St. Philomenas' Apostolate

Families of the Immaculata

The Catholic Church is in crisis, from the confusion and scandals at the top to the lack of faith in parishes. Families are also struggling in a world unfriendly to Catholic values. In times such as these the Church has historically called upon the intercession of our Blessed Mother.

In the 12th century the heretical doctrine of Albigensianism was sweeping across Europe. This doctrine taught that only the spiritual is good and that everything material is bad. Therefore, the body itself is evil and every person’s soul is imprisoned in an evil body. This even led some to commit suicide to escape the body. St. Dominic, was preaching against the heresy with little success until in 1208. While praying he asked God to provide what he needed in order to overcome the Albigensian heresy. After three days of prayer and fasting, three angels appeared in the sky along with a ball of fire. When they disappeared the Virgin Mary gave to St. Dominic the Rosary, telling him to preach the Rosary in order to overcome the Albigensians. The meditation on Christ’s incarnation, death and triumphant resurrection in the Rosary directly contradicted the heresy leading to its demise.

In the early 1940s during the Nazi occupation of Poland a man by the name of Jan Tyranowski formed prayer groups at his parish called the Living Rosary. These groups would be formed of 15 young men who would each be responsible for praying one decade of the Rosary each day, so that the full 15-decade Rosary would be prayed each day by the group. Out of these Living Rosary groups came 11 vocations to the priesthood including Karol Wojtyla, who would later become St. John Paul II and free Poland from communist rule.

It’s time again to ask for Mary’s intercession, to pull out one of our most trusted weapons, the Rosary. To encourage families to do so we are starting Families of the Immaculata. Families of the Immaculata is designed to bring families together under the mantle of our Blessed Mother. Families of the Immaculata has three levels of commitment to encourage families to pray the rosary and grow in their faith.

Level 1: Beginners (Blue)

• Pray one decade of the rosary together as a family every day
• Wear/carry a Miraculous Medal

Level 2: Devoted (Silver)

• Pray a Morning Offering
• Perform a Nightly Recollection
• Monthly Confession
• Monthly time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament

Level 3: Consecrated (Gold)

• Consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary
• Enroll in the brown scapular

Recommended events to help the families grow in their faith, grow as a community and recruit other families.

• Monthly Holy Hour with Confession followed by fellowship with the families and a brief talk by one of the priests to build the spiritual lives of the families.
• Beautiful rosary events and processions on Marian feast days throughout the year
• Potluck dinners to build community and recruit new families (optional spiritual talk, Q&A, discussion)

By joining us you place your family under the protection of our Blessed Mother. Jesus gave us His Mother as he hung on the cross. Let us go to her in this time of need.

St. Philomena and our Philomena, pray for our priests