Last weekend I attended a men’s conference at a local parish. The keynote speaker was Danny Abramowicz, a former wide receiver for the New Orleans Saints.

He talked about his life in football and his re-conversion to the Faith. A fascinating story.

He also introduced everyone to his “Spiritual Workout” which is included in his book. If you like sports analogies and are looking for a step-by-step manual for improving your spiritual life, this is a great book. Each chapter starts off with a section about football and then relates it to spiritual growth. There is a brief timeout section to consider the main points and then each chapter ends with a quick action plan.

There isn’t anything groundbreaking in this book as Catholic spiritual growth has been written about countless times over the past 2000 years. This is just a unique spin on the topic from a former All-Pro NFL receiver who likes to mix the Faith and football.

Do you feel, like so many of us, that we are living in an age of less kindness and more selfishness, of so much more materialism and too little charity? Today is the feast day of a great saint, St. Vincent de Paul - a man of tremendous goodness, charity and wisdom - a true champion of the poor and the forsaken.

We’d like to share with you, some wisdom from the sermons and writings of St. Vincent De Paul, a hero for this day and for everyday:

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“However great the work that God may achieve by an individual, he must not indulge in self-satisfaction. He ought rather to be all the more humbled, seeing himself merely as a tool which God has made use of.”

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“We must love our neighbor as being made in the image of God and as an object of His love.”

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“The Church teaches us that mercy belongs to God. Let us implore Him to bestow on us the spirit of mercy and compassion, so that we are filled with it and may never lose it. Only consider how much we ourselves are in need of mercy.”

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“Extend your mercy towards others, so that there can be no one in need whom you meet without helping. For what hope is there for us if God should withdraw His Mercy from us?”

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“The most powerful weapon to conquer the devil is humility. For, as he does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”

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“Free your mind from all that troubles you; God will take care of things. You will be unable to make haste in this (choice) without, so to speak, grieving the heart of God, because he sees that you do not honor him sufficiently with holy trust. Trust in him, I beg you, and you will have the fulfillment of what your heart desires.”

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“Human nature grows tired of always doing the same thing, and it is God’s will that this because of the opportunity of practicing two great virtues. The first is perseverance, which will bring us to our goal. The other is steadfastness, which overcomes the difficulties on the way.”

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“We should strive to keep our hearts open to the sufferings and wretchedness of other people, and pray continually that God may grant us that spirit of compassion which is truly the spirit of God.”

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“Perfection consists in one thing alone, which is doing the will of God. For, according to Our Lord’s words, it suffices for perfection to deny self, to take up the cross and to follow Him. Now who denies himself and takes up his cross and follows Christ better than he who seeks not to do his own will, but always that of God? Behold, now, how little is needed to become as Saint? Nothing more than to acquire the habit of willing, on every occasion, what God wills.”

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“Even though the poor are often rough and unrefined, we must not judge them from external appearances nor from the mental gifts they seem to have received. On the contrary, if you consider the poor in the light of faith, then you will observe that they are taking the place of the Son of God who chose to be poor. Although in his passion he almost lost the appearance of a man and was considered a fool by the Gentiles and a stumbling block by the Jews, he showed them that his mission was to preach to the poor: “He sent me to preach the good news to the poor.” We also ought to have this same spirit and imitate Christ’s actions, that is, we must take care of the poor, console them, help them, support their cause.Since Christ willed to be born poor, he chose for himself disciples who were poor. He made himself the servant of the poor and shared their poverty. He went so far as to say that he would consider every deed which either helps or harms the poor as done for or against himself. Since God surely loves the poor, he also love whose who love the poor. For when on person holds another dear, he also includes in his affection anyone who loves or serves the one he loves. That is why we hope that God will love us for the sake of the poor. So when we visit the poor and needy, we try to be understanding where they are concerned. We sympathize with them so fully that we can echo Paul’s words: “I have become all things to all men.” Therefore, we must try to be stirred by our neighbors’ worries and distress.”

Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us!

Fr. Z is taking a poll. My personal favorite, the Missal of Blessed John XXIII isn’t on the list. I think that if that caught on as the common name it would cause mental agony to those who brand the Blessed Pope as the great liberal who freed the Church from 1900 years of tradition and doctrine.

Georgetown University, former Catholic university run by the former soldiers of the Faith, the Jesuits, has decided that it won’t look at the purpose of a student group when giving out school money. The decision came about because the student group, Law Students for Choice Murder, was initially denied school funds.

At what point do we actually admit that some of these schools aren’t Catholic at all and that the Jesuit order on the whole is a 5th column in the Church? It will be interesting to see what the bishop of Washington does in response.

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Yes, we still live in the dark ages of film cameras so we had to wait for my mom to send us some digital digital images of Maria. Maria was born at home with a midwife assisting. So far we have had six of our seven kids at home and the experience has been much better than our one experience with a hospital.

While Paula was in early labor daddy made chocolate chip cookies. Yum!

Nana holding Maria. Umbilical cord hasn’t been cut yet.

Andrew learned how to ride a bike last week. He’s the first one of our kids to figure it out and boy is he proud!

No matter what programming language you use to create your web store, you need to stay on top of security concerns. This thirty page guide from Adobe provides a good checklist of best practices for securing a Cold Fusion server.

Even better, they provide code samples to go with the list so you can see the practices in action.

read more

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“Simon was a simple Galilean, a brother of Jesus, as the ancients called one’s close relatives — aunts, uncles, first cousins; he was one of Our Lord’s four first cousins, with James the Less, Jude and Joseph, all sons of Mary, the wife of Alpheus, or Cleophas, either name being a derivative of the Aramaic Chalphai. The latter was the brother of Saint Joseph, according to tradition. All the sons of this family were raised at Nazareth near the Holy Family. (See the Gospel of Saint Matthew 13:53-58) Simon, Jude and James were called by Our Lord to be Apostles, pillars of His Church, and Joseph the Just was His loyal disciple.

Saint Simon the Zealot or the Zealous, was the name this Apostle bore among the twelve. He preached in Egypt, Mauritania (Spain), and Libya, leaving behind him the fertile hills of Galilee, where he had been engaged in the healthful cultivation of the vineyards and olive gardens. He later rejoined his brother, Saint Jude, in Persia, where they labored and died together. At first they were respected by the king, for they had manifested power over two ferocious tigers who had terrorized the land. With the king, sixty thousand Persians became Christians, and churches rose over the ruins of the idolatrous temples.

But the ancient enemy, who never sleeps, rose up, and when the two went elsewhere the pagans commanded them to sacrifice to the sun. Both Apostles, just before that time, had seen Our Lord amid His Angels. Simon said to Jude, “One of the Angels said to me, I will take you out of the temple and bring the building down upon their heads. I answered him, Let it not be so; perhaps some of them will be converted.” They prayed for mercy for the people and offered their lives to God. Saint Simon told the crowd that their gods were only demons, and ordered them to come out of the statues, which they did, revealing themselves under hideous forms. But the idolaters fell on the Apostles and massacred them, while they blessed God and prayed for their murderers.Saint Jude has left us a short but powerful epistle, written after the death of his brother James, bishop of Jerusalem, and addressed to the new Christians being tempted by false brethren and heretics. ”

- translated from “Lives of the Saints for Everyday” by Abbe Jaud.

To browse our selection of books on the Early Church and the Apostolic Age please click here.

To browse our selection of books on the Lives of the Saints please click here.

“Devotion to the Blessed Virgin

‘All generations will call me blessed’: ‘The Church’s devotion to the Blessed Virgin is intrinsic to Christian worship.’ The Church rightly honors ‘the Blessed Virgin with special devotion. From the most ancient times the Blessed Virgin has been honored with the title of ‘Mother of God’, to whose protection the faithful fly in all their dangers and needs . . . This very special devotion . . . differs essentially from the adoration which is given to the incarnate Word and equally to the Father and the Holy Spirit, and greatly fosters this adoration.’ The liturgical feasts dedicated to the Mother of God and Marian prayer, such as the rosary, an ‘epitome of the whole Gospel,’ express this devotion to the Virgin Mary.”

- from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, 971

The Church dedicates the month of October each year as the “month of the Holy Rosary”

We carry one of the largest selections of rosaries anywhere. Are you looking for a truly special and unique gift or devotional item? From
simplest wood or stone beads, to precious metals and beautiful gemstones, you will find the perfect rosary when you browse our extensive collection here.

To browse our complete selection of rosary boxes and cases, please click here.

We offer a rosary repair service, please click here for more information.

We also make custom rosaries, please click here for information about our custom rosary services.

Are you a Catholic sports fan or do you know one?! We have a great book, a great gift idea for you! Danny Abramowicz was recently in our area to speak at a diocesan men’s retreat, attended by hundreds of men, and his book was an enormous hit! Danny is an engaging speaker and writer. We recommend the book and we have even discounted it’s already very reasonable price for you. Take a look.

Spiritual Workout Of A Former Saint

Author: Danny Abramowicz

Here’s another great gift idea for Catholic sports fans or Catholic youth who are involved in athletics:

Champions of Faith DVD

A Special Seasonal Announcement from Aquinas and More Catholic Goods for Autumn and Advent:

2008 Ordos (for each Province and Diocese in the U.S.) are now available, please click here for information.

2008 Calendars are now available, please click here to view our selection.

Christmas cards are now available, please click here to view our selection.

Prayer on the Feast of the Holy Apostles Saint Simon and Saint Jude

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles,

and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray

that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission, so we

may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with

You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

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