Mark P. Shea's Blog, page 1369

One More Prayer Request

A reader writes:

Please pray for my friend D. and her husband M. Their first child was due in May but today it was discovered that the baby had no heartbeat.

Father, grant eternal life to this child and grace and consolation to her parents through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for this child and her parents. Amen!

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

Please pray for a good friend who is suffering. She has had swollen lymph nodes for quite a while now, and doesn't know the source of the problem. It is difficult for her to talk at the moment. She's going in for a biopsy soon, so please pray that this is nothing horribly serious.

Father, hear our prayer that this conditioned be completely healed and your Name glorified through Christ our Lord! Mother Mary and St. Luke, pray for her, her caregivers, and all who love her.

Still cranking on the Big Project...

...but I thought you might be interested in the ongoing discussion of Mary's Perpetual Virginity. Today: Perpetual Virginity as Prophetic Sign.

Various Prayer Requests

A reader writes:

Could you and your readers please offer prayers? My father, who has a rather high profile public position, was recently framed by some jealous colleagues for something he didn't do. He was dismissed immediately and is taking it rather hard. This is even more worrisome because he is a recovering alcoholic and I am afraid the stress of this debacle will push him back toward the bottle. I ask your prayers!

Father, hear our prayer that this situation come to a happy conclusion to the glory of your Name and the salvation of this man through Christ our Lord. Mother Mary, pray for him and all who love him.

The reader who wrote to ask for prayer for his dying co-worker below writes:

I regret to inform you that Sarah (my co-worker) passed away last night around 6pm. She never regained consciousness after the operation, and as a result was not able to say bye to her father or anyone else. While it is sad that she had to die so suddenly, it is nice to know that at least she will not be suffering in the continual pain that she lived in for the last two months of her life. I can only hope that she will soon see the face of God.

May her soul and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God rest in peace through Christ our Lord. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death. Amen. Father, grant consolation, grace, peace, strength and healing to all who love her through your Son Jesus.

Another reader writes:

I've been looking for work for well over a year now with no result. If any of your readers has the charity to spare for prayers for a stranger, I would deeply appreciate a little intercession on my behalf.

I've applied here before in moments of trouble, always with good result, so I believe God must approve of such prayers.

Father, hear our pray for this woman that she find work swiftly through the intercession of St. Joseph the Worker and the Blessed Virgin Mary. We ask this in the Name of Jesus the Lord.

Finally, a reader writes:

For past year or so I have felt a strong call to the Priesthood and it is the opinion of Spiritual director that I have most certainly have a vocation; unfortunately not only do I come from a broken home but I also have roughly $30,000 of debt in the form of collage loans with no foreseeable means of paying it off, let alone the expenses associated with Seminary (books, choir dress, travel expenses etc.). My mother can't help and my father won't; could I please ask for the prayers of you and your readers?

Father, hear our pray for this man that by the prayers of St. Peter and St. Paul and the Blessed Virgin, he would be enabled to enter the priesthood and pay off his debts. We ask this through Jesus the Lord. Amen.

Still grinding away on the Big Project but...

Dale Ahlquist writes:

Dear Friends of Innocent Smith,

Attached please find a Novena to Nine Saints for the Success of the Manalive movie.

Each of the saints has been selected because of his or her connection to this project (and one of the saints is Chesterton).

If you know of other people who are interested in this movie and would be willing to join in this novena, please ask them to join in.

We will begin the novena on Sunday, Feb. 20, and conclude on Tuesday, March 1. Pray the entire novena each of the nine days.

To update you on the status of the project: the last few pennies in the budget have been spent on a new sound editor who will be working full time on the final sound edit for the next two weeks. We sincerely believe we will have a final product in three weeks or less. I will meet with two significant Distributors in Hollywood the first week of April, both of whom are very interested in the movie already because they are fans of Chesterton.

I will send out another reminder before the novena begins.

Thank you and God bless.

Your servant,


Dale Ahlquist

The Novena is as follows for any of youse guys who are interested in lending prayer support to the Manalive project:

Novena to Nine Saints for the success of the Manalive movie


Sign of the Cross

Our Father

(Psalm 17)
Leader: Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry.

Response: I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
Incline your ear to me, hear my words.

L: Wondrously show your mercies,
O Savior of those who seek refuge.

R: Keep me as the apple of your eye:
Hide me in the shadow of your wings,
From the wicked who despoil me,
My deadly enemies who surround me.

L: St. Genesius, you are the Patron Saint of Actors. Through your artistic gifts and sacrificial witness, men came to believe the Gospel. We pray that the movie Manalive will give honor and glory to God and by reaching a wide audience, minister to souls that would not otherwise be reached.

R: St. Genesius, pray for us.

L: St. Lucy, you are the saint of vision and of light. G.K. Chesterton said "All depends on what is the philosophy of light." We pray that through the medium of film, the story and message of Manalive will bring the light of eternal truth to many who literally and figuratively sit in darkness.

R: St. Lucy, pray for us.

L: St. Francis of Assisi, you are "the Clown of God," who understood "that the greatest kind of giving is thanksgiving. We thank God for the opportunity to make the movie Manalive. We pray that it will bring laughter to many, and with that, gratitude and an appreciation of God's good gifts.

R: St. Francis of Assisi, pray for us.

L: St. Thomas Aquinas, you are the defender of reason and scourge of the skeptics. You are embodiment of G.K. Chesterton's words, "Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly." We pray that the movie Manalive will bring both the light and lightness of truth, and that we will remain humble and virtuous in glare of the world's false lights.

R.: St. Thomas Aquinas, pray for us.

L: St. Thomas More, at a time when the State and the social trend had turned against the faith and the family, you defended the teachings of the Catholic Church and the Sanctity of Marriage. We pray that the movie Manalive will be a compelling witness to our present society of the beauty of true marital fidelity and the joy and holiness of the home and the family.

R: St. Thomas More, pray for us.

L: St. Dismas, you are the Good Thief, who demonstrated holiness and in the most unexpected time and place. As G.K. Chesterton wrote in the novel Manalive, "The saints might well be hidden in the criminal class." We pray that the movie Manalive will help gain respect for Distributism and Catholic social teaching.

R: St. Dismas, pray for us.

L: St. Patrick, You are the Patron Saint of Ireland, a people dear to the heart of G.K. Chesterton, and the only saint mentioned by name in the novel Manalive. We pray that our faithful witness may help miraculously transform an entire nation and lead many people to turn to God.

R: St. Patrick, pray for us.

L: G.K. Chesterton, you have been a good and faithful servant who used every opportunity to point to the truth. We pray that the success of the movie Manalive will provide support for the work of the American Chesterton Society and Chesterton Academy.

L: For the repose of the souls of Frank and Ann Petta, we pray to the Lord:

R: Lord, Hear our prayer.

Hail Mary

Amen.

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

For the past couple of months, my fellow employee has been feeling miserable and has been in great pain. A couple days ago she decided to go to the doctor, and found out that she had Esophageal cancer due to her smoking habits. Last night, in an effort to be cured, she had surgery. The doctors have just discovered that not only is the cancer terminal, but that she only has approximately two days to live. this came as a big blow to everyone at Kroger, and while you may not know her, I hope that you might offer a prayer for her and her father who was just informed. This whole episode has been extremely trying for him, especially as she is still unaware of the fact that she will die soon.

Father, hear our prayer for this woman that, if you choose not to heal her, that she be granted the grace of a happy death fully reconciled to you and ready for heaven through Christ our Lord. If she must go through Purgatory, grant that she do so quickly throught prayer and intercession of your saints. Mother Mary, pray for her and all us sinners at the hour of our death. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer Requests

First, I want say "booyah!" to the people of Egypt for their successful overthrow of a tyrant. May God bless you with prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude, to take the hard and merciful route rather than the easy way of vengeance, comeuppance, and a new tyranny to replace him. Father, hear the prayers of your children in Egypt that they might find their way to making a state of real justice and peace. Our Lady of Zeitoun, pray for them!

Second, a reader writes:

I've written to you before, regarding my mother-in-law and her ongoing battle with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). Today, she spiked a fever and all indications point toward her having pneumonia. She has lived with this insidious illness for two-and-a-half years, facing the slow degeneration of her physical faculties and spending all of 2009 and 2010 in a nursing home.

She is very tired. She cannot move her body in any significant way, relies on our lacking lip-reading ability to communicate with us, counts on my father-in-law to feed her three meals a day, and is in pain. We are blessed that, mentally, she has been aware of us and knowing of us for most of the illness. It was the very thin silver lining around this terrible grey cloud.

As of right now she has decided not to seek treatment for the pneumonia. She has suffered greatly, and this is sad news but not surprising to any of us. The hospice nurse who called my sister-in-law indicated in the nicest, gentlest terms possible that this is probably the beginning of the end. Barring a miracle or the natural curing of the pneumonia without medical intervention, my mother-in-law is coming to the end of her life.

I know that God could cure her now if He wanted to, but it would seem that prayers to St. Joseph for a happy death, and for the many hearts who have, are, and will break with this loss, are the prudent things to ask for. I ask for prayers for my father-in-law, who is cracking under the strain of all this and just got released after a short hospital stay that successfully treated (thankfully) a sudden illness. I ask prayers for my husband and his sisters who are also heavy-of-heart. I also ask for the strength to be the pillar my husband needs right now, as I am also in the middle of writing my Masters thesis and taking other college courses.

Father, we ask through the prayers of St. Joseph that you would indeed grant her the grace of a happy death and that you would grant grace, consolation, strength and peace to her and all who love her. We ask, in particular, your grace and strength for her husband and son, as well as for my reader as she juggles her various responsibilities in this difficult time. We also ask your grace and skill for her caregivers. Mother Mary and St. Luke, please pray for these good people in this painful hour. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Another reader writes:

Please keep my home business in your prayers. I'm having a very hard time and trying to stay above water.

Father, we ask that you would provide for this man's needs and bring him the business he needs to do his work. Move your angels to guide those who need his skills to bring him the work he needs. Mother Mary and St. Joseph, pray for him. We ask all this through Christ our Lord. Amen!

Prayer Request

A reader writes:

Please pray for my father who was admitted to the hospital with an irregular heartbeat. They are currently running more tests to determine the root of the problem.

Father, hear our prayer for this man's complete healing in body, soul, and spirit through Jesus Christ. Mother Mary, pray for him and all who love him and are responsible for his care. St Luke, pray for him.

Prayer Request

Eve Tushnet asks us to pray...

that a very abortion-minded young woman will escape her difficult living situation, strengthen her faith in God, and let her child have life.

Also, if anyone has advice on finding housing for a pregnant woman with two children under five in the DC area, please email me. I've tried the Northwest Center and the Gabriel Project, and she's not far enough along for the Missionaries of Charity home.

If you could post that I'd really appreciate it. She believes abortion is wrong but thinks she can't bring another child into the home; she does pray, and we prayed together, which seemed to touch her heart. I'm going to talk w/her about adoption as well.

Father, hear our pray that she choose life for her child through Jesus Christ. Mother Mary, pray for her!

Can You Lie for a Good Cause?

I'm inviting comments on the question here, in relation to the recent exposures of Murder Inc's. latest disgustingness. Much as I loathe PP, I'm really uncomfortable with the notion of deceiving them. Seems an awful lot like a purely consequentialist argument to me. Arguments to the contrary that are not sophistry are welcome.