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I will give thanks to You, O Lord my God, with all my heart, and I will glorify Your Name forever. Great has been Your kindness toward me; You have rescued me from the depths of the nether world.                           Psalm 86:12-13 Public domain photo

My Domestic Church: Facebook Finds : Catholic aprons for Christmas! via Catholic cuisine blog! via Facebook http://catholiccuisine.blogspot.com/2012/11/catholic-aprons-perfe...

Whitby Abbey “All who knew her called her mother because of her outstanding devotion and grace” (The Venerable Bede) A consecrated virgin, a skilled and wise leader and teacher, Abbess of Hartlepool and then Whitby (Streonshalh), a ‘double monastery’ where both male and female religious worshipped together but lived separately. She attended the Synod of Whitby called by King Oswiu, which agreed to keep the feast of Easter according to the Roman calendar, as well as agreeing the adoption of the Roman tonsure. This decision led to the monks of Lindisfarne, led by Colman, moving first to Iona and thence to Ireland; the declarations of the Synod may be seen as one stage in the ‘Romanisation’ of the church in the British Isles, although Roman practice was already widespread and this Synod affected the kingdom of Northumbria alone. When she died at the age of sixty-six, a nun saw her soul being carried to heaven by angels and local legend says that when sea birds fly over

A princess of Hungary, Countess of Thuringia, her feastday is celebrated today in the Catholic Church, although it is kept on 19th November under the General Roman Calendar.  Married at 14, widowed at 20, she died at the age of 24. Despite many trials and afflictions, she persevered in her devotion to God and  became revered for her charity and piety, building hospitals and tending the sick and the poor. Once, under suspicion of stealing from the castle, she was questioned whilst on her way to feed the poor.  When her cloak was opened, a bouquet of roses was revealed, instead of the food she was taking. She is, therefore, often portrayed with the miraculous roses. The Charity of Saint Elizabeth - Edmund Blair Leighton St Elizabeth of Hungary - Pietro Nelli

Embracing Motherhood: Thanksgiving around the corner!

OSV Daily Take Blog: They lead, they serve, they witness. Give us your ... : Our Sunday Visitor is introducing a new end-of-the-year feature in OSV Newsweekly that highlights Catholics who have been outstanding exampl...

Reposted from Costing Not Less Than Everything Mary the Mother of Mercy, Chapel of the  Gates of Dawn  in Vilnius, Lithuania The  rizas  (robes), or revetments, of gilded silver, are in three separate pieces. The gown of Our Lady is embellished with flowers, in a reference to Our Lady as a ‘hortus conclusus’ or walled garden.  Many miracles have taken place after veneration of the painting – and about 8,000 votive offerings have been presented to the chapel, including the silver crescent moon at the base of the painting. The painting is believed to be of Polish origin and, unusually, represents Our Lady without the Infant Christ. The statues on either side of the painting are of Saint Joachim and Saint Anne, the parents of the Blessed Virgin. The chapel is an important place of pilgrimage in Lithuania and was visited by Blessed John Paul II in 1993. In the third week of November every year – in 2012, from 11th to 18th of November, the Indulgenced Feast of the Merciful Mo

Tea at Trianon Marie-Antoinette was often painted as various characters from Greek and Roman mythology, as was the custom of the time. It is thought to the Queen in the painting above. Marie-Antoinette is shown as some kind of a classical deity, holding coral and rushes, crowned in pearls, with a dolphin at her side.  Catherine Delors discusses this unique miniature, saying : read more here:   http://teaattrianon.blogspot.co.uk/

F irst Reading: Psalm: Gospel: Philippians 2:5-11 Psalm 22:26-32 Luke 14:15-24 A father thinks that it is quite enough to maintain good order in his house; he will not have anyone swearing or using obscene words. That is very good. But he has no scruple about allowing his boys to go to amusements, to fairs, and all sorts of pleasures. This same father permits work to be done on Sundays on the slightest pretext. However, you see him in church adoring God. Carry on my poor friend, you are blind. Do you not see that you are doing the work of Pontius Pilate, who recognized Jesus Christ and then condemned Him. Go and learn your duties, then you may come to offer your prayers to God. -- St. John Vianney

Tea at Trianon

Siegfried Sassoon, war casualty, poet, late convert.  This poem was reputedly written in memory of the Armistice. Everyone Sang Everyone suddenly burst out singing; And I was filled with such delight As prisoned birds must find in freedom, Winging wildly across the white Orchards and dark-green fields; on–on–and out of sight. Everyone’s voice was suddenly lifted; And beauty came like the setting sun: My heart was shaken with tears; and horror Drifted away … O, but Everyone Was a bird; and the song was wordless; the singing will never be done.

Reposted from Costing Not Less Than Everything - for Remembrance Day “Prayer…..more than anything else consoles me. And every fellow is the same. So the war has been the cause of making us all an army of saints.”  “On the lonely, dark road-side…..lit up now and then by flashes from our own or German flares, rose to Heaven the voices of 800 men singing that glorious hymn, ‘Hail, Queen of Heaven.’ There were no ribald jests or courage buoyed up by alcohol; none of the fanciful pictures which imagination conjures up of soldiers going to a desperate charge. No, there were brave hearts without fear, only hoping that God would bring them through, and if the end came – well it was only a little shortening of the allotted span. Every man had his rosary beads out, reciting the prayers in response to Father Gleeson, just as if at the Confraternity at home, instead of having to face death in a thousand hideous forces the following morning.” Words of Father Gleeson’s alta

Humblepiety: Sermon Notes: Thirty Second (32nd) Sunday Year B : The Lord contrasts beautifully the scribe in his long robes, taking the places of honour, self absorbed and full of his own importance...

St. Leo the Great St. Leo the Great Share on email Shar Feastday:  November 10 Died: 461 St. Leo the Great was born in Tuscany. As deacon, he was dispatched to Gaul as a mediator by Emperor Valentinian III. He reigned as Pope between 440 and 461. He persuaded Emperor Valentinian to recognize the  primacy  of the  Bishop of  Rome  in an edict in 445. The doctrine of the Incarnation was formed by him in a letter to the  Patriarch  of Constantinople, who had already condemned Eutyches. At the Council of  Chalcedon  this same letter was confirmed as the expression of  Catholic   Faith  concerning the  Person  of Christ. All secular historical treatises eulogize his efforts during the upheaval of the fifth century barbarian invasion. His encounter with Attila the Hun, at the very gates of  Rome persuading him to turn back, remains a historical memorial to his great eloquence. When the  Vandals  under Genseric occupied the city of Rome, he persuaded th