Novena for the Pope Day 2

Day 2 of the Novena for the Holy Father!

PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI

Lord, source of eternal life and truth,

give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit

of courage and right judgment, a spirit

of knowledge and love. By governing

with fidelity those entrusted to his care,

may he, as successor to the Apostle

Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your

Church into a sacrament of unity, love

and peace for all the world. Amen.

V/ Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.

R/ May the Lord preserve him,

give him a long life,

make him blessed upon the earth,

and not hand him over

to the power of his enemies.

V/ May your hand

be upon your holy servant.

R/ And upon your son,

whom you have anointed.

Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…

Novena for the Holy Father

I just found this from the website Catholic Dads about a Novena for the Holy Father:

The Knights of Columbus are encouraging everyone in the Church to pray a novena for the Holy Father starting today, Divine Mercy Sunday, and continuing through December 19th, the anniversary of his election to the Chair of St. Peter.

This novena is especially needed. In reviewing the news articles and the astounding poor quality of the journalism involved, it is safe to say that the ongoing attacks against the Holy Father have nothing to do with with finding justice and truth. The intent is to weaken the Holy Father and the Church; to weaken our faith. The attacks are against us faithful Catholics and our devotion to the Risen Lord and his Church here on earth. (emphasis mine)

I'm glad I'm finding these things. The website for the Novena is here (make sure to watch the video too). I see the novena cards are in the evil PDF format, so I will simply write out the text here. If you can, print these out and give them to your Catholic (and non-Catholic friends).

PRAYER FOR POPE BENEDICT XVI

Lord, source of eternal life and truth,
give to your shepherd, Benedict, a spirit
of courage and right judgment, a spirit
of knowledge and love. By governing
with fidelity those entrusted to his care,
may he, as successor to the Apostle
Peter and Vicar of Christ, build your
Church into a sacrament of unity, love
and peace for all the world. Amen.
V: Let us pray for Benedict, the pope.
R: May the Lord preserve him,
give him a long life,
make him blessed upon the earth,
and not hand him over
to the power of his enemies.
V: May your hand
be upon your holy servant.
R: And upon your son,
whom you have anointed.
Our Father… Hail Mary… Glory Be…
KNIGHTS OF COLUMBUS

In Solidarity With Our Holy Father

The Time to Pray is NOW

With all these recent attacks on Holy Catholic Church, and His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI, it has occured to me that Satan is unleashing his fury in an onslaught, a pummeling. Prayer is the best weapon against these attacks of Satan and his minions (in this case, the mainstream media). Gossip is being written as fact; accusations are being asserted has been proven already with out any sort of fact checking or- God-forbid, any actually investigative journalism. The Holy Father is being smeared constantly with lies and intentionally misleading information. I cannot sit by at let this happen. PRAY FOR THE POPE AND FOR HOLY MOTHER CHURCH!

Saint Michael, For Protection of the Church

O glorious St. Michael, guardian and defender of the Church of Jesus Christ, come to the assistance of this Church, against which the powers of hell are unchained, guard with especial care her august Head, and obtain that for him and for us the hour of triumph may speedily arrive. O glorious Archangel St. Michael, watch over us during life, defend us against the assaults of the demon, assist us especially at the hour of death; obtain for us a favorable judgment, and the happiness of beholding God face to face for endless ages. Amen.

Prayer to Defeat the Work of Satan

O Divine Eternal Father, in union with your Divine Son and the Holy Spirit, and through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I beg You to destroy the Power of your greatest enemy -- the evil spirits.

Cast them into the deepest recesses of hell and chain them there forever! Take possession of your Kingdom which You have created and which is rightfully yours.

Heavenly Father, give us the reign of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

I repeat this prayer out of pure love for You with every beat of my heart and with every breath I take.

Amen.

Richard Dawkins wants to arrest the Pope

Here's some "news". Rabid atheist Richard "Dick" Dawkins wants to arrest the Pope when the Holy Father visits the UK this fall.

From the Times Online UK:

RICHARD DAWKINS, the atheist campaigner, is planning a legal ambush to have the Pope arrested during his state visit to Britain “for crimes against humanity”.

Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, the atheist author, have asked human rights lawyers to produce a case for charging Pope Benedict XVI over his alleged cover-up of sexual abuse in the Catholic church.

The pair believe they can exploit the same legal principle used to arrest Augusto Pinochet, the late Chilean dictator, when he visited Britain in 1998.

One word: yawn. Usually stuff like this makes me mad. This time it's just makes me feel sorry for Mr Dawkins and Mr Hitchens. What poor lonely black souls they must have.

Divine Mercy Sunday Part Deux

Our Lord to Saint Faustina:

Encourage souls to say the Chaplet which I have given you ... Whoever shall recite it will receive great mercy at the hour of death ... When they say this chaplet in the presence of the dying, I will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just Judge but as the Merciful Savior ... Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy. I desire to grand unimaginable graces to those souls who trust in My mercy ... through the Chaplet you will obtain everything, if what you ask for is compatible with My will.

. (Diary 687, 1541, 1731)

HOW TO PRAY THE DIVINE MERCY CHAPLET

The Chaplet of Mercy is recited using ordinary rosary beads of five decades.

1. Begin with the Sign of the Cross, 1 Our Father, 1 Hail Mary and The Apostles Creed.

2. Then on the Our Father Beads say the following:
Eternal Father, I offer 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.

3. On the 10 Hail Mary Beads say the following:
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

(Repeat step 2 and 3 for all five decades).

4. Conclude with (three times):
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.

For more information about the Divine Mercy Chaplet or Image, visit the Marians of the Immaculate Conception

On a more personal note, I did attend Mass and received Communion. On Saturday I went to Confession. I feel like what I can only describe as "Xanax for the soul". I feel peaceful, calm and quiet and reflective.

Happy Birthday Papa

Today was my father's 73rd birthday. It was subdued yet strangely calm and non-stressful. There were some very sad moments for me and my dad; it was the first birthday of a long line of birthdays, holidays and other family occasions without my mom. I missed her so much the past 2 days, I've barely been functional. Add to that a massive row with Jeremy about stupid shit (religion). When I woke up this morning though, I felt much better and more clear-headed and not nearly as tearful and zombie like. I made it to Confession for Divine Mercy Sunday tomorrow and cannot wait to have the past 18 months washed clean away; gone, kaput.

Divine Mercy Sunday

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday:
Our Lord Jesus said, "The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which graces flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet.... Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy." (699) The plenary indulgence that was issued for Divine Mercy Sunday does not change the promises of Our Lord. Rather it provides the Church's highest mark of approval and endorsement and gives souls more time to go to Confession.


The Divine Mercy Image:
The two rays denote Blood and Water. The pale ray stands for the Water which makes souls righteous. The red ray stands for the Blood which is the life of souls. These two rays issued forth from the depths of My tender mercy when My agonized Heart was opened by a lance on the Cross. Happy is the one who will dwell in their shelter, for the just hand of God shall not lay hold of him (299). By means of this image I shall grant many graces to souls. It is to be a reminder of the demands of My mercy, because even the strongest faith is of no avail without works (742).

The Divine Mercy devotion is one of my favorite devotions. I have received so many graces from this devotion and the accompanying Chaplet. The Chaplet can be said on any set of ordinary Rosary beads:
All information about the Divine Mercy devotion can be found from the Marians of the Immaculate Conception .

A New Direction AGAIN

I haven't posted in a while. So many changes have happened, some wonderful, some traumatic. My main dilemma is if to start a new religious blog or to just start posting more personal religious things here. This blog has gone through many changes over the years and I've neglected it more often than not. I doubt I have any readers left (all 2 of you). But, my beloved finance, Jeremy, purchased for me a net book (which I love love love. Almost as much as I love him), and this has rekindled my blogging spirit.. SO, while there are happy and joyous occasions, there is sorrow and grief. My dear mother passed away 2 weeks ago suddenly, most likely of a heart attack. My pain and suffering has only multiplied dramatically in the 2 weeks she's been gone. I just miss her more and more.

So, while I might not change the name of the blog (because it still rings true) but it might go from the joys of family and the depths of the despair of losing a parent. My mother was only 66 years old. Never in a million years did we think she wouldn't survive my dad, who is almost 8 years older. It was a running joke in our family.

Too Political, Z Chat and more

I noticed I'm getting a little too political lately. I really don't know much about politics or who is right and who is wrong. But, this blog is about how it seems we're falling down the rabbit hole. I'm just not that informed or educated about politics. So, everything you read here is naturally only my limited opinion about what I see as either bad or good in the world and the Church.

I just had a blast over on WDTPRS Z chat with Father Zuhlsdorf. It reminded me of the old Fisheaters chat we used to have. Father played music and we had a lot of fun with that too.

I can't remember what "the more" was to be about. Sorry.

What is the definition of creepy?

This:






Jesus Barack loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are equal in His sight,
Barack Hussein Obama


The fact that the words these kids are chanting come from a hymn entitled "Jesus Loves The Little Children" should creep anyone out.

moods

fuck it. fuck it all.

It's Almost Here!

We're getting closer to the new English translation of the Mass! Father Z characterizes the current translation as "God, you are so big. Help us to be big like you". And I couldn't agree more. There's been a lot of debate about the new (and more accurate) translation. Apparently some Bishops think their flock are a bunch of dimwits and won't understand such big words such as "ineffable" or "consubstanial". The Bishops of the United States have put up a website about the new translation. They offers up some examples of the changes, including:

current text:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And also with you.

New text:
Priest: The Lord be with you.
People: And with your spirit.

Significant changes to the Gloria:
current text:
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.

new text:
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,

And what looks like a ton of other changes. Many are exactly as they appear in the English side of my 1962 Mass Missal. There are also many changes for the priest as well. I first heard about the new translation right after being Baptized, in 2002. Now I wonder how many parishes around these parts will actually follow this new and improved translation? How many will just ignore it, they way they ignore decrees of the Pope? Too many, unfortunately. And, I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt the Bishop will do anything about it.

ObamaCare: Just like the Post Office!

I feel like we're living in a cuckoo clock in this country.
Everyone is talking about "health-care reform". Obama and The Hopey Changey Gang, want a "public option", that is government run health care. And we all know just how darn efficient the government runs things: public school, DMV, Ma Bell (remember when the gov't ran the telephone company? Awful), the Post Office... Ah wait, yes. The Post Office. The Post Office is such a mass of inefficiency and incompetence that it's own workers finally lose it and "go postal". So, anyway, some people are worried that private insurance will go the way of the dodo and everyone will be stuck with ObamaCare. This is what Dear Leader says:

“I mean, if you think about, if you think about it, UPS (United Parcel Service) and FedEx are doing just fine, right? No, they are,” said Obama. “It's the Post Office that's always having problems.”

Yes, that's right Mr President. The GOVERNMENT RUN POST OFFICE IS ALWAYS HAVING PROBLEMS. Isn't that basically what the eeeeevil, raaaaacist, un-American Mob have been saying all along? Shouldn't this be a huge red-flag?

Naturally, the Post Office had it's fweeings hurt.

“On behalf of 35,000 members of our association, I am writing to express our collective disappointment that you chose to use the Postal Service as a scapegoat and an example of inefficiency,” Keating wrote.

“Your negative comments on the Postal Service--without knowledge of the facts--was not only a disservice to members of our organization, but to all the postal employees,” he added.

“Employees of the Postal Service are largely represented by unions [Well there's your problem] and management associations, all of whom strongly supported your candidacy last year,” the letter said. “For our support we do not expect any special consideration. However, we would like to be treated fairly and not have our current situation misrepresented, especially by the commander-in-chief.”

All quotes are from this article from CNSNews.com

Lanny Davis wants to clear things up

Yesterday I posted a link to a post at Michelle Malkin's blog, which linked to a Politico statement by Lanny Davis. Mr Davis sent MM an e-mail to clear up any misunderstandings about his position and opinions.

From: Davis, Lanny J.
Sent: Wed Aug 05 22:21:11 2009

To readers of Michelle Malkin’s blog who responded to my post on Politico earlier in the morning:

I received a number of thoughtful emails and wanted to express my appreciation to those who communicated their sincere concerns. There was a misimpression that I was in favor of suppression or discouragement of dissent concerning Democratic positions on national health care issues at congressional town hall meetings. This was not my intent. I do not wish in any way investigate, photo, or suppress the opinions of people who show up to these meetings regarding concerns about Democratic health care proposals. Indeed, I welcome that because we need more debate on this important issue.

My post specifically criticized only those who shout down and prevent others from speaking. Indeed, I specifically expressed my respect in that post for those who are genuinely concerned about the health care proposals.

Finally, some sincere people who communicated with me asked whether I had or would condemn those on the left who disrupted meetings or shouted down speakers on the conservative side of the spectrum. The answer is: Yes I would and I have. Publicly.

I believe that thoughtful and civil people on the left and the right share a desire for debate and have respect for other people’s opinions. This is fundamental to a civil society and our great democracy. In my post, I only wished to protest strongly those who believe it is acceptable to attend a meeting for the purpose of disrupting and preventing honest and vigorous debate.

I take the same position if it is people on the left side of the spectrum who use such tactics as those on the right side.

Sincerely,

Lanny Davis

Obama wants YOU....

...to snitch on dissenters.

From the White House website blog:

There is a lot of disinformation about health insurance reform out there, spanning from control of personal finances to end of life care. These rumors often travel just below the surface via chain emails or through casual conversation. Since we can’t keep track of all of them here at the White House, we’re asking for your help. If you get an email or see something on the web about health insurance reform that seems fishy, send it to flag@whitehouse.gov.

That's right Comrades! If you see or hear any criticism of Dear Leader's reforms, let him know! He can't keep track of all of the dissenters and needs our help!

In the meantime, Lanny Davis wants those who show up at town hall meetings and express their mistrust of Obama-Care and/or Dear Leader Himself, photographed and investigated. You know, just to make sure you aren't a shill for the insurance companies. Which they must be because they're just dressed too nice.

discontented

Lately I've been avoiding my once staple "trad" forums. For one thing, my favorite, which is hosted by people who I consider dear friends, seems to have been over-run with young, 20-something year old males who think they know everything; from marriage to women's bodily functions and post excessive amounts, insinuating themselves into every. single. thread. Then there are the cynical shitheads who mock anyone and everyone who pleads for charity. These are older, married men that are obviously very angry about something or other. There's never discussion anymore, only argument of stupid, petty things like ladies wearing trousers and bitching and moaning how bad the Novus Ordo (which is it, but can we shut up about it already? isn't that why we're trads?) is and going out of their way to find something to be offended about. Anything they are not familiar with or isn't to their liking is derided as "liberal, modernist, Marxist, feministic crap". They act as if never before have there been bad Catholics, irreverence at Mass, sin and indifference to religion as today. Is it worse today? Maybe, but it certainly isn't new. I'm reading a book right now, written in 1867 (or thereabouts) which laments how cold and indifferent and disrespectul people are towards the Blessed Sacrament. How hardly anyone respects the Mass and how many graces are lost for Masses unheard. 1867 not 1967. I have more thoughts on this but want to stew them in my mind a bit more.

Forget MJ; Billy Mays was da man

I just learned that Billy Mays died this morning. He was 50. Bow-Wow and I just started getting into the show "Pitchmen" on Discovery Channel and Billy was our favorite. I had always found him slightly entertaining before, but "Pitchmen" showed just what a swell guy he was. My heart goes out to his family; I cannot imagine the grief they're going through. Requiescat in pace Billy. You will be greatly missed.

Oh, Puh-LEEEZE

This is really getting out of hand. Soon, we will be required to have statues of Dear Leader in our homes and watch his nightly "messages". Blugh.

Evan Thomas claims Obama is "sort of" God. Newsbusters has the video and transcript. Some gems:

THOMAS: ...I mean in a way Obama’s standing above the country, above – above the world, he’s sort of God. He’s-

MATTHEWS: Yeah.

Chris Matthews is such a whore for Obama, he'd gladly wipe the President's butt with his tongue.

Later Thomas posits Dear Leader as Dear Teacher:

THOMAS: ...He's the teacher. He is going to say, ‘now, children, stop fighting and quarreling with each other.’ And he has a kind of a moral authority that he – he can – he can do that-

"Moral authority". Uh-huh. Yeah. Sure. But the President is "comfortable" with having a virulent anti-Catholic on his "faith based advisory council" (whatever that is). Disagreeing with the Pope is one thing being a Protestant and all, but calling the Knight's of Columbus "foot soliders" in the "army of opression"? Catholics would be better off having Jack Chick on this council. Seriously. Father Z asks an excellent question: "Imagine a person saying those sorts of things about Jews or Muslims. Then try to imagine a President, of either party, appointing such a person to any position in the administration." Yeah, I couldn't either. But, then again, Obama is "sorta" God anyway, so it's all good, right?

Governments to Catholic Church: Shut up or else

Three years ago, the City of San Francisco (named after St Francis of Assisi, by the way) passed a resolution that officially condemned the teachings of the Catholic Faith, calling them "hateful", "callous" and "insulting" and urged Catholics to disobey the teachings of the church. Catholics, particularly Bill Donahue of the Catholic League, represented by the Thomas Moore Law Center took exception to this resolution naturally and sued saying it violated the First Amendment. The 9th Circuit Court heard the case and sided with San Francisco. The Catholic League is appealing. Can you imagine if any government officially condemned the religious teachings of say, oh, Islam? Yeah, me neither. In essence: shut up Catholics. You are officially second-class citizens.

Over in Connecticut, legislators thought it would be a good idea to take control of the Catholic Church's finances and structuring (Bill 1098). Catholics, including the Bishops, thought this was not such a good idea, and let their reps in the state gov't know it by protesting on the steps of the State Capitol. Well, the authorities over in the "Constitution State" (ha!) thought the Catholics got a little too uppity and are now saying the Diocese of Bridgeport violated lobbying laws, a.k.a shut up. So +Bishop William Lori is suing claiming Establishment Clause violations. You go Bish!

In New York, New York Asslemblywoman Margaret Markey made a not so veiled threat against the Bishop of Brooklyn by saying he should "walk very cautiously" lest the Church loses it's tax-exempt status. In other words: shut up. The Bishop had previously spoke against Markey's bill that targets Catholic schools and gives a free pass to public schools. +Bishop DiMarzio supports a bill introduced by Asslemblyman Vito Lopez which treats public and Catholic schools equally when dealing with accusations of abuse. (source: Catholic League).

So here we have 3 different governments, all interfering or directly attacking the Catholic Church which can be summed up in two words: shut up. When the government is telling you to shut up, that's when we need to speak out the most.

Obligatory Condemnation of Tiller's Killer Post

A man who made a career of tearing babies limb from limb and puncturing their skulls to suck out their brains, was shot dead by a mentally unbalanced man. Some people are horrified; others are jumping for joy. I'm smack in the middle. Murder is never an answer, whether it's a 15 week unborn baby or an abortionist. I don't even like the death penalty. On the other hand, Tiller is responsible for the deaths of at least 60,000 children. 60,000! And unfortunately, Tiller never had a chance to publicly repent. Is he in Hell? I don't know. I pray he had a chance before death took him to repent of his sins (just like I hope everyone who dies suddenly has a chance, the way I hope I have a chance to repent of my sins before death). I bet Scott Roeder will have the chance to repent he denied Tiller.
My friend has a quote on her Myspace page. It says "Why do we kill people who kill people to show killing is wrong?" Killing Tiller didn't really change anything. Babies will still die due to a "choice". The "choice" people will lionize this man and make him a martyr for their cause. The horror that is abortion will be pushed aside yet again.
Condemning this murder is pointless really. The mere fact that I mentioned George Tiller's heinous profession will null and void any condemnation I give. The pro-aborts are frothing at the mouth over the "violence" of the Right (when in fact it's just one lone looney-tune responsible). The irony is they ignore the violence done to babies at the hands of men like Tiller.