Happy Feast of the Holy Family

*JMJ* Today is the Feast of the Holy Family. As you know, my blog is dedicated to the Holy Family so I felt compelled to write in my blog today about this Feast day. I don't know if you have noticed, but I do begin each post with JMJ (Jesus, Mary, Joseph). Bishop Sheen use to begin his writings with that. I'm sure other holy people have done it but I haven't looked into that. I love Bishop Sheen by the way and I to hope for him to become a saint, soon. I've always had a strong devotion to the Holy Family since I became Catholic. Perhaps because I'm a Catholic mother and wife. I'm also a stay at home mom. I love my family and their happiness means everything to me. Our families are considered "little churches" in the Catholic faith. I have a Holy Family statue in my home where it is easily visible to me to see it everyday. My parents were also divorced and it completely destroyed my family. There is no good that comes from a divorce. And Satan will do his darnedest to destroy families, and especially Catholic families. I seen a bishop on EWTN. He said that he performed and exorcism once and that Satan spoke to him. Supposedly he said, "I am the Christ killer! And WHEREVER Christ is, I will try to kill Him!" When I heard that, I was like, "Come on! Bring it on! Show me what you got! If your going to try and destroy MY family, your going to have a fight!" I was a fairly new Catholic and very feisty and full of energy! And I felt like I had the strength to back it up, meaning the sacraments and but who else? Who would fight for us? Our heavenly mother, Mother Mary. I heard all you have to do is mention Mary on your lips and the enemy will flee because he can't stand the Blessed Virgin Mary. It hurts me to have to write that. All we need to do, is just ask for her help and protection and there she comes to aid us miserable sinners. Well folks, I try and make Christ the center of my family. Will the devil try to destroy my family? You bet he is doing everything in his power. Will he prevail? That is why I stay close to Jesus and Mary and Joseph and the sacraments. I pray that the Holy Family will watch over my family and ALL families! Like that saying goes. The family that prays together, stays together. So we all need to be diligent in watching and caring for our families because the devil is lurking to destroy ALL families. Because it reminds the devil of the Holy Family. The devil will look for the slightest weakness in an individual and just go for it. He will do whatever it takes to destroy that family. I have seen strong Catholic families destroyed and unravel in my lifetime. We all know, that 50% of marriages fail within three years of their marriage. It's so unusual for people to be married for 40 or 50 years anymore. Do I have an easy answer? No. But I think we can all agree that we need to guard our families and make our families our first priority. I seen this prayer on EWTN once. I love this prayer and I thought it was fitting for this post. Just a little note.Saint Anne is the Blessed Virgin Mother's, mother. Saint Anne, Bless My Family My family is the heart of my life. It is my little church. Saint Anne, guard the members of my family against all physical and spiritual danger. You lived in the presence of your husband Joachim and your little daughter Mary. Later, you welcomed your son-in-law, Saint Joseph, and above all your beloved grandson Jesus, our Savior. May your family inspire our families. May we remain united in a deep mutual love. If my family is broken by separation or divorce, remain for us the Saint of tenderness and lead us to God. Saint Anne, you were a spouse , a mother and a grandmother; bless all the members of my family. Keep us faithful to the Lord. May we remain attentive to the needs of other families. Protect all families. Amen *I'm not sure of the author to this prayer.