Thank you, SgC for the daily reminders and the links. I'm curious about how much time everyone devotes to the daily meditations. Do you all set aside a certain length of time for the meditations or just think about them on and off throughout the day?
I set aside a certain time for it. Now that you mention it, I think what you suggest is very good. We should be pondering on it the whole day. +
I do them before bed and follow it with a Rosary. I find I am very very peaceful after this and have had a good night's sleep every night.
Thank you, SgC, and thanks to you and AED for sharing about how you do the meditations. I find that some days the meditations are more difficult than others but today's theme has me doing an extra examination of conscience. Last year was my second year to do the Consecration but my first following the St. Louis deMontfort method. I had never come across the Ave Maria Stellis before that and, like you, I took a real shine to it. It's one of my favourite prayers now.
Like you, Dolours, I’ve been prodded to make a thorough examination of conscience. In fact, I’ve just made a general confession today. Deo gratias! +
Brethren, we have successfully completed the first 12 days of the preparation Today we move on to Week 1. The prayers for this week are The Litany of the Holy Spirit, Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Litany of Loreto), and Ave Maris Stella Day 13 - Wednesday March 4 2020 https://youtu.be/4KZy2IEteHE +
Did you have to make a special appointment with the priest or did you just go at the usual time and hope that you wouldn't cause a backlog of people waiting for their turn?
Dolours, I made an appointment with the priest. That way, I could be sure of not feeling rushed because of a queue forming outside the confessional. As the priest said, thank God for this wonderful free gift to us. We normally have to pay a stipend for mass offerings, house blessings etc., but the Sacrament of Confession is absolutely free! Praise be to God! +
That's wonderful, but were you a bit self-conscious about making a special appointment? We've never given a stipend for having our house blessed. Maybe that's a custom peculiar to your Diocese? I hope so, otherwise the priest (now deceased) must have been annoyed with us although he didn't show it. May God rest his soul, he was a good priest, always gentle and gracious.
No, not at all. The priest knew that I would need more time than usual for a general confession, and he was very accommodating with regards the timing. He was wonderful during the confession, asking necessary questions and dispensing much needed advice. Jesus was definitely there in the confessional! That's interesting. Maybe others here from different parts of the world can tell us what it's like for them. (Edited to add: the stipend is not specified I think, but people usually give something for the priest's time and effort. It's common to offer a meal, too, if the priest is willing.) +
