Novena to Our Lady Help of Christians (Feast: May 24)

The novena ends on the Feast of: Our Lady Help of Christians - May 24

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First Day	Second Day	Third Day
Fourth Day	Fifth Day	Sixth Day
Seventh Day	Eighth Day	Ninth Day

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FIRST DAY:

Hail, Star of the sea, Blessed Mother of God, ever fruitful Virgin, happy gate of heaven.

PRAYER: O Virgin Most Holy, powerful help of Christians, I confidently appeal to the throne of your mercy. Hear the prayers of this poor sinner that begs your help, so I may always flee from sin and from the occasions of sin. Behold the first grace that I ask from this novena. Amen 
Our Father...
Hail Mary...
Glory Be…
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” (Apoc. 12: 1)
“And the dragon was angry against the woman: and went to make war with the rest of her seed, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. (Apoc. 12: 17)
Two distinguishing signs of the authentic faithful: Jesus and Mary, salvation of believers and help of Christians. Unto death I promise that I shall remain faithful to my religion: the Holy, Roman, Catholic and Apostolic Church.

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SECOND DAY:
Taking that sweet Ave, which from Gabriel came, peace confirm within us, changing Eve's name.

PRAYER: Mary Most Holy, Mother of goodness and mercy, who with your visible help oftentimes freed the Christian people from the assaults and barbarism of Moslems, I ask you, my Lady, to deliver my soul from the onslaughts of the world, the devil and the flesh; and grant that I may obtain, at all times, complete victory over the enemies of my soul.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“And Mary said: Behold the handmaid of the Lord: be it done to me according to your word.” (Luke 1: 38)
In short, Mary Most Holy offers us an example of humility, obedience and readiness to do the Will of God and to cooperate in bringing about His Plan of Salvation. "Lord, what do You wish me to do? Make me an instrument of Your peace."

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THIRD DAY:
Break the sinners' fetters, make our blindness day; chase from us all evils, for all blessings pray.


PRAYER: O Mary, most powerful Queen, who alone triumphed over the false doctrines that sought to take away so many children from the bosom of Holy Mother Church, help me, I beg you, to keep and preserve my faith firmly and my heart pure amidst the snares and venom of such harmful errors.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“And Mary rising up in those days, went into the hill country with haste into a city of Juda. And she entered into the house of Zachary and saluted Elizabeth… And Mary abode with her about three months. And she returned to her own house.” (Luke 1: 39-40, 56)
Certainly, Mary remained until the birth of St. John the Baptist, for she knew that expectant mothers need special care and help. Here, we have a beautiful example of charity. I too promise to always practice charity and acts of mercy.

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FOURTH DAY:

Show thyself our Mother by taking our voice to the One Who deigned to be born for us, from you.

PRAYER: O Mary, my most sweet Mother, you who are Queen of Martyrs, through so many heroic acts of courage and fortitude, which you performed on earth, deign to instill in my heart the necessary strength to always serve you. Help me to despise human respect, and fulfill all my religious duties openly and without shame; may I remain your devout child at all times, even unto death.

Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why have you done so to us? Behold your father and I have sought you sorrowing.” (Luke: 2, 48)

With what admirable kindness Mary admonishes her lost Son found in the temple. It is a beautiful example to parents. Children grow in wisdom, stature and grace before God and men when they receive the good example of their parents. In raising my children, I promise to always practice patience, prudence and seriousness.

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FIFTH DAY:
O Virgin unexcelled and most gentle, make us meek and pure and preserve us from evil.


PRAYER: Mary, beloved Mother, who showed your precious Patronage in the triumph of Pope Pius VII, extend your holy mantle over Holy Mother Church, especially over her august head, against the assaults of so many enemies; deliver him from temporal sufferings and assist him always that he may securely steer the barque of Peter in Truth, and overcome the proud waves attempting to sink it.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“And the third day, there was a marriage in Cana of Galilee: and the mother of Jesus was there.” (John 2:1)
And Jesus also was invited, and his disciples, to the marriage. Realizing that the wedding feast lacked wine, Jesus performed a miracle upon the trusting entreaty of his mother. She invites us to also obey Jesus in a special way, saying:
"Whatsoever he shall say to you, do it." (John 2:5)
"Happy are those that hear the Word of God and keep it" (Luke 11:28).

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SIXTH DAY:
Keep our life all spotless, make our way secure till we find in Jesus, joy for evermore.

PRAYER: O Mary, Queen of the Apostles, take under thy precious protection the Sacred Ministers and all the faithful of the Catholic Church, obtain for them the spirit of unity, and fervent zeal for the salvation of souls; particularly extend your loving help to missionaries, so they may lead all peoples of the earth to the true faith. Thus may the world become one fold under the guidance of only one Shepherd, Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
The Lord “is your praise, and your God, that has done for you these great and terrible things, which your eyes have seen.” (Deut. 10:21)
In fact, God, gazing at the humility of his faithful servant, Mary Most Holy, gave us through her the Savior of all men, Our Lord Jesus Christ. "O Mary, grant us the grace to imitate thy love of God and neighbor."

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SEVENTH DAY:
Praise be to God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit now and forever. Amen.

PRAYER: O Mary, Mother of mercy, who so often saved Christians from the plague and other bodily scourges by your powerful intercession, help them and deliver them now from the plague of impiety and irreligion, which insinuates itself in a thousand ways into their souls keeping them from the Church and pious practices, especially through sects, the press and perverse schools. I humbly ask you to help the good, that they may persevere; strengthen the weak; call the wayward and sinners to repentance, so that the Truth and the Kingdom of Jesus Christ may triumph here on earth, thus increasing your glory and that of your Son, and saving souls.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount that is called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, within a Sabbath day's journey. And when they had come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James of Alpheus, Simon Zelotes, and Jude, the brother of James. All these were persevering with one mind in prayer with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.” (Acts 1: 12-14)
O Mary, teach us to pray, trust and persevere.

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EIGHTH DAY:
Glorious Lady, more brilliant than the sun, at your breast you nourished the God who created thee.


PRAYER: O Mary, the Church's spiritual pillar and Help of Christians, I beseech you to keep me firm in the Divine Faith, and safeguard in me the freedom and dignity of God's children.
For my part I promise you never to stain my soul with sin, nor be a part of any society condemned by the Holy See. I promise you to obey the perennial teachings of the Church, since I want to live and die within the bosom of the Catholic Religion, the only one in which I can expect with certainty my eternal salvation.

Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

A SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he says to his mother: Woman, behold your son. After that, he says to the disciple: Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.” (John 19: 25-27)
We can never forget the words of the dying Jesus, “Mother, behold thy son. Son, behold thy Mother." Before dying, he entrusted his mother Mary to his disciple so that the faithful might have such a Mother present in their last agony.
 

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NINTH DAY:

What Eve had destroyed, was created, through you, Holy Mary, once again in the Son, opening Heaven’s gate and giving refuge to the downcast.

PRAYER: O Mary, my most gracious Mother, at all times so ready to be the help of Christians, assist me with your powerful patronage throughout my life and especially at the hour of death. Grant that, having loved and revered you on earth, I may sing your mercies in Heaven. Amen.
O God You who established the Mother of Your beloved Son as Mother and Help of Christians, grant, we beseech, that we may live under Your protection, and that the Church may rejoice in Your everlasting peace.
Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, in union with the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Our Father... 
Hail Mary...
Glory Be… 
Hail Holy Queen…
Mary, Help of Christians, Pray for us.

SHORT BIBLICAL READING:
“When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he says to his mother: Woman, behold your son. After that, he says to the disciple: Behold your mother. And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own.” (John 19: 26-27)
Mary Most Holy, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the Victim she bore, was given as a mother to the disciple and to all of us. The Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity. Mary, Help of Christians, cooperates in the work of the Redeemer to restore the supernatural life in souls.
“Behold, your Mother." (John 19: 27)

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Prayers to be said with the Novena:

Our FatherOur 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. Amen

Hail MaryHail Mary, full of grace. Our Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

Glory BeGlory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

Hail Holy QueenHail, Holy Queen, Mother of Mercy, our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve; to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this valley of tears. Turn then, most gracious advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us and after this our exile show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus. O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God... that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Amen

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Easy way to acquire this virtue

Here is one of the best means
to acquire humility.
Fix well in mind this maxim:
one is as much as he is in the sight of God,
and no more.

St. Francis of Assisi

St. Isidore the Farmer

St. Isidore the Farmer, patron of Madrid, was born of poor parents and named for St. Isidore, the Archbishop of Seville.

As a young man he entered the service of John de Vergas, a wealthy resident of Madrid, as a farm laborer and worked for the same employer his whole life.

Isidore married a young woman as poor and as virtuous as himself, but after the early death of an only son, they decided to serve God in perfect continence. A shining example of holiness in ordinary, day-to-day living, Isidore would wake early, attend Mass, and then spend the day at the plow, engrossed entirely in prayer and contemplation. Many marvels accompanied his daily grind and he was granted heavenly visions and conversed familiarly with the angels.

He was a great almsgiver, at times sharing most of his meals with the needy. He also loved animals. Once, on a snowy winter day, as he carried a sack of corn to be ground at the mill, he spied birds on a branch, hopeless of a meal. Despite the jeers of his companions, he poured half of his corn on the ground. On arriving at the mill, not only was his sack full, but the corn yielded double the amount of flour.

Isidore died on May 15, 1130. His wife survived him by several years and is also honored as a saint. Countless miracles followed the translation of Isidore’s body to a more honorable shrine, and devotion to the saint spread like wildfire.

In 1211 he is said to have appeared to King Alphonsus of Castille then fighting the Moors in the pass of Navas de Tolosa, and to have shown him a hidden path, which allowed the king and his army to surprise the enemy and carry the day.

Devoted to the saint, the Spanish Royal Family supported Isidore’s cause for canonization, and he was declared a saint in 1622.

In 1947 St. Isidore the Farmer was declared the patron of the National Rural Conference of the United States.

Pray the Rosary – Free Souls from Purgatory

Saint Louis de Montfort tells the story of a young girl of noble station named Alexandra, who had been miraculously converted and enrolled by St. Dominic in the Confraternity of the Rosary.  

After her death, she appeared to him and said she had been condemned to seven hundred years in purgatory because of her own sins and those she had caused others to commit by her worldly ways.
So she implored him to ease her pains by his prayers and to ask the Confraternity members to pray for the same end. St. Dominic did as she had asked.
Two weeks later she appeared to him, more radiant than the sun, having been quickly delivered from purgatory by the prayers of the Confraternity members.
She also told St. Dominic that she had come on behalf of the souls in purgatory to beg him to go on preaching the Rosary and to ask their relations to offer their Rosaries for them, and that they would reward them abundantly when they entered into glory.
By Saint Louis de Montfort

Click here for your Free Picture of Our Lady of Fatima

Obedience

 Obedience is rightly placed
before all other sacrifices, for
in offering a victim as sacrifice,
one offers a life that is not one’s own; but
when one obeys
one is immolating one’s own will.

St. Gregory the Great

St. Matthias the Apostle

The Greek name “Matthias” means “gift of Yahweh”. All we know for certain of Matthias is that he was chosen by the eleven apostles to replace the traitor, Judas, after the Ascension of Jesus and before the descent of the Holy Ghost on Pentecost, which makes St. Matthias the only apostle not directly chosen by Our Lord.

According to the Acts of the Apostles (1:15-26), after the Ascension, Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (120 of Christ’s disciples) and said: “…it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection” Acts 1:21-22. So it is clear that Matthias had followed Jesus since Our Lord's baptism by John in the Jordan.

For the selection of the new twelfth apostle, after a prayer beseeching God to guide them in His divine will, the eleven apostles cast lots between a Joseph, called Barsabas, and Matthias. The lot fell on Matthias who took his place among the first apostolic college.

According to Nicephorus' Church history, Matthias first preached in Judea and then in Ethiopia, where he was ultimately crucified.

Anniversary of the First Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima - May 13

On May 13, 1917, Lucia dos Santos, Francisco, and Jacinta Marto were, respectively, ten, nine, and seven years old. As we have said, the three children lived in Aljustrel, a hamlet of the township of Fatima.
After three apparitions of the Angel of Portugal in 1916, the children began to receive visits of a luminous Lady who later identified herself as “The Lady of the Rosary.” In Catholic language, “Our Lady of the Rosary” is the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God made man.
The apparitions took place on a small property belonging to Lucia's parents called Cova da Iria, about a mile and a half from Fatima.
The three seers were playing at Cova da Iria on May 13, 1917 when they saw two flashes like lightning, after which they saw the Mother of God above a holm oak. She was, according to the description of Lucia, "a Lady dressed in white, more brilliant than the sun…" Her face, indescribably beautiful, was "neither sad nor happy, but serious," with an air of mild reproach. Her hands, joined together as if she were praying, were resting at her breast and pointing upward. A rosary hung from her right hand.
The seers were so close to Our Lady – about a yard and a half away – that they stood within the light that radiated from her.

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The conversation developed in the following manner:

Our Lady: Do not be afraid; I will not harm you.
Lucia: Where is Your Grace from?
Our Lady: I am from heaven–pointing to the sky.
Lucia: And what does Your Grace wish of me?
Our Lady: I have come to ask you to come here for six months in succession on the thirteenth day of each month at this same hour. Later I will tell you who I am and what I want. Afterward, I will return here a seventh time.
Lucia: And will I go to heaven, too?
Our Lady: Yes, you will.
Lucia: And Jacinta?
Our Lady: Also.
Lucia: And Francisco?
Our Lady: Also, but he must say many rosaries.
Lucia: Is Maria das Neves already in heaven?
Our Lady: Yes, she is.
Lucia: And Amélia?
Our Lady: She will be in purgatory until the end of the world. Do you wish to offer yourselves to God to endure all the sufferings that He may be pleased to send you, as both an act of reparation for the sins with which He is offended and an act of supplication for the conversion of sinners?
Lucia: Yes, we do.
Our Lady: Well then, you will have much to suffer. But the grace of God will be your comfort.

"It was upon saying these last words, 'the grace of God...' that for the first time she opened her hands, which emitted a most intense light that penetrated our breasts, reaching the innermost part of our souls and making us see ourselves in God, Who was that light, more clearly than we can see ourselves in the best of mirrors.
Then, driven by a deep inspiration, we knelt down and repeated inwardly: 'O Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.'”
"A moment later, Our Lady added, 'Pray the rosary every day to obtain peace for the world and the end of the war.'
She immediately began to rise serenely toward the east until she disappeared far into the distance.
The light that surrounded her was, so to speak, opening her way through the starry firmament."

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Read:  Second Apparition

What Our Lady looked like

Lucia dos Santos describes Our Lady of Fatima:
“A Lady dressed all in white, more brilliant than the sun,
shedding a light that was clearer and more intense
than that of a crystal goblet filled with crystalline water
and struck by the rays of the most brilliant sun.
Her face, indescribably beautiful, was neither sad nor happy, but serious,
with an air of mild reproach.
Her hands, joined together as if she were praying,
were resting at her breast and pointing upward. A rosary hung from her right hand.
Her clothes seemed to be made of light. The tunic was white.
The veil, white and edged with gold, covered the head of the Virgin and
descended to her feet. Neither her hair nor her ears could be seen.”

St. John the Silent

John was born in Nicopolis in Armenia in the year 454 into a noble and virtuous family. Unusually devout even from childhood, John did not pursue the careers popular in his family; instead, after the death of his parents, he was divinely inspired to build a monastery where he afterwards lived with ten other young men, living the life of monks. John was only eighteen years old. Under his direction, they led a devoted life of work and piety, gaining for him a reputation of leadership and sanctity. Because of this, the Archbishop of Sabaste was moved to consecrate John as Bishop of Colonia in Armenia at the young age of twenty-eight. Although he felt himself insufficient and unworthy of the office, John accepted the position with humility and governed his diocese for nine years before he decided to resign and fulfill his desire to live a life of seclusion. Thus he found his way to Jerusalem.

While at prayer one night, John was granted a vision in which he was guided to the monastery of St. Sabas and there the pilgrim was granted permission to dwell in a lonely hermitage to pursue uninterrupted contemplation.

Such was his sanctity that after four years, having disclosed to no one that he had once been a bishop, and St. Sabas wishing to have John ordained to holy orders, the abbot presented him to the Patriarch Elias of Jerusalem. However, upon their arrival at Calvary, John requested a private audience with the patriarch and disclosed his long-held secret. Upon learning of his previous consecration, St. Sabas was startled and reproached John for keeping the knowledge from him. Abashed at being discovered, John desired to abscond from the monastery. However, St. Sabas was able to convince him to remain by promising to keep his secret. Hence, John continued to reside in his cell for four more years, speaking to no one save the one who brought him his necessities.

In the year 503, trouble – caused by certain disruptive members of the community – was stirring in the cloister and St. Sabas was forced to leave his own monastery; consequently, John also decided to leave and went into a nearby wilderness where he lived in prayer, mortification and silence for six years. Only when St. Sabas was finally restored to his community was he again able to persuade John to also return. However, having become accustomed to conversing only with God, John was unable to find anything but emptiness in all else. Pursuing once more his own obscurity and humility, he retired to his old solitary cell and remained in that dwelling for forty more years. During that time, he never turned away any of the people who came seeking his instruction and counsel. One of these whom John instructed was a young man of sixteen named Cyril who later wrote John’s life.

John died in 558 at the age of one hundred and four – he had lived in solitude for seventy-six years, interrupted only by the nine years of his episcopate as bishop of Colonia.

Marvelous thought for Mother's Day

 The loveliest masterpiece

of the heart of God is...

the heart of a mother.

St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Too much attention to Mary?

Let those who think that the Church
pays too much attention to Mary
give heed to the fact
that Our Blessed Lord Himself
gave ten times as much of His life to her
as He gave to His Apostles.

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen

Sts. Nereus, Achilleus and Pancras

Nereus and Achilleus were early Roman soldiers and members of the Praetorian Guard, the emperor’s bodyguards, who are said to have been converted and baptized by St. Peter himself, and later martyred for their faith in Christ.

Most of what we know of them comes from an epitaph written by Pope St. Damascus: "Nereus and Achilleus, the martyrs, joined the army and carried out the cruel orders of the tyrant, obeying his will continually out of fear. Then came a miracle of faith: they were suddenly converted, gave up their savagery, and fled the camp of their evil leader, throwing away their shields, armor, and bloody spears. Professing the faith of Christ, they were happy to be witnesses to its triumph.” By these words of the Holy Father, we can understand what great deeds can be brought about by Christ’s glory; for, being once participants in the persecution of Christians themselves, Nereus and Achilleus knew perhaps better than any other Christian what pain awaited them. However, faith triumphed over the fear of death, and the victory of faith was the sweetest victory they had ever known, this time as soldiers in the army of Christ.

Also celebrated today is the young Roman martyr, St. Pancras. Although we have no reliable historical information about this courageous follower of Christ, legend tells us that he was a Syrian boy born of pagan origins at the end of the third century. He was brought to Rome and reared by his uncle after the death of both his parents before he had yet turned nine. There both he and his uncle were converted to Christianity, and the young convert became an ardent adherer to the teachings of Christ.

When he was discovered and refused to renounce his faith, the Emperor Diocletian ordered his execution, and Pancras was consequently beheaded in 304. He was only fourteen years old.

How to achieve peace in your heart, home, and country

If you want peace in your heart,
in your home,
in your country,
assemble together every night
and pray the Rosary.

Pope St. Pius X

St. Francis di Girolamo

Born in Taranto in the province of Naples of exceptionally virtuous parents, the “Apostle of Naples” was the eldest of eleven children.

Showing early signs of intense piety and intellectual ability, he was received into a community of secular priests who initiated his education. He received the tonsure at sixteen and was ordained with special permission before the age of twenty-four.

He taught at a Jesuit college for several years, and at twenty-eight was received into the Society of Jesus, having overcome his father's strong opposition to his decision by his own meekness and charity.

His novitiate complete, Francis was sent to Leece to assist a renowned preacher, Father Agnello Bruno. For the next three years the two ardent priests traversed the length and breath of the province of Otranto. At the close of the mission Francis completed his theological studies and was professed.

The next field of his apostolic labors was to preach at the Church of Gesu Nuovo in Naples, and from the onset, attracted huge crowds. His preaching produced such excellent results that he was appointed to train other missionaries.

Preaching was his dominant talent. Wherever he went, people were spellbound by his eloquence and crowded his confessional. He preached in one church after another, at times impromptu in the street, he visited hospitals, prisons, and galleys. Once he brought to the Faith twenty Turkish prisoners in a Spanish galley.

The holy Jesuit’s preaching was enhanced by his reputation as a wonder-worker, though he continuously disclaimed any extraordinary powers, and rather attributed the numerous cures which accompanied his ministry to the intercession of St. Cyrus to whom he had a special devotion.

After suffering from a painful illness, St. Francis of Girolamo died at age seventy-four. He was canonized in 1839.

He remains among us

He remains among us
until the end of the world.
He dwells on so many altars,
though so often
offended and profaned.

St. Maximilian Kolbe

St. Damien de Veuster of Moloka'i

St. Damien is known as the Leper Priest and the Hero of Moloka'i. Born in Tremelo in Belgium on January 3, 1840, he was son of a farmer and his wife. He lived a devout life and in 1860 obtained permission to join the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. Although born Jozef De Veuster, the young brother took the name Damien in religious life. In 1864, in answer to his prayers to St. Francis Xavier, he was sent as a missionary to Honolulu, Hawaii. Here he applied himself to diligent study to compensate for his lack of an early education, and he was ordained to the sacred priesthood on May 21. For the next nine years Fr. Damien worked in various missions throughout Hawaii.

Wishing to do more to help God’s suffering people, Fr. Damien volunteered as a missionary priest to the leper community on the island of Moloka'i. His offer was accepted by Bishop Louis Désiré Maigret, the Vicar Apostolic of Honolulu and on May 10, 1873 Damien was formerly presented by the bishop to the flock of his new mission.

Fr. Damien’s first course of action was to build a church for the inhabitants of the colony of Moloka'i and to establish the Parish of St. Philomena. He was not just an ordinary parish priest to his large flock, he went out "into the highways and byways,” dressing ulcers, building proper homes and furniture for his parishioners, making coffins and digging graves. “I make myself a leper with the lepers to gain all for Jesus Christ,” he wrote of himself to his brother. Under his leadership, working farms were organized, basic laws enforced, and hospitals, schools and orphanages established, for Fr. Damien had a particular concern and care for the children of his mission.

Contracting leprosy himself in 1885, Fr. Damien continued to work vigorously to build as many homes as he could and made plans for the continuation of the programs he had established for after he was gone.

The Hero of Maloka'i died of leprosy in the early morning of April 15, 1889, at the age of 49. After his funeral Mass at St. Philomena's the next day, the whole leper colony of Moloka'i followed the funeral cortège to the cemetery where Damien was laid to rest under the same pandanus tree where he had slept upon his arrival at the mission.

St. Damien of Moloka'i was canonized on October 11, 2009 by Pope Benedict XVI who held the Leper Priest up as one who "teaches us to choose the good fights, not those that lead to division, but those that gather us together in unity."

The Robber Who Stole Heaven

In the mountainous region of Trent in Germany, there lived a notorious robber who made his living by bringing misfortune on others. His occupation being what it was, he would only increase his property by decreasing that of his victims.
One day, he was admonished by a local religious to change his course of life and thereby insure his eternal salvation. The only answer the robber gave was that for him there was no remedy.
"Do not say so," said the religious, "do what I tell you. Fast on each Saturday in honor of the Virgin Mary, and on that day of the week do no harm to anyone. She will obtain for you the grace of not dying in God’s displeasure.”
The robber thought to himself, “This is a small price to pay to insure my salvation; I will do as this holy man has prescribed.” He then obediently followed the religious’ advice, and made a vow to continue to do so. That he might not break it, from that time on he traveled unarmed on Saturdays.
Many years later, our robber was apprehended on a given Saturday by the officers of justice, and that he might not break his oath, he allowed himself to be taken without resistance. The judge, seeing that he was now a gray-haired old man, wished to pardon him.
Then the truly miraculous occurred. Rather than jump for joy thanking the judge for his leniency, the old robber, said that he wished to die in punishment of his sins. He then made a public confession of all the sins of his life in that same judgment hall, weeping so bitterly that all present wept with him.
He was beheaded, a death reserved for the nobility, rather than hanged. Then his body was buried with little ceremony, in a grave dug nearby.
Very soon afterwards, the mother of God came down from Heaven with four holy virgins by her side. They took the robber’s dead body from that place, wrapped it in a rich cloth embroidered with gold, and bore it themselves to the gate of the city.
There the Blessed Virgin said to the guards: "Tell the bishop from me, to give an honorable burial, in such a church to this dead person, for he was my faithful servant." And thus it was done.
All the people in the village thronged to the spot where they found the corpse with the rich pall, and the bier on which it was placed. And from that moment on, says Caesarius of Heisterbach, all persons in that region began to fast on Saturdays in honor of she who was so kind to even a notorious robber.
From the Glories of Mary, by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori.

Our Church is stronger when it is attacked

 The privilege of our Church is such that
it is never stronger than when it is attacked,
never better known than when it is accused,
never more powerful than when it appears forsaken.

"Treatise on the Trinity"—St. Hilary of Poitiers

St. Pachomius

Pachomius was born to pagan parents in Upper Thebais in Egypt in the year 292. According to one biographer, he was unwillingly drafted into the Emperor’s army when he was about twenty years old. Along with others pressed into the service of the emperor, Pachomius was ferried down river to Thebes, in which city the young pagan encountered Christians for the first time. So much did they impress him, as he observed them daily bringing food and comfort to the army recruits, who were kept close confined and ill-treated, that he vowed to investigate the Christian religion thoroughly once he had completed his time in the service of the Emperor. He later converted and was baptized in the year 314.

A few years after his conversion, Pachomius became acquainted with several well-known ascetics and decided to pursue their way of life. After seven years of preparation and study under the guidance and direction of a hermit named Palemon, Pachomius received the habit of a monk and set out to join St. Anthony of Egypt in the desert.

For a time Pachomius imitated Anthony’s solitary asceticism, living in his own hut, as the other followers of the great desert father did, and meeting occasionally with them for divine worship. Some time later, Pachomius heard a voice which instructed him to build a monastery at Tabennisi on the banks of the Nile where hermits who were physically or mentally unable to follow the rigor of Anthony’s solitary life could come to live as a community. Thus Pachomius is considered the first founder of cenobitic monasticism.

The first to be received into this new monastic community was his eldest brother John; within a short time their number grew to a hundred. Not only was Pachomius obliged to expand this first monastery at Tabennisi, but eventually, when this became inadequate, to build ten additional monasteries for men and two convents for women. For forty years he ruled the cenobites as their abbot. By the time of his death in 348, there were some seven thousand monks living under the monastic rule he had drawn up for them.

Why do children sometimes break the hearts of their parents?

The faults of children are not always imputed to the parents,
especially when they have instructed them and given good example.
Our Lord, in His wondrous Providence, allows children
to break the hearts of devout fathers and mothers.
Thus the decisions your children have made
don’t make you a failure as a parent in God’s eyes.
You are entitled to feel sorrow, but not necessarily guilt.
Do not cease praying for your children; God’s grace can touch a hardened heart.
Commend your children to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
When parents pray the Rosary, at the end of each decade
they should hold the Rosary aloft and say to her,
“With these beads bind my children to your Immaculate Heart!”
She will attend to their souls.

St. Louise de Marillac

St. Magdalena of Canossa

Magdalena was born on March 1, 1774, into an ancient and prominent family of Verona, Italy. She was a descendant of the Countess Matilda of Tuscany outside whose Castle of Canossa Emperor Henry IV of Germany did penance in 1076, in submission to Pope St. Gregory VII who had excommunicated him.

Her father, the Marquis Octavius of Canossa, died in 1779, and her mother remarried leaving her children to be raised by relatives. Suffering keenly this abandonment by her earthly mother, Magdalena had recourse to the Virgin Mother, “I wept … before Mary, invoking her in tears and calling her by the name of ‘mamma!’ … little by little I placed myself in the heart of Mary.”

In 1791 she entered a Carmelite convent but returned home after eight months. The Order of Mount Carmel was not her calling.

As Magdalena matured, she assumed the title of Marchioness and became the head of the large household at their palace of Canossa, a leading lady of her time.

When the Napoleonic Wars broke out, the Canossa family took temporary refuge in Venice where Magdalena had a dream in which Our Lady showed her needy girls, poor children and sick people.

Upon their return, Magdalena began a work to assist the sick and the wounded, particularly girls and those left abandoned. On several occasions, the young Marchioness hosted the conqueror Napoleon Bonaparte who, impressed with her work, granted her an empty convent for her enterprise.

As other women joined Magdalena’s work, they became known as the “Canossians”. She was invited to open a house in Venice from which they went on to make foundations in Milan, Trent and Bergamo, and other places in northern Italy. But it was in Venice that the foundress drew up the rule for the new congregation, which she called the Daughters of Charity. In 1828, the order was approved by Pope Leo XII.

Magdalena became poor with the poor, primarily concerned with the neglected of society, but went on to open schools and colleges as well, making special provision for the deaf and dumb.

Developing great powers of prayer and recollection despite her busy life, the saintly foundress attained high levels of contemplation. On several occasions she was found rapt in ecstasy and, at least once, was seen lifted from the ground.

In 1834 she was taken ill and died on April 10, 1835.

Secret of Mary

Considering Our Lady’s action upon the three Fatima children in a broader sense, the changes she brought about in them was something extraordinary — something far beyond their capacity. From this, we gather that Our Lady suddenly and suavely transformed them through her repeated apparitions.

St. Francisco Marto	St. Jacinta Marto

Here we discover something akin to the “Secret of Mary,” of which Saint Louis de Montfort speaks. We see grace working profoundly in souls, and we see how it works silently, without the person perceiving it. As a result, the person feels truly free. More than ever, the person feels inspired to practice virtue and reject the evil chains of sin; consequently, their love of God blossoms.

Their desire to serve Him increases, and so does their hatred of sin. This marvelous transformation of soul occurs in such a way that the person does not experience the systematic uphill struggle of those who follow the classical system of the spiritual life to obtain virtue, sanctity, and Heaven. Much to the contrary, Our Lady changes them suddenly.
The changes in the two children Our Lady called to Heaven, Jacinta and Francisco, was particularly striking. What does this mean? Does this mean Our Lady will perform the same transformation upon us?
Is it a foretaste of how Our Lady intends to change Humanity when she fulfills her Fatima promises?
Can I say that the transformation in the souls of Jacinta and Francisco are the beginning of Our Lady’s reign? Is this not her triumph over the souls of Jacinta and Francisco, heralds of Our Lady’s message, who helped others accept the Fatima message through their prayers and sacrifices? And who still help us today through their prayers in Heaven?
If this is true, it is logical that Jacinta and Francisco be our intercessors before Our Lady and obtain the coming of her reign in our hearts. Is this not the mysterious transformation that we call the “Secret of Mary”?
I firmly believe that we must ask Jacinta and Francisco to transform us, to grant us the same gifts they received, and to guide us, whose mission it is to live and to preach the Fatima message.

Adapted from a lecture of Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira on October 13, 1971.

Before turning to God for help with earthly needs...

In all the miracles of healing
performed by Our Divine Savior, we must
admire the remarkable goodness which caused Him
to heal first the sickness of the soul, then that of the body.
He teaches us the great lesson
that we must first purify our consciences
before turning to God for help in our earthly needs.

St. John Bosco

St. John of Beverley

John was born in Harpham, a village in Yorkshire. As a young man he joined the famous school of St. Theodore in Kent, where he distinguished himself. Later, he joined the Abbey of Whitby in his own country, where his exceptional abilities marked him out for preferment, and when the diocesan see of Hexham became vacant, he was appointed its bishop.

A great contemplative, he often retired to a cell by the Church of St. Michael beyond the River Tyne whenever his duties allowed.

At the death of St. Bosa, John was appointed his successor as the Bishop of York. As such he ordained the Venerable Bede who wrote of him at length in his Ecclesiastical History, testifying to the bishop's sanctity and recording eye-witness accounts of his numerous miracles. As Bishop of York, John continued his accustomed habit of retiring periodically to the Abbey of Beverley, a monastery he had built around the year 700.

Worn by age and fatigue, John resigned his bishopric to his chaplain, St. Wilfrid the Younger, and retired to Beverley where he spent the last four years of his life. He died on May 7, 721.

Big thing, little thing, every thing

I am not capable
of doing big things, but
I want to do everything,
even the smallest things,
for the greater glory of God.

St. Dominic Savio

St. Petronax of Monte Cassino

Petronax is considered to be the second founder of the Monastery Abbey of Monte Cassino, initially established by St. Benedict of Nursia.

A native of Brescia, Petronax was encouraged by Pope St. Gregory II to make a pilgrimage to the tomb of St. Benedict in the year 717. There, among the ruins of the old monastery destroyed by the Lombards in 581, he found a few hermits. These solitaries elected Petronax superior, and other disciples soon gathered.
With the help of prominent nobles, especially the Duke of Benevento, and with strong backing from three popes, Petronax rebuilt Monte Cassino. Under the new abbot’s lengthy and energetic rule the community thrived once again, regaining its old eminence. Saints, and prominent men of all kinds, sought the hospitality of the great Benedictine abbey.

Petronax led the community until his death about the year 747.
Photo by: Halibutt

May: The Month of Mary

During the month of May—the month of Mary—we feel a special protection of Our Lady that extends to all the faithful; we feel a special joy that shines and illuminates our hearts expressing the universal certainty of Catholics that the indispensable patronage of our heavenly mother becomes even more tender, more loving and more full of visible mercy and exorable condescendence during her month of May.

Even after the month of May passes, a remnant of this remains if we have profited from those thirty-one days especially consecrated to Our Lady. We are left with an increased devotion, a keener confidence and, so to speak, such an increased intimacy with Our Lady that in all the vicissitudes of life we will know how to petition her with respectful insistence, hope in her with invincible confidence and thank her with humble tenderness for all the good she does us.

Gift to Our Lady: Become a Child of Mary Monthly Pledge Donor

Our Lady is the Queen of Heaven and Earth and, at the same time, our mother. We enter the month of May with this conviction, and it becomes more deeply rooted in us when we leave it, strengthening our faith and increasing our fortitude. May teaches us to love Mary Most Holy for the glory she rightly possesses and for all that she represents in the plans of Divine Providence. It also teaches us to be more constant in our filial union with Mary.

Children are never more sure of the loving vigilance of their mothers than when they suffer. All of mankind suffers today; all peoples suffer. They suffer in every conceivable way.

Windstorms of impiety and skepticism sweep through minds, and crazy whirlwinds of all types of messianism devastate them. Nebulous, confused and rash ideas filter into every milieu and mislead not only the wretched and the lukewarm, but sometimes even those of whom greater constancy in the Faith is expected.

Those who are tenaciously faithful to the fulfillment of duty suffer from all the adversity they meet by their fidelity to the Law of Christ. Yet those who transgress the Law also suffer, for without Christ every pleasure is nothing but bitterness, and every joy is a lie.

Hearts suffer, torn by the revolutionary psychological war, which is so intense in our days. Bodies suffer, impoverished by work, undermined by malady, overwhelmed by necessities of every kind.

The contemporary world could be likened to the time when Our Lord was born in Bethlehem: Its tortured mouth opens with a loud and agonizing groan, the groan of the evildoers who live far removed from God and the groan of the just who live tormented by the evildoers.

The more somber circumstances become and the more excruciating sundry pains grow, the more we should ask Our Lady to put an end to so much suffering not merely for our own relief, but for the greater benefit of our souls. Sacred theology says that Our Lady's prayers anticipated the moment of the world's redemption by the Messias. At this anguished moment in history then, let us turn our eyes to Our Lady with confidence, asking her to hasten the great moment we all await, when a new Pentecost will kindle beacons of light and hope in this darkness and restore the kingdom of Our Lord Jesus Christ on earth.

We should be like Daniel, whom Holy Scripture describes as the "desideriorum vir," that is, a man full of great desires. Let us desire many great things for the glory of God. Let us always ask Our Lady for everything. And let us, above all, ask her for that which the Sacred Liturgy beseeches of God: "Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur, et renovabis faciem terrae" (Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth). We should ask, through the mediation of Our Lady, that God once again send us the Holy Ghost with the plenitude of His gifts so that His kingdom may be created anew and be purified by a renewal of the face of the earth. In the Divine Comedy, Dante wrote that praying without the patronage of Our Lady is like wanting to fly without wings. Let us then confide to Our Lady this heartfelt yearning and desire. The hands of Mary will be for our prayer a pair of pure wings that will carry it with certainty to the throne of God.

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Restless

Thou hast formed us for Thyself O Lord
and
our hearts are restless
till they find rest in Thee!

St. Augustine of Hippo

St. Hilary of Arles

Hilary was of a noble, patrician family of means and influence, a close relative of St. Honoratus and the founder of the Monastery of Lérins on the Mediterranean island of the same name, a monastery which is active to this day.

Wealthy, highly educated, and endowed with exceptional abilities, Hilary looked forward to a brilliant career in the world. But his saintly relative felt that he was called to serve his God in religious life and did his utmost to convince him to leave the things of the world.

After a fierce inner struggle, Hilary decided to sell his patrimony and follow his holy mentor to Lérins. He writes of this interior battle: “On one side, I saw the Lord calling me; on the other the world offering me its seducing charms and pleasures. How often did I embrace and reject, willed and not willed the same thing!  But in the end Jesus Christ triumphed in me. And three days after Honoratus had left me, the mercy of God, solicited by his prayers, subdued my rebellious soul.”

When Honoratus was elected Bishop of Arles in 426, being already an old man, he wished to have Hilary’s assistance and companionship, and himself traveled to Lérins to fetch his relation.
At Honoratus’ death in 429, Hilary, though grieving, rejoiced to return to his island abbey. He had started on his journey, when he was overtaken by messengers from the citizens of Arles begging him to accept the miter. Though only twenty-nine, he submitted, being well prepared for the task by his years of religious life and assistance to Honoratus. Though observing the austerities of the cloister, he took up his diocesan work with immense energy.

Known for his kindness and charity, he is also remembered for publicly rebuking a government official for bringing shame to the Church. He helped establish monasteries, and strengthened the discipline and orthodoxy of the Church through several councils. He sold Church property to ransom those kidnapped, and is said to have worked miracles in his lifetime.

Though his life was marked by some canonical disputes with Pope St. Leo I, the same Pontiff praised him in a letter to his successor, calling him, “Hilary of holy memory.”

He died on May 5, 449, just short of fifty years of age.
Second Image by: Esby

Important Novena to Our Lady of Fatima for the Anniversary May 13th

 

 Please say this prayer every day for 9 consecutive days May 5-13

  

ost Holy Virgin, who has deigned to come to Fatima to reveal to the three little shepherds the treasures of graces hidden in the recitation of the Rosary, inspire our hearts with sincere love of this devotion.        By meditating on the mysteries of our redemption that are recalled in your Rosary, may we gather the fruits contained therein and obtain the conversion of sinners, the conversion of Russia, the Peace of Christ for the world, and this favor that I so earnestly seek of you in this novena.... (here mention your request)      I ask this of you, for the greater glory of God, for your own honor and for the good of all people. Amen Say the Our Father, Hail Mary Glory Be (three times each)

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Why do they persecute us?

God, to procure His glory, sometimes
permits that we should be dishonored and
persecuted without reason.
He wishes thereby to render us conformable to His Son,
Who was calumniated and treated
as a seducer, as an ambitious man, and as one possessed.

St. Vincent de Paul

St. Gothard of Hildesheim

Gothard was born in the Bavarian village of Reichersdorf. Ratmund, his father, worked for the Canons of the neighboring Benedictine Abbey of Nieder-Altaich.

Educated by the Benedictines, the young Bavarian attracted the attention of the bishops of Passau and Regensburg, and the favor of the Archbishop of Salzburg. The latter made the studious youth Provost of the Canons at age nineteen.

When the Benedictine rule was restored in Nieder-Altaich, Gothard, by now a priest, became a monk in the abbey. He went on to become abbot, his installation being honored by the presence of St. Henry, then Duke of Bavaria, and later Emperor, and who greatly esteemed the holy abbot. St. Cunegunde, the wife of the saintly Emperor, embroidered a belt for Gothard, which was long venerated as a relic.

When the see of Hildesheim became vacant, St. Henry nominated Gothard to the post, to which the saint submitted complying with the wishes of his monarch and the support of the clergy.

Despite being already sixty years old, he threw himself into the work of his diocese with the zest and energy of a young man. He restored and built many churches, fostered education, and built a hospice for his beloved sick in the outskirts of Hildesheim.

Though he had a great love for the truly needy, he looked askance at able-bodied professional tramps. He called them “peripatetics” and would not allow them to stay more than two or three days in his hospice.

The holy bishop died after a brief illness on May 4, 1038, and was canonized in 1131.
Photo by: Jirí Janícek

1st Friday & 1st Saturday Devotions

 

NINE FIRST FRIDAYS DEVOTION

When Our Lord appeared to Saint Margaret Mary in 1673, He promised to grant the following favors to all those who practiced devotion to His Sacred Heart:

12 Promises of the Sacred Heart to St. Margaret Mary:

1)  I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

2)  I will give peace in their families.

3)  I will console them in all their troubles.

4)  I will be their refuge in life and especially in death.

5)  I will abundantly bless all their undertakings.

6)  Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.

7)  Tepid souls shall become fervent.

8)  Fervent souls shall rise speedily to great perfection.

9)  I will bless those places wherein the image of my Sacred Heart shall be exposed and venerated.

10) I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.

11) Persons who propagate this devotion shall have their names eternally written in my Heart.

12) In the excess of the mercy of my heart, I promise you that my all powerful love will grant to all those who will receive Communion on the First Fridays, for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance: they will not die in my displeasure, nor without receiving the sacraments; and my Heart will be their secure refuge in that last hour.

A veritable treasure chest of spiritual gems! And what does He ask of us in return?

How to complete the Nine First Fridays Devotion:
On the first Friday of nine consecutive months:

1. Receive Holy Communion on each of the First Fridays;

2. The nine first Fridays must be consecutive;

3. They must be made in honor of and in reparation to His Sacred Heart.

Click here for more about this Devotion

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 FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS DEVOTION

In December of 1925, Our Lady appeared to Sister Lucia, giving her the following guaranty of salvation for those who complete the First Five Saturdays Devotion:

“I promise to assist them at the hour of death with all the graces necessary for the salvation of their souls."

Why Five Saturdays?
The five first Saturdays correspond to the five kinds of offenses and blasphemies committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

1) Blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception.

2) Blasphemies against her virginity.

3) Blasphemies against her divine maternity, at the same time the refusal to accept her as the Mother of all men.

4) Instilling indifference, scorn and even hatred towards this Immaculate Mother in the hearts of children.

5) Direct insults against Her sacred images.

How to complete the Five First Saturdays Devotion:
On the first Saturday of five consecutive months:

1. Go to confession;

2. Receive Holy Communion;

3. Say five decades of the Rosary;

4. Keep Our Lady company for 15 minutes, meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary;

5. Have the intention of making reparation to Our Lady for the offenses listed above.

Click here for more about this powerful Devotion

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Strong against the devil

The Sign of the Cross
is formidable to the devil, because
by the Cross we escape from him.
We should make the Sign of the Cross with great respect.
We begin with the forehead: it is the head, creation – the Father;
then the heart: love, life, redemption – the Son;
then the shoulders: strength – the Holy Ghost.
Everything reminds us of the Cross.

St. John Vianney

Sts. Philip and James

Phillip, seemingly a disciple of John the Baptist, was the third apostle, after Andrew and Peter, whom Christ Our Lord called to follow Him. A family man, St. Chrysostom says of him that he still found time to meditate on the law and the prophets, which study prepared him to recognize the expected Messiah. Mentioned several times in the Gospel of John, we get a glimpse of the Apostle Phillip as a man of an amiable, earnest and circumspect disposition.

Immediately after being chosen, he seeks out Nathaniel to tell him of his great discovery. On meeting with disdainful doubt on Nathaniel’s part, “Can anything good come from Nazareth?” (John 1:46) Phillip is neither frustrated nor irritated but says simply, “Come and see.”

At the multiplication of the loaves and the fish, Our Lord singles him out, “Whence shall we buy bread that they may eat?” to which Phillip replied soberly, “Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one may take a little” (John 6:5-7).

In his ardent love and desire to see the Father, he asks Jesus, “Lord, show us the Father…” to which Our Lord replies calling him by name, “…Philip, he that sees me sees the Father also…” (John 14:8-9)

Phillip must have lived to an advanced age as St. Polycarp, who was only converted in the year 80, held conversations with him. He seems to have preached in Greece, Phrygia, and Syria, and suffered martyrdom in Hierapolis.

James called “the lesser” because he seems to have been younger than James the Greater, was a brother of John and was also known as “James the Just”.

He was son of Alpheus of Cleophas and Mary, a relative of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which seems to make him a cousin of Jesus. In Scriptures he is called a “brother” of the Lord, a title the Jews often used for close relatives.

James the Lesser held a prominent position in the early church, a man whom the Apostle Paul consulted. According to tradition, he was Bishop of Jerusalem and was present at the Council of Jerusalem in the year 50, where at the instance of Peter, he officially pronounced that gentiles accepting baptism need not be circumcised.

Tradition has also always recognized James the Lesser as the author of the epistle that bears his name.

The historian Josephus, records that James earned his crown of martyrdom in the year 62, when he was stoned to death in Jerusalem.