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Claudio Abbado  ( 26 June 1933 - 20 January 2014 ) Lacrimosa  from  Dies Irae , Mozart's  Requiem Lacrimosa dies illa Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus: Pie Jesu Domine, Dona eis requiem. Amen. Full of tears shall be that day On which from ashes shall arise The guilty man to be judged; Therefore, O God, have mercy on him. Gentle Lord Jesus, grant them eternal rest. Amen. Agnus Dei , Mozart's  Requiem , Lucerne Festival 2012 Pope Benedict on Mozart's  Requiem Pope Benedict attended a performance in his honour of Mozart's  Requiem  in Castel Gandolfo in September 2010. He gave a  short address  afterwards. Here are some quotations from that. Everything is in perfect harmony in Mozart, every note, every musical phrase is as it is and could not be otherwise; even those opposed are reconciled; it is called ' mozart’sche Heiterkeit'  (Mozart's serenity), which envelops everything, every moment. It is a gift of the Gra

Can women have careers without neglecting their children? Can women have children without neglecting their intellectual gifts? In short, can women have it all? My mother taught me that the answer was no. She quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fondly and often: "A woman can have a great career and a great marriage. She can have a great marriage and great kids. She can even have a great career and great kids. But she can't have all three." That kind of thinking leads a woman to wonder, as soon as she sees the first plus on the pregnancy test, is this the first day of a life filled with irreconcilable choices? Read more...

Teresa of Avila understood that humour helps us cope with difficult situations. Supposedly after a donkey threw her into a cold stream, Teresa stood in her heavy,dripping wet, medieval habit and yelled at God, “If this is the way You treat Your friends, no wonder You have so few” A word of wisdom  from St. Teresa for when we are crying over unanswered prayers, “There are more tears shed over answered  prayers  than over unanswered prayers.” St. Teresa “Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry”  -St. Pio of Pietrelcino “All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.” -St. Francis “Tribulation is a gift from God – one that he especially gives His special friends.”  -St. Thomas More read more>

Well, today is the day we remember our dear Gianna, who we lost one year ago. She was 16 weeks in utero when she past and I must say it was heartbreaking. However looking back at that time I can't believe how much Christ carried us all through it. He provided so many graces that it is difficult for me to truly express how close we felt to Christ at that time. I am sure many of you can attest to that with the loss of a loved one. I have been praying about what to write today and I have come up with a short list of what we learnt from that deep loss. Here they are; to read more click here  http://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot,com

"You know, my loving Jesus, I do want my soul to be spotlessly pure and undefiled, so that it will be for You a most beautiful Home, a Home from which no one will ever dislodge You - Your own living tabernacle, where You will ever dwell, and where I shall live consciously and lovingly with You, and always have a word with You before I speak, act, or make a decision.  I want You to be so happy, so much at home in my soul, that You will take complete possession of it and live Your life in me." from Fervorinos From Galilee's Hills, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, 1936, p.143 Painting:  The Bleu Veil, Tarbell From The Cloistered Heart

FATHER FRANCIS MAPLE

pray for us sinners What I am about to explain might seem strange at first but we all know that it is true, we just do not usually talk about it.  The body remembers. The body remembers tension and stress which for me was the stress  of running a household of eleven people and my muscles stored that tension. Now that my youngest is in university, body has not quite caught up to my new reality. The result is that I am still tense, rushing to squeeze in some time to write when in fact, God has graciously handed me hours of the day where I am free. I am free to write, pray, even relax and enjoy the acres of land the surround our old house. The  subconscious  too needs time to unwind long after the conscious mind has grappled with the past, let go of memories and forgiven. Then there are the  pre-verbal, non-verbal parts of my soul  that cannot be cajoled into coming out of their cave. Any sign of control or manipulation sends them scurrying back into hiding ;  they take the long

An Indictment The blood of brothers soaks the earth And we look away as if it’s nothing, normal, acceptable. The sounds of anguished screams echoes in our ears And we turn the volume up in our minds to read more click here  http://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com

“Perfect as the wing of a bird may be, it will never enable the bird to  fly if unsupported by the air" -Ivan Pavlov S imilarly, we can try to perfect ourselves by our own efforts but we will never be able to fly in the Spirit, no matter how holy we seem, without the wind of the  Holy Spirit lifting and filling us with the Presence of God Isaiah 40:31  (NASB) Yet those who [ a ]wait for the Lord Will gain new strength; They will mount up  with  wings like eagles, They will run and not get tired, They will walk and not become weary. Teresa of Avila once explained the difference between what we do and what the Spirit of God does. We can build a stone aqueduct but then we must wait for rain to fill the reservoir and fill the channel with living water. Sometimes God will insert a geyser or an instantaneous fountain but usually we have to build an aqueduct and wait for His timing.

An interesting thing happened to me today after Mass. A lady approached me after Mass and asked if I was still running a mother's bible study. I responded that us "sisters in Christ" didn't meet any longer. I wanted to continue by saying that we still rely on each other for spiritual support, always speaking about our faith journey whenever we see each other, even in the grocery store, we stop and quickly share a spiritual or life issue and always ending the conversation with "I'll include that in my prayers." Because of our busy schedules and growing children, some mothers went back to work and others had more babies and got busier at home. Causing us to longer meet as a group once a week. To read more click here  http://yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com/2014/01/church-school-strong-catholic-community.html

    Reading back over some old posts recently, I realized I had promised to share with you some of the Bible verses we use for memory and copy work in our homeschool. Well, better late than never! These verses are helpful for adults to know by heart as well as children. They teach about virtue, the importance of prayer, God’s character, and other aspects of the spiritual life. Over the past several years, our family has  experienced the Bible as unit studies. Reading chronologically through the  Golden Children’s Bible , I look for themes that can help us bring other subjects into our study of Scripture. (See more details on my homeschooling method here.) I choose a verse for memorization and handwriting practice. Sometimes the verse comes right from the story. Other times I search through a concordance or consult my memory for a verse that encapsulates one of the themes we are considering. Read more at Contemplative Homeschool..

Madonna and Child with the Lamb of God , Cesare de Sesto, c.1615  [ Web Gallery of Art ] In the Philippines the liturgy is that of the Feast of the Santo    Niño (Holy Child). You'll find  Sunday Reflections  for that  here . Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)                                   Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  John 1:29-34  ( New Revised StandardVersion, Catholic Edition , Canada)  The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!   This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’     I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel.”     And John testified, “I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on

I usually don't finish them.  I forget! For those who don't know, a novena is nine consecutive days of prayer of petition or thanksgiving. The nine days of prayer date back to the time after the Ascension of Jesus and the Decent of the Holy Spirit on Mother Mary and the Apostles.  The Apostles and Mother Mary prayed for nine days until the Holy Spirit came upon them.  The word novena comes from the latin word "novem" which means nine. Nine days in a row.  That is hard for me to do!  I forget.  I miss days, then I must begin again and again and again.  Well, you get the picture. Read More at "His Unending Love."

Listen to the lyrics of this song as a personal prayer. <   Visit me HERE

I am a stay-at-home mom. I do have jobs, I babysit 3 days a week from my home, I run a Suzuki music program once a week and I am a NFP advocate to read more click here.  http://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com

Praying to Saint Anthony when something is lost is a Catholic tradition: Tony, Tony, look around. Something's lost and must be found! That prayer and the more "polite" version ( Dear  St. Anthony  please come around something is lost and it cannot be found .) was repeated over and over at our Girls Night Out. After a long time apart, my friends and I were finally able to gather together to celebrate not only our friendship, but life in general.  To commemorate the occasion, I purchased each member of our group a leather bracelet with the Girls Night Out charm from  Ohm Beads . To read more about our night out with St. Anthony, please click here .

I wanted to address this bit of news that I had heard recently regarding Pope Francis and the formation of priest in the seminary. I have been hunting for the actual quote from the Vatican with no success. Click here to read more.  http://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com

Twenty-five years ago, at a Trappist Monastery near Montreal, my husband stumbled upon a book that changed our lives and filled us with hope and joy.   Guidelines to Mystical Praye r, by a British Carmelite nun, Ruth Burrows, relates the experiences of two nuns who live in her monastery. They  know  that their old nature has died with Christ and that now Jesus lives within their hearts, minds,and souls. These two women are the polar opposite of each other. Ruth renames one nun Petra (earth) because she does not receive any mystical visions or feelings. She is an example of most Christians whose spirituality is called “light off”. Never the less, Petra knows that her old self has died. Claire (light) is really a “light on mystic” who experiences inner locution, visions and feels God’s presence. What a relief to discover a contemplative nun who is like my husband and I, who are very much “light on”. I can hardly express the exuberant joy we experienced as we connected

The Indispensable Gifts of Women

Facing my greatest challenge, as a person of faith, was when I took care of my mother after my father died. My mother and I had a tumulus relationship my whole life and I left home at the age of nineteen. I only spoke to her on the phone to ask for my dad and I never went to see her. When my husband and I decided to get married, he encouraged me to reconnect with her. I did, but the woman was hell bent on trying to make me, my husband, and later, our children, as miserable as she was. Is there a happy ending to this story?  To find out you can read the rest here .

A story where Father Ignatius tackles a problem we may all face from time to time ... Father Ignatius was very observant. He knew most of his parishioners by name and he noticed their moods, habits and behaviors and he reacted to them according to circumstances. One early evening he came out of the Sacristy and he noticed that Mrs Holingsworth was arranging the flowers on the Altar and by the numerous statues of Saints around the church silently. She usually hummed her favorite hymns under her breath whilst working; but not today. “Everything OK Denise?” he asked with a smile. “I suppose so Father,” she replied glumly, “I was just thinking that’s all …” To continue reading please click HERE

============================================================================ There is nothing more haunting on a chilly northern night, than to catch a glimpse of  the brilliant northern lights. All over Canada, even in Eastern Ontario, we will catch a glimpse of them once again, even more colourful than usual for us in the south of the country. I have glimpsed the aurora borealis a few times. The vibrant hues are fleeting. Colours of green, red and purple quickly waltz across the sky, but it’s one breathtaking moment I will never forget. Yukon Artist Libby Dulac: northern lights  kiss in her painting “Light of Life” Apparently, if you are quiet and attentive in the Canadian countryside, it is possible to not only see the Northern Lights but to  hear  them.  According to a friend, the aurora borealis  sounds like a  whispered zing .  To me it seems like it would be like listening to an  echo of the divine, singing joyful praise through the universe. “The voice of the auro

 Here we are in the second week of January and I have seen a constant flow of blog posts about New Year's resolutions and new things to try in the new year. While I really like setting goals, I really don't care for making New Year's Resolutions. They rarely, if ever, last and it just gives me a feeling of defeat and failure. I prefer to look to each new week as a fresh start. Each new month I love seeing the fresh calendar page, nice and clean. Lamentations reminds us that God's mercies are new each morning , so why would we wait for January First to roll around each year, to start fresh? In an effort to regroup and remind myself of the goals I began at the start of the school year, I came here to reread my post on goals and simplifying. I thought I'd re-post as January seems to be a time to restart, reboot and refresh. You can find the post here . Gods blessings to you in the new year~ Jen

Catholic Mom of 10: To the Brink and Back : To the brink & back again…. I woke up one day & didn’t like my husband & children. There was a great big brick wall... Continue reading here

Among the few short words that Jesus spoke from the Cross were the words about His mother: "Behold your mother." He gave me His mother. The mother of God was now, by God's decree, the mother of a sinner. In her heart is Jesus--only Jesus. With her as mother I share her one love: Jesus. Marian consecration, Mary in our lives, couldn't be more straightforward, but it requires the trust of her heart, the knowledge of who She is. I couldn't ever put her in the wrong place unless I first misunderstood who She is, if I first didn't lack in trust of her. Knowing her, loving her, trusting her as my own mother is sharing Jesus with her. Jesus gave her to me. What a precious gift! Ave Maria!

Never having entered religious life, I haven't experienced a potential nun's journey toward a cloistered world. But oh, I have daydreamed it.  Not in the sense of dreaming with desire, and not exactly daydreaming with dread, but with a sense of wondering.  How would it feel, I've asked myself, to make a serious, determined decision to leave the world and enter a life lived totally for Christ.  Not just partly, not mostly, but living for Him totally.  Fully embracing His will with no compromise, no watering down what He asks of me; "yes" with no ifs, no ands, no buts.  Entering the world of His will, and turning my back on all that tries to lure me away from Him. "Most people cannot leave the world in a bodily sense, but every follower of Christ who is serious about genuine growth must leave the spirit of the world."  (Thomas Dubay SM, Fire Within, Ignatius Press, 1989, p. 81) Am I serious about genuine growth?  I ask it of myself.....

You know that tug when God puts something on your heart and you know you need to respond. Well, this tug leaves me asking for your story. If you are a Natural Family Planner, I would love to hear your positive experience with NFP. You can post your stories as little or as often as you like. To reading more click here.  https://www.yearsofmilkandhoney.blogspot.com

14th century:Holy family and the Presentation … Since preschool, society has pushed you to excel, to rise above your peers.  You were groomed for success, to get into the best universities and snatch the most prized careers. Well, it is nice to have confidence, to fulfill your dreams, and have a sense of satisfaction in your chosen field of work but that will not make you happy. Just take a look at the generations that have gone before you.  The all too common mid-life crisis is a testament to the failure of a life focused on career advancement to the exclusion of family. Men and women bemoan the fact that they did not have time for nurturing and loving their spouse or children. All too often, family life crumbles to ashes, sacrificed on the altar of success. As for childcare, society relegates this arrangement to women who are often treated as second class citizens. I want to yell out as loudly as I can  that raising children is definitely not a default chore for women wh

As a Billings Ovulation Teacher sometimes I want to just grab a hold of some women and say "please come to me, I can teach you about your fertility." Now of course I could never actually do that or else I would be "the crazy lady who wants to know about my vaginal mucus". I have to build a relationship with a women before we start talking about her vulva. However, there's so much ignorance out there about a woman's cycles, not only among some of our medical practitioners but among women, that at times I can't help myself. There are women, all the time, that have no problems bringing up their family size and their own fertility with me. I guess when I have my 5 little ducklings waddling behind me, I'm already an open book about my fertility. The proof of fertility knowledge is in my brood. So when these women open up about their difficulty trying I almost always give them a short Billings lesson, right then and there. It doesn't matter if we'

The Golden Calf by Tissot   Have you discerned what you are too attached to ? Are you ready to begin working on those inordinate attachments? Let’s take the first step together, by looking at the reasons we are attached to things other than God.   Why am I doing this? This week I sent family members a copy of the family tree I created for my dad. Genealogy is a favorite hobby of mine. One relative emailed back that he was too bored with it even to finish the first page. “Can you explain to me why this interests you?” he asked. “I just don’t get it.” We emailed back and forth a bit as I told him how I loved family and history. I still don’t think my answers satisfied him. I would not have written about this, except that the genealogy bug hit me again. It’s been a while since I’ve looked at my mom’s family, I thought. I’ll just do a quick search to see if there’s anything new. Before long, I had spent all the time I should have been writing my book (and mor