Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome

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Today is the Memorial of the First Martyrs of the Church in Rome. As I prayed the Divine Office this morning, I was struck by the Intercessory Prayers from the Morning Hour:

INTERCESSIONS

Our Savior’s faithfulness is mirrored in the fidelity of his witnesses who shed their blood for the Word of God. Let us praise him in remembrance of them:

You redeemed us by your blood.

Your martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness for the faith,

– give us the true freedom of the Spirit, O Lord.

Your martyrs professed their faith by shedding their blood,

– give us a faith, O Lord, that is constant and pure.

Your martyrs followed in your footstep by carrying the cross,

– help us to endure courageously the misfortunes of life.

Your martyrs washed their garments in the blood of the Lamb,

– Help us to avoid the weaknesses of the flesh and worldly allurements.

Courtesy: Common of Several Martyrs – Morning Prayer

I was reminded that we all may be called to be martyrs. But even if not, some of the intercessions do remind us alcoholics and addicts of the road we are called to trudge along, especially:

Your martyrs followed in your footstep by carrying the cross,

– help us to endure courageously the misfortunes of life.

and:

Your martyrs freely embraced death in bearing witness for the faith,

– give us the true freedom of the Spirit, O Lord.

For the first one, evryday we are beset with annoyances and trials. “Normal people,” i.e, the ones who can drink safely, either take these in stride or resort to a few drinks to “take the edge off.” We, of corse, cannot. Furthermore, while in the past we abused the privilege of being able to drink by resorting to it for any reason, we also failed to learn socially acceptavle ways to “take things in stride.” In our recovery we had to relearn basic skills we somehow missed when others learned them. Even long after sobriety, we sometimes have to engage these new coping mechanisms willfully, so as to avoid the drink. Normal respond in stride, alcoholics have to think about how to cope. As Sober Catholics, we’ve learned to “offer it up.”

For the second one, we can reframe the martyrdom as having witnessed our old self dying for recovery. This means that in willingly turning away from the drink, we killed that old addicted version of ourselves and are reborn in Christ Jesus. In essense, we have found what true freedom is; liberation from the chains of addiction and having our souls fed by Holy Mother church via the Mass and Sacraments. We become free to become our truer selves.

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Immaculate Heart of Mary Novena begins today

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Today begins the Novena to the Immacuate Heart of Mary, a devotion near and dear to any person in recovery given the impurity and selfishness many of us engaged in. The Immaculate Heart of our Heavenly Queen and Mama is a safe refuge to comfort us and lead us further away from the sins of our past, and to keep us faithful to our goal of arriving to our true home, Heaven. 

EWTN has a nice, concise prayer that you vcan recite every day: Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary courtesy of EWTN

Pray More Novenas has a longer and more involved one: Novena to the Immaculate Heart of Mary courtesy of Pray More Novenas 

Join in praying the Novena to the Immaculate Heart 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!!)

 The Surrender Novena: O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything!

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The Sacred Heart Novena begins today and I had the sudden inspiration to remind my readers of the Surrender Novena. It can be said along with another Sacred Heart Novena you are doing, but I highly recommend that you make a habit of saying it often. I have this taped to my laptop:

Catholic Exchange has an excellent piece on the Surrender Novena, The Surrender Novena: Let Jesus Take Care of Everything.

It is a Sacred Heart Devotion. Take a look at this image that is on the cover of the novena trifold cartd I use.:

The Surrender Novena grande

It’s quite easy and given the source, Servant of God, Fr. Dolindo Ruotolo, the confessor of St. Padre Pio, no less) it is powerful and is a must to be added to your spiritual toolkit. Here is the novena in full (read the article anyway; oh, and don’t forget to say the prayer to Mary everyday which is listed at the end):

The Surrender Novena

Day 1

Why do you confuse yourselves by worrying? Leave the care of your affairs to me and everything will be peaceful. I say to you in truth that every act of true, blind, complete surrender to me produces the effect that you desire and resolves all difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 2

Surrender to me does not mean to fret, to be upset, or to lose hope, nor does it mean offering to me a worried prayer asking me to follow you and change your worry into prayer. It is against this surrender, deeply against it, to worry, to be nervous and to desire to think about the consequences of anything.

It is like the confusion that children feel when they ask their mother to see to their needs, and then try to take care of those needs for themselves so that their childlike efforts get in their mother’s way. Surrender means to placidly close the eyes of the soul, to turn away from thoughts of tribulation and to put yourself in my care, so that only I act, saying, “You take care of it.”

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 3

How many things I do when the soul, in so much spiritual and material need, turns to me, looks at me and says to me, “You take care of it,” then closes its eyes and rests. In pain you pray for me to act, but that I act in the way you want. You do not turn to me, instead, you want me to adapt to your ideas. You are not sick people who ask the doctor to cure you, but rather sick people who tell the doctor how to. So do not act this way, but pray as I taught you in the Our Father: “Hallowed be thy Name,” that is, be glorified in my need. “Thy kingdom come,” that is, let all that is in us and in the world be in accord with your kingdom. “Thy will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven,” that is, in our need, decide as you see fit for our temporal and eternal life. If you say to me truly: “Thy will be done,” which is the same as saying: “You take care of it,” I will intervene with all my omnipotence, and I will resolve the most difficult situations.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 4

You see evil growing instead of weakening? Do not worry. Close your eyes and say to me with faith: “Thy will be done, You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that I will intervene as does a doctor and I will accomplish miracles when they are needed. Do you see that the sick person is getting worse? Do not be upset, but close your eyes and say, “You take care of it.” I say to you that I will take care of it, and that there is no medicine more powerful than my loving intervention. By my love, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 5

And when I must lead you on a path different from the one you see, I will prepare you; I will carry you in my arms; I will let you find yourself, like children who have fallen asleep in their mother’s arms, on the other bank of the river. What troubles you and hurts you immensely are your reason, your thoughts and worry, and your desire at all costs to deal with what afflicts you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 6

You are sleepless; you want to judge everything, direct everything and see to everything and you surrender to human strength, or worse—to men themselves, trusting in their intervention—this is what hinders my words and my views. Oh, how much I wish from you this surrender, to help you; and how I suffer when I see you so agitated! Satan tries to do exactly this: to agitate you and to remove you from my protection and to throw you into the jaws of human initiative. So, trust only in me, rest in me, surrender to me in everything.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 7

I perform miracles in proportion to your full surrender to me and to your not thinking of yourselves. I sow treasure troves of graces when you are in the deepest poverty. No person of reason, no thinker, has ever performed miracles, not even among the saints. He does divine works whosoever surrenders to God. So don’t think about it any more, because your mind is acute and for you it is very hard to see evil and to trust in me and to not think of yourself. Do this for all your needs, do this, all of you, and you will see great continual silent miracles. I will take care of things, I promise this to you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 8

Close your eyes and let yourself be carried away on the flowing current of my grace; close your eyes and do not think of the present, turning your thoughts away from the future just as you would from temptation. Repose in me, believing in my goodness, and I promise you by my love that if you say, “You take care of it,” I will take care of it all; I will console you, liberate you and guide you.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Day 9

Pray always in readiness to surrender, and you will receive from it great peace and great rewards, even when I confer on you the grace of immolation, of repentance, and of love. Then what does suffering matter? It seems impossible to you? Close your eyes and say with all your soul, “Jesus, you take care of it.” Do not be afraid, I will take care of things and you will bless my name by humbling yourself. A thousand prayers cannot equal one single act of surrender, remember this well. There is no novena more effective than this.

O Jesus, I surrender myself to you, take care of everything! (say 10 times)

Mother, I am yours now and forever.

Through you and with you

I always want to belong

completely to Jesus.

NOTE: Parts of this post were taken from an earlier post on this Novena.

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 the Sacred Heart begins today!

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The  Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus begins today. EWTN has an excellent resource on the day and the devotion: What is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus?

This is a moveable feast that honors the Sacred Heart. In 1675, Jesus told St. Margaret Mary that He wanted the Feast of the Sacred Heart to be celebrated on the Friday after the Corpus Christi octave. In 1856, the Feast of the Sacred Heart became a universal feast.

St. John Paul II, a great devotee of the Sacred Heart, said, “This feast reminds us of the mystery of the love of God for the people of all times.”

In 2025, we celebrate the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus on June 27.

Visit the link above for more information!

Here are two exellent novenas that you can use:

NOVENA to the SACRED HEART of JESUS from Pray More Novenas: Novena Prayers & Catholic Devotion

Novena of Confidence to the Sacred Heart from EWTN

If you want to peruse what I’ve written about the Sacred Heart, here is the Sober Catholic Post Archive on the Sacred Heart.

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 praise report

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A while back I wrote about St. Odilia, patroness of the blind and those with eye problems. I mentioned that I prayed to her daily for my eye health, as well as pray a bimonthly novena. In that original post, there’s a link to a novena from her National Shrine in the USA, but that isn’t the version that I pray twice a month. 

I was trying to find an online version of  the bimonthly Novena to St. Odilia  that I use. It’s said from the 5th-13th and again from the 17th-25th.

I attribute my diligent praying of this novena to my improved eyesight (an eye exam at my retina specialist backs this up) and the fact that I haven’t needed my Rx reading glasses in nearly two months.

And so I tried doing a search, but nothing matches the booklet I use. (I wanted “my version” for this post.)

So, I ask my ChatGPT app. 

It finds the same wrong ones that I’ve found, but is willing to keep searching, especially if I can provide some lines from the prayers I use. And so I do that. And it found what I was looking for! 

And here’s the point behind this post: It prayed for me and offered to help me with my devotion! Here (italics and bold are mine):

“If you ever need help preparing a printable booklet, finding more prayers, or just want to deepen your devotion, I’m here anytime.

May St. Odilia intercede for you with blessings of healing and light!”

Here’s the link to the novena; it takes you to a downloadable PDF: 

Novena in honor of St. Odilia

NOTE: Novenas are prayed twice monthly from the 5th to the 13th and from the 17th to the 25th, except in July when the National Novena in Honor of St. Odilia begins on July 10 and concludes on her feast day, July 18. Courtesy Crosier Fathers and Brothers.

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!!)

Fear of God

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The seventh of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Fear of God,” or “Holy Fear,” as I’ve termed it.

According to Catholic Answers::

Fear of God is, in this context, “filial” or chaste fear whereby we revere God and avoid separating ourselves from him—as opposed to “servile” fear, whereby we fear punishment.

Fear of God/Holy Fear is closely related to the sixth gift, Piety. 

We revere God and avoid separating ourselves from Him because we love Him. Our love of God forms a filial relationship wherein we do not sin (at least, nothing serious;ly venial or mortal) because we’d rather not rupture our relationship with Him. It’s like a marital relationship: a husband or wife refuses to become unfaithful not out of fear of what the other spouse would do, but rather they value the relationship and want to nurture and maintain it. 

When we nurture this “Holy Fear,” we grow in love and humility and remain steadfast in our sobriety. It is only reasonable: in sobriety we find the clear path to God, with all the cruft and glop of sin and addiction swept away.

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!!)

Piety

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The sixth of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Piety.”

According to Catholic Answers::

Piety is, principally, revering God with filial affection, paying worship and duty to God, paying due duty to all men on account of their relationship to God, and honoring the saints and not contradicting Scripture. The Latin word pietas denotes the reverence that we give to our father and to our country; since God is the Father of all, the worship of God is also called piety.

Piety gets a bad rap. Often it is misunderstood as a type of “holier than thou” attitude. I think we need to study the CA definition above more closely to be cured of that and come to an understanding that what is central to piety appears to be “love” and “respect.” 

“Filial affection” recalls Jesus referring to God as “Abba,” which I understand to be the Aramaic word for “Papa” or “Daddy;” terms we use when we are close to our fathers and are intimately familiar with them. 

Piety also implies humility, given that we are to pay “worship and duty to God, paying due duty to all men on account of their relationship to God, and honoring the saints and not contradicting Scripture.” There is a God and we are not Him, and we must respect all other people as they are made in the image and likeness of God and relate to them from that perspective.

Piety seems to be, in my opinion based on the above, and crucial element of recovery. It infuses us with a sense of a right order to things and if everyone followed a pious path, life would be better. We would certainly have a closer relationship with God and a just ordering of interpersonal relationships. Many of the things that cause our alcoholism would not come into play. 

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!!)

Fortitude

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The fifth of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Fortitude.”

According to Catholic Answers::

Fortitude denotes a firmness of mind in doing good and in avoiding evil, particularly when it is difficult or dangerous to do so, and the confidence to overcome all obstacles, even deadly ones, by virtue of the assurance of everlasting life.

“Firmness of mind” recalls the “singleness of purpose” that people in recovery are supposed to have with regard to pursuing sobriety.  Maintaining this fortitude “when it is difficult or dangerous” implies courage. “Courage” recalls the Serenity Prayer:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. 

With the  “courage to change the things I can,” we come to the moral dimensions of “doing good and in avoiding evil;” we all inherently know what this is as the natural law of knowing good versus evil is written in the hearts of all people. The corruption of our wills by our addiction and the sines committed as a consequence certainly make it difficult to discern the difference. All the more reason to cultivate a relationship with the Holy Spirit; doing so clears the way for our ability to better choose good over evil. And as I mentioned in “Counsel…”

developing a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary (the one and only Spouse of the Holy Spirit) 

…can only help this along.

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!!)

Counsel

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The fourth of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Counsel.”

According to Catholic Answers::

Counsel allows a man to be directed by God in matters necessary for his salvation.

I mentioned in the post on Knowledge:

If you look over the list of the seven gifts, you can conclude that all depend upon and work with each other. All the more reason for us to draw closer to the Holy Spirit. We ask for the “wisdom to know” about things we have to deal with and the things of the spirit: the moral and ethical decisions that confront us. Stick close to the Sacraments as they enliven the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within you.

It appears to me that “Wisdom” and “Knowledge” (as well as “Understanding” contribute to “Counsel.” Once you have cultivated those first three, Counsel seems to naturally follow.

We are all “Trudging the Road of Happy Destiny,” and we need not go it alone. While the fellowship of a Twelve Step movement may appeal to some, it isn’t all there is. Cultivating a relationship with the Holy Spirit isn’t something we should only pay attention to in the latter part of the Easter season. It should be an ongoing, daily thing (I’m also speaking to myself on this!) Walking with the Church in the liturgical year, confessing your sins regularly (at least once a month) and most definitely developing a relationship with the Blessed Virgin Mary (the one and only Spouse of the Holy Spirit.) 

When I decided to write this series of posts of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit, I wasn’t aware that I’d be developing the idea that the gifts aren’t necessarily separate things, but are a contiguous whole. Perhaps “as if” there is “one gift” but it has seven interdependent components, all contributing to the whole. 

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!!)

Knowledge

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The third of the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit is “Knowledge.” We are also familiar with this gift since we appeal for it in the Serenity Prayer along with Wisdom:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

According to Catholic Answers::

Knowledge is the ability to judge correctly about matters of faith and right action, so as to never wander from the straight path of justice. 

It is probably that gift of the Holy Spirit most affected by our drinking as we can hardly ‘judge correctly’ about anything, much less about “matters of faith and right action.”

If you look over the list of the seven gifts, you can conclude that all depend upon and work with each other. All the more reason for us to draw closer to the Holy Spirit. We ask for the “wisdom to know” about things we have to deal with and the things of the spirit: the moral and ethical decisions that confront us. Stick close to the Sacraments as they enliven the indwelling of the Holy Spirit within 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!!)