Personal Covenant

Introduction

The Catholic Faith is diverse in its global members, opportunities to live the Faith, and frameworks for a life of prayer and Christian Charity, such as the many religious orders. This site cannot replaceme a Pastor, Spiritual Advisor, Confessor, or opportunity for lay involvement in a Religious Order, for example, and there are many ways to undertake a spiritual discipline. For example, click here for the Rule of Saint Benedict (external Benedictine site)(Benedictine monasticism, of course, dates back to the First Millenium of the Christian era.)

Covenant

The following offers a comparatively informal, humble example, apt to be revised as time unfolds ...

Prayer, Sacraments, Sacramentals

+ Mass daily (30 minutes on many weekdays and Saturday morning or mid-day)
+ Confession weekly (naturally including examination of conscience beforehand)
+ Liturgy of the Hours daily (Divine Office, the universal prayer of Holy Mother Church), especially the Invitatory Psalm, Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Night Prayer (40 minutes cumulative; note that Night Prayer includes a daily examination of conscience and prayers of repentance, such as those wiping away venial sin)
+ Holy Rosary daily (five to 20 decades, 15 minutes for five decades; note that this prayer can always be prayed silently, including while driving, jogging, or waiting in line)
+ Divine Mercy Chaplet daily (if possible, at 3 pm, the time of Jesus' Death on Good Friday; less than five minutes)
+ Saint Michael the Archangel Chaplet (10 minutes, honoring and invoking all choirs of Holy Angels; like the Rosary, can be prayed silently while driving or jogging)
+ Other Devotions and Novenas, such as to Saint Joseph, the Little Flower
+ Daily Offering each morning
+ Holy Water in ones home and on ones person, including sprinkling and blessing with the Holy Water
+ Crucifixes in ones home and other religious items, such as a Catholic medal or Scapular

Scripture

+ Daily Holy Scripture readings (for example, one chapter per day in sequence through the Old Testament, one Psalm per day in sequence, and one chapter per day in sequence through the New Testament; time demand varies)

Saints

+ Reading of Saintly writings (such as Saint Therese the Little Flower, Saint John of the Cross, Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta)
+ Learning of the lives of the Saints and their virtues
+ Choosing Patron Saints, and seeking the intercession of the Blessed Mother and other Saints

Indulgences and Prayer Intentions

+ Acts earning a plenary indulgences under the usual conditions, combined with and including Confession, receipt of Communion, and prayers for the Holy Father and his intentions
+ In addition to earning a plenary indulgence for oneself, one could and should earn indulgences for specific Faithful Departed, the Souls in Purgatory, especially any blood relatives or poor souls with no one to pray for them
+ Prayers for the Holy Father, one's Bishop, Pastor, and Parish Priests, one's Confessor(s), prayers for vocations,
+ Prayers for other particular intentions, especially particular persons in need, especially for their Salvation, the Faithful Departed, the conversion of sinners, peace, the sick, suffering, and dying, and prayers for respect for human life and the dignity of the human person

Work and Christian Charity

+ Honorable work and support of family
+ Acts of Christian Charity towards family and others with whom one is in close association
+ Other simple or more extensive Acts of Kindness, including organized acts of Christian Charity, such as volunteer work for the poor, elderly, infirmed, expectant mothers, or those in prison
+ Efforts towards building loving community in one's Parish and town.

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Steven C. Welsh, Editor and Contributor
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