Memorial of St. Kateri Tekakwitha
O God, who desired the Virgin St. Kateri Tekakwitha to flower among the native Americans in a life of innocence, grant through her intercession, that when all are gathered into your Church from every nation, tribe, and tongue, they may magnify You in a single canticle of praise. We ask this through Our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, forever and ever. Amen.
Daily Thought from the Saints
"You must speak to Jesus, not only with your lips, but also with your heart; actually, on certain occasions, you should speak with only your heart."
— St. Padre Pio
Daily Scripture Verse
"Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be devoured by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken."
Isaiah 1:18-20
Daily Meditation
"Chastity is the most unpopular of the Christian virtues. There is no getting away from it; the Christian rule is, ‘Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence.’ Now this is so difficult and so contrary to our instincts, that obviously either Christianity is wrong or our sexual instinct, as it now is, has gone wrong. One or the other. Of course, being a Christian, I think it is the instinct which has gone wrong ... God knows our situation; He will not judge us as if we had no difficulties to overcome. What matters is the sincerity and perseverance of our will to overcome them. Before we can be cured we must want to be cured. Those who really wish for help will get it; but for many modern people even the wish is difficult ... We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help than you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up and try again. Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again. For however important chastity (or courage, or truthfulness, or any other virtue) may be, this process trains us in habits of the soul which are more important still. It cures our illusions about ourselves and teaches us to depend on God. We learn, on the one hand, that we cannot trust ourselves even in our best moments, and, on the other, that we need not despair even in our worst, for our failures are forgiven. The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection."
— C. S. Lewis
Day by Day with Mary, the Mother of God
Jesus, Mary, I love you,
—St. Kateri Tekakwitha
A Prayer from Notre Dame University
Rev. Bob Loughery, C.S.C.
Forgiving God, help us to repent of our sins and failings, and renew our lives by our imitation of you Son. May we be always grateful for the mighty deeds you have done for us. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.