Category Archives: Divine Mercy

Get the Divine Mercy Plus streaming service!!!

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Given that this past weekend was Divine Mercy weekend, I spent a lot of time watching the “Divine Mercy Plus” streaming service. I’ve had it on my phone and laptop for a while, but haven’t really explored its content until I installed it on my Amazon TV FireStick. 

Oh, my! If you are a Catholic interested in developing your spirituality further, enjoy programming that’s quite well-done, and love Divine Mercy, then this service is for you! It complements EWTN (much of their programming also is – or was- available on EWTN.) 

There are four programs that I watched a lot of over the weekend and yesterday:

“100 years of Fatima” Came out in 2017 during the centenary of the Apparitions. Despite that, it isn’t ‘dated,’ if you want a great review of the Fatima Message, then this will provide that. Each of the 22 episodes is only a few minutes long (it will take about an hour to go through them all in one sitting.)

“Discovering the Diary” I have only watched a few of these; each episode is also only a few minutes long and it takes a topic from a selected Diary paragraph. This show is a MUST WATCH for Sober Catholics. There are quite a few topics of interest to anyone in recovery. Marc Massery, the host, is engaging and entertianing as he handles topics like struggling to pray, reparation, fear and worry, overcoming sin… all topics that anyone struggles with, especially if you are coming from alcohoilismm and addictions. (I don’t think he has covered addiction specifically.)

“France: A Pilgrimmage with Mary” Fr. Joe Roesch takes you on a pligrimage through France by visiting the sites of various Marian apparitions and shrines. I also highly recommend this: by covering the Miraculous Medal and Lourdes apparitions, you get a very good review of those and how to apply them to your growing Catholic faith. Even if you are familiar with these, they are helpful just in seeing the sites. Each episode is also just a few minutes long and if you sit through them all, it might take 90 minutes? I also learned of an apparition I never heard of before: Our Lady of Sunday. (You can watch Have You Ever Heard of Our Lady of Sunday? and What did Our Lady of Sunday Have to Say? This will be a blogpost topic, but wacth them anyway.)

“Ask a Marian”  is a great program on a wide variety of topics on Catholicism. 

Take a look at this list of all of their Series and Playlists.

The following list of links takes you to where you can find the service:

DivineMercyPlus on the web

DivineMercyPlus on the Mac App Store

DivineMercyPlus on the iPhone/iPad App Store

DivineMercyPlus on GooglePlay for Android

DivineMercyPlus is also available on AmazonFireTV, and probably on other streaming devices. Just search on your TV thingy for “Divine Mercy Plus.”

Most of the programming is free, there is a small amount of premium shows.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Divine Mercy Sunday and Me

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Divine Mercy Sunday (which was today) is one of my most anticipated Church feasts. Because of my past history as an alcoholic, this feast day touches me more personally than others typically more favored by “normal people.” 

The part about the feast that “gets me” is referred to in the Diary of St. Faustina, “Divine Mercy in My Soul.” In paragraph 699, Jesus tells her (boldface words are those of Jesus, the italicized boldface is my emphasis:)

“On one occasion, I heard these words: My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy  be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.”

 In paragraph 1109:

I want to grant a complete pardon to the souls that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion on the Feast of My mercy  

In paragraph 300:

Whoever approaches the Fountain of Life on this day will be granted complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. 

You are clean again, all sins including the temporal punishment due for them are wiped away; your soul is in the state it was in just after your Baptism. You are as pure as the driven snow.

Although the Catholic Church attaches a plenary indulgence for those who partake in the Divine Mercy celebrations, the conditions for earning the indulgence (particulary “complete detachment from sin, even the least venial”) make it nearly impossible for anyone to earn it. However, Jesus attaches no burdensome conditions on the reception nof the Sacraments; all He said is that in order for your sins to be entirtely washed away, including any punsishment due them, is to go to Confession and recieve Holy Communion on Divine Mercy Sunday. Not many parishes offer Conferssion on Sunday, but most do on Saturday afternoon, usually just before the Sunday Vigil Mass. This is what I did; I made it to Confession last night and attended the Divine Mercy Vigil. 

I ran across a video on YouTube that explains how Jesus’ promises are even better than the plenary indulgence:

You have tp watch it!

By the way, if you really enjoy the Divine Mercy Devotion, and wish to watch more videos on it as well as great catechetical and devotional programs, the Marians of the Immaculate Conception (the religious order that maintains the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts,) they have a streaming service full of programs to get you to Heaven! Divine Mercy Plus is a website (link is the 1st 3 words of this sentence) and apps for Apple devices and Android; plus apps for TV streaming devices (such as the Amazon FireStick.) There is also an app for desktop computers!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Divine Mercy Sunday 2025

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(NOTE: This is combined from previous posts on Divine Mercy Sunday)

This Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. I do hope that you take advantage of the tremendous source of healing, forgiveness and grace that this day brings. It is a feastday established by Pope St. John Paul II in 2000 when he canonized a Polish nun who had received messages (or “interior locutions”) from Jesus in the 1930’s. (These are an accepted part of Catholicism, although not binding upon the faithful. Apparitions like those at Lourdes and Fatima and messages such as those received by Sr. Faustina (now Saint Faustina) do not add anything new to God’s Revelation to humanity. They are merely signs that the Good Shepherd is doing His work and is reminding us of certain necessary things. Quite often apparitions and locutions occur during critical moments in human history, indicating that the Lord’s “sheep” are going astray and He is coming after them.)

Jesus’ messages to St. Faustina concern God’s immense love for people and His boundless “ocean of Mercy” to which we are all entitled. No matter how dirtied we are by the sins of our past, when we dip into the ocean of Mercy we are scrubbed clean. God’s mercy is available to us for the asking, and is the source of immeasurable graces.

The devotion and practice of Divine Mercy is critical, I think, to anyone in recovery. It fixes our brokenness and mends our wounded souls. It teaches us that God is a loving Father, that Jesus is our brother and the Holy Spirit our infallible guide.

It was important to me, and critical in my recovery and how my Catholic Faith became more important than the Twelve Steps in maintaining my sobriety.

I had drifted away from the Catholic Church in 1987 thinking that religion was just human nonsense designed by the powerful to control people. I never doubted or disbelieved in God’s existence, as I’ve always regarded atheism as a supremely irrational and stupid human notion. I did feel, nevertheless, that religion was pointless. Anyway, to make a long story short, I drank to excess, abused it, and ended up returning to live with my Mom for 10 years. Originally I was to be her caregiver (my alcoholism was manageable), but for a while I was the person being cared for. (See also Drunkalogue.) My Mom watched EWTN a lot. Aside from the Daily Mass, from which I got a daily injection of Truth and sensibility from the sermons, she also watched the “Chaplet of Divine Mercy” each morning. She eventually taught it to me, particularly around Divine Mercy Sunday.

I think it was her daily praying of the Chaplet that brought me back into the Church. It also was, and continues through this day, to be a source of healing and mercy.

This is important to us Catholic alcoholics and addicts. We are so broken and wounded from our past. For many the past is just too much and they never fully escape from its haunting.

The all-encompassing nature of Divine Mercy heals our souls and enables us to draw upon the endless reservoir of God’s Mercy. It is a tremendous aid in our spiritual growth and progress. It led me back into the Catholic Church, with Her fullness of the Gospel Truth and the sacramental life and graces. It helps you to achieve a more fuller life.

To whet your appetite, the following are two important excerpts on Divine Mercy Sunday from St. Faustina’s Diary, “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” where she wrote down her spiritual experiences during the 1930s when Jesus was communicating with her by interior locutions (the numbers refer to the paragraphs in the Diary where they can be found.)

300 ... on this day, tell the whole world of My great mercy; that whoever approaches the Fount of Life on this day will be granted complete remission of sins and punishment. Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy. Oh, how much I am hurt by a soul’s distrust! Such a soul professes that I am Holy and Just, but does not believe that I am Mercy and does not trust in My Goodness. Even the devils glorify My Justice but do not believe in My Goodness. My Heart rejoices in this title of Mercy. 699 … My daughter, tell the whole world about My inconceivable mercy. I desire that the Feast of Mercy be a refuge and shelter for all souls, and especially for poor sinners. On that day the very depths of My tender mercy are open. I pour out a whole ocean of graces upon those souls who approach the fount of My mercy. The soul that will go to Confession and receive Holy Communion shall obtain complete forgiveness of sins and punishment. On that day all the divine floodgates through which grace flow are opened. Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity. Everything that exists has come forth from the very depths of My most tender mercy. Every soul in its relation to Me will contemplate My love and mercy throughout eternity. The Feast of Mercy emerged from My very depths of tenderness. It is My desire that it be solemnly celebrated on the first Sunday after Easter. Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.

Much of this you can obtain at other times of the year; you can receive a plenary indulgence by going to Confession just before Mass, as well as on other designated days (Holy Days of Obligation.) A plenary indulgence is, according to the website of the Catholic Bishop’s of the United States:

“Furthermore, for reception of a plenary indulgence, which grants the remission of all temporal punishment due to sin, in addition to this good work or act of devotion, the Church specifies four conditions: (1) sacramental confession, (2) reception of Holy Communion, (3) prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father, and (4) complete detachment from all sin, even venial sin. It must not be thought, however, that such acts of ours are somehow of themselves sufficient to earn the remission of the temporal punishment for sins. Our efforts, themselves the work of God’s grace, express our openness to receive God’s mercy. In the work of our salvation, it is always God’s grace that is primary, with a power that far exceeds all our efforts.”

Courtesy: USCCB

The key elements of the Divine Mercy Devotion are:

Please click on each of those links to learn more! You can also click on this: Divine Mercy to explore anything else I wrote on it.

The Divine Mercy Devotion, and Divine Mercy Sunday, are perfect for those of us broken, bruised, and wounded by life, our sins, and our addictions. Throw yourself into the arms of God’s Merciful Love. 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Announcing the Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery!!!

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Ash Wednesday is this March 5th and on that day begins the “Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery!”

I’ve written about it before: Reminder post, and for the details on how to pray it and who might be interested, (and it’s NOT just for alcoholics and addicts, but for anyone with persistent character defects they hope to be rid of) just scan the QR code…

…or go to the special page I’ve set up: Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery Page 

Please share the Page and the graphic! Thank you!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Reminder about the Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery (begins Ash Wednesday!)

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A while back, I announced an idea. I’m reminding you of it today because Lent is coming up, and there’s a Lenten observance you may be interested in: “A Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery.”

Lent begins on March 5th this year. Last year, I prayed two successful Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novenas. I did some calculations with a calendar and discovered that starting with Ash Wednesday as the first day, the 54th and final day would be:

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY!!!!!

I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The very Sunday when the floodgates of God’s unfathomable ocean of Mercy open up and spill out over every sinner who in humility begs for forgiveness is the very day the completion of the Miraculous 54-day Rosary Novena ends! 

Think about that. Are you still trapped in the miseries of alcoholism and drug addiction? Or, do you know someone who is? This may be the perfect time for deliverance from that slavery. And it may not even be for alcoholics and drug addicts. Sex and porn addicts, as well as anyone who can’t break masturbation, take comfort! Your deliverance may be at hand! You will be beseeching the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very Mother of Purity, for her intercession to liberate you from lust! How can she not help you?

So, get the word out. Start preparing. Get in the spirit by ramping up your own Rosary devotion. (Need help? There’s this book: The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts.) Start working on your examination of conscience. We’re supposed to do that every evening before bedtime (just a review of our day and where we might have offended God or not done His will; but we do a more detailed one just before going to confession. Here’s a great guide to Confession, complete with an Examen.) If you are a Twelve-Stepper, now’s a good time to do (or repeat) your 4th Step Inventory and find someone to do the 5th Step with.) Try doing the 10th Step throughout your day.

To sum it all up, this Lent of 2025 could be the season when you finally become free of your deepest, darkest character defects. I have loads of things wrong with me, and so I will definitely be doing it.

So, what are the basics of this novena, and is it truly miraculous? I think it is, at least in the sense that practitioners have reported they’ve gotten their petitions answered. (Obviously, the petitions have to be reasonable and subject to God’s Will for you.)

The Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena originated in the late 19th century in Naples, Italy, when a young girl suffering from an illness thought to be incurable prayed to Our Lady for help. Mary appeared to her and promised her healing if she prayed three novenas. The girl did so, and was miraculously healed. In a later apparition, Mary specified that the full prayer should have 3 novenas in petition, and 3 novenas in thanksgiving.

How to pray the Novena:

The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary (one set of mysteries) each day for twenty-seven consecutive days in petition; then immediately five decades each day for an additional twenty-seven consecutive days in thanksgiving, regardless of whether or not the request has been granted yet. (This is where faith comes in; you’re thanking the Blessed Virgin and God for granting the request without first waiting for it to be granted. That’s gratitude, too.) 

The first day of the novena always begins with the Joyful Mysteries (regardless of what day of the week the novena is started); the second day, the Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed; and the third day of the novena, the Glorious Mysteries are prayed. The fourth day of the novena starts all over with the Joyful, etc., and continues on in that sequence (Joyful-Sorrowful-Glorious) throughout the 54 days of the novena. The Luminous Mysteries aren’t included only because they did not exist when Our Lady taught this novena to the girl. 

There are special additional prayers to begin and conclude it during all the days of petition and thanksgiving, as well as at the end of each decade. Please visit these sites for information on how to pray the Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena:

How to Pray the 54-Day Rosary Novena courtesy of Hallow

FIFTY-FOUR DAY NOVENA (This is a downloadable PDF file; it also has more prayers than the previous two links. 

Is this novena truly miraculous? I believe so. I think you do have to follow the format provided by the instructions I linked to; I’ve said 54-day rosary novenas in the past without the special prayers, and the results were not what I hoped for. Faith abides. If you are sincere, and if the petitions are in accordance with God’s will for you, then there should be some positive result. A full healing? Perhaps! Just increased strength and determination to recover? Possibly? Doors opened for you to be admitted to a treatment facility? Maybe! How the petitions are answered is up to God, but they could very well include a complete remission of your urges to drink, drug, lust, and whatnot.

It is said that the only prayers that God is guaranteed to answer positively are those for a soul’s salvation, since He desires that all be saved. (Even though not all are.) So perhaps connect your recovery to your salvation?

Let this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday be the best yet! May the ocean of mercy pour down upon you and completely wash away your sins and leave you renewed, refreshed, and forgiven! 

Please read these posts on Divine Mercy Sunday:

Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday: A great day for those who’ve really messed things up

Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy Sunday

Donations to support my work are appreciated.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Novena to Bl. Michael Sopocko, a patron for alcoholics

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Blessed Michael Sopocko’s feast day is coming up: February 15. A novena to him for his intercessory power as a patron of alcoholics begins either today, Feb 6th, or tomorrow, Feb. 7th. Blessed Sopocko was instrumental in guiding and advising St. Faustina Kowalska during her life, especially in getting her to write down the messages she received from Jesus as well as other observations on her life. These became the masterpiece spiritual work, “Divine Mercy In My Soul, the Diary of Sister M. Faustina Kowalska.”

In postwar Poland Bl. Sopocko was involved in a sobriety movement. An important part of his activities were his educational programs promoting sobriety in a society. The movement was not identified.

This is a prayer that I composed for a new book I am writing. You can recite it every day for the novena:

Blessed Michael Sopocko, because of you we now have the Diary of St. Faustina to serve as a beacon of hope for those despairing of God’s Mercy. Please intercede for all of those who, as a result of their drinking, have committed sins, both grave and venial. Show them that God’s Mercy exists for all, and that there is no sin too great for God to forgive.

For some background, the following is an edited version of an earlier post:

“In my study of the Divine Mercy devotion, I ran across in one of the biographies of St. Faustina information concerning her spiritual director, Blessed Michael Sopocko (in Polish: Michał Sopoćko.) It is pronounced “Soh-potch-ko.”

I won’t get into a biography of him here (there’s a link later on that is a biography) but Blessed Sopocko was instrumental in guiding and advising Sr. Faustina during her life, especially in getting her to write down the messages she received from Jesus as well as other observations on her life (a spiritual journal, or diary.)

The information in particular that attracted my attention, apart from his assistance to Sr. Faustina and the Divine Mercy Message, was that in postwar Poland Fr. Sopocko was involved in a sobriety movement. I found nothing in particular as to what he did except for “In October 1947, the new academic year started at the seminary in Białystok. Father Sopoćko taught the same subjects that he had taught in Vilnius: catechetics, pedagogy, psychology, and the history of philosophy. His work at the seminary was not limited solely to teaching. He was also a confessor of the seminarians and conducted for them numerous retreats. At the same time, he also pursued pastoral, religious, social and educational activities. An important part of his activities were his educational programmes promoting sobriety in a society.“ From: Biography of Bl. Sopocko

I feel that since we sober (and sobering up) Catholics deeply need Divine Mercy to assist us in achieving and maintaining our sobriety, we should avail ourselves of yet another intercessor. Especially one who is closely acquainted with Divine Mercy and its Apostle. When you read his biography and do additional research on him in the Divine Mercy links in the sidebar, you can appreciate what a powerful intercessor he can be. He lived a difficult life, especially after St. Faustina died in 1938. From the Nazi invasion and occupation of Poland, to the later Soviet sequel, to the banning of the Divine Mercy Message as taught by St. Faustina for over a 20 year period, Bl. Sopocko suffered persecution. A lesson many of us can draw strength from. Although we may not suffer persecution in our work, we can ask Bl. Sopocko for the strength to persevere.

He was beatified on September 28, 2008. His feast day is February 15th.

More on Fr. Sopocko.

On the Year of Mercy and us sober Catholics: The Year of Mercy and what it means for us sober Catholics and St. Faustina and Divine Mercy.

Donations to support my work are appreciated!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Announcing a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery (and other sins!)

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I know Ordinary Time has just begun since the Advent/Christmas season ended with yesterday’s celebration of the Baptism of the Lord. However, I’d like to give you a heads up about a Lenten observance you may be interested in.

Lent begins on March 5th this year. Last year I prayed two successful Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novenas. So I got to thinking, “Lent is 40 days, Sundays are not counted towards those forty. But if you did add them, that would make it close to 50…which is almost 54 (NOTE: My train of thought sometimes takes a while to build up steam)  hmm, what if I were to count 54 days starting on Ash Wednesday; when would that end?” And so I broke out the 2025 calendar, and starting on March 5 with “1,” I continued until I got to “54” and do you know what day the number 54 fell on? 

DIVINE MERCY SUNDAY!!!!!

I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The very Sunday when the floodgates of God’s unfathomable ocean of Mercy open up and spill out over every sinner who in humility begs for forgiveness  is very day the completion of the Miraculous 54 day Rosary Novena ends! 

Think about that. Are you still trapped in the miseries of alcoholism and drug addiction? Or, do you know someone who is? This may be the perfect time for deliverance from that slavery. And it may not even be for alcoholics and drug addicts. Sex and porn addicts, take comfort! Your deliverance may be at hand! You will be beseeching the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very Mother of Purity, for her intercession to liberate you from lust! How can she not help you?

So, get the word out. Start preparing. Get in the spirit by ramping up your own Rosary devotion. (Need help? There’s this book: The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts) Start working on your examination of conscience. We’re supposed to do that every evening before bedtime (just a review of our day and where we might have offended God or not done His will; but we do a more detailed one just before going to confession. Here’s great guide to Confession, complete with an Examen.) If you are a Twelve Stepper, now’s a good time to do (or repeat) your 4th Step Inventory and find someone to do the 5th Step with.) Try doing the 10th Step throughout your day.

To sum it all up, this Lent of 2025 could be the season when you finally become free of your deepest, darkest character defects. I have loads of things wrong with me, and so I will definitely be doing it.

So, what are the basics of this novena, and is it truly miraculous?

The Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena originated in the late 19th century in Naples, Italy, when a young girl suffering from an illness thought to be incurable prayed to Our Lady for help. Mary appeared to her and promised her healing if she prayed three novenas. The girl did so, and was miraculously healed. In a later apparition, Mary specified that the full prayer should have 3 novenas in petition, and 3 novenas in thanksgiving.

How to pray the Novena:

The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary (one set of mysteries) each day for twenty-seven consecutive days in petition; then immediately five decades each day for an additional twenty-seven consecutive days in thanksgiving, regardless of whether or not the request has been granted yet. (This is where faith comes in; you’re thanking the Blessed Virgin and God for granting the request without first wating for it to be granted. That’s gratitude, too.) 

The first day of the novena always begins with the Joyful Mysteries (regardless of what day of the week the novena is started); the second day, the Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed; and the third day of the novena, the Glorious Mysteries are prayed. The fourth day of the novena starts all over with the Joyful, etc. and continues on in that sequence (Joyful-Sorrowful-Glorious) throughout the 54 days of the novena. The Luminous Mysteries aren’t included only because they did not exist when Our Lady taught this novena to the girl.

There are special additional prayers to begin and conclude it during all the days of petition and thanksgiving, as well as at the end of each decade. Please visit these sites for information on how to pray the Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena:

THE MIRACULOUS 54-DAY ROSARY NOVENA courtesy of Roman Catholic Man

How to Pray the 54 Day Rosary Novena courtesy of Hallow

FIFTY FOUR DAY NOVENA  (This is a downloadable pdf file; it also has more prayers than the previous two links. I said my two successful ones using the format given by Roman Catholic Man and Hallow.)

Is this novena truly miraculous? I believe so. I think you do have to follow the format provided by the instructions Inlinked to; I’ve said 54 day rosary novenas in tha past without the special petitions, and the results were not what I hoped for. Faith abides. If you are sincere, and if the petitions are in accordance with God’s will for you, then there should be some positive result. A full healing? Perhaps! Just increased strength and determination to recover? Possibly? Doors opened for you to be admitted to a treatment facility? Maybe! How the petitions are answered is up to God but they could very well include a complete remission of your urges to drink, drug, lust and whatnot.

It is said that the only prayers that God is guaranteed to answer positively are those for a soul’s salvation, since He desires that all be saved. (Even though not all are.) So perhaps connect your recovery to your salvation…. Anyway, Lent is just under two months away so we have time to plan and prepare.

Let this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday be the best yet! May the ocean of mercy pour down upon you and completely wash away your sins and leave you renewed and refreshed and forgiven! 

Please read these posts on Divine Mercy Sunday:

Divine Mercy Sunday

Divine Mercy Sunday: A great day for those who’ve really messed things up

Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy Sunday

 

Donations to support my work are appreciated

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

“The Sober Catholic Way” is available!

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I have a new book out: The Sober Catholic Way is a basic handbook on how anyone can live a sober life and helps Catholics by describing the many ways in which their faith can assist in maintaining sobriety. Drawn from nearly two decades of blogging at SoberCatholic, “The Sober Catholic Way” shows the importance of the sacraments, the Bible, the Catechism and other books. It continues on with the various ways one can “live” out Catholicism by nurturing devotions to the Sacred Heart, Blessed Virgin Mary, and other saints. All of these contribute to sobriety as well as one’s spiritual progression! 

Discover the importance of the Real Presence, the Rosary, the Stations of the Cross, St. Joseph, St. Therese (the “Little Flower”) and Matt Talbot. You’ll get ideas on how to apply the Beatitudes, the Divine Mercy Message, as well as learning about the Apparitions of Our Lady at Guadalupe, Lourdes and Fatima and how they can guide one’s life.00000 TSCWBookCover.jpg.It is currently available through Amazon on Amazon Kindle, as well as a paperback: click here to buy as a paperback. It is also available as a paperback through Barnes and Noble: Order The Sober Catholic Way as a B&N paperback! as well as an ebook for your Nook! It is also now available at numerous other ebook retailers like Apple Books and Smashwords.

 

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

Devotions to honor Our Lady, the Mystical Rose

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Yesterday I told you about a new Marian Apparition that was approved by Rome. The following is the list of general devotions to Our Lady, the Mystical Rose, whose feast day is this upcoming Saturday, July 13th! 

1. Each 13th day of the month must be dedicated to special acts of devotion to Mary, with preparation of prayer and mortification during the 12 preceding days. 

2. First Sunday after Easter (Divine Mercy Sunday!): we honor the Anniversary of the coming of Rosa Mystica to Fontenelle, where she blessed the water manifesting God’s mercy. 

The springs are reputed to have miraculous curative powers, just like that of Lourdes.

3. The 13th of July each year will be celebrated in honor of Mary as the “Rosa Mystica.” 

4. The 13th of October of the first year (I assume this is 2024? The “first year” of the aparition’s approval?) and then the second Sunday of the month each year thereafter will be sanctified with Holy Communion of Reparation, preceded by confession. 

Under this title, Holy Communions of Reperation, prayer groups or congregations can be formed. 

5. Each year on December 8th, on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, at midday the Hour of Grace will be practiced, awaiting particular graces of conversion and sanctification, promised for that hour. It shall be practiced in one’s own church, worshiping the most Blessed Sacrament if possible; otherwise privately or in groups of prayer. 

6. Go to the blessed spring, in procession, with pentitential prayers and bring the sick. Those in need of spiritual help for themselves and for their loved ones shall go there in a pilgrimage. 

(Obviously this can’t be done if you live far from Italy. Perhaps in the future Rome will make allowances for this and it can be done at Marian shrines outside of Italy.) 

7. The three words signified by the three roses, “Prayer, Sacrifice, and Penance,” remain fundamental characteristics of the devotion of Mary Rosa Mystica. We are to pray with perserverance and not seek to avoid sufferings. We are to do this on behalf of consecrated souls, and in particular for the conversion of consecrated souls who are unfaithful to their vocation; for the sactification of souls; and for an increase in the number of religious and priestly vocations. This purpose for the devotion was first suggested by Mary primarily for religious institutes, while remaining a proposal open to everyone. 

8. Also characteristic of all these messages is the purpose of reparation for offenses against the sacrament of the Eucharist, against the name of God and of Jesus, against the privaleges of Mary, against the Church and the Pope, against the innocence of the young ones and of simple souls, against the sacredness of human life and the sancity of the family. 

Naturally presupposed in all of these devotional practices is the obeservance of the Commandments, the practice of Christian virtues and first of all charity towards our neighbor.

Now we come to the daily observances of the devotion:

Everyday, make an effort to pray:

Thers is also this special version of the Rosary: A Meditated Holy Rosary, that is, “The Rosary of Three Roses”

I JUST LOVE HAVING NEW DEVOTIONS TO DO!

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)

The Angel of Peace at Fatima: the Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 11

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Three days ago on the 13th of September was the 106th anniversary of the penultimate Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima. Our Lady promised a miracle at her next visit in October. This post has nothing to do with that, but I thought I’d bring it up anyway. 

However, for this Immaculate Heart Saturday post, I’ll continue along with the series I began last week: the Apparitions of the Angel of Peace to the little shepherd children in the Summer of 1916. The children had finished pasturing their sheep and were resting when the Angel appeared and said to them:

“What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Holy Hearts of Jesus and Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High.”

Lucy asked: “How are we to make sacrifices?”

“Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is so offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you.”

 Again we see the Alliance of the Hearts of Jesus and Mary. In this case, their mutual intent is having ‘designs of mercy’ on the children. It seems as if the children are to be channels of mercy for the world. These merciful designs are tied to sacrifices the children must make for sinners, especially those who grievously offend God, and also for their country, Portugal. 

The idea of making sacrifices became a major theme of the Fatima Message. Our Lady also made this request for ‘making sacrifices’ for sinners in her August 1917 Apparition. Making sacrifices for sinners was the apostolate of the short lives of  Sts. Jacinta and Francisco Marto, two of the seers. 

And finally, the Five First Saturdays are all about making reparation for the sins of others. It may not seem like it, but trying to fulfill the conditions of the devotion can seem like making a sacrifice. The actual devotion is really quite simple to fulfill, but if you find difficulty in doing it, that’s Satan just trying to interfere.

I have a new book! "The Sober Catholic Way" is a handbook on how anyone can live a sober life, drawn from over 17 years of SoberCatholic posts! It's out now on "Amazon," "Apple Books," "B&N" and and others!"!

My two other books are still available! "The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics" and "The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts" (Thank you!!)