Brought Home Three Medals!!!

Thank you all so much for all your good wishes and prayers. We had a fantastic time in Orlando. What a joy to see our quartets compete and sound so very good [Coastal Harmony Region 9 2025 - Quartet Contest - YouTube: Encore at 58 min and Put a Ring on It at 2:54:00] One of our coaches said that the best way to improve a chorus is to sing in quartets and it's so true. We came home with three medals--most improved (our goal), 1st place in small chorus (another goal), and 5th overall. Here's the link: [Coastal Harmony Region 9 2025 - Chorus Contest we're on at 2:22:40]

Below, my tenor section that's doubled in size! Janet, the blonde, is an amazing section leader, paying so much attention to detail, and all around talented and hard-working musician. She plays the piano beautifully too. Next is a picture that my friend Alysse would say: Team Catholic. I want us to have a quartet called Catlicks, where we sing religious and cat songs, but nobody's on board. Le sigh. We need to start with Rossini's Cat Duet. I also met a couple of ladies who were out for some quiet morning prayer time with the gators and geckos and I had such a lovely time listening to their stories and sharing my own. 

The least favorite part for me is doing all the makeup--it is getting easier but still I don't feel like myself, though once it's on, I can forget about it. I was happy to room with Erin and Dagny, who helped me with mine, as well as ride with them. I had ample time in the backseat of the car to read the latest issue of Hearth and Field (and make memes). We stopped at Buc-ee's (I love the art displayed in their rest rooms) and now I have some shorts to go with my flip-flops :) We made it in time to give thanks to God at Mass. Now it's time to get ready for Spoleto!!!  

Antidote to Hurricanes: A Psalm and Shalom

With hurricanes causing much havoc, I bring to you a most beautiful rendition of Psalm 91 (a promise of God's protection) by Harpa Dei: https://youtu.be/sQNJs89E6x8 There are more here: Psalm 91: Fifteen musical versions – Art & Theology (artandtheology.org). I loved the Josquin adaption for 24 voices. We are praying for all in the path of Hurricane Ian. Nature is both so beautiful and devastating. I love satellite pictures. By the way, this young man with Dagny is Ian and she had so very much wanted to have a "hurrication" to visit him but her wiser nature prevailed. We've been teasing her about surviving Ian :) She's a good sport.

I had a piece on Guardian Angels published in the Sept. issue of Shalom Tidings. Always invoke your angel in times of distress. Aren't we blessed that God has appointed an angel to guide us? The more you listen to him, the more he prompts. Tomorrow is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel--we pray to him daily for his protection. I like to begin my day with a Glory Be to the Holy Trinity in honor of my guardian angel for keeping me safe. I love waking up with Jules beside me; she has the softest fur on her pretty belly. Here she is covering her face with her paws...instead of helping me type. 

May Celebrations

My heart is so full of thanks and praise to our Lord. Max has graduated from Ave Maria University magna cum laude, one of five finalists for the President's Award. Dagny had a birthday. I am no longer the mother of teenagers :) We had such a lovely week in Florida visiting with some of the kids' friends, their parents, the staff and professors at AMU. And still there was time to be quiet and read and pray. It was lovely to end the visit with a trip to the beach and receive gifts from the sea.

We're all home together for a little while before Max settles in DC for work at Keybridge Communications. He'll be writing a LOT and I'm sure soon he'll be teaching me. We're grateful Dagny has an internship with a local company: Heron Farms. This came directly out of our interest in hydroponics. Dagny applied and voila! It'll be wonderful for her to apply what she's learning in school to real-world problems. Michael and I continue to work from home and sing at church. Speaking of, we celebrate Ascension Thursday and the anniversary of Marian apparitions at Fatima with a High Mass. A happy Feast Day to all. Where He is, we hope to follow!

The Baccalaureate Mass was the high point of the celebrations. The priest emphasized that although there are many unknowns to not fill ourselves with fear and anxiety but to trust in the Lord who loves us and wants us to be happy. He knows what we need and will provide. Let go of pride and worry. Practice self-sacrifice. Remain in Him. All will be well for those who love Jesus. The one word that encapsulated his beautiful homily was: TRUST. It immediately brought to me the image of Divine Mercy and the prayer: Jesus, I trust in YOU.  

Growing, growing, strong!!!

My children with their friends at a formal dance. So lovely! Most of them have spent a spring break or two with us. Max et. al. will be starting a new chapter in their lives.  Oh, may the good Lord direct all their steps. What a terrific foundation they have received at Ave Maria University. Deo gratias!

Thanksgiving and Advent

Where to even begin? So many blessings! We went down to Ave Maria, FL to visit our children for Thanksgiving since they only get Thu and Fri off. So fun to see them in their dorm rooms but we whisked them away to Key West and to Hemingway's house because they were in desperate need of some kitty cuddles. At least half the cats are polydactyls--with extra toes so they look like they have thumbs. Below I share some beautiful moments together. I definitely want to return for a longer time to explore the other little islands that make up the Florida Keys. Now, I wait to have the children home for Christmas!

Upon our return home, Michael had a glass of his home-brewed beer to relax. And the next day we began the nitty-gritty work of correcting the trouble spots in both the chant and Mozart Mass for the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. It was a wonderful celebration and I'm still filled with a tremendous joy. 

I came upon a very interesting article about Mozart and Gregorian chant as I was researching a quote in Father's homily about Mozart's desire to compose a chant in favor of all his work. He did say at the end of his life that he would have gladly renounced his entire work for the joy of composing the Introit of the Mass of the Dead. This confession is extraordinarily humble, but it would have been a great loss for humanity if it had been carried out. What this shows is that Mozart discovered in Gregorian chant the language of plenitude of the adult man, which is fully reached in the heavens.   All I can say is that there is definitely something transcendent in the Gregorian chant. It is very meditative, allowing one to cast aside the cares of the world and instead place ourselves in the very presence of God. I give you the Introit for the Feast of St. Nicholas. It's as if all barriers to time and space are broken. A most blessed Advent to all as we prepare for the coming of the Infant Jesus into our hearts in silent wonder.