A Strange Dream About the Blessed Virgin...

First of all, I want to impress upon you, how unusual it is for me to write about something like this.  In 8 years of blogging, I don't think I've ever written about a dream of mine.  But this dream I had recently was so extraordinary, I just felt I had to share it.  I'm going to write this sort of "stream of consciousness."  So here it is, for what it's worth....

Such a community of love we have here, getting ready for her to come, like she said she would.  Such a celebration!  The food, the festivities, the togetherness, comradery.  It is so beautiful and she hasn't even come yet!  But we will be properly prepared for her.  We will give the Blessed Virgin, the Mother of God, the reception she deserves.  We will make it the greatest feast!  But we cannot tell the priests.  They do not know the real reason we are celebrating.  They would laugh at us.  How glorious it will be when we see her!

There is so much to do....we are not ready.  So much still to do!  If things are not right, she may not appear.  I have to try.  I have to get it all right.  We are running so late.  Everyone is gathered around the beautiful area....waiting.  So many people.  But we are not quite ready and suddenly.....

A stillness.  It draws me in.  I stop everything, though I am not ready!  It draws me in.  A great stillness, a great quiet, an extraordinary beauty and peace, such as I have never felt nor comprehended before!  The very air is changed.  It is like...Heaven?  But she is not here.  She does not appear.  Why?  Please come, dear Mother!  She does not come.

Perhaps we have failed.  We were not ready.  We disappointed her.  Why did she not come?  I am saddened.  Such work, such preparation....and for what?  We will make the best of it.  We have all this food!  But she did not come.  I wonder why.

Upon waking from this dream, I still felt the sadness that the Blessed Mother did not appear as she said she would.  I related the dream to my dear husband and do you know what he said?  "She did come. That was the moment of peace and beauty you felt.  But you were so wrapped up in what you thought you had to do, you didn't realize it."

Wow.  Maybe he was right.

Month of the Holy Rosary: Do you have difficulty praying it?

October is the Month of the Most Holy Rosary.  If you have not been praying it, there are still 8 days left!  If you're having difficulty getting around to it, please read this post and see if any of this resonates with you.....

5 Reasons Why We Should Pray the Rosary

1) The Mother of God has Requested it-What better reason could there be?  Our Lady gave the Holy Rosary to Saint Dominic and has continued through history, to request that it be prayed.  At Fatima, she implored, "Pray the Rosary every day."  She has given 15 Promises to those who pray the Rosary.  The following 4 reasons come from her own list!

2)  Protection and Graces-The first Promise Our Lady gives is this:  "To all those who shall recite my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and very great graces."

3)  Armor Against Hell-"The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against Hell.  It will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy."

4)  Improves Earthly Life and Obtains Mercy-"The Rosary will make virtue and good works flourish and will obtain for souls the most abundant Divine Mercies.  It will substitute in hearts love of God for love of the world, and elevate them to desire heavenly and eternal good.  O that souls would sanctify themselves by this means!"

5)  Eternal Salvation-"Those who shall recite my Rosary piously, considering its Mysteries, will not be overwhelmed by misfortune nor die a bad death.  The sinner will be converted, the just will grow in grace and become worthy of eternal life."

5 Reasons Why We Don't & the Solutions

1)  Time-In this profoundly inauthentic life that we are living today, we are pulled in many directions and the spiritual life is not made a priority.  Our Lord said, "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His justice, and all these things shall be added unto you." (Luke 12:31)  We must place the Kingdom of Heaven first, above all earthly concerns.  We all need to examine our lives and ask God how we can do things differently and re-structure our days.  Praying one of the Mysteries (5 decades) of the Rosary should only take about 15 minutes.  If we really do not have that much time, praying only one decade is an option.  It is understandable, some people (think of a mother with 8 children-or any children for that matter!) may be so busy that they cannot find the time and simply fall into bed at night, completely exhausted.  Chances are, if this is you, you are also pretty wound up mentally at this point!  Meditating on just one Mystery as you fall asleep will be a gift to Our Mother, which she will hold precious to her heart.  And it will probably help you fall asleep!

2)  Difficulty Establishing Habit-Even though the Rosary does not take much time, it may seem daunting before you have established the habit.  If this is the case, starting with only one decade will help break the ice.  Get used to praying one decade and then systematically add a decade until you are praying all 5 Mysteries!  Take a time of day when you have a relaxed space of time to pray...for some, this may be the morning (if you're an early bird!), for some, mid-day or evening.  Just stick with it and know that you've got Heaven on your side!

3)  Difficulty Praying Alone-Admittedly, praying the Rosary alone is an intensely internal experience.  Of course, you are never REALLY alone, for all of Heaven is at your side.  But for some, praying alone is difficult.  Many churches have groups which pray the Rosary after daily Mass.....or, pray it as a family.  Another option is to start your own Rosary group at your church or home.  You can be creative!  Rosary praying can be done with children, focused on a particular intention or combined with other activities, such as crafts, Scripture reading or learning religious songs.

4)  Lack of Comfortable Space-For some, the problem may be as simple as having no place to pray.  If you want to pray during your lunch hour at work, think about finding a quiet spot in another area of the building or perhaps outside.  Don't be embarrassed to be seen praying your Rosary!  You are giving a great witness to others and may even be instrumental in someone's conversion.  At home, there may be constant distractions around you.  Your bedroom may be no help if you are not comfortable sitting up in bed.  Every home should have a quiet place where prayer can take place.  You can devote a small room to this, your basement or part of a room.  It's a great place to display statues and other religious art and objects.  It should also be a comfortable place to be.  Soft chairs and soft light, maybe some floor pillows....an inviting, welcoming, peaceful space.  A place your family will want to be, where the spiritual life can be cultivated.  This prayer space will stand in direct contrast to all the electronics, bells, whistles and distractions, much of which is unholy, that this culture makes us think we need.

5)  Scrupulosity-The reason some of us don't pray the Holy Rosary more often, may be that we feel we don't pray it perfectly.  We expect so much of ourselves that we become discouraged and lose motivation.  The solution is to accept that no human being is perfect and that includes you.  We get distracted, our thoughts wander, we might be sleepy.  THAT'S OKAY!  Who's to say that these even are imperfections?  God uses our humanity to humble us, to break us, to refine us, to learn to trust HIM.  So if scrupulosity is your problem:  Get over yourself!  See "Difficulty Establishing Habit" above.  Starting small may help you to get started....and trust in God, not in yourself.

What a better place the world would be if from pole to pole the Holy Rosary resounded from every home to the Heavens!

Please note, I do allow all my posts to be shared via internet, email or printed, as long as this website is included.  Feel free to distribute this or any of my posts.  CM

Image courtesy http://blogs.nd.edu/oblation/2011/05/06/teaching-catholic-practice-praying-the-rosary-with-middle-school-students/

Categories, etc......

FYI-in case you haven't figured this out, if you click on any of the categories at the top of each post (for instance, this post has two categories:  "General" and "Spiritual Life"), you will get all posts with that category.  I realize a side-bar with a list of all the categories would be AWESOME!  And how about a "Search" button?  And there are a lot of other improvements we need to make.  The problem is, that I have had difficulty finding the time to do these things and when I do have the time, I have difficulty figuring out HOW to do these things.  It should be easy, right?  This isn't my first blog.  Yes, I agree it should be easy but for some reason, it ISN'T.  I don't want to say bad things about Squarespace-maybe I'm just not smart enough or maybe I'm not paying enough $ to get these deluxe features....I don't know!  Anyway, I want to reassure you that I am working on these improvements and you should see something happening in the coming days.......

I hope.

BTW, do you know what this coming Thursday is???

The 99th Anniversary of the Miracle of the Sun at Fatima! 

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us! 

Dear Lucia, Jacinta and Francisco, pray for us!

I also wanted to mention that my husband and I have, in honor of the feast of Saint Faustina this month, been praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet Novena.  Its also quite appropriate during this Respect Life "Moved by Mercy" Month (see previous post) and in these final days of the Jubilee Year of Mercy.  The Chaplet Novena is such a blessing to pray.  The first time we prayed it, guess what we found out on the final day....That I was pregnant with our son (after a number of "negative" tests), our only child!  (We also visited the Divine Mercy Shrine in Massachusetts on our honeymoon, which was only two months earlier.)  If you are a devout Catholic, this is no surprise to you-you already know that God often gives us these little signs!  CM:)

April Showers Have Brought.....

This is a bouquet I made for our Heavenly Mother, with flowers from my yard, along with a few of my own Mothers Day roses.  Just wanted to share:)

Meditation on the Resurrection

On Good Friday, we completed the meditations on the Sorrowful Mysteries.  Now that it is Eastertide, let us deal with the first of the Glorious Mysteries.  As I previously said, these meditations were originally published two years ago and are undergoing some editing during this re-publication.  Even though these are short pieces, they involve painstaking study of Scripture, prayer and deep thought, not to mention a very meticulous writing process.  It is my hope that this will eventually become a book. 

The Resurrection of Our Lord

To reiterate the words of Fr. Benedict Groeschel, "Never think about death without thinking about the Resurrection."  The Passion has ended.  "It is finished."  Faith, Hope and Charity have prevailed.  The Three Theological Virtues were displayed by Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Faith when He said, "Thy will be done."  Hope in looking to the Kingdom of Heaven, the completion of His mission.  And Charity for the Father in desiring to accomplish His will, and consequently for us.  Now He enters into His Glory, the true and final End.  If this is what its all about, what does that say about life?  What does the Resurrection of Christ, Our Lord, demand of us?

If Christ is important, we are important.  After all, He only came here for us, for the Redemption of our poor souls.  People reject Him because they do not want to be important.  They love sin so much, they would rather think themselves not much more than the animals, with no eternal destiny.  In meaning, there must be restraint.  Therein lies the Cross, but also the Resurrection.  The alternative is a life of mediocrity or worse.  There is less feeling, less responsibility.....less joy.  We reap what we sow.  If meaninglessness is what we want, that is exactly what we will get.  The tragedy is that if we ever wake up from this dream of vagueness and delusion, we will find a precious crystal has been broken.  But this does not have to be the end of the story.  We can still write a different ending.  Through repentance we enter into Our Lord's Resurrection and Glory.  He walks before us always.  Where He goes, we are meant to follow.  We cannot fail.  We have all the assistance of Heaven at our disposal.  The same God Who catapulted the universe into existence can do no less than give us everything we ask for.

Christ calls us to a Heavenly Resurrection, but also an earthly one.  This transformation is not merely the cessation of sin, but reaching our full potential as members of the Body of Christ, one with Him in thought, word and deed.  We are powerful and power can be frightening.  Fulfilling the saintly vocation for which we were created has consequences.  Our Lord's greatest power was executed on the Cross as He stretched out His arms in yielding.  In that moment of weakness, the axis of the universe shifts and the tables are turned.  A world appears that we could not see before...."and the darkness could not comprehend it."  The caterpillar becomes the butterfly.

Being resurrected with Christ is a process of becoming.  The Father has written this message for us in all of nature, the butterfly being one of the most beautiful examples.  The snake sheds its old skin, the fragile sprout becomes a great tree, bearing fruit....the oyster patiently builds its pearl.  No matter how long it takes, no matter how many setbacks occur, no matter how hopeless it seems....if we cling to the Three Theological Virtues of Faith, Hope and Charity....we will see our Resurrection.  O Jesus, Whose Resurrected, Glorified Body walked upon this very earth, bring me back from my own countless deaths, that I may follow Thee to our Eternal Home.  Amen. 

Image courtesy http://ajpm.weebly.com/glorious-mysteries.html

Divine Mercy at My Church....

I would like to share my experience yesterday celebrating Divine Mercy Sunday at my church in Suffolk County, Long Island.  We had a bi-lingual (English/Spanish) celebration of the Mass with the Rosary, Stations of the Cross, the Divine Mercy Chaplet and Exposition.  The whole celebration took 3 1/2 hours.  The turnout was great-a full church, about 90% Latino of all ages.  A bishop presided.  It was one of the most moving spiritual experiences of my life. 

As we sung the Divine Mercy Chaplet-half in English, half in Spanish-I began to feel a great unity.....first, with the wonderful devout Latino people present and gradually, I became aware of the entire world on this day raising a unified chorus to the Father...."For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world!"  I thought of the recent terror attacks and murders, some specifically against Christians.  I thought of September 11th.  I thought of the abortion holocaust.  All the immorality.  The whole ailing world raising this prayer to God together on one day.  I felt Saint Faustina's presence with us-what an extraordinary accomplishment to secure this great and most necessary feast for the world.

During Exposition, many people crowded around the altar and knelt.  I decided to join them.  The whole church was praying with all their hearts, some shouting out, "Jesus, I trust in You!  Jesus, I love You!"  It reminded me of great paintings of the saints in Heaven, like the one above.  I felt as if I were standing with all of them at the end of time, as Saint John describes:

"After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands:  And they cried with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God, who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb."  Apocalypse 7:9

Suddenly a young women who was kneeling in front me fainted.  I have heard of such things, but have never actually seen it before.  I know this is a point of controversy....I have no specific opinion because I do not know enough about these things-I do have a certain reserve in these matters, as most traditional-minded Catholics do.  But I don't wish to get into any of that right now.  I will say, her face, as she lay unconscious, looked utterly peaceful-it even seemed she had a slight smile.  No one was concerned about her, except me (probably because they were familiar with this sort of thing).  I went up to her, stroked her forehead and prayed for her.  After a few minutes, she awoke, seemed dazed but peaceful, and carried on.

I thank the Most Holy Trinity for these blessings yesterday and also, I thank Saint Faustina for giving us the message of Our Lord's great mercy.  It just goes to show you how important each and every life is.  How important it is that we do the work God has uniquely given each one of us.  Whether we reach a few, or millions....it matters.  That is why we must always strive to be the best we can be...spiritually, mentally and physically...because someone....somewhere....is counting on us.

Image courtesy http://mute-the-silence.blogspot.com/2013/11/all-saints-day-in-greece-and-more.html

April: Month of the Holy Eucharist!

Traditionally, as of Easter Sunday, we are in "Eastertide," "Easter Time," or "Paschal Time."  This extends to the Saturday after Pentecost.  In the New, "Easter Time" begins Easter Sunday and ends on Pentecost.  We continue to contemplate the Mystery of the Redemption.

April is dedicated to the Holy Eucharist (see prayer on Home page).  It is a great time, as the earth comes back to life, to celebrate the Bread of Life.  There are innumerable ways to do this-your imagination is the only limit!  More frequent reception of Holy Communion, Eucharistic prayers and devotions, spiritual reading, a Eucharistic emphasis in catechesis, exercises in reparation to the Real Presence, etc.  Here are some notable feasts of this month (preppers take note that Saint Catherine of Siena in invoked for fire protection!):

4/1-Easter Friday, Solemnity-no penance

4/3-Divine Mercy Sunday/Quasimodo Sunday

4/4-The Annunciation (moved from 3/25 this year)

4/5-Saint Vincent Ferrer, Angel of the Apocalypse

4/10-Saint Ezechiel, Old Testament Patriarch

4/16-Saint Bernadette, Seer of Lourdes

4/25-Saint Mark, Evangelist/The Greater Litanies

4/26-Our Lady of Good Counsel

4/28-Saint Louis de Montfort, Founder Sisters of Divine Wisdom & Missionaries of the Company of Mary

4/29-Saint Catherine of Siena, Patroness of Italy and Fire Protection (New)

4/30-Saint Catherine of Siena (Trad)

Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary

The Friday after Passion Sunday, or before Good Friday, we traditionally honor the Seven Sorrows of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The main feast is September 15th.  This is a beautiful devotion and so appropriate during Lent, and to prepare for Holy Week.  Let us give Our Lady some measure of consolation this day and let her know that her great sorrows have not been forgotten.  These are the Seven Sorrows:

1)  The Prophecy of Simeon    2)  The Flight into Egypt    3)  The Loss of the Child Jesus for Three Days    4)  The Way of Sorrows to Calvary    5)  The Crucifixion of Our Lord    6)  The Descent from the Holy Cross    7)  The Burial of Our Lord

There is a "Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows," which is a wonderful devotion, with indulgences associated with it.  There are many places to obtain a chaplet.  Here is one source:  The Catholic Company

Let us teach these great traditions to our children to carry on the Holy Roman Catholic Faith and give them something to love and cherish about their Faith.

The Sorrowful Mysteries in a New Light....

I would like to share my time with Jesus and Mary last night....

I curled up on the couch and told the Blessed Mother I was about to pray the rosary for pro-life intentions. A minute later, I was hanging my head, half asleep. I said to her, "I'm too tired!" I received the inspiration to simply meditate on the Sorrowful Mysteries as I rested. So I started thinking about the Agony in the Garden. Immediately I felt, "I'm not in the mood for this-I want to think about happy things." Then I got the ispiration to find something positive in each Sorrowful Mystery. I was confused at first, but I tried. What could be good about Our Lord's Agony? I thought of the times in my life when I have suffered with anxiety, sadness and other unpleasant emotions. As I imagined Our Lord kneeling in His bloody sweat, I realized that indeed, He walks before me always. He does not expect anything from us that He was not willing to suffer Himself. And I felt great comfort.

As I contemplated the cruel scourging of Our Lord, I thought of my own physical suffering with chronic pain. All my pain has been nothing compared to His in those awful moments. And the Crowning with Thorns...what could that mean? I thought...humiliation, mocking, persecution. Yes, I've suffered that too...in my pro-life work and also for simply being a faithful Catholic. But to place a crown of thorns upon the sacred head of the King of Kings....and for Him to bear it humbly....for me, for my sins....in this as well, He walks before me.

What of the Carrying of the Cross? This is the one thing we truly cannot bear-the weight of sin. We are forced in the Sacrament of Penance to give it over to Him, to place the weight of our guilt into His hands. So I thought of my sins, the very worst ones....and great comfort came over me, knowing that this too, He has taken upon Himself, leaving me free once again to run and leap through the fields of life. And the Crucifixion. Death itself. Even this, we are not to fear because He takes this upon Himself as well.

So where does this all leave us? There is nothing in life or death to fear if we walk with Christ because...He walks before us always! Our Blessed Lord's Passion encompasses and embraces every suffering we will ever have. Our pain is small within the vast expanse of His Heart. My half-asleep meditation on the Sorrowful Mysteries was one of the best ever....a source of great peace and even joy. When we take the time to put God first and exercise the spiritual life, we are never disappointed. He always gives in abundance and so much more than we even imagined. This must be a foretaste of Heaven:

"...eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love Him." ~1 Corinthians 2:9