Sean McGaughey of the Catholic New
Media Roundup is doing his annual Advent Calendar with contributions from many
Catholic podcasters, artists and authors. You can access it here:
For the
readings of the day and meditations on them, visit
The Word Among
Us
website. I start each day using this tool
to meditate and pray on the readings of the day. My
spiritual director clued me into this, informing me that it
was a good way to participate in the mass with the whole
Catholic community, even if I couldn't physically be
there.
Click on the
"Meditations" link to get to the meditation and readings of
the day.
Another
terrific resource is the USCCB website.
There you will find the daily readings in text and audio formats,
and you can watch a video meditation.
The Rosary was introduced to me through
the example of a brave and faith-filled young woman,
Marietta Tierney Waite, who, before dying of AIDS, returned
with vigor and zeal to Jesus and Mary. The rosary sustained
her and strengthened her through her immense sufferings. Her
story is told in "The Story in Her Eyes," found on my
Teach Me
to Love CD. The rosary is
the cornerstone of my prayer life and through it I have
found strength, faith, and many graces.
Chaplet of Divine
Mercy
(best prayed at 3pm daily)
The Chaplet of Divine Mercy
was given to Blessed Faustina
by Jesus in a vision and she
was instructed to teach this
prayer to the world as a most
effective means of praying for
the conversion of sinners.
Blessed Faustina is a key
example to me and her
writings have helped to
explain the meaning to
suffering to me, and
demonstrated the great love of
Jesus revealed through His
Divine Mercy.
I love to sing this rendition of the Jesus
Prayer before singing my rosary. Click here
to download the prayer. The composer of this song is Chuck
Stevens. He has two podcasts with wonderful meditations - visit his
website at www.smalltalentmusic.com
and click on Podcasts.
The Angelus
The Angel of the Lord declared unto
Mary and she conceived of His Spirit.
One Hail Mary
Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be
it
done to me according to Your Will.
One Hail Mary
The Word became flesh and dwelt
among us.
One Hail Mary
Pray for us, O Holy Mother of God
That we may be made worthy of the
promises of Christ.
Pour forth, we beseech You, O Lord,
Your grace into our hearts, that we to
whom the incarnation of Christ, Your
Son, was made known by the message of
an angel, may, by His Passion and
Cross, be brought to the glory of His
resurrection. Through the same Christ,
our Lord. Amen.
Memorae
Remember O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to your protection,
implored your help or sought your intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly to you, Oh Virgin of Virgins, my Mother;
to you do I come,
before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not my petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer me.
Amen
Novena to St. Therese of
Lisieux,The Little Flower
Click
here to pray this novena for nine days, and St.
Therese will send you a rose to let you know that she heard
and interceded for you. St. Therese has heard countless
prayers from me and has been a tremendous source of comfort
for me in times of stress and trouble.
Go to this website:
www.sacredspace.ie
for beautiful
daily prayer mediations on the Gospel reading of the day. It takes just
a few minutes but it really helps you to focus on the Lord.
Don Stefano Gobbi's interior locutions
from the Blessed Virgin Mary are compiled in this book and
have touched my life in a profound way. The Blessed Virgin
is a pivitol figure in my spiritual development, molding me
in simplicity and humility (which I oftentimes don't live up
to) and teaching me how to pray through song. My music
ministry is consecrated to her Immaculate Heart. "Come Holy
Spirit, come by means of the powerful intercession of the
Immaculate Heart of Mary, Your well-beloved spouse."
Participate in a rosary cenacle by listening to the Marian Cenacle Rosary Podcast.
Listen to 'faith in action' with the supplemental "How Can I Keep
from Singing" series as Susan shares how praying the rosary has
fed her spiritual life and gotten her through trials. Both podcasts
are on the player below - just click on the episode you want to listen to
and it will play:
Divine Mercy in
My Soul
This book is a remarkably
candid diary from Blessed
Faustina concerning her
messages from Jesus and her
extraordinary vision which
produced the painting of
Jesus, represented as the
Divine Mercy (see above).
Blessed Faustina has also had
a profound influence on my
life. When I read her diary,
I felt for the first time like
all the deepest secrets of my
soul had been put down on
paper for me to read, and I
felt understood. I found
reading her diary to be a
very prayerful experience.
I have been developing a devotion to
Mother Teresa, particularly since I discovered writings
about her spiritual life. I have a website
about Mother Teresa which, among other things, lists songs dedicated
to her - visit it
here.
Several
years ago, my husband, Rich, decided to join the Melkite Catholic
Church. The Melkite Church is one of many Catholic churches which
are Eastern/Byzantine in their traditions. Icons, chant, language
pregant with meaning - all these things, and more, describe the
Eastern Church. It is a beautiful part of the Catholic Church, one
which Pope John Paul II referred to with his comment of allowing the
Church to breathe through "both lungs." Vatican II strongly
encouraged the Byzantine Churches to restore and practice their
ancient traditions. Their Divine Liturgy was written by St. John
Chrysostom (they also use one by St. Basil the Great on special
occasions).
Rich felt called to
be a deacon in the Melkite Church and received his first blessing as
Reader and Sub-Deacon in October of 2008.
Here is an article about that occasion.
And here is a slide
show about that wonderful day:
The Ancient Faith
website has proven to be a constant companion for both Rich and
myself. They have beautiful music 24 hours a day plus many, many
wonderful podcasts.
Note: This is an
Orthodox station, not a Roman Catholic one. You will occasionally
hear negative references to the Catholic Church in the podcasts so
you will need to exercise some caution - be certain of your Roman
Catholic beliefs. With that in mind, you can enjoy the unique
perspective that Orthodoxy brings to the Christian faith, something
which you will experience in Eastern Catholic Churches.
Favorite Icons
Here are my 3
favorite icons: from L to R, Our Lady of Perpetual Help (the name of
my husband's parish),
Rublev's Trinity, and Jesus as Teacher.
Glorious Choral Chant
I love chant from the
Orthodox Church and this chant in particular is from the Ukranian
Orthodox Church. It is very different and really makes me think of
heaven. Visit
http://www.magnatune.com/artists/lavra
for a sample from
the
Kiev Seminary Choir.
The Prayer
of Saint Ephrem is said three times
a day [except Saturdays and Sundays,
which are relaxed days] during the
time of Lent by the Eastern
Christian.
Prayer
of Saint Ephrem – O Lord
and Master of my life, Keep from me
the spirit of discouragement,
carelessness, covetousness, and vain
words. Grant me, Your servant, the
spirit of purity, humility,
patience, and love. May my Lord and
King grant that I might see my own
sins and not judge my brother and
sister, for You are blessed forever
and ever. Amen.
Of all the various observances of Lent
and Easter I have followed,
this website has offered the most meaningful reflections. It is
called Theosis and it is the Eastern, or Byzantine Rite of the
Catholic Church's version of Lent that is observed. This site
contains daily short podcasts with wonderful reflections, plus
prayers and other information, and videos on various icons. Please
visit at
http://isidorescorner.typepad.com/theosis/
This player
contains all the podcasts from the series. Scroll down to the bottom
of the player to find the first episode:
Note that this podcast was made
in
2006. The start date for Lent of 2010 is the podcast of March 1st.
Come and join us on
this simple prayer forum.
It is set up like a blog, and you can post your prayer request where you
would normally post a comment. Please share, too, answered prayers and blessings received because of this
forum.
You are also welcome to write me at
susan@susanbailey.net and I will
post your prayer requests for you.
The Rosary
Novena to St. Therese of
Lisieux,The Little Flower
To the Priests:
Divine Mercy in
Several
years ago, my husband, Rich, decided to join the Melkite Catholic
Church. The Melkite Church is one of many Catholic churches which
are Eastern/Byzantine in their traditions. Icons, chant, language
pregant with meaning - all these things, and more, describe the
Eastern Church. It is a beautiful part of the Catholic Church, one
which Pope John Paul II referred to with his comment of allowing the
Church to breathe through "both lungs." Vatican II strongly
encouraged the Byzantine Churches to restore and practice their
ancient traditions. Their Divine Liturgy was written by St. John
Chrysostom (they also use one by St. Basil the Great on special
occasions).
