iHOPE = INTERNATIONAL HELPERS
OPERATION "PRAYER for EUROPE"

Dearly beloved in Christ and Our Blessed Mother,

And thy own soul a sword shall pierce, that, out of many hearts, thoughts may be revealed. - Lk 2:35

On the eve of the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we come once again, to the feet of Our Most Sorrowful and Immaculate Mother, to beg Her, who merited to be the Queen of Martyrs, to intercede for us with The Lord, that He, in His great and endless Mercy, may grant what we ask of Him.

We ask for the conversion and salvation of the workers at IPPF, not only at their headquarters, outside of which we pray monthly, but their whole deathly organisation. That they may be saved by the Light of grace.

We also ask that the children's lives may be protected and nurtured, and that their mothers, fathers and families may be protected from the darkness of the culture of death, and lead to the joy of the eternal day, by He who is the "Light to the revelation of the Gentiles" [Lk 2:32].

Despite the fact that Our Blessed Mother's Seven Sorrows took place in Her earthly life, we know that Her Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart is still grieving the turning away of so many of Her children (all of the living), from the salvation purchased for each one of us, by the Most Precious Blood of Her Divine Son.

Our Most Sorrowful Mother nearly always appears weeping or saddened, in Her Apparitions of the last few centuries, because of the infidelity of Her children, to the instruction of the most loving of all mothers, in reference to Her Divine Son: "His mother saith to the waiters: Whatsoever he shall say to you, do ye." [Jn 2:5].

Thus, because we, mankind, have increasingly become more unfaithful to Our Lord's Commandments, and to Our Blessed Mother's instructions, Her Sorrows continue to pierce Her Most Pure Heart.

We each ought to, as any good child, console the Most Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Our Mother; the Most Sacred Heart of Our Lord, and even the Most Chaste Heart of Our Blessed Father Joseph, for the great grievances caused to their most sacred hearts. Just as any good husband and father would lament the offences caused to those persons whom he loves most, we can be certain that St Joseph, Head of the Holy Family, is sorrowful for the sinful transgressions of mankind, also.

In consoling the hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph - especially the Sacred and Immaculate Hearts of Jesus and Mary - we may, by God's grace, find and perfect a compassionate union with their hearts.

What does that deeper compassion yield though?

Not only does the compassion which we have for their sacred hearts bring about a greater and more perfect union with Jesus, Mary and Joseph, but a deeper love in our souls for the pattern for all families, and society in general: The Holy Family of Nazareth. 

This is vitally important, considering the fact that union with the Sacred Heart of Jesus is the ultimate end to which all souls ought to seek. Praying the Litany of the Sacred Heart, the Litany of Loreto and the Litany of St Joseph, are arguably the best ways to foster a devotion and a deep affinity to the most sacred hearts of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.

Finally, this deeper compassion with the sacred hearts of The Holy Family, also brings about a compassion with the hearts of our neighbours: The Church; our families; our friends; and indeed our enemies, who may well suffer greatly the most oppressive bondage of sin.

'Pati' in Latin means 'to suffer', and 'com' means 'with'. Thus, when we have compassion with someone, it means that we are suffering with them. We, in true compassion with the souls of all unborn children, should pray not only for their temporal protection and sanctification, but for The Lord, by His sanctifying grace, to grant the souls of the children who have been killed, or who may be killed, eternal salvation.

It is a most grave and heart-rending tragedy, that so many millions of children are deprived even of the opportunity to have the stain of original sin cleansed by sanctifying grace, in the Sacrament of Baptism, because they are murdered before they even leave their mothers' wombs.

Pray, especially in your Rosary intentions, and even more so, in your public or private Mass intentions, that the unborn children may be sanctified, in The Lord's Mercy, so that His grace may be with them, even if the evil one succeeds in inspiring someone to rob them of the opportunity to be Baptised into the Mystical Body of Christ.

Pray also that the mothers, fathers and families, may receive the grace to protect the lives of their precious children and seek the true joy of family life, in Christ.

If we know that the first of the four sins that cry to God for vengeance (according to The Catechism of Pope St Pius X), is wilful murder, then how much more so does it cry to God, when that murder is committed against those who are still in the womb? Especially when their mothers and fathers are preyed upon, to convince them that they are acting in their child's, their own, and even society's best interests, when they consent to and partake in this murder.

Pray, therefore, for the conversion of the abortionists, and all the supporters of the entire culture of death, before The Lord calls them and renders to each what is due, as He, The Just Judge, shall do for us all: "And he said: No, lest perhaps gathering up the cockle, you root up the wheat also together with it. Suffer both to grow until the harvest, and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers: Gather up first the cockle, and bind it into bundles to burn, but the wheat gather ye into my barn." [Mt 13:29-30]

Pray, for the end of abortion and the entire culture of death, which will, we can almost certainly hope, come about when Our Blessed Mother's Immaculate Heart triumphs.

Pray, finally, for the conversion of all sinners, and for the consecration of Russia to the Immaculate Heart, as Our Blessed Mother requested, so that by God's grace, we may live to see that glorious time of peace, promised by Our Lady of Fatima.

Let us look forward, with a lively faith, a firm and brightly burning hope, and a most ardent charity, for the coming triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary; Our Mother and Eternal Queen.

Let us also pray, fervently, meditatively, and devoutly, at least five decades of The Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries of The Most Holy Rosary, daily, as per the requests of the most loving and caring of all mothers, and as per the instruction of many of the most faithful servants of Our Lady and Our Lord.

When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother. - Jn 19:26-27

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.

St Joseph, Pillar of families, pray for us.
St John the Evangelist, pray for us.
St Mary Magdalene, pray for us.
St Dominic, pray for us.
St Simon Stock, pray for us.
St Catherine Laboure, pray for us.
St Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us.
St Louis Marie de Montfort, pray for us.
St Pius X, Bl Pius IX and St Pius V, pray for us.
St Gabriel of Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us.
All the angels and saints of Heaven, pray for us.