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World at Prayer blog
Reflections of Family and Faith
"The family that prays together stays together." - Venerable Patrick Peyton
Return to the Church | Seasonal Reflections | Strengthening family unity
I regret not having known my grandparents. Three had passed on before I was born and my mother’s mother died when I was 2 months old. My father was a quiet man and he didn’t talk much of his parents, but I knew they were what we called typical "Boston Irish Catholics" and good working class people. When my mother spoke of her mother, Alice, it was in praise of her holiness and faith.
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It is not by accident that two major Marian feasts fall in the middle of Advent: the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, December 8, and the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, December 12. They draw us more deeply into the warmth, the mystery, and the power of the season. As we approach December 12, let’s now turn our attention to Our Lady of Guadalupe.
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Brief and contemporary inspiration focused on hope and family prayer will be delivered to your inbox! Articles include live video, written word, and links to resources that will lead you and your family deeper into faith.
Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoaztzin was one of the few Mexicans who became Christian in the decade after Hernan Cortez and about 500 Spanish troops arrived in Mexico in 1519 – and soon conquered the powerful and rich Aztec empire.
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It’s not by chance that the Lord chose a carpenter to be the foster-father of the Son of God. Right from his betrothal to Mary, Joseph would have started to build a home for the Holy Family. However, then they had to leave that house and travel to Egypt, Joseph, being a carpenter, could then prepare another home; he possessed a skill that would provide a solid home for the Holy Child and His Mother.
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Today we celebrate and honor the Martyrs of Vietnam, Saints Andrew Dung-Lac and his companions. This feast should make us pause and contemplate some profound questions. Over a period of 200 years, from the time of the arrival of Christianity in Vietnam in the mid-1600s, as many as 300,000 people were martyred for their Catholic faith.
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I’d have to say that the Annunciation is my favorite Mystery of the Rosary, in the sense that, whatever be the Mysteries of the Rosary for the day – like today, Tuesday, we pray the Sorrowful Mysteries – I try to meditate on the Annunciation too. For example, when I go jogging in the morning, immersed in the beauty of creation, I like to put myself in that moment of the beginning of the New Creation when the Angel Gabriel came to the young Mary.
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