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Lenten Journey Day 8

Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 by Women of Grace Staff

February 21
The General Examination
The general examination has a wider scope than the particular and is intended to help the soul to remain vigilant in all that pertains to the service of God. This is practiced by first praying to God and asking for His help in recognizing your failures and for acquiring the strength to overcome them. Then quietly retrace the movement of your day, glancing over the hours and looking for any thoughts, words or deeds that might have offended God. Ask God for His forgiveness and His help in avoiding these falls in the future.
St. Ignatius took the examination of conscience a step further by adding a positive practice to this routine self-scrutiny. Instead of just examining ourselves on the seven capital sins, he recommends that “the contrary virtues be considered . . . in order to understand better the faults committed that come under the seven capital sins.” Moreover, and still more positively, “in order the better to avoid these sins, one should resolve to endeavor by devout exercises to acquire and retain the seven virtues contrary to them.”
If your main fault is sourced in pride, practice humility. Fight greed with the virtue of generosity. Lust can only be overcome by chastity. Anger is diffused by meekness and gluttony is quickly stifled with temperance. Instead of envying your neighbor, practice love of neighbor, and if you suffer from sloth, develop in yourself the virtue of diligence.
By employing these simple practices with daily consistency, we will not only conquer our vices and become better human beings, but we will also be able to draw closer to God than we ever dreamed possible.

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Give Prayerful Alms to the Holy Souls This Lent!

Posted on Wednesday, February 21, 2018 by Susan Brinkmann

Susan Tassone (Photo courtesy of Our Sunday Visitor)

Lent is a time when we open our hearts more fully to the love and mercy of God through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. What better time to give “prayerful alms” to the Holy Souls in Purgatory which could help to send many souls home to heaven in time for Easter!

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Lenten Journey Day 7

Posted on Tuesday, February 20, 2018 by Women of Grace Staff

February 20
The examination of conscience is not just something we do the night before we go to confession, at least not if we're serious about answering Jesus' call to "be perfect just as your heavenly Father is perfect" (Matt 5:48).
For those who truly want to conquer their vices and become a beacon of light and love in the world, St. Ignatius of Loyola recommends the regular practice of two kinds of examinations of conscience, a general and a particular. The general examination covers all of our defects while the particular examination concentrates on one fault or sin for a specific period of time.
The Particular Examination
St. Ignatius ranks the particular examination first in importance. Whereas the purpose of the general examination is to purify the soul and prepare us for sacramental confession, the particular examination helps us to focus on a particular fault until we have conquered it.
For this reason, he recommends that we make a particular examination of conscience twice a day and keep a written account of the number of times we committed this fault during the day. This helps us to see our improvement (or lack of it) and enables us to take whatever steps are necessary to continue addressing this fault.
" . . . (W)e have a better chance to master our tendencies if we take them one at a time and concentrate our efforts on pride, lust, or laziness, instead of scattering volitional energy over the whole field of our passions," advises the late Fr. John Hardon.
"But among the aberrations some are more prominent than others, and among these one generally predominates. If I can isolate these dominant tendencies, manifested in a certain pattern of my sins, and work on them, my labor will not only be more effective because less dissipated, but will be directed at the source of my evil inclinations. I shall be laying the axe to the root of the tree."
For instance, if your biggest fault is a loose tongue, make a specific request to God every morning for His help in fighting this particular fault during the day. Then monitor yourself as the day progresses, writing down any occasions where you might have said something harsh, untruthful, impatient, etc. St. Ignatius recommends that we impose some kind of penance for every one of the faults we commit. For instance, for every nasty comment, say a decade of the Rosary; for every lie or half-truth told, forfeit a favorite snack or dessert.
Fr. Hardon highlights several dramatic success stories of those who employed these techniques, such as St. Francis de Sales who had a tendency toward depression, but who gradually became a modern apostle of joyous confidence in God.
(Tomorrow we will look at the General Examination.)
 

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Lenten Journey Day 6

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2018 by Women of Grace Staff

February 19
 
Litany of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows
Pope Pius VII
Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, graciously hear us.
God, the Father of heaven,
Have mercy on us.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world,
Have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, Have mercy on us. 
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us. 
 Holy Virgin of virgins, Pray for us. Mother of the Crucified, Pray for us. 
 Sorrowful Mother, Pray for us. Mournful Mother, Pray for us. Sighing Mother, Pray for us. Afflicted Mother, Pray for us. Foresaken Mother, Pray for us. Desolate Motherr, Pray for us. Mother most sad, Pray for us. Mother set around with anguish, Pray for us. 
Mother overwhelmed by grief, Pray for us. 
 Mother transfixed by a sword, Pray for us. 
 Mother crucified in thy heart, Pray for us. 
 Mother bereaved of thy Son, Pray for us. 
 Sighing Dove, Pray for us. Mother of Dolors, Pray for us. Fount of tears, Pray for us. Sea of bitterness, Pray for us. Field of tribulation, Pray for us. Mass of suffering, Pray for us. Mirror of patience, Pray for us. Rock of constancy, Pray for us. Remedy in perplexity, Pray for us. Joy of the afflicted, Pray for us. Ark of the desolate, Pray for us. Refuge of the abandoned, Pray for us.
Shield of the oppressed, Pray for us. 
Conqueror of the incredulous, Pray for us.
Solace of the wretched, Pray for us. 
 Medicine of the sick, Pray for us.
Help of the faint, Pray for us. Strength of the weak, Pray for us. 
Protectress of those who fight, Pray for us. 
 Haven of the shipwrecked, Pray for us.
Calmer of tempests, Pray for us.
Companion of the sorrowful, Pray for us.
Retreat of those who groan, Pray for us. 
 Terror of the treacherous, Pray for us. 
Standard-bearer of the Martyrs, Pray for us. Treasure of the Faithful, Pray for us.
Light of Confessors, Pray for us. Pearl of Virgins, Pray for us. Comfort of Widows, Pray for us. Joy of all Saints, Pray for us. Queen of thy Servants, Pray for us. Holy Mary, who alone art unexampled, Pray for us. Pray for us, most Sorrowful Virgin, That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

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Pray for an Ember! Holding Our Tongues through Lent and Beyond

Posted on Monday, February 19, 2018 by Guest Blogger

“Then I said, ‘Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips, living among a people of unclean lips’…Then one of the seraphim flew to me, holding an ember which he had taken with tongs from the altar. He touched my mouth with it. ‘See,’ he said, ‘now that this has touched your lips, your wickedness is removed, your sin purged.’” (Isaiah 6:5 – 7)

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Lenten Journey Day 5

Posted on Sunday, February 18, 2018 by Women of Grace Staff

February 18
 
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
For he has looked upon his handmaid’s lowliness;
behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.
The Mighty One has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.
His mercy is from age to age
to those who fear him.
He has shown might with his arm,
dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.
He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones
but lifted up the lowly.
The hungry he has filled with good things;
the rich he has sent away empty.
He has helped Israel his servant,
remembering his mercy,
according to his promise to our fathers,
to Abraham and to his descendants forever.”
- The Canticle of Mary

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Lenten Journey Day 4

Posted on Saturday, February 17, 2018 by Women of Grace Staff

February 17
 
In repairing for our own sins, we should attempt to make more acts of love of God during the day, to do our work with more selfless love for God, and to practice charity toward those God puts into our lives.
Fr. Hardon suggests we repair for the sins of others by striving to endure some pain to expiate for the constant pursuit of pleasure that is always the substance of sin. This can take the form of sacrificing some time spent watching television, denying ourselves a delicacy at the table, getting up promptly in the morning or attending Mass during the week.
Although there have been many different ways to mark the season of Lent over time, the spirit of Lent is one aspect of the season that has always been agreed upon.
The Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of Vatican Council II states, “The two elements which are especially characteristic of Lent - the
recalling of baptism or the preparation for it, and penance - should be given greater emphasis in the liturgy and in liturgical catechesis. It is by means of them that the Church prepares the faithful for the celebration of Easter, while they hear God’s word more frequently and devote more time to prayer” (no. 109).
This holy season gives us a new opportunity every year to repent of our sin and start anew, to renew our faith and come to believe more deeply in the sacred mysteries of our salvation.
Today's Reflection:
How is God desiring to change my life and help me start anew?  If I look over my life, what moments stand out as times of faith renewal?  How is God asking me to renew my faith this Lent?

 

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