CHRISTMAS PRAYER

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment
when the Son of God was born
of the most pure virgin Mary
at midnight in Bethlehem
In piercing cold
In that hour vouchsafe
Oh My God to hear my prayer
and grant my petition
Amen

MARY MOTHER OF SORROWS

THE CONSOLER OF THE SUFFERING SOULS

" Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalen. When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he said to his mother:  Woman, behold thy son.  After that, he said to the disciple:  Behold thy mother.  And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own."
-  John 19:25-27

Our Lord promises great graces to those who are devoted to the sorrows of His Blessed Mother.
St Alphonsus tells us that it was revealed to St Elizabeth of Hungary that some years after the assumption of The Blessed Virgin into Heaven St John the beloved apostle wished to see her again.  This favour was granted him.  Mary appeared to him with our Divine Lord.  Then St John heard Mary asking of her Son some special graces for those who were devoted to her dolors.  Our Lord promised the four following graces
1.      Those who invoke the Heavenly Mother through her sorrows will obtain true sorrow for their sins before death.

2.      Our Saviour will protect them in their tribulations, especially at the hour of death.

3.      He will impress upon them the memory of His Passion, and will reward them for it in Heaven.

4.      He will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary, that she may dispose of them     according to her pleasure, and obtain for them all the graces she desires. 

Dominica Clara of the Holy Cross who died in 1897, was often favoured with apparitions of the souls in purgatory.  One of these souls told the servant of God that she [the soul] owed her salvation solely to her devotion to the sorrows of Mary.  Her life had been so wicked that without a special grace from God she could not possibly have been saved, but Mary leaves nothing unrewarded that is done in her honour.
During life this person had felt a tender compassion for the Mother of Sorrows, and whenever she beheld an image representing the Dolorous Mother, she prayed the Hail Mary seven times in her honour.  She admitted, however, that often she had practiced this devotion more from custom than from interior devotion; for her pious mother had implanted it so deeply in her heart that, despite her wayward life, she had always remained faithful to it.  As a reward for this slight veneration, the Mother of God showed special maternal solicitude for her at the hour of death, recalling to her mind the image of her Seven Sorrows in so vivid a manner that in her last moments the penitent was seized with most profound contrition for her sinful life.  For this reason she obtained the remission of all her sins.
According to the information imparted by this soul, the sorrow she felt for her sins, through the intercession of the Mother of Sorrows, was so great that it expiated not only her sins but also a great part of the temporal punishment due to them. In addition to this incomparably great grace, the soul, while in purgatory, was consoled by frequent visits of the Mother of God, each of which mitigated her sufferings.  Her torments ceased entirely during the time the Blessed Virgin was personally present.
Thousands and thousands of souls, she asserted, who had not committed one twentieth as much evil as she, were eternally lost.  "Ah," she exclaimed, "how lively are my sentiments of gratitude when I consider what our dear Heavenly Mother did for me in the last moments of my life!  Had it not been for Mary, I too should have shared the fate of the reprobates.  for all eternity shall my tongue proclaim the love, the goodness, the solicitude of this sweet Virgin; unceasingly shall my voice glorify her with canticles of praise and thanksgiving". 

HOLY MOTHER! PIERCE ME THROUGH,
In my heart each wound renew
Of my Saviour crucified;
Let me share with thee His pain,
Who for all my sins was slain,
Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee, 
Mourning Him who mourned for me,
All the days that I may live.

ST JUDE PATRON OF HOPELESS CASES

St Jude [Thaddaeus] was one of the 12 apostles of Jesus.  He was a brother of St James the less, who was also an apostle.  They were the sons of Alphaeus, also sometimes called Cleophas who was a brother of Joseph, the foster father of Jesus. His mother Mary of Alphaeus, sometimes called Mary Cleophas was a cousin of The Blessed Virgin Mary, and one of the holy women who stood at the foot of the cross with the Blessed Virgin Mary and St John the Evangelist.

Jesus inspired St Bridget of Sweden to turn to St Jude with great faith and confidence. Jesus told her that, in accordance with Jude's surname, Thaddeus [which means generous, courageous, and kind], "He will show himself to be the most willing to give you help".  St Bernard of Clairvaux [died 1153] declared Doctor of the Church in 1830 was a renowned devotee of St Jude.
After the death and resurrection of Jesus, St Jude with St Simon, also an apostle, travelled throughout Mesopotamia [present -day Iraq] Libya, Turkey and Persia preaching and converting many people to Christianity.
Around the year 60 A.D. St Jude wrote a letter or epistle known as the letter of St Jude in the New Testament.  In it he urges the faithful to "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints.
For certain men are secretly entered in ............ungodly men, turning the grace of Our Lord
God into riotousness,  and denying the only sovereign ruler and Our Lord Jesus Christ.".
St Jude it is believed was martyred along with St Simon in Persia around 65 A.D.


St Jude is a real hero of a saint as far as I'm concerned, he truly is the saint of the impossible.  He has got so many favours and graces from the Lord for me. For example work when all seemed lost, a little home when money was very tight. Go to dear St Jude he will not let you down.  God bless you always love from Glory.

PRAYER  TO  ST  JUDE
St Jude, glorious Apostle, faithful servant and friend of Jesus!
the name of the traitor has caused you to be forgotten by many,
but the Church honours and invokes you universally as the patron of hopeless cases-
of matters despaired of.  Pray for me who am so miserable; make use, I implore you,
of that particular privilege accorded to you, to bring visible and speedy help where help 
is almost despaired of.  Come to my assistance in this great need  that I may receive the 
consolations and succour of heaven in all my necessities, tribulations and sufferings, particularly
.....................[here make your request]............and that I may bless God with you and all the elect 
throughout eternity.
I promise you, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favour, and I will never cease to 
honour you as my special and powerful patron, and do all in my power to encourage devotion to you  Amen.

THE   WONDERFUL  POWER  OF  THE  MASS

We should value the mass above all things.  At holy mass it is Jesus Christ Himself, who offers up His merits for you, prays for you and as He is God, His prayers and His merits give infinite glory to God.  We should never miss mass when we have an opportunity of hearing it.  We should try to hear it with the greatest attention, and, most important of all, we should offer our prayers in union with the prayers of Christ;  this will make them all-powerful.

PRAYERS To help us
ADORATION-  O my God, I adore You, through Jesus Who is really present in my bosom [said after Communion], or on the altar [said after Consecration] or at a visit] and Who is adoring You, and offering Himself to You for me.  I offer You His infinite Merits.

THANKS-  O my God, I thank You through Jesus Who is really present in my bosom [or on the altar], and Who is thanking You for me and offering Himself for me;  I offer You His Infinite Merits.

PARDON-  O my God, I beg pardon through Jesus Who is really present in my bosom [or on the altar], and Who is asking pardon for me and offering Himself for me;  I offer You His Infinite Merits.

PETITION-   O my God, I ask for all blessings through Jesus Who is really present in my bosom [or on the altar], and Who is praying and offering Himself for me; I offer You His Infinite Merits.

  

TEN  REASONS  FOR  HEARING  MASS
1.   The mass is the best means we have to render God the highest adoration.
2.   To thank Him for all His blessings.
3.   To obtain all the favours you desire.
4.   To shorten you own purgatory and that of others.
5.   To preserve you from all dangers to soul and body.
6.   To increase your store of sanctifying grace.
7.   At the hour of death the Masses you have heard will be your greatest consolation.
8.   Every Mass heard will go with you to judgement to plead for pardon for you.
9.   One Mass heard during life will do more than many heard for you after death.
10. Nothing is more powerful to bring God's blessing on you for the day than to hear Mass; therefore try to hear Mass every day or as often as possible, and twice on Sundays. 

THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY

Never forget the Holy Souls in Purgatory they cannot pray for themselves but they can pray for you! I pray every day for the Holy Souls, their greatest suffering is to be deprived of the beatific vision of God. They will never forget you and will always be grateful to you for shortening their time in Purgatory. The most powerful way to do this is to offer  mass for the Holy Souls [or even get a special mass said for them] This is a prayer given by Our Lord to St.Gertrude the Great which will release many souls from Purgatory each time it is said:

PRAYER OF ST GERTRUDE THE GREAT
ETERNAL FATHER I OFFER YOU THE MOST PRECIOUS BLOOD OF YOUR DIVINE SON JESUS, IN UNION WITH THE MASSES SAID THROUGHOUT THE WORLD TODAY, FOR ALL THE HOLY SOULS IN PURGATORY, FOR SINNERS EVERYWHERE, FOR SINNERS IN THE UNIVERSAL CHURCH, THOSE IN MY OWN HOME AND WITHIN MY FAMILY
AMEN

Everybody  has someone in Purgatory just waiting for a prayer to be released, remember the Holy Souls will repay you a hundredfold!

ST JOHN BOSCO [DON BOSCO] 1815-1888

St John Bosco was born on 16th August 1815 in Piedmont, near Turin, Italy. He was the youngest son of a peasant farmer who died when John was only two years old.  He was brought up by his mother in extreme poverty.    "In his life the supernatural almost became the natural and the extraordinary ordinary".  These were the words of Pope Pius X1 in speaking of Don Bosco at his canonization.

A dream when he was nine showed him his future work.  It was the precursor of other visions which, at various critical periods of his life, indicated the next step he was to take.

In this first dream he seemed to be surrounded by a crowd of fighting children whom he strove in vain to pacify, at first by argument and then with his fists.  Suddenly there appeared a mysterious lady who said to him "softly softly, .....if you wish to win them! Take your shepherd's staff and lead them to pasture".  As she spoke the children were transformed into wild beasts and then into lambs.  From that moment John recognized that his duty was to help poor boys and he began with those of his own village, teaching them the catechism and bringing them to church.  As an encouragement he would often delight them with acrobatic and conjuring tricks, at which he became very proficient.  One Sunday morning when a juggler and gymnast was detaining the youngsters with his performances, the little lad challenged him to a competition, beat him at his own job, and triumphantly bore off his audience to mass.

  When he entered the seminary in 1831, his clothes and shoes were provided by charity.
He was ordained priest in 1841 and soon settled into his life work, the education and apostolate of boys and young men, especially the poor.

Turin was the principal place of his activity.  Persuaded by St Joseph Cafasso, [1811-1860] rector of a seminary in Turin that his work with the boys was his mission and introduced by him to wealthy benefactors, and to the slums and prisons which would gain most from his ministry, John was appointed a chaplain of a refuge for girls.  He devoted himself also to the needs of young men.  His attractive  charismatic personality soon drew many to his oratory and his evening classes.

Soon he resigned his post as chaplain and lived in poverty with his mother and about 40 destitute boys in the Valdocco area, later he opened workshops for training shoemakers and tailors.  By 1856 their number had grown to 150 resident boys with four workshops.  There was also 500 children attached to the oratories and ten priests to help teach them.
An eloquent preacher and a popular writer of great skill and diligence, John Bosco also had a reputation as a visionary, a wonder-worker, and one with extraordinary gift for handling difficult youths without punishment but with a gentle and effective firmness.

Don Bosco often used to take boys on Sunday expeditions in the country, with mass to start with, followed by breakfast and open-air games, a picnic, catechism class, and vespers to conclude.  He believed in the value, especially for deprived urban boys, both of contact with natural beauty and the uplifting power of music.

In 1859 he began to organise a congregation which was formally approved in 1874 at the founder's death fourteen years later it numbered 768 members in sixty-four houses both in Europe and South America.

As a church builder St John Bosco, achieved the apparently impossible by heroic trust in Providence to provide necessary finance.  One such church is the Sacro  Cuore, Rome, completed shortly before his death.

St John Bosco died on 31st January 1888.  Forty Thousand people visited his body as it lay in the church, and at his funeral the whole city of Turin turned out to do him honour.
He was canonized on 1st April 1934 by Pope Pius X1

REFLECTION

I am neither a man of letters nor of science, But I humbly claim to be a man of prayer.
It is prayer that has saved my life.
Without it I would have lost my reason long ago.

If I did not lose my peace of soul, 

In the midst of my many trials
It is because of the peace that came to me through prayer.
One can live several days without food,
but not without prayer.

Prayer is the key to each morning, and the lock to each evening.

It is a sacred alliance between God and us.

Let everyone try this experience, and they will find

That daily prayer will add something new to their lives,

something which cannot be found elsewhere.

[Mahatma Gandhi]