SPIRITUAL RESOURCES DURING TIMES OF SOCIAL DISTANCING

The last few weeks have been like few living souls on Earth have ever witnessed, and it doesn’t seem like the next few will be normal, either. Not since the influenza of 1918, have we seen
forced quarantines to this extent. It is a time of unrest, concern, worry, and strife. Since many bishop have issued statement regarding suspension of public Masses, in keeping with the
increasing requests of public authorities and health officials regarding the size of gatherings, most of our parish functions are being postponed or cancelled. For Catholics, this puts us in a
situation we do not find comfortable. We have been drilled since childhood on the importance of actually going to the Church building to fulfill our duty, something which makes us unique
among our separated Christian brothers and sisters. So, what are we to do when we aren’t allowed to go? [Read More at Tab] Spiritual Resources during Times of Social Distancing[SELECT HERE]

Pray the Rosary Daily

Prayer to the Immaculate Conception

Feast Day – December 8

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary, did prepare a worthy dwelling place for your Son, we beseech you that, as by the foreseen death of this, Your Son, You did preserve Her from all stain, so too You would permit us, purified through Her intercession, to come unto You. Through the same Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, world without end. Amen.

[Read More from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about The Immaculate Conception]

A Student’s Prayer

O Holy Spirit, giver of all good gifts, enter into My mind and heart.
Give me the gift of knowledge and the grace to use it wisely.
Help me to remember what I have learned and recall it when necessary.
Guide me in the classroom and laboratory, You, who are the Way, the Truth and the Life, let me not be deceived by false teaching.
St. Catherine of Alexandria, friend of students, come to my assistance.
Our Lady of Good Studies, pray for me. Amen.
[Provided by Kathleen Kirkpatrick, NACN-USA President #8 (2008-2010)]

Holy Father Prayer Intentions

Pope Francis on Twitter
@Pontifex

The Apostleship of Prayer began in France in 1844. At that time Fr. Francis Xavier Gautrelet told a group of Jesuit seminarians who were eager to work on the missions: “Be apostles now, apostles of prayer! Offer everything you are doing each day in union with the Heart of Our Lord for what He wishes, the spread of the Kingdom for the salvation of souls.” Devotion to this simple, profound way of life spread, and in time the Pope himself proposed a monthly intention. Since 1929 the Holy Father has proposed a second monthly intention, one specifically related to the missionary work of the Church. Over fifty million apostles of prayer worldwide now pray for the Pope’s two prayer intentions each month. Truly the Apostleship of Prayer is the Pope’s own “prayer group.” It is, as Pope John Paul II wrote in 1985, “a precious treasurer from the Pope’s own heart and the Heart of Christ.” In 2017 Pope Francis returned to the practice of one monthly intention, which now alternate between evangelization and universal intentions. Given the speed of communication in the digital age, the Holy Father is adding a second, urgent prayer intention that he will make known during his Angelus address on the first Sunday of the month. [Read More]

Prayer of St. Gertrude the Great

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the most precious blood of thy Divine Son Jesus, in union with the Masses said throughout the world today, for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the universal church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen. (Our Lord told St. Gertrude this prayer would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said.)

Pray the Rosary Daily

Divine Mercy Chaplet

Jesus said later to Sister Faustina:
“Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. Anyone who says it will receive great Mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as the last hope. Even the most hardened sinner, if he recites this Chaplet even once, will receive grace from My Infinite Mercy. I want the whole world to know My Infinite Mercy. I want to give unimaginable graces to those who trust in My Mercy….”

“….When they say this Chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person not as the just judge but as the Merciful Savior”. [read more] [Handout to teach chaplet]

Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary
(5 – 1st Saturdays)

Our Lady of Fatima

When Mary appeared again to Sr. Lucia, the last remaining visionary from Fatima, in Pontevedra, Spain on December 10, 1925 she said, “I promise to assist, at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for their salvation, all those who, in the First Saturday of five consecutive months, 1) went to Confession, 2) received Holy Communion, 3) recited five decades of the Rosary and 4) “Keep me company for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the rosary,” all with the intent of making reparation to My Immaculate Heart’. [read more]

It consists in going to Confession, receiving Communion, reciting five decades of the Rosary and meditating for a quarter of an hour on the mysteries of the Rosary on the first Saturday of five consecutive months. The Confession may be made during the eight days preceding or following the first Saturday of each month, provided that Holy Communion be received in the state of grace. Should one forget to form the intention of making reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, it may be formed at the next Confession, occasion to go to confession being taken at the first opportunity.

Why 5 first Saturdays? Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: 1) blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, 2) against her perpetual virginity, 3) against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, 4) blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and 5) the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother. [read more]

Novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots

During Pope Francis’ catechesis on October 12, 2013 he mentions Our Blessed Mother under the title, “Our Lady Undoer of Knots.” There is an unfailing novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots whose portrait by the artist Johann Melchior Georg Schmittdner has been venerated in the Church of St. Peter in Perlack, Augsburg, Germany since 1700. [read more]

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus – Nine 1st Fridays

Devotion to the Sacred Heart, as we know it, began about the year 1672. On repeated occasions, Jesus appeared to Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a Visitation nun, in France, and during these apparitions He explained to her the devotion to His Sacred Heart as He wanted people to practice it. he asked to be honored in the symbol of His Heart of flesh; he asked for acts of reparation, for frequent Communion, Communion on the First Friday of the month, and the keeping of the Holy Hour. [read more]

12 Promises – Listed below are the “12 Promises” of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary to encourage all Catholics to know and understand the benefit of practicing the Devotion and to encourage all to take up its immediate practice.

According to the Code of Canon Law (can. 992) and in the Catechism of the Catholic Church (n. 1471): “An indulgence is a remission before God of the temporal punishment due to sins whose guilt has already been forgiven, which the faithful Christian who is duly disposed gains under certain prescribed conditions through the action of the Church which, as the minister of redemption, dispenses and applies with authority the treasury of the satisfactions of Christ and the saints”. Indulgences have a specific act plus “the usual conditions:”
1) Sacramental Confession,
2) Reception of Holy Eucharist;
3) Prayers for the Holy Father’s Intentions (Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be);
4) Heart and mind free from all attachment to sin (interior disposition of complete detachment from sin, even venial sin).

Specific Acts

By performing any one of the following, along with the “Usual Conditions” above, one can obtain Plenary Indulgence every day of the year. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.
1) Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament for at least one half hour
2) Devout reading of Sacred Scriptures for at least one half hour
3) Devout performance of the Stations of the Cross
4) The recitation of the Marian Rosary in a church or oratory, with members of the family, in a religious Community, or in a pious association
5) On Divine Mercy Sunday, in any church or chapel, take part in prayers and devotions held in honor of Divine Mercy
6) On Divine Mercy Sunday in the presence of the Blessed Sacrament exposed or reserved in the tabernacle, recite the Our Father and the Creed, adding a devout prayer to the merciful Lord Jesus (e.g. “Merciful Jesus, I trust in you!”).
7) Devoutly visit one of the Patriarchal Basilicas in Rome and recite one Our Father and the Creed: A. On the titular feast of the Basilica; B. On any Holy Day of Obligation; C. Once a year on any other day of one’s choice.
8) Piously and devoutly receive, even by radio, the Blessing of the Pope when imparted to Rome and the world (Urbi et Orbi).
9) Devoutly visits a Cemetery and prays for the departed. For each day between November 1 and November 8th a plenary indulgence is bestowed.
10) Devoutly assist in the ADORATION OF THE CROSS and kiss it as part of the solemn liturgical action of Good Friday.
11) Spend at least three (3) whole days in the spiritual exercises of a retreat.
12) When the prayer, “Most sweet Jesus — Act of Reparation,” is publicaly recited on the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
13) When the prayer, “Most sweet Jesus, Redeemer — Act of Dedication of the Human Race to Jesus Christ King,” is publicaly recited on the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ King.
14) To the priest and the faithful who devoutly assist at the First Mass of a Newly Ordained Priest.
15) Jubilees of Sacerdotal Ordination. Granted to a priest on the 25th, 50th and 60th anniversaries of his ordination when he renews before God his resolve to faithfully fulfill the duties of his vocation. If the priest celebrates a jubilee Mass, the faithful who assist at it can acquire a Plenary Indulgence.
16)For those who during the time of a diocesan Synod, devoutly visit the church in which it is being held and there recite one Our Father and the Creed.
17) Recite on HOLY THURSDAY or Feast of Corpus Christi “Down in Adoration Falling” (Tantum ergo) (Roman Breviary).
18) Recite on the last day of the year the “Te Deum.”
19) Recite on JANUARY 1st or on the Feast of Pentecost, “Come, Holy Spirit, Creator Blest.”
20) Devoutly visit the parochial church on either its titular feast or on the 2nd of August when the indulgence of the “Portiuncula” occurs and recite the Our Father and Creed.
21) Visit a Church or an Altar on the day of its consecration and there recite an Our Father and the Creed.
22) Piously visit a Church or public Oratory on ALL SOULS DAY and there recite an Our Father and the Creed. It may be acquired either on the day designated as All Souls Day or, with the consent of the bishop, on the preceding or following Sunday or the feast of All Saints.
23) Piously visit a church or oratory of a religious order on the Feast of its canonized founder and there recite one Our Father and the Creed.
24) Renewal of Baptismal Promises according to any formula in use if done in celebration of the Paschal Vigil or on the anniversary of one’s baptism.
25) Devoutly participate in a Virtual Lourdes Pilgrimage with the North American Lourdes Volunteers (NALV).
26) The Moment of Death (In articulo mortis). PLENARY INDULGENCE. EXCEPTION TO THE THREE CONSTANTS. (Verbatim recitation of the grant follows:) “To the faithful in danger of death, who cannot be assisted by a priest to bring them the sacraments and impart the Apostolic Blessing with its plenary indulgence (see can. 468, Sec.2 of Code of Canon Law), Holy Mother Church nevertheless grants a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they are properly disposed and have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime. The use of a crucifix or a cross to gain this indulgence is praiseworthy.” The condition: ‘provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime’ supplies in such cases for the three usual conditions required for the gaining of a plenary indulgence.” The plenary indulgence at the point of death can be acquired by the faithful, even if they have already obtained another plenary indulgence on the same day.”

*It is appropriate, but not necessary, that the sacramental Confession and especially Holy Communion and the prayer for the Pope’s intentions take place on the same day that the indulgenced work is performed; but it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act. Prayer for the Pope’s intentions is left to the choice of the faithful, but an “Our Father” and a “Hail Mary” are suggested. One sacramental Confession suffices for several plenary indulgences, but a separate Holy Communion and a separate prayer for the Holy Father’s intentions are required for each plenary indulgence.

**Indulgences can always be applied either to oneself or to the souls of the deceased, but they cannot be applied to other persons living on earth.

Centenary of Fatima — 2017

The Fatima Story 1914-2017 (print as double side pdf booklet) THE APOSTOLIC PENITENTIARY, by mandate of the Most Holy Father Francis, gladly grants a Jubilee Year [Diocesan Marian Year] with a Plenary Indulgence for the faithful who, being truly penitent and moved by charity, purifying themselves by sacramental Confession and strengthening themselves through the Most Holy Eucharist, and also pouring forth prayers for the intentions of the Supreme Pontiff, from the 13th of May 2017 to the 13th of May 2018 at Jubilee Shrines shall be duly designated, shall take part in sacred functions and spiritual undertakings for the worthy celebration of the 100th anniversary of that even which took place in the Cova da Ira [Fatima Portugal], where there shepherds – Lucia, Francisco and Jacinta – from the 23th of May until the 13th of October 1917, in a singular and unexpected way, were privileged to enjoy with their own eyes visions of the Virgin Mary, who in a motherly way invited them to pray for the conversion of sinners and do penance for the salvation of souls. Select the bar below for the specific instructions. Note some Diocese granted this indulgence from 26Nov2016 to 27Nov2017. Check with your diocesan office. Also see the end of this page for an explanation of indulgences and other actions through which an indulgence may be received. Jubilee Year [Diocesan Marian Year] Plenary Indulgence – Check with own Diocesan Office
May 13, 2017 to May 13, 2018

Novena to the Immaculate Conception [read more]

November 30 – December 8

The Ethics & Spirituality Committee of the National Association of Catholic Nurses-USA invites nurses everywhere to join in a Novena to the Immaculate Conception. Suggested Intention: That all nurses, as true children of Mary, walk in her footsteps and serve every patient in the spirit in which she served Our Blessed Lord.