March is the Month of Saint Joseph

The icon above is so sweet, how it portrays the Child Jesus’ love and affection for His Foster-Father, whose feast we celebrate this month on the 19th. May we further our own love for Saint Joseph during his month of March, as we also embark on the Season of Lent.

Ash Wednesday is the 2nd of the month-we begin Lent by contemplating our mortality and performing penance. There has never been a time in our lives when the world has needed more prayer and penance, so let us observe this Lent as well as we can, without stressing ourselves too much. When we stress ourselves, it has an immediate affect on those around us. As Saint Paul reminded us in the Quinquagesima Epistle:

“If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing…And now there remain faith, hope, and charity, these three: but the greatest of these is charity.”

1 Corinthians 13:1

Adding to the penitential spirit of Lent, we have the Ember Days on the 9th, 11th and 12th. This is a time to pray and offer for blessings and mercy upon the coming season of Spring.

We remember the great event of The Annunciation of the Lord on the 25th. Some other notable saints which March celebrates are: 20th-century Saint, Katherine Drexel…martyrs invoked in the Canon, Felicity & Perpetua…Doctors of the Church Saint Thomas Aquinas, Pope Saint Gregory the Great, Saint Cyril of Jerusalem and Saint John Damascene…our beloved Saint Patrick and Saint Gabriel the Archangel, just prior to The Annunciation. Let us give special mention to Saint Isidore the Farmer, who we particularly like here at Nomen Christi Apostolate!

What may we do this month to honor our dear Saint Joseph? Of course, last year was the Year of Saint Joseph. Maybe we could gain some inspiration from those former indulgences.

Finally, let us pray for peace, especially in the Ukraine. But remember, we live in an illusory world, where nothing is what it seems and the truth is often not what we are told. There is always more to the story. There is always information we are not privy to. But let us not forget the World Wars already waging…the war upon the unborn and the vulnerable…and the war upon freedom combined with the Covid bioweapon and the “Mystery Injection” being touted as a vaccine. Of course we never despair-we trust in the Most Holy Trinity, because we are God’s children and we know He loves us!

Here is your traditional Month of March calendar. Lenten blessings to all…

Saint Joseph icon at etsy.com.

Employment Trouble Too?

I mentioned in a recent post that the Covid “vaccination” requirements sweeping across the US were beginning to get personal. My husband is struggling with this right now. We were discussing it last night and the thought that entered my mind was, “We have to pray to Saint Joseph!” I remembered seeing prayer cards in church of the “Thirty Days Prayer to Saint Joseph” many times, but I never actually performed it. I looked it up online and realized I would need to print it out. I could not find a good PDF, so I made one! We started the devotion last night and my husband is suddenly feeling much less stressed and so am I. We have peace that we have rested this in Saint Joseph’s most capable hands and whatever happens, it will be God’s will and He will get us through it. When I went into the hospital to have our child twenty-something years ago, my husband had no job. When he arrived home after the baby was born, a message was on the answering machine that he had been hired! Since God has provided for us always, why should the future be any different?

I thought as long as I went through the trouble to make this PDF and I’m sure we are not the only people dealing with this horror…HERE IT IS! I’m not sure of the origin of this prayer, but I think it may have come from the Josephites. There is another more lengthy 30-day devotion called “The Holy Cloak of Saint Joseph.” Let us pray for all who are suffering with unjust mandates and discrimination, due to various Covid measures….all under the guise of “health & safety.” This is classic Orwellian doublespeak. The stress and chaos all of this is causing is anything but healthy.

“By their fruits you shall know them. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, and the evil tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can an evil tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit, shall be cut down, and shall be cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits you shall know them.”

Matthew 7:16

Thirty Days prayer to saint joseph

PDF Printable

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THIRTY DAYS PRAYER TO SAINT JOSEPH
IN HONOR OF THE 30 YEARS SPENT WITH JESUS AND MARY

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection. Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow. I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the Holy Virgin, nor a house where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you were forced to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world’s Redeemer in a cave.

I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant. I ask it by the painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared the Child Jesus and His holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan, you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows. I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His mother for three days.

I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world, triumphant over death and Hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.

I ask it through Mary’s glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God. O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (Here name your petitions.) Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of: JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH.

“A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead, by your kind patronage from danger freed.”

12th Day of Christmas

12 Fruits of the Holy Ghost

Benignity

Charity ~ Chastity ~ Continence

+ Faith ~ Goodness ~ Joy ~ Long-Suffering +

Mildness ~ Modesty

Patience ~ Peace

(Alphabetical helps memorize!)

Come Holy Ghost

(Traditional Hymn-to the best of my research, authorship goes to Lambillotte, Caswall & Maurus)

Partial artwork by Ronald St. Martin at innerwindows.net.

11th Day of Christmas

Eleven Faithful Apostles

1 ~ Andrew: First Apostle, Brother of Peter

2 ~ Bartholomew: Friend of Philip

3 ~ James the Greater: Brother of John

4 ~ James the Less: Relative of Christ, Brother of Jude, Author of Epistle

5 ~ John: “The Beloved,” Brother of James the Greater, Author of Gospel, 3 Epistles & Apocalypse

6 ~ Jude: “Thaddeus,” Relative of Christ, Brother of James the Less, Author of Epistle

7 ~ Matthew: “Levi,” Author of Gospel

8 ~ Peter: “Simon,” First Vicar of Christ, Brother of Andrew, Author of 2 Epistles

9 ~ Philip: Friend of Bartholomew

10 ~ Simon: “The Zealot,” Relative of Christ

11 ~ Thomas: “Didymus” (the twin), Doubter of Christ

(Names are in alphabetical order-this helps to memorize them!)

Image from familyatthefootofthecross.blogspot.com

8th Day of Christmas

The Eight Beatitudes

From Our Lord’s Sermon on the Mount

1 ~ Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

2 ~ Blessed are the meek: for they shall possess the land.

3 ~ Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.

4 ~ Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after justice: for they shall have their fill.

5 ~ Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.

6 ~ Blessed are the clean of heart: for they shall see God.

7 ~ Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called children of God.

8 ~ Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

For more on the “Sermon on the Mount,” please see Lesson 4, Part 2B-Prepper Rosary Program.

Partial artwork by Bill Bell-buy here!

6th Day of Christmas

Six Days of Creation: Genesis 1

1 ~ “Be light made.”

2 ~ “Let there be a firmament made amidst the waters.”

3 ~ “Let the waters that are under the heaven, be gathered together into one place: and let the dry land appear…Let the earth bring forth the green herb, and such as may seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after its kind.”

4 ~ “Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night.”

5 ~ “Let the waters bring forth the creeping creature having life, and the fowl that may fly over the earth…And God created the great whales.”

6 ~ “Let the earth bring forth the living creature in its kind, cattle and creeping things, and beasts of the earth…And he said: Let us make man to our image and likeness…male and female he created them.”

Hey, what about the song???

Partial artwork by Leah Smith from ncsundayschools

5th Day of Christmas

Five Books of the Pentateuch

Genesis~Exodus~Leviticus~Numbers~Deuteronomy

The Law of Moses or “Torah,” the Foundation of Judaism & Christianity

Image from yaelshahar.com

4th Day of Christmas

The Four Canonical Gospels

Matthew ~ Mark ~ Luke ~ John

Image from WallpaperCave

2nd Day of Christmas

The Two Testaments

The Old Testament

The New Testament

Image courtesy Mother of Our Savior, Inc, where you can buy it!

Thankful for the Sacrament of Penance

The Sacrament of Penance, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia:

“Penance is a sacrament of the New Law instituted by Christ in which forgiveness of sins committed after baptism is granted through the priest's absolution to those who with true sorrow, confess their sins and promise to satisfy for the same. It is called a sacrament, not simply a function or ceremony, because it is an outward sign instituted by Christ to impart grace to the soul.”

Click on the link above for a rather exhaustive study of this topic. Contemplating and learning more about this great gift of Holy Church, is an appropriate way to begin the Season of Advent, a new Liturgical Year. In a culture that approaches the Birth of Our Lord with nothing but materialism, never giving sin a second thought, how much more should we do so…not only for our own benefit, but to make reparation to Him.

Having celebrated the American holiday of Thanksgiving last week, and having made a recent confession, my mind has been turned to a sense of gratitude for the Sacrament of Penance…especially after having witnessed the unthinkable last year, its prohibition in many places. In a land where there is still plenty, let us remain grateful for all the Church offers and not lose sight that it is the spiritual riches which are most important.

Several weeks ago, I decided to confess at a local church I had not been to for a while. I knew some churches were still abandoning the confessionals due to Covid, but I hoped for the best. I got a sinking feeling when I saw 2 tables decked out with hand sanitizer and blue tape over the holy water fonts. At least there were no dividers in the pews. I forged on to find there were 2 priests doing face-to-face confessions only. I was disappointed, complained to one of them (he was stunned and not very friendly), and left. I will also tell you, there were no lines for these confessions. The church was almost empty.

The following week, I tried another local church, known for being conservative. Jackpot! There was one priest hearing normal confession and the line was quite long. Give the people what they want and they will come! The more traditional churches will probably thrive in the coming days and the more “modern” will just dry up, like their fonts. I was also very happy to see several young people and children confessing. I felt I was home, where I belong and with my people. I am deeply thankful to God that this can still be found in the New York area.

Some final thoughts: We all have difficulty sometimes in the spiritual life. If you have been away from confession and have a fear of going, please just give it over to Our Blessed Lord, place it in His hands and know that He can do what you cannot. He can overcome all things. With His strength you can face a difficult confession, get through it and come out the other side unbelievably joyful! It’s the best Christmas present you could give yourself…and those you love, because being happy and at peace is the best gift you could give to them. Maybe you are the kind of person who stays away due to scrupulosity. Maybe you feel you must re-confess things or the whole process is too overwhelming for you. Again, please take this to Our Lord and He will fix it. Ask in His Name for help and you WILL receive it!

"If you shall ask Me any thing in My Name, that I will do."

John 14:14