Lord, how is it that I can help to save souls but have trouble saving my own soul? I always pray that I can become a saint but I constantly fail. I don’t feel Your Love and I dont understand why. Lord, You know that I love You and in time of temptations it seems like You forget about me. I feek so lonely and in despair. I want to be a saint but it seems like everyone is against me including You. Where must I turn? I know the evil one is longing for my soul but I will not let him have it. I pray that I can feel Your Love. I Love You God! Please don’t abandon me even when I fall into sin. I pray for a happy death and I really want to see You along with Mary and Savio in Heaven.
I miss MLR so much and I met some amazing people. It is hard to live the fourth day because people don’t always understand. I’m going to try as hard as possible to be a saint. I was reading Scripture this morning and I came across something that I think applies to my life. “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.” (John 15: 18-19) Lord, I know that I will not always be accepted by others when spreading the Gospel. It can be difficult at times for me to stay focused on serving You alone. I can become selfish and talk about Your love but not trully live it out. I ask for the grace to live a holy life dedicated fully to You. I need not worry about anything in this world but your Love. I read in Michael Magone’s biography that hestarted to cry while looking at the moon. I understand why now. When I look at my life, I see all those times where I chose to sin rather than live in Your love. The moon always does your will and always lives in Your Love. Yet, You made me in Your image and I sometimes choose sin over death. Lord, grant me the grace to choose death before falling into sin. I love You with my whole heart, mind, body, and soul. As I write this, I do not want to stop because You console me so much. I will live the fourth day despite it being tough. With temptation, there is more graces to be found.
Lord,
I love You with my whole heart, mind, body, and soul. I recently just finished Preparation for Death by St. Alphonsus and it has changed my life. Life is fragile and we should always be ready for death at any time. “The life of man is like the life of a blade of grass. According to St Alphonsus, ”Death comes, the grass withersm and behold life ends, and the flower falld of all greatness and all worldly goods.” This means that we as Christians should lay down our lives like Christ did for us and show more love for God rather than material objects. “Unhappy he who lies down on his bed under the displeasure of God, and from thence passes into eternity.” How I long to be a saint! I cannot wait to praise God in heaven. I am sorry God for all those nights I fell asleep in sin and I thank You for allowing me to live another day to ammend my life to do Your will. The Devil hates when we avoid sin. He presents us with dilusions. The first dilusion is that he tells us that we can confess our sins after we have fallen. Next, he makes us believe that we do not have the strength to avoid temptations. Thirdly, the devil tells us that God is all merciful and that he will keep forgiving us. What if we die at the moment after sin. How many souls are doomed to hell because of these dilusion. Finally, the fourth delusion is that God will not punish us. The pains of hell are terrible. I recall reading that once a boy told Michael Magone that he did not care about hell. So Magone lit a match under his hand and said this pain is nothing compared to hell. The fires of hell serve no purpose except torment. They do not give off light like on this earth. The stench of hell is unbearable and those in hell have to bear the fact that they will be there for eternity. On the day of the sinner’s judgement, his guardian angels and the devil will turn against him. His pain will be more severe knowing that they had sinned before the Lord than in hell itself. I urge you reader to repent and join me on the path to Sainthood. Heaven is going to be great and we shall be joyful forever worshipping our Lord!
Friends,
Let us think of the words, give me souls and take away the rest. When I think of these words, I think of three beautiful souls. These souls are Dominic Savio, Mickey Magone, and Francis Besucco. These young men allowed God to guide them to sanctity and happy deaths. Dominic Savio was a boy who did not have the best of health or riches in a secular sense. He had the riches of a joyful soul who strived for holiness. God calls us to carry our crosses and to follow him. Dominic Savio literally took his cross and carried it. One day in the playground, two boys were so angry and wanted to throw stones at one another. Savio stood in the middle knowing that these boys were older, bigger, and dangerous. He pulled his crucifix out of his pocket and said to them, throw stones at me. This boy had such a remarkable love for Christ and the Virgin Mary. At his deathbed, he continued to love God even though he could have been angered by how short he had to live. He continued to praise God and his last breath was “I see such a beautiful light.” He whole life was consumed by Christ. Another boy worthy of mentioning is Mickey Magone. He was a gangster in the streets of Italy. One day Don Bosco met up with him at a train station and asked him to come to the oratory. He did so and changed his life around for the better. One day, Mickey was talking to his friends about the pains of hell. One of his friends said who cares about hell. Then, Mickey lit a fire under his hand and said if you think that hurts just imagine being submerged into the eternal flames of hell. He knew of the reward of eternal life with our Savior. Another boy who lived a life for the Lord alone was Francis Besucco. He was a shepherd boy who tried his best in the eyes of the Lord. He knew of the fires of hell. He said, Our Lord says that we can only gain paradise by innocence or by penance. I can’t go there through innocence because i’ve already lost. Therefore, I have to go through penance.”
At the hour death, we will not be judged on how much money we have or how many girls we can get. We will be judged on how we help one another. If we feed the hungry and clothe the naked. Brothers, we need to stay pure and holy. I know that many of us struggle with purity. I know that at least I do. Let us keep our minds ready to learn about God. Let us keep our hands to serve Him. Let us keep our eyes pure to see Our Mother and Christ in glory. What a beautiful sight it is. Let us keep our feet on the path of righteousness. We do not know when we will die. It could be a year from now, a month, a day, or even a moment from now. Let us be ready at all times. It will not be easy. The world hates Christ because He is not of it. The world loves its own. God calls us to not be part of the world. They will persecute and abandon us but the Lord loves us and we too can share in eternal life just as Savio, Magone, and Besucco do. We need to pray for one another. We need to love one another. It is not enough to love but we need to make sure that others know we love them. Sin bounds us as slaves to the devil but when we are free from sin, we are free to love and serve the Lord. This is true freedom my friends. Let us avoid bad companions and focus on the task at hand. The Lord loves us and wants us to save our souls. The great St. Philip Neri said.“The most insane thing in the whole world was not to want to be a saint. Sanity is to take every means to achieve sanctity and be pleasing to God. When we think of the infinite reward God will give us for that – it is sheer insanity to do the opposite!” The devil will make us think we are not worthy but let us stay close to the Sacraments of Confession and Communion. Brothers, the path of sanctity is beautiful. So let us be cheerful, stay close to the Sacraments, make Jesus and Mary our closest friends, and remember death before sin. If we live this way, death will be beautiful as we await eternal life with the Saints who are worthy to praise God forever and ever.
Lately, things have been not going well in my life. There are so many crosses i am bearing but they are nothing compared to what Christ dealt with. I am filled with anxiety and I need all the prayers that I can get. Through suffering I will become closer to Christ. I just wish things were going right. I really want to be a Saint but there is so much distraction around me. I wish I had more support from friends and family. I try so hard to share the love of Christ with others but they disregard it. I try and try again but people don’t care and it makes me upset. I just finished reading 15 Days of Prayer with Don Bosco and it talked about the way to happiness. I long for true happiness as Savio, Magone, and Besucco did. I want to follow in their footsteps. True happiness is in Christ Jesus and I want to lose my life for Him. I am deeply discerning my vocation over this Christmas break. I want to save souls. I feel God is calling me to this. If I can succeed in saving only a single soul, I can be sure that my own will be saved. -Saint Dominic Savio. I feel God calling me to the religious life deep in my heart. I feel called to Don Bosco’s mission. I thought I was called to be a diocesan priest but I think God has other plans for me. I want to sing God’s praise in Heaven with Savio. I want to see Christ. I long for the day that I see Christ but in order to do this I need to follow the plan that God has for me. I was reading the Gospel of John and I really realized that Christ calls us by name to follow Him. I acknowledge that Christ has done so much for me already. Before going to a Salesian school, my soul was dead and now I live in Christ. I need more grace from God in order to be closer to Him. Lord, please pour more grace down upon me. I beg you to because I love you and I want to reach holiness as Dominic Savio did. Savio please walk with me on my road to eternal life. Help me along the way because I want to become a Saint. I want to serve and praise God in Heaven forever. I want to devote my whole self to Him in all I do.
Lord I want to be like You
You are my Lord Forever
I want to be happy
I want to be Holy
But I find these things in You
I hate sin
Please take my life before sinning
I rather be dead Father
Bad habits are holding me back
I can’t put other things before you
You are all I need Lord
Lord I want to save my soul
Nothing else really matters in the end but being with you
I’m sorry for arguing with my friends
Lord I will go to confession as soon as possible
My soul is at stake
Have mercy on me and let me live in your word
I don’t want to live in sin
Mother in Heaven take me by the hand
Hold me tightly
As I draw close to sin pull me by my collar and pray for my death
I don’t want to hurt God
Mother I can’t express any more love for you then write this
My eyes tear because I’m in love with Christ
Dominic please intercede for me
I beg you brother for you will lead me to Christ
I can’t ask for any better friends than you Jesus and Mary
Christ you gave your life for me so that I may be saved
Use me to be a light unto the world
I will lose my life for you
I pray for a happy death
This is what I worry about since I will not know the hour
Mother, at my death please lead me to the gates of heaven
I want to sing God’s Name forever in heaven
I want to worship Him forever
I want to serve Him forever
Let me lead a pure life
Let me be obedient
Let me be chairtable
Let me love
Let me be cheerful
Let me be worthy to cast my eyes upon You and our Mother
Give me temperance please Father I beg you
I want You
I need You
You are like a sponge who wipes my soul clean
You are a Good Shepherd who leads me
You are a Father who will take care of me as a son
I pray that the Devil never touches my soul
He is not worthy to touch my soul because You have created it
Everything you create is good
I hate sin
I hate it!
Sin destroys life and my soul
Let me save my soul
Please!
Please!
Please!
You are all I want
I only need You
You are everything!
Praise God for all eternity
Praise Him above the earth
Praise Him on the earth
Praise Him below the earth
Every knee will bend for the King!
For He has conquered death on the cross
He has destroyed sin
He raised us to new Life
Mary Help of Christians pray for me
St. John Bosco pray for me
St. Dominic Savio pray for me
St.Thomas Aquinas pray for me
Let us all Pray to God Almighty for He has done great things for us
Amen.
Lately, i’ve been seriously pondering over my vocation. I’ve studied at Salesian High School for one year now and am currently a junior. I had a relationship but it only lasted for about a month. I feel called to the priesthood at the very least and I am considering the religious life. It may sound a little crazy but i don’t care. I had a dream last year and the Virgin Mary appeared to me. In my dream, I was walking through the halls of my school. The Virgin Mother appeared to me. A blue light was shinning behind her and she spoke to me. She said, “I need to be obedient and not to be like the other boys.” I feel the Blessed Mother wants me to be a priest. I would not be able to handle the diocesan life. I could not handle the idleness. St. John Bosco and St. Philip Neri said Idleness leads to sin. I feel a cloistered life would help me to save my soul. I would be constantly busy and there would be no time to sin. Mary Help of Christians pray for me.
In Christ,
Vinny
I can’t wait for the day to see my Lord! I can’t wait to see Mom and be with them forever. I can just imagine how happy I will be. Just imagine the smile on their faces. How awesome would it be to give Mom a hug and worship God forever. As i write this im becoming so happy. Just think of Heaven. Just think of the beauty and think about the Saints. I can’t to see Dominic Savio and John Bosco. Just let your mind wander for a bit. Just think of all the happiness you will have worshiping Him forever and ever. It blows my mind to think of the day I can see Mary. I love her so much…She will welcome you into the gates of Heaven …I wonder what Heaven is like. Just think of the brightness…the beauty….no flaws…perfect paradise. I can’t wait…I think about what Dominic Savio said when He saw such a beautiful light. I want to see that. i want to see Mom and Christ with pure eyes…The feast up there will be great…Just think…
Who can deny Her…Look how beautiful she is…Look how welcoming she is….Just look
And….
Just think about how great it will be to hug Christ….
Words just can’t stress this beautiful picture
I’ve been trying to pray three times a day. I’ve become devoted to my Mother and I love Mary so much. Mary grants me so many graces. I prayed to Mary for my job interview to go well and it did. I love Mom so much and I hope to grow in love for Her and Jesus!!!
In Christ,
Vinny
This year was definitely my best year in high school and maybe the best school year in general!
At the beginning if this year I did not know much about the Catholic faith but i’ve grown to love it.
I was raised Catholic but I truly realized how great the Church is.
I was not sure how I was going to do academically but my goal was to be ranked in the 10 in my class out of about 150 students.
This goal seemed outrageous but I strived to sucede with the help of Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John Bosco, and St. Dominic Savio
I took St. Dominic Savio and Don Bosco as my patron saints to follow and I wanted to sucede.
Ever since i felt called to the Priesthood I always wanted to further my education at a Pontifical University
I figure if I do my duties my well Mary will lead me there
So this morning I checked my gpa for the fourth quarter and it was 95.67 and I am so happy!
Then I check the rankings for my class and I’m number 10 out of 150.
Thanks to all of you who prayed for me during exams!
The Pope was right when he said, “Without prayer I am convinced that nothing is possible”(or something like that lol)
I hope this summer will be as successful as the academic year
I leave for my first retreat tonight and then I am working at a Salesian camp and then I am going on Gospel Roads (Can’t wait!!!!)
Please pray for me and I will be praying for you guys.
In Christ,
Vinny
