St. Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Sáncte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in proélio, cóntra nequítiam et insídias diáboli ésto præsídium. Ímperet ílli Déus, súpplices deprecámur: tuque, prínceps milítiæ cæléstis, Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in múndo, divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Ámen

The Feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin (May 31st)

Sometimes less fully catechized Catholics confuse the Annunciation with the Visitation. They are two separate events. During the Annunciation the Archangel Gabriel came to Mary and announced that she would become the mother of Jesus Christ--Gabriel came to "announce". During the visitation, Mary came to help her older cousin Elizabeth during the later part of her pregnancy--Mary came to "visit"

                   *************************************

The Holy Gospel according to Luke 1: 39-55

During those days Mary set out and traveled to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah,

where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth.  

When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, "Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.  

And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord ¹⁴ should come to me?  

For at the moment the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the infant in my womb leaped for joy.  

Blessed are you who believed ¹⁵ that what was spoken to you by the Lord would be fulfilled."  

And Mary said: ¹⁶ "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord;  

my spirit rejoices in God my savior.  

For he has looked upon his handmaid's lowliness; behold, from now on will all ages call me blessed.

The Mighty One has done great things for me, and holy is his name.  

His mercy is from age to age to those who fear him.  

He has shown might with his arm, dispersed the arrogant of mind and heart.

He has thrown down the rulers from their thrones but lifted up the lowly.  

The hungry he has filled with good things; the rich he has sent away empty.

He has helped Israel his servant, remembering his mercy,  

according to his promise to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."

****************************************

You know what is really cool? In that section of the gospel is where Catholics derive two of my very favorite Catholic prayers, the Hail Mary and the Magnificat.

Look:

"Hail Mary, full of grace the Lord is with thee. Blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus..." See? That is nothing more than what Elizabeth said to her younger cousin when the child within her womb leapt for joy, as John recognized his Savior, Jesus Christ. The Hail Mary is one of the prayers Catholics pray during our Rosary--it is not a spell or incantation, it is a prayer. 

Greg Erlandson says this about the Magnificat

"The Visitation is also the occasion for Mary’s great prayer, the Magnificat. This prayer is treasured by a wide variety of Catholics because it is an eloquent articulation of the Catholic belief in the dignity of all people and the Gospel injunction to help the weakest among us, uniting the pro-life and social-justice wings of our sometimes divided Church.
This May 31, pray for all women who are struggling with pregnancies. Pray that God gives them strength to protect the life they bear in their wombs. And while you are at it, make a donation to an aid organization that provides assistance to unwed mothers."

Two women, both of them endangered by the tiny lives they carried within their wombs, Elizabeth who was advanced in years and Mary, unwed in a society who stoned women for adultery. Courage. Faith. Love.

Anima Christi

Soul of Christ, sanctify me
Body of Christ, save me
Blood of Christ, inebriate me
Water from Christ's side, wash me
Passion of Christ, strengthen me
O good Jesus, hear me
Within Thy wounds hide me
Suffer me not to be separated from Thee
From the malicious enemy defend me
In the hour of my death call me
And bid me come unto Thee
That I may praise Thee with Thy saints
and with Thy angels
Forever and ever
Amen

I love to pray this prayer after communion. Before I kneel, I pull my veil closer around my face as though I am drawing a curtain between the outside world and my spiritual world and I begin:

"Soul of Christ sanctify me" Make me pure, make me worthy

"Body of Christ save me" I mentally reach for the hand of my Beloved, many times feeling as scared as Peter did as he began to sink beneath the waves

"Blood of Christ inebriate me" Make me drunk with your love and grace, intoxicate me, fill me with your love, Oh Lord.

"Water from Christ's side, wash me" Oh Lord, they cruelly pierced your ripped and bruised flesh. Help me to remember each time I am tempted to sin, your great sacrifice of love for me and wash away my temptations and weaknesses.

"Passion of Christ, strengthen me" Your courage and steadfastness as you struggled through the streets, carrying your own cross is an inspiration to me. I doubt I will ever be publicly scourged and crucified, so when I am tempted to complain of the trials of my life let me remember your demonstration of strength.

"O good Jesus hear me" oh my Lord, you know that I often fail you. Never turn away from my struggles, but always heed my prayers to you.

"Within Thy wounds hide me" Pull me into your bloodied wounds, hide me from my weaknesses

"Suffer me not to be separated from Thee" Please, Lord, do not loosen your grasp on me, even when I flirt with the temptations of pride, anger, lust, and hatred. Please help me to over come those weaknesses so that I will not slide away from you forever.

"From the malicious enemy defend me" Defend me from my enemies Oh Lord, I do not fear the worldly ones for they can only destroy my body. The evil one, whom our Father cast from Heaven hungrily waits for my soul and takes great delight in my failings. Defend me oh God!

"In the hour of my death call me" When my time on this earth is over, grant me a merciful death, be at my side and lead me to my eternal rest.

"And bid me come unto Thee" Take me into you, O Lord that I may be with you for all eternity.

"that I may praise Thee with Thy saints and with Thy angels" I will lift my voice in song to the greatness of the Lord. I will sing of the goodness and compassion of my God

"for ever and ever" For ever and ever I will praise you, O God.

"Amen" Amen.

So Speaks our dear leader

“Far too often, we have seen faith wielded as a tool to divide us from one another—as an excuse for prejudice and intolerance,” President Obama says. You mean like Rev Wright does when he gives a sermon? YOU should know, you listened to them for years.

“Wars have been waged. Innocents have been slaughtered. For centuries, entire religions have been persecuted, all in the name of perceived righteousness." Really dear leader, which religion might that be? Could you mean the JEWISH people? Could you mean CATHOLICS? You do? Guess which "religion" is persecuting them TODAY? Try MUSLIM.

“There is no doubt that the very nature of faith means that some of our beliefs will never be the same. We read from different texts. We follow different edicts. We subscribe to different accounts of how we came to be here and where we are going next—and some subscribe to no faith at all." Perhaps for now, dear leader. But, we won't have that OPTION if radical jihadis succeed. Remember dear leader, they are the ones who say they will either kill or convert the non-believers?

“But no matter what we choose to believe, let us remember that there is no religion whose central tenet is hate." Are you kidding me, dear leader? Please tell me you are seriously not that naive. Please?? dear leader???

"There is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being. This much we know.”Ahhh dear leader, we can agree on this one. There is NO God who condones taking an innocent human life. Tell me dear leader, who do the jihadis give praise to, just before they send a young woman with bombs strapped to her body into a crowded market? Allah? Is that their idea of God? Sooo...if there is no God who condones taking the life of an innocent human being...and jihadis TAKE the lives of many innocent human beings, that would seem the OPPOSITE of your position about God. Soooooo..hmmm...stay with me here dear leader...I wonder who they could be praying to, really?

Second question dear leader, just which God did you pray to before you voted FOUR times to allow victims of botched abortions to suffer and die alone? FOUR times you had the chance to stop murder of the innocents and you chose to stand with the abortionists...just like the crazy jihadis who had the chance to stop the murder of innocents in a marketplace...this much we know...

in Jesus' name...

What a brave woman. Maybe this is the way to peace.



For this woman I pray that God will place her in his protection and touch her husband's heart that he might see the truth of Islam and come to know the truth of God's infinite love.

St. Michael the Archangel please watch over her and protect her from the evil one.