BLOSSSOM & FLORECER 2020

LEARN ABOUT YOUR VIRTUE BEAD BRACELET HERE

Let's all make a commitment to use our bracelet to help each other grow in virtue!

Growing in virtue is very, very important because it makes our souls fertile soil for the Holy Spirit to work more effectively in our lives. The more facility in virtue we possess, the more easily we will discern the Holy Spirit's promptings and the more promptly, and whole-heartedly we will respond:

This is where your bracelet comes in. Our Blossom Team made it for you with love and we prayed for you as we made it (all 320 of them :). Each bracelet consists of 11 beads and could be used in many different ways to grow in virtue (as you grow closer to Christ at the same time). Here are a few:

1. One decade rosary - There is a bead for the Our Father prayer and 10 beads for the Hail Mary prayers. You can use the medals or a knot for the Glory Be Prayer.

2. To assist in forming a specific virtue - on pages 47-50 of your retreat program there is information about "The Virtue Focused Year" and 6 different virtues (work on one per month) with suggestions on how to grow in them. As you complete each action suggested pull a bead towards the cross as in the pictures above.

3. A Novena of No's - You can offer this novena for someone in need of prayers or for a specific intention. Try to look for 9 ways to say no to yourself (this does not have to happen all in one day) and as each one happens pull a bead towards the cross and say something like, "Jesus, I offer this 'No' for..." . For example:

• No to the cookie I wanted to have;

• No the diet coke I wanted and will have a water instead;

• No to hitting my snooze button in the morning;

• No to complaining to my friend about something;

• No to leaving the dishes in the sink until tomorrow morning.

• No to stewing on a hurtful comment

• Etc.

4. A Novena of Yes’s - You can offer this novena for someone in need of prayers or for a specific intention. Try to look for 9 ways to say yes (this does not have to happen all in one day) and as each one happens pull a bead towards the cross and say something like, "Jesus, I offer this 'Yes' for..." . For example:

• Yes to the favor that someone has asked of me.

• Yes, to the dishes I see in the sink that need to be done

• Yes to a need that I see that I can fill (meal for someone, clean up a mess at work that I didn’t make, pick up garbage outside, etc.).

• Yes to getting up a little earlier to spend time in prayer.

• Etc.

5. A Novena of Kind Acts - offered for someone or for a specific intention. Try to look for 9 acts of love (this does not have to happen all in one day) and as each one happens pull a bead towards the cross and say, "Jesus, I offer this for...". For example:

• Pay for the driver behind me in the drive-through line

• Send flowers to someone anonymously

• Prepare a meal for someone in need

• Wipe off the wet sink in the public bathroom at church

• Etc.

6. Follow requests of Our Lady of Fatima & the Angel of Peace
To understand the messages of Our Lady of Fatima & the Angel of Peace we have to understand the following: When Jesus died on the cross, He did not take away suffering in this life; instead he entered into it & gave it meaning. He made our suffering redemptive when it is united with his suffering. Jesus is inviting us to help him rescue souls with our sacrifices and suffering: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, ‘Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me’” (Matthew 16:24; see also Colossians 1:24; Mark 10:38-39; 2 Corinthians 4:17).

Summer of 1916: While the three shepherd children (Lucia 9 years old, Francisco - 8 years old & Jacinta - 6 years old) were playing near Lucia’s house, suddenly the Angel of Peace appeared to them and asked: “What are you doing? Pray, pray very much! The Most Holy Hearts of Jesus & Mary have designs of mercy on you. Offer prayers and sacrifices constantly to the Most High God. The hearts of Jesus & Mary have a mission for you.”

Lucia asked the Angel: “How are we to make sacrifices?”

The Angel replied: “Make of everything you can a sacrifice, and offer it to God as an act of reparation for the sins by which He is offended, and in supplication for the conversion of sinners. You will thus draw down peace upon your country. I am its Angel Guardian, the Angel of Portugal. Above all, accept and bear with submission the suffering which the Lord will send you."

This message is for us today! What can you offer as a sacrifice? For starters,

• You can offer your daily duties according to your state in life (e.g. married, single, student, job, family, etc.). Do them with all the love, devotion, professionalism and diligence that you are capable of and offer them to God as a prayer for the intentions that the angel requested. Pull a bead for each one as in the pictures above.

• After that, you can offer what you:

• do not like

• did not choose and/or

• cannot change.

Accept each one with trust, pull a bead as in the pictures above, and offer it with love as a prayer of reparation & intercession for others.

7. Use it to count indulgences offered for the Holy Souls in Purgatory (my personal favorite). We have countless opportunities to gain indulgences for them each day and gaining them is a beautiful way to grow in virtue as you help your brothers in sisters in need. Learn more about indulgences here and The Manual of Indulgences here and The Handbook of Indulgences here