Doctors of Gianna Center talk with Fr. Benedict Groeschel

Please Don't Miss

Sunday Night Live

with

Fr. Benedict Groeschel

as he interviews

Dr. Anne Mielnik and Dr. Kyle Beiter

from

The Gianna Center in Manhattan, NY

Sunday, May 2, 2010 @ 7:00 PM EST.

Please say a prayer for them as they discuss the need for renewal in Catholic healthcare and the challenges facing Catholic healthcare providers in America today.

Saint Catherine of Siena

"It is not the hour to seek one's self for one's self, nor to flee pains in order to possess consolations; nay, it is the hour to lose one's self."

-----Letters of St. Catherine

Patronage

• against bodily ills
• against fire
• against illness
• against miscarriages
• against sexual temptation
• against sickness
• against temptations
• Allentown, Pennsylvania, USA, diocese of
• Europe (declared on 1 October 1999 by Pope John Paul II)
• fire prevention
• firefighters
• Italy
• nurses
• nursing services
• people ridiculed for their piety
• sick people
• Siena, Italy
• Theta Phi Alpha sorority
• Varazze, Italy

St. Gianna Beretta Molla, pray for us.

Happy Feast Day!!!

John 10: 27-30

27

My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me.

28

I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand.

29

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ¹³ and no one can take them out of the Father's hand.

30

¹⁴ The Father and I are one."

Praise and prayers for YOU!

Healer of My Soul

Divine Mercy Sunday

Have confidence in God !

Dear Little hearts,

The heart of a sister, a consecrated nun listens to the heart of a Saint..and says.....

Have confidence in God ! as Saint Pio says here, the Lord always keeps his promises, he is so faithful to us.... look through scripture, be aware of all he promises us, both in this life and the world to come, trust him,

we will never be tried beyond our strength, and his grace really is enough for us.

God honours his promises, look back in your life and you will see countless occasions when this has been so...

Think only of one... " The one who comes to me I will never turn away "....

What does your heart respond to that?

A blessed day to you all and May Saint Pio bless you with the gift of confidence in the promises of your God.

From the Heart of A Priest

Thoughts of Brother Pio- (Saint Padre Pio of Pietrelcina).

"I do not know what will happen to me, but I am certain of one thing the Lord always keeps his promises. All the time Jesus keeps telling me "Do not be afraid, though I let you suffer, I give you grace for it, It is my will that your soul be cleansed and put to test in the daily hidden trial of witness."

This was sent to us by a Poor Clare Colettine Nun.

The Risen Christ

"Wonderful Merciful Savior" ~ SELAH

Christ has RISEN!

Good Friday

Five Wounds

Prayer of the Five Wounds

It is well recorded that Saint Clare had a great devotion to the prayer of the five wounds. Indeed on her death bed she exhorted a sister to pray it. Clare kept before her eyes and in her prayer the sufferings of the Lord Jesus always. She knew his suffering and his victory. The mystery of goodness and love is far greater than the mystery of evil. We know that Clare wept over the Crucified. We know that she talked to her sisters about the Crucified. And we know that she carried her own sufferings in union with those of Christ. The prayer of the Five Wounds is only really possible if we have a burning love for Jesus… otherwise it is but words.

In the prayer of the five wounds, each wound carries its own unique message, if one prays and absorbs the spirit of the message of each wound; it is a means of growing in love.

The Wound in the Left hand- Prayer for Strength and Fortitude.

Let us pray for mercy and grace for those who accept their sins and seek reconciliation. (Luke 23 v 40)

The wound in the Right hand-Prayer for Forgiveness

Let us pray for forgiveness and conversion for all those who plunder life, let us pray for all criminals.( Luke 23 v 39)

The wound in the left foot-prayer- prayer for Perseverance and faithfulness to the end

Let us pray that our own spiritual motherhood in union with Mary at the Foot of the Cross . (John 19 v 27)

The Wound in the right foot-prayer for Repentance

Pray for all those entrusted to us, that we take that and whom God entrusts to us, to the home in our heart. (John 19 v 27)

The wound in the side of Christ

-Prayer for- Faith, Hope and to Love. With all my Heart, All my soul. All my strength Gazing upon the pierced side, let us pray for the wounded Church, that she becomes a New Community, giving birth to children of God, and also that new life is given to me and my community ( John 19 v 27)

With each wound we can be united with Our Mother Clare, in silent tears, in our speech, and all with a burning love.

click here for more devotions to the 5 Wounds

A nighttime prayer...

I noticed Bernie Bear next to my bed the other night. She is a small white bear that I got to bring home from the hospital instead of my baby. I snatched her up into my arms and lay down for the night. I think longingly, lovingly of my precious Mary Bernadette, but there was something pushing through my thick sleepy thoughts. Someone. Another mother. As I lay there, I think of Mary, Mother of God. I think of the pain in her heart as her son dies before her eyes. I think of the ETERNAL event. I think of my fleeting pain in the wake of the ETERNAL cross. I think of her reunion with her son in heaven and am comforted!

Holy Mary, Mother of God... pray for us who in a small way share in your heartache.

Palm Sunday

Please know that you are being carried in our heart, as we begin this Holy Week of Lent. Also, contact us if you need a personal prayer or are in need of support. Our intercessors are always waiting for your requests.

God bless you,

Hannah's Tears Ministry

Saint of the day

Today is the feast day of Saint Catherine of Sweden, the patroness against miscarriage and abortion. Pray for us!

What "should" have been...

Yesterday, I should've been frosting a cake with pink icing.

There should have been an excited little girl running around in a party dress, eager to blow out candles and open gifts.

Instead, there was a party given in memory of, rather than in honor of, my daughter Celeste. She would've turned five yesterday had not she gone home to Heaven when she was only four months old.

Those of us who have lost children can easily be consumed by "should haves." The death of a child is so unnatural, so difficult to bear, largely because the death is accompanied by a thousand other losses. We lose the birthday parties, the landmarks of childhood, the accomplishments and triumphs that should have been. We have no teeth to put under pillows for the tooth fairy, no bicycles to learn to ride, no brides to give away at the altar.

If not for faith, I realize I could have given in to the "should haves" myself. It's only through the eyes of faith that I've been able to see that my daughter's life, while brief, was a pure and unadulterated blessing. Because I loved her, and because I love Him who gave her to me, I can see that what is is far more important than what "should" have been.

What is....the truth is I was blessed with a baby. I was given a beautiful, unique person to love. The fact that my time on earth with her was limited doesn't limit my love - or my choice to rejoice in that love.

What is....I was given an opportunity to witness a pure soul's suffering, and to watch the transformation of almost everyone who has come to know about her. I was given a daughter who now intercedes for me at the throne of God, the most profound grace I am likely to ever know, a grace most undeserved.

What is...I was blessed with an awakening of the awareness of God's personal gifts to me in many areas of my life. As I held my daughter in my arms as she died, I made two promises to her. I promised I would share her story, and I promised I would live a full life, the kind of live she could have lived. I would not exist in bitterness and anger. Her legacy would be one of hope and joy.

I fulfilled the first promise when I published my book Broken and Blessed: A Life Story. I continue to be amazed at how God is touching lives and breaking open hearts through little Celeste Marie's story. The second promise is ongoing, and sometimes difficult to complete. But each day I remind myself of it; Celeste had only four months to glorify God with her life, and she did. I've had more than four decades. What have I done? Not nearly enough. So I continue to seek joy, and peace, and beauty in every day I have been given.

When I contemplate the many parents who mourn with me, those who have suffered miscarriages and stillbirths, failed adoptions, and infertility, those who have lost children of any age, my heart breaks. I grieve with them for all that should have been. But I rejoice for what is...the truth that we have a loving Savior who suffers with us, who suffered first and in our place.

What is....through Him we have hope. We have the understanding that all things work together for the good of those who love Him. And by loving Him were are able to live through all that is, until the only reality is eternal reunion and everlasting joy.

What is...a family blessed beyond measure.

It is a privilege to contribute to the Apostolate of Hannah's Tears blog. Please visit my blog from the field of blue children to keep in touch. Blessings, Cathy Adamkiewicz.

Our Lady of Soufanieh

This is an image from a beautiful present day apparition

approved by Our Holy Father...

Devotions: http://www.soufanieh.com/ENGLISH/eeprayer.pdf

http://www.catholicdigitalstudio.com/ourladyofsoufaniehicons.htm

PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY

O Lord, whom on the eve of Your death for our sake,

have prayed so that all Your disciples become wholly One,

the same as You are in Your Father and Your Father is in You,

please make us feel grievously the infidelity of our disunion.

Give us the loyalty to acknowledge

and the courage to reject the mutual indifference,

mistrust and even hostility which hide in us.

Grant us that we all meet in You

so that Your prayer for the Unity of Christians

ascend unceasingly from our souls and lips,

such as You want it and through the means that You choose.

In You who are total charity,

let us find the path that leads to Unity in obedience

to Your love and Your truth.

AMEN.

Our God is in Control

Every now and then a song shows up in my life and sweeps me off of my feet. It is as if the singer is singing straight to my heart. Rare is it that an entire album has this effect. But Steven Curtis Chapman's new album "Beauty Will Rise" has earned this rare honor. I downloaded it yesterday and listened to it on my iPod for the entire 8 hours I was cleaning the office out.

Beauty Will Rise is a collection of 12 new and profound songs from Steven Curtis Chapman. Created in the past 18 months in the walk through the darkness of the loss of his daughter Maria, and while God continues to meet him there on the journey. Part lament, part praise, part grief, part hope, part wrestling, part pondering; these tracks resonate as Steven’s personal Psalms. It is a desperately hopeful, raw, personal, and honest recording. And this is precisely the reason that I love it. In my own journey along this way of the cross, I too lament, praise, grieve, hope, wrestle & ponder. Steven's words and music are the cry of my own heart and I would think that of anyone else who suffers going through infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, the loss of a child, or any other cross. He truly has a God-given gift.

While each song is fantastic, one has, in my mind, become the Theme Song of our journey. The music is authentic, the words ring so true. I hope you enjoy it as well.

Our God Is In Control

By: Steven Curtis Chapman

(click here to listen)

This is not how it should be

This is not how it could be

But this is how it is

And our God is in control

This is not how it will be

When we finally will see

We'll see with our own eyes

He was always in control

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God

And we will finally really understand what it means

So we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God

While we're waiting for that day

This is not where we planned to be

When we started this journey

But this is where we are

And our God is in control

Though this first taste is bitter

There will be sweetness forever

When we finally taste and see

That our God is in control

And we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God

And we will finally really understand what it means

So we'll sing holy, holy, holy is our God

While we're waiting for that day

We're waiting for that day

We'll keep on waiting for that day

And we will rise...

Our God is in control (Holy, holy, holy...Holy, holy, holy)

Our God is in control (Holy, holy, holy)

Our God is in control (Holy, holy, holy)

S.Younger

Creighton & NaPro ~ Open House March 21, 2010