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Today in prayer I asked God to send me to where there was the blackest of heart that needed prayer. I was inspired to go to a local Hospice.  I went into the building, not sure if I was in the right place, and finding the directory, I found where I needed to be.  Coming out of the elevators, I saw a chair and sat down.  To my right what looked like a sheriff standing guard outside one of the rooms.  There was a middle aged woman talking to him.  It was obvious that something very serious was happening in that room. ... TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE. 

Over the centuries many Saints have told us how powerful the Rosary is, but they didn’t tell us why or how the Rosary makes such a change in our world.  The following is an attempt at an explanation of the power of the Rosary The Rosary is one of the most powerful tools of portable semi- exorcism and soul purification.   Soul Purification: The Holy Rosary, if prayed with dedication, and singularity of heart, allows one that prays purification, a desire for the things of God's church which include the sacraments, and as God allows the soul will touch the edge of eternity in preparation for their judgment.  How can one prepare for eternity, if we have no tangible concept of the Holy Realm?  Can the finite touch the infinite? Yes, but only as God allows, for not by our own merit can man interact with eternity unless our hearts are aligned with God. God in His goodness has given us the Holy Sacraments of the Church as the way that a sinfully inclined man who will one day taste d

In all history of God there have been three ages and we are in the  last  of the three ages. The first age was the  Age of the Prophets ,  ....to find out what the other two ages are... CLICK HERE!

Did you get a load of this  New York Post article ? A New Yorker named Wednesday Martin just wrote a memoir called  Primates of Park Avenue , due out June 2. The book chronicles her experience with Upper-East-Side women who wear motherhood like an assault rifle. According to Maureen Callahan's article about the book, these moms pay $400 an hour for play-date tutors, enroll 3-month-old infants in music classes, and time pregnancies so their children will be the oldest ones in class. Loyola Press offers a  rosary kit  for children ages four and up. They sent me a kit and asked me to share my thoughts. So, I turned right around and shared the kit with some families (including one family with a son who has developmental delays), and asked what  they  thought. The  Loyola Press  rosary kit includes 61 prayer cards, 1 lacing string, 4 Mysteries of the Rosary cards, and a diagram explaining how to pray the rosary. Join me at Praying with Grace for the whole article!

Virgin with Jesus giving Holy Rosary to St. Dominic The most treacherous path you will ever take is the Warrior's Path You do not choose to be a Warrior,  God  chooses you , and His choice is quite terrifying.    When God chooses the Warrior, there is no false humility.  When God says to you,  "You ARE a Warrior,"  you don't say, "Oh no God...not me."  On the contrary, you say,  "Yes sir!"  and then you tremble  at what being a Warrior for God could truly mean.    The fear at being called as a Warrior, is to shake so violently before the Lord that you think every bone in your body will break.    The fear comes on the realization that a warrior will be given souls to fight for, and  will be asked to account  for them. When you are called to the path of the Warrior, it is a responsibility to be pure, obey,  and seek only the good of the other ,  never  thinking that you are doing anything for God. TO READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

There is no room in the new economy of God for Arrogant Catholics. We are arrogant about our faith with Protestants, and even arrogant among our selves as we have the Latin Mass click who thinks there's is the only Holy Mass.  Somehow their Mass is 'better' than any other.   Catholics who are arrogant have no clue what it means to truly be a Catholic.   The demon LOVES to see these squabbles!     The Catholic is for the OTHER, not for themselves, that mean's everyone.  There is no Holy Mass greater than another, for it is the same Jesus in the Holy Eucharist, and the same Jesus offered to God.    Is the Latin Mass beautiful, yes.  Is it awesome to kneel and receive Holy Communion, yes, but these are gifts, we have no "rights" to them.  To READ MORE...CLICK HERE!

Drawing by Anna Ponchak I believe God calls us to the vocation that is going to best help us encounter him and help us grow in holiness. The more we encounter him and grow in holiness, the more joy we will have. For me, that vocation is Motherhood.  My children have definitely helped me in my quest for holiness and have helped me grow closer to Christ. Through my first two, the Lord started teaching me about resting in him and receiving his grace. The next two helped teach me perseverance. Through my fifth child however, I feel like I have grown the most. You see, she was miserable from day one and continued to be that way until she turned four.        Continue Reading @ Beautifulthorns >

One day a new demon was asking questions of his demonic mentor, the elder demon assigned to show him the ropes so to speak.  "Why does the illustrious evil one hate humans so?"  asked the new demon. "You don't know?"   TO HEAR THE REST OF THE CONVERSATION...CLICK HERE!

I wrote this quite a while ago, but never shared it here. I have gone back to praying the rosary every day.  Usually at night before I go to bed.  The rosary is a prayer that I can easily get lost in.  I can lose my place, lose my focus or even drop it and wonder which bead I'm on! You can read the rest at Being Catholic ... Really .

This encounter started sometime back, I will begin there.   For some time after my husband's death, I had been not living a good life.  I was breaking a commandment pretty regularly.  It wasn't I was mad at God for my husband's death, it was because of the intensity of the pain I was suffering because of grief.   In truth, it hurt worse to go to Church than it did to sin.   I knew better, I had already had the Vision of the Eucharist, so I knew the truth, and I would say to myself, "What are you doing! You know better!!"  After three years, when my heart had healed sufficiently, it was time to come home. Mother calls.  ....TO READ MORE OF THE ENCOUNTER WITH THE VIRGIN...CLICK HERE.

Virgin and Child with a Rosary , Murillo, 1650-55 Museo del Prado, Madrid ‘The Rosary belongs among the finest and most praiseworthy traditions of Christian contemplation. Developed in the West,it is a typically meditative prayer, corresponding in some way to the “prayer of the heart” or “Jesus prayer” which took root in the soil of the Christian East.' [St John Paul II,  Rosarium Virginis Mariae , No 5.]’ The Rosary here is the formula prayed by members of the  Legion of Mary . There are various ways of beginning and ending the Rosary but the Five Mysteries are the heart of the prayer. The most common formula of the Rosary is  here . I have posted the four sets of the Mysteries of the Rosary on the Forum page of MISYONonline.com , the magazine of the Columbans in the Philippines of which I am editor. The links are below. You can also find the same posts on my personal blog, Bangor to Bobbio . All paintings from   Web Gallery of Art    The Joyful Mysteries ,  The M

Mom and Dad Head-to-Head in Family Jeopardy Today is my first post on this lovely, collaborative blog. How exciting! I'd like to share some intriguing stories about my recent family reunion which involved 43 people, a giant tent, a rotted board with rusty nails, a shattered patio table . . . and prayer.  Here's an excerpt to pique your interest: My mom and dad gave our whole family a great gift: they taught us how to pray. We prayed at meals, at bedtime, and whenever we heard a siren. We prayed the rosary. We went to church every weekend. We prayed at tense moments: when fighting grew chaotic, Mom would holler above the noise: "LET US SPEAK OF THE CHRIST CHILD!" We are strong-willed, flawed human beings, but we pray. I am convinced that this instinct to pray--an instinct cultivated by my parents through God's grace--has helped us remain conscious of our dependence on God. Read the whole report at Praying with Grace !

Storm the Gates (Part 2) NOTE:  The following of what you are about to read, is for your discernment.  I do not ask nor require anyone's belief.  Also, God did everything in what I am about to tell you, I only asked.  Even in the asking, God gave me the breath to speak it, the will to ask it, so really He did it all.  I am only writing this now because I was told to write, and write I will.   To Find Out What Happened During My Prayer on the 11th Station, CLICK HERE.

In prayer I asked the Lord, "Lord guide my steps to where you want me to be and give the words you wish me to say." This is apparently a very powerful prayer as I am about to explain.   After praying this prayer, I got a strong inclination that I needed to go to the hospital.   So I drove to Clark Memorial and sat at the end of the long hallway and began to pray my Rosary. To find out what happened in the Hospital Waiting Room, click HERE!

The Casino The Lord had put it on my heart to go to the Casino.  I wondered why I had to actually go to the Casino, so I asked Him, "Lord, why do I have to go?  I can pray for them in front of the Blessed Sacrament!"   The answer was silence.  So, in obedience, I filled up my car and went to the Horseshoe Casino.... To find out what happened at the Casino, click HERE!

Back in Advent, Dan and I sang The Angel Gabriel from Heaven Came as part of our Evening Prayer. It struck me how perfect this hymn was for teaching children about the Annunciation. I conceived the idea (yes, that’s a pun) of teaching children the meaning of the mysteries of the Rosary through song. Here it was I came up with for the Joyful Mysteries. My primary goal in our Contemplative Homeschool is to teach our children how to grow in union with God. Christian meditation is a vital part of that process, teaching all of us to listen to God’s voice in the Scriptures, and to ponder His character in order to love Him better. The Rosary provides a bridge between the vocal prayers we learn as children and more mature mental prayer. Through the Rosary, we meditate on the most important mysteries of our faith. Many people have created ways to share the Rosary with children. In Singing the Rosary, I have the following goals: leading children to see the Rosary as a mea

Many of us never know how close we have come to going to hell.  I found out today just how close I really came to being in the place of eternal torment.  Really close. When my husband was alive I had come back to the Catholic Church and I prayed my Rosary and loved to spend time with our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.  After my husband died, everything hurt, and I mean everything.  Little things like going to the grocery store or watching t.v. was painful, and yes going to church was painful too because everywhere I was, I could feel his absence.  (He never went to church with me, but I prayed for him much there.)  Well, after his death, I was hurting so bad, that I just didn't care about anything, myself included.  All I wanted was to not hurt just for a little while.  I worked 50 hours a week, because I knew if I kept busy the 'demon' of sadness was kept at bay.  (There is a physical law that you can't think of two things at the same time, so the busier I was

I'm standing near the edge of a cliff.  The land is barren with no vegetation.  The edge of the cliff is jagged.  I look over the edge and see a drop that takes my breath away.  This is the eternal pit that if you fall in, you never come out of.  The fall into this darkness is for miles and miles.  At the bottom of this pit are horrors that I will not mention here.   I look to my right and a mile wide along the edge of the cliff there are people standing at the edge ready to fall in.  Behind them, packed very tightly are thousands of souls behind the ones on the edge and they are so tightly packed that they cannot move even their arms easily.  They cannot run from the horror that awaits them as there is something constraining them, keeping them in place.  Occasionally one or two will break free of the bonds that are holding them and run away from the path of destruction.   Then I see the most horrible thing.  People were being added to the back of this horrible line and the ad

“ It is a special medicine… Do not forget to take it, because it does us good: the heart, the soul, our whole life! ” −Pope Francis Check out the medicine our Papa has prescribed! [via link] Pope Francis Prescribes “Misericordina” to Faithful: “On the outside it looks just like any medicine box, with the contents clearly printed on it: 59 intracordial pellets…” http://vaticaninsider.lastampa.it/en/the-vatican/detail/articolo/francesco-francis-francisco-misericordia-mercy-29803/ Photo of Rosary given to me by my Irish mom.--EF   http://thewaytonourishforlife.wordpress.com/    

Victory, O Lord by Millais (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons). Sunday’s Mass readings were all about prayer–winning battles through prayer, supporting each other in prayer, and never giving up. I love encouraging people to grow in their prayer life!  But today I want to ask a question that might seem odd to you: Can you pray too much? There are three ways in which I believe you can. Don’t let prayer keep you from living out your vocation   Again, this might confuse you. Haven’t I said before that prayer helps us live our vocation better ? That’s true. But you still need balance. If you are a stay-at-home mom with small children, you should not be spending hours a day alone in your room praying. If you are the father of a young family, you should not be spending most of every evening at Church. If you are a college student, you should not normally miss class to go to adoration. St. Francis de Sales, instructing lay people in Introduction to the Devout Life, wrote,