JESUS, Son of God and Son of Mary, bless our family. Graciously inspire in us the unity, peace, and mutual love that you found in your own family in the little town of Nazareth. MARY, Mother of Jesus and Our Mother, nourish our family with your faith and your love. Keep us close to your Son, Jesus, in all our sorrows and joys. JOSEPH, Foster-father to Jesus, guardian and spouse of Mary, keep our family safe from harm. Help us in all times of discouragement or anxiety. HOLY FAMILY OF NAZARETH, make our family one with you. Help us to be instruments of peace. Grant that love, strengthened by grace, may prove mightier than all the weaknesses and trials through which our families sometimes pass. May we always have God at the center of our hearts and homes until we are all one family, happy and at peace in our true home with you. Amen.
Today, we pray for families grieving the loss of a child...
“God, bring comfort and peace. Peace is your essence. Peace is your name. Bring peace to this family who has lost their precious child in death.
We come to you, God because we know that you sorrow, and are acquainted with grief. You too have endured the loss of a child. You empathize.We can’t help but ask, “Why?” Forgive our insistence, our confusion, even our anger. We believe that you are just, and we ache to understand how this tragic death is an expression of that justice, how it expresses your love. We also know – in our minds at least – that you seldom answer the “why?” question. We press you, but on these matters you are mostly silent.
What we ask instead is “how?” How can we move forward? How can this bring us together and not tear us apart? How can we now live under the shadow of this untimely death? Answer this prayer with your comfort and guidance.
There is no way to remove the pain. The grief is real. The only sanity is to know, to believe, in a life beyond with you, when all the scales are righted and the sufferings are made good. We trust you and your promise that while this child’s life on earth is done, his life beyond has just begun. With that release we lose him and let him go into your arms, then by faith receive in return the boundless comfort of your presence. That is all, that is enough. In Jesus Name and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Amen.”
Advent, which begins the Church’s liturgical year, began on Sunday, December 3. Advent encompasses the four Sundays and weekdays leading up to the celebration of Christmas.
The Advent season is a time of preparation for our hearts and minds for the anniversary of the Lord’s birth on Christmas.
The use of the wreath and candles during Advent are a longstanding Catholic tradition that was originally adopted by Christians in the Middle Ages as part of their spiritual preparation for Christmas
Types of Candles for Advent:
The four candles represent the four weeks of Advent. One candle is lit each Sunday. Three of the candles are purple because the color violet is a liturgical color that signifies a time of prayer, penance, and sacrifice.
The first candle, which is purple, symbolizes hope. It is sometimes called the “Prophecy Candle” in remembrance of the prophets, especially Isaiah, who foretold the birth of Christ. It represents the expectation felt in anticipation of the coming Messiah.
The second candle, also purple, represents faith. It is called the “Bethlehem Candle” as a reminder of Mary and Joseph’s journey to Bethlehem.
The third candle is pink and symbolizes joy. It is called the “Shepard’s Candle,” and is pink because rose is a liturgical color for joy. The third Sunday of Advent is Gaudete Sunday and is meant to remind us of the joy that the world experienced at the birth of Jesus, as well as the joy that the faithful have reached the midpoint of Advent.
On the fourth week of Advent, we light the final purple candle to mark the final week of prayer and penance as we wait for the birth of our Savior. This final candle, the “Angel’s Candle,” symbolizes peace. It reminds us of the message of the angels: “Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.”
Would you like to know what are the prayers revealed at Fatima?
On May 13, 1917, the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to three shepherd children in Fatima, Portugal with an urgent message for the whole world. Between May and October she would appear five more times, each on the 13th of the month.
She identified herself as Our Lady of the Rosary and urged the children to pray the rosary daily for peace in the world (as World War I raged on) and to make sacrifices for the conversion of sinners. Over the course of these visits, and several preceding visits by an angel, there were five prayers that were taught to Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta.
THE PARDON PRAYER
The angel who appeared to the children called himself the Angel of Peace and the Angel of Portugal. He taught them the following prayer:
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee! I ask pardon for those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee.
THE ANGEL’S PRAYER
On one occasion, the three children saw the angel prostrate before a host and chalice that hung in the air. Worshiping the Eucharist, the angel prayed,
Most Holy Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit- I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges, and indifferences whereby He is offended. And through the infinite merits of His Most Sacred Heart and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg of Thee the conversion of poor sinners.
Angel of Fatima
THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER
During the first apparition of Our Lady of Fatima, the children found themselves “moved by an interior impulse,” as Lucia later explained, to say the following prayer together:
Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament.
THE SACRIFICE PRAYER
The Blessed Mother taught the children to offer all their personal sacrifices to God by praying,
Oh my Jesus, I offer this for love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
THE ROSARY DECADE PRAYER
The Blessed Mother stressed the critical importance of praying the rosary daily for the conversion of sinners and for peace in the world. She asked that the following prayer be recited at the end of each rosary decade:
Oh My Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those in most need of Thy mercy.
Only God can change your life in a perfect way, if you have a good relationship to our Lord Jesus. Faith without action is dead,
you have to move and act with the guidance of our Lord God Jesus. And the Holy Spirit will teach you.
1) Missed a weekend or Holy Day Mass without a valid reason 2) Having sex outside of marriage, with yourself (masturbation) or someone else 3) desecrated the Eucharist 4) haven’t been to confession in a year 5) Use artificial birth control – condoms, pills, patches, IUD’s, etc
6) sponsor or help in any way with an abortion or any destruction of an embryo 7) Murder 8) Hate/Anger 9) Lust after someone 10) Pride, Greed, Sloth, Envy
etc. etc. The list is not exhaustive, and any sin that we have meditated on before hand, understood its gravity and still chosen to do it can be a deadly sin.
C.C.C. 1857 FOR A SIN TO BE MORTAL, THREE CONDITIONS MUST TOGETHER BE MET: “MORTAL SIN IS SIN WHOSE OBJECT IS GRAVE MATTER AND WHICH IS ALSO COMMITTED WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE AND DELIBERATE CONSENT.”131
1 CORINTHIANS 11:27 27 THEREFORE WHOSOEVER SHALL EAT THIS BREAD, OR DRINK THE CHALICE OF THE LORD UNWORTHILY, SHALL BE GUILTY OF THE BODY AND OF THE BLOOD OF THE LORD.
Don’t step out of bounds…and by all means…if you do…get back in bounds through confession! Don’t desecrate the Eucharist and receive it as some sort of prize you’ve earned simply by showing up for Mass!
O Holy St. Jude! Apostle and Martyr, great in virtue and rich in miracles, near kinsman of Jesus Christ, faithful intercessor for all who invoke your special patronage in time of need, to you I have recourse from the depth of my heart and humbly beg you, to whom God has given such great power,to come to my assistance.
Help me in my present urgent petition (mention your urgent need).
In return I promise to make your name known and cause you to be invoked.
(Say 3 Our Fathers, 3 Hail Marys, & 3 Glory Be)
St. Jude, pray for us and all who honour thee and invoke thy aid.
Amen.
(This novena prayer to be said for 9 consecutive days. St Jude Thaddeus is the patron saint of lost causes. When things seem hopeless and helpless, then this prayer has worked miracles for all who have turned to St. Jude Thaddeus in times of need.)
