The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little. // 1 Peter 5:10 On this Feast of Saint Mark the Evangelist, we can enter into with our prayerful imaginations the writing of Saint Peter’s letter in Rome. Let’s imagine Mark standing in the room with Peter and Silvanus. Silvanus writes on a scroll the teaching Peter speaks as he paces the room. Mark listens to his teacher and friend and gathers his thoughts on the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God, about Whom he hopes to write.  As the letter comes to an end Peter speaks the words, “The God of all grace [ . . . ] will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little” (1 Peter 5:10). Mark thinks of his own cowardly acts of fleeing the garden at Jesus’ arrest (see Mark 14:51) and his leaving of Saint Paul and Saint Barnabas during one of their apostolic journeys (see Acts 13:13). He remembers his failures which lead to great interior suffering, but he also sees now the grace God has given him, strengthening him.  Mark would be so strengthened that he would eventually pen the divinely inspired words of a Gospel that would “go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). As tradition has it, Mark wrote his Gospel based on Peter’s experience, recording Peter’s own denial of Christ. Mark also eventually allowed God to strengthen him, to help him have the courage to travel with the Apostles and share the Gospel. As Peter concludes his letter, Mark chimes in to be remembered to those in Asia Minor, and hears Peter speak of him as “Mark, my son” (1 Peter 5:15). Sister, like Saints Mark and Peter, we all have given into cowardice at times when we were called to proclaim the Gospel. The Lord wants to restore us and give us His grace, especially the graces we first received at Confirmation, to share His love with others. Ask Saint Mark to intercede for you today, that you may receive more fully the Gifts of the Holy Spirit to more fully live out your personal call to evangelization.

Lent starts February 14, and so does the RESCUED Blessed is She Lent devotional. This year, you’ll be receiving an excerpt from the Lent devotional every day in your inbox (in lieu of our regular daily devo). We want to pray with one heart and one mind as the BIS sisterhood. If you prefer to have the book, purchase the 2024 Blessed is She Lent devotional RESCUED right here. Right upon purchase, you’ll receive a link to come into the free Blessed is She app to walk through the Lenten season with us in daily live prayer, small groups, and more. Together let’s look to the Lamb of God who came to rescue each one of us.   Christ took away our infirmities and bore our diseases. // Alleluia Verse (see Matthew 8:17) Late November 2022, I watched my mother do physical therapy exercises in my dining room. She scrunched up sheet after sheet of magazine pages with her left hand. The tears running down her cheeks, however, were not from physical pain, but a result of the worry she felt over what her increasing hand weakness might mean. Several months later we learned that she has the incurable degenerative nerve disease called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). And since then my family has been accompanying my mother through her increasing loss of physical ability as the nerves throughout her body die. We do not know how many months or years she has left, only that she will become less and less independent, needing more and more care. She came to visit us again this past October, a few days after she returned from a trip to Lourdes, France. While we had prayed for a physical healing, we knew that the grace of the miraculous spring in Lourdes is more often a healing of the soul than of the body. Yet the grace she received there was not unlike that of Saint Peter’s mother-in-law, who physically rose from her sick bed to serve Jesus and His disciples in today’s Gospel (see Mark 1:30-31). For in my mother’s faithful acceptance of this suffering, she is serving Him through her witness of the goodness of God in her life. Her love for Him shines forth in her gratitude for each small blessing, in the words of faith she speaks about her diagnosis, in her desire to live her last months as she spent all of her adult life: devoted to regular prayer and spiritual conversations with her loved ones. Her soul is being healed each passing day as her body surrenders its ability to her disease. And she increases in her desire to serve God with her whole being, speaking of God’s goodness and offering her suffering. For when I see her suffer and decline, I see Christ bearing her disease with her. And He will take it away when He leads her by the hand into eternity.

"Who among you, if your son or ox falls into a cistern, would not immediately pull him out on the sabbath day?" // Luke 14:6 My cousin walked into my aunt’s kitchen with a look of concern on his face, “There is a calf down in the stream bed—I think it is stuck in the mud.” It had been a snow-heavy winter in the upper midwest, and now with spring finally setting in, the water from the melting snow was pooling above the thawing ground. And this Easter afternoon, as my children had done their annual Easter ride in the truck with their cousin around the farm, they had spotted the calf. My uncle, the male cousins, and my husband all looked at each other. This was not how they had envisioned their Easter celebration, but even on Easter Sunday, the animals had to be cared for, and we folks visiting from the city were ready to help. When the men came back in, several hours later, they were caked with mud, tired, and hungry and ready to celebrate Christ’s Resurrection.  As we ate our Easter dinner, we talked about how the rescue of the calf was like the saying of Jesus to the Pharisees from today’s Gospel (see Luke 14:1-6) and not an unfitting activity when spiritually interpreted.  God saw us stuck in the mud of our sin and fallenness, took on the messiness of human life, and pulled us out, raising us to the level of His “sons”—or for us, His daughters. Further, His descent into hell happened on the Jewish sabbath, and He rose on Sunday, which is the new day of rest and our Christian sabbath. Sister, that is the point of this Gospel. Any day is the right day to be rescued by God, to receive His love, to accept your place as His daughter. I know this message seems so simple, and we have heard it again and again. But do we really know it in our hearts? Do we believe that we are worth being pulled out of the mess, worth being made daughters of God? Go back and read today’s Gospel, imagine yourself in the place of the man whom Jesus healed, and embrace this gift of daughter ship He has given you.

For we did not heed the voice of the Lord, our God, in all the words of the prophets whom he sent us, but each one of us went off after the devices of his own wicked heart, served other gods, and did evil in the sight of the Lord, our God. // Baruch 1:21 My whole body tensed as I glanced at the text on my screen: My son can’t bring your daughter home from school today. He has a club. Calculating how many minutes it would take from my afternoon to drive to the school and back, I was both annoyed at this last-minute change and overwhelmed by my other commitments. But mostly, I felt an indignation at the loss of my plan for the afternoon and that I had to give up what I wanted.  This, my dear sister, is an example of the plague of ingratitude which I have let dominate my life. Rather than being thankful for all of the things I am blessed to do, I respond with sorrow and discontentment.  I see in my own heart the wayward ways of the Israelites who were given so much from God: the Promised Land, a covenant relationship, a promise of a Messiah. Like them, I begin to see my blessings—my talented, hardworking husband, our four beautiful children, the opportunity to educate them, work that I love, food to cook and serve—as a burden. And like them, I end up in a type of exile—unhappy and longing for a place of joy. The solution to the problem is actually quite simple: turn back to the Lord with gratitude. Instead of seeing all of these things as burdens, I can see them as blessings.  That day that I changed my plans and picked up my teenage daughter, we had fifteen minutes of good, cheerful conversation together, which was a great blessing. And situations like that also prompted me to restructure our daily life, so that I could appreciate my blessings with less stress. Sister, take some time today to examine your own life. Are there blessings that you see as burdens? How can you foster more gratitude for your blessings? What might you need to change to make them feel less burdensome?

This is good and pleasing to God our savior, who wills everyone to be saved and to come to knowledge of the truth. // 1 Timothy 2:3-4 “But why did he shoot that man?” my son asked, aghast, at the end of the film. “He could have repented!” The words of my child filled me with wonder at his faith. For the man in the film had been a cruel, heartless Nazi after the “good guy.” He seemed beyond redemption. But my son reminded me that we should have hope for everyone.  I come from generations of Catholics, those raised in the Faith who raised their children in the Faith. But also in my extended family are many who have cast aside their Catholic upbringing. I have friends who were close to God in their youth and now live separated from His grace. And the society we live in promotes lifestyles and choices that are contrary to what is good and true.  Saint Paul tells us in today’s First Reading to offer “supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings” for “everyone” (1 Timothy 2:1). He does not just say for those who are faithful and close to God. He does not say to pray once and then give up. He tells us that God “wills everyone to be saved” and that Jesus “gave himself as ransom for all” (1 Timothy 2:6). God desires to be united fully with all of us, no matter how little hope there seems to be for conversion.  Sister, it can be fatiguing to pray for the conversion of the same people day after day, people for whom we want the ultimate good. And it often feels like our prayers and efforts are not doing anything to bring about a change in our secular society. But we do not know the measure of the grace God pours out on others. We can never know in this life the full effect of our prayers. We can only know that it is good and pleasing to God for us to pray for others, to come to Him with faith on their behalf like the centurion in today’s Gospel and trust that they will be healed (see Luke 7:1-10).

I wait for the Lord; my soul waits for his word. // Psalm 130:5 My heart dropped when I saw the name in the email, a name of a dear friend, one with whom I spent many hours discussing ideas and books at our homeschool co-op. She lived nearly an hour away on the other side of the Twin Cities, but on occasion we would get our families together, such as when my husband and I stood as godparents to her baby last year. It was her baby I first thought of, an eleven-month-old at the time, when I learned that she was suffering from a horrible case of toxic shock syndrome; with only hours to live, the doctors predicted. So, I prayed continually. She was on my mind and in my heart for the ten excruciating days she remained on the cusp of life and death. My soul in that time waited for the Lord, for His Word to bring her healing, to bring her life, to bring her back to her five kids and her loving husband. But her soul also waited for the Lord, for she had been learning before her illness about the grace of redemptive suffering. And in the silence of her heart, in her unconscious state, He accepted her offering and brought her to Himself. We all wondered at the Lord’s will in allowing her to be taken so suddenly from her family. We all did what we could for her husband in his grief. And in our confusion at her death, the Lord speaks to us, “O you of little faith, why do you doubt?” (Matthew 14:31) He will bring good out of her passing; He can use it to bring her whole family and those who loved her into eternal life with Him and with her. For this is why we exist. Sister, we cannot always understand why the Lord allows the heavy winds, the earthquakes, and the fires of our lives. But we can trust that if we wait for Him, He will come to us with His still small voice (see 1 Kings 19:11-13) and prepare us to live forever with Him.

O God, you are my God whom I seek;for you my flesh pines and my soul thirstslike the earth, parched, lifeless and without water. // Psalm 63:2  Orange and pink streaked across the sky as I slipped out of the house, almost bolting to the minivan. As I backed it down the long driveway, a twinge of relief flickered in my heart. I was going to see Him, the one for Whom my heart longed. Pulling in front of the church, I pulled my chapel veil from my purse and adorned myself to be in the presence of my Lord. Then, finally, I was in the adoration chapel, on my knees. The strain of the day whelmed up in my chest and I let it overflow in a silent, wordless prayer before the Lord. As I poured my heart out before Him, I felt His love filling what I had emptied. A warm, engulfing peace came over me as I gave Him all the cares of my motherhood, my wifehood, and my work. His consolation showed me where my heart is truly at rest, and that is in Him. And through spending time in prayer, my longing for Him increases. Sister, today is the Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene, a woman with a desperate love and longing for her Savior. She was the one “from whom seven demons had gone out” (Luke 8:2) at the hands of Jesus, and who was so distraught by His death she went to His tomb while it was still dark. She is overwrought with weeping when His body is missing from the tomb. And when she sees Him alive, she becomes even more desperate; Jesus has to soothe her, to calm her down. Her desire, her pining and thirst for her God, is a model for us all. Let us pray today to share in her desperate love of God, to share her confidence that He alone will satisfy us. Go back to the First Reading of today (Songs 3:1-4b) or the Psalm Response (Psalm 63) and ask the Lord to foster a longing and pining for Him as your God and your Bridegroom in your heart. Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us.

God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. // John 3:16 His eyes sparkled in the candlelight as he watched the procession of altar servers and clergy with the Easter candle at the Easter Vigil. My only son was rapt in attention towards the liturgy of all liturgies. As Mass proceeded through the second of the Old Testament readings, I could not help but think of my son, my only son, as God asked Abraham to offer his only son Isaac.  Today is the eighth birthday of my only son–a son born after the sorrow of a miscarriage and followed by three more since then. I know how it feels to have an only son, for those babies entrusted to the mercy of God feel so far away.  We hear in the Gospel today for Trinity Sunday words that we have all heard before. We have seen “John 3:16” plastered on walls, on signs at sporting events, and on billboards along the highway. The words are so familiar that they wash over us.  “God so loved…” These words describe the Trinity. God, complete in His community of three Persons eternally loving, so loving that He created.  God so loved that He created the Angels. God so loved that He created the universe and our world, making it habitable. God so loved that He made us. And He did not just make us to live in this world, but He made us for eternal life. When we fell into sin, He so loved us that the Father sent his only Son, who came and died for us. Then the Son rose and ascended into Heaven, from where they sent the Holy Spirit to help us with grace to have the faith to believe in God, to love God, and to hope for eternal life.  God so loved, that even as I have offered my miscarried babies to Him, I hope to meet them in the next life, to share with them eternal beatitude in Heaven. Sister, God is Three Persons, and He so loves us all. Bask today in His Trinitarian love.

"I have told you this so that my joy might be in you and your joy might be complete." // John 15:11 As I stepped out of the car, I could see his joyful face bouncing up and down in the window. When I opened the back door to greet my second-grade son, he flew at me exclaiming, “Mom! I got all the work done you asked!” I hugged him and greeted his older sisters who told me how they had also accomplished their assignments. And the joy of that moment stayed with us the rest of the homeschool day. We have been trying a new thing this school year, now that my children are a little older. I slip away to a morning Mass once a week while my children do independent homeschool work. It is good for them to learn to be self-disciplined, and it is a mini-retreat for me to be at Mass alone. When my children do what I ask, our joy that day is full because every subject goes smoothly. But when they do not follow my directions while I am gone, the day continues on in a struggle. Being a parent has taught me many things about the Father’s love, and one of them is the joy of obedience. I have the same struggles as my children, always ready to find something to do besides my task at hand. But the Father’s commandment for me, the way I remain in His love, is to serve those before me, to do the work that He has called me to do. When I abuse my freedom and become a slave to my desires, I am not free at all. When I live out my day under His Will, I have the freedom to do good and to love better. Sister, the Lord does not give us His commands to be burdens in our lives, even though when we are struggling to overcome concupiscence they can seem that way. He gives them to us to guide us in the way of love. All He ultimately wants is for us to surrender to His love and to return it, and the path to do this is through obedience to His Will. This can be revealed to us in the commandments preserved by the Church or in the vocations to which we are called. When we live in His love, we will have His joy.

“For whoever does the will of God is my brother and sister and mother.” // Mark 3:35 The kitchen clock ticked steadily while my son sat fidgeting over his math workbook. I looked at his assignment book, mentally calculating the time he needed to complete his homeschool work for the day. His older sisters worked studiously in the dining room with a number of assignments to complete. Anxiety whelmed up inside me as I considered if we should rush to make it to the nearby daily noon Mass that day. What should we do, Lord? I cried out in my heart to Him as I wavered between my desire for the Sacrament and the reality of my children’s pace. I weighed the rest of the day as well: piano lessons, parent-teacher conferences, and writing deadlines all would claim our time. “We are not going to go to Mass today,” I told my son. His little body visibly relaxed. The girls were also relieved, and the weight of indecision lifted off my heart. We finished our school morning in peace, ate lunch together, took a short walk, and sat down for a leisurely prayer time before our family altar and icon wall. As I rested in the Lord, I saw that I had followed His will. While going to Mass would have been a very good thing for my family, staying home without being rushed was better for us that day. Other days, noon Mass fits seamlessly into our schedule, but this day, the sacrifice required of me was to be present to my children, to instruct them well, and to savor the sweet family time of homeschool life. The readings for Mass today all talk about the importance of doing God’s will. Sometimes it is hard to find what He wants for us moment-to-moment, but He also offers us the grace to know what is best and helps us grow in the virtue of prudence. Stay close to Him in prayer, sister. Learn His ways. Let the peace in your heart guide you to what He desires for you. And when you do this, He will call you His “sister.” Listen to today's audio devotion.

When eight days were completed for his circumcision, he was named Jesus, the name given him by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. // Luke 2:21 Another wave of fatigue hit me as I stood beside the baptismal font, watching the priest pour water over the head of my first-born child. She was only eight days old, and I had not yet recovered from an intense birth experience. But I was there, presenting her to the Lord and giving her the greatest gift I could: adoption into new life as a child of God. This was made possible because the Son, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, while retaining His divine nature, had received His human nature from a woman. Today is the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, a day on which the Church commemorates the truth that when God became a Man, a human became the Mother of God, providing His human body and nature and bearing God within her very womb. When her first-born Son was eight days old, He was carried to the synagogue, and, through His circumcision, He entered into the Old Covenant as a human. He shed His first blood on our behalf and began to model for us the life of self-gift to God and others that we are meant to live. The Second Reading tells us: "When the fullness of time had come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to ransom those under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4-5). We see from the life of Christ and from His Mother the God-bearer that to bear God into the world, we are called to lives of dedication to God. Not just a one-time offering at our Baptism, but a continual offering of every moment of every day. We are to offer ourselves again and again. Sister, on this the first day of the calendar year, ask the Blessed Mother to help you become more like her. Ask her to pray for you to have the grace to know how you are called to bear God into the world and to joyfully accept His call.

Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. // Isaiah 40:28 The rain splattered lightly on the windshield as the fall colors blazed out the side windows. I was venturing out into late afternoon traffic to pick up my middle school daughter from her after-school pro-life club. I had intentionally kept the radio off—I wanted to experience the silence of those few solitary minutes. The silence drew me within myself while the splendor of autumn raised my heart in praise of Our Creator. And during that drive, I found the Lord present within my heart reminding me that He is the Lord of All Creation. "Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth" (Isaiah 40:28). The weariness of the morning in which I had motivated my three elementary-aged children to do their lessons, the fatigue of a Monday after a full, busy weekend, all melted away as I recollected myself to the Lord’s presence. I felt His mind bend towards me as I lifted mine to His, recollecting that He always holds me in His mind as He holds me in existence. If He ever stopped thinking of me, I would cease to exist. But because He thinks of me, I can live forever with Him. Sister, the Lord always has you in mind. He Who created all things holds you especially close to Him. When you are weary, burdened, and full of cares, you only have to turn to His loving gaze. This time of Advent is often a busy one, but it does not prevent us from finding solitary, silent moments of our day to enter even, if just for a moment, into the Lord’s presence and meet Him in your heart. He is waiting for you there, as we are waiting for Him to come at Christmas. Enter into the silence of your heart and wait for Him. [bctt tweet="He Who created all things holds you especially close to Him. // Susanna Spencer" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion

"For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who sees the Son and believes in him may have eternal life, and I shall raise him on the last day." // John 6:40 Last autumn, I rather ambitiously set out to read The Divine Comedy by Dante Aligheri. I dusted off the copy I had bought years ago (in another fit of ambition), one with good footnotes, and found a podcast to walk me through the one hundred cantos which make up the Comedy. I wanted to be ready for the set of lectures that were slated for after Friday Stations at my parish during the upcoming Lent. And while I had planned to read the whole thing, I just barely made it to the beginning of the third part on Heaven, when I ran out of steam. Nevertheless, I drew great benefit from the sections I had managed to finish. In the first two parts of his Comedy, Dante writes of an experience of being guided by Virgil through Hell and Purgatory, giving a theologically sound understanding of the effects of sin. In each circle, or level, of Hell and Purgatory, Dante encounters sinners and converses with them about their major failings in life. And in Purgatory, he was continually asked to pray for the souls of those to whom he spoke and even further requested, when he got back to earth, that their living relatives also pray for them. The truth is that the souls in Purgatory depend on us, the living on earth, to pray for them, to help them through the purification process which readies them for the complete happiness of Heaven (see Catechism of the Catholic Church §§ 1030-32). Sister, today is the Feast of All Souls, a day which comes after the glorious Solemnity of All Saints. This feast was established by the Church to remind us of the need of those who have died for our prayers. This month, and especially this week, are specially set aside by the Church to pray for the dead. Take some time to look into the ways the Church encourages us to pray for the souls in Purgatory and give your beloved departed the gift of your prayers for their souls. [bctt tweet="Give your beloved departed the gift of your prayers. // Susanna Spencer" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion

Grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift. // Ephesians 4:7 The eyes of all the little faces on our various icons of the Saints gazed out at me during my afternoon prayer time. My homeschooled children and I were taking time for silent prayer at the end of lessons on our first day of school. The morning had gone more smoothly than I had expected, for my children’s delight in learning and miraculous patience for me had taken precedence over the occasional frustrations. We had even eaten lunch earlier than usual. I prayed in thanksgiving to the Lord for the graces I had received that morning, I felt the weight of the Lord’s call to me. The weight of raising and educating the little ones entrusted to me. The weight of writing devotions and articles which share His love with those who read them. The weight of editing others’ writing to help them to proclaim truth in a clear, open way. I glanced from the icons of one Saint to another, to find one off whom I could model my work, those dear, familiar Saints who had drawn me into a friendship of devotion to them. But all their faces seemed to respond to me: you have to live out your call to serve the Lord as yourself. Saint Paul writes in the First Reading about the various roles we are called to in the Body of Christ—our individual calls to holiness, but also our unity as a church built up in love in Christ (see Ephesians 4:7-16). Sister, the Lord has a special call for you, and He gives us each the grace we need to live out this call, be it to patiently raise our children, to bring His light to our workplaces, or to discover our vocation. On this Feast of Pope Saint John Paul II who truly lived out this call in the Body of Christ, ask him and all the Saints to pray for you to know your call and to allow grace to help you live it. [bctt tweet="Bring His light. // Susanna Spencer" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion

Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God. Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows. // Luke 12:6-7 “Does that tire look flat?” I asked my children as we approached our minivan, our arms piled with fresh corn, at the Farmer’s Market. The tire looked quite low, but I decided to drive the two blocks home. At home, my husband found the tire gauge and confirmed it was low. We looked at each other feeling the burden of the first-world problems that had plagued us that day: a long wait at urgent care, a kid with a fever leading to delayed plans with visiting relatives, lengthy errands, deadlines to meet, and now this. I tried to offer the Lord my stress as my husband called the mechanic. Our mechanic was great, but often appointments were booked a week out. “They can see it now, if we bring it over right away,” he announced walking back into the room. I heaved a sigh of relief—maybe we would have two functioning cars over the busy weekend after all. An hour later they called that the tire was fixed. When my husband returned with the car, the peace was visible in his face, “They said there was no charge for the repair.” A gleam of providence lit up my heart. I felt God’s love break in. I do care about you. I see your problems. I am here. He had turned the burdens of our day into a simple demonstration of His love for us. Sister, the Lord notices every little thing about you from the hairs of your head to the difficulties you face each day. He really cares for you. Never forget that you have been chosen by Him (see Ephesians 1:11). Lean into His love and do not be afraid. You are worth more than the sparrows He looks on in love. Give Him the challenges you face today and look for where His love breaks through. [bctt tweet="Lean into His love and do not be afraid. // Susanna Spencer" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion

War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. // Revelations 12:7-8 My household “sisters” surrounded me in the dorm room. Their hands were stretched, touching my shoulders and reaching towards the heavens. Words of praise poured from their mouths, and tears streamed down my cheeks. “In Jesus’ name I bind and cast out the spirit of unforgiveness,” I prayed aloud. They encouraged me as I continued to call on Jesus to cast out the various spirits that oppressed me in my life. We were following the process of deliverance prayer from the book Unbound by Neal Lozano, and in the spiritual realm at that moment Saint Michael and his angels were battling against the dragon and his followers on our behalf. My friends and I, through the guidance of spiritual advisors, prayed these deliverance prayers many times together, for each other and with other women seeking healing and forgiveness from specific sins. It was a beautiful time of experiencing the Lord’s grace that launched me deeper into my spiritual life. Those years of prayer together taught me that there really is a battle we face everyday in our lives. We know that the Lord has the ultimate victory in His Death and Resurrection, but He is also ready to fight for the soul of each and every human person on earth. The spiritual realm can be a little baffling and scary. I often do not think about the presence of angels around me, but they are there, ready to fight for us against the dragon who has no place in Heaven. Sister, today is the Feast of the Archangels Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Pray to them today, asking them to help you face the spiritual battles the Lord allows you to encounter. You do not have to battle against sin alone. Allow them to fight with you, and the devil and his fallen angels will not prevail. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits, who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. [bctt tweet="You do not have to battle against sin alone. // Susanna Spencer " username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion

Are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? // 1 Corinthians 10:18 I sank into prayer during the silence of the Eucharistic prayer at the Traditional Latin Mass, turning over in my mind the diagnosis of polycystic ovaries my doctor had confirmed at my appointment the week before. It seemed I could not go a year without a new diagnosis of something. “I can handle the monthly ovulation pain,” I had told my doctor. Chronic physical pain, I am learning, is just a part of my life. The clear ringing of the bells broke through the silence as the priest elevated the host above his head. As I gazed for that brief moment at the Lord, my heart filled with the warmth of gratitude. Christ’s sacrifice was being made present on the altar, and I realized that I had been given a gift in being able to suffer with my Lord and my God. The Lord showed me a concrete way how in eating of His Sacrifice, I also participated in the Sacrifice. As Saint Paul tells us in the First Reading, in the Mass we participate in the Body and Blood of Christ. When we receive the Lord in the Eucharist, we become more fully united with the Church, the Body of Christ. As we are united to the Lord and to each other, we can offer our sufferings along with His One Sacrifice. As baptized Christians, we share in the priesthood of Christ, and are called to participate in His sacrificial offering by bringing our own suffering to the altar at Mass. Sister, take some time to pray today with your own sufferings either at Mass or through a prayer of spiritual communion. The Lord desires to show you how to offer them with Him and to give you a share in the joy of redemptive suffering. [bctt tweet="Share in the joy of redemptive suffering. // Susanna Spencer" username="blessedisshe__"] listen to today’s devotion