By “Anne,” a Lay Apostle  

 

December 17, 2006

 

I speak today with such love in My heart. There are those among you who suffer from financial need. You do not have enough money to sustain your family. Perhaps you do not have what you need to buy food or to pay for your shelter needs. My friends, you are not forgotten. Heaven will not abandon you. I see your distress and recognize your need. I want to ask you to look at your situation fearlessly. Ask yourself if you are in real danger of going without food. Are you in real danger of losing your place of shelter? Consider these two things as your basic needs. I am asking that you begin to think of your time on earth differently. Consider exactly what your body needs to continue in service to Me.

 

Some of My children on Earth have been blessed with great abundance. In some cases this great abundance has created a craving for more that is undermining Heaven’s goals for the soul. Additionally, this craving for more has become a distraction, diverting some of God’s children from the task of growing in holiness.

My beloved ones, if this describes you, if you routinely have enough food to eat and a safe place to rest, yet you continue to worry about money, then you must change your standard immediately. What will you do when it comes time to leave all of this? Will you object when Jesus does not supply you with these extra things in Heaven? You may not want to come to Heaven because there is no excess of material goods here. This is silly, of course, and I am being playful with you but please try to understand My point.

 

Excessive material goods are a distraction.

 

If you have financial needs that can be rectified by cutting back on your standard of living, do so at once. I will help you and I promise you this today because this is very important for you and for your family. I am asking all to reconsider their needs and use less when possible.

For those who cannot sustain basic food and shelter needs, I have something else to say. You are loved. You should ask Me to send help and I will begin to do so at once. My beloved children, I did not create you to go hungry. I did not create you to sleep in circumstances that prevent safety. I want you to know that during My time on earth, I often experienced hunger. I very often did not have a place to rest My head. Indeed, I was born into poverty and I understand poverty of the physical type. I want you to know something today. Financial poverty, physical need, does not equal spiritual poverty, meaning spiritual need. I am saying that you can be far wealthier than any king or queen, even if you are the poorest of the poor. Perhaps you are hungry more than you are fed. Perhaps you have no home.

My beloved child, you will have a beautiful home here in Heaven and in it you will entertain your loved ones with great bounty. You will have enough of everything in Heaven and you will be treated as a royal personage by Me, your Jesus. Your time of poverty on Earth prepares you for a time of great wealth in Heaven.

 

You must accept your circumstances in peace, even while you try to change these circumstances. I will not accept that you did not want to work to support yourself or your family. That is not an acceptable reason to suffer need. I want you to try to sustain yourself and those for whom you are responsible.

 

But if, through no fault of your own you suffer poverty, I assure you today that if you accept this in peace I will reward you beyond your furthest imaginings. In places where people are poor, I am there with My greatest graces. Dear beloved ones, believe Me today when I tell you that people who come to Heaven do not regret anything they suffered on Earth. Rest in this thought. You will not regret your sufferings. You will only regret the times you failed to love.

 

Ask Me for help and I will help you. Be at peace. You have not been abandoned.

 

Dear brothers and sisters, we in Heaven remember being on Earth. We remember having great wants and suffering from poverty. Some of God’s saints were wealthy on Earth, of course, but many were not. The time in which you live is a time of great abundance for some. It would make God happy if this abundance were shared so that few experienced hunger that resulted in disease and death.

 

There will always be poor people, it is true, but this fact does not excuse anyone from failing to assist them. If you are wealthy, you may say, “What can I do?” I will answer you today. Give. Give often and give more. Work for others with your power and influence. Spread holy principles of responsible use of material and financial wealth. Also, deprive yourself of something. Sacrifice. Perhaps you are in a situation where you were accustomed to a high standard of living and now you find that you have had to reduce your standard. Praise God for this. Rejoice because in this circumstance you will learn many things. You will learn to trust God. You will learn to have compassion for others. You will learn that not everything has to do with bodily comfort.

In looking back at my time of service on earth, I am aware that the time of greatest growth for me was the time when I suffered. This is basic spirituality of course, in that it is hard to become holy if you never deny yourself. In order to become holy you must take up your cross. This cross can come in many forms and the best response to the cross is always to pick it up and walk with it. Move. Do not lament that the cross has been placed on your doorstep. Accept the cross as coming from heaven and, putting one foot in front of the other, climb the mountain toward Jesus. There are always those who suffer more than you and there will always be those who suffer less. Do not let poverty make you bitter. To do so would be to reject God’s generous offer of holiness. During this time, many are suffering from financial difficulties. Is heaven any less present? This is the same as in many periods of history. Be at peace in all circumstances around you and you will find that God gives you what you need to serve Him in each day. If you are hungry, offer this to God, even while asking Him to provide you with more food. God will make you a saint quickly in these circumstances and you will experience spiritual richness. If you have enough and you are not hungry, deny yourself food periodically. Simply do not eat for a day and offer your hunger to God so that He can take your little sacrifice and obtain graces with which to feed others. Heaven will help you to understand God’s will in either situation, either poverty or affluence.

 

In a world where many have rejected God, it is necessary for many to learn about trust. Reliance on God is something that liberates a person. God can teach this lesson by withdrawing financial security. If you have lost your financial security and you are fearful, talk to God. Tell Him your fears. Tell Him about your obligations, particularly those you find you cannot meet.

 

God will help you.

 

There is no shame in not having enough money. Jesus Himself seldom had money. Did people look down on Him? Yes, they did. Did people have to take care of Him? Yes, they did, and they are being eternally rewarded for doing so. If you find that others have to help you, accept this with grace. Perhaps this is painful for you. Perhaps you find it humiliating. I understand. I am with you in this humiliation.

Humiliation brings humility, though, and while I know the humiliation part is difficult, the humility part is heavenly and makes you open to God’s love in a way that delights Heaven. If others have to care for you, sharing their food, shelter, time or wealth with you, accept this in peace. You may not have anything with which to reward them but God has all of infinity to bless them for their kindness to you.

 

Indeed, your situation may be the best opportunity these people have to obtain holiness. Here is a snare. Do not become angry at the ones who help you, even if they give with superiority. If your circumstances make them feel superior, then they are in greater trouble than you and they have their own lessons to learn. You must pray for them and concentrate on the lessons God is teaching you today. Accept the help of others as though it were directly from the hand of God.

 

You are in financial trouble. You pray. God sends help.

 

Be grateful to Him and rejoice. Do not criticize the manner in which God sends the help. That is like being on a road walking, certain that you cannot continue as you are too tired. You have miles to go. A car comes along and offers you transport. You get into the car and begin to criticize the color of the seats. Would you not shake your head at this foolishness? Would you laugh at the ridiculousness? Would you feel sad for the one who offered his help, only to be mocked and ridiculed by a mean-spirited one? Be loving.

 

Look with favor on those whom God sends to assist you.

Dear friends, we in Heaven see your needs. We hear your prayers. Come to God with everything. Be at peace in everything. Be like trusting children who know that their father will provide for them when the time is right.

 

You will not regret trusting God.

 

Trusting the Father becomes a habit and it will serve you well in every area of your life. Perhaps you have enough money and you always have had enough money. You, even more than a poverty-stricken one, must learn trust because there is a temptation when you are wealthy to rely on your wealth to protect you. Such folly. Such perilous folly is this. Truly, this is living in a house with no foundation. All may be well when it is sunny but in life storms must be expected as they come with regularity. An abundance of material wealth makes it even more imperative that you learn to rely only on God. Ask me for help with this and I will teach you everything I know about trusting God.

 

If you fear for the financial protection of your family, ask me to intercede for you. Jesus has the greatest tenderness for the poor because He Himself was poor. Jesus understands that you worry about providing for your children and taking care of each other. Jesus accepts that this desire to provide for your loved ones is a holy inspiration that comes from Him. He will reward this by giving you all possible assistance. Do not think that you are working outside of God’s will if you strive to protect your family financially.

Also, do not be afraid that God will punish you if you are wealthy. God Himself has allowed you to be wealthy but God did not allow your wealth simply for your personal comfort. God allowed wealth for you so that you could steward this wealth in such a way that God could assist others through you. You will want to allow God to do this with freedom, which means you need to be praying for God’s direction at all times.

Be at peace in all circumstances. God loves His children and you will not be abandoned.

 

We, the saints in Heaven, will assist you to find the right answers to all of your financial difficulties. There will come a day when you finish your life and all of these problems will cease. On that day, I, Augustine, will be waiting for you so that I can congratulate you on the holy way in which you faced your financial circumstances.

My dear child, I am with you. There is a holy way to conduct yourself in your situation. If you pray, you will know which is the holy way that leads to my Son. I will protect you from choosing an unholy way that leads away from my Son. You see, my child, in everything you face there is opportunity for holiness. Heaven can use your day to move our goals forward if you are the poorest of the poor or the richest of the rich.

 

All we need is your “yes” to Jesus. Say yes to my Son.

 

Accept any crosses you have. We will help you to provide for your family. We will help you to have peace in any suffering. You will not be abandoned. I am a mother and I had many worries because of our lack of means. Many people assisted my little family. My gratitude for the generosity of others is still with me and God’s gratitude for their generosity is still with them. Do you see?

 

If you help others you will be rewarded for eternity.

 

If you accept the help of others with dignity, you will become holy and set an example of dignified suffering. Beloved ones, I promise you that you will have what you need to become holy. Do not think that Heaven abandons you with financial problems. Heaven helps in these matters as much as Heaven helps in spiritual matters because we understand that all that happens in your life shapes your spirituality. Walk each day with Heaven and you will see our help. I am your mother and I will not abandon you to these troubles. I will give you peace in all of your troubles.

A friend of mine was once riding the subway late at night when the doors opened and in stepped two couples returning from a night out on the town. They laughed and carried on until one of the ladies noticed a poster promoting abstinence on the wall behind them. She read it out loud for the others. “Virgin: it’s not a dirty word,” it said. Then half jokingly, but with a voice that portrayed guilt and disappointment, she added: “Why didn’t they tell us that when we were 15?” The nervous laughter that followed this remark quickly degenerated into a pensive silence and a marked note of frustration.

 

This young lady had obviously gone down a wrong path in life and briefly lamented not having been offered a different option.

 

It would appear that America is the last place on earth where a person who wants to maintain his virginity would find other options. Hollywood hardly misses an opportunity to glamorize impure lifestyles which corrupt our young people at home and project an incomplete image of America abroad. Freedom is supposed to be our motto, in all things, including love.

 

There is, however, a whole subculture in America that openly rejects impure lifestyles and immodest fashions. Members of this subculture fight to safeguard virginity and reject what they see as destructive trends and fashions. Young people across America are promising to remain pure until marriage and by doing so proclaim loud and clear that “virginity” as the sign said “is not a dirty word.” It is yet another “only in America” paradox.

* * *

Abstinence programs are a huge element in this trend. Over a billion dollars has been given by the federal government in the last ten years to programs that teach young people the value of remaining chaste until marriage. Millions more were allocated to bring this message to our nation’s classrooms. More striking still was the $167 million given last year alone to a specific type of abstinence program which carries a stipulation. To get the money you are not allowed to teach about the supposed benefits of condoms, but only how they fail.¹

 

The significance of such funding can only be truly measured when we consider the mania for public opinion polls. These polls have become the politician’s way of gauging what his constituents want. It is safe to say that what the public often gets is reflected in such polls.

 

The conclusion we could draw from this reasoning is that a certain sector of the American public wants to preserve virginity and have voiced their opinions loud enough to get public funding. The money is not going into a vacuum but is currently being used by over 200 abstinence groups nationwide. Many of these groups promote seminars that culminate in purity pledges by teens.

 

 

The first time I began to take notice of such programs was when I saw a news item about a 15 year-old girl named Lydia Playfoot in West Sussex England. She received international attention when authorities at the Millais All Girls School told her to remove her purity ring. They said it was a transgression of the school’s uniform policy. Her parents were upset because of the double standard this represented; practicing Muslims wearing headscarves and Sikhs using Kara bracelets in the same school went unmolested.²

 

The mention of an English girl in an “only in America” column might seem out of place. It is not. Lydia received her ring during a program presented by an American group called The Silver Ring Thing founded in the 1996 by Denny Pattyn of Yuma, Arizona. His educational program aims at showing young people the physical, emotional and spiritual problems resulting from an impure lifestyle. “The only way to reverse the moral decay of any youth culture” he points out, “is to inspire a change in the conduct and behavior from those within the culture.”³

 

Mr. Pattyn’s group was formed in the shadow of another organization called True Love Waits founded by Jimmy Hester in the early 90’s.

 

“We began to hear from students,” Mr. Hester said, “that they did not have a way to express themselves about abstinence until marriage.” In other words, they wanted to avoid taking a wrong path, but did not see another option. “True Love Waits,” he said, “grew out of that desire.”

 

The commitment to remain pure originally entailed signing a pledge card which students carried in their pockets. Later on, the pledge card was replaced by a more visible and powerfully symbolic purity ring — a constant reminder of the promise made.

 

Purity rings are sometimes given by the father to the daughter who will then give it to her future husband should she decide to marry. We are able to fully appreciate the beauty of this gesture when we consider the symbolism of brides wearing white to the altar. Queen Victoria was the first woman in the modern era to do so but brides across Europe and America quickly followed the royal lead. The color white, formally symbolic of royal mourning, thus became more commonly the symbol of purity of heart, innocence of childhood and later virginity.⁴

 

Seeing so many young people wear such a visible sign of their chastity shatters the modern day myth that no one is interested in remaining pure. Mr. Hester told an amusing story of one high school girl who evidently believed this myth. After taking the pledge, she stood up in her classroom and courageously affirmed, even if inaccurately, that she was the only virgin in the school. She was pleasantly surprised when several others corrected her, “You are not the only one, I am also.” In the last ten years, over two million young people have taken the same pledge.

 

It might appear from what has been said so far that those interested in such a concept are exclusively women. Virginity after all has more commonly been associated with woman, while true manhood has been distorted by false archetypes. Men with piety are often presented as genderless beings a young man would never want to imitate. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the equally distorted concept of men who are macho. Such men see the loss of virginity as not only an acceptable but even a necessary step towards their deformed image of manhood.

Sherif Girgis, co-founder of the Anscombe Society which promotes abstinence.

Sherif Girgis would be the first to disagree with these equally false options. “I personally found this intense struggle [to remain pure]” he said, “and the subsequent tranquility in having conquered self, to be eminently masculine.”

 

He just happens to be a 19-year-old philosophy major at Princeton University and co-founder of the Anscombe Society which, among other things, promotes abstinence. The society is named after Elizabeth Anscombe, a Cambridge philosopher and staunch Roman Catholic who defended the Church’s unpopular teaching on sexual ethics. A high point in her struggle came in 1968 when the Church reaffirmed its condemnation of contraception. While the intellectuals around her reacted with shock and rage, the Anscombe family toasted the decision with champagne.⁵

 

The society named in her honor has had similar struggles. Not long after they were formed, a certain group of people on campus, evidently not so enthusiastic about chastity, labeled them as homophobes. They might just have easily toasted with champagne. This did not deter them and it was not long before they had an email list with 150 names.

 

According to Sherif, a convert to Catholicism like Mrs. Anscombe, the Princeton group has a twofold purpose. It not only provides a social network for like-minded people but also provides intellectual arguments to help students grasp the importance of chastity in human development. The most important thing, however, is to present a powerful example, especially for young men who lack proper role models. Cassandra Debenedetto is the founder of Anscombe and the oldest in a family of four from Stow, Massachusetts. Her younger brothers appreciate the example given by students at Princeton. “Two of them plan to form an abstinence group at their high school,” she said, “while the other hopes to do the same at the university he attends.”

 

With the media coverage that followed their founding, the Anscombe Society was contacted by a similar group at Cornell University, said Cody May. He is a 19-year-old Philosophy major from Center, Texas and former officer of Anscombe. “Although [the Cornell group] did not get the same publicity we did,” he explained, “they just wanted to say ‘hey, we are with you and we are offering similar things here at Cornell.’” ⁶

 

Jonathan Butler, a 19-year-old Catholic student at the University of Colorado at Boulder is with them as well. Known to many as the “People’s Republic of Boulder,” the University of Colorado is the last place on earth you would expect to find “right-wing-fanatics” promoting chastity — especially if they are male. That didn’t stop Jonathan and his three friends from founding the College Coalition for Relationship Education. Such an innocuous title is understandable when you consider the ire liberals have for such groups promoting chastity. The organization currently has fifteen members and half are men.

 

There are similar clubs at the University of Northern Colorado and Colorado State University. Jonathan hopes to have help, after he graduates, from fellow students in taking this message to the younger crowds. “I would like to see members of my college,” he said, “visiting grade schools to teach them [about the abstinence message] also.”

 

 

The subject of modesty unexpectedly came up while I was speaking with Cody May. Coming from a very hot Center, Texas he commented on the “unexpected blessing” of going to Princeton, with temperatures that actually oblige girls to dress decently. Cody is not the only one who thinks that way at Princeton. “More men than women would agree with me,” he said. “Men recognize the problem because if affects them so badly.” He understood that to maintain virginity without the virtue of modesty is difficult, if not impossible.

Cassandra Debenedetto would agree with him wholeheartedly. Besides being one of the founders of the Anscombe Society, she also has her own blog appropriately titled “Modestly yours.” In one of her entries she tells her experience of training high school girls and how impressed she was with their grasp of modesty. “The girls understood that modest dress did not mean wearing baggy or “frumpy” clothing… Rather they understood that one can dress fashionably and in a way that accents her femininity without dressing in a revealing or distracting way.”

 

This idea may be catching on. Teenage girls in Tucson, Arizona got so fed up with the indecent clothing which they were being offered at stores that they circulated a petition demanding more modest fashions. Over 4,000 students signed a petition that got the attention of Dillard’s which ended up holding a fashion show to spotlight more modest attire.⁷

 

And then there is the case of Mrs. Rita Davidson who drove five hours from Ontario, Canada across the American border precisely because of the modesty issue. “I wanted to meet my pen pal from California who once commented that she always wears a dress.”

 

“This stance intrigued me” she said, “since it seemed so severe.” Upon meeting her American pen pal she was attracted by her very feminine manners and sincerity. “Her whole image struck me,” she continued, “and a seed was planted.” That seed later developed into a lay organization called Martyrs of Purity which is a crusade to save souls not only from impurity but immodesty as well. She was quickly forced to open a post office box in New York. “Ninety percent of our customers are American,” she said. “Catholic families in America take their faith more seriously.”

* * *

There are those who will read this article and quickly question the longevity of the purity pledges made by over 2 million young people. Liberals will do so —backed by statistics— because they want to continue handing out contraception. Others will do so for a different reason. They will argue that the young people who take these pledges are doomed to fail because they have voluntarily immersed themselves in a promiscuous culture. They will equally question the integrity of university students who courageously defend their virginity on liberal campuses; even if it is sprinkled with a modesty message.

This article was not intended to portray America as a convent which it most certainly is not. It was to point out the paradoxical desire to remain virginally pure on the part of young people in a country and culture that, at least implicitly, condones free love.

 

This is the paradox which was so well expressed by that poor soul on the subway; “Why didn’t they tell us that when we were 15?” She had experienced the empty pleasures the world offers and was candid enough to raise a very prickly question; “Why wasn’t I offered another option?”

 

Hidden inside this question is a desire for something else and an affirmation that, if offered another option, “I might have taken it!” Was this subway lady aware of the millions, whose desire for virginity led them to make pledges to remain pure? Did she know that those same people unashamedly wear purity rings as an outward sign of that promise and often face ridicule for doing so? Did she know about female students, not much older than she, at an Ivy League school, that are proudly promoting modesty? What about the men attending the same school who appreciated these efforts? Or what about these same men who choose virginity and in doing so smash the false archetypes of wimpy or macho man, in the process?

 

She, like you, might have been totally unaware that such a paradox not only exists, but is alive and well — only in America.

 

by Norman Fulkerson

 

Notes:

1. “Taking the pledge,” CBS News Ed Bradley Reports on Abstinence-Only programs for Teens

2. Sarah Harris, “Wearing ‘Purity Rings’ is banned at Girls’ School,” Daily Mail, June 19, 2006

3. http://www.silverringthing.com/about.html

4. Blue was formally more common because of its association with the Virgin Mary. http://www.answers.com/topic/white-wedding

5. http://www.nationalreview.com/weekend/philosophy/philosophy-george020301.shtml

6. A Cornell Law School professor condemned such programs because he said they endorse a religious agenda. www.news.cornell.edu/releases/Nov00/Simson.sex.ed.html

7. Scott Simonson, “Local Teens Score One for Modesty,” Arizona Daily Star, Sept.18, 2004.

 

this article discovered here

 

“I cannot afford to overlook the influence that other people have on me. There are cases where people quarrel, fight and even commit murder because they are influenced by gossip, influenced by the words of others.

 

To what extent do I check that I am not being influenced by gossip? Negativity in the mind is like poison. Negative thoughts are the seeds of negative actions.

 

It might seem like a simple everyday occurrence - my friends tell me in the strictest confidence that such and such a person is like this and does so-and-so. I listen and accept without question because of the friendship. My attitude and actions now become influenced by my friend’s words, and I find myself acting and reacting in accordance with the information fed to me.

 

Gossip and guessing bring sorrow, heaviness and distrust. Poison can come in many disguises, but poison is poison whether from an enemy or a friend.”

 

this article discovered here

 

You expired Jesus, but the source of life gushed forth for souls, and the ocean of mercy opened up for the whole world. O Fountain of Life, unfathomable Divine Mercy, envelop the whole world and empty Yourself out upon us (1319).

 

O Blood and Water which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fount of mercy for us, I trust in You (84).

 

O Jesus, Divine Prisoner of Love, when I consider Your love and how You emptied Yourself for me, my senses fail me. You hide Your inconceivable majesty and lower Yourself to miserable me. O King of Glory, though You hide Your beauty, yet the eye of my soul rends the veil. I see the angelic choirs giving You honor without cease, and all the heavenly Powers praising You without cease, and without cease they are saying: Holy, Holy, Holy.

 

Oh, who will comprehend Your love and Your unfathomable mercy toward us! O Prisoner of Love, I lock up my poor heart in this tabernacle that it may adore You without cease night and day. I know of no obstacle in this adoration, and even though I be physically distant, my heart is always with You. Nothing can put a stop to my love for You. No obstacles exist for me (80).

 

O Holy Trinity, One and Indivisible God, may You be blessed for this great gift and testament of mercy (81).

 

I adore You, Lord and Creator, hidden in the Blessed Sacrament. I adore You for all the works of Your hands, that reveal to me so much wisdom, goodness and mercy, O Lord. You have spread so much beauty over the earth, and it tells me about Your beauty, even though these beautiful things are but a faint reflection of You, Incomprehensible Beauty. And although You have hidden Yourself and concealed Your beauty, my eye, enlightened by faith, reaches You, and my soul recognizes its Creator, its Highest Good; and my heart is completely immersed in prayer of adoration (1692).

 

My Lord and Creator, Your goodness encourages me to converse with You. Your mercy abolishes the chasm which separates the Creator from the creature. To converse with You, O Lord, is the delight of my heart. In You I find everything that my heart could desire. Here Your light illumines my mind, enabling it to know You more and more deeply. Here streams of graces flow down upon my heart. Here my soul draws eternal life. O my Lord and Creator, You alone, beyond all these gifts, give Your own self to me and unite Yourself intimately with Your miserable creature (1692).

 

O Christ, I am most delighted when I see that You are loved, and that Your praise and glory resound, especially the praise of Your mercy. O Christ, to the last moment of my life, I will not stop glorifying Your goodness and mercy. With every drop of my blood, with every beat of my heart, I glorify Your mercy. I long to be entirely transformed into a hymn of Your glory. When I find myself on my deathbed, may the last beat of my heart be a loving hymn in praise of Your unfathomable mercy (1708).

 

The Love of God is the flower­ - Mercy the fruit.

 

Let the doubting soul read these considerations on Divine Mercy and become trusting.

 

Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, fountain gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, better than the heavens,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the founding of Holy Church,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, accompanying us every moment of our life,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of hell,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, crown of all of God’s handiwork,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls,

I Trust in You.

Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope,

I Trust in You.

 

I fly to Your mercy, Compassionate God, who alone are good. Although my misery is great and my offenses are many, I trust in Your mercy, because You are the God of mercy; and, from time immemorial, it has never been heard of, nor do heaven or earth remember, that a soul trusting in Your mercy has been disappointed.

 

O God of compassion, You alone can justify me and You will never reject me when I, contrite, approach Your Merciful Heart, where no one has ever been refused, even if he were the greatest sinner (1730).

 

[For Your Son assured me:] Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy fail to embrace a trusting soul (1777).

 

Jesus, Friend of a lonely heart, You are my haven, You are my peace. You are my salvation, You are my serenity in moments of struggle and amidst an ocean of doubts. You are the bright ray that lights up the path of my life. You are everything to a lonely soul. You understand the soul even though it remains silent. You know our weaknesses and, like a good physician, You comfort and heal, sparing us sufferings ­ expert that You are (247).

 

O Jesus, eternal God, I thank You for Your countless graces and blessings. Let every beat of my heart be a new hymn of thanksgiving to You, O God. Let every drop of my blood circulate for You, Lord. My soul is one hymn in adoration of Your mercy. I love You, God, for Yourself alone (1794).

 

O Mary, my Mother and my Lady, I offer you my soul, my body, my life and my death, and all that will follow it. I place everything in your hands. O my Mother, cover my soul with your virginal mantle and grant me the grace of purity of heart, soul and body. Defend me with your power against all enemies, and especially against those who hide their malice behind the mask of virtue (79). Fortify my soul that pain will not break it. Mother of grace, teach me to live by God’s power (315).

 

O Mary … a terrible sword has pierced your holy soul. Except for God, no one knows of your suffering. Your soul does not break; it is brave, because it is with Jesus. Sweet Mother, unite my soul to Jesus, because it is only then that I will be able to endure all trials and tribulations, and only in union with Jesus will my little sacrifices be pleasing to God. Sweetest Mother, continue to teach me about the interior life. May the sword of suffering never break me. O pure Virgin, pour courage into my heart and guard it (915).

 

This prayer gives us a true measure of our mercy, a mirror in which we observe ourselves as merciful Christs. We can make it our morning invocation and our evening examination of conscience.

 

O Most Holy Trinity! As many times as I breathe, as many times as my heart beats, as many times as my blood pulsates through my body, so many thousand times do I want to glorify Your mercy.

 

I want to be completely transformed into Your mercy and to be Your living reflection, O Lord. May the greatest of all divine attributes, that of Your unfathomable mercy, pass through my heart and soul to my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my eyes may be merciful, so that I may never suspect or judge from appearances, but look for what is beautiful in my neighbors’ souls and come to their rescue.

 

Help me, that my ears may be merciful, so that I may give heed to my neighbors’ needs and not be indifferent to their pains and moanings.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my tongue may be merciful, so that I should never speak negatively of my neighbor, but have a word of comfort and forgiveness for all.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my hands may be merciful and filled with good deeds, so that I may do only good to my neighbors and take upon myself the more difficult and toilsome tasks.

 

Help me, that my feet may be merciful, so that I may hurry to assist my neighbor, overcoming my own fatigue and weariness. My true rest is in the service of my neighbor.

 

Help me, O Lord, that my heart may be merciful so that I myself may feel all the sufferings of my neighbor. I will refuse my heart to no one. I will be sincere even with those who, I know, will abuse my kindness. And I will lock myself up in the most merciful Heart of Jesus. I will bear my own suffering in silence. May Your mercy, O Lord, rest upon me.

 

You Yourself command me to exercise the three degrees of mercy. The first: the act of mercy, of whatever kind. The second: the word of mercy ­ if I cannot carry out a work of mercy, I will assist by my words. The third: prayer ­ if I cannot show mercy by deeds or words, I can always do so by prayer. My prayer reaches out even there where I cannot reach out physically.

 

O my Jesus, transform me into Yourself, for You can do all things (163).

 

this prayer discovered here

We start with a quiz.

 

Is the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy …

(a) a place to pray?

(b) a place for contemplation?

(c) a place of natural beauty in the famed Berkshire Hills?

(d) a place to find healing?

(e) a place where one goes to decompress from life’s stress?

(f) all of the above

(g) none of the above.

 

I hope you realized (g) is one of those preposterous answers every multiple-choice quiz maker puts in, so the quiz taker can immediately rule out. The correct answer is (f). Answers (a) through (c) pretty much have been taken for granted, with (e) related to those first three responses. But what about (d)? It might not first occur to someone that a person might come to the Shrine expressly to heal. This isn’t Lourdes. There are no weeping statues, not even in hay-fever season. There’s no rejuvenating well of mystical spring water.

 

Healing, however, takes many forms, something Shrine Rector Fr. Anthony Gramlich, MIC, understands.

 

When Fr. Anthony assumed the Rector’s office this year, one of his plans for the National Shrine was to make it known as a place of spiritual and emotional healing. He decided on this from having first-hand knowledge of the infusive power of the spirituality to be found on Eden Hill. You hear it again and again from pilgrims. The words are different, but the message is the same: there’s a special power and presence on “The Hill.”

 

Is that why confessions here are different?

 

“In the confessional, you see the power of prayer,” Fr. Anthony says. “In the confessional, people can talk freely. They can unburden themselves. And most importantly, they receive absolution. I call the confessional here on Eden Hill ‘The Valley of Tears.’ Lots of tears get shed during confession. They are good tears. They are tears of healing, tears of contrition, tears of joy. That’s one thing we don’t mind at all, having to replace so many empty boxes of Kleenex!”

 

This experience, repeated over and over from his perspective on the “other side” of the screened window, led Fr. Anthony to realize that Eden Hill might carry this power of healing outside the confines of the confessional. The possibilities were dizzying. But as so often happens when one goes looking for an application of spiritual energy, God takes the lead. He led Fr. Anthony to a specific path. Fr. Anthony started walking.

 

The path was the shattering aftermath of abortion.

 

Healing for post-abortive women (and men as well as family members) remains a largely unaddressed issue facing not just the Church but society as a whole.

 

“I think this issue forms the Big Picture of where God is going next with Divine Mercy,” Fr. Anthony says. “The more I looked into the post-abortive question, the more I realized there’s a huge, unaddressed need.”

 

Father Anthony heard about Rachel’s Vineyard Ministries, an organization that conducts retreats for post-abortive woman and men throughout the country. He went to one, observed, and came back with a believer’s zeal.

 

A psychologist, Dr. Theresa Karminski Burke, and husband Kevin Burke, a licensed social worker, founded Rachel’s Vineyard. They realized through their practices that counseling alone did not result in a full healing for women grieving over an abortion. God was missing. The grieving process needed a spiritual element.

 

Rachel’s Vineyard retreat gathers participants over a given weekend not as “patients” but as the suffering body of Christ. Guided by a leader, a facilitator, and a chaplain, the retreat helps the suffering minister to each other in Jesus’ name. They share spiritual exercises focused on God’s forgiveness, compassion, and mercy. Psychological exercises help participants work through repressed grief and anger. Spiritual rituals assist them to grieve the loss of the child, ask for the child’s forgiveness and intercession from heaven, and accept God’s mercy. The retreat ends with a memorial service and a Mass of the Resurrection.

 

Father Anthony immediately realized that Rachel’s Vineyard and his vision of healing at the Shrine aligned perfectly. He seized on the mission of the retreat, and knew that its delivery of healing fit, again perfectly, with the message and devotion of Divine Mercy. After attending a couple more retreats as chaplain, he decided to bring Rachel’s Vineyard to the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy.

 

Eden Hill hosted its first Rachel’s Vineyard retreat in March. It was a great success, and he immediately began plans to bring the retreat back to The Hill again. That took place over the weekend of July 20-22, 2007. Father Anthony said the July retreat replicated the great work of the first. After the July retreat, he pointed to “lots of blessings, healings, and support. It’s hard to explain all the great things that were going on.”

 

The Diocese of Springfield was heavily involved in the July session. Retreat leader Sr. Claire LaPointe, SASV, from the diocese, provided overall direction. Sister Claire says, “The participants were significantly different from Friday to Saturday.” Retreat facilitator Jean Raczkowski, also from the diocese, kept conversations going and encouraged participants to share their stories. “They arrive on Friday feeling abandoned and lost,” Jean says. “By Saturday, you see the healing taking hold. On Sunday, they leave with Christ by their side.”

 

To reinforce the healings that were taking place over the weekend, Springfield Bishop Timothy McDonnell, in conjunction with the retreat on Eden Hill, said a private memorial Mass for all participants and for their babies.

 

“It’s a tremendous thing to have Bishop McDonnell involved,” Fr. Anthony says. “All the children were remembered for the weekend, both here on Eden Hill at the retreat, and at the bishop’s Memorial Mass. The Diocese of Springfield has consistently shown its pastoral concern about this little known aspect of the pro-life movement, and we thank Bishop McDonnell for his leadership and support.”

 

Eden Hill is much like Rachel’s Vineyard ­ a spirit as much as a place, a frame of mind as much as a destination. They are both places of renewal, safe abodes where lives are rebuilt and hearts are redeemed. In the case of post-abortive women and men, participants find restoration, renewal, and healing through the express, release, and reconciliation of toxic emotions. Combine the retreat with Divine Mercy, and people can explore in emotional and spiritual safety their deepest, most closely held feelings about their abortion experiences.

 

During the weekend of July 20-22, nine participants in the Rachel’s Vineyard retreat found a place, many of them for the first time in their post-abortive lives, to dismantle their poisonous secrets in an environment steeped in God’s Divine Mercy. They experienced the wondrous relief that attends the letting go of a destructive burden. They felt the soothing presence of forgiveness as Divine Mercy began to flow into their hearts.

 

It might all be expressed as a collective, spiritual, “Ah-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h-h.” The breathing slows down and gets deeper. The tension drains out of the body, replaced by healing warmth. The eyes close in relaxation and peace. Participants feel as if they’re at a Spiritual Spa.

 

Help. Empathy. Action. Love. Intercession. Nurture. God. They spell H-E-A-L-I-N-G. They are the call letters of the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy, a place to go when there is nowhere else to go, a place to go when you can go anywhere else but would rather be there.

 

Some comments from the participants of the July retreat express it so well:

* I loved every minute of the retreat ­ the caring, the sharing, the embracing of each other, the living Scripture, the Eucharistic Adoration, Mass, Confession …

* What was most meaningful? The opportunity to be embraced by The Divine Mercy, Love and forgiveness of our Lord Jesus and God, our Father.

* The retreat was Godly ­ God-directed, God-fed.

 

Then there’s this one: “I have been through 14 years of therapy and anti-depressants. I’ve confessed my abortion a hundred times. Just when I thought I could take the pain no longer, I found Rachel’s Vineyard. This weekend literally saved my life.”

 

See a pattern here, do you? That’s right. It’s the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy, fulfilling a vision of its Rector as a place of healing, where mercy’s soothing balm turns pain into hope, bitterness into love, and reluctance charity.

 

The next Rachel’s Vineyard Retreat will be held soon at the National Shrine of The Divine Mercy. Anyone interested in the retreat should call 413-452-0661. All calls are strictly confidential!

 

By: Dan Valenti

 

this article discovered here

The night seems heavy, and long and so deep,

And I lay there just restless, unable to sleep,

And I lay there in darkness and watch the moonlight

It reminds me, in some way, of another dark night.

Moonlight that night among dark olive trees,

And one lonely Man praying hard, on His knees,

The sin of a world resting hard on His head,

Looking into the darkness that would soon see Him dead.

God With Us, He knelt, feeling the stones on His knees,

And the longing to be somewhere else, if you please,

And the chill of the air as He struggled and prayed,

Feeling so very alone, tired and troubled, afraid.

God With Us, He prays, giving the Father His all,

Working hard that long night there to answer the call,

Just how hard it can be — O He knows how it feels,

Fast beating heart, taste of bile, head that reels.

God With Us, our Jesus, He tasted our night,

How heavy the dark with the midnight in sight.

But He made the path there that will open the way,

As He steps from the tomb on that glorious day.

God With Us still, Jesus, O Lord of my life,

You walk me through each and all sickness and strife,

Remind me that when the dark feels so deep,

That You are there with me, Your love does not sleep.

Sue Stone

“The Enthronement is the official and social recognition of the sovereignty of the Sacred Heart of Jesus over the Christian family, a recognition affirmed, outwardly expressed, and made permanent by the solemn installation of the image of that divine Heart in a conspicuous place in the home and by the Act of Consecration.

 

From this definition it is at once evident that the Enthronement is not the mere blessing of a picture, or a mere act of consecration, nor a mere outward and passing ceremony. The Enthronement is all that and a great deal more. By it the members of a family solemnly and officially proclaim and set up in their home the social kingship of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

 

Some persons have wrongly supposed that the whole movement of the enthronement is based on the particular promise of the Sacred Heart to bless the homes where His picture is exposed and honored; they imagine the work to be out to propagate and diffuse the image of the Sacred Heart in all homes so as to draw down upon them the promised blessing. Consequently these persons consider the Enthronement to be one of those numerous devotions of supererogation, which, no doubt, are all good in themselves, but which, by reason of their multiplicity and often encumbering practices, not rarely produce the contrary effect to that which was intended, they hamper and kill devotion instead of helping and creasing it.

 

The Enthronement cannot be ranked in the category of the devotions referred to; in fact, it cannot be called devotion in the ordinary sense of the word. It preaches a life; it holds forth the fundamental principles of our religion and applies them to everyday life. It brings out the loving person of our Divine Lord and associates Him with every detail of home life. It insists not so much on devotion to the Sacred Heart as on the spirit of that devotion. Rather than burden our life with supplementary devotional practices, it transforms life itself, giving to everything we do the soul of divine love. If the Enthronement points to certain practices, for instance Holy Communion on the First Friday, it takes care to accentuate the motive of love and reparation for which they were asked.

 

The Enthronement seeks to establish the effective reign of the Sacred Heart in the family and, through family, in society. It has chosen for its watchword the words of our blessed Lord to St Margaret Mary: “I will reign by My Sacred Heart.” Its program is the realization of this request which sums up all the desires and demands of the Sacred Heart.

 

Two main ideas are contained in the motto of the crusade: “I will reign” refers to Christ’s social kingship; “by My Sacred Heart” refers to His kingship of love, or His friendship.

 

Perhaps the Enthronement can be further explained by a few questions and answers, in the form of a “catechism on the Enthronement.”

 

Q. What does the word “enthronement” mean?

A. The word enthronement means to install on a throne, in recognition of a person’s authority.

 

Q. Can you give an example?

A. Yes. The enthronement of a bishop in his cathedral as a recognition of his spiritual authority over the diocese.

 

Q. What do you mean by “the official and social recognition of the loving kingship of the Heart of Jesus in a Christian family”? A. In the ceremony of the enthronement, the family is considered as the basic unit of society, the social cell, and also as the “nation in miniature.” As such it proclaims Jesus as its King and, as far as it can, as the King of the entire nation. That is why the father, the head of the family, installs the image in the place of honor. It is a public act inasmuch as it is done in a prominent place in the home and not in a private place, such as a bedroom.

 

Q. Why install the image of the Sacred Heart?

A. (1) Because our Lord asked us to do so; (2) because He is a King who rules through love; (3) because the installation of the image of the Sacred Heart is an outward and tangible recognition of these truths and a permanent reminder that He is a King who rules over the home through love.

 

Q. Why the installation of the image in the place of honor?

A. (1) To make reparation for the dethronement of Christ from the first place in everyday family life and in the public life of the nation; (2) because as King and Friend of the family, Jesus has the right and the desire to be given the best place in the home; (3) so that the family and visitors will be constantly reminded that Jesus is the King and Head of the home.

 

Q. Why enthrone the Sacred Heart in the home?

A. Because our Lord asked that His image be singularly honored in the home. Moreover, it is the home, which is being undermined systematically by its enemies, by the exclusion of Christ from family life. Therefore He must be systematically brought back. Finally the family needs the extraordinary graces promised by the Sacred Heart to those who give Him the place of honor in the home.

 

Q. Is the Enthronement merely the carrying out of the one request of our Lord, namely, to honor the image of His Sacred Heart?

A. No. According to Father Mateo, the Enthronement “is simply the realization, not of one or the other of the requests made by our Savior to St. Margaret Mary, but the complete and integral realization of all of them, calling forth the fulfillment of the splendid promises with which the King of Love has enriched them.”

 

Q. What are the principal requests made by the Sacred Heart?

A.To be acknowledged as a King who rules through love:(1) “The adorable Heart of Jesus wishes to establish His reign of love in all hearts” (St. Margaret Mary); (2) to have the image of His Heart exposed and honored in a special way in the home; (3) to have everyone consecrate himself to His Heart; (4) to make reparation; (5) to live a life of love and confidence; (6) to make His Heart better known and loved; (7) to show greater devotion to the Eucharist; (8) to celebrate the Feast of the Sacred Heart and the First Fridays.

 

Q. Does the Enthronement program include all of these requests?

A. Yes. Numbers 1, 2, 3, and 4 are carried out in the ceremony itself, at least in intention and symbolically; numbers 5, 6, 7, and 8 are emphasized in the suggestions for the living of the spirit of the Enthronement.

 

From this it is easy to see why the Enthronement crusade is much more than an organized attempt to get a Sacred Heart picture or statue in every home. That is important, but Father Mateo insists there is much more to his work than this.

 

“Is the Enthronement nothing more than the image installed in the place of honor? No, there is more to it than that! Is it perhaps but a beautiful and simple consecration of the family to the Sacred Heart? The consecration is included indeed, but there is much more than that ! “What then? There is a marvelous statement made Jesus to St. Margaret Mary which I give as a synthesis of our crusade, at least as far as its supreme ideal is concerned. I will reign through My Heart and promise to reign! The Enthronement is the apostolate which is trying to make this divine affirmation something living and lived in the home, the social cell.”

 

It is then, in this statement of our Lord, “I will reign through My Heart” that we find the basic idea of the Enthronement. These words are at the same time a request and a promise. As a request, they mean: “I want to reign … to be recognized for what I am, a King of Love.” As a promise, they mean: “Despite satan and all those who oppose Me, I will reign, through My Heart, through love.”

 

1. Learn what it is and how important it is.

 

2. Set a date for the Enthronement in agreement with the Pastor. It is desirable to have a priest preside at the ceremony, but it is not essential to gain the indulgences. For serious reasons, the father or someone else may preside and lead the prayers. In any case, please consult your parish priest.

 

3. If possible, have the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass offered that morning for the reign of the Sacred Heart in your home, and as an act of love and reparation to the Sacred Heart. The entire family should try to receive Communion at this Mass, or at another Mass.

 

4. Obtain as beautiful a picture or statue of the Sacred Heart as possible. If you already have a picture, use that one.

 

5. Below the place of honor reserved for the statue or picture, prepare a “throne” or “altar”, that is to say a table (or perhaps the mantelpiece) covered with a white cloth, beautifully decorated with flowers and candles. The picture or statue should be placed on a small table near this “throne” before the ceremony.

 

6. Invite your relatives and friends to be present; thus you will already begin to be an “apostle of the Sacred Heart.” Have a family party after the ceremony, with a special treat for the children, who of course, should be present at the ceremony, even the smallest.

 

7. Make this day one of the outstanding events of the family life-one long to be remembered. The greater the solemnity, the better. NOTE: Even though your home has been consecrated to the Sacred Heart, you may still have the Enthronement, as the two are not the same.

 

1.All gather around the image of the Sacred Heart; father, mother and children nearest to the priest.

 

2. Priest, in surplice and white stole, blesses the image. (If priest is not present, have the image blessed beforehand.)

 

V. Adjutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.

R. Qui fecit caelum et terram.

V. Dominus vobiscum.

R. Et cum spiritu tuo.

Oremus.

Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, qui Sanctorum tuorum imagines pingi non reprobas, ut quoties illas oculis corporis intuemur, toties eorum actus et sanctitatem ad imitandum memoriae oculis meditemur, hanc quaesumus, imaginem in honorem et memoriam Sacratissimi Cordis Unigeniti Filii tui Domini Nostri Jesu Christi adaptatam bene + dicere et sancti + ficare digneris; et praesta ut quicumque coram illa, Cor Sacratissimum Unigeniti Filii tui suppliciter colere et honorare studuerit, illius meritis et obtentu a te gratiam in praesenti, et aeternam gloriam obtineat in futurum. Per Christurn Dominum nostrum. Amen.

 

V. Our help is in the name of the Lord.

R. Who hath made heaven and earth.

V. The Lord be with you.

R. And with thy spirit.

Let us pray.

Almighty and everlasting God, Who dost approve the painting and sculpturing of the images of Thy saints, so that as often as we gaze upon them we are reminded to imitate their deeds and sanctity; vouchsafe, we implore Thee, to bless and sanctify this image made in honor and in memory of the Most Sacred Heart of Thy only begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ; and grant, that whosoever, in its presence will suppliantly worship and honor the Most Sacred Heart of Thy only begotten Son, may obtain through His merits and intercession grace in this life and everlasting glory in the world to come. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

(The priest here sprinkles the image with holy water.)

 

3. Then the father (or in his absence, the mother or some other member of the family) enthrones the image in the place of honor prepared for it. This is the symbolic act of Enthronement.

 

4. All stand while the APOSTLES’ CREED is recited as an act of faith on the part of the family.

 

5. Everyone is seated while the priest addresses a few words to those present, reminding the members of the family of what the Sacred Heart expects from families which have acknowledged Him as King; recalling the magnificent promises of the Sacred Heart; urging the family to live its Enthronement, and frequently to renew the act of consecration which they are about to make.

 

6. All kneel, while the priest and the father (or father alone, or his representative) recite the official Act of Consecration.

 

(Recited by the priest and the father together, or father alone or representative-if priest is absent. This formula is required for indulgences and may not be changed.)

 

0 Sacred Heart of Jesus, * Who didst make known to St. Margaret Mary Thine ardent desire to reign over Christian families, * behold us assembled here today * to proclaim Thine absolute dominion over our home. Henceforth we purpose to lead a life like unto Thine * so that amongst us may flourish the virtues * for which Thou didst promise peace on earth, * and for this end * we will banish from our midst * the spirit of the world which Thou dost abhor so much.

 

Thou wilt reign over our understanding * by the simplicity of our faith.* Thou wilt reign over our hearts * by an ardent love for Thee; * and may the flame of this love * be ever kept burning in our hearts * by the frequent reception of the Holy Eucharist.

 

Deign, 0 Divine Heart,to preside over our meetings, * to bless our undertakings both spiritual and temporal, * to banish all worry and care, to sanctify our joys * and soothe our sorrows. If any of us * should ever have the misfortune to grieve Thy Sacred Heart, * remind him of Thy goodness and mercy * towards the repentant sinner.

 

Lastly * when the hour of separation will sound and death will plunge our home into mourning,* then shall we all and every one of us * be resigned to Thy eternal decrees,* and seek consolation in the thought * that we shall one day be reunited in heaven, * where we shall sing the praises and blessings of Thy Sacred Heart * for all eternity.

 

May the Immaculate Heart of Mary * and the glorious Patriarch St. Joseph * offer Thee this our consecration * and remind us of the same all the days of our life.

 

Glory to the Divine Heart of Jesus, * our King and our Father! Amen.

 

7. The priest here asks those present to say with him one OUR FATHER and HAIL MARY for all the absent members, both living and dead, so that all may share in the graces of the Enthronement.

 

8. All recite with the priest (or head of the family) the following:

 

Glory be to Thee, * 0 Sacred Heart of Jesus, * for the infinite mercy * Thou hast bestowed * upon the privileged members * of this family. * Thou hast chosen it * from thousands of others, * as a recipient of Thy love * and a sanctuary of reparation * wherein Thy most loving Heart * shall find consolation * for the ingratitude of men. * How great, 0 Lord Jesus,* is the confusion * of this portion of Thy faithful flock * as we accept the unmerited honor * of seeing Thee preside over our family! * Silently we adore Thee, * overjoyed to see Thee sharing * under the same roof * the toils, cares and joys * of Thy innocent children! * It is true * we are not worthy * that Thou shouldst enter our humble abode, * but Thou hast already reassured us, * when Thou hast revealed Thy Sacred Heart to us, * teaching us to find in the wound of Thy Sacred Side * the source of grace and life everlasting. * In this loving and trusting spirit * we give ourselves to Thee, * Thou Who art unchanging Life. * Remain with us, Most Sacred Heart, * for we feel an irresistible desire to love Thee and make Thee loved.

 

May our home be for Thee a haven as sweet as that of Bethany, * where Thou canst find rest * in the midst of loving friends, * who like Mary * have chosen the better part * in the loving intimacy of Thy Heart! * May this home be for Thee, * 0 beloved Savior, * a humble but hospitable refuge * during the exile imposed on Thee by Thine enemies. *

 

Come, then Lord Jesus, come, * for here as at Nazareth, we have a tender love * for the Virgin Mary Thy sweet Mother * Whom Thou hast given us to be our Mother. * Come, * to fill with Thy sweet presence the vacancies * which misfortune and death * have wrought in our midst.

 

0 most faithful Friend,* hadst Thou been here * in the midst of sorrow, * our tears would have been less bitter; * the comforting balm of peace * would then have soothed these hidden wounds, * which are known to Thee alone. *Come, for even now perhaps, * there is drawing near for us * the twilight of tribulation, * and the decline of the passing days * of our youth and illusions. * Stay with us, * for already it is late, and a perverted world * seeks to envelop us in the darkness of its denials * while we wish to adhere to Thee * Who alone art the Way * the Truth * and the Life. * Repeat for us those words * Thou didst utter of old “This day I must abide in this home”.

 

Yes dear Lord, * take up Thy abode with us, * so that we may live in Thy love * and in Thy presence, * we now proclaim Thee as our King * and wish no other! * May Thy triumphant Heart, 0 Jesus, be forever loved, * blessed, * and glorified in this home! * Thy Kingdom Come! Amen!

 

9. (All stand) To thank the Immaculate Heart of Mary for the grace of the Enthronement, and to proclaim this loving Mother as the Queen of the home, all recite the HAIL HOLY QUEEN.(IF so desired, an Act of Consecration to the Heart of Mary may be added, and her image installed near the Sacred Heart.)

 

10. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus: Have mercy on us! (3 times)

 

Immaculate Heart of Mary: Pray for us.

 

St. Joseph: Pray for us.

 

(ALL) Glory to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus forever and ever! Amen.

 

11. The priest gives his blessing: Benedictio Dei omnipotentis, Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti, descendat super vos et maneat semper. Amen.- May the blessing of Almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Ghost, descend upon you and remain forever. Amen.

 

12. Then the members of the family and the priest sign the Certificate of the Enthronement, which should be framed and hung near the image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and kept in the family archives. 13. Then are announced the following indulgences to be gained by the members of the family (Raccolta 1943,page 536):

 

1. A plenary indulgence under the usual conditions, on the day of the Enthronement. 2. An indulgence of 7 years for all the members of the family who, at least contrite of heart, assist at the ceremony of the Enthronement in their home. 3. An indulgence of 3 years once a year, on the day they renew their official act of consecration before the likeness of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. 4. A plenary indulgence on the same day under the usual conditions.

 

NOTE: The CEREMONY of the Enthronement is only the beginning: the following practices of devotion will help you live the Enthronement. This is the TRUE reign of the Sacred Heart in your family.

 

1. Frequent and even daily attendance at Mass by at least one member of the family, and Communion of Reparation. Recite the “Mass of St. John” during the day.

 

2. Observance of the First Friday of each month. (Holy Mass, Communion of Reparation: renewal of act of consecration before enthroned image.)

 

3. Daily Family Rosary before the enthroned image of the Sacred Heart, with renewal of the act of consecration.

 

4. Celebration of the Feast of the Sacred Heart by the entire family; attendance at Mass, Communion for the extension of the Reign of the Sacred Heart through the Enthronement; family gathering and celebration at home, with renewal of Enthronement; special party for the children.

 

5. Observe the month of June, the month of the Sacred Heart; keep flowers before the “throne.” Mass and Communion as often as possible.

 

6. Assist at Holy Hour in Church.

 

7. Night Adoration in the home. Any hour between 9 and 6, by any one or all the members of the family at least once a month.

 

8. Celebrate the Feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary on the 22nd of August. Mass, Communion; Consecration of family to Immaculate Heart.

 

9. Make the five First Saturdays in reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and for the conversion of Russia; Holy Mass and Communion of reparation; five decades of the Rosary plus a fifteen minute meditation on the fifteen mysteries of the Rosary. The Rosary and meditation may be carried out at any hour on the First Saturday; a sermon in church will satisfy the obligation of the meditation.

 

10. Practice devotion to the Holy Ghost. Recite “Rosary of the Holy Ghost.”

 

Special Occasions on Which The Family Should Renew the Act of Consecration (Prayer of Thanksgiving may be added.)

 

1. Feast of Sacred Heart; Christ the King.

 

2. Anniversary of the Enthronement.

 

3. Anniversary of parents and children.

 

4. At births; after Baptism in the Church consecrate the children to the Sacred Heart before the “throne” in the home.

 

5. At First Communion: prepare the children before the image of the Sacred Heart in the home. When they return from Church, let the children renew the act of consecration made for them by parents at birth.

 

6. Before a departure from home: to join army, convent, seminary, before marriage, etc.

 

7. On the return of an absent member of the family.

 

8. On days of great family joys: in times of sorrow, sickness and death.

 

NOTE: There is no more appropriate way for young couple to begin their married life, than to enthrone the Sacred Heart in their new home.

 

This is an important question and one that is often asked. Here are the correct answers. It is the desire of the founder of the Enthronement, Father Mateo, and it has always been our practice to invite a priest to preside at the ceremony, and to deliver a talk. The importance of the presence of the priest in the home goes without saying. However, the presence of the priest is not necessary,, either for the validity of the Enthronement, or to gain the indulgences.Therefore, for serious reasons, when for instance, a priest cannot be had, the ceremony may take place without the priest. In any case, consult your parish priest. In this case, the following procedure is to be followed: the image of the Sacred Heart is blessed in advance; the head of the house installs it in the place of honor; he recites the Act of Consecration and leads the other prayers. In his absence, the mother takes his place.

 

this article discovered here

 

It was hard to watch her fail. Physically she was growing thinner and more stooped. Mentally she was

losing her ability to sort out reality. Initially, my grandmother had railed angrily against the symptoms

of Alzheimer’s disease that were eroding who she had always been.

 

Eventually, the anger gave way to frustration and then resignation. My grandmother had always been

a strong woman. She had a career before it was common for women to have careers. She was

independent. In her eighties, she was still dragging out her stepladder every spring to wash all the

windows in her house. She was also a woman with a deep faith in God.

 

As my grandmother lost her ability to live alone, my father moved her into his home. Grandchildren

and great-grandchildren were often in the house. She seemed to enjoy being surrounded by the

noise and activity of a large, extended family.

 

As she slipped further away from us mentally, my grandmother would occasionally have moments of

lucidity when she knew where she was and recognized everyone around her. We never knew what

prompted those moments, when they would occur or how long they would last.

 

Toward the end of her life she became convinced that her mother had knit everything she owned.

“Mama knit my boots,” she would tell strangers, holding up a foot clad in galoshes. “Mama knit my

coat,” she would say with a vacant smile as she zipped up her raincoat. Soon we were putting on her

boots for her and helping her zip up her coat.

 

During my grandmother’s last autumn with us, we decided to take a family outing. We packed up the

cars and went to a local fair for a day of caramel apples, craft booths and carnival rides. Grandma

loved flowers, so my dad bought her a rose. She carried it proudly through the fair, stopping often to

breathe in its fragrance.

 

Grandma couldn’t go on the carnival rides, of course, so she sat on a bench close by and waited

while the rest of the family rode. Her moments of lucidity were now a thing of the past having

eluded her for months, but she seemed content to sit and watch as life unfolded around her.

 

While the youngest members of the family ran, laughing to get in line at the nex