Tag: "prayer"

Book Review: Habits for Holiness by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR
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Book Review: Habits for Holiness by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR

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                Ascension Press has released a new book by Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, CFR called Habits for Holiness.  The book is all about making spiritual progress on the journey of living out the faith, of prayer, and of virtue.  It is not impossible to become holy, and this is the goal of the book to teach […]

Book Review: The Imitation of Mary by Fr. Quan Tran
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Book Review: The Imitation of Mary by Fr. Quan Tran

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Keys to Grow in Virtue and Grace Fr. Quan Tran, Roman Catholic priest and Author has written a book offering keyways to grow in love of the Lord through growth in virtue and grace.  The book is beautifully written with each chapter focusing on a key element of how we can grow in imitation of […]

Book Review: Listening for God by Teresa Tomeo
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Book Review: Listening for God by Teresa Tomeo

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Discovering the Incredible Ways God Speaks to Us Popular Catholic Talk Show Host, Author, and Journalist Teresa Tomeo has written a new book, Listening for God: Discovering the Incredible Ways God Speaks to Us.  Beautifully laid-out with vignettes from several authors and evangelists within chapters, the book offers beautiful insights into seeing and experiencing the […]

Recognizing God's Presence
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Recognizing God’s Presence

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Recognizing God in Small Moments Recognizing God in the everyday moments are an art.  Whether we are young, somewhere in the middle or old.  Life has its slow times and the busy times.  I think having eyes to see “His hand” in all we do is something that take patience! Think for a moment about […]

A Mother's Prayer
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A Mother’s Prayer

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I stood by helplessly and watched as a text message received by one of my older children instantly transformed a situation that showed much promise into a state of uncertainty.  My child was visibly disappointed and frustrated.  All I could do was give a reassuring hug and offer some words of consolation.  Throughout my work […]

Sweet Silence
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Sweet Silence

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Shielding my eyes from the blinding sun, I sensed, rather than heard, a presence to my left as I stood in line waiting to board the plane. His face was about five inches from mine. I could see his lips moving but could hear nothing. Finally I faced him squarely and he repeated himself. “What’s […]

Living Holy Saturday
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Living Holy Saturday

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“For they did not yet understand the scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:9) On Good Friday, the impossible happened. God Himself was executed by His creatures. On Easter Sunday, this same God, our Lord Jesus Christ, rose from the dead, victorious over the power of the grave. In so doing, […]

Faith, Hope, and Love in the Annunciation
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Faith, Hope, and Love in the Annunciation

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One of my most fond memories of my semester in Rome was from our trip to Northern Italy. We visited quite a few museums and beautiful churches, yet one moment that stuck with me was our visit in Florence. After a long and beautiful Tuscan day, several of us went to a bar. Nights like […]

Mount Rushmore with American Flag Background
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National Day of Prayer 2017

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Thursday, May 4th, 2017.

<i>Praying the Angelus</i> - (Re)Discover an Ancient Prayer
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Praying the Angelus – (Re)Discover an Ancient Prayer

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My knowledge of the Angelus prayer was minimal at best before reading Praying the Angelus by Jared Dees (Ave Maria Press, 2017). I doubt that I am alone in that regard. Dees, a high school theology teacher, describes his own confusion when first listening to the Angelus in Latin when in Rome and then learning […]

Prayers For Our Country
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Prayers For Our Country

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From the Roman Missal.

Seven People to Pray for Today
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Seven People to Pray for Today

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It’s easy to fall into the habit of praying in too small a circle. We pray for our personal intentions, for our families and closest friends, our parish, but we sometimes forget to open the lens a bit and commit to intercessory prayer for those who may have no one praying for them at all. […]

On the Beautiful Prayer of Crying
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On the Beautiful Prayer of Crying

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A boy falls and skins his knees. A boy wrestles in the living room and bonks his head on the coffee table. A boy tries to field a ground ball at shortstop, only to take a bad hop that bloodies his nose, or gets plowed by a much bigger boy on the football field. “Boys […]

Holy Spirit, Inspire Me to Speak
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Holy Spirit, Inspire Me to Speak

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Holy Week and Easter Sunday, the 2016 versions, are in our rearview mirror. That means we are in the midst of the Easter Season – a.k.a. Eastertide or Paschal Time. To exemplify the importance the season holds on the Church liturgical calendar, Eastertide lasts 50 days, longer than both Lent and Advent. St. Athanasius reckoned […]

Two Ways to Maximize Prayers This Lent
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Two Ways to Maximize Prayers This Lent

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Supersize, maximize, be all you can be…because if you are going to do something, why not get the most out of it? Prayer is one of those things. We know we can do it poorly — babbling like the pagans do and not even paying attention to what we are saying. “What the world most […]

A Matter Of Penance or Radical Permission
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A Matter Of Penance or Radical Permission

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This past Advent as I attended Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest mercifully imposed a seemingly unchallenging penance: say one “Our Father.” The 10-year-old Mike would have loved that penance a whole lot more than what the priest typically prescribed at the time. I’ll never forget the day he prescribed young Mike an entire Rosary as […]

Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources
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Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources

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Lent comes early this year. February 10th is Ash Wednesday! That’s just three weeks away, folks. So instead of waiting until the last minute and grasping at your old standbys (giving up chocolate or God forbid, coffee), why not plan ahead using our convenient list of resources below? Make this your most spiritually fruitful Lent ever! Reprinted with […]

From Loathing to Loving the Rosary
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From Loathing to Loving the Rosary

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One of the things I love about Advent and Christmas is the extra emphasis on the Blessed Mother. As a motherless Catholic, it’s been easy to embrace Mary as my own mother and I always love hearing the Scriptures about her this time of year. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. For most of my years […]

Book Review: <em>Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena</em>
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Book Review: Our Lady, Undoer of Knots: A Living Novena

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On October 12, 2013, “Pope Francis revealed to the world his special devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title Our Lady, Undoer of Knots. . . He spoke of Mary as the ‘new Eve’ who unties the knot of Eve’s disobedience.” In May 2014, Marge Fenelon traveled to the Holy Land with the […]

O Me of Little Faith
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O Me of Little Faith

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I guess you never know how little faith you have, until it is tested. Faith never grows, unless it is tested. I have found it to be a vicious lifelong cycle. I think I have faith, it gets tested, and I realize how little faith I have after all. I have been praying for something […]

All Saints Icon (detail)
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Is Praying to the Saints Idolatrous?

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Praying to the Saints is the opposite of idolatry.

All Saints Icon (detail)
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Does Scripture Teach Us to Pray for the Departed, and to Pray to the Saints?

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Answer: Yes.

All Saints Icon (detail)
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Three Things You’re Probably Getting Wrong About Praying to the Saints

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The Saints in Heaven are living witnesses and members of the Church.

The Saint Knows: God is All You Need
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The Saint Knows: God is All You Need

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My mind has been calmed by, among other things, a bookmark and a simple prayer. I’m writing these thoughts late in the evening Thursday, October 15. For the Catholic Church, this has been the Feast Day of St. Teresa of Avila. Among those in the Discalced Carmelite order – be they priests/friars, nuns or lay […]