Prayer Partners

August 2018

Dear Prayer Partner,
Welcome to August. May you have a most blessed solemnity of the Assumption. Be assured of our prayers during this month, and beyond, for all your intentions. We thank you daily for you lighting the fire of the Holy Spirit for our challenging work in Russia, and the hope we have with your prayers accompanying us. The Sisters, together with 11 FOCUS members, hosted two summer camps: one camp for children in the city of Lesozavodsk and one at our convent on Russian Island. They are now assisting the Far Eastern Russia Young Adult Conference in Khabarovsk.
Gratefully,
Mother Julia

1. On August 3-5, the 19th Annual Midwest Catholic Family Conference will be hosted in Wichita, Kansas. This is an inspiring event that helps to ignite the faith in people of all ages. In addition to staffing our booth this year, the sisters will also be assisting with the Children's Program. Please pray for us that we may truly reflect Christ to everyone we encounter that weekend, and to anyone that God may be calling to join our community and our mission work.
2. Please join us in celebrating and thanking God for the fantastic news we received recently. His Excellency Kirill Klimovich, Bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Saint Joseph at Irkutsk, has granted his approval for Brother Nikita of our brother community (Canons Regular of Jesus the Lord) to move forward towards priestly ordination. On August 19, Brother Nikita will be ordained to the transitional diaconate. Through the intercession of Our Lady of Vladivostok and the blood of countless martyrs, may God bring forth many more Russian vocations to the priesthood and consecrated religious life. Brother's ordination will be the second Russian ordination since the beginning of the diocese.
3. Also, more prayers of thanksgiving are most appropriate for the successful purchase of the last apartment in Dom Marii, and for a generous benefactor who has agreed to pay to renovate one of the apartments in Dom Marii to be a church. At present it will be the only Catholic church on Russian Island. It will mean that the Catholics attending the nearby university will be able to have Mass regularly and will also be more prepared to help us evangelize at the university. Students from many different countries attend the university.

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