Freedom From Deeply Rooted Sin
Volume XXVII, Number 14
July 10th, 2023
How one brief daily spiritual practice will immediately improve everything in your life
Beloved readers, please forgive me for taking some time off. I've really been struggling after completing the grueling Operation True Cross walking pilgrimage.
It's been like climbing out of a dark, deep, and muddy mental pit while a series of pressing personal matters knocked me out of my routine. Praying, fasting—and even getting out of bed—have become difficult.
You all know what that's like. I explain more in Spiritual Payback below. I also have upcoming July feast days, Catholic quotes, and our group prayer.
Trust the Exorcist
I spent an entire day rewriting my December 2022 email message into a permanent, easy-to-share article recounting how a breathtakingly simple daily spiritual habit will purge deeply-rooted sin and diabolical influence from your life.
I learned about The Three Angelus Cure during my encounter with Father Chad Ripperger, the world-renowned exorcist.
Since that original email went out, several friends and relatives started offering the Three Angeluses and have attested to the spiritual freedom that will permeate virtually every aspect of your life.
If you missed my email or only recently began receiving this message, you won't regret taking a few minutes to read it. Don't be shy—read it now and come back. I don't mind waiting.
Spiritual Payback
Is my recent malaise spiritual payback for completing Operation True Cross? Sure. Absolutely. After all, the powers and principalities can read our website—and they are being pummeled by the terrific blows we asked heaven to deliver.
Of course I'm responsible for some of my doldrums, but I've also experienced creepy and clear indications that diabolical elements are involved.
I've learned over the past three decades that this is actually a good sign, even as I swat away discouragement a dozen times a day.
I'll be fine. No attack will amount to anything.
Infallible Catholic teaching assures us our heavenly Father both allows and limits these kinds of things. We are consecrated sons and daughters of Immaculate Mary, protected beneath her Mantle!
Sunny Side UpSo if you're going through a difficult season in your own life, I'm with you—and Our Lady is with us. Look up. Get up. Show up. Repeat. Smile.
Be grateful. I am.
Catholic Blowtorch
Like many of you, I believe our Mantle of Mary project helped overturn Roe v. Wade. One of my favorite writers is John Zmirak, a veritable Catholic blowtorch, and I mean that as a compliment. Years ago I pulled an exciting all-nighter conversing with John before driving him all the way from D.C. to New York City as the sun came up.
I agree with just about everything he writes on The Stream, a fantastic Christian blog featuring a whole crew of excellent Protestant and Catholic writers. I thought you might enjoy reading his one-year Roe retrospective:
Enjoy Her Name Twice
As most of you know, during Operation True Cross I meditated almost solely on the Sorrowful Mysteries as a special kind of reparation during my walks.
Just imagine: I mediated on the passion of Our Lord as I carried a fragment of the actual cross He carried and upon which He atoned for our sins.
As is my habit, I sometimes concentrated on one particular word or line in the Hail Mary. Over the years, my favorite word is "now." It is always consoling to know Our Lady is praying for us and with us in real time.
It never occurred to me to meditate on a name until one day, with about a week to go before we completed the final Florida beamhttps://www.catholicity.com/message/2023-05-09.html, I concentrated on the word Mary during my Rosary.
How is it possible that I have gone my entire life without noticing that we have the honor of praying her name twice in each Hail Mary? First, we greet her as our mom. Next, we ask for her help.
Give it a try during your next Rosary or Angelus.
Some July Saints
This Friday, July 14. Saint Kateri Tekakwitha. American!
Monday, July 24. Saint Charbel. The Padre Pio of the Middle East.
Wednesday, July 26. Saints Joachim and Anne. Mary's parents. (I took your petitions to her amazing shrine in Quebec, Canada, in 2017.)
Monday, July 31. Saint Ignatius of Loyola. One of the four "spiritual uncles" of the Mary Foundation, along with Thomas Aquinas, Francis, and Maximilian Kolbe. (Our spiritual father is Saint Joseph, of course.)
Let's Hear Them Out
"If God causes you to suffer much, it is a sign He certainly intends to make you a saint."
- Saint Ignatius of Loyola
"Begin nothing on earth unless it has its end in heaven. Do not walk on a path that does not lead to heaven."
- Saint Charbel
"Man should not consider his material possessions his own, but as common to all, so as to share them without hesitation when others are in need."
- Saint Thomas Aquinas
Pray with Tens of Thousands
My own personal intention today is for the war in Ukraine to end, for my parents, and for the wife of a friend (with several children) who is having brain surgery today. Her name is Jen.
Please take a moment to call to mind your own intentions before we begin, all of us, all over the world...
...in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the Lord is with thee.
Blessed art thou amongst women,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God,
pray for us sinners,
now,
and at the hour of death.
Amen.
And amen.
If you are new or missed it, you can submit your personal intentions—free, encrypted, one-click, anonymous—for our annual novena of Masses culminating on the Feast of the Immaculate Conception:
You may have noticed there are real signs of hope in our country and the world. Be wary of the all-encompassing, endless propaganda designed to discourage you.
I'm grateful that Our Lady sent you to us.
Let's keep the pressure on through the steady application of prayer, almsgiving, good works, and self-denials while loving others without counting the costs—so Saint Michael can thrust that sword in deeper!
Here's one more chance to learn about the Three Angelus Cure.
With Saint Anne,
Bud Macfarlane
Founder
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