Central New Jersey Cluster

Election Prayer

Mary, Refuge of Holy Love, intercede for our country with your Immaculately-Conceived Heart during this coming election. Since you are the ever Virgin Mary & Mother of the True God, obtain for us from the Blessed Trinity a president & other elected political leaders who will help the United States become a country of great purity & high morality.

O Sweet Blessed Mother, intercede for us that our next president will support life for each individual at every stage, uphold family life & influence other countries throughout the world to love God above all else & neighbor as self, to serve Him & live for Him alone. Time & again you have given us your gracious assistance & thus we humbly & gratefully acknowledge you as our Patron.

Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee & for all those who do not have recourse to thee.

May our Eternal Father shine His light upon our country & the whole world. Amen

Prayer to St. Francis of Assisi

St. Francis of Assisi, help us. By your example may we learn that life does not consist in the pursuit of wealth nor in the abundance of our possessions.

St. Francis of Assisi, come to our aid. Because we live at a time when men glorify ease & seek

after luxuries, & when many wish only the gratification of fleshy desires, we stand in special need of your singleminded dedication to Christ in the narrow way that leads to life.

St. Francis of Assisi, assist us now. May we appreciate as you did the beauties of God's wonderful creation, & the glory of the world he made for us. Help us to enjoy & appreciate God's bounty without spoiling or defacing His gifts by our heedlessness & greed.

Teach us, seraphic Father Francis, to value all things as Christ did & to be imitators of Him as you were. May we thus enjoy the good things of life,but always prefer the blessings of the endless life to come. Amen.

V. God forbid that I should glory-

R. Save in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

St. Francis, the little poor man of Assisi, we invoke you as the admirable mirror you were of our divine Master.

You imitated Christ the Lord in your humility & obedience. You faithfully followed Him in poverty & weakness. With joy you accepted suffering, contempt & trials for the sake of His name.

In your goodness help us, then, to imitate your example. By the power with God obtain for us the special favor we now seek through your intercession.

Please pray for us, gentle & happy saint of the poor, that we may always be loyal followers of our Savior, Jesus Christ, & filled always with divine riches. Amen.

Marantha- Advent Prayer

Today, Jesus, we begin to pray more, “Maranatha! Come, Lord Jesus! Come!” But please help us prepare not only for Christmas and for Your coming at the end of time. Help us to prepare for Your daily coming into our lives. May we welcome You in the person of every individual. May we listen to You in the Scripture. May we encounter You in the sacraments. May we remain awake because You are already here. Amen.

December 8th- The Hour of Grace

THE REQUEST OF OUR BLESSED MOTHER FOR THE HOUR OF GRACE :

1. Day and time of the Hour of Grace: December 8th, Feast of the Immaculate Conception, to be started at 12:00 noon and continuing until 1:00 p.m. for one full hour of prayer.

2. During this hour, the person making the "Hour of Grace" either at home or at Church must put away all distractions (do not answer the telephones, or answer any doors, or do anything but totally concentrate on your union with God during this special Hour of Grace) .

3. Begin the Hour of Grace by praying three (3) times the 51st Psalm with out-stretched arms. (Psalm 51 appears below)

4. The rest of the Hour of Grace may be spent in silent communication with God meditating upon the Passion of Jesus, saying the Holy Rosary, praising God in your own way, or by using favorite prayers, singing hymns, meditating upon other psalms, etc.

Please copy and distribute this message. Remember to pray for your country during this hour. The Blessed Virgin has requested that her important message be sent throughout the entire world. Please help her Mission: that all souls be drawn to GOD, and that JESUS will be loved in every heart. This is the perpetual song of her heart. Let it also be ours.

PSALM 51

Have mercy on me, God, in your goodness; in your abundant compassion blot out my offense.
Wash away all my guilt; from my sin cleanse me.
For I know my offense; my sin is always before me.
Against you alone have I sinned; I have done such evil in your sight That you are just in your sentence, blameless when you condemn.
True, I was born guilty, a sinner, even as my mother conceived me.
Still, you insist on sincerity of heart; in my inmost being teach me wisdom.
Cleanse me with hyssop, that I may be pure; wash me, make me whiter than snow.
Let me hear sounds of joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Turn away your face from my sins; blot out all my guilt.
A clean heart create for me, God; renew in me a steadfast spirit.
Do not drive me from your presence, nor take from me your holy spirit.
Restore my joy in your salvation; sustain in me a willing spirit.
I will teach the wicked your ways, that sinners may return to you.
Rescue me from death, God, my saving God, that my tongue may praise your healing power.
Lord, open my lips; my mouth will proclaim your praise.
For you do not desire sacrifice; a burnt offering you would not accept.
My sacrifice, God, is a broken spirit; God, do not spurn a broken, humbled heart.
Make Zion prosper in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem.
Then you will be pleased with proper sacrifice, burnt offerings and holocausts; then bullocks will be offered on your altar.

Prayer of Offering to Mary

Most Holy Mary Virgin Mother of God, I am unworthy to be your servant. Yet moved by your motherly care for me and longing to serve you, I choose you this day to be my Queen, my Advocate, and my Mother. I firmly resolve ever to be devoted to you and to do what I can to encourage others to be devoted to you.

My loving Mother, through the Precious Blood of your Son for me I beg you to receive me as your servant forever. Aid me in my actions and beg for me the grace never by thought, word, or deed, to be displeasing in your sight and that of your most holy Son. Remember me, dearest Mother, and do not abandon me at the hour of death.Amen.

St. Francis’ Prayer Before the Crucifix

by Friar Jack Wintz, O.F.M.

Most High

glorious God,

enlighten the darkness

of my heart.

Give me

right faith,

sure hope

and perfect charity.

Fill me with understanding

and knowledge

that I may fulfill

your command.

Most high and glorious God, bring light to the darkness of my heart.
Give me right faith, certain hope & perfect charity.
Lord, give me insight & wisdom so I will always discern Your holy & true will.

I invite you to join me in reflecting on these simple words. With their help, we can be swept up into union with the “Most High glorious God!” Francis’ prayer does not start with “Woe is me,” self-pity or some dark misery of the heart, but with the glory and sublime beauty of God.

‘Enlighten the darkness of my heart’

As St. Francis’ prayers often do, this one starts with adoration. Adoration lifts us out of our self-absorption and anxiety. A spirit of adoration helps enlighten the darkness of our hearts. Essentially, the whole prayer consists of Francis’ request that the “Most High glorious God” (that is, Christ risen in glory) enlighten Francis’ heart through the three great virtues of faith, hope and charity.

‘Give me right faith’

At this point, it is helpful to recall a key event in St. Francis’ life. It took place shortly after his conversion as he was withdrawing to caves and other solitary places to contemplate Christ’s love for him. According to St. Bonaventure, his biographer, Francis had a vision of Christ “fastened to a cross” and looking at Francis with such intense love that “his soul melted.”

This vision of Christ’s overflowing love for him became for Francis the “right faith” he was asking God to give him. And I can only assume that every time Francis prayed before a crucifix after this, he would relive the same incredible feeling of God’s overflowing love.

When Francis received the stigmata on Mount La Verna near the end of his life, this experience of God’s overflowing love was repeated. Again it was a vision of the crucified Christ. Listen to St. Bonaventure’s account: “Francis saw a Seraph with six … fiery wings descend from the heights of heaven. And when the Seraph (came near) the man of God, there appeared between [the Seraph’s] wings the figure of a man crucified, with his hands and feet extended [as if] fastened to a cross …. When Francis saw this, he was overwhelmed with a mixture of joy and sorrow. Francis felt joy because of the gracious way that Christ looked at him, but the fact that Jesus was fastened to a cross pierced Francis’ soul with sorrow.”

When St. Francis prays for “right faith” in his “Prayer Before the Crucifix,” I think he is asking God to touch his heart again with this rich vision of God’s overflowing love. If you and I prayed for the same “right faith” for which Francis prayed, would it not “enlighten the darkness of our hearts”?

Sure hope

Next, we pray with Francis for “sure hope.” We recall how Jesus’ disciples witnessed this “sure hope” when the risen Jesus appeared to them in the evening of that first Easter Sunday. Jesus stood before them in all his glory saying, “Peace be with you,” and he showed them his hands and his side (Jn 20:19-20). A week later, the apostle Thomas finally saw the risen Jesus. This experience so illumined his doubt-darkened heart that Thomas proclaimed, “My Lord and my God!”

We jump 12 centuries ahead to see St. Francis praying before the crucifix in the chapel of San Damiano near Assisi. I find it extremely interesting that the image of Christ on this crucifix was that of the glorious and risen Christ. Early Franciscan documents of the 13th century detailing the life of St. Francis indicate that the crucifix before which he was praying in this prayer was none other than that hanging in the little chapel of San Damiano.

The crucifix, familiar to and beloved by followers of St. Francis worldwide, is known as the San Damiano Crucifix. (See the image accompanying the prayer.) The body of Christ, as depicted on this cross, is not a bloody body or one twisted in anguish. Rather it is quite luminous, as if it were already his risen body, radiating the glory of God. Instead of a crown of thorns, this image of Christ has a glorious halo. And his body with outstretched arms appears to be ascending to heaven. The angels near Jesus’ bleeding hands are the angels at the tomb on Easter morning who are witnesses of Jesus’ Resurrection. In short, the image clearly suggests that this is the risen Jesus. If this was the image of Christ upon which St. Francis was gazing, it makes perfectly good sense that Francis would address Jesus as “Most High glorious God!”

‘And perfect charity’

Getting back to the words of the prayer, St. Francis also asks God to “Give me...perfect charity.” Just as Francis sees Jesus on the cross handing himself over completely to his heavenly Father and to all humankind as a gift of total love, so Francis asks for that same kind of “perfect charity.” Francis is inspired to respond to God’s total gift of love, as revealed in Christ, with the same kind of total generosity.

‘Fill me with understanding and knowledge…’

This is basically a repetition of what Francis’ whole prayer is asking, namely, to enlighten the darkness of his heart through “right faith, sure hope and perfect charity.” When we approach God wholeheartedly with complete faith, hope and charity, God will “fill” us with understanding and knowledge that we might “fulfill” whatever God asks of us.

And then we can say with St. Paul, “God’s love is poured forth in our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us” (Rom 5:5).