dies again for each of those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice.

One Mass gives Him more glory than the praise and adoration of all the Angels and Saints in Heaven. Multitudes of Angels stand around the priest and offer our prayers to God.

The blessings and favors we receive at each Mass we hear are indescribably great. How foolish are those who can assist at Mass and are too lazy and negligent to do so! We have already spoken of the consolations and joys we receive in Holy Communion. No one who pauses to think on these will refuse to receive God daily into his heart. Only crass ignorance can explain such negligence.

The Name of Jesus

An easy practice that we urge our readers to adopt is to form the habit of repeating frequently the Holy Name of Jesus. Each time we say, “Jesus,” we offer the Eternal Father all the infinite merits of the Passion of Jesus Christ, in union with the Masses being said all over the world. We thus participate in these thousands of Masses.

There is no devotion so easy, none so infallible in obtaining for us God’s richest graces. It demands no time, for we can repeat the Holy Name hundreds and even thousands of times in the day—when dressing in the morning, when working, when walking, in our homes, in the streets, everywhere.

This practice gradually fills our hearts with peace and happiness; it delivers us from many evils and obtains for us more graces in a single day than we may otherwise hope to receive in a whole year.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart

This is a very certain way of becoming holy; our sweet Lord Himself gave it to us as His last, supreme effort to gain our love. To practice this devotion we must:

a) Read from time to time the 12 wonderful Promises that Our Lord made to everyone who practices devotion to His Sacred Heart. These Promises reveal in the clearest possible way the immense personal and tender love Our Lord has for us. Therefore, we should read them, slowly and carefully, at least on the First Friday of every month.

They will awaken in our hearts boundless confidence in Our Lord.

All the 12 Promises are most important, but we call attention very especially to the 11th Promise: “Those who spread this devotion will have their names written on My Sacred Heart, never to be effaced!”

We can spread the devotion by talking of it to friends, by distributing little pictures of the Sacred Heart with the Promises printed on them.

b) We must repeat frequently the ejaculation: “Sacred Heart of Jesus, I have confidence in Thee, boundless confidence for everything.” This ejaculation is so powerful and efficacious that it has been well called “The miraculous ejaculation.”

c) We must wear a badge or medal of the Sacred Heart.

d) We ought to have a picture of the Sacred Heart, not only in our homes but in every room and on our writing table, just as we have the photograph of our dear mother. We can say from time to time, “Jesus, I love You.”

No mother, no father, no brother or friend loves us so tenderly as Jesus does. Those who practice devotion to the Sacred Heart in this simple and easy way have a guarantee of receiving the wonderful favors promised by Our Lord.

These daily prayers and devotions will make us saints.

They are:

The Morning Offering.

Morning Prayers.

Evening Prayers.

The Rosary.

The frequent repetition of the Holy Name.

Devotion to the Sacred Heart.

Daily Mass and Communion.

A visit to the Blessed Sacrament.

One time in 1949 Padre Pio was talking with a certain doctor who was very close to him. They were discussing prayers for the dead. Padre Pio said to him, “Maybe you don’t know that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather!” But the doctor remarked that he has been dead for many, many years. Then Padre Pio explained, “For the Lord the past does not exist. Everything is an eternal present. These prayers had already been taken into account. And so I repeat that even now I can pray for the happy death of my great-grandfather!”

Advent starts next Sunday…Be Prepared!

Advent is such a special season! And you are about to make it more meaningful than you ever have!
This Advent journal is for busy moms who need a little help making this season special within the home. It will help you stay on track and be consistent with the customs you have decided to incorporate within your four walls.
I have broken it down into bite-sized tidbits that, when laid out for you, will be easy to accomplish. As you check each item off you will get a sense of fulfillment knowing you are getting done what is truly important in this expectant season! The other things will get done….but first things first!
At midnight, on Christmas Eve, when Baby Jesus arrives, you and your family will look back upon your Advent and sigh with satisfaction, knowing you truly have celebrated with the Church, that you have put your best foot forward in making this a spiritual, enchanting, holy time for all!
The first few pages of this book will have a run-down of the special Advent customs and activities that will be on your checklist each day. They are simple, they are doable.
I hope this Advent is more special than ever as we walk hand-in-hand making the Liturgy come alive in our homes!

Beginning with the first day of Advent and continuing through the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, these selections from the immortal pen of Fulton J. Sheen encourage readers to explore the essence and promise of the season. Those looking to grow in their prayer life and become more attuned to the joy of Advent and Christmas will find a wonderful guide in this spiritual companion….

You are about to make the season of Advent more meaningful than you ever have! This Advent journal is for busy moms who need a little help making this season special within the home. It will help you stay on track and be consistent with the customs you have decided to incorporate within your four walls. I have broken it down into bite-sized tidbits that, when laid out for you, will be easy to accomplish. As you check each item off you will get a sense of fulfillment knowing you are getting done what is truly important in this expectant season! The other things will get done….but first things first! At midnight, on Christmas Eve, when Baby Jesus arrives, you and your family will look back upon your Advent and sigh with satisfaction, knowing you truly have celebrated with the Church, that you have put your best foot forward in making this a spiritual, enchanting, holy time for all! The first few pages of this book will have a run-down of the special Advent customs and activities that will be on your checklist each day. They are simple, they are doable. I hope this Advent is more special than ever as we walk hand-in-hand making the Liturgy come alive in our homes!

This post contains affiliate links. Thank you for your support.

The Principal Duties of the Day (Part One)

From An Easy Way to Become a Saint by Father Paul O’Sullivan, 1950’s

Part Two is here.

Part Three is here.

We shall now consider the principal duties of the day, each in particular, and see how we may avoid the many grave faults commonly committed in their performance, and on the contrary, we shall see how we may derive from these same duties the very greatest graces.

These duties are Prayer, Work, Eating, Sleeping and Suffering.

1. PRAYER, OUR FIRST DUTY The most important duty in our everyday life is Prayer. On it depends all our happiness. We must, therefore, form clear ideas of how to pray.

Those who understand what prayer is find in it pleasure and delight. Prayer brings us into close, intimate, personal contact with God.

When we pray, Almighty God gives us all His attention. He is looking at us, hearing our every word, ready to give us everything that is good for us. He hears our every prayer.

If, as sometimes happens, we ask for what is not good for us, God does not give us that. Our prayer, however, is not lost, for in this case He gives us something else, something better. We rather gain than lose.

God is infinitely good. He loves us with a boundless love. He is our dearest Father and we are His children. Consequently He readily gives us all that can make us happy. Moreover, He has promised in the most explicit way to hear our prayers.

“Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.” God never breaks His word. Yet many do not seem to believe Him! When they need something they use every possible means of getting it, except the best means of all, viz., prayer.

Prayer is an intimate and loving talk with God. We are really and truly in His presence. It is enough to bear this clearly in mind, and then our prayer becomes an intense consolation.

As in the case of other Christian duties, the trouble about prayer is our ignorance. We have not been properly instructed. The great reality of prayer has not been explained to and impressed upon us.

Two things we do in prayer: We offer God our love and adoration, as the Angels do in Heaven, and we ask Him for all we need. If God seems deaf to our prayers, it is simply because He wishes to prove our faith and confidence in Him. We must pray and pray on.

St. Peter tells us that we must take Heaven by violence, for the violent bear it away. The more we pray, the more we receive. By delaying to hear our prayer, God is actually giving us more and better graces.

We have a touching example of this in the case of the poor woman of Canaan who, crying out, said: “Have mercy on me, O Lord, thou son of David: my daughter is grievously troubled by a devil. ” Who answered her not a word.

And his disciples came and besought him, saying, “Send her away, for she crieth after us.”And he answering, said, I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel. ”

But she came and adored him, saying, “Lord, help me.”

Who answering, said: “It is not good to take the bread of the children, and to cast it to the dogs.”

But she said: “Yea, Lord; for the whelps also eat of the crumbs that fall from the table of their masters.”

Then Jesus [showing all His sweetness and love] answering, said to her, “O woman, great is thy faith, be it done to thee as thou wilt: and her daughter was cured from that hour.” (Matt. 15:22-28).

In this touching story, we see the admirable confidence and perseverance of this poor woman, a striking example for us to follow. We also see how, not only was her daughter cured, but she herself was filled with joy and consolation.

What graces do not those receive who pray in this way, who blindly trust in the goodness of God and who storm His Sacred Heart!

Martyrdom by the little fires of hidden fidelities constantly adhered to, of tormenting temptations courageously and perseveringly repulsed, of the exact and loving fulfillment of duties toward God and neighbor, of prayer faithfully practiced despite disgust, aridity and the pressure of work–is it not a martyrdom? Who can estimate the value of its countless offerings which are not publicized but which cost . . . and which count! -Christ in the Home, (afflink) https://amzn.to/2Y2V1l3

As Sr. Lucia of Fatima said this is a time of diabolical disorientation. We find an amazing type or image of this in the life of St. John of the Cross. To conquer this inversion, as St. John did, we must remain firm and steadfast in our faith and employ the power of the Most Holy Trinity in casting the devil out of our lives. This is always done through the making of the Sign of the Cross. All throughout an exorcism, it is this sign, made in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, that ultimately frees the possessed soul from the grip of Satan and all evil. Let us, then, recognize its goodness, its power and the need to make it well and often… And when the time is right things will change and quickly. The promised victory will be ours….

 

Coloring pages for your children….

 

 

Advent is around the corner! If you use the Catholic Mother’s Traditional Advent Journal, here is your checklist so you are prepared! Journal available here.
E-copy is here.

Work Can Be Prayer and “Offer it Up”

 How to Raise Good Catholic Children, Mary Reed Newland, Sophia Institute Press

Work can be prayer

And that brings us to work as a form of prayer, and helping children understand that work done for the love of God is as tangible an act of love as if they were to run to Him with an embrace.

In the beginning, learning to make our bed, dry the dishes, and polish shoes is fun and a kind of play at being grown up, but soon the novelty wears off, and the chores that started out being fun can lose their glamour and become unpleasant drudgery.

If they are prayer, however, it can be different. Not that tasks we hate doing are suddenly transformed into occasions of great spiritual joy; but there’s a great difference between doing them because you’re told you must, and doing them because they can be applied to the sufferings of some other child somewhere, who has no bed to make, who must spend his nights curled up in a hole, shivering, starved, unhappy, and with no one to care for him.

Then there’s a good reason to try to make our bed with care instead of pulling up the covers to hide the rumples underneath. Then smoothing the sheets, and squaring the corners, and plumping the pillows can be small ceremonies of love from a small girl who does them because Christ can use them as balm for one of His suffering members.

And one of the loveliest things about teaching children that work is prayer is that mothers can’t help having it rub off on them.

These diapers that are changed daily, these meals that are cooked again and again, these floors that are scrubbed today only to get dirty tomorrow — these are as truly prayer in a mother’s vocation as the watches and prayers of the religious are in theirs.

Encourage your child to offer up his sufferings

There is suffering, too, in the lives of children, and it is eloquent prayer. Mere stoicism has no part in the training of a Christian. Too often it’s the death knell to humility.

But suffering embraced and offered to the suffering Christ, even with howls and tears, is a mighty weapon.

The road to Calvary was one long, unending bruise, and it helps a child to remember when he’s hurt that Jesus was hurt like this, and much more, and this pain in a mysterious way can be poured on His wounds and will help make up for the pain He had to bear. Every mother in the world kisses the bumps and bruises of her young to “make them well.”

We can give them something much more tangible to do with their hurts than merely bring them to be kissed. We can comfort and calm and then direct them in the use of the pain, and it’s surprising how willingly they will learn the lesson of pain and its value.

“Offer it up, dear; give it to Jesus to help comfort Him for the pain of the nails in His poor hands and feet.”

Faced as he is with a lifetime of recurring suffering (in one way or another), we give a child the only wholesome weapon to be used when we teach him to take his own pain in his own two hands and apply it freely, as he does work and play and prayer, to the comforting of Christ and His work in His Church.

Many times, parents will turn to scolding the “naughty chair” or the “bad table” in an effort to ease the pain and insult of a child who comes to grief through his own carelessness.

In the process, they feed little desires for vengeance; they give him no recourse but senseless, continuing rebellion against anything and everything that crosses him.

One time, a man who lives in our town was working on his car with no success, growing more and more angry because the cursed (and I do mean cursed) car would not start.

In a rage, finally, he threw his wrench at it, broke a part, and instead of a tricky repair job, he had added to his woes the problem of thumbing a ride to a service station to buy a new part, thumbing a ride back, and starting from scratch to install the new part.

Perhaps his explosion was only the fault of an ungovernable temper, but perhaps — who knows? — it had its beginning long ago in childhood when the only solace for a barked shin was, “Naughty chair to hurt the baby. Kick it back, sonny, kick it back.”

Living in a fallen world, our children are bound to be hurt, both physically and spiritually. We will save them years of wasted opportunities if we teach them that, along with everything else, pain is part of their prayer.

“It is astonishing what undreamed-of qualities a sense of responsibility awakens in a young soul; how the very idea that something depends on her, that she is being trusted, puts our little maid upon her mettle. Therefore it is a good plan to leave to a young daughter some particular duty or duties for which she is entirely responsible. This may of course be a very slight thing to begin with—the dusting of a room, or the arrangement of flowers or books, or the superintendence of the tea-table; but whatever it is, the mother should insist that it be done regularly and at the appointed time. Thus will she teach her child punctuality and a primary lesson in a method, which is the key to all perfect housekeeping. Of course it is a little trouble to the mother to superintend the performance of such little duties, but she will have her reward in the daily increasing helpfulness of the daughter in the home.” – Annie S. Swan, Courtship and Marriage And the Gentle Art of Home-Making, 1894

♥️UPDATE ON BABY CHARLOTTE:
Charlotte is still in the hospital. She has been taken off of everything, including and very recently, the anti-seizure medication. She still has a feeding tube and is being monitored as to how well she is nursing. Z is making daily trips to the hospital and staying for the day. Colin and Z are looking forward to the time when she can be at home and things settle back to some kind of normalcy. Thank you for your prayers! ♥️

Beautiful Vintaj Wire Wrapped Rosary! Lovely, Durable.. Each link is handmade and wrapped around itself to ensure quality. Available here.

 

This is a unique book of Catholic devotions for young children. There is nothing routine and formal about these stories. They are interesting, full of warmth and dipped right out of life. These anecdotes will help children know about God, as each one unfolds a truth about the saints, the Church, the virtues, etc. These are short faith-filled stories, with a few questions and a prayer following each one, enabling the moral of each story to sink into the minds of your little ones. The stories are only a page long so tired mothers, who still want to give that “tucking in” time a special touch, or pause a brief moment during their busy day to gather her children around her, can feel good about bringing the realities of our faith to the minds of her children in a childlike, (though not childish), way. There is a small poem and a picture at the end of each story. Your children will be straining their necks to see the sweet pictures! Through these small stories, parents will sow seeds of our Holy Catholic Faith that will enrich their families all the years to come!

This revised 1922 classic offers gentle guidance for preteen and teenage girls on how to become a godly woman. Full of charm and sentiment, it will help mother and daughter establish a comfortable rapport for discussions about building character, friendships, obedience, high ideals, a cheerful spirit, modest dress, a pure heart, and a consecrated life.

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