Indulgenced Cemetery Visit Devotion for November 1-8

Posted on October 30, 2024 by paulcoholic

This is an annual post on a fruitful pious devotion for November:

Catholic Culture has an excellent article regarding a very beneficial pious activity that can aid in your own spiritual progression. It also is a good reminder of where we’ll end up someday. (A grave. Morbid, true, but you wouldn’t be here unless you’re more aware than most people that you will die someday.)

Praying for the Dead and Gaining Indulgences During November is something I blog about here annually. It is about the act of visiting a cemetery during the first 8 days of November.

To summarize from the “Catholic Culture” site: “Indulgenced Acts for the Poor Souls: A partial indulgence can be obtained by devoutly visiting a cemetery and praying for the departed, even if the prayer is only mental. One can gain a plenary indulgence visiting a cemetery each day between November 1 and November 8. These indulgences are applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory.

A plenary indulgence, again applicable only the Souls in Purgatory, is also granted when the faithful piously visit a church or a public oratory on November 2. In visiting the church or oratory, it is required, that one Our Father and the Creed be recited. A partial indulgence, applicable only to the Souls in Purgatory, can be obtained when the Eternal Rest is prayed. This is a good prayer to recite especially during the month of November: ‘Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.'”

The article explains the differences between plenary and partial indulgences.

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 popular St. Michael Prayer (short and long version)

Posted on September 22, 2024 by paulcoholic

The popular prayer to St. Michael the Archangel originated with Pope Leo XIII in the 1880s after he had witnessed a vision of Satan in converaation with God in which the Devil said that he woud need “about 100 years” to destroy the Catholic Church. (It is open to debate as to when the 100 years began; I personally think it began in 1917, with the time up to then spent by Satan preparing for his work. Also, knowledge of this and the spiritual countermeasures wrought by prayer may have interfered with Satan’s timeline.)

St. Michael slaying Satan!

Image source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Michael4.jpg

The following are the prayers written by Pope Leo XIII in response to the vision. The short version used to be said after every Low Mass, but was discontinued after Vatican II (although it is making a comeback as a post-Mass devotion.) My wife and I recite the short version often throughout the day. I strongly advise every Sober Catholic to memorize and recite it at least once, daily, if you haven’t started doing so by now. Perhaps you can say the long version during the times you feel called to do so.

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (short version)

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (long version)

“O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan.

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be scattered.

“Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.

R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered, the root of David.

V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.

R. As we have hoped in Thee.

V. O Lord, hear my prayer.

R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as supplicants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious St. Michael the Archangel, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all the other unclean spirits who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.”

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 Prayer to the Holy Face from EWTN

Posted on September 1, 2024 by paulcoholic

I ran across this prayer to the Holy Face of Jesus from EWTN on my Facebook feed a few minutes ago. I had been planning on writing a post on the Holy Face Chaplet as it can be used by alcoholics, so I took this as a reminder to get around to it (which will be the next post in a little while after this.)

The Holy Face | EWTN

I included a screenshot in case the link vanishes (as does happen quite a lot with EWTN links after several years pass.)

If you read the prayer, it invokes the Sorrowful Mother (“piercing sorrow of Our Lady as she beheld You in Your cruel Passion”) and that line served as yet ANOTHER reminder to ME to remind YOU that today kicks off the month of September, which is dedicated to Our Lady of Sorrows. Her Feast Day is September 15, which is a Sunday this year which means there will be no Mass honoring Our Lady under that title this year.

Nevertheless, I will post a few things about the Devotion to Our Lady of Sorrows over the next two weeks.

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 Rosa Mystica approved

Posted on July 8, 2024 by paulcoholic

I was not really aware of this apparition of Our Lady as I tend to ignore unapproved apparitions. However….. WE HAVE A NEW APPROVED APPARITION AND SOME NEW DEVOTIONS!!!!

The Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith has stated that it found no elements in the messages disseminated by Pierina Gilli that contradict the teachings of the Catholic Church on faith and morals. This declaration is included in a letter published on July 8, signed by the Prefect of the DDF, Victor Manuel Fernandez, and approved by the Pope. The letter addresses the devotion to Maria Rosa Mystica (‘Mary Mystical Rose’) and the messages that Pierina Gilli claims to have received from the Virgin Mary in 1947 and 1966. The letter highlights the positive aspects of these messages, while also noting some elements that require clarification to prevent misunderstandings.

Source: Green light for devotion to Our Lady Mystical Rose

OK, now on to the particulars of the devotion:

The story of the devotion is told here: The Miraculous Image of Rosa Mystica, and here: Apparitions of Our Lady – Rosa Mystica – 1947 – 1976

These are “official” sites of the Apparition, this one is About Our Lady Maria, Rosa Mystica and details the life of the seer, Pierina Gilli and the basic story behind Our Lady’s visits and messages.

This details all of the Devotions to Honor Our Lady Maria, Rosa Mystica, whereas this tells you about what to do every day: Daily Devotions & Additional Prayers.

Here’s a link to the Diocesan Sanctuary of the Mystical Rose – Mother Of The Church and Montichiari Fountains

Here’s a nice downloadable PDF!

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!!)

Church in schism? Remember to not leave Jesus because of Judas!

Posted on June 20, 2024 by paulcoholic

I ran across some news items today regarding Archbishop Vigano, the former papal nuncio to the US, being charged with schism. I have not mentioned him before on this blog as he’s a little outside its scope, nor will I go into the details about ‘“the why’s” of the charges. For that, you can start with this article from CNA: Former U.S. nuncio Viganò to undergo Church trial for schism, rejecting Pope Francis | Catholic News Agency.

It is unfortunate, but Vigano seems to have adopted these charges as a badge of honor: Attend a falsis prophetis – EXSURGE DOMINE Ets Foundation (In Italian, but most browsers have a translate function.)

All of this reminds me of a few posts I had written a few years ago about the possibilities of such things ocurring. We will be facing difficult times ahead; perhaps even beginning this year with possible election violence in the US. But concerning the church, there is the still lasting effects of the clerical sex abuse scandal. I am already facing “difficult times” right now that are the result of that scandal. See my Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena to save my parish from closure post.

Whether it is declining vocations, sex scandals, or confusion and division in the leadership causing all sorts of problems, we must remember to not leave Jesus because of Judas. (Please read that post! Thank you!)

Leaving the Catholic Church is the easy way out. However, if you do that, it is clear you do not realize what you are leaving. Or possibly, you do know, but lack appreciation for the implications of leaving? The Catholic Church is not one denomination amongst tens of thousands. It is the Church that Jesus Christ Himself established. It has the leadership He instituted (Pope, Bishops, priests.) It has the sacraments He instituted. You do not find them anywhere else. (The Eastern Orthodox posess them, but they are schismatic. You can attend their Divine Liturgies and receive their sacraments when no Catholic church is available, but to formally join them is to put yourself in schism. Schism incurs an excommunication, thus placing your immortal soul in peril.)

Schism isn’t worth whatver is troubling you to ponder committing it. You’ll be taking the wrong side in the Spiritual Warfare (please read that post, too!) that is happening. This may sound weird, but in remaining within the Church, no matter how strong the desire is to leave it, you will receive tremendous graces if the pain and struggle are offered up. Doubly so if you offer the sufferings up for the conversion of those committing the deeds you want to leave over!

So please, don’t take the road of schism, it may seem the right thing to do, but often the Devil presents things wrapped in pretty packages that seem all right and propoer. But they conceal the damantion that could result.

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!!)

Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena to save my parish from closure

Posted on June 16, 2024 by paulcoholic

ATTENTION: THIS IS REALLY LONG BUT IT WOULD MEAN A LOT TO ME IF YOU’D READ THE WHOLE POST. I’M NOT ASKING FOR MONEY, JUST ATTENTION FOR SOMETHING PLEEEEEAAASSSE?????

This upcoming Saturday the 22nd of June my wife and I (and numerous others) will be starting a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena to save our parish from closure.

We live in the Diocese of Buffalo and about six dozen parishes are recommended for closure due to the aging priesthood and an insufficient number of men coming into the priesthood. There is also an additional factor: the diocese had to declare bankruptcy to protect its assets from the numerous lawsuits stemming from the sex abuse scandal. The past 2, perhaps 3, Bishops of Buffalo failed to adequately protect young boys and girls from sexual predators in the priesthood. And so now these parishes will also be sold to pay the victims who sued the diocese.

I hope the fires of Hell burn a lot hotter for those unrepentant Catholic priests who couldn’t keep their hands off of boys and girls. Please note that I am NOT wishing Hell on anyone, this is why I said “unrepentant.” Unrepented and unconfessed mortal sins earn the guilty eternal hellfire. God’s mercy will indeed cover those priests who were sincere in repenting and confessing their sins, which I believe to be mortal. Perhaps a few could claim mitigating factors such as mental health problems or addictions, but given the deliberate nature of their actions and their duration, plus the lack of accountability by the Bishops, I think only a small few can be excused in that manner.

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph1857:

For a sin to be mortal, three conditions must together be met: “Mortal sin is sin whose object is grave matter and which is also committed with full knowledge and deliberate consent.”

I find it difficult to believe that priests guilty of sexual crimes against others, especially children, are not covered by all three.

So anyway, a hundred thousand or so Catholics in the Diocese of Buffalo will be losing their parishes because vocations were rarely nurtured and priests who were sexual predators.

Now we come to my parish, St. Bernadette’s. “St. Bernies” is strong, vibrant and growing. Almost every month the bulletin lists dozens and dozens of new parishioners. There are active ministries. There is Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration. The collection pulls in in excess of $20,000 every week. It is not in debt and pays all its bills. Every weekend over 1,000 people attend the three Masses (1 Saturday Vigil and 2 Sunday morning.) This is not common amongst parishes diocese-wide. There is no reason to close it. It is 2 miles from one other parish and about 5 from another, but those are in good condition, too, and hardly need the addition of our parish’s members. Besides, if St. Bernadette’s were to close it would add thousands of people to those two churches and there would still need to be three priests to serve those two, so the point in closing St. Bernadette’s is lost: there wouldn’t be a saving in priestly postings.

Our priest did mention that the diocese might be in error, that the data attributed to our parish might actually belong to a failing parish, but who knows? My brilliant wife is looking over some publicly available data in the Diocesan Directory and she’s found additional numbers that cast serious doubt on the sanity of the decision to recommend closure.

Note that the diocese is only recommending these parishes for closure; the affected parishes can offer a counterproposal to the plan. If accepted, they’re saved, if rejected, they’re not. Our priest and parish staff will be working overtime to work out a counterproposal.

(Incidentally, we love our priest. He looks like Jesus, plus in every homily he fondly mentions his Mom and Rome (or Italy. I’ve never heard so much stuff about Rome in homilies. He puts the ROMAN in Roman Catholic.))

So I thought of (or the Blessed Mother put it in my brain, or perhaps St. Bernadette) saying a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena. I wrote the following and our priest approved it for distribution in the church:

ATTENTION ALL PARISHIONERS

OF ST. BERNADETTE’S:

PLEASE JOIN IN A

“Miraculous 54-Day Rosary Novena to Save St. Bernadette’s.”

***June 22-August 14***

We all love St. Bernadette’s and will be distraught over her closing, should that happen. To help prevent this, we are calling upon the powers of Heaven and Our Lady to help keep our parish open, if that be God’s will. Let’s all join together in reciting a Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena! We can pray as individuals in ‘spiritual communion’ with each other, or together in groups in the church, our homes or over Zoom/Google Meet, etc.

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.

OUR NOVENA TO SAVE OUR PARISH WILL BEGIN ON SATURDAY JUNE 22nd SO AS TO END ON AUGUST 14th, the day before they begin to announce the final decisions on closings. August 14th is important because it’s the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe, WHO HAD A GREAT DEVOTION TO ST. BERNADETTE AND OUR LADY OF LOURDES!!!

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.

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. Here are two links with the instructions and prayers:

The Miraculous 54 Day Rosary Novena and How to Pray the 54 Day Rosary Novena (NOTE TO MY READERS: on the sheet, the URLs were spelled out. Obviously a link wouldn’t work and I didn’t know how to convert one to a QR code (the instructions are on my phone somewhere but I lacked the time to figure it out. Hence the next sentence:)

OR JUST DO A WEB SEARCH FOR “HOW TO PRAY THE 54 DAY ROSARY NOVENA” it’s essentially the same at any source
.

BACK TO MY READERS: My wife and I already know of several of our online friends who say they’ll join us in saying this Novena, which is awesome as they’ve never even been to western New York much less our parish!

WILL YOU JOIN IN, ALSO? I get A LOT OF BLOG INSPIRATION while at my Holy Hours in the parish’s Perpetual Adoration Chapel, so you’ll kind of be helping Sober Catholic!

Yes, I know the Diocese of Buffalo isn’t alone in this. There are quite a lot of other diocese in the same position. So, if you refrain from helping out because of that, I’d understand. But still, I’d really appreciate it if you’d rise above rejecting help just because you’re not in this Diocese. I don’t think it would be inappropriate at all for you to add an additional, personal intention to the “Save Paulcoholic’s St. Bernadette Parish” petition! So there could be something in it for you! OH!!!!! If you want, you can email me or post in the comments the personal intentions that you might add; I’ll copy and paste them onto a doc and keep them on my phone and pray about them in front of the Blessed Sacrament at St. Bernie’s Adoration Chapel and before or after Mass.

Thanks!

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!!)

iThirst: A Catholic initiative to help the addicted

Posted on February 13, 2024 by paulcoholic

There is a very good article in the National Catholic Register about a Catholic program to address addictions. The iTHIRST Initiative (The Healing Initiative: Recovery, Spirituality and Twelve Steps) is a program offering spiritual accompaniment for those struggling with addictions. The article is right here: Aiding the Addicted: Healing Hearts and Souls Through Spiritual Accompaniment in the National Catholic Register

The article mentions a Fr. Michael Champagne. I met him once, back in 2012 at an Into The Wild Weekend experiential retreat. He was the chaplain. His preaching was incredible. “True doctrine issued from his mouth.”

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 Pilgrims of the Living Water (Pelerins del Eau Vive)

Posted on February 11, 2024 by paulcoholic

Once upon a time (I’ve ALWAYS wanted to begin a post or a story with those words) three women attended a meeting of the Charismatic Renewal in Lourdes, France. This is the site of one of the most visited Marian Apparition shrines in the world. The Blessed Virgin Mary had appeared there to a poor, uneducated peasant girl named Bernadette Soubirous eighteen times in late Winter through Spring, 1858.

This is not that story. It is the story of the three women and an organization they started in France in 1979 that helps people become liberated from alcoholism.

Marion Cahour, a doctor specializing in alcoholism, was accompanied by two friends, Marie-Claire, who was a recently retired nurse with an enthusiasm for people, and Zélie, a mother of six children.

The story goes that while at Lourdes during this Renewal they were confronted by an alcoholic hotel hostess who had repeatedly insulted them after they returned to their hotel room. Now, Marion Cahour’s father had died from alcoholism in 1922 when she was just 14. She later entered medical school and worked with alcoholics throughout her career. (By the way, in 1979 she was 71 years of age. Just like Mother Angelica who started EWTN at the age of 58, this shows that one is never too old to begin something that establishes a legacy.) They hit upon an idea during the torchlight procession, that of turning to Jesus to free people from alcoholism. They created a cardboard sign with the words:

“Jesus Savior heal us of alcohol, Thank you!”

The sign and their public declaration were reportedly well received given that they were not expelled from the solemn ceremony. To quote from their website (links at the end of this post):

When they arrived at the Crowned Virgin, the master of ceremonies came to pick them up and brought them up the whole esplanade to place them on one of the side stairs of the basilica, in the middle of the banner carriers, just below a large lamppost so that they can be seen everywhere.

“Keep straight, carry the sign high,” his friends blew him, but the advice was useless. Thousands and thousands of eyes converged on them, on this sign, an unusual cry of misery and hope. When the Salvation ceremony at the Blessed Sacrament was completed, the cord of the many bishops in red or purple dresses at the foot of the basilica turned around and discovered them. One of them detached himself and came to them: “I congratulate you, ladies, he told them, for your courage and faith, it is above all this word “THANK YOU” that strikes me. (It was already a sign of recognition from our Church).

“Stay straight, hold the sign up,” his friends blew to him.

Then they were overwhelmed by a crowd of pilgrims from all sides, especially by groups of Italian and Spanish women, who shouted “alcohol-alcohol” while kissing their hands. For the three of her, it was a novelty. Their eyes got wet and after two hours they were still on the spot.

They returned in 1980 with family and friends burdened by alcoholism. The nascent movement, obviously infused by the Holy Spirit and encouraged by His Immaculate Spouse, the Blessed Virgin Mary, began. The Mission of the Pilgrims of Living Water (Pelerins del Eau Vive in French) was born!

From their site:

We are a Catholic mission that has existed since 1979, at the service of alcohol patients and their families, believers or unbelievers, who are either sick or have relatives who suffer from this disease (called codependents). It was created by Marion Cahour (see history of our mission) and is a Catholic mission constituted as a private association of the faithful, recognized by the Bishop of Nantes. Our foundation and spirituality place them in the Health Pastoral Care deployed in the Catholic Church

The Pilgrims of the Living Water are groups of Christians experienced by the ravages of alcohol, sick or codependent, whether in their personal lives, in that of their families or friends.

Cahour had the notion that alcoholism is a disease of the soul.

“…at the origin of this dependence, there is a disease of the soul”

-Marion Cahour, The Pilgrims of the Living Water founder

I agree completely with this! I’ve written before on that and you’ve probably heard on your own about how people have a “hole in the soul” and they yearn to fill it. Many fill it by inappropriate means such as addictions, sex, drugs, and a host of other things which all have one thing in common: they do not fill that “hole in the soul.” That hole can only be filled by one thing: God.

Eau Vive meets once a week for 90 minutes in support groups called “Hearts,” to share, listen, and pray the Rosary. They also recite the “Prayer of the Glass of Water.”

It refers to the Gospel of the Samaritan woman according to Saint John ch 4, v10 and 13.

“If you knew the gift of God and who is the one who says to you: “Give me a drink”, it was you who would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Jesus answered: “Whoever drinks from this water from the well will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks from this water that I will give him, will never thirst again.”

This is also done at home in a private ceremony:

Every evening: (because the victory of the next day is won the night before)

Fill a glass of water by reciting the “Our Father” so that it becomes the glass of water given to the Samaritan.

Every morning: when you wake up, swallow it in confidence by saying:

“Jesus the savior, heal me of alcohol. Thank you” and then reciting the “Prayer of the Glass of Water:”

My God, come to my help

Lord to my rescue.

With the help of the Holy Spirit,

I decide to prefer today

Jesus Christ, my savior to my alcohol.

Blessed Virgin Mary,

I put my choice in your hands.

Pray that I will hold on,

O my father from heaven,

Hear my sick cry,

Take pity on me,

And give me the courage

To start this prayer again tomorrow.

Our Lady of Impossible Missions

Pray for us.

“Jesus Savior

heal us

of alcohol

Thank you!”

Finally, they work in a spirit of communion and reparation in something called the “Living Water of the Glorious Cross.” The…

…pilgrims of the Living Water of the Glorious Cross … offer in the communion of the saints their present sufferings to support the sick and their families wounded by this “ALCOHOL” scourge.

They will pray more particularly for those who struggle and hang out in a long fight of relapses, not to mention those who have died or will die without having experienced the release of their drug. They are entrusted with the great intentions of the Mission and the friends whose journey is the most difficult.

This mystical and contemplative branch will be the best lightning rod against the mortal danger of any division within the mission of the “Pilgrims of the Living Water”.

I learned about this group while reading a book on the 150th Anniversary of the Apparition of Lourdes; containing 150 ‘miraculous stories’ of healing and conversion, as well as stories of particular importance to the growth of the Shrine of Lourdes, one of these stories was about a man who ‘had it all’ and lost it because of the drink. He had a conversion experience while homeless in Paris when he chanced upon a Catholic Church where young people were praying the Rosary with some homeless people. He prayed for deliverance, the people took him in and helped get his life together and he joined Eau Vive.

You may have noticed that the “Prayer of the Pilgrims of Living Water” harkens to the Matt Talbot Way method of transferring your love for alcohol onto Jesus: ”

“With the help of the Holy Spirit, I decide to prefer today Jesus Christ, my savior to my alcohol.”

The links I promised, follow. They are all in French, but most modern browsers have a translation function. Please make use of it because the information is quite wonderful and useful!

Their homepage: Pelerins del Eau Vive

Their history: History of the Mission

Their program of recovery: What do we offer?

Their locations: Our ‘Hearts’ (None in the United States or Canada, alas. All appear to be in French-speaking countries.)

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!!)

On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Posted on December 8, 2023 by paulcoholic

Today is the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Church rightly teaches that Mary was conceived without the stain of Original Sin, based upon the anticipated merits of the passion, death, and resurrection of her Son, Jesus Christ.

In 1854, Pope Pius XI proclaimed in Ineffabilis Deus the following:

We declare, pronounce, and define that the doctrine which holds that the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instance of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Saviour of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin, is a doctrine revealed by God and therefore to be believed firmly and constantly by all the faithful.

This makes sense on many different levels.

God exists outside of time and is not restricted by the chronological sequence of events that occur within time.
The Holy Spirit could not have ‘overshadowed’ Mary to form Jesus in her womb if she was in the state of Original Sin. Mary’s union with the Holy Spirit is a spousal union. “What God had joined, let none rend asunder.” This is an important point that helped me finally understand more solidly the whole ‘Immaculate Conception’ thing. Her spousal union with the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s ‘overshadowing’ Mary required her to be sinless. Not just preserved from Original Sin, but also the stain it leaves behind (concupiscence.). Sin blocks grace from the soul; mortal sin is deadly and separates us from God, while venial sin distances us from God. Mary’s spousal union with the Spirit would have been ruptured if she was capable of sinning. Remember: “What God had joined, let none rend asunder.” If she was in any state of sin, the Holy Spirit could not have joined with her in the first place.
Therefore, how can the Holy Spirit’s spousal union with Mary be maintained at all if she had concupiscence? It couldn’t. Therefore, Mary could not have Original Sin, and by not being subjected to it or having its stain on her soul, she was incapable of committing venial and mortal sins. This is where all other humans differ from Mary. Although by Baptism we’ve had Original Sin removed, its stain remains, and by this concupiscence, we sin. With Mary, since the stain was removed concupiscence was never a part of her being. But while Christians have received the Holy Spirit in Baptism, our union with the Spirit is not to the same degree as Mary’s. Ours is not a spousal union; sin can rupture it. Hence we need the Sacraments to repair the rupture.
Since she bore Him in her womb for nine months, she could not even commit venial and mortal sins during this period as this would place Jesus under the domain of Satan, since a fetus is physically a part of the mother. (While not culpable for the mother’s sins, nor capable of sinning itself, a fetus would still be affected by them.) Her sinless behavior obviously would have continued after Jesus’ birth. This is the basis for the teachings of Sts. Lous de Montfort and Maximilian Kolbe when they wrote that Mary’s will was always in conformity with God’s will. Kolbe especially emphasized this.
So, the Dogma of the Immaculate Conception has the effect also of rendering the rubrics of administering the sacraments more meaningful, given the role of the Holy Spirit in everything. The Spirit joined with Mary because she was without sin. We are baptized and Original Sin is removed and then the Holy Spirit enters our soul and later we can receive the remaining sacraments.
Some critics point out that St. Paul said somewhere in his letters that “all have sinned.” Well, this cannot possibly mean ‘all’ as in ‘everyone;’ for would this ‘all’ include Jesus? I think Paul meant ‘all born of women’ in the normal manner of birthing. If someone is still going to make the point that ‘all’ inherit Original Sin, and then Mary would still need redeeming, then we go back to the original declaration of the dogma of her immaculate conception that she was redeemed by the anticipated merits of Jesus Christ and so was prevented from having the stain of Original Sin in the first place. (please refer to the first bullet for any chronological objections.
I brought up this point in an older post:
“…wouldn’t God, Who knew from all Eternity His plan of Salvation, and decided that His Son would be born of a woman rather than Incarnate as a mighty king and lord fully grown, wouldn’t He have taken great pains to decide upon the formation of she who would bear His Son? If YOU had the opportunity to design your own mother, wouldn’t YOU insist that she the among the most beautiful, intelligent, and talented of all? One of the Ten Commandments holds that we should “Honor our Father and Mother,” well, wouldn’t God also follow that? Even one was to declare that He is not subject to His own Commandments and laws, why wouldn’t He follow that one at least, to provide an example?” An addendum to this point is that if YOU could make your own mother, and could also make her perfectly pure and holy, wouldn’t you?
In an even older post I said:
“…One could argue then that why couldn’t Jesus have been conceived immaculately? He could have, but the difficulty in that would be that He still would be in Mary’s womb, and what would be the barrier between Him and Original Sin? His own sacrifice on the cross, decades later? He is divine and sinless, so His own death was not for Himself, He died for humanity. So Mary, by sharing her body and blood with Jesus in her womb, would benefit from the eventual sacrifice of Jesus. Mary is the physical barrier between Jesus and her ancestral line, caught in Original Sin like the rest of humanity. The physical barrier protecting Mary from her mother’s state of Original Sin was Jesus, operating from the fullness of time, as God dwells in Eternity.”

So, there it is! See how it all connects? Remove Original Sin and the free operation of the Holy Spirit can begin in souls. With Mary, it required her to be preserved from all sin so the Holy Spirit could join her in an eternal spousal union so that Jesus could be formed in her womb (and later so that Mary could participate in the distribution of graces from the Holy Spirit; but that’s a whole ’nother topic.) With us, it required us to be Baptized so the Holy Spirit could join us in a sacramental union so that we could be formed into the Mystical Body of Christ (and receive the graces from which the Holy Spirit is the source. Whoops, ’nother topic!)

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!!)

Sober Catholic

Catholicism, Recovery, Sobriety, Conversion, Prayer, Fasting, Repentance, Penance

Category Archives: Church

Indulgenced Cemetery Visit Devotion for November 1-8

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The popular St. Michael Prayer (short and long version)

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (short version)

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (long version)

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Devotion to Rosa Mystica approved

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The Pilgrims of the Living Water (Pelerins del Eau Vive)

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On the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (short version)

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel (long version)

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