Fiat Voluntas Tuua

The Kingdom of the Divine Fiat in the Midst of Creatures
Luisa Piccarreta
The Call of the Creature to Return to the Order, to the Place,
and to the Purpose for Which It was Created by God.
Volume 17, May 17, 1925

Now I continue by saying that my sweet Jesus told me: “My daughter, to what you have said on fusing yourself in my Will, another appeal must be added – that of fusing yourself in the order of grace, in everything that the Sanctifier – the Holy Spirit - has done and will do for those who are to be sanctified. More so since, while We, the Three Divine Persons, are always united in operating, if the Creation points to the Father, and Redemption to the Son, the Fiat Voluntas Tua will point to the Holy Spirit. And it is precisely in the Fiat Voluntas Tua that the Divine Spirit will make display of His work. You do it when, on coming before the Supreme Majesty, you say: ‘I come to requite You in love for everything that the Sanctifier does for those who are to be sanctified. I come to enter into the order of grace, so as to be able to give You the glory and the requital of love as if all had made themselves saints, and to repair You for all the oppositions and lack of correspondence to grace’. And as much as you can, you search within Our Will for the acts of grace of the Spirit Sanctifier, so as to make His sorrow your own, as well as His secret moans, His anguishing sighs in the depth of the hearts, in seeing Himself so unwelcome. And since the first act He does is to bring Our Will as the complete act of their sanctification, in seeing Himself rejected, He moans with inexpressible moans. And you, in your childlike simplicity, say to Him: ‘Spirit Sanctifier, hurry, I implore You, I pray You again – make your Will known to all, so that, by knowing It, they may love It, and may welcome your first act of their complete sanctification – which is your Holy Will.’ My daughter, We, the Three Divine Persons, are inseparable and distinct, and in this way do We want to manifest to the human generations Our works for them - that while being united among Ourselves, each One of Us wants to manifest individually His love and His work toward the creatures.”

The Great Prayer Project - End Abortion

We believe that an end to abortion is very possible! Scripture tells us that nothing is impossible when God is involved! (Luke 1:37). The Catechism of the Catholic Church quotes St. John Chrysostom saying:
“Nothing is equal to prayer; for what is impossible it makes possible, what is difficult, easy...”

The Great Prayer Project - End Abortion
http://www.luke181.com/our_mission.php

Father Benedict Groeschel

Father Benedict Groeschel
http://www.youtube.com/v/NZePc6hIMio&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&feature=player_embedded&fs=1

Prayer for Daily Neglects

(Adapted for the Divine Will)

Eternal Father, through the Heart of Mary and in your Spirit of Love, I offer You, as mine, the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all Its Love, all Its Sufferings, and all Its Merits.

1st: To expiate all the sins I've committed this day and during all my life, and all the sins committed throughout the world throughout time. Glory be....

2nd: To purify the good I've done poorly this day and during all my life, and all the good done poorly throughout time. Glory be....

3rd: To supply for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and during all my life, and all the good that's been neglected throughout time — especially the neglected good of not living and acting in the Divine Will. Glory be....

Ending Your Day in the Divine Will
http://www.sicutincaelo.org/14bfa.html

The 24 Hours of the Passion

First Hour From 5 to 6 PM
Jesus takes leave of His Most Holy Mother

O Celestial Mama, the hour of the separation is approaching, and I come to You. O Mother, give me your love and your reparations; give me your sorrow, because together with You I want to follow, step by step, adored Jesus.

And now Jesus comes to You, and You, with heart overflowing with love, run toward Him and in seeing Him so pale and sad, your Heart aches with pain, your strengths leave You and You are about to fall at His feet.

O my sweet Mama, do You know why adorable Jesus has come to You? Ah, He has come to say the last good-bye, to tell You the last word, to receive the last embrace!

O Mother, I cling to You with all the tenderness of which my poor heart is capable, so that clinging and bound to You, I too may receive the embraces of adored Jesus. Will You perhaps disdain me? Isn’t it rather a comfort for your Heart to have a soul near You, who would share its pains, affections and reparations?

O Jesus, in such a harrowing hour for your most tender Heart, what a lesson of filial and loving obedience to your Mama You give us! What a sweet harmony passes between You and Mary! What a sweet enchantment of love rises up to the throne of the Eternal One and extends for the salvation of all creatures of the earth!

O my Celestial Mama, do You know what adored Jesus wants from You? Nothing but your last blessing. It is true that from every particle of your being nothing but blessings and praises come out for your Creator; but Jesus, in taking leave of You, wants to hear the sweet word: “I bless You, O Son”. And that “I bless You” removes all the blasphemies from His hearing, and descends, sweet and gentle, into His Heart. Jesus wants your “I bless You”, almost to place it as a shelter from all the offenses of creatures.

I too unite myself to You, O sweet Mama. Upon the wings of the winds I want to go around the heavens to ask the Father, the Holy Spirit and all the Angels, for an “I bless You” for Jesus, so that, as I go to Him, I may bring Him their blessings. And here on earth, I want to go to all creatures and ask, from every lip, from every heartbeat, from every step, from every breath, from every gaze, from every thought - blessings and praises for Jesus. And if no one wants to give them to me, I intend to give them for them.

O sweet Mama, after going round and round, to ask the Sacrosanct Trinity, the Angels, all creatures, the light of the sun, the fragrance of the flowers, the waves of the sea, every breath of wind, every spark of fire, every moving leaf, the twinkling of the stars, every movement of nature, for an “I bless You”, I come to You and I place all my blessings together with yours.

My sweet Mama, I see that You receive comfort and relief, and that You offer Jesus all my blessings in reparation for the blasphemies and the maledictions which He receives from creatures. But as I offer You everything, I hear your trembling voice saying: “Son, bless me too!”

O my sweet Love, Jesus, bless me also, together with your Mama; bless my thoughts, my heart, my hands, my works, my steps, and with your Mother, all creatures.

O my Mother, in looking at the face of sorrowful Jesus, pale, sad, harrowing, the memory of the pains which He is about to suffer awakens in You. You foresee His face covered with spit and You bless it, His head pierced by the thorns, His eyes blinded, His body tortured by the scourges, His hands and feet pierced by the nails; and wherever He is about to go, You follow Him with your blessings. And I too will follow Him together with You. When Jesus is struck by the scourges, crowned with thorns, slapped, pierced by the nails, everywhere He will find my “I bless You” together with yours.

O Jesus, O Mother, I compassionate You. Immense is your pain in these last moments. The Heart of one seems to tear the Heart of the other.

O Mother, snatch my heart from the earth and bind it tightly to Jesus, so that, clinging to Him, I may share in His pains, and as You cling to each other, as You embrace, as You exchange the last glances, the last kisses, being in-between your two Hearts, may I receive your last kisses, your last embraces. Don’t You see that I cannot be without You, in spite of my misery and my coldness?

Jesus, Mama, keep me close to You; give me your love, your Will. Dart through my poor heart, hold me tightly in your arms; and together with You, O sweet Mother, I want to follow, step by step, adored Jesus, with the intention of giving Him comfort, relief, love and reparation for all.

O Jesus, together with your Mama, I kiss your left foot, asking You to forgive me and all creatures, for all the times we have not walked toward God.

I kiss your right foot: forgive me and all for all the times we have not followed the perfection You wanted from us.

I kiss your left hand: communicate to us your purity.

I kiss your right hand: bless all of my heartbeats, thoughts, affections, so that, given value by your blessing, they all may be sanctified. And with me, bless all creatures, and seal the salvation of their souls with your blessing.

O Jesus, I embrace You together with your Mama, and kissing your Heart, I pray You to place my heart between your two Hearts, that it may be nourished continuously by your love, by your sorrows, by your very affections and desires, and by your own Life. Amen.

Reflections and Practices

Before giving start to His Passion, Jesus goes to His Mother to ask for Her blessing. In this act Jesus teaches us obedience, not only external but also interior, which we must have in order to reciprocate the inspirations of grace. Sometimes we are not ready to put into practice a good inspiration, either because we are held back by love of self united to temptation, or because of human respect, or in order not to use holy violence on ourselves.

But rejecting the good inspiration of exercising a virtue, of accomplishing a virtuous act, of doing a good work, or of practicing a devotion, makes the Lord withdraw, depriving us of new inspirations.

On the other hand, the prompt correspondence, pious and prudent, to holy inspirations attracts more lights and graces upon us.

In the cases of doubt, one should turn promptly and with righteous intention to the great means of prayer and to upright and experienced advice. In this way, the good God will enlighten the soul to execute the healthy inspiration, increasing it for her greater benefit.

We must do our actions, our acts, our prayers, the Hours of the Passion, with the same intentions of Jesus, in His Will, sacrificing ourselves as He did, for the glory of the Father and for the good of souls.

We must place ourselves in the disposition of sacrificing ourselves in everything for love of our lovable Jesus, conforming to His spirit, operating with His own sentiments, and abandoning ourselves in Him, not only in all the external sufferings and adversities, but much more in all that He will dispose in our interior. In this way, at any time, we will find ourselves ready to accept any suffering. By doing this, we will give sweet sips to our Jesus. Then, if we do all this in the Will of God which contains all sweetnesses and all contentments in immense proportion, we will give to Jesus large sweet sips, so as to mitigate the poisoning which other creatures cause Him, and to console His Divine Heart.

Before starting any action, let us always invoke the blessing of God, so that our actions may have the touch of the Divinity, and may attract His blessings not only on us, but upon all creatures.

My Jesus, may your blessing precede me, accompany me and follow me, so that everything I do may carry the seal of your ‘I bless you.’

The Twenty Four Hours of the Passion (Blog)
http://catholicdivinewill.blogspot.com/2008/06/twenty-four-hours-of-passion.html
The Twenty Four Hours of the Passion (PDF file)
http://www.asylcity.com/hours_of_passion.pdf

Who then are you, O Immaculate Conception?

. . .

Who then are you, O Immaculate Conception?

Not God, of course, because He has no beginning. Not an angel, created directly out of nothing. Not Adam, formed out of the dust of the earth. Not Eve, molded from Adam's rib. Not the Incarnate Word, Who exists before all ages, and of Whom we should use the word "conceived" rather than "conception."

Humans do not exist before their conception, so we might call them created "conceptions." But you, O Mary, are different from all other children of Eve. They are conceptions stained by Original Sin; whereas you are the unique, Immaculate Conception.

Everything which exists, outside of God Himself, since it is from God and depends on Him in every way, bears within itself some semblance to its Creator; there is nothing in any creature which does not betray this resemblance, because every created thing is an effect of the Primal Cause.

It is true that the words we use to speak of created realities express the Divine perfections only in a halting, limited and analogical manner. They are only a more or less distant echo----as are the created realities that they signify ---- of the properties of God himself. Would not "conception" be an exception to this rule? No, there is never any such exception. The Father begets the Son; the Son proceeds from the Father and the Son. Theses few words sum up the mystery of the life of the Most Blessed trinity and of all the perfections in creatures which are nothing else but echoes, a hymn of praise of this primary and most wondrous of all mysteries.

We must perforce use our vocabulary, since it is all we have; but we must never forget that our vocabulary is very inadequate.

Who is the Father? What is His personal life like? It consists in begetting, eternally because He begets His Son from the beginning and forever.
Who is the Son? He is the Begotten-One, because from the beginning and for all eternity He is begotten by the Father.

And Who is the Holy Spirit? The flowering of the love of the Father and the Son. If the fruit of created is a created conception, then the fruit of Divine love, that prototype of all created love, is necessarily a Divine "conception." The Holy Spirit is, therefore, the "uncreated, eternal conception," the prototype of all the conceptions that multiply life throughout the whole universe.

The Father begets; the Son is begotten; the Spirit is the "conception" that springs from their love; there we have the intimate life of the Three Persons by which They can be distinguished from one another. But They are united in the Oneness of Their Nature, of Their Divine existence. The Spirit is, then, this thrice holy "conception," this infinitely holy Immaculate Conception . . .

The creature most completely filled with this love, filled with God Himself, was the Immaculata, who never contacted the slightest stain of sin, who never departed in the least from God's will. United to the Holy Spirit as His spouse, she is one with God in an incomparably more perfect way than can be predicated of any other creature.
. . .

Who then are you, O Immaculate Conception?
Excerpted and compiled from, "Immaculate Conception and the Holy Spirit",
The Marian Teachings of Fr. Maximilian Kolbe, Fr. H.M. Manteau-Bonamy, O.P. http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/conception.htm

Novena in Honor of the Immaculate Conception
By St. Maximilian Kolbe
http://www.corazones.org/oraciones/oraciones_maria/novena_inmaculate_conception_kolbe.htm

The Revenge of Conscience

Unfortunately, the condition of human beings since before recorded history is that we don't want to learn hard lessons. We would rather remain in denial. What power can break through such a barrier?

The only Power that ever has. Thomas Aquinas writes that when a nation suffers tyranny, those who enthroned the tyrant may first try to remove him, then call upon the emperor for help. When these human means fail, they should consider their sins and pray. We are now so thoroughly under the tyranny of our vices that it would be difficult for us to recognize an external tyrant at all. By our own hands we enthroned them: our strength no longer suffices for their removal: they have suspended the senate of right reason and the assembly of the virtues: the emperor, our will, is held hostage: and it is time to pray.

Nothing new can be written on the heart, but nothing needs to be; all we need is the grace of God to see what is already there. We don't want to read the letters, because they burn; but they do burn, so at last we must read them. This is why the nation can repent. This is why the plague can be arrested. This is why the culture of death can be redeemed. “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before thee . . . a broken and contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

J. Buziszewski is Associate Professor of Government and Philosophy at the University of Texas and author of Written on the Heart: The Case for Natural Law (InterVarsity). An earlier version of this article was published in William D. Gairdner, ed., After Liberalism (Stoddart).
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2008/12/001-the-revenge-of-conscience-38

"Gradually it was disclosed to me that the line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either -- but right through every human heart -- and through all human hearts. This line shifts. Inside us, it oscillates with the years. And even within hearts overwhelmed by evil, one small bridgehead of good is retained. And even in the best of all hearts, there remains ... an unuprooted small corner of evil.

Since then I have come to understand the truth of all the religions of the world: They struggle with the evil inside a human being (inside every human being). It is impossible to expel evil from the world in its entirety, but it is possible to constrict it within each person."
— Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag Archipelago: 1918-1956)

Jesus Christ the Returning King

Lay Apostolate

Love of Neighbor (from "Climbing The Mountain" By Anne, a lay apostle

Sometimes a soul living outside of the Kingdom is bitter. This bitterness is like a sore. When a soul in bitterness views Christ in us, it can be like salt in the wound or sore because our unity with Christ highlights his isolation from Him. This is good. The soul then comes closer to an understanding of what it lacks. Our experience of this may not be pleasant. It may be necessarily painful because in its pain the soul may strike out at us. This can be understood as an almost instinctual lashing out or crying out in the distress of their disconnectedness from Christ. We must accept these strikes as beneficial penance and part of standing with Christ as a companion on the Way of the Cross.

Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King

In April, 2005, Our Lord revealed to Anne a set of guidelines for those called to assist in the work of the mission. Anne's bishop then gave permission for the formation of The Lay Apostolate of Jesus Christ the Returning King. Their mission is to serve as conduits of divine grace, spreading the messages of the Volumes throughout the earth.

Online version of the The Volumes now available.
--Free Download.
http://www.directionforourtimes.com/onlinevolumes.html

Prayer, charity and the joy of forgiveness

This is the prepared text of the homily delivered by Cardinal Seán P. O’Malley at the St. Padre Pio anniversary Mass that took place Sept. 23 2006 at St. Giovanni Rotondo, Italy. The cardinal delivered the homily in Italian.

. . . . .
St. Gregory the Great says: “The present life is but a road by which we advance to our homeland. Because of this, by a secret judgment we are subjected to frequent disturbance so that we do not have more love for the journey than for the destination. The suffering St. Pio experienced in his ill health, in the persecution by the very Church he loved, the trials and setbacks in establishing the hospital, the pain of the stigmata -- all kept before his eyes the pilgrim nature of his vocation. What allowed St. Pio to persevere was the intense prayer life that he lived faithfully. He prayed more in a week than most people pray in a year. The test of authentic prayer is growth in goodness, growth in humanity, greater serenity in living and in facing hardship. Above all genuine contact with God effects a real displacement of self as the center of our existence.

Prayer is not withdrawing from the rest of humanity. It is more like a wedding feast to which we welcome all who cross our path. A strange thing takes place in prayer. There is a mysterious coupling of our own life with the lives of others -- an embrace that includes the whole of humanity. At first prayer stems from a sense of personal neediness. Prayer progressively becomes less a self-centered plea for personal deliverance than a universal cry for help and for the coming of God’s kingdom.

Prayer and suffering transformed the life of Padre Pio and made him a living icon of God’s unfailing mercy and love. Too often we try to follow Jesus at a safe distance, like Peter after he fled from Gethsemane. Padre Pio’s life and teaching encourages us to climb Calvary to join Jesus in the moments of greatest pain and greatest love.

In today’s Gospel, planted at the foot of the cross are these few brave disciples. I am sure that Mary’s faith and courage was a source of strength for all of them. Mary stood at the foot of the cross. At that dramatic moment, before His death Jesus gives us a gift, His most precious possession, His Mother. Behold your mother. Mary is now not only Jesus’ Mother. She is also our Mother.

For Padre Pio, as for St. Francis, the cross was his book, the book where he read the greatest love story in history. Padre Pio lived his life planted at the foot of the cross in the company of Mary.

Mary full of grace, the costly grace of discipleship, the grace that allowed Mary to renew her fiat, her yes to the Lord even in the face of the cross. There by the cross is our Mother, Our Lady of Grace.

Recently Our Holy Father Pope Benedict said, “He who believes is not alone.” Here we have a host of witnesses. We stand before the beloved cross of Our Blessed Savior, we stand with Our Mother, Our Lady of Grace, and Padre Pio. We are not alone. When the Apostles came down from Tabor, they carried in their hearts a glimpse of God’s Glory. When you return to your homes, share with your families and neighbors the graces of this pilgrimage and the message of our beloved Padre Pio: Prayer, charity and the joy of forgiveness.

Prayer, charity and the joy of forgiveness
By Cardinal O'Malley, O.F.M. Cap.
Archdiocese of Boston
http://www.piercedhearts.org/theology_heart/prayer_charity_joy_forgiveness_padrepio.htm

Sacred Heart Devotion

"And He showed me that it was His great desire of being loved by men and of withdrawing them from the path of ruin into which Satan hurls such crowds of them, that made Him form the design of manifesting His Heart to men, with all the treasures of love, of mercy, of grace, of sanctification and salvation which it contains, in order that those who desire to render Him and procure for Him all the honor and love possible, might themselves be abundantly enriched with those divine treasures of which this Heart is the source.

He should be honored under the figure of this Heart of flesh, and its image should be exposed...He promised me that wherever this image should be exposed with a view to showing it special honor, He would pour forth His blessings and graces. This devotion was the last effort of His love that He would grant to men in these latter ages, in order to withdraw them from the empire of Satan which He desired to destroy, and thus to introduce them into the sweet liberty of the rule of His love, which He wished to restore in the hearts of all those who should embrace this devotion."..... "The devotion is so pleasing to Him that He can refuse nothing to those who practice it."

from Revelations of Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

Personal Attitudes Needed for the Successful Practice of the Devotion:

A true love of Jesus Christ and His Sacred Heart,
the source of His excessive mercy, help, graces and blessings.

Special respect for, and veneration of, the Blessed Sacrament.

A desire to make Reparation for the neglect, indifference and ingratitude of the majority that results in Jesus Christ being left alone, abandoned and forgotten on our altars, never visited to offer consolation for such neglect, though He has given us the miracle of His Divine Presence in the Blessed Sacrament as a supreme gift to us in His desire to be always with us.

For those who have the above attitudes and desire to faithfully practice the Devotion, Our Lord Jesus Christ has made special promises. "12 Promises"
http://www.sacredheartdevotion.com/promises.htm

Painting by Joseph Fanelli © 1994 New York,N.Y.

Devotion to The Sacred Heart of Jesus
http://www.sacredheartdevotion.com/

The apostle of conversion

Saint Anthony is the great apostle of conversion. He disseminates the Word of God as an invitation to change life and to hope for the infinite mercy of God.

Let us not be unclear. Both for the priest and for the penitent, divine grace is the main character in "repentance" and Christian reconciliation. It is that which incites the preacher to speak of sin, of its gravity, of the necessity to renounce it, asking for forgiveness; in the same way, it is not a man who can take us from death to life.

That which opens the heart to conversion is the omnipotent, merciful and mysterious love of the Father.

http://www.saintanthonyofpadua.net/portale/santantonio/spirito/conversione/conv1.asp

USCCB - Year For Priests

Pope Benedict XVI has declared a "Year for Priests" beginning with the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 19, 2009.

The year will conclude in Rome with an international gathering of priests with the Holy Father on June 19, 2010.

With the announcement of this Year for Priests, the Pope has declared St. John Vianney the Universal Patron of Priests on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the death of the Curé d’Ars.

On this website you will find a number of resources to aid your parish’s celebration of the year for priests. There is also information regarding events for priests that will occur throughout the Year for Priests.

Please pray for our priests that they might always be faithful to their sacred calling.

USCCB - Year For Priests June 19, 2009 to June 19, 2010
http://www.usccb.org/yearforpriests/index.shtml

The Monk and the Murderer

by Annie Calovich

This is a story about how God leveled time and space, breaching prison bars and cloister walls, lining up the Catacombs of Rome with Death Row in McAlester, Oklahoma, through the life of a hidden monk in the 21st century.

The monk, Brother Vianney-Marie Graham of the contemplative Clear Creek Monastery in Hulbert, Oklahoma, had long been praying for inmates on Death Row because he considered them "the abandoned of the abandoned."

He had a famous precedent for his prayers. St. Therese of Lisieux had prayed for the conversion of the notorious and unrepentant killer Henri Pranzini in 1887 and was able to read in the newspaper of his last-minute grab for a crucifix as he approached the scaffold. He kissed the wounds of Jesus three times before being guillotined.

In 2001, Brother Vianney-Marie decided to ask his superior for permission to write a few inmates, "to tell them not to despair, to tell them that God's mercy is available to them no matter what their crimes."

In deciding whom to write, Brother Vianney-Marie sought out the worst cases. He started with James Malicoat, a man who had brutally killed his 13 month-old daughter through a series of beatings over two weeks.

"When I first saw the crime, I thought, 'He needs a friend more than the others. Everyone is going to shrink back because the crime was so horrendous,'" Brother Vianney-Marie said.

He received permission from his superior to write to Malicoat, and did so for the first time on the feast of the Assumption, 2001. Malicoat took a month and a half to respond, dating his letter October 1, which is the feast of St. Therese.

Brother Vianney-Marie wrote faithfully to Malicoat and two other inmates once a month. "I would talk about their families, the way they were brought up," he said. "They would talk about themselves."

The monk said it was like shooting arrows in the dark, making contact with the worst of society's offenders from a cloistered Benedictine monastery. He had no idea where — or how — the arrows would fall.

Contemplative monks such as those at Clear Creek rarely leave the monastery. The monks work and pray in obscurity. Brother Vianney-Marie has a certain identity to outsiders only because he can be seen from the road tending the monastery's chickens.

there is so much more:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?id=7954&CFID=3920215&CFTOKEN=56894940

" . . . I am generous?" (Mt 20: 1-16)

Rosary Confraternity Prayer

Queen of the Most Holy Rosary and Mother of us all, we come to you for help in our sorrows, trials and necessities. Sin leaves us weak and helpless but Divine Grace heals and strengthens.

We ask for the grace to love Jesus as you loved Him, to believe as you believed, to hope as you hoped; we ask to share your purity of mind and heart. Give us true sorrow for sin and make us love people as you and Jesus loved them. Obtain for us the gifts of the Holy Spirit that we may be wise with your wisdom, understand with your understanding, know with your knowledge, prudent with your prudence, patient with your patience, courageous with your fortitude and desire justice ardently for everyone with the all consuming desire of the Sacred Heart of Jesus your Son.

Open our minds that as we pray the Rosary we will understand the teachings of the Gospel contained in its mysteries.

We pray especially for the members of the Rosary Confraternity whom we love. Help them wherever they may be; guide them, watch over them and make them strong in their trials and suffering. We are drawn together by a common bond of great charity for you and for each other; keep us faithful to your Son and to your Rosary till death.

Intercede for the souls in Purgatory, especially for the members of the Rosary Confraternity who have died. May they rest in peace. Finally we ask for grace of final perseverance for ourselves and for our loved ones that we may all be reunited in heaven forever.

Saint Dominic, you who received so much Grace and Strength from the Rosary, Pray for Us.

Imprimi Potest:
Thomas P. Raftery O.P., Lect. S.Th., J.C.D.
Provincial

Nihil Obstat:
+ Paul E. Waldschmidt CSC, D.D., S.T.D.

Imprimatur:
+ Cornelius M. Power, D.D., J.C.D.
Archbishop of Portland - March 30, 1979

To Enroll The Rosary Confraternity:
http://www.rosary-center.org/nconform.htm
The Cure of Ars said: "If anyone has the happiness of being in the Confraternity of the Rosary, he has in all corners of the world brothers and sisters who pray for him."

Saint Dominic de Guzman and the Rosary

St. Dominic's work in France was hindered by the sin of the people, who as 'christians' (Albigensians) were the bad example blocking his apostolic work.

The Albigensian heresy:
The Albigensians were a form of the Cathart religion. The Albigenses taught that anything material is evil, and is a creation of the devil. They taught that marriage was evil. (Wheresas Catholics know marriage to be a sacrament - Jesus often uses images of marriage in his teachings.)
Catholics beleive that we have a creator God, (who loves what He creates, and creates it so that He may love it.)
The Albigensians taught that the body was evil, and should be denied to the point that people were taking their own lives.
Because of their beleif that anything material was evil, for them, Christ could not have become fully man and fully divine at the same time.
These beliefs therefore led to serious errors in Catholic and Christian doctrine, in particular the understanding of the incarnation and resurrection of a Christ, who chose to win our salvation through his share in our own human suffering.

Dominic withdrew into a forest in Toulouse, spending three days and nights in prayer and harsh penance. Whilst in deep prayer, Our Lady, accompanied by three angels appeared to him and told him that the principal weapon with which the Blessed Trinity wants to use to reform the world is that of the Angelic Psalter. She said:

'Wonder not that you have obtained so little fruit by your labors, you have spent them on barren soil, not yet watered with the dew of Divine Grace. When God willed to renew the face of the earth, He began by sending down on it the fertilizing rain of the Angelic Salutation. Therefore preach my Psalter... and you will obtain an abundant harvest'“ I want you to know that in this kind of warfare, the battering ram has always been the Angelic Psalter, which is the foundation-stone of the New Testament.”

She told him that if he wanted to reach hardened souls and win them over to God, that he must preach her Psalter.
St. Dominic set off with great determination to fulfill the mission Mary had entrusted to him. As Mary had promised, the people of Toulouse were duly converted. Dominic continued to preach the beauty, power and efficacy of the Rosary for the remainder of his life. God chose to work many miracles through him including the raising to life of Napoleone Orsini; which attests to the spirit of St. Dominic after that of the great Apostles Peter and Paul. His use of the Rosary during Exorcisms of individuals is also known.
He died around the year 1221, after three weeks of sickness, and many trials which he bore with heroic patience.

Saint Dominic de Guzman and the Rosary
http://blessedvirginmarysbower.blogspot.com/2008/10/saint-dominic-de-guzman-and-rosary.html

Christ, my Passion – Ordained in Dachau

Karl Leisner was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1996 in Berlin. For Karl Leisner, who as a student for the priesthood joined a Schoenstatt Federation group – one member of this group being the later Bishop of Münster, Heinrich Tenhumberg –, the "moments spent in the Blessed Mother's Shrine of Grace", the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt, were decisive hours of grace on turning points of this life. Christ – my passion: led by this ideal, he worked as a committed youth leader, and fought his way towards the decision for the priesthood. A remark on the failed assassination attempt on Hitler, uttered during a recovery stay in a sanatorium, brought the recently ordained deacon first to jail and then to the concentration camp. The almost healed tuberculosis broke out again in Dachau. Although his health rapidly deteriorated, his contagious joy – he asked to send his guitar to Dachau– remained unbroken. When a French Bishop was confined to the concentration camp, Karl Leisner's dream came true. On December 17, 1944, he was ordained priest in Dachau, and celebrated his first and only Holy Mass on December 26, 1944. He died soon after he was freed from the concentration camp in a sanatorium in Planegg.

One of the Jewels in Schoenstatt's Collection
Christ, my Passion – Ordained in Dachau
http://www.schoenstatt.de/news2002/03maerz/2t0305_en_emilie_pkh.htm

May Feelings

May Feelings
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxjjyXhO9EA

May Feelings II

May Feelings II
http://www.youtube.com/user/Belomasan

Schoenstatt Prayers for the East

Schoenstatt Prayers for the East

Eternal Father, you have sent your beloved Son as Savior of the world and through Him offered salvation to all nations of the earth. You open the fountains of grace in your Church. You also called Schoenstatt to cooperate so that the Mother of God from her Shrine can grant a beginning of new life and unity in the Churches of the East and the West.

With faith your fatherly kindness we present to you our petitions:

- Grant unity and peace to the universal Church and to all mankind.

Response: Through the intercession of the Mother of God, hear our prayer.

- Bless the Holy Father, all Patriarchs, Bishops and Priests, and the whole Church of the East and the West.

- Unite us with the Eastern Churches in the joyful veneration of Mary, ever virgin Mother of God.

- Through the Covenant of Love with Mary, let Schoenstatt contribute effectively to the unity between the Churches of the East and the West.

- Show the International Schoenstatt Movement the way to the Eastern Catholic and Orthodox Churches and grant all Schoenstatt communities graces and vocations for this mission.

- Grant that the future Apostolic World Federation of St. Vincent Pallotti may also include the Christians of the Orient, as it was the wish of Father Kentenich.

- Bless and strengthen all those who work in the spirit of the mission for the East, that Father Kentenich may soon be honored as Saint of Unity through out the universal Church.

- Strengthen those Christians in the East who suffer for the sake of their faith. Awaken our hearts that we may help them continuously with our prayers and deeds of fraternal charity.

- Give to the Christians in the West the readiness to be enriched by the mystical depth and supernatural orientation of the Christian East, and let the salvific mission of the West once again become a blessing for the world.

- Fulfill the desire of Father Kentenich that all minds unite in truth and all hearts become one in love.

Lord our God, your mercy is infinite and your love knows no bounds. Accept these petitions through the hands of our Mother Thrice Admirable, Queen and Victress of Schoenstatt and glorify yourself from all Shrines.

For all honor, all gratitude and all adoration is due to you, most merciful Father, to your all-loving Son, and to the life-giving Holy Spirit, now and always, for all eternity. Amen.


Other Prayers and Suggestions

1. Thursday – Day for the East

Every Thursday, the Eastern Cross is placed in the Original Shrine and in many other Schoenstatt Shrines as a reminder to pray, to offer sacrifices, and to work in the spirit of Schoenstatt’s mission for the East, in memory of Holy Thursday, when Jesus, at the Last Supper, instituted the Holy Eucharist as the sacrament of unity and asked his father „that all may be one“ (Jn. 17:21).

2. Prayers by Father Kentenich for Unity

Grant, o God, that all minds unite in truth and all hearts become one in love.

Let us work towards unity with the Churches of the East so that the sun of peace may shine in the world. Mother, I place this petition into your heart. Take my prayer heavenward to the Father.
(Dachau prayers)

3. Prayers to Jesus and Mary

There is a widespread custom among priests and lay people in the Churches of the East to recite frequently during the day these prayers:

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me!

Most Holy Mother of God and Blessed Virgin, I greet you!
(We may add: ...greet me also and help the Christians in the East.)

Prayer that Father Kentenich often said while in Dachau:

Mother, greet me!

(He did this, recalling the great things that happened when Our Lady greeted Elizabeth, mother of St. John, the Baptist.)

We may silently say these prayers during the day, even at work, if possible. Thus our daily lives become more related to God and will draw God’s blessing upon us and our fellow-men.

Schoenstatt Prayers for the East are available at the Schoenstatt Center, Waukesha, Wisconsin USA. - With ecclesiastical approval for private use. Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Sept. 8, 1981.
Rev. Msgr. Sylvester F. Gass, Vicar General.

Dieser Gebetstext und weitere Informationen sind erhältlich beim:
Ostsekretariat Maria Mater Schönstatt, Hillscheider Str. 9, 56179 Vallendar
http://www.schoenstatt-patres.de/grill/ostsekretariat/ostfuerbitten/ostfuerb_eng.htm

Thirty Days' Prayer to St. Joseph

for any special intention.

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenseless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. Look kindly on my request. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection.

Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favor I ask.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to take our nature and to be born into this world of sorrow.

I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the holy Virgin, nor a place where the Son of God could be born. Then, being everywhere refused, you had to allow the Queen of Heaven to give birth to the world's Redeemer in a cave.

I ask it by the loveliness and power of that sacred Name, Jesus, which you conferred on the adorable Infant.

I ask it by that painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon,which declared the Child Jesus and his holy Mother future victims of our sins and of their great love for us.

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies. From their evil plan you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother into Egypt. I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all your care to protect the Sacred Child and His Immaculate Mother during your second journey, when you were ordered to return to your own country. I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys and sorrows.

I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you andHis Mother for three days. I ask it by your joy at finding Him in the Temple,and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of the Child Jesus. I ask it by the wonderful submission He showed in His obedience to you.

I ask it by the perfect love and conformity you showed in accepting the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary. I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world,triumphant over death and hell, entered into the possession of His kingdom and led you into it with special honors.

I ask it through Mary's glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you have with her in the presence of God.

O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.)

Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers everything that is useful to them in the plan of God. Finally, my dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of

"JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH,
A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead,
by your kind patronage from danger freed."

This prayer may be said during any 30 days of the year.

The Josephites
Priests & Brothers
1130 N. Calvert Street
Baltimore, MD 21202
http://www.josephite.com/

With permission of:
Very Rev. John L. M. Filippelli, SSJ, Superior General

NIHIL OBSTAT:
Rev. Msgr. Carroll E. Satterfield, Censor Librorum

IMPRIMATUR:
His Eminence Lawrence Cardinal Shehan, Archbishop of Baltimore