Month: January 2017

54 DAY NOVENA TO OUR LADY QUEEN OF THE MOST HOLY ROSARY

Whoever desires to obtain favors from Me should make three novenas of the prayers of the Rosary, and three novenas in thanksgiving.”
— Promise of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

I’m on the fly but here are 7 quick takes about this efficacious novena to Our Lady that my soul sister and I are going to pray starting Tues. Jan.  24 – March 19th, feast of St. Joseph.

The first time I prayed this novena I was in Palm Beach and my “spiritual mamas” directed me to take my Rosary devotion to a higher level. I didn’t quite understand what that meant since I was already a devotee of Mary and the Rosary, but I took this seriously and I prayed the big “54” in the fall of 2010. On day 55 my life changed forever. God responded in a mighty way and the domino that fell that day was a movement of grace that ultimately pushed me all the way to Los Angeles. LA came later but “day 55” was the tipping move that catapulted me to what connected me to my now so to speak.  As I reflect on that season and consider the “now” of my life, I clearly see Our Lady’s maternal hand in moving the ribbon of my life forward in ways that I could not have imagined or achieved on my own.

Two weeks ago my little sister in Christ (Hi Kelly!)  texted me and asked if I wanted to pray a 54-day Rosary novena with her to begin on January 24, feast of Francis De Sales and concluding on St. Joseph’s feast on March 19. At first I felt a little intimidated by the numbers game, considering the length of an entirely long streak of prayer (eye roll) and already being the novena queen, how about someone else wear the tiara! But then like a rush, I heard God say that He really wants me to be under Mary’s mantle in this new Year and that He wants to show me how He’s bringing everything together. He wants me to know that the results will be from My Father in Heaven and through my Mother. That He’s shaping this year, the people I will walk alongside, the places where I will enjoy new territory and the surprises He has for me. How can I say no?

I believe this is as true for you as it is for me. If you want to join us here’s a little bit about the novena and you can Google more:

1. In 1884 little girl in Pompeii, Italy was extraordinarily sick (dying) – the family had been praying for several months and the child cried out invoking the Blessed Mother under the title of Our Lady Queen of the Holy Rosary.
2. When Our Lady appeared to the child the Blessed Virgin said “Child, thou hast always obtained favors from me. Now since thou hast called me by the title so pleasing to me, ‘Queen of the Holy Rosary’ I can no longer refuse the favor thou dost petition; for this name is most precious and dear to me. Make three novenas, and thou shall obtain all.”
3. The novena consists of five decades of the Rosary each day for twenty-seven in petition and twenty-seven in thanksgiving, whether or not the request has been granted.
4. The Blessed Mother appeared in a vision on a high throne with St. Dominic and St. Catherine of Siena.
5. When you pray the 27 days in thanksgiving, pray CONFIDENTLY trusting that God will hear you and answer you. Don’t have a pity party about what you don’t see. God is working for you. BELIEVE.
6. This novena has been called a laborious novena, but a novena of love!
7. Each Hail Mary is a rose you lay at Mary’s feet.

Finally, and not to scare you, the devil HATES this novena. Why? Because the results are certain and generally miraculous. You are turning your will and life over to Heaven to be in total alignment and under the mission of Christ. You may be sluggish, nearly forget and to avoid all that I highly recommend praying this first thing when you rise or setting special time aside. If you wait until night. You will snooze and as my peeps would say “STAND UP” .. sometimes I literally had to stand up and pray the novena to just take authority and make sure it was prayed and prayed well.

Press in for the blessing of 2017. God is on your side! With all the talk about what it means to be a woman in today’s society, let’s seek Heaven for those answers and lean into the Woman who received God’s highest favor. Let this be an unprecedented season of grace as we let our intentions pass through the Immaculate Heart of Mary.  (shoot me a message if you need more information)… And fasten your seat belt!

Praying for you! JMJ+

Lexi

JOURNEYING TOWARD JESUS

This year my birthday falls on the Feast of the Epiphany, which I will admit the timing of this has me calling myself “Little Miss Christmas” at this point! Who doesn’t want to be a Christmas baby? Birthday-connected in this manner to Little Christmas makes me personally feel deeply and intimately linked to Christmas and the most ultimate core of who we are as Christians in His coming and in the aha revelation of what the wise men experienced.

The Epiphany of the Lord, or as many cultures associate it as, “Little Christmas” has always been one of my most favorite times during the Christmas season. It’s like a Christmas sneak-attack extended celebration of grace and sometimes prompts just one more family gathering, special dinner, and one or two additional gifts. I love a party and I love presents!

Little Christmas has always been a lure for me because there are these three somewhat mysterious figures that are the central characters with Jesus in the Gospel and subsequent celebration of the Epiphany or “revelation” of Christ. The wise men are enlightened, directed, obedient, (yet somewhat sly )and followed the star to the manager to, according to St. Matthew, bring three gifts to Jesus, each having prophetic meaning: gold, the gift for a king; frankincense, the gift for a priest; and myrrh – a burial ointment, a gift for one who would die.

The Gospel for the Epiphany of the Lord on January 8^th reads like this:

 When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea,

in the days of King Herod,

behold, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying,

“Where is the newborn king of the Jews?

We saw his star at its rising

and have come to do him homage.”

When King Herod heard this,

he was greatly troubled,

and all Jerusalem with him.

Assembling all the chief priests and the scribes of the people,

He inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.

They said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea,

for thus it has been written through the prophet:

And you, Bethlehem, land of Judah,

are by no means least among the rulers of Judah;

since from you shall come a ruler,

who is to shepherd my people Israel.”

Then Herod called the magi secretly

and ascertained from them the time of the star’s appearance.

He sent them to Bethlehem and said,

“Go and search diligently for the child.

When you have found him, bring me word,

that I too may go and do him homage.”

After their audience with the king they set out.

And behold, the star that they had seen at its rising preceded them,

until it came and stopped over the place where the child was.

They were overjoyed at seeing the star,

and on entering the house

they saw the child with Mary his mother.

They prostrated themselves and did him homage.

Then they opened their treasures

and offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod,

they departed for their country by another way. Matthew 2:1-12

There is a lot in this scripture, but let’s start here: I feel like the wise men are men who can teach us what it means to be in tune with the revelation of heaven (“we saw his star at its rising”) AND what it means to be in fellowship with Jesus (“we have come to do him homage’) not just on Epiphany, but every day of our lives.

Second and profound: Do you know what prostrated means? The dictionary definition of prostrate is “stretched out on the ground in adoration; or in submission; lying flat.”

Have you ever been prostrate before the Lord? Maybe in Eucharistic adoration? Maybe not. This is a form of total and complete surrender, total worship, total recognition of One higher than you. These wise men KNEW who was in their midst, who they journeyed to despite the danger of Herod’s counter plan. The physical body goes down, symbolic of where our personal will needs to be – in submission to God (under the mission of God).

I want to be a child of the Epiphany, for real. When your birthday lands on this day it’s like JACKPOT. It feels like I’m born of Epiphany and I like to claim that all year long because it’s like a secret of Christmas that keeps on delivering a manifold level of grace – while Herod and his gang look elsewhere to find the Divine Child, this trio is with the infant Christ.

Because one of the most famous pilgrimages in scripture made it into Holy Scripture, clearly God wants us to have a take-away here! We should imitate the wise men is what I’m thinking. God came and He came for us but the wise men embody faith in action – they are men who encounter, men who respond and men who when they see, recognize and bow down. I want to be like the three who laid their bodies and wills down so His presence and Divine plan could rise above.

You don’t need to have your birthday fall on Epiphany to be a child of Epiphany. While the rest of the world dims their Christmas lights and most homes clear out the last ornament and are packing up or trashing their tree, it’s important for us to remain in Christmas. Leaving the season now would be like leaving the ballpark before the game is over. Why to avoid the rush, get the train early and miss the final score and a possible underdog game-changing grand slam?

Here’s the now Christmas posture. Epiphany teaches me (us) that our faith is not one-sided. Jesus didn’t come to just to lie in that manger with Mary and Joseph. Jesus came and He invites US to fellowship with him, He invites US to journey toward Him for a life-changing encounter and He invites US to worship. We have to do our part and move our feet toward Him. Consider where Jesus can be found. He can be found in a Eucharistic Holy Hour, He can be found at Mass, He can be found in the Word, He can be found in the Sacramental life of the Church.

Follow the star. Maybe this blog is your current star situation prompting you to remain in Christmas. Epiphany is this Sunday. Let’s prepare. Let’s consider how we will move toward him, no matter what type of distraction, danger, inconvenience or cost. Let’s bring our precious gifts and fall prostate before Him, giving God our total selves. Our journey toward him may be fraught with challenges (Hello HEROD!) but God will always enlighten us when we come to Him and show us the way to go even if we have to depart by another route.

Christmas. Is. Not. Over. Let Christmastide wash over you. Praying for a mighty revelation for you and for me.

Praying for you+

Lexi

JMJ+