Solemn Novena to Saint Anthony of Padua

Go over to the Moment By Moment blog, the blog for the MI Australia for the prayers for the solemn novena.

St Anthony is a special saint for our family. Okay, he helps us find lost things. But more than that, the saint is an example of love and of faithfulness.

All our sons have Anthony as one of their names.

We pray the weekly novena to St Anthony in the Tuesday night St Anthony mass in our parish, a parish under the care of the Conventual Franciscans.

And our little unschooling homeschool is called St Anthony's Academy.

A Recalcitrant Mother's Prayer

Have you been indifferent to a choice?

I don't mean this in a negative way ( a who could care less way) but say it with a positive tone.

In praying about some recent events in our lives, I came to feel an indifference towards the result. Indifferent as in experiencing the inner, well, freedom I guess you would call it, to be open to God's will and wherever that may lead. To not put all my cares and wishes and hopes in one option. To say... Okay, God, I am happy with either choice, whatever is your will.

In Ignatian spirituality, to be indifferent means to choose the will of God rather than my own. To choose what will bring me closer to God.

Now, this indifference over a few recent situations doesn't mean that I am perfect spiritually. Or that I feel this indifference over everything. Far from it.

It shows, instead, the power and graces of prayer.

And of devotion to our Blessed Mother.

We are taught to love and say the Rosary with great devotion; let us be faithful to this our first love - for it will bring us closer to our Heavenly Mother.....Cling to the Rosary as the creeper clings to the tree... Mother Teresa, Come Be My Light, her private writings.

I am finding that persistence in prayer slowly, gradually, changes me ...and my natural inclinations to be not-so-nice.

Well, I am sure that is obvious to most people but I have had to learn it the long way. To persevere in prayer regardless of feeling. To pray, even if prayer seems a penance, even if I would rather just get up and chat and talk. Or cry.

Prayer with perseverance means that I learn self control. Our Lady brings me to Her Son, but it comes with a cost. A little bit of dying to self. Of doing what I don't want. Of being nice when I don't want to be. Of being uncomfortable. Of praying through pain.

I want to smile at Jesus and so hide if possible the pain and darkness of my soul even to Him. Mother Teresa again.

Praying the Rosary, clinging to the Rosary, takes the focus off me and off what I want in a situation. Takes the focus off even my own prayer intentions. Gives me a vehicle to forget about me ( Deo Gratias) and to just be, with Our Lord and His Mother, in prayer. To offer this prayer, and the other Morning and Evening Prayers of the Divine Office, for others. And not for me.

It is not all about me. A real revelation.

The Divine Office, that and praying the Rosary, reminds me of this fact. These prayers unite my prayers with the community of believers. They are a discipline and a grace.

The Divine Office (or the Liturgy of the Hours) is the public, daily prayer of the Church. Jesus said to "Pray continually and never lose heart." ( Luke 18:1)

So, the Divine Office is the Church’s response of praying unceasingly throughout the day.

When I pray the Divine Office, I join with the Church in prayer. I participate in the prayer of Christ, in His prayer for the salvation of souls. I am not praying for myself and for my day but for the needs of others, of the family, of the world.

There are days when the psalms I pray might be expressing an emotion different from that which I am experiencing. But the prayers of the Divine Office, the intention of praying this, and of praying the Rosary, keep in my mind the thought that I, that we, are praying as a Church. As I pray, in communion with others praying these prayers throughout the world, the exact same prayers, not me-centred petitions or a shopping list of wishes, I am given the grace of truly praying in communion, of offering up the prayer of someone else who might be in great pain and sorrow, or of someone who might be giving praise to God.

Wow.

So, perseverance in prayer has helped me, is helping me. And helps my family, for a mother and wife's prayer life is closely interwoven with the life and heart of the family.

I heard one writer, a mother, refer to praying the Divine Office as a "safety net" - the prayers catch you when you feel you are sinking, are falling, when things in the family are going right, when things in the family are less than right. Praying the Divine Office lets you fall, safely, in prayer, into the arms of Our Lord and His Blessed Mother. With the rhythm of the prayers and of the liturgical seasons. With the familiarity of the Psalms. With perseverance and imperfection and with love.

I don 't always pray perfectly. I don't usually reach that point of (Jesuit described) indifference. I am often self centred. I have not reached spiritual perfection.

But prayer is teaching me many things. Is giving God's grace to my family. Is showing me Christ. Is uniting me with the Church, her liturgy, her prayers. Me, an often too busy, too sarcastic wife and mother. Who fails to think before she speaks and acts and then regrets her choice. Who is brought to her knees in prayer.

If prayer and perseverance in prayer can teach the recalcitrant me oh so many things, imagine how it helps my family, my friends, those other, more gentle mothering souls.

I am ready to accept whatever He gives and to give whatever He takes with a big smile. Mother Teresa.

I

Memories

Remembering Br John Joseph OFM Conv...Laughter, conversation, Singstar, and, yes, serious discussions...

Eternal rest grant unto him,O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace. Amen.

Réquiem ætérnam dona ei Dómine; et lux perpétua lúceat ei Requiéscat in pace. Amen.

What Do You Do Thursdays?

What do you do Thursdays?

This morning, at six thirty, I picked up a friend . We went to mass, at the Tyburn Priory.

This is the last First Thursday for the Year of the Priest and will be our final opportunity to receive the plenary indulgence offered by Pope Benedict XVI for this year.

We pray for priests, in this Year for Priests.

But we don't have to stop there. We don't have to stop here and now, as the Year for Priests draws to a close. We can continue to devote the first Thursday of the month to this intention... to attend mass and pray before the Blessed Sacrament, for priests and religious.

And for vocations to the priesthood and to religious life.

So what do you do Thursdays?

Keep the first Thursday of the month for prayer for priests and religious?


THURSDAY CONSECRATION PRAYER

O my Beloved Jesus, I give and consecrate to Thee this Thursday and all the Thursdays of my life,in praise of the adorable Mystery of Thy Body and Blood, and in thanksgiving for that of the Priesthood.

Moved by Thy Holy Spirit, and full of confidence in the help of Thy Most Holy Mother, the Virgin Mary, Mother of Priests, I resolve to live each Thursday for the rest of my days here below in adoration and in reparation for priests and religious and, especially, for those who do not adore Thee, for those who are most wounded in their souls, and for those who are exposed to the attacks of the powers of darkness.

I want to remain before Thy Eucharistic Face for them and in their place; I want to draw near, in their name, to Thy open Heart, ever-flowing with the Blood and the Water that purify, heal, and sanctify all souls, but, first of all, those of Thy priests and Thy religious.

Let each Thursday find me close to the Sacrament of Thy Body and Blood, in adoration and reparation for the sake of all Thy priests and religious. Make me an entirely Eucharistic soul, according to the desires of Thy Sacred Heart and the designs of Thy merciful goodness upon my life. I desire nothing else. I want to love Thee more each day; I want to be the faithful adorer of Thy Eucharistic Face and the consoling friend of Thy Sacred Heart hidden in the tabernacles of the world, where it beats, wounded by love, forgotten, forsaken, and waiting for the adoration and for the love of even one priest.

Amen.

The Visitation

And here is a table blessing, for the feast of the Visitation, today, May 31.

Praying this with the family before a (typically late, after work, typically thrown together, maybe macaroni cheese or Pasta Alfredo) dinner tonight...

We remember today the visiting of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth and the wonderful prayer of the Magnificat.

Reading Having begotten God in her womb, the Virgin hastened to Elizabeth, whose child understood the greeting and rejoiced with leapings as with songs, crying to the Mother of God:
Rejoice, O flower of unwithering stem! Rejoice, O gift of an incorruptible fruit! Rejoice, O fountain of the source of life, the lover of humanity! Rejoice, O Mother of the Son of God the Father! Rejoice, O field, a harvest of mercy! Rejoice, O banquet, a feast of purity! Rejoice, O flower, a meadow of delights! Rejoice, O guide, the harbor of souls! Rejoice, O acceptable incense of prayers! Rejoice, O purification of the universe! Rejoice, O goodness of God toward the dead! Rejoice, O boldness of dead toward God! Rejoice, O unwedded bride! (Akathist Hymn)

Responsory Verse: When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, she said: Response: "Who am I that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"

The Lord's Prayer

Blessing Blessed be you, God of mercy and compassion, for you inspired Mary, the humble maiden of Nazareth, to visit her cousin Elizabeth and to assist her in her earthly needs. Help us, that following Mary's example we may remain always open to the needs and sufferings of others. Strengthen us with the nourishment of this meal, and bring us one day to love's eternal feast in your kingdom. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer Source: Table Blessings: Mealtime Prayers Throughout the Year by Brother Victor-Antoine d'Avila-Latourrette, Ave Maria Press, 1994

Celebration

No, not the Madonna album of that name ( but that CD is one of my favourites!).

But tonight we are celebrating.

Five years since the election of Pope Benedict XVI as our Pope, our Shepherd, the visible head of the Church.

Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI
Lord, source of eternal life and truth, give to Your shepherd, the Pope, a spirit of courage and right judgement, a spirit of knowledge and love.
By governing with fidelity those entrusted to his care may he, as successor to the apostle Peter and vicar of Christ, build Your church into a sacrament of unity, love, and peace for all the world.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

We are praying for the Pope. And for the Church.

We are also celebrating five years of living in Sydney. The longest time we have ever, ever lived in one house. In one parish.

Thomas, Anthony and I made desserts for tonight. Fingers crossed. Hope I can eat some!

Prayers

Prayer asking God for St. Francis' intercession

Collect for the Feast of St. Francis' Stigmata, September 17th

O Lord Jesus Christ, who, when the world was growing cold, did renew in the flesh of the most blessed Francis the sacred stigmata of Thy Passion, in order to inflame our hearts with the fire of Thy love, graciously grant unto us, that yoked to his merits and prayers we may bear the Cross, and bring forth fruits worthy of penance: You who live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, God forever and ever. Amen.

St Anthony's prayer for Wisdom

Oh Light of the World, Infinite God, Father of Eternity, giver of Wisdom and Knowledge, and ineffable dispenser of every Spiritual Grace; who knowest all things before they are made, who makest the darkness and the light; put forth Thy hand and touch our mouths, and make them as a sharp sword to utter eloquently Thy Words. Make our tongues, Oh Lord, as chosen arrows, to declare faithfully Thy Wonders. Put Thy Spirit, Oh Lord, in our hearts, that we may perceive; in our souls, that we may retain; and in our consciences, that we may meditate. Do thou lovingly, holily, mercifully, clemently and gently inspire us with Thy Grace. Do Thou teach, guide and strengthen the comings in and goings out of our senses and our thoughts. And let Thy discipline instruct us even to the end, and the Counsel of the Most High help us through Thy Infinite Wisdom and Mercy, Amen

A Prayer to the Holy Family

Last night, before dinner, before the wine-and-snakes, we prayed this prayer. Greg found it for me. It is beautiful, and so I am saving it here for next year, for the Holy Family. And sharing it with you, the one or two regular readers....


Act of Consecration to the Holy Family

O Jesus, our most loving Redeemer, who having come to enlighten the world with Thy teaching and example, didst will to pass the greater part of Thy life in humility and subjection to Mary and Joseph in the poor home of Nazareth, thus sanctifying the Family that was to be an example for all Christian families, graciously receive our family as it dedicates and consecrates itself to Thee this day. Do Thou protect us, guard us and establish amongst us Thy holy fear, true peace and concord in Christian love: in order that by living according to the divine pattern of Thy family we may be able, all of us without exception, to attain to eternal happiness.

Mary, dear Mother of Jesus and Mother of us, by the kindly intercession make this our humble offering acceptable in the sight of Jesus, and obtain for us His graces and blessings.

O Saint Joseph, most holy Guardian of Jesus and Mary, help us by thy prayers in all our spiritual and temporal needs; that so we may be enabled to praise our divine Savior Jesus, together with Mary and thee, for all eternity.

(Recite the Our Father, Hail Mary and Glory 3 times.)

Amen.

The Holy Family

This Sunday in the liturgical year, our remembrance was the Holy Family.

Jesus, Mary, Joseph, pray for us, now and at the hour of our death.

The Church encourages us to pray such short aspirations; such ejaculations bringing our minds and hearts toward God, towards, heaven, towards eternity.

We remember the Holy Family; we pray and ask for intercession; we see a model of family and family roles; we give thanks that Our Lord became flesh and dwelt among us.

In my own life, the troubles and the upsets, the criticism I receive and , yes, the love and the humour, the joy of Christmas, the connections and the wrenches, I can pray, ponder the Holy Family ...and I can store up these things in my heart and humbly ponder their meaning, waiting for God's light and wisdom and healing touch to arrive.

During Mass, during thanksgiving after Communion, I read some psalms. From a book of psalms. A Christmas present.

O God, thou knowest my rash doings,

no fault of mine is hidden from Thy sight.

Deus, tu scis insipientiam meam,

et delicta mea te non latent

This is strangely comforting for me. Maybe because of the truth it contains. That others, the psalmist, have felt the same as I.

Gotta love this Christmas season, the liturgy, the prayers. And gifts like this book of Psalms.

St Athanasius wrote ~

In the Psalter you learn about yourself. You find depicted in it all the movements of your soul, all its changes, its ups and downs, its failures and recoveries. Moreover, whatever your particular need or trouble, from this same book you can select a form of words to fit it, so that you do not merely hear and then pass on, but learn the way to remedy your ill. Prohibitions of evildoing are plentiful in Scripture, but only the Psalter tells you how to obey these orders and refrain from sin.

But the marvel with the Psalter is that, barring those prophecies about the Savior and some about the Gentiles, the reader takes all its words upon his lips as though they were his own, written for his special benefit, and takes them and recites them, not as though someone else were speaking or another person’s feelings being described, but as himself speaking of himself, offering the words to God as his own heart’s utterance, just as though he himself had made them up.

It is possible for us, therefore to find in the Psalter not only the reflection of our own soul’s state, together with precept and example for all possible conditions, but also a fit form of words wherewith to please the Lord on each of life’s occasions, words both of repentance and of thankfulness, so that we fall not into sin; for it is not for our actions only that we must give account before the Judge, but also for our every idle word.

Let me add, not only give account for our idle words..but for our idle texts ..and emails..and Facebook entries..

Pegging Prayers for All Souls

I have talked about pegs, pegs in our day, before.

And Lissa has that great blog post on pegs, too.

Lately, I have been trying to naturally, rhythmically, seamlessly, add more prayer into the life of our family.

I used the idea of pegs yet again.

Specifically, I have pegged an additional prayer to our evening Grace before meals..most days..especially those days when we don't have visitors and when we are actually home for dinner, however late that dinner may be. Even if that dinner is leftovers again, or make yourself a sandwich again. ( She says guiltily. She who hasn't cooked a dinner since Wednesday of last week. NO, Pam, I didn't end up cooking last night, either!)

During September, we re-visited the Latin prayer ~ Memorare before dinner. Food means I have a captive audience!

In the month of October, I pegged the prayer to St Joseph to grace before dinner.

This month of November, of Holy Souls, I am pegging this prayer..

My Jesus, by the sorrows Thou didst suffer in Thine agony in the Garden, in Thy scourging and crowning with thorns, in the way to Calvary, in Thy crucifixion and death, have mercy on the souls in purgatory, and especially on those that are most forsaken; do Thou deliver them from the dire torments they endure; call them and and admit them to Thy most sweet embrace in paradise. Our Father..., Hail Mary...., Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. Amen.

Liturgically speaking, for All Souls and Requeim Masses, the priest may wear black vestments.

The use of black represents Christian realities. Christians are people of hope ; we are also aware of the reality of sin and of judgement. We do not presume to know the state of another's soul. We know that we have a tendency towards sin and that we do not always resist, nor always repent of our sins. So, we hope and pray.

Black has overtones of mourning , and acknowledges our emotional response to loss , and reminds us of our need to pray for the repose of the deceased's soul. It also is a reminder and symbol of our belief in purgatory, where the suffering souls require our prayers and Masses.

Black represents our mourning and reminds us that there is work to be done -- the work of prayer.

The gold or silver which adorns the black vestment gives us that silver-lining of Christian hope .

A Break

Visiting today, I was struck by a mother's love for her son. And for her husband.

Reminded of Our Blessed Mother, Mary, and her devotion to her Son.

To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ...Pope John Paul II



We are taking a break from home for a few days. One son tonight asks me a hard question. Hard to answer, hard to explain.



I fall back to prayer. To be more specific, I fall back to praying the Rosary.



Unschooling is sometimes nothing other than contemplating the face of Christ, in prayer and in my family.

I suck at this. Yet I keep on...

St Gerard Majella

God, by Your grace St. Gerard persevered in imitating Christ in His poverty and humility. Through his intercession, grant that we may faithfully follow our vocation and reach that perfection which You held out to us in Your Son. Amen.

Gerry's name day! Father helped us celebrate..and as our table centrepiece we had candles, flowers, as usual, and our saints book ope to the segment about St Gerard Majella.

A prayer I am sharing...

Catholic Prayer For Teenagers

O Lord, omnipotent Father, we give you thanks for having given us children. They are our joy, and we accept with serenity the worries, fears and labors which bring us pain. Help us to love them sincerely. Through us you gave life to them; from eternity you knew them and loved them. Give us the wisdom to guide them, patience to teach them, vigilance to accustom them to the good through our example.

Support our love so that we may receive them back when they have strayed and make them good. It is often so difficult to understand them, to be as they would want us to be, to help them go on their way. Grant that they may always see our home as a haven in their time of need. Teach us and help us, O good Father, through the merits of Jesus, your Son and our Lord. Amen.

MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria

REMEMBER, O most gracious Virgin Mary.....

St. Bernard of Clairvaux composed this prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, this prayer known as The Memorare .

MEMORARE, O piissima Virgo Maria, non esse auditum a saeculo, quemquam ad tua currentem praesidia, tua implorantem auxilia, tua petentem suffragia, esse derelictum. Ego tali animatus confidentia, ad te, Virgo Virginum, Mater, curro, ad te venio, coram te gemens peccator assisto. Noli, Mater Verbi, verba mea despicere; sed audi propitia et exaudi. Amen.

Many years ago, we memorised it in Latin as a family. My kids of homeschool age at that time used the prayer for copywork.

On memorising prayers, especially in Latin ~ Pope Benedict XVI urged Catholics around the world to memorize the most common Catholic prayers in Latin. Learning the prayers in Latin as well as in one's own language "will help Christian faithful of different languages pray together, especially when they gather for special circumstances,"...
"Latin, for centuries the vehicle and instrument of Christian culture, guarantees not only continuity with our roots, but remains as relevant as ever for strengthening the bonds of the unity of the faith in the communion of the church."
Pope Benedict XVI, 2005

Copywork ~ copying quotes or passages ~ By selecting wholesome works that exhibit the best in eloquence and style, you bring to your child the beauty of ...language, and help him to develop a love of reading, writing, and learning. In choosing works containing relevant content, you can also reinforce lessons from across the curriculum; any course of study can be the subject of copywork. Use copywork to reinforce Biblical values, catechism verses, and character-building lessons; pick historical documents and speeches to make the past come alive. Enliven foreign language study by including foreign literature as copywork. Help a child learn what scientists, artists, musicians, architects, and poets thought, and how they interpreted their times. Give children the diaries and writings of kings and commoners, so they can understand how they lived. All of these are wonderful fodder for copywork. Copywork - Charlotte Mason

Prayer

Indulgenced Prayer Before a Crucifix

BEHOLD, O kind and sweet Jesus, I cast myself upon my knees in Thy sight, and with the most fervent desire of my soul I pray and beseech Thee to impress upon my heart lively sentiments of faith, hope and charity, with true repentance for my sins and a most firm desire of amendment: whilst with deep affection and grief of soul I consider within myself and mentally contemplate Thy five most precious Wounds, having before mine eyes that which David, the prophet, long ago spoke in Thine own person concerning Thee, my Jesus: They have pierced my hands and my feet, they have numbered all my bones [Psalm 21, 17, 18].

I learned this prayer in 1995. Or was it 1996?

Committing prayers to memory provides a storehouse, a filing cabinet of prayers and thoughts, prayers to pull out, to recite, to pray, to rely on when things feel sad. Or tough. Teaching prayers to children passes on those memories. From one generation to the next. I like that thought.

I pray this prayer in every Mass .

Most certainly not because I am holy or good. Quite the reverse. I pray more simply because I am weak. I pray, I remember the words of St Paul ~ For when I am weak, then am I powerful ( 2 Corinthians 12:10)

There is value in this liturgical, traditional prayer .

C.S. Lewis wrote about mistrusting spontaneous prayers in church. How can you pray along with someone, he asked, when that person may be spouting wrong theology?

One can recognize that for most of church history, Christians have relied on liturgical, memorized prayer. And, in fact, most of the prayers included in the Bible, including all of the Psalms, had a liturgical use.

So I pray, in communion with others who pray and others who have prayed this prayer.

I pray when I have one of those weeks.

I eat junk and drink wine.

I remember that To love at all is to be vulnerable. C.S. Lewis

Devil's Food Cake

For today's feast. The Feast of the Archangels. St Michael. St Gabriel. St Raphael.

Anthony made the cake. I iced it.

We prayed the Litany of the Holy Angels.

We loved this line ~

St. Michael, who didst drive from Heaven Lucifer and his rebel crew, pray for us.