Category: Catholic

https://catholicsstrivingforholiness.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/novena-for-the-dead.pdf

Praying the 9 Day Novena for the Dead

Pray the rosary then the prayers for each day of the novena

https://www.usccb.org/how-to-pray-the-rosary

Mysteries for each day:
Sunday – Glorious Mysteries: Resurrection, Ascension, Decent of the Holy Spirit, Assumption of Blessed Mother, Coronation of the Blessed Mother

Monday – Joyful Mysteries: Annunciation, Visitation, Birth of Jesus, Presentation, Finding Jesus in the Temple 

Tuesday Sorrowful Mysteries: Agony in the Garden, Scourging, Crown of Thorns, Jesus carries the Cross, Crucifixion

Wednesday – Glorious Mysteries

Thursday – Luminous Mysteries: Baptism in the Jordan, Wedding Feast at Cana, Proclamation of the Kingdom, Transfiguration, Institution of the Eucharist

Friday Sorrowful Mysteries

Saturday – Joyful Mysteries

Opening: Creed, Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be

Each Decade: Our Father, Ten Hail Marys, Glory Be

Closing:After saying the five decades, say the Hail, Holy Queen, followed by this dialogue and prayer:
V. Pray for us, O holy Mother of God.
R. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
Let us pray: O God, whose Only Begotten Son, by his life, Death, and Resurrection, has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life, grant, we beseech thee, that while meditating on these mysteries of the most holy Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we may imitate what they contain and obtain what they promise, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

Novena for the Dead

1. PRAYER FOR EACH DAY (to be followed by the invocations to Jesus, the Litany for the faithful, then the Concluding prayer.)

FIRST DAY
Leader: Lord our God, receive our supplications, prayers and mortifications and sighs in suffrage for the holy souls for whom we make this novena; and we pray that by the motherly love bestowed on you by your most holy Mother, when she followed you on the way of sorrow up to Mount Calvary, and grant what we ask of you in this novena for your greater honor and glory.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

SECOND DAY
Leader: Merciful God, we beseech you, by the pain which your Holy Mother saw you suffer and agonize on the cross, that the holy souls in purgatory be freed from those pains; especially for the soul of _, for whom we are praying and offering in This novena. Bring those who are submerged in their sins to a true knowledge of their guilt and grant what we ask of you in this novena, for your greater honor and glory.
All: AMEN (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

THIRD DAY
Leader: Almighty Father, to whom nobody asks without the hope of receiving, by the intercession of St. Joseph and the Blessed Virgin Mary, enable the suffering souls in purgatory to be able to leave that place, especially for the soul of __. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

FOURTH DAY
Leader: Gracious God, through whose mercy the saints rest in glory, we beg you to set free those blessed souls in purgatory, especially for the soul of___________, for whom we are praying in this novena. May you radiate your compassion and love to them so they may enter into your Kingdom. We ask this through Christ, our Lord.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

FIFTH DAY
Leader: Souvereign Lord, in whom it is proper to be merciful, through the intercession of St. Michael, the archangel, and by the sorrow of your Blessed Mother who suffered when the soldier pierced your side with a lance, have mercy on the soul of _ for whom we are offering this novena and bring him/her to your eternal rest in heaven, for the better glory and honour of your name.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

SIXTH DAY
Leader: Lord Jesus Christ, incline your ears to our petitions. Have mercy on the souls in purgatory, especially for the soul of _ for whom we make this novena. We humbly ask you to set them free and bring them to the happiness in heaven, for the greater glory and honor of your name.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

SEVENTH DAY
Leader: Lord of mercy, hear our prayer. May our brother/sister , whom you called your son/daughter on earth, enter into the Kingdom of peace and light, where your saints live in glory. We ask this through our Lord, Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

EIGHTH DAY
Leader: Creator and Redeemer of all mankind, through the infinite merits of passion, death and resurrection, we beg you to shower the immense treasures of your clemency on those blessed souls, especially for the eternal repose of the soul of _. Bring those who are in sin to a true knowledge and repentance and grant what we ask for in this novena, through Christ, our Lord.
All: AMEN. (Go to invocations, litany and Concluding prayer)

NINTH DAY
Leader: Lord God, you are the glory of the believers and the life of the just. Your Son redeemed us by dying and rising to life again. Our brother/sister ____, was faithful and believed in resurrection. Give to him/her the joys and the blessings of the life to come. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
All: AMEN.

2. INVOCATIONS TO JESUS FOR THE SOUL OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED AND LITANY

Leader: Jesus, through your blood on the cross
Response (All): Have mercy on the soul of _,

Leader: Jesus, through the blow you received on your sacred face.  R.
Jesus, through the cruel scourging you endured. R.
Jesus, through the crown of thorns that pierced your head. R.
Jesus, through your carrying of the cross. R.
Jesus, through your face covered with blood which you allowed to be imprinted on the veil of Veronica. R.
Jesus, through your garments which were cruely removed from your wounded body. R.
Jesus, through your holy body nailed on the cross Jesus, through your side pierced with a lance and from which flowed blood and water. R.

LITANY FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

Leader: Lord, have mercy on us.
All: Lord, have mercy on us.

Leader: Christ, have mercy on us.
All: Christ, have mercy on us.

Leader: Lord, have mercy on us.
All: Lord, have mercy on us.

Leader: Christ, hear us.
All: Christ, graciously hear us.

Leader: God, the Father of heaven.
Response (All): Have mercy on the soul of _

Leader: God the Son, Redeemer of the world. R.
God, the Holy Spirit. R.
Holy Trinity One God. R.

Leader: Holy Mary.
Response (All): PRAY FOR THE SOULS OF THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED

Leader:
Holy Mother of God. R.
Holy virgin of virgins. R.
St. Michael and all archangels and angels. R.
St. John the Baptist . R.
St. Joseph . R.
Sts. Peter and Paul. R.
All Apostles and Evangelists. R.
All Saints in heaven. R.

Leader: From all evil.
Response (All): O LORD, DELIVER THEM.

Leader:
From your wrath.  R.
From the rigor of your justice.  R.
From the power of the devil.  R.
From the gnawing worn of conscience.  R.
From long enduring sorrow.  R.
From eternal flames.  R.
From horrible darkness.  R.
From dreadful weeping and wailing.  R.
Through you most cruel death.  R.
Through your most holy wounds.  R.
Through your holy resurrection.  R.
Through the coming of the Holy Spirit.  R.
In the Day of Judgment.  R.

Leader:
You who have the keys of heaven

Response (All): WE BESEECH YOU, HEAR US, 0 LORD

Leader:
You would be pleased to deliver the soul of _ from the pains of hell.  R.
You who would be pleased to grant them all the pardon and remission of all their sins .  R.
You who would be pleased to fulfill all their desires.  R.
You who would be pleased to receive them into the company of the blessed.  R.

Leader: Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
All: Grant unto Chris eternal rest.
Leader: Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
All: Grant unto Chris eternal rest.
Leader: Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
All: Grant unto Chris eternal rest.

3. CONCLUDING PRAYER

 Leader: Merciful Father, hear our prayers and console us. As we renew our faith in your Son, whom you raised from the dead, strengthen our hope that our dear departed will share in Christ’s resurrection, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God forever and ever.
All: AMEN.

Leader: Eternal rest grant unto him/her 0 Lord.
All: And let your perpetual light shine upon him.

Leader: May he/she rest in peace.
All: Amen. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
AMEN.

Today is the 107th anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima. The miracle took place on the 13th day of October, 1917.

The 13th Day

Remembering what happened in Fatima in 1917 is so important today. Why? Because of the message of Fatima. What is the message of Fatima?

The first message I reflect on has to do with the influenza of 1918-1920. So many people these days are petrified of the coronavirus or monkeypox or bird flu or anything else created by these rogue researchers in laboratories.

Pray for what you might ask? They were to pray for the conversion of sinners. That’s how important it is to God to have people of faith pray for others that are not quite there. There are more souls along the path to perdition because not enough people of faith are praying for them. And as diabolical as the satan is, he convinces some people of faith that they shouldn’t pray for others.

Another message closer to our present situation though is when the children asked if they were going to heaven. Our Lady said yes, but Francisco will have to say many rosaries. Our Lady even told all three that Jacinta and Francisco would be taken soon. As young children, these three never stopped praying together. When the influenza broke out in earnest one year later in 1918, both Francisco and Jacinta caught it. Our Lady came to Jacinta one more time with another message. She recounts this for her cousin Lucia.

Look, Lucia, Our Lady came to see us and said that She was coming soon for Francisco. She asked me if I still wanted to convert more sinners. I said yes. Our Lady wants me to go to two hospitals but it is not to cure me. It is to suffer more for the love of God, the conversion of sinners and in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary. She told me that you would not go with me. My mother will take me there and afterwards I am to be left there alone.

St. Jacinta, October 1918

St. Jacinta does end up in the hospital like her brother and she suffers much. During one of the occasional visits by Lucia, Jacinta says “I love Our Lord and Our Lady and I never get tired of telling Them that I love Them. When I tell that to Them, it seems sometimes that I have a fire burning in my breast, a fire that does not consume … Oh, how I would like to be able to go again to the hills to say the Rosary in the Cova. But I can’t any more. When you go to the Cova da Iria, pray for me, Lucia! I’m sure I’ll never go there again. Now you go to Francisco’s room because I want to make the sacrifice of being alone.”

Jacinta and Francisco are children not even 12 years old at this point, yet their burning desire is to do penance and pray for the conversion of sinners.

Both Jacinta and Francisco are taken up within 12 months from that point.

A movie came out about Fatima. It is well worth the watch, but personally I like the 13th Day movie version.

It was on October 13th, 1917 when the greatest miracle of the last 2,000 years happened to humanity. That miracle in 1917 was witnessed by over 70,000 people and reported on by all the secular papers of that time. EWTN has an excellent website for those interested in reading all the messages from Our Lady to the children. This page discusses in detail what happened on that day of the sixth apparition of the Blessed Mother and the details as reported by the secular press about the miracle and the conversion of sinners on that specific day.

https://www.ewtn.com/fatima/sixth-apparition-of-our-lady.asp

Before the great miracle of the sun, Lucia asks her “Will you tell me your name?” She responds,

I am the Lady of the Rosary.

Our Lady of Fatima, 13 October 1917

Lucia gets bold and asks the next question “I have many petitions from many people. Will you grant them?” Our Lady’s response, “”

Some I shall grant, and others I must deny. People must amend their lives and ask pardon for their sins. They must not offend our Lord any more, for He is already too much offended!

Our Lady of Fatima, 13 October 1917

In 1917 we have a message from Heaven saying Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is already offended. How much more is he offended today?

As the 70,000 witnessed the Miracle of the Sun, the three children witnessed Our Lady disappearing, and then St. Joseph with the child Jesus appeared and seemingly blessed the whole world with a hand gesture in the form of a cross, similar to a priestly blessing in a Catholic Church at the end of Mass.

On that day were two miracles: “The Miracle of the Sun” and “The Miracle of the Son”.

The Veggie Tales series are a great way to introduce biblical truths at an age appropriate level for children. In the story of the rumor weed, someone misunderstood what was said by one individual and that led to the rumor weed spreading false accusations about a main character, Alfred, who was friends with Larryboy, the batman style hero of the story.

And like a snowball falling down a hill, as the rumor weed starts spreading the false information, it develops even more traction and more and more things are said about Alfred that were not true. As the story progresses the weed becomes so strong that nothing that Larryboy tried could destroy it. In the end, the only thing that turned the tide and started to take the power away from the weed was for the people to start sharing the accomplishments of Alfred.

The Christian moral to the story: good people can be led astray and bear false witness against others when they participate in sharing statements that are damaging to another and especially when there is no evidence for what they are sharing. Sometimes though the truth and/or evidence for the truth can be hard to find especially when the voice of the rumor weed overwhelms the voice of truth.

The people of America have been given plenty of opportunities to witness the rumor weed in action over the last 8 years. If you go back to 2018 there were plenty of accusations about one man in America and the rumor weed fed off the lies of senators and congressmen who said you can trust what they say because they have all the evidence that proves it. But then they never could produce the evidence. They were simply spreading rumors but the character assassination was working. Thye got more and more people to not trust the person they had attacked with their lies. Eventually though, more and more people came to recognize their lies. People like Jimmy Dore, a left leaning commentator, in his episode on “Adam Schiff’s Unhinged Fear Mongering At Impeachment Trial” in 2020 finally realized who was spreading the false accusations and it was coming from the very political party he was affiliated with.

Everyone is waking up to the lies of the elite and powerful but only in their own time. Once everyday citizens realize the elite and powerful have lied about one thing, they will research to see what other lies they are passing as truths. Such as

1. it was an insurrection on Jan 6th;
2. the election was safe and secure;
3. the vaccine is safe and effective;
4. you can marry someone of the same sex and it’s condoned by the church;
5. it’s ok to mutilate your body and take hormones to change your shape and appearance to be a sex other than the one God gave you.

Sharing the VeggieTales story with the young ones is one of the best ways to teach them how to overcome temptations from the evil one. When it comes to bearing false witness, the only way the rumor weed was taken down was to share the accomplishments of the one being falsely accused.

The accomplishments of the 45th President of these United States:

• Followed through on the promise to nominate judges to the Supreme Court who will adhere to the Constitution which led to overturning Roe Vs. Wade
• Executive Order 13818 – Blocking the Property of Persons Involved in Serious Human Rights Abuse or Corruption
• Avoided starting any new wars and led to historic summit with North Korean President Kim Jong-Un, bringing beginnings of peace and denuclearization to the Korean Peninsula.
• Achieved massive deregulation at a rapid pace, completing 22 deregulatory actions to every one regulatory action during his first year in office.
• Through tax cuts and regulatory overhaul, over 3.5 million new jobs created
• 4.2 percent economic growth in the second quarter of 2018 and a resurgence of economic growth after China spread COVID on the world in 2020.
• Poverty rates for African-Americans and Hispanic-Americans reached their lowest levels… ever.
• Small business optimism reached historic highs
• Dow hit record highs 70 times in 2017, the most ever recorded in one year.
• Signed the most comprehensive childhood cancer legislation ever into law, which will advance childhood cancer research and improve treatments.
• Signed executive order 13926 to help ensure that religious organizations are not forced to choose between violating their religious beliefs by complying with Obamacare’s contraceptive mandate or shutting their doors.
• Negotiated an historic U.S.-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement to replace NAFTA.
• Secured access to new markets for America’s farmers.
• Withdrew from the job-killing Paris climate agreement, which would have cost the U.S. nearly $3 trillion and led to 6.5 million fewer industrial sector jobs by 2040.
• Through regulatory reform and executive orders, elevated the United States to the largest crude oil producer in the world.
• Moved the U.S. Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.
• Withdrew from Iran deal and immediately began the process of re-imposing sanctions that had been lifted or waived.
• Joined allies in launching airstrikes in April 2018 against targets associated with Syria’s chemical weapons use.
• Changed the rules of engagement, empowering commanders to destroy ISIS.
• Expelled dozens of Russian intelligence officers from the United States and ordered the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle, WA to combat election interference. Imposed sanctions against five Russian entities and three individuals for enabling Russia’s military and intelligence units to increase Russia’s offensive cyber capabilities. Sanctions against seven Russian oligarchs, and 12 companies they own or control, who profit from Russia’s destabilizing activities. Sanctioned 100 targets in response to Russia’s occupation of Crimea and aggression in Eastern Ukraine.
• Executive Order 13823 keeping the detention facilities at U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay open which led the Pentagon in 2018 to increase the size, capacity, and number of tribunal courts that could happen at the same time. This should provide plenty of capacity to hold and prosecute those convicted of treason and sedition.

This Tucker Carlson episode with the leader of Hungary sheds some great insight by foreign leaders on what is going on and how to achieve peace and stop the killing.

Ep. 20 Hungary shares a border with Ukraine. We traveled to Budapest to speak with the country’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán. pic.twitter.com/LOzpMrQNIz

— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) August 29, 2023

At the beginning of the Pandemic in December 2020 and early 2021 I wrote a series of articles on ivermectin and its incredibly successful use in treating the Covid-19 virus.

The Untold Story – Ivermectin Wonder Drug

99 Per Cent Survival

Health Update – Wonder Drug for CCP Virus

The War on Ivermectin.

Dr. Pierre Kory, has a new book out that highlights the war being waged on this effective treatment for Covid-19 appropriately titled “The War on Ivermectin.”

Greg Hunter produces the podcast USA Watchdog and had Dr. Kory on recently. See the full interview here:

CV19 Vax Humanitarian Catastrophe being Turbocharged without Treatment – Dr. Pierre Kory

If you want to see just the main points, you can access them here, but I do encourage you to follow Greg Hunter at USA Watchdog. He has many great interviews with at least 1 per week of top doctors and scientists in their respective fields of study.

Dr. Joseph Mercola is another doctor who reports on the papers being produced by the medical community. This recent one highlights the effectiveness of ivermectin in treating COVID. There’s even good research being conducted on ivermectin to treat long COVID patients successfully. Take the attached report to your doctor if you are feeling the symptoms of long COVID.

Dr. Mercola’s article can be found here:

https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2023/08/31/ivermectin-worked-peer-reviewed-study-proves-it.aspx

The research paper about ivermectin use in Peru can be found below:

As a cradle Catholic I wasn’t encouraged to study the Word of God by either my parents or my grandparents. It was in 2002 that I had a spiritual awakening that stirred up a great love for God the Father and soon after His Son, Jesus. It was at that time I questioned my Catholic upbringing and wondered why all the veneration for Mary and why so much focus on Mary in the Rosary. I certainly believed it bordered on a worship towards Jesus’ Mother and not Jesus, the Christ who was crucified.

Over time I encountered writings that helped explain this Catholic form of Marian veneration and what Mary’s role was in the early church, and what the role of every mother should be in the domestic church.

This substack article helps explain the way I view the Mother of God, the Theotokas today. It covers three major topics: 1) The reason why the Virgin is venerated in a unique way; 2) Why Marian devotion has precedence in both the Old and New Testaments; and 3) A justification for Marian prophecy.

I hope you enjoy the read.

In Defense of the Virgin