November Saints and More

 

We have just finished another triduum of Holy days--All Hallow's Eve, All Saints, and All Souls. And it is so very lovely to live this liturgical life. I think of all my loved ones who are praying for us from heaven and we pray for those who cannot pray for themselves--those in purgatory. So many people immediately canonize their loved ones upon their death, but so few of us could conceivably enter heaven directly upon our death. Every sin needs to be burned off, including any attachment to venial sin. Nothing impure can enter heaven. I love this painting of a Requiem Mass being offered for a soul in purgatory, who is now entering heaven (I found it without attribution, so if anyone knows the artist, please let me know).

I can't help but think of my own mortality and this quote from St. John Chrysostom gave me pause: If you knew how quickly people would forget about you after your death, you will not seek in your life to please anyone else but God. So why do I still seek the admiration and validation from men? Sigh. Striving to walk the path of righteousness. It's not easy. Pray for me. 

In other news, I have already voted in the general election--this is the first time I've not gone on election day. But with a busy singing schedule, plus being out of town for a conference, I thought it wise not to wait. Instead, I will be going to Adoration tomorrow. The choice is clear. Ap. Vigano has written an open letter to American Catholics. It reminded me so much of Deuteronomy 30: 19 "I call heaven and earth today to witness against you: I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose life, then, that you and your descendants may live." 

One Hour for My Priest

I am so excited to share with you the newest book from our critique group: One Hour for My Priest by Tina Jost. It is a prayer companion for when we offer an hour of prayer in front of the Blessed Sacrament for our beloved priests, without whom we wouldn't have the Mass or the Holy Eucharist. We began this practice a couple of years ago through the Seven Sister Apostolate and I cannot even begin to express to you the shower of graces, not only upon the priests we pray for, but in our own lives. I've known Tina since we moved to Charleston--she brought us a most delicious lasagna--and one of the things I discovered is that not only is she a fantastic cook, but a prayer warrior extraordinaire. I can always ask her to pray for an intention and when I feel weak and discouraged, I can rely on her to pray for me. I am so blessed to have a network of strong prayerful women in my life.

So, when Tina showed me some of the prayers she was writing during her Holy Hour, I knew she had to make these available for the rest of us. It's not easy making a Holy Hour for a single person. Too many concerns distract and when the mind wanders it's so helpful to have a book to turn to. Tina's prayer companion can easily be adapted for anyone you want to make a Holy Hour for or for your own self. It is going to become a permanent resident of my Adoration bag to help me turn my thoughts on Him instead of the responsibilities of the day. A Holy Hour is one of the greatest gifts in this life.

I'm also excited that I get to share a few copies at the Marian Eucharistic Conference. Our critique group--Charleston Christian Writers--has purchased a table. We hired Gabriel Shahid to make a banner for us and we just love how beautifully he rendered our vision. We also made flyers--yes, we are learning to do what we can to share our books! 

October Saints

Busy month...but with lots of celebrations. October also has the feast of our Holy Guardian Angels (I have a great devotion to mine and wrote about it: My Guardian Dear | Vijaya Bodach | Shalom Tidings) and one of my favorite saints--the Little Flower of Lisieux, Therese of the Child Jesus and the Holy Face. Her Story of a Soul is a classic, one that made me fall in love with her and her "Little Way." 

We had lovely High Masses and a procession for the Feast of our Lady of the Rosary. It is the easiest prayer and allows one to contemplate the life of our Lord. Our pastor often reminds us about how when people are old and have forgotten everything, they can still recite an Ave Maria. The first half is from Scripture: Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus. And the second is a petition--Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death. Prayer is what is needed in these terrible times we are facing right now. Wars. Natural disasters. Government incompetence and corruption. Election.

Fr. Chad Ripperger has penned a prayer for the upcoming election: Mary Immaculate, living tabernacle of the Divinity, where the eternal Wisdom lies hidden to be adored and served by angels and men, Queen of heaven and of earth, beneath whose sway are subject all things that are lower than God, Patroness of the United States of America, sorrowful and mindful of our own sinfulness and the sins of our nation, we come to Thee, our refuge and hope. Knowing that our country cannot be saved by our own works and mindful of how much our nation has departed from the ways of Thy Son, we humbly ask that Thou wouldst turn Thine eyes upon our country to bring about its conversion. We consecrate to Thee the integrity of the upcoming election and its outcome, so that what is spiritually and morally best for the citizens of our country may be accomplished, and that all of those who are elected would govern according to the spiritual and moral principles which will bring our nation into conformity with the teachings of Thy Son. Give grace to the citizens of this land so that they will choose leaders according to the Sacred Heart of Thy Son, that His glory may be made manifest, lest we be given the leaders we deserve. Trusting in the providential care of God the Father and Thy maternal care, we have perfect confidence that Thou wilt take care of us and will not leave us forsaken. O Mary Immaculate, pray for us. Amen. 

Bountiful Garden

We've been enjoying the fruits of the garden and what a delightful surprise to see this beautiful flower from the turmeric plant. It's our first time to grow it and I can't wait to until we can have fresh turmeric. We discovered it at the farmer's market last year so decided to grow our own. I make a tonic with ginger, garlic, onion, turmeric, rosemary, pepper and sea-salt in apple-cider vinegar and it's so convenient adding it to bone broth or any dish really to liven it up. Another new plant that I'm loving in my salads is purslane--the leaves have a peppery taste.

Here's Michael amongst the ginger. I love ginger--my mother used to make a dried ginger candy that we kept in our pockets (she sewed pockets in all our dresses) and it was such a treat to find a forgotten one. Here we are celebrating another birthday! Dagny got him this lovely Viking mead inspired by Kristin Lavransdatter, which he just finished, and which I've begun and loving it (alas, it's too heavy to rest on the cat). I'm blessed to have a husband who can not only bring home the bacon, but cook it. If he could, he'd grow the bacon :)

St. Hildegard von Bingen and Encouragement for Writing

One of my favorite saints is Hildegard of Bingen (Feast Day Sept. 17th)--she was so very gifted. Music, medicine, writing, and so much more. So imagine my surprise when I learned how much encouragement she needed to write. She was a visionary and didn't tell anyone except her spiritual director and confessor. 

In A.D. 1141 God infused her with understanding of the religious texts and commanded her to write everything she would see in her visions, she hesitated due to her feelings of inadequacy. She writes: "And it came to pass...when I was 42 years and 7 months old, that the heavens were opened and a blinding light of exceptional brilliance flowed through my entire brain. And so it kindled my whole heart and breast like a flame, not burning but warming...and suddenly I understood of the meaning of expositions of the books... But although I heard and saw these things, because of doubt and low opinion of myself and because of diverse sayings of men, I refused for a long time a call to write, not out of stubbornness but out of humility, until weighed down by a scourge of god, I fell onto a bed of sickness."

She wrote to St. Bernard and he told the Pope, who exhorted Hildegard to finish her writing. Wow! Even the saints need encouragement. I've been turning to her for the same. Pray for us, St. Hildegard.

Exaltation of the Holy Cross

I learned about this beautiful Cross of Snow in Colorado and the poem that Longfellow wrote upon the death of his wife through a homily by Fr. Joseph Mary on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I especially loved the quote from Fulton Sheen about the Cross without Jesus making it a burden, whereas, with our Savior, it becomes redemptive. 

It reminded me of another quote of his from his book Life of Christ: “The Western post-Christian civilization has picked up the Christ without His Cross. But a Christ without a sacrifice that reconciles the world to God is a cheap, colorless, itinerant preacher who deserves to be popular for His great Sermon on the Mount, but also merits unpopularity for what He said about His Divinity on the one hand, and divorce, judgment, and hell on the other. This sentimental Christ... Without His Cross, He becomes nothing more than a sultry precursor of democracy or a humanitarian who taught brotherhood without tears.” All this reminded me of another beautiful quote by Dietrich Bonhoeffer on cheap grace. I can only hope and pray that Longfellow, at the end of his life received all the necessary graces to reach heaven. 

  

The Cross of Snow

By Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

In the long, sleepless watches of the night,

   A gentle face — the face of one long dead —

   Looks at me from the wall, where round its head

   The night-lamp casts a halo of pale light.

Here in this room she died; and soul more white

   Never through martyrdom of fire was led

   To its repose; nor can in books be read

   The legend of a life more benedight.

There is a mountain in the distant West

   That, sun-defying, in its deep ravines

   Displays a cross of snow upon its side.

Such is the cross I wear upon my breast

   These eighteen years, through all the changing scenes

   And seasons, changeless since the day she died.

Sing! Sing! Sing!

Choir practices have started up at Stella Maris and Sacred Heart and what a joy it is to sing the Mass!!! How perfect to begin this on the birthday of our dear Mother Mary! Oddly, the more I have on my plate to practice, the more I'm writing as well. Don't ask me how or why, but I'm so rejuvenated. Praise God! 

The picture is from the Mass of Dedication of St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church last year. It was such an honor to be invited to sing with their choir and alongside the professionals. Some of my favorite people are in the picture so what a delight to receive it from the music director at St. Clare. She's recruiting! I've been happy with my own recruiting efforts for our two church choirs and barbershop chorus!

A lot of people don't think they can't sing Gregorian chant, so here's a crash course in a little over half hour from Floriani/Gregorian Chant Academy. 

Singing, like writing, or any other creative pursuit, is so good for our mental, physical, and spiritual well-being. See: Choir singing improves health, happiness – and is the perfect icebreaker | University of Oxford   I can personally attest to its healing power--my migraines are much diminished when I sing or write. So I wish upon you much creative work, good health, and abundant blessings.  

September Saints

How quickly this year is going--it's back to school for my future son-in-law (his last semester, yay!)--and the rest of it is going to fly! We begin celebrating High Masses again with the Nativity of Mary. Only three birthdays on earth are celebrated in the Catholic Church: The birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ on Dec. 25th, the birth of Mary, His most Holy Mother on Sep. 8th, and the birth of St. John the Baptist on June 24th. All three were sinless. Jesus, by virtue of being the Son of Man; Mary, for being conceived without Original Sin (by the foreseen merits of our Lord's Sacrifice on the Cross); and John the Baptist, sanctified in his mother's womb at the Visitation. All other saints worked out their sanctification with fear and trembling, as we should too. (Phil 2:12) 

September is also the month of Mary under her title of Our Lady of Sorrows. “Is it nothing to you, all you who pass by? Look and see if there is any sorrow like my sorrow…” ~ Lamentations 1:12 You can see the prayers and promises our Lady promises to those who remember her sorrow here: Know The 7 Sorrows and Promises of Our Lady of Sorrows (goodcatholic.com)

1. The Prophecy of Simeon. ~ Luke 2:34–35
2. The Flight into Egypt. ~Matthew 2:13
3. The loss of the child Jesus in the Temple. ~Luke 2:43–45
4. Mary meets Jesus on the way to Calvary.
5. Jesus dies on the cross. ~John 19:25
6. The piercing of the side of Jesus, and Mary's receiving the body of Jesus in her arms. ~Matthew 27:57–59
7. The body of Jesus is placed in the tomb. ~John 19:40–42

Happy Feast of St. Augustine of Hippo

"Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for you. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which you created. You were with me, but I was not with you. Created things kept me from you; yet if they had not been in you they would not have been at all. You called, you shouted, and you broke through my deafness. You flashed, you shone, and you dispelled my blindness. You breathed your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for you. I have tasted you, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for your peace." ~ St. Augustine of Hippo. 

I love this saint so very much because he converted in middle age, like we did. I marvel at how much he accomplished in his second half of his life! Oh, that we could attain the heights of sanctity as he did. Oh, that we could redeem lost time. And luckily, St. Teresa de Avila, wrote a prayer just for that. How blessed are we to have examples of these great saints:

O my God! Source of all mercy! I acknowledge Your sovereign power. While recalling the wasted years that are past, I believe that You, Lord, can in an instant turn this loss to gain. Miserable as I am, yet I firmly believe that You can do all things. Please restore to me the time lost, giving me Your grace, both now and in the future, that I may appear before You in "wedding garments." Amen. 

Writing with Migraines

I'm so pleased to share some thoughts with you on my friend Carolyn's substack: Writing with Migraines - by Carolyn B Fraiser (substack.com) or her WordPress Acct. Writing with Migraines – CAROLYN BENNETT FRAISER (carolynbfraiser.com). I think it may be a beginning of a book :)

The Texas trip was hard on my head...but I'm recovering. Reading, writing, making music, and beach time are all part of my therapy.