Prayer Partners

September 2018

Our hearts come to you full of gratitude for your prayers, a true labor of love. It is often said that nothing good comes without prayer. We have seen many good things come alive in our mission work, so we know you are hard at work.

Mother Julia and Sisters in Jesus the Lord

1. Please pray for the Adult Faith Formation Committee at Our Lady of Lourdes in Raytown as the parish resumes with its DVD faith development series after the summer break. These programs take place after the Sacred Heart devotions on Wednesday evenings. Please pray that many people will come to partake of such a wonderful opportunity to draw closer to God and enflame their hearts with His love. The first series of 6 DVD recordings that we will be presenting for the next six weeks are Bishop Barons' lectures entitled "Priest, Prophet, & King." If you have not had the opportunity to hear these talks, we highly recommend them. He brings out so clearly how the New Testament ties in with the Old Testament, and how they both together more fully explain Christ.
2. As summer draws to a close, please remember in your prayers the 70,000 students as they return to the university on Russian Island to resume their college courses. May the sisters, especially in the evenings when they host young adult meetings, help the students come to know and live the gifts of the Holy Spirit, never lose their faith, and be a Christ-like influence for their classmates.
3. The Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord have two of their priests living and working in Las Vegas, USA, with a third one to join them soon. Your precious prayers will help them to be granted a parish in that diocese where their three priests can live in community and serve the diocese.
4. Special prayers, please, for Deacon Nikita, newly ordained a transitional deacon on August 19 in Vladivostok. He is a brother in our brother community, the Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord, a native Russian who finished his studies for the priesthood in Poland, and has been eagerly awaiting for some time to be ordained.

We are most grateful to you!!! Your prayers were most fruitful during these past few months for the three summer camps that the sisters organized and held over a period of three weeks with the help of 11 FOCUS members who came from the US. After the camps were over, the sisters wrote saying that "all three camps were the best ever!"

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!

The sisters wrote "Today (August 19) was Br. Nikita's ordination to the deaconate!! A beautiful Mass, and Br. Nikita is so happy. He liked our music! And we were so excited that we had a perfect gift for him--a framed poster of St. Therese, with a quote about proclaiming the Gospel to all nations. We had framed it a year ago, planning to hang it where the students meet, but never did." Br. Nikita, now Deacon Nikita, taught many classes over the past two years for the young adult groups about the life and message of St. Therese.

Prayer to Our Suffering Savior For the Souls in Purgatory by St. Alphonsus Liguori

O most sweet Jesus, through the bloody sweat which Thou didst suffer in the Garden of Gethsemane, have mercy on these Blessed Souls. Have mercy on them, O Lord, Have mercy on them.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel scourging, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most painful crowning with thorns, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in carrying Thy cross to Calvary, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer during Thy most cruel crucifixion, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the pains which Thou didst suffer in Thy most bitter agony on the cross, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

O most sweet Jesus, through the immense pain Thou didst suffer in breathing forth Thy Blessed Soul, have mercy on them. Have mercy on them O Lord.

Prayer Partners: Please pray that young women who have a vocation to the missionary life will come, and that our community will develop according to God's plan.

Prayers to the Sacred Heart of Jesus for our mission work would be most appropriate.

Our community, Sisters in Jesus the Lord, is dedicated to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (1647-1690) who was a sister of the Visitation Order in France was responsible for spreading the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus throughout the Church. She said in one of her letters:

"It seems to me that our Lord's earnest desire to have his sacred heart honored in a special way is directed toward renewing the effects of redemption in our souls. For the sacred heart is an inexhaustible fountain and its sole desire is to pour itself out into the hearts of the humble so as to free them and prepare them to lead lives according to his good pleasure.

A prayer that we sisters say daily is the following:

Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – Have Mercy on us
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – Inflame our hearts with Your love
Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – Help us to make You known and loved by all