We need to work on our own personal conversion and pray and pray and pray some more for the conversion of our loved ones and for the whole world.
In the meantime, we can build up our spiritual and physical fortifications. Spiritually we need to go and sin no more, get our sins absolved in the confessional by a priest, and go to Mass and receive the Eucharist as often as possible, but at least every Sunday. We also need to read the Bible and other spiritual works.
There are some physical aspects to our spiritual fortification, such as, blessed sacramentals (Rosaries, medals, scapulars, candles and Holy Water and Blessed Salt and more).
In this shop there are some of these items available to you. There is the Three Days of Darkness Kit. It is a starter kit with a small holy water bottle, a rosary, a brown scapular, beeswax candles, assorted holy medals, a protection from evil necklace, hawthorn leaf and flower herbal tea, and a few other things. Not everyone wants the whole kit though, because they already have rosaries and medals, etc.
So some of these items are available individually too. The hawthorn herbal tea is available in a two ounce bag. Just recently a customer bought a darkness kit and an extra bag of the herbal tea.
The 4 ounce Holy Water bottles are also available separately. This is for a set of two bottles. Have one in the kitchen and one upstairs.
Beeswax candles. These seem to be hard to find. Another customer lives near a shrine that has a nice gift shop, but they don't have the beeswax candles and according to the mystics only blessed beeswax will give light during the three days of darkness.
There are many holy medals available in this shop. In particular we have the protection from evil necklace, as I like to call it. It has a Benedictine Crucifix, a Miraculous Medal, and a St. Michael the Archangel/Guardian Angel medal. The Darkness Kit includes the necklace on a 24" aluminum ball chain. At the link above there are other chain options as well as key rings.
Other medals available are the Miraculous Medal and the St. Benedict medal. Each of these has many blessings associated with them. You can also bury one medal in each of the four corners of your property. (If you live in a condo or apartment, just put one in each of the four corners of the home.)
A new item is the Purple Scapular. This is for protection during the times of chastisement and tribulation, but also there have been stories of protection from present day tragedies, such as wild fires.
]]>St. Bridget of Ireland holy medal - Brigit, Brigid - Catholic saint - – chillypumpkinholymedals
February 2 - Feast of The Presentation of the Lord - The Blessing of Candles on this day, "O God, source and origin of all light, who on this day showed to the just man, Simeon, the Light for revelation to the Gentiles."
February 2 - Our Lady of Good Success - In 1599, Our Lady of Good Success appeared to a sister in Quito, Ecuador, and commanded a statue to be made of her, for she would govern the conceptionist Convent as Abbess until the end of the world.
she said. ”In my right hand, place crosier and keys to the cloister as a sign of my proprietorship and authority.
”In my left arm, place my Divine Child so that men will understand how powerful I am in placating the Divine Justice and obtaining mercy and pardon for every sinner who comes to me with a contrite heart, for I am the Mother of Mercy and in me there is only goodness and love…let them come to me, for I will lead them to him.”
The statue was miraculously completed by Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael in the early morning of January 16, 1611.
Those who invoke her under the title of Good Success have never failed to experience her help and guidance. From:OUR LADY OF GOOD SUCCESS NOVENA - (Prayer in Urgent Need) (novenaprayer.com)
The prophecies of Our Lady of Good Success were said for our time.
February 3 - St. Blaise (+ c.316) - the Blessing of Throats - Bishop of Armenia. Physician. Healer of men and animals: according to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him at prayer. Martyr. Patron saint of many, many things including: bladder diseases, blisters, coughs, dermatitis, fever, headaches, skin diseases, snake bites, sore throats, storms, toothaches, uclers, animals, cattle, children, motorists, pets, pigs, bakers, builders, farm workers, tailors, veterinarians, and more! From: CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Saint Blaise
St. Blaise silver oxide holy medal - 3 styles - Catholic saint - patro – chillypumpkinholymedals
February 5 - St. Agatha of Sicily - (+ c.250) - Martyr, not a lot of reliable information, a lot of legend. Patron saint of jewelers, martyrs, nurses, rape victims, torture victims, against breast cancer and diseases, against earthquakes, against fire, against sterility. From: CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Saint Agatha of Sicily
St. Agatha holy medal - Catholic saint, religious, Christian - martyr, – chillypumpkinholymedals
February 8 - St. Josephine Bakhita - (1868 - 1947) - Child of wealthy Sudanese family who was kidnapped by slave traders at age 9. She was sold and resold and finally purchased by an Italian who planned to set her free. And so she made her way to Italy. She converted to Christianity and eventually took religious vows. Her feast day has been designated the International Day of Prayer to Stop Human Trafficking. from: CatholicSaints.Info » Blog Archive » Saint Josephine Bakhita
St. Josephine Bakhita holy medal - Sudanese/African Catholic saint - F – chillypumpkinholymedals
]]>This first week in January you can find these holy medals at the ChillyPumpkin Holy Medals shop:
Jan 4 - St. Elizabeth Ann (Bayley) Seton (1774 - 1821). She maybe the first American born saint. She was born in New York City into a well to do Episcopalian family. After being married for 10 years, her husband's business failed and then he died, leaving her and their five children impoverished. In the meantime, Jesus was drawing her towards the Catholic Church via the Real Presence and the ancient history of the Church. She converted to the Catholic faith on March 14, 1805. She opened a secular school in Boston to support herself and her children, but she ran it along the lines of a religious community. Later she was invited to open a Catholic girls' school in Baltimore, Maryland. She died in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where you can find her shrine. Nearby there is also a beautiful Marian shrine up the mountain, Mt. St. Mary. It is such a holy place!
Jan 5 - St. John Nepomuceno Neumann
Jan 5 - St. Edward the Confessor
Jan 6 - St. Andre Bessette
]]>We do know that there are two tombs of Mary. One in Jerusalem and the other in Ephesus. Jerusalem is an obvious location, and Ephesus is because Mary is said to have been under the care of the Apostle John in her later years, and John's tomb is in Ephesus. At either holy site when you visit, the guides will respectively deny the validity of the other tomb. But God's ways are not our ways, and so we have two tombs of Mary.
So what is the Assumption of Mary? Mary is the Mother of God, Theotokos in Greek. She has been referred to as the new Ark of the Covenant. This was the Holy of Holys to the ancient Jews. Mary carried baby Jesus for nine months; her body is thus holy, and God did not want her body to experience corruption and decay after death. God had already set the precedent in the Old Testament when He assumed Elijah in to Heaven in a whirl wind of fire. He can certainly do that for the mother of His only begotten Son! And so, after Mary died, or as she was dying (we really don't know), God took her body up to Heaven.
Most of us have heard of the Pope's ability to speak infallibly, that is without error. He has only spoken twice like this in the whole history of the Catholic Church. It isn't something that happens every day or even every year. Both times refer to Marian Feast Days, the Assumption and the Immaculate Conception. Both of these Marian beliefs have been in the Church's Tradition forever, but they had never been formally expressed. It was time to make official Church doctrine on these two subjects.
]]>I went to a conference called Angels & Demons last year and my take away is that a life of prayer keeps you in line with the Angels, God’s Messengers, and keeps the devil and his minions, the fallen angels, at bay. According to the experts there, exorcisms, or the requests for them, are on the rise. People dabble too much in the darkness and then get the crap scared out of them when the devil comes in to roost. But most exorcisms aren’t really needed once people allow God into their lives, and begin to pray, aka, spend time talking with God. It is a step-wise process, of course, but a life with God, the Holy Trinity, and His Angels and Saints, leads us to a peaceful, holy existence.
Prayer – Let’s begin with the fact that I am a work in progress myself, but I can hear the good messages of others and work to apply them. And so can you. Prayer isn’t just the Our Father and Hail Mary. While they are the best prayers for most and a great starting place, prayer is so much more. Prayer is about a relationship and communication with God. What is your relationship with God and how do you communicate with Him? There are tons of historical and recent books on the Catholic prayer life. Get one or two and begin to apply them to your life. You’ll be so glad you did!
Prayer is THE protection from evil. Why then a necklace for protection from evil? Well, we use a Rosary to help us to pray and meditate on the Mysteries of Jesus Christ. We can use a necklace as well, as a sacramental. Holy medals are sacramentals, and three on a chain is also a sacramental. What’s so special about this particular necklace then?
It’s the combination of the medals. St. Michael the Archangel with a Guardian Angel on the reverse, a Miraculous Medal and a Benedictine Crucifix. You would not believe the searching that people do on these three or four terms. People are looking for these medals all the time, and some really like the combination of them.
St. Michael the Archangel defend us this day in battle, be our safe guard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, by the power of God, cast into hell satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the whole world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
St. Michael the Archangel, our Guardian Angel, and all the angels are constantly watching out for us. Do we turn to them in our need? God allows them to help us. Ask the Angels to intercede for you, just as you might ask a friend for help. Let your Guardian Angel be your best friend! But remember, he doesn't interfere with our lives, he only assists if we ask for help. So ask often! And, remember to thank your Guardian Angel for his assistance. Many times I stumble and my angel catches me, so thanks is needed.
“The Miraculous Medal was created in response to a request from the Blessed Virgin Mary, who entrusted us with our mission. It was given by the Blessed Virgin Mary herself! No wonder, then, that it gives such extraordinary graces to those who wear it and pray for Mary’s intercession and help. Our Lady manifested the Medal to St. Catherine Labouré on November 27, 1830, in the motherhouse of the Daughters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul and St. Louise de Marillac, in Paris”. Mary spoke to St. Catherine Laboure: “Have a medal struck upon this model. Those who wear it will receive great graces, especially if they wear it around the neck.” This is the Miraculous Medal, requested by our Blessed Mother. In Genesis 3:15, God says, “I will put enmities between thee and the woman, and thy seed and her seed: she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel.” (Douay-Rheims) While this passage is in the context of Eve, it is really talking about Jesus and His Mother. Because of this, the devil fears Mary almost more so than God! She is a little human woman who has found favor with God!
Lastly there is a Crucifix with a St. Benedict medal. Jesus on the Cross is enough, for any protection from evil. He is our God. He gives us the Graces we need to get through this life and hopefully get to eternity with Him.
Some people are believers in the protection from evil of the Benedictine medal. It does have letters representing a prayer of exorcism on it. “Around the margin of the back of the medal, the letters V R S N S M V – S M Q L I V B are the initial letters… of a Latin prayer of exorcism against Satan: Vade retro Satana! Nunquam suade mihi vana! Sunt mala quae libas. Ipse venena bibas! (Begone Satan! Never tempt me with your vanities! What you offer me is evil. Drink the poison yourself!)”
And so, this collection of medals can be considered as protection from evil. Individually they are, and collectively they really are! But… always remember: “Certain sacramentals are considered to offer spiritual protection. They are not magical charms, nor do they have power themselves (though God’s power can act through them), but they do help to turn our hearts toward God and remind us that He is our refuge and our hope. Without His help, we are powerless against sin, the snares of the devil, and the lures of the world.” ~~TAN books
This necklace is unisex, for men and women, and boys and girls. It comes in an assortment of chains. There is the 24" aluminum ball chain, this is probably best for children. The rest of the chain options are of stainless steel: link chains in 18", 24", 27" or 30". 18" & 24" have spring clasps (the 18" link is a little smaller that the other link chains), and there are endless chains (over the head only) in 24", 27" and 30". We also have stainless ball chains in 24" and 30".
This combination of medals can be purchases as a key ring or a key clip or just the 3 medals alone. So there are a lot of options to choose from.
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