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HOLY Mother Mary, who by virtue of your divine motherhood have become Mother of us all, I place the charge which God has given me under your loving protection. Be a protecting Mother to my children. Guard their bodies and keep them in health and strength. Guard their minds and keep their thoughts ever holy in the sight of their Creator and God. Guard their hearts and keep them pure and strong and happy in the love of God. Guard always their souls and ever preserve in them faithfully the glorious image of God they received in holy Baptism. Always, Mother, protect them and keep them under your mothering care. Supply in your all-wise mothehood for my poor human deficiencies and protect them from all evil. Amen
THE PROVIDENTIAL INTERPOSITION OF A DEPARTED SOULThis is the story very simply told in the book titled..."Our Home in Heaven" by Max Caron, a story he took from the New York Herald many years ago.
"I am a secular priest in London, and my parish is very large and very thickly inhabited. I have two curates, and the presbytery where we all live together adjoins the chapel. We know most of our parishioners personally, but the population is always changing, and it is impossible to know them all.
"On Saturday, November 3, 1888, I had a heavier day than usual, and it was not till ten o'clock at night that I was able to resume the recital of my breviary, in order to finish it before I went to bed.
"Suddenly I heard the bell ring violently. I went downstairs to answer the door myself, and found our servant in front of an old lady, who begged in imploring tones that a priest would go round to a certain house, giving the number and name of the street, to help a young man at the point of death. I asked if the visit could be deferred till the following day, but she entreated me, laying a marked stress on the words, not to delay for an instant. I then wrote down on a slate which hung in the hall of the presbytery the sick person's name and address, exactly as it has just been given to me, and I got ready everything necessary for the administration of the last Sacraments to take with me.
"I was, I must own, tired and harassed after a long and fatiguing day, and I gently reproached my visitor for not coming sooner. I said this without any unkindness, but I saw that it seemed to give her great pain, and changing my tone, I said as warmly as possible: 'You may depend on me, I will be with you in less than twenty minutes.'
"She answered in a low voice, but with deep emotion: 'May God reward you for your charity, and may He be with you at the hour of your death.'
"Just as she was leaving, I asked her, in order to make quite sure, to tell me again the sick person's name and address, and casting my eye on the slate, I saw that I had written them down correctly. I then renewed my promise to rejoin her as soon as possible, and bidding her goodbye, I looked at her fixedly to see if I had already noticed her in church. Her face and voice were quite unknown to me, and I had heard for the first time the name which she told me was that of the sick person. In less than ten minutes I was ready and on my way.
"It was a typical November night; the fog was thick and the streets deserted. I passed through several, and at last I found myself in a square leading out of which was the street I was bound for. With some difficulty I found the number of the house and rang the bell.
"An old woman opened the door.
"'There is somebody very ill here?' I said to her.
"'No, sir,' she answered, 'not here.
"And she told me the same number as that which was written on the slate.
"'Exactly,' I said. 'I was sent here by a lady who came to fetch me to-night, I am the Catholic priest of the chapel, and I have come to see a sick person in danger of death.'
"'We have no sick person here, sir. They certainly made a mistake when they gave you this address.'
"I was about to depart, feeling decidedly puzzled, when a young man, who had overheard the dialogue, came out of one of the rooms, and with much cordiality expressed his regret at my having been forced to come out so late, and in such bad weather.
"'If you like to come in here, Father,' he added, 'you will find a good fire.'
"I followed him, and repeated to him what I had already told the servant, adding how vexed I was that I had been given the wrong address.
"Then, remembering that he had addressed me as Father (in England only Catholics say Father when speaking to a priest):
"'Are there then no Catholics here?' I asked him.
"'No, not that I know of,' he said; 'and yet,' he added after a moment, 'I ought to be a Catholic, for I was baptized one.'
"We then began to talk, and our conversation was long and serious. The young man was evidently honest and sincere; but he had given up the practice of his religion for the last ten years, although he still kept his faith at the bottom of his heart.
"God blessed my words, for before I left him I heard his confession and made an appointment for the next day.
"On the following day, which was Sunday in the octave of All Saints, I expected to see my penitent appear; but to my great surprise he failed to do so, either at the presbytery or at the church.
"The day afterwards, Monday, his old servant, bathed in tears, came to tell me of her young master's sudden death. He had been found lifeless in his bed on the Sunday, struck by apoplexy of the heart. From what the doctor said, death must have ensued soon after my departure, for on Sunday morning the body was already stiff and cold.
"I have only one thing to add to this true and simple story. I betook myself to the house to pray beside the coffin which had been placed in one of the principal rooms. I was absorbed in prayer, when suddenly, raising my eyes, I saw hanging over the chimney-piece the portrait of the old lady who had come to fetch me for a young man at the point of death. My servant, who accompanied me also, on seeing the portrait, recognized the person to whom she had spoken. But what were my feelings when I was told that this was the protrait of the young man's mother, who had been dead for some years!
Don't go to Heaven alone! Take somebody with you. Mothers, take your children with you. Pray as long as you have breath in your body - never despair and never give up the hope that your loved ones, no matter how far their footsteps have wandered, will one day stand with you before the Great White Throne.
Devotional Prayers for Mothers Needs To Obtain a Child Dearest Mother of the Infant Jesus, by that most treasured privilege of your divine maternity, I entreat you! In the name of those holy joys you knew when in an ecstasy of love you pressed your little Baby to your breast, I implore you to hear and bless my petition! Motherhood is very dear to you, Mary. You, the Queen of Mothers, and the Mother of Mothers, know as no other mother can the exalted dignity of motherhood. You know how immensely great is the privilege to call into this world a tiny soul destined to praise God forever in heaven.
This is the blessing, I ask of you, Mary! Confidently I seek it, for I know that holy motherhood is so precious in your sight. Confidently I trust in your intercession for this favor, since Jesus is the lover of little children and has said that we should allow them to come unto Him. It is this I ask of you; it is this trust I commit to your holy intercession - that I might be privileged to bring to Jesus a little one such as He so dearly loves, that He may bless it, and that He may bless me too in my motherhood, and that He may increase us always in sanctification in the fulness of His divine life. Amen Mother of Mothers, Pray for me!Prayer of Thanksgiving I REJOICE in my conception, tender Mother Mary. I give thanks that I have been chosen to be God's helper. The Almighty refuses to multiply the human family by His own power. He allows me, His little creature, to share in His creative might. The soul of my tiny babe will be God's work alone; its body will be the work of God and me. But, soul and body, it will be my possession forever as well as God's. And its innocent beauty will ever remind me that God and I have worked side by side. How can I ever return sufficient thanks for this unspeakable honor! I ask you, my Mother, to speak my sincere gratitude to your Son. I offer my homage and heartfelt devotion. Amen
Prayer for a Sick Child DEAREST Mother, how helpless I feel in the prescence of my ailing child! No labor of my hands or sacrifice of my energy can restore it quickly to health. And yet my heart yearns to do something for my child. How readily then do I call upon you, Consoler of the Afflicted and Health of the Sick! As you blessed my child in my womb and at its birth, so bless it now and restore its health of body. I consecrate my child to you forever, most cherished Mother. In sickness and in health may it be always yours. Amen.
Prayer for a Handicapped Child My God, You have seen fit in the depths of Your Providence that my child should labor under a difficulty which others do not have. Perhaps You will not wish to remove the handicap, for I know that it may well be intended according to Your plans to effect a work of greater sanctification. Should You see fit to remove the trouble though, may the favor be for the greater sanctification of my child and myself.
But if You know it is best to leave us with this cross, then grant us grace, that we may receive Your adorable will with patience and may know it as it is not something harsh, but rather the merciful stroke of Your love, which will ultimately bring us greater blessings and happiness with You which shall never end. Amen
For a Wayward Son HOLY Mother of Sorrows, never among all your sufferings on Calvary were you forced to bear with the sins of a wayward child. But, Mother, my son has gone far astray. I love him, Mother, because he is mine; I bore him and have cared for him as best I could. I know that you love my son dearly too, because you suffered so much for his salvation. Please then pray for him now; remind your Son how much my boy means to Him and to you and to me. Mother, guide my dear one and lead him gently back to the right way, as only you can do, Amen.
For a Wayward Daughter HOLY Virgin Mary, you are the consecration and the protectress of all Christian womanhood. The glory of your own pure womanhood is dear to you, and you wish to see its beauty reflected in all your daughters. Let the image of this womanhood then shine upon my precious daughter. Touch her heart and awaken there a love for you and for that womanhood resplendent in you. Guide her erring feet and bring her back to you and to holiness of life. Shelter her beneath your protecting mantle and take her close in your mothering embrace. Remember that she is your child as well as mine and needs your Mother's protection more than the many who have not strayed. To you, O Mother I commend her; in you I completely confide for her restoration to a holy and virtuous life. Amen.
For a Son in Service and in Danger of Suffering Bodily Harm MOTHER Mary, you know I am powerless now to be with my son and to offer protection in the present danger. And even if I could be present, there is little I could do. But you can guard my son, and your gracious and well-merited title of Mother of Perpetural Help inspires me to confidence that you will be a protection now. Do not be deaf to the pleading of my mother's heart. You are a Mother, and you understand. I commit all then, Mary, into your hands. Please help, for I know that you can. Amen O Mary, Mother of Perpetual help, Pray for us who have recourse to thee!
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