St. Margaret of Cortona (Mass in Some Places)

While not the traditional Universal Roman Catholic Calendar, the Feast of St. Margaret of Cortona is celebrated on February 26th in the pre-1955 Traditional Catholic Missal as a "Mass in Some Places" (pro aliquibus locis). In leap years, her feastday is moved to February 27th.

St. Margaret of Cortona was born in Tuscany in 1247 AD.  Her mother died at a young age and she was raised by her step-mother who had little regard for her.  As a result, Margaret escaped at a young age and married a man from Montepulciano who still young.  She bore him a son.

After nine years, her lover was brutally and shockingly murdered.  As a result, Margaret returned to her father's house as a penitent.  Yet her father refused to accept her and her son. So she turned to the Friars Minor at Cortona where she received asylum.

Young Margaret had great difficult in progressing in virtue and overcoming the pernicious sins of the flesh.  She asked pardon for her past scandals and sought repentance; sometimes she was so severe that the Friars had to retrain her penance.

Margaret for a time earned a living by nursing the sick but eventually she gave up the profession and began to care for the poor without cost and living only on lams.  She joined the Third Order of St. Francis, and her son also joined the Franciscans a few years later.

St. Margaret advanced rapidly in prayer and was said to be in direct contact with Jesus, as exemplified by frequent ecstasies. Friar Giunta recorded some of the messages she received from God.

In 1286, Margaret was granted a charter allowing her to work for the sick poor on a permanent basis. Others joined with personal help, and some with financial assistance.

Soon thereafter, Margaret formed her group into tertiaries, and later they were given special status as a congregation which was called The Poverelle ("Poor Ones"). She also founded a hospital at Cortona and the Confraternity of Our Lady of Mercy. Some in Cortona turned on Margaret, even accusing her of illicit relations with Friar Giunta. All the while, Margaret continued to preach against vice and many, through her, returned to the Sacraments.

She showed extraordinary love for the mysteries of the Eucharist and the Passion of Jesus Christ. Divinely warned of the day and hour of her death, she died on February 22, 1297, having spent twenty-nine years performing acts of penance. She was canonized in 1728. Her body is incorruptible.

St. Margaret of Cortona, pray for us!

Source: Catholic.org

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Feast of St. Matthias

Double of the II Class (1955 Calendar): February 24 or February 25 if leap year

This is taken from the book by Frances Spilman of CatechismClass.com on the 12 Apostles:

There is not a great deal known about Saint Matthias.   We do know that he was with Jesus, the Apostles and other disciples, since Jesus’ baptism by St. John the Baptist.  The other Apostles must have known Matthias well during the three years of Jesus’ ministry.  Matthias does not speak in the Scriptures so we never hear his thoughts or feelings.  We do not know if he was joyous or fearful about becoming an Apostle.  We can surmise that he was a brave man to stay with the Apostles when there was so much uncertainty about the future of the Catholic Church.

Matthias was with the other Apostles when the Holy Spirit came at Pentecost-

“And when the days of the Pentecost were accomplished, they were all together in one place:  And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a mighty wind coming, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.  And there appeared to them parted tongues as it were of fire, and it sat upon every one of them: And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they began to speak with divers tongues, according as the Holy Ghost gave them to speak.”  (Acts 2:1-4)

Matthias would have received the gifts of the Holy Spirit, strengthening him to go out on his missionary work.  The picture we get from the Fathers of the Church is that of a courageous missionary – either in Jerusalem or in Cappadocia and on the coasts of the Caspian Sea - who may have been martyred.  The only personal information we glean is that Matthias spoke strongly against licentious pleasures so that the soul might grow by faith and knowledge.  In this, he was the perfect counterbalance against the man he replaced – Judas.  Judas betrayed Jesus because he allowed his desires to overrule the faith growing in his soul.

Saint John writes that Judas was a thief (John 12:6) while Saint Matthew reports that Judas betrayed Jesus for money (Matthew 26:14-15).   As Pope Pius XI wrote in Ad Catholici Sacerdotii (On the Catholic Priesthood) on December 20, 1935 -

“Judas, an Apostle of Christ, "one of the twelve," as the Evangelists sadly observe, was led down to the abyss of iniquity precisely through the spirit of greed for earthly things.”

Matthias’ steadfast adherence to Jesus, his willingness to be a leader during a dangerous and uncertain time and his missionary work all proclaim him worthy of the title of Apostle.  Saint Matthias’ feast day is traditionally observed on February 24th.   Saint Matthias is listed among the saints in the Roman Canon:

"To us sinners, also, your servants, who hope in your many mercies, deign to grant some share and fellowship with your holy Apostles and Martyrs: John, Stephen, Matthias, Barnabas, Ignatius, Alexander, Marcellinus, Peter, Felicity, Perpetua, Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecilia, Anastasia, and all your Saints."

For more on the lives of all the Apostles, pick up a copy of "The Twelve: Lives and Legends of the Apostles" on paperback or as part of the online course on the Apostles, which includes a Certificate of Completion. 

Collect:

O God, You made blessed Matthias one of the group of Your apostles. May his intercession enable us to feel the effects of Your mercy. Through Our Lord . . .

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Pray for the Dead this Lent

As we embrace the spirit of Lent and reflect upon the Passion of our Lord, I can not help but feel drawn to visit local Catholic cemeteries and pray for the souls of the dead.  For that reason, I'm asking you to join me.  Take the Pledge to visit a local Catholic cemetery near you this holy season and pray for the repose of the souls of the deceased.

Our Lord's Passion wrought about our redemption.  But we must cooperate with that Passion.  As St. Thomas Aquinas explains:

By the Passion of Christ we are freed from the liability to be punished for sin with the punishment that sin calls for, in two ways, directly and indirectly. We are freed directly inasmuch as the Passion of Christ made sufficient and more than sufficient satisfaction for the sins of the whole human race. Now once sufficient satisfaction has been made, the liability to the punishment mentioned is destroyed. We are freed indirectly inasmuch as the Passion of Christ causes the sin to be remitted, and it is from the sin that the liability to the punishment mentioned derives.

Souls in hell, however, are not freed by the Passion of Christ, because the Passion of Christ shares its effect with those to whom it is applied by faith and by charity and by the sacraments of faith. Therefore the souls in hell, who are not linked up with the Passion of Christ in the way just mentioned, cannot receive its effects. Now although we are freed from liability to the precise penalty that sin deserves, there is, nevertheless, enjoined on the repentant sinner a penalty or penance of satisfaction. For in order that the effect of the Passion of Christ be fully worked out in us, it is necessary for us to be made of like form with Christ. Now we are made of like form with Christ in baptism by the sacrament, as is said by St. Paul, We are buried together with him by baptism into death (Rom. vi. 4). Whence it is that no penalty of satisfaction is imposed on those who are baptised. Through the satisfaction made by Christ they are wholly set free. But since Christ died once for our sins (i Pet. iii. 18), once only, man cannot a second time be made of like form with the death of Christ through the sacrament of baptism. Therefore those who, after baptism, sin again, must be made like to Christ in his suffering, through some kind of penalty or suffering which they endure in their own persons.

If death, which is a penalty due to sin, continues to subsist, the reason is this : The satisfaction made by Christ produces its effect in us in so far as we are made of one body with him, in the way limbs are one body with the head. Now it is necessary that the limbs be made to conform to the head. Wherefore since Christ at first had, together with the grace in his soul, a liability to suffer in his body, and came to His glorious immortality through the Passion, so also should it be with us, who are his limbs. By the Passion we are indeed delivered from any punishment as a thing fixed on us, but we are delivered in such a way that it is in the soul we first receive the spirit of the adoption of sons, by which we are put on the list for the inheritance of eternal glory, while we still retain a body that can suffer and die. It is only afterwards, when we have been fashioned to the likeness of Christ in his sufferings and death, that we are brought into the glory of immortality. St. Paul teaches this when he says, If sons, heirs also ; heirs indeed of God, and joint heirs with Christ : jet so, if ire suffer n ith him, that n>e may be also glorified with him (Rom. viii. 17).

As we know by Faith, the souls of the suffering in Purgatory can benefit from the prayers and sacrifices of the souls on Earth who pray and make reparation while in the state of grace.  During this Lent, what have you done for the souls of our brothers and sisters in purgatory who suffer because of their sins?  They can not pray for themselves but you can free them from their sorrows by making reparation for their sins!

Note: Those unfamiliar with this dogma should see my post on purgatory.

Join me this week by visiting a cemetery near you and praying the Rosary while walking through the cemetery and looking at each and every name on the stones.  Or, join me in praying the Office of the Dead at the entrance to a cemetery and then reciting prayers while walking through the cemetery.

Please also see my post which details the many Catholic Devotions for the Dead.

Please make your pledge in the comments box anonymously. 

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Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism: A Discussion For Those Who Believe

A few months ago I was contacted by the Institute for Science and Catholicism and asked to review the work by Mr. McFadden: Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism: A Discussion For Those Who Believe.  The book itself is printed in an easy to use spiral-bound style. 

• What must a Catholic believe concerning evolution?
• Is Evolution a proven fact?
• Did Pope Pius XII actually permit belief in evolution?
• Does modern science - especially the developments in human genetics and DNA - reconcile with the conjectures of Charles Darwin?

Our children are leaving the Faith in droves and many of them are falling away because they believe that the Church is a composition of fairy tales without any basis in reality.  They are taught one thing by their priests and a vastly different opinion by so called "experts", scientists, and mass media programs.

Do you know how to answer your children's questions on evolution?  Do you know how to respond to evolution from a truly scientific and a truly theological perspective?

Probably not. 

That's why this book, Creation, Evolution, and Catholicism: A Discussion For Those Who Believe, is all the most necessary and timely. 

The book itself is a true labor of love and full of true, scientific research.  The author quotes extensively from scientific research journals, publications, and a vast amount of materials to present the overt discrepancies and inconsistencies from a scientific perspective with the theory of evolution.  After establishing this, only then does the author begin examining the documents of Pope Pius XII and relevant documents on our Holy Faith in the context of evolution.

This resource should be widely made available to all Catholic schools.   I pray this work be more fully available to all who are in a position of teaching authority in any respect - from Sunday school teachers, to pastors, to Directors of Religious Education, to science professors, and the like.  This is truly a composition of much research and it deserves to be widely made available so that more souls will be saved from falling away from the Church and into the atheistic materialism of the world.

The website Unam Sanctam Catholicam has posted a review online that is available for viewing by clicking here.

For those seeking to order a copy, please contact: SCIENCEandCATHOLICISM@gmail.com

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45 Seminarians of the SSPX Receive the Cassock

Throughout the world in the SSPX's seminaries, a total of 45 seminarians have taken the cassock, or clerical habit, during the 2015-2016 academic year. We offer some news and images of this important event, a formative step towards the ultimate goal of the sacred priesthood.
St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary, Winona, MN, USA

On February 2, Bishop Bernard Fellay (the SSPX's Superior General), blessed the cassocks for 10 seminarians and gave the clercical tonsure to 8 other young men during the Pontifical Mass of Candlemas. He was assisted by Fr. Yves le Roux (seminary rector), Fr. Jurgen Wegner (U.S. District Superior), and Fr. Patrick Abbet (seminary vice rector).

Despite the the snowfall of 10 inches—which made travelling difficult for various families—the sacred ministers and servers did make a short procession outside with the lighted candles, celebrating Our Lord as the Light of revelation for the Gentiles.

On February 2, Bishop Bernard Tissier de Mallerais blessed the cassock for 9 seminarians and gave the clerical tonsure to 7 as announced by Fr. Franz Schmidberger (seminary rector). The day after the bishop gave the minor orders to 7 others, with 3 becoming porters and lectors, and the other 4 being ordained exorcists and acolytes.

In the absence of Bishop Alfonso de Galarreta—whose attendance was prevented by a last minute difficulty—Fr. Niklaus Pfluger, the SSPX's 1st Assistant, blessed the clerical habit for 12 seminarians of the first-year: 4 Swiss, 3 Frenchmen, 2 Italians, 1 Gabonese and 2 Nigerians. He was assisted by Fr. Patrick Troadec (seminary rector) and Fr. Prudent Balou Yalu (prior of the St. Pius X Mission in Libreville, Gabon).

Interesting statistics have been published by Fr. Troadec. Since 1996, 347 candidates have entered the seminary to become priests or brothers; i.e., an average of 20 per year. The average age is 21-years old. Candidates consistently come from large families (with an average of 5.8 children ) where 80% of the mothers are mothers at home. 73% of the French candidates come from SSPX schools.

More than 50% of the candidates have received a first calling to the priesthood or religious life before the age of 12 either when serving Mass, helping in the sacristy, or on the day of their First Communion. Many of these seminarians have said that the education received in the family prepared them to make this choice, or they remember being impacted by the good example of a priest or a brother in their surroundings.

After a period where the idea of being fully consecrated to God has faded during their teenage years, a second call comes around the age of 19, which eventually leads them to the seminary or brothers novitiate.

Source (Continue Reading...)

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Rome to Dignify Luther's Revolt through Joint Commemoration

Guest post by David Martin

Vatican Radio announced on January 25 that Francis and the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) will hold a joint ecumenical commemoration of the "Reformation" on October 31, 2016, in Lund, Sweden. The event will attempt to showcase "the gifts of the Reformation" while lamenting centuries of division over it. The inter-religious conference will also include a "Common Prayer" service which is based on a Catholic-Lutheran liturgical guide published recently by the Vatican and the Lutheran World Federation.

The October 2016 meeting comes in anticipation of the 500th anniversary of the Reformation that Catholics and Lutherans will jointly celebrate in 2017, under the title, "Lutheran-Catholic Common Commemoration of the Reformation." That Catholics and Protestants will jointly commemorate a rebellion that was deliberately begun to destroy the Catholic Faith is certainly no small news. Conniving with Luther's revolt is something that was started by the German Alliance at Vatican II, and now we see it coming to a head.

The worst of it is that this is being advanced under the illusion of divine guidance. The Church's mission is being cast aside in the name of God and replaced with "dialogue," which is nothing more than a denial of the Faith and a willingness to be subverted with error. Christ never once "dialogued" with the people, but rather instructed them on the path of salvation, and this in turn is what He commissioned His priestly representatives to do. (Matthew 28:19,20) The Church's mission from the beginning is to instruct the world on salvation and to extend the riches of Christ to all peoples, that they might leave their particular miseries, idols, and creeds, and be converted to the Catholic Faith.

But now Rome is denying its mission and consorting with the enemies of the Faith in order to gain their gifts and their thirty pieces of silver. This is what the new dialogue of "mercy" boils down to—a stab in the back. The Son of Man is again betrayed with a kiss. What Jesus told Saul at Damascus He now says to our Jesuit pope: "Francis, Francis, why do you persecute Me?"

Catholics the world over were bewildered by a sermon delivered by Francis on January 18, in which he all but excommunicated Christians "who obstinately cling to what has always been done and who do not allow others to change." He condemned Catholics who are of "closed heart" and who resist "change," calling them "obstinate rebels" and "idolaters." To think that we're "idolaters" for adoring the True God and for not allowing ourselves to be led by false spirits and deities that our forefathers knew not!

This is precisely the change that Francis advocates, namely, the spirit of Vatican II, the Charismatics, ecumenism, environmentalism, and now this latest move to be one with Lutherans in a joint-commemoration which will attempt to showcase the so-called "gifts of the Reformation."

Has our dear Holy Father forgotten that Martin Luther was a blasphemer and heretic who taught that Jesus was an adulterer and who dubbed the Sacrifice of the Mass "sacrilegious and abominable?" Thanks to Luther and his rampage, a better part of Europe was led into apostasy. The man was a theological crackpot who rejected six books of the Bible and who preached that Jesus died on the cross so that man can sin freely without the fear of eternal punishment. Consider Luther’s own words:

“Be a sinner and sin boldly, but believe and rejoice in Christ even more boldly... No sin will separate us from the Christ, even though we commit fornication and murder a thousand times a day.” (From Luther’s letter to Philip Melanchthon, August 1, 1521, LW Vol. 48, pp. 281-282)

Should the Vatican hierarchy be commemorating the work of such a man? Did they forget that Martin Luther was rightfully excommunicated by Leo X in January 1521? How is it that Rome is now finding common ground with apostates who look to Luther as their mentor?

Under the direct guidance of the Holy Spirit the Council of Trent condemned Luther and his Reformation and decreed that those who hold to its errors are now an anathema, which means it's no longer a consideration. The Reformation is now a dead issue, forever placed in the tomb, which means Catholics may no longer consider or reevaluate its precepts.

How is it that Rome will now dignify the work of one whom the Church officially holds to be an enemy of the Christian Faith?

See our Prayer for Heretics and say that prayer today.  And for more reading consider: The Errors of Martin Luther.

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Prayers for Each Hour of the Day and Night by St. John Chrysostom

These prayers were written by St. John Chrysostom, whose feastday we celebrate today.

1. O Lord, deprive me not of Thy heavenly blessings;

2. O Lord, deliver me from eternal torment;

3. O Lord, if I have sinned in my mind or thought, in word deed, forgive me.

4. O Lord, deliver me from every ignorance and heedlessness, from pettiness of the soul and stony hardness of heart;

5. O Lord, deliver me from every temptation;

6. O Lord, enlighten my heart darkened by evil desires;

7. O Lord, I, being a human being, have sinned; do Thou, being God, forgive me in Thy lovingkindness, for Thou knowest the weakness of my soul.

8. O Lord, send down Thy grace to help me, that I may glorify Thy holy Name;

9. O Lord Jesus Christ, inscribe me, Thy servant, in the Book of Life, and grant me a blessed end;

10. O Lord my God, even if I have done nothing good in Thy sight, yet grant me, according to Thy grace, that I may make a start in doing good.

11. O Lord, sprinkle on my heart the dew of Thy grace;

12. O Lord of heaven and earth, remember me, Thy sinful servant, cold of heart and impure, in Thy Kingdom.

13. O Lord, receive me in repentance;

14. O Lord, leave me not;

15. O Lord, save me from temptation;

16. O Lord, grant me pure thoughts;

17. O Lord, grant me tears of repentance, remembrance of death, and the sense of peace;

18. O Lord, grant me mindfulness to confess my sins;

19. O Lord, grant me humility, charity, and obedience;

20. O Lord, grant me tolerance, magnanimity, and gentleness;

21. O Lord, implant in me the root of all blessings: the fear of Thee in my heart;

22. O Lord, vouchsafe that I may love Thee with all my heart and soul, and that I may obey in all things Thy will;

23. O Lord, shield me from evil persons and devils and passions and all other lawless matters;

24. O Lord, Who knowest Thy creation and that which Thou hast willed for it; may Thy will also be fulfilled in me, a sinner, for Thou art blessed forevermore. Amen.

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Octave of Christian Unity: Prayers for the True Faith

Prayer for the Feast of the Conversion of St. Paul 

O glorious St. Paul, who, from being a persecutor of the Christian name, didst become its most zealous Apostle, and who, to carry the knowledge of Jesus, our Divine Savior, to the uttermost parts of the earth, didst joyfully suffer prison, scourgings, stonings, shipwreck and all manner of persecutions, who didst finish thy course by shedding the last drop of thy blood: obtain for us the grace to accept, as favors bestowed by the mercy of God, the infirmities, sufferings and misfortunes of this life, that we may not grow slack in our service of God by reason of these vicissitudes of our exile, but that we may rather show ourselves all the more devoted, through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

V. Pray for us, St. Paul the Apostle.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray. 

O God, Who has taught the multitudes of the Gentiles by the preaching of blessed Paul the Apostle: grant unto us, we beseech Thee, that we who keep his memory sacred, may feel the might of his intercession before Thee. Through Christ Our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, One God, forever and ever. Amen. (500 days - plenary if recited daily for one month.)

Prayer for Concord and Unity among the Faithful 

Our Lord and our God, to Thee, united by the most strong and sincere fraternal love, we offer our hearts; we pray that Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament may be our daily food for body and soul, that Jesus may be the central object of our love, as was that of Mary and Joseph; and lastly, we pray that sin may never disturb our union in Thy Mystical Body on earth, that union which will endure with Thee, Mary, and Joseph, and all the Saints, forever in Heaven. Amen. (300 days, once a day)

Prayer for Perseverance in our Holy Faith 

Our Lord and Redeemer Jesus Christ O my Redeemer, will that terrible moment ever come, when but few Christians shall be left who are inspired by the spirit of faith, that moment when Thine indignation shall be provoked and Thy protection shall be taken from us? Have our vices and our evil lives irrevocably moved Thy justice to take vengeance, perhaps this very day, upon Thy children? O Thou Author and Finisher of our Faith, we conjure Thee, in the bitterness of our contrite and humbled hearts, not to suffer the fair light of Faith to be extinguished in us. Remember Thy mercies of old; turn Thine eyes in compassion upon the vineyard planted by Thine own right hand, and watered by the sweat of the Apostles, by the precious blood of countless Martyrs and by the tears of so many sincere penitents, and made fruitful by the prayers of so many Confessors and innocent Virgins.

O Divine Mediator, look upon those zealous souls who raise their hearts to Thee and pray without ceasing for the maintenance of that most precious gift of Thine, the true Catholic Faith. We beseech Thee, O God of justice, to hold back the decree of our rejection, and to turn away Thine eyes from our vices and regard instead the adorable Blood shed upon the Cross, which purchased our salvation and daily intercedes for us upon the altars. Ah, keep us safe in the One, True, Holy Catholic Faith. Let sickness afflict us, vexations waste us, misfortune overwhelm us! But preserve in us Thy holy Faith; for if we are rich with this precious gift, we shall gladly endure every sorrow, and nothing shall ever be able to change our happiness. On the other hand, without this great treasure of Faith, our unhappiness would be unspeakable and without limit!

O good Jesus, Author of our Faith, preserve it pure within us; keep us safe in the Barque of Peter, though presently in eclipse. Yet keep us faithful and obedient to the Petrine Primacy and raise up a holy man to unite the flocks for the freedom and exaltation of holy Mother Church. O Jesus, Author of our Faith, humble and convert the enemies of Thy Church; grant true peace and concord to all of the remnant Catholic faithful; strengthen and preserve us in Thy holy service to the end, that we may live in Thee, and die in Thee. O Jesus, Author of our Faith, let us live for Thee, and die for Thee. Amen. (St. Clement Mary Hofbauer) (500 days, once a day)

For more information and the Official Prayer for each day of the Octave, see the post on the Octave of Christian Unity

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Octave of Christian Unity: Prayers for Lapsed Catholics

Let us Pray.

Almighty Father, You desire not the death of the sinner, but that he may be converted and live. Pour out upon us Your mercy and hear the prayers of Your servants. Soften the hearts of Your children who have strayed from the true path which You established for their salvation. They are now forgetful of their duties as Catholics, and pursue the pleasures of the world. Grant that they may quickly return to the practice of every Christian virtue, so that their lives may shine with the integrity of faith, the fervor of piety, and the ardor of charity. Restore them all to Your sacraments and the life of Your grace, through the merits of the most precious blood of Your Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

Let us Pray.

O Good Shepherd, you never cease to seek out the lost, to call home the stray, to comfort the frightened, and to bind up the wounded. I ask you to bring (mention names) back to the practice of Faith, and to remove all obstacles that prevent them from receiving your abundant mercy, which flows sacramentally through the heart of your holy Church. Through the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, their Guardian Angel(s), their Patron Saint(s) and the ever-prayerful St. Monica, may you pardon their sins and unshackle them from whatever hinders their freedom to come Home. For you, O Good Shepherd, loved us to the end and offered yourself to the Father for the salvation of all. Amen.

For more information and the Official Prayer for each day of the Octave, see the post on the Octave of Christian Unity

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Novena to our Lady of Good Success

Today, January 24th, is the beginning of the Novena to our Lady of Good Success.  The feastday of our Lady of Good Success is on February 2nd and commemorates the apparition of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Quito, Ecuador in 1610 to Mother Mariana along with the archangels and St. Francis of Assisi (thus coinciding with the Feast of the Purification).

For more information on these apparitions, I highly recommend the two part series by Fr. Manuel Sousa Pereira: The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana Vol. I & The Admirable Life of Mother Mariana Vol. II.  Both may be viewed freely online at those links.   Or if you prefer, the books are available for easy purchase online here.

Please print and distribute the following Novena courtesy of the St. Vincent Ferrer Foundation.

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