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IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT
Beginning in mid-March, we will be converting from a monthly newsletter to a weekly newsletter. Our general purpose of this is to provide our email-list subscribers with more timely information regarding special events and occasions, such as approaching novenas and feast days, which can be difficult and ineffective to do when emails are sent out only once-a-month.
We completely understand that you did not sign-up to receive weekly emails. If you chose to no longer receive emails from us, there is an "Unsubscribe" button at the bottom of this email. No worries, we are not going to track who is staying and who is unsubscribing. Just know that if you choose to Unsubscribe, we will always love to have you Subscribe again at anyime. And if you choose to remain Subscribed, you will always have the capability of Unsubscribing also at anytime.
We are so very grateful for your prayers and support. May this Lenton season be a blessed one for you and your loved ones.
Your friends in Christ,
The Catholic Crusade
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A Message from The Catholic Crusade
Welcome to Lent! The season of Lent is a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Lent began on Ash Wednesday (March 22) and ends on Holy Thursday (April 6) at sunset; a 40-day period of preparation for the Lord's Passion and Resurrection. What many Catholics may not be aware of is that Sundays are excluded from Lenten sacrifices because Sunday is the day of the week in which we celebrate Our Lord's Resurrection.
Lent is a time of prayer for Catholics. There are specific prayers and devotions that are traditionally practiced especially during this time.
The Stations of the Cross, which contain prayers and meditations on the 14 significant events of the Lord's Passion, are generally prayed on Friday evenings.
The Seven Last Words of Christ is a reflection on the seven significant statements spoken by Jesus from the Cross, teaching us forgiveness, suffering, honor, and more.
The Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 38, Psalm 51, Psalm 102, Psalm 130, Psalm 143) is a prayer devotion consisting of seven psalms of repentance that is customarily made throughout the season of Lent as a penance for one's sinfulness. Reciting these psalms helps for the penitent to recognize his/her sinfulness and to seek forgiveness from the Lord.
Fasting and abstinence are also practiced (and required) during Lent. The following rules are posted on the US Conference of Catholic Bishops' website:
- * Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are obligatory days of fasting and abstinence for Catholics. In addition, Fridays during Lent are obligatory days of abstinence.
- * For members of the Latin Catholic Church, the norms on fasting are obligatory from age 18 until age 59. When fasting, a person is permitted to eat one full meal, as well as two smaller meals that together are not equal to a full meal. The norms concerning abstinence from meat are binding upon members of the Latin Catholic Church from age 14 onwards.
- * Members of the Eastern Catholic Churches are to observe the particular law of their own sui iuris Church.
- * If possible, the fast on Good Friday is continued until the Easter Vigil (on Holy Saturday night) as the "paschal fast" to honor the suffering and death of the Lord Jesus and to prepare ourselves to share more fully and to celebrate more readily his Resurrection.
The Church devotes the month of March to St. Joseph.
St. Joseph's feast day is on March 19th. The Novena to St. Joseph begins on March 10th and continues up until the feast day. As we do with every major novena, we will post the prayers for each day of the novena throughout the novena period on our YouTube channel and social media accounts.
Other novenas in the month of March:
March 16th begins the Novena of the Annunciation, which leads up to the Feast Day of the Annunciation, when the Angel Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she will become the Mother of God. We will post this novena's prayers very soon on our website and YouTube channel.
The Novena for Impossible Requests starts on Saturday, March 25. Unlike most other novenas, which extend for a nine-day period, the Novena for Impossible Requests extends for nine months, ending on Christmas. We will post this novena's prayers very soon on our website and YouTube channel.
March 3rd is First Friday. For anyone interested in participating in the First Friday Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, we have recommended prayers here, along with additional information regarding this devotion.
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† FEAST DATES - MARK YOUR CALENDAR †
March 03 - First Friday / St. Katharine Drexel
March 04 - St. Casimir
March 07 - Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
March 08 - St. John of God
March 09 - St. Francis of Rome
March 10 - Novena to St. Joseph begins
March 16 - Novena of the Annunciation begins
March 17 - St. Patrick
March 18 - St. Cyril of Jerusalem
March 19 - St. Joseph
March 23 - St. Turibius of Mogrovejo
March 25 - Novena for Impossible Requests begins
March 25 - Annunciation of the Lord
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The Catholic Crusade is on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram! Be sure to subscribe, like, and follow us to keep up with the latest from the Crusade. Also, be sure to visit our website to find all of our prayers and more!
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Special Thanks For Your Support
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Support of Our Mission
Supporting our mission is as simple as sharing our videos with your family & friends. Find out other ways that you can assist us in continuing our mission's growth. Support of Our Mission
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Recent Prayers & Devotions
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St. Gemma Galgani was an Italian mystic who received visions and messages from Jesus, the Blessed Virgin Mary, her guardian angel, and some of the saints pertaining to current and future events. At the age of 22, on the eve of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, she received the Holy Wounds of Christ (the stigmata). She had the gift to levitate and had a supernatural closeness to the Blessed Sacrament. In addition to frequent attacked by the Devil, St. Gemma suffered from severe health issues throughout her life, including spinal meningitis and tuberculosis. Although she wanted to become a nun, she was denied this calling on account to her heavenly visions and health problems. She died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis.
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The Seven Penitential Psalms (Psalm 6, Psalm 32, Psalm 38, Psalm 51, Psalm 102, Psalm 130, Psalm 143) is a prayer devotion consisting of seven psalms of repentance that is customarily made throughout the season of Lent as a penance for one's sinfulness. Reciting these psalms helps for the penitent to recognize his/her sinfulness and to seek forgiveness from the Lord.
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The Seven Offerings of the Precious Blood
SITE | VIDEO
The Gospels give account of seven occasions when Jesus sheds His Precious Blood: His circumcision, sweating blood in the garden, scourging at the pillar, crowning of thorns, carrying of the cross, his crucifixion and the spear into his side. This prayer devotion, especially commonly prayed during the season of Lent, venerates the Blood of Christ while offering penitential prayers.
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Upcoming Novena - March 2023
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Novena to Saint Joseph - (March 10-18)
SITE | VIDEO
The Novena to Saint Joseph is a novena offering this faithful servant of the Lord under the titles he has been assigned by the Almighty: Foster Father of Jesus, Virginal Husband of Mary, Patron of the Church, etc.
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The Novena for Impossible Requests is a powerful novena that honors the nine months in which the Virgin Mary carried Jesus in her womb. The novena is prayed daily starting on March 25th (Feast of the Annunciation) and concluding on December 25th (Birth of Christ). Three petitions are generally requested to Mary for her intercession.
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Have you consecrated yourself yet to Jesus through Mary?
This 33-day preparation, involving a daily series of readings and prayers prior to making your consecration, is a spiritually nourishing experience necessary to prepare you for consecration to Jesus through Mary.
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Thank you for all of your prayers & support of our mission!
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