All-powerful, ever-living God, you gave Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross the courage to witness to the gospel of Christ even to the point of giving her life for it. By her prayers, help us to endure all suffering for love of you and to seek you with all our hearts, for you alone are the source of life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Lord God, you gave Saint Dominic to the Church of his day as a great preacher of your truth. We pray that he will help us in our time by his merits, his teaching, and his unfailing prayer. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

“Do not receive Christ in the Blessed Sacrament so that you may use him as you judge best, but give yourself to him and let him receive you in this Sacrament, so that he himself, God your savior, may do to you and through you whatever he wills.” ~St Cajetan

O God, who endowed the Priest Saint Cajetan with the grace of imitating the apostolic way of life, grant us, through his example and intercession to trust in you at all times and to seek unceasingly your Kingdom. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

O God, who in the glorious Transfiguration of your Only Begotten Son confirmed the mysteries of faith by the witness of the Fathers and wonderfully prefigured our full adoption to sonship, grant, we pray, to your servants, that, listening to the voice of your beloved Son, we may merit to become coheirs with him. Who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Forgive the sins of your people, Lord, and since of ourselves we are unable to do what pleases you, lead us on the way of salvation by the prayers of Mary, the Mother of your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Draw near to your servants, O Lord, and answer their prayers with unceasing kindness, that, for those who glory in you as their Creator and guide, you may restore what you have created and keep safe what you have restored. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

We recognize with joy that you, Lord, created us, and that you guide us by your providence. In your unfailing kindness, support us in our prayer: renew your life within us, guard it and make it bear fruit for eternity. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Today, the Franciscan family keeps the Feast of Our Lady of the Angels!

This is the patronal title of the Blessed Virgin under which St. Francis placed all who look to him as a spiritual father. St. Francis had great devotion to Our Lady under this title due to his repairing of the little chapel of Our Lady of the Angels, the “Portiuncula” (little portion) in the woods outside Assisi. The chapel became—and remains to this day—a place of prayer and meditation.

It is the ”Portiuncula” after which Little Portion Hermitage is named.

Two prayers in honor of Our Lady by St. Francis follow.

O holy Mother, sweet and fair to see, for us beseech the King, your dearest Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to death for us delivered: that in his pitying clemency, and by virtue of his most holy incarnation and bitter death, he may pardon our sins. Amen

Holy Virgin Mary, among all the women of the world, there is none like you. You are the daughter and handmaid of the most high King, Father of heaven. You are the mother of our most holy Lord Jesus Christ. You are the bride of the Holy Spirit. Pray for us, with St. Michael the archangel, and all the powers of heaven and all the saints, to your most holy and beloved Son, our Lord and Master. Amen

Lord God, you never cease to give new saints to your Church as a pattern for holy living. Help us to imitate Saint Alphonsus in his zeal for souls, that we may share his reward in heaven. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen