Prayers To Patron Saints In Time Of Need Or Crises

PLEASE CONTINUE TO COPY AND PAST THESE PATRON ST. PRAYERS TO ANYONE WHO MAY BE IN NEED OR CRISES. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KEEP SAYING AND SPREADING THEIR NAMES SO THAT OTHERS MAY KNOW OF THEM AND PRAY FOR THEIR OWN SPECIAL INTENTIONS. THANK YOU!

These 4 Patron Saints are waiting to here from you, they have interceded on my behalf many times and have answered numerous prayers and requests. They can do the same for you in your time of need or crises.

Saint Joseph

O Glorious St. Joseph, thou who hast power to render possible even things which are considered impossible, come to our aid in our present trouble and distress. Take this important and difficult affair under thy particular protection, that it may end happily. 

(mention your request)

O dear St. Joseph, all our confidence is in thee. Let it not be said that we would invoke thee in vain; and since thou art so powerful with Jesus and Mary, show that thy goodness equals thy power. Amen. St. Joseph, friend of the Sacred Heart, pray for us.

________________________________________________________________________

Saint Anthony

Blessed be God in His Angels and in His Saints.

St. Anthony, gentlest of Saints, your love for God and charity for his creatures, made you worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers. Miracles waited on your word, which you were ready to speak for those in trouble or anxiety. Encouraged by this thought, I ask you to obtain for me the favors that I seek 

(mention your request here)

The answer to my prayer may require a miracle, even so, you are the Saint of Miracles.

O gentle and loving St. Anthony, whose heart was full of sympathy, whisper my petition into the ears of the Infant Jesus, who loved to be held in your arms; and the gratitude of my heart will ever by yours.  Amen.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Saint Jude

O most holy apostle, Saint Jude, faithful servant and friend of Jesus, the Church honors and invokes thee universally, as the patron of hopeless cases, and of things almost despaired of.

Pray for me, who am so miserable. Make use, I implore thee, of that particular privilege accorded to thee, to bring visible and speedy help where help was almost despaired of.

Come to mine assistance in this great need, that I may receive the consolation and succor of Heaven in all my necessities, tribulations, and sufferings, particularly...

(here make your request)

And that I may praise God with thee and all the elect throughout eternity. 

I promise thee, O blessed Jude, to be ever mindful of this great favor, to always honor thee as my special and powerful patron, and to gratefully encourage devotion to thee. Amen.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Saint Anne

Glorious St. Anne, filled with compassion for those who invoke you and with love for those who suffer, heavily laden with the weight of my troubles, I cast myself at your feet and humbly beg of you to take the present affair which I recommend to you under your special protection.

Vouchsafe to recommend it to your daughter, the Blessed Virgin Mary, and lay it before the throne of Jesus, so that He may bring it to a happy issue. Cease not to intercede for me until my request is granted.

(Here ask for favor you wish to obtain.)

Above all, obtain for me the grace of one day beholding my God face to face, and with You and Mary and all the saints, praising and blessing Him through all eternity. Amen.

(repeat three times)

Good St. Anne, mother of her who is our life, our sweetness and our hope, pray to her for us and obtain our request. 

________________________________________________________________________

Remember to always give thanks when requesting prayers or when prayers have been answered and to say the Patron Saints name aloud so others so may know of your good fortune so that they may invoke them for their own special intentions.

Why Pray The Rosary Every Day?

Each time the Blessed Virgin has appeared-- whether it be to Saint Bernadette Soubirous at Lourdes; to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco at Fatima; or to Mariette Beco at Banneux-- she has asserted the importance, saving grace, and power of praying the Holy Rosary on a daily basis. Based upon her words, the Rosary is penance and conversion for sinners, a pathway to peace, an end to war, and a powerful act of faith in Jesus Christ. Pope Paul VI presented the Rosary as a powerful means to reach Christ "not merely with Mary but indeed, insofar as this is possible to us, in the same way as Mary, who is certainly the one who thought about Him more than anyone else has ever done." 

To show us how this is done, perhaps no one has been more eloquent than the great Cardinal Newman, who wrote: "The great power of the Rosary consists in the fact that it translates the Creed into Prayer. Of course, the Creed is already in a certain sense a prayer and a great act of homage towards God, but the Rosary brings us to meditate again on the great truth of His life and death, and brings this truth close to our hearts. Even Christians, although they know God, usually fear rather than love Him. The strength of the Rosary lies in the particular manner in which it considers these mysteries, since all our thinking about Christ is intertwined with the thought of His Mother, in the relations between Mother and Son; the Holy Family is presented to us, the home in which God lived His infinite love."

As Mary said at Fatima, "Jesus wants to use you to make Me known and loved. He wishes to establish the devotion to My Immaculate Heart throughout the world. I promise salvation to whoever embraces it; these souls will be dear to God, like flowers put by Me to adorn his throne."

St. Barnabas Prayer

God our Father,
You filled Saint Barnabas with faith
and the Holy Spirit
and sent him to convert the nations.
Help us to proclaim the gospel by word and deed.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who lives and reigns with You
and the Holy Spirit,
one God,
for ever and ever.

Prayers In Honor Of St. Barnabas

O God, who decreed that Saint Barnabas,
a man filled with faith and the Holy Spirit,
should be set apart to convert the nations,
grant that the Gospel of Christ,
which he strenuously preached,
may be faithfully proclaimed by word and by deed.
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. Barnabas Biography: Feast Day June 11

Our patron saint, St Barnabas, or Mar Bar-Naba as he is known in Aramaic, was a prominent leader in the formative days of the Church. His name is mentioned thirty times in the Scriptures, more often than most of the Twelve Apostles or even the Virgin Mary! St Barnabas is not a common saint in the Church of the East, nor are parishes named after him because he is considered a "Western Saint." However, he is certainly a Biblical saint and therefore universally accepted. Let's take a look at his life of service to the Lord.

St Barnabas was a Hebrew from the island of Cyprus. His Hebrew and Aramaic name was Yosip, or Joseph. Apostles saw in this Joseph from Cyprus a distinctive characteristic, one for which they renamed him "Bar-Naba," or Barnabas in English. Bar-Naba is an Aramaic name, the meaning of which is "Son of Prophecy."1 He was a Levite, a member of the tribe of Levi, the one tribe that did not inherit property in the Promised Land. Instead, their inheritance was God, for he said to Aaron, "You shall have no allotment in their land, nor shall you have any share among them; I am your share and your possession among the Israelites."2 The Levites were the administrators of the Old Covenant. One part of the Levites, the "Sons of Aaron," were the priests of the Old Covenant. The Levites served their cousins the priests in the Tabernacle, and later Temple, work. They were the gatekeepers, treasurers, groundskeepers and general assistants to the priests. They were supported by the tithes of the people. In turn, they tithed to the priests. We can see the similarities in this system to the New Covenant offices of deacons (shamashé) and the assistance they provide to the priests (qashishé) of the Church, although both are part of the "priesthood" (kahanutha).

   Barnabas the Believer

We first encounter Barnabas in the fourth chapter of Acts. When he was converted and became a believer in Jesus as the Messiah, we cannot be sure. However, universal Eastern Christian tradition credits Barnabas as one of the "Seventy Disciples" who were sent out by Jesus in chapter 10 of St Luke's Gospel. In the Syriac work, "The Book of the Bee," Mar Solomon, Bishop of Basra (ca 1222) lists Barnabas as the seventh of the Seventy. Thus he was a member of the same group that included Joseph Barsabbas and Matthias. These were men who were with Jesus from the beginning of his ministry and some were even earlier with John the Baptist. Concerning these men, Peter said, "So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us to his resurrection."3

When we meet Barnabas, we find him already part of the Church. And what a dedicated Church it was! Upon becoming believers, the people regarded their possessions to be God's and viewed themselves as mere stewards of those possessions. It seems they sold their excess and gave the proceeds to the Apostles to further the Gospel by caring for the needs of the poor who had also became believers.4 All were cared for, every need was met. Barnabas too, sold a field that he had and laid the money at the feet of the Apostles.5 Although the Levites were not given a specific area for their tribe, they did have their own cities and individuals could own property.6


Times of Troubles  

During the first days of the Church, there were many problems challenging the believers. Rapid growth led to financial need. An influx of foreign elements, the Gentiles, was part of this growth and added to the need for proper teaching from the mouth of the Apostles. There was distrust and disgust for these Gentiles, and their acceptance into the Church brought suspicion from the Jews, who only accepted Gentiles who converted to Judaism by circumcision.

The Church faced persecution from the Jews their kinsmen and from civil authorities as well. Within the first year of being born on the day of Pentecost, the Church yielded her first martyr, Stephen the Deacon, whose dukhrana, or memorial, we commemorate on Friday of the third week of Epiphany.7 Bitter persecution erupted against the believers in Jerusalem and Saul of Tarsus was breathing down the neck of the fledgling Church.8 The skies were darkened over the people of the "New Covenant." Saul even had permission to go to Damascus to arrest Christians there.

But on the way Saul of Tarsus received a revelation of Jesus while on the road to Damascus. Saul, the great persecutor of the Church, had now become a believer in the Messiah! He went to Damascus and there preached Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews. So hated was his message, that the Jews plotted to kill him. Upon discovering the plot, the disciples in Damascus "snuck" Saul out of town by letting him down the town walls in a basket. He made it out of Syria and all the way to Jerusalem, some 130 miles. Once there, Saul found that all the disciples of the Lord Jesus, whom he now served, were too frightened of him to have anything to do with him. All except Barnabas, that is.

    Barnabas the Friend

Saul was in need of someone to introduce him to the Apostles. His previous work in Jerusalem was persecuting the Church, but now he came to meet with Kepa (Peter), perhaps to give his testimony. Only, who could he trust? Who would be willing to be the mediator for Saul before the believers of the Lord who he had persecuted? Saint Luke tells us that it was Barnabas who "took him, brought him to the Apostles, and described for them how on the road he had seen the Lord, who had spoken to him and how in Damascus he had spoken boldly in the name of Jesus."9 Thus, St Barnabas became Saul's "sponsor" (like a god-father) and he was brought into full fellowship because of the testimony of Barnabas and with the consent of the Church.

   Barnabas and Saul Commissioned

We next encounter Barnabas still in Jerusalem when a number of men from Cyprus and Cyrene went to Antioch and preached Jesus as the Messiah to the Gentiles who lived there. This was about 41AD, and until that time the Gospel had only been brought to the Jews. But a number of these Gentiles came to believe in Jesus! So the Church in Jerusalem decided to send Barnabas to Antioch to investigate the conversions that had taken place.

Barnabas was a likely choice, being a native of Hellenized Cyprus himself. But this occasion also exhibits the great trust the Church had in Barnabas and his discernment. In fact, Luke tells us that Barnabas was "a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and of faith."10He then went to Tarsus to tell Saul about the Gentiles coming to believe in Jesus. He found Saul and brought him to Antioch, where for an entire year the two of them met with the Church and instructed them in the Faith.

Likely during this time Saul became known as "Paul." It was also there in Antioch that the believers were first called "Christians," meaning "little anointed ones." And it was there in Antioch where St Ignatius, ministering as bishop, sixty years later first called the Church "Catholic" and eighty years after that, where St Theophilus, another faithful bishop, first spoke of God as "Trinity." Much of the development of Christian doctrine happened in Antioch.

Toward the end of that year, one day during liturgy (that's what the Greek says!), Barnabas and Saul were called by the Holy Spirit to be set apart for a special ministry.11 They were to go various cities and preach in the synagogues the truth about Jesus being the Messiah and about eternal life through believing in him. Thus Barnabas and Saul went on the first missionary tour, bringing many to belief in Jesus. It was at this time that Saul became known as "Paul."

   The First Church Council

During their time working together, about ten years, Barnabas and Paul saw many non-Jews, called Gentiles, come to believe in Jesus. These people were not from the religion of the Old Covenant and their men had not received circumcision, the ceremonial surgical removal of the foreskin as prescribed by Moses. A debate arose among the Church; should a Gentile have to become a Jew and be circumcised before becoming a believer in the Messiah? This was a major question for the Church and one which gave opportunity for the Church to act in the authority given to it by Jesus when he said "Whatever you bind on earth will be bound in Heaven."12

In order to answer this question the first council of the Church was called. Here we find Barnabas and Paul, testifying to the Apostles (Shlikhé) and Elders (Qashishé) what had happened to the Gentiles as they received the Gospel and came to believe in the Messiah. In private, Paul met with them and described the Gospel message he and Barnabas preached to the Gentiles. He submitted himself and his message to the Apostles and Elders, in order to make sure that he was not preaching in vain.13 They approved of Barnabas' and Paul's message and ministry because of, in part, a vision Peter had had earlier about the Lord making that which was formally unclean now clean.

It was to Peter that the Keys of the Kingdom had been given and his vision, accepted as a revelation from God, opened the Kingdom doors to the Gentiles without their needing to become Jews first. Barnabas and Paul, through the message they taught and the ministry they rendered, became the circumstance for Peter to use the authority and the vision Jesus had given him and all the Apostles and Elders agreed. Yakob (James) therefore, stood before all the Church and said, "I have reached the decision that we should not trouble those Gentiles who are turning to God, but we should write to them to abstain only from things polluted by idols and from fornication and from whatever has been strangled and from blood."14

   Barnabas and Paul Separate

In 52AD Barnabas and Paul, along with Judas and Silas, were chosen to represent the decision of the Church in Jerusalem to the Church in Antioch and elsewhere. This representative role, or "ambassadorship," is the reason for their title of "Apostle." They were sent off to Antioch first, where Barnabas and Paul stayed and instructed the Church while Judas and Silas carried the decision to the other areas. After some time in Antioch, Paul wanted to go to all the places he and Barnabas had preached the Gospel, to inquire as to their spiritual growth. Barnabas was agreeable to his request, but he wanted to take John (called Mark or Marqos) with them. Paul would not hear of it! Mark, who seems to have been the cousin of Barnabas,15 had deserted them before in a place called Pamphylia and evidently Paul was not as forgiving as Barnabas. This disagreement caused a separation between Barnabas and Paul. Paul went on to visit the places he and Barnabas had preached in. Barnabas, who had taken the despised Saul and reconciled him to the believers years before, now took the deserter Mark and brought him to Cyprus to train him there to preach the Gospel.16 Barnabas was always the friend of the "underdog."

   Barnabas, Son of Encouragement

After this, some twenty years of serving the Church, we loose sight of Barnabas in the Scriptures. Luke carries on with the story of Paul's ministry, but Barnabas is not mentioned again in Acts; he disappears as quietly as he appeared, a Levite from Cyprus, who encouraged others in their service to the Lord.

   The "Rest of the Story"

The Book of the Bee mentioned earlier tells us Barnabas preached in Italy before returning to his native Cyprus. However, there are other two non-Biblical works that carry on the tradition of Barnabas and his importance to the early Church. The first is called "The Acts of Barnabas." It purports to be written by John Mark and begins with the separation of Barnabas and Paul and then moves on to their arrival in Cyprus. The brief work thrice mentions a scroll of the Gospel written by Matthew.

The Acts of Barnabas." also mentions one Aristoclianus, who was a leper who was cleansed in Antioch and who Barnabas and Paul had "sealed to be a bishop." The work concludes with Barnabas and John Mark going to Salamis, where there was a synagogue. Barnabas read to the Jews in the synagogue from the Gospel of Matthew, converting "not a few of the Jews." This angered a man named Bar-Jesus who two days later bound Barnabas by the neck and dragged him out of the synagogue to the local hippodrome and there burned him. Barnabas, bound and burned, finished the race in Faith, a saint, an apostle and a martyr. The year was 61AD.

This work is of great antiquity and is replete with geographical details that are consistent and accurate. It likely dates from before 478AD when the body of Barnabas was supposedly found on Cyprus. "The Acts of Barnabas" is a valuable and recommended work for our edification today.

The other work is called "The Epistle of Barnabas." Like the "Acts of Barnabas" it is a work of great antiquity. Clement of Alexandria quoted it as "Scripture" and attributed it to Barnabas, although it is actually anonymous. However, with the later circulation of the Christian Scriptures, this work fell out of favor and was forgotten about until the 1600's.

"The Epistle of Barnabas" is a rather long teaching in two parts, the first being devoted to allegorical interpretation of Old Testament passages and their relationship to their fulfillment in the life of the Messiah. This type of allegorical interpretation was popular in Alexandria and might explain Clement's quoting of this work. The Church of the East has historically used another method of interpretation, the literal, analytical and grammatical method of the School of Antioch.

The second part is a very Jewish teaching style, contrasting the "Way of Darkness" with the "Way of Light." In this, it is not unlike the Didache, another ancient work. These two parts would have made "The Epistle of Barnabas" a fine teaching for the early catechumens as a preparation for baptism. For us today, it is an insight into the teaching and expression of the Faith in the early Church. 

   NOTES :

1 Acts 4:36

2 Numbers 18:20

3 Acts 1:21&22

4 Acts 2:44&45, 4:32-35

5 Acts 4:36&37

6 Numbers 35:1-82

7 Acts 7:55-60

8 Acts 8:1-3

9 Acts 9:27

10 Acts 11:24

11 Acts 13:2

12 Matthew 18:18

13 Galatians 2:2

14 Acts 15:6-29

15 Colossians 4:10

16 Acts 15:36-41

The Presentation Of The Lord: February 2

Today the Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord which occurs forty days after the birth of Jesus and is also known as Candlemas day, since the blessing and procession of candles is included in today's liturgy.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, today is the end of the Christmas season. The reformed calendar has designated that the Sunday after Epiphany, the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, is the end. This feast in the Ordinary Form is no longer referred to as the "Purification of Mary" but the "Presentation of the Lord". 

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The Readings
Today's first reading gives us an important insight to understand profoundly the mystery of the Lord’s Presentation in the Temple by Mary and Joseph, in accordance with the cannons of Mosaic Law. The text, taken from the Prophet Malachi says, ‘I am sending my messenger to prepare the way before me; and suddenly there will come to the temple the Lord who you seek’ (Mal 3:1). From all the Gospels, we know that it is the Precursor, St John the Baptist who was born 6 months before Jesus, that God sent to prepare His way. Putting these evangelical facts together, we can comprehend the words of the Prophet Malachi. The Lord God promised that He would send a Precursor to prepare His way. Since there is only 6 months between the birth of St John the Baptist and Jesus it is clear that the prophecy meant that suddenly after the Precursor, the Lord Himself will come. So, soon after the Baptist’s birth, God entered His temple. Jesus’ presentation signifies God’s entrance to His temple. God made man entered His temple, presenting Himself to those who were really searching for Him.

Today’s Gospel introduces us to different people and events that in themselves provide numerous lessons and themes for further reflection. First of all, Mary and Joseph respect the Mosaic Law by offering the sacrifice prescribed for the poor: a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.

Simeon and Anna were two venerable elderly people dedicated to prayer and fasting and so their strong religious spirit rendered them able to recognize the Messiah. In this sense we can see in the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple an extension of the ‘Pro Orantibus Day’ (For those who pray) that is celebrated on the feast of the Presentation of Mary (21 November). On this day, the Church demonstrates its gratitude to all those in the community that dedicate themselves in a privileged way to prayer, to those who have a particular religious vocation to the contemplative life. In the figure of the venerable Simeon, Jesus’ presentation in the temple, also reminds us that prayer and contemplation are not just a waste of time or an obstacle to charity. On the contrary, time could not be better spent than in prayer as true Christian charity is a consequence of a solid interior life. Only those who pray and offer penance, like Simeon and Anna, are open to the breath of the Spirit. They know how to recognize the Lord in the circumstances in which He manifests Himself because they possess an ample interior vision, and they have learned how to love with the heart of the One whose very name is Charity.

At the end of the Gospel Simeon’s prophecy of Mary’s sufferings is emphasized. Pope John Paul II taught that,‘Simeon's words seem like a second Annunciation to Mary, for they tell her of the actual historical situation in which the Son is to accomplish his mission, namely, in misunderstanding and sorrow.’ (Redemptoris Mater, n16) The archangel’s announcement was a fount of incredible joy because it pertained to Jesus’ messianic royalty and the supernatural character of His virginal conception. The announcement of the elderly in the temple instead spoke of the Lord’s work of redemption that He would complete associating Himself through suffering to His Mother. Therefore, there is a strong Marian dimension to this feast and so in the Liturgical Calendar of the Extraordinary Form it is called the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary. This refers to the other aspect of the presentation that consists of the ritual purification of Jewish women after they had given birth. In Mary’s case this purification was not necessary, but it indicates the renewal of her total offering of herself to God for the accomplishment of His Divine Plan.

Simeon’s prophecy also announces that Christ will be ‘a sign of contradiction’. St Cyril of Alexandria, in one of his homilies, interpreted the words ‘sign of contradiction’ like a noble cross, as St Paul wrote to the Corinthians ‘a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles’ (1 Cor 1:23) […] It is a sign of contradiction in the sense that those who loose appear as foolish while in those who recognise its power [the cross] reveals salvation and life’ (c.f PG 77, 1044-1049).

— Excerpted from Congregation for the Clergy

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Presentation of the Lord
The feast was first observed in the Eastern Church as "The Encounter." In the sixth century, it began to be observed in the West: in Rome with a more penitential character and in Gaul (France) with solemn blessings and processions of candles, popularly known as "Candlemas." The Presentation of the Lord concludes the celebration of the Nativity and with the offerings of the Virgin Mother and the prophecy of Simeon, the events now point toward Easter.

"In obedience to the Old Law, the Lord Jesus, the first-born, was presented in the Temple by his Blessed Mother and his foster father. This is another 'epiphany' celebration insofar as the Christ Child is revealed as the Messiah through the canticle and words of Simeon and the testimony of Anna the prophetess. Christ is the light of the nations, hence the blessing and procession of candles on this day. In the Middle Ages this feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, or 'Candlemas,' was of great importance.

"The specific liturgy of this Candlemas feast, the blessing of candles, is not as widely celebrated as it should be, except of course whenever February 2 falls on a Sunday and thus takes precedence. There are two ways of celebrating the ceremony, either the Procession, which begins at a 'gathering place' outside the church, or the Solemn Entrance, celebrated within the church."

— From Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year

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Until 1969, the ancient feast of the Presentation of Our Lord, which is of Oriental origin, was known in the West as the feast of the Purification of Our Lady, and closed the Christmas season, forty days after the Lord's birth. This feast has for long been associated with many popular devotional exercises. The faithful:

• gladly participate in the processions commemorating the Lord's entry into the Temple in Jerusalem and His encounter with God, whose house He had come to for the first time, and then with Simeon and Anna. Such processions, which in the West had taken the place of licentious pagan events, always had a penitential character, and were later identified with the blessing of candles which were carried in procession in honor of Christ, 'the light to enlighten the Gentiles' (Lk 2, 32);
• are sensitive to the actions of the Blessed Virgin in presenting her Son in the Temple, and to her submission to the Law of Moses (Lk 12, 1-8) in the rite of purification; popular piety sees in the rite of purification the humility of Our Lady and hence, 2 February has long been regarded as a feast for those in humble service.

Popular piety is sensitive to the providential and mysterious event that is the conception and birth of new life. Christian mothers can easily identify with the maternity of Our Lady, the most pure Mother of the Head of the mystical Body — notwithstanding the notable differences in the Virgin's unique conception and birth.

These too are mothers in God's plan and are about to give birth to future members of the Church. From this intuition and a certain mimesis of the purification of Our Lady, the rite of purification after birth was developed, some of whose elements reflect negatively on birth.

The revised Rituale Romanum provides for the blessing of women both before and after birth, this latter only in cases where the mother could not participate at the baptism of her child.

It is a highly desirable thing for mothers and married couples to ask for these blessings which should be given in accord with the Church's prayer: in a communion of faith and charity in prayer so that pregnancy can be brought to term without difficulty (blessing before birth), and to give thanks to God for the gift of a child (blessing after birth).

In some local Churches, certain elements taken from the Gospel account of the Presentation of the Lord (Lk 2, 22-40), such as the obedience of Joseph and Mary to the Law of the Lord, the poverty of the holy spouses, the virginity of Our Lady, mark out 2 February as a special feast for those at the service of the brethren in the various forms of consecrated life.

The feast of 2 February still retains a popular character. It is necessary, however, that such should reflect the true Christian significance of the feast. It would not be proper for popular piety in its celebration of this feast to overlook its Christological significance and concentrate exclusively on its Marian aspects. The fact that this feast should be 'considered [...] a joint memorial of Son and Mother' would not support such an inversion. The candles kept by the faithful in their homes should be seen as a sign of Christ 'the light of the world' and an expression of faith.

Black Genocide.org Reverend Clenard Childress Jr.

Click on this link to Black Genocide.org Reverend Clenard Childress Jr.

Prayers & Novena To St. John Bosco

Admirable apostle of youth, founder of religious Congregations, catechist, educator, writer, and a light that shone brightly in our time, you know that one of the greatest powers today is the power of the Press.

Prompt editors to be always truthful and to work for the good of human beings, thus serving the greater glory of God. Amen.

Novena in Honor of St. John Bosco Father and Teacher of the Young 

In need of special help, I appeal with confidence to you, Saint John Bosco, for I require not only spiritual graces, but also temporal ones, and particularly... (add your personal intentions here) 

May you, who on earth had such great devotion to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and to Mary Help of Christians, and who always had compassion for those who were suffering, obtain from Jesus and His Heavenly Mother the grace I now request, and also a sincere resignation to the Will of God. 

Pray the Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory Be

O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.

You are all fair, O Virgin Mary; you never knew the stain of sin;

You are the glory of Jerusalem, you are the joy of Israel.

You are the great honor of our people, you are the advocate of sinners.

O Mary, Virgin most prudent, O Mary, Mother most merciful, pray for us, 

Intercede for us with our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.

~~ taken from "Prayers for Today," published by Leaflet Missal Co.

O God, Who didst raise up Saint John, Thy Confessor, to be the father and the teacher of the youth, and Who by him, with the help of the Virgin Mary, didst promote new families in Thy Church: grant, we beseech Thee, that inflamed by the same fire of love, we may win souls and serve Thee alone. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee in the unity of the Holy Ghost, world without end. Amen.

Recommended Reading

Educational Philosophy of Saint John Bosco

The wonder of Mary: Basic teachings of Saint John Bosco 

on Mary as the Help of Christians in the light of the twentieth century

Spiritual Writings of Saint John Bosco

Prayers To St. John Bosco

O glorious Saint John Bosco, who in order to lead young people to the feet of the divine Master and to mould them in the light of faith and Christian morality didst heroically sacrifice thyself to the very end of thy life and didst set up a proper religious Institute destined to endure and to bring to the farthest boundaries of the earth thy glorious work, obtain also for us from Our Lord a holy love for young people who are exposed to so many seductions in order that we may generously spend ourselves in supporting them against the snares of the devil, in keeping them safe from the dangers of the world, and in guiding them, pure and holy, in the path that leads to God. Amen.

St. John Boscoe: Feast Day January 31

Feastday: January 31
1815 - 1888

What do dreams have to with prayer? Aren't they just random images of our mind?

In 1867 Pope Pius IX was upset with John Bosco because he wouldn't take his dreams seriously enough. Nine years earlier when Pope Pius IX met with the future saint who worked with neglected boys, he learned of the dreams that John had been having since the age of nine, dreams that had revealed God'swill for John's life. So Pius IX had made a request, "Write down these dreams and everything else you have told me, minutely and in their natural sense." Pius IX saw John's dreams as a legacy for those John worked with and as aninspiration for those he ministered to.

Despite Scripture evidence and Church tradition respecting dreams, John had encountered skepticism when he had his first dream at the age of nine. The young Bosco dreamed that he was in a field with a crowd of children. The childrenstarted cursing and misbehaving. John jumped into the crowd to try to stop them -- by fighting and shouting. Suddenly a man with a face filled with light appeared dressed in a white flowing mantle. The man called John over and made him leader of the boys. John was stunned at being put in charge of these unruly gang. The man said, "You will have to win these friends of yours not with blows but with gentleness and kindness." As adults, most of us would be reluctant to take on such a mission -- and nine year old Johnwas even less pleased. "I'm just a boy," he argued, "how can you order me to do something that looks impossible." Theman answered, "What seems so impossible you must achieve by being obedient and acquiring knowledge." Thenthe boys turned into the wild animals they had been acting like. Theman told John that this is the field of John's life work. Once John changed and grew in humility, faithfulness, and strength, he would see a change in the children -- a change that the man now demonstrated. The wild animals suddenly turned into gentle lambs.

When John told his family about his dream, his brothers just laughed at him. Everyone had a different interpretation of what it meant: he would become a shepherd, a priest, a gang leader. His own grandmother echoed the sage advice we have heard through the years, "You mustn't pay any attention to dreams." John said, "I felt the same way about it, yet I could never get that dream out of my head."

Eventually that first dream led him to minister to poor and neglected boys, to use the love and guidance that seemed so impossible at age nine to lead them to faithful and fulfilled lives. He started out by learning how to juggle and do tricks to catch the attention of the children. Once he had their attention he would teach them and take them to Mass. It wasn't always easy -- few people wanted a crowd of loud, bedraggled boys hanging around. And he had so little money and help that people thought he was crazy. Priests who promised to help would get frustrated and leave.

Two "friends" even tried to commit him to an institution for the mentally ill. They brought a carriage and were planning to trick him into coming with him. But instead of getting in, John said, "After you" and politely let them go ahead. When his friends were in the carriage he slammed the door and told the drive to take off as fast as he could go!

Through it all he found encouragement and support through his dreams. In one dream, Mary led him into a beautiful garden. There were roses everywhere, crowding the ground with their blooms and the air with their scent. He was told to take off his shoes and walk along a path through a rose arbor. Before he had walked more than a few steps, his naked feet were cut and bleeding from the thorns. When he said he would have to wear shoes or turn back, Mary told him to put on sturdy shoes. As he stepped forward a second time, he was followed by helpers. But the walls of the arbor closed on him, the roof sank lower and the roses crept onto the path. Thorns caught at him from all around. When he pushed them aside he only got more cuts, until he was tangled in thorns. Yet those who watched said, "How lucky Don John is! His path is forever strewn with roses! He hasn't a worry in the world. No troubles at all!" Many of the helpers, who had been expecting an easy journey, turned back, but some stayed with him. Finally he climbed through the roses and thorns to find another incredible garden. A cool breeze soothed his torn skin and healed his wounds.

In his interpretation, the path was his mission, the roses were his charity to the boys, and the thorns were the distractions, the obstacles, and frustrations that would stand in his way. The message of the dream was clear to John: he must keep going, not lose faith in God or his mission, and he would come through to the place he belonged.

Often John acted on his dreams simply by sharing them, sometimes repeating them to several different individuals or groups he thought would be affected by the dream. "Let me tell you about a dream that has absorbed my mind," he would say.

The groups he most often shared with were the boys he helped -- because so many of the dreams involved them. For example, he used several dreams to remind the boys to keep to a good and moral life. In one dream he saw the boys eating bread of four kinds -- tasty rolls, ordinary bread, coarse bread, and moldy bread, which represented the state of the boys' souls. He said he would be glad to talk to any boys who wanted to know which bread they were eating and then proceeded to use the occasion to give them moral guidance.

He died in 1888, at the age of seventy-two. His work lives on in the Salesian order he founded.

In His Footsteps:

John Bosco found God's message in his dreams. If you have some question or problem in your life, askGod to send you an answer or help in a dream. Then write down your dreams. Ask God to help you remember and interpret the dreams that come from God.