SAINTS OF THE DAY – FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 6, 2024
NOVENA TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Novena Starts November 29 – December 7th. Traditionally prayed in preparation for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th [Novena link below]
SAINT ANDREW’S CHRISTMAS NOVENA
[The Saint Andrew’s Christmas Novena prayer below is traditionally prayed 15 times a day from November 30, the Feast of Saint Andrew, through Christmas Eve.]
THE LITURGICAL YEAR IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH [Please see link to this article below]
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? [Please see link to the article below]
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? [Please see link to this article below]
THE HOLY ROSARY: WHAT IS THE HOLY ROSARY AND WHY DO WE PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY? [Please see link to this article below]
Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Friday of the First Week of Advent!
On this Feast day, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints, we pray for God’s grace and mercy and for the safety and well-being of our children and for peace in our family and the whole world and we continue to remember the souls of the faithful departed and the souls in Purgatory. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful ù peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯
“Blessed are those who have died in the Lord; let them rest from their abors for their good deeds go with them.” ~ Rev 14:13
PRAYER FOR THE DEAD: In your hands, O Lord, we humbly entrust our brothers and sisters. In this life, you embraced them with your tender love; deliver them now from every evil, and bid them eternal rest. The old order has passed away: welcome them into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping or pain, but fullness of peace and joy with your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen🙏
Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | December 6, 2024 |
Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | December 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary Novena From Lourdes” | December 6, 2024 |
Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| December 6, 2024 |
Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” oùn YouTube |
Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |
Today’s Bible Readings: Friday December 6, 2024
Reading 1, Isaiah 29:17-24
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:1, 4, 13-14
Gospel, Matthew 9:27-31
THE LITURGICAL YEAR IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/12/03/the-liturgical-year-in-the-catholic-church/
THE HOLY ROSARY: WHAT IS THE HOLY ROSARY AND WHY DO WE PRAY THE HOLY ROSARY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/21/the-holy-rosary-what-is-the-holy-rosary-and-why-do-we-pray-the-holy-rosary/
THE SAINTS: WHO ARE THEY AND HOW ARE THEY CANONISED? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/01/the-saints-who-are-they-and-how-are-they-canonised/
PURGATORY: WHAT IS PURGATORY? | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/2024/11/15/purgatory-and-limbo/
ADVENT PRAYER – FIRST WEEK: The following prayer should be repeated each day during the first week. After the prayer, the family’s youngest child lights the first purple candle. (Family members can also take turns lighting and blowing out the candles on each night.)
LEADER: O Lord, stir up Thy might, we beg Thee, and come, That by Thy protection we may deserve to be rescued from the threatening dangers of our sins and saved by Thy deliverance. Through Christ our Lord. ALL: Amen🙏
(The candle is allowed to burn during evening meals for the first week.)
NOVENA TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Novena starts November 29 – December 7th. Traditionally prayed in preparation for the 34 of the Immaculate Conception on December 8th | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/novena-to-the-blessed-virgin-mary-the-immaculate-conception/
NOVENA TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: INTRODUCTORY PRAYER: O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, did prepare a worthy dwelling place for Your Son, we beseech You that, as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son, You did preserve her from all stain, so too You would permit us, purified through her intercession, to come unto You. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen 🙏
INTERCESSORY PRAYER ~ DAY EIGHT: O Most gracious Virgin Mary, beloved Mother of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer, intercede with Him for us that we be granted the favor which we petition for so earnestly in this novena. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, we feel animated with confidence that your prayers on our behalf will be graciously heard before the throne of God. O Glorious Mother of God, in memory of your joyous Immaculate Conception, hear our prayers and obtain for us our petitions.
(State your personal intention here.)
O Mary of the Immaculate Conception, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your Divine Son while upon this earth; you have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us and obtain for us from Him the granting of my petition if it be the Divine Will. Amen🙏
SAINT ANDREW PRAYER: Beginning on the Feast of St. Andrew (November 30th), the following beautiful prayer is traditionally recited fifteen times a day until Christmas. This is a very meditative prayer that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen”🙏
*SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT NICHOLAS, BISHOP OF MYRA ~ FEAST DAY ~ DECEMBER 6TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Nicholas, Bishop of Myra. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Nicholas during this special season of Advent, we humbly pray for God’s grace and mercy as we prepare for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Praying for hope, faith, love, joy and peace in our world today, as we face these incredibly challenging times. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. We pray for all children, the sick and dying, especially sick children, those who are mentally and physically ill, strokes, heart diseases, and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. Amen🙏
SAINT NICHOLAS, BISHOP OF MYRA: St. Nicholas (270 – 343 A.D.) also known as Saint Nicholas of Myra and Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Lycia Asia Minor (modern-day Demre, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. St. Nicholas is associated with Christmas because of the tradition that he had the custom of giving secret gifts to children. It is also conjectured that the saint, who was known to wear red robes and have a long white beard, was culturally converted into the large man with a reindeer-drawn sled full of toys because in German, his name is “San Nikolaus” which almost sounds like “Santa Claus.” In the East, he is known as St. Nicholas of Myra for the town in which he was bishop. But in the West he is called St. Nicholas of Bari because, during the Muslim conquest of Turkey in 1087, his relics were taken to Bari by the Italians. His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the traditional model of Santa Claus (“Saint Nick”) through Sinterklaas. St. Nicholas of Myra is more than just the inspiration for the modern day Santa. He practiced both the spiritual and corporal works of mercy. He was generous, strove to help the poor and disadvantaged, and worked tirelessly to defend the faith. His legends of generosity and a slip of the tongue from other languages has made St. Nicholas or Sinterklaas into today’s Santa Claus.
Saint Nicholas was born in the last years of the third century in Asia Minor on March 15, 270. He was the only child of a wealthy Greek Christian couple living in what is today the country of Turkey. He was a pious child, and upon the death of his parents St. Nicholas was raised by an uncle who was a bishop. St. Nicholas grew in holiness, was ordained to the priesthood, and eventually consecrated a bishop. His uncle, the archbishop of Myra in Lycia, ordained him and appointed him abbot of a nearby monastery. At the death of the archbishop, St. Nicholas was chosen to fill the vacancy, and he served in this position until his death on December 6, 343 AD. He was famous for generosity to the poor, protection of the wronged, zeal against heresy, and performance of miracles. About the time of the persecutions of Diocletian, St. Nicholas was imprisoned for preaching Christianity but was released during the reign of Emperor Constantine. It is said that he suffered for the Faith under Diocletian, and that he was present at the Council of Nicaea as an opponent of Arianism. St. Nicholas prevailed against the heretic bishop Arius; he was also instrumental in defending the doctrine of Jesus’ divinity and formulating the Nicene Creed.
Popular legends have involved Saint Nicholas in a number of charming stories, one of which relates St. Nicholas’ charity toward the poor. A man of Patara had lost his fortune, and finding himself unable to support his three maiden daughters, was planning to turn them into the streets as prostitutes. St. Nicholas heard of the man’s intentions and secretly threw three bags of gold through a window into the home, thus providing dowries for the daughters. St. Nicholas’ secretly tossed bags of coins into their home served as the girls’ dowry, thus enabling them to marry and be provided for. The money was said to have landed in their stockings drying by the fireplace, which is the origin of gifts in children’s stockings and shoes at Christmastime. The three bags of gold mentioned in this story are said to be the origin of the three gold balls that form the emblem of pawnbrokers. After St. Nicholas’ death in 343, his body was buried in the cathedral at Myra. It remained there until 1087, when seamen of Bari, an Italian coastal town, seized the relics of the saint and transferred them to their own city. Veneration for St. Nicholas had already spread throughout Europe as well as Asia, but this occurrence led to a renewal of devotion in the West. Countless miracles were attributed to the saint’s intercession. His relics are still preserved in the church of San Nicola in Bari; the Basilica of St. Nicholas in Italy. An oily substance, known as Manna di S. Nicola, which is highly valued for its medicinal powers, is said to flow from them. On his feast day they emit a miraculous myrrh, which is distributed around the world.
Many countries have the custom of making St. Nicholas the secret giver of gifts to children on his feast day. In the United States, for example, he is celebrated as “Santa Claus,” who distributes gifts to children on Christmas Eve. St. Nicholas should be seen as a saint, a confessor of the faith and the bishop of Myra — not merely as a jolly man from the North Pole who brings happiness to small children. St. Nicholas of Myra is honored as the Patron Saint of many causes, professions, cities, and countries; but he is most notably the patron of children, sailors, prisoners, and maidens seeking to marry. Many countries and locations honor St. Nicholas as patron: Greece, the Kingdom of Naples, Sicily, Lorraine, and many cities in Italy, Germany, Austria, and Belgium and with Saint Andrew he is honored as the co-patron of Russia. St. Nicholas has always been honored with great veneration in the Latin and Greek Churches. The Russian Church seems to honor him more than any other Saint after the Apostles. St. Nicholas is the Patron Saint of children, students, against imprisonment; against robberies; sex workers; apothecaries; bakers; barrel makers; boatmen; boot blacks; boys; brewers; brides; captives; coopers; dock workers; druggists; fishermen; grooms; judges; lawsuits lost unjustly; longshoremen; maidens; mariners; merchants; murderers; newlyweds; old maids; parish clerks; paupers; pawnbrokers; perfumeries; perfumers; pharmacists; pilgrims; poor people; prisoners; sailors; scholars; schoolchildren; shoe shiners; spinsters; students; repentant thieves; travellers; unmarried girls; watermen; Greek Catholic Church in America; Greek Catholic Union; Bari, Italy; Fossalto, Italy; Duronia, Italy; Portsmouth, England; Greece; Lorraine; Russia; Sicily. St. Nicholas’ feast day is December 6th.
SAINT NICHOLAS’ QUOTE: “The giver of every good and perfect gift has called upon us to mimic God’s giving, by grace, through faith, and this is not of ourselves.”
PRAYER TO SAINT NICHOLAS: O good Saint Nicholas, you who are the joy of the children, put in my heart the spirit of childhood, of which the Gospel speaks, and teach me to seed happiness around me. You, whose feast prepares us for Christmas, open my faith to the mystery of God made man. You, good bishop and shepherd, help me to find my place in the Church and inspire the Church to be faithful to the gospel. O good Saint Nicholas, patron of children, sailors, and the helpless, watch over those who pray to Jesus, your Lord and theirs, as well as over those who humble themselves before you. Bring us all in reverence to the Holy Child of Bethlehem, where true joy and peace are found. Amen🙏
PRAYER TO SAINT NICHOLAS DURING ADVENT: Good St Nicholas, Help us prepare for the miracle of the coming of Jesus. Help us not to be blind to the gifts of getting ready. Help us be sincere in the greetings we send and receive, with love and prayer. Kind St. Nicholas, protect us from shoppers’ fatigue, stress, overspending, yet help us to be kind and generous of heart to all, especially those who are alone, financially poor and fearful. May our celebration of your feast lead others to see the true meaning of giving and receiving and to guide all people to the greatest of all gifts, even Jesus Christ, prince of peace and child of Mary, Our Lord and only savior. Amen🙏
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, we implore Your love and mercy to protect us from all danger. Through the prayer of Saint Nicholas lead us to salvation by paths that are swift and sure. We pray this in the most precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen🙏
SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:
Bible Readings for today, Friday of the First Week of Advent | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading
Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 9:27-31
“Believing in Jesus, two who were blind are cured”
“As Jesus passed by, two blind men followed him, crying out, “Son of David, have pity on us!” When he entered the house, the blind men approached him and Jesus said to them, “Do you believe that I can do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they said to him. Then he touched their eyes and said, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” And their eyes were opened. Jesus warned them sternly, “See that no one knows about this.” But they went out and spread word of him through all that land.”
In today’s Gospel reading, ‘two blind men followed’ Jesus. They were blind, and, yet, they followed Jesus as He went on His way. The two blind men came up to Jesus asking Him to take pity on them. Jesus responds to them initially, not by healing them but by asking them a question, ‘Do you believe that I can do this?’ Jesus first elicited an act of expectant faith from the two blind men before He responded to their cry for help. As the two blind men who approached Jesus lived in darkness, so we have been and still are in dark times. We can easily make our own the prayer of the two men in the Gospel reading, ‘Take pity on us, Son of David’. In response to that cry for help, the Lord is asking us too to have an expectant faith. He calls upon us to believe that he can bring light out of this darkness, that he can bring good out of this evil. There has been blindness at various levels in the church, a moral blindness on the part of those priests who committed the crimes and an institutional blindness on the part of Diocesan authorities in the way they responded. We need the gift of new sight; we all need the ability to see as the Lord sees. In asking to be healed of our blindness, we can have an expectant faith that the Lord will respond to our heartfelt prayer, because, in spite of our failures, the Lord remains faithful to us. He continues to bring the light of life to all who are humble enough to acknowledge their need of it.
In our first reading today, from the Book of the prophet Isaiah we heard of the words of the Lord to His people in the southern kingdom of Judah, reassuring and encouraging them that He would save all of them and bringing them all to His loving embrace, freeing them from their enemies, healing the blind, the lame, deaf and all those who were troubled among them, a promise that He would indeed fulfil by the sending of His salvation into this world through His Son. And this assurance came at a very good time for the people of God who at that time had been suffering a lot from the attacks by their enemies and everyone around them. God reassured them all that He would never abandon them, and if they continue to be faithful to Him they would be certain of God’s providence and love, and will have share in His eternal glory and joy.
As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today during this time and season of Advent, we are all lovingly reminded through the Scriptures of God’s ever generous love and providence, and of everything that He has prepared and given to us all, and how beloved all of us are to Him. We are all constantly being reminded of the need for us to continue having faith and trust in God, believing that He can provide us with everything that we need, and that He can lead us all to true happiness and bring us consolation from all the sufferings and struggles that we may be facing in this world. We have to remember the love that God has for each one of us and His patient care for us always endures even though we have often disobeyed Him and rebelled against Him. While He does chastise us for our sins and disobedience, but He always leaves the way open for us to return to Him through our sincere and genuine repentance and through His generous mercy and forgiveness. This season of Advent, let us all turn back towards the Lord with faith and have the sincere desire to seek the Lord and His forgiveness and mercy, remembering all the love and kindness that He has always shown us, His beloved people and children. Let us repent from our sins and faults, and reject the temptations of sin, seeking instead the hope and light that the Lord has shown us through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour. May the Lord continue to help and strengthen us in our journey and to persevere amidst all the struggles we may encounter in life. In this time and season of Advent, we are all preparing ourselves spiritually and mentally so that we may truly be able to celebrate the upcoming joyous season of Christmas with proper disposition and understanding. Instead of all the excesses of the worldly and secular Christmas that we all may be accustomed to, we are all called to remember that ultimately, Christmas is about Christ, Our Lord and Saviour, and all the joy that He has brought us by His coming into this world, fulfilling all that He has promised to us. Let us all therefore strive to refocus our attention and path in life from now on, and let us all renew our faith in the Lord. Let us remind ourselves and one another of all the love and the kind generosity which God has always shown us, in patiently loving us and caring for our every needs. Let us all truly be worthy and ready to celebrate Christmas with the right disposition, proper focus and understanding of the true significance and meaning of Christmas. And like St. Nicholas of Myra, who we celebrate today, let us all be generous in giving and sharing our many blessings in life, and our Christmas joy, that all of us may rejoice together in the same Lord, our Saviour. May our Advent season be truly blessed and fruitful, and may St. Nicholas of Myra, our holy role model and example in faith, intercede for us to the Lord. May God continue to help us to have a good and fruitful preparation this Advent so that we may come ever closer to His Presence and to live our lives ever more worthily as best as we are able to. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to value each other as much as the Lord values each of us. May the Lord bless us all, in our every good works, efforts and endeavours, and strengthen us in faith as once He has strengthened the faith of St. Nicholas, His servant, our great role model. Amen. Amen🙏
DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF DECEMBER:
MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION: The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Chosen before time to be the Mother of God Incarnate, Jesus Christ, God created Mary perfect and full of grace, preserving her from the stain of Original Sin. Mary Immaculate is the most beautiful fruit of the work of redemption accomplished by her Son, thereby making her the perfect model of holiness for all Christians.
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm
THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER – FOR PILGRIMS OF HOPE: We pray that this Jubilee Year strengthen our faith, helping us to recognize the Risen Christ in our daily lives, and that it may transform us into pilgrims of Christian hope.
https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024
PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:
Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!
Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/
PRAYER INTENTIONS: Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints during this special season of Advent, we humbly pray for God’s grace and mercy as we prepare for the coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ. Praying for hope, faith, love, joy and peace in our world today, as we face these incredibly challenging times. We pray for our children and children all over the world, we pray for their health, safety and well-being, we particularly pray for those who have no one to care for them and those who are terminally ill, we pray for God’s Divine healing upon them. We pray for all parents, all mothers, wives, those going through challenges in their marriages, Victims of verbal and spousal abuse, and we pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. Every life is a gift. We pray for God’s deliverance from impossible causes or situations. For all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, and all those who preach the Gospel. We pray for Vocation to the Priesthood and Religious life. We particularly pray for all Youths and all Seminarians. For the Church, for persecuted Christians, for all the innocent who suffer violence due to political or religious unrest, for the conversion of sinners and Christians all over the world. Amen 🙏
Let us pray:
My true and saving Lord, I commit myself to You and pray that I will come to know and love You as You are. Give me the eyes I need to see You and the mind and heart I need to know and love You. Remove from me any false vision of Who You are and replace within me a true knowledge of You, my Lord. As I come to know You, I offer myself to You so that You may use me to proclaim Your greatness to all. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏
Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, Our Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe….have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Nicholas ~ Pray for us🙏
Thanking God for the gift of this day and praying for justice, peace, love and unity in our families and our world and for God’s Divine Mercy and Grace upon us all. Have a blessed, safe, and grace-filled 1st Week of Advent and relaxing weekend 🙏
Blessings and love always, Philomena💖
Daily Reflections | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com/
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