Tag Archives: Lord Jesus

30 Day Novena to St Joseph

Our Lady once revealed to Venerable Mary of Agreda that “Whatever my spouse asks of the Lord in Heaven is granted upon the earth.”

This 30 day Novena Prayer to Saint Joseph prayed with confidence, in honour of the 30 years he spent with Jesus and Mary, has been known to draw great graces and even miracles from heaven.

Revised and enlarged by LG Sleiman, 5th March 2023

To take part in this Novena, say this prayer every day for 30 days:

Ever blessed and glorious Joseph, kind and loving father, and helpful friend of all in sorrow! 

You are the good father and protector of orphans, the defender of the defenceless, the patron of those in need and sorrow. 

Look kindly on my requests. My sins have drawn down on me the just displeasure of my God, and so I am surrounded with unhappiness. 

To you, loving guardian of the Family of Nazareth, do I go for help and protection. 

Listen, then, I beg you, with fatherly concern, to my earnest prayers, and obtain for me the favors I ask of you. 

I ask it in virtue of the purity of heart and excellence of love with which you committed your life to the service of God. 

I ask it in virtue of the joy and beatitude that filled your heart when you were betrothed to the holy Virgin Mary.

I ask it by the infinite mercy of the eternal Son of God, which moved Him to descend from Heaven to earth and to be clothed in human nature because He delights to dwell among the children of men. 

I ask it by the joy that filled your heart when the angel revealed to you that Mary‘s child was conceived by the Holy Spirit.

I ask it in virtue of your holy matrimony, the joyful harmony of your lives, and the blessed union of your hearts.

I ask it by the weariness and suffering you endured when you found no shelter at the inn of Bethlehem for the Queen of Heaven and, being everywhere refused, you were forced to take shelter in an abandoned cave.

I ask it in virtue of your joy when you witnessed the peace that quietly descended upon a sleeping world when the Son of God was born of the holy Virgin Mary on a cold winter night in Bethlehem. 

I ask it in virtue of your joy in seeing the Divine Child visited by angels, shepherds, and wise men from the East. 

I ask it by the loveliness and power of the sacred Name of Jesus which you conferred on the adorable Infant. 

I ask it by the painful torture you felt at the prophecy of holy Simeon, which declared Jesus and Mary future victims of our sins and of their great love for us. 

I ask it through your sorrow and pain of soul when the angel declared to you that the life of the Child Jesus was sought by His enemies, so that you had to flee with Him and His Blessed Mother to Egypt. 

I ask it by all the suffering, weariness, and labors of that long and dangerous journey.

I ask it by all the care and solicitude with which you embarked upon your return journey home with Jesus and Mary, when you were instructed to come out of Egypt. 

I ask it by your peaceful life in Nazareth where you met with so many joys, ever new infusions of divine grace, and so many tokens of God’s loving kindness. 

I ask it by your great distress when the adorable Child was lost to you and His Mother for three days after your visit to Jerusalem. 

I ask it by your indescribable joy at finding Him in the Temple, and by the comfort you found at Nazareth, while living in the company of Jesus and Mary. 

I ask it by the indescribable humility Jesus manifested in His submission and obedience to you.

I ask it in virtue of the love and fidelity with which you continued to serve Jesus and Mary all the days of your life.

I ask it by the perfect love and obedience with which you accepted the Divine order to depart from this life, and from the company of Jesus and Mary.

I ask it in virtue of your sacred and holy and happy death, because you died in the arms of Jesus and Mary. 

I ask it by the joy which filled your soul, when the Redeemer of the world rose from the dead, took possession of His Kingdom, and led you therein with special honors. 

I ask it through Mary’s glorious Assumption, and through that endless happiness you share with her in the presence of God. 

O good father! I beg you, by all your sufferings, sorrows, and joys, to hear me and obtain for me what I ask. (Here name your petitions or think of them.) Obtain for all those who have asked my prayers and all those who pray for me everything that is useful to them in the plan of God.

My dear patron and father, be with me and all who are dear to me in our last moments, that we may eternally sing the praises of JESUS, MARY and JOSEPH.

“A blameless life, St. Joseph, may we lead, by your kind patronage from danger freed.”

St Joseph, Pray for us.

Our Father. Hail Mary. Glory Be. 

The Appetites Of Man

1st June 2021
Feast of St Justin Martyr

The appetite for pleasure, money, and power: these are the fundamental appetites of human nature. Any and every temptation can only appeal to one or more of these three appetites.

These appetites can be man’s downfall, or else the path by which he overcomes and merits victory in Christ.

For to master these appetites is to be the master of oneself, to be self-possessed, and to be in a much greater capacity to surrender oneself to the will of God. But to be mastered by one’s appetites, by one or more of the appetites, is to become a slave to them, a slave to sin, and to be estranged from the grace and glory of God.

Saint John the Beloved warned against these appetites: “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world. The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.” (1 John 2: 15-17)

If one is mastered by one’s appetites (desires), this becomes like a spiritual wound which festers and grows, perhaps becomes a sort of spiritual abscess, against which the soul will struggle as it seeks sound health, until it is set free by the grace of God.

“The love of money is the root of all evil.” (1 Timothy 6:10) The same can be said of an immoderate love of pleasure or power.

How many souls have fallen because they could not liberate themselves from an attachment to the love of money, power or pleasure?

Whether one is a Christian or not, religious or not, priest or nun, brother or sister, mother or father, son or daughter, one can only advance toward union with God by mastering one’s appetites, by doing the will of God, through the gift of God’s grace with which He empowers us to overcome sin, temptation, and to master ourselves, for the glory of God.

He who does not master himself cannot submit his will to God, and he who does not submit to the will of God cannot master himself. These two go hand in hand.

For “The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.”

Notice too that the devil’s three temptations of Christ in the wilderness correspond to the three appetites (Matthew 4:1-11): for pleasure, power, and riches.

Isn’t it interesting that history seems to have given us clear examples of all three appetites leading to the downfall or temporary downfall of someone or other?

One mystic wrote that Judas betrayed our Lord because Judas was, from the very beginning, only interested in success and attached to the love of money—he controlled the common “purse” (collective money) for the apostles and he ultimately betrayed the Lord for 30 pieces of silver.

Saint Paul (before his conversion) was attached to power: he wanted to round up all Christians and put them away or put them to death.

Pope Alexander VI fell from grace because of his attachment to pleasure, power, and money: he had several mistresses and fathered several children, while securing his power through alliances with various political powers.

No one is immune from such trials, and we ought to be sober, watchful and vigilant, as the Lord encouraged us to be. (Luke 21:36)

Justice or Mercy?

If God is infinitely merciful then why do we often fear His justice? The fact is that we are always confronted, consciously or unconsciously, with the choice between trust and fear, between faith and doubt. We are never exempt from responding to God’s invitations, we are never deprived of God’s help and grace, and we are never so liberated as when we believe in the Truth.

Yesterday, as I was conversing with a friend regarding this or that course of action in a particular situation, she told me quite sincerely that she would be very careful not to offend God in her choice. That was great, I thought, but something in her voice hinted that she had more fear than trust, that God’s justice loomed larger in her mind than God’s mercy. I wasn’t really sure. In any case, I felt, this is not so much an isolated incident and (perhaps) quite common. In any case, isn’t God’s mercy greater than His justice?

Continue reading Justice or Mercy?

The Divine Mercy Chaplet

The Divine Mercy Chaplet is prayed on the beads of the Rosary, was taught to Sister Faustina by our Lord Jesus Himself, and carries great promises and graces. Our Lord Jesus dictated this prayer to Saint Faustina on 13th September 1935 (Diary of St Faustina, paragraph 476).

Jesus said that whenever this chaplet of the Divine Mercy is prayed that His Heart is stirred to its very depths, that He will protect all who pray it during their life and especially in the hour of their death, that He will grant anything that is compatible with His Divine will through this prayer, that the whole world is brought closer to God when this Chaplet is prayed (929), and that when this prayer is said in the presence of a dying person that “I [Jesus] will stand between My Father and the dying person, not as the just judge but as the merciful Saviour.” (Diary of St Faustina, 1541) Continue reading The Divine Mercy Chaplet

Who Is Saint Faustina?

In February 1938 Jesus spoke these words to Sister Faustina, “Today I am sending you with My Mercy to the people of the whole world” (Diary, 1588). 73 years later we came, inspired by the message of Divine Mercy, to the place where Faustina heard these words of Jesus in order to take part in the 2nd World Congress on Divine Mercy, 1st—5th October 2011. Continue reading Who Is Saint Faustina?