American Girl has recently come under fire and for good reason: it is in support of gay marriage and abortion rights. Until they stop funding and/or supporting directly or indirectly abortion and gay marriage I will not buy any of there products and encourage others to do the same.
III Class (1962 Calendar): February 1 Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 17
Today the Church remembers St. Ignatius of Antioch, who was a martyr in early Rome c. 100 AD. He was devoured by animals instead of denouncing the Faith. St. Ignatius was a convert from paganism and lived a life of holiness. Legend says that St. Ignatius of Antioch was the infant Jesus held in the Gospel of Mark Chapter 9.
St. Ignatius of Antioch succeeded Peter as the Bishop of Antioch. In 107 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch used the term "Catholic Church" for the first time, which described the universal Church established by Jesus Christ. In c. 107 AD, St. Ignatius of Antioch died as a martyr. Before his martyrdom, he wrote many letters like the one below. He is also an Apostolic Father.
Traditional Matins Reading (quoting St Jerome's "On Ecclesiastical Writers"):
Ignatius was the third Bishop of the Church of Antioch, St Peter the Apostle being the first. During the persecution under Trajan, he was condemned to be devoured by wild beasts, and was sent in chains to Rome. During this voyage, which was made by sea, he had to stop at Smyrna, where Polycarp, the disciple of St John, was Bishop. From this city, he wrote several Epistles: one to the Ephesians, a second to the Magnesians, a third to the Trallians, a fourth to the Romans. When he had left Smyrna, he addressed an Epistle to the Philadelphians and Smyrneans, and one to Polycarp himself, recommending to him his Church of Antioch. It is in this last-named Letter that he quotes from the Gospel which I have lately translated a passage bearing testimony to the person of our Lord Jesus Christ.
I cannot pass by this mention of so great a man, without citing a few sentences from the Epistle which he wrote to the Romans. ‘ From Syria,' he says, ' even unto Rome, I am fighting with wild beasts, both by sea and land, both night and day, for I am fastened to ten leopards, I mean to the soldiers who have care of me. When I show them a kindness, they grow more brutal. Their injuries are my instruction, but I am not thereby justified. I long for the wild beasts that are prepared for me, which I heartily wish may rush upon me and torture me and devour me, and not be afraid to touch me, as has happened with other Martyrs. Nay, if they refuse to approach me, I will make them come on, I will rush upon them, that so they may devour me. Pardon me, my little children: I know what is for my own welfare.
‘Now do I begin to be a disciple of Christ, and care for nothing in this world, that so I may find Jesus. Let fire, or the cross, or wild beasts, or the breaking of my bones, or the cutting me to pieces, or the shattering of my whole body, yea, all the tortures of the devil—let them all come upon me, only let me enjoy my God.' When he was sentenced to be devoured by wild beasts, and heard the roaring of the lions, his impatience to suffer made him exclaim: ‘I am the wheat of Christ; let me be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, that I may become the pure bread.' He suffered in the eleventh year of Trajan's reign. His Relics are at Antioch, in the Cemetery outside the Daphne Gate.
Prayer:
Look down upon our weakness, almighty God; and since the weight of our own deeds bears us down, may the glorious intercession of Blessed Ignatius, Thy Bishop and Martyr, protect us. Through our Lord.
Prayer Source: 1962 Roman Catholic Daily Missal
Writing by St. Ignatius:
I am writing to all the churches to let it be known that I will gladly die for God if only you do not stand in my way. I plead with you: show me no untimely kindness. Let me be food for the wild beasts, for they are my way to God. I am God's wheat and bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.
No earthly pleasures, no kingdoms of this world can benefit me in any way. I prefer death in Christ Jesus to power over the farthest limits of the earth. He who died in place of us is the one object of my quest. He who rose for our sake is my one desire.
The prince of this world is determined to lay hold of me and to undermine my will which is intent on God. Let none of you here help him; instead show yourselves on my side, which is also God's side. Believe instead what I am now writing to you. For though I am alive as I write to you, still my real desire is to die. My love of this life has been crucified, and there is no yearning in my for any earthly thing. Rather within me is the living water which says deep inside me: "Come to the Father." I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world I want only God's bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, formed from the seed of David, and for drink I crave his blood, which is love that cannot perish.
Pray for me that I may obtain my desire. I have not written to you as a mere man would, but as one who knows the mind of God.
If you ask yourself that question than read this site. Part of it: "For every Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death (revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the Great)."
Mary once told her faithful servant Alain: "My Son so loves those who assist at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass that, if it were necessary, He would die for them as many times as they've heard Masses."
Today was scheduled to be a normal Sunday where I just go to Mass and not have to participate. So, I brought my rosary and a great St. Padre Pio prayer book with prayers to the Eucharist (one of the litany of the Blessed Sacrament, my favorite litany.) About 5 minutes before the start of Mass, Father came over to me and said the lector had not showed up, so he asked if I could lector since I am a lector some Sundays.
I served as a lector on shorthand notice. But, after Mass I went back to my first pew and found out that my Rosary and prayer book were taken by someone. I haven't found them yet and only can pray I ever will. Please say a prayer that I might get these back. That was a very special Rosary, and I don't think I can ever replace that prayer book.
I sent away for these prayer cards of Pope John Paul ll and Pope Benedict XVI and only had to include a self-addressed stamped envelope. I printed the form out and just filled it in and mailed it away. I recently got the prayer cards and liked them very much, so I thought others here may also want to send away for them.
"Let nothing trouble you, let nothing make you afraid. All things pass away. God never changes. Patience obtains everything. God alone is enough." -- St. Teresa of Avila
Memorial (1969 Calendar): October 15 Double (1955 Calendar): October 15
Today the Church remembers and celebrates the life of St. Teresa of Avila (also called St. Teresa of Jesus). St. Teresa was born on March 28, 1515, in Spain, and she loved Our Lord since her youth. St. Teresa would even play "hermit" in her garden. At the age of 12, St. Teresa's mother died, and she prayed for Our Blessed Mother Mary to be her new mother. St. Teresa was very weakened by a serious illness in her youth, and she was healed through the intercession of St. Joseph. At 17 she left home and entered a religious order but her father would not accept it initially. Finally, after seeing the conviction in his daughter, he consented to her entering the consecrated life.
St. Teresa was soon ill again, and she never fully recovered. During this time of spiritual growth, St. Teresa received many visions approved as authentic following examinations by Dominicans and Jesuits, including Saint Francis Borgia.
She founded a reformed convent after thinking her current one was too lax in the rule. She suffered much along with St. John of the Cross for this long work of restoring the primitive Rule.
St. Teresa was a mystic and a great writer, who wrote the Interior Castle.
The virgin Teresa was born at Avila in Spain, of parents illustrious for nobility and virtue. She was brought up by them in the fear of God; and while still very young, she gave admirable promise of her future sanctity. While reading the acts of the holy martyrs, she was so enkindled with the fire of the Holy Spirit, that she ran away from home, resolved to cross over to Africa, and there to lay down her life for the glory of Jesus Christ and the salvation of souls. She was brought back by her uncle; but her heart still burned with the desire of martyrdom, which she endeavored to satisfy by alms-deeds and other works of piety, weeping continually to see herself deprived of that happy lot. On the death of her mother, she begged the Blessed Virgin to be a mother to her; and she gained her request, for, ever afterward the Mother of God cherished her as a daughter. In the twentieth year of her age, she joined the nuns of St. Mary of Mount Carmel; and spent eighteen years in that monastery, enduring severe illnesses and many trials. While she was thus courageously battling in the ranks of Christian penance, she was deprived of the support of heavenly consolations, in which the saints usually abound even on this earth.
She was adorned with angelic virtues, and her charity made her solicitous not for her own salvation alone, but for that of all mankind. Inspired by God, and with the approbation of Pius IV, she restored the Carmelite rule to its primitive severity, and caused it to be thus observed first by the women and then by the men. The all-powerful blessing of our merciful God was evident in this work; for, though destitute of all human aid, and moreover opposed by many of the great ones of the world, the virgin was able, in her poverty, to build thirty-two monasteries. She wept continually over the blindness of infidels and heretics and offered to God the voluntary maceration of her body to appease the divine anger, on their behalf. Her heart burned like a furnace of divine love; so that once she saw an angel piercing it with a fiery dart, and heard Christ say to her, taking her hand in his: Henceforward, as my true bride, thou shalt be zealous for mine honor. By our Lord’s advice, she made the exceedingly difficult vow, always to do what she conceived to be most perfect. She wrote many works, full of divine wisdom, which arouse in the minds of the faithful the desire of their heavenly country.
Whereas Teresa was a pattern of every virtue, her desire of bodily mortification was most ardent; and in spite of the various maladies which afflicted her, she chastised her body with hairshirts and iron chains, scourged herself with sharp disciplines or with bundles of nettles, and sometimes rolled among thorns. She would often speak thus to God: O Lord, let me either suffer or die; for she considered that as long as she was absent from the fountain of life, she was dying daily and most miserably. She was remarkable for her gift of prophecy and was enriched to such a degree by our Lord with his divine favors, that she would often beg him to set bounds to his gifts, and not to blot out the memory of her sins so speedily. Consumed by the irresistible fire of divine love rather than by disease, after receiving the last Sacraments, and exhorting her children to peace, charity, and religious observance, she expired at Alba, on the day she had foretold; and her most pure soul was seen ascending to God in the form of a dove. She died at the age of sixty-seven, in the year 1582, on the Ides of October according to the corrected Roman calendar. Jesus Christ was seen present at her death-bed, surrounded by angels; and a withered tree near her cell suddenly burst into blossom. Her body has remained incorrupt to the present day, distilling a fragrant liquor; and is honored with pious veneration. She was made illustrious by miracles both before and after her death; and Gregory XV enrolled her among the saints.
Prayer:
Graciously hear us, O God our Savior, and grant that as we rejoice in the festival of blessed Teresa, Thy Virgin, so we may be nourished by her heavenly teaching, and grow in loving devotion towards Thee. Through our Lord.
Then today could be your day. Today is October 13 and the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917, which was witnessed by thousands. It is truly an amazing miracle.
The Miraculous Medal is a devotion to the Virgin Mary called the "Miraculous" Medal for the many miracles associated with those that wear it. It is one of my favorite medals to wear.
One of the most famous conversions due to the miraculous medal was that of Alphonse Ratisbonne, an anti-Catholic Jewish banker. He received a vision of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. After his conversion, he became a priest and worked for the conversion of the Jewish people.
English Translation of the Traditional Prayer Said by the Priest to Bless the Miraculous Medal:
The priest who is to bless the sacred medal of the Immaculate Conception, vested in surplice and white stole, says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Almighty and merciful God, who by the many appearances on earth of
the Immaculate Virgin Mary were pleased to work miracles again and
again for the salvation of souls; kindly pour out your blessing + on
this medal, so that all who devoutly wear it and reverence it may
experience the patronage of Mary Immaculate and obtain mercy from you;
through Christ our Lord.
All: Amen.
The priest sprinkles the medal with holy water, and presents it to the person, saying:
Take this holy medal; wear it with faith, and handle it with due
devotion, so that the holy and immaculate Queen of heaven may protect
and defend you. And as she is ever ready to renew her wondrous acts of
kindness, may she obtain for you in her mercy whatever you humbly ask of
God, so that both in life and in death you may rest happily in her
motherly embrace.
All: Amen.
The priest continues:
Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Queen conceived without original sin.
All: Pray for us.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you.
Let us pray.
Lord Jesus Christ, who willed that your Mother, the blessed Virgin
Mary conceived without sin, should become illustrious through countless
miracles; grant that we who ever seek her patronage may finally possess
everlasting joys. We ask this of you who live and reign forever and
ever.
All: Amen.
AN ACT OF CONSECRATION TO OUR LADY OF THE MIRACULOUS MEDAL
Virgin Mother of God, Mary Inmmaculate, we dedicate and consecrate our selves to thee under the title of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal. May this Medal be for each one of us a sure sign of thy affection for us and a constant reminder of our duties toward thee. Ever while wearing it, may we be blessed by thy loving protection and preserved in the grace of thy Son. O most powerful Virgin, Mother of our Savior, keep us close to thee every moment of our lives. Obtain for us, thy children, the grace of a happy death; so that, in union with thee, we may enjoy the bliss of heaven forever. Amen.
V. O Mary, conceived without sin,
R. Pray for us who have recourse to thee. ( 3 times.)
Well, Priests for Life has a new brochure called You can save someone's life today (PDF file). Please pass along the information inside especially pregnany numbers. If you can't read that here is a HTML version.
Abortion is not a choice; it is murder. If you are pregnant don't think you don't have other options. God created us all to live in happiness, and only He has the right to take life being the Creator of Life. What if Mary hadn't had Jesus? Think about how much of a saint any unborn child can become. Trust in God and know that abortion is death. God is calling all to life. Trust in Him since He believed in you to the death.
Carenet/Heartbeat 1-800-395-HELP Crisis Pregnancy Helpline 1-888-4-OPTIONS Birthright 1-800-550-4900 National Life Center 1-800-848-LOVE Bethany Christians Services 1-800-238-4269
Image Source: Believed to be in the public domain, source unknown
I don't know about everyone else, but I really enjoy forums and reading and posting at them. Usually all of them are Catholic forums and my favorite questions asked are those of people trying to understand the Catholic faith. It is indeed a great gift to aid another in their journey to Christ, and God calls each of us to serve Him. I choose to serve Him by spreading the Gospel.
So, I'm commonly asked questions about the faith and try to answer them although if I could create one post on each topic here including links for more information and references from the CCC and Bible along with the Church's position and teachings this could be extremely valuable to spreading the Church to others. John Paul ll said, "How can they believe if they have not heard?" I'm hoping others will join me in working together this way to spread the Christ to others.
Would anyone care to do this? Do you think it's a good idea?
(I'm unsure on the first topic to cover although I'd like to do it on devotion to Mary or the saints and why we pray to them)
Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links on this blog are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. As an Amazon Associate, for instance, I earn a small commission from qualifying purchases made by those who click on the Amazon affiliate links included on this website. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Support A Catholic Life. Your Patronage Helps Keep Us Updated and Online!
Matthew is a Third Order Dominican from Chicago and an expert on Catholicism, with an emphasis on Traditional Fasting. He has written for "A Catholic Life" since 2005. Matthew is a Certified Catechist and is a speaker available to address your next parish or Catholic conference gathering. Matthew spends his leisure time traveling, teaching, writing, and enjoying Catholic culture. He is also a writer for "Catholic Family News" and "The Fatima Center." Please contact Matthew directly regarding advertising requests for A Catholic Life or in regard to speaking engagements.
If you ask yourself that question than read this site. Part of it: "For every Mass we hear with devotion, Our Lord sends a saint to comfort us at death (revelation of Christ to St. Gertrude the Great).".jpg)
.jpg)
Then today could be your day. Today is October 13 and the anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima in 1917, which was witnessed by thousands. It is truly an amazing miracle.
The Miraculous Medal is a devotion to the Virgin Mary called the "Miraculous" Medal for the many miracles associated with those that wear it. It is one of my favorite medals to wear.
Well, Priests for Life has a new brochure called You can save someone's life today (PDF file). Please pass along the information inside especially pregnany numbers. If you can't read that here is a HTML version.
