St. Francis de Sales by Francisco Bayeu y Subías, public domain
Hello, friends! We began today’s LIVE online rosary with the first day prayers for the novena to St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of Catholic writers. I really need his heavenly intercession right now so I can finish the book I’ve been working on in fits and starts over the last year! He is such a good friend to have, and his book Introduction to the Devout Life is a classic. If you’d like to have the daily prayers we’ll be using, check out www.praymorenovenas.com. We’d love to have you join us on Monday (weekends are on your own), LIVE on Instagram or YouTube, at 6 am CT.
Happy New Year! What a joy it has been for Cecilia and me to have prayed the rosary with you LIVE every day for the last 138 days. The graces and fruits have changed our lives profoundly, and I know for so many of you, as well. After prayerful discernment, Ceci and I have decided to start taking the weekends off from live-streaming the rosary beginning this Saturday, January 2, 2021. We still plan to be on Instagram and YouTube every weekday at 6 am CT, but we hope that this change to our schedule will do two things:
Allow us to catch our breath and get some rest (especially my teenager) as we pray later as a family; and
More importantly, encourage you to take this new habit of praying the daily rosary and share it with your family and friends.
“But Kitty,” you might say, “I don’t even know how to pray the rosary on my own, much less make up my own meditations!”
FEAR NOT, my friends. I have compiled this printable rosary guide for you to use, which will guide you through the whole thing. As to the spontaneous meditations, they just come from taking a leap of faith and trusting in the Holy Spirit. You do know that the alternate spelling of faith is R-I-S-K, right? But seriously, you don’t have to have spontaneous meditations. I had no intention of doing them–they just bubbled up from somewhere down deep. So, follow your heart, and let the Holy Spirit take you on a new adventure! God wants to speak to you without a translator–just give Him a chance.
In the meantime, we plan to see you tomorrow morning on New Year’s Day at 7 am CT (an hour later than our usual time to account for midnight fireworks) on Instagram and YouTube. GOD IS GOOD!
So many of you have written to ask me about the book I occasionally read from before our morning rosary about the saint of the day, that I thought I’d just post this information here on my blog. The book is entitled Saints: A Year in Faith and Art by Rosa Giorgi. You can find it here at Ignatius Press. It’s a lovely little book!
And if you don’t know about the daily LIVE rosary I pray each weekday morning with my daughter, Cecilia, we’d love to have you join us on Instagramor YouTube! M-F at 6 am CT.
Art credit: The Martyrdom of St. Thomas of Canterbury by Master Francke, c. 1430
How strange life is: Twenty-three years ago today, my father reported to federal prison for a 10-year sentence after being unjustly convicted of crimes he didn’t commit. What a dreadful day that was. And 850 years ago today, St. Thomas Becket was unjustly and brutally martyred—at the hands of my father’s 23rd great grandfather (among others)!
This recent revelation has given me pause. Not only do I have great saints and great sinners in my family tree, I know that I have the capacity for both in my own soul.
It also reminds me that what man intends for evil, God can work for the good. What a profound mystery and great consolation this is: Through the cross to life!
With all humility, may we each continue to “work out our salvation with fear and trembling,” (St. Paul) treating all with the same mercy and kindness with which we hope to be treated by God upon our death.
My father was ultimately exonerated and now enjoys, I hope and pray, the glory of Heaven with St. Thomas Becket. May all the saints—our big brothers and sisters in the Faith—pray for us until we join their company!
(For my dad’s story in brief: https://youtu.be/j5Nkztwl-fM)
“Sagrada Familia del pajarito” or “The Holy Family with a Bird,” depicting St. Joseph holding Jesus with the Blessed Mother to the side, was painted in circa 1650 by Spanish baroque painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1617-1682). Public domain/Wikimedia Commons
As we celebrate this Year of St. Joseph (Dec. 8, 2020 – Dec. 8, 2021), let us add this beautiful prayer to our daily rosary. Cecilia and I pray the rosary LIVE every weekday at 6 am CT, 7 am CT on the weekends, and the meditations are different every day. You can find us on YouTube (www.youtube.com/c/kittycleveland) and Instagram (www.instagram.com/kittycleveland/channel). We’d love to have you join us!
POPE LEO XIII’s PRAYER TO ST. JOSEPH AFTER THE ROSARY
To you, O blessed Joseph, we have recourse in our affliction. And having implored the help of your thrice-holy Spouse, we now, with hearts filled with confidence, earnestly beg you to take us also under your protection.
By that charity with which you were united to the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God, and by that fatherly love with which you cherished the Child Jesus, we beseech you and we humbly pray that you will look down graciously upon that inheritance which Jesus Christ purchased by His Blood, and will help us in our need by your power and strength.
Defend, O most watchful guardian of the Holy Family, the chosen off-spring of Jesus Christ. Keep from us, O most loving Father, all blight of error and corruption. Aid us from on high, most valiant defender, in this conflict with the powers of darkness. As you once rescued the Child Jesus from deadly peril, so now defend God’s Holy Church from the snares of the enemy and from all adversity. Shield us ever under your patronage, that, following your example and strengthened by your help, we may live a holy life, die a happy death, and attain to everlasting bliss in Heaven. Amen.
History: This prayer to Saint Joseph—spouse of the Virgin Mary, foster father of Jesus, and patron saint of the universal Church—was composed by Pope Leo XIII in his 1889 encyclical, Quamquam Pluries. This is the pope who also composed the St. Michael prayer. He asked that this prayer to St. Joseph be added to the end of the Rosary, especially during the month of October, which is dedicated to the Rosary. The prayer is enriched with a partial indulgence (Handbook of Indulgences, conc. 19), and may be said after the customary Salve Regina and concluding prayer. It may also be used to conclude other Marian devotions.
Ceci’s sacrifice beads, whether worn as a bracelet or just a string of beads kept discreetly in a pocket, help saints-in-the-making add small acts of love to their prayer life. Men and women of all ages can benefit from the practice of making little sacrifices throughout the day using their “good-deed beads.” Whether leaving a bite on one’s plate, giving up a sugary treat, or doing some corporal act of mercy (visiting the sick or lonely, making food for someone in need, or even making the bed!), each sacrifice offered up out of love super-charges one’s prayers and cultivates virtue. Just slide a bead with each sacrifice, making it a goal to slide all 10 beads by the end of the day. The decade of beads is designed to hold your place with a small gap.
Details: Each set is personally made by Ceci of lustrous 9 mm Czech glass beads (12 colors available!) and finished off with a 4-way holy medal cross. The cross is 1″ tall and is made in Italy from oxidized nickel silver. It will come with a lobster clasp and an extension chain to be worn as a bracelet, but since each one is made to order, we can leave off the clasp for those who would prefer to keep them in a pocket. Just include a note with your order if you want us to leave off the clasp. The set of beads is packaged in an organza bag perfect for gift-giving and shipped to you for FREE! Given the custom nature of each item, please allow up to two weeks for shipping.
Hey, Friends! My NEW Advent book study on the spiritual classic, The Reed of God, by Caryll Houselander starts this Monday, November 30th, on my Instagram page (@kittycleveland). I’ll be reading from and commenting the book from 7-7:30 am CT, M-F. Join in on the fun!! Books and a FREE Study Guide PDF download are available at www.avemariapress.com. Come on, y’all! This is going to be good. ❤️
