The Secret of Sanctity and Happiness

Pope John Paul II, when he was a little boy, was given a prayer of surrender to the Holy Spirit by his father, and he told him to pray that every day -- and he did. John Paul II changed the world! The Holy Spirit can use us, also, if we too have devotion to Him and surrender to Him every day! So I would like to share this prayer and thoughts with you and encourage you to pray this prayer every day for the rest of your life:

"I am going to reveal to you the secret of sanctity and happiness. Every day for five minutes control your imagination and close your eyes to the things of sense and your ears to all the noises of the world, in order to enter into yourself. Then, in the sanctity of your baptized soul (which is the temple of the Holy Spirit) speak to that Divine Spirit, saying to Him:

Oh, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul, I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do; give me Your orders. I promise to submit myself to all that You desire of me and to accept all that You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will. 

If you do this, your life will flow along happily, serenely and full of consolation, even in the midst of trials. Grace will be proportioned to the trial, giving you the strength to carry it and you will arrive at the gate of  Paradise, laden with merit. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret of sanctity."

Sunshine Award

I received this beautiful award from my friend Byrn! It's called the Sunshine Award. This type of recognition from a fellow blogger makes my day!

GO AHEAD AND PASS IT ON...

Of course, blog awards come with rules…

1. Put the logo on your blog and/or within your post.
2. Pass the award on to twelve bloggers.
3. Link to the nominees within your post.
4. Let them know they received this award by commenting on their blog.
5. Share the love and the link to the person from whom you received this award.
 
Thank you Byrn . This is my first AWARD!

MY AWARDS GO TO...
A Catholic Mom in Hawaii
The Beautiful Gate
Anne Bender
Thoughts on Grace
Conversion Diary
Adrienne's Corner
Catholic Fire
Daughter of the King
Fumbling Toward Grace
Gabriella's Blog
Mary's Mantle
True Confessions of a Prodigal Daughter
Colleen  Hammond
The following blogs are listed separately on my blog under the heading INTO CARMEL.
Praise of Glory - Elizabeth of the Trinity
Saint John of the Cross
Saint Therese of the Child Jesus
The Interior Castle
Vocation Talks and Prayers
There are many, many more blogs I follow which are very worthy of recieving this AWARD, I just can't name them all.

Four Franciscan friars take on Irelands toughest city

I love this order of Franciscans! They make such a difference where ever they are! ...and I'm Irish so this article especially touches my heart.

"What happens when a former US Marine becomes a Franciscan friar and then goes on to found a monastery in the toughest district of Ireland’s toughest city?

In 2007, Father Sylvester and a small group of American friars from the Bronx, N.Y., did just that ...more

Did the Apostles Pray the Rosary

I ran across this article at Catholic Exchange and thought I'd share it.  For those of us faithful to praying the daily rosary and in so doing, meditating on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ; this article articulates in a beautiful way that which we already know.

"It sounds like a ridiculous question for me to pose. It’s common knowledge that the Rosary didn’t take shape for at least another thousand years! Something stood out to me the other night however, which makes me think that the “soul” of the Rosary was always present in the Apostles’ prayer....more

The Pill at 50: science, stigma, self-empowerment...and the BIG LIE

You may have been unfortunate enough to see this horrendous news story (which is really all about the use and exploitation of women) on the Today Show Friday May 7.

I would not have seen this myself had I not been at the car dealership having some maintenance work done.

The Pill at 50: Science, stigma, self-empowerment

If you are interested in the truth concerning the Pill and the legacy it has left.  I recommend here only a few of the many resources available.

1) Dr. Janet Smith blasts AFP for 'inaccurate' contraception article :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)

Concerning another erroneous article applauding 'the Pill', this article begins: "Responding to a recent Agence France Presse (AFP) article that criticized Catholic teaching on contraception, well-known professor, Dr. Janet Smith, said that in her opinion, the poorly researched piece “was inaccurate and slanted from the beginning.”

2) One More Soul is a website filled with morally (biblically) acceptable resources for married couples, as well as a variety of other resources documenting the sanctity and dignity of human life from conception to natural death.

3) Concerning human sexuality and true marital happiness, joy and unity with God, take a look at the resources found at Ascension Press, Christopher West, Catholic Exchange: Theology of the Body, Theology of the Body Institute,  Theology of the Body General Audiences of Pope John Paul the Great, or St John Cantius.

4) For a prophetic review of our current moral and cultural condition; read the very short (only 31 paragraphs), but in depth encyclical letter given to the Church on July 25, 1968 by Pope Paul VI, Humanae Vitae.

Take it from someone who's marriage and life was all but destroyed by artificial contraception..the Pill and tubiligation; [in Janet Smith's words] “who looks foolish?”...she asked. “The Church for not changing a teaching that almost guarantees happiness or a culture that is pushing an agenda that almost guarantees misery?”

But for the grace of God my marriage would have been included in the divorce statistics, instead the Holy Spirit led my husband and I after 29 years of marriage (through EWTN television and radio) on a whirlwind of a surprising, yet exciting and grace-filled journey of spiritual renewal and reversion. We whole-heartedly embrace the Church's teaching on marriage and sexuality and engage in ministries to help others not make the same mistakes we did in our marriage during our furtile years.

Pray for sins committed against marriage and all sins committed against life

A Holy Father

by Kathryn Jean Lopez | Headline Bistro
It was Holy Week. It was Holy Week and everywhere I turned – or so it seemed to this news junkie -- I heard calls for the pope’s resignation. He would step down, pundits on MSNBC could have had you believing, as if it were a foregone conclusion and absolutely necessity. The veritable end of the Catholic Church – or at least the Vatican -- if you were to believe some writing for the New York Times, was both imminent and welcome....more

What Every Catholic Should Know

 "A colleague asked me what Church documents every Catholic should read.

I decided to put together this list and I hope it isn't too long. This list contains writings, primarily Magisterial documents (official Church teaching), but it also has a few that are not. It should be helpful for those who don't know where to start or what to read next."

So begins this wonderful list What Every Catholic Should Know I found at the blog Aggie Catholic.

Many of the items listed are found on the web, particularly the Vatican website.  This being so, I thought this was one of the most helpful lists of Catholic information, church documents and books I have run across. 

Fr. Apostoli: Bp. Fulton Sheen on Laity & Poor-Part I

Divine Intimacy - Part Four of a Series

Easter Sunday to the Feast of the Most Holy Trinity

All the following links come from Catholic-Pages.

In this fourth part of the series, I will provide links to some of the readings for the book Divine Intimacy, by Father Gabriel of Saint Mary Magdalen, O.C.D., available from Aquinas and More.  The focus of these meditations will be on one of the following; The Life of prayer: Vocal and Mental Prayer, Development of Contemplative Prayer, Liturgical Prayer - Our Blessed Lady: Her Privileges and Virtues - The Holy Spirit and His Action in Us.

Briefly, this book is a goldmine of inspirational thoughts and spiritual meditations from those who lived heroic virtue, to help the soul enter more deeply into the treasures of the Truth of the Faith; so that ones thinking and acting might become transformed and unity or Divine Intimacy might be achieved.

140) The Resurrection of the Lord - Easter Sunday

141) Stay with Us - Easter Monday

142) Whom Seek You?

143) The Living Water

144) God Invites All Souls

145) Our Preparation

146) Prayer

147) The Paschal Harvest - Low Sunday

148) Vocal Prayer

149) Meditative Reading

150) Meditation

151) Intimate Converses With God

152) Prayer of Recollection

153) Aridity

154) The Good Shepherd - Second Sunday After Easter

155) Aridity and Progress

156) Energetic Resolve

157) Aridity and Contemplation

158) Loving Attention to God

159) Practical Conduct

160)  The Life of Prayer

161) God's Pilgrims - Third Sunday after Easter

162) Practice of the Presence of God

163) The Spirit of Faith

164) Liturgical Prayer

165) Holy Mass

166) Participating in Holy Mass

167) The Divine Office

168) The Great Promise - Fourth Sunday after Easter

169) Mary Our Guide and Model

170) The Handmaid of the Lord

171) Spouse of the Holy Spirit

172) The Mother of God

173) Our Mother

174) The Marian Life

175) Efficacious Prayer - Fifth Sunday after Easter

176) Mary's Humility

177) Mary's Faith

178) Mary's Hope

179) The Ascension of Our Lord - Forty Days after Easter

180) The Growth of Charity in Mary

181) Mary and Fraternal Charity

182) Waiting - Sunday after Ascension

183) Mary's Prayer

184) Mary's Apostolate

185) Mary Our Mediatrix

186) The Holy Spirit

187) The Spirit of Christ

188) Sweet Guest of the Soul

189) The Descent of the Holy Spirit - Pentecost Sunday

190) The Action of the Holy Spirit

191) The Initiatives of the Holy Spirit

192) Our Cooperation

193) Conformity with Christ through the Action of the Holy Spirit

194) The Way of the Cross

195) The Gifts of the Spirit

196) Feast of the Most Holy Trinity - First Sunday after Pentecost

197) The Virtues and the Gifts

198) The Holy Spirit and Prayer

199) The Holy Spirit and Activity