Catholic Months

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March is the Month of Saint Joseph-Part 2

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Why does Holy Church dedicate the month of March to Saint Joseph?  As probably all of you know, his feast is celebrated on the 19th, honoring his espousals to the Mother of God.  It is interesting to note, this feast always occurs during Lent (unless it happens to fall on a Sunday, in which case, have your Italian dinner with tiramisu to celebrate!)…as Easter falls between March 22nd and April 25th (Sunday after first full moon after vernal equinox, which the Church fixes at March 21st MORE INFO).  So it is a no-brainer to incorporate Saint Joseph’s feast into your Lenten exercises.  Some ideas:  attend Mass, read the Mass from the missal, pray a novena starting 9 days before the feast, give alms in honor of Saint Joseph.

Other notable feasts this month in both calendars…

3rd-Saint Katherine Drexel, USA

7th-First Saturday of the Immaculate Heart / Saint Thomas Aquinas, the Angelic Doctor of the Church

17th-Saint Patrick, patron of Ireland

18th-Saint Cyril of Jerusalem, bishop & Doctor of the Church

21st-Saint Benedict, founder of monasticism, twin of Saint Scholastica

22nd-Passion Sunday, begins octave of Passiontide in the trad

24th-Saint Gabriel the Archangel, immediately before the Annunciation

25th-Annunciation of the Lord/Blessed Virgin Mary

27th-Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary, always one week before Good Friday

29th-Palm Sunday, Holy Week begins

Prepper Challenge for March:  Make a Plan!

How did you do with last month’s pantry organizing challenge?  Feel free to contact us with your thoughts and we may post it!  Please know, I am doing these challenges with you.  I have bought some great products and also have been watching motivating videos.  There are so many resources out there now for decluttering, minimalism and organizing.  (Yes, you can and should be a minimalist prepper.)  Here are some products I love:

The Home Edit 3-Tier Shelf      OXO POP Container

I have also been insanely getting into making custom labels.  I bought a thermal label printer, which works from your PC or phone, a lot like Power Point.  You can be really creative and it’s lots of fun.  The older strip-tape manual printers are still quite common and they work great too.

We are now at war with Iran.  This could go in many concerning directions.  Iran is a whole different animal than anything we have ever dealt with before.  Supply issues is a major concern…along with the domino effects this may have.  So, consider yourself warned.  Avail yourself of reliable alternative media, which we regularly refer you to, to stay informed.  In terms of supply, I recommend having a reasonable amount for your family, plus a little extra.  People may need to stay with you.  You may also need to help others in your community.  It is impossible to say “how much” you should have, but cluttering your home is counter-productive.  Pray for guidance and trust God.  And don’t worry, be at peace…and learn how to be resilient (gardening, sewing, keeping small animals and other useful non-electronic skills).

So, this month, think about what I have said above and please print our…

15 Points Preparedness Worksheet

This 4-page worksheet will make it super easy to sit down with your family and make a concrete preparedness plan for the next 12 months and beyond.  And it’s not what you expect, it is from a holistic perspective, based on over 20 years of research and experience. Don’t delay, just print it and start filling it out.  I’ve made it easy for you!  And again, I am doing it with you. It’s about time for me to review this and spiff up my own plan. (If you are local to Long Island, please note I am available to give a talk on this.)

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March is the Month of Saint Joseph-Part 1

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February is the Month of the Holy Family / Update

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UPDATE:  This blog and the work of Nomen Christi Apostolate will be undergoing changes this year.  Please be patient as we work out these changes.  The monthly theme posts will remain similar, including one idea as to how we might celebrate the focus of the month.  The homeschooling suggestions will be replaced by one preparedness task each month.  If you are conducting your children’s Catholic education at home, you might want to look at the “Homeschool Activities” topic to the right>>> to get some fresh ideas, but we will not be dealing with this topic as often.  Please note, we always welcome the thoughts of our readers and may share them!  We also appreciate a first name and city/country.

If you look at the past numerous years I’ve been doing the Catholic monthly dedications, you will see I have always done The Passion of Our Lord for February.  This is because I was working with a certain calendar for many years and this is what it indicated.  The monthly themes are not official, some months have more than one.  These themes have developed over the centuries in different times and places.  The consensus for the month of February is actually the Holy Family, so this will be our first presentation of this theme.

There is no feast of the Holy Family this month, but let us look at when the feasts are, in the post-conciliar and the trad calendars…

Vatican News mentioning both feasts:

The Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph is normally celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas. This feast developed at the beginning of the 19th century in Canada and then spread to the entire Church in 1920. At first, it was celebrated on the Sunday after Epiphany. It is a Feast that seeks to portray the Holy Family of Nazareth as the “true model of life”…from which our families can draw inspiration and know where to find help and comfort.

So in the trad, we celebrate the Holy Family in January and the newer calendar celebrates it in December.   We can see the logic in keeping this triune family close to Baby Jesus’ birth and also near the visit of the Magi to them.  Certainly honoring and meditating upon this most noble and of families, a reflection of the Most Holy Trinity, is greatly worthy…so holy Church in her traditions, has given us this month to do so.  December was concerned with the Divine Infancy and January with the Holy Name of Jesus, both months containing those feasts.  Now we move to Jesus, Mary and Joseph, the environment chosen to bring this Divine Life into our world, to give Him His Name and to raise and nurture Him, until He came into His mission to proclaim the Good News…and to redeem us by His death.  It is quite appropriate to honor the Holy Family in this month which usually closes the Cycle of Christmas (some years, this will be January, if it’s an early Easter).

The one feast this month which relates to the Holy Family is the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Presentation of Our Lord (also known as Candlemas), on the 2nd.  Certainly, Saint Joseph would have been with Our Lord and Our Lady in the Temple on that day, as they rejoiced together, observing the Jewish law. 

One way to give honor to the Holy Family this month is to pray the beautiful…

LITANY OF THE HOLY FAMILY

…perhaps on Candlemas?

Oh, did I mention Septuagesima begins on the 1st?  Every year, my penance begins during Septuagesima because I have to keep typing that word.  That is not a joke, you try it.  Septuagesima.  That’s 3 times.  Someone just got out of Purgatory.

Ash Wednesday is on the 18th, get ready for Lent!  Wow, we also have the Ember Days of Lent, or Spring, on the 25th, 27th and 28th.  See “Ember Days” topic to the right>>>.  Let us pray for mercy and blessings upon the coming season.

Additional notable feasts of February, from both calendars:

3rd-Saint Blaise, Blessing of Throats

7th-First Saturday of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart

8th-Sexagesima Sunday

11th-OUR LADY OF LOURDES

14th-Saint Valentine, let us pray for chastity

15th-Quinquagesima Sunday

24th-Saint Matthias, Apostle

***   PREPPER TASK FOR FEBRUARY   ***

Were you rushing to the store just before this past week’s big storm?  Don’t be that person.  Be the person who is sitting by the fire with a cup of hot chocolate laughing at all the people panicking and running to the store!  Of course as preppers, we are not only concerned about the short term emergency, but also the longer term one, or even permanent societal change.  So having a well-stocked and well-organized pantry is essential.  Here is the task…

Throw out all the expired food in your cupboard.  Arrange food roughly according to expiration date, oldest in the front, newest in the back.  I have a “fast track” spot for almost expired items.  (If you have children, this is a wonderful family activity and also a prepper lesson).  You’ll be able to see what you are lacking, and make a shopping list for these things.  This is your new lifestyle!

First be concerned about getting your everyday pantry organized.  Then you can start on what we call “stocks.”  (As opposed to “stockpiles.”  We are not doing institutional prepping here.)  These will be kept in a cool, dry, mouse-free area of your house (don’t assume mice won’t be able to tear through heavy packaging, believe me they can smell and tear through almost anything.)  These will be food and other essential items that your family needs for longer term storage.  There are many companies now that deal specifically in these types of items, just do a search.  Of course, buying in bulk can be a great option too.  Again, these have to be organized according to expiration date.  One way to do this is to have a separate shelf for each expiration year.

Prepping is a lifestyle that requires work and commitment, there’s no getting around that.  But the peace of mind it provides is more valuable than gold.  Gold.  That’s another topic!  Look into it (but this is not financial advice).

Have a blessed February and a Lent that will bring you closer to the risen Christ.

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The Most Holy Name of Jesus, the Month of January and the Feast

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[Edited since posting.]

In case you haven’t noticed, this ministry is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus, “Nomen Christi” in Latin. So we always encourage honor and devotion to His Name. January is dedicated to the Holy Name of Jesus. The month begins with the feast of the Circumcision in the trad, which commemorates the moment Our Lord received His Holy Name and it was also the first shedding of His Blood. On the 3rd, we celebrate the feast of this Name in the post-con calendar and in the trad it is Sunday, the 4th. Let us find devotions this month which honor and glorify His Name and always defend it from profanation!

Here are some excerpts from the feast of the Holy Name Tridentine Mass:

“In the Name of Jesus let every knee bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: and let every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.”

“O Lord our Lord: how admirable is Thy Name in the whole earth!”

“O God, Who didst constitute Thine only-begotten Son the Savior of mankind, and didst bid Him to be called Jesus: mercifully grant, that we who venerate His holy Name on earth, may fully enjoy also the vision of Him in heaven.”

“For there is no other Name under heaven given to man, whereby we must be saved.”

“Save us, O Lord our God, and gather us from among the nations: that we may give thanks to Thy holy Name, and may glory in Thy praise.”

“Thou, O Lord, our Father and our Redeemer: from everlasting is Thy Name.”

“Alleluia, alleluia. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord, and let all flesh bless His holy Name. Alleluia.”

“I will praise Thee, O Lord my God, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Thy Name for ever: for Thou, O Lord, art sweet and mild: and plenteous in mercy to all that call upon Thee, alleluia.”

“May Thy blessing, O most merciful God, by which every creature lives, sanctify, we beseech Thee, this our Sacrifice, which we offer unto Thee to the glory of the Name of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, that it may be well-pleasing to Thy Majesty for Thy praise, and profit us unto salvation.”

“All the nations Thou hast made shall come and adore before Thee, O Lord, and they shall glorify Thy Name: for Thou art great; and dost wonderful things: Thou art God alone. Alleluia.”

“O almighty and everlasting God, who didst create and redeem us, look graciously upon our prayer, and with a favorable and benign countenance deign to accept the Sacrifice of the saving Victim, which we have offered to Thy Majesty in honor of the Name of Thy Son, our Lord Jesus Christ:

that through the infusion of Thy grace we may rejoice that our names are written in heaven, under the glorious Name of Jesus, the pledge of eternal predestination.”

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December is the Month of the Divine Infancy & the Immaculate Conception / Update

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[Edited since posting.]

UPDATE: I’ve been very busy prepping for my ADVENT OF THE HEART prayer groups. You may know I got a sprained ankle while in Rome and that was slowing me down…now, as soon as the ankle got better, a neuroma popped up in the same foot [No! This was wrong, turns out it’s a fracture]. So again, I am slowed down. Since the intense last-minute planning of the trip in September, my life has not been “normal.” I am very joyful however, about the Advent prayer groups and they are going very well. One is at a church (see our new “Meetings/Events” button above and one is at a Catholic store (by invitation only, as it is a very small space-this is actually a brief presentation at an existing prayer group, each of the 4 weeks of Advent).

Hopefully in January, my condition will be improved and I can continue to move forward in my life, as was the plan after passing through the Holy Door at Saint Peter’s Basilica. I am still thinking about what this blog will look like next year, how it will evolve, as I am simultaneously bringing this ministry into the real physical world. So we are in flux. And that is good, because the whole world is in flux and we must respond to that. Adaptability and willingness to change is an important prepper tenet. I think those who are attuned to things feel it is time to be moving, shaking, re-thinking and morphing. We will be given the knowledge and grace.

Consider doing the ADVENT OF THE HEART program at home, scroll down for the post on this. Also, check out our topics to the right>>>Advent and Christmas Season!

Here are some notable feasts this month in both the trad and the post-con calendars…

8th-IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, Holy Day of Obligation, USA

10th-OUR LADY OF LORETO

12th-OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE

17th-Ember Wednesday of Advent (trad meat at one meal)

19th-Ember Friday of Advent

20th-Ember Saturday of Advent (trad meat at one meal)

24th-VIGIL OF THE NATIVITY OF OUR LORD (trad day of fast)

25th-NATIVITY OF OUR LORD, Holy Day of Obligation

28th-THE HOLY FAMILY

Remember the 12 Days of Christmas leading up to Epiphany and the Epiphany Blessing of the Home.

Wishing all our readers and your families great Advent and Christmas blessings!

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Update / Month of the Holy Souls

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My visit to my mother’s was very difficult for numerous reasons and I have been dealing with this situation. If you could keep my family in prayer, I would deeply appreciate it, and all our readers are kept in our prayers as well. Please know you can submit prayer requests and we will post them. A first name and city or state/country would be helpful.

I am slowed down also due to a sprained ankle, sustained in Rome on one of those spiral staircases! I thought it was getting better, but now is worse and I need physical therapy. In spite of all this, I have somehow been visiting cemeteries every day this week for the Holy Souls and it is an extraordinarily joyful thing. We still have a few more days.

It is the Month of the Holy Souls in Purgatory. Please see the following very interesting and unique article from catholicism.org…

Month of the Holy Souls

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September is the Month of Our Lady of Sorrows

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The World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation is celebrated September 1st.  In keeping with this theme, we also celebrate Saint Hildegard of Bingen and the Stigmata of Saint Francis on the same day:  Sept 17th.  Both saints are invoked for nature, as they contributed greatly to theology referencing God’s creation.  We also have the Ember Days of Autumn on the 24th, 26th and 27th, in which we perform prayer and penance for the upcoming season.  Reading the Mass missal for the Ember Days is a wonderful way to celebrate them.  In addition, traditionally, meat was eaten at only one meal on Ember Wednesday and Saturday.  If you missed praying for the earth on the 1st, these feasts would be a great time to do so. 

There are countless devotions to Our Lady of Sorrows, the Seven Sorrows and the Sorrowful Heart of Our Lady.  We honor our Sorrowful Mother on the 15th, which gives us our theme of this month (there are 4 more Marian feasts, see below in bold).  Let us show our love and empathy for her by choosing one of these devotions to perform.  We at Nomen Christi Apostolate also contemplate the Marian Triad of the Months during these 3 months in honor of the Mother of God.  Next month is Our Lady of the Rosary, when we also honor the sanctity of life.  For this month, we may meditate on how the Immaculate Heart we celebrated last month, intertwines with the Sorrowful Heart.  They are often invoked together. 

Other notable feasts of September in both the trad and post-con calendars… 

6th-First Saturday of the Immaculate Heart

8th-Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary

12th-Holy Name of Mary

14th-EXALTATION OF THE HOLY CROSS

21st-Saint Matthew, Apostle & Evangelist

24th-Our Lady of Ransom

26th-North American Martyrs

27th-Saint Vincent de Paul

29th-Saints Michael, Gabriel & Raphael, Archangels/Dedication of Saint Michael 

Homeschool Activities for September 

1)       List the 7 Sorrows of Our Lady.  Can you find where they are in Holy Scripture?

2)      Make an Autumn craft for the Ember Days, incorporating a spiritual theme.

3)      Draw a picture of the 3 archangels.

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August is the Month of the Immaculate Heart / Marian Triad of the Months Begins

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August is a very Marian month!  Let us see why…

We begin on the 2nd, the first Saturday, with an opportunity to offer reparation to the Immaculate Heart we celebrate this month.  If you can’t do 5 Saturdays in a row, according to the Communion of Reparation devotion, that’s okay.  Go whenever you can at a parish near you that offers this important act of love for Our Lady, an antidote to these crazy times.  See Fr. Edward Broom’s short video below for an explanation of this devotion.  He holds up a picture of Our Lady with her Immaculate Heart and also mentions Saint Augustine, who we honor on the 28th…

DEVOTION OF THE FIVE FIRST SATURDAYS

On the 15th, we remember the glorious Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, a holy day of obligation (with a vigil).  It is on a Friday, but since it is a solemnity, no penance is required.  On the 5th, we celebrate Our Lady of the Snows, which refers to a miracle in Italy.  On the 22nd, we have a beautiful double Marian feast, with the Queenship in the post-con and the Immaculate Heart in the trad.

And we’re not done yet, as there are several saints associated with Our Lady, who we honor in August.  Saint Dominic of the Holy Rosary’s feast is on the 4th and the 8th.  Saint Maximilian Kolbe, who received a vision of the Mother of God as a child, is celebrated on the 14th.  Her illustrious father, Saint Joachim, is the 16th.

The Transfiguration of Our Lord, the 4th Luminous Mystery, is the 6th. 

As for the theme of the Immaculate Heart, here is a well-written, comprehensive page at Covenant Catholic.  Following are some edited excerpts:

[From] Preparation for Total Consecration to the Immaculate Heart, according to Saint Maximillian M. Kolbe, by Fr. Matthias M. Sasko.  A day-by-day guide for 33 days of preparation for Consecration.

1.      Consecrate yourself and your home to The Immaculate Heart of Mary and pray The Shorter Act of Daily Consecration each day. 

2.      Keep an image of the Immaculate Heart in your home.

3.      Pray daily the Litany of the Immaculate Heart or the Prayer to the Immaculate Heart.

4.      Contemplate what Mary pondered in her heart as you pray the Mysteries of the Rosary and meditate on the events of her life and the life of Jesus.

5.      Memorize or meditate on Scripture verses and places in the Catechism that highlight the Immaculate Heart of Mary. (Luke 2:19, 2:51)

6.      Begin this August to go to Confession and Mass on the Five First Saturdays of the month, keeping the request of Our Lady of Fatima.  

7.      Learn and sing the “Salve Regina” [Hail, Holy Queen] with your family or friends.

St. Maximilian Kolbe, a Polish Conventual Franciscan friar, ordered his entire ministry to the praise and glory of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. In response to the ever more militant Luciferian force of the Freemasons against the Church, he established a spiritual army called the Militia of the Immaculata to win souls for the Queen of Heaven. St. Maximilian consecrated all its activity to Our Lady’s Immaculate Heart and worked to spread devotion to Her Miraculous Medal. He carried a pocketful of them at all times and called them his spiritual “bullets.” St. Maximilian believed and taught, “If anyone does not wish to have Mary Immaculate for his Mother, he will not have Christ for his Brother.”

Something we do here at Nomen Christi Apostolate, is the Marian Triad of the Months and the Christological Triad of the Months.  There are 3 consecutive months which Holy Church dedicates to Our Lady:  August of the Immaculate Heart, September of Our Lady of Sorrows and October, Our Lady of the Rosary.  The purpose of this exercise is to meditate on these 3 aspects of the Mother of God and to see how they might interrelate, during this 3-month time of the Church year…with the guidance of the Holy Ghost.  You may share any insights you receive and we may post them.

Other notable feasts this month, in both the trad and post-con calendars:

1st-Saint Peter in Chains

11th-Saint Clare (Chiara, Clara) of Assisi, Foundress of the Poor Clares, Companion of Saint Francis

12th-Saint Clare (trad)

23rd-Saint Rose (Rosa) of Lima, Patroness of Gardeners

24th-Saint Bartholomew, Apostle

27th-Saint Monica, Mother of Saint Augustine

28th-Saint Augustine of Hippo, Bishop & Doctor of the Church

29th-Passion of Saint John the Baptist

30th-Saint Rose (trad)

Homeschooling Activities for August

1)       Draw a picture of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

2)      Write an essay on the life and death of Saint Maximillian Kolbe.  5 paragraphs:  Introduction, childhood, ministry, death, conclusion.

3)      Read the Gospel accounts of the Transfiguration and compare them:  Matthew 17:1, Mark 9:1, Luke 9:28.

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Catholic July

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Here are the most notable feasts of this month, in both the trad and the post-con…

1st-Most Precious Blood of Jesus

2nd-Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

3rd-Saint Thomas, Apostle

16th-Our Lady of Mount Carmel of the Brown Scapular

22nd-Saint Mary Magdalene

25th-Saint James, Apostle

26th-Saints Joachim & Anne, Parents of the Blessed Mother

29th-Saints Martha, Mary & Lazarus

Homeschooling Activities for July

1) Draw a picture of the Chalice with the Precious Blood.

2) Find a prayer honoring the Precious Blood and say it with your family.

3) Write an essay on Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Saint Simon Stock and the Brown Scapular. What miracles have been attributed to the Scapular? 4 paragraphs.

July is the Month of the Most Precious Blood

This month, we honor the Most Precious Blood of Jesus, contained within that Heart we celebrated in June. July begins, on the 1st, with the feast of the Precious Blood in the trad calendar, followed on the 2nd, by the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Let us consider how we may offer reparation and adoration to the Blood of Christ, particularly present to us at each Holy Mass.

Pray for the United States of America, to our Patroness the Immaculate Conception, as we celebrate Independence Day this week. Pray for all the unborn babies, still not free or respected in this country.

More commentary on the month of July, to follow.

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