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Hello everyone,

Today, Saturday 29th May we have over 2550 people from all over the world and from many Christian and some non-Christian denominations joining together in prayer.

Here I am apologising yet again for being late with the reflection. Life can become so busy at times that if the smallest thing comes along to disturb us we find many things have to be put on the long-finger. During my 8 weeks or so out of action 5 of my clients needed work doing for them, thanks be to God. I haven't heard from them in months, then, all together, in comes all this work. My essays had fallen behind during that 8 weeks too, so for the past month I've been in catch-up mode. Every weekend since I last wrote resulted in being away from home too - a visit to my brother in Sligo which incorporated a talk to a group in Derry about the Holy Souls Crusade, a family wedding, a time of prayer in Knock and on Thursday I returned home after a study week in the UK. So here I am, meeting myself around corners, as usual! There are many prayer requests and new Prayer Warriors to be added to the site but I'll get them all done during the week, with God's good help.

Last time I promised to speak on the traditional devotions to Mary, Mother of God, during the month of May, so as we slip into June, traditionally the month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for us Catholics, I'll try to share why we pray through Mary and honour her as the Mother of Jesus the God-man.

Scripture gives Mary a definite role in the Incarnation and in Salvation. She is promised to us in the Book of Genesis and in Revelations. Her fiat - obedience and acceptance of God's will for Her and for us all led to Her becoming the New Eve, the Ark of the Covenant, the human Tabernacle of our Saviour, the Mother of God and the Mother of the Church.

Much was lost to Christians when the Reformation took place, but what many people don't know is that the initiator of that period in history, Martin Luther, had great devotion to Our Lady. It was the Lutheran theologians and those others who were protesting against the Catholic Church who came after him who changed thought on Mary. Rather than a little reflection this week, I'm including an interesting piece below from Dave Armstrong on Luther and the Blessed Virgin.

After the Most Holy Sacrifice of the Mass - the Blessed Eucharist, pre-figured throughout the Old Testament and clearly defined within the New, the most powerful of prayers is that of the Rosary. Mary was Blessed from the beginning of time and remains so today. As a human like us in all but sin, yes even original sin, She has a special position in Heaven. She was chosen by God to be the Mother of His only Son, She is, and was, the Spouse of the Holy Spirit, She is the Mother of Our Saviour.

No matter how much we try to love Mary, we will NEVER love Her as much as Her own Son does! She brings us all to Her Son - to Jesus through Mary. Many of you reading this will rightly say we can go directly to Jesus without the need for another, and you are right. However, Jesus gave Mary to be the Mother of the whole world before He died on the Cross. Mary journeyed with Him right through His life to death, was there with the Apostles at Pentecost and continues to be there for us all throughout time. She is a powerful intercessor for us -mediatrix, advocate and, because of Her acceptance of God's will, Her role as Mother of God and Her suffering joined to that of Her Son, is co-redemptrix in man's salvation. God sent His Son as man for the salvation of man, yet at the same time He was God, thus was Mary's role defined. Through Her came Jesus, through Her comes our full journey back to Jesus. The study of Mary's role in salvation is vast and a topic which we will not cover until our fifth year, but one I look forward to very much.

And so for Catholics we have great devotion to Mary the Mother of our God. We do not worship Her, rather we honour Her for the honour bestowed upon Her by the Father, for the love Her own Son has for Her, for Her role as Spouse of the Holy Spirit, for the gift of Her to us all on Calvary from Our Divine Lord Jesus Christ, and for the love She has for each and every one of us, even those who would deny Her.

The Church has proclaimed 3 Dogmas (Doctrinal truths) about Mary:

The first dogma, "Mary, the Mother of God," - Theotokos - was proclaimed by the Council of Ephesus in AD 431.

The second dogma, the "Immaculate Conception," was proclaimed in 1854 by Pope Pius IX in Ineffabilit Deus. It proclaimed that the Virgin Mary, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by the merits of Jesus Christ, Saviour of the human race, was preserved immune from all stain of original sin. (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 491) It is interesting to note that Martin Luther spoke of this almost 2 centuries earlier!

The third dogma, the "Assumption of Mary," was proclaimed in 1950 by Pope Pius XII in Lumen Gentium. It proclaimed that the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords and conqueror of sin and death. (Catechism of the Catholic Church # 966)

The Church has also accepted as authentically supernatural many apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. Of interest to me personally is our own Shrine of Knock just 40 miles from us here and my venue for the Mass of Pentecost tomorrow. Although not a word was spoken its message was profound. It was
witnessed by many people from the tiny impoverished Mayo village which had suffered dearly from the famine years and from persecution by secret societies. It occurred on the evening of the day that Archdeacon Cavanagh, the Parish Priest, had completed 100 Masses for the Holy Souls. Although he was not to see the apparition personally, was this his reward from Heaven I wonder?

In the apparition it is the only one where more than just the figures of Mary and Her son appeared, as has occurred in other places. Beside Mary was Her earthly spouse, Joseph and Saint John the Evangelist in a posture of preaching from the Scriptures and dressed as a Bishop of the Church. To their left and slightly above them stood an altar and upon it stood a lamb with a cross behind looking down at them.

The theological interpretation of this apparition is significant - the Lamb of God on the Altar of Sacrifice with the sacrificial tool of the cross in the background; Joseph as spouse of Mary, earthly protector of Jesus and Patron of the Church; and John, one of the very first Bishops of the Church of Jesus Christ. It incorporates the Eucharist, the Scriptures, the Church and the Episcopal authority of the Church. It confirms the prefiguring of the Eucharist from the Old Testament in the Lamb of the Passover, the Manna from Heaven during the 40 years in the desert, Christ as the Sacrificial Lamb and the words of Matthew and John in the New Testament speaking of the Eucharist as the Body and Blood of Christ.

And so, we share in one of the most powerful yet beautiful, reflective and meditative of prayers when we recite the Rosary. The prayer incorporates the only prayer given to us by Christ, the words of Scripture, an intercession to Mary to pray for us and a prayer of adoration and homage to the Blessed Trinity. It allows us to reflect on the life and death of the Saviour by focussing on those moments from birth, through life, through death and to the Resurrection.

Its history in its present form goes back to the 13th century when Saint Dominic received a vision of the Blessed Virgin and She gave it to him as a means of converting the Albigensians and other sinners. Many, many miracles are attributed to this prayer since then. Sadly it is frowned upon by most of the non-Catholic denominations despite its scriptural roots, and for most converts to the Catholic Church is the final stumbling block before eventually falling in love with both Mary and the Rosary. So many converts tell of an increase in their love of the Eucharist through devotion to Mary,
and why not - wasn't she the one who gave the Body of Christ to the world, through the love of the Father?

The Rosary is made up of the Lord's Prayer, the Hail Mary and the Glory Be. We open with a call to God:

"O Lord open my lips' and respond 'And my tongue shall announce Thy praise'
'O God come to my aid' responding 'O Lord make haste to help us'

Then we recite the Apostle's Creed

The first five beads are prayed as an Our Father, three Hail Mary's and a Glory Be to the Father for the intentions of the Holy Father - whatever it is he is praying for in the world - peace, life, vocations etc.

The circular set of beads contains 4 large beads for the Our Father and the Glory Be and the first Our Father and last Glory Be are prayed on the medal which joins the crucifix and five beads to the circle of the Rosary. Between each of the large beads are 10 small beads for the Hail Mary's amounting to
50 in all. It is said that the 150 Hail Mary's corresponded with the 150 Psalms when there was widespread illiteracy among believers.

The Rosary is divided into 4 mysteries each having 5 decades. These are:

The Joyful Mysteries:
1st. The Annunciation of the Birth of Our Lord, 2nd.
The Visitation of Mary to Her Cousin Elizabeth, 3rd The Birth of Our Divine
Lord, 4th. The Presentation of the Child Jesus in the Temple, 5th. The
Finding of the Child Jesus in the Temple.

The Mysteries of Light:
1st. The Baptism of Our Lord in the River Jordan,
2nd. The First Miracle at the Wedding Feast of Cana, 3rd. Jesus Proclaims
the Kingdom of God. 4th. The Transfiguration of Our Divine Lord. 5th. Jesus
Institutes the Blessed Eucharist at the Last Supper.

The Sorrowful Mysteries:
1st. The Agony in the Garden, 2nd. The Scourging
at the Pillar, 3rd. the Crowning of Thorns, 4th. The Carrying of the Cross,
5th. The Crucifixion

The Glorious Mysteries:
1st. The Resurrection, 2nd. The Ascension into
Heaven, 3rd. the Decent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles. 4th. The
Assumption of Mary into Heaven, 5th. The Crowning of Mary Queen of Heaven.

And so to the prayers themselves:

Our Father, Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy Name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with Thee. Blessed art Thou among women and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus
Holy Mary, Mother of God, Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Amen

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be. Amen

There are various other prayers can be recited between each decade, the most popular is that given by the Angel to the children of Fatima:

'Oh my Jesus, forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those in most need of Your Mercy.'

After reciting the Rosary it is common to pray the Hail Holy Queen.

So there you have it folks, why Catholics love Mary and pray the Rosary. Many in the Anglican Tradition also pray this most beautiful of prayers. 'Till next week, God willing, take care and God Bless you all.

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Martin Luther's Devotion to Mary - byDave Armstrong

Despite the radicalism of early Protestantism with regard to many ancient Catholic "distinctives," such as the Communion of the Saints, Penance, Purgatory, Infused Justification, the Papacy, the priesthood, sacramental marriage, etc., it may surprise many to discover that Martin Luther was
rather conservative in some of his doctrinal views, such as on baptismal regeneration, the Eucharist, and particularly the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Luther indeed was quite devoted to Our Lady, and retained most of the traditional Marian doctrines which were held then and now by the Catholic Church. This is often not well-documented in Protestant biographies of Luther and histories of the 16th century, yet it is undeniably true. It seems to be a natural human tendency for latter-day followers to project back onto the founder of a movement their own prevailing viewpoints. Since Lutheranism today does not possess a very robust Mariology, it is usually assumed that Luther himself had similar opinions. We shall see, upon consulting the primary sources (i.e., Luther's own writings), that the historical facts are very different. We shall consider, in turn, Luther's position on the various aspects of Marian doctrine.

Along with virtually all important Protestant Founders (e.g., Calvin, Zwingli, Cranmer), Luther accepted the traditional belief in the perpetual virginity of Mary (Jesus had no blood brothers), and her status as the Theotokos (Mother of God):

"Christ . . . was the only Son of Mary, and the Virgin Mary bore no children besides Him . . . 'brothers' really means 'cousins' here, for Holy Writ and the Jews always call cousins brothers." (Sermons on John, chapters 1-4, 1537-39)

"He, Christ, our Saviour, was the real and natural fruit of Mary's virginal womb . . . This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that." (Ibid.)

"God says . . . : "Mary's Son is My only Son." Thus Mary is the Mother of God." (Ibid.)

"God did not derive his divinity from Mary; but it does not follow that it is therefore wrong to say that God was born of Mary, that God is Mary's Son, and that Mary is God's mother . . . She is the true mother of God and bearer of God . . . Mary suckled God, rocked God to sleep, prepared broth and soup for God, etc. For God and man are one person, one Christ, one Son, one Jesus, not two Christs . . . just as your son is not two sons . . . even though he has two natures, body and soul, the body from you, the soul from God alone." (On the Councils and the Church, 1539)

Probably the most astonishing Marian belief of Luther is his acceptance of Mary's Immaculate Conception, which wasn't even definitively proclaimed as dogma by the Catholic Church until 1854. Concerning this question there is some dispute, over the technical aspects of medieval theories of conception and the soul, and whether or not Luther later changed his mind. Even some eminent Lutheran scholars, however, such as Arthur Carl Piepkorn (1907-73) of Concordia Seminary in St. Louis, maintain his unswerving acceptance of the doctrine. Luther's words follow:

"It is a sweet and pious belief that the infusion of Mary's soul was effected without original sin; so that in the very infusion of her soul she was also purified from original sin and adorned with God's gifts, receiving a pure soul infused by God; thus from the first moment she began to live she was free from all sin." (Sermon: "On the Day of the Conception of the Mother of God," December [?] 1527; from Hartmann Grisar, S.J., Luther, authorised translation from the German by E.M. Lamond; edited by Luigi Cappadelta, London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, first edition, 1915, Vol. IV [of 6], p. 238; taken from the German Werke, Erlangen, 1826-1868, edited by J.G. Plochmann and J.A. Irmischer, 2nd ed. edited by L. Enders, Frankfurt, 1862 ff., 67 volumes; citation from 152, p. 58)

"She is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin- something exceedingly great. For God's grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil." (Personal  {"Little"} Prayer Book, 1522)

Later references to the Immaculate Conception appear in his House sermon for Christmas (1533) and Against the Papacy of Rome (1545). In later life (he died in 1546), Luther did not believe that this doctrine should be imposed on all believers, since he felt that the Bible didn't explicitly and formally teach it. Such a view is consistent with his notion of sola Scriptura and is similar to his opinion on the bodily Assumption of the
Virgin, which he never denied - although he was highly critical of what he
felt were excesses in the celebration of this Feast. In his sermon of August
15, 1522, the last time he preached on the Feast of the Assumption, he
stated:

"There can be no doubt that the Virgin Mary is in heaven. How it happened we
do not know. And since the Holy Spirit has told us nothing about it, we can
make of it no article of faith . . . It is enough to know that she lives in
Christ."

Luther held to the idea and devotional practice of the veneration of Mary
and expressed this on innumerable occasions with the most effusive language:

"The veneration of Mary is inscribed in the very depths of the human heart."
(Sermon, September 1, 1522)

"[She is the] highest woman and the noblest gem in Christianity after Christ
. . . She is nobility, wisdom, and holiness personified. We can never honour
her enough. Still honour and praise must be given to her in such a way as to
injure neither Christ nor the Scriptures." (Sermon, Christmas, 1531)

"No woman is like you. You are more than Eve or Sarah, blessed above all
nobility, wisdom, and sanctity." (Sermon, Feast of the Visitation, 1537)

"One should honour Mary as she herself wished and as she expressed it in the
Magnificat. She praised God for his deeds. How then can we praise her? The
true honour of Mary is the honour of God, the praise of God's grace . . .
Mary is nothing for the sake of herself, but for the sake of Christ . . .
Mary does not wish that we come to her, but through her to God."
(Explanation of the Magnificat, 1521)

Luther goes even further, and gives the Blessed Virgin the exalted position
of "Spiritual Mother" for Christians, much the same as in Catholic piety:

"It is the consolation and the superabundant goodness of God, that man is
able to exult in such a treasure. Mary is his true Mother, Christ is his
brother, God is his father." (Sermon, Christmas, 1522)

"Mary is the Mother of Jesus and the Mother of all of us even though it was
Christ alone who reposed on her knees . . . If he is ours, we ought to be in
his situation; there where he is, we ought also to be and all that he has
ought to be ours, and his mother is also our mother." (Sermon, Christmas,
1529)

Luther did strongly condemn any devotional practices which implied that Mary was in any way equal to our Lord or that she took anything away from His sole sufficiency as our Saviour. This is, and always has been, the official teaching of the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, Luther often "threw out the baby with the bath water," when it came to criticizing erroneous emphases and opinions which were prevalent in his time - falsely equating them with Church doctrine. His attitude towards the use of the "Hail Mary" prayer (the first portion of the Rosary) is illustrative. In certain polemical utterances he appears to condemn its recitation altogether, but he is only forbidding a use of Marian devotions apart from heartfelt faith, as the
following two citations make clear:

"Whoever possesses a good (firm) faith, says the Hail Mary without danger! Whoever is weak in faith can utter no Hail Mary without danger to his salvation." (Sermon, March 11, 1523)

"Our prayer should include the Mother of God . . . What the Hail Mary says is that all glory should be given to God, using these words: "Hail Mary, full of grace. The Lord is with thee; blessed art thou among women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus Christ. Amen!" You see that these words are not concerned with prayer but purely with giving praise and honour . . . We can use the Hail Mary as a meditation in which we recite what grace God has given her. Second, we should add a wish that everyone may know and respect her . . . He who has no faith is advised to refrain from saying the Hail Mary." (Personal Prayer Book, 1522)

To summarize, it is apparent that Luther was extraordinarily devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary, which is notable in light of his aversion to so many other "Papist" or "Romish" doctrines, as he was wont to describe them. His major departure occurs with regard to the intercession and invocation of the saints, which he denied, in accord with the earliest systematic Lutheran creed, the Augsburg Confession of 1530 (Article 21).

His views of Mary as Mother of God and as ever-Virgin were identical to those in Catholicism, and his opinions on the Immaculate Conception, Mary's "Spiritual Motherhood" and the use of the "Hail Mary" were substantially the same. He didn't deny the Assumption (he certainly didn't hesitate to rail
against doctrines he opposed!), and venerated Mary in a very touching fashion which, as far as it goes, is not at all contrary to Catholic piety.

Therefore, it can be stated without fear of contradiction that Luther's Mariology is very close to that of the Catholic Church today, far more than it is to the theology of modern-day Lutheranism. To the extent that this fact is dealt with at all by Protestants, it is usually explained as a "holdover" from the early Luther's late medieval Augustinian Catholic views ("everyone has their blind spots," etc.). But this will not do for those who are serious about consulting Luther in order to arrive at the true "Reformation heritage" and the roots of an authentic Protestantism. For if Luther's views here can be so easily rationalized away, how can the Protestant know whether he is trustworthy relative to his other innovative doctrines such as extrinsic justification by faith alone and sola Scriptura?

It appears, once again, that the truth about important historical figures is almost invariably more complex than the "legends" and overly-simplistic generalizations which men often at the remove of centuries - create and accept uncritically.

God Bless 'till next time,

Mary in Galway

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Two little reminders again for this week - Eucharistic Adoration for Vocations, let's try and make it 1,000,000 hours of Adoration in 2004! You can log in your hours online at their own website below or do as we did here in our Perpetual Adoration Chapel, print off the poster and the forms and leave them in your own Chapel of Adoration, sending in the numbers every week via the website below.

http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-poster.html
http://www.circleofprayer.com/vocations-form.html

Here's the Vocations website:

And don't forget those prayers for the Holy Souls, there are some below. Please keep your deceased relatives, friends, neighbours and especially those who have no one to pray for them, in your prayers and at Masses you attend.

Here's the Holy Souls Crusade website.

And below is a great little morning prayer to start the day off and help us to keep focused on the Lord.

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary Mullins in Galway, Ireland

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Morning Offerings

Our Father Who art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Amen

Lord Jesus, I give You my hands to do Your work
I give You my feet to go Your way.
I give You my eyes to see as You do.
I give You my tongue to speak Your words.
I give You my mind that You may think in me.
I give You my spirit that You may pray in me.
Above all, I give You my heart that You may love in me, Your Father, and all mankind.
I give You my whole self that You may grow in me, so that it is You, Lord Jesus, who live and work and pray in me. Amen.

"Breathe in me O Holy Spirit that my thoughts may all be holy;
Act in me O Holy Spirit that my work, too, may be holy;
Strengthen me O Holy Spirit to defend all that is holy;
Guard me then O Holy Spirit that I may always be holy."

"O 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. Amen"

Chaplet of the Holy Souls

This Chaplet can be prayed on a set of Rosary Beads.

Begin with: The Creed, then 1 Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, 1 Glory Be for the Pope's intentions.

On Large Beads Pray: 

O holy souls draw the fire of God's Love into my soul to reveal Jesus crucified in me, here on earth, rather than hereafter in Purgatory.

On Small Beads Pray:

Crucified Lord Jesus have mercy on the souls in Purgatory

End with: Glory Be three times

Cardinal Newman's Prayer for the Holy Souls

O most gentle heart of Jesus, ever present in the Blessed Sacrament, ever consumed with burning love for the poor captive souls in Purgatory, have mercy on the souls of Your servants. Bring them from the shadows of exile to Your bright home in Heaven, where we trust You and Your Blessed Mother have woven for them a crown of unfolding bliss. Amen.

Prayer of St. Gertrude for the Holy Souls

Eternal Father, I offer you the Most Precious Blood of your Divine Son, Jesus, in union with all the masses said throughout the world today for all the Holy Souls in Purgatory, for sinners everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those in my own home and within my family. Amen."

Prayer for Your Family

"O Dear Jesus, I humbly implore You to grant Your special graces to our family this day. In Your Divine Mercy make our home a shrine of peace, love and faith. I beg You, Dear Jesus, to protect and bless all of us and our families absent and present, living and dead. O Mary loving Mother of Jesus and our Mother, pray to Jesus the Divine Mercy for our family, and for all the families of the world. Ask Him to guard the tiny infant in the womb, the cradle of the newborn, the young in the schools and those about to start their vocations in life. Amen"

Prayer for Your Adult Children

"Heavenly Mother, keep us always in mind of Your Son's great mercy and understanding as we pray for our children. They are grown up now and have left us and are living their own lives according to their own ideals. We feel anxious and worried because they do not seem to feel the need for Christ, to understand the wisdom of His ways, or to be fully at ease with us or themselves. Intervene, dearest Mother, in their lives at the moment You know to be right and help them to understand the things that lead to their peace. Help them to see the need of Christ and to experience the greatness of His love, so that we may all proclaim as You did, that His mercy truly is from generation to generation. Amen"

Prayer to Saint Joseph, Patron Saint of Families

"Good Saint Joseph, Your life and love protected and nourished the Mother of God and Jesus Christ, her son. Your fatherly care led to maturity He through whom all creation began. Through your intercession, may God guide and protect all human life from conception to natural death, and lead our nation in the ways of truth and love. Pray for us, good Saint Joseph, that joined with Christ Jesus, we might give praise to God forever.  Amen"

ACT OF CONSECRATION TO THE SACRED HEART OF JESUS & THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus and Immaculate Heart of Mary, I consecrate myself and my whole family to You. We consecrate to You our very being and all our life, all that we are, all that we have and all that we love. To you we give our bodies, our hearts and our souls. To You we dedicate our home and our country.

Mindful of this consecration we now promise you to live the Christian way by the practice of Christian virtues without regard for human respect. O most Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary accept our humble confidence and this act of consecration by which we entrust ourselves and our family to you. In you we put all our hope, we shall never be confounded. Most Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us. Immaculate Heart of Mary pray for us.

Prayer for the World

"JESUS of NAZARETH has triumphed over Death. His Reign is Eternal. He is coming to conquer the world and the time.

"Mercy, my God on those who blaspheme You,
Forgive them, they know not what they do.

"Mercy, my God, for the scandal in the world,
Deliver them from the spirit of Satan.

"Mercy, my God, on those who run away from You
Give them an appreciation for the Holy Eucharist.

"Mercy, my God, on those who come to repent at the foot of the Glorious Cross. May they find Peace and Joy in God our Saviour.

"Mercy, my God, so that Your Kingdom may come, but save souls, there is still time; for the time is near, behold, I am coming. 
Amen

Come, Lord Jesus."

Recite one decade of the Rosary

"Lord, pour out on the whole world the treasures of Your Infinite Mercy."

"Through the Mystery of Your Holy Incarnation,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Nativity,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Baptism and Holy Fasting,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Cross and Passion,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Death and Burial,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Holy Resurrection,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Your Admirable Ascension,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through the coming of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete,
deliver us from all evil, Lord.

Through Him whose Name reigns eternal,
deliver us from all evil, Lord."

Prayer of Protection

Blessed Michael the Archangel, protect us in the hour of conflict. Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God restrain him, we humbly pray, and do thou, Oh Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the Power of God, thrust satan down to hell and with him all the wicked spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls. Amen

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The Current Reflection and all of the Reflections to date are available to read in the Archives on the website for anyone who's interested.

The Prayer Intentions are available in the prayer book on the website but please say the two wee prayers below. The Loving Father knows the heart of each person requesting prayer.

"Father, bless all those who have requested prayers in whatever it is that You know they may be needing this day! Father, we ask You to heal the broken bodies, broken minds, broken spirits, broken hearts and broken marriages and may all their lives be full of Your peace, prosperity, and power as they seek to have a close relationship with You. Amen."

"Thank You Jesus for answering our prayers because we know You hear every prayer and never refuse to answer. You are providing answers and healings from the prayers of all these wonderful people. Praise God!"

May God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit bless and guide you and yours and may Mary keep you in Her heavenly mother's care.

Mary in Galway

'The fruit of silence is prayer; the fruit of prayer is faith; the fruit of faith is love; the fruit of love is service; the fruit of service is peace.' (Blessed Mother Theresa of Calcutta)