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Save the Date!
ST. PADRE PIO PRAYER GROUP NEWSLETTER
SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR: REV. FR. EDWARD JANOCH GROUP LEADER: CINDY RUSSO
Hail Mary! Full of Grace!
NOTABLE NOTES!
Thurs. June 5 Sat. June 7 Padre Pio Prayer Group Gathering. First Saturday of the Month at St.
Barnabas. 8:30 a.m
Each Thursday Blue Army Prayer Cell. St. Barnabas Church 7-8 p.m. &
Rosary each Sunday at 7:30 a.m
Holy Hour for Vocations sponsored
by the Knights of Columbus. 7 p.m. at St. Barnabas Church
May is the month we honor Mary for the special grace and privilege that was given to her. In fact, by honoring Mary we imitate the Lord who honored her by becoming flesh in her womb. Yes, as Jesus literally entrusted himself to Mary, we too can entrust ourselves to her care and protection. Mary continues to ask us to pray the rosary daily. A suggested reading is a book titled: 33 Days to Morning Glory by Fr. Michael E. Gaitley. It is a self-‐retreat that leads to consecrate yourself to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
We would like to wish the a Blessed Happy Mother’s Day to all Mothers and those who act in the way of Motherhood! We celebrate on May 25th Padre Pio’s Birthday! He quoted, “Follow Mary and She will lead you to Jesus”. The Pilgrimage to Italy is filling up! If you are thinking of going, it is time to commit. Contact us at [email protected] and we will call you back. All Womankind Baby Bottles (filled with change!) are due back by our June 7th meeting, or you can also drop off at the St. Barnabas Rectory.
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MAY 2014 SPRING
A WORD FROM OUR SPIRITUAL DIRECTOR
Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! He has Risen! He has truly Risen! This month I am going to mention short “snippets” of spiritual information since this month of May in the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Fourteen is filled with many spiritual gems. So here I go. The month of May is traditionally the month of Mary, Mother of God and our mother, yet we begin the month remembering her spouse under the title of St. Joseph the Worker. This day, May 1st was chosen in response to the “May Day” celebrations for workers sponsored by the Communists. Pope Pius XII instituted the feast of St. Joseph the Worker in 1955. The relationship between Joseph and the cause of workers has a much longer tradition in the Roman Catholic Church, going back for centuries. Mothers Day is Sunday, May 11th. We remember our mothers, living or deceased, during this month dedicated to Mary. The tradition was that one wore a red flower, usually a carnation, in honor of a mother who is living. A white flower is worn if one’s mother is deceased. Let us pray for all mothers and honor our Mother, Mary. The Diocese of Cleveland for the last 26 years has celebrated the ordination of priests for the diocese during the month of May. Six men: Deacon Matthew Joseph Byrne of Holy Family Parish, Stow; Deacon Gustavus Max Cyrus Cole of St. Helen Parish, Newbury; Deacon Christopher Andrew Cox of St. Justin Martyr Parish, Eastlake; Deacon Scott David Goodfellow of St. Joseph Parish, Avon Lake; Deacon Ryan Joseph Mann of St. Mary Parish, Hudson; and Deacon Timothy Joseph Roth of St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Parma will be ordained on Saturday, May 17th. Pray for these new priests and for more servants for the harvest. The celebration of birthdays are important reminders of the beginning our earthly journey and when joined with the Sacrament of Baptism, begins our spiritual journey. This month, on May 25th is the birthday of our Spiritual Father, St. Pio of Pietrelcina; Padre Pio. A Happy Birthday to all those celebrating birthdays this month. In many parishes, the celebration of First Communions will take place this month. Pray for all who will receive Jesus the Christ in His Body and Blood for the first time. May these children never be denied the opportunity to continue to receive Holy Communion in a worthily fashion. Now I must mention a more personal matter. On Saturday, 26 April 2014 [which happened to be the 45th Anniversary of my First Communion] I received a letter from Bishop Richard G. Lennon informing me of my new assignment. On Tuesday, 10 June 2014 I will be the new Parochial Vicar at St. Charles Borromeo Parish, in Parma. I will be joined with the newly ordained Father Ryan Joseph Mann. We will be joined in ministry with Fr. John Carlin, the Pastor and Fr. Terrence Grachanin, Parochial Vicar. Yes, there are four priests at St. Charles Borromeo Parish. Pray for all priests who will be transferred to new parishes in the Diocese. Yours in the Risen Christ, Rev. Edward J. Janoch
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MAY 2014 SPRING
ST. JOHN PAUL II – FEARLESS LEADER Our church recently canonized St. John Paul who was the key person in bringing down communism in 1989. His first words as Pope were: “Be not afraid.”, which he, himself courageously lived out day by day. He promoted the Divine Mercy Devotion with the model—“Jesus, I trust in you”. We can only overcome fear by trust. Fear is a very lonely feeling, like being in a dark cave with “wormy” thoughts. Trust is like a cozy feeling of intimacy. Fear is the root cause of all the negative feelings we have, because we are afraid of the loss of someone or something. Advertising capitalizes on this too, an enormous degree, as do many politicians. The formula is simple: 1) You may not have enough of (fill in the blank)…. 2). I, or my product, will prevent your lack of (fill in the blank). 3) (Secretly) I will make you desire my product.
On this earth, we can never not experience loss. Time, space, and gravity are all about loss. What is the answer? The answer is not getting, preventing, accumulating, reassuring ourselves. The answer is St. John Paul’s concept of “self-‐donation”—energy of love going out of ourselves toward God and others. St. John Paul’s motto is “Totus Tuus”. (Mary, I am all yours). He desired what Mary desired for him, and nothing else. He had goals he wanted to achieve, but always according to God’s will and timing.
What frustrated the communists occupying Poland was that John Paul was not afraid of them, therefore, he always had clear thinking with an optimistic outlook. He loved, blessed, and prayed for them. He trusted in God and Mary to overthrow them, according to Gospel, non-‐violence.
He trusted that God uses the worst that Satan can throw at us to defeat Satan. When he was almost assassinated, Mary changed the trajectory of the bullet miraculously to save his life because he trusted in Her. During his recuperation, he studied Fatima and learned of the importance of dedicating Russia to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. He did this in 1982 and communism fell in 1989. By his lack of fear and trust in Mary, She used the assassination attempt to defeat Satan.
Often God will let us experience situations of great fear and trial so that we see that trust is the only way to break through.
Martin Luther King Jr., with threats to himself and his family, woke up one day at 2 a.m. terrified.
He prayed in anguish from the depths of his heart and surrendered his life to God. He trusted. Fear no longer controlled him. He became a hero who changed the course of our nation’s history. St. Maximillian Kolbie was afraid of suffering all his life. In the concentration camp, he faced his fears, put his trust in Mary, gave his life for his fellow prisoners and became a saint. Our world endlessly tells us that happiness consists in accumulating, acquiring, getting. Jesus tells us to surrender, let go, give away, risk, trust. One of the greatest graces we can pray for is the grace of surrender of trust. When obtained, we won’t fear and we won’t compulsively desire. We will accept. Love will constantly go out of us in self-‐donation, and God will infill us with His love and gifts in return. We will feel closer to others. Endorphins will flow through our bodies, giving us energy, which is why St. John Paul could do so much with such a frail body in his later years. He literally, “lived on love”. Here are some suggestions. We can: 1) Memorize Padre Pio’s words, “Fear is an evil worse than evil itself”. 2) Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet and repeat “Jesus I trust in you” often throughout the day. 3) Pray for the gift of surrender and trust. 4) Embrace situations which occasion fear as opportunities to grow and trust. 5) Notice how news programs can cause fear, and advertisements try to create desires in us. 6) Examine our “stream of consciousness” throughout the day to identify fears and desires. 7) Mention our fears and desires to our confessor 8) Pray to St. John Paul, Mary, and Padre Pio.
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MAY 2014 SPRING
PADRE PIO AND OUR LADY OF FATIMA
Padre Pio’s love for and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary is legendary. Indeed, he spent much of his ministry extolling Her virtues and urging all Catholics to confidently appeal to Her merciful intercession. One well-‐known writer has suggested that "behind all the marvelous gifts of Padre Pio, his extraordinary guidance of souls, his gift of bilocation and his camaraderie with the angels, was Our Lady, who cherished him as a mother would a child, even to the point that, after he had been beaten by the devils one night in his room, She came and put a cushion under his head, in order to relieve his suffering."
Padre Pio wrote often of his love for the Mother of God, reminding us to "rest your ear on Her maternal heart and listen to Her suggestions, and then you will feel all the best desires for perfection being born in you." He considered Our Lady to be the great harmonizing and directing force behind the Holy Sacrament of Penance and said that "to understand and to make the sacrament more fruitful, you must confide yourself to the inspirations and guidance of the Blessed Virgin."
As a true son of Our Lady, Padre Pio loved the Rosary and is reputed to have said a 15-‐decade Rosary as many as 35 times per day. In many photographs, he is shown with his right hand hidden within the pocket where he always kept his Rosary beads. Indeed, he urged all Catholics to "love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for the Rosary is the weapon against the evils of the world." When asked about the role of Our Lady in God’s plan for salvation, Padre Pio responded by saying that "all graces given by God pass through the Blessed Mother." It was with that understanding that he almost daily offered the Mass of the Immaculate Conception in the last decade of his life on earth. He is quoted as saying of Our Lady that She "accompanies me to the altar and remains at my side while I offer up the Holy Mass."
Padre Pio daily expressed his special devotion to Our Lady of Fatima as he knelt and prayed at Her shrine within the monastery, before a large picture surrounded by burning candles. Indeed, he credited the Virgin of Fatima with saving his life. In 1959, the Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima visited Italy. At the same time Padre Pio became very ill and was diagnosed with a fatal, cancerous tumor. On August 6, the statue of Our Lady arrived in San Giovanni Rotondo. Rising from his sick bed, Padre Pio prayed before the statue and kissed Her feet. As the statue left by helicopter, he said: "O Mother of mine, when you came to Italy, you found me with this sickness. You came to visit me here in San Giovanni and found me still suffering from it. Now you are leaving and I am not delivered from my illness!" As Padre Pio spoke this prayer, a miracle occurred. High above the monastery, the helicopter with Our Lady’s statue suddenly circled the building three times. The pilot would later say that he could not explain why. At the same time, Padre Pio felt a shudder immediately run through him. His body was penetrated by a flow of light and he felt the tumor burst. He cried out, "I am healed! Our Lady has healed me!" "Thank the Virgin of Fatima for me," he subsequently wrote. "On the very day She left here, I felt well again. I have been back to celebrate Mass since three days ago."
Dear St. Padre Pio help to to know O Most Holy Virgin Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary. We implore you, inspire in our hearts a fervent love for the recitation of the Rosary. By meditating on the mysteries of the redemption that are recalled there in may we obtain the graces and virtues that we ask, through the merits of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Redeemer. Amen
S P R I N G MAY 2 0 1 4
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Prayers for Our Sick Brothers and Sisters
Abbot Christopher Schwartz O.S. B., Helen Husky, Walter Kowalski,
Carol Bertoni, Mary Dirda, Roger Reardon, Dan Peters, Joseph Russo Sr., Ron Firem,
Joan Tomassi, Nicole Tomassi, Mike Friess, Jerry Lewis, James Green, Helen Husky,
Joy Zivzak, Dennis Houlahan, Dan Houlahan, Gina Sacco,
Carmelita Pruchnicki, Robert Snyder, Richard Merecki, Luella Merecki, Ed Chesar,
Michael Orbany, Nicholas Anthony DiDonato, Jeff Bauer, Judy Selby, Rose Slee,
and we ask God to bless all of their caregivers.
Prayer to Padre Pio for Healing
Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, obedient father, you loved the sick and infirm more than yourself because in them you saw Jesus. In the name of God you performed miracles of healing in body, soul and mind. Your intercession with God healed the ills of past and present and strengthened people to respond with confidence to future challenges. Those who came to you regained a sense of spiritual integrity as you rekindled hope in their lives, and encouraged them to renew the spirit in their hearts.
Through the intercession of Our Heavenly Mother, may we experience your powerful assistance and be healed in our bodily and spiritual needs, particularly (name it) and gratefully give praise and thanks to God for all His blessings. Amen.
PRAY FOR THE FAITHFUL DEPARTED SOULS Our spiritual sister
ELIZABETH A. NAGORNEY passed away April 9, 2014.
Beloved mother of Holly Nagorney. May she rest in peace.