Reparation prayer

REPARATION PRAYER

Eternal Father, turn away Thy angry gaze from our guilty people whose face has become unsightly in Thine eyes. Look instead upon the Face of Thy Beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in Whom Thou art well pleased. We now offer Thee this Holy Face, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody bruises in reparation for the crimes of our age in order to appease Thine anger, justly provoked against us. Because Thy Divine Son, our Redeemer, has taken upon His Head all the sins of His members, that they might be spared, we now beg of Thee, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. AMEN.

(from the Holy Face Devotion prayers)

Repartion prayer

REPARATION PRAYER

Eternal Father, turn away Thy angry gaze from our guilty people whose face has become unsightly in Thine eyes. Look instead upon the Face of Thy Beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in Whom Thou art well pleased. We now offer Thee this Holy Face, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody bruises in reparation for the crimes of our age in order to appease Thine anger, justly provoked against us. Because Thy Divine Son, our Redeemer, has taken upon His Head all the sins of His members, that they might be spared, we now beg of Thee, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. AMEN.

(from the Holy Face Devotion prayers)

Farewell Sonny Boy

My uncle passed away. He was 17 when I was born and being so much younger than my other uncles and aunts I never even remotely saw him as an authority figure or held him in reserve the way I did with other "real" adults.  He was one of the funniest men I'll ever meet and a person of great charm. Our family being Southern have a nickname for each one of us and his was Sonny Boy. 

Sonny's mother taught him to cook when he was young child and he was so talented that when he grew up he made a career as cook at some of DCs better hotels and fine restaurants. When he was a boy two tragedies cast a shadow over an otherwise happy go lucky youth. First, his father died after a long illness and then when he was 15, he discovered and became betrothed to Lady Alcohol. This grieved his mother and infuriated his big sister, my mother so he stopped... as far as they knew until he was 18. After that he would abstain all week and then binge on Friday night. Later he would go for months with only a few maintenance daily drinks and then inexplicably he would binge. 

My mother's family are remarkably robust people but even with our metabolism this could not go on forever. When he was in his late 50s my mother noticed that something was not right with his memory. At first his symptoms were so subtle than no-one but she saw them and then one day we all had to admit that she was right. In his 60s we got a terrible diagnosis....dementia. I went to court, obtained guardianship for him and found a nursing home. For four years my uncle was essentially my son. It was hard but it was also a grace and a privilege. On February 9th, my birthday he was taken to the hospital with pneumonia and he never really recovered. He spent the rest of his life with a tracheotomy and was on and off a ventilator. He was too much for his lungs and heart. I loved him very much.

Eternal rest grant unto him Oh Lord and let perpetual light shine upon him. May he rest in peace.

Amen

........

Grant me a place among the sheep, and take me out from among the goats, setting me on the right side. When the wicked are confounded, Doomed to flames of woe unbounded, Call me with Thy saints surrounded. Low I kneel, with heart's submission, See, like ashes, my contrition, Help me in my last condition. Ah! that day of tears and mourning, From the dust of earth returning Man for judgement must prepare him, Spare, O God, in mercy spare him. Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest, Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.----From Dies Irae

Reparation Prayer

REPARATION PRAYER

Eternal Father, turn away Thy angry gaze from our guilty people whose face has become unsightly in Thine eyes. Look instead upon the Face of Thy Beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in Whom Thou art well pleased. We now offer Thee this Holy Face, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody bruises in reparation for the crimes of our age in order to appease Thine anger, justly provoked against us. Because Thy Divine Son, our Redeemer, has taken upon His Head all the sins of His members, that they might be spared, we now beg of Thee, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. AMEN.

(from the Holy Face Devotion prayers)

Requiem Aeternum

Alteranatives to the Scouts

The Boy Scouts have died and the Girl Scouts have been messed up for years, if not decades. If you want your child to have outdoor fun but don't want to involve them in the official scouting program there are alternatives.

Trail Life USA 

The Knights of Columbus Squires

American Heritage Girls

North American Explorers

Not outdoors focused but they look like fun

Little Flowers   

Blue Knights

Is your kid going on a mission trip? Parents beware.

I'm not at liberty to go into details but I just heard a tragic story  that I can't get out of my head. If you are considering sending your innocent teenager off on a mission trip to somewhere like El Salvador, which is infamous for its violence ask a few questions of the representatives of the mission group. How are the volunteers housed and what steps are taken to ensure that no kid is left alone? Even if they give you a reasonable answer, do you really want your son or your daughter in a place where they are in constant danger and have to be guarded (by whom?) in order to be spared from robbery or rape? If you want your child to be acquainted with a little hard work and gratitude for what they have it's too, too late to wait until they are teenagers and you are foolish to send your child to a dangerous place for the sake of charity.

 I beg you to instead send them to a mission in Appalachia, South Dakota or Mississippi.   At the very least, if something bad should happen in the US you will be able to go to the police. In Latin America your son or daughter will be helpless, and at the mercy of possibly hostile, greedy or dangerous authorities.

Kim Davis

You can be a really nasty snob and make fun of Kim Davis because, her style, or because she's not your class or any petty thing you can think of, or you can mock her for her four marriages before she began to search for God, (the lady is a Protestant), or you could say "Well, the law is the law," or you could agree with Carly Fiorina  that the thing to do is to resign, but surely, surely you can't be behind the shackling of this woman as she's hauled off to jail. Right now this poor woman is sitting in jail and has been treated as if she were a drug lord with the blood of hundreds on her hands.

Abortion is murder and like any other form of that mortal sin, priests can and do absolve it

Don't get confused by the Year of Mercy announcement.

Reparation prayer

REPARATION PRAYER

Eternal Father, turn away Thy angry gaze from our guilty people whose face has become unsightly in Thine eyes. Look instead upon the Face of Thy Beloved Son, for this is the Face of Him in Whom Thou art well pleased. We now offer Thee this Holy Face, covered with shame and disfigured by bloody bruises in reparation for the crimes of our age in order to appease Thine anger, justly provoked against us. Because Thy Divine Son, our Redeemer, has taken upon His Head all the sins of His members, that they might be spared, we now beg of Thee, Eternal Father, to grant us mercy. AMEN.

(from the Holy Face Devotion prayers)

an unusual crucifxion

In most paintings of the crucifixion you see St. John standing by Our Lady  or comforting her. I think this is the first time I've ever seen St. John folded in to her comforting, protecting arms and I think that it is closer to the truth than other paintings I've seen. St. John was there because he ran to Mary after leaving Caiphas's house. It was she who gave him the courage to follow Our Lord to Calvary.

Story time

This painting reminds me of Sr. Jean Marie, from 1rst grade.