An ancient liturgical tradition in the Western (Latin) Catholic Church revolves around the changing of the four seasons and consists of three days set apart for fasting and prayer. In English they are known as “Ember Days” and have been celebrated by the Church for centuries.  These special days of fasting were established very early in the Church and consist of a Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at the beginning of each season (Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter).
               
While the Rogation Days and Ember Days of prayer, both of petition and of thanksgiving, do not constitute a liturgical season of their own, they are some of the oldest annual traditions in the Catholic Church, celebrated continuously for over 1,500 years until the revision of the calendar in 1969.  At that point, the celebration of both the Rogation Days and the Ember Days were made optional, with the decision left up to the bishops' conference of each country.  As a result, neither is widely celebrated today.
They were tied to the changing of the seasons, four times each year; and also, to the liturgical cycles of the Church.  The spring Ember Days were the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the First Sunday of Lent; the summer Ember Days were the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after Pentecost; the fall Ember Days were the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the third Sunday in September (not, as is often said, after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross); and the winter Ember Days were the Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of Saint Lucy (December 13). 

Let us take full advantage of these few days to pray, fast and abstain for the conversion of sinners, beginning with the pope, cardinals, bishops, religious, priests and laity.  We participate in these days because we are asking God to do great things.  We need great faith that He will work mightily. Let us not forget, we are praying for the forgiveness of our own sins and for our own conversions as well.  We are so blessed to be traditional Catholics and to have these powerful leverages like Ember Days! 

Video by Dr. Taylor Marshall

Our Lord to St. Margaret Mary—
“I promise you, in the excessive mercy of my Heart that my all powerful love will grant to all those who receive Holy Communion on the first Friday for nine consecutive months, the grace of final repentance; they shall not die in my disgrace nor without receiving the sacraments; my Divine Heart shall be their safe refuge in that last moment.”  

In 1675, Jesus appeared to St. Margaret Mary Alocoque in Paray le Monial, France in a convent.  He said, "Behold this heart which has so loved men.  Establish in the world  a devotion to My Sacred Heart." 

To those who receive Holy Communion, to honor and in reparation to, His Sacred Heart on 9 consecutive First Fridays, Jesus promises the following:

I will give them all the graces necessary for their state in life.
I will establish peace in their families.
I will console them in all their pains and trials.
I will be their assured refuge in life and especially in death..
I will shed abundant blessings on all their undertakings.
Lukewarm souls will become fervent.
Fervent souls shall rise to greater perfection.
I will bless those homes where an image of My Heart shall be exposed and honored.
I will give to priests the gift of moving the hardest of hearts.
Persons, who propagate this devotion, shall have their names inscribed on My Heart, never to be effaced from it.
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(1) Confession, (2) Communion, (3) Five Decades of the Rosary (4) Meditation on one or more of the Rosary Mysteries for fifteen minutes, (5) to do all of these things in the spirit of Reparation to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, and (6) to observe these practices on the First Saturday of five consecutive months.

Why Five Saturdays?

It is sometimes asked why Our Lady asked for Communions of Reparation on five first Saturdays, instead of some other number. Our Blessed Lord answered that question when He appeared to Sr. Lucia on May 29, 1930. He explained that it was because of five kinds of offenses and blasphemies against the Immaculate Heart of Mary, namely: blasphemies against her Immaculate Conception, against her perpetual virginity, against the divine and spiritual maternity of Mary, blasphemies involving the rejection and dishonoring of her images, and the neglect of implanting in the hearts of children a knowledge and love of this Immaculate Mother.
THE GRAVE NEED FOR FIRST SATURDAY DEVOTION (Audio)

Devotion to the Holy Face was revealed by Jesus to Sr. Marie of St. Peter (1816-1848) a Carmelite nun of Tours in France.  The primary purpose of the devotion is to make reparation for sins against the first three commandments: Denial of God, Blasphemy, and the profanation of Sundays and Holy Days.
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TALKS BY FR BART

Parishioners  are encouraged to consecrate their families in a special way by enthroning  the Sacred Heart of Jesus in their homes.  If you would like to consecrate  your home to the Sacred Heart, and want to plan an enthronement celebration, please use the sign-up sheet in the Narthex or contact Fr. Bart.

TUESDAYS 5:15 PM

Fr. Bart leads the Devotion to Our Mother of Perpetual Help before the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass each Tuesday at 5:15 pm. 

A brief history of the icon of the Mother of Perpetual Help from the late 15th century  [Here]

Stations of the Cross are a beautiful and traditional devotion of the Catholic Church.  The devotion consists of meditating on 14 events which took place during Christ’s Passion, from His being condemned to His burial.

The time-honored meditations written by St. Alphonsus Liguori (A.D. 1696-1787) 
Stations of the Cross

The Shrine of Saint Joseph and Saint Anthony boardering the Sanctuary
A Votive Light is a "silent sentinel," and your representative before the shrines. A Votive Light can burn for your special intentions or for someone who is in need of prayers. This is a thoughtful expression of your sentiments and best wishes for any occasion. And your Votive Light is an act of faith and charity—the light is a symbol of the sacrifice you have made in behalf of someone else—and it is a silent reminder of your prayers for them.

By burning lights at the foot of Saint Joseph and/or our Patron, Saint Anthony, you are taking part in an old and beautiful custom. Give the lights a true meaning by your intentions as you venerate the statue. Let it be your presence at the Shrine—your spiritual pilgrimage by which you come to ask for the intercession of Saint Joseph and/or Saint Anthony.  Your candle will be like a prayer in time of need.