The Feast of St. Nicholas is one of our kids favorite days! Here is a picture of the treats that will be waiting for them in the morning (bright and early, I'm sure!)...

I also found this great story of St. Nicholas for young children!

My oldest son picked St. Nicholas as his confirmation name and has his First Reconciliation on Wednesday. We ask St. Nicholas to pray for him and all the kids going to their first confession and gaining graces from the amazing Sacrament of Penance!

St. Nicholas, Pray for Us!

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This is a guest post by my nephew Jake.

We went on a hike in Empire on May 26th in honor of the Feast of St. Philip Neri. The hike consisted of parishioners from Holy Rosary, one from Philip Neri and Father Libby. The hiker's ages ranged from 9 to 77, with a total of about 26. We began the hike with the Divine Mercy Chaplet about a quarter to 3:00.

When we finished the chaplet we took a break to practice the songs that we would later sing at the beach. At that time Father explained the first stage of the hike to us. He compared it to the beginning of the spiritual life. When everything is alive and the trees block you from the sun, you are shaded from worldly things.

The second part of the hike was like the spiritual life, when you walk through the woods and the sunlight shines in different spots. For example, when you pray you are shadowed by trees but when you get distracted you let the sun shine in.

The third part of the hike was all sunshine. It was like when the spiritual life gets hard. We were hot and wanted to stop but kept going despite our troubles.

The fourth part of the hike was the hardest part. It was all up hill and sandy. We had to push ourselves to keep going. Then the path stopped and we had to remember our way or we could get lost. We kept going and even though the path was gone we came to a beautiful view of Lake Michigan reminding
us of heaven.

After the two hour hike we had mass at St. Philip Neri Church. Before mass, the rosary was led by some young men. In Fr. Libby’s homily, he told a story about how St. Philip helped people in every way he could. He also talked about St. Philip having the altar servers tell him jokes, to keep him from going into ecstasy during the mass.

We finished the day with a bon fire at Empire Beach. After roasting hotdogs and marshmallows by the fire, the boys played a basketball game, while the girls stayed close to the fire.

Then we sang songs about the Great Lakes, the sea, and sailing, while wearing paper sailor hats that we made from newspaper. And Fr. Libby sang an Irish song about not wanting to get up in the morning, reminding us to get up and go to mass in the morning.

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One of my favorite things about being Catholic is the Fatima Message and Our Lady of Fatima. I didn't know much about it until a few years ago when my sister-in-law started a Fatima Family Apostolate group and we started reading books written by Father Fox and joining other families in trying to live a life of holiness.

Our Lady of Fatima teaches us to receive and adore the Blessed Trinity and the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist. Our Lady also stressed the importance of the Rosary and how we need to pray it every day (especially as a family) along with living a life of sacrifice and penance.

In learning more about adoration and what it means to "adore the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, true God and true man, in the Most Blessed Sacrament of the Altar" I've found alot of my strength comes from time spent with Our Lord.

So today, try to spend some time adoring Our Lord and to hang out with some friends or family and say a rosary, you'll be glad you did! Our Lady of Fatima, Pray for Us!

Litany of Our Lady of Fatima

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for our dear country.
Our Lady of Fatima, sanctify our clergy.
Our Lady of Fatima, make our Catholics more fervent.
Our Lady of Fatima, guide and inspire those who govern us.
Our Lady of Fatima, cure the sick who confide in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, console the sorrowful who trust in thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who invoke your aid.
Our Lady of Fatima, deliver us from all dangers.
Our Lady of Fatima, help us to resist temptation.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us all that we lovingly ask of thee.
Our Lady of Fatima, help those who are dear to us.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring back to the right road our erring brothers.
Our Lady of Fatima, give us back our ancient fervor.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain for us pardon of our manifold sins and offenses.
Our Lady of Fatima, bring all men to the feet of thy Divine Child.
Our Lady of Fatima, obtain peace for the world.

O Mary conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and at the hour of our death. Amen.

Let Us Pray:
O God of infinite goodness and mercy, fill our hearts with a great confidence in Thy dear Mother, whom we invoke under the title of Our Lady of the Rosary and our Lady of Fatima, and grant us by her powerful intercession all the graces, spiritual and temporal, which we need.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen.

Picture found on the web at Our Lady of Fatima Parish

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Found this article naming four "up-and-coming" bishops and it included our own Bishop Bernard Hebda. It's part two of Rocco Palmo's Q&A for Michael Sean Winters of NCR's Distinctly Catholic. Here's a excerpt from the article...

Bernard Hebda, 51, bishop of Gaylord: The paper-trail is unusually distinguished, even for an American bishop -- Harvard BA, JD from Columbia Law, JCL from the Gregorian, for 13 years a top-flight Vatican canonist as the #3 official at the Pontifical Council for the Interpretation of Legislative Texts.

Ask the folks back in Pittsburgh, though, and you’re more likely to hear stories of Bernie Hebda doing the “Electric Slide” at parish festivals on return trips to his hometown.

Over the course of his reign, B16’s shown a distinct liking for the Steel City, naming three more of its native sons to head dioceses (for a grand total of seven), sending the native-born former ordinary to the nation’s capital, bringing the energetic, pastorally savvy Bishop David Zubik home in Donald Wuerl’s footsteps... and above all, in Dan DiNardo, giving the Burgh its first-ever native-son to reach the brass ring and don the cardinal’s red hat.

The trend’s been wise -- if you’re rebuilding a bench, Steeler Country’s a great place to start; Eastern enough to boast a strong Catholic ethos, but Midwestern enough to be devoid of the ecclesiastical grandeur that’s only expedited the faith’s epic fall along much of the Amtrak/I-95 corridor. Moreover, Pennsylvania’s western edge prides itself on its down-home sensibility -- and like DiNardo before him, Hebda’s yearning to trade St Peter's for PNC Park became so well-known that, one night a couple years back, a friend in the Canadian hinterlands called with word that “Bernie wants out,” even if the "news" was never a pontifical secret.

It's not hard to see why we are so blessed to have Bishop Hebda in the Diocese of Gaylord.

On a related note, if you're in the Petoskey area tonight, head on over to the Marian Center where Bishop Hebda will be celebrating mass on the Feast of the Archangels. A reception will follow.

Read For the Future, Four to Watch at Whispers in the Loggia

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I've been so busy with work and having a limited computer at home (Toshiba!), I wasn't able to put together a nice post to honor Good St. Joseph. Instead, here is one of my favorite prayers to the holiest example of Catholic Fatherhood we have!

Litany of St. Joseph

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Christ, have mercy.
Christ, have mercy.

Lord, have mercy.
Lord, have mercy.

Jesus, hear us.
Jesus, graciously hear us.

God, the Father of Heaven,
have mercy on us.

God, the Son, Redeemer of the world,
have mercy on us.

God, the Holy Spirit,
have mercy on us.

Holy Trinity, One God,
have mercy on us.

Holy Mary, pray for us.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
Renowned offspring of David, pray for us.
Light of Patriarchs, pray for us.
Spouse of the Mother of God, pray for us.
Chaste guardian of the Virgin, pray for us.
Foster father of the Son of God, pray for us.
Diligent protector of Christ, pray for us.
Head of the Holy Family, pray for us.
Joseph most just, pray for us.
Joseph most chaste, pray for us.
Joseph most prudent, pray for us.
Joseph most strong, pray for us.
Joseph most obedient, pray for us.
Joseph most faithful, pray for us.
Mirror of patience, pray for us.
Lover of poverty, pray for us.
Model of artisans, pray for us.
Glory of home life, pray for us.
Guardian of virgins, pray for us.
Pillar of families, pray for us.
Solace of the wretched, pray for us.
Hope of the sick, pray for us.
Patron of the dying, pray for us.
Terror of demons, pray for us.
Protector of Holy Church, pray for us.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world,
graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, who take away the sins of the world.
Have mercy on us.

He made him the lord of his household.
And prince over all his possessions.

Let us pray. O God, in your ineffable providence you were pleased to choose Blessed Joseph to be the spouse of your most holy Mother; grant, we beg you, that we may be worthy to have him for our intercessor in heaven whom on earth we venerate as our Protector: You who live and reign forever and ever. Amen.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Photo via SUNDRY THOUGHTS OF KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

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Our Lady of Guadalupe, mystical rose, make intercession for Holy Church, protect the Sovereign Pontiff, help all those who invoke thee in their necessities, and since thou art the ever Virgin Mary and Mother of the true God, obtain for us from thy most holy Son the grace of keeping our faith, sweet hope in the midst of the bitterness of life, burning charity and the precious gift of final perseverance. Amen.

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Pray for Us!

Our Lady of Guadalupe at Sancta.org

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