Saturday, March 31, 2007

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton represents WAY's
sacramental life and apostolic service:
A Way of Serving Christ

"We sanctify ourselves for others."
-- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Beloved Mother Seton,
you who have known so much sorrow and suffering,
remember our struggling you community
and pray for our Apostolate, so new and so untested.

Your joy in serving all young people,
rich and poor alike, your faithfulness to family,
and you adoration of the Eucharistic Christ
are our special inspiration.

Pray that those women
who need and seek our fellowship will find it,
and that the clergy with whim we work
will be especially blessed and edified by our witness.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

St. Catherine of Siena

St. Catherine of Siena represents WAY's
search for Truth in sacred scripture and Tradition:
A Way of Learning Christ

"The soul who follows your Truth's teaching in love
becomes through love another you."
--
St. Catherine of Siena

Holy Catherine,
whose sanctity is marked
by a matchless passion for truth,
intercede for us with your "Truth,"
our Lord Jesus Christ,
that he may create in us
an unquenchable thirst for learning
and an enduring ardor for teaching
all the riches of the Faith.

Grant that we may have some share of both
your uncompromising courage
in facing the truth of our own neediness
and your boundless hope
in accepting God's love and forgiveness.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

St. Therese of Lisieux

St. Therese of Lisieux represents WAY's
spiritual childhood:
A Way of Surrendering to Christ

"My little way is the way of spiritual childhood,
the way of trust and absolute surrender."
-- St. Therese of Lisieux

Saint Therese of Lisieux,
Heartbeat of Incarnate Love,
pray that the members of our community
will learn to love one another
with the kind of sacrificial patience and unselfishness
that you learned from the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

May our thirst for personal sanctity grow to equal your own,
and in this way may our ministry draw with irresistible power
the hearts of the young toward the ideal of holiness,
as the Miraculous Star drew the Magi
to the holy crib in Bethlehem.
In Christ's name we pray. Amen.

Saturday, March 3, 2007

St. Michael the Archangel Hotline


Saint Michael the Archangel
Hotline
For Spiritually-at-risk Youth

How It Works

In 1997, the Women’s Apostolate to Youth embarked on a new community ministry: that of praying each day for spiritually at-risk youth. The names and circumstances of some children, for whom we pray 30 days, are known to us. Their needs are placed before us by their youth ministers, priests, friends, neighbors, or relatives. We share their stories with those on our list of "hotline supporters." These people include members and associates of WAY and their "Prayer Partners," who have all agreed to take on this special ministry with us. Also included on our list of supporters is a very special and wonderful group of priests, who--in addition to reciting the prayer daily for our hotline kids--offer masses for these children and youth besieged by evil at every turn.

We realize that for every spiritually at-risk child whose name and circumstances we know, there are thousands more whose needs will never be known to us. These needs of these children are all offered in our general intention. Every month, our hotline supporters receive the St. Michael Messenger, a list of those whose needs have been placed before us. We pray for these children and youth by name and offer prayers, too, for our general intention. Each issue of the Messenger also includes updates, when available, on the circumstances of those for whom prayers were offered in previous months. Sometimes there is good news to share; other times, the need for continued prayers is great. Always, however, there are more prayers to be offered. The ministry continues as long as there is evil in this world that threatens the spiritual and bodily well-being of the young people of this world.

To those of you who are not already participating in this important cause, we invite you now to join us in our ministry for the sake of Christ’s little ones by praying the St. Michael prayer daily for the general intention of protecting children and youth from evil influences. If you are interested in participating in a more formal way, and would like to receive the Messenger, please email stmichael.way@gmail.com.

To all our hotline supporters, we say a heartfelt, "Thank you!" We know that we fight against a powerful enemy, but although we cannot always see the results of our work, we know that we have an even more powerful ally fighting with and for us.

Friday, March 2, 2007

Prayer to Saint Michael

Holy Michael, the Archangel
Defend us in battle
Be our safeguard against the wickedness
and snares of the Devil
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray
and do thou, oh prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan
and all the Evil Spirits
who wander through the world
seeking the ruin of Souls.
AMEN

Saint Michael the Archangel,
pray for Christ’s little ones,
and defend them from every evil influence.

Thursday, March 1, 2007

St. Edith Stein


Saint Edith Stein,
bride of Christ and mother of souls,
you went to your martyrdom
united with the sacrifice of your Divine Spouse
and in solidarity with the suffering of God¹s Chosen People.

Inspired by your teaching on our feminine nature and vocation,
we seek a path to holiness that allows us
to carry out the dutiesof our state in life
with patience, gratitude and joy.

Pray that we may find in our study of your work
a compelling vision of our charism of spiritual maternity;
and may your love of learning
rouse us from mental sloth,
rebuke our ignorance of the teachings of the Church
and inspire us to use our minds to witness
with conviction and courage to the certain victory
of Christ the King over every form of evil
that plagues us in this world.

In Christ¹s name we pray. Amen.



Prayer for Troubled Youth

Immaculate Mary, Mother of Incarnate Love,
in choosing the Lord’s little ones
to be your messengers to the world
you remind us that the Father’s Kingdom
belongs to them and that He is zealous
for their welfare.

True to the Father’s good and gracious will for all His children,
we plead with you now for the future of our youth.
Confused by lies, besieged with temptation
and betrayed by the Seducer,
our children are deceived and defenseless,
dangerously adrift in a sea of sin.

Place now your foot, Holy Virgin,
upon the neck of the Deceiver
and plead their cause before the Throne of Grace.
May the power of your prayers put evil to rout
and instill in the souls of our young
a longing for purity of heart, mind and life.

We ask this for the sake and in the name
of your adorable Son who,
still in his youth, died for our sins.
Amen.