Author: Melissa Moody

St. Casimir ~ Patron of Poland and Lithuania

by , posted in Music, Saints

All of our lives are divided between worldly pressures and spiritual belongings. Like St. Casimir, choose the action that best serves Christ.

St. Casimir was buried with his favorite song, a Latin hymn “Omni die dic Mariae” which we know as “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary.”

Lyrics to “Daily, Daily Sing to Mary”

Daily, daily sing to Mary,
Sing, my soul, her praises due.
All her feasts, her actions worship
With the heart’s devotion true.
Lost in wond’ring contemplation,
Be her Majesty confess’d.
Call her Mother, call her Virgin,
Happy Mother, Virgin blest.
She is mighty to deliver.
Call her, trust her lovingly.
When the tempest rages round thee,
She will calm the troubled sea.
Gifts of heaven she has given,
Noble Lady, to our race.
She, the Queen, who decks her subjects
With the light of God’s own grace.
Sing, my tongue, the Virgin’s trophies
Who for us her Maker bore.
For the curse of old inflicted,
Peace and blessing to restore.
Sing in songs of peace unending,
Sing the world’s majestic Queen.
Weary not nor faint in telling.
All the gifts she gives to men.

Encountering God through faith

by , posted in Quotes

Jesus said:

“Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and acts on them — I will show you what such a person is like.

“Such a person is like the man who, when he built a house, dug, and dug deep, and laid the foundations on rock; when the river was in flood it bore down on that house but could not shake it, it was so well built.

“But someone who listens and does nothing is like the man who built a house on soil, with no foundations; as soon as the river bore down on it, it collapsed; and what a ruin that house became!” Luke 6:47-49

Pope Benedict XVI, in his new book “Light of the World,” said that faith is the root that establishes communion with God and enables us to bind together authentically.

Rally surprised by pro-life flash mob

by , posted in Inspiration

During a rally held in downtown Chicago on February 26th to support the false “choice” of abortion-on-demand, teens and young adults organized a counter-demonstration in the form of a “pro-life flash mob” to support the right-to-life of the unborn.

The youth gathered inconspicuously, and then when prompted by music playing from a backpack sound system, they spontaneously assembled and yellow balloons rose into the air with the word “Life” on them.

The original rally gatherers were asked to wear orange for the event, so the pro-life gatherers surprised them when they revealed signs that spelled the message, “ORANGE YOU GLAD TO SEE US???”

The pro-life mission was to bring a positive message of life to Chicago, and we at LightsMyWay salute the young pro-lifers for their peaceful and joyful reminder that that we all start this life as a fetus, and that the taking of that unborn life is not a valid “choice.”

More on this appeared on Thomas Peters’ blog @ Americanpapist.com

The radical words of Jesus

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Jesus said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”

Here’s what GK Chesterton said of Christianity: “The civilization of antiquity was the whole world: and men no more dreamed of its ending than of the ending of daylight. They could not imagine another order unless it were in another world. The civilization of the world has passed away and those words have not passed away. In the long night of the Dark Ages feudalism was so familiar a thing that no man could imagine himself without a lord: and religion was so woven into that network that no man would have believed they could be torn asunder. Feudalism itself was torn to rags and rotted away in the popular life of the true Middle Ages; and the first and freshest power in that new freedom was the old religion. Feudalism had passed away, and the words did not pass away. The whole medieval order, in many ways so complete and almost cosmic a home for man, wore out gradually in its turn and here at least it was thought that the words would die. They went forth across the radiant abyss of the Renaissance and in fifty years were using all its light and learning for new religious foundations, new apologetics, new saints. It was supposed to have been withered up at last in the dry light of the Age of Reason; it was supposed to have disappeared ultimately in the earthquake of the Age of Revolution. Science explained it away; and it was still there. History disinterred it in the past; and it appeared suddenly in the future. To-day it stands once more in our path; and even as we watch it, it grows.”

The Scapular ~ Garment of Grace

by , posted in Shared Stories

In 1251 Our Lady gave the Scapular promise to St. Simon Stock saying, “Whosoever dies wearing this Scapular shall not suffer eternal fire.” She continued: “Wear the Scapular devoutly and perseveringly. It is My garment. To be clothed in it means you are continually thinking of Me, and I in turn, am always thinking of you and helping you to secure eternal life.”

Wearing the Scapular indicates that you place yourself under the special protection of Mary. The church does not teach that wearing a scapular is some sure ticket to Heaven; rather, we must strive to be in a state of grace, implore our Lord’s forgiveness, and trust in the maternal aid of our Blessed Mother.

Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel (the Madonna of the Scapular) began before the time of St. Simon Stock — even before the time of Jesus. In 8th century B.C., the great prophet Elias came down the holy mountain of Carmel in Palestine. Then he began a long tradition of contemplative life and prayer. He and his followers had mystically dedicated themselves to God’s Mother-to-come, Mary, Queen of Mount Carmel. Nearly three thousand years later, that tradition of prayer, contemplation, and devotion to Mary continues to live and be present in the Catholic Church.

Very Nice Scapulars, handmade by the Sisters here

Part II Our Lady of Mount Carmel