Regular readers know of my devotion to St. Rita of Cascia, patron saint of impossible causes.
I am beginning another novena today. If anyone would like me to add your intentions, please email them to me. It is a joy for me to bring them to her.
St. Rita, our advocate, pray for us!
Friends, call upon His Holy Name!
I remember my mother telling me when I was a young boy and had woke up from a terrifying dream, “Say the Holy Name of Jesus over and over again and all those bad thoughts will flee from you.”
She was right.
Here is a link to a litany I pray every morning.
https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/teachings/litany-of-the-holy-name-of-jesus-12747
Say His beautiful Name. Say it often. Say it when you wake up and before you fall asleep. It is a blessing to be able to utter that most sacred name!
Obviously in the original post the date of the feast was correct for tha year. This year, the feast is January 4, that is, today.
First fist Saturday of the new year:
https://americaneedsfatima.org/prayers/the-five-first-saturdays-devotion
May 2026 be filled with abundant blessings and may the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of His Mother be praised and honored all year and for all time!
Happy New Year, dear friends!!!
Why not begin the year with the Divine Praises?
Every year around this time I head to my homeland – New Jersey – to visit family for New Years Eve. While here I usually take one or more side trips with my kids, usually into the City (NYC).
This morning as part of my Christmas present from my son, he and I ventured into Queens, Flusing specifically, to take a tour of CitiField, home field of our beloved New York Mets. It was a great morning. The tour guide was on point even if the weather was sub-freezing when we got to step onto the field. By the way, we got to step onto the field!
After our tour, owing to the proximity, I decided to visit Calvary Cemetery. Calvary is one of the largest cities of the dead in the country. It is divided into four sections as it sits at the intersection of the Long Island Expressway and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. And it is the resting place of my mother’s parents. So of course we visited to offer our prayers for my grandparents and my son’s great-grandparents.
But you know I couldn’t leave it at that. You see, I am also known for my affinity for celebrity grave stalking. I’ve seen many of the best – Donna Summer, Jon-Benet Ramsay, Patsy Cline… From presidents to singers to famous murder victims, I figure I get to stand closer to them in death than I ever could have in life AND I always say prayers for their souls.
So imagine my surprise when I discovered that, reposing beneath the sod in the very next block from my grandparents is one of Mom’s favorite singers.
In case you’re wondering, you’d probably know him better by his stage name. Anthony Benedetto was Tony Bennet.
But it didn’t end there. A few blocks away was Mr. Dom Deluise!
Beautiful monument with the Sacred Heart! And with the BQE overhead, he’ll need it in order to get that eternal rest.
But I also came across this:
Look at the bottom of the stone.
“One Hail Mary”
You heard the stone etcher.
“Ave Maria, gratia plena…”
May all those who die in the Lord, rest in peace.
