Catholic My Pride

✝️✝️THE MARIAN PRAYER OF✝️✝️
SAINT ANTHONY OF PADUA
✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️

🙏🏻❤️Mary, our Queen,
Holy Mother of God,
we beg you to hear our prayer.
Make our hearts overflow with Divine grace
and resplendent with heavenly wisdom.
Render them strong with your might
and rich in virtue.
Pour down upon us the gift of mercy
so that we may obtain the pardon of our sins.
Help us to live in such a way
as to merit the glory and bliss of heaven.
May this be granted us by your Son Jesus
Who has exalted you above the angels,
has crowned you as Queen,
and has seated you with Him
forever on his refulgent throne.

Amen.

THE MARIAN DEVOTION OF
ST. ANTHONY OF PADUA
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️

St. Anthony of Padua is one of the most famous disciples of St. Francis of Assisi. He was a famous preacher and worker of miracles in his own day, and throughout the eight centuries since his death he has so generously come to the assistance of the faithful who invoke him, that he is known throughout the world. This brief article about St. Anthony of Padua appeared in the August/September edition of the Herald of the Immaculate , and forms part of the Home Page of St. Francis of Assisi.

St. Anthony's Life began with Mary
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
St. Anthony is titled the Evangelical Doctor, Wonder-Worker and Hammer of Heretics; but more importantly he is renowned for his personal holiness. His sanctity and wisdom flowed from his profound, penetrating love for the Immaculate Virgin Mary. Heroically he followed the Poverello of Assisi, St. Francis, whose tender love for the poor, humble Virgin was comparable only to that of Christ Himself. As a true friar minor St. Anthony praised and glorified the Queen of the Angels from the pulpit, where with simple yet lofty doctrine he moved multitudes to savor the sweet name of Mary. Furthermore, he imitated Her with such perfection that he became, as it were, an extension of the Virgin Mother on earth.

From the outset his life was markedly Marian, being born in Lisbon on the feast of the Assumption, August 15th, 1195 A. D., and baptized in the Church of St. Mary in Lisbon. At the age of 15 he completed his studies at the Cathedral School of St. Mary. Appropriately his earthly life, ever pure and humble, was brought to a close in a similar Marian tone, for when death drew nigh he longed to be taken to the St. Mary, Mother of God Friary in Padua. After receiving Extreme Unction he intoned his favorite hymn, "O gloriosa Domina..." (O glorious Lady). He lived and died with the Virgin Mary on his lips and in his heart.

St. Anthony's Faith in Jesus Christ
overflowed in Devotion to Mary
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
His devotion was founded on the solid foundation of Catholic doctrine, as all true devotion is. Consequently he has left the Church with a wealth of Mariological insight in his sermons. Reflecting upon the doctrines about our Blessed Lady through the eyes of St. Anthony one realizes with him that "in Her were gathered all the privileges of merits and rewards."

In 431 A. D. the Catholic Church at the Council of Ephesus proclaimed that since Jesus Christ is the second Person of the most Holy Trinity, that is, a divine Person, Mary can rightly be called "Mother of God" (Theotokos). St. Anthony maintains that as Jesus was "designated Son of God in power according to the spirit of holiness..." (Rm. 1:4), so Mary "is designated as Mother of God in power according to the spirit of holiness." For him Mary was designated, predestined from all eternity, to receive this singular grace.

"O inestimabilis Mariae dignitas!
O inennarabilis gratiae sublimitas!
O investigabilis misericordiae profunditas!..."
"O inestimable dignity of Mary!
O indescribable sublimity of grace!
O incomprehensible depth of mercy!
Has so much grace or mercy ever been given to an angel or man as has been given to the Blessed Virgin, whom God the Father wished to be the Mother of His Son?"
Commenting on the passage where "a woman in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, 'Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts that You sucked!'" (Lk 11:27), the holy doctor says, "Blessed, therefore, is the womb of the glorious Virgin who for nine months was worthy to carry all goodness, the highest goodness, the bliss of angels and reconciliation of sinners." Elsewhere he writes that "She possessed within Her the compactness of love—for nine months She carried Love Incarnate in Her womb." His interior wonderment and inspired preaching regarding Mary's divine maternity ought to enkindle within all souls the same sentiments.

St. Anthony's Devotion to the
Immaculate Conception
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
Before She became Mother of God "the most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of Her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by Almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin..." as Pope Pius IX infallibly stated in 1854 A. D.. This solemn definition reflects the theological insight of Bl. John Duns Scotus (1266-1308), a Franciscan who articulated this truth of Mary's Immaculate Conception with clarity and force some seventy years after the death of St. Anthony. Although the saint of Padua never explicitly preached that the Virgin Mary was conceived without sin, he nonetheless implicitly upheld this Marian privilege and prepared the way for Scotus and Pius IX.

He quotes and confirms St. Augustine who declared, "Where there is a question of sin, exclude as far as I am concerned, the Blessed Virgin Mary." None of the saints can say, "We have no sin" (1 Jn 1:8). "But," the blessed friar adds, "from the universal confession of sin Mary among all creatures is to be excepted for She was 'full of grace.'" This "superior," "singular" grace was bestowed upon Her "that She might worthily bear in Her womb Him, who from the beginning held in His hands the control of the universe." In his mind "the pure Virgin" was "full of grace" and "free from sin" in view of the divine maternity. In other words, he saw that it was fitting and true that the Mother of God should be "Immaculate"—this is the basis for the Immaculate Conception. "The Father clothed His Son Jesus in a white robe, that is, flesh without any stain of sin conceived by the Virgin Immaculate." Therefore, St. Anthony helped to lay the foundations for the solemn definition of 1854 by the implications of his sermons.

St. Anthony's Faith in Mary's Perpetual Virginity
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
The holy doctor frequently spoke on the perpetual virginity of Mary, a doctrine defined by the Church at the Lateran Council in 647. Our saint capsulizes this teaching concisely: "She remained a Virgin before, during, and after the birth (of Christ)." In one sermon, after likening St. Ann to an "olive tree, from which came the brilliant blossom... the blessed Mary," he says, "Symbolically it could be said that She (Mary) was 'green like an olive' in the conception and birth of the Savior, for She remained a virgin before and after His birth." Regarding our Lady's virginity during birth, he gives a fervent explanation: "Christ's birth from the Virgin knows no equal among women, but is mirrored in nature. Someone may ask how the Virgin gave birth to the Savior. She begot Him as a blossom emanates perfume. The blossom of the vine remains incorrupt after it has given off its perfume, and so likewise, faith leads us to believe that the modesty of the Virgin—the modesty with which She gave birth the Savior—was not violated. What else is the flower of virginity if not a sweet perfume?" Furthermore, "just as a lily does not lose any of its beauty in emitting its sweet fragrance, so too did our Lady preserve Her virginity in giving birth to the Savior."

St. Anthony's Faith in Mary's Assumption
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
The humble friar, who taught and preached only under obedience, is considered among the foremost witnesses in Church history to the mystery of the Virgin Mary's assumption which was not solemnly defined as an article of faith until 1950 by Pope Pius XII. The Supreme Pontiff Himself quotes and applauds the friar's testimony to this truth. "Among the holy writers who... illustrate and confirm the doctrine of the assumption, which they piously believed, the Evangelical Doctor St. Anthony of Padua holds a special place. On the feast day of the Assumption, while explaining the prophet's words: 'I will glorify the place of my feet' (Is 60:13), he states it as certain that the Divine Redeemer had bedecked with supreme glory His most beloved Mother from whom He had received human flesh. He asserts that 'you have a clear statement that the blessed Virgin has been assumed in Her body, which was the place of the Lord's feet.' Hence it is that the holy Psalmist writes: 'Arise, O Lord, into Your resting place; You and the ark which You have sanctified.' And he asserts that, just as Jesus Christ has risen from the death over which He triumphed and has ascended to the right hand of the Father, so likewise the ark of His sanctification 'has risen up, since on this day the Virgin Mother has been taken up to Her heavenly dwelling.'" ( Munificentissimus Deus #29).

For St. Anthony there are two primary reasons for Mary's assumption and glorification: Her election as Mother of God and Her response of humility. He shows all of our Lady's privileges in the light of Her divine maternity. She was assumed bodily into heaven "...because from Her He assumed flesh." She was "the place of the Lord's feet" and the "ark of His sanctification" and was therefore glorified. But Her exaltation was also due to Her littleness, for "in the word of humility, 'Behold, the handmaid of the Lord' (Lk 1:38), She became the Queen of Heaven." As a result of Her "humility of body and heart... She is brilliant in Her heavenly splendor." She is "exalted above the choirs of angels" and "sits upon a starry throne," crowned by Her divine Son, precisely because She humbled Herself below any other creature.

The Queen of the Angels is also our Queen and Mother. St. Anthony declares that "the blessed Mother will not run away from any... sinner. She is appropriately called the Mother of Mercy since She welcomes any sinner who approaches Her, offering solace to the afflicted and hope to the despairing." When approaching this tender Mother and sovereign Queen with confidence "we are filled with every good thing..., we have everything..., we are blessed." Therefore he exclaims: "Through You, Paradise has entered our world!"

St. Anthony's Faith in Mary's Maternal Mediation
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
This most merciful Mother has been chosen by God to distribute all His grace to poor sinners. Why is this? Certainly Her "Fiat" at the annunciation permitted Christ to take on His sacred flesh in Her womb; it is, after all, through Her that God is with us in Christ Jesus. But Her "Fiat" continued throughout Her entire life culminating in Her assent to God's holy will on blood-stained Calvary. The holy doctor, as previously quoted, compares our Lady to an olive, and in that sermon he makes special mention of Her agony at the foot of the cross. "It could be said that She was 'red as an olive' in the Passion of Her Son, when 'Her Heart was pierced with a sword'(Lk. 2:35)." The sorrowful Mother participated in His redemptive suffering, especially when His side was pierced by the lance, and is often called our Co-Redemptrix with the Redeemer. "The Blessed Virgin Mary therefore, our Mediatrix, established peace between God and the sinner." It is through the humble Mary that God has reconciled us to Himself in Christ Jesus and therefore She is rightly called the Mediatrix of all graces. Commenting on the rainbow which God set in the sky after the flood (cf. Gn 9), the saint proclaims, "The rainbow is a symbol of the peace and reconciliation which the blessed Virgin, our Mediatrix, effected between God and man." And it is thus that he prays, "Our Lady, our only hope, we are asking You to illumine our souls with the brilliance of Your grace... that we may be worthy of His glory."

St. Anthony's Devotion to the Holy Name of Mary
✝️✝️✝️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️✝️✝️✝️
This glorious saint and doctor of the Church found great delight and strength in invoking the "sweet name of Mary," the "New Eve" and "Star of the Sea," with all Her sacred privileges. However, his devotion to the poor, humble Virgin led him to perfectly imitate and mirror Her in Her poverty, littleness and purity of Heart. He became, as it were, the presence of Mary in the world by his holy life. Because he had been wholly transformed into 'another' Mary, who "always had Her mind raised straight up to God in the contemplation of heavenly things," so he merited to hold and adore the divine Infant with his own arms.

The Marian doctrine and devotion of this great saint, like two wings, lifted him up from this world and carried him into the sublime heights of holiness. May his profound wisdom and love for the Immaculate Virgin Mother of God inspire many to entrust themselves entirely to Her without reserve and with full confidence so that She may illumine souls with the brilliance of Her grace.

O dear Jesus, grant us grace of holiness of life through the powerful intercession of Mary. Amen.

Call to Holiness of Life

"Trust Mary, implore her aid." - Pope Leo XIII
🙏🙏🙏

THE DEMON OF LUST

The sin of impurity is the most powerful dominating man... Recidivism is often frequent, it is difficult for one to correct oneself when one is already dominated by this passion of lust.
And how sad is the fate of a soul, redeemed with the blood of Christ, subjected to this sin, powerless to overcome it. How sad the fate of a lustful young man.
Your passions will forcefully incite you into sin, the world will continually present you ties to make you fall, the most incarnate
enemy of all is your own body. The passion of lust is subduing and does not so easily leave its prey.

IF YOU HAVE FALLEN:
• Think serenely of the consequences what your fall might have.

• Purify your soul by confession and depart with firm resolution from all occasions of sin.

• Attend the sacraments so that your will may be strengthened.

Overcoming this passion even if you are dominated by it is difficult, very difficult but not impossible, the word impossible does not exist in the Christian dictionary.
The lack of chastity and modesty is a sign that the flower of purity has lost its fragrance. The one who is dominated by lust does not pay attention to these details and the small things in which modesty and decency consist. He finds things ridiculous.
The most obvious sign that our society is corrupt is the lack of understanding of our young men and women in the way they
dress and behave externally. Our customs have lost that seal of honesty and charity they once had, because our youth is not pure.
The sin of lust degrades and degrades man and spoils his heart.

A PERSON DOMINATED BY THE VICIOUS OF IMPURITY:
• Is unable to feel noble and lofty ideals.

• Is not able to be enthusiastic about great things and thus not enterprise interested.

• Does not understand the beauty of virtue.

Our society is corrupt, our youth are
dominated by the vice of lust...
Translated from Spanish

SAINT +OF+ THE+ DAY
🌹🌹🌾🌾🌾🌹🌹

SAINT ANTHONY
OF PADUA
PRIEST AND DOCTOR
:::+++++++++++++++:::
15 August 1195 -
13 June 1231

🙏🏻🌹Beloved Souls, Today the Holy Mother Church celebrates One of Her finest Saints of all Times, Saint Anthony. He was born Fernando Martins in Lisbon, Portugal. He was born into a wealthy family and by the age of fifteen asked to be sent to the Abbey of Santa Cruz in Coimbra, the then capital of Portugal. During his time in the Abbey, he learned theology and Latin.

🌹Following his ordination to the priesthood, he was named guestmaster and was responsible for the abbey's hospitality. When Franciscan friars settled a small hermitage outside Coimbra dedicated to Saint Anthony of Egypt, Fernando felt a longing to join them.

🌹Fernando eventually received permission to leave the Abbey so he could join the new Franciscan Order. When he was admitted, he changed his name to Anthony.

🌹Anthony then traveled to Morocco to spread God's truth, but became extremely sick and was returned to Portugal to recover. The return voyage was blown off-course and the party arrived in Sicily, from which they traveled to Tuscany. Anthony was assigned to the hermitage of San Paolo after local friars considered his health.

As he recovered, Anthony spent his time praying and studying.

🌹An undetermined amount of time later, Dominican friars came to visit the Franciscans and there was confusion over who would present the homily. The Dominicans were known for their preaching, thus the Franciscans assumed it was they who would provide a homilist, but the Dominicans assumed the Franciscans would provide one. It was then the head of the Franciscan hermitage asked Anthony to speak on whatever the Holy Spirit told him to speak of.

🌹Though he tried to object, Anthony delivered an eloquent and moving homily that impressed both groups. Soon, news of his eloquence reached Francis of Assisi, who held a strong distrust of the brotherhood's commitment to a life of poverty. However, in Anthony, he found a friend.

🌹In 1224, Francis entrusted his friars' pursuits of studies to Anthony. Anthony had a book of psalms that contained notes and comments to help when teaching students and, in a time when a printing press was not yet invented, he greatly valued it.

🌹When a novice decided to leave the hermitage, he stole Anthony's valuable book. When Anthony discovered it was missing, he prayed it would be found or returned to him. The thief did return the book and in an extra step returned to the Order as well.

The book is said to be preserved in the Franciscan friary in Bologna today.

Anthony occasionally taught at the universities of Montpellier and Toulouse in southern France, but he performed best in the role of a preacher.

🌹So simple and resounding was his teaching of the Catholic Faith, most unlettered and the innocent could understand his messages. It is for this reason he was declared a Doctor of the Church by Pope Pius XII in 1946.

🌹Once, when St. Anthony of Padua attempted to preach the true Gospel of the Catholic Church to heretics who would not listen to him, he went out and preached his message to the fish. This was not, as liberals and naturalists have tried to say, for the instruction of the fish, but rather for the glory of God, the delight of the angels, and the easing of his own heart. When critics saw the fish begin to gather, they realized they should also listen to what Anthony had to say.

🌹He was only 36-years-old when he died and was canonized less than one year afterward by Pope Gregory IX. Upon exhumation some 336 years after his death, his body was found to be corrupted, yet his tongue was totally incorrupt, so perfect were the teachings that had been formed upon it.

🌹He is typically depicted with a book and the Infant Child Jesus and is commonly referred to today as the "finder of lost articles."

PATRON:
🌹🌹🌹
illiterate and the poor, of sailors and fishermen, of priests and travelers,the finder of lost things, a protector and guardian of the mails, and wonder-worker.

EFFICACIOUS PRAYER
TO ST. ANTHONY
🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹
O Holy Saint Anthony, one of the gentlest and kindest of all the Saints, your burning love of GOD, your exalted virtue and your great charity towards your fellow-creatures, made your worthy, when on earth, to possess miraculous powers of an exalted kind. Miracles waited on your word, and that word your were ever ready to speak at the request of those in trouble. the anxious prayer of bitter trial was never addressed to you in vain. to the sick you gave back health; you restored what was lost, the sorrow-stricken were the objects of your tender compassion - even the death you raised to life when the wounded heart cried out to you from the depths of anguish. When on earth nothing was impossible to you, except not to have compassion on those in distress and sorrow. encouraged by this thought, of confidence, i implore of you to obtain for me...

(mention your request...)

The answer to this, my prayer may require a miracle. Even so, are you not the saint of Miracles, who when on earth had but to speak and the mightiest wonders were wrought? O gentle and loving St. Anthony, you whose heart was ever full of human sympathy, whisper my prayer into the ears of the Infant JESUS who loved to linger in your arms.

One word from you and my prayer will be granted. Oh, speak that word and the gratitude of my heart will ever be yours. Amen.

MAKE US HOLY LORD
🌹🌹🌾🌾🌾🌹🌹

Call to Holiness of Life

THE WONDERS OF ST. ANTHONY
MEN WON'T LISTEN
FISHES WILL
🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇🍇

🙏🏻🌹Beloved Souls, this was one of the wonders that this great Saint performed in his days. Even though he was an eloquent preacher,
St. Anthony wasn't always able to get an audience. Such was the case one day in Rimini.
Undaunted by the refusal of the heretics of Rimini to listen to the word of God, the Saint was determined to preach to those who would listen.

So he walked to the seashore and took his stand at the water's edge. As the saintly friar began to preach, the surface of the water was broken by the heads of countless fishes which rose to listen.

St. Anthony preached to the fishes of the glory of God and the goodness of their Creator.

He bade them be grateful
and thus confound the coldness of the people of Rimini who had no place for the Word of God
in their hearts.
Not a fish moved as St. Anthony went on with his sermon to his quite unusual congregation.
When he had finished,
the Saint blessed the fish
with the Sign of the Cross. Then they left.

🙏🏻O dear God, increase our Faith and make us Holy through the powerful intercession of St. Anthony of Padua.

© Call to Holiness of Life

PRAYER TO BLESSED VIRGIN MARY.

O Blessed Virgin, dear mother of mine, I salute you, and revere you with all my heart. Mother of Mercy, pray for me. Queen of Heaven, I commend my soul to you.

O my tender Mother, obtain that I may be loved by your Son. Sweet hope with Jesus, sweet refuge of sinners, I throw myself at your feet.

Cause me to experience the effect of the power which you possess with the Holy Trinity, O glorious Virgin Mary.

Amen.

O Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, grant that I may love You more and more.

I adore You every moment, O Living Bread from heaven, Great Sacrament!

O Loving Heart of my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer You my prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day, with my whole being as a sacrifice, in union with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass throughout the world. I offer them for all the intentions of Your Sacred Heart, the salvation of souls, reparation for sins, especially those committed against You in the Blessed Sacrament and mine, against Your Mother and Your Church; For increase of priestly and religious vocations, the reunion of all Christians and for the renewal and triumph of Your Catholic Church. I offer them for the intentions of all Apostles of Prayer and in particular for the Pope's, Bishop's and our Parish Priest's intentions for this month.

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus; Have mercy on us!
Immaculate Heart of Mary; Pray for us!

May the Body and Blood of Christ, cleanse us of our sins, keep us safe from all dangers and grant us Eternal Life.
Through Christ our Lord.

❤️BELOVED, WE ARE CALLED FOR❤️
RIGHTEOUSNESS
IS YOUR SOUL THIRSTING FOR GOD?
❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
MT. 5:1-12.

🙏🏻❤️Beloved in Christ, what is your heart craving for? Always remember that you were created for God and for Him alone and in Him alone shall your Soul find true peace.

❤️Just like an infant thirsting for water, who when offered Cerelac, Indomie and pap, cries aloud in rejection, pushing away with his tiny fingers, the feeding-bottle containing these sweet baby meals, insisting that all he desires is water; so too man’s soul is incurably thirsting for God and cannot be satisfied with the Cerelac of wealth, the Indomie of sin and the pap of exotic fashion. Guilt is man’s voice crying out unrelentingly that these are not really what man is yearning for; guilt is man’s tiny hands pushing these worldly things away, sometimes weakly.

❤️Beloved, do you know that No created man can exist without this hunger for God? No man can truly live in the spirit without the Living Water.

❤️O Christian Soul, are we all not perfectly represented in that Samaritan woman who comes time after time drawing water from the well; and so too man returns frequently drawing water from the well of vanities? And yet, her heart was thirsting for something more? And thirsting, she wrongly thought that men would satisfy her, Jesus said: woman you have had five husbands and the one you are living with now is not your husband [cf. Jn. 4:18].

❤️Dearly Beloved, believe you me, your heart is thirsting for what only heaven can offer. Like St Francis of Assisi why not say: deceive me no more you empty thrills of this passing world. And with St Teresa of Avila say to your soul: my soul, seek Jesus, for only Jesus is enough. Open our eyes👁 o dear Jesus.

QUOTE:
❤️❤️❤️
“When did God’s love for you begin? When He began to be God. When did He begin to be God? Never, for He has always been without beginning and without end, and so He has always loved you from eternity.” St. Francis de Sales

PRAYER:
❤️❤️❤️
This day Jesus, my Love, increase daily my love for You and for my neighbors, especially the one that injured me most. Make me Holy Lord. Amen.

Call to Holiness of Life

•A Prayer before Taking Communion•

Communion is a sacred time for you as a follower of Jesus. But before you participate in this memorable occasion, take time to spend some reflective moments in self-examination. What does that mean? How should you pray? While this is an individual matter between you and God, here are some communion prayer thoughts and meditations that might help you as you prepare for this beautiful time of remembrance.

— A Communion Prayer

🙏 Lord Jesus, I bow before you in humility and ask You to examine my heart today. Show me anything that is not pleasing to You. Reveal any secret pride, any unconfessed sin, any rebellion or unforgiveness that may be hindering my relationship with You. I know that I am Your beloved child, having received You into my heart and life and having accepted Your death as penalty for my sinfulness. The price You paid covered me for all time, and my desire is to live for You.

As I take the bread representing Your life that was broken for me, I remember and celebrate Your faithfulness to me and to all who will receive You. I can't begin to fathom the agonizing suffering of Your crucifixion. Yet You took that pain for me. You died for me! Thank You, Jesus. Thank You for Your extravagant love and unmerited favor. Thank You that Your death gave me life—abundant life now, and eternal life forever. As You instructed Your disciples, I, too, receive this bread in remembrance of You.

And in the same way, as I take this cup representing Your blood poured out from a splintered cross, I realize that You were the supreme sacrifice for all my sin: past, present, and future. Because of Your blood shed for me, and Your body broken for me, I can be free from the power and penalty of sin. Thank You for Your victory over death. You took the death that I deserved. You took my punishment. Your pain was indeed my gain. And today I remember and celebrate the precious gift of life You gave me through the blood that You spilled.

But while my relationship is secure with you, I know sin can break our fellowship at times. I’m still human, and I often forget who I am and Whose I am. You want to convict and correct me, not shame me. You love me like a perfect parent. You’ll never disown me or leave me. You love me no matter what. But sin hurts both my heart and Yours. So before I take communion today, I’m asking You to truly search my heart and reveal hidden things for which to ask Your forgiveness.

Each time I take communion, Lord, I want to recommit my life, my heart, my thoughts, my everything to You. Fill me today with Your powerful Spirit. As I leave this place, help me to hold this fresh remembrance and the story that never grows old close to my heart. Help me to share its message faithfully as You give opportunity.

In Your Precious name,
AMEN 🙏

*We take communion to remember the night in which Jesus was betrayed. He broke bread and gave thanks. We especially remember communion during Holy Week, the events that led to Jesus' crucifixion, death, and resurrection.

📖 — Communion Scripture

"And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, blessed and broke it, and gave it to the disciples and said, "Take, eat; this is My body." hen He took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you. For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins."
(Matthew 26:26-28)

"Jesus said to them, “Very truly I tell you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you. Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day."
(John 6:53-54)

“And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes. So then, whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup."
(1 Corinthians 11:24-28)