June is the Month of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Veni, Sancte Spiritus!

Fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love!

10 days after Ascension Thursday, the first Sunday of June, we celebrate the great feast of Pentecost or Whitsunday.  Many pray a novena between Ascension and Pentecost.  These 9 days actually were the origin of the novena itself.  It is wonderful to continue these Catholic traditions and teach them to the younger generation.

The first Marian feast of June is the new feast of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church, which is always the day after Pentecost.  Let us commend Holy Church in all our difficulties to Our Lady at this time.  2 days later, we begin the Ember Days of Pentecost (or Summer).  These are days of prayer and penance for the coming season.  As things are heating up in the world on all fronts, prayer and penance is desperately needed.  The Ember Days also present an opportunity to teach children Catholic tradition in a fun way, incorporating crafts, artwork, etc.  This month gives us 4 Doctors of the Church:  Saint Ephrem of Syria, Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Basil the Great and Saint Cyril of Alexandria.  One week after Pentecost, we have Trinity Sunday, when we celebrate all 3 Persons of the Most Holy Trinity.

Not only do we honor Our Lord’s Sacred Heart in June, we also honor His Body in the feasts of Corpus Christi (trad) and the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ (new).  On the 24th, we celebrate the Sacred Heart and on the 25th, the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  So intimate are these 2 Hearts, that they cannot be separated.  (Keep in mind, the feast of the Sacred Heart is a solemnity, so no Friday penance is required.)  How may we reciprocate the incomprehensible love which emanates from the Sacred Heart of Jesus this month?  We may consider beginning the Nine First Fridays Devotion, given to Saint Margaret Mary by Our Lord Himself.  We may also consider making a good confession, contemplating how we have failed to love others adequately…or come up with your own ideas as a family!

In the age of chastisement upon us, let us flee to the Sacred Heart of Our Blessed Lord in all our sufferings and needs…

 “Most sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.”

From Act of Reparation to the Sacred Heart prayer.

And let us never lose hope, for Our Lady of Fatima has promised an era of peace to come…

“Grant, O Lord, to Thy Church, assurance of freedom and immunity from harm.  Give peace and order to all nations and make the earth resound from pole to pole with one cry:  Praise to the Divine Heart that wrought our salvation.  To It be glory and honor forever!”

From Act of Consecration of the Human Race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, by Pope Pius XI.

But more importantly, Heaven is our true home where we will reside in eternal happiness with the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary!

Here is the traditional calendar for the month of June:  https://calefactory.org/calendar

Image from https://sahe.hwcdsb.ca

+++ Memorial Day USA +++

It is a dying culture which cannot mourn.

True, some do honor the dead in America on this day…the dead who supposedly died for us, for our “freedom.”  Generally it is those who have lost a loved one in the military, veterans or those few strange people who actually care simply because they are American.  The vast majority engage in parties and shopping, without stopping for a moment to contemplate the actual purpose of Memorial Day.  What does this say about our culture…and where it’s going?

There is a concerning new trend, the “Celebration of Life” alternative to the funeral.  People feel, instead of “being sad,” we should simply “celebrate the person’s life” and essentially have a party, instead of any shared mourning ritual at the time of death.  This is the time when people need to grieve together and work through it to some measure of closure.  The universal Requiem is an ancient process that modern man is doing away with, because he is so clever and evolved.  He thinks he knows human nature better than our ancestors.  As he drifts further from God and nature, he forgets even the distinction between life and death.  This is well illustrated with In Vitro Fertilization, a horrific melding of the creation of life and the wanton disposal of it.  Ritual implies there is a human heart and someone worth grieving for.  Of course, it is most often performed in a religious setting, but the New World Order man has no God but Caesar. 

Ironically, this has become the age of the half-mast flag.  Where there is mourning everywhere, there is mourning nowhere.  Caesar tells us who we should perennially be mourning for.  As death encompasses us, desensitization is what follows.  Such a society is prepared for crimes against humanity…to accept them, to commit them.

My husband’s uncle was shot to death at Germany’s famous WWII Battle of the Bulge.  He was 26 years old.  His body was never returned home (there is a dignified stone for him in the family cemetery).  This is what the enemy does in these never-ending corrupt wars.  What did Uncle Harry die for?  In the past 2 years, we have set the precedent for restricted travel, cessation of public religious practice, limited medical treatment and lack of autonomy over our own bodies.  And we’re still singing “The Star Spangled Banner.”

What does one do within a dying culture?  This is the question we all must answer at this very hour.  There is probably not much more time to take action.  We will not all come up with the same answer…

"Take ye heed, watch and pray.”

Mark 13:33

Let us pray for our dear fallen soldiers, beautiful young men with so much promise…

Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon them.

May they rest in peace.

Amen.

Image from patch.com

Prayer Request

One of our readers, Fr. Stephen, has asked for prayer for his special intentions. Let us keep him in prayer and let us recite the “Salve Regina” for him right now:

Hail Holy Queen

Hail our life, our sweetness and our hope

To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve

To thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears

Turn then, most gracious Advocate

Thine eyes of mercy toward us

And after this, our exile

Show unto us the blessed Fruit of thy womb, Jesus

O Clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary

Pray for us O holy Mother of God

That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ

Amen

+ + +

Regina, Mater misericordiae

Vita, dulcedo, et spes nostra, salve

Ad te clamamus, exsules, filii Hevae

Ad te suspiramus, gementes et flentes

In hac lacrimarum valle

Eia ergo, Advocata nostra

Illos tuos misericordes oculos

Ad nos converte

Et Jesum, benedictum fructum ventris tui

Nobis, post hoc exsilium ostende

O clemens, O pia, O dulcis

Virgo Maria

Amen

Please feel free to contact us (button above) with any prayer intentions.

May is the Month of Our Lady

O Mary, powerful Virgin, thou art the mighty and glorious protector of the Church. Thou art the marvelous help of Christians. Thou art terrible as an army in battle array. Thou alone hast destroyed every heresy in the whole world. In the midst of our anguish, our struggles and our distress, defend us from the power of the enemy, and at the hour of our death, receive our souls in paradise. Amen.

From The Raccolta

In this first week of May, the month dedicated to Our Lady, let us contemplate the extraordinary painting above, which is based on the Miraculous Medal.*  She seems to be lovingly gazing down upon the world as she crushes the head of the serpent with her bare foot.  Usually, we see this image with Our Lady standing upon the earth (or the firmament).  It is her children’s enemy she defeats.  She has a look of complete peace and as the rays of grace emanate from her hands, this battle seems effortless for her.  Satan, with all his wiles and powerful minions below, is no match for this simple woman from Nazareth.  What a humiliating demise as the angels look on.  A demise which awaits all those who serve him on earth.  We must trust, as we look at the corruption of the world and the ever-growing human rights abuses, that God has got this.  As we say at the outset of every Tridentine Mass…

“Why art thou sad, O my soul, and why dost thou disquiet me­?  Hope in God, for I will still give praise to Him, the salvation of my countenance and my God.”

Above the Queen of Heaven’s head are the other elements of the Miraculous Medal (the 12 stars on the back of the medal do not seem to be in the painting):  the Cross above her initial, the 2 Hearts and a prayer which she has herself said is one of her favorites…

“O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!”

Saint Catherine Laboure was the nun who received the Miraculous Medal from Our Lady.  Her incorrupt body lies at the Chapel of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal in Paris, where she received 3 visions in the year 1830 (this year is also on the front of the medal).  Pope John Paul II visited the chapel in 1980 and spoke this prayer…

"You watch over the Church for you are its Mother. You watch over each of your children. From God, you obtain for us, all graces that are symbolized by the rays of light which radiate from your open hands, and the only condition that you demand of us is that we approach with the confidence…and the simplicity of a child. And it is thus that you bring us before your Divine Son."

What does all of this mean for us?  It means our Heavenly Father has given us a great advocate to help us through anything life and this crazy world might throw at us.  When we are confused, depressed or anxious, we have only to appeal to her motherly love for us.  For if her Son loved us so much that He died for us, how could she reject us?  As the words of the “Memorare” say…

“I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins”

In this month of May, there are many ways we can give honor to the Mother of God…because she is our Mediatrix, she participated in our salvation by saying “Yes” to God, and also suffered terribly in witnessing the Passion of her Son.  Perhaps we could renew our devotion to the Miraculous Medal, learning more about it and the life of Saint Catherine Laboure.  May would also be a most appropriate month to begin the “Communion of Reparation 5 First Saturdays,” associated with Fatima.  If your local parish does not provide this devotion, think about meeting with your pastor to establish it!

May also gives us 3 Marian feasts:  Our Lady of Fatima on the 13th, The Visitation and Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary, both on the 31st.  Mother’s Day is the 8th…how about a Rosary for your mother (2 birds with one stone!).

Some other feasts this month:  ASCENSION OF THE LORD, Minor Rogation Days…Doctors of the Church:  Saints Athanasius (the earliest Doctor), Gregory Nazianzen and Bede the Venerable…Saint Isidore the Farmer!

For the (trad) rest of May, here you go: calefactory.org

*  Sorry, I don’t know who the artist is.  Can anyone tell me?

Some feasts mentioned are in the new calendar.  Image from fineartamerica.com

Saint Joseph the Workman

I recently came across this prayer to Saint Joseph in a church bulletin. I was unfamiliar with it and thought it was so beautiful. It speaks to our times and the challenges we are all faced with. Perhaps it should start with some prayer to Our Lady (during this month of May!), since the first line indicates that we have sought her help…

To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our afflictions, and having implored the help of your most holy Spouse, we confidently invoke your patronage also. Through that charity which bound you to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God and through the paternal love with which you embraced the Child Jesus, we humbly beg you graciously to regard the inheritance which Jesus Christ has purchased by His Blood, and with your power and strength to aid us in our necessities. O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, defend the chosen children of Jesus Christ. O most loving father, ward off from us every contagion of error and corrupting influence. O our most mighty protector, be kind to us and from Heaven assist us in our struggle with the power of darkness. As once you rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now protect God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield too, each one of us by your constant protection, so that, supported by your example and your aid, we may be able to live piously, to die in holiness, and to obtain eternal happiness in Heaven.

Amen.

Saint Joseph the Workman, pray for us!

Saint Joseph, we pray for all those seeking employment, that they may find work soon, that is useful, but also apart from the corruption of the world. Amen.

Thought for the Day

The current state of western civilization:

We are so clean, and yet we are filthy.

We are so concerned about contamination, and yet we are diseased.

We are so in fear of death, and yet we are dead.

April is the Month of the Holy Eucharist

[Due to personal circumstances, this month’s post will be brief.]

We continue with Lent, culminating in the amazing spiritual blessings of Holy Week and the Easter Triduum. Let us receive abundant graces and give the Most Holy Trinity our very best this year, so we may be deserving of the glorious celebration of the Resurrection of Our Lord…and in so-doing may experience our own resurrections!

How may we honor the Holy Eucharist this month? A few ideas: try to receive more devoutly and attentively, it is so easy to take the Eucharist for granted…there are countless Eucharistic prayers to learn…Eucharistic reading…and one of the most difficult things is to defend the Holy Eucharist from sacrilege, since this tragically has become so prevalent-if you know someone who is receiving and probably shouldn’t be, pray on how you might address this with this person…you may also know someone who isn’t receiving and should be-scrupulosity is a terrible problem for some people and can deprive them of a lifetime of grace-sometimes these problems require great patience and continued prayer, but don’t give up hope!

Here is the traditional calendar for this month of April: calefactory.org

My Brother John

Only 2 days after I asked for prayers on the Feast of the Annunciation, my dear brother John passed to the Lord. He had a long and very courageous battle with cancer. He was a writer, like myself, but far more successful. John passed on the joyful Laetare Sunday on the traditional feast of Saint John Damascene, a Doctor of the Church and another writer named John! My brother was 71, a number of years older than me.

I appreciate the prayers of our readers and would ask for continued prayer for the repose of John’s soul and his loved ones who remain in grief…especially for my mother, who is now 90 and was only 18 when he was born. Thank you so much.

+ + +

Lord, hear my prayer.

And let my cry come unto Thee.

Let us pray:

O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all the faithful, grant to the soul of Thy servant departed, John, the remission of all his sins, that by our devout supplications he may obtain that pardon which he has always desired. Who livest and reignest world without end. Amen.

Eternal rest give unto him, O Lord.

And let perpetual light shine upon him.

May he rest in peace. Amen.

Based on De Profundis

Feast of the Annunciation, Prayer Intentions

On this Feast of the Annunciation of the Lord, let us pray…

For a dear friend who lost her young nephew yesterday. For his soul and their family.

For my 2 siblings who have stage 4 cancer and my elderly mother.

For the Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Our Lady, taking place today, that it may be effectual unto life everlasting for many.

For the intentions of all our readers.

+ + +

O Blessed Lord, announced this day to Thy loveliest of creatures, have mercy on us!

O Blessed Virgin Mary, to whom the Incarnation of Christ was made known by the message of an angel, pray for us!

O Dear Saint Joseph, whom we honor this month of March, pray for us!

O Saint Gabriel the Archangel, messenger of the Incarnation, protect us!

All ye holy Angels and Saints, pray for us at this hour!

Please note, today is a solemnity.

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.