Audio Rosaries!

Posted on October 7, 2010 by paulcoholic

My friend Sean over at the Catholic Roundup recorded the full Rosary at the Catholic New Media Celebration held this past August in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.

Attendees recorded some meditations, and Our Father and a Hail Mary for the project. Not all who participated in the project attended the CNMC: my wife Rose (of ARTIST4GOD) and I were recorded by Sean when he and his family stayed at our house en route to the conference.

Here are the links to each Mystery, from there you can download the MP3 file for play on your desktop, notebook or mp3 player. The links also list who recorded what and where, so you can discover where I said mine, and why I will probably never do podcasting. :-0

The Joyful Mysteries

The Luminous Mysteries

The Sorrowful Mysteries

The Glorious Mysteries

(Via Catholic Roundup)

I am posting these today as it is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

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!!)

Rosary Novena

Posted on September 29, 2010 by paulcoholic

October 7th is the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary. Today would be a good day to start a rosary novena.

I am not going to post one daily, as I am “all novena’d out” what with the Little Flower Novena and the Three Archangels Novena currently on.

I trust you to grab your rosaries, think of a specific special intention, perhaps peruse the rosary links in the left sidebar, and pray your own novena.

Today is the first day, the ninth day would be October 7th.

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 St. Therese, the “Little Flower”: Day Three

Posted on September 25, 2010 by paulcoholic

Prayers to begin novena with each day:

Come Holy Spirit and fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of divine love.

V. Send forth Your Spirit and they shall be created.

R. And You shall renew the face of the earth.

Let us pray: O God, who have instructed the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit; grant that by the gift of the same Spirit, we may be ever truly wise and rejoice in His consolation, through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Acts of Faith, Hope, and Love: O my God! I believe in Thee: strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee: do Thou secure them. I love Thee: teach me to love Thee daily more and more.

The Act of Contrition: O my God! I am heartily sorry for having offended You, and I detest all my sins, because I dread the loss of heaven and the pains of hell, but most of all because they offend You, my God, who are all good and deserving of all my love. I firmly resolve, with the help of Your grace, to confess my sins, to do penance , and to amend my life. Amen.

Third Day Intentions:

Dear Little Flower, make all things lead me to heaven and God, Whether I look at the sun, the moon, the stars and the vast expanse in which they float, or whether I look at the flowers of the field, the trees of the forest, the beauties of the earth so full of color and so glorious, may they speak to me of the love and power of God; may they all sing His praises in my ear. Like you may I daily love Him more and more in return for His gifts. Teach me often to deny myself in my dealings with others, that I may offer to Jesus many little sacrifices.

Intercede for us all the days of our life, but especially during this Novena and obtain for us from God the graces and favors we ask through your intercession. Amen.

Thought for the day: The Use of God’s Gifts. How much benefit have I received from the beauties of nature, bestowed in such abundance. How they raise me to Him who placed such wonders in this land of exile which is only to last a day.

O sparkling nature, if I did not see God in you, you would be naught but a great tomb.

With your little hand which caresses Mary, You sustain the universe and bestow life; and You think of me, O Jesus my little King.

I do not wish creatures to have one atom of my love. I wish to give all to Jesus, since He has shown me that He alone is perfect happiness.

Concluding Prayer Prayed Each Day:

O Lord, You have said: Unless you become as little children you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven; grant us, we beg You, so to follow, in humility and simplicity of heart, the footsteps of the Virgin blessed Thérèse, that we may attain to an everlasting reward. Amen.

Background for this post is here .

Courtesy:

LITTLE FLOWER NOVENA

(Via EWTN.)

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!!)

“Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life”

Posted on September 18, 2010 by paulcoholic

I have been asked by Tribute Books to write a review for one of their recent titles, “Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life” by Karina Lumbert Fabian and Deacon Steven Lumbert.

Fabian and Lumbert are a daughter-father duo and they’ve written a very spiritual little book (114 pages) that would serve well as a guide to living a fully Catholic life.

Each short chapter is organized along four different parts: a story drawn from the personal life of each writer (they alternate), followed by a “Life Lesson” that draws out the story through questions and comments, then a Scripture passage and lastly an excerpt from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. As I read the book, drawn into each personal account of how God interacted or interceded in their lives at critical points, I was struck by the notion that “Why God Matters” would be a great companion to take to a Holy Hour of Adoration.

The major premise of the book is that faith is to be lived. Not just for an hour on Sunday and sequestered the rest of the week, but consciously lived in all areas great and small. If you listen to the “still, small voice” that God uses to speak to His people, you will learn to recognize Him in your daily activities.

Another premise is that faith is most especially to be handed down to the next generation. It is an inheritance that must be nurtured and “watered” as if it were a seed to spring into growth at an opportune time later in life. In fact, the soul is likened to a seed, the “seed of eternity.” So, in essence, the soul and faith are inextricably linked. Faith is an ongoing daily process of conversion. “Spiritual progress”, if you wish to use that term. It is a lifelong journey wherein we learn to breathe in Christ’s breath, and gradually grow in Christ.

The personal stories clearly illustrate these premises. Each story is from an episode in the lives of Fabian and Lumbert, about how God involved Himself in the major and the seemingly “small” events in their lives, and how their Faith was influenced and grew in response.

That God is present and intervenes in the “little areas” of life is a comfort to all of us. He is not only present during the obvious major happenings in life, but also in the less-than-obvious times where He quietly makes Himself known.

God is there, answering the most “meager of prayers”, and is present not only in the darkest of days but also in those times when you are deluged by the most trivial of oppressions (when everything seems to be going wrong and all is conspiring against you). It is during these times that God sometimes makes the biggest impact.

I very much recommend this book to readers of Sober Catholic. Many of the book’s “Life Lessons” caused me to go back a re-read the chapter as they gave a deeper insight into the story. That is a lesson in itself. As the readers of Sober Catholic are affected by recovery from one sort of addiction or another, this book is a wonderful guide to spiritual progression.

For further information, here are the following links:

The book’s website: Why God Matters: How to Recognize Him in Daily Life by Karina Lumbert Fabian and Deacon Steven Lumbert

To buy it through Amazon, click: Amazon.com

Karina Fabian’s Blog: Fabianspace

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!!)

Triumph of the Cross Novena

Posted on September 6, 2010 by paulcoholic

Dymphna, over at Dymphna’s Well started yesterday a Novena for the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. This Feast is also known as the “Triumph of the Cross” and is celebrated on September 14th. It also serves as the conclusion of the “Little Lent” we’ve been observing as the Feast is 40 days after the Transfiguration. See here: “Second” Lent!.

Here is a copy and paste of the Novena prayer, taken from her blog: Dymphna’s Well: Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena:

“Jesus, Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls, look down upon us and grant the petition we ask for …( mention here)

We trust completely in Your Mercy.

Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace,
sanctify our work,
give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings,
bless our families,
and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted,
Your Peace, which is the only true peace, so that by obeying Your Commandments we may come at last to the glory of Heaven. ”

Please recite it daily (I won’t be posting it daily, I will just leave it up as I will be not blogging during the Novena.

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!!)

Prayer to Redeem Lost Time

Posted on September 4, 2010 by paulcoholic

Those of us who are alcoholics and addicts have a lot of wasted time in our past. Gone missing are all the years when we were trapped in our addictions. We can learn from them and vow to never repeat those mistakes, assuming we’ve learned from them, but there is still the nagging sense of loss over those years.

No matter how we have turned our recovery into gain and made the most of our second chance (or third, or fourth), we wonder “What might have been?”

Shadowlands has a nice prayer in her sidebar. I’ve blogged about it before, but I searched for the link and it is no longer found at the original site (“Spirit Daily”, if you must know.) I’m glad I’ve found it now on her blog. It is a “Prayer to Redeem Lost Time”, and saying it is comforting:

“Prayer to Redeem Lost Time”O MY GOD! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Thy sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that Thou, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that Thou can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Thy grace, both now and the future, that I may appear before Thee in “wedding garments.” Amen.

(Via Living in the Shadowlands.)

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!!)