FIVE BEST TIPS FOR A GOOD HOLY WEEK BY MOTHER ANGELICA

Mother Angelica, founder of the Catholic channel EWTN, offered some advice to live Holy Week intensely

In a program broadcast by the EWTN, days before the Holy Week of 1994, the nun, mother Angelica, offered 5 tips to arrive well prepared for the Holy Easter Triduum. Her recommendations are still very current till date.

1.- Repent and lead a good life

At the beginning of her reflections, Mother Angelica referred extensively to the Marian apparitions and said that they all have in common the call to "repentance, and metanoia , that is, a change of life."

When a Soul follow the message of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the person would become “a better Catholic, a better Christian, the individual will become kinder, more loving, more merciful. Without you knowing it, it will make you appreciate Jesus more, and appreciate our Mother more, your family”.

“It has to make you more loving in your family and more compassionate. We are Christians!” she stressed.

She then referred to the Bible, saying that “this book is to be lived, not just read”.
Speaking of God's mercy and the passage of the adulterous woman, the nun recalled that Jesus tells her: "Go and sin no more." "That is the condition for her to be forgiven," she explained.

2.- Remember that Hell exists

“Many Theologians say that Hell does not exist. When you're down there with him” or one of them, “you can look at him and say 'you put me in here.' Is that going to do you any good? Don't pay attention to that. It is better to be in Heaven and say 'I told you that it existed, but you didn't listen,'” said the nun.

Mother Angelica then said that the Virgin Mary does not want her children to go to Hell, but rather that they be saved.

“Our Mother is trying to tell us: 'You can't always defy God, you can't always kill children (with abortion), you can't always teach great apostasies, mistakes and lies, you can't always ruin your children, God sees how you advance towards that precipice that is eternal and He rescues us'”.

3.- Forgive your “favorite” enemy

Mother Angelica explained that people's great wounds originate "when we cannot forgive."

“Next week (Holy Week) is the week in which we must forgive. None of us went through what Jesus went through, who, however, forgave. Can you imagine that? On Good Friday you go to church and imagine our dear Lord hanging like that for so long.”

This week, said the nun, “I would like you, before Good Friday, to call your favorite enemy, that is, the one you hate the most, the one you talk about the most and the one you wish terrible things to happen to. Call him and say: 'I forgive you' . And if the answer is 'don't bother me,' which I could say, you don't need to worry because you already forgave him."

4.- Pray the Rosary every day: For yourself and for others

Mother Angelica stressed the need to pray the Rosary daily, since "there is nothing more powerful than prayer."

Responding to a woman who called the program, asking for prayers and advice to face a family problem, the nun recalled that “our dear Lord said 'don't let the sun go down and continue to be upset' (…). What you need to know and what I want to tell you is this: you and your sister should pray the Rosary every day and be at peace.”

“All my life I have thought that when a person dies, there is that space of less than a second between the judgment and the moment in which there are no more opportunities, when everything is established forever. I think that moment of time is the one in which through prayers a person can see Jesus for an instant. I think that vision might make them say, ' Oh God, forgive me!' It is all they need to save themselves .”

“So, don't be discouraged by looking for results. Pray with confidence. I can tell you that if you trust in the Lord, He never, ever fails. He is like that”, exhorted the nun.

“God will answer your prayers as he answered those of Saint Monica for Saint Augustine,” she said.

5,- Look for someone else and listen to their problems

At one point in the program, Mother Angelica heard a man who suffers from depression and who commented that he did not feel like doing anything.

“Many people suffer from depression. Sometimes it's physical, I know, but sometimes it happens that we think too much about ourselves, about the future," said the nun.

“Sometimes those who suffer from depression don't pray, they say they can't, but you have to force yourself to say 'Jesus I love you, help me. I don't want to feel like this.' And then do something, go to a nursing home. 'What depress!'. No, it is not".

The nun then proposed a concrete action, not only for those who suffer from depression: "You need to feel the love and gratitude of other people and that is how we get out of ourselves, out of our minds."

"Remember, someone needs you somewhere . Someone needs your prayer, your smile, your attention, ”she stressed.

“There are people in nursing homes who have nine or ten children and none of them visit them. Why do you not go? Why don't you look around and see your neighbor? Why don't you look him up and listen to his problems for a while? Suddenly you end up saying: 'And I thought he had a problem'”.

“You have to do something: you have to pray, you have to trust and then do something to get out of yourself and thus get out of depression. And ask others to pray for you,” Mother Angelica encouraged.

To conclude, the nun made wishes that everyone “have a blessed, grace-filled and prayerful Holy Week: forgive your worst enemy, love your family and have a very blessed Easter. God bless you".