THE FALL [MAN]

........ He lost Sanctifying grace, Supernaturally he was dead.  He lost the Preternatural gifts too.  He could now suffer, he had come under the natural law of death; worst of all he had lost integrity, the subordination of lower powers to higher, in the rejection of his own subordination to God.

From now on every element in him would be making for its own immediate and separate gratification:  the civil war within man had begun.....
God would remain the contact and Sanctifying grace would be in him once more.  But the man it was in  was a very different man.  The Preternatural gifts were not restored, so that integrity was not there....
every one of us is a civil war.
                                [Frank Sheed]

ST FRANCES OF ROME wife-mother 1384-1440

 

Frances was born in Rome in 1384 to a noble and wealthy couple, Paolo Bussa and Jacobella dei Roffredeschi.  When she was 11 years old she asked her parents to allow her to become a nun, only to be met by a point-blank refusal.  When she was barely thirteen she was married to Lorenzo Ponziano from a very wealthy family.   At first she found her new life very trying and one day Vannozza, her sister-in -law found her crying bitterly.  Frances told her of her frustrated hopes, and learnt to her surprise that her sister-in-law would also have preferred a life of retirement and prayer.

This was the beginning of a close friendship which lasted till death, and the two young wives strove together to live a perfect life under a common rule.

When Frances was very ill and close to death - soon after her marriage she had a vision of St Alexis, who told her God was giving her an important choice; "Did she want to recover or not"? She whispered "God's will is mine".  The saint then informed her that it was God's will that she should recover and work for His greater glory, and, after throwing his cloak over her he disappeared.  Her illness had disappeared also.
In 1400 Frances gave birth to her first son John Battista and Frances took on the full care of her little son herself.
In 1408 the troops of Ladislaus of Naples, the ally of the anti-pope had entered Rome, and a soldier of fortune, Count Troja, had been appointed governor. The Ponziano family had always supported the legitimate pope, and in one of the frequent conflicts Lorenzo was stabbed and carried home to Frances, to whose devoted nursing he owed his restoration to health.
A great plague swept across Italy it struck Rome and left Frances's second son dead.  In an effort to help alleviate some of the suffering Frances used all her money and sold her possessions to buy whatever the sick might need. When all was gone Frances and Vannozza went door-to-door begging.  Later Frances's daughter Agnes died and the saint opened a section of her home as a hospital.
Frances became more convinced that this way of life was so necessary for the world, that she requested and was giving permission to found a society of women bound by no vows, they simply offered themselves to God and the service of the poor.  Once the society was established, Frances chose not to live at the community residence, but rather at home with her husband.  She did this for seven years until he died.  So at the age of 52 she lived the life as a nun she had always wished.  Four years later she died.  Her last words were "The angel has finished his task - he beckons me to follow him"

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!