🌹 Daily Marian Devotion

Title: Undoer of Knots
Invocation: Mary, help me loosen what binds me.
Prayer:
Mother Untier of Knots,
I bring before you the tangled places in my soul.
My worries, regrets, and mistakes—
you see them all.
One by one, undo the knots with your gentleness.

🌹 Daily Marian Devotion
Title: Queen of Quiet
Prayer:
Holy Mother,
in a world of constant voices and distractions,
wrap me in your silence.
Help me to cherish contemplation,
to listen, to reflect, to rest in God’s presence.
Let silence become sacred again.
Amen.
Three Hail Marys

🌲 I spent the weekend on a personal spiritual retreat at Breaks Interstate Park. In the silence of these mountains, I reached a decision I’ve been discerning for months:

📿 I’m becoming a Benedictine Oblate.

More to come. For now, just gratitude. 🙏

Some Late Night Reading

📬 The latest edition of The CST Dispatch is here!

A quiet reflection steeped in Catholic Social Teaching, written in the stillness of the night. Settle in, pray with me, and let’s go deeper.

🕯️✝️https://cstdispatch.substack.com/p/cst-dispatch-5-d3c

Mary, Mother of the Crucified,
You watched as power silenced Truth,
and political fear nailed Love to a tree.
Intercede for the Church,
especially those who confuse patriotism with discipleship,
and let Your tears fall on the hearts of all who worship a man instead of God.
Amen.

Before you crank up Born in the USA today remember the story. It’s not an anthem of patriotism, it’s a lament. Bruce Springsteen’s character is a man on the margins. It's not a celebration. It’s a cry, the ones we love to wrap in flags but leave behind when the fireworks fade.

In a time when faith is often co-opted for political gain,
true patriotism is shown by the Cross, not by a politician’s approval.
God is not American. The Church is not a campaign.
And Jesus never told His followers to vote for Caesar—only to carry their cross.

O Mary, many use Your name to bless their politics.
They put rosaries on fences and flags in Your hands.
They do not know what they do.
Defend the Body of Christ from all who twist the Gospel into a weapon.
Intercede for this land.
And protect Your children from seduction by power.

😇 Guardian Angel Prayer
Paciel, my guardian angel,
guide me this night with peace.
Help me to sleep in the arms of the Father,
confident that His mercy holds all I am.
Whisper to me the love of Christ.
Amen.

🌹 Marian Devotion — Our Lady of the Hidden Life

Prayer: O Mary, hidden in Nazareth,
teach me to live well in the quiet places.
Let my work, rest, and love be shaped by grace—
even when no one sees. Amen.
Three Hail Marys…

🌹 Marian Devotion
Our Lady, Queen of Apostles
Mary stood among the apostles at Pentecost—her presence brings unity, strength, and witness.
🕊️ Invocation:
Lead me, Queen of Apostles, to be a courageous disciple of Jesus.

🌹 Marian Devotion — Our Lady of Mercy
O Mary, gentle Mother of Mercy,
wrap Your mantle around the hurting today.
Teach me to console with silence,
to comfort with presence,
to act with courage. Amen.

Lord, on this Constitution Day in Ukraine,
we pray for a just end to war, a lasting peace rooted in the dignity of nations, and for all Ukrainians to be free to live and flourish without fear.

We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.