December 23, 2024

Mother & Refuge

READ NOW! The Prophecies Of Amsterdam |Lady of All Nations

Mother & Refuge011 mins

The Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith recently addressed ongoing questions about alleged apparitions and messages from 1945-1959 in Amsterdam, known as the devotion to the “Lady of All Nations.” A decision made on March 27, 1974, by the Sacred Congregation (now the Dicastery), was revealed. At that time, the cardinals unanimously judged the apparitions to be inauthentic, a conclusion approved by Pope Paul VI. This announcement was significant, as many believers had followed these apparitions, which promoted a controversial title for the Virgin Mary: “Co-Redemptrix and Mediator of All Graces.” The Vatican rejected this title, as it seemed to take away from Christ’s unique role as Redeemer. Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI also did not support this title, and Pope Francis shares the same view. In the apparitions, Mary was depicted standing on a globe with a Cross behind her, warning of various punishments for humanity’s sins. However, the Church remains cautious about these claims. The visionary was a woman in Amsterdam named Ida Peerdeman, and she saw storms, waves, missiles, quakes, palace intrigue at the Vatican, and economic disasters. Such a profusion of doom made us wonder decades ago if Satan had a hand in the disarray of Ida’s visions, yet also to wonder if their incomprehensibility was any greater than the incomprehensibility of the seven seals of Revelation. “Let all the children of men, of all the countries of the world, be one!” said Our Lady of All Nations. “Seek and ask only for the true Holy Spirit. I have come to tell this depraved world, all of you, unite. I will lead all the dispersed flock back to one field.” in visions that were often clipped and disjointed—saw a “strange war” and supposedly heard the Virgin warn of “disaster upon disaster” caused by phenomena of nature. In Russia she saw a “hellish light” that seemed to explode from the ground upwards. Was this a reference to what would occur in 1986 at the Chernobyl nuclear reactor? Or the 1953 Soviet test of an atomic bomb? She saw a hand of heavenly protection over the Ukraine, and things would go well for a while, said Mary, but then she pointed to a globe that looked like it was ready to burst. Indicating the sky eastward, where there were many stars, she supposedly said, “That is where it will come from.” A meteor? A comet? An asteroid? Ida claimed she was later told natural disasters would overtake the world “from north to south, south to west, and from west to east.” She saw a rent that ran diagonally across the earth. Great misery and distress, she was “told,” were “imminent” (again, this in the 1940s and 1950s). During an apparition on December 7, 1947, she saw thick clouds over Europe and titanic waves. “They will first have to perish by the flood,” the seer was “told,” which she further informed would constitute the “desolation.” That seemed to fly in the face of Genesis, in which God tells Noah that “never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth” (9:11). But for the sake of fleshing it out, let’s go on: There were also premonitions of political upheaval, currency crises, boycotts, and economic warfare. The “apparition” allegedly said Russia would try to deceive the other countries and Ida said she was shown a vision of “blue and white stripes intermingling and then stars. After that I see the sickle and hammer, but the hammer breaks away from the sickle and then all things whirl together. Then I see the crescent and the sun. These too comingle with the rest. And finally a sort of buck or mountain goat comes jumping through the lot. While all this is whirling around together, a circle appears on the left and through this the globe is turning. Now a big pointer appears and I hear the words, ‘The hand of the sun dial is going in the opposite direction!’” After that, in this apparition of December 26, 1947, Ida saw “something like a cigar or a torpedo flying past me so rapidly that I can scarcely discern it. Its color seems to be of aluminum. All of a sudden I see it burst open.” She added: “Then I see faces before me, swollen faces covered with dreadful ulcers, as if it were a kind of leprosy.” This was all in the wake, one must recall, of something that had just been witnessed in the world: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Was the breaking apart of the hammer and sickle a reference to the eventual break up of the Soviet Union? Was the goat Satan trotting through the former republics–Latvia, Ukraine, Georgia–and stirring up ethnic animosities? Was a nuclear warhead represented by the “aluminum torpedo”? How much was simply in Ida’s subconscious? It hardly stopped there. Ida saw Jerusalem surrounded by battles and a “sword hanging over Europe and the East.” She saw multitudes in the East–presumably Asia–and heard “Our Lady” say, “These will rouse… A great disaster will occur; that will startle them. The Baltic is full You do not see this.” She saw the Chinese crossing a line and an insurrection in Manchuria. Whew! There were also warnings concerning the southern flanks of Communist Bulgaria and what was then Yugoslavia. “There is a war,” Ida said during the vision. “They are fighting again.” The civil war in Yugoslavia? “The Lady says, ‘Child, there will be a fierce struggle. We have not seen the end of this struggle yet. Economic disasters will come. The empire of England is tottering.’” While there was the promise that “Japan will be converted,”  Ida saw a heavy cloud over India. There were also clouds over St. Peter’s Square. She saw the Pope and above him the word ‘VIOLENCE.” The shooting of John Paul II? There would be warfare within the Vatican, Mary warned, and in what can only be described as an especially symbolic vision, Ida heard Our Lady say, “Look,” and saw a wolf standing before the…

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SAVE THE POST! Daily Prayer to Mary for the Nation Before the November 5 US Presidential Election

Mother & Refuge12 mins

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God’ s law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life.

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Meet Monsignor Joseph Buh, who could become America’s next saint

Mother & Refuge07 mins

Monsignor Joseph Buh passed away more than a century ago in 1922. Yet his memory has not faded among the faithful in northern Minnesota. To this day many in the area consider him a saint, and he is ubiquitously acknowledged as the “patriarch of Duluth.” Despite this Buh — pronounced “Boo” — has never been officially declared a saint by the Catholic Church. Now, that might finally be about to change.  Last October Duluth Bishop Daniel Felton met with the priests of the diocese to discuss officially launching Buh’s cause for canonization to sainthood. He appointed Father Richard Kunst, pastor of St. James Parish in Duluth, to lead the initiative and asked the diocese’s priests to spend the next year conversing with their flocks to gauge the level of devotion among the faithful. According to Kunst, enthusiasm for Buh’s canonization at his parish has been high, and based on conversations with other priests, it seems likely the diocese will move forward with the canonization process. “We’re just waiting to see … Are people praying to him for intercession? If the people are doing that, that’s a generally pretty good indicator whether a cause of canonization should proceed or not,” Kunst told CNA. If declared a saint, Buh would join a small list of American saints, making him a significant figure not only to the people of Duluth but also to Catholics across the country. Who is Monsignor Buh? Born in Slovenia in 1833, Buh was a priest and missionary to Minnesota in its earliest days as a state. Ordained a priest in 1858 — the same year Minnesota was made a state — Buh was integral to the development of the Church in the region. While ministering to poor immigrants and to the Native American populations, he helped to establish over 50 parishes within the Diocese of Duluth. Buh was greatly loved because of his devotion to serving the Church and the spiritual and material needs of the faithful.   According to an autobiography on Buh written by some local Benedictine sisters, the second bishop of Duluth, Timothy McNicholas, told Buh in a letter that “this diocese with its priests and sisters and people can never express to you an adequate appreciation of all that you have done for religion. The whole Church of America is indebted to you.” During Buh’s funeral Mass, McNicholas said that Buh’s “love for souls was beyond our power to measure.” “The casual observer would not even direct his attention to the extraordinary zeal of this gentle apostle,” the bishop said. “It is only when one realizes the great harvest that he has reaped that one is forced to take into account the many and deep furrows that he plowed in the harvest fields of Christ.” “His zeal for souls was ever a burning fire,” McNicholas continued. “No journey on foot, no distance by horseback was too long or too trying provided a soul was to be helped at the journey’s end. He would set out with a trust in God realizing that God’s love of souls was infinite and that he was but the dispenser of the riches of God’s sacramental graces. He was ever willing to make every sacrifice in the performance of duty for the salvation of souls.” What’s the latest? On July 25 Buh’s remains were exhumed from his burial site at Calvary Cemetery so that they could be examined and then reinterred at Duluth’s Cathedral of Our Lady of the Rosary. In an interview with CNA, Kunst explained that “as the patriarch of the diocese we thought it was fitting to have him in the cathedral.” He also said the cathedral would be a more suitable place for the many visitors to Buh’s gravesite who have left a “continuous” supply of fresh flowers. Kunst said he expects the diocese to decide in October whether to recommend Buh’s cause for canonization be opened. Read more…

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St. Basil’s Powerful Prayer at the ninth hour

Mother & Refuge02 mins

O Master and Lord, Jesus Christ our God, who art longsuffering towards our faults and hast brought us even unto this present hour, in which, hanging upon the life-giving Cross, Thou hast opened unto the good thief the way into Paradise, and destroyed death by death: Be merciful to us, Thy humble and sinful and unworthy servants. For we have sinned and transgressed, and we are not worthy to lift up our eyes and look at the height of heaven, since we have forsaken the path of Thy righteousness and have walked according to the desires of our own hearts. But we pray Thee of Thy boundless goodness, spare us, O Lord, according to the abundance of Thy mercy, and save us for Thy Holy Name’s sake, for our days have been consumed in vanity. Pluck us from the hand of the adversary, forgive us our sins, and kill our fleshly lusts, that putting off the old man, we may put on the new, and may live for Thee our Master and Protector; and that so, following Thine ordinances, we may attain to eternal rest, in the place where all the joyful dwell. For Thou, O Christ our God, art indeed the true joy and gladness of those who love Thee, and unto Thee we ascribe glory, together with Thy Father who is without beginning, and Thy most holy, good and life-giving Spirit, now, and ever, and unto the ages and ages. Amen.

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Teresa of Avila’s tomb opened! (Photos & Video)

Mother & Refuge01 mins

A team of researchers will spend the next four days studying the body of St. Teresa of Avila, after her tomb was opened this August 28. The doctor of the Church rests in the town where she died, in northwestern Spain, Alba de Tormes. Teresa died in 1582 and in the following centuries, there was great interest in obtaining relics of her, i.e., a piece of her bone or flesh. This led to some of her remains being dispersed around Europe; however the majority, including her heart and arm, are kept under careful vigilance in the town of her death, on the beautiful Tormes River. In fact, to open the urn containing her body, 10 separate keys are needed; three of these are habitually kept in Rome. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbHX48LQJa0

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Faith Beyond Facts: 5 Catholic Miracles That Science Can’t Explain

Mother & Refuge02 mins

1. The Miracle of the Sun at FatimaIn 1917, over 100,000 people witnessed the sun dancing in the sky of Fatima, Portugal. “The sun started spinning like a pinwheel, casting multi-colored lights all over the place.” Skeptics and faithful were left stunned, says Scheel. It is one of the most documented and extraordinary miracles in Church history. 2. Our Lady of LourdesLourdes, France, has been a site of healing since St. Bernadette’s vision of Our Lady in 1858. Scheel says “there’s been over 7,000 scientifically attested miraculous recoveries from her intercession.” These cures are each scrutinized and confirmed by the Lourdes Medical Bureau. 3. The Miracle of LancianoIn the 8th century, a doubting priest witnessed the Eucharist turn into actual flesh and blood. Scheel explains scientific investigation of “the flesh was found to be a human striated muscular tissue of the myocardium, the heart wall.” Even though it’s 1250 years old, this relic shows no signs of decay today! 4. The Blood of St. JanuariusA vial of St. Januarius’ dried blood in Naples, Italy, liquefies every year on his feast days. “This happens on TV, like you can see it,” says Scheel. This public miracle has been observed and recorded for centuries without any explanation. 5. The Universal Blood Type of Eucharistic MiraclesScheel explains that “all major blood miracles or Eucharistic miracles of our Lord have the same blood type, AB.” This incredibly rare type, the universal recipient, is a remarkable consistency with profound symbolism of Christ’s blood being able to save all.

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Angel of the Apocalypse | St. Vincent Ferrer Prophecies of EndTimes

Mother & Refuge013 mins

When the Pope used the term ‘Angel of the Apocalypse’ in the Middle Ages, people knew he was talking about St. Vincent Ferrer St. Vincent Ferrer earned the title preaching the Gospel powerfully and persuasively, often on the Final Judgment and the coming of the Antichrist. Even Pius II’s Bull of Canonization called St. Vincent Ferrer “the Angel of the Apocalypse, flying through the heavens to announce the day of the Last Judgment, to evangelize the inhabitants of the earth.” This year marks the 600th anniversary of St. Vincent Ferrer’s death on April 5, 1419, yet his words remain as powerful and necessary as ever. Before looking at his preaching on the Last Judgment, the Antichrist and the End of the World, let’s understand how powerful a preacher he was all over Europe, beginning in his native Spain, by looking at a mere speck of who he reached and the miracles he performed. As a Dominican priest, Vincent Ferrer preached in his own native language or Latin, yet wherever he went, everyone miraculously understood his every word as if he were preaching in their language. Sinners by the thousands, even the most hardened, repented. When the curious Moorish king sent for him, after Vincent Ferrer gave just three sermons, 8,000 Moors converted and wanted to be baptized. Modest estimates put his conversion of Jews in city after city in Spain at 25,000. At one major church conference, Vincent’s preaching saw 14 of 16 rabbis converted on the spot. In Toledo as Jews became Christians they turned their synagogue into a church under the Blessed Mother. Like Jesus raising the widow of Naim’s son, thorough the power of Christ St. Vincent stopped a funeral procession and commanded the corpse to rise, restoring the dead man to life. In all, he restored 28 dead people back to life. Even after he died, two dead people placed on his tomb came back to life. He cured countless physical infirmities, working wonders through the name of Jesus and the Sign of the Cross. In one, he restored the use of the limbs of an incurably crippled boy who eventually became the Bishop of Barcelona. In confession, he could read souls. He shared heavenly previews of future events, such as telling a mother her little son would become pope and canonize him — which happened as the boy became Callixtus III. (At the canonization Vincent Ferrer’s body was found incorrupt.) Earlier, during a Barcelona famine, he announced two ships were coming loaded with corn. Nobody believed. That same day, as predicted, the ships arrived. Highly devoted to the Blessed Mother, he preached and demonstrated the power of the Rosary through immediate conversion obtained through praying it. Preaching the Last Judgement Jesus will come not like his first coming in humility and poverty, but “in such majesty and power that the whole world will tremble,” began Angel of the Apocalypse in a sermon. When he powerfully detailed the glory and the horror of separating the sheep and goats described in Matthew 25, record has it sinners were frightened and cried. He wanted them to do so because he himself was fearful of that day and fearful for all those he preached to. Vincent told the throngs:  People will say ‘to the mountains and the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of him who sits upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb’ (Revelation 6:16). Yet Jesus said, ‘But when these things begin to come to pass, look up, and lift up your heads,’ ‘because your redemption is at hand’ (Luke 21:28).The Blessed Mother shall sit with him. Jesus will separate the peoples of the nations as a shepherd separates sheep from goats. St. Vincent cautioned, “On that day it will be better to be a sheep of Jesus Christ that to have been a pope, or king, or emperor.” Vincent powerfully detailed five virtues revealed in Scripture that distinguishes the sheep: “simple innocence, ample mercy, steadfast patience, true obedience, and worthy penance.” First, simple innocence is when a person “lives simply, nor hurts anyone in his heart, by hating, nor by defaming in speech, nor striking with hands, nor by stealing. Such a life “is called simple innocence, which makes a man a sheep of Christ.” In each case, St. Vincent next colorfully details reasons why. A sheep doesn’t attack with horns like a bull…  …nor bite with its teeth like a wolf, nor strike with hooves like a horse… if you wish to be a sheep of Christ, you should strike no one with horns of knowledge or of power, for lawyers strike by the horns of knowledge, jurists, advocates, or men who have great knowledge. Merchants by deceiving others. Lords and bullies strike with the horns of power, plundering or injuring, and extorting, using calumnies and threats, and the like. Listen to what the Lord says by the mouth of David: ‘And I will break all the horns of sinners: but the horns of the just shall be exalted’ (Psalm 74:11). “Biting” is to defame your neighbor’s reputation, and devour by saying “nothing good praising someone, but only the bad,” so “defamers are not the sheep of Christ, but wolves of hell.” Kicking like horses means to despise. Therefore, he warns, “children, do not hate your parents; nor parents, children; nor young people, old folks; nor the healthy, the sick; nor rich, the poor; nor masters, their servants; nor prelates, their clergy; and vice versa. It is clear what is simple innocence.” Second, ample mercy means distributing your God-given temporal and spiritual gifts to the needy. “Because,” Vincent illustrates, “among all the animals a sheep is the most beneficial of animals.  For the sheep by growing wool, shows us mercy and benefits of mercy, because how many poor people does a sheep clothe?” Sheep give milk and food to eat to. We imitate and give love this way: our wool is “external and temporal goods, bread and wine, money and clothes…

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Miracle in America: Medical Report Confirms Another Nun’s Body Incorrupt

Mother & Refuge17 mins

Following a months-long investigation, the bishop of Kansas City-St. Joseph, Missouri, has concluded that the body of a Midwestern nun buried in 2019 appears to be “incorrupt.”   “Within the limits of what has been observed during this time, the body of Sister Wilhelmina Lancaster does not appear to have experienced the decomposition that would have normally been expected under such previous burial conditions,” Bishop James V. Johnston, Jr., said in a statement August 22.    The community that Sister Wilhemina founded, the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, said in a statement provided to Aleteia: “We are very grateful for Bishop Johnston’s statement regarding our foundress, Sister Wilhelmina, and are thankful that His Excellency has shown such solicitude in providing a scientific investigation for the claim of the miracle of her incorruptibility. Many pilgrims continue to visit her, and we receive ongoing reports of favors and miracles, which are being attentively gathered. We rejoice that Sister Wilhelmina continues to be a bright light of faith for all Christians, confirming us all in the truth of the Resurrection and the life of the world to come.” Bishop Johnston pointed out that the Catholic Church does not have an official protocol for determining if a deceased person’s body is incorrupt, and incorruptibility is not considered to be an indication of sainthood. He said that there is no current plan to initiate a cause for sainthood for Sister Wilhelmina.   She died in 2019 Sister Wilhelmina died on May 29, 2019, at the age of 95. She was buried within days in a grave on the property of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles in Gower, Missouri. She was not embalmed, and her body was placed in a simple pine box, without a vault protecting her body from the elements. Following the exhumation of her body on April 28, 2023, for the purpose of moving it into the Abbey church for interment, it was discovered that her body did not exhibit signs of decomposition that would normally have occurred after nearly four years of burial under the conditions that existed in her grave. “On May 24, 2023, as the Bishop of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, I commissioned a team of local medical experts to conduct an examination and evaluation of Sister Wilhelmina’s body,” Johnston stated. “The team was led by a Doctor of Pathology, who was assisted by two other medical doctors and a former Missouri county coroner. In addition to examining and evaluating the mortal remains of the deceased, the team inspected the casket, and interviews were conducted with eyewitnesses to events immediately preceding the burial in 2019 and the exhumation in April 2023.”   In the final report, the investigative team noted that the condition of Sister Wilhelmina’s body during the examination was notable for a lack of any detected features of decomposition, the bishop said. The lining of her casket had completely deteriorated, but her habit and clothing showed no features of breakdown. “The report also noted that the related history of Sister Wilhelmina’s death and interment does not describe conditions that would be expected to protect against decomposition,” he said He said that the investigative team was only able to conduct a limited examination but still concluded that “the condition of her body is highly atypical for the interval of nearly four years since her death, especially given the environmental conditions and the findings in associated objects.”   Along with the evaluation by medical experts, additional tests were soon conducted on the soil in which the burial took place. After analysis, no unusual elements were found which would have impacted the condition of Sister Wilhelmina’s body when it was exhumed. Founded community Sister Wilhelmina in 1995 founded the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, a contemplative community consecrated to prayer and sacrifice for priests through the Rule of St. Benedict. They celebrate the liturgy as it was before the Second Vatican Council-era reforms. The 50 or so nuns in the community today devote about five hours a day to the chanting of the Mass and Divine Office and private prayer. The sisters’ remaining time is spent doing manual labor, such as sewing vestments for priests, gardening, cooking, and farm work.  Read more…

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Australia Sends Its Next Sainthood Cause to the Vatican!

Mother & Refuge02 mins

According to The Catholic Weekly, Archbishop Anthony Fisher “officially signed off on the final decree for the acts of the cause at Cathedral House, alongside members of the Eileen O’Connor tribunal and the historical commission, who hope the Servant of God will become Australia’s second saint.” So far, Australia has one canonized saint, Mary MacKillop. The Vatican will now review the life of Eileen O’Connor to determine if she lived a life of “heroic virtue.” If the Vatican affirms that she did live heroically, she would be declared “venerable.” Who was Eileen O’Connor? Eileen Rosaline O’Connor was born in Richmond, Australia, on February 19, 1892. By the time she was 10, her family would move near Sydney and she would be as active as she could in her school and local parish. Eileen suffered from spinal tuberculosis, meaning she had severe curvature of the spine and only grew to 3ft 9in, but for much of her life, she could not stand. Despite being in constant pain, O’Connor was known for her joyful disposition. Later on she related a possible vision of the Virgin Mary who encouraged her to offer her pain for the salvation of others. Read more…

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St. Michael’s Lent: A Guide to Prayer and Devotion During St. Michael’s Lent

Mother & Refuge09 mins

Introduction St. Michael’s Lent is a lesser-known but deeply spiritual tradition within the Catholic Church, observed from August 15th (the Feast of the Assumption) to September 29th (the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel). This 40-day period of prayer, fasting, and penance is modeled after the more widely known Lenten season leading up to Easter. It provides an opportunity for Catholics to deepen their spiritual lives, seek the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel, and prepare themselves for the spiritual battles they may face. Origins of St. Michael’s Lent St. Michael’s Lent is believed to have originated with St. Francis of Assisi, who had a profound devotion to St. Michael the Archangel. St. Francis would retreat to Mount La Verna during this time, fasting and praying in solitude. He sought to imitate Christ and prepare himself for greater spiritual challenges. This tradition gradually spread and became a way for the faithful to honor St. Michael and seek his protection. How to Participate in St. Michael’s Lent Participating in St. Michael’s Lent is a powerful way to grow in faith, resist temptation, and draw closer to God. Here’s how you can observe this holy season: 1. Prayer Prayer is the cornerstone of St. Michael’s Lent. Begin each day with a prayer to St. Michael the Archangel, asking for his protection and guidance. You can use the traditional prayer or one of the following: Traditional Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. Morning Offering for St. Michael’s Lent Heavenly Father, as I begin this day of St. Michael’s Lent, I offer You my prayers, works, joys, and sufferings. I ask for the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel, that he may protect me from all evil and guide me on the path of righteousness. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Prayer of Protection St. Michael, mighty warrior of God, protect me this day. Shield me from the temptations of the enemy, and strengthen my resolve to follow Christ faithfully. In your powerful name, I pray. Amen. 2. Fasting and Abstinence Like the Lenten season before Easter, St. Michael’s Lent encourages fasting and abstinence as a means of penance and spiritual discipline. You may choose to fast from certain foods, such as meat or sweets, or abstain from particular activities that distract you from your spiritual goals. The key is to make a sacrifice that is meaningful and challenging for you. Example of a Fasting Resolution “During St. Michael’s Lent, I will fast from [specific food or activity] on Wednesdays and Fridays, offering my sacrifice for the purification of my soul and the protection of the Church.” 3. Penance and Almsgiving Use this period to perform acts of penance and charity. Confession is an important part of this, allowing you to cleanse your soul and receive God’s grace. Additionally, consider giving to the poor or supporting a charity that aligns with your faith. Prayer Before Confession Lord, grant me the grace to see my sins clearly and the courage to confess them sincerely. Through the intercession of St. Michael, may I be cleansed of all unrighteousness and made worthy to stand in Your presence. Amen. 4. Spiritual Reading and Reflection Enhance your spiritual life by reading the Scriptures, the lives of the saints, or other Catholic spiritual works. Reflect on the themes of spiritual warfare, the power of angels, and the role of St. Michael in defending the Church. Suggested Reading: “The Life of St. Michael the Archangel” by Anne Catherine Emmerich “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis (focuses on spiritual warfare) Daily Bible reading, especially passages related to angels and spiritual battle 5. Daily Examination of Conscience Each evening, take a few moments to reflect on your day. Consider your thoughts, words, and actions. Have you been faithful to your Lenten commitments? Where have you succeeded, and where have you fallen short? End with an Act of Contrition. Act of Contrition O my God, I am heartily sorry for having offended You. I detest all my sins because of Your just punishments, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to sin no more and to avoid the near occasions of sin. Amen. 6. Attend Mass Regularly If possible, attend daily Mass during St. Michael’s Lent. The Eucharist is the source and summit of our faith, and receiving Christ’s Body and Blood strengthens us in our spiritual battles. Conclusion St. Michael’s Lent is a beautiful opportunity to renew your commitment to God, strengthen your spiritual life, and seek the powerful intercession of St. Michael the Archangel. By dedicating yourself to prayer, fasting, penance, and spiritual reflection, you can prepare your soul for the challenges ahead and grow in holiness. May St. Michael defend you in battle and lead you ever closer to Christ. Amen.

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