BIG C CATHOLICS

Optional Memorial – July 18th St. Camillus' mother was nearly sixty years old when he was born [in 1550]. As a youth, he gave himself to the sinful pleasures of this world. His conversion dates from the feast of the Purification, 1575. Two attempts to join the Capuchin Order were frustrated by an incurable sore on his leg. In Rome, Camillus was placed in a hospital for incurables; before long he was put in charge due to his ability and zeal for virtue. There, he provided the sick every kind of spiritual and bodily aid. At the age of thirty-two he began studying for Holy Orders and was not ashamed of being numbered with children. After ordination to the holy priesthood he founded a congregation of Regular Clerics, the "Ministers to the Sick." As a fourth vow the community assumed the duty of caring for the plague-ridden at the risk of their lives. With invincible patience Camillus persevered day and night in the service of the sick, performing the meanest and most

July 17, 2017 Saint Anne Novena - Day 1 Great Saint Anne, engrave indelibly on my heart and in my mind the words that have reclaimed and sanctified so many sinners: “What shall it profit a man to gain the whole world if he lose his own soul?” May this be the principal fruit of these prayers by which I will strive to honor you during this novena. At your feet renew my resolution to invoke you daily, not only for the success of my temporal affairs and to be preserved from sickness and suffering, but above all, that I may be preserved from all sin, that I may gain eternal salvation and that I will receive the special grace of… (State your intention here.) O most powerful Saint Anne, do not let me lose my soul, but obtain for me the grace of heaven, there with you and your glorious daughter, to sing the praise of the Most Holy and Adorable Trinity forever and ever. Amen. Pray for us, Saint Anne & Saint Joachim, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. Am

July 16th is the Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel is universal. Many Catholics are familiar with the Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, also known as the Brown Scapular. On July 16, 1251, Mary appeared to Saint Simon Stock, giving him the scapular with the following words: "This will be for you and for all Carmelites the privilege, that he who dies in this will not suffer eternal fire." The feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel was instituted for the Carmelites in 1332, and extended to the whole Church by Pope Benedict XIII in 1726. May the venerable intercession of the glorious Virgin Mary come to our aid, that, fortified by her protection, we may know eternal beatitude. The Story of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Today is the principal feast day of the Carmelite Order. Through the efforts of the crusader Berthold, a group of hermits living on Mount Carmel were organized into an Order after the traditional Western type about the year 11

Although Saint Anne is not mentioned in Sacred Scripture, she is the holy mother of Mary and grandmother of Jesus. When we pray the St. Anne Novena, we are asking help from our Blessed Mother’s mother. St. Anne’s feast day is July 26th. Her novena traditionally starts on July 17th. Devotion to St. Anne began early in the history of the Catholic Church. As she was favored by God to become the mother of the Virgin Mary. She is often invoked as the patron of: carpenters, childless couples, grandmothers, grandparents, homemakers, housewives, lost articles, miners, mothers, pregnancy,  pregnant women, seamstresses, sterility, and women in labor, among other things. Women seeking a Godly husband may invoke her intercession. O Lord, God of our Fathers, who bestowed on Saints Joachim and Anne this grace, that of them should be born the Mother of your incarnate Son, grant, through the prayers of both, that we may attain the salvation you have promised to your people. Through our Lord Jes

Fr. Charles Irvin Senior Priest Diocese of Lansing ( Click here for today’s readings ) When it comes to facing failures in life, the farmer in today’s Gospel parable sounds a lot like many of us. We work hard, and only sometimes succeed. Most of the best things that we give to others are not by them well received. Most of what we want to plant in the lives of those around us doesn’t “take”; it doesn’t become rooted and permanently planted in their lives. All of us have to deal with failure, those areas where the best we’ve given to others comes up lacking, falling short of our hopes, our dreams, and our great expectations. There are some biblical commentators who suggest that the parable of Jesus we just heard was autobiographical. That may well be true. Jesus certainly had to face a whole lot of apparent failure. He knew full well the pain of failure: •  He was born and raised in Nazareth and his own hometown folks rejected Him. •  His own Hebrew countrymen rejec

Pierce, O most sweet Lord Jesus, my inmost soul with the most joyous and healthful wound of Thy love, and with true, calm and most holy apostolic charity, that my soul may ever languish and melt with entire love and longing for Thee, may yearn for Thee and for thy courts, may long to be dissolved and to be with Thee. Grant that my soul may hunger after Thee, the Bread of Angels, the refreshment of holy souls, our daily and super substantial bread, having all sweetness and savor and every delightful taste. May my heart ever hunger after and feed upon Thee, Whom the angels desire to look upon, and may my inmost soul be filled with the sweetness of Thy savor; may it ever thirst for Thee, the fountain of life, the fountain of wisdom and knowledge, the fountain of eternal light, the torrent of pleasure, the fullness of the house of God; may it ever compass Thee, seek Thee, find Thee, run to Thee, come up to Thee, meditate on Thee, speak of Thee, and do all for the praise and glory of T

Memorial of St. Bonaventure - July 15th Legend has it that it was Saint Francis of Assisi who gave Saint Bonaventure his name, long before anyone else realized to what heights this young boy would ascend. As a child, Bonaventure — who was baptized John — became seriously ill. His mother, hoping that the saint would intercede with God on behalf of her son, brought him to St. Francis. Francis did pray for the boy and he was made well. The saint also foresaw a great future for the child. " O Buona ventura! " (O Good Fortune!) Francis was reported to have exclaimed, and the name stuck. Whether or not there is truth to this story is debatable; however, Bonaventure went on to live a life of compassion, holiness, and remarkable scholarship, leaving an indelible imprint on the Franciscan Order and the Universal Church. Born in the town of Bagnoregio, Italy, around the year 1217, the boy who would become the saint grew up in relative obscurity. Little is known of his early ye