“All of us, gazing with unveiled faces on the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, as from the Lord who is the Spirit” (2 Cor 3:18).

“The Sanctuary is filled with countless Angels who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the altar” (St. John Chrysostom). These Heavenly messengers constantly intercede for us as they behold the face of God, in unceasing Adoration. St. Michael, “Who is like God,” is the great defender of the Holy Eucharist, and the champion of the faithful in their battle with the powers of evil (Rev 12:7-8).The history of the St. Michael Chaplet goes back to

Antonia d’Astonac, Servant of God, who had a vision of St. Michael. He told Antonia to honor him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever would practice this devotion would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs.

The Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel

O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me. Glory be to the Father, etc. Say one Our Father and three Hail Marys after each of the following nine salutations in honor of the nine Choirs of Angels.

1. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Amen.

2. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection. Amen

3. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility. Amen.

4. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominions may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and overcome any unruly passions. Amen.

5. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil. Amen.

6. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into temptation. Amen.

7. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience. Amen.

8. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven. Amen.

9. By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven. Amen.

Say one Our Father in honor of each of the following leading Angels: St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael and our Guardian Angel.

Concluding prayers:

O glorious prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.

Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ, that we may be made worthy of His promises.

Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel St. Michael Prince of Your Church, make us worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into Your Presence. This we ask through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Read about the history of the St. Michael Chaplet at the end of our newsletter and order one today!

The Most Precious Blood of Jesus (Traditional)—Feast, July 1

July is the month of the Precious Blood of Jesus. This feast was traditionally celebrated on July 1. “I adore You, Blood of my Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed upon the cross in order to save sinners and me” (St. Francis Xavier). “Be bathed and drowned in the blood of Jesus Christ. It will make you strong enough to bear with true patience any trial or trouble. God’s blood gives you perseverance to endure even to the point of death, and humbly, for in that blood the eye of your understanding will be enlightened by what is true. And the truth is that God wants nothing more than that we be made holy, for Jesus loves us more than it is possible to say. If God hadn't loved us so much, He would never have paid such a bloody price for us” (St. Catherine of Siena).

St. Thomas the Apostle, Martyr (d. 74)—Feast, July 3

“The Blessed Sacrament is God. Devotion to the Blessed Sacrament is simply divine worship. Turn it which way we will, throw the light of love and knowledge now on one side of it, now on another, still the result is the same, the one inexhaustible sweet fact of the Real Presence. In the hands of the priest, behind the crystal of the monstrance, on the tongue of the communicant, now, and for a thousand times, and almost at our will and pleasure, there are the Hands and Feet, the Eyes and Mouth, the swift Blood and living Heart of Him whom Thomas touched and Magdalen was fain to touch, the Soul that ... set the prisoners free” (Fr. Frederick William Faber).

St. Maria Goretti, Ptn. of Youth & Children of Mary, Italy (1890-1902)—Feast, July 6

Heroic and angelic St. Maria Goretti, we kneel before you to honor your persevering fortitude and to beg your gracious aid.Teach us a deep love for the precepts of our Holy Church; help us to see in them the very voice of our Father in heaven. May we preserve without stain our white baptismal robe of innocence. May we who have lost this innocence kneel humbly in Holy Penance, and with the absolution of the priest, may the torrent of Christ’s precious Blood flow into our souls and give us new courage to carry the burning light of God’s love through the dangerous highways of this life until Christ our king shall call us to the courts of heaven. Amen.

Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha, Consecrated Virgin, N. America (1656-1680)—Feast, July 14

“All her joy was to think upon Our Lord and to converse familiarly with Him. She passed almost the entire day, on Sundays and feast days, praying at the foot of the altar, and on working days she often came there to offer up her work” (Fr. Cholenec).

St. Bonaventure, Bishop and Doctor, Italy (c. 1218-1274)—Feast, July 15

“O Christian souls, do you wish to prove your true love towards your dead? Do you wish to send them the most precious help and golden key to Heaven? Receive Holy Communion often for the repose of their souls.”

Our Lady of Mt. Carmel—July 16: Wear the Scapular! Pray the Rosary! Honor Our Lady!

“Contemplating Mary, we will understand better the transforming force that the Eucharist possesses. Listening to her, we will find in the Eucharistic mystery the courage and strength to follow Christ the Good Shepherd and to serve him in our brothers” (Ven. John Paul II, June 10, 2004).

St. Mary Magdalene, (1st Century)—Feast, July 22

“Look at Magdalen: one word from Jesus and she recognizes Him. He acts the same way in the Blessed Sacrament: He says one word only, but it rings in our very hearts: ‘It is I!...’ We sense His presence; we believe in it more firmly than if we were to see Him with our bodily eyes” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).

St. Bridget of Sweden Wife, Religious, Foundress (1373)—Feast, July 23

“May You be praised, my Lord! By Your precious blood and holiest death, You redeemed our souls and Your mercy leads us back from exile to eternal life” (St. Bridget).

St. Sharbel Makhluf, Priest and Hermit, Lebanon (1828-1898)—Feast, July 24

St. Sharbel is known for his life of great holiness, work and miracles. He spent eleven hours in adoration of the Blessed Sacrament each night, before offering Mass in the morning, and was devoted to the Rosary.

Sts. Anne and Joachim, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Feast, July 26

Saints Anne and Joachim, we bless you for your great faith and love as parents. Your respect and reverence for the sacredness of human life made you the parents of Mary, Mother of the Lord. Through your intercession, we ask God to grant young people today that same reverence for the gift of new life. May they accept, cherish, and nourish life from the very moment of conception. Grant to us as a nation a renewed reverence for every human life. As Mary cherished her Child from the womb even to the tomb, so may we see in every person the very image of God. Great Saints Anne and Joachim, we ask this grace in the name of Mary’s Son, Jesus the Lord. Amen. Sts. Anne & Joachim, pray for us, to love Jesus in the Holy Eucharist!

St. Ignatius of Loyola, Priest, Founder of Jesuits, Spain (1491-1556)—Feast, July 31

“He has made Himself our wage, becoming a brother in our own flesh, as the price of our salvation on the cross and in the Eucharist to be with us as support and company. Oh, what an unworthy soldier he would be whom such a wage would not induce to labor for the honor of such a prince!... How extremely ungrateful and hardhearted is he who after all this does not recognize his obligation to serve our Lord Jesus Christ diligently and to seek His honor!”

St. Peter Julian Eymard, Priest, Apostle of the Eucharist, France (1811-1868)—Feast, Aug. 2:

“Yes, O my Lord and my God, I believe; with the Church I adore your body, your blood, your soul, and your divinity substantially, truly, and really present in the sacred Host!” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).

St. John Vianney, Cure of Ars, Patron of Priests, France (1786-1859)—Feast, Aug. 4

“There is the One who loves us so much. Why should we not love Him in return?” (On the Holy Eucharist).

The Transfiguration of the Lord—Feast, Aug. 6

“My Jesus, what a lovable invention this Holy Sacrament is that You would hide under the appearance of bread to make Yourself loved and to be available for visits by anyone who desires You” (St. Alphonsus Liguori).

St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein),Virgin, Carmelite Religious, Martyr, Germany (1891-1942)—Feast, Aug. 9

“A woman’s life must be a Eucharistic life. Only in daily, confidential relationship with the Lord in the tabernacle can one forget self, become free of all one’s wishes and pretensions, and have a heart open to all the needs and wants of others. Whoever seeks to consult with the Eucharistic God in all her concerns, whoever lets herself be purified by the sanctifying power coming from the sacrifice at the altar, offering herself to the Lord in this sacrifice, whoever receives the Lord in her soul’s innermost depth in Holy Communion cannot but be drawn ever more deeply and powerfully into the flow of divine life.”

St. Clare of Assisi, Foundress of Poor Clare Nuns, Italy (1193-1253)—Feast, Aug. 11

“At night she prolonged her vigils, and then, alone, prostrate on her knees before the tabernacle, she gave free course to the transports of her devotion. Going in spirit to the heights of Calvary, she joined her tears to the tears of the Redeemer, and never wearied of offering herself a pure victim to the Eternal Father for the conversion of peoples-the holocaust of her senses by penitence and prayer, and the still better holocaust of her heart by the outpourings of her love” (St. Clare of Assisi, Leopold de Cherance, OSFC).

St. Maximilian Maria Kolbe, Priest, Martyr, Poland (1894-1941)—Feast, Aug. 14

“When the conquest for the Immaculate of the whole world and of every single soul now living or to live until the end of the world, and through Her for the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is completed, ... then souls will love the Sacred Heart as they have never as yet loved Him, because like Her they will have been immersed as never before in the mystery of love: the Cross, the Eucharist. Through Her the love of God will inflame the world, will set it on fire, and will effect the ‘assumption’ of souls,... the divinization of the entire world” (St. Maximilian Kolbe).

The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary into Heaven—Solemnity, August 15

“Above all, let us listen to Mary Most Holy, in whom the mystery of the Eucharist appears, more than in anyone else, as a mystery of light. Gazing upon Mary, we come to know the transforming power present in the Eucharist. In her we see the world renewed in love. Contemplating her, assumed body and soul into heaven, we see opening up before us those 'new heavens' and that 'new earth' which will appear at the second coming of Christ. Here below, the Eucharist represents their pledge, and in a certain way, their anticipation: 'Veni, Domine Iesu!'’” (Rev 22:20). (John Paul II, Servant of God, Ecclesia de Eucharistia, 62).

St. Jane Frances de Chantal, Widow, Mother, Religious, France (1572-1641)—Feast, Aug. 18

Strengthened by the Holy Eucharist, she ministered to the sick and needy, and founded an order.

St. John Eudes, Priest, Founder of Religious Congregations, France (1601-1680)—Feast, Aug. 19

“You should adore our Lord Jesus Christ, who makes himself present to us on the altar, so that we might offer him the homage and adoration we owe” (St. John).

Our Lady of Knock, Ireland, Apparition (1879)—Feast, Aug. 21

“Mother, in this shrine you gather the people of God of all Ireland and constantly point out to them Christ in the Eucharist” (Ven. John Paul II, Sept. 20, 1979, Homily, Knock).

Pope St. Pius X, Pope of the Eucharist, Italy (1835-1914)—Feast, Aug. 21

“Make reparation to our Lord Jesus Christ for the insults offered Him in the Blessed Sacrament pray that His thoughts may be in our minds, His charity in our institutions, His justice in our laws, His worship in our religion, His life in our lives” (Pope St. Pius X).

The Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Feast, August 22:

Our Lady of the Eucharist, Mother of Jesus and Our Mother, pray for us!

St. Rose of Lima, Patroness of South America (1586-1617)—Feast, Aug. 23

St. Rose stood before the tabernacle to prevent pirates from attacking Jesus and, seeing her bravery, the village joined her! In addition to this act of heroic bravery, she started Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration at the Churches in her village! She is the patroness of South America.

St. Monica, Wife, Mother of St. Augustine, North Africa (332-387)—Feast, Aug. 27

“To this sacrament of our redemption Thy handmaid had bound her soul by the bond of faith” (St. Augustine).

St. Augustine, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, North Africa, (354-430)—Feast, Aug. 28

“No one eats that Flesh unless he has first adored it and we sin by not adoring” (St. Augustine).

St. Gregory the Great, Pope, Church Doctor, Italy (540-640) —Feast, September 3

“Pope St. Gregory the Great was a direct witness of this Miracle. One Sunday, while he was celebrating Holy Mass in the ancient church dedicated to St. Peter, at the time for distributing Holy Communion, he noticed that

among the faithful standing in line there was also present one of the women who had prepared the bread for the Consecration. She was laughing out loud. The Pope, visibly disturbed, asked her what was the reason for her behavior. The woman defended herself by saying she could not bring herself to believe how it was possible that the bread which she herself had prepared with her hands, thanks to the words of consecration, had become the Body and Blood of Christ. At that point, St. Gregory prohibited her from going to Communion and implored God to enlighten

her. Just when he finished praying, he saw the very portion of bread prepared by that woman change into flesh and blood. The woman, repentant, knelt down to the ground and began to weep. Even today, part of the Relic of the Miracle is preserved at Andechs in Germany, at the local Benedictine Monastery” (Antonia Salzano Acutis).

Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary—Sept. 8

“Another woman is now given thee in place of the first, a prudent and humble Eve instead of the proud and foolish one, an Eve who shall offer thee, not the tree of death but the Bread of Life, and who shall yield thee, not the poisoned fruit of bitterness but the delicious fruit of immortality. Change thou, therefore, the wicked words of self-excuse into the voice of praise and thanksgiving, and say to the Lord, ‘The woman whom Thou gavest me, gave me of the tree of life and I did eat; and it has become in my mouth sweeter than honey, because in it Thou hast given me life.’ Behold here the purpose for which the Angel was sent from God to the Virgin. O Virgin, worthy of all admiration, deserving of all honour! O most wonderful of women and venerable over all” (St. Bernard).

St. Peter Claver, Jesuit Priest, Missionary, South America (1581-1654) —Feast, Sept. 9

“Peter Claver, zealous lover of the most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist” (From the Litany of St. Peter Claver).

St. John Chrysostom, Bishop, Doctor of the Church, Patron of Orators, Syria (c. 347-407)—Sept. 13

“‘This is my Body,’ let us be attentive, let us believe, let us look upon him with the eyes of the spirit.”

St. Catherine of Genoa, Wife, Mystic, Italy (1447-1507)—September 15

“The time I have spent before the tabernacle is the best spent time of my life.”

Our Lady of Sorrows: “Behold your Mother!” (Jn 19:27)—Sept. 15

“Ever since Calvary, all men were her children. She loved them with a Mother’s tenderness and longed for their supreme good as for her own; therefore, she was consumed with the desire to make Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament known to all, to inflame all hearts with His love, to see them enchained to His loving service” (St. Peter Julian Eymard).

St. Robert Bellarmine, Priest, Cardinal, Jesuit, Ptn. of Catechists, Italy (1542-1621)—Sept. 17

St. Robert Bellarmine visited Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament at the Churches he passed on the way to and from school daily. He wrote many teachings in defense of the truths of the faith, including the Real Presence of Our Lord.

St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina, Priest, Stigmatist, Mystic, Italy (1887-1968)—Feast, Sept. 23

St. Padre Pio experienced so much happiness in praying before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, he wrote: “When I am close to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, I feel as if my heart is bursting out of my chest.” “Never neglect to satiate yourself with the food of the angels.”

Feast of Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Saints—Feast, Sept. 29

The St. Michael Chaplet is a wonderful way to honor this great Archangel along with the other nine Choirs of Angels. What do we mean by Choirs? It seems that God has created various orders of Angels. Sacred Scripture distinguishes nine such groupings: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Virtues, Principalities, Archangels and Angels (Isa. 6:2; Gen. 3:24; Col. 1:6; Eph. 1:21; Rom. 8:38). There may be more groupings but these are the only ones that have been revealed to us. The Seraphim is believed to be the highest Choir, the most intimately united to God, while the Angelic Choir is the lowest. The history of this Chaplet goes back to a devout Servant of God, Antonia d’Astonac, who had a vision of St. Michael. He told Antonia to honor him by nine salutations to the nine Choirs of Angels. St. Michael promised that whoever would practice this devotion in his honor would have, when approaching Holy Communion, an escort of nine angels chosen from each of the nine Choirs. In addition, for those who would recite the Chaplet daily, he promised his continual assistance and that of all the holy angels during life. (www.ewtn.com) The St. Michael Chaplet is available through us. See Catalog section of website for details. St. Michael is the patron of police, military, the sick and the dying.

St. Jerome, Priest & Doctor, Patron of Librarians, Dalmatia (c. 340-d. 420), Sept. 30

“If Christ did not want to dismiss the Jews without food in the desert for fear that they would collapse on the way, it was to teach us that it is dangerous to try to get to heaven without the Bread of Heaven” (St. Jerome).