The Importance of the Rosary / Family Rosary & The Power of the Rosary!

I recommend all my readers to read this short article on the "Importance of the Rosary" in order to get encouraged to never omit to Pray the Rosary. It is especially important for families to daily recite the Rosary and the article gives a few examples of the terrible effects of omitting - or even completely neglecting - the daily recitation of the Rosary. As the article explains, Our Lady of Fatima told us to recite the Rosary daily for a purpose, and it is clearly a great mistake to omit to pray the Rosary every day through carelessness or boredom. The Rosary is so indulgenced with graces that, as Our Lady of Fatima revealed (as quoted in the article), we will save our souls by the devout recitation of the Rosary. In our time of spiritual crisis, it is even more important than ever to daily pray the Rosary and those who omit praying it daily will run the risk of possibly loosing their souls by neglecting to receive many important graces.

The Importance of the Family Rosary

This article is taken from the booklet "Our Glorious Faith and How To Lose It" written by Fr. Hugh Thwaites, S.J. It contains different stories of how we can lose our faith but this paper will deal only with the Holy Rosary. Fr. Thwaites' words on this subject are as follows:

Without delay now, I want to talk about my theme. It seems to me that a principal cause of the loss of faith is the dropping off in the practice of the family rosary.

In Austria, after World War II, there was a complete collapse of vocations. One year, apparently, no one at all entered the seminaries. So the bishops held a synod, to find out how it could be that this had happened. The conclusion they reached was that the war had so disrupted family life that the centuries-old practice of the rosary in the home had stopped, and had just not started up again. This is my experience, too; when the rosary goes, the faith soon collapses.

I remember someone telling me of a friend of his, a great Catholic, the pillar of the parish, whose children had all lapsed, one after the other. They had all fallen away from the sacraments and from attending Mass. So I said to him, "I wouldn't mind betting that your friend had been brought up to recite the family rosary when he was a boy, and that his children haven't." The next time I saw him, he said that this was indeed true. His friend had recited the family rosary at home when he was a boy, and when he had got married and started his own family they all said the rosary. But then, one evening when they were about to start the rosary, one of the children switched on the television, and that was that. The custom of the family rosary was dropped, and in due course, they gave up the practice of the faith.

After this life, that one unrebuked action will be seen to have affected the eternity of many people. God sent His Mother to Fatima to tell us that we had to say the rosary every day. There were no other prayers She asked us to say. Accordingly, we should do what She asked.

A layman I met once who did not say his rosary told me that he read the breviary every day. That is fine. It is what priests have to do. It is the prayer of the Church. So in a way it is better than the rosary. But it is not what Our Lady asked for [and that for a reason, since I know of no Revelation stating that one will save one's soul by praying the breviary in the same way as is promised with the Rosary]. She asked for the rosary. If a mother sends her child to the shop for a bottle of milk, and he comes back instead with ice cream, is she pleased? In a way, ice cream is better than milk, but it is not what she asked for.

In that most holy home at Nazareth, do you think that Our Lady had to ask for anything twice? If we want in any way to be like Jesus, we must do what His Mother asks. If we do not, can we expect things to go right? We cannot with impunity disobey the Mother of God. She knows better than we the dangers of this spiritual warfare. She sees more clearly than we do the dangers that beset us. She warns us: You must say your rosary every day.

If the garage mechanic warns you that your car needs repairing or else it will break down, surely you would heed that warning. If the gas gauge warns you that you need more gas, do you do nothing about it? And if Our Lady comes to Fatima and tells us, not just once but six times, that we must say the rosary every day, do we disregard that warning? If we do, we have only ourselves to blame when we find that our children have lapsed from the faith [or we ourselves fall away, or become lukewarm].

I know that Fatima is only a private revelation, but nevertheless the Church has endorsed it, and that makes it rash for us to disregard it. If the Church informs us that Our Lady really did come to Fatima and tell us these things, then we must harken to her words. It really seems to me that those Catholics who do not take Fatima seriously and say the rosary every day in their homes are very akin to the Jews who laughed at Jeremiah. If God sends us His prophets and we do not take them seriously – well, we have the whole of the Old Testament to tell us what happens as a result. But at Fatima, God sent us, not His prophets, but His Immaculate Mother.

So I think that the abandonment of the family rosary is a main reason why so many Catholics have lost the faith. It seems to me that the Church of the future is going to consist solely of those families who have been faithful to the rosary. But there will be vast numbers of people whose families used to be Catholic.

In my work of going round visiting homes, I have seen this conclusion borne out time and again. Homes can be transformed by starting the recitation of the daily rosary. I remember a woman telling me that she could not thank me enough for having nagged her into starting it; it had united her family as never before. And I remember another home where I called. There was a strange tension there: the children were silent and the wife seemed withdrawn, but the husband was willing to start the family rosary. When I called back again a couple of months later, the atmosphere was quite different. The children were chatty and the wife was friendly, and the husband walked down the road with me afterwards and said how amazing it was that the home was so much happier.

One reason, I think, why the daily rosary makes for a happy home, is this. From what some possessed people have said, and from what some of the saints have said, it seems certain that demons fear the rosary. It makes their hair stand on end, so to speak. Holy water certainly drives them out, but they come back again. The daily rosary drives them out and keeps them out. It is rather like living in an old house where there are mice everywhere. The only way to get rid of them is to bring cats. If you get a couple of cats, after a week or two there simply will not be any more mice. Mice fear the very smell of cats. And in a home where the rosary is said every day, after a time the demons realize they are impotent in front of Our Lady, and go elsewhere.

This must be one reason why, as they say, "the family that prays together stays together." In that home, utterly free of evil spirits, there is an atmosphere one does not find outside. In a demon-infested city like London, where I live, such a home is an oasis of God's grace, and people find a comfort and peace there which they enjoy greatly. We human beings are not meant to live in the company of demons, but with God and with the angels and saints in heaven.

So, as I see it, in this effort we are making to keep the faith and pass it on, the practice of the rosary is absolutely indispensable. Whatever else a person may do, even though they go to Mass every day, they still need to say the rosary in their home. It is the medicine our Mother has told us to take, to keep our faith strong and healthy.

The Power of the Rosary

"The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or, above all, spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families of the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls." Conversation between Sr. Lucy of Fatima and Fr. Fuentes, Dec. 26, 1957

"The Rosary is a powerful weapon to put the demons to flight and to keep oneself from sin…If you desire peace in your hearts, in your homes, and in your country, assemble each evening to recite the Rosary. Let not even one day pass without saying it, no matter how burdened you may be with many cares and labors." Pope Pius XI

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church, none has been so favored by so many miracles as the Rosary devotion." Pope Pius IX

"The Rosary is the most excellent form of prayer and the most efficacious means of attaining eternal life. It is the remedy for all our evils, the root of all our blessings. There is no more excellent way of praying." Pope Leo XIII

St. Dominic prayed to Our Lady that she would force the devils who possessed a man to reveal the truth about devotion to her. The devils were forced by Our Lady to reveal: "Now that we are forced to speak we must also tell you this: Nobody who perseveres in saying the Rosary will be damned, because she obtains for her servants the grace of true contrition for their sins and by means of this they obtain God's forgiveness and mercy."

FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN TO CHRISTIANS WHO FAITHFULLY PRAY THE ROSARY

1. To all those who shall pray my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.

2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some special grace.

3. The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy.

4. The rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies. It will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.

5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish.

6. Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life.

7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.

8. Those who are faithful to recite my Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.

9. I will deliver promptly from purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.

10. True children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in heaven.

11. What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.

12. To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.

13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.

14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.

15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.

O Queen of Peace: it is you who have placed the Rosary in our hands. It is you who bid us to recite it daily. By the power of the Family Rosary we beseech you to obtain peace for us–peace within our hearts, our homes, our country, and throughout the world. Through the daily recitation of the Family Rosary we beg you to keep sin from our souls, enmities from our hearts, and war from our shores. By the graces received from the devotion of the Family Rosary we pray to be made helpful to one another in following the paths of virtue so that we may be found worthy to be called children of your family, children of your home. Amen.

Very Important Short Morning and Evening Prayers: "A Prayer For Daily Neglects" and "A Prayer for Perfection" (Pray Daily)

Kindly pray these prayers below every day before going to bed. These prayers truly show the power of prayer and how God can and will do things for us if only we ask. It is amazing to think that a simple prayer can turn our daily imperfections into perfections, and that all our daily neglects and accumulated debts can be fixed and payed by simply asking through prayer.

If you do not pray these very short but powerful prayers every day, you are missing out tremendously.

The prayers below can be found in this documented:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nYjWxhQzif7JomLj_M8PLwyBHWvYGqjZ

A Prayer For Daily Neglects

Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Sacred Heart of Jesus, with all its love, all its sufferings and all its merits:

First – To expiate all the sins I have committed this day and during all my life.

(Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)

Second – To purify the good I have done badly this day and during all my life.

(Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)

Third – To supply for the good I ought to have done, and that I have neglected this day and during all my life.

(Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Ghost. As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.)

A Poor Clare nun who had just died, appeared to her Abbess, who was praying for her, and said to her, "I went straight to Heaven, for, by means of this prayer, recited every evening, I paid all my debts."

A Prayer for Perfection

“A young girl from Scheepsdaele complained to Father Paul that she had very little time for her devotions, and even the few prayers she did say were said with many distractions. “Oh! in that case,” Father Paul replied, “you can remedy the matter by saying, in the evening:

‘May all my imperfections of this day be changed into perfections!’”

Also say after waking up and before going to bed and often during the day:

“All that I shall do today/tonight, I shall do for the love of God, so that all my actions may be actions of love. I unite myself today/tonight, with all the acts of love made to God, both in heaven and on earth.”

“All I do I do for love of Thee, Jesus and Mary!” (say often during the day before doing anything, such as opening a door)

“I want to suffer it for the love of Jesus and Mary, just as Jesus and Mary has suffered all for love of me.” (say often)

Prayers to Saints of the Catholic Church † St. Therese, St. Benedict, St. Joseph, St. Philomena, St. Francis Solanus etc.

It is recommended that you pray these prayers everyday (print them out and pray everyday!) for guidance and light in your daily life. They are very powerful and you may be assured of quickly gaining the help you are looking for - both spiritually, corporeally and materially. I can attest to this from personal experience.

Download the prayers as a ready made doc to print (4 pages):

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nYjWxhQzif7JomLj_M8PLwyBHWvYGqjZ

Prayer to saints is very important. It’s very important and effective to say prayers to certain saints.

Here are some great saints to have a devotion to:

• Prayer to St. Therese
• Prayers to St. Benedict
• Prayers to St. Joseph
• Prayer to St. Philomena
• Prayer to St. Francis Solanus, Apostle to South America [Also interesting quotes on his miracles]

Prayer to St. Therese

This prayer is very powerful for both temporal and spiritual petitions. Those to whom we have recommended it have been amazed by its efficacy as well. We encourage people to say it every day.

Prayer to St. Therese

“O Glorious St. Therese, whom Almighty God has raised up to aid and counsel mankind, I implore your miraculous intercession. So powerful are you in obtaining from God favors and graces that Holy Mother Church has called you ‘the greatest saint of modern times.’ Now I fervently beseech you to answer my petition:

(specify petition)

And to carry out your promises of spending heaven doing good upon earth, and of ever letting fall from heaven a shower of roses. Henceforth, dear little flower, I will fulfill your plea to be made known everywhere, and I will never cease to lead others to Jesus through you. Amen.”

Prayers to St. Benedict

The following two prayers to St. Benedict are highly recommended. St. Benedict is an extremely powerful intercessor for us in Heaven.  Born in the year 480, St. Benedict was the founder of western monasticism and is renowned for his power against the Devil. St. Benedict was also a great miracle worker, as many books document.  In particular, we recommend The Life of St. Benedict by Pope St. Gregory the Great. He is a powerful patron that we need today when impurity, apostasy and infidelity inundate the earth. St. Benedict died March 21, 543, as he stood before the altar of Monte Cassino immediately after receiving Holy Communion. St. Benedict is easily one of the greatest saints of all time.

Prayer to St. Benedict for a Happy Death

“O holy Father, St. Benedict, blessed by God both in grace and in name, who, while standing in prayer, with hands raised to heaven, didst most happily yield thy angelic spirit into the hands of thy Creator, and hast promised zealously to defend against all the snares of the enemy in the last struggle of death, those who shall daily remind thee of thy glorious departure and heavenly joys; protect me, I beseech thee, O glorious Father, this day and every day, by thy holy blessings, that I may never be separated from our dear Lord, from the society of thyself, and of all the blessed. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.”

St. Benedict himself revealed to St. Gertrude – also one of the greatest saints in the history of the Catholic Church, and herself a Benedictine nun – that “whoever reminds me of the extraordinary privilege with which God deigned to glorify my last moments, shall experience my particular assistance in his final combat. I will be a faithful protector against the assaults of the enemy. Fortified by my presence, he will escape the snares of the evil one and safely attain eternal happiness.”

Novena to St. Benedict

“O Glorious St. Benedict, sublime model of all virtues, pure vessel of God’s grace! Behold me, humbly kneeling at thy feet. I implore thy loving heart to pray for me before the throne of God. To thee I have recourse in all the dangers which daily surround me. Shield me against my enemies, inspire me to imitate thee in all things. May thy blessings be with me always, so that I may shun whatever God forbids and avoid the occasions of sin.”

“Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces of which I stand so much in need, in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life. Thy heart was always so full of love, compassion, and mercy towards those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. Thou didst never dismiss without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to thee. I therefore invoke thy powerful intercession in the confident hope that thou will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I so earnestly implore (mention it), if it be for the greater glory of God and the welfare of my soul.”

“Help me, O great St. Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to be ever submissive to His holy will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven. Amen.”

Prayers to St. Joseph

Prayers to St. Joseph

“St. Joseph, father and guardian of virgins, into whose faithful keeping were entrusted innocency itself, Christ Jesus, and Mary, the Virgin of virgins, I pray and beseech thee through Jesus and Mary, those pledges so dear to thee, to keep me from all uncleanness, and to grant that my mind may be untainted, my heart pure, and my body chaste; help me always to serve Jesus and Mary in perfect chastity. Amen.”

The prayer below was found in the fiftieth year of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In 1505 it was sent from the Pope to Emperor Charles when he was going into battle. This prayer is very powerful and highly recommended.

“Oh, St. 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, St. Joseph, do 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 most loving of Fathers.

“Oh, St. 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. St. Joseph, patron of departing souls – Pray for me.”

Here’s another one:

“Remember, O most illustrious Patriarch St. Joseph, on the testimony of St. Theresa, thy devoted client, never has it been heard that anyone who invoked thy protection or sought thy mediation has not obtained relief. In this confidence I come before thee, my loving protector, chaste spouse of Mary, foster-father of the Savior of men and dispenser of the treasures of His Sacred Heart. Despise not my earnest prayer, but graciously hear and obtain my petition…. (Here mention your request)

Let us pray.

O God, Who by Thine ineffable Providence didst vouchsafe to choose St. Joseph to be the spouse of Thy most holy Mother, grant, we beseech Thee, that he whom we venerate as our protector on earth may be our intercessor in Heaven, Who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen.”

Prayer to St. Philomena

St. Philomena is a powerful intercessor in Heaven, a great saint to whom one could have a devotion. St. John Vianney, the patron saint of parish priests, had a special devotion to St. Philomena. He enthusiastically encouraged others to pray to her, and often spoke of the profound effects of such prayers.

Prayer to St. Philomena

O faithful virgin and glorious martyr, St. Philomena, who works so many miracles on behalf of the poor and sorrowing, have pity on me. Thou knowest the multitude and diversity of my needs. Behold me at thy feet, full of misery, but full of hope. I entreat thy charity, O great saint! Graciously hear me and obtain from God a favorable answer to the request which I now humbly lay before thee … (Here mention your petition.) I am firmly convinced that through thy merits, through the scorn, the sufferings and the death thou didst endure, united to the merits of the Passion and death of Jesus, thy Spouse, I shall obtain what I ask of thee, and in the joy of my heart I will bless God, who is admirable in His saints. Amen.

St. Philomena, powerful with God, pray for us.

St. Francis Solanus (Apostle to South America)

St. Francis Solanus lived from 1549 to 1610.  He was a Spanish Franciscan missionary to South America.  Although St. Francis is not well-known in the United States, he is indeed to be classified among the extraordinary saints.  St. Francis was gifted with an abundance of miracles.   St. Francis converted and baptized many natives and explored uncultivated regions.

The Prayer to St. Francis

“O powerful St. Francis Solanus, thou who explored and evangelized in the wilds of South America, please assist me in the wilds of this world and obtain for me, through our Lord Jesus Christ, the grace I ask of thee.  Amen.”

(Specify your petition and then say one Hail Mary in honor of St. Francis Solanus)

St. Francis Solanus miraculously heals the mangled face of a five-year-old girl and raises her to life: “…the five year-old Maria Monroy had fallen from the second story of her parents’ home.  An iron latticework, which she had dragged down with her in the fall, had put out one of the nina’s eyes, destroyed her face, and split her skull.  When picked up, she was dead.  The desperate screams of the grief-crazed mother immediately brought the entire neighborhood to the scene; but nothing anyone could do or say served to console the woman or assuage the shock incurred when she had first glimpsed the ruin of her baby’s head and features.

“Above the bed of the dead child there hung a likeness of Fray Francisco [St. Francis Solanus].  Only when the mother’s eyes lifted to this picture was she somewhat calmed.  Beginning to pray before it, she experienced a sudden wild hope.  Loudly she demanded that someone bring her oil from Padre Solano’s lamps – at once!  It must have seemed quite hopeless to the numerous onlookers, but to pacify the poor mother, this was done, and the oil was applied to the broken little face and head.  The miracle which followed worked instantaneously!  The eye returned to its orbit, the break in the head closed, and little Maria returned to life with the exclamation, ‘Jesus, remain with me!’” (Fanchon Royer, St. Francis Solanus – Apostle to America, St. Anthony Guild Press, Patterson, N.J., 1955, p. 187.)

St. Francis Solanus miraculously crosses a river: “The river was wide and there was no boat to carry him to the opposite shore.  How happy were his Indians in their belief that, for this reason, they would have their padre with them a little longer.  But he, it seems, was hearing the voices which cried to him from the other side.  For a last time he exhorted his dear Indios to persevere in seeking God’s grace, in the Faith, and in love of neighbor; and he gave them his blessing.  Then, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he was elevated to ecstasy.  He now spread his mantle upon the water and embarked upon it without fear, and thus passed over to the opposite shore, leaving those who had accompanied him as far as the river in the extreme of astonishment.” (Fanchon Royer, St. Francis Solanus – Apostle to America, St. Anthony Guild Press, Patterson, N.J., 1955, p. 117.)

St. Francis’ extraordinary travels: “The diligent apostle did not content himself with ministering to his own converts, the Christian thousands about Socotonio and Magdalena.  As soon as he was confident that their feet were firmly placed upon the Christian path of life, he set his own to another immense tour which, owing to the rigors of the terrain which he chose to penetrate, was to prove a classic chapter in the marvelous epic of record-breaking travel and spiritual adventure… while evangelizing and instructing the natives he might encounter in the great wastes that stretched between the heroically founded stations.  But this tour was so largely devoted to the Gran Chaco that one imagines he must have known from the start that this vast, still almost completely unexplored region was the prize for which he would contest – alone and totally unsupplied with provisions of any sort.” (Fanchon Royer, St. Francis Solanus – Apostle to America, St. Anthony Guild Press, Patterson, N.J., 1955, p. 111.)

Witnesses to his miracles: “…eight hundred witnesses had presented themselves to testify under oath to St. Francis prodigies.  Among these, five hundred and twenty were Limenos.  The list included prelates, savants, physicians, army officers of high rank, religious, and ladies of prominent social standing.  Also a witness was the temporal ruler of them all, the Marques de Montesclaros, Viceroy of Peru.” (Ibid, p. 183.)

St. Francis Solanus believed that no man is saved without Baptism.  In his life, there is a story about a ship on which St. Francis was traveling which came upon a terrible storm.  This ship contained many religious, as well as natives who had received some instruction from him but had not yet been baptized.  “They ran head into a violent hurricane.  Almost immediately the cumbersome wooden ship went out of control, to become a mere chip on the frantically churning seas… Water was now passing freely through the hold.  In the midst of the tempest’s fury, the ship was falling to pieces beneath them; and as there was but a single lifeboat aboard, the disaster could only mean death for the majority of the company… the Captain made all haste to get the Franciscans and some of the more prominent passengers over the side, that they might be given this one last slim chance of survival [on a lifeboat].  Seeing that Fray Franciso made no move to join his brothers in the boat, Juan de Morgana implored him to hurry.  There was space for but one more.  But the missionary had already decided that he could not leave his stricken Negritos [the natives] to die abandoned in their agony.  Who could say that he might not be granted the time to administer Baptism to some of them?… [He said]: ‘God will not allow me to save myself by leaving my poor brothers to lose not only the life of the body, but also that of the soul, which is eternal.’” (Ibid, p. 71.)

Thus, St. Francis clearly believed that they would not be saved without Baptism, despite the knowledge or “desire” they had.  So he risked his life to stay, to make sure they were convinced of the faith and baptized.  He immediately went to work.  “… imploring [God] for the time to complete his holy mission, the priest immediately went to work.  There were so many to whom he must administer the Sacrament [of Baptism], and under circumstances which almost anyone else would have found quite impossible!”  (Ibid, p. 73.)

As St. Francis continued to baptize, the ship was actually broken into two by the hurricane.  “When the vessel had cleft in twain, Fray Francisco [St. Francis] was hastily baptizing his Negritos.  He barely looked up as he heard the noise… Quite naturally there were many who were still hysterical from fright and the misery of their half-submerged positions.  But Fray Francisco was perfectly calm; and as the fragment of the ship miraculously continued to stay afloat, one by one, the frightened men edged into their places before him and the crucifix still held high by an arm which should by now have broken beneath it.  In this manner the hours dragged on, and finally the Sacrament had actually been administered to all who wished to receive it.”  After days of struggling on the seas in the face of the hurricane, God intervened with a number of extraordinary events which allowed the vessels to survive.  (Ibid, pp. 70-77.)

Preparing the soul for Christmas † What are your priorities on Christmas?

The feasts of the Church provide us abundant opportunity to have joy. Among them, Christmas is the one that shines out in this respect.  

In the ambience that surrounded Christmas there was a fundamental joy that came from all the graces that descended on mankind at the birth of Our Lord. Anne Catherine Emmerick and Blessed Maria de Agreda tell us that all nature, including the vegetable and mineral kingdoms, shone with a special splendor on Christmas night in commemoration of the coming of the Savior to the world. 

In the Catholic Liturgy and traditions, we find many other joys in the preparation for and celebration of Christmas. Some vestiges of this joy still remain in the ecclesiastical structure we see around us – where we only see vestiges of the Catholic Church. 

When I consider those graces of Christmas, the joy they inspire penetrates me profoundly. It is the joy of knowing and feeling that God reconciled Himself with man, that mercy became present among us; that Our Lord, the Sun of all virtues, made Himself small, weak and accessible, and that He came to us filled with goodness.

The greatest joy of Christmas is spiritual - preparing to receive Christ.

Because I have a Savior, I was rescued. Someone paid the debts I had no condition to pay; someone loved me with a love that I did not deserve. There is a God who comes to me even when I do not go to Him, who is concerned about me even when I do not think of Him, and who wants to save me even when I persecute Him. 

Considering this, I feel a kind of peace and joy that participates in that supernatural cascade of graces that flooded nature on the first Christmas. The whole universe of which I am a part was made nobler by the fact that God became flesh and dwelt among us. 

I have a special joy when I consider all these things at the foot of the Manger, kneeling before the Divine Infant, my Savior, my Redeemer and my God, and, at the same time my Brother, a Son of Our Lady like me. 

Special graces normally accompany the feasts of the Church, inviting Catholics to become aware of the nobility, beauty and excellence of what is being celebrated. Thus, for me the most important thing on Christmas Night, the apex of Christmas, is not to have a Pantagruelic feast or to take part in the pagan festivities of our modern cities. It is something much more elevated than the pleasures of the flesh – even the licit and innocent ones, such as a good meal. 

The double joy of Christmas comes from being in the state of grace and having God dwelling among us. “The word was made flesh and dwelt among us” - until the last day of the world whenever a person pronounces this phrase of the Creed, knees will bend. The Creed and the Angelus will be said until the final bell of the last church tolls, and Our Lord Jesus Christ returns in person. That is, this is a joy that will be repeated until the end of the world. 

This joy comes from the first night of Christmas and will continue to the very end. The joy that I will have at this Christmas is a regal share of the river of joys opened by the coming of Our Lord, which will flow through the poignant prairie of this world until the end times. 

Therefore, for Christmas I need to prepare my soul to experience this joy that comes from such high causes. I need to meditate and be recollected, and to realize that on Christmas night it is as if Our Lord were born again. It is as if He were present at the Manger in Bethlehem and I were there with Him. This should be my delight. 

How to treat ‘brother body’ 

Now, it happens that man is an ensemble of soul and body. St. Francis of Assisi would affectionately refer to the body as “brother body.” Brother body asks to be well treated also during times of joy. It is normal that in a time of a great joy for the soul, we should give the body some contentment. This is the reason for the Christmas Supper. It is an extension or echo of our interior spiritual joy. 

Although it is normal to have a nice Christmas Supper, it is an aberration to make it the center of our Christmas commemorations. To show no concern for preparing one’s soul and the greatest care in arranging a magnificent meal is an upside-down Christmas. This Supper should not be a Pantagruelic meal to make us feel overstuffed. It should be a light meal that gives the body a proportionate pleasure that discreetly follows the spiritual joy we are experiencing. 

For example, imagine that one of us attends a Catholic concert during Christmas time in honor of Our Lord. During the intermission he goes to a buffet and eats a huge barbecue and fills himself completely. Coming back home, someone might comment to him: “What a wonderful concert!” But he is thinking: “Really, what a wonderful barbecue!” This man squandered the benefit of the concert. He should have appreciated the exquisite music in Honor of Our Lord, but instead he became incapable of appreciating anything because of the disproportionate amount of food he ate. He put things upside-down. 

Christmas Eve celebrated in high society

Imitating worldly patterns should be avoided at Christmas dinner.

Worse than this is someone who ignores the graces of Christmas because he is thinking about the supper he will have with family or friends. 

The Christmas Supper should be distinguished but discreet, with certain good dishes to satisfy our appetite and give us a moderate pleasure, but it need not be a stupendous meal. 

In practice, it should not be an occasion for us to eat many unusual and exceptional things that transport us to a kind of small gastronomical paradise: an exotic fowl, a super-paté, an astonishing caviar followed by a spectacular champagne. Of course, it is not the time to have a steak with two fried eggs, but also it is not the place to over-satiate ourselves. 

Nor is it the place for us to put on social airs. Suppose that someone heard it was fashionable among nobles and millionaires to eat a rare, exquisite white caviar that comes from the Caspian Sea. So he also wants to have this singular dish at his Christmas Supper. 

Even if he saved and could buy some of that caviar, it would not be proportional to his social level. We should not make such pretenses, especially at the Christmas Supper. Such things do not properly commemorate the Holy Christmas of Our Lord Jesus Christ. It transforms the celebration into a worldly competition or a grand dinner party. 

The Catholic Supper should be good and dignified, but something that is temperate so that we can follow the sublimity of the spiritual joys of Christmas. 

The joys of brother body should never suffocate the more elevated ones of sister soul. 

The fundamental joy of a Catholic 

What are the joys of a Catholic? 

There is a principle in Catholic doctrine that teaches us that since man is constituted of soul and body, the joys as well as the sorrows of a well-ordered man should be greater for his soul than his body. The life of a well-ordered Catholic must give more importance to what concerns his soul rather than his body. 

The Catholic whose conscience is in order knows that he is a successful man. This is a fundamental point. Each of us who lives in the state of grace, dies in the state of grace, and goes to Heaven has a completely fulfilled life. He was successful when he lived, when he died, and for all eternity.

The smiling Angel of Rheims [picture] expresses the joy of a Catholic who lives in the state of grace.

No matter how many surprises, sufferings, disappointments and frustrations he might have, a fundamental joy should exist in that man. He can say: “I am in the grace of God; therefore I am in the correct state. Whatever else befalls me is either because God permits it or because I did not take the right stance in face of certain problems.” When his judgment time comes, he may pass through Purgatory, but in the end he will go to Heaven, and, therefore, his life is a success – he is a successful man. 

This fundamental joy of having a peaceful conscience, of having a life that is successful in what is essential, is the joy of a Catholic. It gives him stability and peace, and disposes him to judge everything from the highest perspective. He sees the things that happen on earth from a higher and more translucent prism, which frees him from the afflictions, disquiet and anxieties characteristic of the people of our days. This, then, is the fundamental joy of the Catholic. 

Annette Marie
December 23, 2017 at 8:46 AM
HOW MANY OF YOU PREFER A MIDNIGHT MASS FOR CHRISTMAS?

Anonymous
December 23, 2017 at 8:56 AM

Christmas Midnight Mass is one of the most special and revered Christmas memories for me. I absolutely wish I could still find one in my area.

Original Source:
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Posted with some modifications

"Because I have a Savior, I was rescued. Someone paid the debts I had no condition to pay; someone loved me with a love that I did not deserve. There is a God who comes to me even when I do not go to Him, who is concerned about me even when I do not think of Him, and who wants to save me even when I persecute Him."

I wanted to wish you all a very blessed Christmas.  Let us keep focus on Christ each and everyday going forward.  We have a lot to be thankful for and I am very thankful for all of your support and prayers.  I ask you all to continue to keep me and those most in need in prayer as I will for you!  St. Nicholas, pray for us!  Immaculate Heart of Mary, reign within us and Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us!