Tree of Life

  Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus, pray for us!  Today we honor the friends of Our Lord, Lazarus, whom He raised from the dead and his sisters Martha and Mary. Today is a special feast for those with anxiety as Martha is the Saint to whom Jesus expressed that she needs to trust in Him and take care of herself as she was “anxious about many things”. Jesus also admonished Lazarus’ sisters to not fear but have faith just before He raised Lazarus from the dead.  A plenary indulgence can be gained under the usual conditions by visiting a church named for the Saint of the day and praying the Our Father and Apostle’s Creed. About St. Martha  About St. Lazarus  The Tomb of St. Martha  Major Reliquary of St. Lazarus  Places of Our Saints in the Holy Land  St. Martha Iconography  St. Lazarus’ Iconography  Jesus Raising Lazarus in Art  The Raising of Lazarus (Clip) Jesus Visits Martha and Mary (Clip) The next few links refer to the visions of ...

  O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to Thee!  Each Marian feast day honor's Mary's role in salvation history one way or another. This post honorsHer intercession by means of a  sacramental  (blessings or blessed items) that She has given the Church. Today’s commemoration is just a devotional anniversary of Mary’s first visit to the visionary to whom She would later reveal the miraculous medal of the Immaculate Conception. The feast of Our Lady of the Miraculous Medal is November 27th. To honor today’s anniversary The Central Association of the Miraculous Medal is holding a fundraising event.  Mary’s First Apparition to St. Catherine ( July 18th) St. Catherine Labouré and the Miraculous Medal By Rev. Robert J. Billett, C.M.F. The Virgin Mary inaugurates the Marian Era   The night of July 18, 1830 was a night that changed the history of the world. It was the night that the Blessed Virgin Mary ushered in the modern Marian era. It had ...

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us!   Each Marian feast day honor's Mary's role in salvation history one way or another. Today’s feast of Our Lady on this post honor Her intercession by means of a special  sacramental  (blessings or blessed items) that She has given the Church. The liturgical color for this feast is white or gold for Our Lady's purity and glory, Her powerful intercession. Popular devotion to Mary is to wear blue in Her honor. On the feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel we honor the approval of the Carmelite Order as a religious order in the Church and Mary giving to St. Simon Stock and the whole world the brown scapular. About Our Lady of Mt Carmel Brief Explanation of the Scapular  More About the Brown Scapular  The Apparition of Our Lady  Celebrating Today’s Feast A Desert for Today’s Feast  (As today is also National Ice Cream Day, ice cream would be a great desert to enjoy. Dairy free/vegan ice cream abounds at your local stor...

  Saint James, pray for us!   Merry Christmas in July!  “Almighty ever-living God, who consecrated the first fruits of your Apostles by the blood of Saint James, grant, we pray, that your Church may be strengthened by his confession of faith and constantly sustained by his protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.” Today we honor the cousin of Christ and brother of the disciple, St. John. Today is the celebration of the patron Saint of Spain and Australia and therefore days to learn about these places and their cultures. Today also marks 5 months until  Christmas  Day, known as Christmas in July . Just like  Halfway to Halloween  in April, we celebrate Christmas in a similar way today, replacing the spooky with the merry and horror with holiday. A good way to do this is by watching movies like “Rudolph and Frosty’s Christmas in July”.  A ...

Today we honor the apostle Thomas and we recall the Lord Jesus strengthening his faith by appearing to Him after His Resurrection and proving Himself by the revelation of His Sacred Wounds. Legend also states that Thomas was late to arrive to the Virgin Mary’s funeral and in turn She appeared to Him and gave Her a relic of Her clothing as proof of Her Assumption . Another legend states that Thomas baptized the three Wisemen. Therefore as we celebrate Christmas in July, today would be a good day to begin any such celebrations if we hadn’t already. We could do so by watching movies and listening to music and doing activities related to the feast of the Epiphany  . An interesting insight to this is that St. Thomas is also a special partaker in the Epiphany of the Lord but not as an Infant as the wise men were but as the Resurrected King. So in a special way in this month where we honor the Precious Blood of Jesus , our Easter joy is also renewed in today’s feast. Finally, today is an...