MEMORIAL OF SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST; SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, RELIGIOUS (SOLEMNITY); SAINTS CYRIACUS, LARGUS AND SMARAGDUS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS AND THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS

EIGHTEENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME

SAINTS OF THE DAY ~ FEAST DAY: AUGUST 8, 2024

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins, Tuesday, August 6 and ends on August 15. The novena is a prayer that commemorates the death of Mary and her assumption into Heaven, which is celebrated on August 15. [Novena link below]

Greetings, beloved family and Happy Thursday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time!

On this special feast day, with special intention through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary, and the Saints, we pray for justice, peace and unity in our families and our divided and conflicted world. We pray for the sick and dying. We especially pray for our loved ones who have recently died and we continue to pray for the repose of their gentle souls and 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 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 & the Holy Spirit forever & ever. Amen🙏

Watch “Holy Mass from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 2024 |

Watch “Holy Mass and Holy Rosary on EWTN on YouTube | August 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from Lourdes, France” |August 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 2024 |

Pray “The Chaplet of Divine Mercy | from the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy” | August 8, 2024 |

Pray “Holy Rosary ALL 20 Mysteries VIRTUAL🌹JOYFUL🌹LUMINOUS🌹SORROWFUL🌹GLORIOUS” on YouTube |

Memorare Chaplet | Prayer in Difficult Times (Powerful Prayer) |

Today’s Bible Readings: Thursday August 8, 2024
Reading 1, Jeremiah 31:31-34
Responsorial Psalm, Psalms 51:12-13, 14-15, 18-19
Gospel, Matthew 16:13-23

NOVENA TO OUR LADY OF THE ASSUMPTION: REMINDER – The 2024 Novena for the Assumption of Mary into Heaven begins, Tuesday, August 6 and ends on August 15. The novena is a prayer that commemorates the death of Mary and her assumption into Heaven, which is celebrated on August 15. Novena link below: https://www.virgosacrata.com/novena-to-our-lady-of-the-assumption.html

SAINTS OF THE DAY: MEMORIAL OF SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST; SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, RELIGIOUS (SOLEMNITY); SAINTS CYRIACUS, LARGUS AND SMARAGDUS, AND THEIR COMPANIONS, MARTYRS AND THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS ~ FEAST DAY – AUGUST 8TH: Today, we celebrate the Memorial of Saint Dominic, Priest; Saint Mary MacKillop, Religious (Solemnity); Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions, Martyrs and the Fourteen Holy Helpers. Through the intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary and the Saints on this feast day, we humbly pray for all Scientists, Astronomers and those falsely accused. We pray for the poor and needy, for the sick and dying, especially those suffering from cancers and other terminal diseases. We also pray for peace, love and unity in our families and our world. And we continue to pray for our Holy Father, Pope Francis, 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.🙏

SAINT DOMINIC, PRIEST: St. Dominic de Guzman (1170–1221) was born in 1170 at Caleruega, Spain to a family of noble lineage. St. Dominic was the son of Felix Guzman and Joanna of Aza, members of the nobility. His mother would eventually be beatified by the Church, as would his brother Manes who became a Dominican. The family’s oldest son Antonio also became a priest. His mother, Blessed Jane of Aza, prayed at the church of St. Dominic Silos to conceive a male child, her first two sons being given to the priesthood. In answer to her prayer, she dreamed that a dog leaped from her womb carrying a torch in its mouth which set the world ablaze. At his baptism, his godmother beheld a star shining from his forehead. As a child St. Dominic showed signs of great sanctity and intelligence, and he was also given to the Church for the priesthood. St. Dominic received his early education from his uncle, who was a priest, before entering the University of Palencia where he studied for ten years. In one notable incident from this period, he sold his entire collection of rare books to provide for the relief of the poor in the city. After his ordination to the priesthood, St. Dominic was asked by Bishop Diego of Osma to participate in local church reforms. He spent nine years in Osma, pursuing a life of intense prayer, before being called to accompany the bishop on a piece of business for King Alfonso IX of Castile in 1203. While traveling in France with the bishop, Dominic observed the bad effects of the Albigensian heresy, which had taken hold in southern France during the preceding century. The sect revived an earlier heresy, Manicheanism, which condemned the material world as an evil realm not created by God. Dreading the spread of heresy, Dominic began to think about founding a religious order to promote the truth. In 1204 he and Bishop Diego were sent by Pope Innocent III to assist in the effort against the Albigensians, which eventually involved both military force and theological persuasion.

In France, Dominic engaged in doctrinal debates and set up a convent whose rule would eventually become a template for the life of female Dominicans. He continued his preaching mission from 1208 to 1215, during the intensification of the military effort against the Albigensians. In 1214, Dominic’s extreme physical asceticism caused him to fall into a coma, during which the Virgin Mary is said to have appeared to him and instructed him to promote the prayer of the Rosary. Its focus on the incarnation and life of Christ directly countered the Albigensian attitude towards matter as evil. During that same year, St. Dominic returned to Tolouse and obtained the bishop’s approval of his plan for an order dedicated to preaching. He and a group of followers gained local recognition as a religious congregation, and St. Dominic accompanied Tolouse’s bishop to Rome for an ecumenical council in 1215. The council stressed the Church’s need for better preaching, but also set up a barrier to the institution of new religious orders. St. Dominic, however, obtained papal approval for his plan in 1216, and was named as the Pope’s chief theologian. The Order of Preachers expanded in Europe with papal help in 1218. St. Dominic, the founder spent the last several years of his life building up the order and continuing his preaching missions, during which he is said to have converted some 100,000 people. St. Dominic was innovative in meeting the needs of his time to defend the Church against her enemies.To aid his mission, Our Lady appeared to him and gave him a new devotion—the Holy Rosary. St. Dominic is attributed the origin and spread of the Holy Rosary. After several weeks of illness, St. Dominic died in Italy on August 6, 1221. He was canonized in 1234 by Pope Gregory IX. St. Dominic is the patron saint of scientists and astronomers; falsely accused people.

Saint Dominic’s Quotes: “Arm yourself with prayer rather than a sword; wear humility rather than fine clothes.” ” One day, through the Rosary and the Scapular, Our Lady will save the world.”

PRAYER: God, let St. Dominic help Your Church by his merits and teaching. May he who was an outstanding preacher of truth become a most generous intercessor for us. Amen 🙏

SOLEMNITY OF SAINT MARY MACKILLOP, RELIGIOUS: St. Mary MacKillop (1842-1909) was an Australian religious sister who became the first native born Australian saint, as St Mary of the Cross. St. Mary was born in Melbourne in 1842, to parents who had emigrated from Scotland, St. Mary and her 9 siblings were homeschooled by their Scottish father. St. Mary grew up in a family that faced constant financial struggles. At 14, she worked to provide for her family and as a young woman, she was drawn to religious life but could not find an existing order of Sisters that met her needs. In 1860, she met Fr. Julian Woods, who encouraged her to help educate the poor. He became her spiritual director. In 1867, she became a nun. Together with Fr. Woods they founded a new community of women—the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Sacred Heart, also known as the Josephite Sisters whose charism is teaching, charity, total poverty and trusting in Divine Providence. Its members were to staff schools, especially for poor children, as well as orphanages, and do other works of charity. St. Mary established schools and places of refuge for the working class and poor across Australia and New Zealand. As the congregation grew, so did St. Mary MacKillop’s problems. Throughout the years, she had many challenges with priests and Bishops but always prayed for God’s will to be done. Miracles continue to occur through her intercession. Her priest-friend proved unreliable in many ways and his responsibilities for the direction of the Sisters were removed. Meanwhile, St. Mary had the support of some local bishops as she and her Sisters went about their work. But the bishop in South Australia, aging and relying on others for advice, briefly excommunicated St. Mary—charging her with disobedience—and dispensed 50 of her Sisters from their vows. In truth, the bishop’s quarrel was about power and who had authority over whom. He ultimately rescinded his order of excommunication.

St. Mary insisted that her congregation should be governed by an elected mother general answerable to Rome, not to the local bishop. There also were disputes about whether or not the congregation could own property. In the end, Rome proved to be St. Mary’s best source of support. After a long wait official approval of the congregation—and how it was to be governed—came from Pope Leo XIII. Despite her struggles with Church authorities, St. Mary MacKillop and her Sisters were able to offer social services that few, if any, government agencies in Australia could. They served Protestants and Catholics alike. They worked among the aborigines. They taught in schools and orphanages and served unmarried mothers. The lack of money was a constant worry. But the Sisters who begged from door to door were bolstered by faith and by the conviction that their struggles were opportunities to grow closer to God. By the time Mary was approaching the end of her life, the congregation was thriving. She died on August 8, 1909 at the age of 67. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 1995. On October 17, 2010, when Pope Benedict XVI canonized her, she became Australia’s first saint. She’s the Patron Saint of Australia, Brisbane, Knights of the South. The Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments has approved a request from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference that the liturgical observance of St Mary MacKillop on 8th August be raised to the level of a Solemnity. By having her feast day celebrated as the highest liturgical rank, the Church in Australia acknowledges that the story of and devotion to Mary MacKillop has a prominent place in the Catholic community and beyond.

PRAYER: O God, source of all goodness, who have shown us in Saint Mary a woman of faith living by the power of the Cross, teach us, we pray, by her example to live the gospel in changing times and to respect and defend the human dignity of all in our land. Amen 🙏

SAINTS CYRIACUS, LARGUS AND SMARAGDUS, MARTYRS: Saint Cyriacus (also known as Cyriac) was born of a noble patrician family. He embraced the Christian religion and gave all his wealth to the poor. He was ordained a deacon at Rome, under Pope Marcellinus. Saint Cyriacus is venerated as one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers. In the persecution of Dioclesian, in 303, he was crowned with a glorious martyrdom in that city. With him suffered also Largus and Smaragdus, and twenty others, among whom are named Crescentianus, Sergius, Secondus, Alban, Victorianus, Faustinus, Felix, Sylvanus, and four women, Memmia, Juliana, Cyriacides, and Donata.

According to legend, together with Sisinius, Largus and Smaragdus, Cyriac languished a long time in prison. Among the miracles that Cyriac worked was that of freeing through his prayer Arthemia, the daughter of Emperor Diocletian, from an evil spirit. Thereupon he was sent to the Persian king Sapor and performed a similar miracle in favor of his daughter Jobias. But after baptizing the king and 430 of his entourage, he returned to Rome. Upon orders from Maximian the Emperor, he was arrested, chained, and dragged to prison. Four days later he was taken from confinement, drenched with seething pitch, and tortured on the rack; in company with Smaragdus and twenty other Christians he finally was beheaded on the Via Salaria near the gardens of Sallust.” Their bodies were first buried near the place of their execution on the Salarian way; but were soon after translated into a farm of the devout lady Lucina, on the Ostian road, on this eighth day of August, as is recorded in the ancient Liberian Calendar, and others.

Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions, Martyrs ~ Pray for us 🙏

THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS: The Fourteen Holy Helpers are a group of saints venerated together in Roman Catholicism because their intercession is believed to be particularly effective, especially against various diseases. This group of Nothelfer (“helpers in need”) originated in the 14th century at first in the Rhineland, largely as a result of the epidemic (probably of bubonic plague) that became known as the Black Death or black Plague which devastated Europe from 1346 to 1349. Among its symptoms were the black tongue, a parched throat, violent headache, fever, and boils on the abdomen. The victims were attacked without warning, robbing them of their reason, and killed within a few hours; many died without the last Sacraments. No one was immune, and the disease wreaked havoc in villages and family circles. The epidemic appeared incurable. The pious turned to Heaven, begging the intervention of the saints, praying to be spared or cured. Each of these fourteen saints had been efficacious in interceding in some aspect for the stricken during the Black Plague.

The Fourteen “Auxiliary Saints”  are invoked because they have been efficacious in assisting in trials and sufferings. Each saint has a separate feast or memorial day, and the group was collectively venerated on August 8. The dates are the traditional feast days; not all the saints are on the General Roman Calendar. They are: SAINT BLAISE: (also Blase and Blasius) (February 3), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the throat. Blessing of the throats takes place on his feast day. SAINT GEORGE (April 23) soldier-martyr. Invoked for protection for domestic animals and against herpetic diseases. Also patron of soldiers, England, Portugal, Germany, Aragon, Genoa and Venice. SAINT ACATHIUS (also Acacius) (May 8), martyr. Invoked against headaches and at the time of death’s agony. SAINT ERASMUS (also St. Elmo) (June 2), bishop and martyr. He is invoked against diseases of the stomach and intestine, protection for domestic animals and patron of sailors. SAINT VITUS (also St. Guy) (June 15), martyr. Invoked in epilepsy, chorea (“St. Vitus’ dance”), lethargy, and the bites of poisonous or mad animals and against storms. Also protection for domestic animals. Patron of dancer and actors. SAINT MARGARET OF ANTIOCH (July 20), virgin and martyr. Invoked against backache. Patron for women in childbirth. SAINT CHRISTOPHER (also Christophorus) (July 25), martyr. Invoked against the plague and sudden death. He is the patron of travelers, especially motorists, and is also invoked in storms. SAINT PANTALEON (July 27), bishop and martyr. Invoked against consumption, protection for domestic animals and patron of physicians and midwives. SAINT CYRIACUS (also Cyriac) (August 8), deacon and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the eye and diabolical possession. Also interceded for those in temptation, especially at the time of death. SAINT GILES (also Aegidius) (September 1), hermit and abbot. Invoked against the plague, panic, epilepsy, madness, and nightmares and for a good confession. Patron of cripples, beggars, and breastfeeding mothers. SAINT EUSTACE (also Eustachius, Eustathius) (September 20), martyr. Invoked against fire — temporal and eternal. Patron of hunters. Patron in all kinds of difficulties, and invoked in family troubles. SAINT DENIS (also Dionysius) (October 9), bishop and martyr. Invoked against diabolical possession and headaches. SAINT CATHERINE OF ALEXANDRIA (November 25), virgin and martyr. Invoked against diseases of the tongue, protection against a sudden and unprovided death. Patroness of Christian philosophers, of maidens, preachers, wheelwrights and mechanics. She is also invoked by students, orators, and barristers as “the wise counselor.” SAINT BARBARA (December 4), virgin and martyr. Invoked against fever and sudden death. Patron of builders, artillerymen and miners. Also invoked against lightning, fire and sudden death.

PRAYER TO THE FOURTEEN HOLY HELPERS (By St Alphonsus Liguori (1696-1787) Doctor of the Church): Great princes of Heaven, Holy Helpers, who sacrificed to God all your earthly possessions, wealth, preferment and even life and who now are crowned in Heaven in the secure enjoyment of eternal bliss and glory; have compassion on me, a poor sinner in this vale of tears and obtain for me from God, for Whom you gave up all things and Who loves you as His servants, the strength to bear patiently all the trials of this life, to overcome all temptations and to persevere in God’s service to the end, that one day I too may be received into your company, to praise and glorify Him, the supreme Lord, Whose Beatific Vision you enjoy and Whom you praise and glorify forever. Amen 🙏

SCRIPTURE REFLECTIONS:

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

Gospel Reading ~ Matthew 16:13-23

“You are Peter, I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven”

“Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi and he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the Kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Christ. From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took Jesus aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.” He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

In today’s Gospel reading, Jesus addresses St. Peter in two very contrasting ways. He initially addresses Peter as the Rock, ‘You are Peter and on this rock I will build my church’. However, within the space of a few verses, Jesus then addresses St. Peter as Satan, ‘Get behind me Satan! You are an obstacle in my path’. Having addressed Peter as the rock on which He can build, Jesus then identifies him as a stumbling stone, an obstacle on Jesus’ path, because he was not thinking in God’s way. The fact that St. Peter could be a stumbling stone did not mean that he ceased to be the rock. According to the Gospel, the Lord told His disciples about Who He was, as He asked them who they think that He truly was. It was there that St. Peter spoke truthfully and courageously that the Lord Jesus was indeed the Holy One of God, the Messiah and Son of God that has come into this world to bring about its salvation. He was therefore chosen by the Lord Who knew the great faith which St. Peter had in Him, the great love and commitment that he would make, that he was entrusted with the governance and leadership of the Church that God was establishing in this world, to lead the other Apostles and disciples as the Lord’s Vicar, the very first Pope and Supreme Pontiff, whose successor now is Pope Francis, our current Pope.

St. Peter shows great insight into Jesus, when he confesses Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God. This is the insight of faith. Jesus tells St. Peter that his insight is a graced insight. It is given to him by God. Faith, including the insight that faith gives rise to, is not just a human quality. It is a gift from God. It is because of St. Peter’s faith that Jesus declares him to be the rock on which He will build His church. St. Peter will have a foundational role in Jesus’ church. Jesus gives him a special authority, symbolized by the keys, and then identifies this authority as a teaching authority. The task of binding and losing refers to St. Peter’s authoritative role in interpreting the teaching of Jesus for the community of believes. We have here a very exalted portrait of St. Peter as a man of deep faith which equips him for a teaching role in the church. Yet, this teacher immediately shows himself to be a slow learner. Jesus began to teach his disciples about the need for Him to go to Jerusalem where He would suffer and die. St. Peter would have none of this talk; he rebuked Jesus for it. St. Peter’s faith in Jesus did not embrace the cross. The Son of the living God could not suffer and be put to death – be crucified. Because of St. Peter’s resistance to this suffering and vulnerable dimension of Jesus’ identity, Jesus now addresses him as an obstacle, a stumbling stone, an agent of Satan. The rock becomes a stumbling stone to trip Jesus up. Within one short reading, we see the best of St. Peter and the worst of St. Peter. He clearly had a lot of growing in faith to do. We are all people of faith. Yet we all need to grow in faith as well. We can never become complacent about our faith; we are always on a journey. God may have begun a good work in us, but He has yet to bring it to completion. St. Peter, like every human being, was complex. He was a mixture of wheat and weeds, to use an image from one of Jesus’ parables. In spite of his failings, Jesus appointed Peter as the rock, the focal point, of the new community he came to form. The Lord keeps faith in us even after we have failed Him. The Lord can work powerfully in and through flawed human beings. What He does ask of us is that we keep striving for God’s way, as against a merely human way. Like St. Peter we can all have our bad moments when it comes to our relationship with Jesus and the living out of that relationship. Yet, the Lord continues to invest in us, as He continued to invest in St. Peter. We are not defined by our failures. They do not block the Lord from continuing His good work in our lives of bringing us to an ever deeper relationship with Himself.

In our first reading today from the Book of the prophet Jeremiah, the Lord reassured His people, those remnants of the Israelites in the southern kingdom of Judah that He would establish a new Covenant with each and every one of them, and that He still cared for them and loved them regardless of everything that He told them would happen to them. At that time, the people of Judah had been living through a hard time, pressed on all sides by their many enemies and subjugated by the Babylonians. The prophet Jeremiah had been sent as the final prophet God sent to the land and people of Judah to tell them of their coming destruction and conquest by the Babylonians, to tell them the consequences of their wickedness and sins. That was why the prophet Jeremiah often spoke of the coming ruin of Jerusalem and Judah, the downfall of the Temple of Jerusalem, all of which drew the ire of those who refused to accept the truth of God’s words. Many among the people still thought that they did nothing wrong, and that their ways of disobeying God’s Law and commandments were not an issue. But God made it clear that while He loved each one of them, He did not condone all the wickedness and evil deeds that they had committed, and their sins had been the ones that judged and condemned them to their fate. That was why their cities would be destroyed and thrown down, all because of their hubris and sins in worshipping pagan idols and gods instead of the Lord their God, Who has cared for all of them all the while. But God still loved His people nonetheless and desired their repentance and reunion with Him. That was why He still sent them prophets and messengers, one after another, all the way to the prophet Jeremiah himself, to help remind His people of the errors of their ways, so that they hopefully might be touched in their hearts and return once again towards God. God’s love and compassionate mercy have always been generously shown to us, but we have to embrace His love and mercy, and do what is necessary so that we may receive the fullness of His love and kindness, and be forgiven from our many sins that had separated us all from His love and grace. God reminded us all that we have been made partakers of this new Covenant He has established with us, and we ought to honour our part in it.

As we reflect on the words of the Sacred Scriptures today, we are all reminded of the Covenant which God had made with each and every one of us. He has established this most wonderful Covenant as the sign and proof of His ever enduring and wonderful love for us, which He has repeatedly shown us, again and again despite our constant rebelliousness and disobedience against Him. God has always been loving towards us and He desires for us to come back to Him with the desire to be healed and to be forgiven from our many sins and wickedness. He has always called on us to respond to His call, as He embraced us all and bringing us close to Him, giving us all His Beloved Son to reassure us all of His love and salvation, and establishing His Church to gather each and every one of us, and bringing us out of the darkness and into the light. Therefore, as we reflect on the lives and examples of the Saints, particularly St. Dominic, who we celebrate today, let us therefore do our part to be good and worthy disciples and followers of the Lord, following in the footsteps of St. Dominic and the other disciples of the Lord, our holy predecessors. Let us all continue to be grateful to the Lord for His ever generous and enduring love for us, and continue to do our part so that in each and every actions we take in life, we will continue to live worthily as Christians, as God’s holy and beloved people, in His One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church, helping our fellow brothers and sisters to come towards the Lord and His salvation. May God in His infinite grace and mercy, grant us the grace to look to the Holy Spirit to give us the wisdom to make the right judgement in following the Lord. May God bless us all and be His Church always, and may He empower each and every one of us in our every good efforts and deeds, now and forevermore. Amen. 🙏

DEVOTION OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST:

MONTH OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY: August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary! The Church dedicates the month of August to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It is a dogma of the Catholic faith that Mary is the Immaculate Conception; that is, in preparation for the Incarnation of the Second Person of the Holy Trinity in her womb, she was conceived without the corruption of sin through the foreseen and infinite merits of her Son, Jesus Christ. Over the centuries, as saints and theologians reflected on how Mary pondered and treasured the sacred events from the life of Christ in her holy heart, as attested in Scripture, her pure heart was recognized as something to be imitated. Devotion to Our Lady’s purity of heart began to flower—so much so that in the 17th century, St. John Eudes promoted it alongside the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The devotion rose to a new level after the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima, when Mary revealed an image of her Immaculate Heart to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco.

THE POPE’S MONTHLY INTENTIONS FOR 2024: FOR THE MONTH OF AUGUST – FOR POLITICAL LEADERS: We pray that political leaders be at the service of their own people, working for integral human development and for the common good, especially caring for the poor and those who have lost their jobs.

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, 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 suffering Lord, You faced the evil You endured with the utmost courage and love. You never gave in to fear but pressed on, fulfilling the Father’s will. Give me the grace I need to share in Your strength so as to overcome all that tempts me to fear. I love You, my Lord. May I rely upon You for all things. 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 Most Blessed Mother Mary, Saint Dominic; Saint Mary MacKillop; Saints Cyriacus, Largus, and Smaragdus, and Their Companions and the Fourteen Holy Helpers ~ 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, grace-filled and fruitful month of August and week🙏

Blessings and Love always, Philomena💖