Author: Resa

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND, CONFESSOR; SAINT GERALD OF AURILLAC AND SAINT LUBENTIUS, PRIEST

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND, CONFESSOR; SAINT GERALD OF AURILLAC AND SAINT LUBENTIUS, PRIEST

    TWENTY-EIGHTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 13, 2024

    OUR LADY OF FATIMA MIRACLE (MIRACLE OF THE SUN): SIXTH APPARITION OF OUR LADY

    Greetings, and blessings beloved family. Happy Sunday of the Twenty-Eighth Week in Ordinary Time and Happy Feast of Our Lady of Fatima!

    On this special Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, may our Blessed Mother Mary Intercede for all those in pain and sorrow. We particularly pray for those mourning the loss of a loved one. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary with all the Angels and Saints of God in Heaven, may we be comforted as we continue to pray for the gentle repose of the souls of our loved ones who recently passed away. We pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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🙏

    On this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    A PRAYER FOR PEACE: Lord Jesus Christ, You are the true King of peace. In You alone is found freedom. Please free our world from conflict. Bring unity to troubled nations. Let Your glorious peace reign in every heart. Dispel all darkness and evil. Protect the dignity of every human life. Replace hatred with Your love. Give wisdom to world leaders. Free them from selfish ambition. Eliminate all violence and war. Glorious Virgin Mary, Saint Michael the Archangel, Every Angel and Saint: Please pray for peace. Pray for unity amongst nations. Pray for unity amongst all people. Pray for the most vulnerable. Pray for those suffering. Pray for the fearful. Pray for those most in need. Pray for us all. Jesus, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Jesus, hear our prayers. Jesus, I trust in You! Amen 🙏

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    Today’s Bible Reading: Sunday, October 13, 2024
    Reading 1, Wisdom 7:7-11
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17
    Gospel, Mark 10:17-30
    Reading 2, Hebrews 4:12-13

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

    Bible Readings for today, Twenty-Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Mark 10:17–30

    “Sell what you have, and follow me”

    “As Jesus was setting out on a journey, a man ran up, knelt down before him, and asked him, “Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good but God alone. You know the commandments: You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; you shall not defraud; honor your father and your mother.” He replied and said to him, “Teacher, all of these I have observed from my youth.” Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing. Go, sell what you have, and give to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me.” At that statement his face fell, and he went away sad, for he had many possessions. Jesus looked around and said to his disciples, “How hard it is for those who have wealth to enter the kingdom of God!” The disciples were amazed at his words. So Jesus again said to them in reply, “Children, how hard it is to enter the kingdom of God! It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” They were exceedingly astonished and said among themselves, “Then who can be saved?” Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.” Peter began to say to him, “We have given up everything and followed you.” Jesus said, “Amen, I say to you, there is no one who has given up house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands for my sake and for the sake of the gospel who will not receive a hundred times more now in this present age: houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and eternal life in the age to come.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, as Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, the city where He would be crucified, a man of great wealth runs up to Him and asks, ‘Good master, what must I do to inherit eternal life?’ It is a question we can make our own. ‘What is the way to life, the path that, if taken, will make me fully alive as a human being here and now and that will open me up to the life of God, eternal life, beyond death?’ This man of great wealth was clearly a good man. He lived by the values of the Ten Commandments. He took his religious duties seriously. Yet, he must have sensed that there was something lacking in his life, that there was something more to life and to his relationship with God. He was not settled; there was restlessness in him. That restlessness led him to put his question to Jesus. In response to his question, Jesus directs this man to his own Jewish tradition, in particular, to the last six of the Ten Commandments, those that concern our relationship with others. Jesus asked him to sell all his possessions, to give the money he would get for them to the poor, and then to follow Him. The man declares to Jesus that he has kept these commandments of God since his earliest days. He was clearly a good man but he felt called to take another step in his relationship with God. He had a longing for something deeper. The Gospel reading declares that ‘Jesus looked steadily at him and loved him’. God was looking upon this man with love through Jesus. The way Jesus looked at this man is the way the risen Lord looks at each one of us. He looks steadily at us and loves us as we seek the path of life that God is calling us to take. The man discovered, to his sadness, that he could not live with the answer he received from Jesus. For this particular man, the call of Jesus was a bridge too far. Instead of following Jesus, he walked away sad.

    It was out of His love for this wealthy man that Jesus then invited him to take another step on his faith journey, a more demanding one. Jesus calls him to detach himself from his great wealth, to give the proceeds to the poor and then to follow him as a disciple on the road to Jerusalem. Jesus was giving him that same radical call that he had earlier given to Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew and others, all of whom left everything to walk with Jesus and learn from Him. Jesus did not insist that everyone who wanted to be his disciple should sell everything they owned. Mary and Martha who provided hospitality for Jesus were certainly among his followers and Jesus did not ask them to sell their home. The Lord’s general call to us to become His disciple will always take on a very personal form for each one of us. Within the broad path we are all called to take, the Lord has a very particular path for each of us. If we listen for that very personal call and try to respond to it we will find that path of life which the man wanted to take. The Lord’s very personal call to this man, however, was a step too far for him. The was too attached to his great wealth to respond to Jesus’ call. It seems that he had a stronger desire for his possessions than he had for eternal life. His wealth had such a hold on him that he lacked the freedom to do what Jesus was asking him to do, which was to join his inner circle of disciples. The man had asked, ‘What must I do?’ and when Jesus answered his question he couldn’t live with the answer. Having excitedly run up to Jesus with his burning question, he walks away sad. Jesus’ own heart must have been sad too as He watched this well intentioned man walk away. Jesus had looked upon him in love. If the man kept his eyes on Jesus and allowed himself to receive Jesus’ great love for him, rather than focus on his wealth, he may have found the strength to go where Jesus was calling him.

    Often our hesitation before the Lord’s call can come from a feeling that I am not going to be able do this. That may well be the truth. However, when the Lord calls us, He does not leave us to our own abilities. In calling us, He also enables us. That is the meaning of Jesus’ saying in today’s Gospel reading, ‘for people it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God’. When the Lord calls us, He also invites us to rely on the strength that He will give us. Perhaps the rich man found it difficult to trust that the Lord would provide. His initial question could be heard as, ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Jesus suggests that the emphasis is not to be placed so much on what I do but, rather, on what the Lord can do in us and through us. This is the spirit of today’s responsorial psalm, where the psalmist prays, ‘Lord, give success to the work of our hands’. Responding to the Lord’s call does involve work on our part, but the success of that work has more to do with the Lord than with us. He enables us to do what we cannot do on our own. That is why, like Solomon in today’s first reading, we need to approach our work, our calling, in a spirit of prayer, asking for the wisdom and the strength that only the Lord can give. As Jesus says in today’s Gospel reading, ‘for people it is impossible, but not for God: because everything is possible for God’. When the Lord calls us, He invites us to rely on the strength that He gives us. The wealthy man in the Gospel reading had perhaps come to rely too much on himself, on his own possessions. The Lord enables us to do what we cannot do on our own. From the moment of our baptism His Spirit is at work in our lives. Our baptismal calling is to allow that Spirit to empower and shape us as we follow the Lord’s very personal call to each of us.

    As we reflect on the words of the Lord in the Sacred Scripture this Sunday, all of us are reminded that we are all truly blessed that we have the Lord our God, Who has always cared for us and never ceased to send us help whenever we need that help. The Lord has a very personal calling for each one of us. He calls us to be His disciple in a way that is suited to the circumstances of our own lives. Whatever our circumstances, He is always inviting us to grow in our relationship with Him, to deepen our faith in Him, to be more generous, more radical, in the way we live our faith. We too can find ourselves held back from answering the Lord’s call by some excessive attachment in our life. Yet, if we can entrust ourselves to the Lord who looks upon us in love, and keep our focus on Him, He will empower us to take the life-giving step He calls us to take. Jesus goes on to say to His disciples, ‘Everything is possible for God’. God lovingly at work through the risen Lord makes it possible for us to take the path that corresponds to the deepest longings of our hearts. As Saint Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians, ‘I can do all things through him who gives me strength’. May the Lord, our most loving God and Father, continue to guide and strengthen us in our journey of faith through our lives, and may He empower each and every one of us with the courage and the willingness to walk in His path, so that in all things we may always ever be faithful and committed to His cause. May all of us dedicate our time and effort, that we may become ever better and ever more faithful role models and inspirations of our Christian faith, in all opportunities and at all times. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to come to know the Lord with our heart and our mind so that we can reveal Him to others and lead them to Him. May God bless our every good efforts and endeavours, our works and dedications, at all times. Amen 🙏

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 13, 2023 | OUR LADY OF FATIMA MIRACLE (MIRACLE OF THE SUN): SIXTH APPARITION OF OUR LADY | MEMORIAL OF SAINT EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND, CONFESSOR; SAINT GERALD OF AURILLAC AND SAINT LUBENTIUS, PRIEST: Today, we celebrate the 107th anniversary of the final (sixth) apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal; the Miracle of the Sun and the Memorial of Saint Edward III, King of England, Confessor; Saint Gerald of Aurillac and Saint Lubentius, Priest. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for all those seeking for life partners, may God grant their heart’s desires, we pray for all marriages, especially those difficult and struggling marriages, separated spouses,  we pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill, the blind, disabled, handicapped and physically challenged, those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted Christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    OUR LADY OF FATIMA MIRACLE (MIRACLE OF THE SUN): Today, October 13, 2024, marks the 107th anniversary of the final (sixth) apparition of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal. Today in Fatima on October 13, 1917, the marvelous Miracle of the dancing Sun took place in the sky before about 70,000 – 100, 000 witnesses from every walk of life and profession, including journalists and photographers. This event was a manifestation of God’s almighty power to save humanity from eternal damnation. The miracle of the dancing sun; a miracle that not only proved the validity of the Fatima Marian apparitions, but also shattered the prevalent belief at the time that God was no longer relevant. For several weeks, the news of the apparition of the “Lady” and the miracle she promised to do had spread. Among the significant things that happened during that day ‘Miracle of the Sun’. The story begins in the village of Fatima, Portugal, on May 13, 1917. On that fateful day near that tiny village, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God, appeared to three young peasant children: Francisco, Jacinta, and Lucia; ages 10, 9 and 7. As was the custom, these youngsters were tending their family’s sheep when “a Lady all in white, more brilliant than the sun… indescribably beautiful,” standing above a bush, appeared to the youngsters. From May through October 1917, the Lady appeared and spoke to the children on the 13th day of each month. News of these apparitions began to spread throughout the region. The children recounted that the Virgin told them that God had sent her with a message for every man, woman, and child living in the century. She promised that God would grant peace to the entire world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed. While many people believed the children had actually seen the Virgin, many others discounted the children’s story, subjecting them to much derision and ridicule. When it became known the Lady would visit the children for the last time on October 13, 1917, and had promised a sign that would convince the world she had appeared, many pilgrims made plans to attend.

    Though the region had been subjected to three days of torrential downpour, about 70,000 – 100, 000 people journeyed through the heavy rain and mud to the place of the previous apparitions to witness the predicted miracle. Many were scornful, unbelievers whose sole intent was to discredit the children’s stories. Suddenly the “clouds separated…and the sun appeared between them in the clear blue, like a disk of white fire.” The people could look at the sun without blinking and while they gazed upward, the huge ball began to “dance”. The huge fireball whirled rapidly with dizzy and sickening speed, flinging out all sorts of brilliant colors that reflected on the faces of the crowds. The fiery ball continued to gyrate in this manner three times, then seemed to tremble and shudder, and plunge in a mighty zigzag course toward the earth. The crowd was terrified, fearing this was the end of the world. However, the sun reversed course and, retracing its zigzagging course, returned to its normal place in the heavens. All of this transpired in approximately ten minutes. After realizing they were not doomed, the crowd began ecstatically laughing, crying, shouting and weeping. Many discovered their previously drenched clothing to be perfectly dry.

    After what has become to be known as “The Miracle of the Sun,” the children were grilled many, many times, about what they had seen and been told. Their story never changed. The heart of Our Lady’s message to the world is contained in what has become known as the “Secret,” which she confided to the children in July 1917. The “Secret” actually consists of three parts. The first part of the “Secret” was a frightening vision of hell, “where the souls of poor sinners go,” and contained an urgent plea from Our Lady for acts of prayer and sacrifice to save souls, with particular emphasis on praying of the rosary and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. The second part of the “Secret” specifically prophesied the outbreak of World War II and contained the prediction of the immense damage that Russia would do to humanity by abandoning the Christian faith and embracing Communists’ totalitarianism. The third part was not revealed until 2000. Its revelation coincided with the beatification of Francisco and Jacinta. It did not contain any striking or cataclysmic prediction, but, instead, the vision supported and affirmed the immense suffering endured by witnesses of the faith in the last century of the second millennium. Sister Lucia, the surviving member of the Fatima trio, confirmed that in the vision “the Bishop clothed in white,” who prays for all the faithful, is the Pope. As he makes his way with great difficulty towards the Cross amid the corpses of those who were martyred (bishops, priests, men and women religious and many lay people), he too falls to the ground, apparently dead, under a hail of gunfire. It is possible that the vision predicted the 1981 attack on Pope John Paul II’s life. The Pope has always credited the Virgin for his survival. Or it may be a portrayal of the Church’s continued struggle against secularism and anti-Christian movements and a continuing call to prayer, sacrifice and devotion to Our Lady of Fatima.

    “Pray the Holy Rosary everyday to obtain peace for the world”

    HAIL MARY: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen.🙏

    THE MEMORARE: Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine 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 🙏

    Blessed Mother of God, Our Lady of Fatima ~ Pray for us 🙏

    SAINT EDWARD III, KING OF ENGLAND, CONFESSOR: St. Edward III, also known as Saint Edward the Confessor (1003-1066) was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy and the grandson of St. Edward, king and martyr. He passed his youth in exile with his uncle, a Norman leader. He became king of England at the age of forty-seven, called to the throne of England in 1042. He was England’s first Anglo-Saxon and only King to be canonized. As king he was noted for his gentleness, humility, detachment and angelic purity. In an environment of sin he preserved innocence of life. Yielding to pressure, he married, but is said to have retained virginity during his whole married life, preserving perfect chastity in his wedded life. So little was his heart set on riches that he freely dispensed his goods at the palace gate to the sick and poor. He was generous to the poor, had a deep piety, purity, and love for God. His touch had the power to heal. His reign was one of almost continuous peace. He sought to put into practice the Christian ideals for a ruler, with the help of God’s grace. His first efforts were directed toward a renewal of religion in the hearts of his people. Priests were invited into his kingdom, the people were prosperous and ruined churches were rebuilt. All spoke affectionately of the wise measures of the “good King Edward.”

    He had a particular devotion to the holy Apostles Saint Peter and Saint John the Evangelist, and had made a promise never to refuse an alms asked in the name of the latter. One day when he had no money with him, a poor man reached out his hand in the name of the Apostle, and the king gave him a valuable ring he was wearing. Some time later, Saint John appeared to two pilgrims returning from the Holy Land. He gave them a ring and said: Take it to the king; he gave it to me one day when I asked for an alms in the habit of a pilgrim. Tell him that in six months I will visit him and take him with me, to follow the unblemished Lamb. The King received it from them after hearing their relation of this incident, and broke into tears. The King ordered public prayer to be said for himself and King Edward did indeed die in the Lord six months later on the day foretold, on January 5, 1066. Many miracles occurred at his tomb. In 1102 his body was exhumed and found intact and flexible, with its habits perfectly preserved also, appearing to be new. He was canonized in 1161 by Pope Alexander III. In 1163, St. Thomas Becket interred his incorrupt body to Westminster Abbey. St. Edward is the Patron Saint of difficult marriages and separated spouses, English royal family, Kings. Today his name is called upon when marriages are struggling to survive in a world where to many marriage is treated as less than sacred.

    Saint Edward III, King of England ~ Pray for us 🙏

    SAINT GERALD OF AURILLAC: St. Gerald of Aurillac (855-909) Consecrated Celibate Noble Layman (855 in Aurillac, France – 909 at Cenezac, France) led a saintly life in the world at a particularly decadent and disordered period. St. Gerald was born into the Gallo-Roman nobility at Aurillac, the son of Count Gerard and Saint Adeltrude of Aurillac. St. Gerald  suffered from several illnesses in his youth, and eventually went blind. Upon his father‘s death, St. Gerald succeeded his noble father as Count of Auvergne and owner of considerable estates. Filled with love of God and neighbor, he gave away much of his revenue and possessions to the poor, avoided all extravagance and worldly pomp, and lived a simple and prayerful life, dedicating himself to God and service. He conscientiously fulfilled all the duties of a wealthy nobleman and was careful to deal with everyone fairly and justly. Although he had wished to enter religious life and had been educated as a cleric, he never joined an order or house, he lived in chastity, and recited the Divine Office each day. Built a church and abbey on his property. This Saint delighted in studies, prayer, and meditation instead of the worldly pursuits of the noble classes. Rising at two o’clock every morning, he devoutly recited the first part of the Divine Office and attended Mass; the rest of the day was then divided according to a rule, with much of it set aside for communing with God and reading.

    St. Gerald made several pilgrimages to Rome and, despite many difficulties, on returning from a pilgrimage to Rome, in 894 established the Abbey of aurillac, which he placed under papal protection. The Benedictine monastery at Aurillac that went on to attain widespread fame. St. Gerald himself pondered joining the monastery but St. Gausbert, Bishop of Cahors, helped him realize that his true vocation lay in working in the world for the glory of God. Seven years before his death, he was afflicted with blindness, which he bore with Christian resignation. He died in 909 and became known throughout France as a result of a biography written by St. Odo of Cluny. St. Gerald was celebrated for his justice as a ruler, his many devotions (including recitation of the Divine Office), his lifelong chastity, and his gift of healing. St. Gerald was buried in the church at Aurillac which now bears his name. Although his popular cult began immediately and has been confirmed, he is little known outside France. Saint Gerald, considered by his Church and his followers as a great example of a celibate Christian aristocrat, is the Patron Saint of counts and bachelors. Because of his poor health and blindness, he is also the Patron Saint of disabled, handicapped and physically challenged people, Aurillac, France, Upper Auvergne, France.

    PRAYER: Lord God, You alone are holy and no one is good without You. Through the intercession of St. Gerald, help us to live in such a way that we may not be deprived of a share in Your glory. Amen 🙏
     
    SAINT LUBENTIUS, PRIEST: St. Lubentius (d. 370), a spiritual student of Saint Martin of Tours. Ordained by Saint Maximinus of Trier, he served as parish priest in Kobern, Germany and was an evangelist along the river Lahn in the Moselle region of Germany. St. Lubentius was delivered by his parents when a small child, to St. Martin of Tours, to educate him. St. Martin baptised him and treated him as a son. Martin later sent him to Bishop St. Maximinus of Trier in Germany, to be educated for the priesthood. When Lubentius came of canonical age, Maximinus ordained him Priest. He worked as a parish priest in Kobern. In 349, St. Maximinus died while visiting relatives in Acquitaine. His successor, St. Paulinus of Trier, sent Lubentius to retrieve the saint’s body. St. Lubentius traveled to Acquitaine and after a diligent search, discovered the church where St. Maximinus’ body had been buried. He and his companions obtained the keys to the Church from the sleeping custodian and made off with the body, bringing it back to Trier.

    According to the records of the 12th century, he worked as a missionary along the Lahn River and founded a church at Dietkirchen. He died in Kobern. His body was interred in the collegiate church of Saint Lubentius in Dietkirchen, Limburg, Germany. Some relics were granted to Kell, Andernach, Germany, some relics to Lahnstein, Germany, and also to Trier, Germany.

    Saint Lubentius, Priest ~ Pray for us 🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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:

    Most demanding Lord, Your invitation to discipleship is an invitation to surrender every sinful attachment over to You so as to be freed of those sins. You ask and demand of me everything, dear Lord. May I accept Your demands of holy love and respond generously, holding nothing back, so that I can share in the riches of the Kingdom. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Our Lady of Fatima; Saint Edward III, King of England; Saint Gerald of Aurillac and Saint Lubentius ~ 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 Sunday and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

    Daily Reflections | https://dailyreflectionswithphilomena.com

    Foundation | https://gliopiepehe.org

    Sir G.L.I Opiepe’s Health and Education Foundation |

  • FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY – OCTOBER 7TH

    FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY – OCTOBER 7TH

    • The Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is a Catholic holiday that celebrates the Virgin Mary and the power of the Rosary prayer.
    • It is celebrated annually on October 7th.
    • The holiday has its roots in the 16th century, when Pope Pius V established it to honor the victory of the Holy League over the Ottoman Empire in the Battle of Lepanto.
    • Today, Catholics celebrate the holiday by reciting the Rosary, attending mass, and participating in other religious ceremonies.

    Looking to deepen your understanding of the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary? This free PDF download will provide you with a wealth of information and insights about the holiday, including its history, traditions, and significance in Catholic culture. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to learn more about this important religious celebration!

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT BRUNO, PRIEST AND BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER, VIRGIN

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT BRUNO, PRIEST AND BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER, VIRGIN

    TWENTY-SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 6, 2024

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family. Happy Sunday of the Twenty-Seventh Week in Ordinary Time!

    On this special day, please keep me and my family in your thoughts and prayers as I celebrate my birthday today, thank you and God bless!

    Today, on this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We continue to pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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 and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 6, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | October 6, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary for Peace with Pope Francis” | LIVE Basilica of St. Mary Major | October 6, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 6, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 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: Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | October 6, 2024
    Reading 1, Genesis 2:18-24
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
    Reading 2, Hebrews 2:9-11
    Gospel, Mark 10:2-16

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B) | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Mark 10:2–16

    “Therefore what God has joined together, let no human being separate”

    “The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, “Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?” They were testing him. He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?” They replied, “Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her.” But Jesus told them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.” Then he embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus presents his ideal, God’s ideal, for marriage. His teaching went against the grain in the Jewish world of His time. The Jewish law made provision for divorce. The only issue of debate among the religious leaders was the grounds for divorce. One school of rabbis favoured very lenient grounds; another school insisted on much stricter grounds. According to the Jewish law it was only the man who could initiate divorce proceedings, whatever the grounds. The woman was not free to do the same. The divorce laws gave a freedom to men that it did not give to women, and it left women very vulnerable to being cut adrift by their husbands. The writ of divorce that the husband had to put into his wife’s hand gave her only limited protection, enabling her to marry again. In that context, Jesus’ teaching was intended to protect women. It reminded men in particular of their obligation to love their wives, to honour their wives as they would their own body, rather than seeing her almost as a piece of property that they could dispose of when it suited them. Jesus went back beyond what the Jewish law had come to allow to God’s original intention as expressed in the Book of Genesis, according to which husband and wife are to become one body, one loving union.

    There is a wonderful vision of marriage developed St Paul he developed it when he stated that the union between a husband and wife is a reflection of the union between Christ and his church and that husbands are to love their wives, and wives their husbands, as Christ loves the church. Those who come to the church to be married are drawn by this vision of Jesus for marriage. It is not by accident that one of the most frequently chosen readings for the wedding liturgy is that of Paul’s great hymn to love in 1 Corinthians 13: ‘Love is patient, love is kind…’ Here indeed is Jesus’ ideal for married love, the spelling out of what it means to live as one body. Yet, we are all aware that the gap between that ideal and the real can be very great, in marriage as much as in other areas of life. Marriages do break down, sometimes irretrievably so. Jesus must have been very aware of this. His attitude towards those who were not living according to his ideal for marriage was always characterized by sensitivity and respect. The way the gospels show him relating to the Samaritan woman and to the women caught in the act of adultery shows this.Jesus it seems could present the ideal clearly and at the same time make allowances for the reality of people’s lives which often fell far short of the ideal. There is a message here for all of us, not just in relation to marriage but in relation to other areas of life. We need ideals and values that will stretch us, that will put before us a way that does justice to what is best in us, to what we are capable of, with God’s help. We will find such ideals and values in the message and life of Jesus. However, we also need an assurance that when we fail to live out these values, for whatever reason, we remain graced people who are loved by God and continue to be called into communion with God’s Son. We will find such an assurance too in the message and life of Jesus.

    We know from our own experience that that not all marriages reflect the ideal that Jesus places before us in today’s Gospel reading. Many of us will have relatives whose marriages have not lasted. The Gospels are clear that although Jesus presented a certain vision for human relationships, including within marriage, he did not condemn those who feel short of that vision. All of us, married or single, are called to love one another as the Lord has loved us, and we all fail in our response to that call. It is in those moments of weakness and failure that the second part of today’s Gospel reading has most to say to us, ‘anyone who does not welcome the kingdom of God like a little child will not enter it’. We stand before the Lord with a child-like heart, in our weakness and vulnerability, open and receptive to the great gift of the Lord’s love that is given to us unconditionally. It is that gift which empowers us to keep reaching towards the goal, the ideal, the Jesus puts before us all.

    In our first reading this Sunday from the Book of Genesis, we heard of the account of the moment after the time when God created the first Man, Adam, in His own image, and saw that it is not good for man to be alone, just as the Lord Himself was not alone, but existing as always in the perfect unity of Three Divine Persons of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, the belief that we have in the Holy Trinity, of the Oneness of God Who exists in the Three Divine Persons, sharing perfectly the indivisible unity of love because God is indeed Love, with the love that is shared by the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit overflows to all of us mankind and to all of His Creation. He has no need for any one of us or for Creation, and yet, He created us all because He desired to share this love with us all. That was why He created us in the first place, and in order to share in this unity, He also therefore created us man and woman, so that we may have one another and may share in the union between us, a union of love through which we may procreate and form new life, through the sacred union between man and woman that God had decreed, and He had also made woman from the parts of man, in order to show that through the union of man and woman, therefore we are made whole by this sacred union, which we describe as marriage, or holy matrimony. This sacred union is one that is blessed by God and mandated by Him for all of us to procreate and to inherit the whole world, all that God had created for each and every one of us. And ideally, through this loving union with one another, and with God Himself, all of us should have existed in harmony and peace. But, because we disobeyed God, we fell into sin and were removed from the state of grace, hence, suffering in this world.

    In our second reading this Sunday from the Epistle to the Hebrews, the author of this Epistle shared with all of us that despite this fate we are facing, our sufferings due to our rebellions and sins, God still loved us all nonetheless, and from the very beginning, He had wanted to redeem us all and bring us to His loving Presence once again, and He did all these by sending unto us His messengers and prophets, proclaiming His salvation which He would indeed fulfil through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Through Christ, all of us have seen the Lord’s love manifested in the flesh, as He assumed our own human existence, our flesh and human nature, becoming tangible, real and approachable for us to come towards and touch, and through His loving Presence, all of us are reminded of how beloved we all have been by God, at all times. As the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews shared with us that the Lord Jesus came to us to share with us His love, the love of God that is ever generous and compassionate, reaching out to us all, even to the most marginalised and to everyone who had been separated from Him and kept apart from His love by our sins. By His most loving and selfless sacrifice on the Cross, Our Lord Himself has opened for us the gates of Heaven and showed us the path to eternal life, true happiness and fullness of glory with Him, to regain for ourselves what we have always been intended to experience, that is not the sufferings due to our sins, but the pure bliss and happiness, the sharing in the fullness of God’s love and grace as He has always intended for us before we fell into sin and darkness.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures this Sunday, we are all reminded of everything that God had done for us, in His creation of us mankind, whom He has created lovingly in His own image, meant to share the fullness of His glory and majesty, His joy and happiness through all that He had made in this world. He has always desired that we live together in harmony and happiness, joy and satisfaction, to enjoy forever the fullness of His love and grace, and to be truly blessed and wonderful in all things. However, our disobedience against Him and our surrender to the many temptations and allures of worldly pleasures all around us had led us down into this path of darkness and downfall, which led us to wander in this world and suffer the consequences of our disobedience and lack of faith. Through what we have heard in this Sunday’s Scripture passages, let us all therefore remind ourselves first of all of God’s most generous love and kindness, His compassionate love and mercy, and all that He has reassured and promised us all. And as part of God’s One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, as His beloved and holy people, let us always uphold the sacred institution of marriage, the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, the foundation of our holy and devout families, which themselves are the foundations and pillars of support for the Church of God. As long as our families are united in God and blessed by Him, and as long as each one of us as members of God’s holy and devout families continue to worship the Lord together and put Him as the centre and focus of our families, the Church will always be strong against all the attacks from the evil ones. May the Lord, our ever loving God, Father and Creator continue to be with us all and bless each and every one of us in our journey of faith. May He continue to strengthen us all in faith, and allow us all to follow Him ever more faithfully and worthily in each and every moments of our lives, now and forevermore. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace as we grow ever more faithful and courageous in proclaiming the Good News of God in all of every moments of our lives, now and always. Amen🙏🏽

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT BRUNO, PRIEST AND BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER, VIRGIN ~ FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 6, 2024: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Bruno, Priest and Blessed Marie Rose Durocher, Virgin. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy upon us all. We pray for the poor, the needy and the most vulnerable. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    SAINT BRUNO, PRIEST: St. Bruno of Cologne (1030-1101) was born to a noble and prominent family in Cologne, Germany in about 1030. He was the founder of the Carthusian order of monks who remain notable for their strictly traditional and austere rule of contemplative life. His mother was St. Matilda, patroness of Maude, widow of King Henry I. Excepting St. Norbert, he is the only German having that honor. His contemporaries called him the light of the Church, the flower of the clergy, the glory of Germany and France.
    Early in life he was a canon at Cologne and Rheims. He was well educated and excelled in his studies, and became a priest around the year 1055. Returning to Reims the following year, he soon became head of the school he had attended there, after its director Heriman left to enter consecrated religious life in 1057. He directed and taught at the episcopal school at Reims for many years, nearly two decades earning a reputation as a learned scholar and acquiring an excellent reputation as a philosopher and theologian, until he was named chancellor of the local diocese in 1075. After also serving as the chancellor of his archdiocese, he and a few companions left their positions in the diocese in order to follow a path of greater religious observance. He decided to leave the world and pursue a life of complete solitude and prayer. The persecution by the simoniacal archbishop of Rheims, Manasses, hastened his resolve to enter a life of solitude (1084). He settled in the Chartreuse Mountains in France with a small group of scholars who, like himself, desired to become contemplative monks. This was the beginning of the Carthusian order founded by St. Bruno, combining the solitary life of hermits with the conventual life of religious observance. Legend puts it this way. A famous professor had died. While the Office of the Dead was being chanted at his funeral, he suddenly raised himself up from the coffin and said: “By the just judgment of God have I been accused, judged, damned.” Thereupon Bruno renounced the world. He received from Hugo, bishop of Grenoble, a site called Chartreuse (from the color of the surrounding hills) as a place of residence.

    In 1088, one of Bruno’s former students was elected as Pope Urban II. Six years into his life as an alpine monk, Bruno was called to leave his remote monastery to assist the Pope in his struggle against a rival papal claimant as well as the hostile Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV. St. Bruno served as a close adviser to the Pope during a critical period of reform. Around this time, he also rejected another chance to become a bishop, this time in the Italian region of Calabria. While he obtained the Pope’s permission to return to monastic life, Bruno was required to remain in Italy to help the Pope periodically, rather than returning to his monastery in France. During the 1090s Bruno befriended Count Roger of Sicily and Calabria, who granted land to his group of monks and enabled the founding of a major monastery in 1095. The monks were known, then as now, for their strict practice of asceticism, poverty, and prayer; and for their unique organizational form, combining the solitary life of hermits with the collective life of more conventional monks. The Order founded by Bruno is one of the strictest in the Church. These alpine monks embraced a strictly disciplined life of poverty, labor, prayer, and fasting.  Carthusians follow the Rule of St. Benedict, but accord it a most austere interpretation; there is perpetual silence and complete abstinence from flesh meat (only bread, legumes, and water are taken for nourishment). Bruno sought to revive the ancient eremitical way of life. His Order enjoys the distinction of never becoming unfaithful to the spirit of its founder, never needing a reform. Six years after initiating the foundation, Bruno was called to Rome by Pope Urban II as personal counselor to assist with the troubles and controversies rocking the Church. He complied with a heavy heart. St. Bruno became a close advisor to the Pope and was allowed to return to monastic life only if he remained nearby within Italy. However, when the Pope was forced to flee to Campania because of Emperor Henry IV, St. Bruno found a wilderness similar to that of Chartreuse at La Torre; there he made a second foundation in 1095, which blossomed into a flourishing community. Here in September, 1101, he became severely ill. Having called together his followers, St. Bruno made a public confession and died on October 6, 1101, at the age of seventy-one. He’s the Patron Saint of diabolic possession; Ruthenia. Veneration of St. Bruno was given formal approval in 1514, and extended throughout the Latin Rite in 1623. More recently, his Carthusian Order was the subject of the 2006 documentary film “Into Great Silence,” chronicling the life of monks in the Grand Chartreuse monastery. His feast day is celebrated on October 6th.

    QUOTES OF SAINT BRUNO
    ☆”By your work you show what you love and what you know.”
    ☆”The cross is steady while the world is turning.” “While the world changes, the cross stands firm.”
    ☆”For when the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through places without water, seeking rest; and not finding. . .”
    ☆”For the devil may tempt the good, but he cannot find rest in them; for he is shaken violently, and upset, and driven out, now by their prayers, now by their tears of repentance, and now by their almsgiving and similar good works.”

    PRAYER: God, You called St. Bruno to serve You in solitude. Through his intercession, grant that amidst the many affairs of this world we may always have time for You. Amen 🙏

    BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER, VIRGIN: Bl. Marie Rose (1811-1849) was born Eulalie Durocher on October 6, 1811 at St. Antoine in Quebec, Canada. She was the tenth of eleven children. She was drawn to the religious life, but turned away because of her frail health. After her education at the hands of the Sisters of Notre Dame, for 12 years she assisted her brother, a parish priest, as a housekeeper and in the process established the first Canadian parish Sodality for young women. She lived a life of great poverty and remained unswerving in her concern for the poor.

    In 1843, the she was invited and encouraged by Bishop Bourget to found a new congregation of women dedicated to Christian education. Accordingly she founded the Sisters of the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary and took the religious name Marie Rose. Her religious order was dedicated to Christian education, especially for the poor. Under her saintly and wise leadership, her community flourished in spite of all kinds of obstacles, including great poverty and unavoidable misunderstandings. She remained unswerving in her concern for the poor. Worn out by her many labors, Marie Rose was called to her heavenly reward on October 6, 1849, at the age of 38, died of natural causes. This Order first came to the U.S. in 1859. Bl. Marie-Rose was beatified and declared Blessed on May 23, 1982 by Pope John Paul II. She’s the Patron Saint of bodily ills; loss of parents; illness; frail health.

    QUOTES OF BLESSED MARIE ROSE DUROCHER
    ☆”Let us pray, let us suffer and let us trust”
    ☆”To a novice leaving religious life, Marie-Rose said: “Do not imitate those persons who, after having spent a few months as postulant or novice in a community, dress differently, even ludicrously. You are returning to the secular state. My advice is, follow the styles of the day, but from afar, as it were.”

    PRAYER: O Lord, You enkindled in the heart of Blessed Marie Rose Durocher the flame of an ardent charity and a burning desire to collaborate, as a teacher, in the mission of the Church. Inspire our hearts with that same charity so that we may lead our brothers and sisters to the bliss of eternal life. Amen 🙏
     
    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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:

    Lord of the Covenant, Your love is perfect. It is pure, it is selfless, self-giving, total and irrevocable. Please help me to love You with this same love so that I can share in the divine marriage covenant to which I am called. May this holy love also overflow into every relationship so that You will be the foundation of those holy bonds. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Bruno and Blessed Marie Rose Durocher ~ 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 Sunday and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN; BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST; SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN AND SAINT PLACID, MARTYR

    MEMORIAL SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN; BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST; SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN AND SAINT PLACID, MARTYR

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 5TH

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family. Happy Saturday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time!

    Today, on this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We continue to pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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 and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 5, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | October 5, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 5, 2024 |

    https://youtu.be/Sh-o6qgVH68?si=TrPiipH7ikCNpjUl

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 5, 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: Saturday, October 5, 2024
    Reading 1, Job 42:1-3, 5-6, 12-16
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 119:66, 71, 75, 91, 125, 130
    Gospel, Luke 10:17-24

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN; BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST; SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN AND SAINT PLACID, MARTYR – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 5TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, Virgin; Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, Priest; Saint Flora, Virgin and Saint Placid, Martyr. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mental and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    SAINT MARIA FAUSTINA KOWALSKA, VIRGIN: St. Maria Faustina Kowalska (1905-1938) was born and baptized with the name Helena Kowalska on August 25, 1905 to a poor but devout Polish family She was the third of ten children, born in what is now west-central Poland. She grew up during the tough years leading up to and following the first World War, and received little formal education. She worked as a housekeeper in three cities before joining the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy in Krakow in 1925, at the age of twenty with very little education, and having been rejected from several other convents because of her poverty and lack of education. There, she took the name Sr. Faustina and spent time in convents in both Poland and Lithuania. There she was given simple, humble jobs which hid her deep interior life. She worked as a cook, gardener and porter in three of their houses. In addition to carrying out her work faithfully, generously serving the needs of the sisters and the local people, Sister Faustina’s deep interior life included receiving revelations from the Lord Jesus, messages that she recorded in her diary at the request of Christ and of her confessors. Throughout her life, Jesus appeared to Sr. Faustina. She was graced with mystical visions and revelations from Jesus, as well as her Guardian Angel and certain Saints. Jesus gave her the mission to proclaim His infinite, powerful, loving mercy to the whole world, especially to hardened sinners and those facing the hour of their death. Jesus asked her to become an apostle and secretary of His mercy, by writing down His messages of Divine Mercy for the world in her diary. Jesus also asked Sr. Faustina to have an image painted of his Divine Mercy, with red and white rays issuing from his heart, and to spread devotion to the Divine Mercy novena. Sr. Faustina, as Jesus’ “secretary and apostle of Divine Mercy”, faithfully recorded these messages in great detail in a nearly 700-page diary. In it she promoted devotion to the Divine Mercy of Jesus Christ as instructed by Our Lord Himself, now famous throughout the Church, and a great consolation for many souls who would otherwise fear to approach God because of their burden of sin.

    At a time when some Catholics had an image of God as such a strict judge that they might be tempted to despair about the possibility of being forgiven, Jesus chose to emphasize his mercy and forgiveness for sins acknowledged and confessed. “I do not want to punish aching mankind,” he once told Saint Faustina, “but I desire to heal it, pressing it to my merciful heart.” The two rays emanating from Christ’s heart, she said, represent the blood and water poured out after Jesus’ death. Because Sister Maria Faustina knew that the revelations she had already received did not constitute holiness itself, she wrote in her diary: “Neither graces, nor revelations, nor raptures, nor gifts granted to a soul make it perfect, but rather the intimate union of the soul with God. These gifts are merely ornaments of the soul, but constitute neither its essence nor its perfection. My sanctity and perfection consist in the close union of my will with the will of God.”

    St. Maria Faustina died at the age of 33 from tuberculosis on October 5, 1938 in Krakow, Poland. Even before her death devotion to Divine Mercy began to spread throughout Poland.This little nun and Jesus’ message of Divine Mercy impacted Karol Wojtyla,.Pope St. John Paul II greatly, which became obvious to the world when he was elected Pope. St. Faustina was beatified in 1993 and canonized by the first Polish Pope, Pope John Paul II, on April 30, 2000 in what he was widely reported as saying was “the happiest day of my life.” The first Sunday after Easter was declared Divine Mercy Sunday instituted Pope John Paul II, which Jesus had asked for in his messages to Sr. Faustina. Saint Faustina’s name is forever linked to the annual feast of the Divine Mercy, the Divine Mercy chaplet, and the Divine Mercy prayer recited each day at 3 p.m. by many people.

    SAINT FAUSTINA KOWALSKA’S HEALING PRAYER: Jesus, may Your pure and healthy blood circulate in my ailing organism, and may Your pure and healthy body transform my weak unhealthy body, and may a healthy and vigorous life flowing within me, if it is truly Your Holy will. Amen.🙏

    THE CHAPLET OF THE DIVINE MERCY: The Chaplet of the Divine Mercy is prayed on ordinary Rosary beads: Optional Opening Prayer  (especially prayed at the 3 o’clock hour)

    3 O’Clock Prayer: You expired Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls and the ocean of Mercy, opened up for the whole world. O Fount of Life, O unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us.

    O Blood and Water, which gushed from the Heart of Jesus, as a fountain for us, we trust in You. (3 times ‘O Blood and Water)
     
    (Essential Opening Prayer – on the first 3 beads after the Cross)

    Our Father; Hail Mary; Apostle’s Creed

    On the  1 ‘Our Father’ bead of each decade pray:

    Eternal Father, I offer you the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.

    On the 10 ‘Hail Mary’ beads of each decade pray:

    For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have Mercy on us and on the whole world. 

    (Repeat with the remaining decades: 1 “Eternal Father…” & 10 “For the sake…”)

    Closing Prayers: (At the end of the 5 decades)

    Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have Mercy on us and on the whole world. (Repeat 3 times)

    Optional Closing Prayer

    Eternal God, in whom Mercy is endless, and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible. Look kindly upon us and increase your Mercy in us, so that in difficult moments, we may not despair nor become despondent but with great confidence, submit ourselves to Your Holy Will, which is Love and Mercy itself. Amen.

    SAINT FAUSTINA’S PRAYER TO BE MERCIFUL:

    Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbour’s souls and come to their rescue.

    Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbours’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.

    Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbour, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

    Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbours and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

    Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbour overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbour.

    Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbour. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me… Amen🙏

    BLESSED FRANCIS XAVIER SEELOS, PRIEST: Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (1819-1867) was one of 12 children born to Mang and Frances Schwarzenbach Seelos, entered the world on January 11, 1819, in Fussen (Bavaria, Germany). He was baptized on the same day in the parish church of Saint Mang where his father, after having been a textile merchant, would, in 1830, become the sacristan. Having completed his primary education in 1831, he expressed a desire to become a priest and, with the encouragement of his Pastor, he attended middle school at the Institute of Saint Stephen in Augsburg. Receiving his diploma in 1839, he went on to the University in Munich, Bavaria, where he completed his studies in Philosophy. He then began to study theology in preparation to enter the seminary where he was admitted on September 19, 1842. It was during this time that through his acquaintance with the missionaries of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, he came to know both the charism of the Institute, founded to evangelize the most abandoned, and its apostolic works, especially those among the immigrants in the United States of America. Bl. Francis went to North America in 1843. Receiving the necessary approval on November 22, 1842, he sailed the following March 17, from the port of Le Havre, France, arriving in New York on April 20, 1843. Bl. Francis Xavier was inspired to be a Redemptorist missionary priest in the U.S. to serve the German immigrants. There he entered the Redemptorist novitiate. After completion his theological studies, being ordained a priest in December 22, 1844 at the Redemptorist Church of St. James in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A. He began his pastoral ministry in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at St. Philomena’s Parish in Pittsburgh where he remained nine years, working closely as assistant pastor of his confrere St. John Neumann, while at the same time serving as Master of Novices and dedicating himself to mission preaching. St. John Neumann was his spiritual director and encouraged him to preach missions. Fr. Seelos lived a simple lifestyle, serving the poor and abandoned. He was called the “Cheerful Ascetic,” the “American Wonderworker,” the “Doctor of Souls,” for his intercession in healing bodies and souls. He was assigned to parishes in Detroit, Baltimore, and New Orleans.

    In 1854, he returned to Baltimore, later being transferred to Cumberland and then Annapolis, where he served in parochial ministry and in the formation of the Redemptorist seminarians. He was considered an expert confessor, a watchful and prudent spiritual director and a pastor always joyfully available and attentive to the needs of the poor and the abandoned. In 1860, he was a candidate for the office of Bishop of Pittsburgh. Having been excused from this responsibility by Pope Pius IX, he became a full-time itinerant missionary preacher, preaching in both English and German in a number of different states. One of the places he served was New Orleans, Louisiana. In God’s plan, however, his ministry in New Orleans was destined to be brief. In the month of September, exhausted from visiting and caring for the victims of Yellow Fever, he contracted the dreaded disease. After several weeks of patiently enduring his illness, he passed on to eternal life on October 4, 1867, at the age of 48 years and 9 months. Blessed Fr. Francis Xavier Seelos was beatified by Pope Saint John Paul II in 2000. Patron Saint against cancer.

    PRAYER: O God, who made your Priest Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos outstanding in love, that he might proclaim the mysteries of redemption and comfort those in affliction, grant, by his intercession, that we may work zealously for your glory and for the salvation of mankind. Amen 🙏

    SAINT FLORA OF BEAULIEU, VIRGIN: Saint Flora of Beaulieu (1309-1347) was born in France about the year 1309. She was a devout child and later resisted all attempts on the part of her parents to find a husband for her. In 1324, she entered the Priory of Beaulieu of the Hospitaller nuns of St. John of Jerusalem. Here she was beset with many and diverse trials, fell into a depressed state, and was made sport of by some of her religious sisters. However, she never ceased to find favor with God and was granted many unusual and mystical favors. One year on the feast of All Saints, she fell into an ecstasy and took no nourishment until three weeks later on the feast of St. Cecelia. On another occasion, while meditating on the Holy Spirit, she was raised four feet from the ground and hung in the air in full view of many onlookers. She also seemed to be pierced with the arms of Our Lord’s cross, causing blood to flow freely at times from her side and at others, from her mouth. Other instances of God’s favoring of his servant were also reported, concerning prophetic knowledge of matters of which she could not naturally know. Through it all, St. Flora remained humble and in complete communion with her Divine Master, rendering wise counsel to all who flocked to her because of her holiness and spiritual discernment. In 1347, she was called to her eternal reward and many miracles were worked at her tomb. She’s the Patron Saint of the abandoned, of converts, single laywomen, and victims of betrayal, suicidal, depressed, victims of betrayal, single laywomen. Her Feast Day is October 5

    PRAYER: God, You showed heavenly gifts on St. Flora. Help us imitate her virtues during our earthly life and ejoy eternal happiness with her in heaven. Amen 🙏

    SAINT PLACID, MARTYR: Saint Placid, also known as St. Placidus was a disciple of Saint Benedict. He was born in Rome, in the year 515, of a patrician family, the son of the patrician Tertullus. He was brought as a child, at seven years of age to St. Benedict at the monastery of Sublaqueum and dedicated to God as provided for in chapter 69 of the Rule of St. Benedict. St. Placid and His Companions. At thirteen years of age he followed St. Benedict to the new foundation at Monte Casino, where he grew up in the practice of a wonderful austerity and innocence of life. He had scarcely completed his twenty-first year when he was selected to establish a monastery in Sicily upon some estates which had been given by his father to St. Benedict. He spent four years in building his monastery; and the fifth had not elapsed before an inroad of barbarians burned everything to the ground, and put to a lingering death not only St. Placid and thirty monks who had joined him, but also his two brothers, Eutychius and Victorinus, and his holy sister Flavia, who had come to visit him. The monastery was rebuilt, and still stands under his invocation. He’s the Patron Saint of Messina (co-patron), Biancavilla, Castel di Lucio, Montecarotto, Poggio Imperiale.

    Saint Placid, Martyr ~ Pray for us 🙏

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Saturday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Luke 10:17-24

    “Rejoice because your names are written in heaven”

    “The seventy-two disciples returned rejoicing and said to Jesus, “Lord, even the demons are subject to us because of your name.” Jesus said, “I have observed Satan fall like lightning from the sky. Behold, I have given you the power ‘to tread upon serpents’ and scorpions and upon the full force of the enemy and nothing will harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice because the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice because your names are written in heaven.” At that very moment he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I give you praise, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him.” Turning to the disciples in private he said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I say to you, many prophets and kings desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but did not hear it.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, the seventy two disciples whom Jesus sent out on mission now return to Jesus, rejoicing at the success of their mission. It was indeed a very successful period of ministry. Their excitement at their success comes through in their opening words to Jesus, ‘Lord, even the devils submit to us when we use your name’. They are very pleased and delighted with their successful mission. The Gospel reading says, ‘they came back rejoicing’. However, Jesus goes on to say to them that there is a more important reality than their successful mission which should be the real cause of their joy. ‘Do not rejoice’, He says, ‘that the spirits submit to you; rejoice rather that your names are written in heaven’. In other words, the joy of being the Lord’s disciple does not rest ultimately on achievement. Rather, it rests on a deep relationship with God, and our awareness of the heavenly destiny that this relationship opens up for us. Jesus came to draw us into a sharing in His own intimate relationship with God. As Jesus goes on to say in the Gospel reading, ‘no one knows… who the Father is except the Son, and those to whom the Son choses to reveal Him’, which is all of us. This is why Jesus can address a beatitude to us all, ‘Happy the eyes that see what you see’. We won’t always be successful, including in our efforts to share in the Lord’s work today. The success of our work will come and go. However, our intimate relationship with God, which Jesus makes possible, endures in good times and in bad, when our efforts bear fruit and when they fail to bear fruit, and therein lies the true source of our joy and peace.

    Our first reading today from the Book of Job is the conclusion of the story of Job, the faithful man of God who suffered from the attacks of the evil one, Satan, who tried to prove to God that Job would fall into sin if he was to lose all the blessings and the good things which he had received from God. Job lost almost everything in the events that happened, his great wealth, his family and loved ones and even his health and body was affected. But Job did not lose faith in the Lord and continued to be faithful to Him throughout all of His ordeals and difficulties. He did not let all those challenges and trials to dissuade and tempt him away from the path that God has led him through. Job continued to hold fast and strongly in the faith that he has always had in the Lord. Despite all the attacks he also faced from his friends, who accused him of wrongdoings to have merited such a suffering, he remained steadfast. Job did face a lot of struggles and also moments of despair, which he had to endure throughout his path of suffering as he did experience all the pain and sorrows associated with what he had to persevere through at that time. He had his doubts and uncertainties, but he never let his fears to tempt him away from God. But God did rebuke Job for his despair and for having questioned himself and his faith because of his sufferings and the opposition he faced from his peers. He should not have doubted himself and his self-value, and he should have continued to trust in the Lord wholeheartedly, and indeed, the Lord rewarded His faithful one, Job, most wonderfully, double than everything that he had once received and been blessed with, showing that God indeed is the source of everything that is good, and if we have trust and faith in Him, then truly we shall not be disappointed.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded ever always of God’s providence and love, especially in moments when we are suffering and enduring challenges, trials and difficulties in life. There may be many moments when the world may be very difficult for us to live in, and when everything seems to be terrible for us, when it may seem impossible for us to carry on in life. However, we must not forget that the Lord our God will always be by our side, protecting and providing for us even when we do not realise it. He is always there guiding us and helping us to walk down the right path, encouraging us and strengthening us by His Presence and through the Holy Spirit, and we should not forget this fact or ignore His Presence and existence in our journey. The significance of this to all of us is that we must always continue to trust in the Lord our God, in all things and at all circumstances of our journey in life. We may encounter lots of trials, challenges, obstacles and difficulties in our path, but we should not allow all these to distract us from the Lord and from dissuading and coercing us to abandon the Lord and instead to seek other sources of desire, hope and satisfaction. We must always continue to stand by the Lord and uphold our faith in Him, obey and follow His Law and commandments, resisting the challenges, difficulties, trials and temptations, all of which had threatened to lead us away from the Lord and His path. We are called to emulate the lives of the Saints and Holy men and women, especially the Saints who we celebrate today, Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska; Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos; Saint Flora of Beaulieu and Saint Placid. All of us should continue to trust in the Lord at all times and be the examples and inspirations for one another in faith. May the Lord continue to help, guide and inspire us all with His strength, love and compassion, and grant us all the Holy Spirit and the power to persevere through the various challenges in life, and may He continue to love us all generously as He has always done. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to attend first to God and to whatever God desires and then to our needs before God. In the words of the prayers to the Divine Mercy, ‘Eternal Father, I offer You, the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.’ Amen.🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 indwelling Lord, I am blessed beyond belief by Your divine presence dwelling within me. Please open my eyes to see You and my ears to hear You so that I will be able to dwell with You Who have come to dwell in me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.  Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska; Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos; Saint Flora of Beaulieu and Saint Placid, Martyr ~ 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 relaxing weekend and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, DEACON, FOUNDER OF THE FRANCISCAN ORDER

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, DEACON, FOUNDER OF THE FRANCISCAN ORDER

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 4TH

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family. Happy Friday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time and Happy Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi!

    St. Francis of Assisi is the Patron Saint of Animals. We pray for the safety and well-being of all animals. May St. Francis intercede for all our pets and animals all over the world, especially those animals that have no homes / shelter or who to care for them. With special intention, we pray for all our pets. May St. Francis of Assisi intercede for them and us all. Amen 🙏🏽

    Today, on this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We continue to pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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 and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 4, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 4, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 4, 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 October 4, 2024
    Reading 1, Job 38:1, 12-21; 40:3-5
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 139:1-3, 7-8, 9-10, 13-14
    Gospel, Luke 10:13-16

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, DEACON, FOUNDER OF THE FRANCISCAN ORDER – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 4TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi, Deacon, Founder of the Franciscan Order. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s Divine Grace and Mercy. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI, DEACON, FOUNDER OF THE FRANCISCAN ORDER: St. Francis, Founder of the Franciscan Order (1182-1226) was an Italian deacon who brought renewal to the Church through his decision to follow Jesus’ words as literally as possible. St. Francis is well known and remembered for his dedication to the Lord, his unique commitment to the service of God and in living humbly in poverty, poor in the eyes of the world and yet rich in the sight of God. His examples and life can very well serve as good inspirations for each one of us. St. Francis of Assisi, is the one who inspired the name of our current reigning Pope, Pope Francis.

    St. Francis was born Francis Bernardone in 1181 at Assisi, Umbria, Italy. He originally received the name Giovanni (or John), but became known as Francesco (or Francis) by his father’s choice. The son and one of the several children born to a wealthy cloth merchant, Pietro Bernardone and his wife Pica. Unlike many medieval saints, St. Francis was neither studious nor pious in his youth, he lived a lavish and irresponsible life. His father’s wealth gave him access to a lively social life among the upper classes, where he was known for his flashy clothes and his readiness to burst into song. Later a patron of peacemakers, he aspired to great military feats in his youth and fought in a war with a rival Italian city-state. At the age of twenty, he went to war against Perugia, but was captured and imprisoned. This period of imprisonment during that conflict turned his mind toward more serious thoughts, as did a recurring dream that suggested his true “army” was not of this world. During his imprisonment he experienced a vision from Christ and changed his life completely, he abandon everything for Christ. He returned to Assisi due to illness in 1205, and there began consider a life of voluntary poverty. His father became extremely displeased at his action, and disinherited him. He left all his possessions and embraced complete poverty, taking the Gospel as his rule of life.

    Three major incidents confirmed Francis in this path. In Assisi, he overcame his fear of disease to kiss the hand of a leper. Afterward, he made a pilgrimage to Rome, where he deposited his money at Saint Peter’s tomb and exchanged clothes with a beggar. Soon after he returned home, St. Francis heard Christ tell him in a vision: “Go, Francis, and repair my house, which as you see is falling into ruin.” St. Francis began to use his father’s wealth to restore churches. This led to a public quarrel in which the cloth-merchant’s son removed his clothing and declared that he had no father except God. He regarded himself as the husband of “Lady Poverty,” and resolved to serve Christ as “a herald of the Great King.” St. Francis wore ragged old clothes, begged for food and preached peace. During the year 1208, the “herald” received the inspiration that would give rise to the Franciscan movement. At Mass one morning, he heard the Gospel reading in which Christ instructed the apostles to go forth without money, shoes, or extra clothing. This way of life soon became a papally-approved rule, which would attract huge number of followers within Francis’ own lifetime. He began to attract followers, when his companions numbered twelve, in 1209, St. Francis sought and received approval of Pope Innocent III to lead a life according to the Rule of the Holy Gospel, and with the papal blessing he founded the Friars Minor (Franciscans). They became a band of roving preachers of Christ in simplicity and lowliness. Thus began the “Friars Minor,” or “Lesser Brothers”. Then in 1212 with St. Clare of Assisi he founded the foundation of the Order of “Poor Ladies,” now known as the “Poor Clares.” He also founded the “Third Order of Penance” (the Third Order) which included lay people. The religious order of Franciscans, whose brothers preached the gospel, made poverty holy, and worked hard to bring the word of God to the world that desperately needed it. Out of humility Francis never accepted the priesthood but remained a deacon all his life. He had a great love for God’s creatures and called them his brothers and sisters. His ardent love of God merited for him the name of Seraphic.

    St. Francis’ devotion to the Passion of Christ prompted him to make a missionary journey to the Holy Land. Through his imitation of Christ, Francis also shared in the Lord’s sufferings. He miraculously received Christ’s wounds, the stigmata, in his own flesh in September of 1224. He was the first person (recorded) to receive the stigmata (the five wounds of Christ). His health collapsed over the next two years, a “living sacrifice” made during two decades of missionary preaching and penance. Worn out by his tremendous apostolic efforts, pained by the Stigmata he had received in 1224, and blinded by eye disease, St. Francis of Assisi died at sunset, October 3, 1226 at Portiuncula, Assisi, Italy at approximately 44 years, while singing the eight verse of Psalm 142: “Lead me forth from prison that I may give thanks to Your Name.” His holiness was so widely attested that only two years after his death the Church proclaimed him a saint. He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX, his friend and devotee, less than two years later on July 16, 1228, Assisi, Papal States. St. Francis of Assisi has captured the heart and imagination of people of all religious persuasions by his love for God and neighbor, as well as all God’s creatures, by his simplicity, directness, and single-mindedness, and by the lyrical aspect of his multifaceted life. However, he was far more that an inspired individualist. He was a man possessed of vast spiritual insight and power; a man whose all-consuming love for Christ and redeemed creation burst forth in everything he said and did. St. Francis of Assisi is the Patron Saint against fire; animals; Catholic Action; dying alone; ecology; ecologists; merchants, the environment; families; fire; lacemakers; peace; zoos; Italy; Assisi, Italy; Colorado; Sante Fe, New Mexico; archdiocese of San Francisco, California; archdiocese of Denver, Colorado; archdiocese of Sante Fe, New Mexico; diocese of Salina, Kansas. His feast day is October 4th.

    QUOTES OF SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI
    ☆”If God can work through me, he can work through anyone.”
    ☆”Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.”
    ☆”Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.”
    ☆”It is no use walking anywhere to preach unless our walking is our preaching.”
    ☆”For it is in giving that we receive.”
    ☆”All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”
    ☆”It is in pardoning that we are pardoned.”
    ☆”While you are proclaiming peace with your lips, be careful to have it even more fully in your heart.”
    ☆”Above all the grace and the gifts that Christ gives to his beloved is that of overcoming self.”
    ☆”Where there is injury let me sow pardon.”
    ☆”No one is to be called an enemy, all are your benefactors, and no one does you harm. You have no enemy except yourselves.”

    SAINT FRANCIS OF ASSISI PEACE PRAYER: MAKE ME AN INSTRUMENT OF YOUR PEACE: Lord, make me an instrument of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen.🙏

    PRAYER: God, You enabled St. Francis to imitate Christ by his poverty and humility. Walking in St. Francis’ footsteps, may we follow Your Son and be bound to You by a joyful love. Amen 🙏
     

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saint Francis of Assisi | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Luke 10:13-16

    “Whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me”

    “Jesus said to them, “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty deeds done in your midst had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would long ago have repented, sitting in sackcloth and ashes. But it will be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the judgment than for you. And as for you, Capernaum, ‘Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.’ Whoever listens to you listens to me. Whoever rejects you rejects me. And whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus seems very frustrated with some of the towns of Galilee, Chorazin, Bethsaida and, even, Capernaum where Jesus engaged in a great deal of His ministry. He is exasperated that the response of many in these towns to Him has been so ungenerous. They witnessed His deeds of power and, yet, were unmoved by what they saw. They heard His preaching and teaching and, yet, were unresponsive to what they heard. We might be tempted to ask, ‘How could people be so resistant to all that Jesus said and did?’ Yet, we are of the same flesh and blood as the people of those towns named by Jesus. We too can be unresponsive to the Lord who continues to speak and work among us. At the end of the Gospel reading, Jesus identifies Himself very closely with His disciples, ‘whoever listens to you, listens to me’. We are being reminded that the Lord continues to come to us in and through His followers, the community of His disciples, which we call the church, just as He came in person to the people of Chorazin, Bethsaida and Capernaum. Yet, like them, we can be blind and deaf to His coming to us, His daily coming. The Lord may be as frustrated with us at times as he was with them. We need to keep our ears and our eyes open to the many ways the Lord speaks to us and moves among us, and, then, respond to His presence with that generosity of heart which many of His contemporaries lacked.

    We live in a culture which very much values success. Sometimes our worth can be judged by how successful we are at something or what we do. Today’s Gospel reading suggests that Jesus did not always experience success. Rather, He, who was so accepting of others, was often rejected by others. Jesus goes on to say in the Gospel reading that rejection of His messengers is rejection of Himself, ‘Anyone who rejects you, rejects me’. As people of faith we will sometimes experience rejection. Our faith, the Gospel we try to proclaim by our lives, will not always be well received by others. Sometimes those who matter most to us will not receive or value our faith and all it entails. Such rejection can be painful, as it was for Jesus, as it was for those He sent out. Yet, God worked powerfully through Jesus’ most extreme experience of rejection, his death on a cross. Human rejection of the Gospel never has the last word. God can be powerfully at work for the spread of the Gospel through such experiences in ways that we are not always fully aware of at the time. All the Lord asks of us is that we be faithful in our witness, regardless of how it is received.

    In our first reading today from the Book of Job, the Lord told Job of everything that He had done, in all the wonders which He has performed throughout all Creation and time, and He showed Job how limited his human perceptions and understanding are, as compared to God’s infinite wisdom, truth and power. This must be understood in the context of how Job, who had faced a lot of sufferings and hardships due to the attacks of the evil one, while he remained fully faithful and firm in his conviction to follow the Lord, and not blaming Him for all of his misfortunes, but he did encounter moments of despair and hopelessness as he continued to be battered by those sufferings and at the same time also attacked and criticised by his own peers who alleged that Job must have committed sin before God to endure such sufferings. Thus Job himself assumed that it must have been because of his mistakes, faults and blame that he had to suffer such tribulations, sufferings and hardships. This was where God rebuked him lightly with love and told Job that he must not assume such things, as truly, he was beloved by God, just like all of us here today. No one can be separated from the love of God, and we are reminded therefore not to easily give in to despair, to all the temptations to disobey the Lord and to abandon Him despite all the many hardships and obstacles we face. We truly must have faith in the Lord and believe that in Him alone there is hope and salvation. We must not think that there is something that God cannot solve or provide for us, and think that we are beyond redemption.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the greatness of God and how unfathomable and vast His majesty and power is, and at the same time, we are also reassured of His love and generosity in having reached out to us, considering us all as His own beloved children, having always desired to seek for us and reach out to us to help and guide us in our journey towards Him, that we may find Him and be reconciled and reunited with Him through His forgiveness and grace. We must not take God’s love for us for granted, as if we continue to disobey Him and rebel against Him, as the Lord Himself had made it clear that we will have to account for everything on the Day of Judgment, the time when we have to face the judgment for our eternal fate. As Christians, it is our calling and mission to embrace God’s mission and to go forth actively, proclaiming Him to all the people of all the nations, in our every words, actions and deeds. We must not be idle or ignorant of what we all have been called to do, but we have to strive to do our part in the mission and works of the Church, through our best efforts in living a most virtuous and worthy Christian living at all times. We are reminded of the need that we have in obeying God and His Law, in following Him and entrusting ourselves to Him, and as the Saints and Holy men and women, especially, the account of the life of St. Francis of Assisi, his works and ministry. Let us all therefore reflect well and carefully upon our own lives as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people. Let us all remember that we should always put the Lord as the first and most important One in each and every one of our lives, as our focus and the emphasis of our lives in everything that we say and do. Like Job who has trusted in the Lord in all things despite the challenges and struggles that he faced, and that of St. Francis of Assisi, who gave up on everything, on status and material wealth to follow the Lord, let us all therefore do the same in our own lives as well, to do God’s will in all things and at all times and opportunities. May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to watch over us, strengthen us in our faith and help us in our journey towards Him, so that we all, having been inspired by the great examples of His Saints, may continue to grow in holiness and love for Him, and that we ourselves may be good role models and examples for everyone around us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us His grace and may the Lord continue to bless us and guide us all in all things, and help us so that we may always be ever inspired to live our lives each day ever more worthily, now and always, forevermore. May St. Francis of Assisi intercede for us sinners. Amen🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 merciful Lord, You call me to daily repent of my sin and to do so through the manifest signs of sitting “in sackcloth and ashes.” Give me the grace of true sorrow for my sins and help me to sincerely repent as I trust in Your mercy. As I do, please also guide me so that I may humble myself and express my sorrow in manifest ways toward those against whom I have sinned. May this humble act bring healing and unity in You. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Francis of Assisi ~ 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 relaxing weekend and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT GERARD OF BROGNE, ABBOT AND SAINT THEODORE (THEODORA) GUERIN, RELIGIOUS

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT GERARD OF BROGNE, ABBOT AND SAINT THEODORE (THEODORA) GUERIN, RELIGIOUS

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 3RD

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time!

    Today, on this feast day, we continue to pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We continue to pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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” | October 3, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 3, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 3, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 3, 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: Thursday, October 3, 2024
    Reading 1, Job 19:21-27
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 27:7-8, 8-9, 13-14
    Gospel, Luke 10:1-12

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT GERARD OF BROGNE, ABBOT AND SAINT THEODORE (THEODORA) GUERIN, RELIGIOUS: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Gerard of Brogne, Abbot and Saint Theodore (Theodora) Guerin, Religious. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor, needy and the most vulnerable. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    SAINT GERARD OF BROGNE, ABBOT: Saint Gérard (c. 895 – October 3, 959) was an abbot of Brogne Abbey. A native of Staves (Namur) and nobleman by his birth, which occurred about 895, the son of Stance and and Plectrude. He was a member of the family of dukes of Lower Austrasia. St. Gerard was brought up in a military atmosphere, became a solider and assigned to the household of Berengarius, the ruling Count of Namur, Belgium. However, amid the countless privileges, pleasures, and pursuits of his noble way of life, St. Gerard felt called to the religious life—but not in the lay monasteries of his milieu. While on an important mission on behalf of his sovereign to the court of France in 918 he caught a glimpse of the life led by monks of St. Denis and was greatly attracted to it. After settling all his temporal affairs, he returned to the monastery and became a member with wholehearted joy. In time, St. Gerard was ordained, though only after wrestling with his sense of total inadequacy, and he helped reform the monastery. After eleven years he was sent by his Abbot to found a monastery on his estate at Brogne, so that his countrymen who desired to be monks might have a place to go to. As its Abbot, St. Gerard formed a well-nigh model monastery, and its fame spread far and wide. Duke Gislebert of Lorraine saw his work and commissioned him to reform the Abbey of St. Ghislain near Mons, where the holy monk established the Rule of St. Benedict. He replaced the canons with monks. And herein he discovered his true vocation. He eventually became head of 18 other abbeys in the region of present-day Belgium. When he reformed the Abbey of Saint Bertin in 944, dissident monks fled to King Edmund I of England. 

    Over the course of the nest twenty years, St. Gerard labored zealously in this work, restoring Benedictine rule and discipline in some eighteen monasteries, as far as Flanders, Lorraine, and Champagne. Finally, advanced in age and slowed down by his extensive labors for God, he returned to Brogne where he fought the laxity of clerics there and replaced them with monks. He retired to a cell near the monastery for  mortification. He still had courage to take a journey to Rome in order to obtain a Bull confirming the privileges of Brogne Abbey. On his return he paid a final visit to all the communities which he had reorganized, and then awaited death at Brogne. He passed his last few years in solitude and prayer and died on October 3, 959 and his body is still preserved at Brogne, now commonly called St-Gérard. He’s the Patron Saint of  Saint-Gérard, Namur.

    PRAYER: Lord, amid the things of this world, let us be wholeheartedly committed to heavenly things in imitation of the example of evangelical perfection that You have given us in St. Gerard the Abbot. Amen 🙏

    SAINT THEODORE (THEODORA) GUERIN, RELIGIOUS: Saint Mother Théodore Guérin (1798–1856), also known as St. Theodora, is the foundress of The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of the Woods in Indiana. By doing the ordinary well, she excelled in the harsh frontier conditions, withstood misunderstandings, and prejudices against Catholic women religious. Even with chronic health issues, Mother Théodore opened schools, orphanages, and cared for the sick. She trusted in God’s will and became a model of virtue. Saint Théodore Guérin was born Anne-Therese Guerin at Etables, Brittany in France on October 2, 1798, towards the end of the French Revolution. As she was growing up, the French government was virulently anti-clerical, closing down seminaries and churches and arresting priests and religious.  Her cousin was a seminarian who lived in hiding in her devout parents’ Catholic home. He instructed her thoroughly in the faith and she displayed an advanced knowledge of theology, even at a young age. She was a pious child who loved prayer and who knew her vocation was to be a nun. However, she was delayed in following this path after the murder of her father when she was 15, which, in addition to the previous death of two of her siblings, sent her mother into a deep depression. St. Theodore took on the household tasks and the care of her mother and her remaining sister. Finally, when she was 25, her mother gave her consent, and Anne-Thérèse (St. Theodore) left home to enter the religious life. She joined the Sisters of Providence who served God by educating children and caring for the poor, the sick, and the dying. She devoted herself to religious education. Her intellectual capacities were formidable, and she was even recognized by the French Academy for her acheivements.

    In 1840 Mother Théodore Guérin was asked to lead a band of missionary sisters and establish her order in the United States of America, specifically to serve the pioneers in Indiana. Founded a convent of the Sisters of Providence in the diocese of Vincennes. There she pioneered Catholic education, opened the first girls’ boarding school in Indiana, and fought against the anti-Catholicism prevalent in the day. Even though her health was fragile, she crossed the Atlantic and then traveled by steamboat and stagecoach until she reached the wilderness mission of St. Mary of the Woods, which consisted only of a tiny log chapel. She and her five sisters endured the extreme hardships common to life on the frontier. Less than a year after arriving she opened an academy which became the first Catholic women’s Liberal Arts college in the United States, still active today, called St. Mary of the Woods College. St. Theodore also established numerous schools, pharmacies, and orphanages throughout the state of Indiana. She was well known for her heroic witness to faith, her hope, and her love of God. The fledgling years of the convent of Our Lady of the Woods were difficult, with the ever present danger of it being burned down by anti- Catholics. The persecution also came from within the Church, from her own bishop, who, on not being allowed to tamper with the order’s rule, excommunicated her.  The excommunication was eventually lifted by his successor. James Cardinal Gibbons said of her in 1904, that she was “a woman of uncommon valour, one of those religious athletes whose life and teachings effect a spiritual fecundity that secures vast conquests to Christ and His holy Church.” St. Theodore died on May 14, 1856 after a period of sickness. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on October 25, 1998, and canonized a saint of the Roman Catholic church on October 15, 2006, by Pope Benedict XVI. Saint Theodore (Theodora) Guerin’s is the Patron Saint of the Diocese of Lafayette, IN. Her feast day is October 3rd.

    Saint Theodore (Theodora) Guerin, Religious ~ Pray for us 🙏

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

    Bible Readings for today, Thursday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Luke 10:1-12

    “Your peace will rest on him”

    “Jesus appointed seventy-two other disciples whom he sent ahead of him in pairs to every town and place he intended to visit. He said to them, “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to send out laborers for his harvest. Go on your way; behold, I am sending you like lambs among wolves. Carry no money bag, no sack, no sandals; and greet no one along the way. Into whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this household.’ If a peaceful person lives there, your peace will rest on him; but if not, it will return to you. Stay in the same house and eat and drink what is offered to you, for the laborer deserves his payment. Do not move about from one house to another. Whatever town you enter and they welcome you, eat what is set before you, cure the sick in it and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God is at hand for you.’ Whatever town you enter and they do not receive you, go out into the streets and say, ‘The dust of your town that clings to our feet, even that we shake off against you.’ Yet know this: the Kingdom of God is at hand. I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom on that day than for that town.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus sent out His disciples in pairs to go forth to the various places that He Himself would be visiting and ministering in. He told them all that He wanted them to do in those places, preparing His path and ministry, to reach out to all those whom God had wanted to encounter, and to prepare everyone to receive the fullness of His truth, His love and Good News. He instructed them all only to bring what is essential and not to bring too much with them, to bring only what is necessary for them to sustain the barest minimum, while depending on the good graces and love from others, especially from those whom they visited, and ultimately, to trust in God’s Providence. This is because if they prepared a lot for their missions and did a lot of preparations and brought a lot of resources with them, they would often end up thinking that it was by their own readiness, preparations and efforts that they had attained successes and glory for their endeavours and works. And this would eventually lead to them becoming proud and conceited, thinking that they did not need God at all to succeed in whatever they were doing, and their missions and works would end up turning from one that is God-centric to one that is man-centric and self-centred, and this is what the Lord does not want us all, His disciples and followers, to end up doing in our respective lives and missions, in whatever we do throughout our every day moments and works, our efforts and endeavours.

    According to the Gospel, Jesus gives to the seventy-two instructions and He tells them that regardless of the reception they receive from a particular town, they are to announce, ‘the kingdom of God is very near to you’. The Lord is very near whether He is welcomed or not. The Lord is present whether He is received or not. The Lord continues to work in and through those who are ready to be His labourers, whether or not that work is appreciated. We are constantly confronted by the presence of God’s kingdom, God’s rule in and through His Son; there is no getting away from that reality. The only question is how we are responding to that ultimate reality. It is always good to remind ourselves that God was as much present on Good Friday as He was on Easter Sunday. God is powerfully at work when the Gospel is being rejected as much as when it is being received. What matters is that the Gospel is proclaimed.

    Our first reading today is the continuation from the Book of Job in which the interactions between Job and his friends were presented to us. For context, Job was a faithful servant of God who lived in the distant past, and he was a very rich man, but Satan came to tempt him and brought destruction to many of his possessions and riches, and any other people would have given in to despair, but Job did not lose faith in God, and he remained firm in his convictions to follow the Lord and to obey Him, not blaming the Lord for his predicaments and sufferings, blaming himself instead for his predicaments and sufferings. He did not curse God or abandoning his Lord and Master even when he had to encounter great challenges, including having his own body and health being attacked by the devil. He remained steadfast in faith even when his so-called friends attacked him and told him that it must have been because of his sins and evils that he had fallen to such a state. While at moments he did experience despair and occurrences of desolation, but ultimately he held on fast to his faith and trust in God, and God blessed Job greatly in the end, restoring all of His blessings and graces back to him, granting him double and more of what he used to have before he encountered all the misfortunes and attacks from the evil one. Job’s example is one of the reminders for us to continue to hold on fast to our faith in the Lord, and not to easily give up even when we face challenges and trials in life.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, all of us are reminded of the need for each and every one of us to put our trust in God and to follow Him faithfully and wholeheartedly. We should also realise that each and every one of us as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people have been entrusted with various gifts, talents and opportunities, as well as the various missions and works that He has given to us that we may make good use of everything that He has blessed us with to carry out His will and to touch the lives and hearts of many people, and to lead more and more towards the Lord and His salvation. Let us all therefore continue to commit ourselves to the Lord and remain steadfast despite the many hardships, trials, obstacles and barriers that we may encounter each and every day in our path of life as Christians, and let us all continue to devote ourselves, our time, attention and efforts to follow the Lord most wholeheartedly at all times, doing whatever we can so that our lives may truly be holy and inspiring upon others all around us. Let us all be inspiration, strength and encouragement for everyone we encounter in life, our fellow brothers and sisters so that by our perseverance, commitment and dedication, our steadfastness in faith and refusal to abandon God and His path of righteousness, like Job and the many other holy men and women before us, we will continue to lead more and more people towards God. May the Lord, our most loving and compassionate God continue to bless each and every one of us, empower us and grant us the strength and perseverance to continue living our lives with great grace and obedience to Him in all things, and may we all continue to be strong in living our lives each day in accordance to how He has shown and taught us, to be truly loving and compassionate in all things, as He has done towards us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to give expression to God’s compassionate presence to everyone without discrimination. May God bless our efforts and works, and guide us all so that we may truly be worthy and good role models, and as shining beacons of His light and truth, now and always. Amen 🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts ⁵⁵⁵ courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 courageous Lord, You came face-to-face with a harshness and cruelty in this world that ultimately enabled You to give witness to Your divine love by freely laying down Your life. Please send me forth on Your mission and strengthen me with every divine virtue so that I will not fear any form of persecution but always remain steadfast in my love of You, overcoming all fear through the gift of faith. My life is Yours, dear Lord. Do with me as You will. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Saint Gerard of Brogne and Saint Theodore (Theodora) Guerin ~ 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 fruitful week and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS

    MEMORIAL OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 2ND

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels!

    Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Holy Guardian Angels, the day when we remember and commemorate all of our Guardian Angels, the ones whom God had placed around us and in our midst, His own Holy Angels sent to us to guard and protect us. These Guardian Angels protect us against the attacks from the evil spirits, demons and all the forces of those who sought our destruction and damnation with them. The Lord is always by our side, guarding and protecting us all at each and every moments in life, and one of these ways is through the Guardian Angels He has placed around us, always ever ready to protect us and guide us in the right path. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Holy Guardian Angels on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s guidance and protection upon us all and may the Guardian Angels help us to grow in our relationship with the Lord.

    We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally, physically and critically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We continue to pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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 of the Holy Guardian Angels | Pope Francis | Opening of the Second Session of the Synod on Synodality | LIVE from the Vatican | October 2, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | October 2, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 2, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 2, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 2, 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: Wednesday, October 2, 2024
    Reading 1, Exodus 23:20-23
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 91:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 10-11
    Gospel, Matthew 18:1-5, 10

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 2ND: Today, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Holy Guardian Angels. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Holy Guardian Angels on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s guidance and protection upon us all. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    FEAST OF THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS: “For He hath given His Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.” – Psalm 90:11

    The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that ‘from infancy to death human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession’. The dual role of the Guardian Angels referred to in the Catechism are  watchful care and intercession. Those blessed spirits who are appointed by God to be protectors and defenders of people are called Guardian Angels. Each person on earth has a Guardian Angel who watches over them and helps them to attain their salvation. The Angels are pure spirit endowed with a natural intelligence, will power, and beauty far surpassing the nature, faculties, and powers of humans. They offer continuous praise to God and serve Him as messengers and ministries, and as guardians of people on earth. They are divided into three hierarchies: (1) Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; (2)Dominations, Principalities, Virtues, and Powers (3)Archangels, and Angels.

    Angels are servants and messengers from God. “Angel” in Greek means messenger. In unseen ways the angels help us on our earthly pilgrimage by assisting us in work and study, helping us in temptation and protecting us from physical danger. The idea that each soul has assigned to it a personal guardian angel has been long accepted by the Church and is a truth of our faith. The Catechism of the Catholic Church states that “the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘Angels’ is a truth of faith (328).” From our birth until our death, man is surrounded by the protection and intercession of angels, particularly our Guardian Angel: “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life (336).” The truth that each and every human soul has a Guardian Angel who protects us from both spiritual and physical evil has been shown throughout the Old Testament, and is made very clear in the New. It is written that the Lord Jesus was strengthened by an Angel in the Garden of Gethsemane, and that an Angel delivered St. Peter from prison in the Acts of the Apostles. But Jesus makes the existence and function of Guardian Angels explicit when He says, “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 18:10). In saying this Jesus points out that all people, even little children, have a Guardian Angel, and that the Angels are always in Heaven, always looking at the face of God throughout their mission on earth, which is to guide and protect us throughout our pilgrimage to the house of our Father. As St. Paul says, “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?”  (Hebrews 1:14). However, they guide us to Heaven only if we desire it. St. Thomas Aquinas wrote that angels cannot act directly upon our will or intellect, although they can do so on our senses and imaginations – thus encouraging us to make the right decisions. In Heaven our Guardian Angels, though no longer needing to guide us to salvation, will continually enlighten us.

    Although Guardian Angels have been venerated since the early days of the Church, it wasn’t until the 17th century that Pope Clement X extended their feast day to the Universal Church. Although not a dogmatic article of the faith, it is a firmly established Catholic belief that each individual human being has their own Guardian Angel assigned to them by God to watch over their soul, help them avoid sin and temptation, and lead them to heaven. The Church thanks God for our heavenly helpers, the Guardian Angels, who minister to us in our need and guide us on the path of salvation, particularly on this feast day and September 29 which is the feast of Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, and Saint Raphael, Archangels. Today’s feast appeared in Spain during the sixteenth century. It was extended to the universal Church and made obligatory in 1670. October 2nd is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. Prayer to the Guardian Angels is encouraged, and the habit of remembering their presence and support leads to frienship with them. The Guardian Angels defend those of whom they have charge against the assaults of the demons, endeavoring to persevere them from all evils of soul or body, particularly from sin and the occasions of sin. They strive to keep us in the right path: if we fall they help us to rise again, encourage us to become more and more virtuous, suggest good thoughts and holy desires, offer our prayers and good actions to God, and, above all, assist us at the hour of death.

    QUOTES FROM THE WAY ON DEVOTION TO THE GUARDIAN ANGELS:
    ☆“Have confidence in your guardian angel. Treat him as a very dear friend – that’s what he is – and he will do a thousand services for you in the ordinary affairs of each day.” (no. 562)
    ☆“Win over the guardian angel of the one you want to draw to your apostolate. He is always a great ‘accomplice’.” (no. 563)
    ☆“If you would remember the presence of your guardian angel and those of your neighbors, you would avoid many of the foolish things you let slip into your conversation.” (no. 564)
    ☆“You seem amazed that your guardian angel has done so many obvious favors for you. But you shouldn’t be: that’s why our Lord has placed him at your side.” (no. 565)
    ☆“You say there are many occasions of going astray in such surroundings? That’s true, but aren’t there any guardian angels as well?” (no. 566)
    ☆“Turn to your guardian angel at the moment of trial; he will protect you from the devil and bring you holy inspirations.” (no. 567)

    “Let us affectionately love His angels as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide.” ~ St. Bernard of Clairvaux

    A PRAYER TO THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS: Heavenly Father, Your infinite love for us has chosen a blessed angel in heaven and appointed him our guide during this earthly pilgrimage. Accept our thanks for so great a blessing. Grant that we may experience the assistance of our holy protector in all our necessities. And you, holy, loving angel and guide, watch over us with all the tenderness of your angelic heart. Keep us always on the way that leads to heaven, and cease not to pray for us until we have attained our final destiny, eternal salvation. Then we shall love You for all eternity. We shall praise and glorify You unceasingly for all the good You have done for us while here on earth. Especially be a faithful and watchful protector of our children. Take our place, and supply what may be wanting to us through human frailty, short-sightedness, or sinful neglect. Lighten, O you perfect servants of God, our heavy task. Guide our children, that they may become like unto Jesus, may imitate Him faithfully, and persevere till they attain eternal life…Amen🙏

    Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen 🙏

    PRAYER: God, in Your Providence, You saw fit to send Your Angels to watch over us. Grant that we may always be under their protection and one day enjoy their company in heaven. Amen 🙏

    O angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven, enlighten me this day, and save me from all evil. Instruct me in doing good deeds, and set me on the path of salvation. Amen 🙏🏽

    O angel of Christ, holy guardian and protector of my soul and body, forgive me of everything I have done to offend you every day, and protect me from all influence and temptation of the evil one. May I never offend God by my sin. Pray for me to the Lord, that He may make me worthy of the grace of the All-holy Trinity, and of the Most Blessed Theotokos, and of all the Saints. Amen 🙏🏽

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Memorial of the Guardian Angels | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 18:1-5, 10

    “Their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father”

    “The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

    In our Gospel passage today, the Lord speaks to His disciples and all the people assembled, while He was speaking and interacting with the young children who came to Him, seeking Him and loving Him. He told each and every one of them that He welcomed and desired children to be in His Presence and to come towards Him, telling them all that their faith and love for Him should indeed be like those children, or else, they cannot come close to the Lord. He says, ‘anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me’. In the world of Jesus, the child had no social status or position. Yet, Jesus declares to His disciples that in welcoming the least, like little children, they are welcoming him. That is because the faith of those young children are indeed genuine and pure, being innocent and untainted they still are, by the vile things and wickedness of the world. When such a young child believes in something, he or she will truly believe it with all of his or her heart. Jesus comes to them in and through the least. This is a sobering lesson for the disciples who have just been arguing over which of them was the greatest. Not only do we welcome Jesus when we welcome a child, Jesus declares that unless we become like children we will never enter the kingdom of God. Instead of the grasping attitude the disciples had just shown in arguing over which of them was the greatest, if we are to enter the kingdom of heaven we must possess something of the open, receptive attitude of children who depend totally on others. Jesus is saying that only those who admit their littleness and put their trust in God will enter the kingdom of heaven.

    The role of the Holy Guardian Angels in the church’s tradition is not so much to preserve us from harm and suffering as to help us to grow in our relationship with the Lord, so that at the end of our lives we are as prepared for heaven as we can possibly be. Their concern is with our ultimate salvation more than our present safety. They are a reminder to us that there is a life beyond this earthly life and that our life on earth is a pilgrimage that finds its ultimate destiny in the life of heaven. Our Guardian Angels help us to negotiate that journey, that pilgrimage, in a way that helps us grow in holiness, that makes us more Christ-like, that, in the words of Saint Paul, enables us to become fully mature with the fullness of Christ Himself. The Angels are at the service of our relationship with the Lord. As Jesus says in the Gospel reading, of the Angels of the ‘little ones’, probably His disciples, who are continually in the presence of His Father in heaven, interceding for them. We can think of the Angels, our Guardian Angels, as both in heaven and on earth, both present to us and in the presence of God the Father. They both intercede for us with God and guide and direct us along the right path on earth. Their work on our behalf is with a view to our entering the kingdom of heaven, in the words of the Gospel reading. God has provided us with many resources to help us on our pilgrim way, and the guardian angels are one such resource. It is good to remind ourselves today that, in the words of Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, ‘heaven denies us nothing that assists us’.

    The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels reminds us that God is present to us, guarding us and leading us to our final destination, which we understand as eternal life. This guarding and guiding role of God in our lives was fully revealed in the person of Jesus. He is with us to the end of time, guarding and guiding us. In the Gospel reading, it is not God’s Angel who is with His people, but rather it is the Angels of the ‘little ones’ who are with God. The ‘little ones’ are not just children but the Lord’s disciples whom the world considers lowly and insignificant. Their angels are in God’s presence, working on their behalf. This role of the Angels was also fully revealed in the person of Jesus. Saint Paul declares in his letter to the Romans that the risen Lord is at the right hand of God interceding for us. The Angels remind us of the role of the Lord in our lives. He is with us in this life to guard and guide us and he is with God in heaven, interceding for us, working on our behalf. The Angels, and to a much great extent, Jesus, reveal that ‘God is for us’. Today’s feast is a good opportunity to ask with Saint Paul, in his letter to the Romans, ‘If God is for us, who is against us?’

    In our first reading today from the Book of Exodus, the Lord reassured all of His people of His continued guidance and protection as they journeyed towards the land that He has promised to them and to their ancestors. Back then, the people of Israel had been taken out of the land of Egypt by the Lord Himself, Who sent Moses, His servant to carry out His will and to help lead His people out of their slavery in Egypt. He showed all of them His power and providence, having smittened Egypt and its Pharaoh, its armies and chariots under His might, crushing them with the Ten Great Plagues and other signs, and with a pillar of fire and a pillar of cloud leading the people on their journey towards the Promised Land. This supernatural presence of the pillar of fire at night and the pillar of cloud at day represents God having been ever present among His people, and how He has set and sent His Angel to be with them, to guard them and to go ahead of them on their journey, clearing their path and way before them. This is what the Lord assured them all according to our first reading today from the Book of Exodus. The Lord reassured the people that His Guardian Angels are always ever ready to stand by them, to guard and protect them, showing the protection, love and grace of God, ever generously shown and manifested to His beloved ones, and the Lord would go on to send His Angels to help guard and protect the Israelites throughout their long journey and detour in the desert for the whole forty years and afterwards, during the time when they conquered the Promised Land for themselves.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today on this special Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, commemorating all the Angels that God has placed in our midst, guarding each and every one of us. The Holy Guardian Angels protected all of us from the constant attacks and assaults by the forces of evil, from Satan and all of his fellow fallen angels, demons and evil spirits, who are all hell-bent on bringing about our destruction and downfall. They watched over us and kept us on the right path of God, whispering to us God’s words and reminders, whenever temptations come to our way, and whenever the devil and his forces came to tempt and mislead us down the wrong paths in life. They truly guarded us and kept us safe each day and every moments of our lives. Let us all be thankful to our Holy Guardian Angels, and let us all remember how they constantly and ceaselessly stood guard by our side, at all times, be it when we are awake or when we are asleep, or be it when we are happy or when we are sad and sorrowful. Let us remember the care and love which each and every one of our Guardian Angels have shown us, and be touched by their dedication and love, so that we ourselves may also strive to be truly faithful and loving towards the Lord, our God, Who has sent us these Holy Angels to be with us, to protect us and care for us, in their own way, from the invisible harm by those who sought our destruction and downfall. Let us all deepen our love for the Lord and be ever more faithful to Him. On this feast of the Holy Guardian Angels, may God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to remind ourselves of these spiritual friends that God has given to us to support us on our shared journey of faith in this life. Let us now pray the prayer to our Holy Guardian Angels, asking them to intercede for us always in our daily struggles in life. Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. May God bless our every good works and endeavours, for His greater glory. Amen🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: We dedicate the month of October to the Holy Rosary.

    The Catholic Church designates and dedicate October as the Month of the Holy Rosary. During this month the faithful venerate the Blessed Virgin Mary especially under her title of Our Lady of the Rosary, and make special effort to honor the Holy Rosary with group recitations and rosary processions. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571. St. Dominic de Guzman, the founder of the Order of Preachers, is the Saint to whom Our Lady famously appeared and gave the prayers of the Holy Rosary to assist him as a spiritual weapon in combating heresy and leading souls back to the one, true Catholic faith. Our Blessed Mother Mary ~ Pray for us 🙏

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts ⁵⁵⁵ courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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:

    Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen. Guardian angel, pray for me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Mother of Mercy; Holy Guardian Angels ~ 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 fruitful week and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS (SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX), VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT REMIGIUS, BISHOP

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS (SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX), VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT REMIGIUS, BISHOP

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 1ST

    Greetings and blessings, beloved family and Happy Tuesday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time!

    Happy New Month of October! We thank God for the gift of life and the gift of a new month. And Happy Independence Day to the people of Nigeria, as Nigeria celebrates 64 years of independence. We pray for justice, peace, unity and stability in Nigeria and may God guide and direct the elected leaders to serve with the fear of God, justice, peace, love and faith. May the will of God prevail over Nigeria. Amen 🙏

    Today, on this special feast day through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), Virgin and Doctor of the Church, we humbly pray for those who are gravely ill, all missionaries and aviators. We pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We pray for the sick, especially those who are critically ill. For the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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” | October 1, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | October 1, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | October 1, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| October 1, 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: Tuesday, October 1, 2024
    Reading 1, Job 3:1-3, 11-17, 20-23
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 88:2-3, 4-5, 6, 7-8
    Gospel, Luke 9:51-56

    SAINT OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS (SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX), VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH AND SAINT REMIGIUS, BISHOP – FEAST DAY ~ OCTOBER 1ST: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), Virgin and Doctor of the Church and Saint Remigius, Bishop. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of all missionaries, pilots and all travelers. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick with the coronavirus, mental illness, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, throat diseases and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏

    SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS. (SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX), VIRGIN AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897) or Saint Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face was a French Discalced Carmelite nun, popularly known as The Little Flower. She was a highly influential model of sanctity for others because of the “simplicity and practicality of her approach to the spiritual life.” She entered Carmel at the early age of 15 and died of tuberculosis at the age of 24. Together with St. Francis of Assisi she is one of the most popular saints in the history of the Church. Pope Pius X called her “the greatest saint of modern times.” St. Thérèse was canonized in 1925 by Pope Pius XI, and made the third woman Doctor of the Church in 1997 by Pope John Paul II after Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila. St. Thérèse was born Marie Frances Thérèse Martin at Alencon in Normandy, France on January 2, 1873, the youngest of five daughters. Her family was devoutly religious, and all five surviving siblings, all daughters, entered the convent. From an early age Therese desired to give herself totally to Jesus. St. Thérèse was brought up in a model Christian home. Her father, Louis, was a watchmaker, and her mother, Zelie, who died of breast cancer when St. Thérèse was four, she was a lace maker. This event changed her personality from merry and bright to withdrawn and sensitive. She also suffered a strange illness that brought her near death. Her sisters prayed for her recovery, and St. Thérèse was completely healed after she saw the Virgin Mary statue in her room smile down on her. Just before her 14th birthday, on Christmas Eve, St. Thérèse had a mystical experience of the Child Jesus. Her sensitiveness disappeared and her faith was greatly fortified. She attended daily Mass with her father and cultivated her strong desire for the salvation of souls. While still a child she felt the attraction of the cloister, and at fifteen obtained permission to enter the Carmelite of Lisieux in 1889 where two of her sisters were professed. Recognizing her youth and weakness, and unable to do the great things for God in the world that her heart desired, she determined that she would follow the path of spiritual childhood at the feet of Jesus, as His “Little Flower”, and instead focus on small acts of kindness for love of Jesus and interior acts of self-denial, a spirituality called “The Little Way.” For the next nine years she lived a very ordinary religious life. There are no miracles, exploits or austerities recorded of her. She attained a very high degree of holiness by carrying out her ordinary daily duties with perfect fidelity, having a childlike confidence in God’s providence and merciful love and being ready to be at the service of others at all times. She also had a great love of the Church and a zeal for the conversion of souls. She prayed especially for priests. St. Thérèse took for her motto the well-known words of the great Carmelite mystic St. John of the Cross: “love is repaid by love alone.” With these thoughts ever present in her mind, her heart found courage to endure hours and days of bitterness that few Saints have been privileged to undergo. She understood deeply the meaning of those mysterious words of St. Paul: ”Far be it from me to glory save in the Cross of my Lord Jesus Christ, by which I am crucified to the world and the world is crucified to me. I fill up those things are wanting in the sufferings of Christ for His members” (Gal 6:14).

    St. Thérèse offered herself as a sacrificial victim to the merciful Love of God on June 9, 1895, the feast of the Most Holy Trinity and the following year, on the night between Holy Thursday and Good Friday, she noticed the first symptoms of Tuberculosis, the illness which would lead to her death. St. Thérèse recognized in her illness the mysterious visitation of the divine Spouse and welcomed the suffering as an answer to her offering the previous year.  She also began to undergo a terrible trial of faith which lasted until her death a year and a half later.  “Her last words, ‘My God, I love you,’ are the seal of her life,” said Pope John Paul II. St. Thérèse died of Tuberculosis on September 30, 1897, at the age of 24, and was canonized in 1925. Since her death, millions have been inspired by her ‘little way’ of loving God and neighbor. Many miracles have been attributed to her intercession. She had predicted during her earthly life that “My Heaven will be spent doing good on Earth.”
    She has never ceased to fulfill her promise. Her high degree of holiness, her interior life was discovered and known through her autobiography called “Story of a Soul” (Collections of her letters and restored versions of her journals have been published recently.) Within 28 years of her death, the public demand was so great that she was canonized. Her “Little Way” became profoundly influential around the world, and although she was not a learned scholar, her deep theological life caused Pope St. John Paul II to proclaimed St. Thérèse a Doctor of the Church in 1997 – 100 years after her death at the age of 24. She is only the third woman to be so proclaimed, after Saint Catherine of Siena and Saint Teresa of Avila. St. Thérèse is the Patron Saint of florists; foreign missions; missionaries; pilots; against sickness; against tuberculosis; AIDS sufferers; illness; aviators; pilots; air crews; loss of parents; Australia; France; Russia; Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska; Diocese of Fresno, California; Diocese of Juneau, Alaska; Diocese of Pueblo, Colorado. St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s feast day is October 1st.

    QUOTES OF SAINT THÉRÈSE OF THE CHILD JESUS:
    ☆ “Do you realize that Jesus is there in the tabernacle expressly for you – for you alone? He burns with the desire to come into your heart… The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us – that is all He asks.”
    ☆’You know well enough that Our Lord does not look so much at the greatness of our actions, nor even at their difficulty, but at the love with which we do them.”

    PRAYER: God our Father, You destined Your Kingdom for Your children who are humble. Help us to imitate the way of St. Therese, so that, by her intercession, we may attain the eternal glory that You promised. Amen 🙏
     
    SAINT REMIGIUS, BISHOP: St. Remigius (437-533) also known as St. Remi, Remigius of Reims, emi…, Remigio…, Remigiusz…, Romieg…, he was the “Apostle of the Franks,” Bishop of Rheims, Lord Chancellor of France, renowned Scholar and Rhetorician, Missionary and zealous Preacher of the Gospel for the glory of the Kingdom of God, miracle-worker. St. Remigius was born on 437 AD, Cerny-en-Laonnois, France, the son of Count Emilius of Laon and St. Celina. He became known for his preaching, and in 459, when he was only twenty-two, he was appointed bishop of Rheims. He was ordained and consecrated and reigned for more than seventy years, devoting himself to the evangelization of the Franks. In 496, Clovis, pagan King of northern Gaul, supposedly in response to a suggestion by his wife, Clotildis, a Christian, invoked the Christian God when the invading Alemanni were on the verge of defeating his forces, whereupon the tide of battle turned and Clovis was victorious. St. Remigius, aided by St. Vedast, instructed him and his chieftains in Christianity, and soon after baptized Clovis, his two sisters, and three thousand of his followers. St. Remigius was a zealous proponent of orthodoxy, opposed Arianism, and converted an Arian bishop at a synod of Arian bishops in 517. He was censured by a group of bishops for ordaining one Claudius, whom they felt was unworthy of the priesthood, but St. Remigius was generally held in great veneration for his holiness, learning, and miracles. He was the most influential prelate of Gaul and is considered the apostle of the Franks. He died of natural causes on January 13, 533 AD, at Reims, France.

    St. relics were kept in the cathedral of Reims, whence Hincmar had them translated to Epernay during the period of the invasion by the Northmen, thence, in 1099, at the instance of Leo IX, to the Abbey of Saint-Remy. His sermons, so much admired by Sidonius Apollinaris (lib. IX, cap. lxx), are not extant. On his other works we have four letters, the one containing his defence in the matter of Claudius, two written to Clovis, and a fourth to the Bishop of Tongres. St. Remigius is the Patron Saint of France; against epidemics; against fever; plague; against religious indifference; snakes; against throat pain, of France, Dhuy, Belgium, Rheims, France, Archdiocese and City, Arignano, Italy. Feast Days: January 13; October 1 (translation of relics); January 15 (France, General Calendar), 3rd Sunday in September (Arignano, Italy).

    Saint Remigius, Bishop ~ Pray for us 🙏

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Memorial of Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus (St. Thérèse of Lisieux), Virgin and Doctor of the Church | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Luke 9:51-56

    “He resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem”

    “When the days for Jesus to be taken up were fulfilled, he resolutely determined to journey to Jerusalem, and he sent messengers ahead of him. On the way they entered a Samaritan village to prepare for his reception there, but they would not welcome him because the destination of his journey was Jerusalem. When the disciples James and John saw this they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call down fire from heaven to consume them?” Jesus turned and rebuked them, and they journeyed to another village.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, we find Jesus setting out on what will be a difficult journey, His journey to Jerusalem where He is aware rejection and death await Him. In the Gospel reading, the reaction of the disciples to the hostility from the Samaritans is very human. The disciples react harshly to the Samaritan village that refused hospitality to Jesus and His disciples. They wanted Jesus to use His influence with God to ensure that they were punished. Jesus again rebukes these two disciples. Rather than responding to their request, He simply went on to another village.  According to the Gospel, as Jesus headed south from Galilee to Jerusalem, He sent His disciples into a Samaritan village to prepare the way for Him. However, the Samaritans would not receive this Jew heading for Jerusalem. The disciples lash out verbally, asking Jesus if they should beseech God to destroy this village. However, Jesus did not appreciate His disciples’ angry outburst and rebuked them. Instead, He accepted the Samaritans’ rejection of Him and went on to another village. Jesus was not prepared to add to the animosity between Jews and Samaritans by responding to the Samaritans as they had to Him. In Luke’s second volume, the Acts of the Apostles, the risen Lord would again reach out to the Samaritans, this time through the preaching and ministry of Philip. On this occasion, the Samaritans respond enthusiastically to Jesus and His Gospel. Jesus was prepared to wait on people; He did not take an initial rejection as their last word. Jesus is prepared to wait on us all. He keeps seeking us out in His love, even when our first or even second response to Him is less than promising. He also looks to us to wait on each other, rather than returning insult for insult, injury for injury, as the disciples wanted to do. Jesus shows us that how people relate to us need not determine how we relate to them. Rather, we are called to relate to others as the Lord relates to us.

    In Luke’s Gospel especially, Jesus’ mission is to reveal the hospitable love of God for all, even for those who rejected God’s Son. He puts into practice His own teaching to love the enemy, to do good to those who hate us, to bless those who curse us, to pray for those who abuse us. The father in the story of the prodigal son is very much a Jesus figure in that sense; he showed abundant love for the son who had cursed and abused him. In another scenario in the Gospel, Jesus tells the story of the good Samaritan, another Jesus figure who showed love to his traditional enemy, a Jew. Jesus makes the hero of that parable a member of the same group who had refused Jesus hospitality. There is a bigness of spirit here, a generosity of heart, which we are all called to give expression to in our lives, with the help of the Holy Spirit.

    In our first reading today from the Book of Job, Job cursed his day and asking why he was born. Job asks why he wasn’t born dead, buried like an untimely birth, or given the chance to sleep peacefully with kings and counselors. He also asks why light is given to the toilers and life to the bitter in spirit. Job complains that he’s set up as a target for attack and that he’d rather be dead than endure his pains. As Job expresses a desire to lie down and be tranquil, he also complains that God observes him every day and tries him at every moment. The moral of Job is that in every circumstances, in the face of both a harsh and collapsing world, Job’s honesty and steadfastness must be our guiding force. So while we do not always know why we suffer, we can bring our pain and grief to God and trust that He is wise and knows what He’s doing. The book of Job invites us to trust God’s wisdom and character no matter our circumstances.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are reminded of a very important thing that all of us as Christians have to do in our lives, and that is for us to be obedient, to the will of the Lord, our God and Master, in all things and in everything we say and do in our lives. Each and every one of us as Christians should always be truly dedicated and committed to the path which God has shown and revealed to us, in carrying out His Law and commandments at every moments of our lives and to the best of our abilities in doing what is righteous, just and full of Christian virtues as much as possible. We have to be truly dedicated to God in all things, and not just in name or formality only. Therefore, let us all remind ourselves each day and at every moment, so that we may always strive to do our best to be the good role models and examples for our fellow brothers and sisters, as good and loving Christians, filled with care and concern for our fellow men and women, and always striving to do what God has taught and shown us to do, in every opportunities presented to us. Let us all remind and inspire one another that our every works, actions and deeds may always truly glorify the Lord, our God and Master.

    On this Feast day, we reflect on the live of St. Therese of the Child Jesus (St. Therese of Lisieux), whose devotion to God and great holiness inspired many others to follow the Lord and to renew their faith in Him. Her famous ‘Little Way’ is inspiration for many up to this day on how each and every one of us can be faithful to God and be good contributors to the good works and missions of the Church through every little things and actions we carry out in our daily living. Today we are all called to reflect upon the good examples of the Holy men and women, particularly the life of St. Therese of the Child Jesus who we celebrate today, as we also ponder upon the message of the Sacred Scriptures that we have received from the Lord. We are all reminded that as Christians we need to realise our role and responsibilities in doing our part and efforts in whatever we can contribute to the good works of the Church, even in the smallest things. Like what St. Therese of Lisieux told us in her ‘Little Way’ it is a reminder for all of us that even in the seemingly very small and insignificant things we do, we may be surprised to find out just what kind of impact we may have on those around us, and what we can do for others which may benefit them and touch their lives, inspiring them to come towards the Lord. Let us all hence continue to do our best to approach the Lord faithfully and with great love and commitment, doing our part to come towards Him like those of little children, truly and wholeheartedly being faithful and dedicated to Him, seeking Him purely out of love and desire to be reconciled and reunited with Him, and not because of any selfish and worldly ambitions and desires. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to serve those in need through our missionary efforts and journey. May the Lord continue to bless us and strengthen us in our every moments, efforts and endeavours, in everything that we say and do in our lives and may St. Thérèse of Lisieux, of the Child Jesus continue to pray for us and intercede for us sinners, always. Amen 🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF OCTOBER:

    MONTH OF THE HOLY ROSARY: We dedicate the month of October to the Holy Rosary. The Lady of the Rosary honors a large battle between the Catholic Church and the Muslim caliphate of the Ottoman Empire. This battle, in the Gulf of Patras, near Greece, took place on in the 16th century, on October 7, 1571.

    THE MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY: Until about the 15th century hundreds of mysteries were part of the Rosary devotion then the 15 mysteries that we know today were definitively fixed as “the Mysteries of the Rosary.” Pope John Paul II, in his encyclical, Rosarium Virginis Mariae, in 2002 added the five Luminous Mysteries.

    Through the meditations of the complete Rosary one recalls and has impressed on his mind, the Popes tell us, “the chief mysteries of the Christian religion,” “the mysteries of our Redemption,” “the great mysteries of Jesus and His Mother united in joys, sorrows, and triumphs.” The twenty mysteries are divided into four equal groups, known as “The Joyful,” “The Sorrowful,” “The Glorious,” and “The Luminous Mysteries.”

    PRAYER OF ST. LOUISE DE MONTFORT: O Jesus living in Mary, come and live in Your servants, in the spirit of Your holiness, in the fullness of Your might, in the perfection of Your ways, in the truth of Your virtues, in the communion of Your mysteries. Subdue every hostile power, the devil, the world and the flesh, in the strength of Your Spirit, for the glory of Your Father, Amen 🙏🏽

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/overviews/months/10_1.cfm

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF OCTOBER – FOR A SHARED MISSION: We pray that the Church continue to sustain in all ways a Synodal lifestyle, as a sign of co-responsibility, promoting the participation, the communion and the mission shared among priests, religious and lay people.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 courageous Lord, You faced Your suffering with much courage, strength, surrender and hope. You saw the value of Your free embrace of Your suffering and chose it with all the power of your soul. Give me the grace I need, dear Lord, to also resolutely determine to journey toward the cross I am called to embrace in life, so that my free embrace of my cross will unite me more fully with You. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Mother of Mercy; Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus and Saint Remigius, Bishop ~ 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 fruitful week and month of October 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • MEMORIAL OF SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

    MEMORIAL OF SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

    TWENTY-SIXTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ SEPTEMBER 30TH

    NOVENA TO SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX – THE LITTLE FLOWER: Starts September 22-30 – Traditionally, it is prayed from September 22nd through September 30th. Her Memorial Feast Day is October 1st. | Novena link below

    Greetings beloved family and Happy Monday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time!

    We thank God for the gift of life and for bringing us all successfully to the end of the month of September.

    Today, on this special feast day through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and St. Jerome, we humbly pray for our children and children all over the world, for students, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    We pray for the sick, especially those who are critically ill. For the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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 and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 30, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 30, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 30, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 30, 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: Monday, September 30, 2024
    Reading 1, Job 1:6-22
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 17:1, 2-3, 6-7
    Gospel, Luke 9:46-50

    NOVENA TO SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX – THE LITTLE FLOWER: Starts today, September 22-30 – Traditionally, it is prayed from September 22nd through September 30th. Her Memorial Feast Day is October 1st. | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/novena-to-st-theresa-the-little-flower-11867

    We thank God for granting us the grace to successfully complete our Novena to Saint Thérèse of Lisieux- The Little Flower today.

    SAINT OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and Saint Jerome on this feast day, we humbly pray for the safety and well-being of our children, we pray for all students, teachers, librarians, Bible Scholars and all those who proclaim the Gospel. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are sick mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world… Amen🙏

    SAINT JEROME, PRIEST AND DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH: St. Jerome (347 – 420), Priest, Monk and Doctor of the Church, one of the greatest Biblical scholars of Christendom, renowned for his extraordinary depth of learning and translations of the Bible into Latin in the Vulgate. St. Jerome was born to a wealthy pagan family at Stridon in Dalmatia around the year 347. Educated at the local school, he then he was sent to Rome for his schooling for eight years, there converted to Christianity, being baptized by Pope Liberius. In Rome he studied theology, Latin and Greek, devoted himself to oratory, and finally pleaded at the bar. For a time he gave himself up to the world, but his piety returned to him after he began to travel. He traveled widely to the important intellectual and theological centers across the newly-established Christian Empire. Having made a tour of Gaul, he went again to Rome, where he received Baptism, which at that time was frequently deferred until a mature age. Whether this Sacrament was administered before or after his journey to Gaul is not certain. From Rome, he journeyed to the East, and visited the Anchorites and other persons of sanctity. After sojourning a while at Antioch, he took up his abode in the desert of Chalcis in Syria, with the holy Abbot Theodosius. Here he spent four years of prayer and study; and here, temptations in the form of recollections of the past assailed him. To distract his mind from these he began the study of Hebrew. At Antioch the Saint received Holy Orders about the year 377, under the stipulation that he should not be obliged to serve in the ministry. After traveling in Palestine, he visited Constantinople, where St. Gregory Nazianzen was then Bishop. Again returning to Palestine, he departed for Rome, where he filled the office of secretary to Pope St. Damasus, who asked him to revise the Latin versions of Sacred Scripture then in use. After the death of St. Damasus, St. Jerome returned to the East, in 385. On his way he visited St. Epiphanius at Cyprus, and arrived at Jerusalem in the winter, leaving soon after for Alexandria to improve himself in sacred learning. Returning to Palestine, he retired to Bethlehem. His wanderings were now at an end, and his solitary life at Bethlehem began the career of study that has immortalized him.

    His Scriptural works, above all, have been unparalleled in the history of the Church. Besides this branch of sacred learning, he attacked, like the other Fathers of that age, the various errors of his day. The fame of St. Jerome spread far and wide, and people came to consult him from all sides. Accompanied by Paula and Eustochium, Jerome went to Bethlehem. There he lived for thirty-four years in study, prayer, labor, and ascetcism till his death on September 30, 420. He built a monastery over which he presided and a convent headed first by Paula and after her death by Eustochium. The saint set up a hospice for the countless pilgrims to that place. His scholarship, his polemics, his treatises and letters often provoked anger and always stimulated those who read them. ‘Plato located the soul of man in the head,’ he wrote, ‘Christ located it in the heart.’ St. Jerome once said, “I interpret as I should, following the command of Christ: ‘Search the Scriptures,’ and ‘Seek and you shall find.’ For if, as Paul says, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and if the man who does not know Scripture does not know the power and wisdom of God, then ignorance of Scriptures is ignorance of Christ.” For his important scholarly contributions St. Jerome was named a Doctor of the Church. St. Jerome is the Patron Saint of  archeologists; archivists; Bible scholars; librarians; libraries; schoolchildren; students; translators. St. Jerome’s feast day is September 30th.

    QUOTES OF SAINT JEROME:

    ☆”Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ!”
    ☆”Those who persevere in sin are those who are held in abhorrence by God, but those who abandon the ways of sin are loved by the Lord.”
    ☆“Martyrdom does not consist only in dying for one’s faith. Martyrdom also consists in serving God with love and purity of heart every day of one’s life”
    ☆“Thank God I am deemed worthy to be hated by the world.”
    ☆”Love is not to be purchased, and affection has no price.”
    ☆“There are things in life that are bigger than ourselves. Life is short, live it well.”
    ☆“Even while living in the world, the heart of Mary was so filled with motherly tenderness and compassion for men that no-one ever suffered so much for their own pains, as Mary suffered for the pains of her children.”
    ☆“Either we must speak as we dress, or dress as we speak. Why do we profess one thing and display another? The tongue talks of chastity, but the whole body reveals impurity.”
    ☆“So valuable to heaven is the dignity of the human soul that every member of the human race has a guardian angel from the moment the person begins to be.”

    PRAYER BY ST. JEROME, TO INVOKE GOD’S MERCY: “Show me, O Lord, Your mercy, and delight my heart with it. Let me find You whom I so longingly seek. Behold, here is the man whom the robbers seized, manhandled, and left half dead on the road to Jericho. Kind-hearted Samaritan, come to my aid! I am the sheep who wandered into the wilderness. Seek after me and bring me home again to Your fold.  Do with me according to Your Will, that I may abide with You all the days of my life, and praise You with all those who are with You in heaven for all eternity. Amen.”🙏

    PRAYER: God, You gave St. Jerome, Your priest, a great love for Holy Scripture. Let Your people feed more abundantly on Your word and find in it the source of life. Amen 🙏

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Memorial of Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/093024.cfm

    Gospel Reading ~ Luke 9:46-50

    ” The one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest”

    “An argument arose among the disciples about which of them was the greatest. Jesus realized the intention of their hearts and took a child and placed it by his side and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in my name receives me, and whoever receives me receives the one who sent me. For the one who is least among all of you is the one who is the greatest.” Then John said in reply, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in your name and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow in our company.” Jesus said to him, “Do not prevent him, for whoever is not against you is for you.”

    In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus identifies Himself with the least, in response to the disciples’ argument as to which of them was the greatest. He identifies Himself with a child, and children in that culture were regarded as among the least, in that they were without status or power or influence. They had none of the qualities that the disciples were chasing after in their dispute as to which of them was the greatest. The Lord identifies in a special way with what the world does not consider important. He is saying to His disciples and to us that we meet Him above all in the weak, the vulnerable; we meet him in the ordinary, in those who are struggling, in those who seem to have least to offer. Because we meet Him in these very ordinary ways, it is easy to miss Him. There can be a truly sacred dimension to our dealings with others without our being aware of it. Yes, we meet the Lord in a special way in the Eucharist, but our meeting with Him in the Eucharist alerts us to the many ordinary, day-to-day, ways in which we meet him and he meets us. In God’s kingdom, true greatness consists in welcoming and serving the least, those without status or standing, as was the case with children in the world of Jesus. The way of the Lord consists not in competing with the other but in welcoming others, especially those who may appear to have least to offer us.

    In our first reading today from the Book of Job of the servant of God named Job, who according to Scripture experts might have not existed or might be a metaphor for a suffering and yet obedient servant of God, while some others said that he truly existed. But regardless, the story of Job should serve as inspiration for all of us on how to remain faithful to the Lord despite the challenges and difficulties that we have to encounter and face in life. As we all heard how the life of Job was truly blessed before his misfortune, as a rich man with great family and many possessions, and then, through Satan’s attack and efforts, all of those things were taken from him, while not even his body and health was also spared, in Satan’s effort to tempt him and see if he would abandon God. If we were to continue reading through the Book of Job, we would then hear how Job remained firm in his faith despite all of his predicaments, and despite everything that he had to endure throughout the ordeals, including being attacked and criticised by his own friends and peers, he did not give up faith and hope in the Lord. And while he did encounter moments of despair and hardships, desolation and difficulties on the way, Job continued to remain strong in his beliefs and remained faithful to the end, and God rewarded him greatly, restoring everything that he had lost and in fact blessed him double than what he had before. Job’s perseverance in faith and devotion to God was known to God and He blessed him greatly for that. It is a reminder for us all that first, our lives as Christians may not always be smooth sailing and we may encounter trials, hardships and challenges in our ways, and we may have to endure sufferings and challenges in our paths in life. However, if we remain firm in our faith and trust in the Lord, we will then be strengthened and empowered by God Who is always with us and by our side, as He has constantly reassured and shown Job all throughout, and also showed to all of us throughout the whole journey, that He is with us, leading us patiently by our side, ever always guiding and strengthening us through all the challenges and tribulations that we may have to go through. God has not left us all alone and He always provided for our needs, supporting us and encouraging us in this path.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the futility of worldly glory, pleasures, ambitions, desires and all the things which often distracted us in our path towards God and His salvation and grace. Each and every one of us are constantly being reminded this day so that we may continue to live our lives worthily in the manner that God has wanted us all to live our lives, in lives that are truly centred and focused on Him, and not on the many distractions and temptations present all around us in this world, all those things which can keep us away from the Lord and His salvation. We are all reminded yet again of just how fortunate we are to have been beloved by God so much, that He has provided us with such great graces, in sending us His most wonderful guidance and help throughout all these time, and how He gave us the assurance of His salvation that He has fulfilled perfectly and completely through His Son, Our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. The Lord has loved each and every one of us so much that He has given us the perfect gift, the manifestation of His wonderful love in His Son, that through Him, all of us have been shown and led to the path towards eternal life and true joy. As we reflect on the faithful examples of the Saints, especially, St. Jerome, who we celebrate today. St. Jerome has shown us all how we should live in great faith and commitment to God, in living our lives with focus on the Lord and to be holy just as He is holy. St. Jerome’s works and commitment should inspire all of us to live our lives worthily of the Lord as well, with focus ever directed towards God and not upon our own personal ambitions and desires. We should also help one another in putting our faith and trust ever more in God, and in doing what we have been all called to do as Christians, as God’s people. There may be difficulties and challenges, as St. Jerome himself encountered throughout his life and missions, but we must not be disheartened or discouraged by all the challenges and trials that we have to face in this journey. Instead, like Job and St. Jerome before us, as well as the innumerable saints and martyrs, holy men and women of God, let us all continue to be faithful to the Lord, trust in His love and providence, and do our best so that our lives may truly be great inspiration to others and glorify the Lord at all times. Each and every one of us should always be filled with the desire to love the Lord our God and to have constant faith in Him, at all times. We should not easily be swayed or distracted by the many temptations and challenges present all around us. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace and be with us always, and may He strengthen all of us in our devotion to Him. May the Lord, our ever loving and generous God, be with us always, now and forevermore. St. Jerome, holy man of God, and devout servant of God, pray for us all sinners. Amen 🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

    MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
    September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

    This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

    INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 most merciful and gentle Jesus, I thank You for the many ways in which You come to me, revealing Your love and grace. Please help me to see clearly the ways that I must change, so that even the beginnings of the smallest sin in my life may be rooted out. I love You, my Lord. Help me to love You with all my heart. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Mother of Mercy; Saint Jerome, Priest and Doctor of the Church ~ 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 fruitful week 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖

  • FEAST OF SAINTS MICHAEL; GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS

    FEAST OF SAINTS MICHAEL; GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS

    TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

    SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST DAY ~ SEPTEMBER 29TH

    [Feast not celebrated as a liturgical memorial this year since it falls on Sunday]

    NOVENA TO SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX – THE LITTLE FLOWER: Starts September 22-30 – Traditionally, it is prayed from September 22nd through September 30th. Her Memorial Feast Day is October 1st. | Novena link below

    Greetings beloved family and Happy Sunday of the Twenty-Sixth Week in Ordinary Time and Happy Feast of the Archangels!

    Today we celebrate Priesthood Sunday! Let us remember our priests here and all priests who have been a part of our lives. Consider offering extra prayers, a rosary or some act of sacrifice for our priests and their intentions. We pray for all Priests, Our Holy Father Pope Francis, the Clergy, Seminarians and religious. May the good Lord continue to bless the work of their hands and may the Archangels watch over them and protect them from evil and harm. Amen. May God grant us the grace to turn to the Angels, the Archangels, for help in remaining faithful to this vitally important mission we all share. May our good Lord be with us all, and may His Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael continue to help and guide us along our journey towards righteousness and grace in God. Amen🙏

    Today, on this special feast day of the Archangels, Patron Saints of soldiers, police, paramedics, and the sick and dying (St. Michael); messengers, postal workers, broadcasters, and expectant mothers (St. Gabriel); travelers, the blind, medical workers, and matchmakers (St. Raphael), through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, we humbly pray for all those in military, policeofficers, newscaster, expectant mothers, travelers and medical personnel. We pray for the gentle repose of the soul of our loved ones who recently passed away, we pray for the repose of the souls of all those who will die today, asking God to have mercy on their souls and to lead them into Eternal Life. And we continue to pray for the repose of the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their gentle souls and souls of all the faithful departed through the mercy of God rest in perfect peace with our Lord Jesus Christ… Amen 🙏 ✝️🕯✝️🕯✝️🕯

    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🙏

    We continue to pray for our children and children all over the world, for those seeking for the fruit of the womb, for the poor and needy, we pray for difficult marriages, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. Amen 🙏

    Watch “Holy Mass | Pope Francis in Belgium | LIVE | September 29, 2024” |

    Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube” | September 29, 2024 |

    Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | September 29, 2024 |

    Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes France” | September 29, 2024 |

    Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy in song”| September 29, 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: Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time | September 29, 2024
    Reading 1, Numbers 11:25-29
    Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 19:8, 10, 12-13, 14
    Reading 2, James 5:1-6
    Gospel, Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

    NOVENA TO SAINT THÉRÈSE OF LISIEUX – THE LITTLE FLOWER: Starts today, September 22-30 – Traditionally, it is prayed from September 22nd through September 30th. Her Memorial Feast Day is October 1st. | https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/library/novena-to-st-theresa-the-little-flower-11867

    PRIESTHOOD SUNDAY

    Priesthood Sunday is a special day set aside to honor priesthood. It is a day to reflect upon and affirm the role of the priesthood in the life of the Church as a central one. Priesthood Sunday is celebrated on the last Sunday of September each year, is a special day to honor the men who serve as Priests.

    Priesthood Sunday, is also a day to honor all religious and to focus on the importance of vocations. Parish encouraged to make a special effort to involve young people in expressing appreciation to priests. This can be done at Mass on Priesthood Sunday, at a parish or Catholic school event or in other ways.

    IMPORTANCE OF PRIESTHOOD SUNDAY

    Priesthood Sunday is a time to affirm the priesthood of Jesus Christ and its central place in the life of the Church. Priesthood Sunday offers an opportunity for young people to connect with their parish pastor, as well as other priests in their community, and learn more about their vocation. This is especially important for young people today because there are fewer priests now than there used to be. Through Priesthood Sunday activities, young people can get to know their pastor or another priest and have the opportunity to learn firsthand about the vocation of priesthood.

    PRAYER FOR OUR PRIESTS

    “O Heavenly Father, on this Celebrate Priesthood Sunday, hear our humble prayers on behalf of Fr. _ and all priests who serve our parish, past, present, and future. We thank you for their selfless ministry. Relying on your almighty power, and believing in Christ who called them to share in His priesthood, may they devote themselves to their ministry with complete trust. Strengthen them with the gifts of the Holy Spirit and help them to serve with joy.  Give them a deep faith, a bright and firm hope, and a burning love which will ever increase in the course of their priestly life. Amen.”🙏

    We thank you, God our Father, for those who have responded to your call to priestly ministry. Accept this prayer we offer on their behalf; Fill your priests with the sure knowledge of your love. Open their hearts to the power and consolation of the Holy Spirit. Lead them to new depths of union with your Son. Increase in them profound faith in the sacraments they celebrate as they nourish, strengthen and heal us.

    Lord Jesus Christ, grant that these, your priests, may inspire us to strive for holiness by the power of their example, as men of prayer who ponder your Word and your Will.

    O Mary, Mother of Christ and our mother, guard with your maternal care these chosen ones so dear to the Heart of your Son. Intercede for our priests that, offering the Sacrifice of your Son, they may be conformed more each day to the image of your Son, Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen 🙏

    SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS

    Bible Readings for today, Twenty-Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels | USCCB | https://bible.usccb.org/daily-bible-reading

    Gospel Reading ~ Mark 9:38–43, 45, 47–48

    “Whoever is not against us is for us. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off”

    “At that time, John said to Jesus, “Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name, and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.” Jesus replied, “Do not prevent him. There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name who can at the same time speak ill of me. For whoever is not against us is for us. Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink because you belong to Christ, amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward. “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea. If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire. And if your foot causes you to sin, cut if off. It is better for you to enter into life crippled than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna. And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna, where ‘their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.’”

    In today’s Gospel reading, the disciples try to stop someone doing good in Jesus’ name, because, as John said to Jesus, ‘he was not one of us’. The disciples wanted to have a monopoly on doing Jesus’ healing work. However, in a mild rebuke to His disciples, Jesus declares that He has no objection to someone who, as He says, ‘works a miracle in my name’. We are to rejoice in the good work done by others, whether or not they belong to the community of faith. Unlike His disciples, Jesus was not threatened by the good works done by people outside His own circle. Wherever good is being done, it is to be encouraged. In John’s Gospel, Jesus says, ‘the Spirit blows where it choses’. We cannot control the working of the Holy Spirit. The real issue is not controlling the Spirit, but being on the lookout for the signs of the Spirit’s activity and rejoicing in it wherever it is to be found. In His letter to the Philippians, St. Paul writes, ‘whatever is true, whatever is honourable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is pleasing, whatever is commendable, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things’. St. Paul is drawing a very broad circle there. He calls on us to rejoice in all these values, wherever they are to be found. At any time, we can come across people who live the Gospel, without, perhaps, having any conscious relationship with the Lord or with the church. The Spirit is at work in them. The Lord speaks powerfully to us through all who do whatever is true, honourable, just and commendable. The Lord’s work on our behalf is always so much bigger than our work on His behalf. The Lord is at work in the world in ways that will always surprise us and there is something here to rejoice in.

    In the Gospel, Jesus goes on to say to His disciples, ‘If anyone give you a cup of cold water to drink just because you belong to Christ… he will most certainly not lose his reward’. The smallest act of kindness shown to Jesus’ disciples by anyone, including those who are not disciples, not ‘one of us’, will not go unnoticed by God. Jesus was saying to His disciples that they are to accept good deeds of service from anyone, including those they are tempted to dismiss. God can touch our lives through the most unexpected of people. Jesus may be speaking here from His own experience. On one occasion, Jesus rebuffed a pagan woman who came to Him to heal her daughter. His time for ministering to pagans had not yet arrived. It was the lost sheep of the house of Israel that was His concern at that time. Yet, a Jesus came to see that God was speaking to Him through this woman who wasn’t ‘one of us’, being a pagan, and He went on to heal her daughter. The Spirit indeed blows where it chooses and we need to be open to the many and varied ways the Spirit may be touching our lives and working among us. We give thanks for all the good work inspired by the Spirit, whether it is within or outside the church. As Moses says to Joshua at the end of today’s first reading, ‘If only the whole people of the Lord were prophets, and the Lord gave His Spirit to them all’. Within the boundaries of our parish community today, people of various faiths and no faith are giving the equivalent of the cup of cold water to those who need it. This is the good side of human nature. Yet, there can be a dark side as well, and it is this that St. James highlights in the second reading. He speaks harshly to those who have become wealthy by exploiting the poor and cheating the vulnerable. That has a contemporary ring to it, as wealthy drug barons leave a tide of human misery in their wake. In the gospel reading, Jesus also draws attention to the dark side of our own human nature, for example, the ways we can undermine the faith of others, bringing down ‘one of these little ones who have faith’. Jesus goes on to say to His disciples that, rather than criticizing those they consider outsiders, they need to be self-critical, as we all do. Jesus’ language of cutting off hands and feet is deliberately provocative, not to be taken literally. He was highlighting the seriousness of undermining other’s faith in the Lord by what we say and do. Part of our baptismal calling is to support each other in our response to the Lord’s call. We need each other’s example, encouragement and, sometimes, challenge, if we are to walk in the way of the Lord. Many of us will be able to think of people who in various ways have been a support to us in the living of our baptismal calling. The Saints have traditionally played that role in the history of the church. We look to them to show what it means to be the Lord’s disciples; they can continue to speak to us across the centuries. People who are much closer to us in time and place may have done the same for us. They show us the Lord’s way by living that way themselves. Yet, we are aware that people can also lead us astray, inviting us to take paths that are not in keeping with our baptismal calling. They can become obstacles to us, tripping us up as we struggle to follow in the way of Christ. Our calling, rather, is to live the Gospel message of Jesus to the full, so that others can be helped to grow in their relationship with the Lord. We have a huge capacity to nurture what is best in others. As Paul says in this letter to the Romans, ‘the life and death of each one of us has its influence on others’

    In our first reading today from the Book of Numbers, the Lord came down upon the Israelites and gave some of the Spirit that had been resting upon His servant Moses to the seventy elders of the Israelites, and they all began to prophesy and to do wonderful things, just as the disciples of the Lord would do much later through the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Then in that same occasion, the Spirit of God also came upon two of the men in the camp of the Israelites, namely Eldad and Medad, who also prophesy and do things which the seventy elders had done. This elicited comment from Joshua who was the one to succeed Moses in the future, that they should stop the two of them from doing what they had done. But Moses rebuked Joshua saying that if he was jealous on his behalf, essentially saying that he should not interfere with God’s work and His will. If God so desired that more people would have His gifts, blessings and Spirit, then who were they to stop that from happening? Indeed, God considered all of His people as equal, and that includes all of us as well, as His salvation and love, His compassion and kindness are offered to everyone, to every children of mankind without exception, and as long as each and every one of us are willing to follow Him wholeheartedly, regardless of our backgrounds and affiliations, our differences and whatever it is that we often used to distinguish ourselves from each other. God’s grace and love, His salvation and gifts are not restricted to just a select few, but to everyone.

    In our second reading this Sunday, taken from the Epistle of St. James, we heard of St. James speaking to the faithful people of God regarding the matter of doing what is right and just in God’s Presence, and the warning of what those who have been blinded by their riches, power, privileges and all other sorts of things that had kept them from truly being able to follow the Lord faithfully and worthily, instead being swayed and tempted by those various worldly temptations and falling ever deeper into the temptations to sin and disobey God. St. James elaborated on all the vices and wickedness which those people had done, and how they would have to account for all those wickedness, evils and sins. And all these once again served as important reminders for each one of us not to allow ourselves to be swayed by all those temptations and evils in life.

    As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scripture on this special feast of the Holy Archangels of God, those powerful spirits whom God had entrusted with the specific mission in guiding and protecting us mankind from the attacks and efforts of the evil ones, the devil himself and the other fallen angels and wicked spirits. St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael in each of their capacities and missions are our great allies in the ever continuing constant and daily struggles for the fate of our souls. Ever since the beginning of creation, Satan, the fallen Lucifer had always despised God’s beloved creations, and especially that apply to us all mankind, and just as he brought our ancestors down, he is always ever plotting and trying to bring us all down as well. That is why today as we celebrate the great Feast of the Holy Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, all of us are reminded of the great love that God has for each one of us, that He sent us His mighty servants, the three Chiefs and Princes of the Angelic Host, particularly the leader of them all, St. Michael the Archangel, to be by our side, and to lead the forces of Heaven, in the constant and daily struggle and battle for our souls. And we have to have faith in God, believing wholeheartedly that the Lord will always protect us and provide for us, and His mighty Archangels and the Heavenly forces will guard us against Satan and all of his fellow wicked spirits’ futile attacks on us.

    On this special feast day, let us all be thankful of all that the Angels of God had done for us, and those three Holy Archangels whom we honour today. Let us all strive to live lives that are more worthy of the Lord, and be truly righteous, virtuous and worthy of Him. Today, as we rejoice in the hope that the Holy and Mighty Archangels of God had brought us, let us all pray the special prayer, Prayer to St. Michael, which Pope Leo XIII had commissioned, entrusting ourselves to the guardianship of St. Michael the Archangel and the other Holy Archangels and Angels of God that through their intercession and help, we may always remain faithful and steady in our lives and faith. Let us all pray, ‘St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.’ Amen. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to turn to the Angels, the Archangels, for help in remaining faithful to this vitally important mission we all share. May our good Lord be with us all, and may His Archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael continue to help and guide us along our journey towards righteousness and grace in God. Amen🙏

    FEAST AND SAINTS OF THE DAY: FEAST OF SAINTS MICHAEL; GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS ~ FEAST DAY ~ SEPTEMBER 29TH:* Today, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Archangels on this feast day, we humbly pray for God’s guidance and protection upon us all. We pray for the safety and well-being of all police officers and those in the military; for communications workers; for travelers and for all healthcare workers. We pray for the sick and dying, especially those who are mentally and physically ill and those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the souls of the faithful departed. We pray for all widows and widowers. We pray for the poor and needy, for peace, love, and unity in our marriages, our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, the Bishops, the Clergy, for vocations to the priesthood and religious life, for the Church, for persecuted christians, for the conversion of sinners, and Christians all over the world…. Amen🙏

    FEAST OF SAINTS MICHAEL; GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, ARCHANGELS: The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls “Angels” is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.”

    Angels are pure, created spirits. The name Angel means servant or messenger of God. Angels are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. Angels are spirits without bodies, who possess superior intelligence, gigantic strength, and surpassing holiness. They do not depend on matter for their existence or activity. They enjoy an intimate relationship to God as His special adopted children, contemplating, loving, and praising Him in heaven. Some of them are frequently sent as messengers to human beings from on high. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will, and are immortal. They are a vast multitude, but each is an individual person. Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim.

    The Archangels, St. Gabriel, St. Michael, and St. Raphael share a feast day on September 29th. Each of these angels whose feast we celebrate today are God’s messengers. God’s greatest messenger was our Lord Jesus Christ. The three Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are the only angels named in Sacred Scripture and all three have important roles in the history of salvation. In the Book of Revelation, St. Michael means “Who is like God?” He is the warrior angel, fought against Satan and all his evil angels, defending all the friends of God. He’s the champion of God’s people and guardian and protector of the Church and all humanity from the snares of the devil (Rev. 12:7-9). St. Gabriel means “Power or Strength of God.” He is the messenger or herald angel most famous for appearing to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation (Luke 1:11-38). St. Gabriel announced to Zachariah the forthcoming birth of John the Baptist, and was God’s messenger to Mary, revealing God’s choice of her to be the mother of God’s Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. His greeting to the Virgin, “Hail, full of grace,” is one of the most familiar and frequent prayers of the Christian people. In the Book of Tobit, St. Raphael means “God has healed or the Medicine of God.” He is a companion and healing angel, most famous for curing a man’s blindness and for traveling with Tobias in the book of Tobit (Tob. 12). St. Raphael is the archangel who took care of Tobias on his journey. St. Raphael is God’s messenger of healing to both Tobit and Sarah.

    SAINT MICHAEL: Saint Michael is the “Prince of the Heavenly Host,” the leader of all the angels. His name is Hebrew for “Who is like God?” and was the battle cry of the good angels against Lucifer and his followers when they rebelled against God. He is mentioned four times in the Bible, in Daniel 10 and 12, in the letter of Jude, and in Revelation. Michael, whose forces cast down Lucifer and the evil spirits into Hell, is invoked for protection against Satan and all evil. Pope Leo XIII, in 1899, having had a prophetic vision of the evil that would be inflicted upon the Church and the world in the 20th century, instituted a prayer asking for Saint Michael’s protection to be said at the end of every Mass. Christian tradition recognizes four offices of Saint Michael: (i) to fight against Satan (ii) to rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death. (iii) to be the champion of God’s people, (iv) to call away from earth and bring men’s souls to judgment. He had been especially honored and invoked as Patron and Protector by the Church from the time of the Apostles. Although he is always called “the Archangel,” the Greek Fathers and many others place him over all the Angels—as Prince of the Seraphim. Archangel Michael is the Patron Saint against temptations; against powers of evil; policemen; artists; bakers; bankers; battle; boatmen; cemeteries; coopers; endangered children; dying; Emergency Medical Technicians; fencing; grocers; hatmakers; holy death; knights; mariners; mountaineers; paramedics; paratroopers; police officers; radiologists; sailors; the sick; security forces; soldiers; against storms at sea; swordsmiths; those in need of protection; churches and places.

    PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL: St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
    Amen.🙏

    SAINT GABRIEL: “I am Gabriel, who stand before God.” (Luke 1, 19). Saint Gabriel, whose name means “God’s strength”; “man of God” or “God has shown Himself mighty.” He is mentioned four times in the Bible. It appears first in the prophecies of Daniel in the Old Testament. This Angel announced to Daniel the prophecy of the seventy weeks (Daniel 9:21-27). His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Henoch. Most significant are St. Gabriel’s two mentions in the New Testament: to announce the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zachariah, (Luke 1:11) and finally, at Incarnation of the Word in the womb of Mary, he announced to Mary that she would bear a Son Who would be conceived of the Holy Spirit, Son of the Most High, and the Savior of the world (Luke 1:26). Christian tradition suggests that it is he who appeared to St. Joseph and to the shepherds, and also that it was he who “strengthened” Jesus during his agony in the garden of Gethsemane. He’s the Patron Saint of communication workers; ambassadors; broadcasting; childbirth; clergy; communications; diplomats; messengers; philatelists; postal workers; public relations; radio workers; secular clergy; stamp collectors; telecommunications, churches and places.

    SAINT RAPHAEL: “I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” (Tob 12:15). Saint Raphael, whose name means “God has healed” because of his healing of Tobias’ blindness in the Book of Tobit. Tobit is the first and only book in which he is mentioned. He acts as a guide to young Tobiah on his journey to Rages, a city in the country of the Medes, east of Niniveh, to collect a debt owed to his father. The Angel binds the demon Asmodeus in the desert of Egypt, helps Tobiah to find a wife and recover the debt, and heals Tobit from his blindness. He then reveals his identity: “I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the throne of God.” His office is generally accepted by tradition to be that of healing and acts of mercy. St. Raphael is also identified with the angel in John 5:1-4 who descended upon the pond and bestowed healing powers upon it so that the first to enter it after it moved would be healed of whatever infirmity he was suffering. He’s the Patron Saint of travelers; the blind; bodily ills; counselors; druggists; eye problems; guardian angels; happy meetings; healers; health inspectors; health technicians; love; lovers; mental illness; nurses; pharmacists; physicians; shepherds; against sickness; therapists; travellers; young people; young people leaving home for the first time; churches and places.

    QUOTES FROM THE WAY ON DEVOTION TO THE GUARDIAN ANGELS

    “Have confidence in your guardian angel. Treat him as a very dear friend – that’s what he is – and he will do a thousand services for you in the ordinary affairs of each day.” (no. 562)

    “Win over the guardian angel of the one you want to draw to your apostolate. He is always a great ‘accomplice’.” (no. 563)

    “If you would remember the presence of your guardian angel and those of your neighbors, you would avoid many of the foolish things you let slip into your conversation.” (no. 564)

    “You seem amazed that your guardian angel has done so many obvious favors for you. But you shouldn’t be: that’s why our Lord has placed him at your side.” (no. 565)

    “You say there are many occasions of going astray in such surroundings? That’s true, but aren’t there any guardian angels as well?” (no. 566)

    “Turn to your guardian angel at the moment of trial; he will protect you from the devil and bring you holy inspirations.” (no. 567)

    PRAYER: God, with great wisdom You direct the ministry of Angels and humans. Grant that those who always minister to You in heaven may defend us during our life on earth. Amen 🙏

    DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER:

    MONTH OF OUR LADY OF SORROWS:
    September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows, also known as our Mother of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa)! Since the 16th century, Catholic piety has assigned entire months to special devotions. The Church dedicates the month of September to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose memorial the Church celebrates on September 15th.  Devotion to the sorrows of the Virgin Mary dates from the twelfth century, when it made its appearance in monastic circles under the influence of St. Anselm and St. Bernard.

    This devotion recalls the Blessed Virgin Mary’s spiritual martyrdom in virtue of her perfect union with the Passion of Christ. This was her role in salvation history and what merited her place as the spiritual Mother of all Christians. This is symbolized by a single sword, or seven swords, piercing Mary’s suffering heart, as foretold in Simeon’s prophecy. Traditionally the Church meditates on the “Seven Sorrows” of our Blessed Mother: the prophecy of Simeon; the Holy Family’s flight into Egypt; the loss of the Child Jesus for three days; the meeting of Mary and Jesus as He carried His cross; Jesus’ crucifixion and death; Jesus’ sacred body taken down from the cross; and Jesus’ burial. All the sorrows of Mary (the prophecy of Simeon, the three days’ loss, etc.) are merged in the supreme suffering at the Passion. In the Passion, Mary suffered a martyrdom of the heart because of Our Lord’s torments and the greatness of her love for Him. “She it was,” says Pope Pius XII, “who immune from all sin, personal or inherited, and ever more closely united with her Son, offered Him on Golgotha to the Eternal Father together with the holocaust of her maternal rights and motherly love. As a new Eve, she made this offering for all the children of Adam contaminated through his unhappy fall. Thus, she, who was the mother of our Head according to the flesh, became by a new title of sorrow and glory the spiritual mother of all His members.” The feast of Our Lady of Sorrows (Mater Dolorosa) is September 15th.

    INVOCATIONS: Mary most sorrowful, Mother of Christians, pray for us. Virgin most sorrowful, pray for us 🙏🏾

    https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=762

    THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER – FOR THE CRY OF THE EARTH: We pray that each one of us will hear and take to heart the cry of the Earth and of victims of natural disasters and climactic change, and that all will undertake to personally care for the world in which we live.

    https://www.usccb.org/prayers/popes-monthly-intentions-2024

    PRAYER FOR PEACE ~ POPE FRANCIS:

    Lord God of peace, hear our prayer!

    We have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms. How many moments of hostility and darkness have we experienced; how much blood has been shed; how many lives have been shattered; how many hopes have been buried… But our efforts have been in vain. Now, Lord, come to our aid! Grant us peace, teach us peace; guide our steps in the way of peace. Open our eyes and our hearts, and give us the courage to say: “Never again war!”; “With war everything is lost”. Instill in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace. Lord, God of Abraham, God of the Prophets, God of Love, you created us and you call us to live as brothers and sisters. Give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace; enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as our brother or sister. Make us sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace, our trepidation into confident trust, and our quarreling into forgiveness. Keep alive within us the flame of hope, so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation. In this way may peace triumph at last, and may the words “division”, “hatred” and “war” be banished from the heart of every man and woman. Lord, defuse the violence of our tongues and our hands. Renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be “brother”, and our way of life will always be that of: Shalom, Peace, Salaam! Amen 🙏🏾

    During this Ordinary Time, please let us all continue to pray for peace all over the world, particularly in Africa, Nigeria, the Middle East, for an end to the current war in Israel-Palestine, and the Ukraine-Russia conflicts and for peace in our families and throughout our divided and conflicted World. Amen 🙏🏾

    Prayers for Peace | https://mycatholic.life/catholic-prayers/prayers-for-peace/

    PRAYER INTENTIONS: During this season of the Ordinary Time, through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and all the Saints on this feast day, we humbly 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 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. We pray for the souls in Purgatory and the repose of the gentle soul of our beloved family members who recently passed away and the souls of all the faithful departed, may the Lord receive them into the light of Eternal Kingdom. 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, with special intention for those Seminarians who will be ordained into Priesthood. 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 radical Lord, You call all of Your children to a life of holiness and perfection. Please help me to take Your teachings seriously so as to eliminate all occasions of sin from my life. May I have the eyes to see these temptations and the courage to reject them with all my might. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏🏽

    Lord, thank You for the gift of the Archangels whom we honor today.  Thank You for their powerful work in our lives.  Help us to rely upon them and to love them for their service.  Most glorious Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, please do come to my aid. I entrust myself, my family, our Church and the entire world to your loving mediation. Please bring forth God’s grace into our lives, communicate God’s Word and His holy Will, protect us from all harm and bring healing to those in need. Archangels of God, pray for us, heal us, teach us and protect us.  Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

    Glorious Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, I entrust myself to your angelic mediation. Please set into motion God’s plan for my life, protect me from the evil one, deliver to me God’s holy word, and heal me of my sin. I thank you for the glorious duties you fulfill in the divine mission and rely upon you in my life. Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, pray for me and mediate God’s grace to me. Jesus, I trust in You ~ Amen 🙏

    Save Us, Savior of the World. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Most Precious Blood of Jesus, have mercy on us. Our Blessed Mother Mary; Mother of Mercy, Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels ~ 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 Sunday and week 🙏🏽

    Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖