A fellow parishioner venerating Our Lady's
statue and the Sacred Relics on the altar.
This month's First Saturday Rosary for Peace was just beautiful! Our prayer was totally dedicated to the dearly departed, as we invoked the Divine Mercy of God and the intercession of Our Lady and the Saints on their behalf. Among our extended spiritual family of regular participants, there were also many new people in the pews; most of them from neighboring parishes who I'd like to think had come on a "mini-pilgrimage" to pray and venerate the Sacred Relics that were present with us in the Day Chapel.
A few parishioners and visitors awaiting
the start of the First Saturday Rosary in St.
Anthony's Day Chapel.
Our Saint of the Month was Bl. Miguel Pro - a Priest-Martyr - whose Memorial is celebrated by the Jesuits and the country of Mexico on November 23rd. I shared about his courageous ministry in the face of government persecution, his heroic death, and presented a 2nd Class Relic of a wood fragment from his original coffin. One of the newbies - a young Hispanic woman who was present with her two little daughters - seemed particularly touched by the entire prayer meeting and she informed me that she'd be returning next month. What a blessing!
The Saint of the Month - Bl. Miguel Pro -
was represented by his relic (left), and the
Blessed Mother, by her relic (right).
After the Rosary ended we all disbursed to attend the vigil Mass in the main church where even more tangible graces awaited. A friend of mine drew my attention to a sweet, but subtle, fragrance of flowers that seemed to come and go... and which filled our nostrils with a refreshingly cool sensation in the midst of the warm, muggy weather. I'm not sure if anyone else noticed the scent, but because we both experienced it before in various religious settings, we recognized it as a confirmation of Our Lady's presence among us.
The next First Saturday Rosary for Peace will be prayed on December 1st, beginning at 4:25pm with the sharing of the December Saint of the Month and his/her respective relic. All are welcomed to participate.
With the permission of the author, who lives in Canada, I am posting a part of an email I received from her last night. Her name is "Holly" and she's a regular visitor to this blogsite. I was deeply touched by her inspirational message, as copied below:
ReplyDelete"Dearest Peter,
Hi. I wanted to let you know that I prayed the Rosary with you and all present in the Day Chapel (or wherever the Rosary was presented) at 8:25pm (CST), which would have been 4:25 pm (UTC).
At the end of the Rosary, I prayed the Memorare, to St. Michael the Archangel, and asked Our Lady of Sorrows to intercede for us all.
I also kept in mind and in heart all those who have gone before us, especially our brothers and sisters in Purgatory and prayed for the American Election, government, etc.
Peter, I hope and pray that it doesn't appear as if I am bragging or being a braggart about praying the Rosary, attending certain types of Masses, and so forth with this e-mail, the previous e-mail, and any e-mail I have sent. That is not my intention. I just simply wanted to let you know that I decided I would like to pray the Rosary with you and others in Hawaii.
'For where two or three are gathered in my name [Jesus], there am I in the midst of them.' ~ Matthew 18:20"