ST. MOTHER TERESA'S MEDITATION ON LOVE

From the Writings of St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta

“Just begin

one at a time.

One, one, one.

If I had not picked up

that first person

dying on the street,

I would not

have picked up

the thousands

of others

later on.”

“What are these

drops of oil

in our lamps?

They are the little things

of everyday life:

fidelity, punctuality,

little words of kindness,

just a little thought

for others;

those little acts

of silence,

of look, and of thought,

of word, and of deed.

These are the very

drops of love

that make our life burn

with so much light.”

“God does not look

for big things --

he looks for

how much love

we put in the giving.”

COMING SOON: RE-CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY!

Do you want to find

a short and easy way

to make your annual re-consecration

to Jesus through Mary?

If so, then join us right here

for a five-day re-consecration,

which starts on December 8

and ends on December 12!

God bless you,

and may Our Lady,

the Queen of All Hearts,

sweetly shower God's graces upon you!

MEDITATION ON VOCATION

The Words of St. Francis de Sales

“The King of Glory

Does not reward his servants

According to the dignity

Of the offices they hold,

But according to

The love and humility

With which they fulfill

Their offices.”

COMING SOON: RE-CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY!

Do you want to find

a short and easy way

to make your annual re-consecration

to Jesus through Mary?

If so, then join us right here

for a five-day re-consecration,

which starts on December 8

and ends on December 12!

God bless you,

and may Our Lady,

the Queen of All Hearts,

sweetly shower God's graces upon you!

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES' PRAYER BEFORE MAKING AN EXAMINATION OF CONSCIENCE

Based on the writing of St. Francis de Sales

Dearest Jesus,

King of Divine Mercy,

I place myself in your holy presence,

And I beseech you to inspire in me

By the power of the Holy Spirit.

Give me your light,

And give me sight,

That I may gain

A perfect knowledge

Of myself.

With St. Augustine,

I cry out to you,

“Lord, let me know you,

And let me know myself!”

And with St. Francis,

I humbly ask you,

“Lord! Who are you,

And who am I?”

I protest that I do not wish

To learn of my progress

In order to rejoice in myself,

But solely to rejoice in you, dear God,

Because I do not wish to glorify myself,

But I only wish to glorify you, dear Lord,

And give you thanks.

I also protest that if I find,

As I fear I shall,

That I have made only a little progress,

Or none at all,

Or even that I have fallen backward,

I will not on that account

Be depressed or made cold

By discouragement or despondency

Of any sort.

On the contrary,

I protest that I wish to encourage

And animate myself all the more,

I wish to humble myself,

And I wish to correct my faults

By the assistance of your grace.

Amen.

COMING SOON: RE-CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY!

Do you want to find

a short and easy way

to make your annual re-consecration

to Jesus through Mary?

If so, then join us right here

for a five-day re-consecration,

which starts on December 8

and ends on December 12!

God bless you,

and may Our Lady,

the Queen of All Hearts,

sweetly shower God's graces upon you!

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES' EVENING PRAYER

Based on the writing of St. Francis de Sales

Dearest Heavenly Father,

Through the Holy Spirit

I humbly give you thanks for

The affections and resolutions

You have given me today

In my meditations,

As well as for your great

Goodness and divine mercy.

Eternal Father, I offer to you

The body and blood,

Soul and divinity,

Of your dearly beloved Son,

Our Lord Jesus Christ,

In atonement for our sins,

And those of the whole world.

I wholeheartedly implore you

To share with me the abundant

Graces and virtues

Of your most holy Son,

And to bless my affections and resolutions,

So that I may faithfully fulfill them.

I also thank you for

Having taken care of me today,

And now I will examine

How I have conducted myself

Throughout the course of this day…

For all the good I have done,

I sincerely and wholeheartedly

Thank you for it;

For anything I have done wrong

In thought, word, or deed,

I ask pardon of you,

The Divine Mercy,

And I resolve to confess it

At the first opportunity,

And to make careful

Amendment for it.

In your Divine Providence,

And through the intercession of

Our Lady, the angels,

And the saints,

Please take care of

My body, and my soul,

The Church, and my diocese,

My parish, and my pastor,

My relatives, and my friends,

And everyone else in the world,

That the windows of our souls

Will be closed

Against the shadows of hell.

Thus, with your blessing, dear God,

I go to take the rest

That you have decreed

As necessary for me.

Amen.

(Follow this with an Our Father and a Hail Mary)

SIN AND SINNER

All too often,

especially in the past,

we have hated the sin

and hated the sinner,

thus marginalizing

entire races of peoples,

and this is neither good,

nor true, nor beautiful.

Nowadays,

in our upside-down

politically correct world,

we love the sin

and love the sinner,

thus glorifying everything,

and standing up for nothing,

and this is neither good,

nor true, nor beautiful.

Sometimes our world

is even more diabolical,

and we love the sin

and hate the sinner,

thus leading to the persecution

and martyrdom

of many, many Christians,

and this is neither good,

nor true, nor beautiful.

But sometimes,

by the grace of God,

we get it right:

we hate the sin

and love the sinner;

this is very, very good,

this is very, very true,

this is very, very beautiful.

COMING SOON: RE-CONSECRATION TO JESUS THROUGH MARY!

Do you want to find

a short and easy way

to make your annual re-consecration

to Jesus through Mary?

If so, then join us right here

for a five-day re-consecration,

which starts on December 8

and ends on December 12!

God bless you,

and may Our Lady,

the Queen of All Hearts,

sweetly shower God's graces upon you!

ST. FRANCIS DE SALES' MORNING PRAYER

Based on the writing of St. Francis de Sales

Dearest God,

I adore you profoundly.

I thank you for the grace

Of preserving me

During this past night,

And I implore your pardon

If I have committed any sin

During the course of it.

I realize that the present day

Is given to me in order to gain

The future day of eternity,

And I plan on using this day well.

Looking ahead to what

Awaits me today,

I now make a firm resolution

To sincerely serve you and

Also advance in holy devotion;

Therefore, this is my spiritual plan:

______________________.

Lord, here is this wretched heart

Of mine, which through your

Goodness has conceived

Many good affections;

Alas, it is too weak and

Miserable to do the good

That it desires to do

Unless you impart your

Heavenly blessing.

For this reason

I humbly beg your blessing,

O Merciful Father,

Through the merits

Of the passion of your Son,

In whose honor I consecrate this day,

And all the remaining days of my life.

O Madonnina d’Amore, pray for me,

O Guardian Angel, pray for me,

All you saints and angels, pray for me,

That the windows of my soul

Will be opened

To the Sun of Justice.

Amen.

TRUST

Based on St. Paul’s fruit of the Spirit

When you are afraid,

Trust.

When you are sad,

Trust.

When you are agitated,

Trust.

When you are impatient,

Trust.

When you are angry,

Trust.

When you are selfish,

Trust.

When you are doubting,

Trust.

When you are demanding,

Trust.

When you are reckless,

Trust.

When you are foolish,

Trust.

Trust in Divine Mercy,

Trust always,

Trust.

THE BLACK DRAGON

Pride is a black dragon that tries

To kindle our sinful souls with

The flaming fires of falsehood,

Causing our egos to swell with

The helium of haughtiness;

But thanksgiving is a weapon,

A weapon of heavenly wonder,

Used by the Holy Family when

There was arrogance in the air;

So when we are praised for some

Fine worldly accomplishment,

Then we too should turn to the

Lord God, and, with a little smile,

We should frequently thank Him

For each of His gracious gifts,

And seeing our happy hearts filled

To the brim with gratitude, behold,

The black dragon flees in terror.

THE KING OF TIME

I arrogantly acted

as if I owned Time,

but I did not,

so the Thief

kidnapped Time

and took him away from me,

tempting me and taunting me

with interruptions,

and I got exasperated,

so I madly chased after Time,

like a wild-eyed maniac,

but the Thief just laughed at me,

as if I were a ridiculous fool,

a stupid ridiculous fool.

But when the Light

Showed me The Way,

I surrendered back to Him

His generous gift of time:

Tuus totus ego sum,

I am all yours,

And all the time I have is yours,

O Lord, through Our Lady,

The Queen of All Hearts —

I breathe in His peace,

Oh, so deeply,

And then exhale my impatience,

As I worship

The King of time,

The King of Divine Mercy.

THE TRAFFIC SIGNAL

St. Augustine: “Patience is the companion of wisdom”

When we impetuously 

Want to speed through

The intersections of life

And just do what we want —

Not what God wants —

Then the red Light stops us,

So that we can recognize the danger;

Acting rashly, thoughtlessly,

Charging ahead of the Lord,

All of these cause nothing but trouble,

So the red Light gives us a little more time,

To ponder, to reflect, to pray,

So that when the Light turns green,

we can move and act

In God’s time, in God’s will.

MEDITATION ON DIVINE MERCY IN THE DARK NIGHT OF UNKNOWING

Inspired by the Saints

Following the guidance of

St. Francis de Sales, I pray:

Dearest Jesus,

King of Divine Mercy,

I place myself in your holy presence,

and I beseech you to inspire me

by the power of the Holy Spirit

for the glory of God the Father.

Vive Jésus!

Our Lady of Love

then comes to me,

encouragingly,

and quoting the words

of St. Paul the Apostle,

she begins to prepare me

for the spiritual battle

and says to me,

Be filled with the Spirit,

singing to the Lord,

and giving thanks always.

Then, Our Lady,

smiling peacefully,

reminds me of the words

of San Padre Pio,

and says to me,

Prega e spera:

non agitarti.

L’agitazione

non giova a nulla.

Iddio è misericordioso,

e ascolterà

la tua preghiera.

(Pray and hope:

don’t be agitated.

Agitation doesn’t help at all.

God is merciful,

and He will hear

your prayer.)

Our Lady then quotes

the words of St. John Paul II,

and joyfully says to me:

Non abbiate paura.

(Don’t be afraid.)

Then, Our Lady gives me

the kiss of peace

on each cheek

and continues,

with greater emphasis:

Non abbiate paura!

(Don’t be afraid!)

Our Lady then embraces me

with tender motherly love

and, echoing the words

of St. John Paul the Great,

she says to me:

I love you! I love you!

I love you! I love you!

Then, Our Lady does

what she does best:

she leads me to Jesus

and humbly says,

Fate quello que vi dirà.

(Do whatever He tells you.)

Our Lord of Love

then stands before me,

in gentleness,

and says to me,

Approach this Sea of Mercy

with great trust.

Then, Our Lady,

at Jesus’ side,

speaks again,

and quoting St. Augustine,

she continues preparing me

for the spiritual battle

and kindly says to me,

Patience

is the companion

of wisdom.

Our Lady then reminds me

of the words of

Venerable Fulton J. Sheen,

and calmly says to me,

When Our Blessed Lord

came to this earth,

He had the divine

sense of humor.

Then, Our Lady speaks

in the spirit of

St. Francis of Assisi,

and wisely says to me,

True joy is divine mercy

in the dark night.

After doing all these things,

Our Lady sweetly kneels before Jesus,

and then speaks the words of

St. Louis de Montfort’s consecration,

faithfully saying to Him:

Tuus totus ego sum,

et omnia mea tua sunt.

Then, humbly kneeling

side-by-side with Our Lady,

I continue St. Louis’ prayer,

and I wholeheartedly say,

I am all yours, O my Jesus,

and all that I have is yours,

through Santa Maria,

your most holy mother.

Our Lady then stands,

faces me once again,

and speaks the same

inspiring words to me

that she spoke

to St. Faustina:

Be courageous.

Do not fear

apparent obstacles,

but fix your gaze

on the Passion of my Son,

and in this way

you will be victorious.

At last, I find myself

transported in spirit to

The Sermon on the Mount,

and I hear Jesus,

The Divine Mercy,

speak sincerely

and lovingly to me,

and He says,

Come to me,

all you who are weary

and find life burdensome,

and I will refresh you.

Take my yoke

upon your shoulders

and learn from me,

for I am gentle

and humble of heart.

Your souls shall find rest,

for my yoke is easy,

and my burden light.

Amen.

LOVE CONQUERS ALL FEAR

in fear.

we shudder.

thinking we may offend.

someone.

by speaking.

the wrong words.

because political correctness.

ties a knot.

in our throats.

and makes us mute.

But in Love,

When the opportunity

Presents itself,

My heart smiles,

And my soul soars,

As the Morning Star

Rises in my heart,

And I shout out,

Bursting with joy,

“Merry Christmas!”

FALLING

At the Last Supper,

Judas left you.

He betrayed you.

But don’t we

Betray you too? -- 

When we make excuses,

And skip the prayers,

And skip the masses,

And skip the Eucharist?

For then we are falling,

Down, down, down,

Headlong towards

The open-throated

Abyss of doom

Which vomits forth

The flames of folly.

Instead, let us

Return to Him, 

Our Father of Love,

To make a fresh

New start to our

Broken lives,

Let us fall

To our knees

And surrender to Him,

Let us fall

Into His loving arms

And embrace Him,

Let us fall,

Fall in love with Him,

Down in adoration falling.

A JUGGLER'S LIFE

I’m like a ridiculous painted clown,

Juggling to-do’s, up and down

And back and forth, my life is a frantic

Intertwining of past, present, future,

In a tangled jungle of multitasking,

Weighed down by the heavy stress

Of guilt over my imperfect past and

Of worry over unknown tomorrows;

But life is so much easier when I

Zero in and focus on the great I AM,

Living perpetually in the present,

Juggling one little ball at a time:

Blessed are the single-hearted,

For they shall surely see God.

MY GUARDIANS

Temptation tries to throttle me,

So why should I face him alone?

My guardian angel patiently waits 

Until I confidently cry out to him,

Asking him to protect me

From all danger and all fear,

And joyfully joining him are the

Mighty and powerful archangels,

Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael,

They create a giant bubble,

Formed out of Our Lord’s

Fountain of Living Water,

And it shields me from the

Fiery darts of the evil one.

TO ST. JOAN OF ARC

You obey as a spiritual warrior,

Yet are an innocent loving girl;

Your bravely fight for the Lord,

Yet are very sweet and kind;

You stand up for what is right,

Yet are so gentle and peaceful;

You persevere in the darkness,

Yet are filled with the holy Light;

You face death with courage,

Yet have life and heavenly joy.