Devotions for Divine Mercy

"I am Love and Mercy Itself. There is no misery that could be a match for My mercy, neither will misery exhaust it, because as it is being granted – it increases. The soul that trusts in My mercy is most fortunate, because I Myself take care of it." –Jesus to St. Faustina 

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In 1933, God gave Saint Faustina a striking vision of His Mercy. Sister wrote, "I saw a great light, with God the Father in the midst of it. Between this light and the earth, I saw Jesus nailed to the Cross and in such a way that God, wanting to look upon the earth, had to look through Our Lord's wounds, and I understood that God blessed the earth for the sake of Jesus." The following day St. Faustina was taught the prayers we know as the Divine Mercy Chaplet. Jesus said later to Sister Faustina, "Say unceasingly this chaplet that I have taught you. He also requested that as “often as you hear the clock strike the third hour, immerse yourself completely in My mercy, adoring and glorifying it; invoke Its omnipotence for the whole world, and particularly for poor sinners, for at that moment mercy was opened wide for every soul” (1320). We can honor Him and fulfill His request, then, on Divine Mercy Sunday and daily at 3:00 p.m., by praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet our Lord taught St. Faustina or by using other similar devotions. One example, given below, originates from the journals of St. Faustina. 

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 The Praises of the Divine Mercy 

Divine Mercy, gushing forth from the bosom of the Father, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, greatest attribute of God, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, incomprehensible mystery, I trust in Thee.

Divine Mercy, fount gushing forth from the mystery of the Most Blessed Trinity, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, unfathomed by any intellect, human or angelic, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, from which wells forth all life and happiness, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, better than the heavens, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, source of miracles and wonders, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, encompassing the whole universe, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, descending to earth in the Person of the Incarnate Word, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, which flowed out from the open wound of the Heart of Jesus, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, enclosed in the Heart of Jesus for us, and especially for sinners, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in the institution of the Sacred Host, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in the founding of Holy Church, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in our justification through Jesus Christ, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, accompanying us through our whole life, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, embracing us especially at the hour of death, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, endowing us with immortal life, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, accompanying us at every moment of our life, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, shielding us from the fire of Hell, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in the conversion of hardened sinners, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, astonishment for Angels, incomprehensible to Saints, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, unfathomed in all the mysteries of God, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, lifting us out of every misery, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, source of our happiness and joy, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in calling us forth from nothingness to existence, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, embracing all the works of His hands, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, crown of all of God's handiwork, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, in which we are all immersed, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, sweet relief for anguished hearts, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, only hope of despairing souls, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, repose of hearts, peace amidst fear, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, delight and ecstasy of holy souls, I trust in Thee. 

Divine Mercy, inspiring hope against all hope, I trust in Thee. 

Eternal God, in Whom mercy is endless and the treasury of compassion inexhaustible, look kindly upon us and increase Thy mercy in us, that in difficult moments we might not despair nor become despondent, but with great confidence submit ourselves to Thy holy will, which is Love and Mercy Itself (950).

God bless!

+JMJ+

To our Lady of Sorrows

 The feast of the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary is always celebrated on the Friday of Passion Week, this year March 31.  St. Gabriel of our Lady of Sorrows spoke thus of our Sorrowful Mother,

“Love Mary!… She is loveable, faithful, constant. She will never let herself be outdone in love, but will ever remain supreme. If you are in danger, she will hasten to free you. If you are troubled, she will console you. If you are sick, she will bring you relief. If you are in need, she will help you. She does not look to see what kind of person you have been. She simply comes to a heart that wants to love her. She comes quickly and opens her merciful heart to you, embraces you and consoles and serves you. She will even be at hand to accompany you on the trip to eternity”

To our Lady of Sorrows

 By St Bonaventure (1217-1274) Seraphic Doctor of the Church 

O most holy Virgin, Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, by the overwhelming grief you experienced when you witnessed the Martyrdom, the Crucifixion and the Death, of your Divine Son, look upon me, with eyes of compassion and awaken in my heart, a tender commiseration for those sufferings and a sincere detestation of my sins, in order that, being disengaged from all undue affection for the passing joys of this earth, I may sigh after the eternal Jerusalem and that, henceforward, all my thoughts and all my actions may be directed towards this one most desirable object, the honour, glory and love of our divine Lord Jesus, and to you, the Holy and Immaculate Mother of God. Amen.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Seven Prayers of St. Gregory on the Passion of the Lord

Holy Mother Church honors Pope St. Gregory the Great with a feast on March 12.  Well-educated and pious, St. Gregory worked tirelessly for the Church.  He was chosen Pope in 590 and reigned until 604.  During that time he fought against heresies, sent missionaries to convert pagans, including to England, and took care of the poor and sick.  He watched over the priests and the sacred traditions of the Church, and he is also well-known for his influence over the Church's music with Gregorian Chant. From the words from an antiphon in his office, he was called, "the Father of the City, the joy of the World."

The following prayer, penned by St. Gregory the Great, was a well-known medieval prayer often found in prayer books containing the Hours.  Pious tradition holds that one day while St. Gregory was celebrating Mass, Christ Himself appeared during the Consecration as a sign of His True Presence in the Eucharist. Thus, often accompanying the prayer in these prayer books was a picture of St. Gregory, genuflecting at the Consecration, with Christ appearing on the Crucifix in front of the Altar.

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 Seven Prayers of St. Gregory on the Passion of the Lord

I. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging on the Cross, wearing a crown of thorns upon Thy head. I beg Thee that Thy Cross may free me from the deceiving Angel. Amen. 
1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

II.  O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee hanging wounded on the Cross, given vinegar and gall to drink. I beg Thee that Thy wounds may be the remedy of my soul. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary.

III. O Lord Jesus, I ask by the bitterness of Thy Passion, which Thou didst undergo in the hour of Thy death, so much so when Thy most holy soul left Thy blessed body, have mercy upon my soul when it leaves my body, and lead it to eternal life. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary.

 
IV. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee placed in Thy tomb, anointed with myrrh and aromatic spices. I beg Thee that Thy death may be my life. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

V.  O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee descending into hell and freeing the captives from there. I beg Thee, that Thou mayest never permit me to enter there. Amen.  

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

VI. O Lord Jesus, I adore Thee rising from the dead, ascending into heaven, and sitting at the right hand of the Father. I beg Thee that I may be worthy to follow Thee and be with Thee. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

VII. O Lord Jesus, O good Shepherd, preserver of the just, justifier of sinners, have mercy upon all the faithful and be gracious to me, a wretched and unworthy sinner. Amen. 

1 Our Father. 1 Hail Mary. 

Prayer:  I beseech Thee, Lord Jesus Christ, that Thy Passion may be a strength to me by which I may be strengthened, protected and defended. May Thy wounds be to me food and drink by which I may be nourished, inebriated, and delighted. May the sprinkling of Thy Blood be to me an ablution for all my sins. May Thy death be eternal glory to me. In these may my refreshment, joy, health, zeal, delight, and desire of my body and soul, now and forever. Amen. 

Prayer: O Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the living God, place Thy Passion, Cross, and Death between Thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death. Deign to grant me grace and mercy, pardon to the living, eternal rest to the dead, peace to Thy Church, and life and eternal glory to all sinners. Thou who livest and reignest forever and ever. Amen

--from the Paradisus Animae (1670)

God bless!

+JMJ+

Free Lenten Devotional

 Blessed Lent to all!  

I pray this solemn season is finding you growing in love of our Lord and his most blessed Mother.  May we adore our Lord, meditating on His Passion, and honor our Lady, pierced with swords of sorrow as she stands at the foot of His Cross.

During Lent of last year for my family, I created a devotional to our Lady of Sorrows.  While my children and I focused on one of the sorrows of our Lady each week of Lent, this devotional could be prayed all at once as well.  Lent is a most fitting time to meditate on our Lady of Sorrows and her most tender heart, but this devotion can also be prayed anytime throughout the year.  I love the devotion to our Lady of Sorrows and strive to pray her chaplet daily.  

I hope this simple devotional I composed helps you truly honor and love our Lady of Sorrows this year during your Lenten journey or whenever you choose to pray it.  It is a useful devotional for adults, children, or families.  This devotional is free for your use.  I simply ask if you post about or share this devotional or one of my other ideas, that you please be kind enough to link back to me. Please do not link directly to any of my files on Scribd, rather link directly to my original post. My ideas are not to be used for profit, and are to be used for personal use by individuals, families, and teachers.

If you are interested in this devotional, you can download it here:  Seven Sorrows of Mary

Title page

God bless!

+JMJ+

Upcoming...

 I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently working to switch my blog to a different name and web address, hopefully helping people remember it and thus locate these prayers easier.  While it is still a work in progress, as I still need to update all the links, I wanted to give you the new address and name.  I have copied over all the old posts; I just need to update links.  Until I finish, I will post both here and the new website.

My new blog name is The Cross through the Flames, which can be found at the following link.

The Cross through the Flames

I will eventually have a redirect from this blog to the new blog.  Thank you for your patience while I complete all of these tasks to finish setting it up.  I hope you will all visit the new blog and continue to follow me there as soon as I finalize it.  May God reward you!

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Also this week I hope to post a project that I created, which I feel is perfect for Lent.  It will be free to use for your meditations.  I pray you have a blessed Lent!

God bless!

+JMJ+

A Fun New Family Game

I am always on the lookout for great Catholic products for our family, so I especially was thrilled when recently I was given the opportunity to play and review a new Catholic game called The Purgative Way!  This game is created and sold by a dear Catholic family that attends our Latin Rite FSSP parish, and I found it to be a wonderful way for our family to review parts of our Faith.

As the game's creator states in the instruction manual, " For us here on earth, the Church Militant, this game models the first stage of the spiritual life, the Purgative Way, in so much as it complements our study of the Catholic Faith, helps us to build and expand the foundation of prayer, introduces us to our great friends and helpers the Saints, and leads us to apply our Faith in moral acts."

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"If we wish to preserve the Faith in ourselves and our families, we must take care to nurture it through prayer and study.  Having knowledge of our Faith in our memory and imagination allows us to remain firm in the Faith when challenged with many of the dilemmas and challenges that arise in our lives here on earth."

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The Purgative Way game was made well, with a sturdy board and 7 different decks of cards, each with beautiful Catholic images on the back of each card.

    

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Our family played this game twice, partly just out of enjoyment and partly to get a thorough feel for the game play to aid me in writing a review of the game.  The first time we played we used single players; the second time through, we teamed up, which was easier for the younger children.  They seemed to enjoy it better with teams.  I love that this game symbolizes our actual spiritual life and journey toward God.  To begin, each player starts at the waters of grace--baptism--and journeys up the board by answering Catholic trivia questions, employing knowledge of the Faith with the catechism cards, help from the Church Triumphant through the Saint cards, and prayer, through the Oremus cards.  The ultimate goal is to reach the Cross of Christ.  To win the game, a player must answer a moral dilemma question correctly; if they answer it incorrectly, they must complete the penance on the penance card they draw in order to continue the game.

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                                                            Level 1--from the St. Joseph Catechism                               Level 2--from the Baltimore Catechism 

                

We really appreciated that the different levels of catechism knowledge are provided on different decks.  This makes playing the game with multiple age groups much easier and enjoyable for all involved.  We incorporated questions from both the St. Joseph Catechism questions and the Baltimore Catechism questions.  These questions come directly from these Catechisms, so the answers are true to the Faith.  With the catechism cards, players can choose to leave the cards in order or mix them up.  Using them in order made answering questions much easier a few times because the catechism is written in such a way that it builds on previous statements.  However, mixing the cards sometimes left question cards a bit vague for the same reason, which made giving an accurate answer difficult.  However, we simply made judgments on whether the answer was sufficient given the question, and we worked through them.  For example, one card asks. "What words should we bear always in mind?"  There are a number of different things Our Lord said that we could bear in mind.  The answer states, "We should bear always in mind these words of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ: 'What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and suffer the loss of his own soul, or what exchange shall a man give for his soul?  For the Son of Man shall come in the glory of His Father with His angels; and then will he render to every man according to his works."  We only noticed a couple of cards like this, however.  Most are clearly understood.

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Level 3--from the Summa Theologica

We started using the Summa Theologica questions at one point, but found the format of them to be too involved.  To clarify, the Summa cards do not actually ask a clear question; instead they provide a whether statement from the Summa, with the correct answer being an entire topic.  It proved too vague to know how to provide a complete answer.  This really isn't a problem, though, because most of us are not on that level of knowledge anyway.  

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Church Triumphant cards--learn the Saints

Playing this game, I also loved that The Purgative Way incorporates information on the Saints.  I love to teach my children about these heavenly helpers, encouraging them to imitate them and ask for their intercession.  The Church Triumphant cards each provide information about the life of a Saint and the cases of which he is the patron.

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Oremus cards--Latin and English prayers

 Of course, it is wonderful to check players on their knowledge of Catholic prayers, both in English and Latin.  I love that the Latin is available also.  Knowing our basic Catholic prayers is so important, and this game provides an  easy way to review or help learn them.  However, we did feel the prayer cards had too large of an influence on moving up the board or falling behind quickly.  If the players can recite the prayer in Latin, they move straight up the board to the next prayer card space, skipping 10 catechism spaces and sometimes the Saint shrine.  Not only is this a very large boost, but it also means that players have the potential to skip some of the Saint shrines  merely by knowing the Latin prayers.  If you miss the prayer, you move backward to the previous prayer space, losing 10 spaces in one turn.  I think the idea of being able to skip Saint shrines bothered me the most because I like reviewing the Saints.  While it does speed up the game play quite a bit, (so if you want a shorter game, this rule would be ideal), we decided to alter this rule for our own family.  Instead of moving up or back to the next/previous prayer space, we adjusted it to have the players move up or back to the next/previous Saint shrine, which is half the distance.

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Moral Dilemma cards                                                     Penance cards

A final great aspect to this game is the Moral Dilemma and Penance cards.  We love this addition!  As the game founder states, "We must not only know the Catholic Faith, but we must also know how to apply the truths of the Faith to our moral acts."  The Moral Dilemma cards are a perfect way to finish the game; in fact, they would be great to have sprinkled throughout the game as well.  The penance cards are very fitting for a missed moral dilemma.  I love that the player returns to the bottom of the board to the priest image before following the penance on the card.  

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Overall our family really enjoyed playing this game, which is helping us learn to better articulate our Catholic Faith.  We liked that the entire family could be involved and were happy to add The Purgative Way to our collection of games.

God bless!

+JMJ+

  

For the Feast of St. Cyril of Alexandria

 St. Cyril of Alexandria is honored by Holy Mother Church with a feast day on February 9.  Even at a young age, Cyril's intelligence shone.  St. Cyril possessed a great zeal for the salvation of souls and for the defense of Holy Mother Church.  He later became bishop of Alexandria, a position he held for 32 years.  He worked tirelessly against heresy and is especially known for his defense against the Nestorian heresy.  

Preached by Nestorius, who at the time was the bishop of Constantinople, the Nestorian heresy taught that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary as man only; thus, he called our Lady Christokos, meaning mother of Christ, as opposed to Theotokos, meaning mother of God.  While  Nestorius believed in Christ's two natures, he heretically explained this as two separate persons, teaching only the human person of Christ suffered and died.  At the Council of Ephesus, over which St. Cyril presided, the Nestorian heresy was entirely condemned, as was Nestorius himself.  The doctrine of the Incarnation of Our Lord, as well as the truth of Christ's two natures united in one Divine Person  The Council of Ephesus also defined the dogma of Mary as Theotokos, Mother of God.  St. Cyril of Alexandria is known as the Defender of the Incarnation.  He died in 444 and was declared a Doctor of the Church in 1881 by Pope Leo XIII.

Hail, O Mary, Mother of God 
By St Cyril of Alexandria 

 

Hail, Mother and Virgin, 

eternal Temple of the Godhead, 
Venerable Treasure of Creation, 
crown of virginity, 
support of the true faith, 
on which the Church is founded, throughout the world. 
Mother of God, 
who contained the infinite God under your heart, 
whom no space can contain. 

Through you, the most Holy Trinity, is revealed, 
adored and glorified, 
demons are vanquished, 
Satan cast down from heaven into hell
and our fallen nature again assumed into heaven. 

Through you, the human race, 
held captive in the bonds of idolatry, 
arrives at the knowledge of Truth. 
What more shall I say of you? 

Hail, through whom kings rule, 
through whom the Only-Begotten Son of God 
has become the Star of Light to those sitting in darkness 
and in the shadow of death. 
Amen

God bless!

+JMJ+