SAINT OF THE DAY SATURDAY, 9 MAY, 2026 SAINT PACHOMIUS St. Pachomius can justifiably be called the founder of cenobitic monasticism (monks who live in community). Even though St. Antony the Great was the first to go into the desert to live a life of seclusion pursuing evangelical perfection, he lived an eremitic life, that is, a primarily solitary life. Pachomius first started out as a hermit in the desert like many of the other men and women in the third and fourth centuries who sought the most radical expression of Christian life and he developed a very strong bond of friendship with the hermit Palemon. One day he had a vision during prayer in which he was called to build a monastery, and was told in the vision that many people who are eager to live an ascetic life in the desert, but are not inclined to the solitude of the hermit, will come and join him. His hermit friend Palemon helped him to build the monastery and Pachomius insisted that his cenobites were to aspire to the austerity of the hermits. However, he knew that his idea was a radical one, in that most of the men who came to live in his monastery had only ever conceived of the eremitic lifestyle; his great accomplishment was to reconcile this desire for austere perfection with an openness to fulfilling the mundane requirements of community life as an expression of Christian love and service. He spent most of his first years as a cenobitic doing all the menial work on his own, knowing that his brother monks needed to be gently inducted into serving their brothers in the same manner. He therefore allowed them to devote all their time to spiritual exercises in those first years. At his death, there were eleven Pachomian monasteries, nine for men and two for women. The rule that Pachomius drew up was said to have been dictated to him by an angel, and it is this rule that both St. Benedict in the west and St. Basil in the east drew upon to develop their better known rules of cenobitic life. St. Pachomius: Pray for us!
I was watching a video of a young Capuchin Friar and he said something that was so wise and humble that it drew my attention. He said that he was in religious community not because he was strong but because he was weak . That is what community is all about , leaning on each other. I envy religious communities this.
A Blessed for today Blessed Carmen Elena Rendiles Martinez (11 August 1903 - 9 May 1977) May 9 is the feast day of Blessed Carmen Elena Rendiles Martinez, observed on the anniversary of her death in Caracas in 1977. Born in Caracas into a devout family, Carmen entered life without her left arm, a physical circumstance she never treated as an obstacle. She joined the French congregation of the Servants of Jesus of the Blessed Sacrament in 1927, and in 1961, with the support of the local hierarchy, founded the autonomous Congregation of the Servants of Jesus of Venezuela, devoted to parish service, education, and care for the poor. She served as its Superior General until her death. She is honoured as a patron of those who live with physical disability and of those who serve the marginalised poor. ◾The miracle for her beatification concerned Dr. Trinette Duran de Branger, a surgeon in Caracas. In May 2003, while performing an operation at the Hospital Miguel Perez Carreno, an unprotected electrical cable broke free from the surgical table and struck her arm, causing a severe electric shock that burned her glove and left three fingers of her hand paralysed and in constant pain. After consulting more than twenty specialists without result, she was recommended surgery. On 18 July 2003, the day scheduled for the operation, she went first to pray at the chapel of Colegio Belen where Mother Carmen's remains rest. She experienced an intense sensation of light passing through her arm and briefly lost consciousness; on recovering she found her arm entirely restored, discarded the splint at once, and did not undergo the surgery. The healing was confirmed complete and lasting by her treating physicians. The Consulta Medica found it scientifically inexplicable. Pope Francis approved the miracle on 19 December 2017 and Carmen Rendiles was beatified on 16 June 2018 at the University Stadium of Caracas, presided over by Cardinal Angelo Amato as papal legate. Blessed Carmen, who served God and the poor with one arm and a whole heart, pray for all who carry their limitations with courage and faith.
SAINTS OF THE DAY SUNDAY, 10 MAY, 2026 1) SAINT DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI 2) SAINT JOHN OF AVILA 1) SAINT DAMIEN OF MOLOKAI PRIEST (3 January 1840 - 15 April 1889) Joseph De Veuster, the future Father Damien, was born at Tremelo in Belgium. His was a large family and his father was a farmer-merchant. When his oldest brother entered the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts (called 'Picpus' after the street in Paris where its Generalate was located), his father planned that Joseph should take charge of the family business. Joseph, however, decided to become a religious. At the beginning of 1859 he entered the novitiate at Louvain, in the same house as his brother. There he took the name of Damien. In 1863, his brother who was to leave for the mission in the Hawaiian Islands, became ill. Since preparations for the voyage had already been made, Damien obtained permission from the Superior General to take his brother's place. He arrived in Honolulu on March 19th, 1864, where he was ordained to the priesthood the following May 21st. He immediately devoted himself, body and soul, to the difficult service of a "country missionary" on the island of Hawaii, the largest in the Hawaiian group. At that time, the Hawaiian Government decided on a very harsh measure aimed at stopping the spread of "leprosy," the deportation to the neighboring island of Molokai, of all those infected by what was thought to be an incurable disease. The entire mission was concerned about the abandoned "lepers" and the Bishop, Louis Maigret ss.cc., spoke to the priests about the problem. He did not want to send anyone "in the name of obedience," because he knew that such an order meant certain death. Four Brothers volunteered, they would take turns visiting and assisting the "lepers" in their distress. Damien was the first to leave on May 10th, 1873. At his own request and that of the lepers, he remained definitively on Molokai. He brought hope to this hell of despair. He became a source of consolation and encouragement for the lepers, their pastor, the doctor of their souls and of their bodies, without any distinction of race or religion. He gave a voice to the voiceless, he built a community where the joy of being together and openness to the love of God gave people new reasons for living. After Father Damien contracted the disease in 1885, he was able to identify completely with them: "We lepers." Father Damien was, above all, a witness of the love of God for His people. He got his strength from the Eucharist: "lt is at the foot of the altar that we find the strength we need in our isolation..." It is there that he found for himself and for others the support and the encouragement, the consolation and the hope, he could, with a deep faith, communicate to the lepers. All that made him "the happiest missionary in the world," a servant of God, and a servant of humanity. Having contracted "leprosy" himself, Fr. Damien died on April 15th, 1889, having served sixteen years among the lepers. His mortal remains were transferred in 1936 to Belgium where he was interred in the crypt of the church of the Congregation of Sacred Hearts at Louvain. His fame spread to the entire world. In 1938 the process for his beatification was introduced at Malines (Belgium): Pope Paul VI signed the Decree on the "heroicity of his virtues" on July 7th 1977. He was canonized on October 11th, 2009. In Father Damien, the Church proposes an example to all those who find sense for their life in the Gospel and who wish to bring the Good News to the poor of our time. PATRON: Lepers. PRAYER: Father of mercy, who gave us in Saint Damien a shining witness of love for the poorest and most abandoned, grant that, by his intercession, as faithful witnesses of the heart of your Son Jesus, we too may be servants of the most needy and rejected. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2) SAINT JOHN OF AVILA PRIEST AND DOCTOR (c. 1499 – May 10, 1569) John of Avila was born on the feast of the Epiphany in 1499 in Extremadura in the ecclesiastical province of Toledo, the only child of his parents. He spent four years at the University of Salamanca studying law (1513-1517), and then returned to his parents' home where he lived in seclusion for several years. On the advice of a Franciscan priest, the young man left his solitude and matriculated at the University of Alcala, an important center for humanistic studies in Spain, where he studied from 1520-1526. After ordination to the priesthood in 1526, Fr. John went to Seville to prepare for departure as a missionary to the new world. While waiting to set sail, the newly ordained priest engaged in catechesis and preaching, so impressing the priest with whom he lived and worked, Fr. Fernando Contreras, that he urged the Archbishop of Seville to keep Fr. John in Spain, where an enormous mission field had opened up with the end of Muslim domination. Thus, Fr. John Avila began the missionary work in Southern Spain that would earn him the title, "Apostle of Andalusia." During this early period of his priestly ministry, Fr. John lived in a loosely structured fraternity with Fr. Contreras and some other priests engaged in preaching, evangelizing, and catechizing. As Fr. John continued to work in Seville and its surrounding areas, other priests, desiring a similar mode of ministry, became his disciples and lived a simple fraternal life under his direction. By the time sickness forced his retirement, there were about one hundred priests who regarded Master Fr. John as their director, many of who helped in founding and staffing the schools that Fr. John established. In 1531, Fr. John was denounced to the Inquisition and spent a year in prison (1532-33), a time during which he claimed to have learned more than in all his other studies. In prison, he began his major work, Audi, filia, a guide to the spiritual life, written for a young woman who was living a consecrated life under his direction. He also continued his study of the letters of St. Paul, becoming so immersed in them that later, a religious priest who heard him preaching said: "I have heard St. Paul interpreting St. Paul." In July of 1533, the Inquisition absolved Fr. John of all charges against his orthodoxy and he resumed his priestly ministry. He was incardinated in the diocese of Cordoba in 1535 and preached there and in Granada during the next several years, making many converts, including St. John of God and St. Francis Borgia. It is thought that in Granada, around 1538, Fr. John received the title of "Master in Sacred Theology." It became the custom to call him "the Master," a title with an academic connotation, but used in a more general sense for Fr. John, to capture the central aspect of his priestly vocation as a preacher, teacher, and director of souls. Fr. John's outstanding work during the middle years of his ministry was the establishment of schools at every level: schools of doctrine for children and adults; colleges-the equivalent of our high schools-and universities, the most notable of which was that of Baeza. His disciples played an important part in this enterprise since they taught in these schools. When the time came for Fr. John to give up this phase of his life's work, he desired that the Jesuits would take it over, especially the University of Baeza. His desire did not come to fruition as he wished, but about thirty of Fr. John's disciples did go, with the Master's encouragement, to the Society of Jesus.Beginning in 1551, Fr. John was increasingly burdened by ill health, and, within a few years, was forced to give up his missionary endeavors. For a brief period, there was discussion with the Jesuits, including St. Ignatius of Loyola, of his possible entry into the Society. However, Fr. John's failing health prevented this move, and he spent the last years of his life in semi-retirement in Montilla in the diocese of Cordoba. He continued to engage in ministry as his health permitted and wrote a vast number of letters to people in various states of life. He converted, or led to deeper conversion, St. John of God, founder of the Hospitaller Order, and St. Francis Borgia, a future Master General of the Jesuits. He was a friend of St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, and advised Saint Teresa of Ávila, foundress of the Discalced Carmelites. He was called a “Master,” and was a spiritual guide for such saints as Peter of Alcantara and John of Ribera. The saints John of God and Francis Borgia owed their conversion to him and turned to him constantly for spiritual direction. St. Francis de Sales and the Curé of Ars, St. John Vianney, said they benefited from his writings. It is likely also that the 20th-century Spaniard, St. Josemaria Escrivá, drank from his spiritual fountain. Despite these, and many other, personal connections to famous religious orders and their founders, St. John always remained a diocesan priest, not a religious order priest, something unusual for a priest of his era with such wide influence. John of Avila died on May 10, 1569, and, in accord with his wishes, was buried in the Jesuit Church in Montilla. Beatified on September 15, 1894, he was declared patron of diocesan priests in Spain on July 2, 1946, and was canonized on May 31, 1970 by Pope Paul VI. PATRON: Diocesan priests, Andalusia Spain and Spanish clergy. PRAYER: Saint John of Ávila, your refined education, broad mind, and ardent love of God and Mary showed itself in all you did and said. May our lives likewise reflect our deepest Christian beliefs, inspiring our friends and families to live saintly perfection. Amen.
There is a really lovely film on the life of St Damian on utube. I would say he was the Mother Teresa of his day in that he caused the whole world to pause and stop with their mouths open. Goodness walking. At the time Belgium and Holland were amongst the greatest Catholic Missionaries in the World. Now the Faith in both countries has collapsed. It is good to ask the simple question: Why? https://fsspx.news/en/news/belgium-church-statistics-2022-are-concerning-40779
SAINT OF THE DAY MONDAY, 11 MAY, 2026 SAINT FRANCIS OF GIROLAMO (FRANCIS DE GERONIMO) (1642-1716 A.D.) Francis di Girolamo was born on the 17th of December, 1642. His parents, John Leonard di Girolamo and Gentilesca Gravina, were distinguished less by the honorable status which they occupied in society, than by their virtues and the excellent education they gave to their children—eleven in number, of whom Francis was the eldest. Showing early signs of intense piety and intellectual ability, he was received into a community of secular priests who initiated his education. He received the tonsure at sixteen and was ordained with special permission before the age of twenty-four. He taught at a Jesuit college for several years, and at twenty-eight was received into the Society of Jesus, having overcome his father's strong opposition to his decision by his own meekness and charity. His novitiate complete, Francis was sent to Leece to assist a renowned preacher, Father Agnello Bruno. For the next three years the two ardent priests traversed the length and breadth of the province of Otranto. At the close of the mission Francis completed his theological studies and was professed. The next field of his apostolic labors was to preach at the Church of Gesu Nuovo in Naples, and from the onset, attracted huge crowds. His preaching produced such excellent results that he was appointed to train other missionaries. Preaching was his dominant talent. Wherever he went, people were spellbound by his eloquence and crowded his confessional. He preached in one church after another, at times impromptu in the street, he visited hospitals, prisons and galleys. Once he brought to the Faith twenty Turkish prisoners in a Spanish galley. The holy Jesuit's preaching was enhanced by his reputation as a wonder-worker, though he continuously disclaimed any extraordinary powers, and rather attributed the numerous cures which accompanied his ministry to the intercession of St. Cyrus to whom he had a special devotion. After suffering from a painful illness, St. Francis of Girolamo died at age seventy-four. He was canonized in 1839. St. Francis of Girolamo: Pray for us!
It is astonishing the number of Jesuit saints there are. I wonder what they think , looking down from heaven, about the abominable state of their poor order today? https://www.jesuits.global/2025/11/04/jesuit-saints-for-today/ Jesuit saints for today On November 5, the Society of Jesus celebrates the feast of all its saints, and on November 6, its deceased members. Other religious institutes do the same during these days, close to 1 and 2 November, when the Church commemorates them. It is usually within these dates (1 and 2 November) that we can group together all the saints recognized by the Church throughout the year. Currently, there are 53 saints (34 of them martyrs) and 158 blessed ones (149 of them martyrs) among the Jesuits. In addition, there are 15 venerable servants of God on the path to sainthood. The journey to “official” sainthood is usually slow, mostly because the Church wants to be sure of them. Even in modern times when their Order has sunk so low we see modern Jesuit saints still amongst us.
....... and his miracles Numerous miracles were attributed to his intercession both during his life and after his death, and these were juridically examined over the decades following his death through the classical canonical procedure. The cause accumulated the required evidence and Gregory XVI canonized him on 26 May 1839. Pius VII had beatified him in 1806. The canonization predates the Consulta Medica by more than a century; the miracles were authenticated through the pre-modern formal process, and their clinical particulars are held in the historical cause documents in Rome rather than in accessible public sources.
SAINTS OF THE DAY TUESDAY, 12 MAY, 2026 SAINT FLAVIA DOMITILLA, SAINT NEREUS, SAINT ACHILLEUS, SAINT PANCRAS SAINT FLAVIA DOMITILLA Flavia Domitilla was honored with banishment and death for the sake of our Redeemer, whom she had chosen for her Spouse. She was of the imperial family, being a niece of Flavius Clemens, who adorned the consular dignity by martyrdom. She was one of the Christians belonging to the court of the Emperor Domitian, who show us how rapidly the religion of the poor and humble made its way to the highest classes of Roman life. A few years previous to this, St. Paul sent to the Christians of Philippi the greetings of the Christians of Nero's palace. There is still extant, not far from Rome, on the Ardeatine Way, the magnificent subterranean cemetery which Flavia Domitilla ordered to be dug on her praedium, and in which were buried the two martyrs, Nereus and Achilleus, whom the Church honors today together with the noble virgin who owes her crown to them. Nereus and Achilleus were in Domitilla's service. Hearing them one day speaking of the merit of virginity, she there and then bade farewell to all worldly pleasures, and aspired to the honor of being the Spouse of Christ. She received the veil of consecrated virgins from the hands of Pope St. Clement. SAINT NEREUS AND SAINT ACHILLEUS Nereus and Achilleus were Roman soldiers of the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's bodyguards) who were martyred at the end of the first century, and were said to have been baptized by St. Peter himself. When they became Christians they gave up their posts which they saw as immoral and were exiled and then killed under the reign of the emperor Trajan. An epitaph written by Pope Damasus says the following: "Nereus and Achilleus the martyrs joined the army and carried out the cruel orders of the tyrant, obeying his will continually out of fear. Then came a miracle of faith. They suddenly gave up their savagery, they were converted, they fled the camp of their evil leader, throwing away their shields, armor, and bloody spears. Professing the faith of Christ, they are happy to witness to its triumph. From these words of Damasus understand what great deeds can be brought about by Christ's glory." SAINT PANCRAS St. Pancras, or Pancratius, was a Syrian boy of pagan origin who went to Rome and was converted to Christianity. He was beheaded in 304 at the age of 14 during the persecution of the Emperor Diocletian. He is buried on the Via Aurelia in Rome and the church of St. Pancratius, which still stands today, was built on his grave in the fourth century. Saints Nereus, Achilleus and Pancras have been honored together on May 12 since the fourth century. COLLECT PRAYER: Grant, we pray, Almighty God, that we, who know the great courage of the glorious Martyrs Nereus and Achilleus in confessing you, may experience their loving intercession for us in your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. May your Church rejoice, O God, confident in the intercession of the Martyr Saint Pancras, and by his glorious prayers may she persevere in devotion to you and stand ever firm. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. St. Nereus, St. Achilles, St. Domitilla and St. Pancras: Pray for us!
Blessed Alvaro del Portillo (11 March 1914 - 23 March 1994) May 12 is the feast day of Blessed Alvaro del Portillo, assigned to the anniversary of his First Holy Communion received on this date in 1921 in Madrid. His death fell on 23 March 1994 within Lent, which precluded its use as a liturgical memorial. A Madrid-born civil engineer turned priest, ordained in 1944, he was among the earliest members of Opus Dei, a close collaborator of Saint Josemaria Escriva, a contributor to the Second Vatican Council documents, and from 1982 the first Prelate and Bishop of Opus Dei. He died hours after celebrating Mass in the Upper Room in Jerusalem. He is patron of those who seek holiness in ordinary life. ◾The miracle for his beatification concerned Jose Ignacio Ureta Wilson, a newborn in Chile who suffered cardiac arrest lasting more than thirty minutes with no response to resuscitation. His mother prayed to Alvaro del Portillo for his recovery. The child recovered completely without neurological sequelae. The Consulta Medica determined the recovery medically inexplicable. Pope Francis approved the miracle on 5 July 2013 and the beatification took place on 27 September 2014 in Madrid. Blessed Alvaro pray for us.
I watched the most wonderful video about this saint yesterday. She was the most powerful and richest woman in Rome and yet became a Christian. A lot of these AI videos are really excellent.
FEAST OF THE DAY WEDNESDAY, 13 MAY, 2026 OUR LADY OF FATIMA Today is the Anniversary of the apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. The Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God, appeared 6 times to 3 shepherd children near the town of Fatima, Portugal between May 13 and October 13, 1917. The Blessed Virgin told them that She had been sent by God with a message for the whole world. Coming at a time when civilization was torn as under by war and bloody violence, She promised that Heaven would grant peace to all the world if Her requests for prayer, reparation and consecration were heard and obeyed. "IF MY REQUESTS ARE GRANTED... THERE WILL BE PEACE": Our Lady of Fatima explained to the children that war is a punishment for sin and warned that God would further punish the world for its disobedience to His Will by means of war, hunger and the persecution of the Church, the Holy Father and the Catholic Faithful. Our Lady prophesied that Russia would be God's "instrument of chastisement,". "If My requests are not granted, Russia will spread its errors throughout the world, raising up wars and persecutions against the Church. The good will be martryed, the Holy Father will suffer much and various nations will be annihilated." In all Her appearances at Fatima, the Blessed Mother repeatedly emphasized the necessity of praying the Rosary daily, of wearing the Brown Scapular of Mount Carmel and of performing acts of reparation and sacrifice. To prevent the terrible chastisement at the hands of Russia and to convert "that poor nation", Our Lady requested the solemn public Consecration of Russia to Her Immaculate Heart by the Pope and all the Catholic bishops of the world. She also asked that the Faithful practice a new devotion of reparation on the first Saturday of five consecutive months ("The Five First Saturdays") THE SECRETS: Our Lady's Message to the world is contained in the "Secret" which She confided to the three child seers in July 1917. The Secret actually consists of three parts, the first two of which have been publicly revealed. The first part of the Secret was a horrifying Vision of hell "where the souls of poor sinners go" and contained an urgent plea from Our Lady for acts of prayer and sacrifice to save souls. The second part of the Secret specifically prophesied the outbreak of World War II and contained the Mother of God's solemn request for the Consecration of Russia as a condition for world peace. It also predicted the inevitable triumph of Her Immaculate Heart following Russia's consecration and the conversion "of that poor nation" to the Catholic Faith. The third part of the secret has raised a lot of controversy. THE MIRACLE OF THE SUN: As the crowd watched, they did not see all the visions to which the children were favored, but they were able to gaze directly at the sun as it faded and glowed in different ways. It gave off amazing shafts of colorful light in various directions as it appeared to spin and dance. Suddenly, it appeared to zig-zag downward, hurtling toward the people. Many screamed out in terror, many begging for mercy, others praying the Act of Contrition. As suddenly as it had appeared to be falling toward them, the sun swerved back into its orbit and took its normal place. The rain had stopped and everything, including the muddy ground, was dry. The promised miracle had indeed occurred as promised. MORE MESSAGES AT FATIMA: Our Holy Mother had told the children that the two younger ones would be in heaven soon. True to Her word, Francisco died on April 4, 1919 at age 11, and Jacinta died on February 20, 1920 at age 9. Lucia entered the Dorothean convent to learn to read and write as instructed by Our Lady, and later became a Carmelite nun. She died at age 97 in the year 2005. Before she died, little Jacinta revealed little-known but remarkable statements made by Our Lady. Here are just some of them:More souls go to hell because of sins of the flesh than for any other reason. Certain fashions will be introduced that will offend Our Lord very much. Many marriages are not good; they do not please Our Lord and are not of God. Priests must be pure, very pure. They should not busy themselves with anything except what concerns the Church and souls. The disobedience of priests to their superiors and to the Holy Father is very displeasing to Our Lord. The Blessed Mother can no longer restrain the hand of her Divine Son from striking the world with just punishment for its many crimes. Tell everybody that God gives graces through the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Tell them to ask graces from her, and that the Heart of Jesus wishes to be venerated together with the Immaculate Heart of Mary. COLLECT PRAYER: O God, who chose the Mother of your Son to be our Mother also, grant us that, persevering in penance and prayer for the salvation of the world, we may further more effectively each day the reign of Christ. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. THE FIVE FATIMA PRAYERS 1. THE FATIMA PRAYER (DECADE PRAYER) "O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of hell, lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy. Amen." The Blessed Virgin Mary told the 3 children that people should add this prayer to the end of each decade of the Rosary. 2. THE PARDON PRAYER "My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love Thee. I beg pardon for all those who do not believe, do not adore, do not hope and do not love Thee." This prayer was given to the children by the Angel of Peace that visited them in 1916, the year before Mary appeared to them. 3. THE ANGEL'S PRAYER "O Most Holy Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, I adore Thee profoundly. I offer Thee the most precious Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ present in all the tabernacles of the world, in reparation for the outrages, sacrileges and indifferences by which He is offended. By the infinite merits of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary I beg the conversion of poor sinners. Amen." This prayer is given to them by the Angel of Peace. There was a Eucharistic host and chalice suspended in the air, and the angel led them in kneeling before it and praying this prayer. 4. THE EUCHARISTIC PRAYER "Most Holy Trinity, I adore Thee! My God, my God, I love Thee in the Most Blessed Sacrament. Amen." When Mary appeared to the children for the first time on May 13, 1917, she said, “You will have much to suffer, but the grace of God will be your comfort.” According to Sr. Lucia, a bright light shone all around them, and without thinking about it, they all started reciting this prayer. 5. THE SACRIFICE PRAYER "O Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, in reparation for the offenses committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and for the conversion of poor sinners [that I do this]. Amen." Mary gave the children this prayer, as well as the Fatima Prayer/Decade Prayer, on June 13th, 1917. The prayer is meant to be recited when you are offering up suffering to God.
I see Pope Leo is to visit Spain in June. No word of him visiting Portugal though. I believe pretty well all recent Popes visited Fatima though. I am sure Leo will get around to it. There is the most wonderful statue of Pope St John Paul in Fatima though in the Plaza. He made a huge impact when he visited Spain and Portugal and well everywhere he went truly a great Pope. Both he and Benedict had the most interesting things to say about Fatima. https://fatima.org/pope-john-paul-ii-in-fulda-germany-1980/ Pope John Paul II in Fulda, Germany (1980) Published Testimony: The October 1981 issue of the German magazine Stimme des Glaubens reported on a discussion that Pope John Paul II had with a select group of German Catholics, in November of 1980. The following is a verbatim report of the discussion:1 Text of the Published Report The Holy Father was asked, “What about the Third Secret of Fatima? Should it not have already been published by 1960?” Pope John Paul II replied: “Given the seriousness of the contents, my predecessors in the Petrine office diplomatically preferred to postpone publication so as not to encourage the world power of Communism to make certain moves. “On the other hand, it should be sufficient for all Christians to know this: if there is a message in which it is written that the oceans will flood whole areas of the earth, and that from one moment to the next millions of people will perish, truly the publication of such a message is no longer something to be so much desired.” The Pope continued: “Many wish to know simply from curiosity and a taste for the sensational, but they forget that knowledge also implies responsibility. They only seek the satisfaction of their curiosity, and that is dangerous if at the same time they are not disposed to do something, and if they are convinced that it is impossible to do anything against evil.” At this point the Pope grasped a Rosary and said: “Here is the remedy against this evil. Pray, pray, and ask for nothing more. Leave everything else to the Mother of God.” The Holy Father was then asked: “What is going to happen to the Church?” He answered: “We must prepare ourselves to suffer great trials before long, such as will demand of us a disposition to give up even life, and a total dedication to Christ and for Christ… With your and my prayer it is possible to mitigate this tribulation, but it is no longer possible to avert it, because only thus can the Church be effectively renewed. How many times has the renewal of the Church sprung from blood! This time, too, it will not be otherwise. We must be strong and prepared, and trust in Christ and His Mother, and be very, very assiduous in praying the Rosary.”
https://www.womenofgrace.com:8443/blog/?p=4729 Pope Elaborates On Third Secret of Fatima Posted on May 12, 2010 by Susan Brinkmann By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist During a press conference en route to Portugal yesterday, Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the relevance of the third secret of Fatima. Fr. John Zuhlsdorf of the popular blog, What Does the Prayer Really Say, posted a translation of the press conference held during the Pope’s flight to Portugal yesterday. During this exchange with reporters, the Holy Father was asked if the third secret of Fatima could be extended beyond the assassination attempt against John Paul II to include other sufferings of the popes such as those caused by the sex abuse scandal. “With regard to this great vision of the suffering of the popes, beyond the circumstances of John Paul II, other realities are indicated which over time will develop and become clear,” the Pope said. “Thus it’s true that beyond the moment indicated in the vision, one speaks about and sees the necessity of suffering by the church. It’s focused on the person of the pope, but the pope stands for the church, and therefore sufferings of the church are announced. The church will always be suffering in various ways, up to the end of the world. “The important point is that the message of Fatima in its substance is not addressed to particular situations, but a fundamental response: permanent conversion, penance, prayer, and the three cardinal virtues: faith, hope and charity. One sees there the true, fundamental response the church must give, which each of us individually must give, in this situation.” The Pope went on to say that attacks against the pope and the Church don’t just come from the outside. “The suffering of the Church also comes from within the Church, because sin exists in the Church. This too has always been known, but today we see it in a really terrifying way. The greatest persecution of the church doesn’t come from enemies on the outside, but is born in sin within the church. “The Church thus has a deep need to re-learn penance, to accept purification, to learn on one hand forgiveness but also the necessity of justice. Forgiveness does not exclude justice. We have to re-learn the essentials: conversion, prayer, penance, and the theological virtues. That’s how we respond, and we can be realistic in expecting that evil will always launch attacks from within and from outside, but the forces of good are also always present, and finally the Lord is stronger than evil. The Madonna for us is the visible maternal guarantee that the will of God is always the last word in history.”
.. a Saint for today Saint Andrew Hubert Fournet (6 December 1752 - 13 May 1834) May 13 is the feast day of Saint Andrew Hubert Fournet, observed on the anniversary of his death in La Puye, France, in 1834. Born in Poitiers into a bourgeois family, he resisted his priestly vocation for years before ordination in 1776. Assigned to the rural parish of Maille, he devoted himself entirely to his parishioners through the upheaval of the French Revolution, hiding from revolutionary authorities and ministering clandestinely at personal risk. With Saint Elizabeth Bichier des Ages he co-founded the Daughters of the Cross in 1807, a congregation dedicated to educating poor rural children and caring for the sick. He is patron of rural clergy and of religious educators. ◾The miracles for his beatification in 1926 and canonization in 1933 were examined through the classical canonical procedure under Pope Pius XI. The process predates the Consulta Medica by fifteen years; the specific clinical details of the examined cases are held in the historical cause documents in Rome rather than in accessible public sources. Saint Andrew Hubert, pray for us.
