Archive for the ‘catholic’ Category

Little Christmas, Epiphany and the Annual Chalking of your home

Posted: January 6, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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While the church will officially celebrate Epiphany this Sunday January 6th is the traditional day of the visit of the wise men.

This is also the traditional day to Chalk and bless your home for the year, a devotion that isn’t as popular as it once was but if you go to any building on the EWTN campus you will find every doorway chalked that way.

In order to do the blessing you will need Holy Water and a piece of chalk blessed by a priest.

Rather than reinvent the wheel let me steal three prayers from the good folks at One Peter Five who put up a post on the subject two years ago:

They offer a short form prayer or a long form.

The short form goes like this:

May all who come to our home this year rejoice to find Christ living among us; and may we seek and serve, in everyone we meet, that same Jesus who is your incarnate Word, now and forever. Amen.

God of heaven and earth, you revealed your only-begotten One to every nation by the guidance of a star. Bless this house and all who inhabit it. Fill us with the light of Christ, that our concern for others may reflect your love. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

Loving God, bless this household. May we be blessed with health, goodness of heart, gentleness, and abiding in your will. We ask this through Christ our Saviour. Amen.

There is a longer form that can be done with a priest or by the head of the household, it goes like this:

Prayer: On entering the home,

Leader(Priest, if present, or father of the family) : Peace be to this house.
All: And to all who dwell herein.

All: From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.

All Pray: The Magnificat. During the Magnificat, the room is sprinkled with holy water and incensed. After this is completed,

All: From the east came the Magi to Bethlehem to adore the Lord; and opening their treasures they offered precious gifts: gold for the great King, incense for the true God, and myrrh in symbol of His burial.

Leader: Our Father. . .
And lead us not into temptation

All: But deliver us from evil.
Leader: All they from Saba shall come
All: Bringing gold and frankincense.
Leader: O Lord, hear my prayer.
All: And let my cry come to You.

Leader: Let us pray. O God, who by the guidance of a star didst on this day manifest Thine only-begotten Son to the Gentiles, mercifully grant that we who know Thee by faith may also attain the vision of Thy glorious majesty. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Leader: Be enlightened, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee—Jesus Christ born of the Virgin Mary.

All: And the Gentiles shall walk in thy light and kings in the splendor of thy rising, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon thee.

Leader: Let us pray. Bless, + O Lord God almighty, this home, that in it there may be health, purity, the strength of victory, humility, goodness and mercy, the fulfillment of Thy law, the thanksgiving to God the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. And may this blessing remain upon this home and upon all who dwell herein. Through Christ our Lord.

All: Amen.

Once you have completed either the long or short form anoint each room with holy water and use the chalk to mark the following on the lintal

20 + C+ M + B + 23

The the letters stand for the names of the wise men and the rest being the current year.

It’s a nice little devotion and give you a constant reminder of the the presence of the Lord.

Don’t miss the The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) Podcast starting today

Posted: January 1, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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There are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive the Catholic Church to be.

Bishop Fulton Sheen

A lot of people use the new year as a time to resolve to make positive changes for oneself. I’m sure there are many Catholics who have resolved to know and practice their faith better in the come taking advantage of the many treasures of the Catholic Church.

There are a lot of treasures in the Catholic Church that are of use but if there is one thing I really wish to recommend, it’s The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) podcast.

This is worthwhile not just for Catholics but for non-Catholics because a lot of people will tell you what the Catholic church believes but if you listen to this podcast you will learn what we actually believe. This is our faith, in writing.

I can’t imbed the podcast but I can link it from youtube here, but no matter how you find this podcast, find it and listen to it. If you are a Catholic or not at least you will actually know what the Catholic Faith teaches and if you choose to accept it or reject it you will do so from knowledge and not from ignorance.

Of course if you don’t want to wait the year you can read it yourself direct from the Vatican site which our blog links to on the front page here.

A New Indulgence Calendar for a New Year (Next Month for Benedict)

Posted: January 1, 2023 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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Alas Pope Benedict will have to wait for next month to be included as the calendar had already been made by the time he had died

indulgence-calendar-jan-2023Download

Of course you can always add him to a day which is what those lines in the full calendar or the blank calendar are for.

indulgence-calendar-jan-2023-blankDownload

So a happy new year and many more to you all.

Pope Count is Back to one at a time Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI dies at 95 Five Quick Thoughts Update Make that Six

Posted: December 31, 2022 by datechguy in catholic, catholic devotions
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It occurs to me, now that we are back to one Pope that by become Pope Emeritus Benedict set a pretty good example. There is some advantage to having a Pope Emeritus who basically devotes the remainder of his life to prayer for the Church and the people. The willing surrender of power and authority is an act of humility and having a holy faithful man in constant prayer for the church certainly can’t hurt.

The reins of St. John Paul II & Benedict the XVI were, in my opinion a golden age in terms of solid theology and evangelization. Nothing has made this more clear than the pontificate of Francis You never know how good you have things till they’re gone.

One of the things that Benedict will likely not get credit for in the media was his strong action concerning various church scandals. The standards that were implemented during his pontificate to prevent a repeat of the horrible abuse scandals from the past were rather solid and have made a real difference in the church.

One secular note concerning his death, he was the last living head of state or former head of state have served in the Military during World War 2 having been drafted into and served in an anti-aircraft unit for Germany. He and Elizabeth II, who served in the British military during the war mark the end of an era.

Finally you have to go back to the 7th century and before to see as many consecutive Popes be canonized as you have in the last 60 years. Every pope since John XXIII has been elevated either to Sainthood or to the stage just before Sainthood (Pope John Paul I) (Pope Pius XII St. John XXIII’s predecessor remains at the “venerable” stage likely, in my opinion for political reasons ).

Will Benedict XVI be canonized. I don’t expect Francis to waive the standard five year waiting period for a cause to be opened and I suspect that when those five years are up neither Francis nor any like minded successor will be in any hurry to push forward a cause for sainthood for Benedict. However in the end it comes down to God and if he decides that Benedict should be publicly recognized as a canonized saint it will happen if not under this pope then under a successor in the future.

In the end it doesn’t matter, all who are in heaven are by definition saints and most are not canonized. Canonization only reveals to us what has already happened, it doesn’t rush or push a soul forward out of purgatory nor can it remove a soul from hell that has already been damned. No power on earth can make the judgement of God concerning Benedict XVI any different than it is.

It’s most likely I won’t find the answer during my lifetime so i’ll end up having to find out for myself the hard way. I hope and pray when that happens I’ll be in a state where I can take joy in confirming what I already suspect. Any and all prayers for my soul while I’m still alive to do something about it or when I’m gone will be gratefully accepted.

UPDATE: It hit me about an hour after I wrote this post that Pope Benedict XVI is going to make history in another way.

He will be the first Pope in history to have his funeral presided over by the Pope

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