Saturday 27 July 2019

Mary always responds

July 27-28 2019: 17th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

Mary always responds

The following story hap-pened in Vienna, Austria, in the year 1920. A priest named Father Peter, offered to give the last sacraments to an old man on his death bed, only to be energetically rebuffed. The man had already sent away and cursed other priests who had come for the same reason.

So Father Peter decided to sit in a corner of the room and pray his Rosary. He thought about the words of Saint Clement Hafbauer, the Apostle of Vienna: "When I visit a dying person, I say my Rosary, and it's never in vain. None of them end up dying without receiving the last sacraments."

Again the priest approached the dying man who was nearing the end, but gathering his last strength he lifted himself up and shouted: "In the triple name of Satan, the answer is no!"
Without losing patience, Father Peter took his rosary and told the Mother of God in a tone of supplication: "In our church we have many ex-votos with the inscription of ‘Mary has answered our prayer.’ If you let this poor sin-ner go to eternity without the last sacraments, I will set up a plaque with the inscription ‘Mary did not answer me’!"

Then he approached the dying man one last time by presenting him with a crucifix and saying: "Do you know the one who gave his life for men?" First a silence, then this reply: "Our Lord Jesus Christ!" And miraculously, the man kissed the crucifix several times with great fervor and asked for the Holy Viaticum, before peacefully passing away. In gratitude, Father Peter placed an ex-voto in his church with this inscription: ‘Mary always responds.’

Karl Maria Harrer (1926-2013), German priest and writer . From Die schönsten Mariengeschichten (Collection of the most beautiful Marian stories)

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Pray for healing with this novena to Our Lady of Lourdes
 
Our Lady of Lourdes is known to intercede for both spiritual and physical healing. Jesus is known as the "Divine Physician," and while on earth he healed numerous people. God desires to heal our wounds and has left us various ways to be brought to full health.
 
Over the past century God has intervened on countless occasions through the intercession of Our Lady of Lourdes. Besides going on pilgrimage to the shrine in France, many have been healed from afar, simply by praying to the Virgin Mary. No one is ever guaranteed a cure, but for someone who has a strong faith and trust in God, no matter what the end result might be, anything is possible.

Below is a novena prayer to Our Lady of Lourdes that can be prayed for nine consecutive days for the healing of a friend or family member, or maybe your own personal healing.




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Be blessed, O most pure Virgin, for having vouchsafed to manifest your shining with life, sweetness and beauty, in the Grotto of Lourdes, saying to the child, St. Bernadette: "I am the Immaculate Conception."

A thousand times we congratulate you upon your Immaculate Conception. And now, O ever Immaculate Virgin, Mother of mercy, Health of the sick, Refuge of sinners, Comforter of the afflicted, you know our wants, our troubles, our sufferings; deign to cast upon us a look of mercy.

By appearing in the Grotto of Lourdes, you were pleased to make it a privileged sanctuary, whence you dispense your favours, and already many have obtained the cure of their infirmities, both spiritual and physical. We come, therefore, with the most unbounded confidence to implore your maternal intercession. Obtain for us, O loving Mother, the granting of our request. (state your request)

Through gratitude for your favours, we will endeavour to imitate your virtues, that we may one day share your glory. Our Lady of Lourdes, Mother of Christ, you had influence with your divine son while upon earth. You have the same influence now in Heaven. Pray for us; obtain for us from your Divine Son our special requests if it be the Divine Will. Amen.


Philip Kosloski, Aleteia, Jul 17, 2019


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Saturday 20 July 2019

Promulgation of the Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints


July 20-21 2019: 16th Sunday in Ordinary Time.

In baptism we all have an inheritance, which is the ability to become saints." Pope Francis
 

Promulgation of the Decrees of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, 14.05.2019, 06.07.2019

"In the same audience the Holy Father authorized the same Congregation to promulgate the Decrees regarding:

- the miracle attributed to the intercession of the Vener-able Servant of God Fulton Sheen, titular archbishop of Newport, former bishop of Rochester; born on 8 May 1895 in El Paso, Illinois, United States of America, and died on 9 December 1979 in New York, United States of America;

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Elia Hoyek, Patriarch of Antioch of the Maronites, founder of the Congregation of the Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family; born in Helta, Lebanon on 4 December 1843 and died in Bkerké, Lebanon on 24 December 1931;

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Ladislao Korniłowicz, diocesan priest; born in Warsaw, Poland on 5 Aug 1884 and died in Laski, Poland on 26 Sept 1946;

- the heroic virtues of the Servant of God Francisca del Espíritu Santo (born Francisca de Fuentes), founder of the Congregation of the Dominican Sisters of Saint Catherine of Siena; born in Intramuros, Philippines in 1647 and died in Manila, Philippines in 1711."


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Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia
 
 
The Congregation of St. Cecilia, commonly known as the Nashville Dominicans, is a religious institute of the Catholic Church located in Nashville, Tennessee.


In 1860, James Whelan, the second bishop of the Diocese of Nashville, a Dominican, requested that sisters establish a school in his diocese. The Dominican Sisters of St. Mary in Somerset, Ohio, responded by sending four members to Nashville, where they opened an academy in 1862 specializing in music and the fine arts.

In 1913, the Congregation of Saint Cecilia was formally affiliated with the Dominicans.
Following the Second Vatican Council (19621965) the Congregation, like all other communities in the Latin Church, underwent a period of reflection and discernment regarding its charism and ministry. However, unlike many other groups, the Nashville Dominicans decided to retain the wearing of a religious habit, in a slightly modified form. The Congregation also opted to maintain its focus on Catholic education.


Since Vatican II, the Nashville Dominicans have contin-ued to expand, establishing further schools and ministries in Tennessee as well as in Birmingham, Alabama; Denver, Colorado; Joliet, Illinois; Minneapolis-Saint Paul; Arlington, Virginia; Atlanta, Georgia; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; Elgin, Aberdeen, Scotland; Sittard, Netherlands; and most recently in Limerick, Ireland; as well as many other locations in the United States.
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Saturday 13 July 2019

Jesus said there is no better novena than this one, and it has only 11 words

July 13-14 2019: 15th Sunday in Ordinary Time.


A thousand prayers do not equal one act of abandonment.

I ask God for what I need. A lot. Sometimes I feel like I run through a continuous strain of "Lord, please give me this" or "I need that" from morning to night. My needs sometimes spill over into conversations with friends too, when I ask them to pray on my behalf for a variety of intentions.


Although I try not to let my own needs be the exclusive focus of my prayer, they’re a big part of the reality. So much so that sometimes, as I hear my own thoughts and petitions, I wonder if I sound too needy. I wonder if I am too needy.

We’re all needy: It’s part of the human condition. Making peace with that reality and learning how to respond to it is an important step in recognizing who God wants to be for us.

While our neediness might make us feel a little vulnerable and weak, God sees it differently. He knows our needs before we know them ourselves. Our needs glorify him, giving him the opportunity to overwhelm us with his goodness and mercy.


Don Dolindo Ruotolo, an Italian priest who lived from 1882-1970, deeply understood the relationship between our neediness and God’s goodness.

Ordained at the age of 23, Don Dolindo spent his life in prayer, sacrifice and service. He heard confession, gave spiritual guidance and cared for those in need. Don Dolindo was a contemporary of the more widely known saint, Padre Pio. When some pilgrims from Naples, where Don Dolindo resided, went to Padre Pio in Pietrelcina, Padre Pio responded: "Why do you come here, if you have Don Dolindo in Naples? Go to him, he’s a saint!"

The simple friar is becoming most known for his spirituality of surrender. Well aware of the depth of human weak-ness and neediness, Don Dolindo saw this as a way of fostering continual union with God.
 While inviting us to continually bring our worries and concerns to the Lord, Don Dolindo teaches us that the focus doesn’t stay on our needs. He encourages us to bring our needs to God and then be at peace, leaving God free to care for us in his wisdom. Don Dolindo tells us that the Lord has promised to fully take on all the needs we entrust to him. In the words of Jesus to Don Dolindo:

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying?

Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations. ...

A thousand prayers do not equal one act of abandonment; don’t ever forget it. There is no better novena than this: O Jesus, I abandon myself to you. Jesus, take care of everything.
 
The many healings and favors obtained by people who went to Don Dolindo and followed his advice, as well as those that have been attributed to his intercession, give witness to the power of grace that can be unleashed through such abandonment to Divine Providence.

Don Dolindo wrote what Our Lord revealed to him about divine abandonment from the perspective of Jesus addressing the soul. The prayer of surrender can be read in its entirety, or prayed in nine shorter segments as a daily novena.


I have been praying Don Dolindo’s novena regularly for almost a year now, and have found it to be not only a reminder of the importance of bringing my needs and worries to the Lord, but also a source of great consolation and encouragement.

Don Dolindo Ruotolo is currently a Servant of God; his cause for beatification is open.

 
Ellen Mady Aleteia, Oct 28, 2017
 

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Saturday 6 July 2019

Cardinal John Henry Newman to be proclaimed a Saint

July 6-7 2019: 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.


Cardinal John Henry Newman to be proclaimed a Saint

 
Pope Francis on Wednesday authorised the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to issue a decree attributing a miracle to the intercession of the Blessed Cardinal John Henry Newman. The move clears the final hurdle in the cause for his canonisation.
 
Cardinal John Henry Newman is close to becoming Britain’s first new saint since St. John Ogilvie was canonised by Pope Saint Paul VI in 1976.

The last English saints, 40 martyrs of the Reformation, were canonised in 1970.

Cardinal Newman, who was beatified by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010, was born in 1801. He was ordained as a Church of England priest and went on to found the Oxford Movement but converted to Catholicism in 1845.

He was later made a cardinal and, after he died at the age of 89, more than 15,000 people lined the streets for his funeral.

The cause for his sainthood was opened in 1958 and he was declared Venerable by Pope Saint John Paul II in 1991 after his life of ‘heroic virtue’ was recognised.


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Prayer of Cardinal Newman:
RADIATING CHRIST


Dear Jesus, help us to spread Your fragrance everywhere we go.

Flood our souls with Your spirit and life.

Penetrate and possess our whole being, so utterly, that our lives may only be a radiance of Yours.

Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come in contact with may feel Your presence in our soul. Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus! Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as You shine; so to shine as to be a light to others; the light O Jesus will be all from You, none of it will be ours; it will be You shining on others through us.

Let us thus praise You in the way You love best, by shining on those around us.

Let us preach You without preaching, not by words but by our example, by the catching force, the sympathetic influence of what we do, the evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to You.
Amen.
 
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John Henry Newman:
"It is a rule of divine Providence that we succeed by failure."
"God’s presence is not discerned at the time when it is upon us, but afterwards, when we look back upon what is gone and over."
"To be deep in history is to cease being a Protestant."

"Christianity is faith, faith implies a doctrine, a doctrine propositions, propositions a yes or no, a yes or no difference."

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