Prayer of St. Athanasius
by VP
Posted on Monday December 08, 2025 at 12:00AM in Prayers
Our Lady of North Carolina, Downtown Raleigh NC
"Give ear to our prayers, O most Holy Virgin, and be mindful of us. Dispense unto us the gifts of thy riches, and the abundance of the graces with which thou art filled. The Archangel saluted thee, and called thee full of grace. All nations call thee blessed. The whole hierarchy of heaven blesses thee: and we, who are of the terrestrial hierarchy, also address thee, saying: Hail, O full of grace, our Lord is with thee; pray for us, O Holy Mother of God, our Lady and our Queen."
Immaculate Conception, Patron of the Raleigh Diocese
by VP
Posted on Monday December 08, 2025 at 12:00AM in Articles
Our Lady of North Carolina, Memorial to Bishop Hafey First Bishop of the Diocese Sacred Heart Downtown Raleigh
Our Lady of North Carolina:
Bishop Vincent Waters, December 8th 1945 (The Bulletin):
"On coming to the Diocese a little over five months ago, I discovered that the Diocese of Raleigh had no diocesan patron. After talking the matter over with the Right Reverend and Very Reverend Consultors, as well as with a number of the Diocesan clergy, I petitioned His Holiness Pope Pius XII to declare, by Apostolic Brief, Our Blessed Mother, under the title of her Immaculate Conception, as the patron of this diocese. I have just received a cablegram from Monsignor Alfonso Carinci, Secretary of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, advising that His Holiness has granted our request.
Although the eighth of December is a day for general rejoicing in America, since our country is dedicated to our heavenly Mother under this title there is an especial reason this year, and every year thereafter, for rejoicing on the eighth of December in the Diocese of Raleigh, for we have God’s own Mother under the title of her Immaculate Conception as our heavenly patron. In each church of the Diocese this day should be a day of general Communion of the faithful, especially of the children, and following the last Mass, or in the evening, Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament should be given, during which the enclosed Act of Consecration should be recited. I ask all to pray fervently to Our Heavenly Mother for the gift of faith for those outside the Church." --
The Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
This day is a festival of joy and thanksgiving to all those who have a due sense of the great blessing of their redemption. For whoever considers that long night of sin, which had covered the earth for four thousand years, must needs honour with joy that first moment of her sanctification, who was chosen from all eternity to be mother of Him, who was to be the light of the world, and to take off that malediction, which sin had brought upon it. All who consider this, must rejoice, when Mary, like the morning star begins to rise, and foretels the near approach of day. And this joy must be accompanied with most solemn thanksgiving, for those extraordinary favours by which she was distinguished from all that are born of women. These privileges, the effect of the divine bounty, demand our thanks; for though she was the subject of this grace, yet the mercy was to be extended to all.
But having paid this tribute of praise and thanksgiving, and seriously considered the eminent sanctity of the B. V. Mary, we are then to turn our eyes upon ourselves, and see whether we can discover there, a like subject of joy. For if so wonderful were the dispositions of the B. Virgin, to prepare her to be the Mother of Christ, some degrees of them there ought to be in us too; since, though in a different manner, it is a dignity, to which every Christian is called, for in every Christian, Christ is to be formed. Galat. iv. 19.
If we can find any suitable dispositions in us for this work of grace, we may with reason rejoice; but if none such appear, this solemnity of joy will be to us a day of confusion. Look then on the B. Virgin Mary, and see what these dispositions are. A most profound humility, a spirit raised up to God by love, and perfect conformity to His holy Will. By these her soul was fitted, and she was chosen amongst all women to have Christ formed in her, so to become the Mother of our Redeemer. Now, what can you say of yourselves? How near do you come to these necessary dispositions for having Christ formed in you?
What have you of humility? Are you fully persuaded of your origin being from nothing? That the being, which God has given you, is so frail, and you so little master of it, that you would in any moment return to the same nothing, if God's powerful hand did not support you. That your necessities are universal: that you are not able to do, say, or think any thing that is good: that by sin you are many degrees worse than nothing; and for your rebellion against God, deserve to be deprived of all grace and blessings, and to be abandoned to all misery. That as it is, your corruption and weakness are so general that you scarce perform one good action which has not a mixture of evil in it; so that whatever favourable thoughts you may frame of yourselves, you are truly, in the sight of God, wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.
There are many steps in humility. Begin at the lowest; this will help to raise you, and give you hopes of coming to the top. As you advance here, so will the love of God, by proportioned degrees, increase in your soul; and so will you be still more and more conformed to the Divine Will. These are the dispositions for your rejoicing on this festival of joy. Thus you see how the dignity which you honour in the B. Virgin, may, in some manner, belong to you. Make some advances towards it; beseech God to be your help, and pray the B. Virgin to join her prayers with yours, that you may obtain of the divine bounty some degrees of that virtue which so much recommended her to God. For it will be but a barren festival to you, if you end the day with the same pride with which you began it." The Catholic Year; Or Daily Lessons on the Feasts of the Church by Rev Fr. John GOTHER
8. The Approaching Day. (Advent Meditations)
by VP
Posted on Monday December 08, 2025 at 12:00AM in Advent Sermons
"1. When the sun is soon to appear above the horizon, the morning star, shining with a light derived indeed from him, but nevertheless shining bright and clear even before his coming, gives the signal of his approach. So the holy Mother of God, dawning upon the world with a grace and beauty which was the gift of her divine Son, anticipated His Incarnation and made the world more beautiful in God’s sight than it had ever been before. Mary was more precious to God than all the rest of men, and this quite independently of her divine maternity. Consider why this was, and learn a lesson for yourself.
2. The morning star is still clearly seen when all other stars have been extinguished by the light of the coming day. Mary has a brilliancy so great that the brightness of all the other saints fades into nothing in comparison with hers. If this was the case even in comparison with the glory of St. John Baptist, St. Joseph, Abraham the Patriarch, the friend of God, Job, the model of patience, Daniel, the beloved of God, what must her glory be! Thank God for having created one child of Adam worthy of Himself.
3. Mary’s consummate beauty is the consequence of there being in her nothing of her own. All was God’s; no admixture of self in her motives, in her aims, in her joys and sorrows, her love and hatred. Her affections were simply a reflection of what God loved and hated; like God she loved all things except sin, and those who were the declared and eternal enemies of God. She desired nothing for herself except that she might see God’s holy will fulfilled in all. Is this the account that you can give of yourself ? Only if this is so are you a worthy child of Mary." Meditations for Advent . By Rev. Richard F. Clarke S.J. The Catholic Truth Society, London 1891
Saint Andrew Christmas Novena:
Hail and blessed be the hour and moment In which the Son of God was born Of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, [here mention your request] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen. (15 times)
Prayer to the Holy Infant for priests
Jesus, Divine Infant, I bless and thank
Thy most loving Heart for the institution of the priesthood. Priests
are sent by Thee as Thou were sent by the Father. To them Thou entrusted
the treasures of Thy doctrine, of Thy Law, of Thy Grace, and souls
themselves.
Grant me the grace to love them, to listen to them,
and to let myself be guided by them in Thy ways. Jesus, send good
laborers into Thy harvest. May priests be the salt that purifies and
preserves; may they be the light of the world; may they be the city
placed on the mountain. May they all be formed after Thy own Heart. And
in heaven may they be surrounded by a joyous throng of those they
shepherded on earth. Amen.
Glory Be (three times).
Infant Jesus, make me love Thee more and more!
