Novena to St. Joseph - January 15th

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Dear Friends and Family,

Please join us in our annual re-consecration to St. Joseph which is to be prayed from January 15th to the 23rd. For those who are members of Apostoli Viae, we ask you to join with our community intentions. It is always best to state them out loud and then offer our own intentions in the chat below this post so we can all pray for one another.

  • For the repose of the souls of Cardinal Pell and Pope Benedict XVI.
  • For the Holy Father, that he would truly be a holy father both for his salvation and that of the Church.
  • For the Synod on Synodality, that it would be directed by God through faithful leadership to become a holy exercise that honors the authentic magisterium and unity in the Church.
  • For our diocesan fathers, our bishops and priests, that they would be men of deep prayer and union with God and His Church and that the faithful would be protected and nourished, and the unfaithful be brought to repentance and healing.
  • For our earthly fathers that we would all follow Jesus in His prayer and self-giving for the salvation of our families and the Church.
  • For those who have suffered fatherlessness or have been wounded by those who should have been better fathers that they would find healing and help in the Catholic Church.
  • For those without spiritual directors that would find help in St. Joseph until they find a suitable spiritual father.
  • For our High Calling priestly formation and discernment program that it would expand and prepare the hearts of all the men to be exemplary fathers as priests.

MEMORARE TO SAINT JOSEPH (Repeated at the End of Each of the Prayers for the Day)
Remember, O most chaste spouse of the Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who implored thy help and sought thy intercession were left unassisted. Full of confidence in your power I fly unto thee and beg thy protection. Despise not, O Guardian of the Redeemer, my humble supplication, but in thy bounty, hear and answer me. Amen.

Day One: Saint Joseph, Powerful Intercessor

Dearest Saint Joseph, after Mary, you are the most powerful intercessor before God. I know with all my heart that Jesus will listen to you with special interest as you bring my intentions to Him. Because of this, I especially want to entrust myself to your fatherly care, as did Jesus Himself. While in the past, I may have brought to you one of my intentions here or there, from this day forward, I want to give you my all. I want to forever entrust to you all of my needs and cares, trusting that you will bring them, with Mary, to your Son, Jesus. Beloved Saint Joseph, as the best of fathers, the one whom God chose to be the virginal father of His Only Son, Jesus, I am confident that you know my needs better than I ever could. I give you permission, and ask you to care for me as your child. I trust that you will do everything in your power to make my life beautiful for God. I trust that you will watch over me, and that your prayers will guide, bless, and protect me. I know in my heart that you will care for me with the same love and tenderness with which you cared for Jesus. Saint Joseph, Powerful Intercessor, please pray for me and all my intentions. 

Day Two: Saint Joseph, Loving Spouse of Mary

Beloved Saint Joseph, when the angel told you, “Do not be afraid to take Mary for your wife,” (Mt 1:20) you weren’t afraid. You trusted God, and now you truly are the husband of Mary. After Jesus, you are the dearest person to her heart. Saint Joseph, as my spiritual father, I ask you to bring my petitions and my life to Mary. You are truly my spiritual parents. Just as any good father wants to see his children love their mother, I know you will help me know and love my spiritual mother more. By your powerful prayers, I ask you to help me realize what a gift I have in Mary. Pray for me that I will better appreciate her motherly role in my life. Saint Joseph, I know that you love her. I know it makes you happy to see her children love her with all their heart. Therefore, as I prepare to consecrate or re-consecrate myself totally to your fatherly care, I beg you to help me fully appreciate my Mother Mary. Saint Joseph, Loving Spouse of Mary, please help me to love my spiritual mother even more.

Day Three: Saint Joseph, Good Provider

Dearest Saint Joseph, as the foster father of Jesus, you provided for his human needs. Through the work of your hands, he had food to strengthen him, a house to give him shelter, and clothes to keep him warm. Still, from heaven, you continue to work. Indeed, the loving labor of your prayers provides for all the members of the Body of your Son. As I prepare to consecrate or re-consecrate myself completely to you, I ask you to please provide for me and my loved ones. Through your prayers, please make sure that we always have food to eat, a roof over our heads, and clothes to wear. Please pray that in times of abundance or need, we will never forget God, that we will always be grateful for His gifts, and that we will never be a slave to things like food or money, pleasure or power. Finally, help us always to remember and be generous with the poor. Saint Joseph, with you as my spiritual father, I will do my best not to give in to useless anxiety about my job, money, or material things. I believe you will always make sure I have what I need, and as a good father, I ask that you indulge me a bit by even providing for my material wants, provided they don’t take me away from Jesus. Saint Joseph, Good Provider, please provide for my needs through your powerful prayers. 

Day Four: Saint Joseph, Strong Guard

Beloved Saint Joseph, when I think that God gave me my guardian angel and Saint Michael to protect and defend me, I am not afraid. When I think that you, who are even more powerful before God, are my spiritual father, the Terror of Demons, who protected the Baby Jesus from Herod, then I am completely at peace. Saint Joseph, please pray that I will have the peace that comes from trusting in your fatherly protection. I believe that you will protect me from my enemies, seen and unseen. I believe that you will protect me from bodily and spiritual harm. I trust in your fatherly care. Saint Joseph, I will do my best not to give in to fear, knowing that you are praying for me as with a child who has formally consecrated himself to your fatherly care. Saint Joseph, Strong Guardian, please defend me with your prayers. 

Day Five: Saint Joseph, Who Did God’s Will

Dear Saint Joseph, you were profoundly docile to God's will, even in the most difficult of circumstances. I want to also do God’s most perfect will, but I know that, on my own, I will fail. I need your help. I trust that with you as my spiritual father, you will guide me to always do God’s most perfect will. I want to reach the degree of glory that God has prepared for me in heaven. I want to bear fruit that will last. I want to be a saint. Help me, Saint Joseph. You see how weak and sinful I am. Teach me, good father. Help me to follow the commandments, and make my heart sensitive to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit. I know that as I entrust myself to your care, you will guide me and show me how to always do God’s will. Redirect the stream of my life if it ever departs from God’s most perfect will. Saint Joseph, who did God’s will, please always keep me in God’s most perfect will. 

Day Six: Saint Joseph, Who Suffered with Love

As the day draws closer when I will fully consecrate (or reconsecrate) myself to you, Saint Joseph, I cannot help but notice how you suffered with love. You suffered darkness and confusion when Mary was found with child. You suffered the sacrifice of your flesh as you lovingly offered up the absence of bodily intimacy in marriage. You suffered a sword in your heart, with Mary, when Simeon foretold the passion of your Son. You suffered stress and uncertainty when you had to escape with your family to Egypt and lived as a foreigner. You suffered crushing anxiety when your Son was lost for three days. You daily suffered fatigue and bodily aches from your manual labor. Worst of all, your fatherly heart grieved at knowing that you could not be there for Jesus and Mary when their darkest hour would one day come. Saint Joseph, thank you for what you suffered in God’s service, in union with your Son, for my salvation. I love you, Saint Joseph. Thank you for your yes. Please help me to suffer with love as you did. When I suffer, help me not to complain. Help me not to forget love. Help me not to forget others. Dear Saint Joseph, through my suffering, watch over my weak heart: may it not harden but rather become more merciful. Help me to remember all of God’s children who are suffering in the world, and help me to offer my suffering for them and for the good of the Church. I am counting on you, Saint Joseph. I know you will be with me, helping me to suffer with love. Saint Joseph, who suffered with love, please help me to suffer with a love like yours.

Day Seven: Saint Joseph, Pure of Heart

Purest Saint Joseph, I want to be a saint, and saints need to be pure of body and soul. Guard me, protect me, and defend me from temptations against purity. I rely on you, Saint Joseph. Don’t let me fall. Don’t let my eyes or thoughts wander. If they do, please bring them back to Jesus. I trust in you, Saint Joseph. You lived purely with Mary, despite her beauty. Help me to see the beauty of others with your own pure vision. If I fall, help me to find God’s mercy and free me from any bondage to such sin. Purify my intentions in all that I do. Help me do everything, not to please myself or others, but to please God alone. Give me this grace as my dear spiritual father. I trust in you, Saint Joseph. Saint Joseph, Pure of Heart, please lend me your own purity of heart.

Day Eight: Saint Joseph, Man of Peace and Joy

Saint Joseph, although the Bible doesn’t speak directly of your joy, you lived in the presence of Jesus and Mary. How could you not be joyful? I beg of you to pray that I will also find my joy by living in their presence. Please pray that I keep my joy and not give in to desolation, sadness, laziness, or discouragement. Having lived with Jesus and Mary, you also must have been a man of tremendous peace. Please ask your Son to help me keep my peace of soul and not hold on to anger and bitterness in my heart. Help me to be merciful to everyone by offering forgiveness that I might also, like you, be afilled with true peace and joy. Saint Joseph, Man of Peace and Joy, please put me at peace and help me find joy. 

Day Nine: Saint Joseph, Who Died So Beautifully

Beloved Saint Joseph, I know that I am going to die. When I do, I ask that you be there to greet me with Jesus and Mary. For my part, I will not to be afraid of death, and I will live my life in preparation for it. I will even do my best to look forward to it as the time when I will can meet you, face to face. Prepare me for my death, whenever it may be. If it is sudden, please make sure that my soul is prepared and please make sure I will not be lost. Dearest Saint Joseph, obtain this grace for me as I consecrate myself to your fatherly care. I am fully yours. I give you permission to take me home to my Father’s house when the day of my death comes. Saint Joseph, who died so beautifully, please prepare my soul for death. 

Consecration to Saint Joseph

Dear Saint Joseph, On this day, before God and your Immaculate Spouse, Mary, I ___________________, choose you as my spiritual father forever. I formally entrust myself to your fatherly care. I love you, and I trust in your prayers for my life. As your spiritual child, I give you full permission to act in my life, especially by... Praying for me constantly, bringing me even deeper into the Hearts of Jesus and Mary, providing for all my loved ones and me, Guarding and protecting me from bodily and spiritual evil, guiding me always to do God’s most perfect will, helping me to suffer with love and without complaint, Giving me purity of body and of soul, Forming me into a person of peace and joy, Preparing me for a beautiful and happy death. From this day forward, Saint Joseph, you are my spiritual father, and I am your child. I trust you and love you, and I look forward to meeting you someday in heaven. I ask all of this in Jesus’ name and for the glory of God, who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen

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The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. ” ~Revelation 12:7 • Through the intercession of St Michael, in the name of Jesus: Enable us to put on the armor of God so that we may be able to stand firm against the tactics of the devil… And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God ~Ephesians 6:11,17 • All: Quis ut Deus…who is like God…Unum est necessarium • Through the intercession of St Michael, in the name of Jesus: Enable us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and trust that all that we need will be provided to us ~Matthew 6:33 • Quis ut Deus…who is like God…Unum est necessarium • Through the intercession of St Michael, in the name of Jesus: May we be your ambassadors in chains, O Lord our God, so that we may live what we proclaim and have the courage to speak as we must ~Ephesians 6:20 • Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving and honor, power and might, to our God forever and ever. 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Therefore praise him forever.” ~Tobias 12:14–18 • Through the intercession of St. Raphael, in the name of Jesus: Heal us, LORD, that we may be healed; save us that we may be saved, for you are our praise ~Jeremiah 17: 14 • Deus curavit…God has healed…Unum est necessarium • Through the intercession of St. Raphael, in the name of Jesus: We claim your promise that if your people, who are called by name, will humble themselves and pray and seek your face and turn from their wicked ways, then you will hear from heaven, and will forgive us our sin and heal our land. ~2 Chronicles 7:14 • Deus curavit…God has healed…Unum est necessarium • Through the intercession of St. Raphael, in the name of Jesus: LORD, protect and preserve us; do not give us up to the will of our enemies… in our illness, heal all infirmities; those of our souls, our Church and our lands. ~Psalm 41:3–4 • Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving and honor, power and might, to our God forever and ever. 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Amen. ” ~Ephesians 3:14–21 • Pray for us, O glorious Saints, Michael, Raphael & Gabriel, beloved angelic messengers of our Triune God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ. • Hail, holy Queen enthroned above, Hail, Queen of mercy and of love, triumph, all ye cherubim, Sing with us, ye seraphim Salve, Salve, Salve Regina! • As Mary is the mother of God, Queen of Angels, and the first and perfect disciple of Jesus, we look to her example and intercession for all that we aspire to be and to accomplish, and in particular to her “yes” as a central movement of the heart of the Way. Mary, Mother of God, pray for us. (On Coat of Arms Emblem) May God arise; let His enemies be scattered; and let all those who hate Him flee before him. As the smoke is driven away, so are they driven away; as wax melts before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God. 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Like the smoke of incense before the throne of God in heaven, may my prayers of consecration rise to meet you. With you Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, I unite and prostrate myself before the throne of God singing: “Amen! Praise and glory, wisdom and thanksgiving and honor, power and might, to our God forever and ever Amen!" - Revelation 7:32
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Novena to Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)
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That we will enjoy exemplary relationships with our current and future Archbishop and that he would be eager to support us as we seek to serve the Archdiocese of Mobile and the world. That we would all seek to emulate St. Teresa Benedicta's total self-giving to a world in profound need of our prayer and our spiritual care. That the Lord would use the Apostoli Viae community to help heal the deep wounds in the Church and the world through the power of authentic encounter with Jesus and the life changing grace and provision of the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. Opening Prayer  (to be said each day, followed by that day’s prayer) Dearest Sister in Christ, St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, I come to you today to ask for your help.  You were blessed by so many graces during your short life—conversion of heart, peace in the midst of an unthinkable storm, unwavering trust in Divine Providence, inconceivable courage, embracing the Cross, compassionate sacrifice, total surrender, a deep longing for the Kingdom of God, and a selfless love for your neighbor. Although it took you some time to find and give yourself to Jesus, once you did, you said that if anyone came to you, you would lead them to Him. I beg of your prayers this day and every day for the rest of my life.  Please walk with me during this novena, as I ask Your Spouse to bless me with the Heavenly Graces He showered upon you during your lifetime. From your happy place in Heaven, lead me to Him so that He might bless me and make me more like Him, so that one day, I can love Him completely, with you, in Heaven.  Dear St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, child of the Day of Atonement — Yom Kippur, daughter of Abraham, bride of Christ, seeker of truth, scholar of the Church, handmaid of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, servant of the Suffering Servant, presence of mercy, victim of victimizer, embracer of the Cross of Christ-like love, Martyr of Auschwitz, imitator of Jesus, conqueror of evil, friend of God, Edith, please pray for me and intercede for my petitions: Mention your petitions… Lord God, Heavenly Father, You blessed St Teresa Benedicta abundantly throughout her life and brought her to fully embrace the Cross at the hour of her martyrdom.  Through her intercession, grant us these same graces, so that we might imitate Your Son and grow closer to You every day of the rest of our lives.  We ask this through Christ our Lord.  Amen. Day One: Conversion of Heart (August 01) Opening Prayer “God, hear me, I implore You, and listen to my prayer. You saw me stand before You in darkness and despair. O lift me, gracious Ruler, upon a rocky peak. With hope I look to see You, God, Your guiding Hand I seek.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St. Teresa Benedicta, you were born to a Jewish family and, in the course of your young life, you fell away from the Jewish faith. Living a life without any belief in God, you met with friends who had converted after suffering loss, and you wrote: “This was my first encounter with the Cross and the divine power it imparts to those who bear it ... it was the moment when my unbelief collapsed and Christ began to shine his light on me — Christ in the mystery of the Cross.” Later, after spending an evening reading the autobiography of St. Teresa of Avila, you wrote, “When I had finished the book, I said to myself: This is the truth.” As you looked back on this experience, you wrote: “My longing for truth was a single prayer.” St. Teresa, please ask Our Heavenly Father to shine His light on me as He did on you—to teach me the ways of everlasting life and to help me understand and imitate the mystery of His Cross. Ask Him for me, sister, that He might purify my intentions so that everything I do, everything I say, and everything I think is only done to satisfy His will. Ask Him to make my life a single prayer, just as yours once was. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Two: Peace in the Midst of the Storm (August 02) Opening Prayer “You are a sturdy tower Resisting every foe. I fear no stormy weather, With You I have no woe. You’ll offer me safekeeping Within Your tent of love, From danger I’m protected By sheltering wings above.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St Teresa, after saying goodbye to your family before entering the convent, you wrote, “I did not feel any passionate joy. What I had just experienced was too terrible. But I felt a profound peace — in the safe haven of God’s will.” But leaving your family for Carmel was hardly the hardest thing you experienced in life. Even in the shadows of Auschwitz, you were noticed as being a beacon of calm in the midst of the storm. I hope to never experience anything as horrific as the Holocaust, dearest sister, but please ask God to give me the strength to remain peaceful in Him, no matter what He has in store for me. This life is a mere preparation for the next. Help me to keep my eyes on Him, come what may. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Three: Unwavering Trust in Divine Providence (August 03) Opening Prayer “O Prince of Peace, to all who receive You, You bring light and peace. Help me to live in daily contact with You, listening to the words You have spoken and obeying them. O Divine Child, I place my hands in Yours; I shall follow You. Oh, let Your divine life flow into me.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, you once wrote: “Things were in God’s plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that — from God’s point of view — there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God’s divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God’s all-seeing eyes.” What trust! And how freeing this realization must have been. Dearest sister in Jesus, please ask your Heavenly Spouse to give me this grace to trust in Him completely and to know that, no matter what, His will is best. While I can only see a few feet in front of me, He has my whole life planned out. All I need to do is say “yes”, and He will take me to the highest heights. Yes, Lord. Thy will be done in all things. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Four: Courage (August 04) Opening Prayer “O my God, fill my soul with holy joy, courage and strength to serve You. Enkindle Your love in me and then walk with me along the next stretch of road before me. I do not see very far ahead, but when I have arrived where the horizon now closes down, a new prospect will open before me and I shall meet with peace.” —St. Teresa Benedicta   St Teresa, shortly before your death, you said, “I never knew that people could be like this, neither did I know that my brothers and sisters would have to suffer like this. ... I pray for them every hour. Will God hear my prayers? He will certainly hear them in their distress.” What courage! And yet I know that this courage was a gift from God, a grace He gave you to do His will.  Ask Him for me, sister, to grant me the same grace. While my future may not be similar to yours, I know that my path will be its own Calvary, and I must carry the Cross that Our Lord created just for me. Please ask Him to help me carry my cross with courage and love, so that all who see me walking will be edified and will see Him strengthening me along the way. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Five: Fearless Embrace of the Cross (August 05) Opening Prayer “The world is in flames. The conflagration can also reach our house. But high above all flames towers the Cross. They cannot consume it. It is the path from earth to heaven. It will lift one who embraces it in faith, love, and hope into the bosom of the Trinity.  “The world is in flames. Are you impelled to put them out? Look at the Cross. From the open heart gushes the blood of the Savior. This extinguishes the flames of hell.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St Teresa, as your martyrdom neared, you wrote, “I understood the Cross as the destiny of God’s people, which was beginning to be apparent at the time. I felt that those who understood the Cross of Christ should take it upon themselves on everybody’s behalf.”  Carrying my cross seems so difficult, St. Teresa Benedicta, but if I were to fearlessly embrace it for the benefit of others as you, yourself did... I know He would give me the strength I need. Please ask Jesus to help me embrace my cross as you did, in atonement for my sins and in reparation for the sins of others. God made this cross just for me, I know. Ask Him to give me the graces I need to carry it with love, until I can lay it down at the gates of Heaven. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Six: Sacrifice (August 06) Opening Prayer “I will go unto the altar of God. It is not myself and my tiny little affairs that matter here, but the great sacrifice of atonement. I surrender myself entirely to Your divine will, O Lord. Make my heart grow greater and wider, out of itself into the Divine Life.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St Teresa, you once wrote, “I ask the Lord to accept my life and my death … so that the Lord will be accepted by His people and that His Kingdom may come in glory, for the salvation of Germany and the peace of the world.” Instead of bemoaning your horrible fate or complaining about the dire circumstances of the end of your life, you willingly poured out your life for your people, for those who killed you, and for peace in the world. St Teresa Benedicta, please ask your Heavenly Spouse to grant me the grace to offer up all the sacrifices I can throughout my life for the atonement of sins and the conversion of sinners, especially for those who hurt me directly. Make my entire life one of sacrifice, so I can offer everything up to God, Who gives me everything out of love. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Seven: Surrender (August 07) Opening Prayer “To be a child of God means to walk at the hand of God, to do God’s will, to put all worries and all hopes in God’s hands. . . . God in us, and we in Him, that is our portion in the divine realm for which the incarnation laid the foundation.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta St Teresa, as synagogues were burning and the Jewish people were being subjected to the most horrific of terrors, you wrote in your last Will and Testament, “Even now I accept the death that God has prepared for me in complete submission and with joy as being his most holy will for me.” As I think on the circumstances of your martyrdom, my mind reels. You accepted this death and offered it up with joyful trust and surrender. And I? I have a hard time dealing with even the smallest challenges in my life. Please pray for me that I would have the strength to look to my judgment and lift my mind and heart to heaven for the strength I need to walk through the darkness and lead others to do the same.  Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Eight: Longing for the Kingdom of God (August 08) Opening Prayer “The eyes of the Crucified look down on you—asking, probing. Will you make your covenant with the Crucified anew in all seriousness? What will you answer him? ‘Lord, where shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’”  —St. Teresa Benedicta Dearest St. Teresa, since the day Christ laid claim on your heart, you never desired anything more than to be with Him. Your detachment from all things of this Earth is truly inspirational, and clearly, a grace from your Heavenly Spouse. I long for this detachment, St. Teresa. I long to spend eternity in the Kingdom of God. Please ask Jesus to give me the grace to be untiring in my efforts to join Him in Heaven. I want to never give up, never give in as I strive to join you, my Guardian Angel, and all the saints, in Heaven, where I can sing His praises for eternity. Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be Day Nine: Selfless Love for Neighbor (August 09) Opening Prayer “Do you hear the groans of the wounded on the battlefields in the west and the east? You are not a physician and not a nurse and cannot bind up the wounds. You are enclosed in a cell and cannot get to them. Do you hear the anguish of the dying? You would like to be a priest and comfort them. Does the lament of the widows and orphans distress you? You would like to be an angel of mercy and help them. Look at the Crucified.”  —St. Teresa Benedicta Brave and selfless St Teresa, as you and your sister were arrested and taken from your beloved Carmel, you said to her, “Come, we are going for our people.” You gave so little thought to your own fate, but instead, thought of the valuable sacrifice you would be offering up for those who were about to kill you and millions more.  How can I love in the face of such hatred? How can I think so little of myself in such a time as this? I beg of you, dearest sister, to ask Jesus to give me the grace to be so giving, so selfless, so humble. The thought of it is inconceivable, but I know that nothing is impossible for God. Your life and conversion is proof of that.  Saint Teresa Benedicta, please pray for me and all my intentions. Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be