For those who wish to join in prayer . . .

One day, after celebrating Mass, the aged Pope Leo XIII was in conference with the Cardinals when suddenly he sank to the floor in a deep swoon. Physicians who hastened to his side could find no trace of his pulse and feared that he had expired. However, after a short interval the Holy Father regained consciousness and exclaimed with great emotion: "Oh, what a horrible picture I have been permitted to see!"

He had been shown a vision of evil spirits who had been released from Hell and their efforts to destroy the Church. But in the midst of the horror the archangel St. Michael appeared and cast Satan and his legions into the abyss of hell. Soon afterwards Pope Leo XIII composed the following prayer to Saint Michael, which is the original version:
Original - Prayer to St. Michael

“O Glorious Prince of the heavenly host, St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle and in the terrible warfare that we are waging against the principalities and powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, against the evil spirits. Come to the aid of man, whom Almighty God created immortal, made in His own image and likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of Satan.

“Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, ancient serpent, who is called the devil or Satan who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss with his angels. Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage. Transformed into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of His Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.

“These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and bitterness the Church, the spouse of the immaculate Lamb, and have laid impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself, where the See of Holy Peter and the Chair of Truth has been set up as the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their abominable impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck, the sheep may be.

“Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the lost spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate thee as their protector and patron; in thee holy Church glories as her defense against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls of men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace that He may put Satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no longer be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers in the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly find mercy in the sight of the Lord; and vanquishing the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may no longer seduce the nations. Amen.

V. Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers.
R. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered the root of David.
V. Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord.
R. As we have hoped in Thee.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.

Let us pray.

O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as supplicants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin Immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious St. Michael the Archangel, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all the other unclean spirits who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of souls. Amen.”


Roman Raccolta, July 23, 1898, supplement approved July 31, 1902,
London: Burnes, Oates & Washbourne Ltd., 1935, 12th edition.

Contraception mandate prompts Peoria Bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer

It is both heartening to hear our bishops gather forces in the wake of the recent mandate which will take away our religious freedoms. It is also with deep concern as we realize that the matter is so very serious that we require joined forces in reciting the St. Michael Prayer - which is to ask the intercession of this Archangel in our building battle with the powers of Satan.  Another wake up call to the world.

Contraception mandate prompts Peoria bishop to instate St. Michael Prayer

By Kevin J. JonesRead more: http://www.ewtnnews.com/catholic-news/US.php?id=4749#ixzz1kiKlIvBZ

Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria, Ill. has asked parishes, schools, hospitals and religious houses to insert the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel into the intercessions at Sunday Mass to pray for Catholics’ freedom.

The move comes in response to a new federal requirement that will force many Catholic organizations to provide insurance coverage for sterilizations and contraceptives.

"It is God’s invincible Archangel who commands the heavenly host, and it is the enemies of God who will ultimately be defeated," the bishop said in a Jan. 24 letter to the Catholics of his diocese.

 The prayer should take place in the general intercessions before the concluding prayer, Bishop Jenky said. He asked that the intention of the prayer be announced as "for the freedom of the Catholic Church in America."

The St. Michael prayer was authored by Pope Leo XIII, and was once commonly said in U.S. Catholic parishes as part of a petition for the freedom of Soviet Russia.

He said it is his duty to summon the local Church into "spiritual and temporal combat in defense of Catholic Christianity."

"If these regulations are put into effect, they could close down every Catholic school, hospital and the other public ministries of our Church, which is perhaps their underlying intention," Bishop Jenky said. "What is perfectly clear is that this is a bigoted and blanket attack on the First Amendment rights of every Catholic believer."

Bishop Jenky’s comments add to the continued reaction to the Department of Health and Human Services ruling that requires insurance coverage of procedures which Catholic teaching recognizes as sinful. The rule’s narrow religious exemptions only include institutions which hire or serve their fellow believers and have the inculcation of religious values as a primary purpose.

The requirement will make it impossible for Catholic institutions to continue to offer health care coverage for their employees, the Diocese of Peoria said. The institutions could be forced to drop healthcare coverage for employees because of their moral and religious objections.

Bishop Jenky stated that the president does not have the authority under the U.S. Constitution to "require our cooperation with what we consider to be intrinsic evil and mortal sin."

"I am honestly horrified that the nation I have always loved has come to this hateful and radical step in religious intolerance."

The bishop pledged that the Church will never abandon its commitment to the Gospel of Life and called on the faithful to "vigorously" oppose what he called an "unprecedented governmental assault upon the moral convictions of our faith."

Bishop Jenky also struck an encouraging note.

"Have faith! Have courage! Fight boldly for what you believe!" he said. "I strongly urge you not to be intimidated by extremist politicians or the malice of the cultural secularists arrayed against us."

Invoking the First Letter of John, he said Catholics should always remember that "the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."

Orange-Scented Cranberry-Bran Muffins

Still on my mild health kick, here is a recipe for a good-tasting treat that sneaks in a few good things in the diet. I like using dried raisins but dried, snipped pineapple can be substituted or plain, old raisins! If you opt for raisins, I'l suggest a teaspoon of cinnamon to the batter.

Orange-Scented Cranberry-Bran Muffins
1 cup flaked bran cereal, your choice
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup softened butter
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly grated orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Line 8 muffin cups with paper baking cups.

Combine all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl and stir to mix. The batter will be a bit lumpy. Fill the paper-lined muffin cups about 2/3 full to allow for rising.

Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes.

The Good News and the Bad News . . .

My family likes homemade cheesecake. I love my family. Cheesecake if full of fat and calories so I have been making it with non-and low-fat cream cheese. Yes, there is a slight texture difference but I figure that if they want to have a treat and I can save them some calories, they will have to deal with it. I noticed that the last time I tortured them with a low-calorie cheesecake, they complained through mouths full of dessert! I do compromise as I prefer a pineapple glaze on top but make the more popular strawberry one!

Mother Angelica's Miscarriage Prayer

My first three children were almost exactly two years apart. It wasn't planned that way but seemed to be God's way of sending us these gifts. Between my third and fourth child, however, is a gap of four years. If plans had gone our way, there would have been a baby two years after the third birth . . . and there was but God had other ideas for our Matthew. I was four months along when we miscarried. I ran across this prayer by Mother Angelica and wished I had read it when I went through that so wanted to make sure to share it today. Baby number five was born two years after the miscarriage. Although I will never forget the baby I lost, I have to thank God for the gift He sent me in this cheerful young man, my youngest son.

Mother Angelica's Miscarriage Prayer

My Lord, the baby is dead! Why, my Lord - dare I ask why? It will not hear the whisper of the wind or see the beauty of its parent's face - it will not see the beauty of Your creation or a flame of a sunrise. Why, my Lord?

"Why, My child, do you ask why? Well, I will tell you why. You see, the child lives. Instead of the wind, he hears the sound of angels singing before My throne. Instead of the beauty that passes, he see everlasting Beauty - he sees My face. He was created and lived a short time so tht he, who has the image of his parents imprinted on his face, may stand before Me as their personal intercessor. He knows secrets of heaven unknown to men on earth. He laughs with a special joy that only the innocent possess. My ways are not the ways of man. I created for My Kingdom, and each creature fills a place in that Kingdom that could not be filled by another. He was created for My Joy and his parents' merits. He has never seen pain or sin. He has never felt hunger or pain. I breathed a soul into a seed, made it grow, and called it forth."

I am humbled before You, my Lord, for questioning Your wisdom, goodness, and love. I speak as a fool - forgive me. I acknowledge Your sovereign rights over life and death. I thank You for the life that began for so short a time to enjoy so long an eternity.

Saturday Morning . . .

Saturday Morning arrives tomorrow! For most of us, it is a day to not rush around and a good time to treat the family to a great breakfast. Pancakes are always a favorite but, in order to take away a bit of the guilt, Oatmeal Pancakes could be the choice. We won't discuss the melting butter and syrup that will probably be soaking into each serving. We've added heathy oatmeal so discussion is over!

Oatmeal Pancakes
1/2 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of quick-cooking oats
3/4 cup buttermilk
1/4 cup milk
1 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Combine all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. If you like thinner pancake, mix in spoonfuls of milk until you get the right texture of batter.

For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup of batter onto a hot, greased frying pan or griddle. Cook until pancakes are puffed and tiny bubbles appear on the surface. Turn and cook other side until golden brown.

Makes about a dozen pancakes so feel free to double the recipe as needed! If you don't have the usual toppings available, applesauce works great. A little butter with cinnamon and sugar is a great change of pace. Leftover pancakes? Freeze them and then warm them in the toaster later. Have the time and the budget? Sandwich an over-easy friend egg between to pancakes.

United States Divorce Agreement

Someone passed this on to me and amusing as it is, it has a lot of common sense truth being pointed out to everyone.

The person that wrote this is a college student. Perhaps there is hope for us after all.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT

THIS IS SO INCREDIBLY WELL PUT AND I CAN HARDLY BELIEVE IT'S BY A YOUNG PERSON, A STUDENT!!! WHATEVER HE RUNS FOR, I'LL VOTE FOR HIM.

Dear American liberals, leftists, social progressives, socialists, Marxists and Obama supporters, et al:We have stuck together since the late 1950's for the sake of the kids, but the whole of this latest election process has made me realize that I want a divorce. I know we tolerated eachother for many years for the sake of future generations, but sadly, this relationship has clearly run its course.

Our two ideological sides of America cannot and will not ever agree on what is right for us all, so let's just end it on friendly terms. We can smile and chalk it up to irreconcilable differences and go our own way.

Here is a model separation agreement:

--Our two groups can equitably divide up the country by landmass each taking a similar portion. That will be the difficult part, but I am sure our two sides can come to a friendly agreement. After that, it should be relatively easy! Our respective representatives can effortlessly divide other assets since both sides have such distinct and disparate tastes.

--We don't like redistributive taxes so you can keep them.

--You are welcome to the liberal judges and the ACLU.--Since you hate guns and war, we'll take our firearms, the cops, the NRA and the military.

--We'll take the nasty, smelly oil industry and you can go with wind, solar and biodiesel.

--You can keep Oprah, Michael Moore and Rosie O'Donnell. You are, however, responsible for finding a bio-diesel vehicle big enough to move all three of them.

--We'll keep capitalism, greedy corporations, pharmaceutical companies, Wal-Mart and Wall Street.

--You can have your beloved lifelong welfare dwellers, food stamps, homeless, home boys, hippies, druggies and undocumented.

--We'll keep the hot Alaskan hockey moms, greedy CEO's and rednecks.

--We'll keep the Bibles and give you NBC and Hollywood

--You can make nice with Iran and Palestine and we'll retain the right to invade and hammer places that threaten us.

--You can have the peaceniks and war protesters. When our allies or our way of life are under assault, we'll help provide them security.

--We'll keep our Judeo-Christian values.

--You are welcome to Islam, Scientology, Humanism, political correctness and Shirley McClain. You can also have the U.N. but we will no longer be paying the bill.

--We'll keep the SUV's, pickup trucks and oversized luxury cars. You can take every Volt and Leaf you can find.

--You can give everyone healthcare if you can find any practicing doctors.

--We'll continue to believe healthcare is a luxury and not a right.

--We'll keep "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "The National Anthem."

--I'm sure you'll be happy to substitute "Imagine", "I'd Like to Teach the World to Sing", "Kum Ba Ya" or "We Are the World".

--We'll practice trickle down economics and you can continue to give trickle up poverty your best shot.

--Since it often so offends you, we'll keep our history, our name and our flag.

Would you agree to this? If so, please pass it along to other like-minded liberal and conservative patriots and if you do not agree, just hit delete. In the spirit of friendly parting, I'll bet you answer which one of us will need whose help in 15 years.

Sincerely,

John J. Wall
Law Student and an American

P.S. Also, please take Ted Turner, Sean Penn, Martin & Charlie Sheen, Barbara Streisand, & ( Hanoi ) Jane Fonda with you, and don’t forget Alec Baldwin, Miley Cyrus, Lady Gaga.

P.S.S. And you won't have to press 1 for English when you call our country.


　

Surviving the College Dining Hall

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2012/01/surviving-the-college-dining-hall/

One of my readers kindly shared this site which could be helpful for those of you sending children off to college this Fall. My daughter just got finished dealing with the infamous college cafeteria and could have used this information! Healthy eating isn't always found at the food counter at most colleges. With a little help and information, however, you can find your way around the empty calories and keep a sharp mind for the studying!

Cheese Puffs . . . way too addicting!

As you know by now, I like cheese and if a recipe calls for cheese, I'm sure to stop and take a look. This is a great take on cream puff batter. It is good for a snack, goes well with a salad course, or as a hot bread with dinner. Just having them in the freezer provides you with a quick snack for hungry children.

Cheese Puffs

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Tiny pinch of cayenne
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
4 ounces of softened cream cheese
5 ounces of your favorite process cheese spread - I like sharp cheddar
Grated Romano or Parmesan for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

In a cooking pot, combine water, butter, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Bring to a boil and add flour all at once, stirring constanting until mixture forms a ball and leaves the sides of a pan.

Remove from heat and place in a mixing bowl and beat in the eggs, one at a time until batter is smooth and glossy. Stir in the softened cream cheese and processed cheese. Drop by teaspoons onto either a well-greased or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with grated Romano or Parmesan cheese.

 Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Remove from baking sheets immediately and serve warm or cold.

You can freeze the baked Cheese Puffs and just reheat them in a 350 degree oven for about 8-10 minutes.

Food for Thought for Christians of All Faiths . . .

“True followers of Christ; be prepared to have a world make jokes at your expense. You can hardly expect a world to be more reverent to you than to Our Lord. When it does make fun of your faith, its practices, abstinences, and rituals-then you are moving to a closer identity with Him Who gave us our faith. Under scorn, Our Lord ‘answered nothing’. The world gets amusement from a Christian who fails to be Christian, but none from his respectful silence.” ~Bishop Fulton Sheen

Cynical but, alas, also true . . .

"Every increased possession loads us with new weariness."
-- John Ruskin

"My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular."
-- Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.

"Television has done much for psychiatry by spreading information about it, as well as contributing to the need for it."
-- Alfred Hitchcock

"A nation is a society united by delusions about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbors."
-- William Ralph Inge