For Terry...in honor of Xena-Celine, his "best friend"

Santa Teresia, Ora pro nobis!

http://www.avila.com/avila_guide/saint_teresa_of_avila

One of my favorite saints...she loved Jesus so absolutely! And her life is a testimony of the great Mercy of the Lord.
Saint Teresa, pray for us!
Pray that we all may know the mercies of the Lord...and His loving-kindness...we need to know this more than ever today!

Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun, Fatima, 1917

A video of Sister Lucia, visionary of Fatima, singing the "Ave Maria" with her sisters in Carmel.
Beautiful!

Hood tip to:http://4thepriests.wordpress.com/
and http://catholicismpure.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/fatima-visionary-sings-ave-maria/#

A guide about the angels

Angel of God, My Guardian Dear

I believe in the power and action of the Guardian Angel.
This last summer I was driving home on the interstate, after doing errands.
In front of me, a truck with a trailer, all of a sudden began to veer; the trailer detached from the truck...it came right into my direction...somehow it did not hit me...if it would have, it would come in through the windshield...I could have been "pulverized"...
I am so grateful that my Guardian Angel loves me and cares for me.
So very grateful.
Tell your Guardian Angel tonight how grateful you are that you have been spared from sudden death.
Really.

Memorial of St. Therese of the Infant Jesus and the Holy Face

I absolutely love this photo of St. Therese. From what I have read, this was taken by her sister, Celine, when she was so very ill. Her penetrating gaze is so awesome...the fire of the Holy Spirit is just so present.
St. Therese has been my sister and guide all these years of my life as a Catholic. I believe she chose me; guided me; prepared me for religious life and the priesthood.
I love her so very much...she was so in love with Jesus, loved Holy Mother Church so passionately, and yet, was very human (she mimicked the chaplain...and she's a saint!)...I love her sense of humor and irony...she had no illusions about life, about faith, about what it means to live a spiritual life, about what it means to belong to Jesus, "absolutely", and her meditations upon our Holy Mother are so filled with deep, intimate knowledge of the Mother of God and Her love for each of us.
St. Therese, pray for us! Pray for bishops and priests! Pray for families! Pray for consecrated souls that they may be "a holocaust of love" that you lived in Carmel!

Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael

On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said:

"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: 'Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world."'

Saint 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 Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.

Source:http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/michael.htm
Image:http://www.msgr.ca/msgr-3/st_michael_the_archangel-1.htm