Cemetery Devotion for November

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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 will 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!!)

Manifesto of Faith

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A few days ago on Facebook a good friend posted something about a “Manifesto of Faith” in reply to something I had posted. It sounded interesting and so I looked it up. To quote from the website:

“The “Manifesto of Faith” was published by Gerhard Cardinal Müller in February 2019. Cardinal Müller was the Prefect for the Congregation of the Doctrine of the Faith from 2011-2017. He issued the document in response to requests from clerics and lay people who asked him to provide guidance for the Church in this time of confusion. The original document is provided below in 6 different languages. We encourage people to read and reflect upon Cardinal Müller’s words, especially his references to the Catechism of the Catholic Church.”

I watched the video, it’s about 22 minutes long. It’s published on Vimeo and YouTube; I’ve also embedded it in the sidebar as well as at the bottom of this post so you can watch it from here. Or you could also watch it on the film’s website: Manifesto of Faith, and read more about it there as well as learn how you can help. It is excellent and quite a warning shot to those on the other side in the Spiritual Warfare that is escalating.

“Manifesto of Faith.” Clear truth in these times when everything seems malleable and relative.

When I shared the video on my Facebook profile, I suggested the following to cope with these times:

  • Read the Catechism. The 1997 one by Pope St. John Paul II; the 16th Century one by the Council of Trent. Either. Both!
  • Read a ***Catholic Bible***. Douay-Rheims, Jerusalem, Knox, Revised Standard Version-Catholic Edition (and the RSV-Second Catholic Edition) are wonderful and solid.
  • Watch EWTN.
  • STAY CLOSE TO THE SACRAMENTS! Receive Holy Communion often, Confession *at least monthly*.
  • Read the Lives of the Saints.
  • GO TO MASS! Find a TLM (Traditional Latin Mass; reconnect with the Mass of the Ages, the one all Catholics for centuries worshipped in. Your favorite saints either worshipped in this or said it (if priests). Otherwise, try and find a New Mass that is offered with due reverence and solemnity. Is it obvious there is something sacred going on? Are they acting as if they are aware the Jesus is Truly Present, Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity? Or are they acting like the Eucharist is just a symbol? The difference is obvious. People would be acting much differently at Mass if they actually believed that Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords was there.
  • Don’t trust the news media. ANY of it. They all lie. Every single outlet. The sooner you realize that, the better.
  • Politicians are not saviors and messiahs.

The film:

https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js

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 Little Way, the Incarnation and the Passion

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Today is the feast day of St. Therese of Lisieux according to the liturgical calendar of the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. The “Traditional Latin Mass” calendar, in other words. I mentioned in the “Little Flower and the Story of Her Soul,” that today I’d write something on her Little Way.

Commonly understood, her Little Way is the application of the Gospel to everyday situations. You do everything with love and humility. You seek and find God in the ordinary. The keys to understanding are “love” and “humility.”

Jesus did not seek greatness. He was a poor, itinerant preacher who associated with the dregs of society: hookers, drunks, lepers, the poor, the outcast and government officials. To quote St. Paul in his Letter to the Phillipians 2:6:

“For this understanding in you was also in Christ Jesus: who, though he was in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be seized. Instead, he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men, and accepting the state of a man. He humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, even the death of the Cross.

And that is a key part of understanding how the Little Way is the Applied Gospel.

Jesus did not exalt His divinity; He never used it as an excuse to avoid “being little,” for He always humbled Himself in service to His people.

And this was from the beginning of His Earthly life; for He descended to Earth not as a fully grown human male or as a mighty warrior-king or firebrand prophet. No, God became Little, a humble, innocent baby, subject to and dependent upon His human parents.

God defined and established the Little Way by the very act of His Incarnation; nearly 1,900 years later He raised up St. Therese to bring that fact to life in modern times in a new way, applicable by all.

I said above that the keys to understanding are “love” and “humility.” True love implies self-sacrifice. You give of yourself for the other without regard as to the cost to yourself. Humility (or Littleness) is accepting yourself as you are, in the role God planned for you.

God was Little; and as the John the Evangelist tells us, “For God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

God’s Littleness was expressed in His Incarnation; His Love in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus.

Therefore, the Little Way replicates the Incarnation by means of our becoming “Little” like Jesus did when He entered Mary’s womb, and the act of doing “little things” such as our daily tasks and duties with great love requires us to sacrifice our self-will and self-love. This, in turn, replicates the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus.

The Little Way therefore combines in our daily lives the mission of Our Lord in His Incarnation and Passion.

So, we finite, limited creatures can be Christ-bearers to others by living out our daily existence in simple humility. Just in doing our little daily tasks with love and humility. Not ever thinking greatly of ourselves, no self-importance. Just by being Little.

From simplicity comes such great things. Who can tell what impact some”little” thing you do do might have on someone?

Scripture quotes courtesy: Sacred Bible: Catholic Public Domain Version

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!!)

Little Flower and the Story of Her Soul

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Today is a feast day for St. Therese of Lisieux, the “Little Flower” and Doctor of the Church (due to her doctrine of “The Little Way.”) I say “a feast day” as today’s is from the Ordinary Form Calendar; on the Extraordinary Form Calendar it is October 3rd.

One of the more significant books I’ve read, and one that is I believe essential to any sober Catholic, is her autobiography entitled “The Story of a Soul.” I admit to having had great difficulty in first reading it; it took me three tries before I finally “got into it” and completed it. I’ve read it once more since. I highly recommend the ICS Publications edition of the book, especially the “Study Edition.” The Study sections opens wide the vistas of her teachings by placing things in the context of her life and times and how we can bring her “Little Way” into our contemporary lives. This book, along with St. Maria Faustina Kowalska’s autobiography “Divine Mercy in My Soul,” are mystical classics and every Catholic should read them, study them and apply their teachings. I’ve already raved about St. Faustina’s Diary before and how important it can be a to sober Catholic, “The Story of a Soul” should be right next to it on your bookshelf.

Some key points I gleaned from my reading of the Study Edition of St. Therese’s autobiography and her spirituality, based on the almost legible notes I scribbled in the back of it:

  • Her zeal in receiving the Eucharist. I don’t remember at all the day I received First Holy Communion, nor the time preparing for it. For St. Therese, it was one of the singularly important Events (yes, capital “E”) in her childhood. She understood and knew that she was receiving her Saviour, all Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Him. If you ever get to feeling blasé about receiving Our Lord in the Eucharist, study her writings on her Holy Communion.
  • Next to receiving the Eucharist was her devotion to adoring Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. She found great solace in her solitude with Him.
  • Her zeal in studying the catechism. The catechism in her day was the Roman Catechism, or the Catechism of the Council of Trent. Perhaps she also had a children’s adaptation, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she read the primary catechism, at least after she entered the cloister. But her catechesis wasn’t just from a text such as a formal catechism; she also studied Sacred Scripture, especially the Letters of St. Paul (where she discovered her vocation). Books on the lives of the saints, especially her heroine, St. Joan of Arc, also formed her faith. The classic medieval book, “The Imitation of Christ” by Thomas a Kempis was important to her, so much so that she had it memorized. Stories are told in which her family would play a game; they would mention a Book, Chapter and Paragraph number to her, and Therese would correctly recite that selection. A pocket version of it was her constant companion.
  • The Church Triumphant. She found great solace also in communication through prayer with residents of her Heavenly Fatherland. Not just St. Joan of Arc and other saints she was attracted to, but also her mother, who died while Therese was a child, as well as her deceased siblings (her parents had several children who died in infancy.) She received signal graces from them all, signs her prayers were heard. Heaven was real to her, a destination that life on earth was just a means to get to. It was not some hopeful fantasy. (Although she was stricken with doubts about it near the end of her life.)
  • The book The End of the Present World and the Mysteries of the Future Life, by Father Charles Arminjon. A series of conferences or seminars given by that priest in France in 1881, the subject matter inspired a transformation in St. Therese, it “plunged my soul into a state of joy not of this earth.” Shortly afterwards she began her attempts to enter the cloister of Carmel in Lisieux. The book is available today in English. It is in print. I’ve read it. You should, too.
  • Along with all of the above, the autobiography is priceless in terms of her teachings on the value of suffering, poverty and humility, all of which are wrapped up in her “Little Way.” (There are countless websites and books that explain her doctrine of the “Little Way,” I will be writing a post on it very soon after this. I intend to post it on her ‘other’ feast day of October 3rd.)

St. Therese of Lisieux is a saint for all of us. She is “little,” not impressed with the importance of secular things, she was yet another little person that God selected to shame the proud. Her “Little Way,” essentially being humble and doing ordinary things with great love and kindness, and finding God in such ordinary duties and things, is the antidote crucially needed for civilization in theses times of pride, identity and such insanity. But for Catholics who are seeking a way to holiness and a sure path to God and Heaven, the Little Way of St. Therese is the means to our ultimate destiny. By it we can all become great saints. It is also a way for us to cope with the situations afflicting the Church (any of them).

Make her your own. She loves everyone, even you, regardless of what you think of yourself. More importantly, regardless of what others think of you. She will lead you to God and help you become a saint. It is not an impossible task and she shows the way. Her Little Way is merely the Gospel of Jesus applied to everyday life. God is Love, Jesus came to do the Will of His Father, and the Little Way is how each of us can achieve that in our daily activities.

 

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!!)

iPieta app

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If you have an Apple or Android device (phone or tablet) I highly recommend that you get (if you haven’t already) the iPieta app. It is as comprehensive as one can imagine repository of all sorts of Catholic goodies, available right at your fingertips. I’ve had it for a while but yesterday when I opened it I noticed that there was new material to donwload into it, namely Dom Gueranger’s “The Liturgical Year.” This is an epic journey through the Catholic liturgical year, exploring the lives of the saints as well as the historical and doctrinal importance of the season or day. The series in book form runs in the teens of voilumes and costs many hundreds of US dollars; but it’s free in digital form in iPieta! “The Liturgical Year” was read every night in the Martin home by St. Louis Martin to his daughters, all of whom became religious sisters and one a saint (St. Therese of Lisieux.) Excerpts from “The Liturgical Year” make a part of the notes introducing each Sunday Mass as well as the liturgical season in the St. Andrew Daily Missal.

iPieta has Butler’s Lives of the Saints, the entire collection of Church Father’s writings, several catechisms, the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913), Douay-Rheims Bible, prayers and devotions of all sorts, papal writings from the past 500 years… It is a compendium of pretty much everything a Catholic needs. Yesterday I dived into Gueranger’s entry for Sept 30 and thus learned much about St. Jerome; Butler’s Live of the Saint’s entry for the day had additional material. I learned more about St. Jerome in one hour than I ever learned prior…

This is an incredible and invaluable resource. Why it’s free is a mystery as it’s worth a lot of cash. I cannot recommend this enough!

 

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!!)

WordPress app test post

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This is a test. This is a test of a new (to me) posting system. For the next few lines this post will be written by yours truly using the WordPress smartphone app. It’s a handy little thing that I can use to post to this blog and my other one on In Exile. I’ve already used the desktop version for quite a while; it’s great, from one piece of software you can post and manage everything for multiple blogs. You are also able to follow many other blogs using the included “Reader.” Commenting on other people’s WordPress blogs is also possible.

WordPress can be almost like another social network.

This might mean that I can post more often; for many times I just don’t feel like firing up the laptop but the phone is always on. We’ll see!

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. Michael’s Lent” is upon us again

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NOTE: This post is reblogged from last year and edited with some additions. Last year’s post was also a ‘reblog’ and edited from the prior version.)

Coming up on August 15th is the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady. It is also the beginning of a Franciscan devotion known as “St. Michael’s Lent.” It is a 40-day period of fasting begun by St. Francis of Assisi in the 1220’s similar in practice to the actual Lenten season. It ends September 29th on the feast of St. Michael the Archangel. It was during one of these fasts in 1224 that St. Francis received the stigmata.

I looked up this observance online, didn’t find much beyond what I stated above (the following is from an informative webpage that I referred a few years ago but is now a broken link.) “‘In the writings of St. Francis, such as the Volterra text (Letter to All the Faithful) which is included in The Rule of the SFO, we are reminded again and again that Franciscans are called to be penitents, to pray and fast. For these reasons this ancient tradition is important to us. St. Michael’s Lent is a period of 40 days, honoring Mary and St. Michael the Archangel. It begins on the Feast of the Assumption and ends on The Feast of the Archangels.

“[H]e wished along with the most faithful Brothers . . . to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (August 15) and then prepare himself by a forty days’ fast for the Feast of St. Michael (September 29). In common with the rest of the people of the Middle Ages, Francis nourished a special devotion to this Archangel, signifer santus Michaelis, the standard-bearer of the Heavenly Host, and the one who with his trumpet was to wake the dead in their graves on the last day . . . .” (St. Francis of Assisi by Jorgensen)’”

(Via Our Lady of the Pearl.) Perhaps the keepers of that site can resurrect that page?

You can just observe a fast of sorts (food or bad habit/character defect, etc.) and whatever other penitential practices you can think of.

Fr. Richard Heilman of the Roman Catholic Man site has posted some very useful devotions that you can use throughout this ‘season.’ Please go here: St. Michael’s Lent Prayers and Devotions

I do believe that it is significant that this period begins and ends when it does. The Solemnity of the Assumption is observed because as Mary was preserved from Original Sin in her conception, she was bodily assumed into Heaven when her mortal period of time on Earth was over, thus preserving her from the corruption of death. St. Michael was the champion and leader of the blessed angels in their battle against Lucifer and his demons in the Fall of the Angels, and in his victory cast Satan out of Heaven. We can gain strength from this observance in our struggles against drinking and drugging, and especially against sins of impurity. Instead of fasting from food, one can “fast” our eyes from images that can trigger lust. It is summertime, and people have the habit of wearing little clothing. Fasting with your eyes means turning your gaze away from provactively dressed people. If you are anxious and stressed about material things and current events (and what isn’t stressful nowadays?) You can perhaps “fast” from anxiety. Turn the news off; avoid news websites for a few days. I vanish from the Internet for several days at a time, or at least from social networks. Easier said than done, but such actions are possible. The world will thrive or suffer just as well with or without your attention! No wonder Satan uses impurity and addictions and fear in his ongoing war against those made in the image and likeness of God.

So, go back and grab your Lenten devotional books and whatever else; read, study and meditate on the Passion narratives in the Gospels, perhaps even try and read the Daily Mass readings from the past Lent (available on the USCCB site, just use the Calendar to navigate back to Lent). If I may, there’s always Sober Catholic’s Lenten post archive Or just use Fr. Heilman’s material I linked to above.

(Just in case anyone counts the number of days from Aug. 15 to Sept. 29, you’ll get “46.” Don’t count the six Sundays that occur and you’ll get the forty. Sundays aren’t considered a part of any Lenten observance.)

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 St. Maximilian Kolbe for Alcoholics and Addicts

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Today begins a novena to St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, one of my favorite saints for a myriad of reasons. One of them, and not the primary one, even, is his patronage of addicts. He was not an addict himself, but the Church in Her thinking has anointed him for that role by virtue of his death, for he was executed by a lethal injection.

His Feast Day is August 14th.

The following are links to a novena to him I wrote near the time when I began this blog:

The Novena to St. Maximilian Kolbe for Alcoholics and Addicts:

Novena Day 1

Novena Day 2

Novena Day 3

Novena Day 4

Novena Day 5

Novena Day 6

Novena Day 7

Novena Day 8

Novena Day 9

There are numerous posts on Sober Catholic about him, the archive of them is here: St. Maximilian Kolbe Post Archive

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!!)

Paulie X; or “Get your recovery where you can.”

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“Get your recovery where you can” is an odd title, but it’s a very accurate description of my methods in maintaining my sobriety these seventeen years. It basically means just that: as I am reading or watching something, I have a tendency to try and glean something useful from it to help my sobriety. (The ‘Paulie X’ part is inferred later.)

You can find something valuable almost anywhere. TV shows, for instance. Three episodes of two different TV series have been critical in helping me maintain that sobriety. NONE of them are related to recovery; they weren’t non-fiction health shows or even religious and spiritual programs on EWTN, for example.

They are two Star Trek series and Babylon 5. Yes, science-fiction TV dramas.

I have had this blog post in mind for quite a while, but something happened the other day while watching a Star Trek episode that finally caused me to write it now.

I am a Trekkie (an avid fan of the whole Star Trek franchise.) I’ve watched it from the early 1970’s, so for about 45 years. Not too much in the past decade or so for reasons unimportant, but last week I ordered and recieved the “Complete Series” DVD collection for the Original Star Trek series; the “Classic” one, featuring the interstellar adventures of Capt. Kirk, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy and others on the Starship USS Enterprise, (“NCC-1701. No bloody A, B, C, or D”.) And so I started watching the episodes in the order presented in the collection. I hadn’t see these in perhaps fifteen years. It was like getting reacquanted with old friends, absent from your life since forever. (I had seen these episodes probably dozens of times over previous decades. Down to quoting whole parts and winning Star Trek trivia contests.)

I got to the episode entitled “Charlie X.” In that episode, “the Enterprise takes seventeen-year-old Charles Evans aboard for transport after he spent fourteen years alone on a deserted planet, but his inability to reintegrate with his fellow Humans is compounded by his very un-Human powers.” (Information courtesy Memory Alpha.)

Many of us who are alcoholics and addicts have poor social skills. Even after a period of sobriety, we may be a little odd. But Charles Evans had never been socialized, at all. He only had computer tapes and non-human incorporeal beings to talk to. No real information on how to properly interact with others of his own species.

This causes problems, exacerbated by the “super” powers the aliens had given him to survive.

In short, Charlie is a self-centered, egotistical jerk who thinks that needs and wants are identical, and his immediate gratification needs are paramount.

There are numerous scenes which illustrate this, and the growing conflict with the crew a consequence. One such scene is a chess game between Charlie and Mr. Spock, the logical-by-culture science officer and Enterprise second-in-command.

Charlie wanders in the rec room just when Captain Kirk defeats Spock in a game; Charlie asks to play and Kirk leaves him to Spock. Play begins and Spock defeats Charlie in two moves. Charlie initially denies having been checkmated, but the result is obvious and Spock leaves. Charlie studies the game boards and realizes that, indeed, he has lost. In anger he uses his powers to melt the pieces he played with.

This reached right inside me where it matters most and I saw myself melting those chess pieces.

What?

You see, one of my character defects (and I still have very many) is that inanimate objects really yank my scapulars when they don’t do what I want them to do. This has been for quite a while; back in the day when I was an AA meeting-goer I mentioned it; people thought it quaint. (I usually referred to the defect in humorous terms.) I also personalize it, as if the inanimate object is ticking me off intentionally, like it has a will of its own. (Electronic and mechanical devices are particular offenders. Don’t get me going about touch screens.)

Stupid, huh?

At times I do get seriously irritated when this happens (the inanimate objects’ refusal to cooperate, not my reaction). Once in a while I give the object a murderous look, as if I wanted to melt the thing with the sheer force of my anger.

That’s when I saw myself as Charlie X, in the chess piece melting scene. “Oh, my, gosh…”  I thought. I can relate to that.

The ego, immaturity, selfishness, the stupidity…

The silliness, too. I mean, really. Stuff just doesn’t work right sometimes. Or you’re using it wrong. Or gremlins…

Anyway, this whole experience had the impact of me witnessing something from an objective point of view. You see someone else exhibit bad behaviour that you’re guilty of and you see how ridiculous or wrong it is.

And so for the past few days whenever I feel like I want to melt something with my eyeballs, I grab hold of myself and mutter “Charlie X, remember Charlie X…”

Silly, yes, and it’s only been a few days; but so far, so good. Mostly. Realization-and-reaction-times are off once in a while. (By “realization-and-reaction-times” I mean the times when you realize you’re doing something wrong and your reaction – i.e. “self-control” – kicks in.)

So that’s that. Paulie X.

Oh, I mentioned that there are three episodes of two series. The others are “Emmisary,” from Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and “Passing Through Gethsemane,” from Babylon 5. You’ll have to wait a little, maybe later this week.

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!!)

Sacred Heart Solemnity

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I almost didn’t make it, writing about the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart. I figured that if you’re a sober Catholic, or still trying to become one, then you’ve probably already learned of the Devotion to the Sacred Heart and have incorporated it into your Catholic ‘spiritual toolkit’. The day is almost over where I live and I searched old blog posts from the past on the Sacreed Heart, and decided to write a quickie post. I selected four of these to bring to your attention. In no particular order, they can help you in getting the basics of the Devotion:

Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart of Jesus

Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Sacred Heart

I intend to “kick it up a notch” or two in writing about this Devotion; in part because of the Spiritual Warfare going on all around us, but I also want to write more about Divine Mercy Devotion, and that recent devotion is essentially a refresh of the more ancient Sacred Heart. Linking the two might be useful in these times of trial and suffering. It’ll get worse before it gets better.

Anyway, in my reversion to the Church over 2001-02, I fell in love with the Divine Mercy Devotion and have over the next decade-and-a-half only slowly grown to appreciate and include the Sacred Heart Devotion. This book has help immeasurably:

The Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus: How to Practice the Sacred Heart Devotion by the Rev. Fr. Jean Croiset

0212x

It is an excellent book, a classic on the Devotion and it far exceeds any other book I know of on the history, practice, means and reasons to do it. Numerous prayers and meditations are in it, including some written by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (the mystic who recieved the Devotion from Our Lord Himself.) It in you’ll find everything you need to know to practice the Devotion. It’s a wonderful book to take to Eucharistic Adoration. This should be on every sober Catholic’s bookshelf. All of the Promises that Our Lord made to St. Margaret Mary to those who practice the Devotion are included, and detailed. And there are more than the Twelve usually listed in prayer books.

(In short, the Devotion to the Sacred Heart is about the love Jesus has for us, from the Incarnation through His Death and Resurrection, through to today in the gift of the Blessed Sacrament; and our response to that love, which includes prayer and acts of sacrifice and reparation for those who disdain Jesus and His Church.)

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!!)