Tree of Life

Happy Birthday to the Blessed Virgin Mary, Conceived without Sin! The Dawn of Salvation is upon us for the Mother of God is born!  I mpart to your servants, we pray, O Lord, the gift of heavenly grace, that the feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin may bring deeper peace to those for whom the birth of her Son was the dawning of salvation. 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. Today, Our Lady is born of St. Anne and this feast marks 9 months since the feast of Mary's Immaculate Conception on December 8th. We can celebrate by throwing a birthday party with blue and white decorations and cake ! Today's liturgical color is white for Mary's purity or gold for her glory. The faithful can wear these colors, variations of or blue (the traditional Marian color) to honor Our Lady. “I remember that the Blessed Virgin said to [St. Bridget] that if women with child celebrated the vigil of H...

Queen Assumed into Heaven, pray for us!  Today celebrates the taking up of Mary into Heaven body and soul because being the Immaculate Mother of God, the first and most perfect Christian, She did not suffer the corruption of the grave. Today is special because it is the day some non-Catholic denominations honor St. Mary, Mother of Our Lord. Other denominations call today the Dormition, translated to Mary’s falling asleep and not dying before entering Heaven as only Mary’s glorification is dogmatic and not whether She endured a ‘typical’ human death. Today’s liturgical color is white or gold for the glory of God shown in the life and Assumption of Mary. The faithful can show devotion to Mary by wearing these colors, blue for Mary’s royalty, stars or flower prints. The word Assumption comes from the Latin verb assumere, meaning "to take to oneself” as God takes His chosen one to Himself. This feast is the most anciently celebrated in honor of Our Lady starting in Palestine. Today’s ...

Eerie Greetings to all! Today is Friday the 13th, a day to celebrate superstition and spooky beliefs. Today is a mini Halloween and should be celebrated as such! Pinterest has a plethroa of ideas for parties honoring the infamous Jason Voorhees (from the Friday the 13th franchise) as well as common superstitions. Many people take the time to perform rituals for good luck or blessings and to realize that God and not worldly superstitions have the final say. Similar to Walpurgisnacht , tonight would be a great time for a mini Halloween with scary movies, stories and themed food and drink! Stay lucky out there and I were you, I'd stay away from any Campsites. But in all seriousness consider adopting, sponsoring or fostering a black cat today as they are still the most under adopted cat breed due to unfounded and outdated superstition. In some religions 13 is a lucky number and thus the day of unluck is actually a day of luck.  Keep any (black) cats inside today if they are normally ou...

On Mount Tabor, Jesus is transfigured. He appears in a dazzling white light and He is speaking with Moses and Elijah which symbolizes the law and the prophets that Jesus fulfills as Messiah. This conversation is to prepare Jesus to undergo His Passion and His shining glory is a foreshadowing of His resurrection. We pray to be transfigured, changed into worthy examples of God's love and goodness and "visions" of God's glory working through us.  Customs for today include hilltop picnics and prayer vigils to recall the Transfiguration occurring on the mountaintop. Quick Facts on the Feast Why August 6th? The Church of the Transfiguration About the Church of the Transfiguration Another View of the Church Symbols of the Transfiguration  (The symbols commonly revolve around light, reflecting Jesus' appearance on Mt. Tabor.) A Mystical Vision ( 2nd paragraph page 297) Another Mystical Vision (Bk 6, Ch 2) A Video Clip from the movie "Jesus" A Video Clip from the...

Today we honor the initial witness of Christ’s Resurrection. Today’s liturgical color is white for the holiness of St. Mary.  An indulgence can be gained by going to a church named for today’s Saint and praying the Our Father and Apostle’s Creed.   About St. Mary Magdalene More About Our Saint Still More about St. Mary St. Mary Magdalene's Example Mary Magdalene's Symbols Symbols Continued St. Mary’s Feast with St. Gertrude   The Collective Relics of St. Mary St. Mary Magdalene's Left Hand:  The Face of St. Mary St. Mary’s Hometown The Church of St. Mary Magdalene The Cave of St. Mary Mary Magdalene: A Mystics Visions  (This is just a preview for the full details of each vision read  this. ) Animated Story of St. Mary Magdalene Note: Many movies/shows about Christ's Life, Death and Resurrection will include the story of Mary Magdalene as well as the 2018 film "Mary Magdalene". Prayer of Thanksgiving for the Tears of St. Mary Magdalene O most merciful Jesus,...

God of justice, Father of truth, who guide creation in wisdom and goodness to fulfillment in Christ your Son, open our hearts to the truth of his Gospel, that your peace may rule in our hearts and your justice guide our lives. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen             Today we celebrate America’s birthday and Her independence as a free Nation! May God bless America and grant her liberty and justice for ALL!  As Christians we are grateful for liberty and the freedom to do what is right. Although we may have our grievances against some of the things going on in America and the troubled past we have, we rejoice in the triumph of freedom over tyranny, of good over evil and the sacrifice of those who gave us our freedom. May America's patroness, Mary, the Immaculate Conception, bless our Nation! Remember  Micah 6:8 and  Galatians 5:13. ...

 June 23 and 24 marks St. John’s Eve and the Nativity of John the Baptist respectively. This is the celebration of the birth of St. John the Baptist the forerunner of Christ. As today is celebrated by French Canadians in a special way called St. Jean-Baptiste Day , today is a day for French culture as St. Patrick is for Irish Culture. An interesting astronomy note is that St.John was born as the days grow shorter in reference to the scripture where St. John says in  John 3:30, "He (Christ) must increase, but I must decrease." This is similar to when Christ is born and the days get longer because the Light of the World has come.  Strawberries are often eaten on this day as it is their harvest season so thus they are picked for the honor of St. John.  Strawberries are symbolic of the Trinity, Our Lady and righteousness because their seeds represent the fruitfulness of good works and of Mary’s Maternity and the white flower of the strawberry plant is white of the p...

In the Name of The Father, and of The Son and of The Holy Spirit!                                                                                                      After the Descent of the Holy Spirit last Sunday on Pentecost, the Holy Trinity has been revealed in a complete way. The Holy Spirit appeared at Christ's Baptism, but wasn't received by the faithful until Pentecost and thus a new era begins in Salvation History. Today we give thanks to the Holy Trinity for the work of creation, salvation and sanctification as we reflect once more on the mysteries of Easter and Pentecost as pr...

  Come Holy Spirit!  “Come, Holy Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, your well-beloved Spouse.” Today, 50 Days after Easter and  10 days after Jesus ascended into Heaven, the Holy Spirit descends on the Virgin Mary and the Apostles. Mary and the Apostles prayed for Nine Days, marking the first Novena, fulfilling Jesus’ command to prepare for the coming of the Holy Spirit. When the Holy Spirit came, He further sanctifies the Apostles and fills once more the soul  of the Virgin Mary, His Spouse . Today is the birthday of the Church and it is a great day of Christian unity where we remember the great gift of the Holy Spirit given to us after Jesus promised to do so. We rejoice in the liberating power of the Holy Spirit and as we are “enkindled with the fire of His love” we rejoice and recall the unity amidst diversity from even the earliest days of the Church. Today is a good day to pray the Third Glorious Mystery of the R...

“God mounts His throne to shouts of joy, Alleluia!” To all dioceses that celebrate the Ascension today*, I wish you many blessings! We rejoice in the Risen Christ, Who Ascends to Heaven by His own power to prepare a place for us. Now to Heaven is our humanity glorified. For the scrupulous and the anxious, it is a day to recall as humanity is glorified in Christ's Ascension, we submit not to the fears of Earth below but keep our hearts and minds in Heaven. In a certain way as we recall Christ’s glorification of His Humanity united to His Divinity we recall the dignity of every human life and lament the ethnic cleansing and genocide taking place now in Gaza. Today let us pray in a special way for the people of Gaza that Christ’s triumph may be theirs as a permanent ceasefire may finally be implemented. We pray also for peace in all the places throughout the world torn by violence. We also remember the Souls of the Faithful Departed and pray that they might enter Heaven with Christ W...

INDULGENCES:  A Brief on Indulgences: Although mortal sins are forgiven in the Sacrament of Confession, we still have to do penance and shorten our time in Purgatory. A Plenary indulgences “cancels” all our time while a partial indulgence shortens it. We can gain one plenary indulgence a day and they can be applied to purgatory but not another living person. An indulgence is not based on the abuse of God’s mercy of paying into Heaven but doing good works and having the merits of Mary and the Saints applied to you.  The Handbook of Indulgences  How to Gain Indulgences  1) Have the right intention of gaining the indulgence.  2) Be in the state of grace (Confession 20 days before or after receiving the indulgence. One confession suffices for all indulgences obtained in this period.)  3) Fulfillment of the good work prescribed.  4) Receive Holy Communion within 20 days of gaining the indulgence, for every indulgence desired Communion should be received....