MARIAN PRAYER OF OFFERING FOR A PLENARY INDULGENCE by Joe Castorino

O Lord of Love,

Through your holy grace,

I am free from all attachment to sin,

And free from all affection for sin,

And so, with a sincere heart,

I offer you this Our Father

And also this Hail Mary,

For the Holy Father’s intentions…

And along with these prayers,

Please accept my recent confession,

And this morning’s indulgenced work, 

And reception of Holy Communion.

In short, I humbly request that 

Through the sweet hands of

Our Lady of Love,

You accept the little gift of

This plenary indulgence,

Offered for the benefit of _____.


Amen.

THE DOVE OF DIVINE MERCY by Joe Castorino

The Holy Spirit,

The Light of the Universe,

Travels at the speed of eternity,

And when He passes through

The Sacred Heart of Jesus,

The Dove of Divine Mercy is

Transfigured into dazzling rays

Of red and white that pierce

My soul and energize it with

The Holy Lightning of Love.

THE OCEAN OF DIVINE MERCY by Joe Castorino

I hesitantly open the door

of the confessional and

to my utter surprise

I see a beach before me:

as I approach the waters

of gentle aquamarine,

my hot feet, crusty

and blackened with

guilt, are cleansed by

Jesus’ holy hands;

He leads me into the ocean,

whose welcoming waves

of delightful divine mercy

kiss and caress my soul,

cooling and refreshing me,

and peace and joy

rush through me, and

as love ripples and rhymes,

sweetening my soul,

I am born again.

THE CHALICE OF DIVINE MERCY by Joe Castorino

When I scourge you with my sins

But then ask you for forgiveness,

Your most treasured blood

Trickles like tears into my heart;

When my thorny sins crown you,

But then I tell you that I’m sorry,

Drops of your royal red blood

Sink soothingly into my spirit;

I fail you again and again and again,

Yet when I sincerely surrender

My whole heart and soul to you,

My lance of repentance pierces you,

And your beautiful blood spills

In terrific torrents into your

Chalice of Divine Mercy,

And my thirsty soul drinks in the

Sweet new wine of the Spirit.

DIVINE MERCY: ENLIGHTENED BY THE HOLY EUCHARIST by Joe Castorino

I stagger and stumble        

and struggle through life,    

my brain twisted into knots    

by perplexing problems,         

by a delirium of doubts,    

by a flurry of fickle fears;    

so Our Lady of Love            

takes me by the hand        

and gently leads me to        

The Divine Mercy,        

where He is enthroned in His        

regal monstrance of gold,    

and I pour out my heart    

before His Holy Majesty;    

from His Most Precious Body    

two beams of bright light,    

both red and white,        

burn through the darkness,    

illuminating my mind,        

and the Truth has set me free.

PRAYER IN THE DARK NIGHT OF TEMPTATION by Joe Castorino

A Reflection on Saintly Wisdom

Come to me, for I am gentle and humble of heart;

Patience is the companion of wisdom;

When Our Blessed Lord came to this earth,

He had the divine sense of humor;

True joy is Divine Mercy in the dark night;

Be courageous, and do not fear apparent obstacles,

But fix your gaze on The Passion;

Approach this Sea of Mercy with great trust:

Jesus, I trust in You!

SURRENDERING TO DIVINE MERCY by Joe Castorino

When I wave the white flag

in the serene surrender of prayer,

I allow the water of my soul

to be poured freely into

His chalice of gold;

there I am baptized by Love

and born again,

transformed by the Transfigured,

changed forever by the sweet

new wine of the Spirit.

THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT by Joe Castorino

Our fruit is very sweet,

And He is very happy,

When we remain attached

To the one true Vine.

Joy warms us with light,

Peace conquers fear,

Patience stops time,

Kindness multiplies smiles.

Generosity feeds the world,

Faithfulness makes us a Church,

Gentleness purifies the heart,

Self-control shuts out darkness.

But Love, yes Love, wondrously

Binds them all together into

Majestic harmony as our souls

Drink of the Lord’s Divine Mercy.

THE SACRED HEART by Joe Castorino

As the Sacred Heart

Beats with thrills of joy,

The new wine of Divine Love

Sweetly surges through the

Thirsty Body of Christ,

Bringing the refreshment

Of the Holy Spirit,

And the gentle mercy

Of our Heavenly Father;

With compassion, Jesus says,

“Let every beat of my heart today

Be an act of love for you.”

THE HOLY SPIRIT by Joe Castorino

You, the holy fire

That purifies my soul,

The Holy Dove of

Divine Mercy,

Spiral downwards

And inflame my

Innermost being,

Burning away 

All affection for sin,

Freeing the wings

Of my heart so that

I can spiral upwards

With you to Heaven,

And find union with

Divine Love.

JESUS, THE KING OF THE UNIVERSE by Joe Castorino

I turn around and before me you stand,

  one whose robe is dazzlingly white,

On your head is a glistening gold crown,

  set with gemstones radiant and bright;

With great love, you bestow your peace upon me,

  through your wonderfully warm brown eyes,

Your merciful smile cheers my heart,

  so that my soul can most sweetly arise;

In the joyful breeze of the Holy Spirit,

  your flowing hair so very gently swirls,

In my heart I totally surrender to you,

  and for you this is a treasure of pearls.

OUR FATHER by Joe Castorino

Our Father’s eyes are upon us,

And we are gently caressed

By His compassionate gaze;

He speaks with a voice sublime,

Words of hope and encouragement,

Urging us to remain in Divine Mercy;

He knows everything about us,

The good, the bad, the ugly,

And yet, remarkably, He still loves us;

Then, we humbly approach Him,

Like the repentant prodigal son,

Wearing the tattered rags of sin:

He joyfully embraces and kisses us,

And, to our amazement, we are

Forgiven, and we are born again.

PRAYER BEFORE MASS by Joe Castorino

A Marian Prayer of Divine Mercy


Tuus totus ego sum,

Et omni mea tua sunt,

I am all yours, O my Jesus,

And all that I have is yours,

Through Santa Maria,

Your most holy mother;

Holy God,

Holy Mighty One,

Holy Immortal One,

Have mercy on us,

And on the whole world:

Jesus, I trust in You!

DIVINE MERCY PRAYER AFTER HOLY COMMUNION by Joe Castorino

Thanksgiving for the Fruit of the Spirit

Dearest Jesus,

King of Divine Mercy,

I pray for myself, for my family,

For my faith community, for the world;

Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One,

Have mercy on us, and on the whole world;

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your love,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your joy,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your peace,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your patience,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your kindness,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your generosity,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your faithfulness,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your gentleness,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your self-control,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your divine wisdom,

Thank you Jesus, for the gift of your divine mercy;

Jesus, I trust in You!

MARIAN PRAYER OF OFFERING FOR A PLENARY INDULGENCE by Joe Castorino

O Lord of Love,

Through your holy grace,

I am free from all attachment to sin,

And free from all affection for sin,

And so, with a sincere heart,

I offer you this Our Father

And also this Hail Mary,

For the Holy Father’s intentions…

And along with these prayers,

Please accept my recent confession,

And this morning’s indulgenced work, 

And reception of Holy Communion.

In short, I humbly request that 

Through the hands of Our Lady,

The Queen of All Hearts,

You accept the little gift of

This plenary indulgence,

Offered for the benefit of _____.


Amen.


MADAME LA GUILLOTINE by Joe Castorino

Her mouth opens wide

  from a nasty frown,

Then as the rope flies up,

  her teeth speed down;

Through bloody gossip

  she lops off man’s head,

Thus his reputation is now

   totally dead.

A LITTLE CHILD by Joe Castorino

Being humbled

Cuts me down

To my true height,

The height of

A little child,

A child of God,

Who looks up

To His Daddy;

I am lifted high,

In His gentle

And powerful

Holy hands --

For nothing

Will be impossible

For Abba!

THE GOLFER by Joe Castorino

Every single day he’s at the first tee,

Swinging madly, the ball hits a big tree;

For five long hours he rips up the turf,

He treats his caddie as if he’s a serf;

Hooking and slicing all over the place,

A swinging corkscrew without any grace;

He wastes yet another day with his clubs,

Nothing but frustration with all his flubs;

All of this wouldn’t really be so bad,

But his son needs quality time with his dad.

TRAVELING AT THE SPEED OF FEAR by Joe Castorino

the-godless-fear-

the-dangerous-and-

dreadful-death-spiral,-

the-dantean-inferno-

of-chilling-chain-reactions,-

of-technological-terrors,-

of-atomic-annihilation,-

plunging-us-deeper-

and-deeper-and-deeper-

down-down-down-into-

the-turbulent-tornado-

of-tomorrow.