O my God,
I firmly believe that you are one God
in three divine Persons,
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
I believe that your divine son became man,
died for our sins,
and that he will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe these and all the truths
which the holy Catholic Church teaches,
because you who have revealed them,
September 22, 2019
September 21, 2019
O Immaculate Virgin Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Mother of Grace, and Queen of the kingdom of your Son,
humbly kneeling before you,
we offer you this country in which we live.
It once was yours.
Before it was robbed of the holy Faith
all its children were your children,
and you were honored throughout.
Again do we consecrate it to you;
September 20, 2019
How the seasons change,
how certain it is that Summer
gives way to Autumn,
and the falling of the leaves,
and the passing of so many things,
and the tears of one who grieves.
Yet Winter gives way to Spring,
new hope and life after suffering.
September 19, 2019
Hail, holy Queen, Mother of Mercy!
Guard the kingdom of your Vicar on earth,
our chief bishop.
Pray for the people;
intercede for the clergy;
protect the consecrated.
Give us strength against our enemies and yours.
Give courage to the fearful;
joy to those that mourn;
peace to the contrite of heart;
perseverance to the just.
September 18, 2019
O Holy Mother of God, Virgin ever blest,
O Mary Immaculate, pray for us,
intercede for us, disdain not to help us.
For we are confident and know for certain
that you can obtain all you wish from your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
God Almighty, the King of ages,
who lives with the Father and the Holy Ghost,
forever and ever.
September 17, 2019
You are Lord of all,
Lord of the living and the dead,
Lord of death, for you died for us,
Lord of Life, for you rose to glory.
You are the hope of all the world
that death is not the end,
and that in the power of your Spirit
we too shall rise with you again.
September 16, 2019
I first met Mr. Ikehata when Rev. Tesshu, a Buddhist priest, took Columban Fr. Bede Cleary and me to meet him on a hot summer day. The four of us were sitting round a low table in the tatami room and in no time at all the conversation was about the Holy Spirit.
September 16, 2019
O Virgin, fair as the moon,
delight of the angels and saints in heaven,
grant that we may become like you
and that our souls may receive a ray of your beauty,
which does not decline with the years
but shines forth into eternity.
O Mary, sun of heaven,
restore life where there is death
and enlighten spirits where there is darkness.
September 15, 2019
O Loving Mother, join your prayers to our petitions
for those who do not cease to be your children
even though they have abandoned the faith and fallen into sin.
May a remembrance of your love and beauty
touch their hearts at depths we cannot reach.
As at Pentecost, so now pray for the Church;
pray for our parish, our priests, our Brothers and our Sisters,
September 14, 2019
The Cross is my sure salvation.
The Cross I ever adore.
The Cross of my Lord is with me.
The Cross is my refuge.
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.