AM+DG
On Friday 23rd:
Our prayer group had our usual morning meeting. We had a few concerns and thought that we would pray for “protection” for Sunday, so we prayed the “protection” group of prayers. At the end, after a prayer to the Holy Spirit (CP51) a volunteer opened up a message at random to read . The message was entitled “Jesus: Never falter. Never doubt My Hand of Protection”
It seemed like a direct answer from Our Lord. We were very touched. Words could not express the feeling we had – (see our Prayer group report at: https://remnantdisciplesjtm.com/2018/11/24/jtm-crusade-prayer-meeting-on-friday-23rd-november-2018/). In speaking to one of the leaders, I mentioned this fact and sent it to her. She thanked me and said that she “needed that” – she had been experiencing difficulties that week. On looking back to this day, we felt that Jesus had indeed heard our prayers for Protection and was with us that day.
Preparation: 
It was an amazing day. I got there early (straight after morning Mass), together with a few others to help set up. (We always use a Community Hall).
Crusaders, over the years, have taken on various jobs –
flowers, statues and holy pictures set up as an ‘altar table’;
organizing the food, tea/coffee sugar, milk, disposable plates, and cups
bottles of water and juice. and soft drink.
Everyone brings something.
We have someone who looks after the heating up of foods that need to be heated up.
It is always quite a banquet.
The region’s leaders organize the prayers to be said and the printing of them, as well as the microphone, etc. Tables have to be set up and Holy Water on each table.
The order of the day:
Then people start to arrive.
The agenda included the 3 Mysteries of the Rosary, Daily prayers, Litany prayers and a selection of Crusade prayers.
At 3 o’clock we say the 3o’clock prayer, followed by the Chaplet of Divine Mercy.
There was an hour’s lunch break, enabling us to mingle, share and catch up.
During the lunch break, there were various items freely available – Seals of all sizes, Rosaries and booklets for evangelization.
There was also a little talk.
New Crusaders were invited to the front and given a Medal of Salvation, and a scapular, where all present joined with them in CP 115.
At the end of the day, one of the leaders running the group suddenly had a thought to end the meeting with the reading from the Book of Truth I mentioned at the beginning of this post. The reading was beautiful and it felt that Jesus was speaking directly to each one of us. Something at that moment struck me, which I had not noticed on the Friday when we read the message. Jesus had signed the message ”King of Salvation” – AND it was the Feast of Christ the King.!! That reading was meant for us all to hear that day!
We ended with singing “Hail redeemer, King Divine” – and I think we nearly lifted the roof off.
The Crusaders:
We had a good number – 75+.
They came from near and far. Some from within the local area, some drove up to 3 hours, and 2 people came from Darwin – 1000’s of kilometres away.
The atmosphere:
We truly felt blessed. The prayers were prayed in perfect unison and harmony, and a sense of the holy was evident. Some people became teary during the prayers and all commented on how beautiful it felt. The time went quickly. Nothing seemed to drag. We could all felt a holy presence. One Crusader in particular had a special experience.
A special experience:
A few years ago this Crusader had a special experience when some of our prayer group members went on a pilgrimage. We were at Mass in Lanciano (the church of the Eucharistic miracle). She had asked Jesus to let her feel His Love. After Holy Communion she had this very strong feeling in her chest. It was very intense and left her exhausted – physically and emotionally. She took a few hours to recover.
At our meeting last Sunday, while we were praying the Rosary, she had this same feeling again. She was quite overwhelmed. No-one knew at the time what had happened to her – only 1 friend noticed it. When we asked her to share it with the rest of our prayer group a few days later, she tried to explain, but she could hardly get any words out, and we could see her eyes were teary and she was all choked up, – just the thought and memory were so intense.
General comments on the day:
“very emotional”
“ran really well”
“calming and peaceful”
“joyful”
“(One of the leaders) looked very joyful throughout the whole day.”
From DonnaLiane:
I think that the Day was very blessed; more than in the past. A great sense of peace and love and unity enveloped the room. There was joy and also compassion, especially in the praying for others. There was hope and trust, especially in the reminder about Litany Prayer 2 and God’s Promises for the future. There was a gentle urging to perseverance, buoyed by Trust.
Lastly there was change. The Crusaders who were there, included among the many who can now call themselves long term Crusaders. Many of us have been praying as part of this Mission for eight years now. Some I have not seen for between 6-12months. I saw change in them. Good change. It was the hard-earned fruits of perservering in prayer: I saw peace, trust and belief on people’s faces more than ever before: a wisdom seemed to have settled in their souls.
Several people had grown noticeably more confident, less worried, less anxious, less distracted.
We have been through a lot lately and Satan strove desperately to tear the Mission to pieces. He will keep trying but we will keep leaning on God and His instructions to Love, to obey and to persevere in trust and prayer. As on Friday when the title of the message spoke of his Hand of Protection. He will always be with every prayer group and will always have His Hand of Protection over us. We just have to be obedient to His wishes, and to trust in Him.
We have and will make mistakes. But we must be willing to see them and to keep trying to discern and follow His Path because He truly showed us today that He will continue to lead us, out of pure Love for us and to wrap us in His Blessing.
Amen.
RemnantDisciplesJtM 
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