Carlo Acutis Canonization Moves Forward in Rome

Carlo Acutis, our young blessed, will be canonized as a saint of the Catholic Church.

Carlo Acutis, from the Vatican News

Pope Francis with Church Cardinals approved the canonization of the "millennial" who was born in 1991 and died at age 15 in 2006. It is expected that the canonization ceremony take place in the 2025 Jubilee Year.

The teen's devotion to Eucharistic miracles and Marian apparitions, which he cataloged online, continues to bring millions of people to Jesus and his Most Holy Mother Mary. 

He is a wonder-worker, for certain, so do not hesitate to call upon Carlo for his aid and to lead us closer to the Most Blessed Sacrament. 

Prayer from the Carlo Acutis website

Oh God, Our Father, thank you for giving us Carlo,  a life example for the young and a message of love for everyone.

You made him become enamored with Your Son Jesus, Making of the Eucharist his "Highway to Heaven." You gave him Mary, as a most loving Mother, and, with the Rosary, you made him a poet of her tenderness. Receive his prayer for us. Above all, gaze upon the poor,  whom he loved and helped. 

Grant for me too, by his intercession, the grace that I need ...

And make our joy fulfilled, placing Carlo among the saints of your Church, so that his smile may shine again for us in the glory of your name. Amen.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. (Pray 3 times.)

Saint John Neumann, Pray for Us

Prayer from the National Shrine of Saint John Neumann in Philadelphia.

Saint John Neumann, acknowledging our dependence upon Almighty God and recognizing the power of your intercession, we come to you because many prayers have been answered through your intercession. You were an inspiration to all who knew you. You went wherever the care of souls required your presence. You were always an example of charity and sacrifice. It was your life of virtue which merited a place in heaven. As we submit to the will of God in heaven, we pray that our petitions be granted for His honor and glory and for the salvation of souls.

Saint John Neumann, pray for us.

Saint John Neumann, manifest yourself to all who seek your help. Teach us to prefer God in everything we do. Protect us from spiritual and temporal harm. Alleviate the sufferings of the poor, the aged, and the infirm. Many times you experienced the sorrows of life, and yet you overcame those trials. Show us how to overcome our trials and tribulations. We want to grow in faith, hope, and love. Never let us forget that we are temples of the Holy Spirit. May we always be worthy of that honor.

Saint John Neumann, intercede for us.

Saint John Neumann, you had great devotion to our Eucharistic Lord. Pray that we may know and love the Eucharist as you did. Give strength and courage to the Vicar of Christ. Protect our bishops, priests, and religious. May all people be zealous for the kingdom of God. Enlighten the minds of people who seek truth. Lead them to the path of justice. How good it is to know that you will never forget our families, relatives, and friends. Protect our loved ones away from home. May your prayers comfort the souls of our departed brethren. St. John Neumann, pray that we may live and die in the state of grace.

Look upon us with favor, Saint  John Neumann. We claim you as our very own. You are familiar with the places where we live, work, and pray. As a priest, you lived here among our forefathers. You taught them. You blessed them. You prayed for them. How often they gathered to pray with you. You did this so that they might enjoy the glories of heaven. Just as our predecessors came to you, so now we come to you. We are confident you will not disappoint us. Pray for our intentions.

(Pause and reflect on your intentions)

Whatever God grants through your intercession, we accept with a deep sense of gratitude. We thank Him. We praise Him. We want to be with Him forever.

Let us pray:

Almighty God, you placed the holy confessor Saint John Neumann among the elect of Your sanctuary. May his life be an inspiration to all who seek eternal glory. May our prayers be answered through his intercession. May they be answered not only through his intercession but most especially through the merits of Jesus Christ, Who lives forever and ever. Amen.

Prayer to Release Holy Souls From Purgatory

 Our Lord told Saint Gertrude the Great that the prayer here would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners which would alleviate the indebtedness accrued by them during their lives.

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.

Saint Gertrude the Great was born in Germany in 1263 and died in 1334. She was a Benedictine nun who meditated on the Passion of Christ, which many times brought floods of tears to her eyes. She did many penances, and Our Lord appeared to her many times. Her feast day is today, November 16.

John Paul II, the Feast of the Mercy Pope

Today is the feast of a favorite contemporary, Pope Saint John Paul II. It is celebrated on the anniversary of his papal inauguration. 

As pope, he fulfilled the wishes that Jesus asked in revelations decades earlier to Sister Faustina that the Divine Mercy celebration be recognized and held the Sunday after Easter each year. The pope made the feast official for the Church in the year 2000, also approving Sister Faustina to be recognized as Saint Faustina -- the first saint of the new millennium. The pope died on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday in 2005. He was canonized on Divine Mercy Sunday in 2014. 

His faith in suffering is a model for all. 

This prayer is from the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.

O Merciful Savior, you blessed the Church and the world with the holy life and papal ministry of St. John Paul II. May we, through his intercession, receive every grace and blessing that you, in your Divine Mercy, wish to give us. Amen.

St. John Paul II, pray for us!

The Sacred Heart's Friend: Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque

Today is the feast day of Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, a humble French nun who lived from 1647 to 1690. Jesus revealed to her His Most Sacred Heart in a series of beautiful visions and implored for the world to know Him through His Love, which emanates from His Heart. Full trust in Jesus honors His Heart and Love for us.

Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary, "Look at this Heart which has loved men so much, and yet men do not want to love Me in return. Through you, My divine Heart wishes to spread its love everywhere on earth.”

The Twelve Promises of Jesus to Saint Margaret Mary for those devoted to His Sacred Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state of life.

I will establish peace in their families.

I will console them in all their troubles.

They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of their death.

I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.

Sinners shall find in My Heart the source of an infinite ocean of mercy.

Tepid souls shall become fervent.

Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.

I will bless the homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.

I will give to priests the power of touching the most hardened hearts.

Those who propagate this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be effaced.

The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under my displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at that last hour. --From Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque’s vision of Jesus

The devotions attached to these promises:

Receiving Holy Communion frequently.

Observe First Fridays by going to confession and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month for nine consecutive months.

Making a Holy Hour of eucharistic adoration for one hour a week, namely on Thursdays.

Celebrating the feast of the Sacred Heart.

Saint Anthony, We Love You

Today is the feast day of Holy Saint Anthony of Padua. He is a powerful friend and intercessor. Go to him now with your requests for aid. He is depicted holding the Child Jesus in his arms and whispering prayers into His ears. Let Anthony pray for us and whisper our petitions to Our Savior for help. Send a petition to his Shrine in Padua, Italy.

Miracle Prayer to Saint Anthony

O Holy St Anthony, the gentlest and kindest of Saints, your burning love of God, your exalted virtue, and your great charity towards your fellow creatures, made you worthy, when on earth to possess miraculous powers such as were given to no other saint.

Miracle waited on your word, and that word you were ever ready to speak at the request of those in trouble. The anxious prayer of bitter trial was never addressed to you in vain.

To the sick you gave back health; you restored what was lost; the sorrow stricken were the objects of your tender compassion; even the dead you raised to life when the wounded heart cried out to you from the depths of its bitter anguish.

When on earth nothing was impossible with you, except not to have compassion on those in distress and sorrow.

Encouraged by this thought, and convinced of the efficacy of your holy intercession, we kneel before your holy image, and full of confidence, we implore you to obtain for us (here mention your request).

The answer to this our prayer may require a miracle. Even so, are you not the Saint of Miracles, who, when on earth, had but to speak the mighties wonders were wrought!

O gentle and loving St Anthony, you whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper our prayer into the ears of the Infant Jesus, who loved to linger in your arms.

One word from you and our prayer will be granted. O, speak but that word and the gratitude of our heart will ever be yours!

Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be.

Holy Souls Prayer of Saint Gertrude

Our Lord told Saint Gertrude the Great that the prayer here would release 1,000 souls from Purgatory each time it is said. The prayer was extended to include living sinners which would alleviate the indebtedness accrued by them during their lives.

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.

Saint Gertrude the Great was born in Germany in 1263 and died in 1334. She was a Benedictine nun who meditated on the Passion of Christ, which many times brought floods of tears to her eyes. She did many penances, and Our Lord appeared to her many times. Her feast day is today, November 16.

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.

Pauline Marie Jaricot, Pray for Us

Lord Jesus Christ You came into the world that we may have life and have it to the full.

Pauline Marie Jaricot devoted herself to sharing in your work, establishing the Society for the Propagation of the Faith for all who do not know of this life, and the Living Rosary for those who desire it more abundantly.

Venerable Pauline, you who consecrated your life to spreading the kingdom of heaven by serving God and His people, intercede for us that God may (make your intention).

We ask this in the name of Jesus Christ, who is Lord for ever and ever.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be.

Venerable Pauline, mother of poor debtors, pray for us. Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee. Amen.

Saint Kateri, Pray for Us!

Today, Kateri Tekakwitha, was canonized a saint -- the first Native American to receive the title. Kateri, known as the "Lily of the Mohawks," was born in 1656. She was the daughter of a pagan Iroquois father and an Algonquin Christian mother who lived in what is today known as upstate New York. Her parents and only brother died when she was four during a smallpox epidemic. She, too, suffered from smallpox, resulting in bad scarring on her face and impaired eyesight. Kateri was adopted by her uncle, a Mohawk, and baptized Catholic by Jesuit missionaries. But she was ostracized and persecuted for her faith. Because of increasing hostility and because she wanted to devote her life to working for God, in 1677 Kateri left her village and fled more than 200 miles to the Catholic mission of St. Francis Xavier at Sault Saint-Louis, near Montreal.

On March 25, 1679, Kateri made a vow of perpetual virginity, meaning that she would remain unmarried and totally devoted to Christ for the rest of her life. Kateri's health rapidly deteriorated due in part to the penances she inflicted on herself. Kateri died at age 24. Her last words were, "Jesus, I love You."

Ask for her powerful love and intercession in this prayer:

Saint Kateri, Star of Native People and Bright Light for all! We thank God for your heroic courage, constant perseverance and deep love of the Cross.

Pray for us, that our love for Christ may deepen. And may we imitate you in following God's will even when difficulties arise. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.