Rejoicing with Our Mother Mary
During most of the year, it is traditional to pray the Angelus at 6 a.m., noon, and 6 p.m. But during the Easter season, the Regina Caeli replaces the Angelus. Both prayers honor our Blessed Mother and her role in our salvation. The Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) prayer rejoices with Mary at the Resurrection […]
Christ the Savior Is Born!
We joyfully celebrate Our Lord’s birth, His Nativity, on Christmas Day. “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government will be upon his shoulder, and his name will be called ‘Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). “The shepherds made haste [cf. Luke […]
Waiting for His Coming
One time-honored Advent tradition is the praying of the O Antiphons. The O Antiphons use titles of the Messiah and verses from the Old Testament to express our longing for His coming. The traditional Advent hymn “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel” is a poetic translation of these antiphons. On December 17-23, the special antiphons are […]
Prepare for Christ’s Birthday!
Advent is such a special time of year when we get ready to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on Christmas Day, December 25. The most important way to prepare is spiritually! There are special traditions connected with the season of Advent, such as the Jesse Tree, the Advent Wreath, the O Antiphons, and the […]
Call upon Our Lady!
Litanies are prayers with responsive petitions (such as “Holy Mary, Mother of God / pray for us”). At first glance they seem to be rather repetitious, but consider that Psalm 136 is also repetitious (it keeps repeating “for his steadfast love endures for ever”). Repetitious prayer is not bad; we just need to work to […]
The Greatest Prayer
No other form of prayer can equal the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. “At the Last Supper, on the night he was betrayed, our Savior instituted the Eucharistic Sacrifice of his Body and Blood. He did this in order to perpetuate the sacrifice of the cross throughout the centuries until he should come again, and […]
Spending Time with Our Best Friend
Do you realize the awesome truth that Our Lord is your Friend? Yes, of course, He is God, but He is also your Friend. So we can really and truly think of adoration of the Blessed Sacrament as a visit with our Best Friend! Jesus loves to have you visit Him whenever you can! Venerable […]
Praying to Our Lord When We Need Help
We need Our Lord’s comfort, strength, protection, and guidance as we make our pilgrim way through this world to our heavenly home. The Anima Christi is frequently prayed after receiving Holy Communion. What a wonderful time to pray it! It gives us a blessed opportunity to pray and reflect on the great Gift we have […]
The Gift of Adoration
Do we ever stop to think what a great gift Jesus has given us in Eucharistic Adoration? We can visit the Blessed Sacrament whenever our parish church is open, and whenever our parish has hours of adoration. Some parishes are blessed with Perpetual Adoration, which is adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, either in the tabernacle […]
Offering Your Day to Our Lord
Each new day is a beautiful gift from God, and what better way to spend that day than in God’s service, fulfilling God’s will? Each day God continues to say to us, “I want you to exist!” When we awake to a new day, we can offer God the first moments of our day by […]