ASH WEDNESDAY - click to read the post

...On this day the Church blesses ashes, and places them on the heads of her faithful children, saying: "Remember man, thou art dust, and unto dust thou shalt return." The Christians of the earliest times followed this practice as often as they did public penance for their sins (Jer 25:34; Psalm 101: 10; Jonas 3: 5; Judith 9:1; Esth 4:1; Job 42:6).

Prayer at the beginning of Lent

Almighty God! I unite myself at the beginning of this holy season of penance with the Church militant, endeavoring to make these days of real sorrow for my sins and crucifixion of the sensual man. O Lord Jesus! in union with Thy fasting and passion, I offer Thee my fasting in obedience to the Church, for Thy honor, and in thanksgiving for the many favors I have received, in satisfaction for my sins and the sins of others, and that I may receive the grace to avoid such and such a sin, N. N. and to practice such and such a virtue, N. N.

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Christmas Epiphany prayer

O Infant Jesus
(Prayer revealed to Venerable Cyril of the Mother of God, OCD, by Our Lady)

O Infant Jesus! I have recourse to You
O beg of You by Your holy Mother, deliver me
from (mention your petition here) for
I firmly believe Your Divinity will protect me
I hope with all confidence to obtain Your holy grace

I love You with all my heart and soul
I repent of my sins and I beseech You
O Jesus, to pardon them.
I firmly resolve to correct myself and never more to offend You.

Therefore I offer myself to You,
In order to suffer much and patiently
Moreover, I wish to serve You patiently
And to love myself for Your sake.

O holy Infant Jesus!
O adore You, O powerful Child.
I beg of You to deliver me from
(here mention your particular need)
In order that I may enjoy You
With angels eternlly. Amen

Ven Cyril of the Mother of God (1590-1675) was born Nicholas Schockwilerg in 1590 in Luxemburg. He entered the Carmelite Order at an early age and was ordained a priest in 1624 and was later elected a prior. In 1628 he left monastery to join the more austere Discalced Carmelites in Prague. Fr Cyril is known for his work in promoting devotion to the Infant Jesus of Prague. It was he who rescued the statue of Infant Jesus from the rubble of a church, after it had been ransacked by Saxons. The statue had been damaged and the hands broken off. One day when Father Cyril was praying in the oratory he heard the words: "Have pity on Me and I will have pity on you. Give Me back my hands and I will give you peace. The more you honour Me, the more I will bless you." Father Cyril was able with much difficulty to have the statue repaired, and immediately the friars were blessed with relief from their financial difficulties. Many miracles have been received throughout the centuries through the intervention of the Divine Child. Father Cyril died in 1675 and is entombed in the catacombs beneath the church of Discalced Carmelites in Prague where the statue is enshrined.

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Mary, the Holy Mother of God

Madonna and the Child by Lucas Cranach the Elder, 1530

“Mother of God, tell me your mystery; of how your earthly life was spent: the way, right from the time of ‘Fiat – how you’d be buried in adoration, Mary! (Bl Elizabeth of the Trinity) 

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