First Fridays Devotion: What Catholics Believe

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Hello to My Dear Friends in Christ,

Today is the first Friday in the month of October, 2009. Catholics have a tradition known as the Nine First Fridays Devotion to the Sacred Heart.
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Well, what is that some you may be asking? Here is quoted information provided by Catholic Culture.com and a direct link is provided for you below.
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From the writings of St. Margaret Mary:
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"On Friday during Holy Communion, He said these words to His unworthy slave, if I mistake not: I promise you in the excessive mercy of my Heart that its all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on nine first Fridays of consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they will not die under my displeasure or without receiving their sacraments, my divine Heart making itself their assured refuge at the last moment."
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With regard to this promise it may be remarked:
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(1) that our Lord required Communion to be received on a particular day chosen by Him;
(2) that the nine Fridays must be consecutive;
(3) that they must be made in honor of His Sacred Heart, which means that those who make the nine Fridays must practice the devotion and must have a great love for our Lord;
(4) that our Lord does not say that those who make the nine Fridays will be dispensed from any of their obligations or from exercising the vigilance necessary to lead a good life and overcome temptation; rather He implicitly promises abundant graces to those who make the nine Fridays to help them to carry out these obligations and persevere to the end;
(5) that perseverance in receiving Holy Communion for nine consecutive First Firdays helps the faithful to acquire the habit of frequent Communion, which our Lord eagerly desires; and
(6) that the practice of the nine Fridays is very pleasing to our Lord since He promises such great reward, and that all Catholics should endeavor to make the nine Fridays.
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Prayer Source: Enthronment of the Sacred Heart by Rev. Francis Larkin, SS.CC., St. Paul Editions. http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/prayers/view.cfm?id=876

and here ia another link to The Devotion To The Sacred Heart of Jesus:

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http://www.catholictradition.org/Two-Hearts/devotion12.htm

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Where your treasure lies there will you find your heart.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus,

in your wounds I find my consolation,

in your pierced heart I find a companion for my sorrows.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus,

in your heart's joy I find my contentment,

in your purity I find my hope.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus,

in the radiant light streaming from your heart my blindness disappears,

in your fiery love I am ablaze with awe.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus,

in your humiliation I can bear scorn from others,

in your longings I am fulfilled.

O most Sacred Heart of Jesus,

in the blood and water which gushed forth from your lanced heart I am reborn in you,

you refresh my very being.

Forever beating in the love of the Holy Trinity is found your human heart,

authoring life and radiating eternal affection.

Would that I could find God's treasure,

it would be found in a humble and contrite heart.

You by your divinity know all things divine and

by your humanity you feel all things human.

By the mystery of your Sacred Heart,

you have united man to yourself forever.

Hold back nothing from me that could draw me

more completely into the deepest recesses of your heart.

Whether peace or distress, bliss or grief,

I accept all as an invitation to know you and love you more profoundly.

O Lord perfect me in your love, confirm me in your grace

and take delight in the richness of my surrender.

Where your treasure lies there will you find my heart.

Amen.

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"I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my heart that my all-powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the First Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment."
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The Twelve Promises for the Devotion to the Sacred Heart.for

1. I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
2. I will give peace in their families.
3. I will console them in all their troubles.
4. They shall find in My Heart an assured refuge during life and especially at the hour of death.
5. I will pour abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
6. Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and infinite ocean of mercy.
7. Tepid souls shall become fervent.
8. Fervent souls shall speedily rise to great perfection.
9. I will bless the homes in which the image of My Sacred Heart shall be exposed and honoured.
10. I will give to priests the power to touch the most hardened hearts.
11. Those who propagate this devotion shall have their name written in My Heart, and it shall never be effaced.
12. The all-powerful love of My Heart will grant to all those who shall receive Communion on the First Friday of nine consecutive months the grace of final repentance; they shall not die under My displeasure, nor without receiving their Sacraments; My Heart shall be their assured refuge at the last hour.
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Blessings,

~ bella

Happy St. Joseph's Day - An Italian Traditional Tribute

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Hello my dear friends in Christ,

Well the fun and festivities around the globe for St. Patrick's Day have come and gone. And today a very little known feast day is observed among Italians and Italian-Americans. It is a quiet form of tribute, but is very meaningful. On this day Italians give thanks for prosperity, fulfilled promises and/or to simply share with those who are less fortunate. Here is a brief explanatory background of this feast day:

In Italy this day is known as "La Festa di San Giuseppe". St. Joseph is the Patron Saint of Sicily and in many American-Italian communities. On this day people show their gratitude to St. Joseph because back in the Middle Ages, there was a servere drought, so the people prayed to St. Joseph for rain with an oath to honor him with a large feast if their prayers were answered. The skies opened up with rain, a famine was prevented, and the people of Sicily kept their promise by preparing a massive banquet for St. Joseph. Everyone participated, including the needy.

The good news does not stop there. On this day, it is still tradition for Italians to give food to the poor and needy, in addition to placing fava beans (the crop that helped prevent starvation during the drought) on altars created for St. Joseph.

The altar is commonly 3 tiers high to represent the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) and is covered with white linen fabric. Flowers, limes, wine, cakes, cookies, breads, candles, and a special Sicilian pastry called "Zeppole" are also placed on the altars. No meats or meat-filled dishes are allowed either on the altar and people are not allowed to eat meat during the dinner, because this feast takes place during Lent. Bread crumbs are commonly used in some of the recipes in order to represent saw dust, since St. Joseph was a carpenter. Many people will wear red.

A very special food made by Italians is called "Cuccadati" which beautiful bread loaves that are decorated in designs symbolic of a crown of thorns or other spiritual symbols of the Church. These cover latticework known as La Vastedde, along with lemons, limes, oranges, bay leaves, and myrtle branches.

In the United States, St. Joseph is honored in larger metropolitan cities where there is a high population of Italians. . . New Orleans, especially, because it is the port where many Sicilians entered America. Buffalo, NY, New York City, Chicago, and Kansas City also have public and private St. Joseph's altars constructed. A parade also takes place in New Orleans.
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an immense St. Joseph's Day altar in New Orleans, LA, USA
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Here is another beautiful explanation with photos of outstanding St. Joseph altars. In this web-site, the author explains in extreme details, the contents and their meanings of the food and wine items on the altars. It is highly recommended reading to understand the dedication to this Feast Day tradition: http://annachupa.com/StJo/index.html

and here is a link to a "Virtual St. Joseph's Altar": http://www.thankevann.com/stjoseph/

Buona Festa di San Giuseppee !!

Holy Card Image reprinted from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration blog http://thewindowshowsitall.blogspot.com

Blessings,

~ bella

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Happy St. Patrick's Day Especially to All of My Irish Friends and Family Members

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Hello dear friends in Christ,
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As the grass becomes greener this spring time of year, many Catholics and non-Catholics remember St. Patrick today.
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Here's to all of you and to my Irish friends and family members:

HAPPY ST. PATRICK's DAY!

"Irish" blessings t'ya,

~ 0'bella

For a beautiful prayer from St. Patrick, I recommend reading the post from Esther on her Catholic Mom in Hawaii blog. It is quite beautiful and inspirational. Her blog link is posted in my sidebar on the right.

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Beginning a New Semester of Teaching: In Honor of St. Thomas Acquinas - Patron Saint of Universities & Students

My dear friends in Christ,

I have just completed the first week of the spring semester at the university where I teach and I felt compelled to re-publish a previous post of mine regarding the upcoming celebratory day in which we honor St. Thomas Aquinas, one of our patron saints of universities, teachers, and education. I pray that he and all the saints intercede to our Lord to help me and all educators in our efforts and endeavors of our vocation to educate and help His children here on earth.

January 28th - Feast Day of St. Thomas Aquinas

Priest, doctor of the Church, patron saint of all universities and students.

Author of Summa Theologica (unfinished).

St Thomas Aquinas: Prayer for Guidance

O creator past all telling,

you have appointed from the treasures of your wisdom

the hierarchies of angels,

disposing them in wondrous order above the bright heavens,

and have so beautifully set out all parts of the universe.
You we call the true fount of wisdom and the noble origin of all things.

Be pleased to shed on the darkness of mind in which I was born,

The twofold beam of your light and warmth to dispel my ignorance and sin.
You make eloquent the tongues of children.

Then instruct my speech and touch my lips with graciousness.

Make me keen to understand, quick to learn,able to remember;

make me delicate to interpret and ready to speak.
Guide my going in and going forward,

lead home my going forth.

You are true God and true man,

and live for ever and ever.

Amen

Show me your ways, O LORD, teach me your paths; guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long.

Psalm 25:4-5
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A Student's Prayer

Creator of all things,

true source of light and wisdom,

origin of all being,

graciously let a ray of your light penetrate

the darkness of my understanding.
Take from me the double darkness in which I have been born,

an obscurity of sin and ignorance.
Give me a keen understanding,a retentive memory,

and the ability to grasp things correctly and fundamentally.
Grant me the talent of being exact in my explanations

and the ability to express myself with thoroughness and charm.
Point out the beginning,direct the progress,and help in the completion.
I ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St. Thomas Aquinas 1225 - 1274

Prayer for Educators and Students

Patron Saints of Professors, Teachers, and Students

St. Thomas Aquinas

St. Thomas Aquinas, a doctor of the Catholic Church, is patron saint of all universities and students. His feast day is January 28th. St. Thomas was a highly intelligent student and began teaching and publishing his works at the age of 22. He received his doctorate at age 31 and wrote extensively and brilliantly. St. Thomas wrote his seminary work, "Summa Theologica", but it was left unfinished due to his death. Considered to one of the greatest and most influential theologians of all time, he was canonized in 1323. (reference: CatholicOnline.com)

St. John Cantius

(Image below from www.canons-regular.org/go/patron/)

St. John Cantius is a saint from Poland who is not well known among Americans, but after researching him, I discovered that Pope John Paul the Great had a life-long devotion to him. A 'professor' saint, he held a doctorate and was highly dedicated to his students. St. John Cantius always practiced piety with academics and combined religious life with teaching. (http://www.canons-regular.org)
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Hello my dear friends in Christ,

Although I realize (and many of you know too) that K through 12th grade's spring semester session began last week, those of us in the university system begin NEXT week. With that said, I just want to PRAY, PRAY, PRAY to our Lord, our Father, and our Lady, and to the Patron Saint of Educators and Students for success for all involved.
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A Prayer for Professors, Teachers, and Students

(written by author of "Our Beautiful Catholic Faith" blog -- permission to
copy, reprint, distribute, or use electronically on the Internet is required).

Lord, I ask you in your precious and holy name,
to be an exceptional educator, mentor, and role model to all my students in which I am humbly blessed with this noble and honorable vocation of service of education.

I pray that my students are eager to learn in a respectful
and peaceful manner towards all educators and other students.

I pray that I am able to discern Your will regarding
the development of assignments and exams
that are best for the learning process of my students
and for the fair and accurate assessment of student performance.

Lord, help me to diligently and conscientiously
prepare relevant, challenging, yet interesting lectures
and classroom activities that engage students
in active participation.

I pray most fervently for the ability
to know when to be merciful,
for the ability to provide positive and constructive criticism,
and when to use gentle, but firm discipline when necessary.

Help me, Lord, to continue to use the gift
that you blessed me with to teach, guide, prepare,
and help develop young adult students
in a positive, student-focused environment
in which students can feel safe
to express their diverse thoughts
and opinions for their own educational, personal,
and professional development.

Amen.

~ Bella

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St. Rose o Lima, Peru

St. Rose of Lima, Peru

Hello my dear friends in Christ!

I found this lovely Holy Card illustration (from Holy Cards for your Inspiration blog) because I had been searching for my Name Saint. My real name is not Bella, but is Rosalind (Roz) and when I looked up names for Catholic children and their corresponding saints, St. Rose of Lima, Peru popped up for my name. I think that this is so wonderful because I have wanted to visit Peru for the longest time. Has St. Rose been calling me gently to visit her country and continent? We'll see and I'll let you know if I am ever fortunate enough to visit!

It is also very interesting to me because the rose is my absolute favorite flower, of which I post numerous photos of my garden on my other blog: La Bella Vita (listed on the side bar on the right). St. Rose is also of Latin (Spanish) descent and I am as well (Italian). And lastly, she was born in April and so was I!

Here is a little more on St. Rose of Lima (source: American Catholic Saint of the Day and a simple yahoo.com inquiry)

St. Rose of Lima, Patron Saint Day: August 23rd
(1586-1617)

The first canonized saint of the New World has one characteristic of all saints—the suffering of opposition—and another characteristic which is more for admiration than for imitation—excessive practice of mortification.

She was born to parents of Spanish descent in Lima, Peru, at a time when South America was in its first century of evangelization. She seems to have taken Catherine of Siena as a model, in spite of the objections and ridicule of parents and friends.

The saints have so great a love of God that what seems bizarre to us, and is indeed sometimes imprudent, is simply a logical carrying out of a conviction that anything that might endanger a loving relationship with God must be rooted out. So, because her beauty was so often admired, Rose used to rub her face with pepper to produce disfiguring blotches. Later, she wore a thick circlet of silver on her head, studded on the inside, like a crown of thorns.

When her parents fell into financial trouble, she worked in the garden all day and sewed at night. Ten years of struggle against her parents began when they tried to make Rose marry. They refused to let her enter a convent, and out of obedience she continued her life of penance and solitude at home as a member of the Third Order of St. Dominic. So deep was her desire to live the life of Christ that she spent most of her time at home in solitude.
During the last few years of her life, Rose set up a room in the house where she cared for homeless children, the elderly and the sick. This was a beginning of social services in Peru. Though secluded in life and activity, she was brought to the attention of Inquisition interrogators, who could only say that she was influenced by grace.

What might have been a merely eccentric life was transfigured from the inside. If we remember some unusual penances, we should also remember the greatest thing about Rose: a love of God so ardent that it withstood ridicule from without, violent temptation and lengthy periods of sickness. When she died at 31, the city turned out for her funeral. Prominent men took turns carrying her coffin.

Virgin, born at Lima, Peru 20 April, 1586; died there 30 August, 1617.St. Rose of Lima is the patroness of Latin America and the Philippines. This South American Saint's real name was Isabel, but she was such a beautiful baby that she was called Rose, and that name remained.

As she grew older, she became more and more beautiful, and one day, her mother put a wreath of flowers on her head to show off her loveliness to friends. But Rose had no desire to be admired, for her heart had been given to Jesus. So she put a long pin into that wreath and it pierced her so deeply, that she had a hard time getting the wreath off afterward. Another time she became afraid that her beauty might be a temptation to someone, since people could not take their eyes off her. Therefore, she rubbed her face with pepper until it was all red and blistered.

St. Rose worked hard to support her poor parents and she humbly obeyed them, except when they tried to get her to marry. That she would not do. Her love of Jesus was so great that when she talked about Him, her face glowed and her eyes sparkled.

Rose had many temptations from the devil, and there were also many times when she had to suffer a feeling of terrible loneliness and sadness, for God

seemed far away. Yet she cheerfully offered all these troubles to Him. In fact, in her last long, painful sickness, this heroic young woman use to pray:

"Lord, increase my sufferings, and with them increase Your love in my heart."

Many miracles followed her death. She was beatified by Clement IX, in 1667, and canonized in 1671 by Clement X, the first American to be so honoured. Her feast is celebrated 30 August. She is represented wearing a crown of roses.

Love, Bella

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