My God,
bestow Your blessings and Your mercies
on all persons
and on those souls in Purgatory
for whom I am in charity, gratitude, or friendship bound
and have the desire to pray.
November 2, 2017
November 1, 2017
Leprosy - that dreadful word
causing terror in the heart
bad enough to live with rotting flesh
but even worse to be among the living dead
cut off from relatives, friends, community
November 1, 2017
Fr. Chris Saenz is a native of Bellevue, Nebraska, and belongs to the Missionary Society of St. Columbans (commonly known as the Columban Fathers). He never felt a priesthood vocation when he was young. In reality, Fr. Saenz did not participate much in the Church during his youth. However, at the age of 21 he had a conversion experience after reading the book, The Song of Bernadette. That was the first time he began to feel a priesthood vocation which, at first, he rejected.
November 1, 2017
Almighty and Everlasting God,
who placed the flame of Your love in the hearts of the saints,
grant us the same faith and power of love
as we rejoice in their triumphs.
May their prayers bring us your forgiveness and love
that we may profit by their examples, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
November 1, 2017
During the years between 1972 and 1975, I was pastor of a parish in Seoul, Korea. On Friday mornings I would go to a large prison nearby to visit the death row prisoners. Among the prisoners that I would visit there was one whose name was Matthew who was a very happy go lucky individual. He was from North Korea.
October 31, 2017
Have Mercy, O gentle Jesus!
on the Souls detained in Purgatory.
Thou Who for their ransom didst take upon Thyself
our human nature and suffer the most cruel death,
pity their sighs and the tears shed
when they raise their longing eyes toward Thee;
and by virtue of Thy Passion,
cancel the penalty due to their sins.
October 30, 2017
Columban Fr. Frank Hoare shared this page from his missionary diary: My meeting Michael Rangu Raj on the streets of the town today, for the fi rst time in twenty years, left me astounded. He recognized and saluted me. Then he grabbed my hand and began appealing to me to forgive him. "I am sorry Father, please forgive me. I did wrong but you must not hold it against me," he repeated. I was staggered. In view of our last couple of meetings, I would have expected him to ignore me or to treat me coldly. Instead here he was appealing for mercy.
October 30, 2017
Father, God of all consolation,
in Your unending love and mercy for us
You turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life.
Through Your Son, Jesus Christ,
we ask You to deliver the souls in Purgatory,
especially those for whom we now pray.
October 29, 2017
O God, whose only-begotten Son,
by His life, death and resurrection,
has purchased for us the rewards of eternal life;
grant, we beseech Thee, that,
meditating upon these mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary
of the Blessed Virgin Mary,
we may imitate what they contain
and obtain what they promise,
through the same Christ our Lord.
Amen.
October 28, 2017
Lord Jesus, our Savior and our brother,
listen to our prayer and look with love on Your child.
Visit him/her in this time of sickness
and fill him/her with the gifts of your Spirit,
that he/she may have the courage to carry your cross,
the strength to believe in your love,
and the faith to persevere in hope and prayer.
Restore his/her strength
The Columbans are a society of missionaries, including priests and lay people, who minister to people of various cultures as a way of witnessing to the universal love of God.