Pray for Marianne's Father

Please say a prayer for the health and well-being of Marianne's father. She is the person who is kindly drawing all of the names for the Saint for the Year Devotion. Her father is in grave need of prayers.

Final Update: Her father has passed away. Requiem aternam!

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St. Aloysius Gonzaga

Memorial (1969 Calendar): June 21
Double (1955 Calendar): June 21

Each year at this time, the Church remembers the life of St. Aloysius Gonzaga (1568 - 1591). Born to Italian nobility in the family’s castle in Castiglione delle Stiviere, St. Aloysius was the son of a compulsive gambler. He is also the cousin of Saint Rudolph Acquaviva. St. Aloysius was trained as a soldier and courtier even at the young age of four. In 1577, at the age of 8, he was sent to serve at the court of Grand Duke Francesco I de' Medici. While there, he began to suffer from kidney disease and later viewed it as a blessing because he spent the time in prayer and spiritual reading. At the age of 9, he made a private vow of chastity.

In 1580, St. Aloysius returned to Castiglione, and he received First Holy Communion from the hands of St. Charles Borromeo on June 22, 1580, who was then a cardinal. While still a young boy, St. Aloysius began to teach catechism to poor boys. St. Aloysius felt his vocation was to become a Jesuit; while his mother consented, his father was furious. His family tried relentlessly to deter him from his vocation, and they eventually tried to persuade him to become a diocesan priest. The family of St. Aloysius was prepared to "buy" him a bishopric. At age 18, he signed away his legal claim to his family's lands and title to his brother and became a Jesuit novice.

In November 1585, St. Aloysius went to Rome and was granted an audience with Pope Sixtus V. On November 25, 1585, he was accepted as a Jesuit novice. He was sent to Milan for his studies, but due to his poor health - skin disease, chronic headaches, kidney disease, and insomnia - he was sent back to Rome. In 1590, St. Aloysius had a vision in which the Archangel Gabriel told him that he would die within a year. With the outbreak of the Plague in 1591 in Rome, the Jesuits opened a hospital for those stricken with the Plague. St. Aloysius worked in a ward where there were no plague victims, but when a man became afflicted with the disease, St. Aloysius soon developed symptoms. As he was dying, he spoke many times with his spiritual director, St. Robert Bellarmine. St. Aloysius received another vision in which it was revealed that he would die on the Octave Day of Corpus Christi. St. Bellarmine gave him the sacraments and recited the prayers for the dying. On June 21, 1591, the Octave Day of Corpus Christi, St. Aloysius died shortly before midnight.

St. Aloysius Gonzaga was canonized on December 31, 1726, in Rome, Italy, by Pope Benedict XIII. His relics are entombed under the altar of Saint Ignatius Church in Rome.

For more information, please see "Saint Aloysius Gonzaga, S.J.: With an Undivided Heart" by Silas Henderson.

Prayer:

O God, The Giver of heavenly gifts, Who in the angelic youth Aloysius dist unite a wonderful innocence of life with an equal spirit of penance: grant through his merits and prayers, that we, who have not followed his innocence, may imitate his penance. Through our Lord.

Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal

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New Donation Feature

Updated

After asking for opinions from my readers on whether or not to allow Paypal donations, I have decided to add a feature to the sidebar of my blog. I have always asked for opinions from readers before making certain decisions on this blog, and since most readers enthusiastically supported the idea, I have decided to add a feature. I have decided to read about Paypal and create an account. This is the first time I did it and I was a little nervous, but I think everything is working well. If anyone would really like to send in a donation to me, I will also gladly accept checks sent through the Postal Office.

As I previously wrote, I do not like posting about fundraisers. I have always blogged in order to spread the message of Christ, wary of His command, "Without cost you have received, and without cost you are to give." I will continue providing posts of the Catholic Faith regardless if I ever receive a donation. Allowing donations and charging for the Gospel message are two entirely distinct issues. I will never ask for any money on this blog or sell anything. I am merely allowing readers to donate to me. Since I am preparing to enter the seminary, donations would most likely be used to pay for books such as a Liturgy of the Hours 4-volume set, liturgical vestments like a surplice, or accessories for college. I must, however, state that it would not be a tax-deductible contribution.

Thank you for everyone's advice. And, most especially, thank you in advance for any donations. I will appreciate each and every donation. Again, thank you in advance.

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Words of Inspiration: June 21

"The dying should be given attention and care to help them live their last moments in dignity and peace. They will be helped by the prayer of their relatives, who must see to it that the sick receive at the proper time the sacraments that prepare them to meet the living God" (CCC 2299)

Please remember to pray for the sick and dying. Pray not only the Rosary for them but also the Divine Mercy Chaplet. And please do not pray just for their physical body but most importantly their soul. When a relative does die, please have Gregorian Masses said for him/her.

Image Source: Holy Cards

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Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road

The Vatican has released a 36-page document titled, Guidelines for the Pastoral Care of the Road. According to numerous sources, the document outlines the "Ten Commandments for Drivers":

1. You shall not kill.

2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.

3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.

4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.

5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.

6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.

7. Support the families of accident victims.

8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.

9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.

10. Feel responsible toward others.

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Gothic Cathedrals in Original Colors

Via the Fish Eaters Forum, I found a post at Daniel Mitsui's blog, which shows Gothic Cathedrals in their original colors and beauty. Some of these Cathedrals are truly magnificent!

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Catholic Carnival #124

This week's Catholic Carnival #124 is now available.

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St. Romuald

Double (1955 Calendar): February 7
Optional Memorial (1969 Calendar): June 19

St. Romuald (c. 951 - 1027) was born at Ravenna, Italy and lived a wild youth, far from observing the commands of the Gospel. After watching his father die in a duel, St. Romuald sought to atone for the crime by becoming a Benedictine monk. From 996 - 999 AD, St. Romuald even served as an abbot. St. Romuald established several hermitages and monasteries in northern and central Italy. He tried to evangelize the Slavs with little success. St. Romuald is best remembered for founding the Camaldolese Benedictines.

Dom Gueranger writes of the Camaldolese monks as follows:

The calendar’s list of martyrs is interrupted for two days; the first of these is the feast of Romuald, the hero of penance, the saint of the forests of Camaldoli. He is a son of the great patriarch St. Benedict, and, like him, is the father of many children. The Benedictine family has a direct line from the commencement, even to this present time; but, from the trunk of this venerable tree there have issued four vigorous branches, to each of which the Holy Spirit has imparted the life and fruitfulness of the parent stem. These collateral branches of the Benedictine Order are: Camaldoli, founded by Romuald; Cluny, by Odo; Vallombrosa, by John Gualbert; and Citeaux, by Robert of Molesmes.

For the last fourteen years of his life, he lived in seclusion at Mount Sitria, Bifolco, and Val di Castro. He was also a spiritual teacher of St. Wolfgang. On June 19, 1027, St. Romuald died at Val-di-Castro, Italy of natural causes. His body is incorruptible and his relics were translated on February 7, 1481. In 1582 he was canonized by Pope Gregory XIII. Pope Clement VIII added his feast to the general calendar in 1595.

The Divine Office of the Church traditionally had this reading on his holy and illustrious life:

Romuald was the son of a nobleman, named Sergius. He was born at Ravenna, and while yet a boy, withdrew to the monastery of Classis, there to lead a life of penance. The conversation of one of the religious increased in his soul his already ardent love of piety; and after being twice favoured with a vision of St. Apollinaris, who appeared to him, during the night, in the church which was dedicated to him, he entered the monastic state, agreeably to the promise made him by the holy martyr. A few years later on, he betook himself to a hermit named Marinus, who lived in the neighbourhood of Venice, and was famed for his holy and austere life, that, under such a master and guide, he might follow the narrow path of high perfection. 

Many were the snares laid for him by Satan, and envious men molested him with their persecutions; but these things only excited him to be more humble, and assiduous in fasting and prayer. In the heavenly contemplation wherewith he was favoured, he shed abundant tears. Yet such was the joy which ever beamed in his face, that it made all who looked at him cheerful. Princes and kings held him in great veneration, and his advice induced many to leave the world and its allurements, and live in holy solitude. An ardent desire for martyrdom induced him to set out for Pannonia; but a malady, which tormented him as often as he went forward, and left him when he turned back, obliged him to abandon his design. 

He wrought many miracles during his life, as also after his death, and was endowed with the gift of prophecy. Like the patriarch Jacob, he saw a ladder that reached from earth to heaven, on which men, clad in white robes, ascended and descended. He interpreted this miraculous vision as signifying the Camaldolese monks, whose founder he was. At length, having reached the age of a hundred and twenty, after having served his God by a life of most austere penance for a hundred years, he went to his reward, in the year of our Lord one thousand and twenty-seven. His body was found incorrupt after it had been five years in the grave; and was then buried, with due honour, in the church of his Order at Fabriano.

Prayer:

Father, through Saint Romuald you renewed the life of solitude and prayer in your Church. By our self-denial as we follow Christ bring us the joy of heaven. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

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Novena Prayers to Our Mother of Perpetual Help

As a reminder, the Novena to Our Mother of Perpetual Help lasts from June 19-27.

First Prayer

Behold at thy feet, O Mother of Perpetual Help, a wretched sinner who has recourse to thee and confides in thee. O Mother of mercy, have pity on me. I hear thee called by all the refuge and the hope of sinners: be then, my refuge and my hope. Assist me, for the love of Jesus Christ; stretch forth thy hand to a miserable fallen creature who recommends himself to thee, and who devotes himself to thy service for ever. I bless and thank Almighty God, who in His mercy has given me this confidence in thee, which I hold to be a pledge of my eternal salvation. It is true that in the past I have miserably fallen into sin, because I had not recourse to thee. I know that, with thy help, I shall conquer. I know too, that thou wilt assist me, if I recommend myself to thee; but I fear that, in time of danger, I may neglect to call on thee, and thus lose my soul. This grace, then, I ask of thee, and this I beg, with all the fervor of my soul, that in all the attacks of hell I may ever have recourse to thee. O Mary, help me. O Mother of Perpetual Help, never suffer me to lose my God.

Three Hail Marys.

Second Prayer

O Mother of Perpetual Help, grant that I may ever invoke thy most powerful name, which is the safeguard of the living and the salvation of the dying. O purest Mary, O sweetest Mary, let thy name henceforth be ever on my lips. Delay not, O Blessed Lady, to help me, whenever I call on thee; for, in all my temptations, in all my needs, I shall never cease to call on thee, ever repeating thy sacred name, Mary, Mary. O what consolation, what sweetness, what confidence, what emotion, fill my soul when I utter thy sacred name, or even only think of thee. I thank the Lord for having given thee, for my good so sweet, so powerful, so lovely a name. But I will not be content with merely uttering thy name. Let my love for thee prompt me ever to hail thee, Mother of Perpetual Help.

Three Hail Marys.

Third Prayer

O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou art the dispenser of all the gifts which God grants to us miserable sinners; and for this end He has made thee so powerful, so rich, and so bountiful, in order that thou mayest help us in our misery. Thou art the advocate of the most wretched and abandoned sinners who have recourse to thee: come to my aid, for I recommend myself to thee. In thy hands I place my eternal salvation, and to thee I entrust my soul. Count me among thy most devoted servants; take me under thy protection, and it is enough for me. For, if thou protect me, I fear nothing; not from my sins, because thou wilt obtain for me the pardon of them; nor from the devils, because thou art more powerful than all hell together; nor even from Jesus, my judge, because by one prayer from thee He will be appeased. But one thing I fear: that in the hour of temptation I may through negligence fail to have recourse to thee and thus perish miserably. Obtain for me, therefore, the pardon of my sins, love for Jesus, final perseverance, and the grace ever to have recourse to thee, O Mother of Perpetual Help.

Three Hail Marys.

Invocations to Our Lady

O Mother of Perpetual Help, thou whose very name inspires confidence.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may be victorious in the trying time of temptation.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may quickly rise again should I have the misfortune to fall into sin.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may break asunder any bonds of Satan in which I may have become entangled.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
Against the seductions of the world, the flesh, and the devil.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may return to my former fervour should I ever become lukewarm.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may approach the Sacrament of Penance with a heart pierced by sorrow for my sins.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may receive and adore the Most Holy Eucharist with love, thanksgiving, and awe.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
[Priests: That I may live my holy priesthood in intimate union with thy Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, Victim and Priest.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.]
Against my own inconstancy.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
Against my own infidelity.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
In the spiritual battle against my vices and sins.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
When the powers of darkness threaten me.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may persevere to the end in faith, hope and charity.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may never despair of the Mercy of God.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may ever love thee and serve thee and invoke thine assistance.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may make thy Perpetual Help known to others.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
That I may invite others to pray to thee and to venerate thy sacred image.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.
At the hour of my death.
R. Help me, O loving Mother.

Blessing of the Sick By A Priest

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.
R. Who hath made Heaven and earth.
V. 0 Lord hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Look down, O Lord, upon Thy servants failing from bodily weakness, and refresh their souls which Thou hast created that being bettered by Thy chastening they may presently feel themselves healed and saved by Thy pity.

Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee that these Thy servants may enjoy continual health of body and soul, and through the glorious intercession of the Blessed Mary ever Virgin, Our Mother of Perpetual Help, be freed from their present sorrow and enjoy eternal gladness. Through Christ our Lord.
R. Amen.

The Lord Jesus Christ be with you to defend you; within you to preserve you; before you to lead you, behind you to guide you; above you to bless you, Who with the Father and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns forever and ever.
R. Amen.

The blessing of Almighty God, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit descend upon you and remain with you always.
R. Amen

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Adding a PayPal Feature

Several prominent Catholic blogs such as The New Liturgical Movement use Paypal to allow their readers to donate to the blog. Since some readers of my blog have previously expressed interest in being able to donate to me on this blog, I wanted to ask if anyone would like me to add this feature to this blog.

First and foremost, I must state that I do not like posting about fundraisers. I have always blogged in order to spread the message of Christ, wary of His command, "Without cost you have received, and without cost you are to give." I will continue providing posts of the Catholic Faith regardless if I ever receive a donation. I am merely interested in asking for opinions. I would like to know if anyone is still interested in using paypal to be able to donate. Since I am preparing to enter the seminary, donations would most likely be used to pay for seminary classes, books, or liturgical accessories. However, I must state that it would not be a tax-deductible contribution.

Please comment below and let me know whether or not you would be interested in an option to donate through Paypal. I would prefer if all comments were done anonymously below so that everyone can express his/her thoughts as honestly as possible.

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