Novena for Christian Unity January 18-26th 2021

 

Novena for Christian Unity through the Intercession of Bl. Maria Gabriella  

God please hear our supplication through the intercession of Bl. Maria Gabriella for Christian unity. May each of us and the Children's Rosary be an instrument in Your hands to knit all that has been pulled apart into one tapestry of prayer, love and peace doing all according to Your holy Will. 

Remembering the words from Scripture when Our Lord prayed, "May all be one; even as You Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me". (John 17:21) Amen.

For 9 days, please say 3 Glory Be prayers each day accompanied by the prayer above.

The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity begins on January 18th 2021. We therefore thought it timely to pray in a special way for Christian Unity in a Novena.  As Bl. Gabriella dedicated her life for the intention of Christian Unity it seemed particularly special to pray through her intercession. 

A Rosary will be prayed each day of the novena before a first class relic of Bl. Gabriella for the intention above and for those individuals joining us in this novena. 

Bl. Gabriella was born in 1914 and died at the age of 25 in 1939.  She was beatified on January 25th by Pope John Paul II 1983.

A Treasure

 

Dear Friends,

Today marks the end of the first week of the Consecration being led by Bishop Johns Keenan of Scotland. The evenings have been, put simply, a treasure. Each night at 9PM local time in Scotland Bishop Keenan comes to speak to us by candle light. As one of our Shepherds, he calls us, the flock, to draw near to him. With joy he has led us in prayer and reflection through the first week of our 33 Day journey. As the book begins with an allegory, Bishop Keenan has used the daily readings in the book and the allegory as a foundation by which he can share yet some of his personal stories to help us understand even more deeply. In many ways, it feels as though we are one of the early apostles drawing close at the fire to hear Our Lord explain all He wishes to teach us. To have a Bishop who so loves Our Lord and Our Lady want to be with us in such a personal way is heart warming. One of the people wrote last night in the comment section "Thank you Bishop John. Its been a long time since I have felt so peaceful and loved before going to sleep." 

      Please consider joining this Consecration. The links to the first 8 days are below. It is never too late to begin. Our Lady wants to help us reach her Son and this Consecration journey is the request we make for this help. 
Day 1 https://fb.watch/2W9kVh1jq5/
Day 2 https://fb.watch/2Xa1lG_quV/  
Day 3 https://fb.watch/2YwrVjwSe1/
Day 4 https://fb.watch/2-WKjd2H-0/
Day 5: https://fb.watch/30e9OxzhqK/
Day 6: https://fb.watch/30rFu3r-ld/
Day 7: https://fb.watch/31MjekCybL/
Day 8: https://fb.watch/333c7C_mp_/

     To join Bishop Keenan live each day at 9PM local time in Scotland (4PM ET), visit his Facebook page. We also have been posting the recordings each day on the website for the Child Consecration book: https://childconsecration.com. If you click on the link to view the online Consecration journey, you will be presented with a list of the 33 days of the Consecration. At the bottom of each day of the online Consecration there is a link to watch Bishop Keenan lead the prayers and the readings of that day.

People from all over the world have been joining this Consecration. We have seen comments posted from Australia, Ireland, England, the United States, Austria, Poland, and throughout Scotland. This is in addition to the children joining from many schools in the Paisley Diocese of Scotland as well as priests and parishioners. We thank all those who have joined us, and invite we those that have not yet to come along with us. 

Bishop Keenan is using the book Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower.  

To order through EWTN click HERE and for EWTN Great Britain click  HERE.

For more information about the Child Consecration book visit childconsecration.com

Thank you

Your Friend in Christ,
Blythe

Day of Prayer Offered for the Children's Rosary on January 10, 2021

 

We received beautiful news today. The Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama surprised us with a day of prayer for the Children's Rosary. This was an unexpected gift on this beautiful Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. We have been able to visit the sisters several times during our visits to EWTN. We have kept in contact with them through letters. Recently, we shared with them our new book Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower.

We thank the sisters for their prayers and pray for blessings for them.

Personal Invitation from Bishop Keenan

 

Click HERE to watch the invitation video

Dear Friends,
Please consider joining this upcoming Consecration beginning January 9th. It is a perfect way to begin the New Year. After watching this invitation video from Bishop Keenan of Scotland, the Deacon of my parish jokingly remarked, "I could listen to him read the phonebook!" Indeed we are blessed to have Bishop Keenan lead us through the Consecration. He is a Shepherd who has great love for his flock. He will be praying for us as we make the journey. I, too, will be praying for all who join us in prayer for these 33 Days. 

Bishop Keenan has chosen to use the book Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower for his personal Consecration this year.  He will be beginning this journey on January 9th and concluding on February 11th: the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. He is inviting priests, adults, and children to join him in this Consecration journey. This is a very personal invitation from one of our Shepherds to his diocese and beyond. 

The book approaches Consecration through a lens of spirituality identified by St. Thérèse which helps a soul grow in the beautiful virtues of simplicity, confidence, and trust.  Bishop Keenan plans to do the prayers and readings of the 33 Day Consecration LIVE each night on his Facebook page. He will read them at 9PM local time in Scotland which is 4PM ET. This will allow many in the US and around the world to pray along with him. In a special way, he is inviting priests, adults, and children to join him. He has invited the schools of his diocese to join him, and 12 schools have responded that they will be doing the Consecration. 

We hope many will consider joining Bishop Keenan on this Consecration journey to Jesus through Mary, following in the spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower.

Thank you

Your Friend in Christ,
Blythe

Happy Birthday St. Thérèse!

January 2nd is the Birthday of St. Thérèse the Little Flower.

Spending time contemplating the birth of Our Lord this year, I was brought to meditate on the incredible simplicity and trust of Mary and Joseph. This simplicity of spirit is something that St. Thérèse embraced and witnessed beautifully throughout her life. To grow in simplicity, confidence, and trust is surely pleasing to Our Lord who gave to us these wonderful role models in the Holy Family and St. Thérèse, who is a Doctor of the Church. The recently released book, Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower, approaches Consecration through a lens of spirituality identified by St. Thérèse that helps a soul grow in those beautiful virtues of simplicity, confidence, and trust. 

Bishop Keenan of Scotland has chosen to use the book Child Consecration: To Jesus through Mary—Following in the Spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower for his personal Consecration this year.  He will be beginning this journey January 9th and concluding on February 11th: the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. He is inviting priests, adults, and children to join him in this Consecration journey. This is a very personal invitation from one of our Shepherds to his diocese and beyond. 

There is something very timely about finishing the Consecration journey on a Marian Feast that honors Our Lady under a title most often associated with healing. There is great need for both spiritual and physical healing today. 

Bishop Keenan plans to do the prayers and readings of the 33 Day Consecration LIVE each night on his Facebook page. He will read them at 9PM local time in Scotland which would be 4PM ET. This would allow many in the US and around the world to pray along with him. In a special way, he is inviting priests, adults, and children to join him. He has already invited the schools of his diocese to join him, and 12 schools have already responded that they will be doing the Consecration. 

We hope many will consider joining Bishop Keenan on this Consecration journey to Jesus through Mary, following in the spirit of St. Thérèse, the Little Flower.

For more information and to order the book visit https://childconsecration.com

"We offered prayers and Mass for all members of the Children's Rosary all over the world"

 

Today we received the wonderful message from Br. Cleophus, "We offered prayers and Mass for all members of he Children's Rosary all over the world." The Mass was celebrated by Fr. Wilson Wachira at St. Mary's Church in Simba, Kenya at 10 AM local time. We thank Br. Cleophus, Fr. Wachira, and the children for their prayers and this wonderful gift. During the summer of 2019, we were able to visit Br. Cleophus, Fr. Wachira and the children from St. Mary's Church in Simba. It was a very special experience to spend time with them.

Br. Cleophus is pictured above in white. 

Christmas Peace 1914

A few members of my family love history. Recently our youngest son, age 13, shared a story with us. It is the story of Christmas 1914. World War I was raging and on the Western Front something beautiful happened. Beginning on Christmas eve, soldiers on both sides began singing Christmas Carols. The following day two-thirds of the front observed a truce. Fighting stopped. Some soldiers even ventured into no-man's-land to share gifts with their enemies. It is reported a games of soccer was played between members of the German Royal Saxon Regiment and the Scottish Seaford Highlanders. The Germans won the game three to two. 

It is reported that in some places the truce lasted a week. 

Peace is a great gift and it is one that our Prince of Peace is most eager to give us but we need to ask for this gift. Even in the midst of World War I Christmas Peace was felt.

Source for artwork: A.C. Michael - Guardian. Originally published in The Illustrated London News 1915.