The Nativity of Christ, the Feast of the Holy Family, and the Solemnity of Mary

 

On December 25th, we celebrate the Nativity of Christ and rejoice that the Messiah has come! He is waiting for us in His Father's house. We celebrate Mary's YES! to God and Joseph's fearless and tender care of Mary and her child.

On December 26th, we honor the Holy Family and look to them for guidance in these troubled and confusing times. May they intercede for us in our prayer intentions. May they serve as a model for the ideal family. May their peace, love, faith, and hope fill our hearts. May their graces shine down upon us and renew our courage and strength.

Prayer to the Holy Family/A Prayer for Families

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph,

In you we contemplate

The splendor of true Love.

To you we turn with trust.

Holy Family of Nazareth,

May families never again

Experience violence,

Rejection, and division.

And may all who have

Been hurt find ready

Comfort and healing.

Amen.

"Behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Rise, take the child and his mother, flee to Egypt . . ." Matthew 2:13

Dear Lord,

Please protect us from the politicians who continue to lie and mislead the American people. Please protect us from self-serving corporate leaders who harm American workers. Please protect our children, our elderly, and our families from criminal violence. Please end the COVID plague that has infested the world and expose the truth behind the outbreak. Please expose the lies and corruption of our political leaders, who have forgotten that they are the servants of the people, and not the other way around. Please bring America back to God and his holy commandments. Please strengthen our churches and help us in the fight against Evil. Please help us to restore law and order, strengthen family ties, and bless our children with good teachers and role models. Please renew our faith in the face of adversity. Please help the Catholic Church become a temple of faith for the whole world. Please save her from corruption, sexual degeneracy, and politics. Please bring light and hope to all of your faithful servants.

Amen.

The Feast of the Solemnity of Mary

January 1st marks not only the beginning of the New Year but has been set aside as a day to honor Mary as the Blessed Virgin and the Mother of God. Born without sin, she was chosen by God to bring His Son into the corrupt world and to be a witness to his miracles and message to all the people of the earth. As such, she is considered to be the greatest of all the saints and worthy of honor, respect, and adoration.

God our Father, 

May we always profit by the prayers of the Virgin Mother Mary, for you bring us life and salvation through Jesus Christ her Son who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Dawn Pisturino

December 21, 2021

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe

 

Tepeyac Hill, Mexico City

On December 9, 1531, Cuauhtlatohuac, an Indian Catholic convert who was baptized Juan Diego, was walking to morning mass when he suddenly heard beautiful music in the air near Tepeyac Hill. A shining cloud appeared. Out of the cloud appeared a beautiful Indian woman dressed like an Aztec Princess. She addressed Juan in his native language and told him to go to the Bishop of Mexico and build a chapel on the spot.

The Bishop did not immediately believe Juan. But on December 12, 1531, Juan returned to the Bishop after visiting with the mysterious lady. When he opened his cloak, roses fell to the ground and an image of the Virgin of Guadalupe appeared on the cloth where the roses had been lying. The image remained permanently on the cloth.

A Basilica was built on the spot where the apparitions were seen, more Indians converted to Catholicism, and Tepeyac became a great pilgrimage destination.

Cuauhtlatohuac is now known as Saint Juan Diego, and Our Lady of Guadalupe has become the Patron Saint of Mexico and the Americas. The miracle validated the worth of ALL PEOPLE and served as a reminder and condemnation of the cruelty of the Spanish conquistadores in Latin America.

We all have our Tepeyac,

Our hill we're hurrying over in these December days.

Perhaps, like Juan Diego,

We are even avoiding You.

In our rush to get where we're going --

To finish the shopping,

To hang the decorations,

To prepare the meal.

May each one of us be stunned,

Stopped in our tracks,

By Your call to us in our native tongue.

Alone as we may feel this Advent,

Speak to us once more --

Remind us of this:

That You are here,

That You are Our Mother,

That You love us tenderly and unfailingly.

May we gather Your roses,

So improbably blooming in the winter chill,

And shower them on a weary world,

Hungry for hope.

Amen.

~Cameron Bellm~

from http://www.jesuits.org. 

Cameron Bellm is a Catholic writer.

Prayer to Our Lady of Guadalupe

O Virgin of Guadalupe,

Mother of the Americas,

grant to our homes the grace of loving
and respecting life in its beginnings,
with the same love with which
you conceived in your womb
the life of the Son of God.
Blessed Virgin Mary,
Mother of Fair Love,
protect our families so that
they may always be united
and bless the upbringing of our children.

Our hope, look upon us with pity,
teach is to go continually to Jesus,
and if we fall
help us to rise again and return to Him
through the confession of our faults
and our sins in the Sacrament of penance,
which gives peace to the soul.

We beg you to grant us a great love
of all the holy Sacraments,
which are, as it were,
the signs that your Son left us on earth.
Thus, Most Holy Mother,
with the peace of God in our consciences,
with our hearts free from evil and hatred,
we will be able to bring to all others
true joy and peace,
which come to us from your Son,
our Lord Jesus Christ,
who with the Father and the Holy Spirit,
lives and reigns for ever and ever.

Amen.

~Pope John Paul II~

May Our Blessed Holy Mother Bless You and Keep You!

Dawn Pisturino

December 11, 2021

Feast of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception

 

Painting by Jose Antolinez

Prayer for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception (December 8th)

O God, who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin

prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son, grant, we pray,

that, as you preserved her from every stain

by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw,

so, through her intercession,

we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.

Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

one God, for ever and ever.

Amen.

May we all strive to purify our lives, our hearts, our minds, and our souls, in preparation for the coming of Our Lord, Jesus Christ!

Dawn Pisturino

December 7, 2021

Our Lady of the Arctic Snows

 

The Diocese of Fairbanks, Alaska ministers to the Eskimo population and honors the Virgin Mary under the title of Our Lady of the Arctic Snows with a 9-day novena every year at Christmastime. This year, the novena will go from December 26th to January 3rd.

Website: http://www.dioceseoffairbanks.org/joomla

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, through the intercession of Our Lady of the Arctic Snows, please bless my family with a shower of graces from your merciful heart. Give us strength to overcome our struggles and guide us to unite ourselves to one another in devotion to the Gospel. May the example of the Holy Family, with the aid of your Holy Spirit, protect us against all difficulties we may encounter and urge us to live truthful, compassionate, and faith-filled lives. May the love that binds us only grow stronger as we walk closer with you. Please help us to actively encourage vocations to the priesthood and religious life within our homes. Grant me and my family forgiveness for any sins we have committed and help us to forgive each other. Lord, please grant a return to the Church and sacraments for any of my family who have drifted away. During this special family novena to Mary under her title, Our Lady of the Arctic Snows, I humbly ask for this special intention:

______________________________________

Amen.

Our Father - Hail, Mary! - Glory Be to the Father.

Our Lady of the Arctic Snows, Pray for us.

Peace be with you all!

Dawn Pisturino

December 2, 2021