Know The Faith - Traditional Catholic Lessons and

An Ancient Prayer to Saint Joseph O ST. JOSEPH, whose protection is so great, so strong, so prompt before the throne of God, I place in thee all my interests and desires. O St. Joseph, assist me by thy powerful intercession and obtain for me all spiritual blessings through thy foster Son, Jesus Christ Our Lord, so that, having engaged here below thy heavenly power, I may offer thee my thanksgiving and homage. O St. Joseph, I never weary contemplating thee and Jesus asleep in thine arms. I dare not approach while He reposes near thy heart. press Him in my name and kiss His fine head for me, and ask Him to return the kiss when I draw my dying breath. St. Joseph, Patron of departing souls, pray for me.

Lord Jesus Christ, Our God and Saviour, You are the Head of the Church, Your spotless Bride and Mystical Body. Look mercifully upon the profound distress to which Our Holy Mother Church has been subjected. Doctrinal confusion, moral abomination, and liturgical abuse have, in our day, reached an unprecedented height. “The heathens have come into your inheritance, having defiled your holy temple, and laid Jerusalem in ruins” (Ps 79:1). Churchmen who have lost the true Faith and become promoters of a worldly globalist agenda, are intent on changing Your truths and Commandments, the Divine Constitution of the Church, and the Apostolic tradition. O Lord, with humble spirit and contrite heart we beseech You, prevent the enemies of the Church from exulting in a victory over the authentic Catholic Church obtained by imposing a counterfeit church under the guise of “synodality.” Stir up Your power, O Lord, and come to the aid of Your Church with Your almighty strength. For where sin and apostasy in the Church abounds, the victory of Your grace will abound the more. We firmly believe that the gates of Hell will not prevail against Your Church. In this hour, in which our beloved and holy Mother Church is suffering her Golgotha, we promise to remain with her. Graciously accept our interior and exterior sufferings, which we humbly offer in union with the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Mother of the Church, as a reparation for our own sins and for the sins of sacrilege and apostasy within the Church. O Lord, send forth your Holy Angels under the command of Saint Michael the Archangel, to bring your heavenly light to the Pope and synod participants, and to frustrate the plans of your enemies within the synod assembly. O Lord, look mercifully upon the little ones in the Church, look upon the hidden souls who sacrifice themselves for the Church, look upon all the tears, sighs and supplications of the true children of the Church, and through the merits of the Immaculate Heart of Your Most Holy Mother, arise, O Lord, and by Your intervention grant Your Church holy shepherds who, imitating Your example, will give their lives for You and Your sheep. O Lord, we beseech You: Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us a holy Pope, zealous in promoting and defending the Catholic Faith, we implore You, grant it! Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us holy and intrepid bishops, we implore You, grant it! Through the Blessed Virgin Mary, grant us holy priests, who are men of God, we implore You, grant it! In You, O Lord, we rest our hope: let us never be put to shame. To You, O Lord Jesus Christ, be given all honour and glory in Your Holy Church. You live and reign with the Father in the unity of the Holy Spirit: God, forever and ever. Amen.   September 29, 2023 + Athanasius Schneider

Justice Counters Covetousness (Greed) "Father, Into Thy Hands I Commend My Spirit." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Diligence Counters Sloth "It Is Finished." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Temperance Counters Gluttony "I Thirst." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Humility Counters Pride  "My God, My God why hast Thou forsaken Me." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Chastity counters Lust "Woman behold thy Son; behold thy Mother" Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Pity counters Envy "This day thou shalt be with Me in Paradise." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

Forgiveness counters Anger. "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Find more at: KnowTheFaith.net

To the Wound in the Right Hand To the Wound in the Left Hand To the Wound in the Right Foot To the Wound in the Left Foot To the Wound in the Sacred Side     more prayers at www.KnowTheFaith.net

A reflection from Pope Benedict XVI

On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and the Last Day of the Year of Saint Joseph, we welcome Fr Matthias Sako of the Franciscans of the Immaculate with some insight into the life of St Joseph and how to approach a relationship with him.

As we head through Lent towards Good Friday and then onto Easter. It can be power to meditate on what is called the \'Last 7 Words of Christ\'.\r\n 1) Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.\r\n 2) Today you will be with me in paradise.\r\n 3) Woman, behold, thy son! Behold, thy mother!\r\n 4) My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?\r\n 5) I thirst.\r\n 6) It is finished.\r\n 7) Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.\r\n

St Joseph is mentioned in all the Gospels, but no words of his are ever recorded in scripture. You could say St Joseph is the strong silent type. The Gospel of Matthew tells us that when Mary was betrothed to him but before they lived together, she was found with child through the Holy Spirit, and Joseph since he was a righteous man, and unwilling to expose her to shame, decided to divorce her quietly., but then an angel appeared in a dream and told him not to be afraid. St Joseph did as the Lord commanded when he awoke. It must have been a stressful situation for him. Advent can be a stressful time, but if we take St Joseph as our model, we can find some holy silence, listen for Our Lord and Not be Afraid.

Advent comes with some challenges …for us in the northern hemisphere the days are now short and dark. Another challenge especially for children is patience. Waiting for those wrapped gifts under the tree to be opened. Celebrating Advent means learning how to wait. We hear in Psalm 130 - My soul waits for the Lord more than watchmen for daybreak. But what if Advent is the opportunity YOU have been waiting for? That time to grow in your faith, to better know your faith, to make that commitment to a regular time of prayer each day? In the famous hymn Joy to the World. We hear the words” Let every heart prepare him room” this is not just a line directed at the innkeepers of Nazareth that had no room for in at the inn, but rather a reminder for all of us, especially at this busy time of year to turn our waiting into a time to prepare a room for God in our hearts.

Happy New Year! Advent is the beginning of a new liturgical year in the Church. Do you have a New Years Resolution for this New Liturgical Year? Let me recommend a simple one… To Begin Again. Venerable Bruno Lanteri, who founded the Oblates of the Virgin Mary, had a popular phrase he often used… Begin Again. What a great phrase to embrace for Advent. Each Year we have an opportunity to Begin Again with each Advent. If we have struggled in the past year to become better Christians, if we feel like we have stumbled in our faith, now is the time to Begin Again. St Paul in the 3rd chapter of his letter to the Philippians encourages us to focus on one thing: Forgetting what lies behind and instead devoting our efforts forward to what lies ahead. This Advent let us find the courage to Begin Again as our New Liturgical Year’s Resolution.

A Deliverance Prayer of Command for the Laity.  

Christ became obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every other name.

We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You; Because, by Your holy cross, You have redeemed the world...

When Jesus arrives at the Tomb of Lazarus, Mary his sister kneels before Jesus and said, “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died”. Jesus was friends with Lazarus and his sisters. When he sees her weeping, he is moved and The gospel tell us, Jesus Wept. Those 2 words. Are the shortest sentence in the Gospels. "Jesus wept."