Feast of the Visitation

May 31st is the Feast of the Visitation. Most of my life I have had one friend who for a particular period of time I would call my best friend. The woman I went to Ireland was my, best friend Patty. We became friends around the age of 12 because we rode horses at my Aunt Gins farm, (Glean Maura). Patty lived in a different town and attended a very good Catholic girls school. I haled from Hopkinton High School. My religious formation was very good up through sixth grade and then it was over. That was the mid sixties when all hell was breaking loose and morally the world around us began to decay. Patty was and still is the most faithful person I have ever met. Her answer for everything was, "offer it up Margie, just offer it up." When you read about the Fatima Angels and how they taught the children to learn to offer everything and look for things to offer you would expect that somewhere along the line in Patty's earlier years an angel taught her as well. For her the angels were the nuns.

Patty has lived the life of Job as an adult and to this day there has been no rescue. She is an amazingly wonderful person and smiles even when it hurts. While traveling she told me it was her Catholic education that saved her life to this point. She stays close to the Mother of God to this day, "Offers everything up." As a young person I had no idea what she meant by this offering but I chose to follow suite and do the same. Patty taught me what the Angels taught the children of Fatima. For fifty three years we have helped each other in good times and in bad.
All grounded in the message of Fatima that only today as I read the story did I realize were it came from. I am sure there are many Catholic school kids our age who somewhere deep down still, "offer it up.' IF YOU DO THESE ARTICLES WILL REMIND YOU OF WHY AND IF YOU DON'T PERHAPS YOU CAN START NOW.

This Apostolate of "Women Espoused to Purity," is based on the relationship of Mary and Elizabeth. One woman to another helping each other, trying to understand what had happened and what was God doing in their lives. Were do we go from here?? This is what women do, this is the Sisterhood of Women. Mary was young and unmarried and Elizabeth was way too old to be pregnant. Both absurd situations yet God knew they would be good for each other. Two women who needed each other's heart felt support as we all do. "Wherever two or more are gathered in My Name there I will be in the midst of them."

When another woman comes to you and her troubles seem to big for you to help with, remember that God is there in your midst, the greatest Helper the Holy Spirit will speak through you. Jesus has already died for whatever sins have been committed. We are not alone we are never alone. We have holy priests waiting to hear the confession of a repentant sinner.

Peace and Love,
~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

---

 If you missed last nights program (Sunday, May 29 at 8:30PM Eastern time)  where David Carollo joined Fr. Apostoli  to discuss the 1916 Apparitions of the Angel of Peace at Fatima, here's a few links from Fr. Apostoli's series of articles on the subject:

• http://wafusa.org/2016-centenary-of-the-fatima-angel-apparitions/

• http://wafusa.org/2016-centenary-of-the-fatima-apparitions-2nd-angel-apparition/

• http://wafusa.org/2016-centenary-of-the-fatima-angel-apparitions-3rd-angel-apparition/

Sister Lucia said these were an important part of their preparation for the message of Our Lady. The children learned much from the Angel and responded by living his instructions with great devotion. This allowed them to respond to Our Lady’s request with great enthusiasm and generosity.

Obama’s transgender bathroom mandate is worse than you think

On May 13, the Obama administration issued an edict to all U.S. schools requiring they open bathrooms according to self-proclaimed gender identity instead of biological sex … or risk lawsuit and loss of federal funds.

---

---

The specific wording of the mandate, however, does much more than that. It also:

• Dictates that boys who self-identify as female be allowed to use girls’ locker rooms and shower facilities, and vice versa.
• Specifically states that making a gender-neutral, single-stall bathroom available to transgender students is insufficient. If a girls’ bathroom or locker room exists, boys and men who identify as female must be allowed entry, and vice versa.
• Dictates that students must be allowed to play the sport of the gender they self-identify.
• Specifically states that a student may self-identify his or her gender to the school without parental permission or knowledge.
• Forbids any medical requirements as a prerequisite of new gender identity.
• Dictates that on school field trips, boys who self-identify as female must be allowed to sleep in the same hotel rooms as female students, and vice versa. Providing a private hotel room for a transgender student is not allowed unless all students are lodged in private rooms.

These policies aren’t just going into effect in California somewhere. All schools that receive Title IX federal funding will be required to enforce this mandate … or else.
The FAMiLY LEADER is using its national influence to forcefully proclaim that this edict is not only wrongfully enacted, but wrong on its face. Working with partner organizations like Family Policy Alliance, Alliance Defending Freedom, the Family Research Council, and others, we hope to stir the American people to defend our sons and daughters and stop the Obama administration’s social engineering agenda.

Help us organize a powerful and effective response to this foolishness! Consider donating to the work of The FAMiLY LEADER today.

TFL also created the following press release, which was sent to hundreds of local and national news outlets. Interview requests are pouring in, and we’re getting the message out on television and in print.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, May 13, 2016

THE FAMILY LEADER RESPONDS TO OBAMA EDICT
ON SCHOOL BATHROOMS AND SHOWERS
Issues statement on administration’s “insensitive” mandate

Urbandale, IOWA – The FAMiLY LEADER asserts the Obama administration’s mandate requiring schools receiving federal funds to open all bathrooms and locker rooms according to self-proclaimed gender identity instead of biological sex is not only an unconstitutional overreach of executive power, but also grossly insensitive to sexual assault victims and parents concerned for their children’s safety.
The administration’s refusal to permit schools to offer single-stall bathrooms as a common sense solution is evidence this decision is not about accommodating transgender students, but about using federal power to strong-arm its social agenda.
“As a former high school principal, I know there must be a better solution than having high school girls walk out of the showers exposed in front of biological males,” says Bob Vander Plaats, president and CEO of The FAMiLY LEADER. “The lack of compassion this edict shows for victims of sex abuse, in particular, is stunning.
“Furthermore, this kind of federal overreach is exactly why The FAMiLY LEADER has been a consistent advocate for removing the federal government from education,” he states.
For more information about The FAMiLY LEADER, visit www.thefamilyleader.com.
For more information about how open bathroom policies impact sexual abuse victims, watch this video from the Alliance Defending Freedom:
What can YOU do?

1. Contact your United States legislator. This edict can only exist because the U.S. Congress has ceded its constitutional power to the president and his Department of Education. Congress could issue a resolution tomorrow declaring this is NOT the intent or proper interpretation of Title IX and retake its proper authority from an out-of-control executive branch.
2. Sign your name to letters to the editor, to your school board, and to petitions, like this one from Alliance Defending Freedom, or the one at the end of this Family Research Council article, or this one at the Catholic LifeSiteNews website.
3. Donate today to organizations working to give your values a voice in today’s culture.

2

Related Posts

• Governor Branstad, protect our children!

  16 May 2016

• What happened to that bill? Recapping the Iowa Legislature

  3 May 2016

• Special program about my son Lucas

  28 April 2016

China’s Population-Control Machine Reaches Disastrous Proportions

This article gives us the straight forward facts as much as can possibly come from the Communist Country of China. Please read through to the end as Planned Parenthood has been involved in the abortion industry in China for years. This means your tax dollars are being used to fund the killing of girl babies in China.
Please pray for those who are trying to help save the baby girls.
~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

Human-rights activist Reggie Littlejohn discusses the latest developments in the country’s assault on its own children.

 

ROME — Despite the implementation in China of a two-child — rather than one-child — policy at the beginning of the year, forced abortions, mostly of baby girls, will continue on an enormous scale. This is according to Reggie Littlejohn, founder and director of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers. On a visit to Rome this month, she sat down with the Register to discuss the latest on the Chinese government’s  population-control policy.
She also explains how her organization’s “Save a Girl” campaign has saved many lives and how International Planned Parenthood Federation is working “hand in hand” with China’s population-control machine. Littlejohn was in Rome to attend the annual Rome Life Forum, a gathering of pro-life leaders from around the world.

You’ve said the statistics on forced abortion in China are much higher than initially thought. Could you explain how much higher?

Reggie Littlejohn – Women's Rights Without Frontiers

The U.S. Department of State issued its annual human-rights report last month, and the China report stated that China aborts more than 13 million a year — a figure the Chinese Communist Party has been officially reporting as the number of abortions. It’s just an astonishing number. They have four times the population of the United States, and we have a million abortions a year. They’ve been recording 13.
But actually, it’s 10 million higher — it’s almost double. There was an official statement in the news media that the 13 million abortions were only those occurring in official Chinese clinics and hospitals. It did not include another 10 million abortions that were occurring in unofficial clinics, so actually, it’s 23 million a year. So they have four times the population of the United States and 23 times the number of abortions. That amounts to about 63,000 abortions a day, about 2,600 an hour, 43 a minute. So for every breath you take, a baby’s being aborted in China.

And this is because of the enforced one- (now two-) child policy?
Yes, and this is the thing: The report of the State Department ends on Dec. 31. It’s a 2015 report; the two-child policy started on Jan. 1. So this was not reporting what the two-child policy was reporting in the last year of the so-called one-child policy. But the one-child policy had so many exceptions that a third of the country was already under a two-child policy anyway. Even under the two-child policy, in the areas that had a two-child policy, there was forced and sex-selective abortion. So under the two-child policy, the entire infrastructure of coercion remains intact.
All couples in China are now allowed to have two children, which means you have to be part of a couple. Unmarried women are still not allowed to have children; it’s still illegal to have a baby in China if you’re not married, so more than half of the abortions in China, according to the Chinese Communist Party, are of unmarried women — and those are forced abortions. They’re forced because it’s illegal. You’re not even given the option of paying a fine; you have to have an abortion. And then third babies are still aborted.
For example, the activist Chen Guangcheng put it most succinctly when he tweeted about the two-child policy, saying: “This is nothing to celebrate; they used to kill every baby after one. Now they kill every baby after two.” So forced abortion and sex-selective abortion continue.

You have a program to save girls. Can you tell us more about that?
We have a “Save a Girl” campaign through which we’ve saved hundreds of baby girls in China. The vast majority of the girls we’ve saved are second daughters. In the countryside, in the past, when there was a one-child policy, if your first child was a boy, you could have more than one child; if your first child was a girl, you could have a second child — but what we’re finding is that those second children, if daughters, are being routinely aborted and abandoned. And that’s when we go to people’s doors and say, “Please do not abort or abandon your daughter; she’s a precious child, and she’ll bring you much joy — and we’ll give you monthly support to empower you to keep your daughter.”
We’ve saved hundreds of babies that way. Well, the same thing is going to happen under a universal two-child policy, because when the first child is a girl, those second daughters are still at very high risk of abortion, because people will want to have boys.

That’s pretty much inevitable?
Well, when the third comes, it’s going to be forced abortion, unless you’re extremely wealthy and can afford to pay a fine, which could be 10 times your annual salary.

Is there any sign they’re going to let up or show any kind of mercy to their own people?
There’s no such thing as mercy under the Chinese Communist Party. What there is is: They’re being very practical. They’re moving from a one-child policy to a universal two-child policy because they don’t have enough young people to support their ageing population and because of the gender imbalance which they’re trying to rectify through this two-child policy. But I don’t think the sex ratio at birth is going to change much. So they could move to a three-child policy.

But that’s unlikely to happen?
No, it could happen. I predicted the two-child policy was going to happen and went on record to say I think we’re going to very soon have a two-child policy; and actually, a week before it was going to happen, I said we’re going to have a two-child policy.
You see, the point at the center of these policies is coercion. It’s not about the number of kids allowed; it’s the fact that they’re setting a number and enforcing it with forced abortion and forced sterilization. So, like in my village, where we have the “Save a Girl” campaign, women are routinely sterilized after the second child. What happens with a universal two-child policy? Women don’t want to be sterilized because they’re butchered. Sterilizations aren’t carried out by well-trained gynecological surgeons: They’re under-trained people without antiseptic, and people end up with massive infections and horrible complications.
In many villages, they don’t have running water; it’s a woman’s job to pump water out of an aquifer, and it takes a lot of strength. So before women have a sterilization, they are usually pumping multiple bottles of water, however much they need, and then once they’re sterilized, they’re incapacitated; and at most, they can pump one bucket of water, which is catastrophic for their family. So if they’re going to have a boy, I think they’re going to stop there and not have a second child because they don’t want to be sterilized after a second child. If they’re going to have a girl, and they’re pregnant again, if it’s another girl, they’re going to abort or abandon her — because they’re “saving” that second child for a boy. … Maybe they’d be willing to be sterilized for a boy, but they’re certainly not going to be sterilized for a second daughter.

Do you see any hope that this system will start crumbling anytime soon?
No, I actually testified before Congress in April last year saying I don’t believe the Chinese Communist Party will ever relinquish coercive population control. And I said then I think we’re going to see them move to a two-child policy. But they’re not going to relinquish the control.

Just like that they won’t relinquish control of the Church, as a means of controlling the population?
I think, in the beginning, when they instituted the one-child policy, the purpose of the policy was population control, and the terror they instilled because of late-term forced abortion was just a by-product. Now, terror is the purpose of the policy. And they want to keep that grip because even under a two-child policy, they still want to monitor people’s menstrual cycles, carry out pregnancy checks. The whole infrastructure of coercion and control of women is intact. A woman’s womb is in the domain of the state.

Are there any loopholes? Could a mother have her baby in a clandestine way?
Yes, there are loopholes. For example, we have a number of babies who are born clandestinely because they’re officially illegal. And what can happen under the two-child policy? You have a daughter officially for your first child, and then you get pregnant with your second child; and she’s a girl, and you want to abort or abandon her. We go to her and say, “Please don’t do this.” And then what can happen is she can have this baby clandestinely.
The Chinese government gives two “hukous” per family. A hukou is household registration [officially identifies a person as a resident of an area and includes identifying information such as name, parents, spouse, and date of birth. They can also be issued per family, and usually include the births, deaths, marriages, divorces, and moves, of all members in the family]. What it does is the child won’t be entitled to health care, will not be entitled to education, will have no official existence, cannot officially work, marry, have a passport or officially travel. They are non-persons in their country What will happen with that second daughter is that they’ll have her secretly, and she will not get hukou, so they can try for a third child; and if he’s a boy, they’ll be able to get that hukou because they will save the hukou for the boy. So some of our girls are unregistered, but at least they’re alive.
My hope is that the hukou system will pass away, and then those girls will become legal, but we’re just trying to save their lives and, meanwhile, attack the hukou system.

You’ve also mentioned a connection between the Chinese government and International Planned Parenthood.
Yes, we’ve sent out a statement on International Planned Parenthood’s connection with all of this. IPP has been working hand in hand with the Chinese Communist Party and the Chinese Family Planning Association ever since the beginning of the one-child policy and has given them awards, etc. … So the fact we are funding IPP [through tax dollars], in some sense, makes us complicit in all of this.

Edward Pentin is the Register’s Rome correspondent.

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus was started and made popular by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque. She was inspired by visions of Jesus to spread this devotion.

This was a favorite prayer of St. Padre Pio and he prayed it every day.

Sacred Heart Novena Prayers

O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you.”
Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be to the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

O my Jesus, you have said: “Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in My Name, He will give it to you.” Behold, in your Name, I ask the Father for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be to the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

O my Jesus, You have said: “Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but My Words will not pass away.” Encouraged by Your infallible Words I now ask for the grace of…
(Mention your Intention Here)
Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be to the Father…
Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in You.

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for Whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of You, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your tender Mother and ours.

Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, 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.
St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us.
Amen. — St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

More About the Sacred Heart Devotion

I once read that the whole purpose of the apostolate of Christians today was, “to demonstrate the charity of Christ in all phases of human life and thus bring individuals and society back to God.” (Dorothy Dohen)

To demonstrate this charity, we must conform our heart to Christ’s, unite ourselves to His heart — and ultimately, lose ourselves in Him.

That’s what the Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus is all about: uniting our hearts with His, and devoting ourselves to Him.

So when we pray this novena together, we are praying that we can transform ourselves to love as Jesus Christ does — as St. Margaret Mary Alacoque wrote, “Since love makes lovers one in likeness, if we love, let us model our lives on His.”

There are a couple of different versions of this novena, but the one we’re using is one that has been attributed to St. Margaret Mary — after Jesus appeared to her on many occasions, and explained to her the devotion to His Heart.

Jesus also made 12 specific promises to those who would honor His Sacred Heart:

I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life.
I will give peace in their families and will unite families that are divided.
I will console them in all their troubles.
I will be their refuge during life and above all in death.
I will bestow the blessings of Heaven on all their enterprises.
Sinners shall find in my Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
Tepid souls shall become fervent.
Fervent souls shall rise quickly to great perfection.
I will bless those places wherein the image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored and will imprint My love on the hearts of those who would wear this image on their person. I will also destroy in them all disordered movements.
I will give to priests who are animated by a tender devotion to my Divine Heart the gift of touching the most hardened hearts.
Those who promote this devotion shall have their names written in my Heart, never to be effaced.
I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence: they will not die in my disgrace, nor without receiving their Sacraments. My Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment.

So our goal while praying this novena is to unite ourselves with Christ in all that we do — referring everything we do to His glory, and accepting all sufferings and difficulties as something to bring us even closer to the love He shares with us –with a real and physical heart, symbolizing his eternal and infinite charity.

To receive the promises Jesus made to St. Margaret Mary, there are a few requirements:

Receiving Communion Frequently
Going to Confession and receiving the Eucharist on the first Friday of each month, for nine consecutive months. (If it isn’t offered at your parish, you can go to Confession & offer your prayers for the Holy Father’s intentions).
Celebrating the Feast of the Sacred Heart.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart has also been established by Saint Pope John Paul II as the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests.

So as we pray this novena together, let’s especially remember our Priests — and the challenge made to us all in Jesus’ message to St. Margaret Mary: to love everyone, faithfully, with the endless love of Jesus.

Despising all Vanities

If you like this article .. please remember we have a direct link to all current Spiritual Direction right above ↑

1. He that followeth Me, walketh not in darkness, saith the Lord. These are the words of Christ, which teach us to imitate His life and manners, if we would be truly enlightened, and delivered from all blindness of heart. Let therefore our chief endeavor be to meditate upon the life of Jesus Christ.

2. The teaching of Christ exceeds all the doctrines of holy men; and, he that hath the Spirit will find therein the hidden manna. But it happens that many, who often hear the Gospel of Christ, are yet but little affected because they have not the Spirit of Christ. But whosoever would fully and feelingly understand the words of Christ, must endeavour to conform his life wholly to the life of Christ.

3. What will it avail thee to engage in reasonings concerning the Trinity, if thou be void of humility and art, therefore, displeasing to the Trinity? Surely great words do not make a man holy and just; but a virtuous life maketh him dear to God. I had rather feel compunction than know the definition of it. If thou knewest the whole Bible by heart and the sayings of all the philosophers, what would it profit thee without the love of God, and without grace? Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, except to love God, and only to serve Him. This is the highest wisdom, by contempt of the world to tend towards the kingdom of Heaven.

4. It is, therefore, vanity to seek after riches which perish, and to trust in them. It is vanity also to strive after honors and to climb to high degree. It is vanity to follow the desires of the flesh, and to labor for that for which thou must afterwards suffer most grievous punishment. Vanity it is to desire to live long, and not to be careful to live well. It is vanity to mind only this present life, and not to make provision for those things which are to come. It is vanity to love that which speedily passeth away, and not to hasten thither where everlasting joy awaiteth thee.

5. Call often to mind that proverb, “The eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.” Endeavour, therefore, to withdraw thy heart from the love of visible things, and to turn thyself to the invisible. For they that follow their lusts stain their own consciences, and lose the grace of God.

From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas à Kempis published by James Finch and Co, Ltd, London, 1901.

+

Art: Christ and the Rich Young Ruler, Heinrich Hoffmann, 1 June 1889, PD-US, Wikimedia Commons.

The Emerald Isle : Ireland, 2016

I wanted to share with you some of the beauty and wonder of my trip to Ireland.

May 13



Evening with Pure in Heart group and priests from St Padre Pio's order.

Pro Cathedral Mass:

---

May 17

Leaving Dublin

---

Check it out ......
The pub is next door to the Pro Cathedral were we go to MASS.
A win win in Dublin.

---

---

May 19
Most of the pictures are of Galway Cathedral which was once a prison. Cardinal Cushing and the people of Boston helped convert it to a Cathedral

May 20th:  My Hermitage finally a place to retire.

 

---

This is the Island of Inis Moor. History dating back 7000 years. I thought it was typical Irish Blarney but they can prove it. The fort pictured is 2500 years young.

---

Fr. Gary's Homily 5/8/16

The water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of living water, welling up into eternal life. This is a new kind of water, a living, leaping water, welling up for those who are worthy. But why did Christ call the grace of the Spirit water? Because all things are dependent on water; plants and animals have their origin in water. Water comes down from heaven as rain, and although it is always the same in itself, it produces many different effects, one in the palm tree, another in the vine, and so on throughout the whole of creation. It does not come down, now as one thing, now as another, but while remaining essentially the same, it adapts itself to the needs of every creature that receives it.

In the same way the Holy Spirit, whose nature is always the same, simple and indivisible, apportions grace to each man as he wills. Like a dry tree which puts forth shoots when watered, the soul bears the fruit of holiness when repentance has made it worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit. Although the Spirit never changes, the effects of this action, by the will of God and in the name of Christ, are both many and marvelous.

The Spirit makes one man a teacher of divine truth, inspires another to prophesy, gives another the power of casting out devils, enables another to interpret holy Scripture. The Spirit strengthens one man’s self-control, shows another how to help the poor, teaches another to fast and lead a life of asceticism, makes another oblivious to the needs of the body, trains another for martyrdom. His action is different in different people, but the Spirit himself is always the same. In each person, Scripture says, the Spirit reveals his presence in a particular way for the common good.

The Spirit comes gently and makes himself known by his fragrance. He is not felt as a burden, for he is light, very light. Rays of light and knowledge stream before him as he approaches. The Spirit comes with the tenderness of a true friend and protector to save, to heal, to teach, to counsel, to strengthen, to console. The Spirit comes to enlighten the mind first of the one who receives him, and then, through him, the minds of others as well.

As light strikes the eyes of a man who comes out of darkness into the sunshine and enables him to see clearly things he could not discern before, so light floods the soul of the man counted worthy of receiving the Holy Spirit and enables him to see things beyond the range of human vision, things hitherto undreamed of.

-taken from an ancient "catechism lesson' by St Cyril of Jerusalem. A powerful reflection on the Holy Spirit as we, in these last days of the Easter season, prepare to open our hearts and lives more fully to the Holy Spirit as we celebrate the culmination of the season with the Solemnity of Pentecost next Sunday!

Blessings,
Fr Gary
Corpus Christi Parish

Mother's Day 2016

There is no end to what needs to be
said about the sacredness of Motherhood.  If we start with the Holy Mother of God we must first say yes, I do and yes I will, to the pure meaning of the life of a woman. Our Mother Mary fully relied on God's Word to her from the Archangel Gabriel.

In order to bring back the dignity of women we must be as courageous as the Mother of Jesus no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in. 

Over the past fifty years we have striven as a culture to take life and death out of the Hands of God Who created us and put it into our own hands. The result is one of endless pain. Especially for women as we have an emotional bond with our child and our God from conception through out eternity. 

The unfortunate state of confusion our culture is in  due to the legalization of acts that are in total contradiction to our created purposes have  resulted in the most often times, silent misery of women. And children. A mother never detaches from her child.  Very often we wish we  could, God didn't make us that way. 

Because Mothers day is so special I don't want to explore the negative aspects of our world's present
condition. I only ask that we pray for each other with the strongest conviction and work to turn the lives of women back to their created purpose. 

As I witnessed the difficulty our present economic situation burdens larger families I asked Jesus what is the answer to feeding and housing these families even in a country as wealthy as ours. 

His is always a simple straight forward answer:

"Please support my sons and daughters who espouse purity." As we well know large families are frowned upon by our society, employers pay according to a two income home.  Men's salaries are lower because the wife should be working and children in day care. Nothing is impossible for God as long as we are open to helping each other and loving our neighbors without judgement or pride. 

I will share in another blog how I was shown ways to have more money and time to give my support to this effort of Espousing Purity. 

The time for change is now! The Holy Spirit, Who is the Breath of God is with us.  "No greater love than to lay down ones life for a friend." 

Let us encourage and support young women to espouse purity for the sake of the entire world. 

God's finest blessings this day,

~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

Novena to the Holy Spirit

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 1

Charity
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ Name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Charity within us.
The great charity of all the the host of Saints is only made possible by Your power, Oh Divine Spirit. Increase in me, the virtue of charity that I may love as God loves with the selflessness of the Saints.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 2

Joy
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Joy within us.
All of the Saints are marked with an uncompromisable Joy in times of trial, difficulty and pain. Give us, Oh Holy Spirit, the Joy that surpasses all understanding that we may live as a witness to Your love and fidelity!
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 3

Peace
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Peace within us.
The Saints were tempted, attacked and accused by the devil who is the destroyer of peace. When we are accused by the devil, come to our aid as our Advocate and give us Peace that lasts through all trials!
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 4

Patience
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Patience within us.
Oh Holy Spirit, you give lavishly to those who ask. Please give us the patience of the Saints who are now with you in heaven. Help us to endure everything with an eternal patience that is only possible with your help.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 5

Kindness
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Kindness within us.
Jesus approached sinners with immense kindness. Holy Paraclete, please treat us humble sinners with the same kindness and give us the ability to treat all others with that kindness as well.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 6

Faithfulness
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Faithfulness within us.
You, oh Lord, are ever faithful. You are faithful until the end. Though we are weak and distracted, please give us the grace to be faithful to You as you are to us!
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 7

Gentleness
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Gentleness within us.
Despite the gravity of our sins, oh Lord you treat us with Gentleness. Dear Holy Spirit, give us your power to treat all in our lives with the Gentleness of the Saints.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 8

Self-Control
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Your gift of Self-Control within us.
Your Martyrs had the overwhelming self-control to go joyfully to a painful death without shrinking from the opportunity to join You in heaven. Give us this self-control to have command over our emotions and desires that we may serve You more fully.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

Novena to the Holy Spirit Day 9

Goodness
Let us bow down in humility at the power and grandeur of the Holy Spirit. Let us worship the Holy Trinity and give glory today to the Paraclete, our Advocate.
Oh Holy Spirit, by Your power, Christ was raised from the dead to save us all. By Your grace, miracles are performed in Jesus’ name. By Your love, we are protected from evil. And so, we ask with humility and a beggar’s heart for Goodness within us.
We want to be like your Saints in heaven. Holy Spirit, renew us by your power with your Goodness that we may bring the Good News to the world.
Amen.
Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of Your love. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created. And You shall renew the face of the earth.
O, God, Who by the light of the Holy Spirit, did instruct the hearts of the faithful, grant that by the gift of the same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever enjoy His consolations, through Christ Our Lord,
Amen.

About the Holy Spirit Novena

This particular novena was written specifically for PrayMoreNovenas.com and it is based on the Fruits of the Holy Spirit and a desire for sainthood.
It is only through the power of the Holy Spirit that someone can become a Saint. We can not save ourselves and it is only by the grace of God that we are saved. So, we must rely completely on the power of the Holy Spirit and the death of Our Lord Jesus. That is the essence of this novena.
The Pentecost novena is really THE original novena. The disciples waited in unity and prayer for the Holy Spirit for nine days after Jesus’ ascension to heaven. Jesus asked them to pray constantly in the upper room until the descent of the Holy Spirit.
“They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.” – Acts 1:14

Find the Original Here: http://www.praymorenovenas.com/novena-to-the-holy-spirit/#ixzz47tBjhQf4

ON THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD*

A Homily of St Leo the Great

I. The events recorded as happening after the Resurrection were intended to convince us of its truth.
Since the blessed and glorious Resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ, whereby the Divine power in three days raised the true Temple of God, which [wickedness] had overthrown, the sacred forty days, dearly-beloved are to-day ended, which by most holy appointment were devoted to our most profitable instruction, so that, during the period that the Lord thus protracted the lingering of His bodily presence, our faith in the Resurrection might be fortified by needful proofs. For Christ’s Death had much disturbed the disciples’ hearts, and a kind of torpor of distrust had crept over their grief-laden minds at His torture on the cross, at His giving up the ghost, at His lifeless body’s burial. For, when the holy women, as the Gospel story has revealed, brought word of the stone rolled away from the tomb, the sepulchre emptied of the body, and the angels bearing witness to the living Lord, their words seemed like ravings to the Apostles and other disciples. Which doubtfulness, the result of human weakness, the Spirit of Truth would most assuredly not have permitted to exist in His own preacher’s breasts, had not their trembling anxiety and careful hesitation laid the foundations of our faith. It was our perplexities and our dangers that were provided for in the Apostles: it was ourselves who in these men were taught how to meet the cavillings of the ungodly and the arguments of earthly wisdom. We are instructed by their lookings, we are taught by their hearings, we are convinced by their handlings. Let us give thanks to the Divine management and the holy Fathers’ necessary slowness of belief. Others doubted, that we might not doubt.

II. And, therefore, they are in the highest degree instructive.
Those days, therefore, dearly-beloved, which intervened between the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension did not pass by in uneventful leisure, but great mysteries were ratified in them, deep truths revealed. In them, the fear of awful death was removed, and the immortality not only of the soul but also of the flesh established. In them, through the Lord’s breathing upon them, the Holy Ghost is poured upon all the Apostles, and to the blessed Apostle Peter, beyond the rest, the care of the Lord’s flock is entrusted, in addition to the keys of the kingdom. Then it was that the Lord joined the two disciples as a companion on the way, and, to the sweeping away of all the clouds of our uncertainty, upbraided them with the slowness of their timorous hearts. Their enlightened hearts catch the flame of faith, and lukewarm as they have been, are made to burn while the Lord unfolds the Scriptures. In the breaking of bread also their eyes are opened as they eat with Him: how far more blessed is the opening of their eyes, to whom the glorification of their nature is revealed than that of our first parents, on whom fell the disastrous consequences of their transgression.

III. They prove the Resurrection of the flesh.
And in the course of these and other miracles, when the disciples were harassed by bewildering thoughts, and the Lord had appeared in their midst and said, “Peace be unto you,” that what was passing through their hearts might not be their fixed opinion (for they thought they saw a spirit not flesh), He refutes their thoughts so discordant with the Truth, offers to the doubters’ eyes the marks of the cross that remained in His hands and feet, and invites them to handle Him with careful scrutiny, because the traces of the nails and spear had been retained to heal the wounds of unbelieving hearts, so that not with wavering faith, but with most steadfast knowledge they might comprehend that the Nature, which had been lain in the sepulchre, was to sit on God the Father’s throne.

IV. Christ’s Ascension has given us greater privileges and joys than the devil had taken from us.
Accordingly, dearly-beloved, throughout this time which elapsed between the Lord’s Resurrection and Ascension, God’s Providence had this in view, to teach and impress upon both the eyes and hearts of His own people that the Lord Jesus Christ might be acknowledged to have as truly risen, as He was truly born, suffered, and died. And hence the most blessed Apostles and all the disciples, who had been both bewildered at His death on the cross and backward in believing His Resurrection, were so strengthened by the clearness of the truth that when the Lord entered the heights of heaven, not only were they affected with no sadness, but were even filled with great joy [Luke 24:52]. And truly great and unspeakable was their cause for joy, when in the sight of the holy multitude, above the dignity of all heavenly creatures, the Nature of mankind went up, to pass above the angels’ ranks and to rise beyond the archangels’ heights, and to have Its uplifting limited by no elevation until, received to sit with the Eternal Father, It should be associated on the throne with His glory, to Whose Nature It was united in the Son. Since then Christ’s Ascension is our uplifting, and the hope of the Body is raised, whither the glory of the Head has gone before, let us exult, dearly-beloved, with worthy joy and delight in the loyal paying of thanks. For to-day not only are we confirmed as possessors of paradise, but have also in Christ penetrated the heights of heaven, and have gained still greater things through Christ’s unspeakable grace than we had lost through the devil’s malice. For us, whom our virulent enemy had driven out from the bliss of our first abode, the Son of God has made members of Himself and placed at the right hand of the Father, with Whom He lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. Amen.

---

* from Leo the Great. (1895). Sermons. In P. Schaff & H. Wace (Eds.), C. L. Feltoe (Trans.), Leo the Great, Gregory the Great (Vol. 12a, pp. 186–187). New York: Christian Literature Company.

For All Expectant Mothers

Today we lift up all expectant mothers around the world, asking the intercession of St. Gerard Mejella. We also pay tribute to his powerful intercession as the well-known patron saint of mothers and expectant mothers alike. In particular, we beg intercession for healthy babies, free from the threat of the zika virus running rampantly throughout the world today. ~Margaret of Souls for Jesus

Although born in poverty in a small town in Southern Italy and in frail health, St. Gerard had a great impact on many of those who sought his help.
He was able to do extraordinary things, such as reading people’s hearts and souls and curing their illnesses, and many miracles were attributed to him during his short life, as well as after his death from tuberculosis in 1755 at the age of only 29.

St. Gerard was especially devoted to helping the poor and needy, providing for both their spiritual and physical needs with his special God-given gifts. For example, St. Gerard (like our Lord) was able to multiply loaves of bread for them on occasion. (No wonder he has been called a “wonder worker”!)

Although a tailor by trade, his love of God propelled him to seek a religious vocation early on. After being denied entry into the Capuchins because of his health, he entered the Redemptorist order as a lay brother in 1749, and worked there as a tailor, cook, sacristan, and infirmiran, among his other duties.

The great Saint Alphonus Liguori, the founder of the Redemptorists, called him “a miracle of obedience”, as he obeyed his superiors both when they were present and absent as well, by reading their thoughts!

This first prayer to St. Gerard is for Motherhood:

Prayer for Motherhood:
O good St Gerard, powerful intercessor before God and wonder worker of our day, confidently I call

upon you and seek your aid. On Earth you always fulfilled God's designs, help us now to do the holy Will of God. Implore the Master of Life, from Whom all paternity proceeds, to render all married women fruitful in offspring, that they may raise up healthy children to God in this life, and in the world to come, heirs to the Kingdom of His Glory. Amen.

This second prayer, known as a “Prayer for a Safe Delivery,” touches on a cross St. Gerard had to bear, when he was falsely accused by a pregnant woman of fathering her baby. He answered her charges with the same stoic silence as our Lord did when facing His accusers during His Passion.
Fortunately, the woman publicly recanted her false accusation before long, which only enhanced St. Gerard’s reputation for sanctity in having borne this accusation in a dignified manner.

Prayer for Safe Delivery: 
O great Saint Gerard, beloved servant of Jesus Christ, perfect imitator of your meek and humble Savior, and devoted child of the Mother of God, enkindle within  our hearts one spark of that heavenly fire of charity which glowed in your heart and made you an angel of love. O glorious Saint Gerard, because when falsely accused of crime, you did bear, like your Divine Master, without murmur or complaint, the calumnies of wicked men, you have been raised up by God as the patron and protector of expectant mothers. Preserve all expectant mothers from danger and from the excessive pains accompanying childbirth, and shield the children which they now carry, that they may be born healthy, particularly free from the zika virus which looms so heavily in the world today. Let them see the light of day and receive the purifying and life-giving waters of baptism through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Before his death, St. Gerard requested that a small sign be placed on his door that summed up his life very well: "Here, the Will of God is done, as God Wills, and as long as God Wills."
He was beatified by Pope Leo XIII (who once called him “one of those angelic youths whom God has given to the world as models to men”) in 1893, and was canonized by Pope Pius X in 1904. His feast day is October 16th. In 1977, St. Gerard’s chapel in St. Lucy’s Church in Newark, NJ was dedicated as a national shrine.

For just one example of why St. Gerard is called the patron saint of expectant mothers, it should be noted that his prayers and blessings once saved the lives of a mother dying in childbirth, along with her baby.

Over the centuries countless women have prayed to St. Gerard for help with pregnancies. We hope the prayers to St. Gerard above, as well as these, help those of you seeking to have safe childbirth and healthy children!