On World Day of Prayer for Priests Pope Francis Answers Questions about His Own Vocation

The Holy Father Pope Francis met with Italian and Albanian children and teenagers today.  The children and teachers were invited to ask the Holy Father questions.  One child asked why the Holy Father chose to be a Jesuit and whether it was difficult to leave his family and friends behind.

Pope Francis responded that he wanted to be a Jesuit because he wanted to be a missionary and was attracted by the religious orders missionary zeal and activity.

The Pope went on to say, “Listen, it’s always difficult. Always. For me it has been difficult, it is not easy. But there are also beautiful times. Jesus helps you and gives you joy. But there are difficult moments, where you feel alone you feel dry, without inner joy. There are bad moments, of inner darkness. They do exist, but it’s so beautiful to follow Jesus and His path. It’s a balance that allows you to go forward and that’s when the beautiful moments come."

On this Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, I invite all reading this to say a quiet prayer in their hearts for all our priests and seminarians that they may grow in holiness and sanctity protected always by the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  

Thank you all!

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.

Saint Claude de la Colombière

In preparing for the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and in my readings about St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, a French Visitation nun, I stumbled upon a saint to whom I knew very little.  He was a Jesuit priest to whom Jesus directed St. Margaret Mary for help and direction.   

His name is Saint Claude de la Colombière.  Twenty one years ago today he was canonized by Bl. Pope John Paul II on the Feast of the Visitation.  As today is the Feast of the Visitation and St. Margaret Mary Alacoque was from the order dedicated to the Visitation  there seemed a wonderful connection between these two saints and todays Feast Day.  In reading more about St Claude I found a treasure of beautiful writing by this saint in the book The Spiritual Direction of Saint Claude de la Colombière1.  

Saint Claude’s writings regarding: 

Prayer 

In prayer always follow the attraction of your heart, whether God draws you to consider Our Lord’s Passion or the joys of heaven; you cannot do wrong in that....Continue to pray as you feel drawn, but do not worry about it, for worry comes from self-love. You must abandon yourself to the leading of God with no other intention than that of pleasing him, and when you know that you have this intention deep in your heart, you must not waste time in reflecting about yourself and about the degree of virtue you have attained; occupy yourself with him whom you love and bother very little about yourself.

Do not be either astonished or discouraged at the difficulties you find in prayer. Only be constant and submissive and God will be pleased with you.

How can we help our neighbor? By prayer and good works. Preaching is useless without grace, and grace is only obtained by prayer. If conversions are few, it is because few pray. Prayer for souls is so pleasing to God, it is as though we asked a mother to forgive her son.

Presence of God

I have promised with God’s grace not to begin any action without remembering that he is witness of it—that he performs it together with me and gives me the means to do it; never to conclude any without the same thought, offering it to him as belonging to him, and in the course of the action whenever the same thought shall occur, to stop for a moment and renew the desire of pleasing him.

Trials

God is touched by our sorrows and does not allow them to last for ever. He takes pleasure in trying our love for a time because he sees that trials purify us and render us worthy to receive his greater graces; but he considers our weakness, and one would even think that he suffered with us, so anxious is he to relieve us.

Hope and Confidence in God

My God, I am so intimately convinced that thou dost watch over all those who hope in thee, and that we can want for nothing while we expect all from thee, that I am resolved to live without anxiety in the future, casting all my care on thee.

1 Selections from The Spiritual Direction of Saint Claude de la Colombière, translated and arranged by Mother M. Philip, I.B.V.M., Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 1998

The Sacred Heart of Jesus: Hope, Love and Tenderness.

Today I really experienced the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for the first time.  I felt it in my heart and being.  Through prayer I had called upon Him and in His faithfulness He answered.  Like many of you I prayed the Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart the 9 days leading up to this Feast.  I prayed for the intentions of the children’s rosary that we may be His extended Hands and those of His mother.  I prayed that we would experience renewal of family prayer and spread it across the world.  I prayed that He would bring us many new members of the children’s rosary including those with disabilities.  I prayed for Love in my heart for my family, neighbor, and the Lord.  He heard all these things as He hears all our prayers.  However, on this Feast of His Sacred Heart He opened His mercy and Love and poured so much down that as a simple soul I was quite overwhelmed.  As I made my daily walk to Mass I could feel so much Love coming into my soul.  Tears filled my eyes and I kept telling the Lord that I am His for whatever His purpose.  Despite my tears I had such joy in my heart and hope.  So much hope for our tired world.  It is unmistakable when such hope enters your heart.  The problems of the world are not visible only a Trust and excitement.  An excitement to be part of the beauty the Lord has in store for us.  A deep thanksgiving permeates through ones heart that He is so generous to us.  

In Mass today  the priest prayed that we may move our faith from our minds to our hearts.  This is the beauty of the Feast today.  It is not about our understanding it is about His love.  From the second reading it is written: “to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge”(Ephesians 3:19).  

Our Lord comes on this Feast with a tenderness.  He speaks through the first reading: 

“When Israel was a child, I loved him(Hosea 11:1)

I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them(Hosea 11:3)

I will not execute my fierce anger”(Hosea 11:9) 

He willingly came and His heart was pieced that we may have access to Divine Love and Mercy.  From the gospel today, “But one of the soldiers pierced his side with a spear, and at once there came out blood and water”.(John 19:34)

Right before the consecration at Mass the priest said and I am slightly paraphrasing as I did not want to write anything at such a Holy time in Mass, God shows His love in concrete ways.  The word concrete resonated within me.  

I feel an urge inside to share the concrete ways the Lord has been showing his Love over the last day.  I want to share the joy with all of you because your prayers are helping further this renewal of our families.  You are an answer to a prayer just by reading this posting.  

Several weeks ago the Lord gave the children’s rosary a gift.  A young man at Mass who knows sign language accepted an invitation to translate our children’s rosary.  He came to our last rosary and we began praying through a novena to St. Smaldone the “Apostle of the deaf” and the novena to the Sacred Heart that the Lord bring us more disabled members to utilize this beautiful gift of John our translator.  After Mass on Thursday, the day the novenas were completed, I was walking toward the bus stop to go to work. A young man was standing one block up.  I recognized him immediately, he was a young disabled man from the bus with a significant hearing problem.  He has hearing aids which he wears.  I had wanted to invite him to the children’s rosary before but he was always far across the bus and there was never a chance.  Today he stood before me.  He had never been at this bus stop before.  He told me that he had just missed a different bus by seconds and that is why he was here.  Immediately I could see Divine providence at work.  I wasted no time in inviting him to our rosary.  Although he had once told me he is a Christmas and Easter Catholic, he was very receptive to the invitation and told me he would try and come to our next meeting.  His name is Mike and he works at an agency designed to help other disabled people.  My heart became so excited thinking of how each person is the needed in the chain of God’s plan.  Not to anticipate the Lord’s plan but we have been praying to bring disabled members to our rosary and here was Mike, a disabled person himself accepting an invitation to our rosary and every day he works with many more with disabilities.    The timing of all of this was what some may say a beautiful coincidence.  As I have said in previous posts,  there are no coincidences with God.  

This beautiful meeting with Mike came only moments after the gardener at our Parish had approached me and suggested that his prayer group of several couples at his home might like to come to the children’s rosary.  Minutes before that I had the opportunity to speak to some new friends who have recently joined our daily adult rosary after Mass.  All of them come from different countries and are thirsty to learn the prayers needed to say the rosary.  Several of them have young children and they are so eager to bring their children to our children’s rosary so that they might learn how to pray the Holy Rosary.  One of the mothers has a son in the fifth grade class who had received one of the Children’s Bibles donated by the children’s rosary.  She told me the saint that chose them was St. Milles.  She did not know that saint.  I recognized the Saint because my son was the one who had said the novena to him.  Later upon looking up the saint I found that the Saint was a martyr from the Persian Empire and died in the fourth century.  The family that was chosen by St. Milles is from Syria.  It occurred to me that the Persian empire was vast at that time and may have included the region of Syria.  As only 25 Bibles were given out I was quit sure this saint was the only one from that region of the world which was given out that evening.  Just one more wonderful coincidence to add to the list.

Later in the afternoon the phone rang, the director of the religious education was one the phone.  She said a gentleman had come to the rectory and had heard of the children’s rosary.  He was looking for a summer Bible study for his daughter.  He wanted to know when our children’s rosary met.  I gave her the information and our blog address.  I wondered if they too were one of the families who had received Bibles the previous night at the 5th grade graduation evening.

The Lord does show us in concrete ways His love.  He does desire as a friend that we show Him concrete ways that we love Him.  We can find him everyday at Holy Mass.  It is not a coincidence that the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus is within the Octave of the Feast of the Body and Blood of Jesus.  

There is so much hope and Blessing pouring upon us this day.  Jesus may we soak up every blessing and carry it to those who exist in darkness.  May our hearts become tender as the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  We thank the Lord for His kindness to us. Amen

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

"I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful Heart".

“Every one who is angry with his brother shall be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother shall be liable to the council, and whoever says, `You fool!' shall be liable to the hell of fire. So if you are offering your gift at the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.(Matthew 5:22-24)

This was the Gospel from today.  As I sat at my seat at Mass I was humbled by these words.  As I have shared with you in prior posting I am a parent who struggles every day with my children.  I pray and hope that I will grow into a beautiful mother but many days I struggle with love and patience.  Each week I find myself at confession trying, praying to be better than the week before.  Despite my efforts I do find myself before the Lord less than I could be.  It is at these times that my soul finds peace running to the protection of Jesus’ Mercy pouring from His Sacred Heart.  He has told Saint Faustina that sinners have first access to His mercy. Upon reflection I was not surprised that this reading comes before the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  In our weakness this is where we will find strength.  

These beautiful quotes from the Diary of St. Faustina console those of us who want to follow Our Lord but in our weakness stumble frequently. 

Let souls who are striving for perfection particularly adore My mercy, because the abundance of graces which I grant them flows from My mercy. I desire that these souls distinguish themselves by boundless trust in My mercy. I myself will attend to the sanctification of such souls. I will provide them with everything they will need to attain sanctity. (1578)

Have confidence, My child. Do not lose heart in coming for pardon, for I am always ready to forgive you. As often as you beg for it, you glorify My mercy. (Jesus to souls striving for perfection and holiness - 1488)

Today I heard the words: In the Old Covenant I sent prophets wielding thunderbolts to My people. Today I am sending you with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force Me to do so; My hand is reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice. Before the Day of Justice I am sending the Day of Mercy. (1588)

I remember reading the dairy some months ago where St. Faustina describes being at Mass.  Jesus was present on the altar.  At the time of consecration the priest disappeared.  When St. Faustina later asked Jesus where the priest had gone He answered that the priest was in His heart.  I cannot find the exact quote from the diary but recall the portion quite vividly.  It is a wonderful image as we go into the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus which has been named the World Day of Prayer for Priests.  The Children’s Rosary has offered tomorrow’s Mass at St. Thomas Apostle Church for The Holy Father and Priests.

Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

A week from this Friday is the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  In preparation for this Feast consider saying a novena in Honor of Jesus' Sacred Heart.

Efficacious Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus I. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, ask and you will receive, seek and you will find, knock and it will be opened to you." Behold I knock, I seek and ask for the grace of......(here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. II. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, if you ask anything of the Father in my name, he will give it to you." Behold, in your name, I ask the Father for the grace of.......(here name your request) Our Father...Hail Mary....Glory Be To the Father....Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. III. O my Jesus, you have said: "Truly I say to you, heaven and earth will pass away but my words will not pass away." Encouraged by your infallible words I now ask for the grace of.....(here name your request) Our Father....Hail Mary....Glory Be to the Father...Sacred Heart of Jesus, I place all my trust in you. O Sacred Heart of Jesus, for whom it is impossible not to have compassion on the afflicted, have pity on us miserable sinners and grant us the grace which we ask of you, through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, your tender Mother and ours. Say the Hail, Holy Queen* and add: St. Joseph, foster father of Jesus, pray for us. -- St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

*Hail, holy Queen, Mother of mercy, our life, our sweetness and our hope. To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve: to thee do we send up our sighs, mourning and weeping in this vale of tears. Turn then, most gracious Advocate, thine eyes of mercy toward us, and after this our exile, show unto us the blessed fruit of thy womb, Jesus, O clement, O loving, O sweet Virgin Mary. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ, Amen.

This Novena was prayed daily by Padre Pio for those who asked for his prayers.

Consider including our Children’s rosary petition in your novena.  Many thanks.

MAY THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY, THEIR FAMILIES, THOSE ASSOCIATED WITH THE CHILDREN’S ROSARY INCLUDING OUR PRIESTS, OUR BISHOP AND OUR HOLY FATHER THE POPE BE THE EXTENDED HANDS OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER AND HER SON.  MAY WE GATHER A GREAT MANY SOULS ESPECIALLY YOUNG PEOPLE FOR THE LORD.  MAY WE EXPERIENCE RENEWAL OF FAMILY PRAYER AND SPREAD IT ACROSS THE GLOBE. IN A SPECIAL WAY WE ASK THE HOLY SPIRIT TO GUIDE EACH ONE OF US ACCORDING TO THE WILL OF GOD.

To become a member of the children's rosary one only has to tell the Lord in their heart of their desire to be a part of our group.  You will then be included in all the novenas being said and all of the rosaries being prayed daily. 

You May also like these posts:

The Sacred Heart of Jesus:Hope, Love and Tenderness

Litany to the Sacred Heart

Consecration Prayer to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart

Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS 

O Jesus, we know that You are merciful (Mt. 11:29), 

and that You gave Your Heart for us, 

that was crowned with thorns by our sins; 

We know that even today You are still pleading 

with us so that we will not be lost. 

Jesus, remember us when we are in sin. 

By means of Your Sacred Heart, 

grant us, that all men love one another; 

Cause hatred to disappear among men. 

Show us Your love, 

for we all love You, 

and want You to protect us 

with your Shepherd’s Heart 

and free us from all sin. 

Jesus, enter into each heart. 

Knock on the door of our hearts. 

Be patient and unwearied with us. 

We are still closed, since we still have not 

yet understood Your love for us. 

Knock persistently and grant, O good Jesus, 

that we open our hearts to You, 

at least when we will have remembered the passion 

You suffered for us. Amen.

Litany to the Sacred Heart

In 1899 Pope Leo XIII approved this Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus for public use. This litany is actually a synthesis of several other litanies dating back to the 17th century. Father Croiset composed a litany in 1691 from which 17 invocations were used by Venerable Anne Madeleine Remuzat when she composed her litany in 1718 at Marseille. She joined an additional 10 invocations to those of Father Croiset, for a total of 27 invocations. Six more invocations written by Sister Madeleine Joly of Dijon in 1686 were added by the Sacred Congregation for Rites when it was approved for public use in 1899. This makes a total of 33 invocations, one for each year of life of our Lord Jesus Christ. A partial indulgence is attached to this litany. Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus V. Lord, have mercy on us.R. Christ, have mercy on us.  V. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. R. Christ, graciously hear us.  V. God the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, Son of the Eternal Father, have mercy on us. Heart of Jesus, formed by the Holy Spirit in the Virgin Mother's womb, [etc.] Heart of Jesus, substantially united to the Word of God. Heart of Jesus, of infinite majesty. Heart of Jesus, holy temple of God. Heart of Jesus, tabernacle of the Most High. Heart of Jesus, house of God and gate of heaven. Heart of Jesus, glowing furnace of charity. Heart of Jesus, vessel of justice and love. Heart of Jesus, full of goodness and love. Heart of Jesus, abyss of all virtues. Heart of Jesus, most worthy of all praise. Heart of Jesus, King and center of all hearts. Heart of Jesus, in whom are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Heart of Jesus, in whom dwells all the fullness of the Godhead. Heart of Jesus, in whom the Father was well pleased. Heart of Jesus, of whose fullness we have all received. Heart of Jesus, desire of the everlasting hills. Heart of Jesus, patient and rich in mercy. Heart of Jesus, rich to all who call upon You. Heart of Jesus, fount of life and holiness. Heart of Jesus, propitiation for our offenses. Heart of Jesus, overwhelmed with reproaches. Heart of Jesus, bruised for our iniquities. Heart of Jesus, obedient even unto death. Heart of Jesus, pierced with a lance. Heart of Jesus, source of all consolation. Heart of Jesus, our life and resurrection. Heart of Jesus, our peace and reconciliation. Heart of Jesus, victim for our sins. Heart of Jesus, salvation of those who hope in You. Heart of Jesus, hope of those who die in You. Heart of Jesus, delight of all saints. V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,R. spare us, O Lord. V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,R. graciously hear us, O Lord. V. Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world,R. have mercy on us. V. Jesus, meek and humble of Heart,R. Make our hearts like unto Thine. Let us pray. Almighty and eternal God, look upon the Heart of Thy most beloved Son and upon the praises and satisfaction which He offers Thee in the name of sinners; and to those who implore Thy mercy, in Thy great goodness, grant forgiveness in the name of the same Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest with Thee forever and ever. Amen. Taken from the EWTN Website

Month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The Entire Month of June is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

The Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus falls on June 15th 2012

The late Pope John Paul II said in the canonization speech of Claude de la Colombiere, the Spiritual director of St. Margaret Mary Alocoque,"For evangelization today, the Heart of Christ must be recognized as the heart of the Church: It is He who calls us to conversion, to reconciliation. It is He who leads pure hearts and those hungering for justice along the way of the Beatitudes. It is He who achieves the warm communion of the members of the one Body. It is He who enables us to adhere to the Good News and to accept the promise of eternal life. It is He who sends us out on mission. The heart-to-heart with Jesus broadens the human heart on a global scale."(May 31 1992)

Subsequent posts this month will involve different ways of honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus such as Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Novena to the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

Pope Benedict XVI attends a meeting at his private library May 28, 2012, in Vatican City. (Vatican Pool via Getty Images)

The Holy Father’s Intentions for the Month of June 2012:

General: That believers may recognize in the Eucharist the living presence of the Risen One who accompanies them in daily life.

Missionary: That Christians in Europe may rediscover their true identity and participate with greater enthusiasm in the proclamation of the Gospel. 

First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

The object of this devotion is to Love our Savior and make reparation for the outrages offered to Him in the past as well as those which He receives daily in the Blessed Eucharist.

The following are efficacious in honoring the Sacred Heart of Jesus:

The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament

Act of Consecration to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Act of Reparation

Litany to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacrament of Reconciliation

St Margaret Mary

The Promises of the Sacred Heart of Jesus to St. Margaret Mary Alacoque

1. "I will give them all the graces necessary in their state of life." 
2. "I will establish peace in their homes." 
3. "I will comfort them in their afflictions." 
4. "I will be their secure refuge during life, and above all in death."
5. "I will bestow a large blessing upon all their undertakings."
6. "Sinners shall find in My Heart the source and the infinite ocean of mercy." 
7. "Tepid souls shall grow fervent." 
8. "Fervent souls shall quickly mount to high perfection." 
9. "I will bless every place where a picture of My Heart shall be set up and honored." 
10. "I will give to priests the gift of touching the most hardened hearts." 
11. "Those who shall promote this devotion shall have their names written in My Heart, never to be blotted out." 
12. "I promise thee in the excessive mercy of My Heart that My all-powerful love will grant to all those who communicate on the First Friday in nine consecutive months, the grace of final penitence; they shall not die in My disgrace nor without receiving the Sacraments; My Divine heart shall be their safe refuge in this last moment."