Today, March 19th, is the feast of St. Joseph. He is such an important person and he played such an important role in Our Lord's life. Though the records of the bible, there is no mention of anything that St. Joseph said, it does speak of him a few times, as in the case of the angel appearing to him to encourage him to take Mary as his wife inspite of questions that he may have had about Mary's pregnancy, and also when after Jesus was born, he was instructed at night to take the Child and His Mother and flee into Egypt as King Herod was seeking to kill Him. The Bible also goes thru the lineage down to St. Joseph and the Virgin Mary from King David in the books of Matthew and Luke. When the Christ Child was twelve, the Bible states "His parents" were looking for Him and finally found Him in the temple after searching for three days. Another remark was made in the Bible, that when Jesus was preaching, people questioned His knowledge by refering to His background---"Was He not the son of the carpenter in Nazareth?" Here this implies that St. Joseph was a carpenter by trade, and Jesus very likey helped Him. I have seen pictures of the Child Jesus helping St. Joseph with the woodworking and the Blessed Virgin Mary is looking on either from a staircase or while hanging the laundry.

Have you ever been see the Staircase of Loretto in Santa Fe, not far from,Albuquerque, New Mexico? IT is beautiful! It is also called the miraculous staircase, which many believed

was constructed or inspired by St. Joseph the Carpenter, was built sometime between 1877 and 1881. It took at least six months to build, and has two 360 degree turns with no visible means of support. The sisters had made a chapel built but there was no plan set up to get to the choir. These nuns recited a novena to St. Joseph,patron saint of carpenters. On the last day of the nine day novena, a man showed up riding a donkey and carrying a tookbox looking to work. When he finished a beautiful circular staircase without nails but using wooden pegs, he left with getting paid. He had also used wood not found in the area to build this wonderful masterpeice.Many peoples believed it was St. Joseph himself who answered the sisters' prayers.

St. Joseph is the patron saint of all workers and . Pope Pius IX declared him to be the patron saint and protector of the Catholic Church in 1870. St. Joseph is also the patron saint of diferent countries, including canada.

St. Joseph, pray for us!

Well, Lent has started and will last until April 8th this year. Have you made any Lentin resolutions yet? It is not too late, still around 5 weeks to go. I know most people give up food, like chocolate (my favorite!) or injesting meat only once a day. The new canon law states that one needs to abstain from meat all the Fridays in Lent. All other Fridays through-out the year, it is a good practice to abstain from meat but it is no longer required under pain of sin. The stations of the cross is also often recited during this time of year, and very often on Fridays at the local parish church or even privately at home.

There  are other things we can do to help sanctify our souls. Repentance for our sins is one of them. Oftentimes a Ignatian retreat of 5 days is offered by diferent retreat houses or centres. I have been to the one in Phoenix, AZ , and it was excellent, with Father Burfett as the main preacher. Los Gatos and St. Thomas Aquinas Seminary are other locations. Go to the SSPX website for more information. Self-denial can also be praticed or at least an attempt to undertaking your daily duties without complaint. Alms-giving is again another practice for those who can afford to stretch out a helping hand to a neighbour or a parishioner who may need it. Prayer and meditation of the passion of Jesus is a good way to get ourselves in the mode of Lent.

Lent is forty days. For some of us, it seems like an eternity. My sister-in-law has already complained after a week that Lent is already

 affecting her in a food kind of way. (Maybe because I sent her pictures of my delicious meal of the day!What a tease!) Anyway, getting back to the number forty, Jesus was lain in the tomb for forty hours after dying on the cross. Jesus fasted for forty days in the desert before he was tempted. Jesus has recommended fasting to His disciples, so I am sure that also applies to us. Moses spent forty days on Mount Sinai with God, as you can see from the book of Exodus. Elijah walked for forty days and night enroute to Mount Horeb, noted in the book of Kings. During the great flood, it rained for forty days and night. The Hebrews walked the desert for forty years while trying to get to the promised land.

Jonah gave forty days to the people of Nineveh to repent or die. So it is our turn to give forty days to work on our souls and hopefully give them to God!

Happy Lent!

Our Lady of Lourdes

This month of February is not just the month of Valentine hearts and roses. On February eleventh, the Catholic Church celebrates the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes. She appeared to St. Bernadette Soubirous, who was only fourteen years old, in a grotto outside of Lourdes called Massabielle, in 1858, and requested a church or chapel be built. The Blessed Virgin was to appear eighteen more times, and promised Bernadette that she would not make her happy here in this world but in the next. Bernadette would call her "aquero"( in other words "that") and decribed her as a lady wearing a white veil with a blue girdle, and a single yellow rose on each foot. Many did not believe her, including her mother; but those who did believed the apparition considered that it was the Blessed Virgin herself. The Blessed Virgin's last visit there was on
July 16th of the same year. When, after many a request to ask her her name , as the local priest Father Dominique Peyramale had specifically wanted to know, the Virgin told her  "Gascon Occitan", meaning "I am the Immaculate Conception." This identity had been defined as dogma of the Church just four years earlier by Pope Puis IX that the Blessed Virginunlike the rest of us had been conceived without the stain of original sin. Bernadette, who had never heard of this, kept repeating this name over and over on the way to the priest's house so she would not forget.

Lourdes is one of the greatest pilgrimages in the world, and thousands flock there to pray and ask for healing,as many miracles have been wrought. The miraculous water, which healed many after Bernadette dug the dried ground and ate the grass as directed by the Lady, still flows, and many pilgrims take plenty home with them. Lourdes is a very nice place to meet with other Catholics and share the faith, which is such a gift from God and not always appreciated around the world or even in Lourdes. When I was there last,for example, our server at the dinner table admitted he did not believe any of it, which was sad to hear, as onein Lourded is so close to seeing exactly why we really are here on this earth.

St. Bernadette was declared Venerable by Pope Puis X, then later declared Blessed on June 2nd,1925 by Pope Puis  XI. She was canonized a Saint also by Pope Puis XI on December 8th in 1933.The year " 2009" was declared "The Year of Bernadette.." Bernadette's body remains incorrupt in the Chapel at the Convent of Nevers, where she spent the last years of her life as a sister there. I have been there twice, and she looks so beautiful in person, the pictures of her do not do justice!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Dear friends,

Just a quick note to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a properous and blessed New Year. For me, Christmas was spent with the Christmas eve vigil followed by midnight  high mass. The chapel was packed with other parishoneers eager to well in the Christ Child's birthday. After the midnight mass, Father went right into the mass at dawn, so the religious ceremonies ended just around 2 a.m. I spoke to one of my sister's later, and, as she lives far away from mass, went and spent an hour singing Christmas carols with the people in the town where she lived, and thoroughly enjoyed it. My husband and I later worked during the afternoon and evening, but it was filled with good cheer and free meals as well as plenty of cookies and cupcakes from the local religious communities. There goes all the calories!

Anyway, how was you Christmas? Hopefully, it was a blessed and happy one, with family and friends. I spent quite alot of time on the phone catching up with fiends and family who were not in the area. The next day, I spent some time in Seattle, taking in the sites, going out for my free meal at the Ram( an restaurant I highly recommend especially if you like burgers!), as well as my free mud pie, courtesy also of the Ram. I could not finish it all my myself, so I had help from a friend. What are friend's for, anyway? Just kidding!

As the new year approaches, we can all plan new or renewed resolutions. The daily  Rosary would be a good thing for all. One can never go wrong with that! I heard that this time of year is also when many singles go on line looking for that special someone to spent time with. I have heard that on-line lookers increase by at least ten percent. Well, whatever the percentage is, it is a good idea to try and meet new friends and hopefully make lasting relationships. I sure hope 2012 will be an exciting year for all and one to be remembered by all.

Until next time I write.....

God bless,

Melissa

Preparation for Christmas

                      I hope you had a very happy thanksgiving!

Christmas is just around the corner. And I want to remind everyone of how special this time of year can be. Many Catholics recite The Saint Andrew's Prayer,a novena beginning November 30th and lasting until December 25th. I've enclosed it here for your convenience.

While any novena is usually a nine-day prayer, the word novena is  sometimes used for any prayer that is repeated over a series of days. The Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is often called simply the "Christmas Novena" or the "Christmas Anticipation Prayer," because it is prayed 15 times every day from the Feast of Saint Andrew the Apostle feast day until the day of the Christ Child.

St. Andrew's Day is the Scotland's patron saint.  His feast day is Scotland's official national day. St. Andrew is also the patron saint of Greece, Romania, Russia, and Constantinople.

Here followes the Novena......

                                                                                           Saint Andrew Christmas Novena

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God! to hear my prayer and grant my desires, through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother. Amen.
 
 
This prayer addresses God Himself, asking Him to grant our request in the honor of the birth of His Son at Christmas. You can say the prayer all 15 times, all at once; or divide up the recitation as necessary (perhaps five times at each meal).Praying as a family, the Saint Andrew Christmas Novena is a very great way to keep family and friends united in prayer.
 
God bless!
 
Melissa
 

God bless

The Souls in Purgatory

This month of November, we recall and pray for the souls in Purgatory. These are souls of people who have died and are not yet perfect for heaven; they may not yet have fully atoned for their sins. I am pretty sure we have someone we know there. Many Catholics write down the names of their loved ones or people they know who have passed away and give it to their parish priest to remember them during mass. There is also the nine day visit to the cemetery, starting on November the first and ending on the eight day of this month. The Catholic Church offers a special plenary indulgence for cemetery visits on those specific days under the usual requirements. Such visits only takes a few minutes, and such souls never forget the help given and almost sure to return the favor someday. The Bible tells us that "It is therefore a holy and wholesome thought to pray for the dead, that they may be loosed from sins." (2 Maccabees 12:46).

Prayer for the dead  is one of the greatest acts of charity we can do, to help those who are still in Purgatory, so that they can enter more quickly enter into the fullness of heaven. These souls cannot help themselves; however, we are in  a position to help them. The saints in heaven can also help them by their prayers. We can also offer sacrifices to assist them in either lessening their pains or shorten their stay. It is very possible that  by performing the requirements of the indulgence, you can obtain the entrance into Heaven of a soul who is currently suffering in Purgatory.

The main prayer for the souls of the dead:

Eternal Rest

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls and all of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.