Responding yes

Yesterday was a joyous day for the Church. A young woman professed her first vows into the Capuchin Sisters of Nazareth. Sister Pia is a young woman who I have known since high school (if not before, I can't really remember now when I first met her). She was two years behind me and while we were never very close we were always friendly.

Two years ago no one was surprised when she announced that she was being called to enter the Religious Life. She has always been a quiet, peace-filled, joy-filled woman and when one attended Mass with her you could sense that she was truly one of God's chosen daughters.

Just under two years ago she received her religious name Sister Pia of John Paul. It's been a bit hard for all of us who know her to get used to this new name but it's finally "sinking in".

Yesterday she professed her first vows. While none of us were able to attend it was still such a spiritual blessing to be able to unite ourselves with her spiritually at that time. To keep her in our prayers in a very special way and knowing that she too was praying to her new Spouse for all of us.

I thank God for Sister Pia's responding yes to God's call. Her example of giving up everything for Him is truly inspiring. And the example of her parent's giving up their daughter is equally as inspiring. The Capuchin's seem to us to be very strict although it's all for the Lord. Sister Pia hasn't been able to come home since entering two years ago. Her parents aren't able to visit often and they are only able to talk to her for a half-hour each month.

Their courage and total trust in God in His plans for their daughter is beautiful to watch. They understand that she isn't really theirs; that she is God's daughter first. Their strong sense of faith and prayer is physically visible and I pray for them just as much as I pray for Sister Pia.

How blessed I am to know this family. How thankful I am for Sister Pia's prayers and for her courageous "yes" to God. I pray that everyone follow God's plans for their lives the way that she has. Trust in His Divine Providence for our lives is a great gift. And I pray for an increase of vocations to Religious Life.

St. Therese and the Blessed Mother's Smile

Oops. All day long yesterday I thought it was Monday. It was Tuesday! I missed "Tuesday with Saint Therese". So I'm posting a day late!

I decided for the last Tuesday in May that I would write about Saint Therese's devotion to our Blessed Mother. Especially her experiences with "Our Lady of the Smile".

When Saint Therese was a young girl....about ten or so....she became very ill, so ill that for a few days her father and her sisters were afraid that she would die.

During this time she had visions of demons trying to attack her and had a terrible fever. At one point her sisters carried in the family's statue of the Blessed Mother to ask Her intercession to cure Therese.

As Saint Therese looked upon the statue's face she begged our Lady's help. She later wrote that she saw the statue smile upon her thereby healing her of her physical sickness.

I read about this incident when I read St. Therese's autobiography and thought how beautiful it was. Then about two years ago when I was going through a difficult time this event was again brought to my attention (through Saint Therese). I began praying to our Blessed Mother for assistance feeling that She would take care of me the way She always took care of Saint Therese.

I was blessed to be able to receive one of the statues of Our Lady of the Smile and it sits on my bureau in my bedroom right now. I've already decided that someday when I have my own kitchen She will be my "Kitchen Madonna".

I used to find it very concidental that I have a deep devotion to our Blessed Mother as well as Saint Therese. And then the more I read of Saint Therese and her devotion to our Lady and I no longer think of it as a coincidence.

Tuesday's with Saint Therese

Many people, MANY people, have prayed to Saint Therese and received as an answer roses. Saint Therese herself said that she would spend her heaven doing good upon earth, sending down a shower of roses from heaven. And she has kept that promise that she made just before she died.

I have received quite a few roses from Saint Therese myself. I have never put a "stipulation" on what color rose to receive or how to receive it (I've read that people have asked her for a specific color rose and received it!) And I've never DIRECTLY prayed asking her to send me a rose as a "sign" but she has sent me a few. There also has been many other times when I've asked her intercession and NOT received a rose. But I have never taken that as meaning that she isn't listening and doing her best at interceding for me!

The novena that I use the most asking her intercession isn't a very long one. But it always brings me great peace and comfort. So for today's "Tuesday with Saint Therese" I decided to share it here. Place your intentions in this saint's hands and leave them there with confidence knowing that she has much favor with God!

O Glorious Saint Therese, whom almighty God has raised up to aird and inspire the human family, I implore your Miraculous Intercession. You are so powerful in obtaining every need of body and spirit from the Heart of God. Holy Mother Church proclaims you "Prodigy of Miracles...the Greatest Saint of Modern Times." Now I fervently beseech you to answer my petition (mention here) and to carry out your promise of spending Heaven doing good upon earth...of letting fall from Heaven a Shower of Roses. Little Flower, give me your childlike faith, to see the Face of God in people and experiences in my life, and to love God with full confidence. Saint Therese, my Carmelite Sister, I will fulfill your plea "to be made known everywhere" and I will continue to lead others to Jesus through you.
Amen.

Saint Therese's Rose Prayer Novena

O Little Therese of the Child Jesus, please pick for me a rose from the heavenly gardens and send it to me as a message of love. O Little Flower of Jesus, ask God today to grant the favors I now place with confidence in your hands...(Mention specific requests). Saint Therese help me to always believe as you did, in God's great love for me, so that I might imitate your "Little Way" each day.
Amen.

Loveliness of Rosaries

So much can be said about the Rosary. Whether it be how to pray it; various meditiations to use while praying it; how it leads one closer to Jesus and Mary; how our Blessed Mother speaks about it in most every apparition.

And then there are all the different Rosaries that people have. They can be made out of stones; jewels; beads; twine with knots; metal; and we can't forget the "natural" Rosaries we all were given at conception in our fingers!

Sarah at Just Another Day of Catholic Pondering has put together a BEAUTIFUL Loveliness of Rosaries Fair. The posts that make up the fair should be read slowly and pondered over time. And they all make you want to stop reading and take our your beads and pray this beautiful prayer!

So step on over to Sarah's and begin reading. Trust me, there's enough material there to keep you occupied for quite some time!

A few changes

After much prayer and thought (which kinds of seems silly to me....to be praying about the future of my blog!!) I've made a few decision about "Daughter of the King" and "With my own two hands".

For quite some time now I've been finding it difficult to post some things here that I've wanted to. Just simple, every day things. I don't want to take away from the content that is already here. So I made a decision over the weekend that I'm hoping to implement starting today actually.

When I began Daughter of the King almost two years ago I wasn't really sure what direction it would take or even what "audience" I wanted to write for so I just decided to write and see where it led me. It has led me here, where I write about my faith and my ponderings. In the meantime I found the world of sewing and crafting. Hence the beginning of With My Own Two Hands. And then stopped posting there because I wasn't sure if I wanted it to JUST be a craft blog and have this blog be an "every day" blog. And then pretty much stopped posting anything that was going on in life in just used this as my "get it out of my head onto paper" blog.

Soooo long story short: I am going to continue posting here at Daughter of the King anything that comes into my head about the faith. Feast days, prayers, etc. Pretty much keep it as it has evolved.

But in the meantime I am going to actively begin writing over at With My Own Two Hands. That'll be my "everyday" blog. We'll see how it goes for now. In a way I kind of feel like I'm "compartmentalizing" my life....but we'll see. I really HAVE prayed about this for quite awhile now. I've even contemplated shutting down both blogs and starting over again with a whole new focus on a whole new blog. But I don't think I'll do that. At least not for now.

Maybe I've done too much thinking about all of this. But that seems to be how I go about most things in my life!! I really do want to keep blogging as I find it a good outlit for my writing which I want to develop more.

Anyways long post just to say to come by and visit me at With My Own Two Hands!

Before & After

Before:

After:

Do I have to Go?

When I went to the Boston Catholic Women's Conference one of the books I picked up was Do I Have to Go? by Matthew Pinto and Chris Stefanick.

I bought it thinking that I will somehow incorporate it into next year's Confirmation Program. It is in a question and answer format all about the Eucharist and Holy Mass. It was very interesting and I even found myself reading about things that I had never thought about.

Many mornings I want to roll over and pull the covers over my head when the alarm goes off (who doesn't?) or else give myself an extra 15 minutes and not go to Mass that morning. After all, daily Mass is not a "requirement" and who would know if I skipped a day or two?

I would.

And of course God would.

And other people around me notice too even if they don't really understand what is different.

On the mornings when I don't attend Mass the rest of the day is all messed up. I am short with people; or feel spiritually empty; and just can't get my act together. I FEEL something missing in my life when I don't go to Mass each day. I don't realize how beneficial to my soul receiving Jesus in the Holy Eucharist is every day until I go a day when I don't receive.

And then I feel guilty for missing because really there is no good reason for not going. Usually it's just because I'm lazy. And then all the other prayers that I pray each day tend not to get prayed or they get prayed quickly. If my morning routine of attending Mass is missed then the rhythm for the rest of the day is all messed up.

This book, written for teenagers, is something every Catholic should read no matter you age, especially if you're having trouble getting to Sunday Mass or viewing it simply as an "obligation" that needs to get done one hour a week. I fall into that "trap" too at times. Taking the Mass for granted; thinking that I go just because I "have" to.

"Do I Have to Go?" reminded me of the awesomness of what takes place each time we meet God in Word and Sacrament at each Mass. How we are united not just to the Church on earth but to the Church in Heaven.

Of course God doesn't want us to go meet Him with a heavy feeling of "obligation". He wants us to deeply want in our hearts to go meet Him sacramentally. But if at first you attend out of the sense of obligation, I can guarentee that after only a few short times of that feeling, Jesus will quietly work in your soul and without anything happening on your part, you will feel His tug on your heart making you WANT to go out of a sense of love rather then one of obligation.

Tuesday's with Saint Therese

Anne at Under Her Starry Mantle has a weekly series entitled "Tuesday with Saint Anne" where she takes various aspects of Saint Anne's life and people's devotion to her and posts it each Tuesday.

I decided to use her idea and post my own series "Tuesday's with Saint Therese". I have so many ideas of what to post and so many topics I want to talk about.

She has my good friend for almost four years now and I never tire of reading her words, hearing about her or asking her intercession. Her writings and spirituality are full of so many gems that one could study her for years and never reach the bottom of the well of her graces.

For this week I decided to go "light" and simply introduce what I've been planning. I've written quite a bit about Saint Therese here on the blog and am hoping to organize my labels a bit and have one for her. But here is my most recent post about her that I can find right now that I wrote back in August.

And finally....I chose Tuesday's to write about Saint Therese because I read somewhere, I really can't remember but I am thinking it was Ruth at Just Another Day In Paradise but again am not 100% positive about that, that there is a tradition where every Tuesday pray 3 Hail Mary's in honor of Saint Therese and she will grant you a surprise on that day. So I decided "Tuesday's with Saint Therese" it will be!

I'll leave you with a quote to meditate upon today also thanks to Ruth:

I am not going to worry, but I will always stretch out my suppliant arms towards You with great love. I cannot believe that You would abandon me. - St. Therese of Lisieux

Our Lady of Fatima and the Rosary

My grandfather whom I was very close to began terribly sick during my senior year of high school. For a very long week at the end of January-beginning of February 2000 he lay in a coma in the hospital and we all just waited for the inevitable.

The morning he died, I put my great-grandmother's Rosary in my pocket and kept reaching for it. Sound normal? For me it wasn't. I had no idea really what it was. NO idea how to pray it. And no idea who the Lady was behind it.

But She knew me and for some reason I felt drawn to Her prayer at that moment. Without even knowing it I went to our Blessed Mother for comfort and haven't left Her since then.

Many times over the years since then I've turned to Her prayer not only for comfort but in thanksgiving and intercession.

It wasn't until I went to visit Sarah in Ohio that I began praying the Rosary every day. And the graces that have come from that daily Rosary are countless. I prayed my first 54-day Rosary Novena almost three years ago. And She heard those prayers and answered them in a way I will never forget.

About a year or so ago I "found" Our Lady of Fatima and have been drawn to Her very profoundly. Probably because of Her messages of the Eucharist and praying the Rosary.

Last Christmas I asked for one of the nice statues of our Lady of Fatima and got it from my parents. I hope that this will become a "family heirloom" that my children will cherish and pray in front of as they grow up (when they get here that is!)

For now She is displayed in my room in a special way and prayed in front of by me.

While I miss my grandfather very much I thank our Blessed Mother for choosing that time to enter into my life. It is through Her intercession that I was led back to Her Son through my "reversion" to the Faith. She led me through the Rosary to where I am today. And I know that with my hand in Her's I will not be led astray. With Her beads in my hands I am holding Her hand. And I won't let them go.

This afternoon

Outside this afternoon it's yucky and rainy:

But inside there's a sewing project out and a Dunkin Donuts coffee. As well as possible knitting projects and a new book from Amazon. I enjoy rainy afternoons.

Catholic Carnival

This week's Catholic Carnival was hosted by Building the Ark.

It's got a beautiful theme this week entitled "Lending a Hand." And it's full of posts that lend us a hand as we walk this journey towards Heaven.

One post that particulary stood out in my mind this week is The Four Cornerstones of Drawing Closer to God.

And I've got a project going on that I'll hopefully be presenting here this weekend. So stay tuned and come back soon. It's way past my bedtime and I'm feeling it!

It's officially May!

In my first post of May I mentioned the beautiful bush in our front yard. After two full days of beautiful sunshine the flowers have fully bloomed. This has been in our front yard for forever. The house was my grandparents and they must have planted it just after they built the house. My parents were married on May 7th and in all the pictures my mom is standing in front of this bush. And every year on their anniversary it is just as pretty as in the wedding pictures. My sister is getting married in November so she won't be able to have the beautiful flowers in her pictures. Maybe someday God will bless me to get married in Mary's Month with this as the backdrop for pictures.

Could you become a US Citizen?

Here's a sample of some of the questions that those wishing to become American Citizens have to answer.

I have to say....it's a good thing I'm already a citizen! Although my mistakes were because I didn't pay enough attention to the question.

I need to go back and re-read some of my college history textbooks. Maybe there was a reason I didn't stick with the American History Major in college!!

The Offertory

I've had this post rattling around inside my head for a few weeks now.

Quite awhile ago I read a small booklet on the Mass (I cannot remember the name of the book nor the author just that it was tiny and took me about 20 minutes in Adoration to get through) that made me think differently about the Offetory at Mass.

The time when the gifts are being brought to the Altar and through-out the priest preparing them and saying the prayers over them are FULL of graces. And I didn't realize how very, very important it is to be praying very hard at that moment.

I started to be more aware of what was taking place during this time. In the little booklet the author said how it is at that moment that our Guardian Angels go up to the altar with all of our petitions and intercessions and gifts to give to the Lord.

THAT is what really made me start paying attention. I want my Guardian Angel to take all of my prayers to the altar....and they can't do that unless WE are paying attention and ask them to.

The Offertory isn't a time to be reading the Parish Bulletin; or filling out the check for the basket; this is a time FULL of graces to be received and we need to be paying attention.

I tend to forget EVERYTHING that I want to pray for at that moment though. And God is good too because I've been asking Him to please put in front of me things that need to be prayed for....I am tired of focusing only on MY wants. And He very graciously has been showing me things that I could be praying for.

Except that again I have trouble remembering. So I've begun a new practice. I have an index card that fits perfectly in my Liturgy of the Hours. As I come across people or situations needing prayer I place them on the card. At the Offertory I place "everything on the card" into the hands of my Guardian Angel to carry up to the Altar. This way I don't have to remember every specific person/need.

I've dated the top of the card "May 2008" to start out the new process. I'm thinking I'll have a "Prayer Journal of index cards" some day!

Father of Mercy

Last weekend I finished reading "Father of Endless Mercy". Last year during the weekend of Divine Mercy Sunday at my parish we had a day of Reflection on the Divine Mercy. The author of this book, Jim Mattingly, was one of the speakers. I just got around to reading his book last week but it was beautiful.

Jim told his life story....all about the ups and downs of family and life. His parents marriage broke up due to alcholism; his mother kept the children from their father due to her words and accusations against him; then Jim became seriously ill in the early years of his marriage; his illness made him turn away from God and away from his marriage for a few years.

Then through the grace of God and our the intercession of the Blessed Mother he turned back towards God and began to follow God's plan for his life once again.

The book was all about the message of Divine Mercy that Jesus gave to Saint Faustina. How God forgives us NO MATTER the sins we commit as long as we turn back towards God with our whole hearts and a true feeling of repentence for having hurt Him.

I've read Saint Faustina's Diary (and am again using it for my spiritual reading right now), but it was beautiful to see the message applied in someone's real life. And Jim Mattingly did that beautifully. He talked about his reunion with his father only a few short years before his fathers death; about his reunion with God and how despite his past and what he did, how God is using him to spread this beautiful message of Divine Mercy.

It gave me hope that no matter what, if we allow God's grace to work in our lives He WILL make sure that we are "okay". And He will use us for great things. As long as we surrender to His will and His plan and put OUR "plans" aside in order to follow Him.

For Mary's Month

I'm still sort of debating about what to do for my "theme" here on the blog for Mary's Month. I've got an idea to do with Our Lady of Perpetual Help but haven't had a chance to actually think it out nor write it out. So....maybe this weekend.

In the mean time....Claire who has begun (actually began quite a long time ago) a wonderful blog for young ladies A Maiden's Wreath. She so kindly asked me to be a contributer (quite a long time ago) and I'm afraid I haven't been too good of a contributer as I've written an introduction post and that's it (I'm sorry Claire! I've got plans for that to...I promise!!)

Anyways. Clarie wrote a beautiful post yesterday for our Lady's Month. And I've taken it and turned it into a May activity. She's put up 32 small activities to do in honor of our Blessed Mother. I printed them out and cut them up and each day I'm planning on picking "out of a hat" one of the ideas to devote the day to.

Please go over and check out the blog. It's beautiful!

May

I love the month of May. Spring is really here (for the most part). The beautiful flowering bush is full of buds in the front yard (I'll have to take a picture to show you). Nature has put on her prettiest "dress" and the earth looks alive.

And I can't think of a better month of the year to have dedicated to our Blessed Mother then in May.

And THIS May begins with a "bang"! Today is not only the first day of "Mary's Month" but it's also the Feast of the Ascension AND the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. (And I know he is MORE then pleased to step aside to celebrate his Foster Son's Feast Day I still feel like he needs to be honored!)

I love the first of each month. New beginnings. Whatever last month held is over and the month ahead of us is all sparkly clean. Kind of like the start of a new year. The calandar is empty to be filled with all sorts of wonderful things.

For this month of May I've decided to really enter into it as Our Blessed Mother's Month. I haven't got any set plans but I do know I want to work on putting up a Mary Wall at home (of which I've wanted to do since reading a post about it months ago at Let the Little One's Come). I wanted to come up with some sort of "theme" of our Lady's to post here every day. But that didn't take fruition.

Instead I'm letting things go and will let our Lady lead me in how I should honor Her in a special way. Besides, I think that May is going to hold some circumstances where I will need to simply go to our Lady and sit at Her feet and find comfort and direction. And that's fine too. This is HER month. I trust in Her and love Her and know that whereever She leads me will be exactly wher God needs and wants me to be led to.