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2021 Word of the Year

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Selecting a Word of the year is a practice that I adopted years ago along with the Saint of the Year. 

I select a word of the year for assistance with my spiritual growth. The saint selection is random but choosing my word of the year has always been a process — an examination of the past year. I take time for spiritual re ading for this purpose and pray over it with my husband. 

I encourage you to choose a word for the year to remind you of what God is asking of you during this season in your life. 

Unbeknownst to me, my word of the year was placed on my heart upon entering my annual spiritual retreat this Advent. I entered into retreat with a complete assessment of my life —  no attachments but only the desire to see myself with His eyes.  As the week unfolded, I was led down a path to address one of my root sins.  It all seemed so evident to me as it has often been included in the confessional.   I even wrote it down as my number one point to address after my first visit before Our Lord while on retreat.  

Through daily spiritual direction following pertinent meditations, the good Lord revealed that what was perceived to be at the root of my faults was not the case.  Instead, it was the less obvious issue. So, as the retreat came to a close, I firmed up my resolution and plan, all with the guidance of my spiritual directors.  

Now that I have returned to regular daily life for a month, the evil one has wasted no time and has begun to set his traps to have me doubt what it is that God is asking of me.  “It’s not enough?   You should be doing more? It’s not really the root of your sin! Focus on something else.  It’s too much, you should just focus on one small thing…”

It’s that crazy and pathetic — all efforts to thwart what God has moved me to are exhausted.  I made no movement from what had already been properly discerned and carried on us planned, very imperfectly.  

As I read one of my first reflections on New Year’s Day, I received a small consolation.  It was from one of my previous Saints of the Year, no less.  

Thou givest me already Thy blood, O Word,  whereas Thy holy humanity is only eight days old. What does Thy blood teach me?… Obedience.

St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi

The small resolution that I took into my retreat  turned out to be my primary resolution (not the type that one makes at the start of the New Year, but the type that one makes upon reflecting on the last four things while in a complete state of grace and removed completely from the distractions of the world),  the ultimate root of my sins as He revealed to me (not acedia which I had thought was the case for many for years) — my word for 2021. 

I trust that God’s grace will be sufficient for me to move forward.  I am completely nothing without Him and I desire to be nothing else but that which He has ordained me to be.  I want only to love Him as He deserves.  

There are few persons who realize what God would make of them if they abandoned themselves entirely to His hands, and let themselves be formed by His grace.

St. Ignatius of Loyola

I am not moving in fear.  My resolutions (made after a spiritual retreat and direction) are made out of LOVE for the One who so dearly loves me despite all my failings. 

I’m not abandoning any of my previous words.  In fact, through this practice, they have been imprinted on my heart.  Perfection is not sought.  My goal is only to move closer to Him and do His will.

Sts. Teresa of Avila,  St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Ignatius of Loyola, and Aloysius — orate pro nobis.   

Sermons & Other Resources on Obedience:*


*this list will be added to throughout the year

2020 in Review

by Filed Under: New Year, Picture Recap Leave a Comment


We count it ALL joy! We offer prayers on this New Year’s Eve in the secular calendar — prayers of thanksgiving, prayers to seek His Holy will, and prayers for spiritual protection.


Always rejoice.  Pray without ceasing. In all things give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you all.

11.3.20

Almighty and Eternal God, King of Kings and Lord of Lords: graciously turn your gaze to us who invoke You with confidence.

Bless us, citizens of the United States of America; grant peace and prosperity to our Nation; illuminate those who govern us so that they may commit themselves to the common good, in respect for Your holy Law.

Protect those who, defending the inviolable principles of the Natural Law and Your Commandments, must face the repeated assaults of the Enemy of the human race.

Keep in the hearts of Your children courage for the truth, love for virtue and perseverance in the midst of trials.

Make our families grow in the example that Our Lord has given us, together with His Most Holy Mother and Saint Joseph in the home of Nazareth; give to our fathers and mothers the gift of Strength, to educate wisely the children with which you have blessed them.

Give courage to those who, in spiritual combat, fight the good fight as soldiers of Christ against the furious forces of the children of darkness.Keep each one of us, O Lord, in your Most Sacred Heart, and above all him whom Your Providence has placed at the head of our Nation.

Bless the President of the United States of America, so that aware of his responsibility and his duties, he may be a knight of justice, a defender of the oppressed, a firm bulwark against Your enemies, and a proud supporter of the children of light.

Place the United States of America and the whole world under the mantle of the Queen of Victories, our Unconquered Leader in battle, the Immaculate Conception. It is thanks to her, and through your Mercy, that the hymn of praise rises to you, O Lord, from the children whom you have redeemed in the Most Precious Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

July 2020 #archbishopvigano

5.1.2020 The #1 message! #americaneedsfatima .

💛🇺🇸
“Our Lady is the Queen of Heaven and Earth and, at the same time, our mother. We enter the month of May with this conviction, and it becomes more deeply rooted in us when we leave it, strengthening our faith and increasing our fortitude. May teaches us to love Mary Most Holy for the glory she rightly possesses and for all that she represents in the plans of Divine Providence. It also teaches us to be more constant in our filial union with Mary.

Children are never more sure of the loving vigilance of their mothers than when they suffer. All of mankind suffers today; all peoples suffer. They suffer in every conceivable way… .

Let us desire many great things for the glory of God. Let us always ask Our Lady for everything. And let us, above all, ask her for that which the Sacred Liturgy beseeches of God: “Emitte Spiritum tuum et creabuntur, et renovabis faciem terrae” (Send forth Thy Spirit, and they shall be created; and Thou shalt renew the face of the earth). We should ask, through the mediation of Our Lady, that God once again send us the Holy Ghost with the plenitude of His gifts so that His kingdom may be created anew and be purified by a renewal of the face of the earth…

Let us then confide to Our Lady this heartfelt yearning and desire. The hands of Mary will be for our prayer a pair of pure wings that will carry it with certainty to the throne of God.” #tfp .


5.13.2020

We were blessed with a Holy Mass and confession on this glorious feast of Our Lady of Fatima. It is also the last day of our 54 day Rosary Novena. .
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🙏🏼
Each time the Blessed Virgin appeared to the three children at Fatima, She repeated Her requests that we pray the Rosary each day. In the final vision, on October 13, 1917, Our Lady silently held out the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel as a sign of Her desire that we undertake this great devotion. In fact, Sister Lucy has stated that “the Scapular and the Rosary are inseparable.” Emerging from faith, prayer becomes the unshakable foundation for peace in Heaven’s plan for our salvation.

O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, we beg Thy intercession for the Consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary by the Pope and all the Catholic bishops of the world, in the manner requested by Our Lady of Fatima, which will end the chastisement of this coronavirus, prevent greater chastisements, and result in the conversion of Russia to the Catholic Faith and a period of world peace. We unite this Rosary with all the Rosaries offered for the same intention.

7.19.2020

Two have become one!

We give praise and thanksgiving to the Good Lord for the gift of marriage and this new season of life that He has brought us into.

Please prayer for our daughter and newest son.

➕
May God most pure grant His servants Andrew and Elissa a peaceful and long life, matrimonial chastity, mutual love in the bond of peace, a long-lived posterity, happiness in their children, and the unfading crown of glory.

May God keep their married life above reproach, and grant them to see their children’s’ children; give them dew from heaven and the fruitfulness of the earth; provide them with an abundance of temporal good things, that they in turn may share their abundance with those in need; and grant them all that is necessary for salvation. Amen.

7.5.2020

He always insists on making a visit to his “Mother Mary” in the courtyard before Holy Mass.

9.18.2020

This is us in our glory after our eldest daughter’s nuptials. Deo gratias!

Often we see pictures or catch glimpses of another and think that they have it all together.

If anyone has ever thought of us in such light, I ensure you that anything we have done or do that is of value is only due to God’s grace.

My beloved and I share openly with those who seek our advice or need encouragement. We share to help others along and to give glory to God for the work that He has done in our lives.

There is always hope!

We were a very young couple who conceived a beautiful healthy girl out of wedlock, had our marriage shaken to the core requiring weekly spiritual direction for a year, loss all material possessions and was without a job for long enough to have us below poverty lines on multiple occasions, faced near death pregnancies and births, had a spouse miraculously healed in the ICU from life changing health emergencies on two separate occasions, and faced all the other challenges that fourteen pregnancies and the raising of eight children bring.

If we “made it” to this place to want nothing else than to walk the narrow path after all of our failings, corrective suffering, and trials, you can make it with His grace!

Seek only His will! Fight to conform your will to His. Do the difficult things. Keep your marriage and family intact at all costs. Frequent the sacraments. Remain in the state of grace. Let prayer be infused into every minute of your day. Consecrate yourself to Jesus through Mary as St. Louis de Montfort prescribes. Pray for spiritual protection. Cling to the traditions of the Church. Live the Gospel radically, no matter the cost.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, whose feast is today (9.18), instructs us on what God desires from us.

“Clearly, what God wants above all is our will which we received as a free gift from God in creation and possess as though our own. When a man trains himself to acts of virtue, it is with the help of grace from God from whom all good things come that he does this. The will is what man has as his unique possession.

St. Joseph of Cupertino, ora pro nobis.

5.17.2020

Let the birthday party begin! My two birthday buddies received their birthday blessing after our Dry Mass #missasicca. Deo gratias!
🙏🏼🎉❤️
Today is my Gio’s 10th birthday and tomorrow will be Ella’s 17th birthday. So much celebrating and thanksgiving!

7.19.2020

We took a car selfie on the way to the church and I’m not sorry. It’s the only pic I have of us pre-wedding.

Even a 4 am rise didn’t guarantee that we would be ready on time. We were fashionably late. 😉

11.7.2020

A Sermon to Catholic Families

“In this time in which we live, when the spirit of the world rules over everyone and tries to rule over all our families, penetrating into the midst…of our Catholic schools and the whole Catholic world, destroying Catholicism little by little…and all that the Church had done: all this is subject to…the devil—in this our time we must rediscover the principles of Catholicism.

We must revive these principles—they are simple and not difficult:
➕prayer,
➕penance,
➕and the accomplishment of the will of God.

The devil has invented ambiguous principles. And he, too, knows that he does not need to complicate the principles of deceit. He does not need to complicate the business of deceiving the world, of deceiving souls.

So he uses simple formulas:
Liberty – Equality – Fraternity.

Simple formulas that deceive the world. These principles replace the Ten Commandments with the Rights of Man.

Simple these formulas are, but deceitful, false, made to thwart the Ten Commandments and destroy them by destroying the authority of God, by destroying families.

Over and above this, the devil has invented, in these recent times, and added to the Rights of Man that which goes by the name of human dignity.

In the name of human dignity, one leaves responsibility to the conscience alone.

Each does what he wants under the pretext of human dignity; under the pretext that people are adults. Nowadays, it’s said, the whole world is adult, and formerly it was still in a state of infancy.

Now we must always remind ourselves of these principles: there is no such thing as the Rights of Man, there is the Decalogue–the Commandments of God.

There is no human dignity, this does not exist.

➕There is only Christian dignity.

➕Only in the measure that we have a part in Our Lord Jesus Christ, we are worthy, we have dignity.

➕In the measure that we do not have part in Our Lord Jesus Christ, we have no dignity.”

-excerpts from a sermon by #archbishoplefebvre given on Pentecost 5.30.82

Saints of the Year

by Filed Under: New Year, Patron Saint Leave a Comment

Domine, fac de me sicut vis | Lord, do with me what you will

Years ago we adopted a New Year’s tradition of selecting a patron saint for the new year. This practice was inspired by what St. Faustina did in her order.

On the occasion of the New Year 1935 Saint Maria Faustina made this entry in her spiritual Diary:  “Jesus likes to intervene in the smallest details of our life. And He often fulfills secret wishes of mine that I sometimes hide from Him, although I know that from Him nothing can be hidden. There is a custom among us of drawing by lot on New Year’s Day, special patrons for ourselves for the whole year…”  ~ Saint Maria Faustina

We’ve used various techniques over the years to select our Saint.  But our favorite remains our Missal or traditional book of the saints as we follow the Traditional Calendar and like to pool from the historical calendar as well. 


Each family member who has received their First Holy Communion receives a patron saint for the new year. Younger children focus on growing devotion to their name sake.

Selecting a Saint of the Year

Materials:

  • Missal
  • Saint Book
  • Random number generator (phone or computer)


We make our selections after our family devotions and specific prayers for the New Year.

Steps:

  • Set Random Number Generator to number of pages in your missal or saint book that covers the saints
  • Allow each family member to take at a turn at securing their “number” on the generator
  • Look up the number generator in your Missal/Saint Book to find out which Saint you will have for the New Year
  • Record Your Saint and feastday
  • learn about your new patron saint and grow in devotion to him throughout the year

In regards to the word of the year, it is closely tied to the Saint of the Year — for spiritual growth. The saint selection is random but choosing my word of the year has always been a process — an examination of the past year. I take time for spiritual reading for this purpose and pray over it with my husband. I encourage you to choose a word for the year to remind you of what God is asking of you during this season in your life. 

New Year’s Day

by Filed Under: 01 January, 01 January Saints, Circumcision of Our Lord, Fr. Leonard Goffine, New Year, Octave of the Nativity of Our Lord, The Church’s Year Leave a Comment

Fr. Goffine instructs us on how Catholics should observe the secular New Year (different the New Year in the Liturgical Year) as it coincides with an important feast of Our Lord.

On the first the year, we celebrate a great feast in the Church. It is known as the Circumcision of Our Lord or the Octave Day of the Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

New Year’s Day

Why is this day so called?

Because the secular year begins with this day, as the Church year begins with the First Sunday in Advent.

What should we do on this day?

An offering of the new year should be made to God, asking His grace that we may spend the year in a holy manner, for the welfare of the soul.

Why do we wish each other a “happy new year“?

Because to do so is an act of Christian love; but this wish should come from the heart, and not merely from worldly politeness, otherwise we would be like the heathens (Mt. 5:47), and receive no other reward than they.

What feast of the Church is celebrated today?

The Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Who, for love of us, voluntarily subjected Himself to the painful law of the Old Covenant, that we might be freed from the same.

What was the Circumcision?

It was an external sign of the Old Law, by which the people of that day were numbered among the chosen people of God, as now they become, by baptism, members of the Church of Christ.

What is the signification of Circumcision in the moral or spiritual sense?

It signifies the mortification of the senses, of evil desires, and inclinations. This must be practiced by Christians now, since they have promised it in baptism which would be useless to them without the practice of mortification; just as little as the Jew by exterior Circumcision is a true Jew, just so little is the baptized a true Christian without a virtuous life. Beg of Christ, therefore, today, to give you the grace of the true Circumcision of heart.

PRAYER I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus, because Thou hast shed Thy blood for me in Circumcision, and beg Thee that by Thy precious blood I may receive the grace to circumcise my heart and all my senses, so that I may lead a life of mortification in this world, and attain eternal joys in the next. Amen.

[The INTROIT of the Mass is the same as is said in the Third Mass on Christmas.]

COLLECT O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of blessed Mary, hast bestowed upon mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may feel the benefit of her intercession for us, through whom we have deserved to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest, etc.

[The EPISTLE is the same as is said in the First Mass on Christmas.]

GOSPEL (Lk. 2:21). At that time, after eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Why did Jesus submit to Circumcision?

That He might show His great love for us, which caused Him even at the very beginning of His life, to shed His blood to cleanse us thereby from all our sins. Furthermore to teach us obedience to the commandments of God and His Church, since He voluntarily subjected Himself to the Jewish law, although He was not in the least bound by it, which ordered that every male child should be circumcised on the eighth day after its birth (Lev. 12:3).

Why was He named Jesus?

Because Jesus means Redeemer and Savior, and He had come to redeem and save the world (Mt. 1:21). This is the holiest, most venerable, and most powerful name by which we can be saved.

What power has this name?

The greatest power, for it repels all attacks of the evil Spirit, as Jesus Himself says (Mk. 16:17). And so great is the efficacy of this most holy name that even those who are not righteous, can by it expel devils (Mt. 7:22). It has power to cure physical pains and evils, as when used by the apostles (Acts. 3:3-7), and Christ promised that the faithful by using it could do the same (Mk. 16:17).

St. Bernard calls the name of Jesus a “Medicine“; and St. Chrysostom says, “This name cures all ills; it gives succor in all the ailments of the soul, in temptations, in faintheartedness, in sorrow, and in all evil desires, etc.” “Let him who cannot excite contrition in his heart for the sins he has committed, think of the loving, meek, and suffering Jesus, invoke His holy name with fervor and confidence, and he will feel his heart touched and made better,” says St. Lawrence Justinian.

It overcomes and dispels the temptations of the enemy: “When we fight against Satan in the name of Jesus,” says the martyr St. Justin, “Jesus fights for us, in us, and with us, and the enemies must flee as soon as they hear the name of Jesus.”

It secures us help and blessings in all corporal and spiritual necessities, because nothing is impossible to him who asks in the name of Jesus, whatever tends to his salvation will be given him (Jn. 14:13).

Therefore it is useful above all things, to invoke this holy name in all dangers of body and soul, in doubts, in temptations, especially in temptations against holy chastity, and still more so when one has fallen into sin, from which he desires to be delivered; for this name is like oil (Cant. 1:2) which cures, nourishes, and illumines.

How must this name be pronounced to experience its power?

With lively faith, with steadfast, unshaken confidence, with deep­est reverence and devotion, for in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Phil. 2:10). What wickedness, then, is theirs who habitually pronounce this name carelessly and irreverently, upon every occasion! Such a habit is certainly diabolical; for the damned and the devils constantly abuse God and His holy name.

Why does this name so seldom manifest its power in our days?

Because Christian faith is daily becoming weaker, and confidence less, while perfect submission to the will of God is wanting. When faith grows stronger among people, and confidence greater, then will the power of this most sacred name manifest itself in more wonderful and consoling aspects.

Prayer to Jesus in difficulties

O Jesus! Consolation of the afflicted! Thy name is indeed poured out like oil; for Thou dost illumine those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; Thou dost disperse the blindness of the soul and dost cure its ills; Thou givest food and drink to those who hunger and thirst after justice. Be also, O Jesus! my Savior, the phy­sician of my soul, the healer of its wounds. O Jesus! Succor of those who are in need, be my protector in temptations! O Jesus! Father of the poor, do Thou nourish me! O Jesus! joy of the angels, do Thou comfort me! O Jesus! my only hope and refuge, be my helper in the hour of death, for there is given us no other name beneath the sun by which we may be saved, but Thy most blessed name Jesus!

EXHORTATION St. Paul says: All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 3:17). We should, therefore, follow the example of the saints, and continually say, at least in our hearts: “For love of Thee, O Jesus, I rise; for love of Thee I lie down; for love of Thee I eat, drink, and enjoy myself; for love of Thee I work, speak, or am silent.” Thus we will accustom ourselves to do all in the name of Jesus, by which everything is easily or at least meritoriously accomplished.

Prayer to be said on New Year’s Day

O God, Heavenly Father of Mercy, God of all Consolation! we thank Thee that from our birth to this day, Thou hast so well pre­served us, and hast protected us in so many dangers; we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy beloved Son, and by His sacred blood which He shed for us on this day in His circumcision, to for­give all the sins which, during the past year, we have committed against Thy commandments, by which we have aroused Thy indig­nation and wrath against ourselves. Preserve us in the coming year from all sins, and misfortunes of body and soul. Grant that from this day to the end of our lives, all our senses, thoughts, words, and works, which we here dedicate to Thee for all time, may be directed in accordance with Thy will, and that we may finally die in the true Catholic Faith, and enjoy with Thee in Thy kingdom a joyful new year, that shall know no end. Amen.

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