Category Archives: Healing Saints

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.

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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!!)

Our Lady of Lourdes Novena begins February 2!

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One of the more pertinent and relevant novenas for us sober Catholics is the Novena to Our Lady of  Lourdes. 

Here are some good sites with novenas for you to pick from if you don’t have one in a prayerbook of your own:

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes | EWTN

Our Lady of Lourdes NOVENA PRAYERS – Pray More Novenas – Novena Prayers & Catholic Devotion

Most Powerful Our Lady of Lourdes Novena and Prayer Catholicnovenaprayer.com

Prayers & Novenas | Lourdes

Novena to Our Lady of Lourdes from America Needs Fatima

The Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes is important to me for a number of reasons. As I said in my book, “The Sober Catholic Way,”

How is the Apparition of Our Lady at Lourdes related to the Sober Catholic Way? We are sick people, regardless of the length of our sobriety. Our Lady of Lourdes is our special channel of healing graces. Jesus is the Divine Physician and He works through His Mother at Lourdes. Even if you cannot get to France, you can avail yourself through prayer and meditation of requests for spiritual healing. Adopt Our Lady of Lourdes and St. Bernadette Soubirous as your special patrons. 

Also, it is a key day for those devoted to Our Lady as the Immaculate Conception. For it was at Lourdes in 1858 that the Virgin confirmed Pope Pius IX’s infallible declaration in 1854 that Our Lady was conceived without original sin. Also, Lourdes is about healing. I’ve been sickly most of my life, especially as a youngster and then with alcoholism in my 30s. And now I am beset with afflictions of joints and muscle and all sorts of things. And lastly, it was St. Maximilian Kolbe’s favorite Marian apparition. He was dedicated and focused on Mary’s self-declaration as “I am the Immaculate Conception.”

And if you’re reading this and are a Sober Catholic, then it must be an important feast for you, too! Our healing and recovery from addictions is never really over. Place yourself within Mary’s mantle.

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!!)

St. Odilia, patroness of the blind and those with eye problems

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Not too long ago I chanced upon a prayer card for St. Odilia, and this card indicated that she is a patron saint for those with eye problems and diseases. Since I had cataract surgery two years ago and am still troubled by floaters, flashes and require the need for frequent periodic visits to my retina specialist (who’s worried about me,) I added the prayer on this card to my daily routine.

Odilia Aquisition.

This is it:

Prayer to Saint Odilia 

O God, Who in Your Kindness

Did give us St. Odilia

Virgin and Martyr, as the

Protectress of the Order

Of the Holy Cross and

The Patroness of the eyes

And afflicted, grant us

We humbly beseech You

To be protected, through her

Intercession, from the darkness

Of ignorance and sin and to

Be cured from the blindness

of the eyes and other bodily

Infirmities.

Through Him,

Who is the Light and Life

Of the World, Jesus Christ,

Your Son, Our Lord

Amen.

And then, not too long after that, I chanced upon a novena booklet to her. The novena is said twice monthly on the 5th and 17th, with the national annual one on July 10th, ending the feast day of July 18 (see note at the end of this post). You can find it online here: Novena to St. Odilia

About St. Odilia :

Patron saint of the blind, Saint Odilia of Alsace was born blind at Oberheim in the Vosges Mountains around the year 660 to a noble family. She was given to a peasant family to raise due to her disability. She regained sight when touched by St. Erhard of Regensburg during her baptism at age 12. Note by Paulcoholic: St. Erhard’s Feast day is today, January 8.)

Her brother wanted her back to place in a strategic marriage. Angered by this, her father killed the brother who was miraculously brought back to life by Odilia. Her father pursued her, but abandoned his quest when she disappeared in a cave that opened suddenly in the mountains.

Odilia founded Hohenburg Abbey. She died of natural causes on Dec. 13, 720 at Niedermunster, Mount Sainte Odile and was buried near the Odilienberg convent church chapel. She often is depicted as an abbess praying at an alter or as a woman with two books for eyes.

The article on her on Wikipedia mentioned:

As the patroness of ocular afflictions and ear diseases, St. Odile is often depicted with a pair of eyes on a book…

I had originally read that as saying she “is ofen depicted with a pair of books on her eyes,” which made her cooler beyond belief for me! 

NOTE ON HER FEAST DAY: I found that she has two feasts, one on December 13th, which is usually celebrated as the feast of St. Lucy, the saint primarily regarded as being the patron saint of those with eye problems; and the other, noted above, on July 18. I asked the AI search thingy on my browser “Why is that?” and it replied:

St. Odilia is traditionally celebrated on December 13th because this is the date of her death, but some regions or liturgical calendars may also commemorate her on July 18th, which is often linked to the transfer of her relics or a local tradition of celebrating her feast day on that date; essentially, the discrepancy arises from different historical events associated with her veneration. 

Key points about St. Odilia’s feast days:

December 13th:

This is the most widely recognized feast day for St. Odilia as it marks the anniversary of her death. 

July 18th:

Some regions, particularly in areas where her relics are venerated, may celebrate her feast day on this date due to the transfer of her relics or local tradition. 

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!!)

St. Jude Thaddeus, Apostle and patron saint of alcoholics and addicts

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Today (Oct. 28) is the feast day of St. Jude Thaddeus (it’s also shared with St. Simon the Zealot, but St. Jude is the subject of this post.)

St. Jude was one of the Apostles of Our Lord and is the author of the Epistle of Jude in the New Testament. He is often called the “brother of Our Lord,” but this is an extended meaning of the term “brother,” in reality Jude was the cousin of Jesus as Semitic languages lack the word for “cousin.” He is often depicted with having a flame about his head; this symbolizes his presence at the first Pentecost and also distinguishes him from Judas Iscariot, the traitor of Jesus, who is quite likely covered in flames of a different sort. St. Jude is also often depicted with a plate or shield with Jesus’ image on it; legend has that he carried this with him and it healed people.

He was martyred by beheading circa 65AD.

I’ve never had all that much of a devotion to St. Jude, mainly because there is so much pop Catholic cultural “stuff” about him. Prayer cards and booklets and so on readily available in parishes, items in the classified sections of newspapers in response to favors granted (and that you are guaranteed a favorable response to your St. Jude novena if you promise to publish the novena for nine consecutive days. This is borderline superstitious as prayer doesn’t really work that way.) All this served to be a little “off-putting” for me, and despite having tons of these prayer cards stashed in a wooden box where I keep excess pious items, I never gave him much thought. 

Until yesterday and today. I have been trying to recruit more saints and blesseds to intercede for us alcoholics. For that reason, as well as that I am compiling a prayer book for sober Catholics and I want it to exceed expectations by having numerous saints in there that people do not know about (or who are not typically associated with ex-drunks; St. Dismas is one. ) While I was pondering him yesterday, St. Rita of Cascia also came to mind as she’s important to me (there is a point to this, please bear with me.) She is known as the patronness of impossible cases, just like St. Jude. (Maybe that’s another reason why I never developed much of a devotion to him?) But yesterday I got to thinking about St. Jude, and decided that another saint dedicated to helping hopeless cases could work. He and St. Rita could team up. Based on where I’m at right now (more on that later) I decided to think about cultivating a relationship with him. And I let that slide until today. 

And so I looked through that wooden box where I’ve kept all those “excess pious items” and found a bunch of prayer cards. I read them over and they hit me. Yes, I need his help. AND I can begin blogging about him now and then and perhaps those of you who do not have a devotion to him can see the value in it. 

And so I just recruited St. Jude to be an advocate and patron saint of alcoholics and addicts. The thought occurred to me that what with all the devotions surrounding him regarding being the patron saint of hopeless and desperate cases, he’d be a perfect intercessor for us. Now we alcoholics and addicts have TWO Apostles in our corner, the other being St. Matthias.

I mentioned a few paragraphs above about “where I’m at.” Due to a variety of circumstances, things are a bit stressed financially at the moment, although they should improve come Springtime when Social Security begins for me and my wife and I begin the process of relocating to a more affordable residence. If you’d like to help out by assisting in bridging the gap between now and then, you can do that in two ways:

One, by paypalling me whatever you can spare at: PayPal Paul Sofranko. Thank you! (It is NOT tax-deductible. It wouldn’t be an act of charity, then.) You can also mail a check, payable to: Paul Sofranko; and send it to: P.O. Box 358; North Boston, NY 14110.

Two: by purchasing my books and online products. You can purchase for yourself or multiple copies for others that might be interested. My new book, “The Sober Catholic Way” comes as an ebook for Amazon Kindle, or as a paperback from Amazon. If you prefer Barnes and Noble, then here is the link for a paperback; and if you have a B&N Nook, here is the Nook purchase link. 

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It is also now available at numerous other ebook retailers like Apple Books and Smashwords. You might also try this Universal Book Link: click and then select the logo of your fave online bookshop.

Click on this page to discover where you can buy The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts. 

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It’s available through Amazon, B&N and Apple, as well as Smashwords and other retailers. 

The Stations of the Cross for Alcoholics is also available; that page tells you all the places you can buy it!

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Are you creative-minded? Know people who are? Then Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics is my new book exhorting Catholics to apply their faith to change the culture for the better!

 

“Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics” is a call to arms, or rather, a call to pens, paintbrushes, and video cameras, for creative Catholics to take up St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe’s call to infiltrate pop culture and help alleviate the ills that pervade contemporary society. St. Maximilian saw back in the 1920s how the use of cinema, radio, and mass-market books was corrupting society. He thought that those same tools could be used as a countercultural force to overcome this corruption. 

Furthermore, it explains through the example of three critical apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Guadalupe, Lourdes, and Fatima how she herself suggested strategies and alternatives to the dehumanizing and increasingly pagan contemporary culture we have today.

“Building a Civilization of Love: A Call to Creative Catholics” concludes by showing how the Catholic Faith can be used to provide a road map out of our current morass and a blueprint to build a more just and fair society constructed according to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Corporal and Spiritual Works of Mercy and other elements of traditional Catholic Social Teachings.

Get it for your Amazon Kindle through this link!

Prefer the paperback? Get it through this link!

Are you a happy Sober Catholic? Then Shop Sober Catholic! That page offers a selction from the many other products, such as T-shirts, mugs, rosary cases and zippered book cases, stickers for your laptop, smartphone cases, and much more! You can see the entire product line at The Sober Catholic Pixels Shop!

I just added some new products, including some featureing St. Jude and a prayer I wrote for alcoholcs and addicts! (It may not be available, yet, so please check back later. Actually, I will probably blog about it when it hits the general public.)

Thank you for reading this far, as well as for whatever assistance you can provide. It is greatly appreciated and I will add you to my prayers.

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!!)

“How To Break EVERY Addiction: The Catholic Way” (EDITED)

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I chanced upon a YouTube video (YT suggested it) and was immediately intrigued by the title. “How To Break EVERY Addiction: The Catholic Way.” I do not recall seeing this YouTuber before.

In summary, Riecker suggests that one recite the Seven Sorrows Rosary of Our Lady of Sorrows. Why? Because Our Lady made several promises to those who do so faithfully. One key promise is: “By the recitation of the Seven Sorrows Rosary, you shall be freed from obsessions and addiction.”

Riecker provided a link to where he found these promises: 16 Powerful Graces Our Lady Promises To Those Who Honor Her 7 Sorrows.

I must, however, remind you that this is not a thing you can assume will happen just because you do it. As with every promise, such as the promises of the Sacred Heart for those who do the Nine First Fridays, or the promises given to those who say the rosary daily; the mere act is not in itself a guarantee it will work. You must have the faith in the power of the prayer and apply the devotion to your life (like make it into a spiritual relationship with the object of the devotion) so that it transforms it. I think many people just do the requirements of the devotion and feel “that’s it.” You must do it in such a way that your faith in it plus your desire to grow closer to the object (in this case, Our Lady of Sorrows) helps accomplish the deired result; in this case, freedom from addictions. I may have to watch the video again, but I do not recall Riecker saying anything like that. 

The video is below. I highly recommend the video, even though he deleted my comment on it (probably because I linked to Sober Catholic and The Sober Catholic Way).

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!!)

Devotion to St. Dismas

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A little while ago I wrote about St. Dismas, the “Good Thief.”  This is another post on him, as part of my promise to him to help spread his devotion. 

So I took a look around the Internet and found this bit of history of him, along with a “Good Thief Prayer.”

There is even more information on St. Dismas over at Pray More Novenas: Novena to St. Dismas. 

While looking up stuff, I found that I had written about him way back in the early days of this blog. Take a look at “Remember Me…”

As I find more stuff on the Good Thief, I’ll post more; if he interests you, bookmark the St. Dismas Post Archives.

Why should I write about him? Like I said in the post linked to in the first sentence:

I think St. Dismas would be a great saint for us alcoholics and addicts to know. He left behind no writings and nothing for certain is known about him apart from the Gospel accounts. But, he was a ‘last minute,’ ‘deathbed’ conversion. And he led a life of sin, some say he was a robber, others a revolutionary. These do not contradict each other; revolutionaries often commit crimes to serve the rebel cause. But the point I am trying to make is that at the very end, when he was facing eternity, he grasped salvation from the lips of the Saviour. There is hope for everyone. Maybe pray to St. Dismas for the conversion of another whom you feel may have too ‘hard a heart’ to convert? Many prisoners in jail are alcoholics and addicts. Conversion is difficult in that environment; perhaps St. Dismas can do what others cannot. 

His feast day is March 25, the traditional date for the Crucifixion. 

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!!)

Feast of St. Matthias, Apostle

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Today is the feast of St. Matthias, the Apostle who was selectef to replace Judas after the traitor committed suicide. 

I discovered about six years ago that he is a patron of alcoholics and reformed alcoholics. I suppose the difference is the former are still in the cups while the latter are in recovery.

This is what I wrote in 2018:

Today is the feast of St. Matthias, a disciple of Jesus who was selected to replace Judas Iscariot.

I read today in my Laudate app on my Kindle Fire that he is a patron of alcoholics. Wow, we have an apostle who is our patron?! I had to look that up!

Although St. Matthias left behind no existing writings, (all works attributed to him are regarded as having been written by heretics who borrowed his name to lend authenticity to their errors,) several of his teachings while he preached in Ethiopia and elsewhere have been quoted by several Church Fathers, especially Clement of Alexandria. They refer to the need to “combat the flesh” which is subject to many temptations and errors. The flesh must be mortified so that we can enjoy the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The one problem that I have with any of this is that the sources all cite works that are possibly either apocryphal or outright heretical. Even Clement of Alexandria is suspect, having been on the Roman calendar until being removed from it 500 years ago due to suspicions.

Anyway, there isn’t anything wrong with mortification, especially if care is done to avoid excesses. The emphasis on the flesh in teachings attributed to St. Matthias appear to be influenced by Gnosticism, which held that flesh and matter were evil. Setting that aside, many online Catholic resources of solid orthodoxy accept his patronage of alcoholics (someone’s gotta look after us 😉 ) and thus I think “It can’t hurt.” 🙂

And so we alcoholics and addicts have an Apostle to call our very own.

This is a quote attributed to him:

It behooves us to combat the flesh, and make use of it, without pampering it by unlawful gratifications. As to the soul, we must develop her power by faith and knowledge.

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 Sign of the Cross Apostolate

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 I have been delving deeper into EWTN’s programming since I posted the other day about Mother Angelica is as helpful and inspiring today as she was decades ago. I have also begun exploring their programming on Lourdes (an obvious devotion for anyone who is an alcoholic and addict or is otherwise afflicted with physical and emotional maladies.) I found this series from a few short years ago: My Lourdes Faith Journey. It is like a companion to this book: Everyday Miracles Of Lourdes – Twenty Extraordinary Experiences Along The Way To The Grotto

Both are products of the work of Our Lady of Lourdes Hospitality North American Volunteers. Many of the chapters of the book serve as episodes of the “My Lourdes Faith Journey” program. One in particular stood out for me. At the end of Episode 5- Jamie Jensen, Mr Jensen (a quadriplegic who’s been to Lourdes well over a dozen times and serves on the Board of Advisors to the Hospitality NA Volunteers group) casually mentioned about a “Sign of the Cross Apostolate.” I couldn’t find any website, not even a page on the Volunteers Hospitality  site, but that might be because it’s very simple and probably spreads by word of mouth by those who participate in the Volunteers Hospitality pilgimages. 

Here’s some background: Our Lady of Lourdes North American Volunteers is an apostolate dedicated to arranging pilgrimages to Lourdes for North Americans who need to immerse themselves in the baths, visit the grotto, and obtain a physical, mental or spiritual healing. They are based in Syracuse, NY (not too far from my hometown of Oneida!) The book, “Everyday Miracles of Lourdes” details 21 stories of healing and conversion. The EWTN series “My Lourdes Faith Journey,” like I said above, is about many of those stories. Marlene Watkins, the host of the show and author of the book, interviews the pilgrims. It’s quite a wonderful, uplifting experience. 

Now, about the Sign of the Cross Apostolate. Mr. Jensen refers to it near the end of the episode he’s featured on. Since he is a quadriplegic, he cannot physically make the Sign of the Cross. People have to do it for him. He said in the book’s chapter on him as well as on the show, that if he could  move his arms only once, it would be to make the Sign of the Cross. 

The Sign of the Cross is an important part of the Lourdes devotion because St. Bernadette said that it is the path to Heaven when done with devotion and piety. The Sign of the Cross is also important when you consider the words:

“In the Name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Spirit. Amen””

Whenever you pray ‘In the name of,’ such as praying in the Name of Jesus (“In Jesus’ Name!”) and so forth, you are submitted to the authority contained in that name. In essence, when  making the Sign of the Cross, you are inviting the Will of God into your life and and are subjecting your prayers to His authority. You may get the things you prayed for or you may not. It’s all up to whether it’s a part of God’s Will for you. So, when you make the Sign of the Cross, you are inviting the Trinity. (I think you are also inviting the Blessed Mother in since being the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, she is an integral part of the Trinity. St. Maximilian Kolbe wrote extensively on her ‘Quasi-Trinitarian participation in a quasi-hypostatic union’ – or something like that – with the Trinity since she is the Daughter of God the Father, Mother of God the Son, and Spouse of the Holy Spirit.) 

Many people cannot make the Sign of the Cross because of their physical disability. Many people cannot do it in certain countries because it’ll mean imprisonment or death. This kind of shamed me (not a bad thing; the world can use a greater awareness of ‘shame’) since I am a rather casual Sign of the Cross maker. 

THAT is the Sign of the Cross Apostolate. Making the Sign of the Cross for those who cannot. That’s it. No special prayers or writings or devotions. Just make the Sign of the Cross for those who cannot. 

So, every time I make the Sign of the Cross, whether in private or in public (a courageous act!) I will do it with this in mind. Not only for my salvation, as per St. Bernadette’s conviction, but for all of those who cannot do it for whatever reason. 

You should too! Spread the word about this!

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!!)

Knights of Columbus founder is another healing saint for alcoholics

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In an earlier post today, I mentioned that I was binging on Mother Angelica episodes on EWTN. I had to go to their YouTube Channel for something and while scrolling through their offerings, I found this gem:

It’s a story about how someone was miraculously healed from alcoholism through the intercession of the founder of the Knights of Columbus. The man’s aunt (if I recall correctly) had fervently prayed to Blessed Michael McGivney. It helps that the aunt and the beneficiary are relatives of McGivney (he’s a great uncle or somesuch connection) so it’s a family affair! 

It pays to have relations in high places. Anyway, you can add Bl. Michael McGivney to the list of possible intercessors for your (or a loved one’s) alcoholism.

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!!)