To Christians who recite the rosary devoutly, received by St. Dominic and Blessed Alain. I always knew there were promises, and I know some by heart, not all, so every once in awhile I will read them again in my Pieta Prayer Book, to brush up. I’ve always wondered how does one know if they are receiving a “signal grace” with devotion to Our Lady’s Rosary.

Little did I know when I blogged regarding my spiritual steps to conversion, that I happened to be, along with my mom, and my family entering further up the staircase of faith and conversion, and discovering my answer to what the “signal grace” of devotion to the Rosary would be like; little did I know.

Saturday, my mother stopped by after she had finished working at her twice a week, part time job.  She came in the house, and I could instantly tell this was a “need” visit vs. a “stopping by, hi” visit.  I guess my children know the difference also, next thing I knew the middle child was out of the room. My mom stated, “could you look at my arm and chest for a minute, the area feels swollen to me, doesn’t hurt. I was at the doc’s on Thursday, and she mentioned the front of my upper arm, towards the shoulder is a little “puffy”.

My mom had, had severe right sided neck pain earlier in the week, I kept this in the back of my mind as I was about to examine her arm and chest wall. My mom has a very extensive health history, with a miraculous healing of melanoma in 1962. Praise God! She has lived to see her husband die of melanoma, children grow into adults, marriages, grandchildren that have turned into young adults, along with teens, and tween’s. She has lived her life as a widow that, I believe, would make God happy, because that is a vocation all unto itself. All the while living with health issues dating back to her teen years. She has lived with scoliosis, multiple back surgeries to “fix” the scoliosis, though this was back in 1969, much advancement has been made with surgeries and improved treatment of scoliosis today. She lives with arthritis, along with three autoimmune disorders, she has suffered daily, hourly, every minute of her life with pain, as long as I have been alive. She has been on the medications that have been recalled because of death, these medications actually HELPED her vs. hurting her, the irony!

Only, as I have become  ”middle-age”, with a now young adult, teen and tween in the home, and life experiences, have I begun to appreciate my mother more and more, with each passing day.  It is amazing how, with age, wisdom does arrive on time.  My mother and I have been extremely blessed, and graced with the healing of our life history together. All due to the graces of the Rosary, the intervention of the Blessed Mother, the mercy of Jesus, the glory of God, all the intervention from the angels, saints, and holy souls. Of course, how many masses and communions were offered up between us for the healing of our wounds?

So the “visit” begins, we enter into the bathroom. I “eyeball” my moms chest, and instantly see “puffiness” across the right side of her chest wall into the upper arm area. No redness, no warmth, no pain. Inside I’m saying, “well, we’ve got ourselves a situation here”.  My mom is concerned, her boss and friend told her to enter one of those “fast express” doc places. It’s a Saturday, her family doc isn’t going to see her, yet she is concerned it is an infection, and if it is, she needs antibiotics pronto due to the medication she is on which lowers the immune system. I tell my mom, “no, I don’t want you at that “fast express” place, instead I want to you to see the nurse practitioner at this place. She’s excellent, she knows me, she’ll do the right thing for you, and if she is not there, then whoever is, will also do the right thing, because she trained them”.  My concern with the “fast express”, if it is what I expect, the doc  may blow her off to her family doc because he would be very aware there is nothing he could do that day, unless it was an infection. I knew where my girlfriend worked, even though it would not be an infection, they would not leave my mom to dangle and fret till Monday to see her family doc.

The woman I know wasn’t working Saturday, nonetheless, as I suspected, she taught the doc’s well. The doc ordered all the right stuff, mammo, ultrasound, and the doc threw in a chest x-ray. No antibiotics. That was definitely an “oh, beans” moment for me. At least we knew where we stood, my mom felt as though something was accomplished, she would not have to sit and ruminate on Mother’s Day about the possibilities. She is soon to be 74 yrs. old, she is very aware what this could all mean.

She would not need to be put through the agony of her family doc’s office staff not scheduling her for an appointment on Monday, or stress over the behavior towards her. She had the “scripts” from Saturday, she was able to enter into the Radiology Office, first thing Monday, receive her mammo, ultrasound and chest x-ray. What a gift from God, she was able to bypass the stress of her family doc’s office.

We spent Mother’s Day together for dinner. Usually on Mother’s Day, my husband, kids and myself will attend the craft show at Sayen Gardens, and then walk through and check out the beautiful scenery. One year we left Sayen Gardens around 3 p.m.  We were all starving, and I suggested Brothers Pizza, I figured it wouldn’t be crowded yet, I was right. We had a nice relaxing, cool Mother’s Day Dinner, and the tradition started.

This year we were going to attend the Air show at McGuire Air Force Base. My husband wanted to leave early, my body didn’t have it in me. I also had a gnawing sensation within me that I could not put my finger on. Instead, I slept in, chilled a little, then, all of a sudden I had a burst of energy, and knew, KNEW, we must eat dinner at Brothers at 3 p.m., as we have been doing all these years. I called my mom, asked her, she said yes.

We all met at Brothers Pizza around 3:15 p.m., it was a beautiful day outside and in. My three children were there, along with the boyfriend of my oldest. My mother gave me a beautiful gift, it is by Willow Tree, it is a shadow box canoe where you are able to place figurines. My mother picked out each of my children’s figurines that described one of their many, God given qualities.  Then she had each child give me their own figurine. It is precious, and something she had no idea that, when I happened upon it, in the store, that I said to myself, “oh, I would love this!”.  My mom told me at the dinner table, the day she saw me looking at it, she thought, “don’t buy it, I already have it”. She then went on to say, “I saw you make a face, and I said to myself, well, it’s too late now, I already bought it for you”.  Only later did I tell her, the face I made was one of “whimsy”, I wanted it, but knew I wouldn’t receive it.  Imagine my shock and surprise, I received exactly what I quietly had hoped for, God is good! A very special day for me, and for my mom. I will cherish the memory of this past Mother’s day, and her gift always!

Monday she had her testing completed. The radiologist told her she had “one enlarged node, no big deal”. Mammo and chest x-ray were negative. In the meantime, she scheduled an appoint with her gynecologist, for a follow up and his opinion. He is a highly respected doctor, along with being an excellent and cautious doctor.  Within less then 24 hours later, my mother received a call from the radiologist, stating, “on second look, there are really three lymph nodes, and I suggest a follow up CT Scan”. My mother stated to him, “my daughter and I have already spoken, and I will be getting a biopsy done”. His reply, “oh, I didn’t think you would be ready to hear that yet”. (That is for another blog, though I will say, I was very annoyed by the audacity of this radiologist to feel it was up to him, how to tell my mother what was going on with her own body. Do we really need to waste time on getting the correct care and treatment? As I stated, maybe another blog for another day, definitely pertaining to forgiveness!).

Can’t say I was overly surprised, she already had the appointment for the gynecologist. Now though, the picture changed a tad, at first we were going to wait to see the one doctor before making the appointment with the surgeon for the biopsy. That phone call changed the plans. I called the surgeon’s office first thing Thursday morning, and she has an appointment for Tuesday.  I asked the receptionist to start looking at dates for scheduling the biopsy as soon as possible. I received the very kind explanation of how the doctor will make that decision, and I kindly explained my mother’s health history, and how much I would appreciate an approximate date to be ready at the helm, after seeing the surgeon.  I also explained the surgeon knows who I am because I was the one who preplanned my gallbladder surgery before I even saw him for my appointment. He enjoyed that very much! I figured helping him out a second time would  make his day again!  I am usually a very proactive individual!

Wednesday night I took my mom to mass for Ascension Thursday, and confession afterwards. Little does she know we will be doing the same the night before her biopsy. She is not overly fond of confession, and as I explained to her, I am not here only to help you physically, I am also here for your soul!

While my mom was at her appointment, I was doing laundry, thinking, praying, praising God, when I was suddenly struck by the realization that we are receiving the “signal grace” for my mom. Wow, that blew me away. Even though, I knew to appreciate and love, possibly, my last Mother’s Day with my mom; I didn’t yet realize the graces and gifts being poured down upon my mother and myself.

The thunderbolt of realization blew me away……….I was so thankful, and yet, now sorrowful.  When I returned to blogging I mentioned that I have been blessed with a Spiritual Director, thank you, Lord and praise God!  While the Spiritual Director and I were speaking about the issues of concern to me, one of the issues involves a cure for someone I deeply love, who is so wounded, and in so much pain, a cure is the only thing that can be asked for, by Our Lord, if it is Our Lord’s will.  My Spiritual Director was very specific, it had to be a cure, not just a healing. Once the cure, then the healing will follow for other things.

My mom is my best friend, she is aware who needs the cure. I had told her what the Spiritual Director had stated to pray for, and I know, as my mother, my best friend, a prayer warrior, a devout follower of Our Lady’s Rosary that she is praying for this cure.

The thunderbolt of realization that my mother is the vessel for the cure, brought me to such a level of pain, I thought my heart would explode, I staggered and clearly said, “oh no, I didn’t mean for a cure this way!”. Then I stopped, realized and accepted, “not my will, but God’s will be done”. God makes good come out of things that we may see as “bad”, when in fact, they are great graces and gifts being poured out upon us.

Who, but my own mother, would be my greatest intercessor in heaven for me. There is no doubt she will be going straight to heaven when she dies. Part of the sixth promise of the Fifteen Promises, is that ”he will not perish by an unprovided death”. Never did I realize what that meant, until now, facing the beginning of the finality of my mother’s life. The seventh promise: Whoever shall have a true devotion for the rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church. My mother will be given the grace of Viaticum. How blessed we are, Praise God!

We have not been to the surgeon’s office yet, we have not had the biopsy yet. I may be totally wrong! If I am, all for God’s glory! If I am not, all for God’s glory!

However this biopsy turns out, it has opened my eyes, and spirit to questions I have had, and by God’s grace have been given some understanding.  My mom and I have already begun to speak about her eventual funeral, be it this year, or ten years from now. We’ve kept it lighthearted, and at times tearful. My mom has become closer with her sister over these past few years, so I know my aunt will be a help to me when the end arrives.  I have power of attorney over my mom’s medical part of her life, so I know  I will be facing some lonely decisions, and making decisions that will not be satisfactory to some individuals on earth. Nonetheless, with God’s guidance, and the inspiration of the Holy Spirit they will be the right decisions, for my mom, and for her soul in eternal life.

I love you mom……I always have, I always will, and whatever the results of the biopsy I am so grateful you are my mother, my mentor, and have shown me the strength of Our Lady’s Rosary. A mere thank you, does not seem enough, and yet, for now, it must suffice. Mom, I love you, and I will be by your side through all of this, as you have always been by my side, if not physically, then through the Rosary. You are truly one of the Blessed Mother’s many roses from heaven. I love you.

While I was extremely ill, and pretty much in bed vs. out of bed in the fall of 2008 through the summer of 2009; I began watching EWTN more then I had ever done before since it’s existence. In the past, I would watch Mother Angelica, catch one or two saint movies, beyond that, not too much. Then as I began to delve deeper into my spiritual life, all due to God and this absolute amazing miracle he performed on my girlfriend’s husband in the first half of 2008 (that’s another blog). I became more interested in watching EWTN, and began to notice I was watching less “mainstream TV shows and/or movies”.

During the time of Tom’s miraculous healing, I was in the presence of very strong prayer warriors, and began to hear, listen and learn more about our faith. My very slow conversion began in 1996, in 2006 it picked up a level due to life experiences, and a very religious book store in Newtown, PA. You walk into the store and can feel the Holy Spirit throughout the entire store. The employees are filled with the Holy Spirit, it is a beautiful book store, and I have found more gems in that store then any bookstore I have ever been in!  The Salve Regina Bookstore is where my dream of visiting Medjugorje became a reality for me. The owner, and her husband have been there, last count, I believe is 28 times! Believe me when I tell you this is a Holy Spirit inspired bookstore, it is faith filled, infused with the Truth of God, and energizing!  In 2008, my conversion entered another spiritual level, that even I was blown away. I sure wish they had names for all these levels, they probably do, just haven’t found the correct book yet! Never fail, I will continue with that quest! This way, one day, I will be able to label each step of my conversion story!

One of the EWTN shows that caught my fancy was, Threshold of Hope with Fr. Mitch Pacwa.  At the time, he was reviewing and speaking about the writings of Pope John Paul II.  I enjoyed how he took the time to explain his works. I noticed I began to take notes, I began saying out loud “really? really? REALLY?????”, that’s when I began working towards another spiritual level. The desire of learning theology. I noticed I began watching the clock for 10 p.m., on Tuesday nights, so I would not miss the show. I would make sure the children were ready for bed, run into my bedroom, close the door, hop in my bed, pull out my notebook, get the remote, make myself comfy, and I was set! The beginning of the music would start, I would be waiting to see the lovely film of JPII entering the church, and then I would hear “knock, knock” on my bedroom door, and one of the children would have a question, or decide they needed to talk. The dilemma! What do I do? I absolutely love this show, and Fr. Pacwa, and yet, here are my adorable kids looking at me for kisses, hugs, talking, or helping. I sometimes, not so graciously, I must admit, would turn off the TV, put down my notebook, and attempt to give my children the best attention I could, and I’m sorry to say, sometimes as fast as I could, so that I could return to my “class”.

I soon discovered that “missing my class” was not the end all or be all of life, and that my calling is to be wife and mom to my family, even the dogs……….in their times of need.  I noticed if I rushed my children, I wasn’t happy with myself, and I wasn’t useful to them, they obviously didn’t get their “need” fulfilled, so they would only return with the same issue/request or a new one, because what they wanted or needed from me, they did not receive the first time.  In retrospect, I can see that and understand it now, and hopefully, have learned from it. Nonetheless, I didn’t see it then, so even as I strive for that next spiritual level, I was missing the steps up the stairs to get there.

Then the Threshold of Hope season ended, and so did the teachings of JPII. At first, I thought, “always a day late, dollar short”, and the “pity party” began for missing my Tuesday nights and Fr. Mitch Pacwa.

Next thing I hear and see, for myself, the series is returning with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI. I’m ecstatic, absolutely thrilled! At first I believed my children were now “old enough” to understand, and to be given a little more freedom with their bedtime routine. Early in the year, I discovered, I was so very wrong!

When Fr. Mitch stated he was going to be speaking on Verbum Domini, The Word of God in the Life and Mission of the Church, I was speechless! I had the book in my possession! What are the odds of that happening? I was a very happy peacock, my smile was as wide as a peacock’s plumes when in their glory! I shouted out with glee, and said “thank you Lord! I’m taking a CLASS!”.  I love school, I love learning, I love absorbing as much information into my brain as I can, and being able to share it with everyone!  Believe me, just ask my family and friends, and they’ll tell you how many of the things I learn, I love to share!  Sometimes, my kids put their heads down, and say, “oh, nooooooooo”, my response, “but you brought it up!”. Then, of course, we laugh, and yet I still attempt to teach them something, and even though they won’t admit it, they don’t walk away, and I have to wonder…….if they aren’t just a tad bit interested to begin with……..I pray they are hearing the Truth of God in the words I speak, so they can stay on Jesus’ path vs. having to get back on it the hard way, as I did.

Thankfully, with God being so merciful, he doesn’t really care how we come back, as long as we come back to Him. I am always grateful to Him, and I love seeing how, and also realizing His hand in a situation with the people He places into each of our lives as we each, in our own way, slowly, make our way back to Him.

I immensely enjoy listening to Fr. Mitch speak regarding the teachings of JP II and Pope Benedict. I also enjoy watching the joy in his face, and the passion he has for the Catholic faith. He is also world wise, so no one is going to pull a fast one on him. As he stated, he lived in Chicago, he knows the ways of this earthly world. He so easily is able to be in the world, but, not of the world, and I admire that quality of strength he carries. Of course, by God’s grace, he is very blessed. As we are blessed to have him be on TV, teaching, and preaching his homily’s to us, when he performs mass on EWTN.

I hope and pray, one day I will be able to meet Fr. Mitch Pacwa, and be on one of his pilgrimages to the Holy Land. I love watching his Rosary from the Holy Land, and the stories he speaks about regarding it’s beauty. Today he spoke of Israel’s museum, I was stunned and astounded by the fact that there are artifacts still around from the time of Jesus.

I am very grateful to God, for allowing me to be aware of my steps of conversion, sometimes big, sometimes small, sometimes standstill, however, He never leaves my side, and I may not understand something as I am living through it. God still blesses me with the knowledge afterwards of why I had to live through it, be it good or bad. Always, it is for the purification and sanctification of my soul, and sometimes for others, and that is a beautiful blessing and gift to receive.  Especially, during the tougher times of staying on the path of Jesus and one’s conversion, it is always easy to say thank you, and praise during the good times. The hard times, it takes many prayer warriors to hold you up to God, and to remind you, “this is a great time to be saying thank you and praising”. All praise and glory to God for him allowing me to take another step up that spiritual ladder. Amen!

As for my facebook friends and family, they can expect to see on my facebook status “class time”, on Tuesday nights at 10 p.m.!

Hi Everyone,

Have been away for awhile due to health issues, and by God’s grace  I am now back.  I have so much to catch up on!

First, I have started with a spiritual director from Opus Dei, recommended by another woman from the Confraternity of Christian Mothers community, that I also am a member.

I had a wonderful spiritual director in Fr. Ed Dougherty; however, he sadly (for me)passed away on April 14, 2011. What a loss for this world, and the people he touched. On the other hand, a wonderful blessing, because I know he is praying for every single person who has ever touched his life. Including me, my husband, and my children. Praise God!  Fr. Ed brought much healing into my life, so much that I have been blessed with an expansion of my heart, for love, and forgiveness.  Don’t get me wrong, I still blow it. Nonetheless, due to Fr. Ed’s constant love, forgiveness, and teachings, he has brought me to another level of my spiritual life, I am so very thankful for God allowing that blessing upon me, thank you Lord!

After Fr. Ed died, I floundered. I knew what I was supposed to do, just wasn’t pulling it off………of course, to my perfection vs leaving that to God and his deciding how well I was handling it.  Of course, what happens when we try to be perfect? Well besides that being a breeding ground of pride and vanity, our attempt in “perfection” becomes immobilization.  Immobilization then breeds another whole issue  where we begin to lose the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, such as: knowledge, fortitude, understanding, piety, counsel, wisdom, and lastly fear of the Lord. Not that you don’t still see his mighty wonders and works, and miracles, you do! You may not see them as quickly though, or as brightly, or you may not give credit to God at all (back to pride and vanity).  I wasn’t even pulling off confession and reconciliation to “my liking”, jeez, can one get any more prideful?

During this time, always in the back of my mind, was my plead to Jesus to please send me another strong spiritual director.

In between life goes on, then I became ill. Didn’t like it, at ALL. Even did that in a lousy way! I was offering it up, but, was I offering it up well enough? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh, pride and vanity……….what stinky feelings they are, especially when you have that nagging inside of you, and yet…………………………yet, you still go there, especially when you’re farther away from God.

Then something happened……..Rick Santorum stepped up and said “I’m running for President for the life of my daughter Bella”. I’ve always liked Rick Santorum, and by his words something began to resound within me. My faith? God? The Holy Spirit? Fr. Ed? I’m sure all of the above. Hills and valleys happened with my life, just as they did with Rick Santorum, and he never stopped praising God, for the good days and the not so good.  What about me? Was I? I believed I was, or was I kidding myself, and living a sterile life. Leaving God out of my life? Saying the right words, but, truly living them? What was going on? I did not know any longer.

I cried out to my prayer warrior friends, for without them, I knew I would not survive. While they were lifting me up and holding me up to God. I clung to the beautiful blueberry wood crucifix, and the beautiful blue rosaries Dani made me, while I laid in bed asking Jesus to put my illness in his wounds and hide me.

Then as I slowly began to improve, I noticed a lightening of my heart, the need to hug my children every chance I had. I was smiling again. I was beginning to see and feel God everywhere, colors were getting brighter. Just at that time I connected with the Confraternity of Christian Mothers, woman, who suggested the spiritual director from Opus Dei. I was thrilled. That week on “Women of Grace” with Johnette Benkovich on EWTN was a mom and daughter team who live the meaning of Opus Dei, and I watched with amazement at some of the things that I could be doing for my family, to sanctify us as a family, and as extra prayers for them.

Over the past few years, I have slowly become interested in Opus Dei, and 1, 2, 3, wow! I’m there!  God is funny that way, with me. Just in talking I will say, “you know Lord, I would like to do this one day, or go here one day, what do you think?”.  I never put a timeline down, just a mention and then figure if God believes it is correct for me, He will make it happen.  I also ask Blessed Mother what she thinks, and I’ll leave it in her hands to intercede if she believes it will be beneficial to me, my marriage, and my family.

By God’s beautiful grace, I am now getting back on my feet. I am working hard, at listening to the “knock, knocks” and making sure I’m answering.  I’m also trusting in God that he will lead each moment of my life. I am not perfect, never have been, never will be, I will leave that all to God, and accept this beautiful gift of life he has given me.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day. Happy Belated Mother’s Day to my readers! It was also the Feast of Our Lady of Fatima, which blew me away, what a blessing for all of us women.  Then I come to find out, it is Bella Santorum’s fourth birthday! She was born on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima, and it all clicked for me!

Bella was not supposed to live beyond her first year of life, and she has, what a blessing!  Bella was born in 2008, the same year of one of the most life changing elections in my lifetime, and in her father’s lifetime. I believe Bella is a victim soul for her father, and to urge him, and others (such as myself), NOT TO LIVE A STERILE LIFE, which he hasn’t! I also believe Bella Santorum is a victim soul for the USA.  There are a lot of if, ands, and buts, I could place in this paragraph, I won’t.

Bella Santorum was born on May 13, 2008 on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Fatima for a very special mission, and I believe she is beginning or did fulfill that mission.  Little Bella is a chosen child of God who will be highly honored in heaven.  Starting at birth, and even going through all she has medically, and then the campaign trail, Bella Santorum has NEVER LIVED A STERILE LIFE!.

She has been an inspiration for many, me included!

That is why today, when I saw the words of St. Josemaria Escriva, “don’t let your life be sterile”.  I decided to start, right at this moment!

Happy St. Matthias’ feast day!

God Bless,

Michele

Sorry I’ve been away for so long.  Thought that my post Christmas season illness was mild this year………..until I discovered I was wrong!

Have been down and out with severe sinus issues, double vision, dizziness and unable to even be near a computer.

As I gain my strength back, I’ll be returning to blogging. Due to my illness, I missed almost the entire Book Club meetings to discuss Render Unto Caesar by Archbishop Chaput. Hope to return there soon.

Still looking forward to writing about my day with Marcus Grodi!

This weekend I will be attending a seminar by Jeff Cavins. His talk will be on Revelations. I am looking forward to this event!

Near the end of February, my parish will be hosting Fr. John Trigilio from EWTN’s Web of Faith. Another event I hope to be attending this Lent.

My first year of teaching 6th grade CCD has been an interesting year. Between our days off, and being ill, I definitely feel I never developed a rhythm. Nonetheless, I am marching forward, and happily anticipate having my “children” being enrolled into the Sabbatine Privilege of wearing the Brown Scapular, introducing them to Adoration at our parish’s Adoration Chapel, and hoping to have one night of Stations of the Cross for our CCD children.  Tonight I will be speaking about the Feast Day of Our Lady of Lourdes coming up on Saturday, and the role of St. Bernadette in this beautiful apparition.

We now have a young adult living in our home, along with a brand new spanking teenager!  Ahhhh, to say the least, times are interesting in our house. The youngest is still a tween, and is all boy……….never a dull moment in our home.

During my time of being ill, I would like to thank my husband.  On top of his work schedule, he did much around the house with having the kids help out in pulling their weight; along with the transportation of kids to their activities.

Thank you to my children, especially Maria, the oldest.  She has been my “store runner” through most of this time. Maria has also made us some very good dinners!

Theresa, has become my ”teen”, and is learning, along with doing a good job on doing her laundry.  I must say, I am enjoying that I am able to open the washer and smelling “clean clothes”.

Jack, the tween, is working hard at school, and should be very proud of himself with how well he is doing. He works hard for every grade he receives. Having Theresa so close in age with him, has been a benefit to them both. It has brought out a healthy state of competition in doing their best with schoolwork.

Lord, I am extremely thankful for all the blessings you have bestowed upon me, and my family, during these times of upheaval in our life.

Enjoy your day!

God Bless!

Michele

Hi Everyone,

Silly me. The last time I wrote, I thought it was due to writier’s block. Not at all, just a slow progressive virus that has put me flat on my back. Starting out slowly with each passing day. This past week it put me completely on my back, especially the last two to three days.

By God’s grace, I am now beginning to improve, but slowly. I’m going to take the hint to take care of myself. My mother has been a wonderful mom with supplying me with loads of delicious chicken soup. My daughter, Maria, has done a fantastic job of stepping up to the plate and helping me with the transportation of her brother and sister, and in general keeping an eye on them. My husband has been a great help with keeping up with the laundry.  T & J have been wonderul siblings by doing their best to get along and into bed within a reasonable hour.  The past 48 – 72 hours I have very few memories of any questions or concerns from my children. I am very thankful and proud of my husband, Maria, T & J pulling it together to keep the important things running in the household………………now, if the dogs could just learn to feed themselves……….

God bless, stay well…………and hoping to being returning next week with blogging.

Michele

Wow, at first I didn’t believe this could ever happen to me!  Though it has, I’m still surprised. I have lots roaming around in my head to write about, nonetheless, the brain cells are not settling in on one topic.

I believe I have post holiday overload, if there is such a thing.  My daughter’s gift from her boyfriend is him getting the downstairs bedroom finished for her to move into. He is a great organizer and hard worker. I have truly appreciated all the hard work he has put into completing this room for her.

I also appreciate the help and guidance my brother has given his niece, and her boyfriend.  My brother and husband, did a great job with putting up the new ceiling. It looks beautiful.  My brother gave them some tips on the painting of the room.  My husband has been surprised with some of the work, and in the end I pray he will be happy to have all three kids in their own room, and we’ll be able to get “normal” sleep again, whatever that may be……….it’s been so long I forget!

As all household projects go………there are always the little extra surprises that pop up. They have, and put him a little behind, so now the pressure is on to finish enough to get her bed, and shelves back into the room. Then we can begin to move her things from upstairs to downstairs while he is back at school. She can get a feel for what else she needs in her room, or what she would like in her room, or even what she feels would work better in her room. For me, today, I have this unsettled feeling in the pit of my stomach, a roaming feeling, a “can’t settle down” feeling, and I can’t put my finger on it.

Maybe it’s the feeling of “wow, is this really going to happen, so then I can separate the other two kids, and we can all return to a normal sleeping routine!”.  I pray so, because I believe I have gotten to the end of my rope with the dogs and their uninvited guests, along with my wacky sleep schedule. There is a definite improvement with the visitors, but for me, one is even too much. I am unable to feel as though I can live in my home, until all of these visitors are gone.

Once upon a time, I enjoyed carpet cleaning, now……………….ugh!  I have never felt something take so long as I feel with this intricate, detailed cleaning.  As I type this, I vaguely remember this same feeling when the living room was being remodeled for two years, and then another four years for our addition to be finished.  In reality then, I guess I’m doing pretty good!

Hmmm, well that was a nice little God “nudge”.  I had put those other two times of my life out of my head.  Now that I’ve typed that, God has helped me put this issue into perspective. What I feel is “taking so long”, and I’m sure so do others, really isn’t……..it’s taking as long as it is because this there is a lesson in it for me, and for others.  I need to accept that and go with it.

With that, I’m going to sign off, the head is still whirling a mile a minute, and I need to get myself off to mass. If I keep typing, I’ll mess up somewhere along the line!

Have a good night, and God Bless!

Michele

As we enter the year of 2012, with the knowledge that the United States will be having a life changing election on Tuesday, November 6th; I have had one of those “God” nudge moments.

While preparing to blog about the Feast Day of St. John Neumann, I opened up my blue book of prayers, interesting articles, religious articles and information that I like to keep for future reference. Lo and behold, I find my “Election Novena”!

I didn’t need a board to hit me in the head, especially after Rick Santorum’s fantastic rise in the Iowa caucus, to tie with Mitt Romney in first place. Praise God!  Yes, I am aware, it is by a mere eight points that Romney is ahead.  I am also aware that one district thought they turned in their results, and did not. They also ”threw out their results”, so if the story that is being related on Fox correctly, ”the results” were given by memory and Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney had to agree to those results.  Rick Santorum, the true gentleman he is, accepted the verbal “results”, and that is why there is an “eight point difference”.  In my heart and mind, he is the winner, and I believe with the support of our prayers, and if it be God’s will, Rick Santorum will be The President of the United States starting January 2013!

I would like to focus on this beautiful “David and Goliath” story. Senator Santorum was not given an ounce of notice by the media, especially during the debates. Nonetheless, Senator Santorum held his own, and would insert himself into the debates. He did it with such class!  Now, that he is tied with Mitt Romney in the Iowa caucus, I will now be ending my subscriptions to certain pundits that I believed had knowledge regarding their job, and that most of all, in the end, it is God’s will that takes place, not the baloney excuses that they have been stating which are immensely insulting to Senator Santorum and his family, along with the public.

Of course, Rick Santorum knew where this first place tie came from, he received the grace from Our Heavenly Father, God, and with such humility, joy, faith, hope, modesty and true peace  he expressed it all during his acceptance speech last night. He also acknowledged his beautiful wife, and the sanctity of their marriage by first, making sure his family was with him throughout these months in Iowa, then secondly, by publicly acknowledging his wife and family on stage. He stopped, he took his time, he did not rush through the “list of people” to thank. Instead, he took that time to acknowledge God’s greatest gift to him and his wife, the sanctity of marriage and then took his time publicly, without shame, acknowledging the graces that God poured down upon him last night.

It was awe-inspiring, touching and beautiful to watch, the joy I felt in my heart for him, and his family, and the magnificence of Our Lord, God, showing his presence so strongly, blew me away!  I also believe it was not missed by the prayer warriors who are aware of God’s strength! Miracles are truly happening all around us!

At the end of this blog, you will see different websites to visit, and print off novena’s, prayers, and rosaries for the election. You will notice that some of the sites are from earlier years. Obviously, they are prayers that are very important to this years election.  Our society is truly at stake with this November election.  Let us not forget, asking for the intercession of Our Lady of Victory for God’s will in this election.

Let us pray if it is God’s will for this to be a “David and Goliath” period of time, then Rick Santorum and his family will need all the prayers that can be sent their way, for the grace of strength, perseverance, patience, humility, and to always be filled with the words by The Holy Spirit.

Please do not forget:  Pray, Fast, Adoration, Love of the Holy Mass, Confession, Pray the Rosary, Ask for Mercy in the Divine Mercy Chaplet for God’s will to be done during this November election.

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“Prayer given by Our Lord to Sister Marie de Sainte Pierre (1816-1848 – Apostle
of the Holy Face of Jesus), to divide and conquer revolutionary men.

http://www.faithfulcitizenship.org/docs/FC_Novena.pdf - this is a Faithful Citizenship Novena regarding elections

http://abortion-greatest-sin.excerptsofinri.com/America-Election-MESSAGE-Rosary.html - this is in PDF form and can be printed off. It is a Rosary with meditations for Conversion of Our Country, The United States of America

http://www.priestsforlife.org/novenas/election-daynovena.htm

http://www.usccbpublishing.org/client/client_pdfs/prayerbefore.pdf - this is a prayer to be said before the election

http://www.usccbpublishing.org/client/client_pdfs/prayerafter.pdf - this a prayer to be said in thanksgiving after the election

http://www.episcopalnet.org/TRACTS/NovenaForUnitedStates.html - novena for The United States of America

http://www.fjp2.com/en/john-paul-ii/prayers/novena - JPII novena, after each prayer, there is a Litany to be prayed……….it is the Litany of JPII. You will be able to find this Litany under the “link” that states John Paul II.  John Paul II lived through the horrors of WWII, Hitler, the nazi’s, the communism in Poland and throughout Europe. Through all of that oppression he lived and breathed ”peace”. He knew that only through “peace” will love of one another prevail.  Let us not forget to ask Bl. JPII for his intercessory prayers during this very important election and God’s will for the United States.

http://www.goperri.com/padrepio.html - this is the Efficacious Novena that Padre Pio said daily for all the people that asked him to pray for them. Please let us ask Padre Pio for his intercessory prayers during this very important election and God’s will for the United States

http://www.omm.org/documents/prayers/novena-mediatrix.html - Our Lady Mediatrix of All Grace and St. Louis DeMontfort

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/2614366/posts - Novena to Christ the King for the election.

I pray these sites will be helpful to all who are interested in praying for God’s will in November and for our beautiful country, The United States of America!

My past, Oh Lord, to Your Mercy; My present, to Your Love; My future to Your providence. —– Padre Pio

Praise be Jesus and Mary!

Michele

Wow, what a surprising end to a rather lackadaisical day. Not exactly a true lackadaisical day, although, if I do not crawl into bed at midnight in excruciating, or almost excruciating pain, then I feel as though I was lazy that day, or may be considered lazy by others.  An ongoing, daily inner struggle of my life as it is, I’m sure, with many woman.

My day started out after two hours of sleep last night, no particular reason.  Mostly my desire to complete my “chores and obligations”, which I never did get to finish, or fully complete.  I figured today would be “another day”. Woke, did the morning routine, along with taking the kids to school due to the first true frigid weather in our area.  I didn’t want our son to leave early for the bus stop, and stand  there freezing.  Especially since I knew he wouldn’t dress properly, and then there would his “man pride” that would get in his way, and he would stand there freezing vs. coming home and wear warm clothing and outerwear.

I needed to get my mom to the surgeon’s for her appointment and I didn’t have time to do the sitting at the bus stop routine, or running back and forth in between schools with the kids, or experiencing the whole “yes, you need to” vs. “no, I’ll be fine”, routine.  It was easier, calmer and all around more pleasant to drive my children to their respective schools, along with taking my neighbor and even stopping on the way to pick up my niece on her birthday. It was nice to be able to do this one little thing for her on her birthday.  Then we sit in front of the school for 10 minutes, due to the fact that the children are not allowed to enter the building until 8 a.m.  To my parents eye, I believe I saw children entering the building, and the one’s outside actually surviving! Nonetheless, my precious cargo felt they needed to stay in the car until that special moment in time.  It’s funny how that special moment in time, turned out to be the exact time that the car was beginning to get cool, due to me turning the car, along with the heat off when we pulled up in front of the school.

Children, truly a blessing and joy to have in our lives. To see life through their eyes, is such a blessing to us all, especially when we stop and honestly listen to their words, their dreams, and how they may approach an issue rather than the adult way.  I am often amazed how their answers may be so simple and succinct.

Returned home in time for a load of laundry, some coffee and prayer time. Then time to dress for my mom’s doctor appointment. That’s a two hour event, with travel and buying the medicine.  I arrive home, chit chat with my husband, and hobble upstairs due to my pain. I figured I would get off my feet until the pain subsided, and during that time I started blogging and attempting the “picture to the blog” again.

After my husband left for work, I thought “OK, I can do this, I’ll wash the carpet, do some cleaning up, along with more laundry, and then it would be time for the night time routine”.

The harder I worked to start moving my body, the slower I became. Finally, my middle child looked at me and said, “why don’t you go to bed, you have circles down to your mid cheeks, you look exhausted.”  I took my daughter’s advice, and in that time I played round and round with the computer.

Finally it happened, I successfully placed a picture onto my blog!  It has only taken 3 months and approximately five days, along with many, many hours of “playing” around on the computer.  Tonight it has taken me approximately three hours of “playing” on the computer to accomplish this feat!

I desired to write about St. Elizabeth Ann Seton today, with her feast day on the 4th and I can only attribute her intercession in helping me to be successful with the accomplishment of her picture on my blog today. Hers is the first picture that made it!!!!! I’m thrilled.  Needless to say, I will definitely be asking for her intercession before I start a blog!

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, until today, was a saint whom I have always been aware of, but, not necessarily the first saint to ask for intercessory prayers.

I attempt to keep a typed list of birth dates, anniversaries, and death dates. With each person I pray for, I do my best to invoke any saints that may have the person’s name, given, middle or last. I also ask for the intercession of saints who are patrons of the what the person does or did in their life.

When I think of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, first I think of my deceased paternal grandmother, so she will be in my prayers today. Next on the list is my favorite Great Aunt Ann. I love her dearly…..she spent much time with me during my childhood.  The nights I would sleep at my maternal grandmothers house, she would come over on Sunday mornings with her son, Joe (my second cousin).  We would attend mass at St. Anthony’s, then return to my grandmother’s house, and eat ham with butter on the bread, along with tea.  They made it beautiful for me, it was a grown up tea party, and I definitely had my manners reinforced at this time. These will always be fond memories for me.  Then I also think of my mom, her name being Marianne, and a mother, who had many things happen in her life as did St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, I ask for her intercession for my mom.

Then I begin down my list of all the moms,  and grandmothers, along with friends who are in need of intercessory prayer for being mothers, especially the ones who have large families. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton also believes strongly in a good education. I’m right there with her!

Amazingly, there are other many “God – incidences” with this saint:

My niece, Jacqueline, was also born on August 28th. I now have another saint to pray for my niece!  The fact that St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized on the Feast Day of the Exaltation of the Cross fits this saints life to a tee. She carried her cross well, and without compliant.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is a wonderful role model for so many of us as mothers, and yet I still continue to struggle with getting life down pat!  I also have a special place in my heart for this saint, because she is one of the saints I truly remember who was canonized during my lifetime, and to me, that is a big deal!

I have always turned to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton as a mom. Now that I have discovered that she is patronage to other issues, she definitely will receive my prayers for intercession to her as time goes by.

Prayer by Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

O Father, the first rule of Our dear Savior’s life was to do Your Will. Let His Will of the present moment be the first rule of our daily life and work, with no other desire but for its most full and complete accomplishment. Help us to follow it faithfully, so that doing what You wish we will be pleasing to You. Amen.

Patronage

• against in-law problems
• against the death of children
• against the death of parents
• Apostleship of the Sea (two of her sons worked on the sea)
• opposition of Church authorities
• people ridiculed for their piety
• Shreveport, Louisiana, diocese of
• widows

http://saints.sqpn.com/saint-elizabeth-ann-seton/

At home my oldest daughter, Maria, and myself, are very excited that Bl. Kateri Tekakwitha will now be canonized a Saint.  I discovered the news while reading  Spiritdaily.com. Ever since, I have been writing and re-writing my blog trying to put into words the happiness we have in our heart for this young ”Lily of the Mohawks” woman, who loved, enjoyed serving others without complaint, who through all of her suffering, accepted it without complaint, and instead continuously offered it all to Jesus. What a beautiful role model for our young girls today.

Maria, at the age of 18 yrs. old, is blossoming into young adulthood as a beautiful young woman, both inside and out. From the day she was born, at 36 weeks, she knew what she wanted and rarely let anything get in her way.  Maria, after permission from our parish Monsignor, took the name Kateri for her Confirmation name. We needed permission from the Monsignor, due to the fact my daughter was the  first child they could remember who wanted a Blessed name vs. a Saint name for Confirmation. There is that individuality spirit I have come to know so well, and love, and at times reminds me of me, which in turn sometimes becomes ogada for us both.

As I watched Maria grow, I saw the most beautiful, imaginative, creative child ever (of course, she’s my child!).  Believing Maria would be our only child, her and I spent five years together doing everything and anything I or we could think of that would be cherished moments for us, along with the feeling that she was receiving the opportunities to become a well rounded child, which would eventually help her in adulthood. We did much together, and had a blast.

I so loved teaching her our Catholic faith, and I now enjoy the adult conversations we have regarding our Catholic faith. Even though Maria doesn’t have many memories of her childhood, I have an abundance of memories that I will treasure forever as I continue to grow into my “senior” years.  One day, when I get to all the pictures I have taken of everything my children have accomplished in their young lives, I pray it will jog some of their memories!

When Maria was 2 or 3 years old, Pocahontas, the movie, was released by Disney. We both fell in love with this movie, and this began our journey into the history of Native Americans.  It is, as though, Maria could just as easily be Native American as she is German, Irish, Polish, and Italian.

Hence, our introduction to Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha. We searched high and low for information on Bl. Kateri, and inhaled as much knowledge as we were able regarding her life. Maria was very drawn to Bl. Kateri, as I write this I wondered if she saw something in herself that Bl. Kateri represented in her.

I asked my daughter tonight “I know we discussed this before Confirmation, but, I want to review it again….tell me why you chose Bl. Kateri?”

Her response:  ”I love the culture of the Native Americans, I was intrigued by her life story….even though her family died and she was scarred from smallpox and her vision affected, she still continued to do God’s work. When she was running away from her uncle who wanted to marry her off, to me it was a suspense and adventure story, that she had to hide until her uncle gave up the chase, and then she was able to continue on to where she would be safe and be able to live her faith.”

For the largest part of Maria’s childhood, and even today, Native American history was and has been a big part of both of our lives. We still both enjoy learning and visiting Native American sites. In 1999 we flew out to Nevada for my oldest brother’s wedding. My husband and I decided we would make a side trip to Hoover Dam and on to the Grand Canyon. We never expected to be able to travel to the west coast, for us this was a miracle to have this opportunity, and we took it with gusto! Thank you, Lord!

The two days we spent at the Grand Canyon, were breathtaking. Walking the paths and looking down into this majestic wonder that God created is something neither of us will ever forget. Although, we did beg Maria to “please, just look at the big hole in the ground, once, please!”.

Maria’s biggest memory of the Grand Canyon was the Native American village we came upon in our walk. It was breathtaking!  We learned about the Native American homes, and community they lived in, and even had the opportunity to enter multiple homes and buildings, taking our time looking around, delving deeper into the life of the Native Americans.

We also watched performances of certain Native American rituals and dances, in the outfits that would be worn during special occasions. The colors of the outfits, and how the colors were obtained through nature were mind boggling to me. To learn how everything the Native Americans used by God had a specific purpose was inspiring to me, and at the same time I felt extremely guilty as I sat there changing my 4 1/2 month old’s disposable diaper, and thinking of the wardrobe she had at home that definitely was more then a week’s worth of clothing!  Hmmm, a lesson to be learned here regarding the stewardship of our country.

Maria’s second biggest memory of the Grand Canyon………..her walking stick, which we still have to this day!  I still need to varnish it, and place it on a rack in her room to display.  It is definitely a family story told again, and again, and each time I get to see a glimpse of that ecstatic little five year old  from 1999.

Now, the task at hand of discovering everything Native American had begun!  Once home, we absorbed together as much as we could regarding this culture. Maria’s first American Girl doll was Kayla, all the accessories, and the first set of books, she loved them! Little House on the Prairie books was another favorite of hers, moving into the Rose Years, the Caroline Years, and so forth. One was only limited by their imagination in our quest for any information regarding the history of Native Americans.

In third grade, Maria learned about the Lenape Native Americans that lived on the East Coast.  That year for her birthday, Maria’s Nana, gave her a Native American Nativity Set, it is absolutely beautiful and we all enjoy placing both Nativity’s side by side each year. (As soon as I figure out how to place pictures on my blog, I will. So far, I have not been successful!).  The deeper we delved into the East Coast Native Americans, we discovered Blessed Kateri Tekakawitha, and she has stayed with us ever since!

Tonight as I was working on my blog, I was searching for more information regarding the canonization of Blessed Kateri Tekakawitha and the miracle that has brought her to sainthood.

I discovered that Blessed Kateri interceded on the behalf of a little boy of Native American ancestry from the Lummi tribe of the Pacific Northwest, from a flesh eating bacteria that was attacking his face.

God is absolutely awesome……of course, it would make sense that a child of Native American ancestry would be blessed by the intercession of Bl. Kateri.  Does anyone miss how his disease was reflecting Bl. Kateri’s disease as a young child?   Bl. Kateri survived smallpox, yet had residual effects from this awesome disease, her face was scarred as his would have been from the treatment of his disease, along with the multiple surgeries he would need to even be able to have his face restored to the way it was prior to his disease, Bl. Kateri survived smallpox because of Our Lord. The rest of her family had perished during this epidemic.  God obviously had big plans for the “Lily of the Mohawks”.  The chances of this child surviving from this flesh eating disease, I’m sure were very poor, and yet God answered the prayers of so many people, who were praying for this little boy to be healed and cured, and that it be through the intercession of Bl. Kateri. What a beautiful gift to this little boy and his family, and what a gift to all of the individuals who have been praying for the canonization of Kateri for years.  What a beautiful miracle to be accepted for her canonization. Praise God!

Since we have discovered Bl. Kateri, I have heard that the shrine in Auriesville, NY is a very special shrine. Many miracles and cures have taken place there. I have heard it described at times as even “sacred ground”.   I pray that one day I will be blessed to be allowed to visit this wonderful shrine, along with my daughter, Maria. I believe it will be one of those wonderful mother-daughter times in our life’s that we will always remember and cherish together.

I would like to end my blog with a very special Happy Birthday to my niece, Faith who turns 12 years old today. Dear Lord, you have sent our family Faith, we thank you. She is a joy to all of us. Please continue to shower your graces upon her, and asking Our Blessed Mother, Mary to keep her protected and covered under her mantle. Amen.

I would also like to take the time to remember the Holy Soul of Earl “Big Red” Hill, who died in 2007 from kidney failure. He was a gentle giant and, for me, his death was unexpected.  I believe his youngest is the same age as my son, 12 years old. Eternal rest grant unto, Earl, O Lord, and may perpetual light shine upon him. Amen. Please continue to give Earl’s family strength and guidance during this time, and please guide his son’s to grow to be an honor to you Lord.

God’s peace to all of you!

Michele

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