We offer prayer support and comfort to the brokenhearted who suffer the pains of infertility at any stage of life, difficult pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, the loss of a child and the adoption process.
The Seven Sorrows prayer will bring peace and consolation to the most desperate situations and will transform even the most hardened hearts.
**The narrator is Immaculee Ilibagiza, a woman who was in Rwanda during the Marian Apparitions at Kibeho and during the genocide. To learn more about her incredible story, visit http://www.immaculee.com/ **
I apologize for the video being cut short. The prayer is as follows: “Most merciful Mother, remind us always about the sorrows of your son Jesus”
This web site is not a part of Fr. Peter Mary Rookey’s ministry, but if you or anyone else that finds this page would like to contact Fr. Rookey, you may reach him at the address below:
International Compassion Ministry
20180 Governors Hwy, Room 310
Olympia Fields, Illinois 60461
Phone: 708-748-6279
Email: office@frrookeyicm.org
This information is only shared, I have no other contact with the above International Compassion Ministry. Fr. Peter Rookey has passed away since the original writing of this post, may he rest in eternal peace.
My meditation today brings forth the quote “God is the God of the impossible”. This is probably something that rings in my soul since Sunday’s homily, as Father mentioned our faith within the Church is for us to expect the impossible and to have this kind of FAITH. What more can we ever ask for if God the Father is always taking care of our needs? My question that seems to shout out today is “Do YOU believe that He can change the things that are not to what can be?” St. Rita would find that God would show her His glory through the many challenges she would face. Do we love God enough to meet these challenges that He is asking of us for the sanctification of our very souls? Prayer is the answer, taking time to be with Jesus as Saint Rita learned to do in her own life journey. We are all called to walk with the Lord in this life; we are all called to be saints. We all have a cross that God has given each of us individually as a gift and this will never be seen as a gift until you decide to hand it over to the one that has set you free on the day of His crucifixion. All of us need to recognize this part in our lives.
Saint Rita was one person that recognized this gift, as she always wanted to be a religious sister but God had other plans for her and that was to marry Paolo Mancini, an ill-tempered, abusive individual. Rita’s heart would be broken due to the bitterness and hatred that was part of the Mancini family. “She put up with Paolo’s abuses for eighteen years before he was ambushed and stabbed to death. Her sons swore vengeance on the killers of their father, but through the prayers and interventions of Rita, they forgave the offenders.”
Rita endured the trials of many dark nights and through these trials God the Father would strengthen her soul and faith in HIM. For it is not in man that we find faith and hope but in Our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the fulfillment of all our trials and tribulations that we will ever endure in this life. Christ would mend Rita’s broken heart of sorrow and loneliness and He would bring her to a place of great peace in HIM alone. Rita’s future trials would be a suffering sent from HEAVEN that would be so united to Our Lord Jesus Christ that souls would be healed!
“Rita lived 40 years in the convent, spending her time in prayer and charity, and working for peace in the region. She was devoted to the Passion, and in response to a prayer to suffer as Christ, she received a chronic head wound that appeared to have been caused by a crown of thorns, and which bled for 15 years. Confined to her bed the last four years of her life, eating little more than the Eucharist, teaching and directing the younger sisters. Near the end she had a visitor from her home town who asked if she’d like anything; Rita’s only request was a rose from her family’s estate. The visitor went to the home, but it being January, knew there was no hope of finding a flower; there, sprouted on an otherwise bare bush, was a single rose blossom.
Among the other areas, Rita is well-known as a patron of desperate, seemingly impossible causes and situations. This is because she has been involved in so many stages of life – wife, mother, widow, and nun, she buried her family, helped bring peace to her city, saw her dreams denied and fulfilled – and never lost her faith in God, or her desire to be with Him.”
Let St. Rita be an example to you today and never let anyone or anything cause you to lose your faith in GOD or take your desire to be with HIM. God loves you so very much and HE wants to flourish you with His LOVE. Take time to be with HIM today and seek out the nearest Catholic Church and visit with Jesus or rest with Him in the quiet of your own home, He is with you always no matter what you are struggling with today, know that HE is with you and that HE can take care of the issues that are troubling you.
The music is in Arabic, but the words are in English and they are truly a beautiful tribute to St. Rita.
In the midst of writing about the trial of miscarriage and journeying out of my childbearing years…in the midst of praying…I was led here…to Hannah’s Tears. It is a wonderful ministry founded by a Secular Carmelite…formed to assist and intercede for those dealing with infertility, miscarriage, or loss of a child.
I reached out of my comfort zone and asked for prayers. I received a lovely email from the founder filled with soothing, healing words and an invitation…an invitation to become part of this ministry most especially by becoming a prayer intercessor. I took this invitation to heart and have been praying for these women in a special way , knowing and experiencing some of their pain and suffering. In the act of embracing them in prayer, I am beginning to experience inner peace.
“We are to be that voice crying out in the desert of sorrow and pain,” were the words written that struck me. And in the praying and the writing, healing takes place…moments of grace.
My name is Theresa and I am humbled and edified to be part of this ministry of praying for others, especially through the Hannah’s Tears Chaplet. I am a wife and mother of four children as well as two in Heaven. I am a Secular Carmelite and homeschooler to my youngest. I live out my many vocations in Pennsylvania. You can find me at my desert heart.
Saturday Book Pick: Karen Edmisten offers her experience and insights to hurting mothers.
by LETICIA VELASQUEZ
05/12/2012
When I lost my second child to miscarriage nearly 20 years ago, I searched Catholic bookstores in vain for a book on miscarriage.
I suffered interiorly for years, until my parish held a healing Mass on Feb. 2 (feast of the Presentation) for mothers who had lost a baby. It was an extraordinary evening of grace. We named our babies, writing their names on certificates which were laid upon the altar as we entrusted them to Christ. continue here
For a Baptized Child
Lord of all gentleness, surround us with Your care and comfort us in our sorrow, for we grieve at the loss of this [little] child. As You washed (Name) in the waters of baptism and welcomed him/her into the life of heaven, so call us one day to be reunited with him/her and share forever in the joy of Your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
For an Unbaptized Child
O Lord, Whose ways are beyong understanding, listen to the prayers of Your faithful people: that those weighed down by grief at the loss of this [little] child may find reassurance in Your infinite goodness. Amen.
For a Stillborn Child
Lord God, ever caring and gentle, we commit to Your love this little one, quickened to life for so short a time. Enfold him/her in eternal life. We pray for his/her parents who are saddened by the loss of their child. Give them courage and help them in their pain and grief. May they all meet one day in the joy and peace of Your kingdom. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
For the Deceased Child
To You, O Lord, we humbly entrust this child, so precious in Your sight. Take him/her into Your arms and welcome him/her into paradise, where there will be no sorrow, no weeping nor pain, but the fullness of peace and joy with Your Son and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.
Prayer for Deceased Son or Daughter
O God, You gave us a son/daughter, and in Your wisdom and love have called him/her home to You before us. Please listen to our humble prayer: pardon his/her sins and faults, and grant that we may be reunited safely in Your Presence. Through Your Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ, we beg this of You. Amen.
This prayer could be said as a novena by a wife trying to conceive a child.
A Prayer to St. Gerard for Motherhood
O glorious Saint Gerard, powerful intercessor before God, and wonder worker of our day, I call upon you and seek your help. You who always fulfilled God’s will on earth, help me to do God’s holy will. Intercede with the Giver of life, from whom all parenthood proceeds, that I may conceive and raise children who will please God in this life, and be heirs to the kingdom of heaven. Amen.
The Apostolate of Hannah's Tears 