Congratulations Fr. McDermott!

Members of the Children's Rosary at Fr. McDermott's
Ordination on April 25th 2015

Yesterday was the first Mass of Fr. Johnn McDermott MSA.  For the past two years he has been assigned to the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception in Waterbury, Connecticut USA as a Deacon.  During this time he has been wonderfully supportive of the Children's Rosary at the Basilica. Several times, such as the Feast of St. Nicholas, he shared with the children and those adults present for the Children's Rosary special stories on topics dear to him such as Our Lady. He spoke of times through history when Popes have called the faithful to pray the Rosary for special intentions.  Yesterday the children were there to support him.  Two of our members were his altar boys and looking out there were lots of little faces who have been praying for him though his studies. 

Being able to attend Fr. McDermott's first Mass one could feel very quickly his genuine humility.  The love and reverence he shared through the sacrifice of the Mass was indeed extremely moving.  At the conclusion of the Mass I was able to ask for one of Fr. McDermott's first blessings and in a special way I asked him to bless the Children's Rosary as a whole. 

Other posts you may enjoy:

How to Start a Children's Rosary

Finding Answers to Our Spiritual Questions in the Garden

Vocation of Motherhood

Priest and His Rosary Make National News

On August 4th Katie Lentz was in a horrible car accident that left her trapped in her car.  Rescuers arrived and were unable to pull her from the damaged car. For hours they struggled to free her.  The area was blocked off and no one was allowed to approach the scene unless they were involved in the rescue.  While Katie was trapped in her car she asked those present to pray with her.  Then rescue workers say they saw a priest approach the car anoint her and quietly step to the side with a rosary in hand and prayed for her.  More efforts proved successful and Katie was pulled from the mangled car.  She was airlifted to a medical center.  When the rescuers later looked for the priest he was gone.  Some speculated it was an angel, a Saint or Jesus himself.  Days later the identity of the priest was revealed when he was reading the National Catholic Register and posted a comment identifying himself as the priest.    

He is Father Patrick Dowling from the Diocese of Jefferson City, Missouri.  He was driving when he saw emergency vehicles.  He walked up and spoke to the Sherif who gave him permission to enter the scene.  He went to Katie trapped in the car and anointed her providing absolution and then took up his Rosary to pray for her.  Humbly Fr. Dowling was quick to point out to the Catholic News Agency that he was one of many who were praying for Katie's safety. 

This story has taken the attention of many in the US and beyond.  It is a beautiful good samaritan story.  It is a wonderful thing when a person’s actions are so pure that they are mistaken for an angel or Our Lord Himself.  Fr. Dowling was quick to pull out his Rosary which was clearly handy in his pocket.  The Rosary and Our Lady are always leading us to become more like her Son through the frequent time spent with her contemplating Jesus’ life. As Pope John Paul II was fond of quoting from Bl Bartolo Longo “Just as two friends, frequently in each other’s company, tend to develop similar habits, so too, by holding familiar converse with Jesus and the Blessed Virgin, by meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary and by living the same life in Holy Communion, we can become, to the extent of our lowliness, similar to them and can learn from these supreme models a life of humility, poverty, hiddenness, patience and perfection.” We thank Our Lord this day for our wonderful Shepherds who give of themselves and minister to us as Fr. Dowling so beautifully did for Katie. 

Seven Children's Rosary Groups to Meet Over the Next Three Days

FRIDAY (SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS):
The Children's Rosary at St. Peter Church in Steubenville, Ohio will meet Friday at 4:30 PM ET in the main Church.
The Children's Rosary at St. Joseph Church in Adrian, Michigan USA will meet Friday at 5PM ET in the main Church.

SATURDAY(MEMORIAL OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF  THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY)
The Children's Rosary at Holy Trinity Church in Nairobi, Kenya to hold their first meeting in the Church.
The Children's Rosary at Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Hartford, CT USA will hold their first Children's Rosary at 4PM ET.

SUNDAY
The Children's Rosary at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in South Windsor, CT USA to hold their monthly Rosary at 8:30 AM ET.
The Children's Rosary at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford, CT USA to meet at 9:45 in the Upper Church.
The Children's Rosary at St. Thomas Church in Thomaston, CT USA to hold their weekly Children's Rosary at 11AM with a reception to follow provided by the Legions of Mary.

PLEASE CONSIDER JOINING THE CHILDREN IN PRAYER FROM YOUR HOME.  THE CHILDREN ALWAYS PRAY FOR THOSE UNIFYING THEIR PRAYERS WITH THEM.

THE CHILDREN WILL ALSO BE PRAYING IN A SPECIAL WAY FOR OUR PRIESTS TOMORROW AS BLESSED JOHN PAUL II ESTABLISHED THAT ON THE SOLEMNITY OF THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS THE CHURCH WOULD OBSERVE A WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE SANCTIFICATION OF PRIESTS.

Patience When Answering the Call

Today while walking home from confession my eight year old son asked me if there was a particular school one has to go to become a priest.  I told him yes it is called a seminary.  He asked if he could enter that school now.  I told him unfortunately you have to graduate from high school first.  He asked when that would be and I told him he would be 18 years old.  To Kostin who is only 8 years old this seemed like a lifetime.  Well actually it is a lifetime to him as it is more time then he has actually be alive.  He said in a pleading voice that he wants to enter that school now as he so much wants to be a priest.  This is not the first time Kostin has expressed an interest in becoming a priest.  He has been talking about it since he was 6 but this summer he has become decided on it.

He has mentioned to me in the past that he is worried he will forget how much he wants to be a priest when he is old enough to become a priest.  Today as we walked home I suggested he write a letter to himself which we will seal and have him open when he is 18.  When we got home Kostin began writing and drawing.  He told me part of what he wanted to write was a picture.  Part of the picture would have a sun with an arrow pointing to it.  When I came back in the room the letter and picture were done and he had made an envelope already with a piece of paper.  He put the letter in and sealed it with tape.  He was very private about what was inside but he was purposeful and decided about it whatever it contains.  Kostin's experiences seem to be paralleling those of a dear friend who is also a member of the children's rosary.  She, however is 26 year old.  Her pursuits to find an order of nuns to join have not been fruitful.  She has found it difficult to find where she fits but inside her heart there is a deep longing to consecrate herself to Jesus.  She shares with me the pain that waiting brings.  To find fulfillment each day is a struggle when your heart seems to be calling you to a vocation.  Caitlin and Kostin share another thing, they both have a child's spirit.  Both are innocent to the world in many ways and look to the Lord for guidance in all that they do.  The struggles that they experience remind me of poor St. Rita who for years tried to enter a covenant after her husband died.  It was not until she was miraculously transported within the walks of a convent that she was finally accepted.  St. Faustina, too, experienced rejection from the first covenants that she tried to enter.

I pondered today on the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows why Our Lord places in certain hearts a burning desire to join Him in a consecrated life yet also commands them to wait, in some cases years.  I then think of His dear Blessed Mother who He loved beyond imagining and yet she herself had her heart pieced seven times.  Could it be that those chosen souls who are given the gift of suffering and longing are meant to reside in a special place in the Heart of Jesus.

Honoring Our Lady of Sorrows
Graces given to those who honor the sorrows of Mary
Litany to Our Lady of Sorrows

Favorite Quotes by John Marie Vianney

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions."

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

“Here is a rule for everyday life:Do not do anything which you cannot offer to God.”

Spiritual Communion

“A spiritual communion acts on the soul as blowing does on a cinder-covered fire which was about to go out.  Whenever you feel your love of God growing cold, quickly make a spiritual communion.”

Blessed Virgin Mary

"Jesus Christ, after having given us all he could give, that is to say, the merit of his toils, his sufferings, and bitter death; after having given us his adorable body and blood to be the food of our souls, willed also to give us the most precious thing he had let, which was his holy Mother,"

"When our hands have touched spices, they give fragrance to all they handle. Let us make our prayers pass through the hands of the Blessed Virgin. She will make them fragrant."

Priests

"If we had faith, we would see God hidden in the priest like a light behind glass, like wine mixed with water."

"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. When you see a priest, think of our Lord Jesus Christ."

Blessed Sacrament

"Every Consecrated Host is made to burn Itself up with love in a human heart,"

Of adoring Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament St. John Vianney has written:

"When we speak to Jesus with simplicity and with all our heart, He does like a mother who holds her child's head with her hands and covers it with kisses and caresses."

"The soul hungers for God, and nothing but God can satiate it. Therefore He came to dwell on earth and assumed a Body in order that this Body might become the Food of our souls,"

"I throw myself at the foot of the Tabernacle like a dog at the foot of his Master."

Prayer

"Man is a beggar who needs to ask God for everything."

"You cannot please both God and the world at the same time, They are utterly opposed to each other in their thoughts, their desires, and their actions."

"I tell you that you have less to suffer in following the cross than in serving the world and its pleasures."

“Here is a rule for everyday life:Do not do anything which you cannot offer to God.”

The Family

"I turn to you, dear parents, and implore you to imitate the Holy Family of Nazareth."

St. Thérèse's Prayer for Priests

St. Thérèse’s devotion to the Priesthood is to be found in all its fullness in a prayer which she used to say daily and which she learnt off by heart; this is all the more remarkable in view of her known distaste for lengthy set forms of prayer.

‘O Holy Father, may the torrents of love flowing from the sacred wounds of Thy Divine Son bring forth priests like unto the beloved disciple John who stood at the foot of the Cross; priests: who as a pledge of Thine own most tender love will lovingly give Thy Divine Son to the souls of men.

May Thy priests be faithful guardians of Thy Church, as John was of Mary, whom he received into his house. Taught by this loving Mother who suffered so much on Calvary, may they display a mother’s care and thoughtfulness towards Thy children. May they teach souls to enter into close union with Thee through Mary who, as the Gate of Heaven, is specially the guardian of the treasures of Thy Divine Heart.

Give us priests who are on fire, and who are true children of Mary, priests who will give Jesus to souls with the same tenderness and care with which Mary carried the Little Child of Bethlehem.

Mother of sorrows and of love, out of compassion for Thy beloved Son, open in our hearts deep wells of love, so that we may console Him and give Him a generation of priests formed in thy school and having all the tender thoughtfulness of thine own spotless love.’

World Day of Prayer For Priests

Blessed John Paul II has established that on the solemnity of the Sacred Heart the Church will observe the World Day of Prayer for the Sanctification of Priests. We are encouraged  to pray for our priests on this beautiful Feast of the Sacred Heart.

On behalf of all the members of the Children's Rosary across the globe the June 15th 8AM Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in West Hartford CT USA has been offered for the Holy Father and Priests.  

Please consider offering up prayers or a rosary for priests this day.
St. Thérèse's Prayer for Priests