The new year and Christmas season are a time for self-illumination. If we pray, the Lord illuminates our souls. It is good to deeply evaluate ourselves each year, particularly before wandering into a new one.
It is a time when we make promises.
Purity of the spirit is the goal.
This can bring any miracle.
During Church-approved apparitions at Kibeho, in Rwanda, the dear Blessed Mother said, “All of you who are sick with incurable sicknesses, a good heart surpasses all; there are no riches that are beyond a clean heart.
“All of you who have had difficulties of all kinds; there are difficulties everywhere, in all walks of life. When they don’t go away, offer them to God.
“Every good Christian is requested to offer a sacrifice. All of you who have problems in your families; think of the Holy Family, who lived in such poverty, and who lived among those who didn’t like them nor understand them, and with the problems you have, come close to [the Holy Family]. All of you who have dedicated your lives to God, a life like that is not easy: the most important thing is to be faithful to your promises.”
Although it is a time of year in which we make New Year’s resolutions, and think of the Joyful Mysteries, it is always, each day, of every year, a time to recall the Sorrowful Ones — for it is in praying the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of the Virgin Mary (it was said at Kibeho) that we maintain joy — and can achieve self-illumination.
“During her visitations to Kibeho, the Holy Virgin revealed that this Rosary possesses immense spiritual power for those who say it sincerely,” wrote Immaculée Ilibagiza, a Rwandan woman whose mission it is to promote Kibeho and the Rosary. “She promised that when prayed with an open and repentant heart, the Rosary would win us the Lord’s forgiveness for our sins and free our souls from guilt and remorse.
“She also promised that over time, the Rosary would develop within us a deep understanding of why we sin, and that this knowledge would give us the wisdom and strength to change or remove any internal flaws, weaknesses of character, or personality faults causing unhappiness and keeping us from the joyous life God intended for us to live.”
[Prayer: Lord Jesus, please send the Holy Spirit to illuminate my soul, to shine Your Light of examination into and onto my innermost being, revealing all hidden darkness and imperfection, as well as the overt darkness of sin; to show me practices and thought patterns that need to be cleansed, forgiveness I need to exercise, love I need to feel and send. And please, Holy Spirit, cleanse and erase all deepest within me that hinders my progress toward direct entry into Heaven. Let the New Year begin with a clean spirit maintained in me through 2018. In Jesus Name with the prayers of the Blessed Mother and Saint Joseph, AMEN!]
[resources: Michael Brown retreats, Florida and Louisiana]
[see also (highly recommended): Our Lady of Kibeho and Devotion to the Sorrowful Mother]
