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Summary
- Seven short prayers cover this month’s bills, getting out of debt, a family in difficulty, a lost job, sleepless worry, wisdom with money and thanks when help comes.
- Traditional prayers are quoted from the 1888 Catholic Manual of Prayers (the collect “in any necessity”) and from Lasance’s Catholic Girl’s Guide (Pope Leo XIII’s prayer to Saint Joseph).
- The 1912 Catholic Encyclopedia says Saint Cajetan (1480–1547), founder of the Theatines, is “invoked for the interposition of Providence”; his link to money trouble is popular devotion.
- The Catechism (paragraph 2830) teaches that the petition for daily bread covers material as well as spiritual goods; Scripture also warns that “ye cannot serve God and mammon.”
- In 2 Kings 4 Elisha helps a widow whose creditor was about to take her sons, telling her to “sell the oil, and pay thy debt.”
- In the US, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Catholic Charities give practical help with rent, food and other needs.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (1611), text of Project Gutenberg eBook no. 10 (2 Kings 4:1–7; Proverbs 22:7; 30:8; Matthew 6:11–12, 24, 31–32; 13:55; Luke 11:4; Romans 13:8; Hebrews 13:5). https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10
- A Manual of Prayers for the Use of the Catholic Laity, prepared and published by order of the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore. New York: Catholic Publication Society, 1888. Occasional Prayers, “In any Necessity,” p. 166; Collect of the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost, p. 752. https://archive.org/details/AManualOfPrayers1888
- Lasance, F. X. The Catholic Girl’s Guide. New York: Benziger Brothers, 1906. “Prayer to St. Joseph for the October Devotions,” p. 596. https://archive.org/details/catholicgirlsgui00lasa
- Keating, Joseph. “St. Cajetan.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 3. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1908. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/03145a.htm
- Ragonesi, Franciscus. “Theatines.” The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14557a.htm
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed. Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997. Paragraphs 2111 and 2830. https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__P7E.HTM and https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/__PAA.HTM
- Society of St. Vincent de Paul USA. https://www.ssvpusa.org/
- Catholic Charities USA. “Find Help.” https://www.catholiccharitiesusa.org/find-help/
