Saturday, December 04, 2010

Prayers to St. Dominic Savio

St. Dominic Savio - Stained Glass Window
St. Jude Catholic Church, Hopatcong, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayers to St. Dominic Savio - 2 Hearts Network

Prayer to St. Dominic Savio, Patron of Choir Boys

Great model for God-loving boys and cherished pupil of the famous Don Bosco, who died prematurely, humanly speaking, but you had already attained mature spiritual wisdom. Your kindness won you many friends but your love above all sought the Master who is present in our tabernacles. His praises you Eucharistically sang. Make choir boys be singers like you for the love of Jesus, our most loving Master. Amen.

Prayer to Saint Dominic Savio

Dear Saint Dominic, you spent your short life totally for love of Jesus and His Mother. Help youth today to realize the importance of God in their lives. You became a saint through fervent participation in the sacraments, enlighten parents and children to the importance of frequent confession and Holy Communion. At a young age you meditated on the sorrowful Passion of Our Lord. Obtain for us the grace of a fervent desire to suffer for love of Him.

We desperately need your intercession to protect today's children from the snares of the world. Watch over them and lead them on the narrow road to Heaven. Ask God to give us the grace to sanctify our daily duties by performing them perfectly out of love for Him. Remind us of the necessity of practicing virtue especially in times of trial.

Saint Dominic Savio, you who preserved your Baptismal innocence of heart, pray for us.

Read More: Biography of St. Dominic Savio


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Prayers to St. Frances Xavier Cabrini

St. Frances Cabrini - Stained Glass Window
St. Jude Catholic Church, Hopatcong, NJ
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer for Immigrants 

How much there can be in a name is most clearly shown in you who was called Frances Xavier, thus expressing your wonderful missionary spirit.

An emigrant from Lombardi in Italy, you in turn took care of immigrants.

You founded the Missionary Sisters and became the first American citizen to be canonized a Saint. Make us dedicated servants of God like yourself and care for the immigrants who need your help. Amen.

Intercessory Prayer

Almighty and eternal Father, Giver of all Gifts, show us Thy mercy, and grant, we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy faithful servant, Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, that all who invoke her intercession may obtain what they desire according to the good pleasure of Thy Holy Will. (mention your request).

St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, beloved spouse of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, intercede for us that the favor we now ask may be granted. Amen.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

Saint Francesa Saverio Cabrini (July 15, 1850, Sant'Angelo Lodigiano, Lombardy – December 22, 1917), also called Mother Cabrini, was the first American citizen to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church.

Francesca Cabrini was born in Sant'Angelo Lodigiano Lombardy, Italy, tenth of eleven children from Agostino Cabrini and Stella Oldini who were cherry tree farmers. Sadly only four of eleven survived beyond adolescence. Small and weak as a child, born two months premature, she remained in delicate health throughout her 67 years.

Cabrini took religious vows in 1877 and added Xavier to her name to honor the Jesuit saint, Francis Xavier. She became the mother superior of the House of Providence orphanage in Codogno, where she taught.

In 1880, the orphanage was closed. She and six other sisters that took religious vows with her founded the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC) on November 14. Mother Cabrini composed the rules and constitution of the order, and she continued as its superior-general until her death. The order established seven homes and a free school and nursery in its first five years. Its good works brought Mother Cabrini to the attention of Giovanni Scalabrini, bishop of Piacenza and of Pope Leo XIII.

The Pope sent Cabrini to New York City on March 31, 1889, to help the Italian immigrants there "Not to the East but to the West". There, she obtained the permission of Archbishop Michael Corrigan to found an orphanage, which is located in West Park, Ulster County, New York, today and is known as Saint Cabrini Home, the first of 67 institutions she founded in New York, Chicago, Des Plaines, Seattle, New Orleans, Denver, Golden, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and in countries throughout South America and Europe. Long after her death, the Missionary Sisters would achieve Mother Cabrini's goal of being a missionary to China. In only a short time, after much social and religious upheaval there, the sisters left China and, subsequently, a Siberian placement. The sisters opened Columbus Extension Hospital (later renamed Saint Cabrini Hospital) in the heart of the city’s Italian neighborhood on the Near West Side. Both hospitals eventually closed near the end of the 20th century. Their foundress’s name lives on via Chicago's Cabrini Street.

Cabrini was naturalized as a US citizen in 1909.

Mother Cabrini died of complications from dysentery at age 67 in Columbus Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on December 22, 1917. By that time, she had founded 67 missionary institutions to serve the sick and poor and train additional nuns to carry on the work. Her body was originally interred at Saint Cabrini Home, an orphanage she founded in West Park, Ulster County, New York,

In 1931, her body was exhumed, found to be partially incorrupt and is now enshrined under glass in the altar at St. Frances Cabrini Shrine, part of Mother Cabrini High School, at 701 Fort Washington Avenue, in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. The street to the west of the shrine was renamed Cabrini Boulevard in her honor. Another Mother Cabrini Shrine can be found in Golden, Colorado

Cabrini was beatified on November 13, 1938, and canonized on July 7, 1946, by Pope Pius XII.

Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini is the patron saint of immigrants. Her beatification miracle involved the restoration of sight to a child who had been blinded by excess silver nitrate in the eyes. Her canonization miracle involved the healing of a terminally ill nun.

The date fixed at the universal level for Mother Cabrini's feast day is November 13, the day of her beatification. In the pre-1970 calendar, still used by some, the date was December 22, the day of her birth to heaven, and so the day normally chosen for a saint's feast day. Other dates may be assigned at a local level.

Chicago's Cabrini–Green housing project, which has since been mostly torn down, was named after her, due to her work with Italian immigrants in the location. It has since become a haven for underprivileged and poor people and the MSC sisters still work there.

Cabrini College, in Radnor, Pennsylvania, also bears her name, as does Cabrini High School in New Orleans, and Cabrini Medical Center and Mother Cabrini High School in Manhattan, New York City.

The Cabrini Mission Foundation is an organization committed to advancing St. Frances Xavier Cabrini's mission and legacy of healing, teaching, and caring around the world. The Central Station of Milan is now named Stazione Francesca Cabrini.


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Thursday, December 02, 2010

St. Gertrude's Guardian Angel Prayer


Stained Glass Window Art
Photograph by Loci B. Lenar

St. Gertrude's Guardian Angel Prayer

O most holy angel of God, appointed by God to be my guardian, I give you thanks for all the benefits which you have ever bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and glorify you that you condescended to assist me with such patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assaults of my enemies. Blessed be the hour in which you were assigned me for my guardian, my defender and my patron. In acknowledgement and return for all your loving ministries to me, I offer you the infinitely precious and noble heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey you henceforward, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.

***

The stained glass window art portrays an angel which can be seen inside of St. Vincent Martyr Church. The Catholic church is located on 26 Green Village Road, Madison, New Jersey.

Photograph Copyright 2010 Loci B. Lenar
Christian-Miracles.com


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Wednesday, December 01, 2010

How to Request God's Help and Blessings through Prayer


Stained Glass Window of Jesus - Photo by Loci B. Lenar

Prayer is the Key to God's Blessings and Gifts - Christian-Miracles.com

By Loci B. Lenar

In order for prayer to be effective, it's very important to pray from the heart and to pray daily. It's also equally important to ask God to forgive you of all sins. Reconcile with God; ask him to cleanse your heart and soul by washing away all the sins through the precious blood of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Forgiving others is also necessary in order to remove barriers that may impede our prayers from being answered. Ask our Lord to heal the emotional wounds caused by others which might still linger in your heart and memory. Forgiveness is important - free yourself of anger and bitterness by releasing it to God's care. Our Lord will heal the emotional scars and set you free to move forward.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit, you will experience God's peace as a consolation.

Trust God and wait for his timing to answer your prayers.

Attending weekly worship services at church or Holy Mass will open the windows of heaven for God to pour out His graces and blessings. Consider receiving communion or the Holy Eucharist. When we take a leap of faith, God will embrace us with His merciful love and also bless us with His divine gifts.

Please consider using daily devotional prayers to obtain God's help.  Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will also intervene by intercessory prayers made through the Blessed Mother and Holy Saints.

For a selection of prayers, please visit the following link: Devotional Prayers

If you or someone else has a health issue, the bible speaks of God working through physicians. Although God can heal us with a miracle, he indeed works through modern medicine as well.

The following scripture is noted from Sirach 38:1-15:

Honor physicians for their services, for the Lord created them; for their gift of healing comes from the Most High, and they are rewarded by the king. The skill of physicians makes them distinguished, and in the presence of the great they are admired. The Lord created medicines out of the earth, and the sensible will not despise them. Was not water made sweet with a tree in order that its power might be known? And he gave skill to human beings that he might be glorified in his marvelous works. By them the physician heals and takes away pain; the pharmacist makes a mixture from them. God's works will never be finished; and from him health spreads over all the earth. My child, when you are ill, do not delay, but pray to the Lord, and he will heal you. Give up your faults and direct your hands rightly, and cleanse your heart from all sin. Offer a sweet-smelling sacrifice, and a memorial portion of choice flour, and pour oil on your offering, as much as you can afford. Then give the physician his place, for the Lord created him; do not let him leave you, for you need him. There may come a time when recovery lies in the hands of physicians, for they too pray to the Lord that he grant them success in diagnosis and in healing, for the sake of preserving life. He who sins against his Maker, will be defiant toward the physician.

If you're struggling with finances, put your faith and trust into God's hand.

And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19.

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:7)

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. (Jeremiah 29:11)

Whatever difficulty you may be encountering, let God take it over. Let him take control in order to help resolve the problem.

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. (Psalm 55:22)

Be patient when praying and wait for God to answer because His timing can be different from ours. Let him prepare and make a way!

Regarding prayer, Jesus said in Matthew 18:19-20, "Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst."

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. (Philippians 4:6)

Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:16)

You may submit your prayer requests to Christian-Miracles.com by visiting the following link: Pray for Me

May God the Father answer your prayers through his divine son, Jesus Christ and by the intercession of the Blessed Mother and Holy Saints.

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Anglican Church in Canada says 'Yes' to Catholic Invitation

Anglican Church in Canada says 'Yes' to Catholic Invitation - International - Catholic Online

(The photograph and following excerpt is a wonderful example of various Christian denominations which are now coming into full communion with the Catholic Church.  It is certainly a clear sign of God's unfolding plan to move forward with Christian Unity.      -Loci B. Lenar)

By Randy Sly

St. John the Evangelist to Join the Anglican Ordinariate

"We accept, unreservedly and with humility and gratitude, the invitation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus in a corporate manner. " (From the motion voted upon by the parish)

WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - On November 21, 2010 the members of St. John the Evangelist parish in Calgary, Alberta, Canada voted 90 percent in favor of joining the Roman Catholic Church.

The vote ended a nearly nine-month period of exploration and discernment by the Rector and Vestry authorized at the Annual Parochial Meeting in February.

The preamble to the motion set before the parish stated, "On 16th February 1993 the Rector, Wardens and Vestry of the Parish of St John the Evangelist, Calgary adopted a Mission Statement which committed us to 'faithfulness to Scripture and Holy Tradition . . . based on traditional classical Anglicanism,' the faith of which was to be expressed in 'living traditional Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book worship.'

"While holding firm to these principles ever since, theological, ecclesiological and sacramental developments within the Anglican Communion over nearly forty years have led us, as a Parish, walking, in peace and in love, a different path from that of the Anglican Church of Canada as it now stands."

The motion stated, "We accept, unreservedly and with humility and gratitude, the invitation of His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI to enter into the full communion of the Catholic Church through the provisions of Anglicanorum Coetibus in a corporate manner.

The Rector, Fr. Lee Kenyon, told the Calgary Herald that this was not a reactionary move. "We didn't vote to leave the Anglican Church of Canada," he stated. "We voted to accept the invitation of the Pope."

Kenyon, who is married and has two children, will be ordained as a Catholic priest through the Ordinariate.

Read More: Catholic Invitation


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Pope Benedict XVI Composes Prayer for the Unborn

Pope Benedict XVI composes prayer for the unborn - Catholic News Agency (CNA)

The following news item appeared on the Catholic News Agency:

Vatican City - CNA - The Pope prayed for the protection of life and the family at the conclusion of the Prayer Vigil for the Unborn on Nov. 27. The prayer, which was composed by Benedict XVI, asks God to bless families and to inspire society to embrace each and every life.

Below is the complete prayer translated into English by Vatican Radio:

Lord Jesus,
You who faithfully visit and fulfill with your Presence
the Church and the history of men;
You who in the miraculous Sacrament of your Body and Blood
render us participants in divine Life
and allow us a foretaste of the joy of eternal Life;
We adore and bless you.

Prostrated before You, source and lover of Life,
truly present and alive among us, we beg you.

Reawaken in us respect for every unborn life,
make us capable of seeing in the fruit of the maternal womb
the miraculous work of the Creator,
open our hearts to generously welcoming every child
that comes into life.

Bless all families,
sanctify the union of spouses,
render fruitful their love.

Accompany the choices of legislative assemblies
with the light of your Spirit,
so that peoples and nations may recognize and respect
the sacred nature of life, of every human life.

Guide the work of scientists and doctors,
so that all progress contributes to the integral well-being of the person,
and no one endures suppression or injustice.

Give creative charity to administrators and economists,
so they may realize and promote sufficient conditions
so that young families can serenely embrace
the birth of new children.

Console the married couples who suffer
because they are unable to have children
and in Your goodness provide for them.

Teach us all to care for orphaned or abandoned children,
so they may experience the warmth of your Charity,
the consolation of your divine Heart.

Together with Mary, Your Mother, the great believer,
in whose womb you took on our human nature,
we wait to receive from You, our Only True Good and Savior,
the strength to love and serve life,
in anticipation of living forever in You,
in communion with the Blessed Trinity.

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