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J. M. Lelen was French American priest and author, translator, poet, and philosopher who corresponded with many notable figures in his lifetime.
He was born Joseph Leleu at Sailly, France December 24, 1873. His family moved to Lille soon after. While growing up in Lille he met Thérèse of Lisieux who had come to Lille on a visit with her family. They were both the same age (seven) at the time. Joseph Lelen, a French citizen, served in the French Army until 1894, together with author Hilaire Belloc, then a friend.
He joined the Sulpician Order and became a Roman Catholic priest upon ordination at Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris on September 24, 1898.
Father Lelen came to America in 1899, after working in France with the Sulpicians. He taught at Dunwoodie Seminary in Yonkers, New York. Later he traveled to France, then returned to North America serving in Canada and eventually New Orleans. The climate in New Orleans did not agree with Fr. Lelen and he requested and was granted assignment in Covington, Kentucky in 1907.
His first assignment was as chaplain of Good Shepherd Convent in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. He became editor of "The Christian Year" the diocesan newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Covington in January 1912. He then served as pastor of St. Paul parish, Florence, Kentucky from 1915 to 1918.
Father Lelen became pastor of St. Francis Xavier Church in Falmouth, Kentucky in 1918. He continued to write many books, pamphlets, magazine articles and newspaper articles. He was a regular contributor to The Falmouth Outlook, the weekly paper of Falmouth, Kentucky. He continued in this pastorate until he retired in 1954.
In 1952 his translation "The Confessions of St. Augustine", from the original Latin, was published in English, one of the first in this language.
He was a prolific author of prayer books throughout his life. He corresponded with and met many notable figures, including Margaret Mitchell, Alice Brown, William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, Jules Verne and Clare Boothe Luce.
Upon his 1954 retirement he lived at the Glenmary Missionaries in Cincinnati. In September, 1963 the Papal Cross (Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice) bestowed by Pope Paul VI was granted to Father Lelen on the occasion of his 65th anniversary of his ordination. "The Cross of Honor" as it is known is bestowed upon laypersons and clergy who have given exceptional service to the Church. The medal hangs upon a gold and white ribbon.
He died in Cincinnati, Hamilton County, Ohio on May 23, 1964.
The Rosary, also known as the Dominican Rosary, refers to a set of prayers used primarily in the Catholic Church, and to the physical string of knots or beads used to count the component prayers. When referring to the prayer, the word is usually capitalized ; when referring to the prayer beads as an object, it is written with a lower-case initial letter.
Confessions is an autobiographical work by Augustine of Hippo, consisting of 13 books written in Latin between AD 397 and 400. The work outlines Augustine's sinful youth and his conversion to Christianity. Modern English translations of it are sometimes published under the title The Confessions of Saint Augustine in order to distinguish the book from other books with similar titles. Its original title was Confessions in Thirteen Books, and it was composed to be read out loud with each book being a complete unit.
The following are Roman Catholic prayers to Saint Joseph.
In Catholic tradition, the Five Holy Wounds, also known as the Five Sacred Wounds or the Five Precious Wounds, are the five piercing wounds that Jesus Christ suffered during his crucifixion. The wounds have been the focus of particular devotions, especially in the late Middle Ages, and have often been reflected in church music and art.
St. Joseph's Seminary and College, sometimes referred to as Dunwoodie after the Dunwoodie neighborhood of Yonkers, New York in which it is located, is the major seminary of the Archdiocese of New York. Since 2012, it has also been the major seminary for the Diocese of Brooklyn and the Diocese of Rockville Centre.
The agony in the Garden of Gethsemane is an episode in the life of Jesus, which occurred after the Last Supper and before his betrayal and arrest, all part of the Passion of Jesus leading to his crucifixion and death. This episode is described in the three Synoptic Gospels in the New Testament. According to these accounts, Jesus, accompanied by Peter, John and James, enters the garden of Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives where he experiences great anguish and prays to be delivered from his impending suffering, while also accepting God's will.
The Church of the Holy Rosary was a Roman Catholic parish church under the authority of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York, located at 444 East 119th Street, East Harlem, Manhattan, New York City.
Catholic devotions are particular customs, rituals, and practices of worship of God or honour of the saints which are in addition to the liturgy of the Catholic Church. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops describes devotions as "expressions of love and fidelity that arise from the intersection of one's own faith, culture and the Gospel of Jesus Christ". Devotions are not considered part of liturgical worship, even if they are performed in a church or led by a priest, but rather they are paraliturgical. The Congregation for Divine Worship at the Vatican publishes a Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy.
Thomas Roussel Davids Byles was an English Catholic priest who was a passenger aboard the RMS Titanic on its maiden voyage when it sank after striking an iceberg during the night of 14–15 April 1912. He was reported as being amidst the throng of trapped passengers on the ship's rear deck in its final moments of descent, audibly praying.
George Aloysius Carrell, S.J. was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as the first bishop of the Diocese of Covington, Kentucky from 1853 until his death in 1868.
Saint Augustine's Prayer Book is an Anglo-Catholic devotional book published for members of the various Anglican churches in the United States and Canada by the Order of the Holy Cross, an Anglican monastic community.
Prayer in the Catholic Church is "the raising of one's mind and heart to God or the requesting of good things from God." It is an act of the moral virtue of religion, which Catholic theologians identify as a part of the cardinal virtue of justice.
Francis Xavier Lasance [F. X. Lasance] was an American priest and writer of Roman Catholic devotional works.
Rosary-based prayers are Christian prayers said on a set of rosary beads, among other cords. These prayers recite specific word sequences on the beads that make up the different sections. They may be directed to Jesus Christ, the Virgin Mary or God the Father.
A number of prayers to Jesus Christ exist within the Roman Catholic tradition. These prayers have diverse origins and forms. Some were attributed to visions of saints, others were handed down by tradition.
The exact origins of both the rosary and scapular are subject to debate among scholars. Pious tradition maintains that both the rosary and the brown Scapular of Our Lady of Mount Carmel were given by the Virgin Mary to Dominic and Simon Stock respectively during the 13th century. Historical records document their growth during the 16th and 17th centuries in Europe. By the early 20th century, they had gained such a strong following among Catholics worldwide that Josef Hilgers, writing in the Catholic Encyclopedia of 1914, stated: "Like the Rosary, the Brown scapular has become the badge of the devout Catholic."
The Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows, also known as the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows or the Servite Rosary, is a Rosary based prayer that originated with the Servite Order. It is often said in connection with the Seven Dolours of Mary.
Christian prayer is an important activity in Christianity, and there are several different forms used for this practice.
There are differing views on the history of the rosary, a Christian prayer rope, cord or chain used to count specific prayers, commonly as a Marian devotion. The exact origin of the rosary as a prayer is less than clear and subject to debate among scholars. The use of knotted prayer ropes in Christianity goes back to the Desert Fathers in the 3rd and early 4th centuries. These counting devices were used for prayers such as the Jesus prayer in Christian monasticism. The period after the First Council of Ephesus in 431 witnessed gradual growth in the use of Marian prayers during the Middle Ages.
The rosary is one of the most notable features of popular Catholic spirituality. According to Pope John Paul II, rosary devotions are "among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation." From its origins in the twelfth century the rosary has been seen as a meditation on the life of Christ, and it is as such that many popes have approved of and encouraged its recitation.