TO ST. JOSEPH

Your thick, wavy brown hair happily

  Blows in the breeze of God’s will;

Your warm brown eyes twinkle with

  Contentment, crinkling as you smile.

You protect the holy Babe from Herod’s

  Hellish hands, which are dripping with blood;

In obedience, you help the Holy Family

  Evade him and elusively escape to Egypt.

As a worker, you handle the wood of

  God’s creation with gentle strength;

With industrious ingenuity, you use

  God’s good gifts to serve others.

You shatter lustful temptation with your

  Carpenter’s mallet of holy purity;

Then, as God’s valiant soldier, you slay

  Selfishness with the sword of surrender.

In your loving example, you show little Jesus

  how to be a good son to His mother;

With your humble heart, you teach Love

  How to love, and the angels are amazed.

SONG TO OUR LADY

To the tune of “Silent Worship” by George Frideric Handel

O behold Our Lady,

Who hears the church bells ringing,

Silent, she waits and listens,

Then, hears the angels singing;

And, lo, behold Our Lady,

So beautiful and fair,

Smiling in the Sonshine,

With a glory of golden hair.

She cuddled with Baby Jesus,

In a stable in Bethlehem,

The light from the little Savior

Shone brightly like a gem.

Surely you love Our Lady,

Who joins the angels singing,

Deep in His heart of mercy,

Her prayers with ours are mingling;

And, lo, behold Our Lady,

So beautiful and fair,

Smiling in the Sonshine,

God’s love is in the air.

PRAYER FOR SINCERE CONTRITION

Inspired by St. Francis de Sales

O Lord, I recognize

my unworthiness,

and I humbly ask pardon

for my sins.

Amen.

THE STAR OF BETHLEHEM

She is the Star of Bethlehem.

The compassionate Lady of Love,

The powerful Virgin of Victory,

The sweet Mother of the Messiah,

Silent and holy, calm and bright,

Her dazzling beauty shines 

In the dark night of unknowing,

And she points the way for the

Wise men and wise women

Of this world who wish to know

The Babe of Divine Mercy.

THE INCARNATION

Whispered sweetly,

Santa Maria’s “yes”

Ripples and reverberates

Through the Halls of Heaven,

And the Spirit speeds through the

Atmosphere in a powerful pulse

Of gleaming, virginal white light

Into the humble House of Gold:

And, behold, The Divine Mercy is

Incarnate.

OUR LADY OF DIVINE MERCY

Trembling, I hid in your mantle, protected

  From the dark night of unknowing;

You guided me up the steep, perilous path,

  Towards the sparkling, starry heavens.

The demonic winds gusted, and with

  Frightful ferocity thunder shook the air;

Serpentine lightning darted in the sky, and

  Lava streams slithered down the slopes.

But then the Sun of God dazzlingly dawned,

  And He put an end to the dark night;

Beams of bright light, both red and white,

  Streamed soothingly into my soul.

Atop the summit, you took my hand,

  And together we flew into the Light;

We laughed like merry little children,

  Soaking in the sunshine of pure Mercy.

THE CONVERSION OF MARY MAGDALENE

Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece

Our Lord looks at Mary

With sweetness and gentleness,

And she looks back at him,

Incredulous, that He could

Forgive and pardon

Her many many grave sins;

She gazes into the eyes of Love,

Her heart pierced by the lance of

Sincere heartfelt contrition, and

As He breaks the chains of her sin,

She experiences the Good,

She experiences the True,

She experiences the Beautiful —

And, lo, she is a new creation!

NIGHT PRAYER

O Mystical Rose,

Be with me; stay with me;

Let every beat of my heart tonight

Be an act of love for you!

O Jesus, The Divine Mercy,

Be with me; stay with me;

Let every beat of my heart tonight

Be an act of love for you!

Amen.

MARIAN PRAYER OF OFFERING FOR A PLENARY OR PARTIAL INDULGENCE

O Lord of Love,

Through your holy grace,

I have wholehearted contrition,

And am free from all affection for sin,

And so, with a sincere heart,

I offer you this Our Father

and also this Hail Mary,

For the Holy Father’s intentions…

And along with these prayers,

Please accept my recent confession,

And this morning’s indulgenced work, 

And reception of Holy Communion.

In short, I humbly request that 

Through the sweet hands of

Our Lady of Love,

You accept the little gift of

Today’s indulgence,

Offered for the benefit of _____,

Or for whomever the merciful

Mystical Rose most wishes,

In accordance with your holy will.

Amen.

LITTLE PRAYER TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGELs

Inspired by St. Basil the Great and St. Bernard of Clairvaux

Dearest

Guardian Angels,

Be with us;

Stay with us.

Through God’s

Bountiful love,

Please protect us!

Please guard us!

Please guide us!

Please teach us!

Save us from

The dark night,

And lead us into

The Holy Light.

Jesus, I trust in You!

Amen.

SUSANNAH AND THE ELDERS

Inspired by Pompeo Batoni’s masterpiece

The lecherous elders saw her,

with eyes wanton and wicked

they saw the lovely Susannah

as she innocently bathed in the

warm water of the silent garden,

but when she rejected the lurid

scheme of these unjust judges,

their vicious vile hearts burned

with lust and anger, and so

they perniciously plotted to

melt down her golden reputation

in the fiery furnace of calumny;

but still, she trusted,

Susannah trusted in God --

then, the Spirit of the Lord rushed

upon a youth named Daniel

who, though very humble,

spoke with the authoritative

passion of the prophets of old,

and his wondrous wisdom

amazed the people who listened --

and, lo, in the twinkle of an eye,

Justice struck down the elders

like a holy hammer from Heaven.

DAVID AND GOLIATH

Inspired by Caravaggio’s masterpiece

David, youthful and ruddy, 

God’s brave little warrior,

Bends over to see the stupefied 

Expression on Goliath’s face;

The beheaded giant attempts to

Utter one last word to the victor,

But the smooth stone piercing

His bloody brain prevents him;

The future king is as calm and

Collected as a sage prophet,

Truly he is God’s holy champion,

The faithful and fearless one.

THE ISRAELITES DRINKING THE MIRACULOUS WATER

Inspired by Jacopo Bassano’s masterpiece

Just a moment ago,

before I struck the rock,

the people used their mouths

to stone me with sarcasm,

to run me through with ridicule,

to crucify me with cruelty --

but if they would see You here,

the Holy One, the great I AM,

they would never do this to You;

yet now, with those same mouths,

they thirstily drink the water,

refreshing their parched throats,

strengthening their tired bodies --

but what they really need,

what they really and truly need,

to refresh and purify their souls,

is Your gracious gift of Living Water,

an endless ocean of Divine Mercy.

THE MULTIPLICATION OF THE FRUIT

Inspired by Peter Paul Rubens’ masterpiece

As Jesus sits at table,

He lovingly shares with us

Clusters of nine grapes,

One for each fruit of the Spirit;

We eat them and they are

Sweeter than moscato,

And they lovingly burst forth in

Wonderful fireworks of flavor;

But then we see others in need

At the far end of the table,

And so, in Love, we share

Our delightful fruit with them too,

So that Love is all in all,

And the more we share this

Most excellent fruit with others,

The more Jesus shares it with us.

MOSES SAVED FROM THE WATERS

Inspired by Jacopo Robusti Tintoretto’s masterpiece

A lonely little baby in a basket

floats freely in the current of

the Nile River, his brown eyes

wandering to and fro, innocently

wondering where his mother is;

the Spirit delicately leads the

young one towards his new home,

and in a short time the babe feels

his journey come to a gentle halt;

when the basket opens, he looks up

and sees a pretty face, but unlike

any that he has seen before, painted,

but with a light, elegant touch;

then the Egyptian woman’s

eyes open wide in wonder,

and her beautiful lips curve

into a warm, sweet smile,

and for the first time in

her life, she is in love.

THE CONVERSION OF MARY MAGDALENE

Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece

Our Lord looks at Mary

With sweetness and gentleness,

And she looks back at him,

Incredulous, that He could

Forgive and pardon

Her many many grave sins;

She gazes into the eyes of Love,

Her heart pierced by the lance of

Sincere heartfelt contrition, and

As He breaks the chains of her sin,

She experiences the Good,

She experiences the True,

She experiences the Beautiful —

And, lo, she is a new creation!

OUR LADY'S LITTLE LANTERN

O Mystical Rose,

Surrounded by the

Dazzling and brilliant Light,

You open your little lantern

And fill it to the brim

With the Light of Love,

Then you humbly and gently

Shine it upon the whole world,

Transfiguring it,

With His glorious goodness,

With His transparent truth,

With His benevolent beauty!

JOSEPH SOLD BY HIS BROTHERS

Inspired by Antonio Castillo Saavedra’s masterpiece

Stripped of his ornamental tunic

By his jealous, impulsive brothers,

Joseph sits cramped inside a dry well,

As if inside a cavernous dungeon,

Bewildered, like a lost lonely sheep; 

Then, he’s startled by a falling rope --

He instinctively grips it and

Suddenly, he’s jerked upwards,

His eyes observing the misty clouds

That seem to be swirling in confusion

Above him in the cold dark sky;

After being yanked out of the well

And thrown roughly to the ground

By one of his very own brothers,

He wearily looks up at an 

Astonished Midianite merchant,

Who carefully looks him over

With a shrewd business-like eye

Before buying him, on the spot, 

For a bargain of twenty shekels;

As Joseph slowly walks alongside

This cheerful good-natured trader,

He wonders what God’s plans will be

For him in the distant land of Egypt.

THE SACRIFICE OF ISAAC

Inspired by Paolo Veronese’s masterpiece

Abraham simply can’t wait any longer:

His heavy heart thunderously thumps

Deep down inside his big broad chest, 

And his body trembles with terror.

He hesitates as if he is hopelessly lost,

As if wandering in a wasteland of worry,

Yet when he closes his weary eyes,

He finds God’s gift of faith in his heart.

Little Isaac gazes upward towards the sky,

Wondering why the clouds are so grey,

He completely trusts his good father,

And knows not his own impending doom.  

Abraham’s hopeful hand grips the knife,

Then very slowly, and ever so silently, 

He raises its bloodless blade in the air,

Preparing for the swift stroke of death. 

But an angel in white stops him and 

Abraham’s body crumbles to the ground,

Like fallen fragments of unleavened bread,

And Divine Mercy warmly smiles upon him.

THE TOWER OF BABEL

Inspired by Frans Francken II’s masterpiece

The people were far more

advanced in technology than

their predecessors, and they

built a tower soaring to the skies;

their minds were filled with

grand new dreams of progress,

and each of them envisioned

a great new world in which

their creative ingenuity

would supply all of their needs --

they no longer needed God.

The Spirit slowly circled overhead,

saddened that He had been

forgotten by the people,

so He sighed deeply, wishing

His children to know how much

they needed Him, wishing

them to know how greatly and

how passionately He loved them;

so He withdrew and gave them

what they wanted: independence --

and then they babbled like idiots.

Why are dust and ashes proud?

Why is it that we accomplish

great things, and then we

forget the One who gave us

the gifts in the first place?

Even stubborn donkeys

understand that although

they wear a very beautiful

diamond-studded saddle,

it is absolutely nothing that

they earned or deserved.