CATHOLIC SPIRITUAL DIRECTION




 

"Holy Communion is the shortest and safest way to Heaven."      Saint Pope Pius X

SAINT JEROME EMILIANI

(1481-1537)

FEAST DAY:  FEBRUARY 8TH

Jerome Emiliani was born in Venice.  In his early career he had been part of the military in Italy. While he was governor of a new castle in Tarviso, he was captured and loaded with chains and thrown into a dungeon.  He was delivered from prison by the Virgin Mary and returned to Tarviso where he began a life of prayer and penance.  He returned to Venice.  During a famine, he came to the rescue of orphans and poor families.  He was ordained in 1518 and he was the founder of the order called the Clerks Regular of Somascha.  He and his order established hospitals and orphanages for the poor and sick in northern Italy.  He died of an disease he caught while helping the sick in 1537.  Pope Clement XIII canonized Jerome in 1767.  In 1928, Pope Pius XI named him patron saint of orphanages and abandoned children.

INTERCESSORY PRAYER:  Ask Saint Jerome to intercede for the spiritual and material welfare of young children.

 

 CATHOLIC RELIEF SERVICES

RELIEF FOR HAITI

TO DONATE SEE:  Haiti Relief Begins Amid Crisis, Catholic Relief Services

 

images from www.wikipedia.org

 

SPIRITUAL DIRECTION FOR TODAY

[The works of a well known Catholic Spiritual Director will be featured in this space each week.]

SAINT JOHN OF THE CROSS, DOCTOR OF THE CHURCH

ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL

CHAPTER XIV

Wherein is expounded the second line of the stanza.

Kindled in love with yearnings.

NOW that we have expounded the first line of this stanza, which treats of the night of sense, explaining what this night of sense is, and why it is called night; and now that we have likewise described the order and manner which are to be followed for a soul to enter therein actively, the next thing to be treated in due sequence is its properties and effects, which are wonderful, and are described in the next lines of the stanza aforementioned, upon which I will briefly touch for the sake of expounding the said lines, as I promised in the Prologue;[203] and I will then pass on at once to the second book, treating of the other part of this night, which is the spiritual.

2. The soul, then, says that, 'kindled in love with yearnings,' it passed through this dark night of sense and came out thence to the union of the Beloved. For, in order to conquer all the desires and to deny itself the pleasures which it has in everything, and for which its love and affection are wont to enkindle the will that it may enjoy them, it would need to experience another and a greater enkindling by an other and a better love, which is that of its Spouse; to the end that, having its pleasure set upon Him and deriving from Him its strength, it should have courage and constancy to deny itself all other things with ease. And, in order to conquer the strength of the desires of sense, it would need, not only to have love for its Spouse, but also to be enkindled by love and to have yearnings. For it comes to pass, and so it is, that with such yearnings of desire the sensual nature is moved and attracted toward sensual things, so that, if the spiritual part be not enkindled with other and greater yearnings for that which is spiritual, it will be unable to throw off the yoke of nature[204] or to enter this night of sense, neither will it have courage to remain in darkness as to all things, depriving itself of desire for them all.

3. And the nature and all the varieties of these yearnings of love which souls experience in the early stages of this road to union; and the diligent means and contrivances which they employ in order to leave their house, which is self-will, during the night of the mortification of their senses; and how easy, and even sweet and delectable, these yearnings for the Spouse make all the trials and perils of this night to appear to them, this is not the place to describe, neither is such description possible; for it is better to know and meditate upon these things than to write of them. And so we shall pass on to expound the remaining lines in the next chapter.

CHAPTER XV

Wherein are expounded the remaining lines of the aforementioned stanza.

. . . oh, happy chance! -- I went forth without being observed, My house being now at rest.

THESE lines take as a metaphor the miserable estate of captivity, a man's deliverance from which, when none of the gaolers' hinder his release, he considers a 'happy chance.' For the soul, on account of[205] original sin, is truly as it were a captive in this mortal body, subject to the passions and desires of nature, from bondage and subjection to which it considers its having gone forth without being observed as a 'happy chance' -- having gone forth, that is, without being impeded or engulfed[206] by any of them.

2. For to this end the soul profited by going forth upon a 'dark night' -- that is, in the privation of all pleasures and mortification of all desires, after the manner whereof we have spoken. And by its 'house being now at rest' is meant the sensual part, which is the house of all the desires, and is now at rest because they have all been overcome and lulled to sleep. For until the desires are lulled to sleep through the mortification of the sensual nature, and until at last the sensual nature itself is at rest from them, so that they make not war upon the spirit, the soul goes not forth to true liberty and to the fruition of union with its Beloved.

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TO SEE ASCENT OF MOUNT CARMEL BOOK II

 

PRAYER TO THE PASSION AND WOUNDS OF JESUS


A Very powerful Prayer To Obtain A Favor:

PRAY THE FOLLOWING:

O great passion!  O deep Wounds!  O Blood shed in abundance!  O meekness!  O God of meekness, O cruel death, have mercy on me and grant my request if it be for my salvation.JesusChristScourged.jpg (25611 bytes)

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Promises Of Our Lord

"I will grant all that shall be asked of Me through the invocation of my Holy Wounds."

"With my Wounds and my Divine Heart you can obtain all."

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PRAY THE FOLLOWING:

"Eternal Father, I offer Thee the Wounds of our Lord Jesus Christ to heal those of our souls."  

"My Jesus, pardon and mercy, by the merits of Thy Holy Wounds."           

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PRAY FOR PRESIDENT OBAMA AND VICE PRESIDENT BIDEN   

We  must pray for President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.   Scripture says "with God all things are possible."  We must pray for Vice-President , Joe Biden and his wife, Jill.

    Say the  prayer on the left for President Barack Obama's conversion to become prolife; that God would show him that he must vote and legislate to always protect the lives of unborn children.  See : Abortion Decisions of President Obama and his Administration

Also See:  ABORTION DECISIONS OF PRESIDENT OBAMA: FROM LIFE NEWS: http://www.lifenews.com/obamaabortionrecord.html

 

ABORTION IS THE WORST FORM OF DISCRIMINATION MAN HAS EVER KNOWN!

 IN ABORTION ALL RACES OF MEN ARE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST!

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MARIAN PRAYER

PRAYER OF
ASPIRATIONS TO MARY
(By Saint Alphonsus Liguori)

Knowest thou, sweet Mary,  
Whereto I aspire? 
It is my hope to love thee,
This is my desire. 

I would ever be near thee, 
Queen most fair and sweet! 
Do not, do not drive me 
From my Mother's feet. 

Then, O Rose most lovely! 
Let me hear from thee. 
Loving Mother! tell me 
What thou wilt of me. 

More I cannot offer, 
Lo! I bring my heart;  
Lovingly I give it, 
Never from thee to part. 

Lady, thou didst take it, 
It is no longer mine: 
Long since thou didst love it,  
And its love was thine! 

Do not, then, forsake me, 
Mother of sweet Love,  
Till one day thou see me 
Safe in Heaven above.  
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THREE HAIL MARY'S PRAYER TO SAVE THE LIVES OF UNBORN CHILDREN

Christian prolifers who have spent time counseling in front of abortion clinics have often observed the power of prayer to save the lives of unborn children.  God pours out special graces to save the lives of unborn children when His followers petition Heaven to redirect women away from having abortions.  Your prayers today can save a life.  Prayers said to the Virgin Mary can prevent abortion from taking place. 

    According to a recent news story from the Associated Press a record number of babies were born in the United States in 2007.  A total of  4,315,000 children were born in 2007. That's about 15,000 more births than the peak time of the baby boom in 1957. These figures were recorded by the National Center for Health Statistics which compiled the data from provisional birth certificate registrations at state health departments.

But there were 1,287,000 abortions done in the United States in 2007.  This means the people of United States in 2007 aborted approximately 1 out of every 5 babies.

 

Mother Teresa said that "the fruits of abortion are nuclear war."   When Mother Teresa said this she was indicating that the complete disrespect for life, especially the lives of the unborn, would bring about a nuclear war.

 

 During each day, offer up three Hail Mary's several times each day asking the Blessed Mother to redirect women throughout the world away from the abortion clinics and toward giving birth to their children.  If you want to say rosaries  each day to save unborn children; this is also recommended.

 

PURPOSE OF WEB SITE: Welcome to this Catholic Spiritual Direction Web Site.   It is the intention of this page to help Catholics develop a closer relationship with God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit through the promotion of prayer and Christian teaching which will enable Christians to adhere to the straight and narrow path Jesus speaks of in the Gospels.  Included in these web pages are the Douay-Rheims Bible and the works of Saint John of the Cross, Thomas à Kempis and Saint Louis de Montfort, and the works of other saints of the Catholic faith, f whose teachings on spiritual directveeen llowed by priests, ministers, clergymen, Popes and Saints. These teachings adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church.   This site is dedicated to Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich (Biography) (1774-1824) Mystic, Stigmatist,  Prophet, and Great Visionary, a saintly Augustinian nun from Flamske, Germany.  Her highly descriptive visions of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, The Sorrowful Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ, are presented here.   In time more works from the Saints of the Catholic Church will be added to these pages.

 INTERCESSORY PRAYER AND PRAYER CHAPLET TO BLESSED ANNE CATHERINE EMMERICH

PRAYER TO PROTECT ALL MILITARY TROOPS  FIGHTING FOR PEACE

Oh, Lord God, we ask in the name of your precious Son, JESUS, for the protection of all military troops fighting against terrorism.  Secondly, in the name of JESUS, we ask for the apprehension of all hostile terrorist leaders and their followers. "Whatever you ask in my name I will do, so that the Fathe glorified in the Son.  If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it." John 14: 13-14

 

PRAYER TO SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL

(Ask Saint Michael to protect International troops in harm's way around the world.)

Glorious St. Michael,
Prince of the heavenly hosts,  who standest always ready to give assistance to the people of God;  who didst fight with the dragon, the old serpent, and didst cast him out of heaven,  and now valiantly defendest the Church of God that the gates of hell may never prevail against her, I earnestly entreat thee to assist me also, in the painful and dangerous conflict which I have to sustain against the same formidible foe. Be with me, O mighty Prince! that I may courageously fight and wholly vanquish that proud spirit, whom thou hast by the Divine Power, so gloriously overthrown, and whom our powerful King,  Jesus Christ, has, in our nature, so completely overcome; to the end that having triumphed over the enemy of my salvation, I may with thee and the holy angels, praise the clemency of God who, having refused mercy  to the rebellious angels after their fall,  has granted repentance  and forgiveness to fallen man.

Amen

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U.S. FATALITIES IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

 

HAVE MASSES SAID FOR SOLDIERS THAT HAVE DIED

 

SEXUALLY IMMORAL PEOPLE WILL NOT ENTER INTO HEAVEN UNLESS THEY REPENT AND TURN AWAY FROM SIN. (THIS INCLUDES: FORNICATORS (PEOPLE WHO LIVE TOGETHER BEFORE MARRIAGE), ADULTERERS AND HOMOSEXUALS).

"Do you not know that the unrighteous and the wrongdoers will not inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived (misled): neither the impure and immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor those who participate in homosexuality,  Nor cheats (swindlers and thieves), nor greedy graspers, nor drunkards, nor foulmouthed revilers and slanderers, nor extortioners and robbers will inherit or have any share in the kingdom of God."  --- Saint Paul,  1 Corinthians 6:9-10

EVENING PRAYER:

Jesus gave us the very essence of spiritual direction in the Bible:  "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  This is the first and great commandment." Matthew 22:37-38

Each evening we should reflect on the good things and on the bad things we did during the day and ask God to help us to improve in the future.  It is good if we say an Act of Contrition each evening to help us acknowledge our imperfections and to ask God to give us the graces to improve.

ACT OF CONTRITION

O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended Thee, and I detest all my sins, because of Thy just punishments, but most of all because they offend Thee, my God, who art all-good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Thy grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. 

PRAYER FOR PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL HEALING

THE CONSTANT PRAYER OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA
PRECIOUS BLOOD, ocean of divine mercy:  Flow upon us!
Precious Blood, most pure offering: Procure us every grace!
Precious Blood, hope and refuge of sinners: Atone for us!
Precious Blood, delight of holy souls: Draw us! Amen.

 "At the evening of life, you will be examined in love. Learn to love as God desires to be loved and abandon your own ways of acting."   Saint John of the Cross

 

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