On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church rightly teaches that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin, based upon the anticipated merits of the passion, death, and resurrection of her Son, Jesus Christ. In 1854, Pope Pius XI proclaimed in Ineffabilis Deus the following: We …

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The Alliance of the Two Hearts of Jesus and Mary! Part 4

For this Sacred Heart Friday I will relate another way the Two Heart of Jesus and Mary are allied. They are allied at the Foot off the Cross. Luke 2:34-35 And Simeon blessed them, and he said to his mother Mary: “Behold, this one has been set for the ruin and for the resurrection of …

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Try Adoration!

For this Sacred Heart Friday I’m renewing a call to my readers to begin Adoration. Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament is at the center of the Sacred Heart Devotion. The two go hand in hand. When one begins their devotion to the Sacred Heart it follows that they are inevitably led to Adoration. He left …

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Adoration Sodality

I was watching EWTN Mass the other day and Fr. Joseph mentioned an initiative of the nuns there concerning establishing an “Adoration Sodality.” It is an organization where members sign up and commit to a Holy Hour. I immediately went to the site he mentioned and signed up (if you go to that link, you’ll be …

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A review of two books on the Sacred Heart: “Healing Promises: the Essential Guide to the Sacred Heart” and “A Little Book of Reparation: First Friday Devotion of the Sacred Heart of Jesus;” both by Anne Costa

For this Sacred Heart Friday I am reviewing two great books on the Sacred Heart Devotion. Both of them are by Anne Costa, of Revive Hope and Healing Ministries.  I wish Anne had written these years ago. Waybackwhen I’d always wanted to have a greater insight into the Sacred Heart Devotion, but for some reason just …

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First Fridays and the Sacred Heart

Today is the First Friday of February. It is also “Sacred Heart Friday” That means it’ll be a basic primer on the First Friday Devotion, one of the ‘pillars’ of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart. Jesus made the following 12 promises to St. Margaret Mary in favor of those who consecrate themselves to the Sacred …

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16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic: How I stayed sober for almost 21 years

Today marks the 16th Bloggaversary of Sober Catholic. In honor of that, I’ve edited and cleaned up a messy note I wrote who-knows-when on “The Sober Catholic Way.” It is a summary of everything I’ve been doing since I became sober on May 22, 2002. Some I do better than others.  This was originally a …

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National Eucharistic Revival: A Grassroots Response to God’s Invitation

The Bishops of the United States are launching us on a three-year long Eucharistic Revival. I first heard about it in a recent issue of the Militia of the Immaculata-USA monthly magazine Knight of the Immaculata. (This may initiate a PDF download in some browsers.) Why is this being done? From the he US Bishops site …

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The Coming of the Lord

The season of Advent is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. Although the obvious point of the season is the Nativity of Jesus, the Mass readings in the weeks leading up to Advent and then in Advent itself serve to remind us that there is not one, but two comings of …

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On Consecrating and Trusting

Of the pillars of my Catholic Faith, two are very important (apart from my marriage): my consecration to the Blessed Virgin Mary through the method of St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe and my devotion to the Divine Mercy, as revealed to us by Our Lord through St. Faustina Kowalska. There are other “pillars,” but these I’ll …

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