The countdown to the New Year is fast approaching. Will you be making resolutions?
For most of us, the answer is yes. If you are a regular reader of this blog then you know that last year, I wrote a blog using the acronym R-E-S-O-L-V-E-D to help us focus our resolutions on the things that really matter. The "L" in the acronym stood for "Listening" in which I encouraged the cultivation of a listening spirit so that we could hear the voice of God in our everyday circumstances. In addition to prayer of the Holy Rosary, Eucharistic Adoration, and Lectio Divina, one of my favorite ways to practice "listening" is spiritual reading.
I've compiled the list below which features some of my all time favorite books for spiritual reflection, prayer, meditation and direction. I hope that you will incorporate one or several of them into your Catholic library because I know that you too will see much fruit in your relationship with God as a result. They are in no particular order.
I have been married for 36 years and am the mother of six children (four married, and 15 and 13 year old sons). My husband and I decided early on that God had called me to be a stay at home mom, and I’ve served in that role for the last 35 years, which at times has been difficult due to a society that was no longer supporting this traditional role. I have witnessed in my lifetime a grave deterioration of womanhood through false promises and images portrayed in our culture then and still today. I knew I wanted to reach out to women who struggled with these false promises, but I didn’t know how.
Fr. Solanus often encouraged people to pray for vocations just as he did to discern his own calling to the Capuchin Order. It is related in his biography that he invited his mother and sister to join him in a novena of prayer before the feast of the Immaculate Conception in 1896 to determine which Religious Order he should enter. At the end of their novena after Holy Communion, he felt Our Lady was telling him “go to Detroit.” That meant going to the Capuchins whose headquarters were in Detroit. Many years later he made a short reference to this in a small notebook found among his writings.
Knowing how special this novena was for him, we at the Guild Office invite you to join us in a private novena from November 30 to December 8, ( making this in connection with Fr. Solanus’ novena) to pray for the advancement of Venerable Solanus’ Cause for Beatification. But as well to add your own intention for discernment of ones life’s path, with a vocation, or other special needs for yourself or loved ones.
The novena maybe prayed privately at a time and place of your own choice with prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Prayers are posted on our web site at www.solanuscasey.org or call (313-579-2100 ext. 161).
Our Women of Grace® Facilitators are truly on the frontline of the cultural battlefield of souls. Through the gifts of receptivity, trust, and surrender, they are assisting women around the world to gain a deeper understanding of their call and vocation to authentic femininity and spiritual motherhood. Each month, we will highlight one of our facilitators and how they are using Women of Grace® to touch the lives of women in their hometowns. Vicki Crispo is a leader in the Women of Grace® movement and her story is below.
My Women of Grace® journey began in 2003 at the first conference in Doylestown, Pa. I had recently experienced a tug at my heart by Our Lady to help bring her to other women, and she lead me to that inaugural conference. It was life changing. All the truth about who I was and why I was came into a clear focus that weekend. I experienced this transformation immediately and completely and was blessed that another woman from my parish, Peggy Pritchard was there as well and since that moment we have been on this journey together. In those early years, we jokingly called ourselves "Women of Grace® Groupies" because we attended all the conferences. Looking to the future, we also anticipate working with our diocesan Adult Ed coordinator to offer the Women of Grace® study to parishes through presentations to the pastors. All of course is in the hands of Our Lady in her perfect timing! To whom much has been given, much will be asked! When the Foundational Study was finally unveiled in Chicago in 2005, we brought it home to Pennsylvania and began offering it to our closest circle of friends, and then to anyone who felt called to it. Always it was Our Lady who called the women; our job was simply to trust HER with each group. When the women registered for a study group, we immediately sent them the novena to the Holy Spirit to begin praying. When we met for that first evening, we all prayed that novena together and that set the tone for the whole study. He was in charge and Our Lady would ultimately be our facilitator. We named each group after Our Lady: Ave Maria, Magnificat, Lourdes, Guadalupe etc. Her presence with us was so tangible. Women would complete the study and immediately want to repeat it. Some repeated it 3 or 4 times. When challenges or glitches occurred, we invoked the assistance of "Our Lady Undoer of Knots" trusting that she would intercede. As we were enrolled in the school of Our Mother and learned to sit at her feet, she taught us to put aside our opinions and egos and allow the Holy Spirit to do the work. Before we left each session, we exchanged nametags so each woman would have her special prayer sister and would have an opportunity to voice what her prayer need was until the next session. We tried to be creative and offer the study in unique ways such as a summer study for teachers or moms who were able to get childcare during the summer. Some women had lives that just did not permit extra time to do the study guide, so those women did what reading they could in the text yet still gleaned so much from the videos and discussions. The key is and always will be hospitality. We simply need to place Our Lady in our heart then as the warmth and tenderness of Our Lady shines through us, each woman is touched by Her Son. The Women of Grace® message and mission took such root in my life that my husband's life was deeply touched and he credits my transformation for his following the prompting of the Holy Spirit as well. In 2007 he was ordained to the Permanent Diaconate in our diocese. Following Our Mother's lead as we learned in session 8 of the study, Peggy and I became lay associates of the Missionaries of the Gospel of Life, dedicated for life to pray and work for the sanctity of life. Immediately we began a monthly outreach to post abortive women. In this way we live out our call to spiritual motherhood as we offer recovering women an opportunity to experience authentic femininity and sisterhood in Christ in a confidential setting. Very often we find ourselves using elements from the WOG study in these sessions. In January, 2011 we will begin to offer monthly mini retreat "Mornings of Grace" for any women in our region who are Women of Grace® alumni or who simply long to connect with other authentically feminine spiritual mothers of grace. These mornings will feature opportunity for Holy Mass, light breakfast, a DVD of a Women of Grace® Show, sharing, testimony of a Woman of Grace, and prayer for healing and renewal.To find out more about how you can become a Women of Grace® facilitator, please contact us at 1-800-558-5452 or visit our website at www.womenofgrace.com. If you are a facilitator and want to submit your story for the Facilitator Spotlight, please e-mail us at isabelle@lhla.org.
I'm sitting here trying to understand how I returned from Canada earlier this week and I'm already turning around to go back again this weekend.
Joanne and I just came back from Ottawa where we had the great blessing to take part in the Women of Bethany Retreat. It was glorious! Lorie O'Reilly, one of the main organizers, and the other ladies were a wonderful, spirit-filled group. They were kind enough to import beautiful weather for us Floridians. Fr. Mahugu was our main celebrant throughout the retreat and he was delightful - a priest who is obviously head over heels in love with Jesus.
Now, just as I'm getting unpacked and finally catching up on the piles of things to do here, we are heading to Nova Scotia for the 2010 Catholic Renewal Conference entitled, "At the Name of Jesus." I believe there is still time to register if anyone happens to be in the area of Nova Scotia. The details are on my Facebook page here.
Speaking of Canada...Karin Boston, who was kind enough to send some beautiful pictures from our Women of Grace National Conference in Sacramento had the great opportunity to attend the Canonization of St. André Bessette. She sent us the picture above.
St. André has been very dear to the hearts of myself and our staff for many years. A few years back when my father battled cancer, St. André interceded on his behalf. Thanks be to God, he has been in remission for years now. St. André was also one of our prayer warriors when my husband Anthony underwent his battle with cancer. Though it may seem that the battle was lost, we who believe in Jesus Christ understand that he won the ultimate battle of persevering with great courage until the very end.
St. André, please pray for us as we make our way back to your home country of Canada. In the words of Pope Benedict XVI at his canonization, "May we following his example, search for God with simplicity to discover Him always present in the core of our lives! May the example of Brother André inspire Canadian Christian life!"
The following letter was written by a local young man and sent to us by his mother. He wished his letter to be shared and as you read it, you will see why. Let us pray that many more young people would have this type of courage and be willing to speak boldly for what they believe.
For all the mothers of girls of any age out there: Three of my four sisters recently attended a talk billed as being on the subject of modesty and I was thinking what a great opportunity for lots of girls to hear about how important modesty is in the world today. Unfortunately, the talk ended up being more about fashion and much less about modesty and dressing responsibly to reflect one’s true image as a child of God.
I am writing as a 19-year-old guy to tell you from the point of view of a Catholic man why modesty is so important. Girls and women out there of all ages (mothers included) should be aware that they can be responsible for leading so many guys astray just by how they dress. I’m talking as a teenage guy and believe me when I say a man struggles more than you could ever imagine with impure thoughts at any age (just ask your father or your grandfather). These impure thoughts can lead men into sin very easily, and those sins are of no small matter.
We all see a world today where rampant infidelity has led to the heartbreak of divorce and broken families, promiscuous lifestyles and a huge pornographic industry easily accessed by the Internet. Today, immodesty surrounds us in society at large. Even at church there are women and girls who knowingly or unknowingly compete with Jesus for the attention of guys by dressing in an immodest way in the most holy place where it’s the least acceptable to God! Please, don't try to steal the attention of men by your choice of immodest clothing at church. Our focus is suppose to be on Jesus, not you.
So this is why I ask you women out there to be aware of the power and responsibility you have - simply by the way you dress - to make our world a more pure and holy place. By the daily decision of how you dress, a girl or woman can really decide to show she belongs to God not only by not tempting those of the opposite sex, but also because God has already made her beautiful in her own right and there is no need to go further by revealing that which God doesn’t want revealed.
So my advice for you is: Please, don’t allow your daughters or yourselves to follow the world’s example and wear: bikinis, tight clothing of any kind, short clothing of any kind (shorts, skirts, dresses), miniskirts, or low-cut shirts. To me, and any man that loves God, I would rather look at a girl’s eyes without being distracted or tempted to look at any other part of her body. The way a guy looks at a girl is different from the way a girl looks at a guy. While most girls look at a guy and see the whole person, a guy will look at a girl and be tempted to view them in parts. The parts of a girl’s body that a man gets distracted with are the legs, breasts, and butt. So please, DO NOT make these parts of your body the main focus of yourselves unless you want to be leading men into sin by lusting after you and treating you as an object instead of a child of God. In an apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima , our Blessed Mother told the children that the majority of souls who go to Hell go there because of sins of impurity.
Just ask yourself please: Would it be OK for you or your daughter to undress in front of any random guy and allow yourself to be seen in your bra and underwear? I would hope not. Well then why would you allow guys to view you and your daughter in a bikini? A bikini is nothing more than waterproof underwear and bra. It is a huge source of temptation for guys. How can seeing a girl in her bra and underwear, not be a huge temptation for any man, no matter the age and no matter the girl? Please, no matter how “old-fashioned” this may sound, do not wear bikinis or allow your daughters to wear them.
I know the pressure to get attention and to want to look great is everywhere, but if you do not stop this, who will? Pray to God to give you His wisdom and prudence to make the right decision in how you dress. Perhaps you previously didn’t know how grave this matter is, but now that you do I trust you will do everything in your power to help us guys who are bombarded from every direction with temptations to the sins of impurity.
In Christ,Patrick
Thank you Patrick for being so courageous!
The recent loss of a dear friend of mine was a timely reminder that we are nearing the beginning of All Souls Month. The Catholic Church in its wisdom and love has set aside the entire month of November for us to pray in a special way for our loved ones who have gone before us. This ancient pious practice has been lauded throughout the ages and is rooted in the teachings ofSacred Scripture and Church tradition. The Catechism of the Catholic Church says:
1030 All who die in God's grace and friendship, but still imperfectly purified, are indeed assured of their eternal salvation; but after death they undergo purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven. 1031 The Church gives the name Purgatory to this final purification of the elect, which is entirely different from the punishment of the damned.606 The Church formulated her doctrine of faith on Purgatory especially at the Councils of Florence and Trent. The tradition of the Church, by reference to certain texts of Scripture, speaks of a cleansing fire:607 As for certain lesser faults, we must believe that, before the Final Judgment, there is a purifying fire. He who is truth says that whoever utters blasphemy against the Holy Spirit will be pardoned neither in this age nor in the age to come. From this sentence we understand that certain offenses can be forgiven in this age, but certain others in the age to come.608 1032 This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: "Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin."609 From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.610The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead: Let us help and commemorate them. If Job's sons were purified by their father's sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them.611
The practice of praying for the dead has also been widely promoted by the Church Fathers, the doctors of the Church and the saints. The beautiful testatment of St. Ephraem entreats us to act with charity towards our departed loved ones by remembering them in our prayers and sacrifices. Lay me not with sweet spices, For this honor avails me not. Nor yet use incense and perfumes, For the honor benefits me not; Burn yet the incense in the holy place; As for me, escort me only with your prayers. Give ye your incense to God, And over me send up hymns. Be mindful of me in your intercessions. What can goodly odor profit To the dead who cannot perceive it? Bring incense to burn in the holy place, That they who enter may smell the savor. Wrap thou not the fetid carrion In silk that profits it nothing; Cast it out upon the dunghill, For it finds no comfort in tributes of respect. Come, my brothers, and lay out my remains; the decree has gone fort that I can tarry no longer. Give me, as provision for my journey, Your prayers, your psalms, and your sacrifices.When the number of thirty days is complete, Then, O my brothers, make remembrance of me.For the dead truly derive succor, From the sacrifices offered up by the living. Say you that the dead benefit not?Hearken to the words of the Apostle. “If the dead do not rise again, Why should we be baptized for the dead?” What of the men of the family of MattathiasWho discharged their pious office of mercy?As you have read, in that time of war?They atoned by their sacrifices for the sins Of those who fell in the battle,And who had followed the way of the heathen.Much for the Priests of the Son of GodShall avail to purify the dead, By the sacrifices which they offerAnd by the prayers of their mouth.We invite you to pray with us for our beloved dead by adding your loved one to our Novena for the Holy Souls in Purgatory. A donation is requested but not required. You can also find several beautiful resources written by Susan Tassone, a valiant supporter of the cause of the Holy Souls in Purgatory on our website.
We're getting this out a bit late but I'm sure you are already praying fervently for this election. Someone brought the following novena to our attention. It was put out by Fr. John Corapi, S.O.L.T. during the 2008 election and is still very relevenat today.
He asked that the following novena be prayed leading up to the elections as well as the Holy Rosary. "I strongly urge every one of you to make a Novena and pray the Rosary to Our Lady of Victory between (updated: October 25th and Election Day, November 2nd.) Pray that God’s will be done and the mostinnocent and utterly vulnerable of our brothers and sisters will be protected from this barbaric and grossly sinful blight on society that is abortion. No woman, and no man, has the right to choose to murder an innocent human being."
Litany of Our Lady of VictoryLord, have mercy on us, Christ, 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 Trinity, One God, Have mercy on us.The response for the following greetings is 'Pray for us'.Our Lady of Victory,Victorious daughter of the Father,Victorious Mother of the Son,Victorious Spouse of the Holy Spirit,Victorious servant of the Holy TrinityVictorious in your Immaculate Conception,Victorious in crushing the serpent's head,Victorious over all the children of Adam,Victorious over all enemies,Victorious in your response to the Angel Gabriel,Victorious in your wedding to St. Joseph,Victorious in the birth of Christ,Victorious in the flight to Egypt,Victorious in your exile,Victorious in your home at Nazareth,Victorious in finding Christ in the temple,Victorious in the mission of your Son,Victorious in His passion and death,Victorious in His Resurrection and Ascension,Victorious in the Coming of the Holy Spirit,Victorious in your sorrows and joys,Victorious in your glorious Assumption,Victorious in the angels who remained faithful,Victorious in the happiness of the saints,Victorious in the message of the prophets,Victorious in the testimony of the patriarchs,Victorious in the zeal of the apostles,Victorious in the witness of the evangelists,Victorious in the wisdom of the doctors,Victorious in the deeds of the confessors,Victorious in the triumph of all holy women,Victorious in the faithfulness of the martyrs,Victorious in your power ful intercession,Victorious under your many titles,Victorious at the moment of death,Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Spare us, Lord.Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Hear us, Lord.Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world, Have mercy, Lord.Pray for us, blessed Lady of Victory.That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.The Novena Prayer
Let us pray: Our Lady of Victory, we have unshaken confidence in your influencewith your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ. Humbly we ask your intercessionfor all of us associated under your title, Our Lady of Victory.We beg your powerful assistance also for our own personal needs.(Please mention here your special intention in you own words.) In yourmaternal kindness please ask Jesus to forgive all our sins andfailings, and to secure His blessings for us and for all the works ofcharity dedicated to your name. We implore you to obtain for us thegrace of sharing Christ's victory forever in the life that knows noending. May we join you to praise forever the Father, His Son, JesusChrist, and the Holy Spirit, one God, for all the ages to come. Amen.Salve Regina (Hail Holy Queen)
Let us pray: Hail 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 sendup 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.Let us pray: The Memorare
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known thatany one who fled to Thy protection, implored Thy help, and sought Thyintercession, was left unaided. Inspired with this confidence, I flyunto Thee, O Virgin of virgins, my Mother. To Thee I come; before TheeI stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate! despisenot my petitions, but in Thy mercy hear and answer me. Amen.All this we ask of The Father in the name of Mary's Son, Our LordJesus Christ who lives and reigns with Him and the Holy Spirit foreverand ever. Amen.Prayer To Our Lady of Victory
Let us pray: O Victorious Lady! Thou who has ever such powerful influence with ThyDivine Son, in conquering the hardest of hearts, intercede for thosefor whom we pray, that their hearts being softened by the rays ofDivine Grace, they may return to the unity of the true Faith, throughChrist, our Lord. Amen.
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