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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. Gemma Galgani is one of my favorite saints. To my shock, I discovered that I’ve never blogged about her.
St. Paul the Apostle writes in Hebrews 12:1 about a ‘great cloud of witnesses.’ These are the saints in Heaven who are a part of the Mystical Body of Christ. They interact with us when we pray through them; we discover them in various ways, such as through our own exploration of the Catholic faith – perhaps the Holy Spirit ‘suggests’ someone. Sometimes they even pick us to become a devotee of theirs. If we were fortunate enough to be named after a saint or we took a saint’s name for Confirmation we might endeavor to learn more about them. Through them we become aware of other saints. This latter way is how I learned about St. Gemma Galgani, whose feast day is April 11.
I am a devotee of St. Maximilliam Kolbe. In my reading of his writings I discovered that he had a devotion to St. Gemma Galgani. While he was living in Nagasaki, he had written to his friary in Poland for a biography of her. He apparently had read this biogrpahy numerous times (I think 5? 6?) (You can obtain it through Tan Books, its publisher. It’s also available from EWTN.)
Once I learned that St. Maximilian had a devotion to St. Gemma, to the point of having read her biography numerous times, I naturally became attracted to her and looked up things; I learned a lot from this site, and became hooked.
She was a mystic and was very dedicated to the Passion of Christ. She bore the stigmata (although not permanently; they appeared on Thursday evening and lasted until Friday afternoon or Saturday morning.) Satan had attacked her and tried to burn her autobiography.
She is the patron saint against temptations, against the death of parents, against tuberculosis, of students and of pharmacists. For these reasons I believe that sober Catholics should cultivate a relationship with her. She can help you with your temptations (of the drink, of impure acts, other things.) Many people who have sobered up return to school; she can watch over you in your studies. Since she was so dedicated to the Passion of Christ, perhaps she can even help you understand it better and apply it to your life. It is said that every saint meditated on the Passion. If you want to increase your chances of going to Heaven someday, St. Gemma can help 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!!)
As I travel along the Information Superhighway (yes, I still call the Internet that) I sometimes run across a Catholic who had inspired alcoholics and addicts and whose cause for beatification in underway. Such is the case for Ven. Enzo Boschetti. He lived from November 19, 1929 to February 15, 1993 and served as a friar in the Carmelite Order and worked as a missionary in Kuwait until he returned to Italy to serve as a diocesan priest. Ven. Boschetti founded the Casa del Giovane Community which provides hospitality to young people with drug addiction problems. According to the website their mission is to:
The “Casa del Giovane” Community is a non-profit organization founded by Don Enzo Boschetti in 1971 to provide hospitality to young people with drug addiction problems. Today it presents itself as a reality of welcome and help to face various situations of social distress, proposing an educational path based on the principles of essentiality, sharing, coherence and responsibility. The Community aims to “implement concrete forms of social responsibility for all those who are in a position of hardship”, through the provision of services at a preventive, educational, therapeutic, training, cultural and professional level.
It welcomes minors with family problems, foreign minors, young people with addiction problems, single mothers with children, people with mental disabilities and homeless people. It also welcomes young people and girls who wish to live the experience of sharing, free service and prayer in a community style. The answers to needs are articulated in the proposal of day services (listening center, day center for minors, mental health centers, pedagogical-rehabilitation day center) and residential (therapeutic communities, educational communities for minors, communities for mothers with children).
I bring this up because I am always interested in Catholic approaches to addiction recovery. The links in the first paragraph take you to informative site, and when you get there, I strongly urge you to follow other links about their work, success stories, the life of Ven Boschetti and so on. It’s a worthy link trail! (NOTE: The sites are all in Italian, but most browsers have a translation function.)
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!!)
I have a devotion to St. Dismas, the “Good Thief” who snatched Heaven in his dying moments. He repented and as was recorded in the Gospel of St. Luke in Ch 23 verses 42-43:
Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” He replied to him, “Amen, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.”
I have written about him a few times due to a promise I made to him to make him better known.
I was watching various YouTube videos when I chanced upon this one:
It’s a video from EWTN’s program “Vaticano” in which writer Tony Gratacós was interviewed for a novel he wrote on St. Dismas. from the show notes:
Who was the Good Thief beside Jesus at Calvary? In this powerful interview, bestselling author Tony Gratacós reflects on Saint Dismas—the first saint, promised paradise by Christ Himself. From spiritual darkness to redemption, Dismas took a leap of faith in the final moments of his life. Through storytelling and Scripture, this episode explores how even in suffering, grace breaks through. A moving Lenten reflection on mercy, hope, and the mystery of salvation.
The self-published novel, “A Thief’s Song” is available through Amazon. Click on the image (or if that doesn’t work, go here: “A Thief’s Song” on Amazon.
I have not read it, so this is not a review or endorsement. I may buy it when my disposable income permits it.
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 Feast of the Annunciation of the Archangel Gabriel to Our Lady is coming upmon March 25th. That means the Novena starts on March 16th! I found three nice ones for you to pick from (the last one is a link to a downloadable PDF file):
Annunciation Novena courtesy of Pray More Novenas
The Annunciation Novena courtesy of EWTN
Annunciation Novena (PDF download) courtesy of USCCB
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!!)
I ran across a reference on Spirit Daily to the USCCB’s Examination of Concience page. They list several for different states of life:
Examination of Conscience based on the Ten Commandments
Examination of Conscience in the Public Square / (también en español)
Examination of Conscience in Light of Catholic Social Teaching / (tambien en español)
Examination of Conscience for Children
Examination of Conscience for Young Adults
Examination of Conscience for Single People
Examination of Conscience for Married Persons
Please visit the page right here: Examinations of Conscience | USCCB:
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!!)
Ash Wednesday is this March 5th and on that day begins the “Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery!”
I’ve written about it before: Reminder post, and for the details on how to pray it and who might be interested, (and it’s NOT just for alcoholics and addicts, but for anyone with persistent character defects they hope to be rid of) just scan the QR code…
…or go to the special page I’ve set up: Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery Page
Please share the Page and the graphic! Thank 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!!)
To facilitate the social media promotion (my own, and hopefully you’ll share about it, too!) of the Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery, I created a special page to leave up live for it, especially as I think it could be an annual thing.
Please go here for the page. You can also just share this social media image:
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!!)
A while back, I announced an idea. I’m reminding you of it today because Lent is coming up, and there’s a Lenten observance you may be interested in: “A Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena for Alcoholism and Addiction Recovery.”
Lent begins on March 5th this year. Last year, I prayed two successful Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novenas. I did some calculations with a calendar and discovered that starting with Ash Wednesday as the first day, the 54th and final day would be:
I don’t think that’s a coincidence. The very Sunday when the floodgates of God’s unfathomable ocean of Mercy open up and spill out over every sinner who in humility begs for forgiveness is the very day the completion of the Miraculous 54-day Rosary Novena ends!
Think about that. Are you still trapped in the miseries of alcoholism and drug addiction? Or, do you know someone who is? This may be the perfect time for deliverance from that slavery. And it may not even be for alcoholics and drug addicts. Sex and porn addicts, as well as anyone who can’t break masturbation, take comfort! Your deliverance may be at hand! You will be beseeching the Blessed Virgin Mary, the very Mother of Purity, for her intercession to liberate you from lust! How can she not help you?
So, get the word out. Start preparing. Get in the spirit by ramping up your own Rosary devotion. (Need help? There’s this book: The Recovery Rosary: Reflections for Alcoholics and Addicts.) Start working on your examination of conscience. We’re supposed to do that every evening before bedtime (just a review of our day and where we might have offended God or not done His will; but we do a more detailed one just before going to confession. Here’s a great guide to Confession, complete with an Examen.) If you are a Twelve-Stepper, now’s a good time to do (or repeat) your 4th Step Inventory and find someone to do the 5th Step with.) Try doing the 10th Step throughout your day.
To sum it all up, this Lent of 2025 could be the season when you finally become free of your deepest, darkest character defects. I have loads of things wrong with me, and so I will definitely be doing it.
So, what are the basics of this novena, and is it truly miraculous? I think it is, at least in the sense that practitioners have reported they’ve gotten their petitions answered. (Obviously, the petitions have to be reasonable and subject to God’s Will for you.)
The Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena originated in the late 19th century in Naples, Italy, when a young girl suffering from an illness thought to be incurable prayed to Our Lady for help. Mary appeared to her and promised her healing if she prayed three novenas. The girl did so, and was miraculously healed. In a later apparition, Mary specified that the full prayer should have 3 novenas in petition, and 3 novenas in thanksgiving.
How to pray the Novena:
The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary (one set of mysteries) each day for twenty-seven consecutive days in petition; then immediately five decades each day for an additional twenty-seven consecutive days in thanksgiving, regardless of whether or not the request has been granted yet. (This is where faith comes in; you’re thanking the Blessed Virgin and God for granting the request without first waiting for it to be granted. That’s gratitude, too.)
The first day of the novena always begins with the Joyful Mysteries (regardless of what day of the week the novena is started); the second day, the Sorrowful Mysteries are prayed; and the third day of the novena, the Glorious Mysteries are prayed. The fourth day of the novena starts all over with the Joyful, etc., and continues on in that sequence (Joyful-Sorrowful-Glorious) throughout the 54 days of the novena. The Luminous Mysteries aren’t included only because they did not exist when Our Lady taught this novena to the girl.
There are special additional prayers to begin and conclude it during all the days of petition and thanksgiving, as well as at the end of each decade. Please visit these sites for information on how to pray the Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena:
How to Pray the 54-Day Rosary Novena courtesy of Hallow
FIFTY-FOUR DAY NOVENA (This is a downloadable PDF file; it also has more prayers than the previous two links.
Is this novena truly miraculous? I believe so. I think you do have to follow the format provided by the instructions I linked to; I’ve said 54-day rosary novenas in the past without the special prayers, and the results were not what I hoped for. Faith abides. If you are sincere, and if the petitions are in accordance with God’s will for you, then there should be some positive result. A full healing? Perhaps! Just increased strength and determination to recover? Possibly? Doors opened for you to be admitted to a treatment facility? Maybe! How the petitions are answered is up to God, but they could very well include a complete remission of your urges to drink, drug, lust, and whatnot.
It is said that the only prayers that God is guaranteed to answer positively are those for a soul’s salvation, since He desires that all be saved. (Even though not all are.) So perhaps connect your recovery to your salvation?
Let this upcoming Divine Mercy Sunday be the best yet! May the ocean of mercy pour down upon you and completely wash away your sins and leave you renewed, refreshed, and forgiven!
Please read these posts on Divine Mercy Sunday:
Divine Mercy Sunday: A great day for those who’ve really messed things up
Sacred Heart and Divine Mercy Sunday
Donations to support my work are appreciated.
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!!)
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a must-read. It has become an annual read for me for Lent (this year during Septuagesima.) Despite having been written in the 1950s, it is still relevant today. People refer to it as an example of “cyclic history;” however I think that misses the point: Human nature remains the same and concupiscence runs throughout every human life and culture. Evil (sin) does not have to innovate of come up with new schemes; old ones work everytime and will be repeated. Awareness of history is not a preventatitve, either: people can be willfully blind and listen to their pride rather than reason. Whether it is the “Flame Deluge” (nuclear war) of the 20th Century and the resulting “Simplification” (wanton destruction and mass killing of anyone intelligent) we learned about in “Fiat Homo” (the first Book of the novel), to the pride and intellectual bindness of Thon Taddeo in “Fiat Lux” (Book 2): Human nature’s tendency towards sin is the lowest common denominator in moving history forward.
The third Book of the volume is especially poignant. “Fiat Voluntas Tua” is set in a 38th Century human civilization that bypassed the technological achievements of the European-American one that destroyed the world in a nuclear holocaust in the 20th Century. I learned more moral theology listening to Abbot Zerchi than anywhere else.
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!!)