Novena for Election Day

Let us pray a novena in honor of the Immaculate Conception, patroness of the United States of America, for our country on election day.

  Ave Maris Stella

Hail, you Star of Ocean!
Portal of the sky,
Ever Virgin Mother,
Of the Lord most high.

O! by Gabriel's Ave,
Uttered long ago,
Eva's name reversing,
Establish peace below.

Break the captive's fetters;
Light on blindness pour;
All our ills expelling,
Every bliss implore.

Show yourself a mother;
Offer him our sighs,
Who for us Incarnate
Did not you despise.

Virgin of all virgins!
To your shelter take us;
Gentlest of the gentle!
Chaste and gentle make us.

Still as on we journey,
Help our weak endeavor,
Till with you and Jesus
We rejoice forever.

Through the highest heaven,
To the Almighty Three,
Father, Son, and Spirit,
One same glory be.

In Latin:

Ave, maris stella,
Dei mater alma,
atque semper virgo,
felix cœli porta.

Sumens illud «Ave»
Gabrielis ore,
funda nos in pace,
mutans Evæ nomen.

Solve vincla reis,
profer lumen cæcis,
mala nostra pelle,
bona cuncta posce.

Monstra te esse matrem,
sumat per te precem
qui pro nobis natus
tulit esse tuus.

Virgo singularis,
inter omnes mitis,
nos culpis solutos
mites fac et castos.

Vitam præsta puram,
iter para tutum,
ut videntes Jesum
semper collætemur.

Sit laus Deo Patri,
summo Christo decus,
Spiritui Sancto
tribus honor unus. Amen

 Music, HERE.

Tota Pulchra Es

 You are fair, O Mary: the original stain is not in you. You are the glory of Jerusalem. You are the joy of Israel. You are the great honor of our people. You are the advocate of sinners. O Mary, O Mary, Virgin most prudent, Mother most merciful, pray for us. Intercede for us with our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

And here is an excerpt from the Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, much of which is based on Sacred Scripture:

Holy Mary, Mother of God, I firmly believe in thy Immaculate Conception. I bless God for having granted thee this glorious privilege. I thank Him a thousand times for having taught it to me by the infallible voice of the Church. Receive my heart, O Immaculate Virgin; I give it to thee without reserve; purify it; guard it; never give it back to me, preserve it in thy love and in the love of Jesus during time and eternity. AMEN.

V. Thy name, O Mary, is as oil poured out.
R. Thy servants have loved thee exceedingly.

Let us pray.
O God, Who by the Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, did prepare a worthy habitation for Thy Son: we beseech Thee, that as in view of the death of that Son, Thou didst preserve her from all stain of sin, so Thou wouldst enable us, being made pure by her intercession, to come unto Thee. Through the same Christ Our Lord. AMEN.

I am adding this prayer to St. Joseph to the novena:

O Saint Joseph, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in you all my interests and desires.  

O Saint Joseph do assist me by your powerful intercession and obtain for me from your Divine Son all spiritual blessings, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, so that, having engaged here below your heavenly power I may offer my thanksgiving and homage to the most loving of Fathers. O Saint Joseph, I never weary in contemplating you and Jesus asleep in your arms; I dare not approach while He reposes near your heart. Press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath.  Saint Joseph, patron of departing souls - pray for me. Amen

The Miserere (Psalm 50, The Vulgate) is a good idea, too.

1] Unto the end, a psalm of David, [2] When Nathan the prophet came to him after he had sinned with Bethsabee. [3] Have mercy on me, O God, according to thy great mercy. And according to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity. [4] Wash me yet more from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. [5] For I know my iniquity, and my sin is always before me.
[6] To thee only have I sinned, and have done evil before thee: that thou mayst be justified in thy words and mayst overcome when thou art judged. [7] For behold I was conceived in iniquities; and in sins did my mother conceive me. [8] For behold thou hast loved truth: the uncertain and hidden things of thy wisdom thou hast made manifest to me. [9] Thou shalt sprinkle me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed: thou shalt wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow. [10] To my hearing thou shalt give joy and gladness: and the bones that have been humbled shall rejoice.
[11] Turn away thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. [12] Create a clean heart in me, O God: and renew a right spirit within my bowels. [13] Cast me not away from thy face; and take not thy holy spirit from me. [14] Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and strengthen me with a perfect spirit. [15] I will teach the unjust thy ways: and the wicked shall be converted to thee.
[16] Deliver me from blood, O God, thou God of my salvation: and my tongue shall extol thy justice. [17] O Lord, thou wilt open my lips: and my mouth shall declare thy praise. [18] For if thou hadst desired sacrifice, I would indeed have given it: with burnt offerings thou wilt not be delighted. [19] A sacrifice to God is an afflicted spirit: a contrite and humbled heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. [20] Deal favourably, O Lord, in thy good will with Sion; that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
[21] Then shalt thou accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations and whole burnt offerings: then shall they lay calves upon thy altar.

OR: 

Judica me, Deus (Psalm 42, The Vulgate)

[1] A psalm for David. Judge me, O God, and distinguish my cause from the nation that is not holy: deliver me from the unjust and deceitful man. [2] For thou art God my strength: why hast thou cast me off? and why do I go sorrowful whilst the enemy afflicteth me? [3] Send forth thy light and thy truth: they have conducted me, and brought me unto thy holy hill, and into thy tabernacles. [4] And I will go in to the altar of God: to God who giveth joy to my youth. [5] To thee, O God my God, I will give praise upon the harp: why art thou sad, O my soul? and why dost thou disquiet me?

[6] Hope in God, for I will still give praise to him: the salvation of my countenance, and my God.

The Forty Martyrs of England and Wales

Today we remember so many valiant souls. 

"MERRY ENGLAND"

Merry, merry, merry England,
Isle of Saints and Martyrs blest!
Shining witnesses to Jesus,
Now enjoying Heavenly rest.
Happy England, Mary's Dowry,
Gladly own that cherished Name;
English hearts throughout the ages
Find their comfort in the same.

England, land of fairest Angles,
Apple of Saint Gregory's eye;
Fruitful land where Saints did scatter
Seeds of faith which never die.
Holy England, Catholic England,
Favoured Child of Church of Rome!
Once thy kings, as well as paupers
Kept the Faith within their homes.

Glorious England, land of Martyrs,
Giving forth a sweet perfume;
English Roses, crimson colored
'Neath the gallows thou didst bloom.
Watered by a tide most precious,
Strengthened by the Lord's own grace;
Manly courage shown in contest,
Crowned with victory in the race!

Merry England, Mary's England,
Be her Dowry as of old.
Thrive again beneath her mantle
In the One and Catholic Fold.
Saints of England send a blessing
 From thy place in Heaven above,
On the merry land which housed thee,
Homeland which thy hearts didst love!

By a Carmelite Nun of Rochester

Picture and poem courtesy of the Discalced Carmelite Nuns of Rochester, NY

The North American Martyrs

The bravest of the brave. One of the best online accounts I could find was here:

Members of the Society of Jesus who dedicated themselves to the conversion of the American Indians took Christ’s words very literally. They journeyed from Renaissance France to the frontiers of North America that they might preach and baptize. After pouring the saving waters of Baptism on a dying Indian child, Saint John de Brebeuf, the great pioneer of this mission, exclaimed with joy, “For this one single occasion I would travel all the way from France; I would cross the great ocean to win one little soul for Our Lord!” And so pleased was God with the genuine zeal and the extraordinary sacrifices of these Jesuit apostles that He bestowed upon Father Brebeuf and seven of his fellow missionaries the glorious crown of martyrdom. The following is the incredible tale of the Eight North American Martyrs.

The Society of Jesus had been founded by Saint Ignatius of Loyola during the turbulent times following the Protestant Revolution. By the dawning of the seventeenth century the Jesuits had won renown as zealous missionaries and ardent defenders of the Catholic Faith.

The Order was still at the peak of its power, prestige, and holiness when a new mission field began to unfold. France, eldest daughter of the Church, was beginning to colonize North America, and the vast untamed regions of the New World were inhabited by pagan natives who had never before been evangelized. (Read entire post.)

Novena to St. Jude

It's that time of the year again. It is time to go to the Apostle and Martyr St. Jude Thaddeus with petitions for his aid in some hopeless and desperate situations and for certain hopeless and desperate persons (including myself).

Novena Prayer

Saint 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 honors and invokes you universally as the patron of difficult and desperate cases, of things 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 was almost despaired of. Come to my assistance in this great need that I may receive the consolation and help 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 all eternity.

I promise you, O blessed JUDE, to be ever mindful of this great favor, and I will never cease to honor you as my special and powerful patron and do all in my power to encourage devotion to you. Amen.

Saint Jude, pray for us and for all who honor you and invoke your aid.

(Say the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be to the Father, 3 times.)

The Secret of the Rosary

 From Marianna Bartold.

St. Teresa of Avila and Our Lady

The French Carmelite Père Joseph de Saint Marie, OCD, in some of his conferences on St. Teresa and in his book Notre Dame du Mont-Carmel remarks about the fact that many of the significant events in St. Teresa's life happened on or around the feast of the Assumption. Her vision of hell, which inspired her to begin the monastic reform, occurred in the month of August, as did the foundation of St. Joseph's monastery in Avila. Two magnificent visions of Our Lady took place, in different years, on August 15. In her Life, St. Teresa describes the visions. Of the first one she writes:

...In a rapture there was pictured to me [Our Lady's] ascent into Heaven and the joy and solemnity with which she was received in the place where she now is. To explain how this happened would be impossible for me. Exceeding great was the glory which filled my spirit when it saw such glory. The fruits of the vision were wonderful and I was left with a great desire to serve Our Lady, because of her surpassing merits....

In the second apparition, which occurred on August 15, 1561, St. Teresa found herself transfigured, with Our Lady on her right and St. Joseph on her left. They clothed her in a mantle of great "whiteness and brightness," which meant she was "cleansed of [her] sins." According to St. Teresa's autobiography: "Our Lady suddenly took me by the hands and told me that I was giving her great pleasure by serving St. Joseph and that I might be sure that all I was trying to do about the convent would be accomplished and that both the Lord and they would be greatly served in it." Our Lady gave her a jeweled cross on a golden chain (similar to that of an abbess) signifying the saint's authority as a mother foundress. The vision left St. Teresa feeling "greatly comforted and full of peace." In such mystical experiences the strong Marian aspect of the Carmelite charism was once again emphasized, as a witness for those who would come after.

(All quotations from Msgr. Doheny's Selected Writings of St. Teresa)

The Holy Mother St. Teresa receives a veil and necklace from Our Lady and St. Joseph

The Debate Over St. Faustina

 From Christine Niles:

October 5th is the feast day of St. Faustina. Debate continues to swirl around her and the Divine Mercy devotion. In this episode (originally aired June 6, 2023), Christine Niles delves into St. Faustina's life and the controversies surrounding Divine Mercy to answer the question: Is Divine Mercy a fraud — or is it one of God's greatest gifts to the modern world? 

 Objection 1: St. Faustina's diary was placed on the Index of Forbidden Books. 

ANSWER: This was owing to errors in the Italian translation. Once an accurate translation was commissioned, any errors were eliminated and the ban was lifted in 1978. 

Objection 2: Divine Mercy preaches unconditional mercy without sacrifice. 

ANSWER: False. St. Faustina was given a terrifying vision of Hell, and confirmed that many souls who reject God and His mercy will end up there. She also practiced many penances and mortifications in reparation for sinners, understanding that suffering is the price of sin. 

Objection 3: How could Our Lord say to St. Faustina that He united Himself more intimately with her than with any other creature, when God clearly unites Himself more intimately with Our Lady? 

ANSWER: He clearly meant He united Himself with her more intimately than with any other mortal creature at that time living on earth — not for all time. 

 Objection 4: How could St. Faustina claim the Lord told her, “From today on, do not fear God’s judgment, for you will not be judged.” 

ANSWER: Any saint who dies in the state of perfection and goes directly to Heaven is exempt from judgment. Saint Faustina lived an extraordinarily holy life and is now a canonized saint; it would not be difficult to believe that God granted her the extraordinary grace not only of sainthood, but of knowing that she would escape judgment. (Read more and listen.)

The Rosary and the Interior Life

 From Detroit Catholic:

In Luke 11:40, Christ speaks about His Father as a “maker.” The Father’s “making” always involves Christ Himself, the Word, through whom all things were made (John 1:3). Here in Luke, Christ reminds us that the Trinity made the interior of the human being. Man is not simply an object like those the Pharisees scrupulously wash; man has a rich interiority, a whole inner world of emotions and ideas and desires that are only partially visible exteriorly. That interiority is created by and for Love — Love who stands before the Pharisees, begging for the alms of their answering love.

In this month of the Rosary, we should turn to Our Lady as our guide to the interior life. What is going on in our head during the day? Do we lift our minds to the One who begs the alms of our love? Mary can teach us to do so. She lived each day with the knowledge that God was present to her at every moment; she lived in love and obedience to His will. She spoke to Him interiorly: in praise, in petition, in thanksgiving, in sorrow for sin — though not her own, of course!

The Rosary is a devotion that can foster this prayerful interiority; it masterfully addresses the needs of the human being, who has both an “outside” and an “inside.” The beads give us something to do with our hands, something to calm us, and also something to free our minds from counting the prayers so that we can, with Mary, “treasure the things [God has done], pondering them in [our] heart” (cf. Luke 2:19).

As we pray the mysteries of the Rosary, we learn to ponder the work of God in the world’s history and in our own personal story. Mary did this often, allowing the Holy Spirit to infuse her memory with His radiance. And from the interior treasury of her communing with God flowed alms for her neighbor — for example, her visit of charity to Zechariah and Elizabeth. (Read more.)