catholic prayer Archives

The Day the Sun Danced…the sixth and final apparition of Our Lady of Fatima

How can you pack the richness of Fatima into a little ol’blog post here?

I discerned….you can’t. There is just so much for us to take in and ponder. For a fuller explanation of the approved private revelation I found this wikipedia article gives a fairly balanced presentation – Our Lady of Fatima.

The year is 1917: a dancing sun, an abundance of miracles, and so much more, were all given to wake up an aching world to the consequences of sin and the need to return to the heart and love of the Father, through the beautiful Immaculate Heart of Our Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. A message was given to 3 shepherd children…a message basically consisting of prayer, penance and devotion to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. If we can enter into these basic of all practices, our hearts would ultimately find their way “home”…to heaven and to the embrace of our loving Father. Practice of the first five Saturday devotion, frequent recitation of Our Lady’s rosary, and devotion to the Eucharist are all central elements to the experience of Fatima.

Many Roman Catholics recite prayers based on Our Lady of Fátima. Lucia later revealed that she and her cousins had had several visions of an angel in 1916. Calling himself the “Angel of Portugal” and the “Angel of Peace,” he taught them to bow with their heads to the ground and to say “O God, I believe, I adore, I hope, and I love you. I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love you.” Lucia later set this prayer to music and a recording exists of her singing it. Sometime later he returned and taught them a Eucharistic devotion now known as the Angel Prayer.

Lucia said that the Lady emphasized Acts of Reparation and prayers to console Jesus for the sins of the world. Lucia said Mary’s words were “When you make some sacrifice, say ‘O Jesus, it is for your love, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.‘” At the first apparition, Lucia wrote, the children were so moved by the radiance they perceived that they involuntarily said “Most Holy Trinity, I adore you! My God, my God, I love you in the Most Blessed Sacrament.”Lucia also heard Mary ask for these words to be added to the Rosary, after the Gloria Patri prayer: “O my Jesus, pardon us, save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need.”

In the tradition of Marian visitations, the “conversion of sinners” is not necessarily religious conversion to the Roman Catholic Church, but general repentance and attempt to amend one’s life according to the teachings of Jesus.Lucia wrote that she and her cousins defined “sinners” not as non-Catholics but as those who had fallen away from the Church or, more specifically, willfully indulged in sinful activity, particularly “sins of the flesh” and “acts of injustice and a lack of charity towards the poor, widows and orphans, the ignorant and the helpless” which she saidwere even worse than sins of impurity. – wikipedia

How much the Father loves us all! To allow, through the action of the Holy Spirit, an encounter with Our Blessed Mother, especially one that is so loving and nurturing. Praise God for the grace of courage, perseverance, fortitude and so much more, poured out to those 3 little children who communicated that message to the world. I am reminded of what Jesus once conveyed to St. Catherine of Siena, Doctor of the Church…that He uses the humble (like uneducated fisherman, simple women and little children) to communicate a message from heaven in order to confound the arrogant and to bring an opportunity of humility to us all.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us My favorite movie surrounding the mystical experience of Fatima is “The 13th Day” distributed by Ignatius Press. Here is another video. film “The Miracle of Fatima”

St. Robert Bellarmine and Galileo w/ Dr. Matthew Bunson (the other side of the story)

A Doctor of the Church, a distinguished Jesuit theologian, writer, and cardinal, born at Montepulciano, October 4, 1542; died 17September, 1621.

When you look up the word “prudence” in the dictionary, you may find his picture. Why? Does the name “Galileo” ring a bell. Many think they know the story…but do you? If you’ve never heard St. Robert Bellarmine’s role and thoughts on the matter, than you haven’t heard the whole story. Take a listen to Dr. Matthew Bunson break open the “Galileo issue” from a truly Catholic perspective. Fascinating.

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For more on this great saints life check out the article found on New Advent

St. Robert at the Church of St. Igantius in Rome

St. Catherine of Genoa…it’s all about Divine Love – Discerning Hearts

Jesus in your heart! Eternity in your mind! The will of God in all your actions! But above all, love, God’s love, entire love!
– St. Catherine of Genoa

St. Catherine of Genoa’s life is one that testified to the power that regular confessions and frequent Communion can have in helping us see the direction (or drift) of our life with God. Isn’t it interesting that people who have a realistic sense of their own sinfulness and of the greatness of God are often the ones who are most ready to meet the needs of their neighbors. Catherine’s life testifies to that as well. She’s best known for her “Treatise on Purgatory” . She gave tirelessly to the needs of the poor and sick. Beautiful, married young to…well, should we be charitable and say…”an unpleasant fellow ” (Ok, he was a jerk) at 16. During the course of ten years within the marriage, Catherine began to slowly slide into worldliness, not necessarily a sinful life, but not the one of holiness she had desired before her marriage. And then it happened, Catherine experienced a powerful encounter with the Holy Spirit in a dramatic life-changing mystical moment at the age of 26. Again you can read more about in “Treatise on Purgatory“. Her life of prayer and service to the poor and needy would effect her husband as well; his conversion is a strong testament to the fruits of her relationship with God. She reminds me a little of Mother Teresa, in that her deep, deep prayer led her to serve Him in those around her.

“Since I began to love, love has never forsaken me. It has ever grown to its own fullness within my innermost heart.” – St. Catherine of Genoa. And it’s true…God is love, expand and make more room for Him and He will fill the space.

From Approved Apparitions:

“Catherine lived in holy obedience to God as He guided her to do His Will as He spoke to her interior,

“My daughter, observe these three rules, namely: never say I will or I will not. Never say mine, but always ours. Never excuse yourself, but always accuse yourself. When you repeat the `Our Father’ take always for your maxim, Fiat voluntas tua, that is, may his will be done in everything that may happen to you, whether good or ill; from the `Hail Mary’ take the word Jesus, and may it be implanted in your heart, and it will be a sweet guide and shield to you in all the necessities of life. And from the rest of Scripture take always for your support this word, Love, with which you will go on your way, direct, pure, light, watchful, quick, enlightened, without erring, yet without a guide or help from any creature; for love needs no support, being sufficient to do all things without fear; neither does love ever become weary, for even martyrdom is sweet to it. And, finally, this love will consume all the inclinations of the soul, and the desires of the body, for the things of this life.”

Though Catherine lived a life of austere penance she did so for she understood how deadly is sin to the soul as a child of God can quickly turn to become a child of the Devil, if they choose to willfully disobey God through their actions. As Catherine explained, “If it were possible for me to suffer as much as all the martyrs have suffered, and even hell itself, for the love of God, and in order to make satisfaction to him, it would be after all only a sort of injury to God, in comparison with the love and goodness with which he has created, and redeemed, and, in a special manner, called me. For man, unassisted by God’s grace, is even worse than the devil, because the devil is a spirit without a body, while man, without the grace of God, is a devil incarnate. Man has a free will, which, according to the ordination of God, is in nowise bound, so that he can do all the evil that he wills; to the devil, this is impossible, since he can act only by the divine permission; and when man surrenders to him his evil will, the devil employs it, as the instrument of his temptation.”

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IP#171 Fr. Michael Gaitley – Consoling the Heart of Jesus on Inside the Pages

What a joy to have the opportunity to talk once again with Fr. Michael Gaitley at the 2012 CMN Trade Show in Dallas, TX. We discuss the Year of Faith, “Consoling the Heart of Jesus” and his new book coming soon…”The One Thing is Three”. We talk about how the New Evangelization and the role model that Bl. John Paul II was to all of us. We all discuss “All Hearts a Fire” the new parish based program which is absolutely FANTASTIC! Be sure to check it out and pass it on!

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You can find the book here

Michael Gaitley, MIC’s book is a form of a weekend retreat accessible to those at the beginning stages of a simple way to holiness. While reading this book, I wished I could have had it in conversing with people of little or practically no faith who yet had a longing for the faith that lies at the core of human existence. These hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, Lord and this book guides them on a journey to resting in God. –Fr. Mitch Pacwa

BKL#15 – Building a Kingdom of Love w/ Msgr. John Esseff – The necessity of contemplation before action

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Msgr. Esseff reflects on the dangers of doing “good work” without having the depth of the contemplative prayer that unites us to Christ in doing the will of the Father. He offers insight primarily from the teachings found in the letter from St. James Chap 1:

Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.

Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God and the Father is this:
to care for orphans and widows in their affliction
and to keep oneself unstained by the world. – NAB

As well as the Gospel of Mark Chap 7:

He responded,
“Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:
This people honors me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me;
in vain do they worship me,
teaching as doctrines human precepts.
You disregard God’s commandment but cling to human tradition.”

He summoned the crowd again and said to them,
“Hear me, all of you, and understand.
Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person;
but the things that come out from within are what defile.

“From within people, from their hearts,
come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder,
adultery, greed, malice, deceit,
licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly.
All these evils come from within and they defile.” – NAB

Msgr. John A. Esseff is a Roman Catholic priest in the Diocese of Scranton. He was ordained on May 30th 1953, by the late Bishop William J. Hafey, D.D. at St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton, PA. Msgr. Esseff served a retreat director and confessor to Blessed Mother Teresa. He continues to offer direction and retreats for the sisters of the missionaries of charity around the world. Msgr. Esseff encountered St. Padre Pio, who would become a spiritual father to him. He has lived in areas around the world, serving in the Pontifical missions, a Catholic organization established by Bl. Pope John Paul II to bring the Good News to the world especially to the poor. Msgr. Esseff assisted the founders of the Institute for Priestly Formation and continues to serve as a spiritual director for the Institute. He continues to serve as a retreat leader and director to bishops, priests and sisters and seminarians and other religious leaders around the world.

To obtain a copy of Msgr. Esseff’s book byvisiting here

Be sure to visit Msgr. Esseff’s website “Building a Kingdom of Love”

St. Monica, who never gave up hope, pray for us who do – Discerning Hearts

St. Monica (331-387) a “shining light of Christ” example of perserverance in prayer! We have her as an outstanding model of never giving up…what a gift to us! Today we can turn to her and see what sticking to it can do, but did you ever think, “Who was her example?” She didn’t know how the story of her son, St. Augustine would turn out. She didn’t know that he would be transformed by grace into one of the greatest Doctors of the Church who ever lived. Monica must have become frustrated, and at times filled with anxiety and maybe even a degree of despair, but she persevered through it all! She surely suffered emotionally for her lost son, but she never gave up her hope in God and faith in His promises…the energy of her love for her son fueled her prayer and grace transformed his seeking heart. It took 30 years, but it happened.

A few months after his conversion, Augustine, Monica and Adeodatus (her other son), set out to return to Africa, but Monica died at Ostia, the ancient port city of Rome, and she was buried there. Some pictures show her so old, but when you think of it, she was only 56 when she died. Augustine was so deeply moved by his mother’s death that he was inspired to write his Confessions, “So be fulfilled what my mother desired of me–more richly in the prayers of so many gained for her through these confessions of mine than by my prayers alone” (Book IX.13.37)

An account of Monica’s early life, her childhood, marriage, her final days and her death, is given in Confessions Book IX, 8-12. He expresses his gratitude for her life:

“I will not speak of her gifts, but of thy gift in her; for she neither made herself nor trained herself. Thou didst create her, and neither her father nor her mother knew what kind of being was to come forth from them. And it was the rod of thy Christ, the discipline of thy only Son, that trained her in thy fear, in the house of one of thy faithful ones who was a sound member of thy Church” (IX.8.7).

Centuries later, Monica’s body was brought to Rome, and eventually her relics were interred in a chapel left of the high altar of the Church of St. Augustine in Rome (see below).