What is This Saint of the Year Devotion All About?


This isn't superstition. St. Faustina and her religious order did the same thing!

I would like to explain to you about the practice of picking a saint at random to be your “holy protector and intercessor” for the year. Actually, the saint is the one who chooses us though.The tradition of letting a saint “pick you,”is not a new one. St. Faustina wrote about it in her diary, "Divine Mercy in My Soul".
The excerpt is below. . .

“There is a custom among us of drawing by lot, on New Year's Day, special Patrons for ourselves for the whole year. In the morning, during meditation, there arose within me a secret desire that the Eucharistic Jesus be my special Patron for this year also, as in the past. But, hiding this desire from my Beloved, I spoke to Him about everything else but that. When we came to refectory for breakfast, we blessed ourselves and began drawing our patrons. When I approached the holy cards on which the names of the patrons were written, without hesitation I took one, but I didn't read the name immediately as I wanted to mortify myself for a few minutes. Suddenly, I heard a voice in my soul: ‘I am your patron. Read.’ I looked at once at the inscription and read, ‘Patron for the Year 1935 - the Most Blessed Eucharist.’ My heart leapt with joy, and I slipped quietly away from the sisters and went for a short visit before the Blessed Sacrament,where I poured out my heart. But Jesus sweetly admonished me that I should be at that moment together with the sisters. I went immediately in obedience to the rule.”

Excerpt from "Divine Mercy in My Soul, the Diary of St. Faustina"

Friday, March 29, 2013

The Divine Mercy Novena Starts Today

Sister Maria Faustina Kowalska, the polish nun who received the Divine Mercy messages from our Lord Jesus Christ was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday, April 30th, 2000, by the late Holy Father, Blessed John Paul II,
 
This year, the Divine Mercy novena, starts on Good Friday March 29th, 2013 and ends on Saturday April 6th, 2013. Divine Mercy Sunday is April 7th, 2013.
 
According to the Diary of Sister Faustina, our Lord Jesus Christ promised that those who faithfully:
 
(i) pray and meditate on this novena for these nine days:                                                                            
(ii) go for confession between Holy Saturday April 24th, 2010, and Saturday May 7th, 2010;                       
(iii) attends and prays the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass on Divine Mercy Sunday April 11, 2007;
(iv) receives the Holy Eucharist in a state of grace, at that Mass;
 (v) performs a Spiritual or Corporal Work of Mercy, on or around Mercy Sunday;
 
will have all his or her sins forgiven as well as the punishment due to all these sins. His or her soul will be in the same spiritual state that it was immediately after he or she was baptized.
 
St. Faustina's diary titled: Divine Mercy in my Soul, and videos on her life can be obtained from any Catholic bookstore or from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception at Eden Hill Massachusetts, by calling 800/804-3823
 
I have enclosed a file containing the powerful and efficacious Divine Mercy Chaplet which may be recited on Rosary beads at 3PM, the Hour of Mercy, the Hour that our Lord, the Christ Jesus died on the ignominous wood of the Cross . It is recommended that this chaplet be prayed with the novena during the  nine days, and thereafter every day, at the Hour of Mercy, for individual and family intentions, for the sick and also for the dying, similar to the daily recitation of the Rosary.
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Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Pray the Rosary on Good Friday

 
 
Imagine what might happen if every Catholic in the world would pray a Rosary on the same day! We have an example in October of 1573, when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish fleet, by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians! So, on Good Friday March 29, 2013, let us all pray a Rosary for peace in the world and the return of moral values into our communities. If possible, please pray your Rosary between Noon and 3:00 PM. Also, please e-mail this message to every Catholic on your address list, and ask them to pass it along to every Catholic on their lists. Let's unite in praying one of the most powerful prayers in existence, for these intentions, on one of the holiest days in our Church year. God bless us all!
 
In His Name

Monday, March 18, 2013

10 South American Saints Every Catholic Should Know

In honor of our new Holy Father from Argentina, Pope Francis, the following is a list of 10 South American saints every Catholic should know. South America seems to be a continent that is never talked about much, and the same seems to have gone for many of its saints. 
 
I especially am pleased with the last saint mentioned, St. Paulina, since she is the unofficial patron saint of diabetics. There are so many people who suffer with this disease today! St. Paulina, prepare a huge banquet of sweets and carbs for those entering heaven!
1. St. Narcisa de Jesus (Ecuador)

Now here is a fascinating figure. Much like St. Catherine of Siena who seems to have inspired a great part of the spiritual life of many women saints, St. Narcisa was a laywoman whose life was marked by much of the same devotional and penitential aspects as that of St. Catherine. Indeed, a line can be drawn fro St. Catherine down to St. Rose of Lima, then to St. Maryane de Jesus de Paredes to St. Narcisa - all of these saints lived as tertiaries of religious orders (Dominican and Franciscan), and lived lives of extreme penance and charity to others.

St. Narcisa lived the same form of life, albeit she remained a laywoman throughout it. Her life was marked by sanctity at a very young age, and her time was often spent in prayer under a guava tree that is a pilgrimage site to this day. Later on, she spent much time in caring for abandoned children and the impoverished, before finally entering a Dominican convent as a consecrated virgin laywoman, and spending the rest of her life there. Her acts of mortification were much along the same lines as St. Rose of Lima and St. Maryanne de Paredes, and she spent eight hours a day in prayer. Upon her death, her body was found to be incorrupt.

2. St. Alberto Hurtado (Chile)

It seems that St. Alberto is a perfect living corrective to the misinterpretation of "social justice" that has come into the Church as of late, something which Pope Francis is more than likely going to correct.

St. Alberto Hurtado was a father to the poor, and actively was involved in bringing the Gospel of Christ into the realm of hard labor, trade unions, and everyday work that would barely garner enough wages to scrape together a living. He brought Christian values into the world of labor unions, fought to restore the Church from within by calling for better catechesis, and founded shelters lumped under the name of Hogar de Christo (Home of Christ) for taking care of poor and abandoned children.

3. St. Marianne de Jesus de Paredes (Ecuador)

In much the same way as St. Rose of Lima, St. Marianne lived a reclusive life as a Franciscan tertiary (rather than a Dominican tertiary like St. Rose). Her life is a hard one to approach, let alone even begin to understand due to the mortifications she inflicted on herself.

The "Lily of Quito" and first canonized saint of Ecuador, St. Marianne was known as a saint before her death by the locals. Only leaving her home to attend Mass, St. Marianne's life was filled with some of the most extreme penances ever known, much along the same lines of Bl. Henry Suso. She was blessed with many spiritual gifts, including the ability to read consciences, ecstacies, and the ability to heal others through merely making the sign of the cross over them.

4. Bl. Mercedes de Jesus Molina (Ecuador)

Known as the "Rose of Baba and Guayaquil" in her home country, Bl. Mercedes was a contemporary of St. Narcisa de Jesus. After having suffered the shock of a bad fall from a horse, her life quickly became one of penance and pious devotion to Christ. She spent most of her life taking care of abandoned children, although she also helped the Jesuits in missionary work amongst the Native populations. She also founded the order known as the Sisters of Mariana de Jesus (named after the saint above).

5. St. Rose of Lima (Peru)

“If only mortals would learn how great it is to possess divine grace, how beautiful, how noble, how precious. How many riches it hides within itself, how many joys and delights! No one would complain about his cross or about troubles that may happen to him, if he would come to know the scales on which they are weighed when they are distributed to men.”1

St. Rose of Lima's ardent love of the Crucified is something that I can barely even begin to comprehend. Much like many saints in the Christian West, her life was lived in complete devotion to the Passion of Jesus.

Living life as a Dominican tertiary, St. Rose of Lima spent her days living in a shack in a garden. Her entire life was marked visions and mystical experiences, as well as extreme mortifications, and yet, as with so many who engaged in such penances, was known for her charity and love of the poor, whom she supported through her embroidery work and gardening.

6. St. Frei Galvao (Brazil)

Formally known as St. Anthony of Saint Ann, St. Frei Galvao was an educated Franciscan, devoted son of the Blessed Virgin, and confessor and spiritual director to a collective of lay recluses known as the "Recollection of St. Teresa".

He was known for all kinds of mystical elements in his life, and was one of those saints known for bilocation, as well as levitation and the reading of consciences. Strangely enough, he is also associated with paper rolled into little pills that allegedly have been associated with several miraculous cures of terminal and/or incurable diseases, with the words "After childbirth thou didst remain a Virgin: O Mother of God, intercede for us" written on the paper.

7. Bl. Laura of St. Catherine of Siena (Colombia)

Bl. Laura's life seems to have been an extremely full and busy one - originally an elementary school teacher, she began to serve as a missionary to the Native populations in her country. With a handful of companions, she ministered to the Natives, fought racial discrimanation against them, and is known today as a defender of Native rights there. She also founded a religious order known as the Congregation of Missionary Sisters of Immaculate Mary and of Saint Catherine of Siena (quite the mouthful!).

Interestingly enough, she is due to be officially canonized by Pope Francis on the 12th of May this year! How cool is this??

8. St. Teresa of the Andes (Chile)

A true spiritual daughter of St. Therese of Lisieux, St. Teresa of the Andes was of the same order, the Discalced Carmelites, and was even inspired to enter the religious life by reading St. Therese's autobiography, Story of a Soul. Like the Little Flower, she wrote many letters of correspondence with others concerning the Christian life which are beyond rapturous in their mystical content.

As with St. Therese, she died at the very young age of nineteen, just a few months after having entered the Carmelite order.



9. Bl. Ceferino Namuncura (Argentina)

Bl. Ceferino is one popular blessed amongst the peoples of Argentina. Born of the indigenous Mapuche people of the region, Bl. Ceferino was almost a kind of South American version of a St. Dominic Savio, though he outlived that young saint by a few years.

Educated under the care of the Salesians of St. John Bosco, the famous priest and visionary, Bl. Ceferino grew in virtue and holiness, eventually visiting Pope St. Pius X and studying for the priesthood. Unfortunately, the "Lily of Patagonia" succumbed to tuberculosis and died at the tender age of nineteen.

He is the first beatified indigenous South American, and his reputation as a beloved member of his people and of God's Holy Church continues to this day.

10. St. Paulina (Brazil)

Brazil's first canonized saint, St. Paulina's life of virtue began at a young age, and was lived in spite of the heavy cross of suffering diabetes for most of her life. Living in a time before it was really treatable, she ended up having to go through two amputations and succumbed to blindness near the end of her life. And yet, through all of this, she soldiered on in service to the poor and sick, founding the Little Sisters of the Immaculate Conception, and also taking on the care of elderly slaves and their children who were unable to work.

To this day, she is known as the unofficial patron saint of those suffering with diabetes.

Thursday, March 14, 2013

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Novena Prayer Memorare to St. Joseph
March.10th - March.18th
 
Remember, O St. Joseph, loving and powerful protector,
that according to the testimony of your faithful servant,
Great St. Teresa, no one who is truly devoted to you
has seen his petition rejected.
Filled with confidence and hope, I come
to you, worthy Spouse of Mary Immaculate.
Do not close your ears to my prayers,
you who have the glorious title of
Father of Jesus,
but hear it and present it for me to Him
Who has vouchsafed to be called your Son.
~ Amen.~

Saturday, March 2, 2013

Let's Be Catholic (and may I add, Saintly)
You and me.

  • Let's do what Catholics do. Or are supposed to do. Let's see Jesus in other people - even that person who annoys the devil out of us.
  • Let's be joyful and let's fill others with joy too.
  • Let's go to Mass every week. (and maybe an extra time or two during Lent)
  • Let's care for those who are hungry and for those who are homeless and then go a step further and join with others to end hunger and homelessness.
  • Let's insist that no one in our country will ever have to go without because they can't afford it.
  • Let's neither brag about our giving or complain about our taxes.
  • Let's do stuff at our parishes. When the call goes out for help at something that sounds like we could do, let's volunteer.
  • On the job, let's amaze people whose lives touch ours because we are so darn easy to work with.
  • Let's comfort those who mourn.
  • When we get the choice between conflict and compromise, let's choose the latter.
  • Let's be the kindest people in the building and the nicest neighbors.
  • Let's get a reputation for doing things for others without expecting anything in return.
  • Let's just be still at times and have a conversation with God ... and let's listen. Let us let God do most of the talking.
  • Let's be the friends others call when they need help because they always know we will imitate the Good Samaritan.
  • When we have an occasion to really give somebody a piece of our mind, let's be merciful instead.
  • Let's "invite" our children, grandchildren, neighbors, co-workers, to activities at our parish - the spiritual programs as well as the social ones.
  • Let's remember to say Grace before every meal - even at restaurants.
  • Let's vote for candidates to elected office who most nearly reflect Catholic values.
  • Let's say a prayer every morning when we wake and every night as we get into bed.
  • Let's be known as the most humble person everybody knows.
  • Let's apply Jesus' directive to welcome the stranger to those who come to our community - and our country - in search of freedom and a better life.
  • Let's say the Rosary at least once a week.
  • Every Lent, let's get ashes on Ash Wednesday morning and allow them to mark us as Catholic all day.
  • Let's decide on a Lenten sacrifice and action and let's keep that commitment.
  • Let's make time to go to the Stations of the Cross so we can walk the Lenten journey more closely with Jesus in His suffering.
  • Let's remember not to eat meat on Fridays during Lent.
  • Let's try our best to live out the Beatitudes.
  • Let's take advantage of opportunities to grow in our faith, to learn more about this God we claim to believe in.
  • Let's re-memorise the "Memorare" and pray it every day.
  • Let's see if we can repeat the Ten Commandments, and, if we can't, let's re-learn them.
  • Let's take advantage of the cleansing wonder of the Sacrament of Reconciliation.
  • When the parish pledge drive comes around, let's think not only of all the bills our parishes have to pay, but let's reflect on all that you and I have been blessed with by God and increase what we were thinking about giving this year.
  • Let's visit with some elderly folks.
  • Let's not find fault in others.
  • Let's trust in God's plan for each of us.
  • Let's listen to our conscience.
  • Let's be the ones who stand up for and protect life at every stage.
  • Let's not value money and things, but instead, let's value being respected.
  • Let's befriend someone - or a group of people - who no one else seems to want to even live near.
  • Let's love our spouses.
  • Let's honor our parents.
  • Let's cherish our children - and everybody elses' children too.
  • Let's forgive those who have hurt us.
  • Let's use our pro-creative abilities the way God intended them to be used.
  • Let's not gossip.
  • Let's love the Lord our God with all our heart and all our soul and and all our mind, and let's love our neighbors as ourselves.
  • Let's tell other people why we are Catholic.
A HUGE thank you to Bob Zyskowski, who is associate publisher of The Catholic Spirit, newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis.!