A Prayer to Our Lady of Sorrows

Dearest Mother, before you could become the Consoler of the Afflicted, you first had to know true sorrow. I pause with you now, and meditate on that great suffering in your life, the death and burial of your most beloved Son.

Oh, how humble I am, dear Mary, when I see before me your Son in the tomb. He gave His life so we may know freedom from sin. Remind me always that any suffering in my life is passing, just as the suffering you experienced passed in the joy of the Resurrection.

Holy Mary, Mother of Sorrows, I mourn with you, knowing the certain joy of your Son and His gift of everlasting life. Through this act of His, you have become our Mother of Consolation. Amen.

Hat tip to the Basilica and National Shrine of Our Lady of Consolation.

Offering up Suffering

So many people are suffering right now. There are so many marriages in trouble. So many people are looking for work. So many are caring for aging parents or disabled children.

Let's unite all our sufferings to those of Christ on the Cross, for the renewed Faith of our loved ones.

Christianity is alone among religions to recognize the redemptive nature of suffering. Suffering comes to us no matter our station in life. Christ has taken our suffering on himself on the cross.

The Pre-Christmas Fast

The Orthodox Church encourages people to fast for the 40 days prior to Christmas. They abstain from meat, cheese, oil and wine from November 14 until Christmas. Lisa DeLuca says that this pre-Christmas fast "is a spiritual practice that helps people grieve their losses, endure their sadness, feed their souls, and, ultimately, experience joy on Christmas day."

From a Catholic perspective, we can use this time of depriving ourselves to offer up our inconveniences for the safe return of our loved ones to the faith.

Especially if Christmas is a sad time for you, try turning to God and away from worldly over indulgence and continue to pray for your loved ones.

The manger, in spite of being filled with animal food, is empty for us until we fill it with Jesus.

Reasons to Come Home

The Morning Offering

The Morning offering is a very efficacious way to begin your day. Offering all your joys as well as all your sufferings to the Lord for the intention of your loved ones is a way to unite your sufferings to those of Jesus on the cross.

Here is the Morning Offering that I (try to) say each day.

Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer you my joys, works and sufferings of this day,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass
throughout the world.

I offer them for the intentions of the Sacred Heart,
the intentions of the Holy Father,
for the salvation of souls,
the remission of sins,
in reparation for my own sins
and those of my loved ones,
for the spiritual, mental and physical health of my loved ones.

I offer them for the reunion of all Christians,
for peace and faith in the world,
and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

~Amen

Fatima Prayer

This prayer, given to the children at Fatima, Portugal in 1917, by an angel of God, prior to their visitation from Mary is a great comfort to me. Rather than fearing for our loved ones who have turned away from the Lord, we can entrust them to His tender mercies. This prayer is now said after each decade of the Rosary.

O my Jesus,
forgive us our sins.
Save us from the fires of hell.
Lead all souls to heaven,
especially those in most need
of Thy mercy.

Being Alone

Do you feel alone? That's ok. Sometimes, Our Lord wants us to be alone--alone with Him. God wants us to let go and rest in His healing arms. He wants us to give up our need for everything to be the same as it was. Jesus tells us, "Behold, I am making all things new." He wants us to celebrate being a new creation with Him. He wants us to trust Him and let go of our own need to control situations. He wants us to give up being God.

Jesus, I trust in You.

Friday Reminder

Today is Friday.

It's First Friday, in fact.

This is a good day to add some extra prayer or penance to your routine for the intention of your loved ones who have lost their faith.

Do not lose heart.

Jesus yearns for us all

How many times I yearned to gather your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were unwilling! ~Luke 13:34

Jesus is a loving parent. He longs to gather our loved ones together under His wings and protect them but He will not go against free will.

Let us join together in fervent prayer for all our loved ones who have left the fold.

Jesus Never Tires

What man among you having a hundred sheep and losing one of them would not leave the ninety-nine in the desert and go after the lost one until he finds it?

And when he does find it, he sets it on his shoulders with great joy
and, upon his arrival home, he calls together his friends and neighbors and says to them, 'Rejoice with me because I have found my lost sheep.'
I tell you, in just the same way there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous people who have no need of repentance.

~Luke 15:4-7

Jesus, the Good Shepherd searches and calls out to our loved ones to return to Him. Let us join our voices with His in praise, prayer, and supplication.

Daily Mass

Mass is the joining of Heaven and Earth. Mass is the joining of space and time: we are made present at the Last Supper and Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Going to Mass on a weekday is a very efficacious way to pray for our brothers and sisters who have lost their faith.

Pray constantly and fervently.

Offer up frequent Holy Communions for your loved ones.

Adoration

Are you blessed to have Eucharistic Adoration near you? Some parishes and monasteries have 24 hour Adoration, and others have Adoration for part of the week, often on a Friday.

Eucharistic Adoration is a perfect way to commemorate Christ's death on the cross, as part of the required Friday penance, either instead of, or along with abstinence from meat. Fridays can become a special time with Our Lord; one we look forward to all week, to pour out our hearts to Him and offer up our joys and fears.

If one of your fears is for loved ones who have lost their faith, take that concern to Jesus in the Eucharist and leave your worries at His feet.

And remember

that I am with you always

until the end of time.

Matthew 28:20

Jesus Knew

Jesus knew that following Him would sometimes bring division within families and among friends. He is with us. He died for us and for them.

Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn
a man against his father,
a daughter against her mother,
a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law -
a man's enemies will be the members of his own household.
Matthew 10:34-36

Light a Candle, Say a Prayer

There are many opportunities to light a candle for the intention of your loved one. Many Catholic Churches and Shrines have candles to light for a small donation to cover the cost. Many people light candles in front of an icon, statue or holy picture in their homes.

With the advent of the Internet, there are opportunities, both virtual and real, to light candles for your intentions. Light a Candle.org , St. Bernard Abbey, and Gratefulness.org are three such online candle lighting sites.

In Gratefulness.org, The Apostolate of Saint Augustine has its own candle "room". Click on this link, or go to Gratefulness.org and type in StA when asked for the initials of the group. You can post your intention, the initials of the person you are praying for, as well as your own name or initials.

I have linked the picture of the red votive candles on my sidebar to our candle room in Gratefulness.org. Just click on the red votive candles on the sidebar to get there.

Prayer/Sacrifice List

I have added a list to the sidebar. Anyone who contacts me, either via-email, or on a comment (be aware, thought, that once this post scrolls down, I probably won't remember to check it!) I will add the person's name (or initials--remember this is a public blog) to the list on the sidebar.

Let's pray and sacrifice for each other.

Prayer and Fasting

Friday is a special day of prayer and sacrifice in the Church. We are called to abstain from meat, or, more recently, to sacrifice in another way, in commemoration of Christ's suffering and death.

Let us make a renewed effort to follow this Church discipline and make Friday a day of penance for all our loved ones who have lost their faith.

"But this kind does not come out except by prayer and fasting" ~Matthew 17:21

The Morning Offering

Jesus, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary,
I offer you my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day,
in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world.

I offer them for the intentions of the Sacred Heart,
for the intentions of the Holy Father,
for the salvation of souls,
for the remission of sins,
in reparation for my own sins and those of my loved ones,
for the physical, mental and spiritual health of my loved ones,
for the reunion of all Christians,
for faith and peace in the world,
and for the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

~Amen

Pray every day, offering up your joys and sufferings to Jesus for your loved ones who no longer believe.

What is The Apostolate of Saint Augustine?

The Apostolate of Saint Augustine is a Catholic apostolate whose purpose is fostering prayer and sacrifice for those who have lost their faith in God.

The pressures of today's society on belief and faith are immense. Belief and reverence are under attack from the media, education and peer groups, as well as from both within and outside of the Church itself. Those who believe and practice the faith as taught by the Apostles of Jesus Christ are belittled and made fun of on a regular basis. The right of all Americans to choose to believe in a power greater than themselves is being challenged and questioned as never before.

Many, many people fall away from the faith at some time during their lives and in some families, there is no one left who is committed to praying for them in their faith struggle.

Prayer is powerful. Fasting, Adoration, the Rosary and the offering up of our daily challenges and inconveniences are ways that each one of us can effect positive change during this period when unbelief becomes the assumed world view of our modern culture.

Let us join together in prayer and sacrifice for all those who have lost their faith in Our Lord. Let us commit to sacrificing our time and our sufferings for their entering in to a new relationship with God.