You Missed Something Big (Maybe)
Volume XXVIII, Number 13
October 15, 2024
You Missed Something Big
Please forgive the long delay. At the end of this message, we will pray for the hurricane victims and for the upcoming election. My only comment on the latter is be at peace and keep praying the Daily Prayers to Save America.
Drat! Double Drat!The first drat is a partially good one: because so many of you ordered How to Pray books—along with nasty weather and printer delays—we ran out of 'em!
We ironed out the printing issues and now have a virtually unlimited amount in stock. Whew!
Praying BetterSecond drat is tragic. Due to the vagaries of the Interwebs, over sixteen thousand of you missed my crucial announcement for the worldwide release of our exciting new tool for evangelization:
Tag, You're It—for Millions
How to Pray is a big deal—for you and the countless people only you can influence through it.
There are almost ninety million—yes, that's 90,000,000—baptized Catholics in the U.S. and Canada alone, so it is no exaggeration that millions could benefit quickly.
distributing your first ones.
Remember, you are our advertising department!
Scroll to the BloodBelow I share another example of how brilliantly Saint Francis teaches living a minute-by-minute mystical life. And it involves a lot of actual human blood—mine!
Let's Bullet Point It!
In a nutshell, How to Pray by Saint Francis de Sales is the most popular, effective, and easy-to-use guide in the history of the world—because it works.
• #1 Catholic Bestseller (after The Bible)Taken from his classic Introduction to the Devout Life, for over four hundred years it has helped hundreds of millions of Catholics live every minute of every day in peaceful mystical union with Jesus.
• Skills and MethodsSaint Francis teaches simple all-day-long skills and methods. God's pure grace does the rest.
• Only 37 PagesIt teaches, in roughly half an hour, how saints are made. And saints change the world.
• Teach Your Children WellAny child over the age of reason can put its advice into practice. (And even if you're eighty-eight, it ain't too late.)
• Rapid Spiritual GrowthEspecially through the habit of making resolutions, Saint Francis promises "you will correct your faults quickly, whereas growth is slow and difficult when you rely on the feelings and desires of affections alone."
• Exorcist RecommendedIt's the introductory guide recommended by the world-renowned exorcist, Father Chad Ripperger, SMD.
• No New Devotions RequiredThe fantastic news is that you already pray—and everybody already wants to pray better. This little book will noticeably enhance your current devotions—especially the Rosary.
• Need More Motivation?I recently wrote one of my most personal (and well received) messages ever, I Know Your Biggest Problem. De Sales-style prayer is the only solution. But there's one surprising catch...
• Worth Doing BadlyAlmost none of us are very good when we first begin doing something. You don't have to be a saint to benefit from this book, and you don't have to be a saint to evangelize with it.
• Your Personal ApostolateGK Chesterton said it best, "Anything worth doing is worth doing badly." How to Pray can be your most impactful personal apostolate. All you have to do is give it away as a gift—just like I'm giving it to you.
My talented son Xavier composed the ingenious one-page reference guide found in the back of each copy. You can glance at it during your first few weeks until you have Saint Francis' methods down pat.
This one innovation has already been a tremendous help to me personally and many others.
Half a Cupful of My Own Blood
One of the handful of "all-day" practices Saint Francis teaches is called Good Thoughts. This is the simple mental habit of taking any occurrence and "turning" it into a spiritual lesson.
For example, I recently woke up to one of the worst nosebleeds of my life—well aware that it was the Feast of the Triumph of the Cross and the second anniversary of taking my first steps during our "impossible" Operation True Cross pilgrimage.
Blood was streaming out from my seven-times-broken-and-twice-surgically-reconstructed schnoz onto my beard, hands, arms, and jammies. It took almost 45 minutes to "shut off the faucet."
Watching my blood as it splattered all over my bathroom sink, I turned this minor ordeal into "good thoughts," and pondered all the blood Our Lord shed for us during his crowning, scourging, and crucifixion.
His blood triumphed over sin! His blood covers us! His Holy Cross was saturated with His precious blood, becoming worthy of adoration!
I was filled with gratitude for the humbling honor of carrying the relic of the same True Cross on foot during forty-five hundred miles with my fellow Cyrenes—and all the "Veronicas" joining us spiritually.
That morning, as I meditated on the Last Supper with tissue stuffed up my nostrils, I imagined sitting across the table as Jesus raised the chalice of his blood in front of me.
It was quite a start to a day—and a good day thanks to the anointed teacher, Saint Francis de Sales.
All of your days can be like that, whether your prayer is "dry" or not. All you need is an imagination (which everyone has)—and the simple set of skills contained in How to Pray.
I strongly recommend ordering two or three times as many as you think you can distribute—give the Holy Spirit a lot of leeway on this one, my friends.
No Pressure—Just Ask Our LadyOf course, you don't have to order nothin'. This might be difficult to believe, given the supernatural benefits of How to Pray, but the majority of readers have not ordered.
That's okay. Just ask the Mother of God to guide your decision.
It's $1 online or up to ten copies for free by mail. You lose absolutely nothing.
Even if you don't order, just praying for the grace of conversion for all the many people who will receive this long-hidden treasure from your fellow CatholiCity Citizens will be a priceless gift.
Lots of People Need Our PrayersThe days go by but hurricane victims all over the Southeast are still suffering and grieving. Let's offer today's prayer for them and all the relief workers. Let's also pray for God's will for the upcoming election.
Let us begin in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit...
Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary,
that never was it known
that anyone who fled to thy protection,
implored thy help,
or sought thy intercession,
was left unaided.
Inspired by this confidence we fly unto thee,
O Virgin of virgins, our Mother.
To thee do we come, before thee we stand,
sinful and sorrowful.
O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not our petitions,
but in thy mercy hear and answer us.
Amen.
Fear nothing. (I mean that!)
Everything is foreseen by God and directed to our greater good from all eternity.
Mary's Mantle protects America.
With Saint Teresa of Avila,
Bud Macfarlane, Founder
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