Chiara Badano's Feast Day

Chiara Luce Badano was a young Italian woman who died at age 18 in 1990. She was beatified 10 years ago, and October 29 is her feast day. 

The active and athletic teenager had a great love for Jesus, which was exemplified during her painful trial and agony with a rare form of bone cancer. Refusing medication to ease her pain, she said, “I want to share as much as possible in His suffering on the Cross." To those whom she met in her last struggles, she profoundly touched with the divine light of peace, holiness and grace. 

Let us pray and ask Blessed Chiara for the faith, goodness and strength she had during her short time on earth, and that those graces will bring us close to the Heavenly Father.

I Love You, Lord, My Strength. Today's Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 18:2-3, 3-4, 47, 51 

R. I love you, Lord, my strength. 

 I love you, O LORD, my strength,
O LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer. 

R. I love you, Lord, my strength. 

My God, my rock of refuge,
my shield, the horn of my salvation, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim,
and I am safe from my enemies. 

R. I love you, Lord, my strength. 

The LORD lives and blessed be my rock!
Extolled be God my savior.
You who gave great victories to your king
and showed kindness to your anointed. 

R. I love you, Lord, my strength.

Prayer to Saint John Paul II on His Feast Day

As pope, John Paul II was a champion of Divine Mercy. He worked to make Divine Mercy universally known through helping Saint Faustina's diary to be released, and he instituted the Feast of Divine Mercy and even canonized Saint Faustina. Like Saint Faustina, John Paul II was born in Poland.

As we are grateful to Saint Faustina, we must be grateful to Saint John Paul II for bringing us God's Mercy.

O Saint John Paul, from the window of heaven, grant us your blessing! Bless the Church that you loved and served and guided, courageously leading her along the paths of the world in order to bring Jesus to everyone and everyone to Jesus. 

Bless the young, who were your great passion. Help them dream again, help them look up to the heavens again to find the light that illuminates the paths of life here on earth.

May you bless each and every family! You warned of Satan’s assault against this precious and indispensable divine spark that God lit on earth. Saint John Paul, with your prayer, may you protect the family and every life that blossoms from the family.

Pray for the whole world, which is still marked by tensions, wars and injustice. You opposed war by invoking dialogue and planting the seeds of love: pray for us so that we may be tireless sowers of peace.

O Saint John Paul, from heaven’s window, where we see you beside Mary, send God’s blessing down upon us all.

Amen.

From the Saint John Paul II Society

Prayer of Spiritual Communion

 

Eternal Father, I offer up to Thee my intellect, that it may learn to know Thee alone.  Sweetest Jesus, I offer up to Thee my memory, that it may remember Thee alone.  

Holy Spirit, Spirit of Charity, I offer up to Thee my will, that Thou mayest enkindle and warm it by Thine divine love.   

Adorn my soul with Thy seven gifts, and let me become thy pure temple. Fill me with Thy grace, and prepare my heart to receive spiritually my God.  

Jesus, my God, as I am unable to receive Thee sacramentally, do Thou receive me into Thy Heart and unite me so perfectly with It that nothing may ever be able to separate me, even for a moment, from Thee.  

Engulf my misery and my nothingness in the abyss of Thy mercy, that I, changed into Thee, may henceforth live only for Thee, by Thee, and in Thee.  

Come, therefore, Thou, my only satisfaction, come to take possession of this heart, which belongs to Thee, and cannot live one moment without Thee.  Amen

Pray to a New Blessed, Carlo Acutis

Today was the Beatification Mass in Assisi, Italy, for Carlo Acutis, a 15-year-old who died in 2006 after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. Read this beautiful article on his life and death. 

In his life, he was devoted to the Virgin Mary through the Holy Rosary, praying it each day, and he had a special dedication to the Holy Eucharist. He created a website of Eucharistic miracles and went on pilgrimages. 

He told people that "the more often we receive the Eucharist, the more we will become like Jesus, so that on this earth we will have a foretaste of heaven."

Carlo is a model for the young faithful. He practiced self-control in many ways and used his free time to help others. 

Carlo already has had many miracles attributed to his intercession. He is a powerful intercessor for us. Pray to him for healing, hope, faith and charity. His feast day is October 12.

Official prayer asking for the Canonization of Blessed Carlo Acutis, from his cause's website. 

O Father, who has given us the ardent testimony, of the young Blessed Carlo Acutis, who made the Eucharist the core of his life and the strength of his daily commitments so that everybody may love You above all else, let him soon be counted among the Saints in Your Church.

Confirm my faith, nurture my hope, strengthen my charity, in the image of young Carlo who, growing in these virtues, now lives with You. Grant me the grace that I need...

I trust in You, Father, and your Beloved Son Jesus, in the Virgin Mary, our Dearest Mother, and in the intervention of Your Blessed Carlo Acutis. Amen

Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be

Prayer to Saint Joseph to Be Said After the Most Holy Rosary

This prayer to Saint Joseph, composed by Pope Leo XIII, is to be added to the end of the Holy Rosary, especially during the month of October, which is dedicated to the Holy Rosary. Today is the feast of the Most Holy Rosary. The following prayer may be said after the Salve Regina and concluding prayer. 

To you, O blessed Joseph, do we come in our tribulation, 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 Faustina's Feast Day!

Saint Faustina's prayer, 'Jesus I trust in You.'

Today is the feast day of our friend Saint Faustina. She died on this day in Poland in 1938 at the age of 33.

Make a special appeal to her today for her help to increase your trust in Jesus. 

Jesus desires our trust as we can't truly love unless we trust.  

Saint Faustina is a model for trust. She was very, very ill in her lifetime and suffered many deep hardships, but she didn't lose her trust in Jesus. She gave all of herself to God. 

As the Apostle of Divine Mercy, she is dedicated to God's Love and Mercy. She can help us on our journey to reach God the Father and His Kingdom. 

But we must trust, no matter the circumstance. It's hard to do in very difficult situations.

Be strong, and don't be discouraged. 

Run to Saint Faustina for her intercession. A great way to increase your trust in Jesus is to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy at 3 o'clock each day and dedicate it for the souls of the dying. How much good you will do for them. Ask Saint Faustina to intercede for them and for you at the hour of your death, and ask her to help you trust Jesus even more.

Prayer of Saint Faustina 

O greatly Merciful God, Infinite Goodness, today all mankind calls out from the abyss of its misery to Your mercy -- to Your compassion, O God; and it is with its mighty voice of misery that it cries out.

Gracious God do not reject the prayer of this earth's exiles!

O Lord, Goodness beyond our understanding, Who are acquainted with our misery through and through, and know that by our own power we cannot ascend to You, we implore You; anticipate us with Your Grace and keep on increasing Your Mercy in us, that we may faithfully do Your holy will all through our life and at death's hour.

Let the omnipotence of Your Mercy shield us from the darts of our salvation's enemies, that we may with confidence, as Your children await Your final coming -- that day known to You alone.

And we expect to obtain everything promised us by Jesus in spite of all our wretchedness.

For Jesus is our Hope: Through His merciful Heart as through an open gate we pass through to heaven.

Amen.

Prayer of Saint Francis

Today is the feast day of Saint Francis. Here is one of his signature prayers.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

Amen.

 

Mary Is With Us. October Is the Month of the Holy Rosary.

The liturgical feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is celebrated on October 7, and the month of October is dedicated to the Blessed Mother and her Rosary. 

If you haven't picked up your Rosary beads in a while, or never have said the Rosary, right now is an excellent time to commit to praying daily the Most Holy Rosary. It is a beautiful and powerful prayer. 

If you are intimidated by it, please don't be. It can be said in parts throughout the day, in which case it only takes a few minutes at a time.

The Rosary is a necessary prayer for healing of mind, body and soul. 

The Rosary is a powerful weapon against Satan and his dark angels. 

The Rosary is call for peace in your heart, your family, your nation and our world. 

Our Lady, Mother of God, never abandons us. As Sister Emmanuel says in the video, Mary comes to us when we say the Holy Rosary.

If you need Mary's help (and each of us does), then call out to her using her beloved prayer, the Holy Rosary.