SAINT OF THE DAY St. Dominic Savio Feast Day: March 9

SAINT OF THE DAY 

St. Dominic Savio 

(Feast Day: March 9 )

Pray for us!

Dominic Savio was an Italian student of Saint John Bosco. He was studying to be a priest when he became ill and died at the age of 14, possibly from pleurisy. He was noted for his piety and devotion to the Catholic faith, and was eventually canonized. Wikipedia

Born: April 2, 1842, Chieri, Italy

Died: March 9, 1857, Castelnuovo Don Bosco, Italy

Feast: 6 May (formerly 9 March)

Patronage: choirboys, falsely accused people, juvenile delinquents

Canonized: 12 June 1954, Rome by Pope Pius XII

Major shrine: The Basilica of Mary Help of Christians in Turin (his tomb)

Parents: Carlo Savio, Brigida Gaiato

Saint Dominic Savio’s Story

So many holy persons seem to die young. Among them was Dominic Savio, the patron of choirboys.

Born into a peasant family at Riva, Italy, young Dominic joined Saint John Bosco as a student at the Oratory in Turin at the age of 12. He impressed Don Bosco with his desire to be a priest and to help him in his work with neglected boys. A peacemaker and an organizer, young Dominic founded a group he called the Company of the Immaculate Conception which, besides being devotional, aided John Bosco with the boys and with manual work. All the members save one, Dominic, would, in 1859, join Don Bosco in the beginnings of his Salesian congregation. By that time, Dominic had been called home to heaven.

As a youth, Dominic spent hours rapt in prayer. His raptures he called “my distractions.” Even in play, he said that at times, “It seems heaven is opening just above me. I am afraid I may say or do something that will make the other boys laugh.” Dominic would say, “I can’t do big things. But I want all I do, even the smallest thing, to be for the greater glory of God.”

Dominic’s health, always frail, led to lung problems and he was sent home to recuperate. As was the custom of the day, he was bled in the thought that this would help, but it only worsened his condition. He died on March 9, 1857, after receiving the Last Sacraments. Saint John Bosco himself wrote the account of his life.

Some thought that Dominic was too young to be considered a saint. Saint Pius X declared that just the opposite was true, and went ahead with his cause. Dominic was canonized in 1954. His Liturgical Feast Day is October 9.

PRAYERS

Prayer to St Dominic

O Saint Dominic Savio, a model of purity, piety, penance and apostolic zeal for youth; grant that, through your intercession, we may service God in our ordinary duties with fervent devotion, and attain the grace of holy joy on earth, that we may one day love God forever in Heaven. Amen.

… St Dominic Savio, Pray for Us …

Prayer of Dominic Savio

To the 

Blessed Virgin Mary

O Mary, I give you my heart.

Grant me to be always yours.

Jesus and Mary, be ever my friends;

and, for love of you,

grant me to die a thousand deaths

rather than to have the misfortune

of committing a single mortal sin. Amen.

(By St Dominic Savio)

Prayer for International Women's Day

  

To Blessed Mother Mary and all our beautiful female Saints

Lord, make me an instrument of peace: Bless all women who daily strive to bring peace to their communities, their homes and their hearts. Give them strength to continue to turn swords into plowshares.

Where there is hatred, let me sow love:  We pray for all women who face prejudice, inequality and gender disparities. Help us see and to face the discrimination against women in all the many forms it may take.

Where there is injury, pardon: Comfort all women who suffer from the pain of war, violence, and abuse. Help them to become instruments of their own reconciliation and peace.

Where there is division, unity: Forgive all women and men who let differences breed hate and discrimination. Let your example of valuing all of creation help us to see that we are equal partners in the stewardship of your world.

Where there is darkness, light; where there is untruth, truth: Comfort all women who struggle in the darkness of abuse, poverty, and loneliness. May we stand with them in light to acknowledge their suffering and strive to remove the burdens of shame or embarrassment.

Where there is doubt, true faith: We pray for all women who live in fear of their husbands, fathers, and forces that control their lives. Help them to be empowered to be their true selves through your everlasting love and faith.

Where there is despair, hope: We pray for all women who live in the despair of poverty, violence, trafficking, slavery, and abuse. May the light of your love bring them hope.

Where there is sadness, new joy: Help us to see the strength and goodness in all women and men. Transform our hearts to celebrate the love and grace of all people.

And may we be blessed with the courage of St Clare of Assisi to follow our own path of love for you and all sisters and brothers.

Prayer by Deborah Hirt

Catholic Basic Prayers

 

APOSTLES CREED 

I believe in God, the Father Almighty,Creator of Heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ,His only Son Our Lord, Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died, and was buried.He descended into Hell; the third day He rose again from the dead;He ascended into Heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of God, the Father almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Catholic Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body and life everlasting. Amen.

OUR FATHER 

Our Father ,Who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy Name. Thy Kingdom come. Thy Will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation,but deliver us from evil. Amen.

HAIL MARY 

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of death. Amen.

GLORY BE 

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen

HOW CAN WE BE SAINTS -BY SAINT JOSEMARIA ESCRIVA

 To Become a Saint

"If we struggle daily to become Saints, each of us in his own situation in the world... I assure you that God will make us into instruments that can work miracles.."

---Saint Josemaria Escriva 

Josemaría Escrivá de Balaguer y Albás was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest. He founded Opus Dei, an organization of laypeople and priests dedicated to the teaching that everyone is called to holiness by God and that ordinary life can result in sanctity. Wikipedia

Born: January 9, 1902, Barbastro, Spain

Died: June 26, 1975, Rome, Italy

Patronage: Opus Dei; People with diabetes

Feast: 26 June

Siblings: Santiago Escriva

Parents: María de los Dolores Albás y Blanc, José Escrivá y Corzán

 

Prayer for the Intercession of St. Josemaria Escriva

O God, through the mediation of Mary our Mother,

you granted your priest Saint Josemaria countless graces,

choosing him as a most faithful instrument to found Opus Dei,

a way of sanctification in daily work and in the fulfillment

of the Christian’s ordinary duties.

Grant that I too may learn to turn all the circumstances

and events of my life into occasions of loving you

and serving the Church, the Pope and all souls

with joy and simplicity, lighting up the pathways

of this earth with faith and love.

Deign to grant me, through the intercession of Saint Josemaria,

the favor of … (make your request). Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory be to the Father.

SAINT OF THE DAY St. Frances of Rome Feast Day: March 9

SAINT OF THE DAY

St. Frances of Rome

Feast Day: March 9

Pray for us!

Frances of Rome, Obl.S.B., is an Italian saint who was a wife, mother, mystic, organizer of charitable services and a Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of oblates, who share a common life without religious vows. Wikipedia

Born: 1384, Rome, Italy

Died: March 9, 1440, Rome, Italy

Patronage: Benedictine oblates; automobile drivers; widows

Feast: March 9

Canonized: March 15 1608, Rome, Papal States, by Pope Paul V

Beatified: September 15 1607

Parents: Iacobella dei Roffredeschi, Paolo Bussa de' Leoni

Saint Frances of Rome’s Story

Frances’ life combines aspects of secular and religious life. A devoted and loving wife, she longed for a lifestyle of prayer and service, so she organized a group of women to minister to the needs of Rome’s poor.

Born of wealthy parents, Frances found herself attracted to the religious life during her youth. But her parents objected and a young nobleman was selected to be her husband.

As she became acquainted with her new relatives, Frances soon discovered that the wife of her husband’s brother also wished to live a life of service and prayer. So the two, Frances and Vannozza, set out together—with their husbands’ blessings—to help the poor.

Frances fell ill for a time, but this apparently only deepened her commitment to the suffering people she met. The years passed, and Frances gave birth to two sons and a daughter. With the new responsibilities of family life, the young mother turned her attention more to the needs of her own household.

The family flourished under Frances’ care, but within a few years a great plague began to sweep across Italy. It struck Rome with devastating cruelty and left Frances’ second son dead. In an effort to help alleviate some of the suffering, Frances used all her money and sold her possessions to buy whatever the sick might possibly need. When all the resources had been exhausted, Frances and Vannozza went door to door begging. Later, Frances’ daughter died, and the saint opened a section of her house as a hospital.

Frances became more and more convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, and it was not long before she requested and was given permission to found a society of women bound by no vows. They simply offered themselves to God and to the service of the poor. Once the society was established, Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at home with her husband. She did this for seven years, until her husband passed away, and then came to live the remainder of her life with the society—serving the poorest of the poor.

"A married woman must, when called upon, quit her devotions to God at the altar to find Him in her household affairs." 

-St. Frances of Rome

PRAYER :

Lord, I long to spend time with You in prayer. I also know that you have given me work to do in this world. May I find You, Lord, in every moment of my day, whether before the tabernacle or in front of a pile of laundry. St. Frances of Rome, pray for me. Amen.

SAINT OF THE DAY -St John of God- Feast Day: March 8

 SAINT OF THE DAY

 St  John of God 

Feast Day: March 8

Pray for us! 

Patron: Hospitals, the Sick, Nurses, Booksellers, Printers, those with Heart Disease

HEALING PRAYER TO SAINT JOHN OF GOD


Saint John of God, I honor thee as the Patron of the Sick, especially of those who are afflicted by heart disease. I choose thee to be my patron and protector in my present illness. To thee I entrust my soul, my body, all my spiritual and temporal interests, as well as those of the sick throughout the world. To thee I consecrate my mind, that in all things it may be enlightened by faith above all in accepting my cross as a blessing from God; my heart, that thou doth keep it pure and fill it with the love for Jesus and Mary that burned in thy heart; my will, that like thine, it may always be one with the Will of God.




Good Saint John, I honor thee as the model of penitents, for thou didst receive the grace to give up a sinful life and to atone for thy sins by untiring labors in behalf of the poor and sick. Obtain for me the grace from God to be truly sorry for my sins, to make atonement for them and never again offend God. Aid me in mastering my evil inclinations and temptations, and in avoiding all occasions of sin. Through thine intercession may I obtain the grace from Jesus and Mary to fulfill faithfully all the duties of my state of life and to practice those virtues which are needful for my salvation. Help me to belong to God and Our Lady in life and in death through perfect love. May my life, like thine, be spent in the untiring service of God and my neighbor.




Since Holy Mother Church also invokes thee in her prayers for the dying, I beg thee to be with me in my last hour and pray for me. As thou didst die kneeling before a crucifix, may I find strength, consolation and salvation in the Cross of my Redeemer, and through His tender mercy and the prayers of Our Lady, and through thine intercession, attain to eternal life.

Amen.

THE LIFE OF SAINT JOHN OF GOD

Religious

(1495-1550)

         Nothing in John's early life foreshadowed his future sanctity. He ran away as a boy from his home in Portugal, tended sheep and cattle in Spain, and served as a soldier against the French, and afterwards against the Turks.

        When about forty years of age, feeling remorse for his wild life, he resolved to devote himself to the ransom of the Christian slaves in Africa, and went thither with the family of an exiled noble, which he maintained by his labor. On his return to Spain he sought to do good by selling holy pictures and books at low prices.

        At length the hour of grace struck. At Granada a sermon by the celebrated John of Avila shook his soul to its depths, and his expressions of self-abhorrence were so extraordinary that he was taken to the asylum as one mad. There he employed himself in ministering to the sick.

        On leaving he began to collect homeless poor, and to support them by his work and by begging. One night St. John found in the streets a poor man who seemed near death, and, as was his wont, he carried him to the hospital, laid him on a bed, and went to fetch water to wash his feet. When he had washed them, he knelt to kiss them, and started with awe: the feet were pierced, and the print of the nails bright with an unearthly radiance. He raised his eyes to look, and heard the words, "John, to Me thou doest all that thou doest to the poor in My name: I reach forth My hand for the alms thou givest; Me dost thou clothe, Mine are the feet thou dost wash." And then the gracious vision disappeared, leaving St. John filled at once with confusion and consolation.

        The bishop became the Saint's patron, and gave him the name of John of God. When his hospital was on fire, John was seen rushing about uninjured amidst the flames until he had rescued all his poor.

        After ten years spent in the service of the suffering, the Saint's life was fitly closed. He plunged into the river Xenil to save a drowning boy, and died, 1550, of an illness brought on by the attempt, at the age of fifty-five.

PRAYER FOR LENTEN SIMPLICITY

 

✝️Prayer for Lenten Simplicity:

Free me, Lord Jesus, from anything that obstructs my way to you. Clear away the clutter of petty grudges.

Remove smudges of resentment and bitterness. Cleanse me of thoughts filled with anger, envy, or self-pity.

Create space in my life for more kindness and less spitefulness, greater generosity and few self-centered needs, stronger compassion and weakened judgement of others.

Enlarge my heart with a spirit of gratitude this Lent, so that I recognize the simple gifts that lay in abundance all around me.

In your sacred name, I pray.

Amen