peace

The war against ourselves

St. Teresa of Avila talked about the role of the contemplative as a standard bearer. She described the holder of the guidon of Jesus, of love, as having the one goal to hold the banner high no matter what chaos whirls around him, no matter if he is cut to pieces. If the standard bearer should fall, he must struggle to his feet again to hold high the symbol that urges on those in battle, gives them hope, lets them know their comrades are nearby when their courage flags.

I have thought a lot in the past couple of days about what was wrong with me in the midst of the chaos; meaning the violence of thought word and deed since the public murder of Charlie Kirk. I couldn’t hold the banner so much. It wobbled, as Winnie the Pooh would say of his spelling. It wobbled, shook, slipped as I took in entirely too much of what was going on. I have CPTSD and it’s important for me to guard how much craziness I absorb. Also I am an empath type person. I feel what people are feeling deeply. I don’t know about you but the last couple of days have triggered me badly. I have felt like a microcosm of the macrocosm of horror and rage, of compassion and sympathy, of fear and dread. My fight or flight has been FIGHT as usual. I too want to fill my mouth with argument along with everyone else.

St. Teresa would be the first person to say our real war is against ourselves. she advised us to return again and again to “the room of self knowledge.” Well today I am trying that.

Simeon the Prophet told Mother Mary that a sword would pierce her heart “so that the secret thoughts of many [would] be laid bare (Lk. 2:35). I have thought about that at times of tragedy and reckoning over the last several years. It does seem that the secret thoughts of many are laid bare in the midst of tragedy, of horrific events. Mary’s heart was pierced through by her love and compassion for her Son, and really, for us too. Murder surely pierces her heart. Injustice, people doing harm to one another, these must hurt her terribly. Jesus Crucified by hate. Again and again.

I have had my PTSD triggered by the event itself; a horrible murder. A father and husband with little kids suddenly dead. I lost my first husband in a car accident when my youngest was three months old and my eldest three weeks shy of her fifth birthday. I can hardly stand to think of what Kirk’s widow is going through today and what she will go through in the days, weeks, months, years ahead of her. She will have to watch her children grieve. She will have to be there for them as her world is ending. I can’t imagine people watching video all over the world of my husband dying a gruesome death. I was surprised when the sun still rose the day after my husband died. I watched in shock as the news came on and people went to work and school and drove around as if the sky hadn’t fallen. I feel for her very much.

The secret thoughts of many have been laid bare haven’t they? I’ve been triggered by some of their reactions as well as the original event. Some people have been sanitizing the murdered man as if he had been a saint when he was a rank racist who said things every day that could get people harassed, threatened and endangered and did. His public life was all about hate. Then people I thought were sane are saying his work should be “continued,” (Gavin Newsom) or that he “did politics the right way.” (Ezra Klein).

Some have been fawning over him. Their hero is dead. Incomprehensible to me. He was horrible. Look up the things he said for yourself if you don’t believe me.

I think of St. Edith Stein’s saying that truth without love or love without truth is a destructive lie. And look. It is. Historically Black campuses have had bomb threats. The DNC had a bomb threat. Why? I guess because Kirk hated black people? Or because they assumed a black person did it? Because he hated Democrats? They assume the culprit is a Democrat? Brawls have broken out. The president wants to give the man a statue in DC and award him the presidential medal of freedom. Of course he does. He hasn’t helped with his incendiary blaming of “radical left Democrats.”

The outpouring of grief and praise for the man must be a gut punch to the people he harmed with his bullying, with his hate and his stirring up more and more hate. I know it’s a gut punch for me. My heart is the most with the vulnerable and persecuted. That’s where I think it should be. However that solidarity of mine has caused me a lot of rage over the last couple of days. A friend said, to my prayer online for peace and an end to political violence, “You’re a good person.” I replied, “Not really.” I noticed one of my kids put a laughing emoji on that. Thanks a lot Roise.

Also triggering to me is the response of people who want to skip the ugly process of truth and reckoning to get to the peace they think would come if we all decided to just get along and lay aside our differences. To me that’s fake peace. After the things I have been through I have seen enough of that. How can we love our enemies if we whitewash and sanitize what they have done? That’s fake love. It’s useless, wrong even.

I see how I have been freaking out about all this; angry, horrified, scared for our country, taking in too much of what everyone is saying and what the news is when I know that makes me so upset.

Maybe I can offer up all the wild inner agony I have had about all this to God to help someone somewhere. Mary’s piercing of the heart was co-redemptive. I can entrust my little offering of a struggling heart to her.

I pray that I’ll be able to love Kirk- who by all accounts would be an enemy of mine at least as a public figure- in the way God wants me to. Right now that seems to me to be to pray for his salvation, for a beautiful forever life with God for him. Whatever he is doing, Charlie Kirk understands more than any of us do now. He has a completely different perspective. He has encountered eternal love and life. May he embrace them, embrace him who is love and life himself with all of his heart and possess them forever. God says he will give us all new hearts instead of our stony hearts. Amen amen.

I need to ask for that for myself, too. For all of us.

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh”
Ezekiel 36:26

September 12, 2025 1

Praying the News of the week, September 7

Opening Invocation

Give us joy for the days of our affliction, for the years when we looked upon evil.
Psalm 90:15

God of compassion, we bring into your presence all that weighs on our hearts this week, especially the human suffering and the most frightening things we see and hear of in the news daily. We gather these headlines not to dwell in despair or fear, but to bring them into the refuge of your healing presence.

Deep Focus

May our daughters [be] like columns adorned for a palace.
Psalm 144:12b

Lord, the horror these women went through as girls has sickened us. Only you know the depth of their suffering, of the damage done, how re-traumatized they are after speaking up this week. May they be believed and may they see justice in their lifetimes. May they feel protected now as they should have been then. Jesus, you have said if someone harms one of your little ones it would be better for them to be thrown in the river tied to a millstone. Your compassion is with these women. Send your mother to help them heal. May she pray for Epstein survivors, and for all survivors of sexual abuse and trafficking. May she cover them with her mantle, encircle them in her arms, strengthen and free them of their nightmares and the daily struggles they face in their woundedness. May these daughters more and more continue growing stronger, with grace and beauty like columns holding up our nation.

Lord Jesus, bring your mercy and truth to abusers that they may repent. In the mercy they receive, may they begin to live in righteousness, making amends for what they have done.

*Bring a mental image of the Epstein Survivors into the presence of Mother Mary. She has been waiting for them. Bring each one to her., one by one. What does she do? What does she say? Does she ask anything of you?

Other Intercessions/Headlines to pray over

O Lord, let your kindness rest upon us,
for we have placed our hope in you.
Psalm 33:22

We pray that you infuse the CDC and NIH and all government agencies and officials responsible for the health of the American people with wisdom, integrity, and respect for gold standard science. We have nothing to fear from wisdom and truth or the facts the scientific process brings us, for you created it all. Bring the people discernment so we know who to trust about our health. May doctors and nurses follow truth in their care of us all.

We pray for the reasonable prosperity of our country in light of the disappointing jobs report and the unhinged economic policies, chaos and trade wars this administration inflicts on our system. May we find a way and may everyone looking for work find meaningful work that meets their needs and brings them dignity.

We pray for our trans brothers and sisters, who are your children as much as we are, that they will be safe from violence, and free from persecution from society and the law for nothing but being trans. Forgive us Lord for the unkindness and hysteria heaped on them in these dark times of intolerance and hate.

We pray for ICE that they will be led to repentance for their violence and cruelty. We pray that they will seek and find better jobs that help instead of harm others; work they can be proud of. We pray for everyone who lives in fear of them, all who are detained, and all of the deported.

We pray for our national guard and armed forces, that they will be true to their pledge to uphold the Constitution and to protect the American people. Give each of them courage and strength when the time comes to resist any illegal orders.

For the cities the president is threatening, may they be safe and free in the face of injustice, and for the people of our capital city.

We pray for our courts that they will mete out justice wisely and impartially according to the Constitution of the United States.

For a just and lasting peace for Palestine, Ukraine and all people suffering war and violence. For the Palestinian people to be saved from famine. For all who suffer malnutrition to be fed. That we ourselves who are safe and well fed will be motivated to feed the hungry and protect the vulnerable.

We pray for all enemies of justice and peace, that they will be stopped, amend their ways, and work for righteousness.

You who are Love, perfect us in love.

Closing Blessing

So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand..

Isaiah 41:10

God, in the moments when the news overwhelms, steady our spirits with the reminder that you hold the world- sun and star, nation and neighbor, beetle and bug, atom and quark, as well as our frightened hearts in your hands and that you remain you even if worlds fall. May your peace shape our hearts, your justice and love shape our actions this week. Lead us in your ways. We ask all these things in your Name, in your honor, and for love of you and our brothers and sisters. Amen

Remember, O most compassionate Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, we fly unto thee, O Virgin of Virgins, Our Mother. To you we come, before you we kneel; sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not our petitions, but on your mercy, hear and answer them. Amen.

September 6, 2025 1

Pray the News 8/31/25

Opening Invocation

He restores my soul;
He guides me in the paths of righteousness
For the sake of His name.
Psalm 23:3

Deep Focus

A voice is heard in Ramah,
    mourning and great weeping,
Rachel weeping for her children
    and refusing to be comforted,
    because they are no more.
Jeremiah 31:15

How long, O Lord, how long will these mass shootings go on? How long until we stop children being gunned down in school? How long will this sickness possess our land, will this demonic scene play out? How long until our leaders listen to the people and do what is necessary so this never happens again? How many little children have to die? How many parents have to grieve for the rest of their lives? Lord, we repent in dust and ashes on behalf of our nation for the violence, for the greed, for the corruption, for our lack of priority for mental health access, and for all our faults as a people. Send your Holy Spirit on us all to bring us and all of our leaders Wisdom, Understanding, Counsel, Fortitude, Knowledge, Piety, and Fear of the Lord, not only to think and to pray but to do what is right. Lord, lift up the families of the dead, especially of the two little ones shot down in Church this week, Harper and Fletcher. May your Spirit of love and consolation be near all the injured and traumatized.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come.

*Quiet your heart and allow yourself to be led by Jesus beside beautiful and quiet water, through green fields where he lays you down to rest, then down paths of goodness and right, now across dark valleys when he is your only light, and finally out into an open place, before a beautiful table. He fills your cup with wine that spills over onto the table cloth, and fills your plate with all you could ever need. He anoints your head with fragrant oil. Let yourself be loved in this moment, knowing this love, too, spills over and fills the world.

Other Intercessions/headlines of this week

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom
2 Corinthians 3:17

We pray for Kilmar Abrego Garcia and that the deep wrongs and injustices heaped on him be righted. We all know he is detained for purely political reasons. Defend him, protect him, and may the truth come roaring like a lion on his behalf before the whole world. If he can’t be safe here may a safe country offer him asylum. Someone must help this man and his family. Let it be you and if it can be us show us the way.

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

We pray for those separated from loved ones by deportation, detention, and forced self deportation, and for all who live in fear of ICE. Lord protect, defend and encourage them. Show us how we can help them and stop this violence. We ask that you send a spirit of compassion and repentance on those who participate in mass deportations, abuse and detention in terrible places. Not only do we beg you to fill them with your merciful love, but to forgive them and let them know the power of your Divine Mercy.

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

We know our president, who has caused and engaged in much evil, cruelty and harm, has been ill and is elderly and frail. We do want him to be stopped from committing any more evil acts but we do pray for his salvation, whatever that will take for him. Before it is too late, grant him the grace of insight and repentance that he can know and not refuse you and your mercy. We pray he will know the joy of forgiveness and transformation in this lifetime or at least at the moment of his death.

Come Holy Spirit, Come.

As war drags on for Ukraine, and slaughter and famine in Palestine, we ask for a just and lasting peace for those places and everywhere there is violence, starvation and war. May the people be fed and be able to live in peace and freedom. May there be healing for survivors and mercy for the dead. We pray for the conversion of Russia so that she will stop spreading her errors throughout the world. We pray for Israeli government to act with mercy and justice. We pray for all nations who have contributed to this mayhem and horror, or stood by while it happened and did not help, to step up, to speak and to act.

Come, Holy Spirit, Come

We pray for an end to the attempts of the federal government to occupy major cities ruled by the presidents’ political rivals. We pray for DC to be self ruled in peace, and for the threatened city of Chicago as the city prepares. Protect the people and the rule of law, we pray.

Come Holy Spirit, come.

Lord, we are living through dark times and each of us has our part to play in bringing light and ending the violence and the violation of human rights, the destruction of our democracy and the hatred, greed and nihilism that fuels all this. We are scared a lot. We ask that you grant us the knowledge of your will for us and the power to carry it out. May the knowledge of you fill the earth as water fills the sea.

Come, Holy Spirit, come.

Closing Blessing

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
John 14:18

Come, Holy Spirit,

Come by means

of the powerful intercession

of the Immaculate Heart

of Mary,

thy well beloved spouse.

August 31, 2025 1

Pray the News 8/24/25

Opening Invocation

So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

1 John 4:16

Deep Focus

He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry.
Psalm 146:7

Our hearts cry out to you for justice. God you see the people of Gaza starving to death because the government of the state of Israel won’t let food or aid in. Lord this is a travesty. The world watches in horror. Israelis and people around the world protest. The U.N. declares a famine. It is man made. Little children are dying while food waits at check points close by, held up. 2000 people including children have been killed trying to seek food at military aid stations. Oh God we need you. Our president supports this and the Israeli leader has no intention of letting Gaza live. What can we do now? Tell us. Speak, Lord. Your servants who are well fed are listening for how we can share. Your children who are dying cry out. Hear us all. Time is running out. Only you are God who hold the hearts of all and every grain of sand. Break through to us. Free Palestine. Feed Palestine. Heal Palestine. And heal the hearts of the oppressors that they will oppress, bomb and starve these people no longer. Open the way.

*Spend a few moments with the Holy Spirit now, flowing through you like gushing water to reach the ruins of Gaza, breaking every barrier, going past every tank, crossing the lines of soldiers who are blocking the way to the aid. With him, become a sweet rain of grace on the people. There is bread in your hands. Feed them all. Now let The Lord bring you the ones who need him most. Let the Spirit guide you in your prayers for them, your words to them, your touch of comfort.

Other Intercessions/Headlines to Pray Over

The spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me; He has sent me to bring good news to the afflicted, to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, release to the prisoners, and to announce a year of favor from the LORD and a day of vindication by our God; To comfort all who mourn
Isaiah 61:

*We give thanks to you, God of freedom and love, for the release of Kilmar Abrego Garcia to his family. The administration is already trying to deport him to Uganda on Monday. So as we sit with our gratitude and happiness for him and his family after all he has been through, we ask that you protect him, Lord. We especially ask for the prayers of St. Michael the Archangel to shield and defend him in his path forward. Give wisdom to his lawyers and helpers. Confuse and defeat those who would harm him. Let there be justice and peace for this man and all others like him.

*We give thanks to you, Lord, that the terrible detention center of Alligator Alcatraz has been ordered to close for environmental reasons. We are so happy about this for that reason and because of the people detained in that abusive place. We all needed something good to happen and those detained need freedom and human dignity. Please continue to help them. We know there will be appeals.

*Our racist president and his administration continue their offensive against Black Americans by erasing their history and even denying it. Lift up your black children, Lord. May the truth of slavery be preserved. May the excellence of black people be lifted up and allowed to shine. May this latest wound inflicted not only on them but on our country by doing this be healed. Let nothing escape your eye. You restore all things. Restore whatever is being destroyed, in the name of all who went before who suffered slavery and racism and do still. Silence those who have set out on this erasure and denial. May the truth come roaring like a lion, defending itself.

*We pray for a free and fair election in 2026. May our country return to its Constitutional values. May we grow closer and closer to the ideals of democracy, equality and freedom.

*We bring the federal occupation of our capital city to you. We read of the threats of our authoritarian president to expand this assault on other cities who voted against him and try to give sanctuary to immigrants. We ask you to stop this, to stop it through us, the people. Show us a way to defeat this. Give light to the minds of the National Guard so they remember their commitment is to us and the Constitution. Give us all courage to do whatever we are supposed to do in the face of this frightening and infuriating turn of events.

*We pray for Epstein and Maxwells victims, that they will know healing and see justice. We pray that the media, society and the law will put their suffering first.

*For an end to wars and violence all over the world, especially in Ukraine and Gaza. May there be lasting and just peace. For this we ask the intercession of the Queen of Peace, Our Lady.

*Lord, you are close the poor and the homeless. You have said you are them. How dare we destroy what little they have and send them – where? In DC this is happening and it happens around our country. Christ have mercy on them and on us this is so wrong, especially since it’s harsh and thoughtless policies that have largely made them homeless to begin with. We have treated you like dirt, Lord. Help us set this right. We pray for all of them. Protect them and give them the peace and the love and the dignity they deserve.

Closing Blessing

The Lord has established his throne in heaven,

and his kingdom rules over all.

Praise the Lord, you his angels,
    you mighty ones who do his bidding,
    who obey his word.
Praise the Lord, all his heavenly hosts,
    you his servants who do his will.
Praise the Lord, all his works
    everywhere in his dominion.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

Psalm 103: 19-22

August 23, 2025 1

Praying the News of the week, August 10, 2025

Opening invocation

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God.
1 John 4:7a

God of compassion, we bring into your presence all that weighs on our hearts this week, especially the human suffering we see and hear of in the news daily. We gather these headlines not to dwell in despair or fear, but to bring them into the refuge of your healing presence.

Deep Focus

We pray especially for Gaza, where a man made famine is unfolding and 217 people, many of them children, died of starvation this week. To our horror, aid continues to be blocked, and people who come for food to the military controlled aid stations are often shot. Lord, hear the cries of these people, and the cries of our own hearts against this murderous injustice in front of a seemingly helpless world. Open the way for food and medical supplies to flood into Gaza, and open the hearts of those opposed, that they might be filled with mercy.

Spend a few minutes in simple silence with God. Feel what you feel about Gaza’s situation, all of it. Let it be here for God to do something with it. Don’t worry about words. Just be as open as you can in silence and trust, letting yourself be a channel for the outflow of his divine will into this world, for his transforming love to come through you.

*You may notice a quiet change in how you feel as you do this. Even if you don’t, God remains God and you can trust he is working through you right now.

Other Intercessions/Headlines to pray over

Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.
Matthew 7:7

For those who live in fear of ICE, that they will be protected, treated with dignity and justice, and for those standing up for them, we pray.

Lord hear our payer.

For those detained by ICE, especially those being harmed and abused, Oh God deliver them.

Lord, Hear our prayer.

For those in the path of wildfires, that they and the fire fighters will be safe.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For Ukraine, for a just and lasting peace.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the defeat of authoritarian leaders and governments all over the world, we pray.

Lord, hear our prayer.

For the victims of Epstein and Maxwell, that they will be heard, believed and respected. May there will be justice and restoration for them.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Jesus, you have said we must pray for our enemies, so we pray for the enemies of justice and love, that they will be truly converted in mind and heart.

Lord, hear our prayer.

Closing Blessing

Let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.
Amos 5:24

God, in the moments when the news overwhelms, steady our spirits with the reminder that you hold the world- sun and star, nation and neighbor, beetle and bug, atom and quark in your hands and that you remain you even if worlds fall. May your peace shape our hearts, your justice and love shape our actions this week. Lead us in your ways. Amen.

*Reader, please feel free to add your own prayers to these in the comments if I have missed a news story that got to you this week.

August 10, 2025 0

Pools of silence that heal the world

Things are so crazy right now. The world is crazy and our lives are crazy. We all know this. My life has had a lot of what people call “drama.” Right now is no exception. As I worked on my book about St. Teresa’s Prayer of Recollection (Meeting the One who loves you; St. Teresa of Avila’s way of prayer. Scheduled to be released on her feast day, October 15,) I thought about the development of my discipline of prayer in the middle of stress and difficulties.

My discipline of daily prayer was, of course, very imperfect. I had trouble being consistent. I was, as I mention sometimes, widowed young then raising two kids alone for many years. I could hardly get a moment to eat or do the dishes when the youngest was a baby. How did I develop a contemplative life?

I was reading over again a few pages from the book Poustinia by Servant of God Catherine Dougherty last night and came across this wonderful quote from her:

Deserts, silence, solitude, are not necessarily places but states of mind and heart. These deserts can be found in the midst of the city, and in the every day of our lives. We need only to look for them and realize our tremendous need for them. They will be small solitudes, little deserts, tiny pools of silence, but the experience they will bring, if we are disposed to enter them, may be as exultant and as holy as the one God himself entered. For it is God who makes solitude, deserts, and silences holy.
Poustinia

This is what I did. I found little deserts, tiny pools and pockets of silence in the midst of my harried days, in the midst of daily tasks like folding laundry, doing dishes. I have clear memories that are precious to me of the tenderness and wisdom of God, passing by as if brushing near my cheek, touching my heart at times I was doing little things like sweeping the living room floor. There were brief but fruitful moments of silence after taking the trash out when I looked up at the night sky and smiled at God, or in the middle of cooking, working or doing dishes.

Catherine writes that when we carry out the duties of our state in life, and when we are disposed in heart to receive these moments of quietness, they will come. We will notice them like a gentle hand on our shoulder saying, “Wait just a minute.”

I was so overwhelmed as a single mom. I had a great dream, during that time though, that I went into the kitchen and Jesus was there, hair in a ponytail, wiping out my refrigerator for me. I was so grateful in the dream, and happy about it when I woke up. Maybe he meant that if I took care of my prayer when I could, he would make sure things got done, and he would be there for me when I turned to him.

I still find little deserts in my still busy life today. I have built on these moments over the years, to include quiet moments of connection with the young special needs people I work with, a quiet moment petting my dog, Joey, or listening closely to someone needing to be heard. As Catherine and all the mystics point out, the fruits of conscious contact with God spill out to contact with others. Love always moves and flows. By it’s nature it can’t keep to itself. If our prayer is authentic, it won’t even stay in it’s scheduled time and place. God will start splashing it all over our lives and the lives of others too. It has to grow, it has to flow, it has to blossom to be real.

Prayer and love of others, of service, support one another, each setting off and intensifying the colors of the other. They don’t exist without one another.

St. Teresa, S.O.G. Catherine Dougherty and St. Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross) wrote extensively of how contemplative prayer actually has an effect on the growth and conversion of others. It goes out even further to change the world. We all need to take this very seriously right now. Not only do we need to be supported in these scary times by God, we also need to be his light, and as St. Teresa of Avila says, his hands and feet, his clear voice in this world that needs his compassion and love. We have forgotten these things and closed our hearts. We need conversion of heart as a people.

God has made us all connected to one another. So your moment of “found desert” while your’e waiting in line, stuck in traffic, putting gas in the car, taking a deep breath and reaching out to God, can open a window in Heaven, letting the wind of the Spirit rush in. God can work in an instant, even change everything, making our little second of love BIG.

So let’s pay attention today to our possibilities, our tiny pools of silence, pockets of inner solitude, the quietness of heart that come with God’s touch on our faces, the peace that comes from him in those moments. They are more than we could ever imagine. They will shine on us, on others, on the whole world.

“ … a silent heart is a loving heart, and a loving heart is a hospice to the world.”

Servant of God, Catherine Dougherty

July 19, 2025 1

A Litany for Mary’s Immaculate Heart

Lord, have mercy on us.
Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us.
Christ, 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.

Heart of Mary, pray for us.
Heart of Mary, according to the heart of God, pray for us.
Heart of Mary, united to the Heart of Jesus, pray for us.

Heart of Mary sister of our hearts pray for us

Heart of Mary in whom the Gospel blossomed in contemplation pray for us

Heart of Mary always merciful pray for us

Heart of Mary stout and of great courage pray for us

Heart of Mary free and open for God pray for us

Heart of Mary always ready to be the first to love, to serve, to be present, pray for us

Heart of Mary in which there is room for everyone pray for us

Heart of Mary, her gracious core of love, understanding, and acceptance pray for us

Heart of Mary, freely humble and giving pray for us

Heart of Mary, never failing to love anyone pray for us

Heart of Mary seeing each one’s beauty and Godly purpose pray for us

Heart of Mary, loving and understanding each of us completely, pray for us

Heart of Mary, always seeing God, living in his presence pray for us

Heart of Mary, attentive to the Word pray for us

Heart of Mary, holding Jesus our Treasure pray for us

Heart of Mary, gifting us the Pearl of Great Price pray for us

Heart of Mary, our friend, pray for us

Heart of Mary, hearing the cries of the world, pray for us

Heart of Mary, scarred by suffering love, pray for us

Heart of Mary, strong in faith even when she did not understand what was happening, pray for us

Heart of Mary, with us in our work, one with us in all things but sin, pray for us

Heart of Mary trusting and bold like the heart of a child , pray for us

Heart of Mary drawing us to Jesus, pray for us

Heart of Mary, deepening our prayer, pray for us

Heart of Mary, accompanying us always pray for us

Heart of Mary, in solidarity with the lowly, pray for us

Heart of Mary praying that the lowly will be lifted up, the mighty de-throned, the hungry filled, the rich emptied, the proud scattered in their inmost thoughts, pray for us

Heart of Mary to be found among the least of our brothers and sisters, pray for us

Heart of Mary full of joy and always sharing it with us, pray for us

Heart of Mary, ready to laugh, of easy smiles and good humor, pray for us

Heart of Mary, drawing us after you in the fragrance of your holiness, pray for us

Heart of Mary filled with the Holy Spirit and wisdom pray for us

Heart of Mary bursting with the praises of God, pray for us

Heart of Mary, drawing the Spirit to rest on God’s people, pray for us

Heart of Mary always speaking Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, pray for us

Immaculate Heart of Mary, meek and humble of Heart,
Make our hearts according to the Heart of Jesus.

Let us pray:

O most merciful God, who for the salvation of sinners and the refuge of the wretched, has made the Immaculate Heart of Mary most like in tenderness and pity to the Heart of Jesus, grant that we, who now commemorate her most sweet and loving heart, may by her merits and intercession, ever live in the companionship of the hearts of both Mother and Son, through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.

June 29, 2025 1

Travel by Heart

Travel by heart

June 25, 2025 0

Time Out for Peace

My sweet friend Julia, of the Focolare Movement, (the official name is “The Work of Mary”), mentioned to me once the practice they have of stopping to pray for peace at noon. Looking into this, I found out this was something a young Focolare Blessed, who had died at the age of seventeen in 1990, of bone cancer, had done every day. Her name is Chiarra Luce (meaning “clear light”). She took one minute daily at noon to pray for peace in silence.

In 2023 The Focolare Movement promoted this idea as “The Time Out for Peace Project.”

Most of us are at work at that time of day as I am. However if we can’t stop for a whole minute we can stop for a second or two.

The Church provides us with a couple of traditional prayers for noon so that we are all joining together in spirit then. One of these is The Angelus, a Marian prayer prayed for centuries at 6am, noon, and 6pm. This is why the bells of so many Catholic Churches and monasteries ring “Angelus Bells” in a pattern of three times in a row three times. These are a reminder to pray the Angelus. I love the Angelus Prayer and I try to pray it every day. If I can’t, I at least touch foreheads with Our Lady or squeeze her hand or at least pray one Hail Mary at that time. It’s a great way to touch base with her. We can dedicate the Angelus to Peace. After all Mary is the Queen of Peace.

The Angelus

The Angel of God declared unto Mary

R/. And she conceived of the Holy Spirit

Hail Mary…

Behold the Handmaid of the Lord

R/. Let it be done unto me as you have said.

Hail Mary…

And the Word was made flesh (genuflect here)

R/. And dwelt among us.

(stand) Hail Mary…

Pray for us, O holy Mother of God,
R/. That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.

Let us pray.

Pour forth, we beseech you, O Lord, your grace into our hearts: that we, to whom the Incarnation of Christ your Son was made known by the message of an Angel, may by his Passion and Cross be brought to the glory of his Resurrection. Through the same Christ our Lord.

Amen.

The other prayer traditionally prayed at noon is Noon Prayer (or “Sext’) from the Liturgy of the Hours. Lest this sound complicated, there are apps for your phone so you can access this simple prayer break in this middle of the day. The Divine Office App or the Universalis App are both good. You can also access the Liturgy of Hours free online at Universalis. It’s made up of a hymn (I usually skip it), three Psalm selections, a short Scripture reading, and a brief closing prayer. It sounds long but it only takes a few minutes in practice.

I sometimes stop for a minute, and look at Jesus residing in my heart. Once I have greeted him I will tell him I am asking him for peace. Sometimes we talk about it. Other times we are quiet and I occasionally say mentally, “Peace, Lord, Peace,” or I imagine us going around the world calming fear, protecting those in danger, reconciling peoples, stopping bombs. I know I can’t stop anything but he can and he likes to have me along I think. He seems to love sharing his work with us. I see imagination as a way to focus intention and express prayer in the same way words do. We don’t need words in order to pray. Neither do we need imagination to pray, but I find it nice.

Of course you can pray for peace in whatever way you like and for however long or briefly you like. These ideas are only suggestions for anyone who wants them.

The important thing is to take time each day, preferably at noon so we can join together by heart, and the Lord will enjoy the prayers for peace crossing his earth with the sunlight like the movements of a song.

Blessed Chiara Luce, pray for us. For peace.