The month of December is dedicated to the Immaculate Conception.

We are now into the final stages of the Nine-Month Novena to Our Lady of Guadalupe, which finish on the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, on Dec. 12. It has been quite interesting and we believe it is good to continue the daily prayers.

His Eminence Cardinal Burke calls the faithful to join him in praying a nine-months novena seeking Mary’s intercession beginning on March 12 and culminating on the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Dec. 12. He asks for Our Lady of Guadalupe's maternal care and protection amid the forces of sin.

The traditional 40-days St. Martin Fast commenced on Nov. 12 and the St. Andrew- or the Advent Fast commence on Dec. 2. The advantage with the the 40-days St. Martin fast, is that you can use it as your preparation-period and when the Advent Fast commence, you are more ready and prepared. For us, The Advent/St Andrew Fast a bit more strickt than the first 20 days of the St. Martin Fast. 

We believe it is a wonderful way to make a sacrifice and offer our fasting leading up to Dec. 20, which is followed by four days of abstinence up to Christmas Eve. 

We commenced the 40-day St. Martin Fast in 2019, as a counter-attack to the Amazon synod. It was our only option as lay. It was also a good learning curve and it has taken some years to our way of fasting. It is a long-term committment . Failures occurs, of course, and tempations are there to lure us.

Here is our suggestion of how to structure your fasting period.  This is only our suggestion of how we do it.

The Fasts lead up to the Ember days which this year occur on Dec. 18, 20 and 21 - which is wonderful because we then can extend the abstinence from the Ember days to lead us on to abstinence up to Christmas Eve, which is supposed to be a day of (full) fast and abstinence. 

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'Step-by-Step Rosary soldiers of Christ in the service of our Lady'

In July 2024, we ended our 8½ years Step-by-Step Rosary R&D as we started a Rosary prayer group in summer of 2015. The actual work with the Step-by-Step Rosary commenced in 2016.

"Apparently", you become a Soldier of Christ at your Confirmation - which none of us knew about and it became one of the many steps in the production to implement. How can we defend our Faith, if we are not informed of what it actually means to be a Soldier of Christ. Do we have the material to actually function as a solder of Christ? 

What are the expectations? 

The Rosary is our only spiritual weapon.

It is not only for defence, but also for attack - to send your prayers deep down into enemy end-zone.

To keep them busy on their side, instead of hanging around on our turf.

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'Step-by-Step Rosary soldiers of Christ in the service of our Lady'

Are we ready to take our stand, dig our boots into the ground,

kneeling before God, with our Rosary in our hand,

in the trenches and say:

So be it!

Let it be!

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Here are the messages and reflections of Cardinal Burke.

Keep on praying the Rosary!

There will be false Christs and false prophets,

who will rise up and shew great signs and wonders,

so that if it were possible, even the elect would be deceived.

Matt 24:24

All images in this section, unless other stated, are ©CardinalBurke.

“For never will anyone who says his Rosary every day become a formal heretic or be led astray by the devil.

This is a statement that I would gladly sign with my blood.”

Twenty-fifth Rose,St. Louis de Montfort

"But there is no way of casting out such spirits as this except by prayer and fasting"

Matt 17:20

Our aim is to do four fasts per year, which are the following:

• 40-days St. Martin Fast.
• 40-days Lent.
• 20-days St. John the Baptist Fast.
• 14-days Assumption Fast. or 40-days St. Michael the Archangel Fast.

Sacred Heart of Christ, Josef von Fuerich, c. 1850.  ©The Art of Christianity Collection, inv. nr AP00014.

The family that prays together, stays together.

If a household do not have a "head of family", which is one man's obligation, who is actually the "head of family"?

Our signature "Step-by-Step Rosary" encompasses the traditional 15 mysteries, accompanied by historical Christian artworks depicting each scriptural scene. Religious art, language, and music are powerful tools in the battle against evil as they forge a connection between ourselves and God and serve as a constant reminder of the goodness in the world.

Our current Step-by-Step Rosary community offers the Rosary in eleven languages; English, Czech, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Polish, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Ukrainian.

Not all versions are online, as they may be under a final local touch to complete each Rosary.

Father Chad Ripperger had recently an interesting speech in the St. Patrick's Cathedral where he said that the top-exorcists in the USA estimate that about 25% of the adult population is diabolical obsessed. The diabolical oppression is also on the rise!

St. Patrick Cathedral was under a sacrilege attack (Feb 15, 2024) and the cathedral ought to be exorcised - just like many churches around the world.

All responsible bishop's need to wake up and to enter all their churches and slam their crosier's into the ground and chase demons away.

We, men and head of families, we need to make sure our houses and family members are protected. This is our duty as a man and as the thehead of the household. Make sure you have proper blessed gear; such as:

• Medals of your choice (St. Benedict and Miraculous medal is a good start ...). It may be a neclace, attached to your Rosary.
• Rosaries,
• Holy salt (pref. vigil of Epiphany) but salt can be exorcised and blessed all through the year. It is apparently stronger if it exorcised and blessed on the vigil of Epiphany due to January 5 being linked to the Baptism of Jesus.
• Holy water (pref. vigil of Epiphany). - see above.
• Blessed incence (myrrh or francincense, pref. Epiphany). - just like above, it can be blessed all year around but the three Magis came with gold, myrrh, and frankincense.
• Blessed candles. The candles should be blessed on Candlemas but can be blessed all year around. It should be beeswax but any candle works, as long as it is not electric or paraffin.

In 2020/2021, we started a project making sure that there was frankincense available to all who wanted. We try to make sure that as many as possible join on the Vigil of Epiphany (Jan 6) and Epiphany (Jan 7) and if they had no incense, they could purchase beforehand or were given (once it is blessed, no transaction can occur as the transaction breaks the blessing).

If you attend a traditional Latin Mass, you are fully aware that there is a difference between a TLM-priest blessing your Rosary and a Novus Ordo blessing.
This goes also with the medals attached to your Rosary, not to mention icons. .

The St. Benedict medal is exorcised and blessed. Each medal on your Rosary is blessed according to which medal is included as well as the Rosary is blessed by itself.

(We sponsor our local priest with myrrh and frankincense).

• Religious art helps us to visualize the stories of our faith and contemplate the mysteries of God.
• Sacred language enables us to connect with the traditions of our faith and engage in profound and meaningful prayer.
• Sacred music, as an integral part of the solemn liturgy, participates in its general purpose, which is the glory of God and the sanctification. It empowers our soul, and offer praise to God.

Gregorian chant, the only chant that the Catholic Church has inherited from the ancient fathers, is considered as the supreme model of sacred music. All are powerful weapons that can help you to overcome darkness.