A post from 2 years ago, with a pdf printable of the litany
pray it with your family ~ Ascension Blessings to all!
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In Search of
The Authentic Life
“Pater Meus Servat Vineam”
(You can support us by sharing ~ Thank you:)
May 1st we celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph the Workman, honoring him as a laborer and humble participant in Jewish society. The prayer below is not specific to this feast, but it is so beautiful. It is from The Raccolta, a short prayer, easily committed to memory…
“O Joseph, virgin father of Jesus, most pure spouse of the Virgin Mary, pray for us daily to the Son of God, that, armed with the weapons of His grace, we may fight as we ought in life, and be crowned by Him in death.”
Unfortunately, I am suffering numerous health issues, including continued eye problems which reduces my ability to work on electronics. I would ask for your patience and prayer for myself and my family. You have my deepest thanks and all my readers are always in my prayers as well. Chiara:)
O Saint Joseph, Guardian of Our Lord and Our Lady, intercede for us before the Divine Majesty. O holy and humble carpenter, pray for God's children in all our great need. We pray this in the Name of the Christ Child, once held in your loving arms.
Amen.
This Lenten month of Saint Joseph begins straight away with Ember Wednesday in Lent, on the 1st. Ember Friday and Saturday ensue. Traditionally, meat is eaten at only one meal on the Ember Days. Of course, these days are for prayer and penance for the benefit of the coming season. So what do you do on the Ember Days of Lent? More prayer and penance? Well, that’s one idea. The Ember Days present a particularly nice opportunity to do seasonal crafts with children, teaching them to love our holy Faith. Pray on it and maybe do some reading on the Ember Days, to decide how you will celebrate them. Reading the beautiful Mass texts is always quite rewarding.
We have Saint Joseph’s feast on the 20th this year, because the 19th falls on a Sunday. This date is also the Spring Equinox. The Annunciation is celebrated on the 25th.
Let us also seek out devotions to our dear Saint Joseph this month and pray to grow closer to the Heart of Christ as we approach the great feast of His Resurrection!
Traditional Catholic Calendar for March: calefactory.org
These exquisite words came from today’s Morning Devotion in the Benedictus monthly missal. Please see praybenedictus.com to order yours!
Saint Bernadette pray for us!
The World Economic Forum * met once again in Davos, Switzerland, from January 16-20. “Cooperation in a Fragmented World” was the theme. Here’s a video from Redacted with some good info: “Something Big is Happening in Davos as WEF Blocks the Media.” (Note: I do not agree with everything these people say, but they do some good work.)
Howard Walsh, the founder of Keep the Faith media organization and publisher of Latin Mass magazine passed to the Lord on January 19, after a battle with cancer. Here’s a short article from The Remnant.
In this month of the Holy Name, please consider praying this beautiful litany with your family!
*Please use prayer and caution when viewing presentations on this website. Satan is a great deceiver.
From Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary:
An indulgence that can remove all the temporal punishment due to forgiven sin. No one but God knows for certain when a plenary indulgence is actually gained, because only He knows whether a person's dispositions are adequate. One norm for such dispositions is that "all attachment to sin, even venial sin, be absent." If these dispositions are in any way less than complete, the indulgence will only be partial. The same provision applies to the three external conditions necessary to gain a plenary indulgence: sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intentions of the Pope. If these conditions are not satisfied, an otherwise plenary indulgence becomes only partial. These conditions may be satisfied several days before or after the performance of the prescribed work, though preferably Communion should be received and the prayers offered for the Pope on the same day as the indulgenced work. A plenary indulgence can be gained only once a day.
From the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter’s Holy Cross Chaplaincy:
State of grace…when performing the indulgenced act
Complete detachment from sin, even venial sin
Confession (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Communion (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Prayers for the Supreme Pontiff (20 days before or after the indulgenced act)
Indulgenced Act: a special good work with…conditions of place and time
From November 1 to 8: visit of a cemetery with mental prayer for the poor souls
On November 2: visit of a church or an oratory with one Our Father and one Creed being recited
O Mary, crowned with stars, who hast the moon for thy footstool and who sittest enthroned above all the choirs of angels, incline thine eyes toward this vale of tears, and hear the voice of one who puts all his hope and trust in thee. Amen.
From the Raccolta
At the Foot of the Cross
These tragic words are part of a prayer. Bouguereau’s dramatic painting “Pieta,” from 1876, is the perfect companion to these words. Receiving her son’s body into her arms, was the 6th of Our Lady’s 7 Sorrows, the swords which pierced her Immaculate Heart. We pay respect to these sorrows on the 15th of the month, exactly one month after the feast of the Assumption.
As if this was not enough, her heart continues to be grieved by our many sins and the 5 offenses represented by the 5 First Saturdays Devotion, given by Our Lady of Fatima. This devotion helps secure reparation to her Immaculate Heart.
We are celebrating 3 months in a row dedicated to Our Blessed Mother Mary. August honored the Immaculate Heart, we now honor her Sorrowful Heart and next month, we renew our devotion to her Holy Rosary, given to Saint Dominic. We can meditate on how these 3 months are linked together and in fact, inseparable. Let us take the next week to pray on and contemplate this (feel free to email me with any thoughts).
Here are the traditional Roman Catholic feasts of September: calefactory.org
Image from Cathy Weisbecker at Pinterest, colors have been muted.
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
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.
© 2015-2025 Chiara F. Mathews Content may be reproduced or shared on the condition that this source is indicated.