The Holy Spirit Novena, Feast of the Ascension, and the Holy Spirit Sequence for the Mass of Pentecost

Don't forget that tomorrow  is the feast of the Ascension

 and so the Holy Spirit Novena begins.

Lord, Send out your Spirit and renew the face of the earth!

And for the Holy Spirit Sequence at the Mass for Pentecost:

Especially beautiful chanted:

http://chantblog.blogspot.com/2009/06/pentecost-sequence.html

This last one is a modern translation.

GOD BLESS YOU!  +

Seasons of Grace

( I'm sorry this is a late post, Lent has begun, I wrote this earlier and forgot to post it then, but I thought you'd like to see it anyway.  )

http://www.mistyofchincoteague.org/misty.html

   One summer, we had the joy of going out to the East coast from the Midwest.  Aside from the usual delight we have had on all our travels of meeting new people, we had some really new experiences, like standing in the ocean surf at Chincoteague, and traveling over a bridge that undulates above the water, then below the water, then back above the water, through the Chesapeake Bay.  We had poured over all the sites that we would be near, or which we could make part of our itinerary, in the guide books for the states we would be passing through until we had what we thought would be a memorable trip.

     Anticipation was high for Chincoteague for those of us who had read about Misty but when we left the shore and started down the coastline I felt my unease building.  Since I was a child I have had a mild fear of bridges and when my children were all babies I would have nightmares about not being able to get all of them from their carseats, should we be in an accident on the bridge, near our house, that spans the mighty Mississippi River.  Every news story about accidents on the bridge or cars plunging into the river horrified me.  Now we were heading onto a bridge that dived beneath the surface of the water to accommodate the shipping lanes that pushed into and out of the bay.  I started praying quietly for peace of mind and tried to distract myself with sights that were new to me like the beautiful and the weather beaten farms that dotted the little communities or the seashells they used, instead of gravel, in the parking lots all the way down the coast line.

     As we approached the bridge, I tensed up realizing that the sun was setting and it would probably be dark as we crossed the bridge.  That could be good or bad, if I could't see the water, maybe I could cope better.  As it turned out, the day we crossed the bridge was Independence Day and as we started crossing the bridge, the fireworks began.    The communities surrounding the bay were lighting the fireworks of their community over Chesapeake Bay.  My husband was driving so I was free to watch the fireworks and take pictures. ( It worked!)  There was a kind of busy madness in trying to keep up with all the displays as we raced across the surface of the bridge.

     So, we went out onto the surface of the bridge then under, into the tunnels and back up onto the surface where we watched the fireworks. During the crossing I had the opportunity to see up close the power of the water lapping at the sides of the bridge and marvel at the engineering and inspiration of those who dared to dream of such a concept: multiple lanes of traffic dipping under the waves to allow the ships to pass unimpeded by the disappearing bridge, allowing the cars and trucks to continue racing across in spite of the enormous ships coming and going.  And just think of the skill of the people who attempted to accomplish such a feat in such conditions.

Now, we are a few years out.   I've thought about that trip many times. Now I am I thinking about how it mimics the year of seasons that the Church has placed in our lives.  The ups and downs of the bridge are like those seasons of our life.  Seasons of grace necessarily come with trials, Advent is a time of anticipation and, yes, sacrifice where we increase our prayer and prepare our lives, sometimes permitting distractions help us to cope with the sacrifice.  Lent is exciting and a bit scary. God is so much bigger than we are and the challenges we have to face are small in comparison to the ones the people who came before had to endure.  But all through the ups and downs of the season are the awe inspiring flashes of grace given in amazing displays, little sparks, or in loud booms. There are quiet times in the year and times of depth and involvement but it is this time of year, January, poised between the anticipation of Advent and the frightening but exciting season of Lent, that I ponder that bridge.
 

Priest, Prophet, and King | Word on Fire

Priest, Prophet, and King | Word on Fire

Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Take My Life and Make It What It Should Be!

We are beginning our School year on the right foot this year,  may all the joys, effort and suffering that follows be for the honor and advancement of the intentions of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, those of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and for the triumph of His Cross in our family, communities, parishes, states, country and world.

Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary:

O Mary, Virgin most powerful and mother of Mercy,

 Queen of Heaven and Refuge of Sinners, 

We consecrate ourselves to your Immaculate Heart.  

We consecrate to you our very being and our whole life:

 All that we have, all that we love,  all that we are.  

To you we give our homes, our families and our parish.  

We desire that all that is in us and around us may belong to you

 And may share in the benefits of your motherly blessing.

And so that this Consecration may be truly fruitful and lasting, 

We renew today at your feet the promises of our Baptism: 

We renounce Satan, and all his works, and all his empty promises.  

We pledge ourselves to courageously profess the truths of our Holy Faith, 

And to live as Catholics, accepting the directions of the Pope 

And the Bishops in communion with him.

We pledge ourselves to keep the Commandments of God and of his Church 

And in particular to keep holy the Lords Day.

We pledge ourselves to confess our serious sins frequently 

And to receive Holy communion worthily.

Finally, we promise you, O Glorious Mother of God, 

To devote ourselves wholeheartedly to spreading devotion to your Immaculate Heart, 

In order to hasten and assure the coming kingdom of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, your son, 

In our hearts, our families, our parish and our country.

Amen


and for a meditation for today...

http://harvestingthefruitsofcontemplation.blogspot.com/2014/09/memorial-of-our-lady-of-sorrows.html#more

Be Resigned to My Will and You Will Suffer No Loss.

The Twenty-Seventh Chapter - Self-Love is the Greatest Hindrance to the Highest Good

The Voice of Christ:

MY CHILD, you should give all for all, and in no way belong to yourself. You must know that self-love is more harmful to you than anything else in the world. In proportion to the love and affection you have for a thing, it will cling to you more or less. If your love is pure, simple, and well ordered, you will not be a slave to anything. Do not covet what you may not have. Do not possess anything that can hinder you or rob you of freedom.

It is strange that you do not commit yourself to Me with your whole heart, together with all that you can desire or possess. Why are you consumed with foolish sorrow? Why are you wearied with unnecessary care? Be resigned to My will and you will suffer no loss.

If you seek this or that, if you wish to be in this place or that place, to have more ease and pleasure, you will never rest or be free from care, for some defect is found in everything and everywhere someone will vex you. To obtain and multiply earthly goods, then, will not help you, but to despise them and root them out of your heart will aid. This, understand, is true not only of money and wealth, but also of ambition for honor and desire for empty praise, all of which will pass away with this world.

The place matters little if the spirit of fervor is not there; nor will peace be lasting if it is sought from the outside; if your heart has no true foundation, that is, if you are not founded in Me, you may change, but you will not better yourself. For when occasion arises and is accepted, you will find that from which you fled and worse.

A Prayer for Cleansing the Heart and Obtaining Heavenly Wisdom:

     Strengthen me by the grace of Your Holy Spirit, O God. Give me the power to be strengthened inwardly and to empty my heart of all vain care and anxiety, so that I may not be drawn away by many desires, whether for precious things or mean ones. Let me look upon everything as passing, and upon myself as soon to pass away with them, because there is nothing lasting under the sun, where all is vanity and affliction of spirit. How wise is he who thinks thus!


     Give me, Lord, heavenly wisdom to learn above all else to seek and find You, to enjoy and love You more than anything, and to consider other things as they are, as Your wisdom has ordered them. Grant me prudence to avoid the flatterer and to bear patiently with him who disagrees with me. For it is great wisdom not to be moved by the sound of words, nor to give ear to the wicked, flattering siren. Then, I shall walk safely in the way I have begun.

http://www.jehannedarc.org/imchr2.html


Our Prayers are With You Today!

Graduation Day is Coming

                              Graduation Day is coming! (Click the words (not the clock) to see how soon!)

This is the countdown timer I wanted to use but Blogger didn't like it

I love you guys!

Thank you!

A Holy Saturday Family Tradition!

http://www.sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/48-blessings-for-special-days-and-feasts.html

I found this site this morning and had to add it to our collection of posts (click the link to get the rest of the blessings). We for many years have been taking part in the Blessing of the food at a local parish, if I find pictures of it that we have taken over the years I will share them.  Since we have moved the duty has fallen to one of the girls and  whomsoever happens to be with her in that area on Holy week.  There is no such thing happening in my new neighborhood.  Boy! Are they missing out! I cannot convince anyone to take up the  duty either, next year maybe I will be more convincing.  as for now I research and arm myself with materials on the benefits of blessings.

Keep the faith!

Good Guides

Somehow, when I get busy, I lose perspective.  Things that are really not that important become critical and make me cry, where as the really big, important things kind of go off my screen.  Lately I found a combination of websites that made me think, "Oh, I remember now, I am not the first one down this road." It was a very liberating thought.

Breaking trail

(Just by the fact that it is a road that I am following suggests that I am not breaking trail here!)

One was this website.       (I've added it to the list on the side of this page.)  The saints...  Some real life examples and real help in time of need, but the reason I especially like this site is because the coloring pages Mary draws that make the saints a little more real.  For example, Our Lady of Guadalupe has her hand on the head of Juan Diego.  Can't you just hear her saying to him "Am I not here who am your mother?  Are you not in the crossing of my arms...?"  a whole generation of children and their parents can learn from this gentle example posted on their refrigerator.

Then there is the EWTN audio library collection.   Father Pablo Straub, God rest his saintly soul, is immortalized in the collection, and his simple clear style helps us all to know just exactly what we OUGHT to be doing.  Clear instruction makes right action that much more simple. (He is just one of the wonderful teachers available on that site.  I listen to them while I work.

With these I am reminded of who I am, a Christian, and revived in my efforts to keep the faith, fight the good fight, follow those leaders that are following Jesus,  the good saints, the ones who have broken trail for us.

Good Guides

 All you angels and saints,  Pray for us.

Check out these sites, if you have the time. Refresh yourself and see for yourself that the heroic examples of the saints gives courage to their companions.