Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena

As part of our "Little Lent" that spans the 40 days between the feast of the Transfiguration and the Triumph of the Holy Cross, we will say the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena for 9 days, beginning today.  Here is the prayer, to be said every day for 9 days.

Jesus, Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls, look down upon us and grant the petition we ask for ...( mention here)

We trust completely in Your Mercy. 

Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace, 

sanctify our work, 

give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings, 

bless our families, 

and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted, 

Your Peace, which is the only true peace, so that by obeying Your Commandments we may come at last to the glory of Heaven. 

Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena

As part of our "Little Lent" that spans the 40 days between the feast of the Transfiguration and the Triumph of the Holy Cross, we will say the Exaltation of the Holy Cross Novena for 9 days, beginning today.  Here is the prayer, to be said every day for 9 days.

Jesus, Who because of Your burning love for us willed to be crucified and to shed Your Most Precious Blood for the redemption and salvation of our souls, look down upon us and grant the petition we ask for ...( mention here)

We trust completely in Your Mercy. 

Cleanse us from sin by Your Grace, 

sanctify our work, 

give us and all those who are dear to us our daily bread, lighten the burden of our sufferings, 

bless our families, 

and grant to the nations, so sorely afflicted, 

Your Peace, which is the only true peace, so that by obeying Your Commandments we may come at last to the glory of Heaven. 

Scripture Saturday--Praying in the Darkness

Since the dawn of time, man has contemplated death. Also since the dawn of time I think, when the days begin to get shorter, this contemplation increases. How appropriate, then, that the Church has this psalm end our Friday in early September, a day traditionally set aside to contemplate the death of Christ in a month with increasingly shortening days.

This psalm is to be said at night prayer, when all is dark and quiet and sleep is near.

As frightening as this type of contemplation can be, it is also humbling and oddly comforting to know that men writing up to 3000 years ago had the same thoughts and went through the same challenging times as we do to this day.

Psalm 88
Friday, Night Prayer

Lord my God,
I call for help by day;
I cry at night before you.
Let my prayer
come into your presence.
O turn your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with evils;
my life is on the brink
of the grave.
I am reckoned
as one in the tomb;
I have reached the end of my strength,

Like one alone among the dead,
like the slain lying in their graves,
like those you remember no more,
cut off, as they are, from your hand.

You have laid me in the depths of the tomb,
in places that are dark, in the depths.
Your anger weighs down upon me;
I am drowned beneath your waves.

You have taken away my friends
and made me hateful in their sight.
Imprisoned, I cannot escape;
my eyes are sunken with grief.

I call to you, Lord, all the day long;
to your I stretch out my hands.
Will you work your wonders for the dead?
Will the shades stand and praise you?

Will your love be told in the grave
or your faithfulness among the dead?
Will your wonders be known in the dark
or your justice in the land of oblivion?

As for me, Lord, I call to you for help;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face?

Wretched, close to death from my youth,
I have borne your trials; I am numb.
Your fury has swept down upon me;
your terrors have utterly destroyed me.

They surround me all the day like a flood,
they assail me all together.
Friend and neighbor you have taken away:
my one companion is darkness.

Scripture Saturday--Praying in the Darkness

Since the dawn of time, man has contemplated death. Also since the dawn of time I think, when the days begin to get shorter, this contemplation increases. How appropriate, then, that the Church has this psalm end our Friday in early September, a day traditionally set aside to contemplate the death of Christ in a month with increasingly shortening days.

This psalm is to be said at night prayer, when all is dark and quiet and sleep is near.

As frightening as this type of contemplation can be, it is also humbling and oddly comforting to know that men writing up to 3000 years ago had the same thoughts and went through the same challenging times as we do to this day.

Psalm 88
Friday, Night Prayer

Lord my God,
I call for help by day;
I cry at night before you.
Let my prayer
come into your presence.
O turn your ear to my cry.

For my soul is filled with evils;
my life is on the brink
of the grave.
I am reckoned
as one in the tomb;
I have reached the end of my strength,

Like one alone among the dead,
like the slain lying in their graves,
like those you remember no more,
cut off, as they are, from your hand.

You have laid me in the depths of the tomb,
in places that are dark, in the depths.
Your anger weighs down upon me;
I am drowned beneath your waves.

You have taken away my friends
and made me hateful in their sight.
Imprisoned, I cannot escape;
my eyes are sunken with grief.

I call to you, Lord, all the day long;
to your I stretch out my hands.
Will you work your wonders for the dead?
Will the shades stand and praise you?

Will your love be told in the grave
or your faithfulness among the dead?
Will your wonders be known in the dark
or your justice in the land of oblivion?

As for me, Lord, I call to you for help;
in the morning my prayer comes before you.
Lord, why do you reject me?
Why do you hide your face?

Wretched, close to death from my youth,
I have borne your trials; I am numb.
Your fury has swept down upon me;
your terrors have utterly destroyed me.

They surround me all the day like a flood,
they assail me all together.
Friend and neighbor you have taken away:
my one companion is darkness.

Poetry Wednesday--Saint Augustine

Late have I loved you,

O Beauty ever ancient, ever new,

late have I loved you!



You were within me,

but I was outside

and it was there

that I searched for you



In my unloveliness I plunged

into the lovely things

which you created.



You were with me,

but I was not with you.

Created things kept me from you


yet if they had not been

they would have not been

at all.



You called,

you shouted,

and you broke through

my deafness.



You flashed,

you shone,

and you dispelled my blindness.



You breathed your fragrance on me
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.

I have tasted you,

now I hunger and thirst for more.


You touched me,

and I burned

for your peace.


~Saint Augustine, 397 AD

Poetry Wednesday--Saint Augustine

Late have I loved you,

O Beauty ever ancient, ever new,

late have I loved you!



You were within me,

but I was outside

and it was there

that I searched for you



In my unloveliness I plunged

into the lovely things

which you created.



You were with me,

but I was not with you.

Created things kept me from you


yet if they had not been

they would have not been

at all.



You called,

you shouted,

and you broke through

my deafness.



You flashed,

you shone,

and you dispelled my blindness.



You breathed your fragrance on me
I drew in breath and now I pant for you.

I have tasted you,

now I hunger and thirst for more.


You touched me,

and I burned

for your peace.


~Saint Augustine, 397 AD

Art and Beauty Tuesday--Back To School

Today's Art and Beauty Tuesday is Back to School by Igor Babailov.  Babailov is a contemporary American artist featured on the Art Renewal Center's website as a Living Master.

This work shows  a pensive girl, perhaps dressed in a uniform, ready for her first day back at school.  She is probably wondering how the year will be, if she will make friends and if she will like her teachers.  Her face shows a quiet hopefulness that often pervades the coming of Autumn.

I like how her face is bathed in light, even though the rest of the portrait is in darkness.  Youth, childhood and education combine to give her hope and light.