If you’re following along and keeping score, St. Rita has notched another win today. From my ongoing novena prayer list I have just removed another intention meaning… She has delivered yet again.
This one was very sweet and personal to me. One of my nephews was looking for a better work schedule so he could spend more time with his growing family and get to Adoration more frequently. Not only did his schedule get changed abruptly, but so did his job. He got promoted to detective today!
St. Rita of Cascia, stained glass
Now, don’t take away from this a false sense of hope.
No, I want you to take away from this a very real sense of hope.
If you have been praying for some thing for a long time and it has not come to you, remember one of the first “rules” of prayer. “We pray to change ourselves, not to change God,” as Lewis said. Perhaps step back and begin with a prayer asking Our Lord to send His Holy Ghost to direct you how to pray and for what.
Either way, the novena continues and I have confidence in St. Rita’s power to intercede in impossible cases.
St. Rita, pray for us!
PS: More to come over the weekend. I’m on a bit of vacation visiting with a family member right now.
No, not that one. Believe me. Enough ink will be spilled on her life and times to flood a decent sized room. And regarding her I will say this. I prayed for her soul this morning and I hope her judgment went well for her who presided over the transformation of a once-great nation into a typical post-Western den of sodo-iniquity. I’m sure she was a very nice woman.
No, I mean THE Queen – she who rules over heaven and earth. Today we celebrated the Nativity of the Blessed Mother.
Mother of Good Counsel, mosaic, Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington. DC
Happy birthday, my Queen! Please obtain for me and my family from the Heart of thy Divine Son all the grace necessary to live holy lives, die happy deaths, and come to the joys of eternal bliss with thee and with Him.
I offer today my rosary in honor of your loveliness, O fairest of our race!
Lord Jesus, through the tears of Thy holy Mother Mary, have mercy on me, a sinner!
Per Uncle Arthur, Mass times for the TLM “may not be published on the parish website or social media sites.”
Fortunately, this blog is neither of those.
Have at you…
Parishioners of Holy Trinity Parish in Gainesville can now attend the Mass of the Ages at Renaissance Montesorri School in Nokesville, VA. masses will be held in the gymnasium. Shouldn’t be hard to remember. Here’s a mnemonic for you. Gymnos is Greek for “naked man”. Just think of Uncle Arthur and his secretest thoughts and you’ll be fine.
No Mass for you here. Go to new location!
RMS is at 12625 Fitzwater Dr., Nokesville, VA 20181. Pull all the way around to the back of the parking lot. The gym is the second large building on your right
Sunday: 8:30 AM and Noon.
Monday-Saturday: 7:15 AM.
Who knows, friends… You might run into me there in the next week or two. If you can pick me out of a crowd, say hello! I’m friendly and I’ve had all my shots. Actually no, I abhor vaccines. Nonetheless, I’m still friendly and I don’t bite.
There is a line in the novena to St. Rita that I pray that has always carried special meaning for me.
“We promise if our petitions are granted to make known your favor and to glorify God for His gift.”
The Catholic Devotional Life
Earlier today, as I was finally cleaning off the top of my dresser after a year of collecting loose change, cuff links, and knick knacks, I happened upon a few items I did not know I had in my possession. If you have ever had a special devotion to a particular saint this will not surprise you in the least. I found that I had four separate medals of my Cascian intercessor , apparently acquired in Italy by one of my nieces who had traveled there several years ago for a semester abroad.
So let’s talk about devotions and the life of a Catholic. Prior to the middle of the 1960’s (gee, not sure what happened then) Catholics were raised to be in relationship with the saints. We were taught to pray to our guardian angel and to converse with him, to call upon our friends in heaven because they are God’s friends first. It is said that Padre Pio did not know until he was ten years-old that other people couldn’t see their angels, such was his devotion.
Devotion and Memory
And then the Catholic world forgot. To be sure there was a malicious force at work helping to suppress that memory. But memory is a beautiful gift from God. Like physical strength, it requires some exercise on our part to develop more fully. The ancients knew how to memorize epic poetry on the first hearing. They trained their memories and knew how to actively listen. Likewise the memory of our devotional life must be fostered. We must worship God in the manner He chooses (the Holy Mass) and listen in silence to Him. We must work at our devotions. Sometimes, like the occasional miraculous physical healing where the lame man regains his strength, God can intervene to remind us of what we lost and what we forgot. We must then thank God for that grace and jump back into fostering our devotional life.
Friends, remember your devotions. Make the saints and angels a part of your life. Those medals remind me to keep going and to continue to seek her prayers. I see them as a gift from God to continue in my devotion. Today in particular I see them as a nudge to continue in my novena prayers. Another nine days it is! Perhaps there are four particular people who need these prayers. Who knows? God knows.
Remembering that I will make known her favor and glorify God for his gifts, I share the days events with you and again invite any intentions that I might add to my prayer.
God bless us, the Virgin protect us, and St. Rita, pray for us!
A friend who is currently on assignment in the Bay Area sends me a picture of his Sunday Mass locale.
St. Thomas More Chapel (SSPX), San Jose, CA
I offer these glimpses into local trad communities in the hope that anyone who may be searching for a Latin Mass might take hope. Also, I love the portrait of Thomas More hanging in the sanctuary. The original by Hans Holbein the Younger hangs in the Frick Collection on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and is one of my favorite works of portraiture. If you ever have the chance to see it, please do (except they’ll probably make you quadruple vax and triple mask to get in these days).
Happy Sunday, friends! Like the Samaritan leper, do not forget to give thanks to Almighty God for your Catholic faith.
Folks, I got off all that social media nonsense a while ago. Sorry but I'm not on Twitbook, Facepalm, YouHu, WingWang or any of the others. Maybe an event will happen to make me change my mind like Peter and Paul coming down with flaming swords and commanding it be so. Until then, read the blog and if you feel a comment is in order or you feel like sharing a tip or suggestion for a topic, email me at harvey@harveymillican.com.
Harvey Millican's Blog: Musings of a Trad Dad 