Pentecost / Whitsunday

Preface from the Tridentine Mass:

It is truly meet and just, right and for our salvation, that we should at all times, and in all places, give thanks unto Thee, O holy Lord, Father almighty, everlasting God, through Christ our Lord. Who ascending above all the heavens and sitting at Thy right hand, poured out on this day the promised Holy Spirit upon the children of adoption. Wherefore the whole world doth rejoice with overflowing joy; and the heavenly Hosts also and the angelic Powers sing together the hymn of Thy glory, evermore saying:

Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus, Dominus Deus Sabaoth! Pleni sunt coeli et terra gloria tua! Hosanna in excelsis! Benedictus qui venit in nomine Domini! Hosanna in excelsis!

From the New Marian Missal:

“Our Lord Jesus Christ, being seated on the right hand of God, sent, as He had promised, the Holy Ghost upon the Apostles, who, after His ascension, continued in prayer at Jerusalem, in company with the Blessed Virgin, awaiting the performance of His promise. Let us pray in like manner with the Church: Come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of Thy faithful and kindle in them the fire of Thy love.”

Introit:

The Spirit of the Lord hath filled the whole world, alleluia; and that which containeth all things hath knowledge of the voice, alleluia, alleluia, alleluia.

Let God arise, and let His enemies be scattered: and let them that hate Him flee from before His face.

Let us contemplate the above words and pray with all our hearts to the Third Person of the Most Holy Trinity, as the world now begins to grant benefits to those who have received the abortion-tainted Covid vaccine (not to mention many other concerns about these vaccines)…and begins to deprive those who refuse it. Let us understand we are at war and must prepare for the fight to increase. O Come Holy Ghost, give us courage and all the wisdom and grace we need to face this situation upon us!

Remember Pentecost is an octave, a time to be joyful and continue in our prayers to the Holy Ghost. For a short meditation on the Descent of the Holy Ghost, please see “Rosary Meditations” to the right>>>

Image courtesy Discount Catholic Store, which we previously did a post on. Purchase this Holy Spirit Suncatcher here!

Litany of the Ascension / Novena to the Holy Ghost

Some dioceses still celebrate the Ascension of Our Lord on Ascension Thursday and some celebrate it today, the following Sunday. Traditionally (and probably in the new as well), the Ascension is invoked in the Mass from Ascension Thursday until the Vigil of Pentecost. So it is appropriate to keep this final event of Our Lord on earth, in our thoughts and prayers through the coming week.

We should also keep in mind, novenas to the Holy Ghost are often said during the 9 days between Ascension Thursday and Pentecost. Catholic Online states: “This is the prototype of all novenas. It commemorates the nine days between the Ascension of Our Lord and the Descent of the Holy Ghost on the first Pentecost Sunday. During this time Our Lady and the twelve Apostles prayed in the Cenacle for the coming of the Paraclete. Our Lord Himself instituted this novena, and it is celebrated every year by the whole Church.” The Novena to the Holy Ghost for the Seven Gifts is well-known, quite beautiful, and there are indulgences attached. Certainly, it can be said anytime, and if you’re a few days late, don’t let that discourage you!

I wrote the following litany on Ascension Thursday and published it here on May 5, 2016. I haven’t published it since, so here it is again. According to canon law, there is no problem with posting a private prayer on the internet (I have consulted a canon lawyer about this). For a meditation on the Ascension, please see “Rosary Meditations” button to the right >>>

Litany of the Ascension of Our Lord

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

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

Holy Trinity, One God, have mercy on us.

+     +     +

Lord, Ascended to the right Hand of the Father, have mercy on us.

Lord, Ascended forty days after Thy Resurrection, etc.

Lord, Ascended in the company of angels,

Lord, Ascended in the company of Thy Holy Mother,

Lord, Ascended in the company of Thine Apostles,

Lord, Ascended before us, where we are to follow,

Lord, Ascended with a shout and the sound of a trumpet,

Lord, Ascended with great song,

Lord, Who shall so come as we have seen Thee going up,

Lord, Who calls us to mindfulness of heavenly things,

Lord, Who sent Thine Apostles to the uttermost parts of the earth,

Lord, Who was raised up into a cloud,

Lord, Who led captivity captive,

Lord, Who saves the believer and the baptized,

Lord, Who condemns the unbeliever,

Lord, Who glorifies Thy children,

Lord, Who protects Thy children,

Lord, Who mercifully grants Everlasting Life,

Lord, Who mounts above the Heaven of Heavens to the east,

+     +     +

Be merciful, spare us, O Lord.

Be merciful, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.

Lamb of God, Who takes away the sins of the world, have mercy on us, O Lord.

Lord, hear us.  Lord, graciously hear us.

LET US PRAY

O Lord Jesus Christ, Who said:  "Go ye into the whole world and preach the Gospel to every creature," grant we beseech Thee, to wage a fearless war for souls, ever defending the truth of the Good News, that we may one day follow Thee to the place of Thine Ascension, beyond the clouds.  May we keep this vision before us always, making all our burdens light, all the darkness of this present life bearable.

Make us, O Lord, to reverence and keep pure, our sacred bodies, a reflection of which ascended in glorified form to the Father, Who lives and reigns, world without end.  Amen.

Printable Version

From the “Catholic Prepper” perspective, it is advisable to gather as much printed material as possible. This is due to the possibility of electrical grid failure or the disruption of the availability of what we now take for granted. Keep books and papers in a cool dry place away from the threat of flooding. Consider keeping print-outs organized in files or binders.

Gardening Pics

Blessings on this Ascension Thursday and feast of Our Lady of Fatima. O Lord ascended in glory, have mercy on us! Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

If you haven’t seen the previous post “Gardening/Landscaping Projects,” please do. This is my son’s gardening project, which is mostly un-germinated seeds (wow!) and random yard pics from the past month. We have a blank slate of a landscape now, but just showing you a few things…

“Jiffy Seed Starting Greenhouse Kit with Expanding Peat Pellets.” Say that 10x fast. My son bought this at The Home Depot and though it uses peat moss, I think it’s pretty cool. He made cryptic markings on the label sticks to keep the orientation and wrote it all out on a planting map. If you look carefully, you can see tiny blue seeds in the 2 rows to the far left. These are Ferry-Morse “Sow Easy” chives, rosemary and thyme. As explained on their website: “Sow Easy seeds are pelleted with an all-natural coating made from a mix of clay, perlite, and FDA-approved food coloring. This coating adds some bulk to small seeds and stands out in the soil, making direct sowing and accurate spacing easier than ever. However, the coating does add a few days to the germination time.” These are resting upon the soil because my son felt like putting some above and some below the soil. As always with gardening…we’ll see what happens!

Where’s all this going to be planted? My son has access to some property near his apartment, where he will be planting. Some may stay here. We will follow the progress as it goes on.

Solar Light Cross

Red Coneflower (Echinacea)

Paperwhite Bulbs

Marigolds

Cherry Blossom Tree

Pink Snow!

Red Tulip

Apricot/Pink Tulips

Queen of Night

Immature Small Pink Tulip

Poison Ivy Fence

Mature Small Pink Tulip

I just learned how to do a gallery! A few words: I adore my apricot & pink striped tulips, I also love the paperwhites-they are quite fragrant, marigolds repel mosquitoes which is a big prob in these parts, the poison ivy fence…just don’t ask.

My flamingo solar light next to my “Footprints” stone.

This is the life! Is it? Why do I always have to get philosophical?

Random Stuff

~ Final Minor Rogation Day ~

Since the Rogation Days invoke God’s mercy and also are associated with litanies, here is the Litany of the Mercy of God. Think about praying it tonight with your family! The closing prayer is very similar to a prayer in the Divine Mercy Chaplet:

O God, Whose Mercy is infinite and Whose treasures of pity are inexhaustible, graciously look down upon us and increase in us Thy Mercy so that we may never, even in the greatest trials, give way to despair, but may always trustfully conform ourselves to Thy Holy Will, which is Mercy itself. Through Our Lord Jesus Christ, the King of Mercy, Who with Thee and the Holy Spirit doth show us Mercy forever and ever. Amen.

~Bill Gates Sr, Planned Parenthood & Where it’s all Going~

I was doing some research last night and came across the assertion that Bill Gates’ father was the “president of Planned Parenthood.” I said to myself, “Why have I never heard this before?” I went down the rabbit hole to corroborate the info. An article on Lifesite quotes Gates in a 2003 interview with Bill Moyers: “My dad was head of Planned Parenthood. And it was very controversial to be involved with that.” Bill Gates Sr. died 8 months ago and the New York Times had this to say, “He was president of the Seattle/King County Bar Association and the Washington State Bar Association and a director of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce, the King County United Way and Planned Parenthood.” We can see that Gates’ father was indeed the director of Planned Parenthood, probably on a local level. This same New York Times piece shows us a picture of Gates Sr. holding a baby of color in his arms, next to Nelson Mandela and Jimmy Carter, in South Africa. Surely, he would have had no problem presiding over this baby’s death in Washington State.

His son, Mr. Covid Vaccine King, continues the wonderful legacy. Lifesite goes on, “[Bill Gates] says, he has seen that by improving health and education, population decreases as parents decide to have less children. Despite all his distancing from Malthus, Gates remains steadfast to the unfounded Malthusian fear of overpopulation.” Another article: “The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s role in funding COVID-19 vaccine research has been a point of particular concern, due in large part to the couple’s history as radical advocates for abortion and population control.” Melinda Gates is quoted: "Here in the United States, it's going to be black people who really should get [the Covid vaccine] first and many indigenous people, as well as people with underlying symptoms, and then elderly people." They have it all figured out.

Yet one more Lifesite deeply concerning article tells us: ”Gates also invested approximately $20 million in MicroCHIPS, a company that makes chip-based devices, including birth-control implant chips with wireless on/off switches for remote-controlled drug-delivery by medical authorities.”

How are we to respond to all this? The Gates are for education. So must we be, in our own spheres. They’ve been busy bees. So must we be, building The Newer World Order. And as the prayer above implores, never despair. That is not our world and as we discussed on Good Friday…It Will Fail!

~ It’s Supposed to be for the Birds! ~

The squirrel likes my flax seeds. Birds don’t. LOL (I don’t mind, I love the squirrels.) I also had to remove that blue tray because it does not drain rainwater but there is plastic underneath that does drain. The blue tray will be a perfect basin for potted plants!

Gardening / Landscaping Projects

We’ve been enjoying a few days with our son, who comes home once in a while for the weekend. He is also very interested in gardening and we are working together on a variety of plants…

I’m sitting here at my dining room table, looking at a tray of 72 things he just planted in his “Jiffy Seed Starting Greenhouse Kit with Expanding Peat Pellets.” You add water to the peat moss round pellets, they gradually expand, then you plant the seeds. When you have a nice baby plant established, you can plant the whole thing wherever you like. I think it’s quite a nice kit. I generally am not a fan of using Peat Moss, due to the fact that it is a precious ecological resource, which often comes from wetland bogs in Canada. This kit claims the peat was “responsibly sourced,” whatever that means.

There are also a bunch of other planted thingys outside, I haven’t even looked at yet. My son just left for the west coast and I am in charge of all this stuff for the next 2 weeks. What happens to it all after that, who knows? I think he needs to buy a small farm. As for what’s in these magic growing peat discs, all I have right now is a map (kit comes with that too) identifying what he planted, some of which I cannot understand. This is what I can make out: sunflowers of different sizes, watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumber, various pumpkins, butternut squash, various beans, morning glories, moonflower, lavender, California poppy, foxglove, zinnia, hollyhock, aster…plus chive, sage, rosemary and thyme…like the song, but…not parsley. These seeds are leftovers from last year and also some in my collection that he took a liking to.

You may remember the exterior home project we did in the fall. Now we have the entire landscape to do, which was completely gutted. This is a rare opportunity to craft a landscape from scratch. I have never done this before and will be working with a professional, since there are a number of problems and types of plantings I am not well-versed in. We’ve got a lot of exciting ideas, which I hope will come to fruition. Some of my son’s flowers he just planted, will likely be incorporated into the landscape. We will be following the process here, complete with pics!

In the coming week, I will show you my son’s project and also a few other things….

May: Month of Our Lady, the Blessed Virgin Mary

May is jam-packed and starts off with a bang with the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. Please scroll down for our recent post on the indulgences in the “Year of Saint Joseph.” There are 2 that deal specifically with him under this title and one that refers to his feasts. Get yourself to confession and you’re all set!

There are various major feasts this month of Our Lord, Our Lady, the Holy Ghost and the Holy Trinity. We celebrate 3 Apostles and 5 Doctors of the Church, including Saint Athanasius, the earliest of the Doctors (born c 297). We recently discussed Saint Isidore the Farmer on his minor feast, but this month we have his main feast on the 15th.

May also contains both the Ember Days (of summer) and the Minor Rogation Days! These have separate origins but are very similar in character. Basically, these are traditional times of prayer and penance, associated with nature and the seasons. Trinity Sunday marks the end of Eastertide and the beginning of the Time after Pentecost, which we remain in until Advent.

And of course, May celebrates our Heavenly Mother. We have 4 major Marian feasts and a number of minor or less standard ones, not mentioned here. I will not give you a list this time of obvious ideas for Marian devotions, but pray on it and use your creativity, especially if you have young children (check this out: How to Plan a May Crowning for Kids ). Here are some wonderful products from The Catholic Company, which will serve you. As a prepper, I would be remiss if I failed to encourage you to purchase these types of products while you still can. Especially, I recommend good hardcover Catholic books and Bibles, as many as you can afford.

Here is a sampling of the feasts of May…

5/1-St. Joseph the Worker / First Saturday

5/2-St. Athanasius, Doctor, “The Father of Orthodoxy”

5/3-Sts. Philip & James the Less, Apostles, Martyrs (new)

5/4-St. Monica, Mother of St. Augustine

5/7-First Friday

5/9-St. Gregory Nazianzen, Doctor, “The Theologian” “The Christian Demosthenes”

5/10-Rogation Day / St. John of Avila, Doctor, “Apostle of Andalusia” “The Master”

5/11-Rogation Day / Sts. Philip & James the Less (trad)

5/12-Rogation Day

5/13-ASCENSION OF THE LORD (ASCENSION THURSDAY-please check your diocese for info on Holy Days of Obligation) / OUR LADY OF FATIMA / St. Robert Bellarmine, Doctor, “Prince of Apologists” “Gentle Doctor of The Controversies”

5/14-St. Matthias, Apostle who replaced Judas, Martyr

5/15-St. Isidore the Farmer

5/16-ASCENSION OF THE LORD (some dioceses)

5/22-Vigil of Pentecost

5/23-PENTECOST SUNDAY (WHITSUNDAY)

5/24-BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH

5/25-St. Bede the Venerable, Doctor, “Father of English History” (new)

5/26-Ember Wednesday after Pentecost (trad meat at one meal)

5/27-St. Bede the Venerable (trad)

5/28-Ember Friday after Pentecost

5/29-Ember Saturday after Pentecost (trad meat at one meal)

5/30-TRINITY SUNDAY / St. Joan of Arc

5/31-THE VISITATION / QUEENSHIP OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY

Notes: The titles of the Doctors of the Church are taken from The 35 Doctors of the Church , a wonderful book of 728 pages, well worth the price. We give both old and new feasts, since people are coming from all parts of the world and all perspectives. Also, the future Church will not be divided-we must work toward unity.

Prayer Intention & Thought for the Day

One of our subscribers named Joseph asks for prayers.

If you would like to be added to our prayer list, please contact us above. The feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is coming up May 1st-please think about the indulgence…

~ Happiness is a good measure of holiness ~

Recent Pics

Is this the most beautiful thing you have ever seen??? How sweetly Baby Jesus is holding His Mother’s chin! (I don’t know where that statue is, unfortunately.)

Image courtesy countdowntothekingdom.com

A seed purchase from www.fiberculture.co. You can make textiles with these. We talked previously about Stinging Nettle in this post and this post, when I encountered it on a hike in New Jersey and the results were…interesting.

Another purchase from jungseed.com. Press Control + to zoom in and see what I bought! (The most interesting thing is Stevia, a great alternative to sugar-it produces tiny sweet leaves.)

This is one method for organizing seeds. I got this cute box from Michael’s (you can get them dirt cheap when they are on sale and they come in all kinds of colors and designs). Just cut out a piece of cardboard and place in the middle. I organize them alphabetically and separate the flower seeds. This is part of my “Survival Seed Bank.” I will not be planting all of this in one year. PS Always make sure your seeds are Non-GMO!

Remember the Kitchen Crop Sprouter? These are broccoli sprouts-good eats! I also did beet sprouts, if you recall-they got moldy because they took too long-always learning…

Can’t even buy pizza anymore. Gotta laugh sometimes! The mind control is everywhere.

Update

Going back a bit, we had a couple of light years posting (due to personal circumstances), then the world changed around the Ides of March, 2020. I realized that as a prepper and one who studies the control system (“truther”), I would now be called upon. I hesitated a bit, to get my bearings, then proceeded with prayer and research. The past year has been a whirlwind of trying to navigate this changing environment and know what to say about it. I know it has been appreciated because my audience has grown. I deeply appreciate those who take their time to come to this site. Thank you for your support and please share it with others.

If you have followed this blog for the past year, you probably know there are a few unfinished pieces, in addition to the Prepper Rosary Program, which has been 1/4 completed. In the coming days, I will be looking at the unfinished business (which might mean just dropping it) and eventually move forward with the Prepper Rosary Program. I can only post about once per week at this point. Please stay with me and feel free to give any comments through our email-you may also join our email list. Thank you for your patience.

Indulgences for the Year of Saint Joseph

“The Year of Saint Joseph” has been given, by the Apostolic Penitentiary, a number of ways to obtain the plenary indulgence. The Year extends from December 8th, 2020 to December 8th, 2021. The Penitentiary, in the Decree, In the Year of Saint Joseph The Gift of Indulgences, states that the faithful have “the opportunity to commit themselves, with prayers and good works, to obtain with the help of St. Joseph…comfort and relief from the serious human and social tribulations that today afflict the contemporary world.” Not mentioned in the Decree above, the Consecration to Saint Joseph is an additional way to obtain the plenary. This is an exciting new devotion in the Church, which takes about one month to perform.

A plenary indulgence requires the Sacrament of Penance, reception of Holy Communion, prayer for the intentions of the Holy Father and detachment from sin. According to the Penitentiary’s General Remarks on Indulgences (most recent, from the Jubilee Year 2000), “it is sufficient that these sacred rites and prayers be carried out within several days (about 20) before or after the indulgenced act.”

After doing some initial research, I saw the need for a more concise listing of these indulgences. I have looked carefully at the text of the Decree and have compiled this simplified list to the best of my ability. I encourage you to read the text for yourself as well. Note, quotes below are taken from this Decree. Don’t forget the feast of Saint Joseph the Worker is coming up on May 1st-what a fabulous time to perform one of these wonderful devotions and bring a soul you love into the Abode of Eternal Joy!

1) Meditate for 30 minutes on “The Lord’s Prayer.” “Saint Joseph…invites us to rediscover our filial relationship with the Father, to renew our devotion to prayer, to dispose ourselves to listen and correspond with profound discernment to God’s will.”

2) Participate in a retreat for one day that includes meditation on Saint Joseph.

3) Perform one Corporal or Spiritual Work of Mercy. “The virtue of justice practiced by Saint Joseph…is full adherence to divine law, which is the law of mercy.”

4) Recite the Holy Rosary as a family or as an engaged couple. “The primary aspect of Saint Joseph’s vocation was that of being guardian of the Holy Family of Nazareth, spouse of the Blessed Virgin Mary and legal father of Jesus.”

5) Daily entrust your work to the protection of Saint Joseph the Worker.

6) Recite a prayer to Saint Joseph the Worker for the intention of employment for the unemployed and for dignified work.

7) Recite the “Litany to Saint Joseph” for the intention of all persecuted Catholics.

8) Recite an approved prayer in honor of Saint Joseph, especially on his feast days, the 19th of each month and Wednesdays.

9) Perform the new devotion, “Consecration to Saint Joseph.”

If you wish to help this ministry , please print and leave copies at your church or share with your church group. We do not ask for donations at this time, only prayer and sharing our work in whatever ways possible…let us know and you will be added to our prayer list…

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