"Stay with me, Lord" Prayer of St. Pio of Pietrelcina after Holy Communion

Stay with me, Lord, for it is necessary to have
You present so that I do not forget You.
You know how easily I abandon You.

Stay with me, Lord, because I am weak
and I need Your strength,
that I may not fall so often.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my life,
and without You, I am without fervor.

Stay with me, Lord, for You are my light,
and without You, I am in darkness.

Stay with me, Lord, to show me Your will.

Stay with me, Lord, so that I hear Your voice
and follow You.

Stay with me, Lord, for I desire to love You
very much, and always be in Your company.

Stay with me, Lord, if You wish me to be faithful to You.

Stay with me, Lord, for as poor as my soul is,
I want it to be a place of consolation for You, a nest of love.

Stay with me, Jesus, for it is getting late and the day is coming to a close, and life passes;
death, judgment, eternity approaches. It is necessary to renew my strength,
so that I will not stop along the way and for that, I need You.
It is getting late and death approaches,
I fear the darkness, the temptations, the dryness, the cross, the sorrows.
O how I need You, my Jesus, in this night of exile!

Stay with me tonight, Jesus, in life with all its dangers. I need You.

Let me recognize You as Your disciples did at the breaking of the bread,
so that the Eucharistic Communion be the Light which disperses the darkness,
the force which sustains me, the unique joy of my heart.

Stay with me, Lord, because at the hour of my death, I want to remain united to You,
if not by communion, at least by grace and love.

Stay with me, Jesus, I do not ask for divine consolation, because I do not merit it,
but the gift of Your Presence, oh yes, I ask this of You!

Stay with me, Lord, for it is You alone I look for, Your Love, Your Grace, Your Will, Your Heart,
Your Spirit, because I love You and ask no other reward but to love You more and more.

With a firm love, I will love You with all my heart while on earth
and continue to love You perfectly during all eternity. Amen.

Padre Pio.

Our Patrons Saints - 3

St. Matthew

The name Matthew is derived from the Hebrew Mattija, being shortened to Mattai in post-Biblical Hebrew. In Greek it is sometimes spelled Maththaios, BD, and sometimes Matthaios, CEKL, but grammarians do not agree as to which of the two spellings is the original.
Matthew was a Jew who worked for the occupying Roman forces, collecting taxes from other Jews. The Romans were not scrupulous about what the "tax farmers" got for themselves. Hence the latter, known as "publicans," were generally hated as traitors by their fellow Jews. The Pharisees lumped them with "sinners" (see Matthew 9:11-13). So it was shocking to them to hear Jesus call such a man to be one of his intimate followers.
Matthew got Jesus in further trouble by having a sort of going-away party at his house. The Gospel tells us that "many" tax collectors and "those known as sinners" came to the dinner. The Pharisees were still more badly shocked. What business did the supposedly great teacher have associating with such immoral people? Jesus' answer was, "Those who are well do not need a physician, but the sick do. Go and learn the meaning of the words, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' I did not come to call the righteous but sinners" (Matthew 9:12b-13). Jesus is not setting aside ritual and worship; he is saying that loving others is even more important.

No other particular incidents about Matthew are found in the New Testament.
Patron Saint of: accountants, bankers, bookkeepers, tax collectors

St. Maximilian Kolbe

Maximilian Kolbe was born of a poor family in 1894 in Zdunska Wola which is near Lodz, Poland. His parents' solid religious foundation led Maximilian to join the Franciscans at the age of 6 and was ordained a priest in Rome in 1919 at the age of 25. A struggle with tuberculosis forced him to return home where he instructed others in the faith. Maximilian was a highly respected mathematician, scientist and journalist. While in Poland, he published a Christian periodical which eventually became headquartered out of a newly established friary in Niepokalanow, Poland.
“I don’t know what’s going to become of you!” How many parents have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s reaction was, “I prayed very hard to Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared, holding in her hands two crowns, one white, one red. She asked if I would like to have them—one was for purity, the other for martyrdom. I said, ‘I choose both.’ She smiled and disappeared.” After that he was not the same.

Our Patrons Saints - 2

 

St. Sebastian

St. Sebastian is most commonly depicted tied to a post and shot with arrows. He was rescued and healed before being clubbed to death by the Romans around 290 A.D. Not surprisingly, he is the patron saint of archers, fletchers and people seeking relief from pain and suffering. He became tremendously popular during the Middle Ages for protecting the devoted against the plague.

St. Anthony of Padua

St. Anthony of Padua was born into a noble Portuguese family and traveled to Italy, where his gifted preaching became famous. This Franciscan was the patron of all lost causes, people and articles. He was canonized only a year after his death in 1231, a process that usually can take hundreds of years.

St. Lucy

St. Lucy distributed her inherited wealth to the poor. She is often depicted with eyeballs on a plate because according to legend, her eyes were plucked out during the persecutions of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. She is the patron saint of vision and the blind. In December, her birthday is celebrated in Scandinavia with singing and candles. Her name means “light.”

St. George

St. George was born circa 201 in Lod, Israel. Emperor Diocletian executed St. George circa April 23, 303 in Nicomedia, Turkey, for protesting Diocletian’s persecution of Christians. Circa 322, he was written about by Eusebius of Caesarea. He was made know to England by Arculpus and Adamnan in the early 700s. He was made patron saint of England in 1098, after appearing to soldiers at the Battle of Antioch.
St. George is the patron saint of England and several football/soccer teams. He is also associated with battling a dragon. Martyred by the Romans in the late 3rd century, the saint’s legends bear a remarkable resemblance to classical Greek mythology.

 

St. Kateri Tekakwitha

  Saint Kateri Tekakwitha (1656-1680) is honored as the Patron of people who love nature, work in ecology, and work to preserve the natural and human environments.  She is the first Native North American saint. 

    Kateri's baptismal name is Catherine, which in the Iroquois languages is Kateri.  Kateri's Iroquois name can be translated as, "One who places things in order."1 or “To put all into place.”2  Other translations include, "she pushes with her hands" and "who walks groping for her way" (because of her faulty eyesight).
    Kateri was born at Ossernenon, which today is near Auriesville, New York, USA.  Kateri's father was a Kanienkehaka (Kanien’kehá:ka or Mohawk) chief and her mother was a Catholic Algonquin. 

    At the age of four, smallpox attacked Kateri's village, taking the lives of her parents and baby brother, and leaving Kateri an orphan.  Although forever weakened, scarred, and partially blind, Tekakwitha survived. The brightness of the sun blinded her and she would feel her way around as she walked.  

   

Our Patron Saints - 1

 

St. Cecilia

St. Cecilia is the patron saint of musicians, often depicted with a violin or other instrument. She was martyred for her Christian beliefs by Roman soldiers over a three-day period in Sicily, during which she sang to God.

St. Luke

St. Luke is one of the four evangelists and the patron saint of physicians, surgeons, artists and butchers. He is symbolized by an ox, and is believed by some to have painted the first icon. Holy relics of St. Luke lie in Italy and Greece.

St. Christopher

It’s believed that a king tempted St. Christopher with women and riches to convert away from Christianity without success. Today the saint is known not only as the patron of travelers, but also as a figure who was reduced in holy stature by a modern pope—similar to how Pluto is no longer a planet.

St. Nicholas

Known as “The Wonder-Worker,” this historic Greek figure was born in modern-day Turkey and is the patron saint of children, sailors and sea merchants. He is also associated with secret gift-giving because he provided the dowry for three poor sisters.

St. Catherine

St. Catherine is the patron saint of unmarried girls, spinners and potters. Under the orders of a Roman emperor, she was beaten, imprisoned and then tortured on a large spiked wheel, known as a “breaking wheel,” before being decapitated. A type of fireworks, the Catherine wheel, is named after her.

St. Brigid

St. Brigid is one of Ireland’s patron saints, known to be erudite and wise. She ran a large religious order, and her symbols are the eternal lamp of learning and a woven reed cross. Cultural anthropologists link her to pre-Christian practices in Ireland. She is thought to protect children with abusive fathers and watch over dairy maids and cooks.