Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => Catholic Living in the Modern World => Topic started by: jen51 on July 09, 2015, 09:27:48 AM
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Our family is in a tight spot- I imagine there are many others here on CathInfo in the same situation.
We have a devotion to the sacred heart. What else would you recommend?
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St. Joseph and the Holy Infant of Prague!
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St. Jude and also St. Anthony
http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/commentandblogs/2015/06/12/st-anthony-of-padua-the-perfect-patron-for-generation-debt/
Also, St. Nicholas
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all the above and St. Matthew who carried the purse.
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From: Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence (http://olrl.org/snt_docs/trustful/)
(Definitely a fantastic little book)
Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must he taken absolutely of everything with the exception of sin. 'Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives' is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, 'and God intervenes everywhere.'
From Part 2:
We do not ask enough
It is clear then that we do not receive anything because we do not ask enough. God could not give us little, He could not restrict His liberality to small things without doing us grave harm. Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we offend God if we ask for temporal benefits or to be freed from misfortune. Obviously prayers of this kind can rightly be addressed to Him by making the condition that they are not contrary to His glory or our eternal salvation. But as it is hardly likely that it would redound to His glory for Him to answer them, or to our advantage to have them answered if our wishes end there, it must be repeated that as long as we are content with little we run the risk of obtaining nothing.
Let me show you a good way to ask for happiness even in this world. It is a way that will oblige God to listen to you. Say to him earnestly: Either give me so much money that my heart will be satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that I no longer want it.
"Either free me from poverty, or make it so pleasant for me that I would not exchange it for all the wealth in the world. Either take away my suffering, or -- which would be to your greater glory -- change it into delight for me, and instead of causing me affliction, let it become a source of joy. You can take away the burden of my cross, or you can leave it with me without my feeling its weight. You can extinguish the fire that burns me, or you can let it burn in such a way that it refreshes me as it did the three youths in the fiery furnace. I ask you for either one thing or the other. What does it matter in what way I am happy? If I am happy through the possession of worldly goods, it is you I have to thank. If I am happy when deprived of them, it gives you greater glory and my thanks are all the greater.
This is the kind of prayer worthy of being offered to God by a true Christian. When you pray in this way, do you know what the effect of your prayers will be? First, you will be satisfied whatever happens; and what else do those who most desire this world's goods want except to be satisfied? Secondly, you will not only obtain without fail one of the two things you have asked for but, as a rule, you will obtain both of them. God will give you the enjoyment of wealth, and so that you may possess it without the danger of becoming attached to it, He will inspire you at the same time with contempt for it. He will put an end to your sufferings and even more He will leave you with a desire for them which will give you all the merit of patience without having to suffer. In a word He will make you happy here and now, and lest your happiness should do you harm, He will let you know and feel the emptiness of it. Can one ask for anything better? But if such a great blessing is well worth being asked for, remember that still more is it worth being asked for with insistence. For the reason why we obtain little is not only because we ask for little but still more because, whether we ask a little or we ask a lot, we do not ask often enough.
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all the above and St. Matthew who carried the purse.
It was Judas Iscariot who carried the purse.
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I wonder if there exists a cult of devotion to Sir Walter the Penniless, leader of the Peasants Crusade? Details of his life are scarce as horse feathers, but still...
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How about trust int the providence of God?
Once when I had no money, no food, and very much hunger, I prayed to God with the following words, "Give us this day our daily bread." Later on from out of nowhere a couple showed up with food that was more delicious than I could remember, some of which I have never seen again.
Ad Deum laudemus.
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The Feast of St. Alexis the Beggar is coming up. (July 17) I thought I saw something about praying to him for financial assistance, but I don't know where. [Apparently Joyce Kilmer has a poem (http://www.poemhunter.com/best-poems/joyce-kilmer/st-alexis-patron-of-beggars/) about him.]
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From: Trustful Surrender to Divine Providence (http://olrl.org/snt_docs/trustful/)
(Definitely a fantastic little book)
Nothing happens in the universe without God willing and allowing it. This statement must he taken absolutely of everything with the exception of sin. 'Nothing occurs by chance in the whole course of our lives' is the unanimous teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church, 'and God intervenes everywhere.'
From Part 2:
We do not ask enough
It is clear then that we do not receive anything because we do not ask enough. God could not give us little, He could not restrict His liberality to small things without doing us grave harm. Do not misunderstand me. I am not saying that we offend God if we ask for temporal benefits or to be freed from misfortune. Obviously prayers of this kind can rightly be addressed to Him by making the condition that they are not contrary to His glory or our eternal salvation. But as it is hardly likely that it would redound to His glory for Him to answer them, or to our advantage to have them answered if our wishes end there, it must be repeated that as long as we are content with little we run the risk of obtaining nothing.
Let me show you a good way to ask for happiness even in this world. It is a way that will oblige God to listen to you. Say to him earnestly: Either give me so much money that my heart will be satisfied, or inspire me with such contempt for it that I no longer want it.
"Either free me from poverty, or make it so pleasant for me that I would not exchange it for all the wealth in the world. Either take away my suffering, or -- which would be to your greater glory -- change it into delight for me, and instead of causing me affliction, let it become a source of joy. You can take away the burden of my cross, or you can leave it with me without my feeling its weight. You can extinguish the fire that burns me, or you can let it burn in such a way that it refreshes me as it did the three youths in the fiery furnace. I ask you for either one thing or the other. What does it matter in what way I am happy? If I am happy through the possession of worldly goods, it is you I have to thank. If I am happy when deprived of them, it gives you greater glory and my thanks are all the greater.
This is the kind of prayer worthy of being offered to God by a true Christian. When you pray in this way, do you know what the effect of your prayers will be? First, you will be satisfied whatever happens; and what else do those who most desire this world's goods want except to be satisfied? Secondly, you will not only obtain without fail one of the two things you have asked for but, as a rule, you will obtain both of them. God will give you the enjoyment of wealth, and so that you may possess it without the danger of becoming attached to it, He will inspire you at the same time with contempt for it. He will put an end to your sufferings and even more He will leave you with a desire for them which will give you all the merit of patience without having to suffer. In a word He will make you happy here and now, and lest your happiness should do you harm, He will let you know and feel the emptiness of it. Can one ask for anything better? But if such a great blessing is well worth being asked for, remember that still more is it worth being asked for with insistence. For the reason why we obtain little is not only because we ask for little but still more because, whether we ask a little or we ask a lot, we do not ask often enough.
I can't put into words how much this affected me. One of those spiritual light bulb moments when we make a huge leap in growth. Thank you Stubborn. I offer my rosary today in thanksgiving.
BofA, 'coincidentally' a few days ago I was searching for just the right information about St. Alexis the Beggar. Your link is exactly what I need for a fallen away Catholic, a namesake of the good saint.
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mea culpa - typo - BfromA
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The Divine Infant of Prague is the devotion for financial matters. Have a blessed statue or holy card of Him in your altar and pray His novenas often. Remember the prophecy of Princess Polyxena to the Carmelites of Prague:"As long as you honour the Child Jesus you shall never be in need".
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Total Consecration to Our Lady by St. Louis De Monfort. My husband needed a job. We started the Total Consecration. My husband was retired NCO of 20 years as an aircraft mechanic, licensed. He really needed something else, but any job was needed. Our neighbor across the street, a pharmacist, told my husband to turn in a resume for a pharmacist tech. That was when you could be trained on the job. At the end of the Consecration prayers, a phone call came. A man told me, that he was not to tell us, that my husband got the job.
For our thanks, we as a couple, go through the total consecration every year. My husband just finished 20 years as a licensed Pharm tech. Of all the techs, the surgery doctors ask him to mix their drips for surgery. When he is on the job, he may be asked, "What was your job before?" He answers, I was a turning wrenches.
Our prayers for you!
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I second that suggestion of practising True Devotion to Mary according to St. Louis Marie's method, if you don't already practice that. And I would add litanies to St. Joseph - perhaps a novena, or 3 (one in petition, and 2 in thanksgiving).
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Wouldn't the Rosary or additional Rosaries every day be enough? Isn't the Blessed Mother our most powerful advocate? Isn't the Rosary the most powerful thing after Holy Mass? God denies nothing to Her.
I find it more difficult to pray additional Rosaries than to pray short novenas.
So in my eyes additional Rosaries are more valuable, because it is harder to do.
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Wouldn't the Rosary or additional Rosaries every day be enough? Isn't the Blessed Mother our most powerful advocate? Isn't the Rosary the most powerful thing after Holy Mass? God denies nothing to Her.
Indeed, but it does no harm whatsoever to ask a saint to ask her to ask Our Lord for something. I know that I am no one that the Mother of God would listen to me. So I will pray a novena to, say, St. Jude or St. Therese, or some other saint, and at the same time make a 54-day Rosary Novena in their honor to Our Lady.
Sometimes I lovingly "threaten" Our Blessed Mother as follows: "I know that I am no one that you should hear my prayers, except that even if you won't do it for me you have to do it for your own honor, since you promised that you would grant everything asked of you by way of the Holy Rosary."
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I consider the 54-day Rosary novena to be incredibly powerful. But I suspect that it's just a gratuitous "modification" to have it only be 5 decades per day. I'm not sure where that part came from.
Just another spin on the "Trustful Surrender" principles:
God will grant EVERYTHING we ask with a view towards our ULTIMATE good. So in asking for temporal favors, we have to keep in mind the ultimate spiritual favor tied to it.
1) we ask you for financial help
SO THAT
2) we might do this or that thing for the benefit of our souls [here think about some of the impediments to spiritual progress possibly being caused by the financial hardship ... the stress, the inability to have more free time to pray, discontent in the family due to hardship, etc.]
If we think of it in this way, more with a view to our ultimate spiritual good, recognizing that the "financial help" objective is just a means to an end, God will indeed grant the #1 provided that He Himself knows that it will be conducive to that end or else will grant something ELSE that's more directly conducive to that end. God for instance could work out some other way to alleviate the hardship or discontent or whatever that might be caused by the financial hardship.
And sometimes the HARDSHIP ITSELF is conducive ultimately to the good of our souls. In that case, God will leave that intact with a view towards our own good. If that happens, He will be sure to provide other graces to help us take advantage of it to the good of our own souls.
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Wouldn't the Rosary or additional Rosaries every day be enough? Isn't the Blessed Mother our most powerful advocate? Isn't the Rosary the most powerful thing after Holy Mass? God denies nothing to Her.
Indeed, but it does no harm whatsoever to ask a saint to ask her to ask Our Lord for something. I know that I am no one that the Mother of God would listen to me. So I will pray a novena to, say, St. Jude or St. Therese, or some other saint, and at the same time make a 54-day Rosary Novena in their honor to Our Lady.
Sometimes I lovingly "threaten" Our Blessed Mother as follows: "I know that I am no one that you should hear my prayers, except that even if you won't do it for me you have to do it for your own honor, since you promised that you would grant everything asked of you by way of the Holy Rosary."
I thought it was that we are no one for God to hear us so we have recourse to Our Lady, but now you're saying that not even She will listen and we must have recourse to a Saint.
I don't know but i feel naturally more drawn to the Rosary than anything else.