How often do you consider the lives of the saints as your spiritual guides and role models?
Do you consider deeply enough the love that God has for you?
Even more deeply, do you consider often the fact that God has loved you from all eternity, from before you ever even existed?
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I found the video for this chat a bit lackluster.
Aug 7 2016, 7:20 PM
Sister Susan Marie: How could we have enhanced?
Aug 7 2016, 7:21 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Wow! To think that St. Francis has been influencing spiritual formation for so many for about 400 years. Awesome
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Dawn L: I watched it three times, but each time increasingly drawn into the simplicity
Aug 7 2016, 7:22 PM
Carol Ann: Thst’s anaxing. Like St. Anthong fathering modern monasticism
Aug 7 2016, 7:22 PM
Sister Susan Marie: In the Phillipines there is a Bishop we met (in France) who will celebrate St Francis for 5 years 2017-2022
Aug 7 2016, 7:23 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy)I would have to go back and view the video again to be able to make any suggestions.
Aug 7 2016, 7:23 PM
Carol Ann: There may be other images to use, but I found this to be a wonderful introduction video
Aug 7 2016, 7:23 PM
Sister Susan Marie: The text id direct from St Francis but I would have liked to see more of his thoughts on the saints
Guest6157 (guest):(Judy) I went to take another look at the video. I agree with you that some more about the saints, and more about the martyrs would be helpful. 9 PM
Aug 7 2016, 7:30 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Here’s an example: July 22 St Mary MagdalenFrom Treatise on the Love of God Book 6 Chapter 7All Magdalen’s affections, and all her thoughts, were scattered about the sepulchre of her Saviour, whom she went seeking hither and thither, and though she had found him, and he spoke to her, yet leaves she them dispersed, because she does not perceive his presence; but as soon as he had called her by her name, see how she gathers herself together and entirely attaches herself to his feet: one only word puts her int
Aug 7 2016, 7:31 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I do consider the saints, especially my beloved St. Gertrude, a spiritual guide. Daily, I ask the Lord to make me more like her in her love for Him in His Sacred Heart. And I ask her to truly be my guide.
Aug 7 2016, 7:31 PM
Carol Ann: I try to keep up with the saints a day readings, but sometimes I get so far behind…
Aug 7 2016, 7:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie: one only word puts her into recollection.
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Carol Ann: I do have many favorites too
Aug 7 2016, 7:32 PM
Sister Susan Marie: St Gertrude- awesome! When I am strong I love their example but when I am weak I feel so ashamed
Aug 7 2016, 7:32 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) How I desire the holiness of St. Gertrude!! And knowing the incredible love that Jesus had for her amazes me
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Sister Susan Marie: St Francis gave this example of St Louis: S. Louis, a monarch unrivaled in time of peace or war, who was most diligent in the administration of justice and in ruling his country, nevertheless was wont to hear two masses daily, to say vespers and compline with his chaplain, and to make his meditation daily. He used to visit the hospitals every Friday, was regular at confession, took the discipline, often attended sermons and spiritual conferences, and withal he never lost any opportunity of promoting the pub
Aug 7 2016, 7:34 PM
Sister Susan Marie: public welfare, and his court was more flourishing and notable than that of any of his predecessors.”
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Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I read her “Herald of Divine Love” and was totally awed by it. It gave me a desire to be like her. I love her contemplative nature. that is something that I desire also. 016, 7:35 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Is that in her life?
Aug 7 2016, 7:35 PM
Sister Susan Marie: I don’t know that book
Aug 7 2016, 7:35 PM
Carol Ann: Where did he find the time with al the affairs os state to run?
Aug 7 2016, 7:35 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Maybe his servants helped him do all the govt work too?
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Carol Ann: They must have
Aug 7 2016, 7:36 PM
Carol Ann: Thank you Judy. I found it
Aug 7 2016, 7:36 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Hi Lisa!
Aug 7 2016, 7:36 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) It is not a biography, although it has some biographical material in it. It is collection of Jesus’ revelations to her. You can get the book from TAN books and publishers.
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Sister Susan Marie: Actually I get something from every saints life I read but if I don’t re read them or practice what i learn I lose alot of it
Aug 7 2016, 7:40 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I have found that I tend to get more from reading the biographies of saints, that from theological treatises.
Aug 7 2016, 7:40 PM
Lisa C: Saints never cease to amaze me; that must be why they are saints
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Sister Susan Marie: and yet we are all to be saints!
Aug 7 2016, 7:41 PM
Lisa C: What is really amazing is how each one is different and yet they are all holy
Aug 7 2016, 7:41 PM
Carol Ann: Sometimes the old style hagiography majke s them seem unreachabe
Aug 7 2016, 7:41 PM
Lisa C: There is not one formula, they are so individual, but faith shows itself in all of them
Aug 7 2016, 7:41 PM
Dawn L: The saints have so much to teach, in many ways. Truly are spiritual guides
Aug 7 2016, 7:41 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Thinking about the love that Jesus had for Gertrude makes me want to lose myself in His love for me, because I know that it is there, but I do not consider it as often as I should, like every moment of every day.
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Sister Susan Marie: Only by filling with His Love do we really Love ourselves more purely I think
Aug 7 2016, 7:44 PM
Carol Ann: I want to be like Teresa of Avila and Faustina and Maximilian Kolbe. JP II, Genevieve
:44 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I think that I tend to profess my love for Him more often than I consider His love for me. Now there’s something that needs to change!
Aug 7 2016, 7:44 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Which Genevieve, Carol Ann?
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Sister Susan Marie: It’s easier when we have hearts of gratitude to acknowledge His Love for us5 PM
Carol Ann: The French Genevieve, who averted a disaster through intercession
Aug 7 2016, 7:46 PM
Lisa C: I read about an apparition by St. Joseph, yesterday, and his message was about his Heart, and the Hearts of Jesus and Mary and how they will help us. http://m.ncregister.com/blog/joseph-pronechen/major-apparitions-of-st.-joseph-are-approved/#.V6Zav6ApBnE
Major Apparitions of St. Joseph Are Approved
Aug 7 2016, 7:46 PM
Dawn L: Teresa of Avila, St Terese, Padro Pio, St JPII.
Aug 7 2016, 7:46 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I have often given the advice to others to spend time looking at the crucifix if they want to realize how much God loves them. I should take my own advice.
Aug 7 2016, 7:46 PM
Lisa C: St. Joseph is there to help us in the way that Blessed Mother is also.
Aug 7 2016, 7:46 PM
Ruth (guest): Hello everyone. I’ve been having connectivity problems since around 4 PM. Thought I
7:48 PM
Ruth (guest): d be early today, but it seems it never happens, no matter how I try. Glad I got on line though. Still not sure how, since I’m still getting popups saying that I am NOT able to Connect. Go Figure!
Aug 7 2016, 7:48 PM
Carol Ann: Hi Ruth!
Aug 7 2016, 7:48 PM
Dawn L: I hope you can stay with us Ruth!
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Sister Susan Marie: We need St Joseph now more than ever
Aug 7 2016, 7:49 PM
Lisa C: Yes, he has a pure heart, and Jesus loves that
Aug 7 2016, 7:49 PM
Lisa C: He is the head of Jesus’s family growing up
Aug 7 2016, 7:50 PM
Lisa C: Protector of families
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Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) St. Gemma Galgani is another favorite of mine. She seemed to have reached a great level of holiness by the time she was 5 or 6 years of age, having been well instructed by her mother. She had a deep love for the Passion of Jesus and wanted to become a Passionist nun, but she had poor health and was rejected. She had the stigmata, communicated regularly with her guardian angel and was tormented by Satan.
Aug 7 2016, 7:50 PM
Lisa C: Maybe that is why he came recently
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Dawn L: I believe, thru reading various saints, it is those who go through a period of not finding any favor, perhaps in their community or in their parish, that draws them closer to Christ. its as a gift from Him
Aug 7 2016, 7:51 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Saint Patrick was such a humble man of God with such great Faith . I love to read the Confessions of St Patrick where he tells the story of his life in his own words !
7:52 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Another awesome fact about St. Gemma is that her spiritual director said that as far as he could see, she had never committed so much a venial sin during her life.
Aug 7 2016, 7:52 PM
Sister Susan Marie: For that reason I also like reading their letters- very natural
2016, 7:54 PM
Carol Ann: That to me would have scared me away from her as a child now I know it is God’s grace that ac c omplishes it, but it still seems unattainable
Aug 7 2016, 7:54 PM
Sister Susan Marie: It would be interesting to read these favorite saints with the question of how did they focus on God’s Love for them
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Dawn L: good idea
Aug 7 2016, 7:54 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Soo many great men and women of God that have set such a wonderful example of Faith in God reguarless of the circumstances in their lives ! Praise God !
Aug 7 2016, 7:55 PM
Lisa C: I think sometimes they missed it for a while until they came to their senses, like St. FdS thought he was going to go to hell for a while.
Aug 7 2016, 7:55 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Hi Jennifer!
Aug 7 2016, 7:56 PM
Dawn L: some of them endured great persecution..and grew closer to God
Aug 7 2016, 7:56 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Hi Jennifer !
Aug 7 2016, 7:56 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) It just occurs to me that there are many saints who lived a short time and accomplished so much: Gemma lived to be 24, Therese of Lisieux also 24 years. Dominic Savio, 15 years. Venerable Teresita Quevedo 23 or 4.Aloysius Gonzaga was also very young but I do not know his age.
Aug 7 2016, 7:56 PM
Jennifer Koo: Hi, sister and all
Aug 7 2016, 7:56 PM
Ruth (guest): I had a friend, paralyzed from a stroke, blind and dying of pancreatic cancer who liked to have me read to him from The Lives of the Saints. He sometimes seemed to be already dead, but let me mispronounce a word or read a date incorrectly and he would suddenly become animated and correct me. He taught me to love the saints.
7:56 PM
Lisa C: It’s like missing the point of why Jesus died for us.
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Ruth (guest): Judy, I’ve notice that, too. And there were many times when I “should” have died. I think God let me go on living because he is very patient and I am very slow in learning the really important stuff — for becoming a saint.
Aug 7 2016, 8:00 PM
Carol Ann: I think like that too–God has spared me too
Aug 7 2016, 8:00 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Indeed, Lisa, He did die for love of us. When I see His arms stretched out on the cross, I am convinced of His love. Besided being stretched by the spikes holding them to the cross, they are stretched out in love as if He were asking us to run to His arms
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Guest9056 (guest): Prison Diary of St Perpetua very inspirational and she describes prison ministry 1800 years ago . Same as today !
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Dawn L: He has preserved my life so many times..!
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Sister Susan Marie: And He knew us and how we would respond to Him before we were born-
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Guest9056 (guest): Prison Diary of St Perpetua very inspirational and she describes prison ministry 1800 years ago . Same as today !
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Dawn L: He has preserved my life so many times..!
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Sister Susan Marie: And He knew us and how we would respond to Him before we were born-
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Brian that sounds like an interesting book!
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Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Now that is something that I do not think about at all.
Aug 7 2016, 8:01 PM
Ruth (guest): Interesting, Brian.
Aug 7 2016, 8:02 PM
Carol Ann: That is what amazes me. He knows in advance who will turn and who will not
Aug 7 2016, 8:02 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) And yet He never witholds His love.
Aug 7 2016, 8:02 PM
Dawn L: I made note of it Brian, sounds good
Aug 7 2016, 8:03 PM
Dawn L: how prison ministry has remained the same
Aug 7 2016, 8:03 PM
Ruth (guest): When I was about thirteen years old I read FABIOLA. It’s a novel by a bishop, set in the early church. A lot of martyrs. Very moving.
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Sister Susan Marie: You are in prison ministry Brian so this book must have been inspirng
Aug 7 2016, 8:05 PM
Dawn L: off social media , reading books again. good to have recommendations
Aug 7 2016, 8:05 PM
Carol Ann: By Cardinal Nicholas Wiseman, 1854
Aug 7 2016, 8:05 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Think of all the prisoners who do not know God loves them
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Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I love to look at the vastness of the ocean. The love of God is often referred to as an ocean of love. We need to plunge ourselves into that ocean as we do into the ocean at our beaches.
Aug 7 2016, 8:05 PM
Lisa C: Pope Francis has visited prisons
8:06 PM
Dawn L: Brian, how long have you been involved in this
Aug 7 2016, 8:07 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) I believe that St. John Paul II visited prisons too. Is it any wonder that both have been called Mercy Popes.
Aug 7 2016, 8:07 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Sister Susan when I read it it sounded soo much like Kairos . She said that the deacons of the Church woul talk to prison officials and have place ser aside for them to come in and visit prisoners . Perpetua described it as a time of refreshing ! Same thing we hear from men and women in prison today !
Aug 7 2016, 8:08 PM
Lisa C: Hi Sister Mary Roberta
Aug 7 2016, 8:08 PM
Ruth (guest): I felt even more love for him when I read about the Doors of Mercy, how he made provision for the homebound and even for prisoners, to experience the threshold of their cells as a door of mercy — able to receive a complete indulgence when they meet the conditions as far as they are ABLE to in their setting.
Aug 7 2016, 8:08 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Hello!
:10 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: We stopped recreation earlier because the sisters wanted to watch the Olympics – gymnastics, I think.
Aug 7 2016, 8:11 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) When I think of the fact that God has loved every person He ever created from before they existed, I am awed by the mind of God that can hold all of us, from the beginning of time to its end, in it.
Aug 7 2016, 8:11 PM
Carol Ann: I peeked earlier, I know who passed quslifications.
Aug 7 2016, 8:11 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: One of the women runners (Katie Ledecky) is known personally to the sisters – and she’s already set a record in the 400 m. relay, I think.
Lisa C: Yes, she is from Stone Ridge Sacred Heart
Carol Ann: I think we know a tiny bit from Scriptures and another bit from prayer, but we do not really know Him
Aug 7 2016, 8:15 PM
Sister Susan Marie: When they truly need God they may turn to
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Lisa C: Prayer request: Deb, Brooklyn VA alum…her daughter died
Aug 7 2016, 8:15 PM
Dawn L: So many are, I believe the influences of world
Aug 7 2016, 8:15 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Oh my!
Aug 7 2016, 8:15 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: How sad, Lisa!
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) A hymn written by St. Therese of Lisieux just popped into my mind: “Oh how I love Thee Jesus, my soul aspires to Thee, and yet for one day only, my simple prayer I pray. Come reign within my heart; smile tenderly on me, today, today, dear Lord today. But if I take thought of what the morrow brings,it fills my fickle heart with dreary dull dismay. I crave indeed my God, the cross and sufferings, today, today, but only for today.”
Aug 7 2016, 8:16 PM
Lisa C: She is very close to Blessed Mother, and I am hoping that she will comfort her, because they both know what it is to lose a child.
Lisa C: Class of 1970, her daughter was 39.
Aug 7 2016, 8:17 PM
Dawn L: beautiful hymn Judy
Aug 7 2016, 8:17 PM
Carol Ann: I will pray for her too
Aug 7 2016, 8:18 PM
Dawn L: she is so young. prayers for her and all her family
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Ruth (guest): Funny, to my way of thinking. Watching the Olympics is not recreation? Required recreation is what you had and were able to get away from early? Forgive me Sr. Mary Roberta. I guess my experience is soooo different. Two weeks ago I wanted to get back to you; I slept fine after our chat but I woke up thinking I was not very gentle by sharing my “other” feelings/thoughts about being in the wounds of Christ. And yet, the Anima Christi was a daily prayer of mine for decades; it’s just I always felt uncomf
Aug 7 2016, 8:18 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: As SFdS wrote in a letter of sympathy on a similar occasion: “You have pain from this death, but the child has great gain from it; you have received temporal pain and the child eternal joy.”
Aug 7 2016, 8:18 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Please pray for my so Mitch he has been battling depression and anxiety all year and this past Sunday he was hospitalized at his own request . It has been one of the most difficult weeks of our lives . He received some very good help and was able to here a talk from a peer advocate that helped him soo much . He was able to go home Wed . He is slowly feeling better . Praise God !
Aug 7 2016, 8:18 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Prayers from all of us
Aug 7 2016, 8:18 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) May she receive abundant comfort from the Lord and her daughter dwell for all eternity in the loving arms of Jesus.
Aug 7 2016, 8:19 PM
Amy Cochran: I think young people don’t understand prayer because they have become used to noise. to be in silence brings about prayer
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Ruth (guest): ortable about the part “In his wounds I fain would hide, ne’re to be parted from his side.” I guess I’m just too much of the biologist and not enough of the poet to appreciate it properly.
Aug 7 2016, 8:19 PM
Sister Susan Marie: What with cell phones etc..
Aug 7 2016, 8:20 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: yes, silence is hard to come by these days…
Aug 7 2016, 8:21 PM
Amy Cochran: cell phones, ipads, technology, games, sports, just the compulsion to be busy and not just ‘be’ for a bit
Aug 7 2016, 8:21 PM
Guest9056 (guest): Soo True Sister !
Aug 7 2016, 8:21 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) that is why the experience of so many youth at Steubenville when they have adoration, it is so still and many of them are touched by the love of the Lord for them.
Aug 7 2016, 8:21 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: for that reason, I was even glad for our acappella Mass today (no organist): It was quieter and in some ways more reverent.
Aug 7 2016, 8:22 PM
Dawn L: around my family, who are not Christian, I speak freely about prayer when appropriate, the other day one of them called out “please pray for me, pray pray pray’. Praise Jesus
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Sister Susan Marie: It comes down to not experieencing the love of God- when you do life changes
Lisa C: I hate when I ask for prayers and someone says they will send warm feelings
Aug 7 2016, 8:23 PM
Dawn L: young people need to see the witness of Jesus, more action than words but words too
Aug 7 2016, 8:24 PM
Ruth (guest): And the worry about grown children who do not pray (or worse,stray from the moral teachings of the church)– that must be one of the hardest things a parent has to deal with. My prayers for you and for your sons, as you pray for them
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Mary Roberta Viano: as SFdS pointed out in one of his conferences: “you will be praying well if you keep yourself in peace and tranwquility, close to Our Lord, or a least in His sight, with no other desire or intention than to be with Him and to content Him.”
Aug 7 2016, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: In the apparition, St. Joseph talks about the attack that Christians are under now
Aug 7 2016, 8:24 PM
Dawn L: Did you hear Holy Father say…please pray for me, and if you don’t pray then send good vibes. haha….that is witnessing!
Aug 7 2016, 8:24 PM
Lisa C: It’s all part of why they are not understanding God and prayer
Aug 7 2016, 8:24 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Do you think this video would mean anything to your sons Sr M Roberta
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Mary Roberta Viano: I wish it would, but they’re are so set against the church in general – although their friends ask them to give the sisters their prayer intentions!
Aug 7 2016, 8:25 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Thank you, Sister Mary Roberta, for those beautiful words of St. Francis de Sales.
Aug 7 2016, 8:26 PM
Carol Ann: It seems like, though we raise our children in the faith, with prayer, g here c omds a time that they m y st own their own faith and take responsibility for it
Aug 7 2016, 8:26 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: so I know it’s my job, as it was St. Monica’s, to faithfully lift my sons up to the Lord every day
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Guest9056 (guest): Mitch was bullied severely at a Christian school . I kept telling him it would be ok . When I finally witnessed it for myslf I was ashamed that I had waited soo long to take action . We transferred schools . Very painful for him . He still struggles today socially . God has been bringing him help to heal gradually over the years 1
Aug 7 2016, 8:27 PM
Carol Ann: And the Lord will touch them
Aug 7 2016, 8:27 PM
Lisa C: Because of my faith, I feel like I have to pray more for all the people who do not have it
Aug 7 2016, 8:27 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: They were both baptized and confirmed in the Church, so God’s grace is at work in them.
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Mary Roberta Viano: He needs a permanent visa to continue teaching in Saudi Arabia.
Aug 7 2016, 8:29 PM
Lisa C: Oh, I thought you meant to stay in the US
Aug 7 2016, 8:29 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (JUdy) What an aweful thing, Brian, and especially in a Christian school. We expect more from Christian people, but we do not always see it.
Aug 7 2016, 8:30 PM
Jennifer Koo: Talking about prayers, please pray for Jen and her baby Jill. Jen is at her 29 weeks pregnancy and she is a cancer patient at her last stage. She hope to keep the baby Jill till 32 weeks so that the baby had higher chance of surviving. Please pray for both the mother and baby.
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Mary Roberta Viano: I like SFdS definition of prayer in the Treatise: “Prayer is colloquy, a discussion , or a conversation of the soul with God. By prayer we speak to God and God in turn speaks to us. We aspire to Him and breathe in Him, and He reciprocally inspires us and breathes upon us.”
Aug 7 2016, 8:30 PM
Lisa C: Will pray to St. Giana for them Jennifer
Aug 7 2016, 8:31 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) How sad is that Jennifer!
Aug 7 2016, 8:31 PM
Sister Susan Marie: Prayers for dear Jen and Jill
Aug 7 2016, 8:31 PM
Guest9056 (guest): some children learn to put on good public face and then be vicious when nobody is looking .
Dawn L: Prayers for mother and baby
Aug 7 2016, 8:31 PM
Carol Ann: I will pray for Mitch and Jen and Jill
Aug 7 2016, 8:31 PM
Guest6157 (guest): (Judy) Ditto!
8:32 PM
Mary Roberta Viano: Yes, St. Gianna Molla is a good intercessor for pregnant mothers who are sick.
Aug 7 2016, 8:32 PM
Dawn L: Brian I am very sorry Mitchs experience, bullying is so hurtful