Category Archives: Prayer

There is no foothold

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This excerpt from the Office of the Readings from the Liturgy of the Hours for the Friday of the Third Week of Lent comes from Psalm 69:1-2; 14-16.

Save me, O God, for the waters have risen to my neck.

I have sunk into the mud of the deep and there is no foothold.

I have entered the waters of the deep and the waves overwhelm me.

This is my prayer to you, my prayer for your favor.

…


In your great love, answer me, O God, with your help that never fails;

rescue me from sinking in the mud, save me from my foes.

Save me from the waters of the deep lest the waves overwhelm me.

Do not let the deep engulf me nor death close its mouth on me.

Courtesy: DivineOffice.org

This psalm speaks to those of us who have been there, at our bottom, with nowhere to turn, except to cry out in some manner to God. Whether it was an actual cry out to God the “save me, please!” or just our emotional state screaming into the void where only God can hear.

Reflect on this psalm; recall where you were when you prayed this (however you did it.) Have you been grateful to God for pulling you out of the mud? Today is Friday, Confession is likely to be available sometime this weekend; perhaps you can do an examination of conscience focusing on ingratitude and add those sins to your list of things to confess?

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!!)

May he preserve you whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body

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The Reading from the Night Prayer of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Thursday of the Third Week of Lent is from 1 Thessalonians 5:23

May the God of peace make you perfect in holiness. May he preserve you whole and entire, spirit, soul, and body, irreproachable at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Courtesy: DivineOffice.org

Let this be a prayer for all who are striving to maintian their sobriety.

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. Joseph Novena Reminder

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The Feast of St. Joseph of the Holy Family is March 19th. The novena begins on the 10th (or 11th, if you prefer it to end on the feast day.) 

Here are two novenas you can pick from if you do not have one already:

EWTN’s Novena to St. Joseph 

The St. Joseph Novena from Pray More Novenas

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!!)

Pray the Our Father Like You Mean it

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From the Gospel Reading for the Tuesday of the First Week of Lent:

Jesus said to his disciples:
“In praying, do not babble like the pagans,
who think that they will be heard because of their many words.
Do not be like them.
Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

“This is how you are to pray:

Our Father who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy name,
thy Kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread;
and forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those who trespass against us;
and lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.

“If you forgive men their transgressions,
your heavenly Father will forgive you.
But if you do not forgive men,
neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”


 Courtesy USCCB

I think the Lord’sPrayer, as taught to us by Jesus Himself, has lost its impact given how often it’s said. Frequent repetition begats familiarity and then we do not realize or grasp the importance of what’s being said.

Take, for instance, the petition in the Our Father to “forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This literally means, as Jesus Himself explains it:

“If you forgive men their transgressions, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you do not forgive men, neither will your Father forgive your transgressions.”

Can’t get more simpler than that. You want forgiveness? First, YOU have to forgive others for their sins and transgressions against you. You cannot hope to obtain forgiuveness from God if you, yourself are  not willing to be forgiving of what others have done to you (or your country, nation, race, ethnicity…)

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!!)

Fifteen Thursdays of St. Rita of Cascia 2026 begins February 12!

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REBLOGGING AN EARLIER POST:
I’m sharing this here because St. Rita’s Feast day is my sobriety date (May 22, 2002) and I think she picked me to be one of her clients. I’ve been doing this devotion for the past few years.

BEGINNING THIS THURSDAY FEB 12th!!!

Quote: “The Fifteen Thursdays of St. Rita devotion — i Quindici Giovedi di Santa Rita, in Italy — takes place on the fifteen Thursdays preceeding May 22, her feast day — i.e., this devotion starts on a Thursday in February and continues on for fifteen Thursdays — until the last Thursday before May 22. Each of these fifteen days begins with the same preparatory prayer followed by a reading on the life of St. Rita, a reflection about the lesson of that aspect of her life, and a final prayer.”

Link to all the prayers including a downloadable pdf file: 15 Thursdays of St. Rita Devotio: Prayers and a downloadable pdf

National Shrine to St. Rita od Cascia (USA)

#RitaUnderstandsUs

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!!)

Holy Face of Jesus Novena 2026!

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An annual reminder:

The Holy Face Novena begins on Sunday, February 8th, so as to end on Monday, February 16th. The Feast of the Holy Face of Jesus is Tuesday, February 17th, 2026 (it is always the day before Ash Wednesday.)

Holy+Face 1920w.

Novena prayers are listed at these sites:

The Holy Face Novena at The Holy Face Devotion dot org

There are THREE Novenas listed here: Holy Face Novena and Act of Consecration to the Holy Face at Illumina Domine

This is the one that I will be saying (as it’s also on a prayer card I use):

(Short Novena) Holy Face Novena Prayer by The Holy Man of Tours, Leo DuPont

O Lord Jesus Christ, in presenting ourselves before Your adorable Face, to ask of You the graces of which we stand most in need, we beseech You, above all, to give us that interior disposition of never refusing at any time to do what You require of us by Your Holy Commandments and Your Divine inspirations.

O Good Jesus, Who has said: “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you,” give us, O Lord, that faith which obtains all, or supply in us what may be deficient. Grant us, by the pure effect of Thy Charity and for Thy eternal glory, the graces we need and which we look for from Thine infinite mercy. Amen.

Be merciful to us, O God, and reject not our prayers when, amid our afflictions, we call upon Your Holy Name and seek with love and confidence Your Adorable Face.

We thank You, O Lord, for all Thy benefits, and we entreat You to engrave in our hearts feeling of love and gratitude, putting upon our lips songs of thanksgiving to Your eternal praise. Amen.

HEAD’S UP: That last resource (Illumina Domine) has a really interesting post on something I never knew. 

Many Catholics are unaware of the fact that this millennium was dedicated to the Face of Christ by Pope St. John Paul II. He lifted high before the Church the banner of the Holy Face of Jesus at the dawn of the millennium. The Face of Christ was to be the standard for the faithful to follow in this spiritual battle that exists in the world between light and darkness.

You can read that wonderful post here: Pope St. John Paul II.

I have written before on the Holy Face Devotion. In The Holy Face Devotion: what we need for our times I said:

This Devotion is intended to make reparation for the sins of blasphemy against the Holy Name of God and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days. In addition, it is to be a spiritual weapon against Communists.

I think it can, and should, be used as a spiritual weapon against right-wing extremism and not just Communism. Communism and Fascism are two sides of the same coin; both glorifybthe power of the State at the expense of God, and Fascism adds the glorification and near idol-worship of the leader it centers around.

You can apply the Holy Face Devotion to your alcoholism and addction recovery! Please read these two posts:

The Holy Face of Jesus Chaplet for Alcoholics and Addicts

Using the Holy Face Chaplet as a “sobriety’ or “recovery” chaplet

Resources on the Holy Face Devotion:

The Holy Face, Disfigured by Sin

Books on the Holy Face Devotion. And a chaplet.

A Prayer to the Holy Face from EWTN

The archive of posts on the Holy Face is here.

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!!)

2026 ONLINE Lent Retreat by The Pray More Retreat people

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A friend of mine through a Militia of the Immaculata Virtual Village forwarded me a link to the 2026 Lent Retreat – The Pray More Retreat.  It’s offered by the same people behind the Pray More Novenas site. It’s ONLINE!!!

I signed up! Registrants are asked to pay a fee of their choice to help pay the speakers and other costs; but it’s totally optional. I registered for free and am opting to promote it in the hopes that one of you might sign up and donate!

The Retreat is self-paced.
This means that you can participate wherever you are and whenever you have the time.
It’s like a do-it-yourself retreat, but you’re not doing alone…

Sign up! You know I harp every year during Lent about ‘doing something’ to grow closer to Jesus; and how Lent is the perfect time! 

I went looking over the site: they have other retreats from previous years, and you can still sign up for them. UPDATE: Although I sugned up for these older retreats, I have not (YET) received an email with the links to access videos and downloadable materials. So perhaps they’re no longer accessible? (Curious as to why they’d leave all that information up; that’s a lot on data and they could just have a list of past retreats with brief summaries of topics to entice you for future ones…)

There’s the 2025 Healing Retreat (deals with anxiety, suffering, brokenness, and trust issues.)

They even have the 2024 Healing Retreat available! (more on healing, love, beatitudes, prayer.)

The last one I’ll bring up is the 2024 Eucharistic Retreat.

I will try to inquire about access to past retreats and edit or update thisn post as needed.

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 Hail Mary as a Christocentric meditation

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I was engaged in a debate on the r/catholicism subreddit regarding the propriety of the Hail Mary prayer, the Rosary, and devotion to Mary at all; since the poster felt it took away from reverence or attention properly due the Father and Jesus; and that we should just focus on saying the our Father, ‘as Jesus taught us.’ The poster felt that the Hail Mary wasn’t enough about Jesus and the Father.

 

While praying my daily Rosary I thought of another counterpoint to make to the poster, and felt that it would make a good post for Sober Catholic. It’s kind of like a meditation on the Hail Mary, with a Christocentric/Patercentric appeal. To make it obvious, I use all caps whenever God makes an appearance in the Hail Mary.

 

Hail Mary, Full of Grace (Mary is ‘full of grace’ only because she had to be so that the HOLY SPIRIT can overshadow her so as to conceive JESUS.)

the Lord is with you. (Who else is this referring to, but JESUS?)

Blessed are you among women; (She is only ‘blessed’ because she will be the Mother of GOD, a/k/a JESUS.)

and blessed is the fruit of your womb, Jesus. (There is that JESUS person, again!)

 

Holy Mary, Mother of God; (JESUS, anyone!)

pray for us sinners, (Why are we sinners? Because we turned away from JESUS, who, if you read especially the Gospel of John, came to do the will of the FATHER. ‘Sin’ is when our actions are contrary to GOD’S will, pr when we abuse the natural gifts given to us by GOD.)

now, and at the Hour of our Death,

AMEN

 

Mary is referenced 6 times, while the Trinity is referenced or implied 8 times, as I count them. Now, multiply that by the number of beads on the Rosary. 

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You can see that the focus of the Hail Mary is less on Mary, but more of the Father and Jesus; it forms a perfect complement to the Our Father, thus making the Rosary an ideal form of devotion to the Father.

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!!)

LAST MINUTE NOVENA ANNOUNCEMENT! Novena to Mary, Undoer of Knots, Dec 23-31

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I was scrolling past some YouTube “suggested channels” when I stumbled across the Divine Mercy For America Channel. I love the Divine Mercy devotion; it literally saved my life. Anyway, the channel announced that they will have their annual Mary, Undoer of Knots Novena. It seems to be an annual thing for them. (I must have missed this in the past.)

I might have written about the Undoer of Knots devotion in the past but I’m in a hurry to get this out so I’ll look for previous posts later. 

The Divine Mercy for America folks say that this annual year-end tradition (Dec 23-31!!) is great for clearing out the gunk from the past year (my words, not theirs, but the idea is the same. You can listen to them here: Join the Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots, Words on Screen, Dec 23 to Dec 31, Divine Mercy for America. (It’s the same link as the one posted in the “channel announced…”)

Here’s a screenshot of the video’s thumbnail:

 

Here are links to all nine days (the links should work, if not, just go to the link in the Join the. sentence above):

Day 1 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Struggling Marriages

Day 2 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for those Struggling with Addictions

Day 3 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Our Pastors

Day 4 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Our Bishops.

Day 5 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for the Poor.

Day 6 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Those Who Do Not Believe in God

Day 7 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Christians Outside the Catholic Church

Day8 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Our Holy Father the Pope

Day9 Novena to Mary Undoer of Knots – Praying for Our Personal Intentions

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!!)

Handmade Blessed Sacrament Chaplet from a recycled rosary

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In this, the year of when I recycle rosaries, I chanced upon another opportunity. 

Some time ago I found in the junk box at my parish a really old rosary. Ornate. On the centerpiece medal was an image of the Sacred Heart and on the reverse side the words, ‘This is my body, this is my blood.” Whoah! So naturally, I grabbed it. It wasn’t until I got home that I discovered one of the decades was missing four beads. 

So I laid it aside until I got inspiration. After my three previous attempts at recycling broken rosaries into chaplets (see the link in the first sentence for my past recycling projects) I figured that since the centerpiece was very Eucharisticy, there should be a Eucharist chaplet or some other Christological chaplet I might convert it into. Nope, not until last night did I find an appropriate one (I hadn’t been looking too hard, before.) 

Here  are three images of it (they’re typically blurry, sorry):

The typical Blessed Sacrament Chaplet DOES NOT have the Crucifix, but I chose to add it. I don’t think Jesus would mind. 

Here’s the Sacred Heart image:

And, lastly, the wording:

If you want to know how to say the chaplet, please go to this Catholic Doors page.

I DO NOT MAKE THESE CHAPLETS FOR SALE, SO PLEASE DO NOT ASK FOR ONE. I just get a thrill recycling broken rosaries and I like sharing the results.

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!!)