I hope you're having a blessed Holy Week. This is so good, I have to share it with you. As the good Bishop used to say, "Goodbye, and God ;ove you."
Rosa Mystica Mantilla's Catholic Veiling Culture Blog.
Showing posts with label Catholic Culture. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Catholic Culture. Show all posts
Veils in Art
The Veil, William-Adolphe Bouguereau, 1898.
What a lovely painting. I remember in school how the academics turned their noses up at painters like Ingres and Bouguereau. They called Bouguereau overly sentimental. The professors were more in favor of the impressionists and all the major movements to come afterwards.
It's unfortunate when art becomes about doing something different for the sake of novelty. It sort of reminds me of what happened to the Mass, don't you think?
But back to the painting. The painting speaks about light and dark, the white of the veil against the dark greens trees. I'm thinking it appears to be late afternoon on a summer day. There's a certain playfulness in her gesture, as if she is playing peek-a-boo with her veil. It's as if she were peeking out from inside a tent. The tilt of her head and the movement of the hands suggests a certain welcoming to the viewer.
Like a tent: I know some women have told me they felt this way about their veils at the Mass. I have, too. I put on the veil and its purpose is to cover me and direct my focus on the Lord. Somehow these little pieces of lace can do that for us as women. Maybe in part it's because this is the one place we wear them; before the Blessed Sacrament.
https://www.1st-art-gallery.com/William-Adolphe-Bouguereau/The-Veil.html
A Prayer for our Nation as we Prepare to Elect our Leaders
https://www.priestsforlife.org/novenas/novena.aspx?id=1
O God, we acknowledge you today as Lord,
Not only of individuals, but of nations and governments.
We thank you for the privilege
Of being able to organize ourselves politically
And of knowing that political loyalty
Does not have to mean disloyalty to you.
We thank you for your law,
Which our Founding Fathers acknowledged
And recognized as higher than any human law.
We thank you for the opportunity that this election year puts before us,
To exercise our solemn duty not only to vote,
But to influence countless others to vote,
And to vote correctly.
Lord, we pray that your people may be awakened.
Let them realize that while politics is not their salvation,
Their response to you requires that they be politically active.
Awaken your people to know that they are not called to be a sect fleeing the world
But rather a community of faith renewing the world.
Awaken them that the same hands lifted up to you in prayer
Are the hands that pull the lever in the voting booth;
That the same eyes that read your Word
Are the eyes that read the names on the ballot,
And that they do not cease to be Christians
When they enter the voting booth.
Awaken your people to a commitment to justice
To the sanctity of marriage and the family,
To the dignity of each individual human life,
And to the truth that human rights begin when human lives begin,
And not one moment later.
Lord, we rejoice today
That we are citizens of your kingdom.
May that make us all the more committed
To being faithful citizens on earth.
We ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Rev. Frank Pavone, Priests for Life
ElectionPrayer.com
Notre Dame
This fire brings me to tears. What a loss! It's pure coincidence, but I've been praying the rosary in French lately. Le français est mon dada (mon passe-temps--French is my hobby). Let's pray for the rebuilding of Notre Dame, of the Catholic faith, and for the people of Paris if you can.
SUNDAY SERMON: Catholic priest thanks Donald Trump from the pulpit
Via The Remnant
Father tackles the question of Donald Trump, and Supreme Court decisions in the true nature of freedom.
Father tackles the question of Donald Trump, and Supreme Court decisions in the true nature of freedom.
Girls First Holy Communion Veil, Regina
JMJ
This white veil was made in honor of Mary our Queen.
  |
Police remove young people praying the rosary at Reformation event in Catholic church
Wow. Praying the rosary in a Catholic church isn't allowed, but a "Reformation" event is? What is going on?!
A woman shouts at young men praying the rosary during an interfaith service at a Catholic church.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/police-remove-young-people-praying-the-rosary-at-reformation-event-in-catho
https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/police-remove-young-people-praying-the-rosary-at-reformation-event-in-catho
LYON, France, December 7, 2017 (LifeSiteNews) — For the fourth time in recent months, a group of youth singing the rosary interrupted an ecumenical service at a Catholic church.
Young Catholics gathered last Friday as faithful witnesses to pray at St. Irénée Church in Lyon duirng an interfaith service attended by the local Archbishop, Cardinal Philippe Barbarin.
A video capturing a brief portion of the incident shows the young men kneeling and singing as armed policemen assemble to remove them from the church.
The ecumenical service was the conclusion of commemorations of the 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation, La Croix reported.
The Catholic Youth Movement of France and France Jeunesse Civitas conducted the disruption to “publicly repair this offense to God and his Church.”
“Catholic activists could not let this scandal go unpunished,” a translated post on the Civitas website said. “So we gathered in this church to denounce this sacrilegious meeting and pray to the rosary saint.”
For more of the article, visit Life Site News.
Father Jacques Hamel, pray for us!
Yesterday at Mass, I was helping my daughter with her missal when I pulled out a prayer card from between the pages....It had a a picture of Fr. Hamel on the front of it. He was the priest who was martyred only a year ago in France, at the hands of Muslim extremists. I don't know where the card came from, she never uses that missal. She just took it with us to Mass yesterday on a whim, I think.
But all I can think to say is, "Quelle coincidence!" or "What a coincidence!", or was it? Maybe it was providential, maybe Our Lord wants us to remember this priest who died for the Faith a year ago. Perhaps God wants us to remember Fr. Hamel's example, that we, like him, will always ready to give everything, (even our lives) for the glory of God.
Blessed be the martyrs, who through their sacrifice give glory to the most high God!
Do you see cows?” asks the woman on the phone.
“Yes,” answers the reporter. “I see six cows, it looks like they are grazing.”
“They have been grazing for over 20 years,” comments Mrs. Coponet, “They are made out of plastic. Well, turn right after the cows, then take the second left. We are expecting you.”
Thus begins a meet-up between journalists from the French publication Famille Chrétienne and three witnesses to the Mass-time murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel who felt ready to talk about what they had experienced. Coming together not far from where the remains of Fr. Hamel lie, the reporters met with Guy and Janine Coponet, married 64 years, and Sr. Danielle Delafosse who, along with two members of Sr. Danielle’s religious community, were participating in the Mass at St. Etienne when the attackers entered.
Guy Coponet, who on that day was celebrating his 87th birthday, had been stabbed three times — in the arm, the back and the throat. He tells reporters that the emergency physician who treated him counted him very lucky or very blessed. “The emergency doctor who treated me told me, ‘There was a divine hand on you because none of the stabs have hit a vital organ. But it really was a close call…'” For Coponet it seems providential, but also costly. “It’s like a miracle! The Lord allowed me to survive as a sign of his mercy. It is distressing to me; I hate to draw attention to myself. I am a retired factory worker; I love the hidden life of Nazareth. Finding myself in the spotlight appalls me.”
Coponet reveals that the jihadis forced him to videotape their actions, which he found enormously difficult. “[They] grabbed me by the collar and put a camera in my hands and said, ‘Granddaddy, you take the movie.’ They even checked the quality of the picture and made sure that I was not shaking too much.”
What followed was an unimaginable nightmare for him: “I had to film the assassination of my friend Father Jacques! I can’t get over it…”
The attackers intended for their video to be fed to social media networks, Coponet said. After the slaying of Fr. Hamel, Coponet warned them that they were on the wrong side of heaven, and that their parents would die of grief from their actions. At that point, one of the men lashed out. “He stabbed me and dragged me to the bottom of the altar steps. The floor was all red, but I didn’t realize that it was my blood flowing. I didn’t feel any pain at the time. I tightened my hand around my throat because blood was spurting out.”
Janine Coponet remembers immediately entrusting her husband to the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux and the Venerable Carmelite friar, Father Marie-Eugene. She related a sense of their whole married life together passing “before my mind’s eye in a few seconds.” With three stab wounds, she believed her husband would not survive.
In the midst of the slaughter, Sister Danielle managed to escape. Seeing Fr. Hamel fall, she told herself to move and get help. “I’m not a great athlete, but at that moment, I made tracks. A neighbor took me in. I called for help. They came on the double.”
Guy Coponet says, “I prayed as I have never prayed in my life. I called upon all the saints I could think of. First of all, little Brother Charles [de Foucauld], also killed by a Muslim, in the desert. In my heart of hearts, I recited my favorite prayer: ‘Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will… Into your hands I commend my soul.’ I was in his hands. Especially after Mass!”
The journalists asked about reports that before his death Fr. Hamel called out twice, “Be gone Satan!” and whether the trio saw evil in action. “No doubt,” said Sr. Danielle, “This does not mean that [the assailant] Adel Kermiche was possessed, but that Satan was at work in a powerful way. Father Jacques wanted to exorcise this evil. Those were his last words. Satan does not like the Eucharist …”
After stabbing Guy Coponet and dragging him to the altar steps, Kermiche commenced a conversation with Sr. Helen, one of the members of Sr. Danielle’s community. As Sr. Danielle relates, Kermiche asked, “Are you afraid of dying?” When the nun said “no” he seemed surprised and asked her why not.
“Because I believe in God, and I know I will be happy.”
The killer said, in a low voice, “I believe in God too, and I am not afraid of death.” Then he declared: “Jesus is a man, not God!”
The jihadis asked the two women, Janine Caponet and Sr. Helen, if they were familiar with the Koran. “Yes, I have read the Koran,” replied Sr. Helen. “What struck me were the sura that speak of peace.”
Kermiche suggested that when the women were inevitably brought before the television cameras they should call for peace from the authorities, saying that as long as bombings continued in Syria, attacks would continue in France, daily. “I think it was just a pretext,” says Sr. Danielle. “The only thing they had in their heads was propaganda received by internet.”
Janine calls the conversation “surreal,” taking place as it did before two bloody bodies.
The killers betrayed some humanity toward the elderly women when they pleaded exhaustion. When Janine asked if she could sit, Adel Kermiche immediately answered, “Yes, sit down, Madame,” as though he had forgotten his manners. When Sr. Helen, also feeling exhausted, asked him for her cane, which she had left at her seat, he brought it to her.
Soon after, however, one of the killers put what Janine thought was a real pistol to her head (it later turned out to be a fake) and began to push her toward the exit door of the church. “I turned around anyway to have a last look at my Guy, and I saw one of his legs moving! I told myself: ‘He’s alive. Oh Lord, thank you!'”
While Guy Coponet continued to play dead, the killers went outside and gunfire was heard. After that, says Coponet, “There was a huge silence. I tried to shout, ‘Is anyone there?’ But no sound came out of my throat. I tried again: ‘Isn’t there anyone?’ Nothing. I felt abandoned.”
His wife related those final few moments of terror. “The bell struck 10:30 a.m. My Guy had been playing dead for 45 minutes. They pushed us outside. The sirens were howling. We crossed the threshold. Policemen grabbed us. The killers came out, shouting ‘Allahu akbar.’ The police fired. The two young people died instantly. A policewoman hid me behind a car. She was in tears.” At that point, she did not know whether Guy was still alive.
Within minutes members of a special police unit were calling for the doors to be opened, and quickly the team stormed in, with medics in tow. “A doctor looked at me as I recited the last sentence of my Ave, ‘… and at the hour of our death. Amen.'” Convinced he was going to die, Coponet says he felt an overwhelming sense of serenity. “I had no remorse, only love in me. In fact, it was a moment of great bliss.”
Asked if they could forgive the terrorist, Guy admits to struggling, and suggests he will only be able to do that with the grace of God, perhaps from heaven. His wife says, “For now, we pray especially for their families.” She thinks often of the mothers of these young men. “They will not get over it anytime soon.” The couple expressed a desire to someday meet the parents and try to understand what has happened. They are now looking forward to celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, and continue to attend Mass. “We are at the heart of an immense mystery: the mystery of Christ who gave his life for each one of us. He gave his life for our killers. The Eucharist enlightens us about the tragedy that we have just experienced.” They added that now the Mass seems to fill them with a special joy.
Sr. Danielle, who knows the Kermiche family from her clinical work with many Muslim neighbors, says the killer’s family are “at a loss. The parents do not understand how one of their children could have committed such a barbarous act.” Adel Kermiche, she reveals, was undergoing psychiatric treatment. “This is one of those complex cases where psychological instability, religious and cultural ignorance, and an existential vacuum are all mixed together… It’s a Molotov cocktail ready to explode: a crazy imam preaching on the internet can be the match that lights the fuse…”
Pope Francis has announced that he wishes to hasten the cause of Fr. Hamel’s possible sainthood. In September he suggested that Hamel is a new martyr who “should be venerated.”
Sr. Danielle agrees. “Jacques had been a priest for 58 years. He had just celebrated Christ’s sacrifice when he was slain, just like the Lamb that he had served and celebrated all his life. He died instantly. He is the first priest killed by the hand of a jihadist on European soil, in the 21st century. He is a new martyr.”
But all I can think to say is, "Quelle coincidence!" or "What a coincidence!", or was it? Maybe it was providential, maybe Our Lord wants us to remember this priest who died for the Faith a year ago. Perhaps God wants us to remember Fr. Hamel's example, that we, like him, will always ready to give everything, (even our lives) for the glory of God.
Blessed be the martyrs, who through their sacrifice give glory to the most high God!
Witnesses to martyrdom: Father Hamel’s last moments
Do you see cows?” asks the woman on the phone.
“Yes,” answers the reporter. “I see six cows, it looks like they are grazing.”
“They have been grazing for over 20 years,” comments Mrs. Coponet, “They are made out of plastic. Well, turn right after the cows, then take the second left. We are expecting you.”
Thus begins a meet-up between journalists from the French publication Famille Chrétienne and three witnesses to the Mass-time murder of Fr. Jacques Hamel who felt ready to talk about what they had experienced. Coming together not far from where the remains of Fr. Hamel lie, the reporters met with Guy and Janine Coponet, married 64 years, and Sr. Danielle Delafosse who, along with two members of Sr. Danielle’s religious community, were participating in the Mass at St. Etienne when the attackers entered.
Guy Coponet, who on that day was celebrating his 87th birthday, had been stabbed three times — in the arm, the back and the throat. He tells reporters that the emergency physician who treated him counted him very lucky or very blessed. “The emergency doctor who treated me told me, ‘There was a divine hand on you because none of the stabs have hit a vital organ. But it really was a close call…'” For Coponet it seems providential, but also costly. “It’s like a miracle! The Lord allowed me to survive as a sign of his mercy. It is distressing to me; I hate to draw attention to myself. I am a retired factory worker; I love the hidden life of Nazareth. Finding myself in the spotlight appalls me.”
Coponet reveals that the jihadis forced him to videotape their actions, which he found enormously difficult. “[They] grabbed me by the collar and put a camera in my hands and said, ‘Granddaddy, you take the movie.’ They even checked the quality of the picture and made sure that I was not shaking too much.”
What followed was an unimaginable nightmare for him: “I had to film the assassination of my friend Father Jacques! I can’t get over it…”
The attackers intended for their video to be fed to social media networks, Coponet said. After the slaying of Fr. Hamel, Coponet warned them that they were on the wrong side of heaven, and that their parents would die of grief from their actions. At that point, one of the men lashed out. “He stabbed me and dragged me to the bottom of the altar steps. The floor was all red, but I didn’t realize that it was my blood flowing. I didn’t feel any pain at the time. I tightened my hand around my throat because blood was spurting out.”
Janine Coponet remembers immediately entrusting her husband to the intercession of St. Therese of Lisieux and the Venerable Carmelite friar, Father Marie-Eugene. She related a sense of their whole married life together passing “before my mind’s eye in a few seconds.” With three stab wounds, she believed her husband would not survive.
In the midst of the slaughter, Sister Danielle managed to escape. Seeing Fr. Hamel fall, she told herself to move and get help. “I’m not a great athlete, but at that moment, I made tracks. A neighbor took me in. I called for help. They came on the double.”
Guy Coponet says, “I prayed as I have never prayed in my life. I called upon all the saints I could think of. First of all, little Brother Charles [de Foucauld], also killed by a Muslim, in the desert. In my heart of hearts, I recited my favorite prayer: ‘Father, I abandon myself into your hands; do with me what you will… Into your hands I commend my soul.’ I was in his hands. Especially after Mass!”
The journalists asked about reports that before his death Fr. Hamel called out twice, “Be gone Satan!” and whether the trio saw evil in action. “No doubt,” said Sr. Danielle, “This does not mean that [the assailant] Adel Kermiche was possessed, but that Satan was at work in a powerful way. Father Jacques wanted to exorcise this evil. Those were his last words. Satan does not like the Eucharist …”
After stabbing Guy Coponet and dragging him to the altar steps, Kermiche commenced a conversation with Sr. Helen, one of the members of Sr. Danielle’s community. As Sr. Danielle relates, Kermiche asked, “Are you afraid of dying?” When the nun said “no” he seemed surprised and asked her why not.
“Because I believe in God, and I know I will be happy.”
The killer said, in a low voice, “I believe in God too, and I am not afraid of death.” Then he declared: “Jesus is a man, not God!”
The jihadis asked the two women, Janine Caponet and Sr. Helen, if they were familiar with the Koran. “Yes, I have read the Koran,” replied Sr. Helen. “What struck me were the sura that speak of peace.”
Kermiche suggested that when the women were inevitably brought before the television cameras they should call for peace from the authorities, saying that as long as bombings continued in Syria, attacks would continue in France, daily. “I think it was just a pretext,” says Sr. Danielle. “The only thing they had in their heads was propaganda received by internet.”
Janine calls the conversation “surreal,” taking place as it did before two bloody bodies.
The killers betrayed some humanity toward the elderly women when they pleaded exhaustion. When Janine asked if she could sit, Adel Kermiche immediately answered, “Yes, sit down, Madame,” as though he had forgotten his manners. When Sr. Helen, also feeling exhausted, asked him for her cane, which she had left at her seat, he brought it to her.
Soon after, however, one of the killers put what Janine thought was a real pistol to her head (it later turned out to be a fake) and began to push her toward the exit door of the church. “I turned around anyway to have a last look at my Guy, and I saw one of his legs moving! I told myself: ‘He’s alive. Oh Lord, thank you!'”
While Guy Coponet continued to play dead, the killers went outside and gunfire was heard. After that, says Coponet, “There was a huge silence. I tried to shout, ‘Is anyone there?’ But no sound came out of my throat. I tried again: ‘Isn’t there anyone?’ Nothing. I felt abandoned.”
His wife related those final few moments of terror. “The bell struck 10:30 a.m. My Guy had been playing dead for 45 minutes. They pushed us outside. The sirens were howling. We crossed the threshold. Policemen grabbed us. The killers came out, shouting ‘Allahu akbar.’ The police fired. The two young people died instantly. A policewoman hid me behind a car. She was in tears.” At that point, she did not know whether Guy was still alive.
Within minutes members of a special police unit were calling for the doors to be opened, and quickly the team stormed in, with medics in tow. “A doctor looked at me as I recited the last sentence of my Ave, ‘… and at the hour of our death. Amen.'” Convinced he was going to die, Coponet says he felt an overwhelming sense of serenity. “I had no remorse, only love in me. In fact, it was a moment of great bliss.”
Asked if they could forgive the terrorist, Guy admits to struggling, and suggests he will only be able to do that with the grace of God, perhaps from heaven. His wife says, “For now, we pray especially for their families.” She thinks often of the mothers of these young men. “They will not get over it anytime soon.” The couple expressed a desire to someday meet the parents and try to understand what has happened. They are now looking forward to celebrating their 65th wedding anniversary, and continue to attend Mass. “We are at the heart of an immense mystery: the mystery of Christ who gave his life for each one of us. He gave his life for our killers. The Eucharist enlightens us about the tragedy that we have just experienced.” They added that now the Mass seems to fill them with a special joy.
Sr. Danielle, who knows the Kermiche family from her clinical work with many Muslim neighbors, says the killer’s family are “at a loss. The parents do not understand how one of their children could have committed such a barbarous act.” Adel Kermiche, she reveals, was undergoing psychiatric treatment. “This is one of those complex cases where psychological instability, religious and cultural ignorance, and an existential vacuum are all mixed together… It’s a Molotov cocktail ready to explode: a crazy imam preaching on the internet can be the match that lights the fuse…”
Pope Francis has announced that he wishes to hasten the cause of Fr. Hamel’s possible sainthood. In September he suggested that Hamel is a new martyr who “should be venerated.”
Sr. Danielle agrees. “Jacques had been a priest for 58 years. He had just celebrated Christ’s sacrifice when he was slain, just like the Lamb that he had served and celebrated all his life. He died instantly. He is the first priest killed by the hand of a jihadist on European soil, in the 21st century. He is a new martyr.”
How To Make A May Crown
Here's how I made my latest May Crown for the Blessed Mother, 2017.
I started with tiny roses and the purple flowers. I think that small flowers tend to work best. The white ones are artificial. In the past I've found a good quality artificial flower keeps the crown looking fresh throughout the month.
I use the inner part of an embroidery hoop for the frame. It's a good, sturdy and relatively inexpensive option. This one is 6", but you should measure your own statue to see if you need larger or smaller.
A reliable glue gun and a good supply of glue sticks will come in handy.
I use the floral tape and snipper-pliers even more than the glue gun.
I wrap the floral tape around the hoop, entirely covering it.That way the frame won't show through.
Snip the flowers into small clusters. Wrap a small piece of floral tape around each little bunch.
Keep the flowers all facing the same direction. Attach the small floral clusters to the hoop with more floral tape. The floral tape will stick to the hoop and keep the flowers well secured.
The glue gun can be used when the May crown is almost complete. Use it only to fill in a single flower here or there in any empty spaces. Don't over-use the glue gun, because it's easy to turn the whole thing into a stringy mess.
Bring Flowers of the Rarest
Refrain: O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Bring flowers of the rarest
bring blossoms the fairest,
from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
our full hearts are swelling,
our glad voices telling
the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!
Refrain
Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Ah, grant that thy children on earth be as true
as long as the bowers
are radiant with flowers,
as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue
Refrain
Sing gaily in chorus;
the bright angels o'er us
re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
their harps are repeating
the notes of our greeting,
for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth
Refrain
I started with tiny roses and the purple flowers. I think that small flowers tend to work best. The white ones are artificial. In the past I've found a good quality artificial flower keeps the crown looking fresh throughout the month.
I use the inner part of an embroidery hoop for the frame. It's a good, sturdy and relatively inexpensive option. This one is 6", but you should measure your own statue to see if you need larger or smaller.
A reliable glue gun and a good supply of glue sticks will come in handy.
I use the floral tape and snipper-pliers even more than the glue gun.
I wrap the floral tape around the hoop, entirely covering it.That way the frame won't show through.
Snip the flowers into small clusters. Wrap a small piece of floral tape around each little bunch.
Keep the flowers all facing the same direction. Attach the small floral clusters to the hoop with more floral tape. The floral tape will stick to the hoop and keep the flowers well secured.
The glue gun can be used when the May crown is almost complete. Use it only to fill in a single flower here or there in any empty spaces. Don't over-use the glue gun, because it's easy to turn the whole thing into a stringy mess.
Refrain: O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today!
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
O Mary we crown thee with blossoms today,
Queen of the Angels and Queen of the May.
Bring flowers of the rarest
bring blossoms the fairest,
from garden and woodland and hillside and dale;
our full hearts are swelling,
our glad voices telling
the praise of the loveliest flower of the vale!
Refrain
Their lady they name thee,
Their mistress proclaim thee,
Ah, grant that thy children on earth be as true
as long as the bowers
are radiant with flowers,
as long as the azure shall keep its bright hue
Refrain
Sing gaily in chorus;
the bright angels o'er us
re-echo the strains we begin upon earth;
their harps are repeating
the notes of our greeting,
for Mary herself is the cause of our mirth
Refrain
Gracias Madre
I have a little gift for you! It's been blessed by a priest. I'm giving out these green scapulars with my veils while they last, or while I can. I ordered one hundred here, but they're going fast. I hope to order more soon. They are truly a gift, and you don't have to buy anything. If you send me a self addressed stamped envelope, I'll send you a few. You can find my address here.
With this Green Scapular, the Blessed Mother helps the lost sheep get to heaven. In this devotion, you share these little green felt patches with those who lack the gift of the Catholic faith. Ask the lost sheep to keep it with them in their purse or their wallet or something. And if they won't take it, you can hide it somewhere. Put it in their room or their car. Then you pray this little prayer for the person each day, "Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen." Ask the lost sheep to pray this prayer too, if they're willing.
Mary gave the scapular to a little French nun named St. Justine Bisqueyburu. She appeared to Sr. Justine without the veil, I like to think that she appears to souls through the Green Scapular rather like a mother attending to a sick child in need, late at night. She gave St. Justine the scapular for the conversion of those lost little ones.
This is a powerful sacramental. Carry it with you, and give another out to those in need of God's grace. Then you pray the little prayer for the person each day.
I gave it to my brother who was sick and dying in the hospital. At first he didn't want to see the priest because he's been away from the Church for so long, for about 40 years. But I gave him the scapular and said, "Take this, it's for your spiritual protection." And he took it! And in another day's time, he was willing to have the priest come and give him the last rites. That night we went to a restaurant, me, my husband and a friend. We found this restaurant clear out of the blue, because the one we were planning to go to was closed on Mondays. But the name of the restaurant turned out to be "Gracias Madre!" You can see the pictures from the restaurant down below all the way at the bottom of this post. It's in San Francisco.
So I've created these chapel veils for Our Mother of the Green Scapular, because she interceded for my brother, like a mother who goes to a sick child, late at night. I received a beautiful favor from the Blessed Mother for the conversion of a family member.
Gracias Madre, Blue
Gracias Madre, White
Gracias Madre, Brown
Gracias Madre, Beige
Gracias Madre, Black
"Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen."
The 15 Promises Our Lady gave for praying the Most Holy Rosary.
Our Lady revealed to St. Dominic and Blessed Alan de la Roche additional benefits for those who devoutly pray the Rosary.
1. Whoever shall faithfully serve Me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall receive signal graces.
2. I promise My special protection and the greatest graces to all who shall recite the Rosary.
3. The Rosary shall be a powerful armor against hell, it will destroy vice, decrease sin, and defeat heresies.
4. It will cause virtue and good works to flourish; it will obtain for souls the abundant mercy of God; it will withdraw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. The soul which recommends itself to Me by the recitation of the Rosary, shall not perish.
6. Whoever shall recite the Rosary devoutly, applying himself to the consideration of its sacred mysteries, shall never be conquered by misfortune. God will not chastise him in His justice, he shall not perish by an unprovided death; if he be just he shall remain in the grace of God, and become worthy of eternal life.
7. Whoever shall have a true devotion for the Rosary shall not die without the Sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful in reciting the Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces; at the moment of death they shall participate in the merits of the saints in paradise.
9. I shall deliver from purgatory, those who have been devoted to the Rosary.
10. The faithful children of the Rosary shall merit a high degree of glory in Heaven.
11. You shall obtain all you ask of Me by the recitation of the Rosary.
12. All those who propagate the holy Rosary shall be aided by Me in their necessities.
13. I have obtained from My Divine Son, that all the advocates of the Rosary shall have for intercessors, the entire celestial court during their life and at the hour of death.
14. All who recite the Rosary are My sons, and brothers of My only son Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to My Rosary is a great sign of predestination.
Sew Vestments!
I've wanted to learn to sew vestments for a couple of years now. It just seems to me these can be such beautiful little works of art for Our Lord in the Mass--and I want to make beautiful things for the Mass! I don't think I'd be able to find the time for more than one or two a year, but that could be like a little offering to Our Lord.
I took the seminar with two other ladies and we had a great time, learned a lot and I for one am hoping I can return again next summer for another seminar. We'll see!
If you're interested in finding out more about these seminars, click here.
The one directly below will become the Marian Chasuble.
The Holy Ghost Chasuble (above).
Lamb of God Chasuble (above and below).
We went to morning Mass at Mary Mother of God Church.
St Mark's Basilica, Venise Italy
I'd like to begin to share some of the photos from our recent trip to Italy. Here's St. Mark's.
Hubs and me.
The Mosaics. The architecture is Italo-Byzantine.
The stone below the crucifix is said to be a piece of the pillar from The Scourging.
Beautiful Latin Vestments.
An Illuminated Manuscript.
More Vestments.
St. Mark's Square.
More Views from the Dome.
Reliquaries.
More Vestments.
A Bronze Relief located Behind the Main Altar.
More Reliquaires.
A bronze figure of St. Mark.
The Twelve Apostles. 14 century Gothic art.
St. Mark's Campanile, the Bell Tower.
More Ceiling Mosaics. They cover the entire ceiling. I couldn't get over the detail.
The Facade.
More of the Facade.
The Pillars.
Altar Coverings.
View from the Balcony.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
