Annunciation of Our Lord

Gospel
Lk 1:26-38
The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town
of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to
a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the
virgin’s name was Mary. And coming to her, he said,
“Hail, full of grace! The Lord is with you.”
But she was greatly troubled at what was said and
pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then
the angel said toher, “Do not be afraid, Mary,
for you have found favor with God. Behold, you will
conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall
name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called
Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him
the throne of David his father, and he will rule over
the house of Jacob forever, and of his Kingdom there
will be no end.” But Mary said to the angel, “How can
this be, since I have no relations with a man?” And
the angelsaid to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will
come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will
be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth,
your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age,
and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren;
for nothing will be impossible for God.” Mary said, “Behold,
I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according
to your word.” Then the angel departed from her.

O MARY, conceived without sin, prayer for us who have recourse to thee.
HOLY MARY, pray for us!
IMMACULATE HEART of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death.
SWEET HEART of Mary, be my salvation!
OUR LADY, Queen of Peace, pray for us!
-Saint Alphonsus Liguori

source,

Sorry for posting this so late...

Mahalo to Aunty Esther for tagging me!!! :-D

The rules are:

1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog.


What I was doing 10 years ago:
I don't really know.... :-)

Five things on my To Do List today: (not in any particular order)
1. Attend my little brother's practice for Confirmation
2. Bookstore!! :-D
3. Attend Mass!! :-D
4. Do whatever I need to do on the computer...
5. Read a new book! :-)

Snacks I enjoy:
Anything made in the house :-)

Things I would do if I were a billionaire:
uhh.... I think I'll be the same.... But I think I'll leave it up to mom and dad :-)

Three of my bad habits:
1. play around with my parents' camera!
2. wander far off in my thoughts when I'm supposed to pay attention to something...
3. forget my bag (or any other bag) in various places... :-)

Five places I have lived:
1. California
2. Hawaii
3.
4.
5.

Five jobs I’ve had:
1. Take care of lovebirds
2. help out in Church
3. volunteer to work at a monestery clean-up (outside the monestery)
4. photographer for Mom's pictures in her blog :-)
5. play the piano for Masses at a few parishes

I tag:

Pueo

Cy

Kaila

And... um, anyone else who would like to play too! :-D

Happy Easter!

It's been a long time since I've posted anything! Giving up some computer time was one of my Lenten resolutions... but it wasn't so hard for me. :-) The only thing that made me sad is that I didn't get to post anything about St. Joseph and St. Patrick! :-( Hope you all had a good time on those days anyway. :-)
I've been trying to experiment on a few things on this blog (like the picture on top), so there might be a few changes and more new things on the sidebar....

Hope all you readers out there have a wonderful and blessed Easter season!!! :-D

St. John of God

If we look forward to receiving God's mercy, we can never fail to do good so long as we have the strength. For is we share with the poor, out of love for God, whatever he has given to us, we shall receive according to his promise a hundredfold in eternal happiness. What a fine profit, what a blessed reward! With outstretched arms he begs us to turn toward him, to weep for our sins, and to become the servants of love, first for ourselves, then for our neighbors. Just as water extinguishes a fire, so love wipes away sin.

So many poor people come here that I very often wonder how we can care for them all, but Jesus Christ provides all things and nourishes everyone. Many of them come to the house of God, because the city of Granada is large and very cold, especially now in winter. More than a hundred and ten are now living here, sick and healthy, servants and pilgrims. Since this house is open to everyone, it receives the sick of every type and condition: the crippled, the disabled, lepers, mutes, the insane, paralytics, those suffering from scurvy and those bearing the afflictions of old age, many children, and above all countless pilgrims and travelers, who come here, and for whom we furnish the fire, water, and salt, as well as the utensils to cook their food. And for all of this no payment is requested, yet Christ provides.

I work here on borrowed money, a prisoner for the sake of Jesus Christ. And often my debts are so pressing that I dare not go out of the house for fear of being seized by my creditors. Whenever I see so many poor brothers and neighbors of mine suffering beyond their strength and overwhelmed with so many physical or mental ills which I cannot alleviate, then I become exceedingly sorrowful; but I trust in Christ, who knows my heart. And so I say, "Woe to the man who trusts in men rather than in Christ."

- from a letter written by Saint John of God

O God, You filled Saint John with the spirit of compassion. Grant that by practicing works of charity we may deserve to be numbered among the elect in Your Kingdom.

Amen.

source

Novena prayer to St. Joseph

Oh Saint Joseph whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the Throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.

Oh Saint Joseph, assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings through Jesus Christ, Our Lord; so that having engaged here below your Heavenly power I may offer my Thanksgiving and Homage to the Loving of Fathers.

Oh Saint Joseph, I never weary contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart.

Press Him in my name and kiss His fine Head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.

Saint Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for us.

Amen

Saint Katherine Drexel

"The patient and humble endurance of the cross whatever nature it may be is the highest work we have to do..... Oh, how far I am at 84 years of age from being an image of Jesus in his sacred life on earth!" - St. Katharine Drexel

Born to an extremely wealthy family, Katherine Marie Drexel (1858-1955) (often called Kate by her family members) was taught by her good parents to use her wealth for the benefit for others. The family even opened their house several days a week for the poor. Her sisters too did use their wealth for the benefit of others when they were older. Katherine's older sister opened a school in Pennsylvania for orphans, and her younger sister founded liberal arts school for the poor in Virginia. Katherine also had a favorite saint, St. Francis of Assisi.

Around the age of 25, Katherine was given a message by Our Lady, "Freely you have received; freely give."

Katherine became interested in the condition of the Native Americans so she asked Pope Leo XIII in 1887 to send more missionaries to Wyoming for a friend who was a Bishop. The Pope replied, "Why don't you become a missionary?"

So later, Katherine visited Dakota, helped in whatever the missionaries needed, and in the process she spent millions of the family fortune. She entered the novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy, and later founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament for Indians and Colored, but now it is simply called the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament. Katherine was advised by St. Frances Cabrini on getting the Order's rule approval in Rome.

By 1942 she had a system of black Catholic schools in 13 states, 40 mission centers, 23 rural schools, 50 Indian missions, and Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, the first United States university for blacks.

Katherine was venerated on the 26th of January 1987, by Pope John Paul II,
beatified on the 20th of November 1988, by Pope John Paul II,
and canonized on the 1st of October 2000, at Rome by Pope John Paul II.

pic and info from here

St. Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows

"Love Mary! She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity." - Saint Gabriel of the Sorrowful Mother

Born as the eleventh of thirteen children, Francis Possenti (1838-1862) was admired for his great charity and piety. When he was about 13 years old he became seriously ill, and promised that if he would be recovered he would enter the religious life. But he soon forgot his promise after he did recover. A few years later, he once again became ill and promised that he would enter the religious life if he was healed. He attributed his healing to the recently beatified Andrew Bobla SJ. This time he was applying to join the Jesuits. But for some reason, he did not join the Jesuits. In the past years, three of his siblings and his mother passed away tragically.

Not long after his sister passed away from cholera, Francis attended a procession in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. As the ancient image of Our Lady passed by him, he felt an interior voice asking him what he was doing remaining in the world. Right after the procession, he listened to the advice of his spiritual director, and sought to enter the Passionist Congregation. But Francis' father was totally against the idea and refused to give him the permission to go. His father then sent other family members to discourage Francis, or reason with him. Their attempts did not move Francis and later his father became convinced that he was really called.

With his brother, Aloysius, who was a Dominican friar, Francis traveled to the novitiate of the Passionists. On the way they visited some of the same relatives that attempted to convince Francis to go home. Their attempts, however, were not so successful, and soon Francis arrived at the novitiate. September 9, 1856, only about five years later when he first promised to enter the religious life. Now his promise was fulfilled, and several days later he took the name Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows.

Prayer to Saint Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows
Dear Saint, your very name recalls your particular devotion to Christ the Man of Sorrows and to Mary the Afflicted Mother. You died young as a Passionist religious but left to us all an example of a life of Christlike sacrifice. Intercede for our seminarians and young religious who are in desperate need of your patronage amid today's sensual and selfish world. Amen.

prayer from here

Middle name meme

Thanks for tagging me, Mom! :-D

Rules:

1. You have to post the rules before you give your answers.
2. You must list one fact about yourself beginning with each letter of your middle name. (If you don't have a middle name, use your maiden name or your mother's maiden name).
3. At the end of your blog post, you need to tag one person for each letter of your middle name. (Be sure to leave them a comment telling them they've been tagged.)


I was going to pick the shortest name, but I found out that both Charity and Therese have the same amount of letters.... But I've decided on doing Charity. :-)

Here it goes...

C- is for child of God! I like playing childlike and running around with all the little kids :-) I hope that I maintain my childlike faith too :-)

H- Have to attend two Masses tomorrow (Sunday), but I always do that almost every Sunday anyway.

A- Attending Mass makes my day even better.

R- reading a book that Archbishop Fulton Sheen wrote about St. Therese. :-)

I- I love to read and write about the saints. :-)

T- is for thoughts. Sometimes I get so lost in my thoughts that I don't really pay attention to what's going on... But I definetly try not to during Mass! :-)

Y- Yearning for and cherishing every moment or time that I have in front of the Blessed Sacrament.

I tag: Pueo, Kaila, Joey, Ms. Rubi, And anyone else who would like to play along! :-D

Blesseds Jacinta & Francisco Marto

The two young visionaries saw Our Lady at Fatima. Although they both were told by Our Lady that they would go to Heaven at a young age, they spent whatever time they could to obey her gentle commands. Jacinta was very eager to suffer for sinners; she once tied a rope around her waist, never taking it off even when the pain made her cry. The three of them, including Lucia, gave away their lunches to the poor children when they tended the sheep.

Sorry this one is really short, but I'm running out of time on the computer. :-)

But before I end this post, I'd like to share a prayer that Our Lady taught the children of Fatima to say when offering a sacrifice:

O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, the Holy Father, and in reparation for the wrongs done to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The young visionaries often repeated this prayer and said that they always felt better about making the sacrifice after reciting this prayer. I don't know why, but it's really true, and it has especially helped me during this season of Lent. :-)

St. Valentine

A happy Valentine's day to everyone! :-) There's not much about St. Valentine that I know, just that he was a priest, (maybe even a bishop) in Rome. He was favored by the people there and they often asked for his blessing. When the war broke out, the emperor commanded that just about every man, no matter what, would help and fight. Saddened by this emperor's command, he secretly married young people together. When the emperor found out about this, he threw into a rage and commanded that he be thrown into jail. So soldiers came and took him, even in the middle of a wedding. In jail he aided the future martyrs there. He also converted the jailer by restoring sight to the jailer's blind daughter. Because of that, the emperor ordered that he'd be beheaded. But before he was executed, it is said that he left a goodbye message for the jailer's daughter signed, "From your Valentine." He was a martyr in the end....but I don't think his story had to do much of anything what we do this day. Really strange....But some believe that Romans had some sort of custom this day...they had a drawing of names of girls and boys, who would take care of each other for a certain amount of time, including a year. They later used saint names, and St. Valentine's name happened to be one of them. Some others say that the birds began mating on St. Valentine's feastday. Then other traditions were added and performed on the eve and on the day by the English in 1477.

That's pretty much it that I know of St. Valentine. Hope everyone out there has a great day!! :-D