Category Archives: Sorrowful Mother

The Apparition of Our Lady of La Salette as a help in your addiction recovery

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I ran across this article on Spirit Daily about Our Lady’s apparition to two young French shepherd children in La Salette, France in 1846 (today, September 19, is the 180th anniversary of it.) 

In the remote Alpine village of La Salette, France, two shepherd children, Mélanie Calvat and Maximin Giraud, encountered a weeping woman bathed in light, her head in her hands. They had been shepherding the cows inntheir charge during the day; however, Melanie had fallen asleep during the afternoon, and Maximin had wandered off; the cows were lost. They quickly searched and found them deeper in the valley. This is where they discovered the beautiful woman crying.

Her message combined maternal tenderness with prophetic urgency, addressing both the decline in the practice of the faith by the local villagers and material issues. The Lady revealed her profound sorrow over humanity’s sinfulness, particularly the violation of Sundays with commercial activity and the neglect of Mass; and the profanation of her Son’s name through casual blasphemy. The message prophesied agricultural failure as a consequence of sin and linked spiritual causes to the material suffering.

According to “Our Lady of La Salette: History, Message & Apparition,” the Message of La Salette involves:

  • A call to conversion and penance for personal and societal sins
  • Warning about divine punishment if humanity refused to repent
  • Emphasis on proper Sunday observance and reverence for God’s name
  • Promise of abundance if people returned to faithful practice
  • Prediction of crop failures and famine as consequences of sin

Taking these points and applying them today involves:

  • Renewed Sunday observance – Protecting the Lord’s Day from secular encroachment
  • Reverence in speech – Avoiding casual profanity and blasphemy
  • Regular sacramental confession – Embracing reconciliation as ongoing conversion
  • Authentic penance – Accepting sacrifice as expression of love and reparation
  • Active evangelization – Sharing faith urgently with those drifting from God

All of these can be applied to your Sober Catholic Way of recovery.

A call to conversion and penance for personal and societal sins;  this is basic to any recovery program, but is adds a distinctly Catholic dimension to it in the reparative work for other people’s sins. Most (if not all) recovery programs concern themselves with helping the alcoholic or addict with remoiving their own defects of character and making amends to others. None concern themselves with the person in recovery making amends for other people.

Warning about divine punishment if humanity refused to repent/Prediction of crop failures and famine as consequences of sin. You are a part of Humanity; your sins contribute to the whole. Your repentance and penance for yours (and others) mitigates this divine punishment. Apparently people hadn’t heeded the Message of La Salette and the Blessed Virgin repeated this at Fatima when she said “War is punishment for sin.” Later, Jesus told St. Faustina, His Apostle of Divine Mercy, that “Mankind will not have peace until it turns with trust to My mercy.” (Diary, 300)

Emphasis on proper Sunday observance and reverence for God’s name/Promise of abundance if people returned to faithful practice. Catholics are obligated to attend Mass on Sunday; missing it is a mortal sin (except when you cannot attend due to extenuating circumstances like illness, weather and other unsurmountable issues.)  “Promises of abundance” should be taken in its proper context. For our purposes of recovery, it could mean material abundance, it could also mean the abundance of graces for those willingy cooperating with God’s Will.

Reverence in speech – Avoiding casual profanity and blasphemy Violating any one of the Ten Commandments is a mortal sin; apart from that, even causal profanity implies a lack of self-control and self-discipline. (I need to work on this; while I do not take the Name of the Lord in vain, I cuss a lot.)

Regular sacramental confession – Embracing reconciliation as ongoing conversion/Authentic penance – Accepting sacrifice as expression of love and reparation It goes without much saying that this is a core part of any Catholic-based recovery program.

Active evangelization – Sharing faith urgently with those drifting from God Start a recovery blog or podcast about your own Catholic-based recovery! Or, just talk about Jesus as best you can with other; or, live the Gospel (“preaching without words.) 

The article also connected the La Salette apparition to Our Lady of Sorrows, whose feast day we just celebrated this past Tuesday (September 15th.)

This sorrowful aspect connects Our Lady of La Salette to the prophecy of Simeon, who told Mary that a sword would pierce her heart. At La Salette, that sword pierces anew as she witnesses her children rejecting her Son through negligence, blasphemy, and hardened hearts. Her weeping calls Catholics to recognize sin’s gravity and embrace the reconciliation Christ offers.

That “embrace the reconciliation Christ offers” recalls Divine Mercy and how important that is to peace: both peace in our hearts, minds, bodies, and souls; and peace in the world.

Other resources on the Apparition:

The National Shrine of Our Lady of La Salette

Our Lady of La Salette at Catholic Tradition

Missionaries of Our Lady of La Salette

Our Lady of La Salette at Roman-Catholic-Saints

Our Lady of La Salette at Simply Catholic

La Salette: Sorting Fact From Fiction

“Our Lady of La Salette “ is one of Our Lady’s apparitions that I’ve not paid too much attention to since the message of it has been corrupted by the repeated false claims that the statements and prophecies of one of the seers (Melanie Calvat) were approved and are a part of the ‘message,’ despite her making them decades after the apparition. (See the last link I added on “Sorting Fact from Fiction.”) Because Calvat is a seer of an approved apparition, many things she has said decades later have been mislabelled as being a part of the approved apparition. This is incorrect. Approval of an apparition does not extend to things the seers have said or done after the apparition is over.  

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!!)

His Mother Stood at the Foot of the Cross

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Today is the day we honor Our Blessed Mother under her title of Our Lady of Sorrows.

From the Gospel according to St. Luke: “And a sword will pass through your own soul, so that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”

Source: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

From the Second Reading of the Office of readings of the Liturgy of the Hours for the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows:

Perhaps someone will say: “Had she not known before that he would not die?” Undoubtedly. “Did she not expect him to rise again at once?” Surely. “And still she grieved over her crucified Son?” Intensely. Who are you and what is the source of your wisdom that you are more surprised at the compassion of Mary than at the passion of Mary’s Son? For if he could die in body, could she not die with him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since his. (St. Bernard.)

Our Lady of Sorrows 1.

St. Paul reminds us in Colossians 1:24-25 (taken from the Morning Prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours for today:)

Even now I find my joy in the suffering I endure for you. In my own flesh I fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ for the sake of his body, the church. I became a minister of this church through the commission God gave me to preach among you his word in its fullness.

Liturgy of the Hours excerpts courtesy of Divine Office

Join with Our Lady in enduring sufferings for the sake of Christ. It is a work of reparation: the repair of the damage our sins have caused, and the damage that the sins of others have caused, too.

In this post: Promises for those devoted to the Sorrowful Mother I detail the spiritual benefits of cultivating a devotion to the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady. Among them is recovery from addictions!

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 Sorrows Novena (Sept 6-14) and the Promises for those devoted to the Sorrowful Mother

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Just a friendly reminder that the annual Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows begins on September 6th,so as to end on September 14th, on the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows. That date of the 14th is also important as it is the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (also known as the Triumph of the Cross.)

It is quite appropriate to beigin the novena so that it ends on the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Sorrowful Mother stood at the Foot of the Cross as Jesus was dying, your novena meditations can take you along with our sweet and sorrowful mama as she suffers with Jesus. To end the novena of the feastday that commemorates the discovery of the True Cross by St. Helena is very symbolic of the connection of the Cross to Our Lady’s Sorrows, and that sorrow can be turned into joy (or that sorrow can help us appreciate joy.) 

Our Lady of Sorrows 1.

Here are Jesus’ four promises to those who devote themselves to Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows:
1. “That those who invoke the divine Mother by her sorrows, before death, will merit to obtain true repentance of all their sins.”
2. “That He will protect such in their tribulations, especially at the hour of death.”
3. “That He will impress upon them the memory of His passion, and that they shall have their reward for it in heaven.”
4. “That He will commit such devout servants to the hands of Mary, that she may dispose of them according to her pleasure, and obtain for them all the graces she desires.”

Our Lady’s Seven Promises to those who meditate daily on her Seven Sorrows:
1. “I will grant peace to their families.”
2. “They will be enlightened about the Divine Mysteries.”
3. “I will console them in their pains and I will accompany them in their work.”
4. “I will give them as much as they ask for as long as it does not oppose the adorable will of My divine Son or the sanctification of their souls.”
5. “I will defend them in their spiritual battles with the infernal enemy and I will protect them at every instant of their lives.”
6. “I will visibly help them at the moment of their death — they will see the face of their Mother.”
7. “I have obtained this grace from My Divine Son, that those who propagate this devotion to My tears and sorrows will be taken directly from this earthly life to eternal happiness, since all their sins will be forgiven and My Son will be their eternal consolation and joy.”

Source: The Promises of those who meditate upon Our Lady of Sorrows every day

The Seven Sorrows Rosary, or the Seven Sorrows Chaplet, dates back to the Middle Ages. However, Our Lady of Kibeho reintroduced this devotion to visionary Marie-Claire Mukangango in Kibeho, Rwanda, in the 1980s.

Our Lady’s messages to Marie-Claire focused on an “urgent call to repentance”:

“Repent, repent, repent! Convert while there is still time.”

Many graces result from praying this devotion; however, it should not replace the traditional rosary. Our Lady requests the faithful to pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Below are Our Lady of Sorrows’ promises to those who pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary, according to Marie Claire’s visions:

1) With the recitation of the Seven Sorrows Rosary, the hardest hearts shall change, if you pray it for yourself or for others.
2) By the recitation of the Seven Sorrows Rosary, you shall be freed from obsessions and addiction.
3) This rosary, when said from the heart, it will win us true repentance of our sins and free our souls from guilt and remorse.
4) Those who say it often, especially as recommended by Our Lady to Marie Claire, on Tuesdays and Fridays, shall obtain a clear understanding of their weaknesses and flaws causing them to sin, and those things we don’t like about ourselves and thought were a part of our character, shall change.
5) You shall obtain whatever you ask for through this rosary, praying this rosary from the heart.

Source: The Promises of Mary to those who pray the Seven Sorroews Chaplet

ALSO: Seven Sorrows Rosary Prayer

Daily meditations on  the Seven Sorrows could be done by reciting the Seven Sorrows Chaplet every day, or by using books. The two best available (among others) are “The Glories of Mary” by St. Alphonsus Liguori and “Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother” by The Benedictine Convent of Clyde. Both of these are available thru Tan Books: 

Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother
The Glories of Mary

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!!)

Lenten Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows

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Lenten Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows (Friday after Passion Sunday*)

The Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Like I said in this post:

There is an old, pre-1969 Catholic devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows. Prior to the revision of the liturgical calendar in 1969, the Friday after Passion Sunday was known as the Feast of the Seven Dolors/Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows…Since this Feast of Our Lady essentially duplicated the September 15th Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, it was deleted from the calendar in 1970.

But it’s perfectly acceptable to continue honoring this day as a feast in honor of Our Lady’s Seven Sorrows, hence the Novena I cobbled together which concluded yesterday.

This post from a few years ago has a meditation for each of the Seven Sorrows, I encourage you to read it for today’s meditation: Our Lady of Sorrows.

This post has some general information of the Devotion: Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows

ChurchPop has a few  great articles to learn more about the devotion:

The Seven Sorrows of Mary & The Promises to Those Who Meditate Upon Them Daily

and:

16 Powerful Graces Our Lady Promises to Those Who Honor Her 7 Sorrows

and also:

How to Pray the Seven Sorrows Rosary & Our Lady’s Powerful Promises to Those Who Pray It (that version differs slightly from how I say it; I don’t use the Introductory Prayer mentioned, I just say an Act of Contrition. No worries, there are slightly varying methods of reciting the Seven Sorrows chaplet.) Speaking of which, here is another variant from Immaculee’s website: 7 Sorrows Rosary Prayer.

I hope you enjoy these resources! Please cultivate a devotion to Our Sorrowful Mother!

Our Lady of Sorrows 1.

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence,
Be Thy Mother my defence,
Be Thy Cross my victory;
While my body here decays,
May my soul thy goodness praise,
Safe in Paradise with Thee.
(Stabat Mater)

*On the contemporary Liturgical Calendar, this is now the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 9

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Day 9 (Thursday)

Vigil of the Feast

The King has descended to the Dead, preaching the Gospel to the righteous Just of the Old Testament. Adam and Eve, Abel, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Kind David, and all the other Patriarchs and Prophets up until His own foster father Joseph and John the Baptist are nown hearing the Good News (although Joseph and the Baptist already knew it.)

Mary, meanwhile, has remained in the Upper Room, bereft with grief over her Son’s death. Yes, she knows that He will rise again; but this does not lessen her grief. The deeper your love, the deeper your grief, and His promised rising again doesn’t overcome the pain of her loss.

We can perhaps use this time during Lent to increase our empathy for other’s pain. Rather than make excuses or some other way to ignore or account for it, perhapswe can try to see through other’s eyes and feel through other’s hearts the pain they are going through. I need to do this. It’s scary.

The harrowing of hell 13247.

Wounded with his every wound,
Steep my soul till it hath swoon’d,
In His very blood away;
Be to me, O Virgin, nigh,
Lest in flames I burn and die,
In his awful Judgment day.
(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 8

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Day 8 (Wednesday)

The Burial of Jesus

And so Jesus is buried. If we keep with the theme of death being the extinguishing of the old self, then the burial in symbolic of the consigning to the past (God’s Mercy) that old self. Have you let go of that self? Are you still clinging to aspects of that life? Time fpr another Step 4 if you’re still “working the Steps” or another thorough examination of conscience. lent is winding down, now is the time when many parishes have Penance services. Make use of one, there are often many more priests available than during your typical weekend, plus you get to talk to a priest you might not know (not important, but if it relieves your stress and anxiety…) 

Soon, a new journey will begin.

BurialofChrist CarlBloch.

Virgin of all virgins blest!,
Listen to my fond request:
Let me share thy grief divine;
Let me, to my latest breath,
In my body bear the death
Of that dying Son of thine.
(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 7

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Day 7 (Tuesday)

Jesus is Taken Down from the Cross

He is dead. He, through whom all things were created; the King of Heaven and Earth, is now dead. His body hangs lifeless upon the gibbet He was crucified on to atone for the sin of Adam and Eve and all those who inherited their legacy.

His friends raise up a ladder up to reach Him and remove the nails which have pierced His hands and feet. They gently bring Him down and lay Him in the arms of His Sorrowful Mother. She gently holds Him, weeping over the brutality visited upon His body: the wounds, gashes, blood, and sweat still present. Pietà - Hallwylska museet - 107520.
Mary was also sorrowful unto death. Sorrowful for our sins which did this to her Son. She grieved a deeper grief than anyone before or since has felt. In her sinless nature, preserved from committing the least fault because God redeemed her at her conception, and preserved her from sin so she could be the tabernacle of the Lord, she felt the pain of our sins ever more profoundly (given that she never felt the pain of anything she, herself, had done.) The pain she felt all her life, the seven swords of sorrow that pierced her heart, was all due to other’s rejection of Jesus. Think about this as you continue your life’s journey. Especially during this Lenten season as we use this period to remove our character defects and grow closer to the Lord: Mary is there to help you. She points the way to Jesus and she will help you remove from your actions the things that cause Him offense. For it is not just jesus that is sorrowful for your sins, but Momma Mary, too. 

Let me mingle tears with thee,
Mourning Him who mourn’d for me,
All the days that I may live:
By the Cross with thee to stay;
There with thee to weep and pray;
Is all I ask of thee to give.
(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 5

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Day 5 (Sunday – Passion Sunday**)

The Crucifixion and Death of Jesus

The Crucifixion of the old self was wrought through pain and suffering; you tried to cling to the old crutches of alcohol or drugs to get you through life’s difficulties, but you know they are to be spurned. The new methodsare  of facing life directly instead of running away, taking personal responsibility instead of avoiding it, relying on God instead of your own mighty self-will; these are hard and the learning curve seems endless. But, the old self has died and a new one will soon be arising. 

What have you done with your new life? How does it compare to the old?

Cristo crucificado.jpg.

**According to the pre-1970 Roman Calendar. Otherwise, it is the Fifth Sunday of Lent.

O thou Mother! fount of love!
Touch my spirit from above,
Make my heart with thine accord:
Make me feel as thou hast felt;
Make my soul to glow and meltWith the love of Christ my Lord.

(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows Day 4

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Day 4 (Saturday)

Jesus Meets His Afflicted Mother

The sorrow of a mother upon seeing her son treated the way Jesus was; from His arrest and conviction, during which He had to endure unspeakable humiliations including torture… His Mother Mary witnessed it all. Now she sees Him carrying His cross on the way to His execution for crimes he was innocent of, all to redeem us from our sins.

Perhaps your own mother witnessed your own descent into abuse of alcohol or drugs; little could she do to stop it, or perhaps she did try hard, but you rejected the help, preferring the god of your choice. While Jesus did not deserve what happened to Him, you did, as it was your choice to pick up the drink or the drug, little realizing what genetic or environmental combinations “made you different” so that it ended up destroying you (or very close to.)

Mom was there. Not your Earthly mother, but your Heavenly one. Our Lady looks after her children whether or not they are paying her any heed. Maybe when you were a little child you were taught to say the Hail Mary three times before bedtime for protection from mortal sin. Momma Mary remembered. Perhaps you were taught the rosary and you prayed it for a while until other things took you away. Momma Mary remembered. Finally, one day, when you were at your bottom, you “met your own afflicted mother,” and Momma Mary pointed to Jesus. Somehow you knew, you cried out the Jesus and He answered. 

Watch for Mary pointing you to someone. Listen for Jesus calling you to help another. 

OU SSHO 16-001.

Bruis’d, derided, curs’d, defil’d,
She beheld her tender Child
All with bloody scourges rent;
For the sins of his own nation,
Saw Him hang in desolation,
Till His Spirit forth He sent.
(Stabat Mater)

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!!)

Lenten Novena to Our Lady of Sorrows: Day 3

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Day 3 (Friday)

The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple

We all know the story: Joseph and Mary make an annual pilgimage to Jerusalem and of course, bring along Jesus. Upon the return, they discover after a day or so that Jesus wasn’t with them; assuming He is with family and friends elsewhere in the caravan, they go looking. They do not find Him. In great haste they return to Jerusalem searching for Him, eventually finding Jesus speaking with the doctors of the Law in the Temple. He is nonchalant about the whole thing, apparently oblivious to their concern. (Kids…) 

The theme to ponder on are the emotions of Joseph and Mary when they discovered He was missing. What all manner of thoughts ran through their minds in the three days they took to return and conduct a search? The utter horror of thinking of what might have happened to their son…. yes, they are aware that He is the Messiah, but still, they are quite like us that despite “knowing” that God has assured us in the past and brought us through a crisis, at the moment when the crisis is happenning, we’re not thinking about that. Joseph and Mary are quite human in their response to Jesus’ absence.

How have you lost Jesus? Did you, at some point in your life, reject Him and all organized religion? That was deliberate choice that you can reverse on your own time. You still lost Him and wandred about looking for a substitute to Him. Perhaps you fell into your addiction. What about those times when you greviously sinned and despaired? Didn’t He seem far away, and that your sin was too great for Him to forgive? Or, that you were too ashamed to confess it? Or, you never really gave Him up, but because of your addiction, lost Him through inattention. The hole in your soul where He used to be became filled with liquour or drugs.

Perhaps you lost Jesus after the death of someone close to you. The utter devastation of the loss was so great that you felt God had left or abandoned you; or, thet He took that loved one away from you to leave you in grief and despair. 

Meditate on all the times that you lost Jesus, either deliberately or through the consequences of other choices. 

Is there one who would not weep,

Whelm’d in miseries so deep,

Christ’s dear Mother to behold?

Can the human heart refrain

From partaking in her pain,

In that Mother’s pain untold?

(Stabat Mater)

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!!)