PRAYER TO CONSECRATE YOUR CHILDREN UNDER THE PROTECTION OF SAINT JOSEPH

Worried about your children? Place them under the protection of St. Joseph with this prayer

St. Joseph, foster-father of Jesus, similarly knew the anxieties of parenthood. He did not always fully understand his son and the mission for which he came to earth. Joseph simply had to trust that all would be well.

For these reasons many parents have turned to St. Joseph over the centuries and ask for his special protection over their children. He is known to be a powerful intercessor and can ensure that God will hear the cry of any parent who calls out in faith. Below is one such prayer that will consecrate your children to St. Joseph and entrust them to his loving care.

O glorious St. Joseph, to you God committed the care of His only begotten Son amid the many dangers of this world. We come to you and ask you to take under your special protection the children God has given us. Through holy baptism they became children of God and members of His holy Church. We consecrate them to you today, that through this consecration they may become your foster children. Guard them, guide their steps in life, form their hearts after the hearts of Jesus and Mary.

St. Joseph, who felt the tribulation and worry of a parent when the child Jesus was lost, protect our dear children for time and eternity. May you be their father and counsellor. Let them, like Jesus, grow in age as well as in wisdom and grace before God and men. Preserve them from the corruption of his world, and give us the grace one day to be united with them in Heaven forever. Amen.

SAY THIS PRAYER AS YOU BLESS YOUR CHILDREN

Children are blessings to us, they need our blessings.Whether they are going to school or simply walking out of the house, pray this prayer over them.

When our children walk out the front door and leave a parent’s watchful gaze, it can be difficult to trust that they will be in good hands. The world is a dangerous place and any number of things could happen that are out of our control.

Yet, our heart can be at peace when we entrust their life to God, putting him in charge of protecting our children from any harm. If we can’t protect them, surely he can cover them with his powerful arm.

Below is a prayer from the book of Numbers, said by the priest over the people of Israel. It is a prayer that is well-known and is sometimes used by Catholic priests today during the liturgy. As a parent, you have the authority to bless your children using similar words, and your blessing can have a profound effect upon them. Don’t be afraid to use it and let your heart be at ease, knowing that whatever might happen, God is in control.

May the Lord bless you and keep you!
May the Lord let his face shine upon you, and be gracious to you!
May the Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace! (Numbers 6:24-26)

You can end this prayer with a blessing upon the forehead, making the sign of the cross and saying, “May God bless you and protect you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

God bless us together with our children...

Prayers by Chief Vatican Exorcist Fr. Amorth

Prayers by Chief Vatican Exorcist Fr. Amorth

Dear Lord Jesus, please surround me (my family/friends/home) with a perimeter of Your Love and Protection throughout the day today and every day a hundred yards in all directions.

Lord Jesus, render any demons that are here, or should try to come, deaf, dumb, and blind. Strop them of all weapons, illusions, armor, power, and authority. Disable them from communicating or interacting in any way. Bind, sever, and separate them, sending them directly to the foot of Your Cross, without manifestation or harm, to us or to anyone, to be dealt with by you Jesus as you see fit.

May Your Precious Blood cover us, the Holy Spirit fill us, Mary’s mantle of love and protection surround us, St. Joseph guide us, the Holy Angels and Saints guard and protect us from all unfortunate events. Protect us from fire, theft, vandalism, flood, storms, ailments and accidents of every sort, distress, hardship, curse, and all untoward things. I ask this all in your Name Jesus, through Mary’s intercession, now. Amen!

St. Michael, St. Joseph, St. Padre Pio, St. John Paul II, and Mother Mary, pray for us!

Prayer for Home Protection Against Demons – Fr. Amorth

Spirit of our God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Most Holy Trinity, Immaculate Virgin Mary, angels, archangels, and saints of heaven, descend upon me. Please purify me, Lord, mold me, fill me with yourself, use me.

Banish all the forces of evil from me, destroy them, vanish them, so that I can be healthy and do good deeds.

Banish from me all spells, witchcraft, black magic, malefice, ties, maledictions, and the evil eye; diabolic infestations, oppressions, possessions; all that is evil and sinful, jealously, perfidy, envy; physical, psychological, moral, spiritual, diabolical aliments.

Burn all these evils in hell, that they may never again touch me or any other creature in the entire world.

I command and bid all the power who molest me – by the power of God all powerful, in the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, through the intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary – to leave me forever, and to be consigned into the everlasting hell, where they will be bound by Saint Michael the archangel, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael, our guardian angels, and where they will be crushed under the heel of the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Amen.

Prayer To The Blessed Virgin Mary

Daily Prayer To The Blessed Virgin Mary For The Month Of May

Daily Prayer To The Blessed Virgin Mary For The Month Of May

O most August and Blessed Virgin Mary! Holy Mother of God! Glorious Queen of Heaven and earth! Powerful Protectress of those who love Thee, and unfailing Advocate of all who invoke Thee! Look down, we beseech Thee, from Thy throne of glory on Thy devoted children; accept the solemn offering we present Thee in this month of May, specially dedicated to Thee, and receive our ardent, humble desires, that by our love and fervor we might worthily honor Thee, who, next to God, art deserving of all honor.




Receive us, O Mother of Mercy, among Thy best beloved children; extend to us Thy maternal tenderness and solicitude; obtain for us a place in the Heart of Jesus, and a special share in the gifts of His grace. O deign, we beseech Thee, to recognize our claims on Thy protection, to watch over our spiritual and temporal interests, as well as those of all who are dear to us. O Immaculate Queen of the Universe, do Thou infuse into our souls the spirit of Christ, and teach us like Thyself to become meek, humble, obedient, charitable, patient, and submissive to the Will of God.




May our hearts burn with the love of Thy Divine Son, and of Thee, His blessed Mother, not for this month alone, but for time and eternity. May we thirst for the promotion of His honor and Thine, and contribute, as far as we can, to its extension. Receive us, O Mary, the refuge of sinners! Grant us a Mother's blessing and a Mother's care, now, and at the hour of our death. Amen.

GUARDIAN ANGELS AND THEIR ROLE IN OUR LIVES

While the role of Guardian Angels is to guard men, institutions, cities and nations, we often have a distorted image of the functions of these angels. Many see them as beings that are good just to obtain advantages for us. However, this is not their only role. They exist above all to help us in spiritual difficulties. God accompanies us through the action of the angels and they participate in our struggles to help us fulfill our vocation.

Indeed, Guardian Angels run contrary to the Hollywood vision of life. According to that mentality, there is a great propensity to think there are no struggles, difficulties or dangers and everything will have a happy ending. The Church teaches us the contrary. Life is full of struggles and dangers, both material and spiritual. Because of this, Divine Providence has placed an angel to watch over each and every one of us.

God has done this with such magnificence, that in addition to one angel for every person, there is also an angel for every city and every nation. There is an angel to watch over the Holy Catholic Church: St. Michael the Archangel. There are angels to watch over groups, families of souls, societies and other institutions, so that everything that exists is guarded by angels. This, incidentally, is part of the role of the angels, for they maintain the whole material universe executing all of the decrees of God.

Therefore, since life is an intense struggle with dangers and difficulties, each of us has an angel to guide him because we would otherwise not be able to make it on our own.

The first lesson to draw from the fact we have Guardian Angels is one must have a supernatural spirit or outlook. The Cistercian abbot Dom Chautard condemned the erroneous attitude of one who thinks: I am very capable, very intelligent, resourceful, and, above all, very proud. I can fend for myself with my great qualities, as long as God keeps away from me those very large obstacles. I do not need God’s help in my spiritual or material life. I can take care of myself and accomplish what I need to do by myself.

There is something fundamentally wrong in this attitude. God Himself delegated an angel to accompany and protect each of us precisely because we are not capable of taking care of ourselves. The fact that we are given an angel is a proof that we need God’s help at every moment, in everything, even those small things, that we do.

On the other hand, the Guardian Angel is usually presented as the protector of little children. Sentimentality has distorted all devotions, holy cards and pictures showing the angel watching over a small child. What is implicitly conveyed is that, first, only toddlers need angels; and second, only little children believe in angels.

Those with a more developed, freethinking or liberated mindset neither need nor believe in angels.Such characterizations of the holy angels convey another message. These sentimental holy cards often show a very beautiful little brook with a fat, rosy-cheeked little toddler walking over a bridge. The child is crossing the bridge with a broken board, and about to step in the hole with his little foot. We see the Guardian Angel is watching over him.

One has the impression that this is a child’s imaginary world, and with this mentality, the little child crosses the bridge. At best, we could imagine that the Guardian Angel does the same with adults. Thus, comes the idea that we need to pray to our Guardian Angels to avoid car crashes, illnesses, and small accidents since they specialize in preventing us from such sufferings.

No doubt, Guardian Angels do help us with such material needs, but that is not their only task. No one speaks of Guardian Angels helping with spiritual needs.

Sentimentality has distorted all
depictions of Guardian Angels.

This attitude is consistent with a certain festive piety that many people exhibit when going on pilgrimage to special sanctuaries. What do they ask for? The healing of a sore throat or some wound. The testimonials and petitions compiled in these places of pilgrimage show requests for help for all kinds of strange symptoms, wounds and material requests. Naturally, the pilgrims also ask for money, reconciliation in families, avoiding bad luck and many other things of the same nature yet with little to no reference to spiritual needs.

It’s evident that many have little notion that Guardian Angels are given to us to help with the most important matters: the needs of our soul. The greatest function of our Guardian Angel is to watch over our soul and to obtain graces for us so we can overcome our spiritual difficulties.

What a great comfort we would have in the hours of tribulation and temptation, those times when we feel all alone weighed down with the problems of our spiritual life, if we would have the certainty that our Guardian Angel is right next to us. Though we cannot see or hear him, he does not leave us even for a second. He is waiting for our prayers to go into action for us. He often acts without our asking, but will act much more if we ask. He is well within our reach.

What a joy it would be to have this in mind when we are involved in the apostolate with others. When we suffer with spiritual problems, annoyances, struggles, abandonment, and difficulties of all kinds, we would know that this solitude is an illusion. Our Guardian Angel is right beside us. Even if we have the impression that the distance between our Guardian Angels and us is greater than between Heaven and Earth, the truth is that they are extremely close to us. As we pray to them and ask for their help, they will watch over and protect us.

Having this present in our thoughts at every moment should encourage us in our spiritual life. We should feel a great satisfaction and sense God’s hand accompanying us at each step in our spiritual and material life. This illustrates the affirmation of Our Lord in the Gospel that not a hair falls from our head, not a bird dies, or a leaf falls without God willing it.

Such a perspective about the angels corresponds to Church teaching on Divine Providence. Because our Guardian Angel is providing and asking for everything we need, we can practice better the virtue of confidence.

The assistance the angel provides for us in the hours of danger and trial is not the only assistance he renders. He also prays for us. There is, for example, the famous vision of Daniel in which he sees angels from the ancient empires as if fighting for their respective people before God’s throne.

Our angel is our intercessor, advocate and our mediator. He is continuously praying for us. Therefore, the most appropriate thing for us to do is to ask continuously that our Guardian Angel fulfill this function of intercessor to obtain graces for us and drive away temptations and chastisements. This is something we should be doing constantly.

Thus, we have made some considerations that should help us to increase our love for our Guardian Angels, and thus invoke their patronage with greater devotion.

WHAT GOD’S ‘VOICE’ SOUND LIKE

Discernment – Listen closely, God May be trying to speak to you.

St. Ignatius Loyola, in his writings on the topic of the discernment of spirits, provides specific instructions on how to identify the voices you hear in your soul, whether in prayer or while going about your daily duties. In particular, Loyola details the attributes of God’s voice.

Loyola explains, “it is proper to God and to His Angels in their movements to give true spiritual gladness and joy, taking away all sadness and disturbance which the enemy brings on.” Furthermore, “It belongs to God our Lord to give consolation to the soul without preceding cause, for it is the property of the Creator to enter, go out and cause movements in the soul, bringing it all into love of His Divine Majesty.”

Additionally, “We ought to note well the course of the thoughts, and if the beginning, middle and end is all good, inclined to all good, it is a sign of the good Angel.”

However, before we can properly discern these voices in our soul it is necessary to discern the state of our soul. Loyola writes that if the soul is moving from “good to better” the good Angel touches “sweetly,” but if the soul is moving from “bad to worse” than the opposite is true and the good spirit can seem sharp and try to kick us back in the right direction.

In general, if we are striving to draw closer to God, he will speak to us in the silence of our hearts with peace and joy. It will likely not be in the form of an earthquake, lightning bolt, or flames of fire, but as Elijah heard, in “a still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).

The next time you are trying to discern who is speaking to your soul, stop and go over St. Ignatius’ steps of discernment. It might be God who is knocking at the door of your heart, desiring to give you the peace, joy and gladness that will satisfy your spiritual thirst.

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary Prayer

Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I Consecrate my entire self to the Most Holy Love of Your Two Hearts. I Wish to make reparation for all the sins of the world, including my own. I offer these things for the love of the Hearts of JESUS and MARY. I will keep my mind on beauty and turn my thoughts from evil things.I will not show off, but remain humble. I will offer up all my sufferings, sickness and hurts. I will seek God's Will, not my own. I will show appreciation for the kindness, the blessings that I receive, and God for all things. I will do everything in my life for love of God. And I will love others, as God has loved me. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, through the Intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, receive the offering and consecration I now make of myself to You. Keep me faithful unto death. Bring me one day to the Happy Home in Heaven. I desire to live forever with God the Father and the Most Holy Spirit and You my Jesus, together with Your Most Immaculate Mother. AMEN+

PRAYER FOR FORGIVENESS AND MERCY (SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION)

 

From Psalm 51

 O loving and gracious God, have mercy.

Have pity upon me and take away the awful stain of my sin.

Oh, wash me, cleanse me from this guilt. Let me be pure again.

For I admit my shameful deed-it haunts me day and night.

It is a sin against You and Your infinite mercy.

 Create in me a new, clean heart, O God.

Purify me and make me white as snow.

Cleanse my thoughts and desires.

Restore to me again the joy of your salvation, and make me willing to obey you.

Jesus, have mercy on me.

Jesus, have mercy on me.

Jesus, have mercy on me.

Jesus, I trust in You.

Jesus, I trust in You.

Jesus, I trust in You.

Amen.

Now do not be afraid of the glorious Sacrament of Reconciliation!

LENTEN PRAYER

Prayer for a Fruitful Lent

My precious and crucified Lord, I offer You this Lent.

I offer it to You with total abandonment and trust.

I offer You my prayers, sacrifices and my very life this day.

Do with me, Lord, as You will.

I pray that this Lent will be fruitful.

I know You have much to say to me and much to do in my life.

May this Lent be a time through which Your mercy is poured in abundance into my soul,

and into the souls of all Your faithful.

Dearest Lord, help me to especially see my sin, this Lent.

Humble me so that I may see clearly.

Give me courage and strength to confess my sins,

and to turn from them with all my heart.

Enlighten me with Your Holy Word, dear Lord.

Help me to come to know You and to deepen the gift of faith in my life.

Show me the plan You have for me,

and place my feet upon the path You have chosen.

My suffering Lord, I thank You for the fullness of Your perfect Sacrifice.

I thank You for holding nothing back,

giving Your life to the last drop of blood.

May I offer You my very life as a sacrifice,

trusting in Your mercy with every offering.

Keep me faithful to my Lenten promises,

and bring forth new life through these sacrifices of love.

Strengthen my prayer and make me holy.

Help me to turn to You, each day,

seeking Your sacred and pierced Heart.

Blessed Mother,

you stood by your Son in His suffering and death,

stand by me, I pray, as I journey through this life.

Pray for me and offer me to Your Son,

 that He may take me into His loving embrace.

Lord, Jesus, Son of the Living God,

have mercy on me a sinner.

Lord, Jesus, Son of the Living God,

have mercy on me a sinner.

Lord, Jesus, Son of the Living God,

have mercy on me a sinner.

Mother Mary, Mother of our Crucified Lord,

pray for us who have recourse to thee.

Amen

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE SIN

God Himself felt for the people of Israel who were slaves to the Egyptians when he said: “I have seen the AFFLICTION of my people and have heard their CRY. I know their SUFFERINGS”(Exodus 3:7). Our lessons today are simple and straightforward.

*One: Sin is Slavery.*

As much as we detest slavery, St. Paul teaches us today that sin by its very nature can be likened to a form of slavery. Just as the Israelites were afflicted and agonized by the Egyptian taskmasters, we are all afflicted as long as we allow sin to dominate our lives.

According to St. Paul: “These things are WARNINGS for us, not to desire evil as they did nor grumble as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer” (1Cor. 10:10). 

*Two: Never Underestimate Sin.*

Sin is an affliction, a suffering, a detestable condition, something that makes us live lower than the dignity God desires for us. In fact, in our Gospel passage, we see that not only is Sin a form of slavery, but it is also a calamity and a disaster.

Some persons told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. They wanted to know if this disaster was as a result of their sins, assuming that they must have been the worst sinners on earth to deserve such a cruel death.

To their surprise, Jesus said, these victims were not any worse than any one of them (meaning no matter how little our sins are, we too deserve such calamity). Jesus also added a similar instance of the eighteen upon whom the tower of Siloam fell and crushed saying: but UNLESS WE REPENT, WE WILL ALL LIKEWISE PERISH. In this way, Jesus paints a vicious picture of sin as something we must avoid at all costs.

*Three: Is Calamity a Punishment for sin?*

Does God allow bad things to happen to us as a result of our sinfulness? If this is the case, how do we explain the case of Job who was a righteous man yet faced a series of affliction? How do we explain the unfortunate things that happen to us even when we are walking in righteousness? How do we explain the brutal death of Jesus even when He was completely sinless?

The truth is that God does not treat us according to our faults. As the Psalmist says: “He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor requite us according to our iniquities” (Psalm 103:10). Also in Matthew 5:45, Jesus told us that God “makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

This means that good things and bad things happen to both good and bad people not necessarily as a direct punishment for sins. The point Jesus wants us to take to heart is that Sin itself is a calamity just as bad as any other calamity we may experience in life.

*Four: There is Good News.*

The Good News is that we serve a God who CARES for us, a God who FEELS our plight, a God who UNDERSTANDS our struggles and is ever ready to help us. The Good news is that God did not abandon the Israelites, but sent Moses to free them from the hands of captivity. This is really Good News because it means that no matter the extent of our present grip under the captivity of sin, God will not abandon us when we cry to Him.

Just as the Israelites could not save themselves, we cannot do it on our own. Nevertheless, Moses did not force them out of Egypt, their exit came as a result of their own cooperation with Moses. This is exactly what Jesus means when He demands repentance from us.

To repent is to make efforts. Yes, God is interested in the efforts you are making. This is why Jesus gave the parable of the fig tree. For three years, the man who planted the fig tree did not see any fruits and he decided to cut it down. The vinedresser pleaded for more time to dig around it and manure it saying if by next year, it still doesn’t produce fruit, it could be cut down.

What efforts are you making? Have you given up on yourself? Why not dig around your lukewarm heart and apply more manure to your spirituality? The truth is that you really do not have all the time. You do not know when you will take your last breath, Act Now!

*Conclusion: Hate Sin Enough to Flee From it.*

The first key to repentance is to see sin for what it really is. *Develop a strong hatred for sin and never take any sin for granted. The worst thing that can ever happen to you is to trivialize sin, painting it as “normal” or just one of those things.* Remember, the choice is yours to make: Repent or Perish!

Let us Pray: Lord Jesus, grant me the grace of freedom from the captivity of sinfulness, Amen!

*Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is well with you. God bless you. (Third Sunday of Lent, Year C. Bible Study: Exodus 3:1-15, Psalm 103, 1st Corinthians 10:1-12 and Luke 13:1-9).