At once - they followed...

    "Come after Me, and I will make you fishers of men."

At once they (Simon Peter and Andrew) left their nets

and followed Him.  - Matt 4: 19 (Today's Gospel)

 

Following Our Lord's example... 

Invite someone... 

to Mass or Adoration 

this Advent Season.

___________________

Today's Liturgy: Preface II of the Apostles 

Eucharistic Prayers

For You have built Your Church

to stand firm on apostolic foundations,

to be a lasting sign of Your holiness on earth

and offer all humanity Your heavenly teaching.

Therefore, now and for ages unending,

with all the host of Angels,

we sing to You with all our hearts, crying out as 

we acclaim: Holy, Holy, Holy ...

St Andrew

Apostle, Priest, Martyr

Younger brother of St Peter

Patron:  Greece, Russia, Scotland, fishermen

 Name "Andrew" (Greek: manly, brave)

Feast day  - November 30

Click here: Animated story of St Andrew - YouTube (1:45 mins)

St Andrew, pray for us!

Christmas Anticipation Prayer

Beginning on St. Andrew's Feast Day, November 30, the following prayer is traditionally recited fifteen times a day until Christmas. This is a beautifully meditative prayer that helps us increase our awareness of the real focus of Christmas and helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for His coming. 

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Saviour Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother.  Amen. 

Hunger and thirst: satisfied!...

 And God is able to provide you with every 

blessing in abundance, so that you may always 

have enough of everything and may provide 

in abundance for every good work. - II Cor 9:8 

 

"How sweet is the moment 

in which poor humanity, wearied and afflicted, 

may remain alone, with Jesus alone, 

in the Sacrament of Love; for there the Lord, 

with His flaming heart open, calls unto all, 

'You that are burdened and heavy laden, 

come unto Me and I will refresh you.' 

Happy are those hearts that know how to 

satisfy the unquenchable hunger and thirst 

in this heavenly banquet!" 

 Fr. M.J. Corcoran, O.S.A.

Approaching Him - plainly, simply...

  ...and that you may love the LORD your God, 

listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him.  

For the LORD is your life...  Deut 30:20

"Whenever I go to the chapel, 

I put myself in the presence of our good Lord, 

and I say to Him, Lord, I am here.  

Tell me what you would have me to do’ ...

... I tell God everything that is in my heart.  

I tell Him about my pains and my joys, 

and then I listen.  

If you listen, God will also speak to you, for with 

the good Lord, you have to both speak and listen. 

God always speaks to you when you 

approach Him plainly and simply."  

St Catherine Labouré

France~ 1806 -1876
Daughters of Charity nun (Nursing order)
Marian Visionary
Incorrupt body 
(Motherhouse of Dgtrs of Charity: 
140 Rue du Bac, Paris)

Feast Day - November 28

The Listening Woman - Godfried Shalcken

In her second apparition, on November 27, 1830, Our Lady revealed her desire for the Miraculous Medal.  Over the course of the apparitions, which always occurred near the Blessed Sacrament, Our Mother gave St Catherine this message, as if giving a remedy, for the world:  “Come to the foot of the altar.  Here graces will be showered on all, great and little, who ask for them.  Graces will especially be showered upon those who ask for them.”

Click here: St. Catherine Labouré - YouTube (2 mins)

AMM-Request Free Medals and Bookmarks

Click support AMM - scroll to Become a Free Member

Wear the medal - plainly, simply!

St Catherine Laboure, pray for us!

Blessed Thanksgiving Day!

I will thank you, Lord, with all my heart... Psalm 138:1a

"Remember the past with gratitude. 

Live the present with enthusiasm. 

Look forward to the future with confidence."
St John Paul II

Gratitude ... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. - Fr Henri J. M. Nouwen

As Catholics, our Eucharistic life 

(Eucharistia means thanksgiving) 

is literally one of Thanks-living!

  Consider a gift of gratitude to our Lord through a

daily HOLY HOUR and/or HOLY MASS

during the upcoming season of ADVENT!

"God has two dwelling places:

One in heaven and the other

in a grateful heart."  - Izaak Walton

The wealth of one...

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has 

eternal life.  I am the bread of life. - Jn 6:47-48

"Sacrifice all earthly goods

rather than a single Communion."

St Mary Magdelen of Pazzi

In the silence of the heart...

"It seems to me that I have found my heaven on earth, 

because my heaven is you, my God, 

and you are in my soul. 

You in me, and I in you - may this be my motto." 

 St Elizabeth of the Trinity

"When one has just received communion,

of what use are the words of men

when it is God who is speaking?

We must listen to what the 

good Lord says to our heart."

St John Vianney

Photo: La Purisima Concepcion Catholic School students pray during Mass (Los Angeles, California, 2011)

Toward springs of water...

    The Lamb who is at the center of the throne

will lead them to the

springs of the waters of life. - Rev 7:17

 

 

Prayer After Communion (Today's Liturgy)

O God, who bestowed on 

blessed Catherine of Alexandria a crown 

among the Saints for her twofold triumph 

of virginity and martyrdom, grant, we pray, 

through the power of this Sacrament,

that, bravely overcoming evil,

we may attain the glory of heaven.

Through Christ our Lord.

 

St Catherine of Alexandria

Egyptian princess, scholar ~ 287-305

Convert, Virgin, Martyr

One of the 14 Holy Helpers

One of the "Counsels" of St Joan of Arc

At 18 y/o debated 50 pagan philosophers.
All became Christians. All were martyred.

Patron: Students, Christian philosophers, 

teachers, librarians

Feast Day - Nov 25

 

 "Faith is to believe what you do not see;

the reward of this faith is to see."

St Catherine of Alexandria

St. Catherine of Alexandria HD - YouTube (3 mins)

St. Catherine of Alexandria, saint of November 25

 

St Catherine of Alexandria, pray for us!