ICEMANforChrist

This blog is based on references in the Bible to fear. God wills that we “BE NOT AFRAID”. Many theologians state that the eighth deadly sin is fear. It is fear and its natural animal reaction to fight or flight that is the root cause of our failings to create a Kingdom of God on earth. By “the power of the Holy Spirit” we can be witnesses and “communicators” of a new and redeemed humanity “even to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:7 8). This blog is dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.

Candace’s Try “Jabugo”

· Phoenix Home & Garden’s Garden Tour
April 20

o The pages of PHOENIX’s sister publication come to life as patrons enjoy exclusive access to a curated selection of the Valley’s most enchanting home gardens during this annual self-guided tour. Attendees will also have the unique opportunity to mingle with Phoenix Home & Garden’s editorial staff as well as architects and designers featured in the magazine. VIP, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; GA, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. $85-$125, Various Valley locations, phgmag.com

· Pray Day 6 of the Novena for our Pope and Bishops

· Tuesday: Litany of St. Michael the Archangel

Spirit Hour: Sazerac in honor of St. Joseph

· Total Consecration to St. Joseph Day 32

· National Sloppy Joe Day

· Bucket List trip: Macao

· Red Cross Month

· Soup

Introduction to the Book of Ester[1]

How do you deal with someone's insidious plot to murder you and everybody like you?

The Book of Esther provides one possible answer to that question, tough cookie though it is. Today, that query may not loom quite as large in America, but it definitely does in many other places throughout the world (the Middle East, Burma, the Congo—and about a dozen or more other places). It happened to loom really large in the ancient Middle East too. In Esther's case, though, no one seems to know if there really was a wicked counselor named Haman who attempted to manipulate the emperor (probably Xerxes I, though here he's called "Ahasuerus") into having all the Jews in the Persian Empire murdered during the fifth century BCE. Nevertheless, you don't have to look too deeply into Jewish history to find highly similar attempts at genocide and persecution against the Jews. The story (which was probably written during the third or fourth Century BCE) may have helped people who were living under later rulers and needed to reckon with threats from above (regardless of how historically accurate the story is—or isn't).

Good Girl, Mad World

Esther is one of the first in a long line of stories about how a good and clever woman helps a powerful, evil, and monstrous (or maybe just confused) villain switch towards making the right decisions (in this case, it's King Ahasuerus). In a way, it's a little like Beauty and the Beast—except the Beast never sat around tacitly supporting a genocide, Belle never sought vengeance against the people who were trying to kill her, and Lumiere never walked around weeping and wearing sackcloth. But despite all that, Esther's a good example of this type of story. To give a non-Disney version, you could think of The Arabian Nights, where the heroine gets her husband to stop murdering his wives every night by telling him a series of entertaining tales (come to think of it, actually that is a Disney example, because Aladdin's part of The Arabian Nights). It's also a bit of an unusual fit. It isn't one of the major books of the Tanakh or the prophets or anything. It's wedged in with the "Writings," next to a miscellany of texts, like The Book of Daniel and The Song of Songs. It's also particularly odd because it doesn't really mention God, doesn't really fit into that whole spiritual narrative which occupies the Torah and the Prophets. It's a suspense and adventure story on the one hand, but it's also a more serious tale about how the Jewish people manage to preserve themselves and their culture when faced with a threat from hostile authorities. Additionally, one of Esther's greatest contributions to culture—the holiday of Purim—is a time for fun and merriment (and also an opportunity to look for spiritual meanings hidden within the tale).

Why Should I Care?

The Book of Esther has a James Bond-ish, ticking-time-bomb plot. It's also heavy on action, drama, and Game of Thrones-style intrigue, while being notably lacking in legal codes, commandments, theology—all that kind of thing. This is one book of the Bible you could easily read while marinating in a bubble bath, without feeling particularly sacrilegious. The book is compact and smooth—a straightforward, streamlined example of an ancient Hebrew short story. We're not suggesting that whoever wrote the book of Esther was exactly the Alice Munro of his or her time, but the author was indeed another master storyteller. A closer comparison would be a story that's a classic, but more focused on action than on character. Maybe F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Diamond as Big as the Ritz" would work as an example of the style (if not of the substance).

Darker Dimensions

But Esther is more than an entertaining yarn. To be sure, it is more of a "tale" than an epic investigation into the relationship between God and humanity. (In fact, considering that it doesn't really mention God, it might be the Bible's most secular book.) Overall, though, it's a story about how a pair of scrappy underdogs—Esther and Mordecai—face seemingly insurmountable odds and end up putting it all together in the end. The author suggests that, while living in exile the Jewish people can—with tough work and intelligence—secure a decent place for themselves within the kingdoms ruled by Gentile conquerors. (So, maybe it's more like The Little Giants or The Mighty Ducks than all that high-art literary Munro and Fitzgerald stuff.) Yet, there are darker dimensions to the story, going beyond the basic theme of preventing a genocide. Esther, Mordecai, and their allies seek vengeance against the supporters of the evil counselor Haman, racking up a considerable death toll, for one thing. As well, the king Ahasuerus is a bit of a cipher. You can't really figure out what the dude's psychology is, or what he's "on about" (to borrow a U.K.-ism). So, that's all disquieting food for thought. But despite these violent and confusing undertones and the somewhat confusing, momentary disappearance of God from the Biblical storyline, the reader will undoubtedly be moved to repeat an immortal line from The Royal Tennenbaum’s: "Go, Mordecai!"

MARCH 18 Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent

Ester, Chapter 1, Verse 8

The whole nation of the just was shaken with FEAR at the evils to come upon them, and they expected to perish.

Sounds like 2019 to me, Afterall we according to AOC she stated we only have 12 years left before the world dies from pollution-so let’s party!

Party Like It's Roughly 500 BCE[2]

The first chapter starts off by describing the setting: this all went down in the Persian capital of Susa, where King Ahasuerus was ruling over an empire that extended from India to Ethiopia.
Three years into his reign, Ahasuerus throws a huge banquet, showing off his wealth to all of the different governors and officials in his kingdom. It's a massive party that goes on for one hundred and eighty days.
Then, he gives another banquet for all the people living in his citadel—both the important people and the unimportant. It lasts for seven days. All of the kings' luxurious couches and curtains are on show, and he amply provides wine for his guests in golden goblets.
The queen, Vashti, also provides a separate banquet for all the women in the kingdom.
On the seventh day, King Ahasuerus orders the queen to come so that he can show her beauty off to all the people in the kingdom, sending eunuchs to tell her.
But the queen refuses to come. Uh-oh.

Sounds like a Case for Judge Judy

King Ahasuerus goes into a rage and asks his sages what the law says about this.
The sages say that the queen has not only wronged the king but all the people in the kingdom as well, since she's setting a disobedient example for all the wives. They tell him he needs to dismiss the queen.
So, the king divorces Vashti, strips her of her title, and orders her never to come before him again.
He also writes letters to each of his provinces telling everyone that men should be the masters of their houses. (Nice touch, fella.)

Tuesday in the Second Week of Lent[3]

Jesus’ condemnation of religious externalism, hypocrisy and vanity is not meant to correct only the Pharisees of his time. It is also directed at us. We should look into our Lenten practices of piety and works of charity and see whether they are tainted with hypocrisy. During the celebration that follows, Christ, the servant of Yahweh, will increase in us the spirit of human service.

The “phylacteries” mentioned in the gospel were bands of parchment enclosed in small boxes worn on the forehead and left fore-arm where they were fixed by straps. On these bands were inscribed the most important texts of the Law. The “fringes” were the tassels which the Law required to be worn at the four corners of the cloak. By wearing broad phylacteries and long tassels the Pharisees intended to show clearly their fidelity to the Law. —St. Andrew Missal

Prayer.

GRANT, we beseech Thee, O Almighty God, that Thy family, who, afflicting their flesh, abstain from food, by following justice may fast from sin.

EPISTLE. Daniel ix. 15-19.

In those days Daniel prayed unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, Who hast brought forth Thy people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand, and hast made Thee a name as at this day: we have sinned, we have committed iniquity, Lord, against all Thy justice: let Thy wrath and Thy indignation be turned away, I beseech Thee, from Thy city Jerusalem, and from Thy holy mountain. For by reason of our sins, and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and Thy people are a reproach to all that are round about us. Now, therefore, O our God, hear the supplication of Thy servant, and his prayers: and show Thy face upon Thy sanctuary which is desolate, for Thy own sake. Incline, O my God, Thy ear and hear: open Thy eyes, and see our desolation, and the city upon which Thy name is called: for it is not for our justifications that we present our prayers before Thy face, but for the multitude of Thy tender mercies. O Lord hear: O Lord, be appeased: hearken and do: delay not for Thy own sake, O my God: because Thy name is invoked upon Thy city, and upon Thy people.

GOSPEL. John viii. 21-29.

At that time Jesus said to the multitude of the Jews: I go, and you shall seek Me, and you shall die in your sin. Whither I go, you cannot come. The Jews therefore said: Will He kill Himself, because He said: Whither I go, you cannot come? And He said to them: You are from beneath; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not of this world. Therefore, I said to you, that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am He, you shall die in your sin. They said therefore to Him: Who art Thou? Jesus said to them: The beginning, Who also speak unto you. Many things I have to speak and to judge of you. But He that sent Me is true: and the things I have heard of Him, these same I speak in the world. And they understood not that He called God His Father. Jesus therefore said to them: When you shall have lifted up the Son of man, then shall you know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as the Father hath taught Me, these things I speak: and He that sent Me is with Me, and He hath not left Me alone: for I do always the things that please Him.

St. Joseph-Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Joseph

These words were spoken to Sister on the eve of St. Joseph’s feast day, March 18, 1958:

· My child, I desire a day to be set aside to honor my fatherhood.

· The privilege of being chosen by God to be the Virgin-Father of His Son was mine alone, and no honor, excluding that bestowed upon my Holy Spouse, was ever, or will ever, be as sublime or as high as this.

· The Holy Trinity desires thus to honor me that in my unique fatherhood all fatherhood might be blessed.

· Dear child, I was king in the little home of Nazareth, for I sheltered within it the Prince of Peace and the Queen of Heaven. To me they looked for protection and sustenance, and I did not fail them.

· I received from them the deepest love and reverence, for in me they saw Him Whose place I took over them.

· So, the head of the family must be loved, obeyed, and respected, and in return be a true father and protector to those under his care.

· In honoring in a special way my fatherhood, you also honor Jesus and Mary. The Divine Trinity has placed into our keeping the peace of the world.

· The imitation of the Holy Family, my child, of the virtues we practiced in our little home at Nazareth is the way for all souls to that peace which comes from God alone and which none other can give.

St. Joseph appeared to Sister again to explain the First Wednesday devotion God wishes to establish in his honor. Sister states:

His requests were similar to those of Our Lady and the First Saturday. The Sacred Hearts of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph have been chosen by the Most Holy Trinity to bring peace to the world; hence, their request for special love and honor, also, in particular, reparation and imitation.

These are the words of St. Joseph as recorded on March 30, 1958:

“I am the protector of the Church and the home, as I was the protector of Christ and His Mother while I lived upon earth. Jesus and Mary desire that my pure heart, so long hidden and unknown, be now honored in a special way.

1. Let my children honor my most pure heart in a special manner on the First Wednesday of the month by reciting the Joyful Mysteries of the rosary in memory of my life with Jesus and Mary and the love I bore them, the sorrow I suffered with them.

2. Let them receive Holy Communion in union with the love with which I received the Savior for the first time and each time I held Him in my arms.

Those who honor me in this way will be consoled by my presence at their death, and I myself will conduct them safely into the presence of Jesus and Mary.

I will come again, little child of my most pure heart. Until then, continue in patience and humility, which is so pleasing to God.”

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 275 2110-2117

PART THREE: LIFE IN CHRIST

SECTION TWO-THE TEN COMMANDMENTS

CHAPTER ONE-YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND

Article 1-THE FIRST COMMANDMENT

III. "You Shall Have No Other Gods Before Me"

2110 The first commandment forbids honoring gods other than the one Lord who has revealed himself to his people. It proscribes superstition and irreligion. Superstition in some sense represents a perverse excess of religion; irreligion is the vice contrary by defect to the virtue of religion.

Superstition

2111 Superstition is the deviation of religious feeling and of the practices this feeling imposes. It can even affect the worship we offer the true God, e.g., when one attributes an importance in some way magical to certain practices otherwise lawful or necessary. To attribute the efficacy of prayers or of sacramental signs to their mere external performance, apart from the interior dispositions that they demand, is to fall into superstition.

Idolatry

2112 The first commandment condemns polytheism. It requires man neither to believe in, nor to venerate, other divinities than the one true God. Scripture constantly recalls this rejection of "idols, (of) silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see." These empty idols make their worshippers empty: "Those who make them are like them; so are all who trust in them." God, however, is the "living God" who gives life and intervenes in history.

2113 Idolatry not only refers to false pagan worship. It remains a constant temptation to faith. Idolatry consists in divinizing what is not God. Man commits idolatry whenever he honors and reveres a creature in place of God, whether this be gods or demons (for example, satanism), power, pleasure, race, ancestors, the state, money, etc. Jesus says, "You cannot serve God and mammon." Many martyrs died for not adoring "the Beast" refusing even to simulate such worship. Idolatry rejects the unique Lordship of God; it is therefore incompatible with communion with God.

2114 Human life finds its unity in the adoration of the one God. the commandment to worship the Lord alone integrates man and saves him from an endless disintegration. Idolatry is a perversion of man's innate religious sense. An idolater is someone who "transfers his indestructible notion of God to anything other than God."

Divination and magic

2115 God can reveal the future to his prophets or to other saints. Still, a sound Christian attitude consists in putting oneself confidently into the hands of Providence for whatever concerns the future, and giving up all unhealthy curiosity about it. Improvidence, however, can constitute a lack of responsibility.

2116 All forms of divination are to be rejected: recourse to Satan or demons, conjuring up the dead or other practices falsely supposed to "unveil" the future. Consulting horoscopes, astrology, palm reading, interpretation of omens and lots, the phenomena of clairvoyance, and recourse to mediums all conceal a desire for power over time, history, and, in the last analysis, other human beings, as well as a wish to conciliate hidden powers. They contradict the honor, respect, and loving fear that we owe to God alone.

2117 All practices of magic or sorcery, by which one attempts to tame occult powers, so as to place them at one's service and have a supernatural power over others - even if this were for the sake of restoring their health - are gravely contrary to the virtue of religion. These practices are even more to be condemned when accompanied by the intention of harming someone, or when they have recourse to the intervention of demons. Wearing charms is also reprehensible. Spiritism often implies divination or magical practices; the Church for her part warns the faithful against it. Recourse to so-called traditional cures does not justify either the invocation of evil powers or the exploitation of another's credulity.

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Conversion of Sinners

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Make reparations to the Holy Face

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

[1]http://www.shmoop.com/esther/

[2]https://www.shmoop.com/esther/chapter-1-summary.html

[3] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896

Monday, March 17, 2025

Monday Night at the Movies

The Nun's Story

Christopher’s Corner

· Catechism # 2415 The seventh commandment enjoins respect for the integrity of creation.

o Liberty Wildlife-My Eagle Scout Project was to build a walk-in cage for wild birds.

§ Liberty Wildlife envisions a time when wildlife is recognized as an integral part of our natural world, and a precious natural resource, to be protected and preserved.

§ Liberty Wildlife envisions being a permanent community resource, a place to instill compassion and stewardship in young minds and a place to reconnect the public with the beauty and benefits of native wildlife and habitat.

§ Liberty Wildlife envisions a time when the community as a whole participates in the safekeeping of the natural world.

· Patrick’s Day March 17th Don your friendliest green for St. Patrick’s Day. Boston is the place to be, with the city’s official St. Patrick’s Day Parade drawing anywhere from 600,000 to 1 million people every year.

· Evacuation Day in Boston marks the moment when the city was freed from British military control during the early days of the American Revolutionary War.

· Eat waffles and Pray for the assistance of the Angels

· Spirit hour[10] Irish Whiskey of course

o Not too much take care of your liver

· Total Consecration to St. Joseph Day 31

· National Corned Beef and Cabbage Day

· Bucket List trip[11]: Holocaust Museum

· Monday: Litany of Humility

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Try[12]: Affogato

MARCH 17 Monday Second Week in Lent

Zachariah, Chapter 9, verse 5-6

⁵Ashkelon will see it and be AFRAID; Gaza too will be in great anguish; Ekron also, for its hope will wither. The king will disappear from Gaza, Ashkelon will not be inhabited, ⁶and the illegitimate will rule in Ashdod.

Ashkelon was a coastal city of the Philistines usually at war with Israel. What God is saying to the Israelite’s is that He has got their backs and is in the process of restoring Israel. God’s mercy is so great that not only does he restore Israel but, God the Father, eventually will restore all those who have Holy Fear. “The Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.” (John 3:14-15)

“The fact that Jesus suffered for us means that our suffering now has somewhere to go. Our pain, our battle with sin, our struggle to truly believe in him, all of this can be laid within the wounds of Christ and healed. When we carry our scars alone, they blind us. They paralyze us. They prevent us from experiencing joy. But when we unite our own wounds to those of Christ, when we allow ourselves to encounter the wounded but glorified Christ, we are able to move beyond our own.[1]

Let us this day say the prayer of Everyman[2]

Into thy hands, Lord, my soul I commend; receive it, Lord, that it be not lost; and save me from the fiend’s boast, that I may appear with the blessed host that shall be saved at the day of doom. Into thy hands-of might’s most forever-I commend my spirit.

Here we see God’s mercy is always greater than His justice. Be daring for we are favored and great is His mercy to us.

Christ shows us the Father in His forgiveness. Christ would not relent for as you read the gospels it is clear Christ teaches forgiveness and tells us to ask for the strength to forgive other people. Christ in his first sermon made it abundantly clear we need forgiveness and in His death His last words were about forgiveness. God shows us in this verse to not keep score. How often we tabulate all the wrongs others have done to us. We hold grudges; we plot and wait for vengeance. Christ shows us the depth of His love by forgiving even his executioners.[3]

Monday Second Week in Lent[4]

Prayer. BE propitious, O Lord, to our prayers, and heal the desires of our souls, that, having received forgiveness, we may ever rejoice in Thy benediction.

EPISTLE, in. Kings xvii. 8-16.

In those days: The word of the Lord came to Elias, the Thesbite, saying: Arise, and go to Sarephta a city of the idonians, and dwell there: for I have commanded a widow woman there to feed thee. He arose and went to Sarephta. And when he was come to the gate of the city, he saw the widow woman gathering sticks, and he called her, and said to her: Give me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink. And when she was going to fetch it, he called after her, saying: Bring me also, I beseech thee, a morsel of bread in thy hand. And she answered: As the Lord thy God liveth, I have no bread, but only a handful of meal in a pot, and a little oil in a cruse: behold I am gathering two sticks that I may go in and dress it, for me and my son, that we may eat it and die. And Elias said to her: Fear not but go and do as thou hast said: but first make for me of the same meal a little hearth-cake and bring it to me: and after make for thyself and thy son. For thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: The pot of meal shall not waste, nor the cruse of oil be diminished, until the day wherein the Lord will give rain upon the face of the earth. She went and did according to the word of Elias: and he ate, and she and her house: and from that day the pot of meal wasted not, and the cruse of oil was not diminished, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke in the hand of Elias.

GOSPEL. Matt, xxiii. 1-12.

At that time Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to His disciples, saying: The scribes and the Pharisees have sitten on the chair of Moses. All things therefore whatsoever they shall say to you, observe and do but according to their works do ye not: for they say, and do not. For they bind heavy and insupportable burdens and lay them on men’s shoulders: but with a finger of their own they will not move them. And all their works they do for to be seen of men. For they make their phylacteries broad and enlarge their fringes. And they love the first places at feasts, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and salutations in the marketplace, and to be called by men, Rabbi. But be not you called Rabbi. For One is your master, and all of you are brethren. And call none your father upon earth: for One is your father Who is in heaven. Neither be ye called masters: for One is your master, Christ. He that is the greatest among you shall be your servant. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be humbled: and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

Explanation.

The law of God imposes certain obligations on us. The priest and the teacher teach God’s Gospel in His name, and we shall be judged if we refuse to believe God’s truth and, in His Church, because our teachers may not practice what they preach.

The greatest proof of Christ's charity was given on the Cross. With Christ our gift of ourselves will be given to God as an expression of our love. Communion will lift our human activities up to God's level, not only in will and intention, but in the reality of the sacrament. Let us offer then, and believe, and change our lives into more loving. —St. Andrew Bible Missal

Saint Patrick

ST. PATRICK[5] was born towards the close of the fourth century, but the place of his birth is not positively known. Britain and Scotland both claim the honor, but the best authorities seem to agree upon Brittany, in France. In his sixteenth year he was carried into captivity by certain barbarians, who took him into Ireland, where he was obliged to keep cattle on the mountains and in the forests, in hunger and nakedness, amidst snows, rain, and ice. The young man had recourse to God with his whole heart in fervent prayer and fasting and from that time faith and the love of God acquired continually new strength in his tender soul. After six months spent in slavery under the same master St. Patrick was admonished by God in a dream to return to his own country, and informed that a ship was then ready to sail thither. He went at once to the seacoast, though at a great distance, and found the vessel. After three days sail, they made land, but wandered twenty-seven days through deserts, and were a long while distressed for want of provisions. Patrick assured the company that if they would address themselves with their whole hearts to the true God He would hear and succor them. They did so, and on the same day met with a herd of swine. From that time provisions never failed them, till on the twenty-seventh day they came into a country that was cultivated and inhabited. Some years afterwards he was again led captive but recovered his liberty after two months. When he was at home with his parents, God manifested to him, by divers’ visions, that He destined him to the great work of the conversion of Ireland. The writers of his life say that after his second captivity he travelled into Gaul and Italy, and saw St. Martin, St. Germanus of Auxerre, and Pope Celestine, and that he received his mission and the apostolical benediction from this Pope, who died in 432. Great opposition was made to his episcopal consecration and mission, both by his own relations and by the clergy; but the Lord, whose will he consulted by earnest prayer, supported him, and he persevered in his resolution. He forsook his family, sold his birthright and dignity to serve strangers, and consecrated his soul to God, to carry His name to the ends of the earth. In this disposition he passed into Ireland to preach the Gospel, penetrating into the remotest corners; and such was the fruit of his preaching’s and sufferings that he baptized an infinite number of people. He ordained everywhere clergymen, induced women to live in holy widowhood and continence, consecrated virgins to Christ, and instituted monks. He took nothing from the many thousands whom he baptized, but gave freely of his own, both to pagans and Christians, distributed large alms to the poor in the provinces where he passed, and maintained and educated many children, whom he trained to serve at the altar. The happy success of his labors cost him many persecutions. He died and was buried at Down, in Ulster. His body was found there in a church of his name in 1185 and translated to another part of the same church.

A WARRIOR’S BREASTPLATE[6]

I bind unto myself today the power of God to hold and lead, His eye to watch, his might to stay, His ear to hearken to my need; the wisdom of my God to teach, his hand to guide, his shield to ward; the word of God to give me speech, his heavenly host to be my guard. Christ be with me, Christ within me, Christ behind me, Christ before me, Christ beside me, Christ to win me, Christ to comfort and restore me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ in quiet, Christ in danger, Christ in the hearts of all that love me, Christ in the mouth of friend and stranger. Amen

Things to Do[7]

· This is a good day to honor St. Patrick by trying typical Irish fare: corned beef and cabbage, soda bread, scones, stew, Shepherd's pie, potatoes in various forms and the famous beer and spirits of Ireland. For dessert, try making the Irish Porter Cake.

· Read the Lorica (Breastplate) of St. Patrick. Here is an older translation — pray it with your family after your rosary tonight.

· From the Catholic Culture library: The Conversion of Ireland by Warren Carroll, The Irish Soldiers of Mexico by Michael Hogan, The Irish Madonna of Hungary by Zsolt Aradi and Our Lady in Old Irish Folklore and Hymns by James F. Cassidy.

· Don your friendliest green for St. Patrick’s Day. Boston is the place to be, with the city’s official St. Patrick’s Day Parade drawing anywhere from 600,000 to 1 million people every year.

Saint Patrick's Day Facts & Quotes[8]

· St. Patrick used the three-leaf shamrock to explain the Trinity to non-Christians. The leaves stood for the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

· Approximately 5.5 million pints of Irish Guinness stout are consumed on an average day. On St. Patrick's Day, nearly 13 million are consumed.

· Wearing the shamrock, a three-leaf clover is a St. Patrick's Day tradition. The official three-leaf clover is known scientifically as Trifolium dubium however clovers can also have more leaves. Four-leaf clovers are said to be lucky, however the odds of finding one are about 1 to 10,000.

· The love of God and his fear grew in me more and more, as did the faith, and my soul was roused, so that, in a single day, I have said as many as a hundred prayers and in the night, nearly the same. - St. Patrick

· Sláinte! - used when clinking glasses with friends at a bar (equivalent of Cheers or Health!)

Saint Patrick's Day Top Events and Things to Do

· Wear green! In some parts of the world, the custom is to pinch people who aren't wearing the color of shamrocks.

· Attend a St. Patrick's Day parade. Major cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Dallas, and Boston host marching bands and floats.

· The heart of any Irish neighborhood is its local pub. Share a couple of green Guinness beers with friends at a local Irish pub or try Magner's (Bulmer's) apple cider as an alternative.

· St. Patrick was a brave and humble man. Have you been putting off something because you are afraid to do it? Do it today in honor of St. Patrick's Day.

Croagh Patrick

Ireland has a long tradition of holy pilgrimages, dating back to St. Patrick’s fast on what is now known as Croagh Patrick in 441. In the pasts few years, the Pilgrim Paths foundation has been restoring the ancient penitential paths and has so far created five guided walks. After pilgrims get their “passports” stamped after completing each of the five routes, they receive an Irish Pilgrim Paths completion certificate from Ballintubber Abbey in County Mayo.

Gaelic Prayers

Almsgiving[9]

When we consider God valued the human person as so precious enough to die for, we should make a concerted effort to aid others.

The giving of Alms has everything to do with devotions and piety. Almsgiving is a powerful form of prayer. “Prayer and fasting are good, but better than either is almsgiving accompanied by righteousness…It is better to give alms than to store up gold; for almsgiving saves one from death and expiates every sin. Those who regularly give alms shall enjoy a full life” (Tob 12:8-9) To give alms is to give to God. If we are giving alms righteously then most likely we are doing it though some form of fasting giving from our substance. The giving of Alms should not philanthropy with a smiling photo op and boost to our pride. The earliest Christians knew they could not make a good Communion if they neglected the poor. St. Ignatius noted that the twin marks of heresy are the neglect of the poor and neglect of the Eucharist. “The mystery of the poor is this: that they are Jesus and what you do for them you do to him.” (Dorothy Day) The Eucharist is the key to a civilization of love. It saves us from misguided tenderness and feel-good philanthropy, because it gives us the grace to sacrifice as Jesus did. Our main focus must be widows and orphans. (Single parents and children) “Widows and orphan are to be revered like the altar of sacrifice.” (Pope Paul VI) We should give as much as we can and we should give it responsibly making sure the alms are not wasted.

Mormons in their almsgiving, for example, do fast offerings in addition to tithing. This offering accompanies a monthly 24-hour fast. All the money that would have been spent to buy food during those 24 hours is donated to the Church for the purpose of feeding the hungry and caring for the needy.

Catechism of the Catholic Church

Day 274 2104

2104 "All men are bound to seek the truth, especially in what concerns God and his Church, and to embrace it and hold on to it as they come to know it." This duty derives from "the very dignity of the human person." It does not contradict a "sincere respect" for different religions which frequently "reflect a ray of that truth which enlightens all men," nor the requirement of charity, which urges Christians "to treat with love, prudence and patience those who are in error or ignorance with regard to the faith."

2105 The duty of offering God genuine worship concerns man both individually and socially. This is "the traditional Catholic teaching on the moral duty of individuals and societies toward the true religion and the one Church of Christ." By constantly evangelizing men, the Church works toward enabling them "to infuse the Christian spirit into the mentality and mores, laws and structures of the communities in which [they] live." The social duty of Christians is to respect and awaken in each man the love of the true and the good. It requires them to make known the worship of the one true religion which subsists in the Catholic and apostolic Church. Christians are called to be the light of the world. Thus, the Church shows forth the kingship of Christ over all creation and in particular over human societies.

2106 "Nobody may be forced to act against his convictions, nor is anyone to be restrained from acting in accordance with his conscience in religious matters in private or in public, alone or in association with others, within due limits." This right is based on the very nature of the human person, whose dignity enables him freely to assent to the divine truth which transcends the temporal order. For this reason it "continues to exist even in those who do not live up to their obligation of seeking the truth and adhering to it."

2107 "If because of the circumstances of a particular people special civil recognition is given to one religious community in the constitutional organization of a state, the right of all citizens and religious communities to religious freedom must be recognized and respected as well."

2108 The right to religious liberty is neither a moral license to adhere to error, nor a supposed right to error, but rather a natural right of the human person to civil liberty, i.e., immunity, within just limits, from external constraint in religious matters by political authorities. This natural right ought to be acknowledged in the juridical order of society in such a way that it constitutes a civil right.

2109 The right to religious liberty can of itself be neither unlimited nor limited only by a "public order" conceived in a positivist or naturalist manner. The "due limits" which are inherent in it must be determined for each social situation by political prudence, according to the requirements of the common good, and ratified by the civil authority in accordance with "legal principles which are in conformity with the objective moral order."

Daily Devotions

· Unite in the work of the Porters of St. Joseph by joining them in fasting: Today's Fast: Individuals with Mental Illness note: We pray for Politian’s separately

· Litany of the Most Precious Blood of Jesus

· Offering to the sacred heart of Jesus

· Make reparations to the Holy Face

· Drops of Christ’s Blood

· Universal Man Plan

[1] Liturgical Publications Inc.

[2] Everyman other Miracle and Morality Plays, Dover Press 1995

[3] Allen R. Hunt, Everybody needs to forgive somebody.

[4] Goffine’s Devout Instructions, 1896

[5] Goffine’s Divine Instructions, 1896.

[6] St. Patrick

[7]https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2018-03-17