Saint Andrew, the first Apostle of Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior, was born around 5 AD and died around 60 AD. His father was Jonah. His brother was Saint Peter the Apostle, the first Pope. Saint Andrew's feast day is November 30, today. On the Feast of Saint Andrew it is traditional to pray the “Saint Andrew Christmas Novena” starting on November 30. What a beautiful practice during Advent to draw closer to our Lord and our Blessed Mother. This wonderful prayer is to be recited 15 times reverently each day of the Novena period of 9 days, ending on December 8, the Immaculate Conception, but usually runs up to Christmas Day. A rosary is helpful to use for this Novena. THE SAINT ANDREW NOVENA PRAYER: “Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in the piercing cold. In that hour vouchsafe, I beseech Thee, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires [here mention your prayer requests] through the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His blessed Mother. Amen.”

A beautiful guide for preparing for the Sacrament of Confession:

When I was teaching my children to pray, the first prayers were the basic ones. Table Grace was the first prayer they learned, followed by the "Our Father", the "Hail Mary" and the "Guardian Angel" prayers. Then the rosary became our traditional family prayer that bound us tightly together outside of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, the highest form of prayer they grew familiar with from their infancy. A decade into having a three children family, I discovered the Divine Office which was first introduced to me as the Liturgy of the Hours (LOH) while visiting a small Pentecostal Catholic Church in a neighboring diocese. A gold nugget, not just for holy orders but for the laity too. So, I bought each of my family members a LOH missal and we began to pray with some decent regularity as commanded by our Lord through Saint Paul in 1Thessalonians 5:16-18 to "pray without ceasing". But when I became increasingly disillusioned with the modern Mass, also known as the Novus Ordo, as God would have it I was rescued by a wonderful human being who was and still is extremely active in teaching priests how to celebrate the Latin Mass. Finally, I found my truest peace of mind by gaining access to the Traditional Latin Mass, the Mass of my mother and father. This led gradually to busting open the double doors to learning about the massive amounts of Traditions great and small, known as the unwritten Word of God, heretofore hidden from my hearing and view. Finally bringing me to set aside the modern Liturgy of the Hours missal and welcoming with tremendous excitement the ancient Divine Office I now pray that basks me in the wellspring of Psalms that our dear Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ had prayed with His Holy Family, Saint Joseph and His/our Blessed Mother while walking upon this earth. There are 150 songs in Psalms of the Holy Bible, the written Word of God. The Divine Office is for laity and Holy Orders. The true gold nugget! The hours of prayer of the Divine Office are broken down into prayer times called Matins, Laudes, Prima, Tertia, Sexta, Nona, Vesperae, and Completorium. Now, I try to maintain a practice of Matins followed directly by Laudes in the morning, then Vespers and Compline in the evening followed immediately by reciting the Rosary. Laudes and Vespers contain 5 Psalms each. It is said that if you pray at all of the designated times each day for a month, then you will have recited the entire 150 Psalms. A bathing in God's merciful love that the Jewish people were so familiar with for more than a thousand years before Christ was born, then not surprising it was a principal way in which our Lord prayed in His own home. Wonderful to know. The app I use a lot but not exclusively is called Breviarium Meum on my iPhone. So easy to use and a wonderful way to get introduced to this ancient prayer form. God bless you all.

Remember, O most gracious virgin Mary, that never was it known that any one who fled to your protection, implored your help, and sought your intercession, was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly to you, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful! O mother of the word incarnate, despise not my petitions; but in your clemency hear and answer me. Amen.

Tomorrow, December 6, is the Feast of Saint Nicholas. He lived in the third and fourth centuries. He loved the poor and after losing his parents at a young age was said to have followed the command of our Lord Jesus to "sell all that you own and follow Him". He was well known for his generosity to the poor and to children in need. Saint Nicholas became a Bishop of Myra in a time when Christians were widely persecuted for the faith. Saint Nicholas was a defender of the Faith and a warrior against heresy. He died on December 6, 343 AD. When our grandchildren were little and were visiting for Christmas, grandpa, I and our sweet daughter created a short video clip for Santa and Mrs Claus to make their grand entrance to meet, greet and shower them with gifts. We set up the video to play on the large TV screen and the grandchildren were seated with their parents to happily watch the special presentation. After the video story ended, a musical ensemble followed on the same video track while the holding picture was the last slide which gave rise to a crescendo of excitement as we dashed down the stairs to the music in our Santa and Mrs Claus outfits followed by a very cute helper elf. It made for a whole lot of fun and laughter. Great memories. Here was the revised tale of Saint Nicholas and his good heartedness: Pray for us dear Saint Nicholas (Bishop of Myra) to prepare our hearts for the Incarnation of Christ, the Word made Flesh for our sakes, for the good of our whole lives now and forever in and through Him, our Hope and our Joy!!!

The beautiful Gospel reading from today's Holy Mass (Latin), August 26, 2022 is from Matthew 16: 13-19 where Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do you say that I am?" Simon the fisherman is awarded the gift of a new last name for having responded correctly with great humility. A name change always signifies an important change in a person's life. Simon Peter became an authoritative figure in God's Church, the first Pope, of which Christ is the true cornerstone. It is an incredibly touching moment. This reading is packed with so much significance about the authoritative mission of the Church and how our Lord loves the humility of Simon, a virtue which gives Simon Peter clarity coming from the Heavenly Father. So, grateful for the gifts of faith in Jesus Christ and His Church, providing us with a pathway to God. On the Feast Day of Our Lady of Częstochowa, pray for us O Holy Mother of God.