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St. Bonaventure Novena Day 3 – Discerning Hearts podcasts

St. Bonaventure Novena Day 3

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St. Bonaventure you have said:

In beautiful things St. Francis saw Beauty itself, and through His vestiges imprinted on creation he followed his Beloved everywhere, making from all things a ladder by which he could climb up and embrace Him who is utterly desirable. If you desire to know … ask grace, not instruction; desire, not understanding; the groaning of prayer, not diligent reading; the Spouse, not the teacher; God, not man; darkness not clarity; not light, but fire that totally inflames and carries us into God by ecstatic unctions and burning affections.

Dear St. Bonaventure
Cardinal, Bishop and Doctor of the Church,
you chose a life that embraced mortification and great humiliation.
Choosing to serve those individuals who were rejected and sick you risked illness for yourself.
You made your life a continuous prayer and spent hours meditating on the wounds of Christ.
Please pray for us that we may have a sincere and humble heart.
Pray that we may not lose sight of Jesus’ wounds and thus walk on the straight path to eternal salvation.

All-powerful Father,
may we who celebrate the feast of St. Bonaventure
always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Day 2 – Discerning Hearts podcast

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Most Holy Mary, Our Mother, in your great love for us
you gave us the Holy Scapular of Mount Carmel,
having heard the prayers
of your chosen son Saint Simon Stock.
Help us now to wear it faithfully and with devotion.
May it be a sign to us of our desire to grow in holiness.

(State your request here…)

Recite the following prayers…

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
pray for us.

St. Benedict Novena – Day 6 – Discerning Hearts podcast

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Holy Rule Novena – Day 6

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

The twelfth degree of humility is, when a monk is not only humble of heart, but always let it appear also in his whole exterior to all that see him; … and always saying to himself in his heart what the publican in the Gospel said, with his eyes fixed on the ground: “Lord, I am a sinner and not worthy to lift up mine eyes to heaven” (Lk 18:13)…

Having, therefore, ascended all these degrees of humility, the monk will presently arrive at that love of God, which being perfect, cast out fear (1 Jn 4:18). In virtue of this love all things which at first he observed not without fear, he will now begin to keep without any effort, and as it were, naturally by force of habit, no longer from the fear of hell, but from the love of Christ, from the very habit of good and the pleasure in virtue. May the Lord be pleased to manifest all this by His Holy Spirit in His laborer now cleansed from vice and sin. (Holy Rule 7)

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

To you, I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries, and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I, therefore, invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 5 – Charity – Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena

Day 5 – Charity

«I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.» John 13:34

Meditation

The Martins were conscious of their duties to their neighbor, and the simplicity of their life made them attentive to the needs of others. Céline said, « If frugality prevailed in our home, then lavishness ruled when it came to helping the poor. We went to meet them, we searched them out, we urged them to come home with us, where their needs were satisfied: they were given food and clothes and encouraged to do what is right. I can still see my mother bustling around a poor old man. I was seven years old back then, but I remember it as if it were yesterday. We were walking in the countryside when, on the road, we met an old man who appeared destitute. Mother sent Thérèse to give him some alms. He seemed so grateful that she entered into conversation with him. Then my mother told him to follow us, and we returned home. She prepared a good dinner for him; he was starving, and she gave him clothes and a pair of shoes… And she invited him to come back to us whenever he needed anything. »

If one of her workers fell ill, St. Zélie would visit her on Sunday, happy to provide her with anything she needed. She treated her maid the same way: « It happened that she spent three weeks, night and day, at the bedside of Louis, who had a very severe attack of articular rheumatism, and whom she did not wish to send to the hospital. »

And when St. Louis, for his part, « knows that, in the neighborhood, there are ill people whose conversion is urgent, we witness his eagerness in visiting them, and in asking the whole family to pray that the sick person might decide to receive the Last Rites. … [His wife] does her best to help him in this apostolate. »

Resolution

Today, I will do something good for somebody—by a smile, a telephone call, a visit, or by giving alms…

Prayer

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to

Saints Louis and Zélie,
you who in your life as a couple and as parents
have given witness of an exemplary Christian life,
in putting God in the first place
through the exercise of the duties of your state in life
and the practice of the virtues of the gospel,
we turn to you.
Help us to have unshakable confidence in God
and to surrender ourselves to His Will,
as you did in the joys
but also in the trials, the sorrows, and the sufferings
with which your life was marked.
Help us to love God with all our heart,
to persevere in our daily difficulties,
and to dwell in the joy and hope
that will give us a living faith in Christ.
Intercede for us
so that we may obtain the graces we need
today and all the days of our life. Amen.

Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.

Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016

For the complete Sts. Louis & Zélie Martin Novena visit here

text ©Shrine of Sts. Louis and Zélie in Alençon

Please visit their website at https://louisetzelie.com/en/pray/novena-to-saints-louis-and-zelie/

For more on the life of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin visit:

A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin; Bearer of Hope w/Fr. Timothy Gallagher

and The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 2 – Discerning Hearts podcast

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 2

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St. Bonaventure you have said:

Three things are necessary to everyone regardless of status, sex, or age, i.e., truth of faith which brings understanding; love of Christ which brings compassion; endurance of hope which brings perseverance. No adult is in state of salvation unless he has faithful understanding in his mind, loving compassion in his heart, and enduring perseverance in his actions.

Dear St. Bonaventure
Cardinal, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church,
you chose a life that embraced mortification and great humiliation.
Choosing to serve those individuals who were rejected and sick you risked illness for yourself.
You made your life a continuous prayer and spent hours meditating on the wounds of Christ.
Please pray for us that we may have a sincere and humble heart.
Pray that we may not lose sight of Jesus’ wounds and thus walk on the straight path to eternal salvation.

Novena to Our Lady of Mount Carmel Day 1 – Discerning Hearts podcast

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O Beautiful Flower of Carmel,
most fruitful vine,
splendor of heaven,
holy and singular,
who brought forth the Son of God,
still ever remaining a pure virgin,
assist us in our necessity!
O Star of the Sea,
help and protect us!
Show us that you are our Mother!

(State your request here…)

Recite the following prayers…

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory Be…

Our Lady of Mount Carmel,
pray for us.

St. Benedict Novena – Day 5 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 5

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

The second degree of humility is, when a man loves not his own will, nor is pleased to fulfill his own desires but by his deeds carries out that word of the Lord which says: “I came not to do My own will but the will of Him that sent Me” (Jn 6:38). It is likewise said: “Self-will has its punishment, but necessity wins the crown.”

The third degree of humility is, that for the love of God a man subject himself to a Superior in all obedience, imitating the Lord, of whom the Apostle says: “He became obedient unto death” (Phil 2:8).

The fourth degree of humility is, that, if hard and distasteful things are commanded, even though injuries are inflicted, he accept them with patience and even temper, and not grow weary or give up, but hold out, as the Scripture says: “He that shall persevere to the end shall be saved” (Mt 10:22). (Holy Rule 7)

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way.
You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.

Day 4 – Our Duties – Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Sts. Louis and Zélie Martin Novena

Day 4 – Our Duties

« We are unprofitable servants; we have done what we were obliged to do. » Luke 17:10

Meditation

Louis and Zélie were entrepreneurs who successfully conducted their businesses independently of one another. Later, however, they worked together. It was said that Louis undertook « selling only objects of very good quality; he crafted and tested everything himself. » « He was very severe in regard to any sign of negligence or carelessness, » according to the testimony of his daughter.

Even when work seemed to overwhelm them, they knew where to turn in order to deepen their union with God. St. Zélie wrote, « It’s this miserable Alençon lace that makes life difficult. When I have too many orders, I’m a slave to the worst kind of slavery. When it’s not going well … I have nightmares! Oh well, what can I do? I must accept it and come to terms with it as bravely as possible. » She said, « God, who is a good Father … never gives His children more than they can bear. »

In spite of the profit they could have made, Louis and Zélie did not work on Sundays. They did not consider their work a means of becoming rich. « I feel, » St. Louis said, « that I could easily acquire a taste for investing, but I do not want to be carried away by that current. It is such a dangerous incline. »
Along the same lines, St. Zélie wrote to her sister-in-law: « It’s not the desire to amass a great fortune that drives me … I must go all the way for my children, and I see myself in a dilemma: I have employees whom I must furnish with work. » « Money is nothing when it’s about the sanctification and perfection of a soul. »

Resolution

Today, I will accomplish my duties out of love for God and for the good of others.

Prayer

Our Father…
Hail Mary…
Glory be to

Saints Louis and Zélie, pray for us.

Imprimatur +Jacques Habert, Bishop of Séez, 26 May 2016

For the complete Sts. Louis & Zélie Martin Novena visit here

Please visit their website at https://louisetzelie.com/en/pray/novena-to-saints-louis-and-zelie/

For more on the life of Sts. Louis and Zelie Martin visit:

A Sister of St. Thérèse: Servant of God, Léonie Martin; Bearer of Hope w/Fr. Timothy Gallagher

and The Letters of St. Therese of Lisieux with Fr. Timothy Gallagher O.M.V.

St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 1 – Discerning Hearts podcast

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St. Bonaventure Novena – Day 1

St. Bonaventure you have said:

The life of God – precisely because God is triune – does not belong to God alone. God who dwells in inaccessible light and eternal glory comes to us in the face of Christ and the activity of the Holy Spirit. Because of God’s outreach to the creature, God is said to be essentially relational, ecstatic, fecund, alive as passionate love. Divine life is therefore also our life. The heart of the Christian life is to be united with the God of Jesus Christ by means of communion with one another. The doctrine of the Trinity is, ultimately, therefore a teaching not about the abstract nature of God, nor about God in isolation from everything other than God, but a teaching about God’s life with us and our life with each other.

All-powerful Father,
through the intercession of St. Bonaventure
we ask that you hear the intentions we hold in our hearts for this novena
may we always benefit from his wisdom
and follow the example of his love.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

For the complete 9-Day St. Bonaventure Novena visit here

St. Benedict Novena Day 4 – Discerning Hearts Podcast

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Holy Rule Novena to St. Benedict – Day 4

In the Holy Rule, St. Benedict you have said:

The first degree of humility, then, is that a man always have the fear of God before his eyes (cf Ps 35[36]:2), shunning all forgetfulness and that he be ever mindful of all that God has commanded, that he always consider in his mind how those who despise God will burn in hell for their sins, and that life everlasting is prepared for those who fear God. And while he guards himself evermore against sin and vices of thought, word, deed, and self-will, let him also hasten to cut off the desires of the flesh.

Let a man consider that God always sees him from Heaven, that the eye of God beholds his works everywhere, and that the angels report them to Him every hour. The Prophet tells us this when he shows God thus ever present in our thoughts, saying: “The searcher of hearts and reins is God” (Ps 7:10)…Therefore, in order that he may always be on his guard against evil thoughts, let the humble brother always say in his heart: “Then I shall be spotless before Him, if I shall keep myself from iniquity” (Ps 17[18]:24) . (Holy Rule 7)

Glorious Saint Benedict,
sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God’s grace!
Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet.
I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.

{mention your petition}

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.

Amen.

O Holy Father, St. Benedict, pray for us.