LIVING BY FAITH - May 2006

A letter for the ill, the aged, the shut-in, and the handicapables

Published by the National Family Commission

Secular Franciscan Order, USA

Whatever we buy, we expect a guarantee – of the product – plus service. We would like a guarantee for our prayer life – but that is presumptuous – or is it???

Our Lady promised us eternity with a prayer life. She outlined her requests and spoke.

1. Wear the Brown Scapular. At our Lady’s last appearance in Fatima, she appeared as Our Lady of Mount Carmel holding the Brown Scapular – holding it out to the world. You were probably enrolled in the Brown Scapular when you made your First Holy Communion.
2. Pray the Rosary daily. Do you find it difficult to concentrate on the mysteries? The Scriptural Rosary booklet is a big help – before each Hail Mary is a quote from scripture. Example:

   “I am the handmaid of the Lord said Mary, let it be done to me: Luke 1:30 “I am the Resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies, he will live.” John 11:25

3. The Sabbatine Privilege. We can be released from Purgatory on the first Saturday after our death. The four requirements for the Sabbatine Privilege are:
   1. Wear the Brown Scapular
   2. Recite the Little Office of our Blessed Mother or say the Rosary daily.
   3. Observe chastity as per our state in life
   4. Commit to the five first Saturdays. Our Lady said at Fatima, “I promise to assist at the hour of death, with all the graces necessary for salvation, to all who on the first Saturday of five consecutive months:
      1. Confess
      2. Receive Holy Communion
      3. Pray five decades of the Rosary for 15 minutes while meditating on the mysteries of the Rosary, all with the intention of making reparation to my Immaculate Heart.”

As we celebrate this month of May, may we remember our Heavenly Mother, and the wonderful gift that she is offering to us.

Kathleen Burke SFO