By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
In response to a sudden change in position by the Department of Defense (DOD) to allow chaplains to preside over same-sex marriages on military bases, Archbishop Timothy Broglio, head of the Archdiocese for Military Services, says Roman Catholic priests will not be performing the ceremonies.
“The second fault commonly committed in saying the Rosary is to have no intention other than that of getting it over with as quickly as possible.”
St. Louis de Montfort
For Reflection:
How often I have fallen into this fault! Today, I will begin again to treasure this great prayer that is my privilege to pray.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A new study has found that a whopping 92 percent of all of the top songs of 2009 contained sexually suggestive themes.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The lesbian parents of an 11 year-old boy are allowing him to undergo sex change therapy because they claim the child has always wanted to be a girl.
By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Same-sex marriage has already forced the Church out of the adoption business in many U.S. states where the unions are sanctioned, but it is now threatening to force the Church out of the marriage business too, says Archbishop Barry Hickey of the Archdiocese of Perth, Australia, who says he’ll stop performing marriages altogether if forced to conduct the unions.
“Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin.”
(See tomorrow’s Grace Line for the second pitfall.)
St. Louis de Montfort
For Reflection:
What special grace or virtue will I ask to obtain when I say my Rosary today? Is there a sin I need the strength to overcome? What is it? I will tuck this intention into my prayer as well.
“From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns: in it I have always found comfort.”
Pope John Paul II
For Reflection:
What position does the Rosary hold in my spiritual life? Am I in a moment of joy or difficulty? Am I willing to entrust this moment to this prayer?
Queen of the Holy Rosary
Queen of the Holy Rosary!
Thee as our Queen we greet,
And lay our lowly, loving prayers
Like roses at thy feet.
Would that these blossoms of our souls
Were far more fair and sweet.
Queen of the Joyful Mysteries!
Glad news God’s envoy bore.
The Baptist’s mother thou didst tend;
Angels thy Babe adore,
Whom with two doves thou ransomest;
Lost, He is found once more.
Queen of the Dolorous Mysteries!
Christ ‘mid the olives bled,
Scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns,
Beneath His Cross He sped
Up the steep hill; and there once more
Thine arms embraced Him–dead!
Queen of the Glorious Mysteries!
Christ from the tomb has flown,
Has mounted to the highest heaven
And sent His Spirit down
And soon He raises thee on high
To wear thy heavenly crown.
Queen of the Holy Rosary!
We, too, have joys and woes.
May they, like thine, to triumph lead!
May labor earn repose,
And may life’s sorrows and life’s joys
In heavenly glory close.
Cyril Robert
For Reflection:
As I contemplate this poem, how have I seen the mysteries of Christ’s life reflected in my own?
