Always With You

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: Our Lady will be with you always

Parental Prayer:
The first time St. Elizabeth Ann Seton read the words of the Memorare, she experienced a heavenly conviction that Mary was truly her mother, the mother she had longingly looked to heaven for since the death of her earthly mother. Even though Elizabeth Ann Seton was a Protestant at this time, she was nevertheless convinced of Our Lady’s heavenly aid.

In imitation of the loving trust of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, I will pray the Memorare so that my children may also be convinced and experience the presence of their heavenly Mother Mary.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thy intercession was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I kneel, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy clemency hear and answer me. Amen.
See Elizabeth Ann Seton A Self-Portrait; A Study of Her Spirituality in Her Own Words. Sister Marie Celeste, S.C. (Franciscan Marytown Press: 1986)

Preparation for Children:
Last time we spoke of the children’s mission and their going to heaven. Do you remember what Our Lady said?

“Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain a little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth.”

When Lucia realized that her mission required more time than the others, she asked the Heavenly Lady,

“Must I remain in the world alone?"

The Heavenly Lady answered very sweetly,

Quote:
Our Lady of Fatima,
“Not alone, my child, and you must not be sad. I will be with you always, and my Immaculate Heart will be your comfort and the way which will lead you to God.”

Meditation:
Isn’t this beautiful? Lucia was worried about being alone. Our Lady assured Lucia that she would never be alone.

Mary’s words are for us as well. Jesus’ mother is your mother as well.

The Blessed Virgin Mary wanted to make sure that Lucia fully understood these special words. So, Our Lady opened her hands again so that the children experienced the great light of God again. Lucia describes the experience.

“She transmitted to us, for the second time, the reflection of that intense light. In it we felt we were submerged in God. Jacinta and Francisco seemed to be in that part of the light which was rising to Heaven, and I in the part spreading over the earth."

Resolution:
Can you remember today that your heavenly mother is with you?
Try to think of her one time today as your mother who is always at your side.

Let’s begin right now in the Rosary. We’ll try to say the Rosary as though Our Lady is truly with us.

Parental Action:
I didn’t follow up with an action with this meditation. But, as I write it up now, perhaps reading from St. Alphonsus di Liguori’s pamphlet,
How to Converse Continually and Familiarly With God, might be appropriate.
(Tan Books)

Point of Mental Prayer:
Cultivating the presence of God, the presence of Our Lady and our Guardian Angels, helps us to maintain a spirit of prayer throughout the day.

Link to Word document

Sacred Heart

Nine days from now is the feast of the Sacred Heart.

Here are some prayers from EWTN

I have a plan for nine Saintly Supplements on this theme. I presented the first to my children tonight. (I'm trying to type them up to share. I hope I will have the grace to continue.) June is traditionally the month dedicated to the Sacred Heart. The Supplements can be used for devotions during June.

Two more Saintly Supplements dealing with Fatima need to be edited and posted. They're coming soon.

Our Mission

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: Our Mission from God (Take us to Heaven)

Parental Prayer:
Help my children to seek your Will so that they may lead good and happy lives and be happy with you forever in Heaven.

Preparation for Children:
We were talking about the second apparition of Our Lady to the children at Fatima.
Do you remember our conversation about heaven? What is heaven?

Heaven was very real to the children of Fatima. So real that Lucia asked,

Quote:
"Will you take us to heaven?"

Meditation:
Let’s listen to the way Our Lady answers,

“Yes, I shall take Jacinta and Francisco soon, but you will remain a little longer, since Jesus wishes you to make me known and loved on earth.”
Lucia was blessed to be able to speak of her future directly with Our Lady. Lucia’s mission was explained to her by Our Lady. God gives each one of us a mission. He gives us talents and desires

[At this point, my children had many questions asked about Lucia’s mission. They wanted to know when she died. I found out that she died in 2005 at the age of 97.]

Have you ever asked Our Lady what Jesus’ mission for you is?
God is all loving and all perfect. What He has planned for you will make you very happy. The Creator knows best what His creation is for. You know for yourselves when you make a toy airplane it is different from when you make a toy boat. One is for the water and one is for the air. If you put your boat in the air and your plane in the water they won’t work as well. They weren’t designed for that.

If we do what God designs us for, if we follow His Will, not only will we be very happy in this life we will also gain heaven, something which seemed very desirable to the children of Fatima.

Resolution:
We’re going to pray the Rosary now. Let’s ask Our Lady what is our mission from God. Later on, during a quiet time today, try to be still for a moment, lift up your heart to God and ask,
“What do you want of me Lord?”Tell the Lord that you love Him and want to do what He wants.

Parental Action:
Read the story of Samuel, who responds with:
“Hear I am Lord, I’ve come to do your will.”
(a selection from the daily Missal)

Point of Mental Prayer:
St. Alphonsus di Ligouri explains that holiness consists in conformity and uniformity to God’s Will.
“Conformity signifies that we join our wills to the will of God. Uniformity means more—it means that we make one will of God’s will and ours, so that we will only what God wills; that God’s will alone, is our will. This is the summit of perfection and to it we should always aspire; this should be the goal of all our works, desires, meditations and prayers. To this end we should always invoke the aid of our holy patrons, our guardian angels, and above all, of our mother Mary, the most perfect of all the saints because she most perfectly embraced the divine will.”
St. Alphonsus’ book, Uniformity to God’s Will is available on line:
Library

Link to obtain this meditation in Word fortmat.
Choose "Our Mission"

Blogging from Rome

Father Angelo was in Rome and has been blogging about it. Quite a few interesting posts especially Madonna delle Milizie and some pictures of Fr. Manelli and others at the chapter meeting.

Colonial Williamsburg

I thought I'd share a few pictures of our recent trip to Colonial Williamsburg.

The children received a lesson in courtesy from a Colonial Williamsburg interpreter.









Hummingbird was thrilled and practiced bowing.











Benedicta and Matt stop to see the oxen.







Everyone had to catch a glimpse of the newborn lamb.

The last "man" in the first row is my 12 year old son!

He's huge.

On the last night of our trip, we visited Yorktown. The children preferred Yorktown with its battlefields and beach to the busy, crowded Jamestown. I was surprised.

Finally, a picture of Hope who doesn't look too happy about leaving and going home.

printable?

A few kind folks requested a printable version of Saintly Supplements.

I created a folder in the file section of MaryVitamin Yahoogroups to store Saintly Supplements as Word documents there. At the end of the Saintly Supplement, I plan to include a link to the file section. So far, I've only uploaded The Daily Rosary Saintly Supplement.

Let me know if this is helpful and I'll continue this practice.

The Daily Rosary

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: Why do we pray the Rosary daily?

Parental Prayer:
St. Padre Pio prayed at least one hundred rosaries a day while he went about his duties. Padre Pio encouraged all his spiritual children to pray the rosary every day and told them that one day he would see them in heaven.

St. Padre Pio, help my children to love the Rosary and to say it everyday.

Preparation for the Children:
Today we’ll be talking about Our Lady’s second apparition at Fatima.
At this apparition Our Lady taught a new prayer to the children and asked that they pray it after each decade of the Rosary.

Quote:
Our Lady of Fatima,
“O my Jesus, forgive us our sins, save us from the fires of Hell, lead all souls to heaven, especially those most in need of thy mercy.”

Meditation:
Before praying the Rosary, I asked
Why do we pray the rosary every day?

Our Lady asked for the daily recitation of the Rosary at Fatima. At each apparition, she repeated her request to pray the Rosary daily.

Resolution:
In the Rosary, let’s pause while praying the decade prayer and remember that it is our Heavenly Mother who requests these prayers.

Parental Action:
Talk to the children about the example of Padre Pio who could pray many Rosaries in one day.

(Netflix has a video called: Padre Pio Sanctus.)

Point of Mental Prayer:
It’s not only your earthly mother asking for the Rosary, but, more importantly your Heavenly Mother’s request. Move the focus of prayer from parental request to a heavenly request.

For Word document version, please visit:
Mary Vitamin Yahoogroup files.

Still working on this week's Saintly Supplements.
I made simple notes that need to be fleshed out.

Hopefully, I'll have a chance to get to them by the end of the week.

Sweetness and Light for the Month of May

Meredith has it all for the Month of May:
Poetry, songs, gardens, prayers and more in honor of Our Lady.
I can't wait to see what else she'll be posting!

In the Presence of God

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: In the Presence of God

Parental Prayer:
Lord, help my children to desire heaven. Please Blessed Virgin Mary take my children under your mantle and inspire them to love and desire heaven. Help them to know and love the God of Heaven who is found in the Blessed Sacrament.

Preparation for Children:
When we left off talking about Our Lady’s appearance in Fatima, we concentrated on her first words. I asked the children if they remembered the words of Our Lady. One remembered that Our Lady said,

“I am from heaven.”
(I continued describing the apparition.)
Later on in during this first apparition of Our Lady at Fatima Our Lady opened her hands and a great light poured from them. Let’s listen to Lucia’s description.
(Skip to meditation)

Quote:
Lucia
“[W]e were bathed in a heavenly light that appeared to come directly from her hands,…and we knew somehow that this light was God ….”

Meditation:“[W]e were bathed in a heavenly light that appeared to come directly from her hands. The light's reality cut into our hearts and our souls, and we knew somehow that this light was God, and we could see ourselves embraced in it.”
Pause here to ask the children,

If you were in Fatima and somehow knew that you were in the presence of God, what would you do? How would you respond to the presence of God?

Let the children pause to think and then give their answers.
(There are no right or wrong answers! I wish I had recorded their responses )

Let’s hear what the Fatima children did.
“By an interior impulse of grace we fell to our knees, repeating in our hearts: ‘Oh, Holy Trinity, we adore You. My God, my God, I love You in the Blessed Sacrament.’"
The children responded by worshipping the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. The experience of God reminded them of the nearest experience of God they had previously experienced: The Blessed Sacrament. The children made the connection through grace.

Resolution:
Ask the children if they can think of a resolution to go along with what they just heard.
Mine couldn’t.
I suggested that one more time today, they think of the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament and say
“I love you in the Blessed Sacrament.”

Parental Action:
Review the words of the Spiritual Communion

Point of Mental Prayer
Mental prayer can involve reading a spiritual work and then trying to imagine ourselves in the same situation. In this case, we read about the experience of the Fatima children and then applied the experience to ourselves.

Heaven and Sanctity

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: Heaven - The First Apparition of Our Lady at Fatima

Parental Prayer:
Ven. Zelie Martin (soon to be Blessed)
“I shall only pray to [Our Lady] that [the little daughters] given to me may all become saints, and that I may follow them closely; but they must be much better than I.”
Can I pray this prayer as earnestly as Zelie Martin, the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux?

Preparation for Children:
(We spoke about these things before saying the Rosary.)
Today we will talk about the first apparition of Our Lady to the children. Lucia describes the first apparition:

“[W]e saw a flash of lightening, and after a few steps we saw on a holm oak a lady dressed in white, shining brighter than the sun, giving out rays of clear and intense light, just like a crystal goblet full of pure water when the fiery sun passes through it.”
After seeing this wonderful vision, Lucia wanted to know where this woman came from. The Lady replied,

Quote:
“I come from heaven.”

Meditation:
I asked the children, what is heaven?
A lively discussion followed.
One child answered, “Paradise.”
Another was reminded of the Sunday Gospel (5th Sunday of Easter), where
Jesus said in the Gospel,
“I am going to prepare a place for you.”
Another said, “I like talking about heaven.”

I read these excerpts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church

2802 Who art in heaven" does not refer to a place but to God's majesty and his presence in the hearts of the just. Heaven, the Father's house, is the true homeland toward which we are heading and to which, already, we belong.


1821 We can therefore hope in the glory of heaven promised by God to those who love him and do his will. In every circumstance, each one of us should hope, with the grace of God, to persevere "to the end" and to obtain the joy of heaven, as God's eternal reward for the good works accomplished with the grace of Christ. In hope, the Church prays for "all men to be saved." She longs to be united with Christ, her Bridegroom, in the glory of heaven.

Resolution:
It's time to begin the Rosary. When we pray,

Our Father who art in Heaven,

let’s think about heaven and ask the Lord to take us there one day.

Parental Action
Review catechism on heaven.
Q. What is Heaven?
A. Heaven is the state of everlasting life in which we see God face to face, are made like unto Him in glory, and enjoy eternal happiness.

Q. In what does the happiness in heaven consist?
A. The happiness in heaven consists in seeing the beauty of God, in knowing Him as He is, and in having every desire fully satisfied.

Q. What does St. Paul say of heaven?
A. St. Paul says of heaven, "That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man what things God hath prepared for them that love Him." (I. Cor. ii., 9.)
See: Baltimore Catechism 3

Point of Mental Prayer
Awaken the desire for heaven to help the children want to cultivate a relationship with the people already there.

Zelie Martin

The Mother of the Little Flower
Zelie Martin (1831-1877)
By: Celine Martin (St. Therese s Sister)

In this book, Celine remembers the virtues shown by her mother.
I made a running list of qualities which stuck with me after reading.

Zelie Martin

• had a great love for purity.
• showed extra concern for modesty. She ensured that the girls’ dresses reached below the knee.
• wanted to see her children pray, pray at a young age, and pray often.
• did not spoil the children. They didn’t get away with bad behavior.
• regularly encouraged her children to sacrifice. One memorable example from the book includes the use of sacrifice beads. Zelie said to her daughters, “You’ll win a jewel for your crown if you give that up now.”
• demonstrated personal holiness and prayerfulness.
• practiced obedience to her husband, who she regarded as head of the family.
• Spoke of heaven often.
• would not excuse herself from the Church’s regulations regarding fasting even though she was very ill.
• was suspicious of being too happy in this life. She thought it was a bad sign when things went very well because this is a valley of tears.
• abhorred detraction especially mentioning the faults of priests. (Sounds similar to St. Francis)
• prayed intensely for her children to have vocations to the religious life but wouldn’t say the prayer out loud. She didn’t want to exert overt pressure.
• demonstrated a love for the poor in tangible ways (gave food to the hungry, visited the sick, and reached out to the most needy.)
• went on pilgrimage to Lourdes for healing but returned in worse shape than ever. Yet, her faith in God and love of the Blessed Virgin Mary was undiminished.
• died a holy death, bearing her sufferings with great courage.

The Precious Blood and a Spiritual Communion

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: St. Michael teaches the Children of Fatima – Day Six

Parental Prayer:
Please teach my children to pray. Help me to imitate Zelie Martin (soon to be Blessed Zelie Martin), the mother of St. Therese, who showed such a concern for her children’s piety.

Today, I will commit my children to the Lord with a Spiritual Communion.
My Jesus,
I believe that You
are present in the Most Holy Sacrament.
I love You above all things,
and I desire to receive You into my soul.
Since I cannot at this moment
receive You sacramentally,
come at least spiritually into my heart. I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
Amen.

Preparation for the Children
Today we will talk about the third apparition of St. Michael to the Fatima children. By now, the children had the habit of beginning their time of watching the flocks with prayer and of offering sacrifice. They repeated the prayer
My God, I believe, I adore, I hope and I love you…
many times in the course of the day.

Let’s pretend for a second that you are out in the backyard. How surprised would you be to see an angel? It would be very surprising. Yet, this is not the only wonderful thing the children experienced. There was more -- much more. Let’s try to imagine how wondrous, how marvelous this third visit of St. Michael is. Let’s listen to how Lucia describes this visit.

Quote:
Lucia
“After we had repeated this prayer I don't know how many times we saw shining over us a strange light. We lifted our heads to see what was happening. the Angel was holding in his left hand a chalice and over it, in the air, was a host from which drops of blood fell into the chalice.“
EWTN Fatima

Meditation:
I asked the children,
Did you know that Holy Communion, the Host, also contains the Blood of Christ?
The Blessed Sacrament is the body, blood, soul and divinity of Christ.

We discussed and then reviewed Lesson 26 of the New Saint Joseph Baltimore Catechism. I found a similar catechism chapter here:
What is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass?


Resolution:
When you are playing either outside or inside, see if you can remember the visit of St. Michael to the children. Try to picture the host suspended in mid air and a chalice catching the Precious Blood.

You can use the words of the angel,
I believe, I adore

Or you can just try to say that you love the Lord and you would like to receive Communion.

Parental Action:
Review Lesson 26 of the Baltimore Catechism

Point of Mental Prayer:
Spiritual Communion is an important method of mental prayer. A Spiritual Communion helps to make the Eucharist the center of our day.

helpful podcast

This podcast of the breviary has helped me to pray morning prayer while I take care of the baby.

Liturgy of the Hours

I'll have to put a link in my sidebar to help me find it quickly.

I couldn't find the rosary there. I'll have to keep looking.

Sacrifice involves members of our own household

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children

Topic: St. Michael teaches the Children of Fatima – Day Five
Sacrifice involves the members of our own household

Parental Prayer:“‘Penance, penance, penance,’ the Immaculata repeated to Bernadette… Is it not therefore proper for us all above all to take up this calling of the Immaculata and to disseminate it over the whole earth, and for all times?” (St. Maximilian Kolbe)

Help me, dear Blessed Mother, to incorporate into my life your message of prayer and sacrifice. Help me to embrace, practice and love sacrifice for your sake and for the love of God. Teach my children that love and sacrifice go together.

Preparation for the children:
Where did we leave off?
We left off trying to notice times and places we could offer sacrifice. Did you do this? Did you notice times we could offer sacrifice?

Lucia said
Who God is, what is His love for us, and how he wants us to love Him too; the value of sacrifice and how it pleases Him; how He receives it for the conversion of sinners.

And then Lucia remembers…

Quote:
Lucia
“That is why from that moment we began to offer Him whatever mortified us.”

Meditation:
What do you think is the most important sacrifice we could offer?

The angel said it was most important to make the sacrifices God sends us.

Who should be the first to experience the benefit of our sacrifices?

St. Francis de Sales, a doctor of the Church, gives us this answer:

“Among all those who are included under the title of neighbor, there are none who deserve it more, in one sense, than those of our own household. They are nearest of all to us, living under the same roof and eating the same bread. Therefore they ought to be one of the principal objects of our love, and we should practice in regard to them all the acts of a true charity, which ought to be founded not upon flesh and blood, or upon their good qualities, but altogether upon God.”
A Year With the Saints (Tan Books), 328

Resolution:
Jesus says
“Love others as I have love you.”
Let’s try to offer sacrifices which benefit our very own family.
Bear with others patiently.
Think others better than you.

Parental Action:
Continue reviewing Chapter 8 of the New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism #1“Redemption,” especially the last part of the chapter.
(This chapter includes “Bear your small crosses with love, offering them up to God the Father as Christ offered Himself.”

Point of Mental Prayer
Msgr Boylan, Difficulties in Mental Prayer, (Roman Catholic Books), 47.
“To facilitate prayer, therefore, and to advance in it, there must be great fidelity to God’s will. Rules and all other manifestations of God’s desires must be faithfully followed, and the details of the common life as well as one’s own daily duties have to be carried out with great exactness and watchful purity of intention. Then there is need of readiness in corresponding with grace, and of generosity in effusing God nothing for which He clearly is asking.”

Traditional Novena Time

The apostles gathered around Our Lady during those early days in the Church between the first Ascension Thursday and Pentecost. The original novena was prayed in the upper room as they awaited the Paraclete.

Here is a stirring prayer for Pentecost.

Click the link at the end to find out who wrote it.

Who are you, sweet light, that fills me
And illumines the darkness of my heart?
[...]
Are you not the sweet manna
That from the Son's heart
Overflows into my heart,
The food of angels and the blessed?
He who raised himself from death to life,
He has also awakened me to new life

novena for Pentecost at EWTN

Fatima and Sacrifice

Saintly Supplements
Mary Vitamin for Children
(This one is a little longer than usual)

Topic: St. Michael Teaches the Children of Fatima about Sacrifice– Day Four

Parental Prayer:
Help me, dear Blessed Mother, to incorporate into my life your message at Fatima, a message of prayer and sacrifice. Help me to embrace, practice and love sacrifice for your sake and for the love of God. Teach my children that love and sacrifice go together.

Preparation for the children:
Let’s say the prayer again
I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You.....

Do you remember what we focused on last time? Do you remember what I asked you to think while you said the prayer?
[Answer is: Love God and God loves you.]

Lucia said the angel’s words taught the children how much God loved them. I’m going to continue reading what Lucia said about the angel because on this second visit St. Michael strongly encouraged the children to pray and also taught the children about sacrifice.

Listen to the rest of the quote:
“The Angels' words sank deeply into our souls like a gleaming torch, showing us Who God is, what is His love for us, and how he wants us to love Him too; the value of sacrifice and how it pleases Him; how He receives it for the conversion of sinners. That is why from that moment we began to offer Him whatever mortified us.

Do you know what a sacrifice is?
[We experienced it during this talk. The little girls were making a racket, kicking up dust and not paying any attention to us.]

Lucia wanted the angel to explain what he meant by sacrifice. Let’s listen to what the angel said.

Quote:
St. Michael
“In every way you can offer sacrifice to God in reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for sinners. In this way you will bring peace to our country, for I am its guardian angel, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you.”

Meditation:
The angel taught the children that love is followed by sacrifice. True love is followed by action.

In your experience, you know that when you really love to make some project, you spend time thinking about it, locating the materials and giving your best effort to build it. It requires effort to do something you love.

In our relationship with God, we need to spend some time thinking and praying with God and also doing something with our bodies showing that we do love Him. St. Therese was a young girl who loved God very much. She said many things if we listen, which will help us to love God.

“To offer oneself as a victim to Divine Love is not to offer oneself to sweetness—to consolation; but to every anguish, every bitterness, for Love lives only by sacrifice; and the more a soul wills to be surrendered to Love, the more must she be surrendered to suffering.”
The Thoughts of St. Therese (Tan Books), 10.


Resolution:
Say the prayer today
(My God I believe, I adore, I hope and I love You)
Continue to tell the Lord that you love Him and remember that He also loves you and in fact loved you first. Begin to look around for ways that you might offer sacrifice. Begin to look. What does St. Michael mean when he says,

“Above all, bear and accept with patience the sufferings God will send you.”
(This first day, it is not imperative that the children actually offer a sacrifice, they may by grace offer a sacrifice. Let them begin to notice times when they could offer sacrifice. In the next few days, we will ask them to offer sacrifice as well.)

Parental Action:
If possible, review Chapter 8 of the New St. Joseph Baltimore Catechism #1, “Redemption”, especially the last part of the chapter. This chapter includes “Bear your small crosses with love, offering them up to God the Father as Christ offered Himself.”

Point of Mental prayer
(This part doesn't have to be read to the child.)
Msgr Boylan, Difficulties in Mental Prayer, (Roman Catholic Books), 86-7.

“The importance of mortification is not so much that it hurts us, but that it gives Jesus a new life in us; we only put ourselves to death—that is what ‘mortification” means—in order to clear the way for Christ. That is at once the motive of mortification and its measure. If it only serves to make us more self-satisfied and proud, then it is no longer mortification of self; it is rather the mortification of Jesus. The true principle of mortification was laid down by St. John the Baptist when he said: ‘He must increase, I must decrease.’”

I think this is a good sign

or is it?

My blog is worth $0.00.
How much is your blog worth?

I guess this is what the world thinks of my blog.


HT: Daughter of the King