Association Of Catholic Bloggers

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from a nice lady who was grieving her own early miscarriage, asking for some suggestions and guidance on how to get through her grief journey. I'm posted my advice on my blog  for future reference and to help others who might want similar information. Grieving for a miscarriage is different I think than for a stillbirth or death of an older baby. There is not a grave to tend or a lock of hair, pictures or shared memories to cherish. Yet every little death still leaves a hole in a mother's heart that wants to honor that and be the keeper this little one's memory. These are a few suggestions that might find be helpful. Name the baby and send the name and information to the of the Holy Innocents .There the name is entered into their Book of Life and a mass is said for all the children in the book regularly. In addition they send a beautiful cerfificate with the child's name to be printed out. I did that for my son and his certificate is

Pentecost, El Greco, painted 1596-1600 Readings for Vigil Mass The Vigil Mass has its own prayers and readings. You will find them in the lower part of the page that the link above opens. The texts for the Mass During the Day should not be used on Saturday evening, though many priests seem to be unaware of this. Pentecost is one of a number of feasts that have a Vigil Mass. A Vigil Mass is not an 'anticipated Mass'. It is a liturgical celebration in its own right, for a specific day and time. Participation in the Vigil Mass fulfils our Sunday obligation.   The readings here are from the Jerusalem Bible, used in the lectionary in Australia,, England & Wales, Ireland, Scotland. Readings for Mass During the Day Gospel, John 20:19-23 (Jerusalem Bible) In the evening of the first day of the week, the doors were closed in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews. Jesus came and stood among them. He said to them, ‘Peace be with you’, and showed them his

Here is a post from my early blog posts. I just wanted to share it with you lovely ladies and pray you are blessed. " Fear is useless; what is needed is trust ." Luke 8:50, Mark 5:36 Easy to say, right?  I have heard and read lots of good teaching about this subject. But the best teacher has been life itself.  I've found that trust comes a bit easier for the long term issues for which I pray--especially eternal salvation for my family and other loved ones. Also for people of whom I am not personally acquainted, the Pope for example. I pray for his intentions at the conclusion of each Rosary, and sincerely ask God for his protection and guidance; but I do not suffer the same pangs as when I am praying, for instance, for my two hospitalized  daughters, one here, one in Michigan. (that was quite a time!) In that state of  prayer, I awake all throughout the night. Every waking moment I have the intention in the foreground of my thoughts, often accompanied by  the phys

Priestly Grace Loved, created, called, sent upon a mission Ordained to follow, in obedient submission Sustained, nurtured, cared for passionately Guided by an unseen hand, close beside me Held in the tenderness of a gentle embrace Silently touched by God’s consuming grace Captivated by this unseen force of the divine Lost in emotional worship, praise so sublime Praying consecrating words, in hushed tones Trembling with respect, through to my bones Grateful for the abiding, grace filled presence Anointing me with a true sense of reverence Patrick Brennan © 2010 I enjoy writing about the experience of being a priest. I wrote this last year and felt I wanted to repost it here as the last few posts have been about priests! Please keep praying for priests it helps!

We continue to pray this month for priests, that they may always be true witnesses to the caring and merciful love of God. Prayer For The Sanctification Of Priests O God our Father, rich in mercy, who in the Blood and Water which flowed from the Heart of Christ, your Son and our Lord, poured out your infinite love upon all humanity, we beg you to grant that we may respond faithfully to your goodness which has made us ministers of reconciliation among our brothers and sisters. Let us pray together saying: Pour out your mercy upon us, OLord! 1. For all priests scattered throughoutthe world, that they may rediscover their priestly vocation as a "mystery of mercy" and, drawing plentifully from the sacramental source of the Eucharist and Reconciliation, may become channels of mercy for the world, let us pray: 2. For the new evangelization, at the dawn of this millennium, that in every priest the Lord may inspire a deep desire for holiness in his own specific state to live the

 God reveals Himself to us in a multitude of ways each day. One of these moments came this past Sunday at a Mass of Thanksgiving celebrated by one of our parish priests who was celebrating his tenth anniversary as a priest. It was one of those special Masses that made me happy and proud to be a Catholic. There were several moments during this Mass that stood out, but the one that remains with me is one that occurs anytime I attend a Mass that is concelebrated. Fr. Luke had not only our pastor and one other priest from our parish, but also two other brother priests from another parish concelebrating with him~seven priests total. Seeing them around the altar especially during the Consecration was a powerful sight. All I could think at this moment was:"There is the powerful line of defense against the powers of hell." Now I know it doesn't matter whether there is one priest or 20 celebrating a Mass, but as I said the visual was powerful. About three years ago, I felt the

Dearest Catholic Women, During the next few months, the Catholics of the USA will be, or should be, preparing for the third revision of the Roman Missal which has undergone some changes and revisions over the past several years.  There will and has been opposition to it and dragging feet on the part of priests, bishops, and the parishioners.  We will need your prayers during this time of change and renewal. Here is the link to one of many of my posts on the subject and some inner links that, if you have time in your busy schedules, you may learn more about these changes. Thank you and many blessings!

Fiftysomething: Rest in Peace,may light perpetual shine upon him. ... : "Jonpaul Baker who died on Saturday , we have just found out about this sad event, today is his birthday. I worked with Jonpaul at LTSB con..." Click here to join

Many Catholics have begun to recognize the Feast of the Visitation (May 31st) as a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the lives of children in their mothers' womb. The opening chapter of Luke's Gospel paints a lovely picture of Jesus' and John the Baptist's first encounter with each other months before either child had seen the light of day (Lk. 1:41). No other scriptural evidence would be necessary to justify the Church's prolife position for the last two thousand years, Nancy Pelosi's opinion notwithstanding. I wonder though how many people who have prolife beliefs pay much attention to the two verses preceeding the verse cited above which say, "In those days, Mary arose and went with haste into the hill country to a city in Judah and she entered Zechariah's house and greeted Elizabeth. (Lk. 1:39-40)" Before the cousins could meet, the mothers had to greet each other. Mary had to get up, get dressed, pack her bags and embark on a journey which wo

Picture source Writing in a journal has been a big part of my life. I think I started as a teenager. Most of my journal writing was boring, day-to-day entries..same complaints..same routine. It is only recently that I have been keeping a spiritual journal. I write in my journal every morning prior to Mass beginning. In this journal I write my daily examinations of conscience, saintly maxims and quotes and other observations. I also write in prayer intentions, especially for Holy Hour of Adoration and Mass. Sometimes people will wonder what I am writing. Even my own mom asked me "what do you are writing about?".  I am not merely writing though. I am also talking to God as I write.  My face may be buried in the journal but my heart and mind are on God.  It is a private time with Him and I really cherish those moments of peace. My first spiritual journal is almost complete. I have filled it with many of the above named entries. It is full of lists of my sins and

I was reading about Saint Margaret "Patroness of Motherhood" when I came across Jean Heimann's, one of our blog authors, account on her exquisite blog..at link below. The story is very inspiring. St. Margaret of Scotland, Patroness of Mothers

Kristu vjerni zauvijek from CROpapa on Vimeo . While not sung in English, the music is lovely and the video beautiful.

I have just come back from a retreat at St. Buenos Jesuit Centre in North Wales. It was a blessed week...not always easy mind, but blessed. It was a silent retreat, which was a blessing mostly and a difficulty sometimes! But one of the main blessings was daily Mass and perpetual adoration in the Chapel. I took these photos in the Capel-y-Coed (Woodland Chapel) where the Blessed Sacrament was exposed, 24/7. I could go and sit with Jesus and talk to Him, any time of day or night. I shall miss this now I'm home... So, if you wondered where I'd got to, now you know! Autumn xx

I am going to share a post I wrote for my own blog.  The background is that I am almost six month pregnant, and there are some concerns for the health of my unborn daughter, Sarah.  We have had to do many tests.  I am sharing this here because it struck me that fear in parenting is common to most parents. -Beth We got the results of the genetic test back yesterday.  We have a diagnosis.  Sarah has Apert's syndrome. I am not going to lie.  I am more intimidated by the diagnosis than I anticipated.  I have been reading about the syndrome.  The genetic counselor sent me a number of resources.  Some are medical, and they describe what the diagnosis means from a medical perspective.  Some are personal.  There are a number of different websites put up either by people who have Apert's or by their families.  It is simultaneously encouraging and intimidating to read these stories.   There seem to be a wide range of potential symptoms for people with Apert's.   "Do you n

Picture source The following story was shared by Father Mateo Crawley-Boevey, SS.CC., the priest famous for promoting Home Enthronements to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. It is a very powerful example of hope and trust. It gave me much hope for certain family members who have not only fallen away from the Church but have turned their backs on Her teachings. I am sure it will inspire us all to have the same devotion to the Sacred Heart and to never stop praying for those relatives and family members, especially the most harden of sinners. There was a certain sister, that when she become a nun offered her prayers and sacrifices, her Masses and Communions, her hours of adoration, her entire life in fact, for the conversion of her brother, a hardened sinner. Long years went by, and reports from home became increasingly worse as her brother plunged deeper and deeper into a life of sin. But she never lost hope, nor did her confidence in the Sacred Heart fail. Finally, one day came the

Today, June 3rd, being the Memoria of the Uganda Martyrs, we are reminded of the turmoil being caused in Christian communities, and especially in the Anglican Communion, because of confusion over sexual morality. Many African Anglicans want nothing to do with Lambeth and Canterbury now because of very serious disagreements over the question of homosexuality. The Uganda martyrs who were both Catholic and Anglican were united in their rejection of the sexual corruption of the king. The fact that this corruption especially involved homosexual activity challenges the moral liberalism and relativism of many in the western churches. As I preached this morning I reminded the few who came about the month of June and the disaster that befell France after the offer of Our Lord was rejected. He sent a message to the king through St. Margaret Mary that France should be consecrated to the Sacred Heart. In doing this, Heaven was asking France, especially, to be the country of true love. When Our Lor

Those poor Apostles. Even now after spending the last forty days with Jesus since His Resurrection, they still don't quite "get it". Our Lord still hears their doubts; they question Him about what He will do, will He go now to restore Israel? Jesus' Passion, Death and Resurrection did and does restore, perhaps not nations, but hearts and souls. The Apostles would need the Holy Spirit to understand what Jesus' mission was about, and in a few short days they would receive His Holy Spirit to continue His mission of spreading the Gospel. We too need the Holy Spirit, given to us at our Baptism and Confirmation, to spread the Good News of Jesus in our own parts of the world. As we celebrate Our Lord's Ascension in glory to His place at the father's right hand, let us not gaze toward the sky seeking heaven, but to Jesus present in the Holy Eucharist, for He is the promise of heaven. Holy Spirit, Enliven in us Your gifts so that we may come to know God and

Picture source I have read a few books on St. Therese, including of course her autobiography. But there is one book that stands out and that is one I recently started reading with much interest, Complete Spiritual Doctrine of St. Therese of Lisieux by Father Francois Jamart. He beautifully explains the spiritual childhood or little way of this beloved saint. The following are quotes by St. Therese from the book: On Humility: "It means that we acknowledge our nothingness, await everything from the good Lord, refuse to attribute to ourselves the virtues we practice..." We need to be able to see ourselves are we really are: "weak, powerless, poor and wretched!" "Humility is truth." "The lower we are, the more we attract God; on the contrary, when we lift ourselves up we go counter to that movement of love." It is clear that we must acknowledge our littleness. We must love to see ourselves as we really are. We must bear the imper

Lourdes: This pilgrim reflects! Recently we had a successful pilgrimage Lourdes. The journey to Lourdes was by coach so not one for the faint hearted! Next year we are going to go via air and spend the whole time in Lourdes. Still the journey this year did not detract from the wonderful spiritual blessings which we received in Lourdes. Lourdes has a peaceful security that wraps itself around the discerning and unaware pilgrim alike. I like the coming together as a group but also the individual graces that we receive from our own time spent in prayer and awe at the place. Peace is difficult to find in this of world of ours that rushes around and seems to heading somewhere but at times loses its way. So finding peace is a bonus indeed! The peace in Lourdes from my perspective is a fulfilment of the craving to be close to God. Being in Lourdes is to be blest to experience the brushing of the earth with the imprint of heaven. Now I experience this peace every time I celebrate the Mass;

Devotion to the Sacred Heart is a wonderful historical expression of the Church's piety for Christ, her Spouse and Lord: it calls for a fundamental attitude of conversion and reparation, of love and gratitude, apostolic commitment and dedication to Christ and his saving work. Devotions to the Sacred Heart of Jesus are numerous. Some have been explicitly approved and frequently recommended by the Apostolic See. Among these, mention should be made of the following: Personal Consecration Personal consecration, described by Pius XI as "undoubtedly the principal devotional practice used in relation to the Sacred Heart" ( Miserentissimus redemptor ) . Family Consecration Family consecration to the Sacred Heart, in which the family, by virtue of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony already participating in the mystery of the unity and love of Christ for the Church, is dedicated to Christ so that he might reign in the hearts of all its members. Litany of the Sacred Heart of Jesus T

June is the month devoted to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. St. Margaret Mary Alocoque, after being shown the Sacred Heart, was asked to spread devotion to it. St. Margaret Mary was often visited by souls in purgatory and would recommend to families who had recently lost loved ones to pray Novenas to the Sacred heart for the release of their loved ones from purgatory. There's a beautiful site called Daily Pilgrimage to Purgatory where you can read more about St. Margaret Mary and her love for the souls in purgatory. We live in a day and age where many people don't believe in God and, if they do, many of them believe that everyone goes straight to heaven. They focus completely on God's mercy - not understanding that justice and mercy walk hand in hand. Without justice pure chaos would reign both now and in the afterlife!  There are also those who offer a Mass and a prayer or two for their loved ones and then assume that is sufficient and do no more. Meanwhile, there are souls

Picture source "We are pilgrims, we live in a temporary inn, we are in transit, and this is not our homeland." - St. Gaspar del Bufalo - Magnficat, January 2011 "Detach yourself instantly which removes or can remove you from God.  Let us instantly renounce in affection the goods of this earth before death strips us of them by force." "...if you believe that you must die, that there is an eternity, that you can die only once, and that if you then err your error will be forever, irreparable, why do you not resolve to begin at this moment, to do all in your power to secure a good death?..." - St. Alphonsus de Liguori - Preparation for Death

People and events can so easily destroy our peace in today’s world. We don't need to 'find' something that we haven't lost - don't let other people destroy your peace telling you how you should live your faith or what new doctrine you should be following. Stick closely to the Catholic Church, Jesus and the Sacraments so that you may not be easily swayed by every new doctrine. The Bible says: “ People will say to you, 'Look! There he is!' or 'Look! Here he is!' But don't go and chase after him.” Luke 17:23 NIV Luke 17:21 says: “nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." He replied: "Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, 'I am he,' and, 'The time is near.' Do not follow them. Luke 21:8 At that time if anyone says to you, 'Look, here is the Christ!' or, 'Look, there he is!' do not be