Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary - Why 19?

Today is the 19th Anniversary of my return to the Catholic Church. It was on October 7, the Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary, in 1997. If you remember, please include me in your prayers, especially your Rosaries, on this special day!

So why make such a big deal on this odd 19th anniversary? Because to me, every October 7 is a wonderful celebration of God's work to bring me back into the Fold. I am forever grateful.

You can read my conversion story here.

And other related posts here and here on p.32.

images 
- http://s84.photobucket.com/user/jakyl32/media/365%20Rosaries-%20OCTOBER/107OLRosary7.gif.html
- personal photo
- http://content1.meetmecdna.com/thumb_userimages/square/2013/10/08/15/thm_tUHBHFQnnW_0_0_180_180.jpg 

Christmas Greetings on the Feast of the Nativity

Christ is Born! Glorify Him!

Merry Christmas to all!

This year has been filled with gifts and graces from the Holy Trinity.  I am blessed with two sons who continue to show me they love me in numerous ways.  I am also blessed with several friends from each of the groups I do things with.  There is a lot going on in my heart.

May you and yours receive the peace of Christ in your hearts, and may your Christmas be holy!

Kathleen



image - Source unknown

In Celebration of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

Jesus, My Lord, My God, My All

The Blessed Sacrament, Excerpt
Frederick W. Faber, d.1863/Johann S. Bach, d.1750


Had I but Mary's sinless heart
With which to love Thee, dearest King,
Oh, with what ever fervent praise,
Thy goodness, Jesus, would I sing!
(Refrain)
Sweet Sacrament, we Thee adore!
Oh, make us love Thee more and more.









image - http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2637434/posts

Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, MA

The monks at St. Benedict Abbey in Still River, MA, have a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe.  One of them, Brother Joseph Maria, built a chapel named after her.  It is about 0.6 mile from the main house, down a hill and up on a knoll in the woods.  He built it during midday breaks when the other brothers were taking naps.  I believe one of the stones used to form one of the walls, is from the Tepeyac desert, which is outside Mexico City and is where Our Lady appeared to Juan Diego back in 1531.

The chapel on the knoll in Still River, MA is a beautiful site to behold.  Every year on the vigil of the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, i.e., December 11, the brothers and members of their extended community make a pilgrimage there.  Everyone assembles in front of the main house after dinner, and they either walk down the hill, or they take a hay ride to get there.  Those who walk go past candles placed along the path to lighten it up.  They also trudge through mud if it is or has been raining.  Either way, boots are recommended.

Either way, everyone gets a taste of an earthy pilgrimage like those made to Lourdes, Fatima, or Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico.  The walk back up the hill adds a challenging dimension to the trek.  It can be deeply spiritual.

In line with Benedictine hopsitality, the brothers serve home made brownies and hot chocolate.

The pilgrimage will be held again this year, on Sunday evening, December 11, 2011, 7:30pm. 
Please come.  If you want more information, feel free to contact me.

“Let all guests who arrive be received like Christ,
for He is going to say,
'I came as a guest, and you received Me' (Matt. 25:35).
And to all let due honor be shown,
especially to the domestics of the faith and to pilgrims." (Rule of Saint Benedict 53:1)


image - http://www.marypages.com/GuadalupeEng1.htm

Visual Chart - Saints for the Month of August

Cover Page

A Facebook friend of mine posted a link to this reference of Saints for the Month of August.  I like the visual chart of all the days together. 

You need a Facebook account to view it.  Click here

Place your cursor over each picture and you will see the date.  Click on it, and you will get to the magnified view of each saint's writeup.  I am not too keen on that arrangement.  It would be easier to use if the dates were visible right upfront on the chart.

Overall, though, I like it.

 For the other months, click here


image - https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/media/albums/?id=100001152848859

Presentation Of Jesus In The Temple & Purification Of Mary

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February 2 is another marking of the manifestation of Christ, in both the Roman and Byzantine calendars.  It used to mark the end of the Christmas season, but these days, in the secular world, it has no religious association, and in the religious world, its significance has been significantly minimized.

I know of only one place where they keep their creche up until February 2, and that is St. Benedict Abbey.

From the Melkite Greek Catholic Church web page:

This feast called "Hypapanty" (Hypapante), a Greek word meaning "meeting" is the first encounter of Jesus, our Savior, with His people. Christ comes into the midst of the temple, the gathering place of all the people of God and even of some Gentiles assembled to pray and to fulfill the laws of God handed down by Moses. Jesus, too, wishing to be like us in all things, save sin, that He might sanctify every aspect of human life, enters the Temple carried by His mother and accompanied by St. Joseph to make the customary offering of two turtledoves or pigeons (see Leviticus 12:2-5). Mary, the all pure Theotokos, submits to the rite of Purification as an act of obedience to the customary laws. Jesus submits to the laws of God and customs so that He might illumine all human life for He is the Sun of Justice as the Troparion of the feast declares:

Hail O Woman full of grace, Virgin and Mother of God: from you has risen the Sun of Justice, Christ our God, enlightening those who stand in darkness. You, too, just Elder Simeon, rejoice, for you carried in your arms the Redeemer of our souls, our Resurrection. (Byzantine Daily Worship, p. 627)

Simeon then prophesies "Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against..." (Luke 2: 33), the fall of unbelievers and the rising of believers through the waters of baptism. Christians are people of the Resurrection and the Eastern Churches emphasize this continually by standing at the Liturgy on Sunday, which is a celebration of the Resurrection, and in the "risen" bread of the Holy Eucharist.

Yet Christ is also "a sign which shall be spoken against," a sign of contradiction through the Cross. To die on a Cross, the shame of a social outcast or a criminal, was the way Our Savior brought about our salvation. In the opposing directions of the Cross, Christ gathers all peoples without discrimination "as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings" (Luke 13: 34). Christ comes to save all, to bring us back into unity with God, without exclusion.

This feast is important today as a message of hope and a message of encouragement. In a society of instant products, faith in promises, confidence that God has a Plan and it is in progress is not easy. We need the messages of faith and hope shown in the feasts to remind ourselves that God is still in charge of the world no matter how much evil there is in it. We need the reminder that in the fullness of time God is acting. When we fail to celebrate the separate events of the journey to salvation we may miss the message. Let us therefore meet in the assembly of the Church to celebrate our unfailing hope in the promises of God: "I leave you not as orphans...We will come to him and make Our home with him...the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My Name will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I have said to you" (John 14: 18, 23, 26).

The feast of St. Simeon and St. Anna is commemorated on February 3."

When I pray the fourth Joyful mystery of the Rosary, which is this Presentation, I focus on two things.  One, I ask Jesus  to make up for all that was missing in me, when my two sons were baptized, so they may live out their baptismal vows better than I have been able to, and two, I ask Jesus to purify me so I can be a better witness for Him.

May He do the same for you,
Kathleen


image - http://aesaintsoftheday.blogspot.com/2010/02/presentation-of-jesus-at-temple.html
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Back On Track With Theophany & Epiphany

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Wow, it's been awhile since I posted.  The holidays have been great.  I hope everyone had a Happy New Year, and more importantly, I hope everyone will have a good rest of the year.
                                                                                                      Baptism of Our Lord

Tomorrow, January 6, is the Great Feast of the Theophany of Our Lord Jesus Christ, at least it is in the Eastern Catholic Church.  In the Western Catholic Church in the United States, January 6 used to be the Epiphany, but the US Bishops moved it to the Sunday that falls between January 2 and January 8.  So this year, it fell on January 2.


The Eastern and Western Churches have slightly different emphases for this feast day, which celebrates the revelation of Jesus' divine nature to the Gentiles. The Eastern Catholic Church primarily focuses on the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. There is a Blessing of the Water service done after Divine Liturgy. The newly consecrated water is used to bless the congregation and the interior of the church/sanctuary. It is also put aside to bless
the homes of the members of the church.                                                                                           Arrival of the Three Magi            

The Western Catholic Church, on the other hand, primarily focuses on the arrival of the three Magi, Balthasar, Melchior and Caspar, who bring gifts to the newborn Jesus.
  
Praise God for the richness of our Catholic Church!









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images - http://www.frontporchrepublic.com/2010/01/holy-theophany/
http://www.crivoice.org/cyepiph.html
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Christmas Prayer & Christmas Wishes

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I saw this prayer for the first time recently and found it uplifting.  It brings us back to the "reason for the season", i.e. the birth of Our Lord, Jesus Christ.

 A Christmas Prayer

Loving Father, Help us remember the birth of Jesus,  

that we may share in the song of the angels,

the gladness of the shepherds,

and worship of the wise men.

Close the door of hate and open the door of love all over the world.

Let kindness come with every gift and good desires with every greeting.

Deliver us from evil by the blessing which Christ brings,

and teach us to be merry with clear hearts.

May the Christmas morning make us happy to be thy children,

and Christmas evening bring us to our beds with grateful thoughts,

forgiving and forgiven, for Jesus' sake. Amen.

by Robert Louis Stevenson

I will be off-line during this holy time of year.  Merry Christmas to all of you!

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph,
Kathleen
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image - http://www.yamchicago.org/beaware/?cat=9
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First Marian Apparition Approved In The US On The Feast Of Mary's Immaculate Conception!

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We Catholics are doubly blessed today.  First, we celebrate the Feast of Mary's Immaculate Conception.  This is the day Mary, not Jesus, was conceived by the loving embrace of her father, St. Joachim, and her mother, St. Ann.  Not only was she conceived, but she was conceived without sin, i.e. immaculately. 

She is the only creature upon whom God bestowed this standing.  She is also the only creature whose Fiat, "Be it done unto me according to Thy Word", primed the opening of the gates of heaven for our salvation. 

In the Eastern Catholic Church, this Feast is celebrated on December 9.

Second, we have exciting news in the United States.  For the first time in our country, an apparition of Mary has been formally approved.  There were actually three of them and they occurred in the Diocese of Green Bay, Wisconsin, where Our Lady appeared in 1859 on three occasions to a young Belgian immigrant named Adele Brise.  Bishop David Ricken announced his formal approval today with moral certainty. 


The incident is captured well in the article, Worthy of Belief. 
This blog entry also shines some light on the importance of this event. 
Click here to read the formal decree by the Bishop.
Click here to read some Basic Information About Apparitions.  I found this to be particularly edifying.

"O Mary, conceived without sin, pray

for us who have recourse to thee."

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images -  http://ellampson.wordpress.com/2009/12/10/joachim-and-anna-on-marriage/
http://deaconjohn1987.blogspot.com/2010/09/wisconsin-diocese-to-investigate-1859.html

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Atheism And Agnosticism - WWJD?

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Did you ever get the feeling you are being watched?  It can be creepy, but most of the time it just is what it is. 

That is, being watched is an every day reality.  That is because we are accountable to someone most of the time throughout all stages of life, be it our parents, our siblings, our aunts or uncles, our teachers, our husbands or wives, our boss or our very own children. 

It can be a creepy thing, like the picture to the left, but in general, I think it is a good thing.  I think we want to do good by those who watch us, and I think the roles each of us plays is a positive catalyst for right action and right speech.  It makes us a little more conscientious when we do something or say something.

A natural extension of this would be with God, with a God, or with some gods, in that we would be accountable to Someone beyond mankind for our overarching journey of life from conception to natural death (hopefully).  At least that is my thinking, and the thinking of many, many other people in our world.

Atheists and agnostics, however, can't wrap their brains around that concept, just like I can't wrap my brain around their concepts: 1) God does not exist, or 2) the existence or non-existence of a God is unknowable.  So where do we go from here?  Let's ask Jesus.

[Jesus] said to them, "Go into the whole world and proclaim the gospel to every creature." (Mark 16:15) [emphasis mine]

Jesus says go and preach the Gospel.  He did not give any qualifiers.  He simply said go and preach.  It doesn't matter if the people believe in God or not.  Go preach.  That's WWJD.

Jesus never said preaching would be simple.  On the contrary, He said it would be hard.  Take a look: 

1) Then he said to all, "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
What profit is there for one to gain the whole world yet lose or forfeit himself?  
Whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. (Luke 9:23-26)

2) As they were proceeding on their journey someone said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go."
Jesus answered him, "Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head."
And to another he said, "Follow me." But he replied, "(Lord,) let me go first and bury my father."
But he answered him, "Let the dead bury their dead. 28 But you, go and proclaim the kingdom of God."
And another said, "I will follow you, Lord, but first let me say farewell to my family at home."
(To him) Jesus said, "No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God." (Luke 9:57-62)

3) Great crowds were traveling with him, and he turned and addressed them,
"If any one comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple.
Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:26-27)

4) In the same way, everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:33)

Based on my own experience, and the advice of many sage saints, I think the only thing to do, when you don't know what to do, like I don't with atheists and agnostics, is to preach the Gospel by living the Gospel and by praying for the conversion of all souls. "Preach the Gospel and if necessary, use words," kind of thing. So even when we think it is impossible to communicate with atheists and agnostics, we can still do so with our actions.  We would still be doing right by Jesus.

Happy St. Teresa of Avila Feast Day!



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images - http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/01/18/fight-piracy-by-being-a-snitch/
http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=208

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Happy Feast Day of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

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The Feast of Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary falls on October 7. It is particularly significant to me for three reasons.

1) Our Lady and the Rosary, of course.
2) It is the anniversary of my return to the Roman Catholic Church. This year is my 13th!
3) And now, this very day today, is when my article, A Woman In Support of An All-Male Priesthood (go to the middle of p.32), got published in The Valley Patriot.  Providential. :-)


The Valley Patriot is a secular newspaper out of North Andover, MA. Tom Duggan is the President who took a leap of faith with me as a writer and with the content of the article. Thank you Tom.

It is beyond beneficial to pray the Rosary.  If you don't know it yet, here is one source of many to get you started.

Yours in Christ,
Kathleen





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images - http://www.hail-mary-rosaries.com/Rosary-CDs.html
http://members.cox.net/smg165ri/profiles.htm
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Come Holy Spirit, Fill The Hearts Of Your Faithful

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Happy Pentecost Sunday!  Such a healing and empowering day.  Wouldn't you have just loved to be with Mary and the Apostles when Jesus sent His Holy Spirit down upon them?

"Come Holy Spirit, enlighten my mind.  Help me to know my sins and to be sorry for them.  Renew in me a new spirit."

That is one of my favorite prayers to the Holy Spirit, before Confession, but on a daily basis as well.  I hope your feast day with the Holy Spirit brings a wonderful renewal in your soul.

In Christ,
Kathleen
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image - http://jameswoodward.files.wordpress.com/2009/05/pentecost.jpg

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Come Celebrate The Death of Death

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This is the Vigil of the Feast of the Ascension.  It commemorates the fortieth day after Easter, which is when Jesus ascended into heaven after being with us in His glorified body since His Resurrection.  His ascension into His glory marks the completion of His work on our redemption.  I never realized that this feast brings the work of Jesus full circle from the Annunciation.  What a fitting closure.

I can not imagine what it was like being there when Christ ascended into Heaven.  I am sure it was something earth shattering, literally and spiritually!  Christ, call me and unite me to Your Ascension so I can come full circle with You. 

Happy Feast Day!

Kathleen
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image - http://adtelevavi.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/ascension.jpg
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