Day 14 or 15 of the 33 Day Consecration to Mary - Saint Nicholas, Patron of Children

Today is day 14 or 15 of the 33 Day Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary, depending on whether you were ending on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. Happy Feast Day of Saint Nicholas! Saint Nicholas is known secularly as Santa Claus, the North Pole resident who delivers material gifts to those who were nice, instead of naughty. But the real Saint Nick was a Catholic priest and then a bishop. Bishops wore red in that time because they were often martyred for leading others to Christ. Think about that the next time you see Santa in his red suit. Saint Nicholas is a patron of children. He inherited a lot of money and he used to give it away in secret, taking to heart Jesus’ words that the Father would repay what was given without earthly praise. Saint Nicholas wrapped golden coins in socks and threw them into chimneys at night. This money helped poor girls get the dowries needed to eventually marry and not be sold into slavery. What a gift! Today, children still grow up in poverty. That might be a financial poverty with inadequate shelter, food or clothing. It might be a poverty of health. It might be an educational poverty. It might be a relational poverty with poor attachment, loneliness or the wrong examples. It might be a spiritual poverty with poor formation, misunderstandings or even the wrong spiritual practices. I have helped with many children’s ministries and was recently asked to pray for the Saint Louis confirmation retreat this weekend. And it has had me thinking about children and the ways a child could already be lost by this high school age. But the amazing thing is that God is always sending spiritual socks with spiritual coins! What was not seen or only partially tapped into back then can still be cashed in today! God is outside of time! I pray for children today and for us as children. The Lord wants to give us life in abundance - which may or may not lead to financial blessings, but will certainly lead to emotional and spiritual ones. Through the intercession of Saint Nicholas and Holy Mother, I pray graces will be unlocked, memories healed and better foundations set so we can live the rich life God wants for us. It’s never too late. Today we consecrate ourselves, our families, our nation and our Church. A Solemn Act of Consecration to the Immaculate Heart of Mary Most Holy Virgin Mary, tender Mother of men, to fulfill the desires of the Sacred Heart of Jesus and the request of the Vicar of Your Son on earth, we consecrate ourselves and our families to your Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, O Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and we recommend to You, all the people of our country and all the world. Please accept our consecration, dearest Mother, and use us as You wish to accomplish Your designs in the world. O Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary, and Queen of the World, rule over us, together with the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ, Our King. Save us from the spreading flood of modern paganism; kindle in our hearts and homes the love of purity, the practice of a virtuous life, an ardent zeal for souls, and a desire to pray the Rosary more faithfully. We come with confidence to You, O Throne of Grace and Mother of Fair Love. Inflame us with the same Divine Fire which has inflamed Your own Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. Make our hearts and homes Your shrine, and through us, make the Heart of Jesus, together with your rule, triumph in every heart and home. Amen. --Venerable Pope Pius XII