Association Of Catholic Bloggers

At a recent funeral of the bother of a very dear family friend I was struck by how comforting all the rituals were to all of us. Almost everyone there was knowledgable about the funeral rites and it allowed us to relax, to be carried along by the rhythm of the liturgy and to be consoled by the comfort of familiar roles and responsibilities. In Catholic funerals, the Church seeks to provide spiritual support for the deceased and honor their bodies, as well as to provide a measure of hope for the family and friends of the deceased. I have been to funerals where the closest thing to ritual was a CD playing “I can’t give you anything but love, Baby,” as the crematorium doors opened. [I kid you not.] Others might find such off-beat funerals meaningful and original, but, when I am deep in sorrow, I don’t want anything new – I want the comfort of the tried and true. Do you feel the same way?

Francis Phillips writes: Having now read some of the blog posts at the (new) Association of Catholic women bloggers, I must apologise to the good lady who asked me to join it. At the time I saw it as a kind of breakaway movement from the proposed Guild of Catholic bloggers which has been discussed on the Herald blog site, and felt that we needed to be united, not divided. What I did not appreciate, in my haste to reject the proposal, is that it is not a question of ‘Either/Or’ but of ‘Both/And’. The Church is rich, diverse, and we Catholics have a multiplicity of different ways of communicating our common faith; thank God for it. There are obvious difference between the posts on the Catholic women’s blog site and the Herald’s: the former is more personal in tone, less engaged in politics, less disputatious and argumentative, more concerned with sharing stories of conversion or ‘reversion’ and how faith is lived in family life and in adversity. In short, it points to the difference

Thank you Padre Luis, a priest in Venezuela, for sharing this very moving video.

I posted this on my blog today but thought I would post my first post here! I am delighted to be associated with the "Association of Catholic Women Bloggers! I must explain that I am a priest from the Archdiocese of Birmingham. I qualify for the blog via invitation! I hope to post on here every now and again and I enjoy the inspiration found here so far! The Visitation Life is about the journey that anticipates the destination. There is an excitement about arriving. I remember with fondness many holidays spent with a good friend. Arriving at the Hotel, getting checked in and sitting down in the room brings a great satisfaction, now the holiday begins! The memories of a good holiday can impart joy and sustain us through moments when life can appear to be dull, when we hear a clock is ticking but the hands are moving slowly! These times are times of struggle when we endure difficulties, disappointments, sadness, at these points in the journey the clock slows down! In times of

By Jean M. Heimann, Cross-posted at Catholic Fire Today is the feast of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which recalls Mary's visit with her cousin Elizabeth. This event is also the second joyful mystery of the rosary -- the first being the Annunciation. Elizabeth had been barren all her life, but in the Annunciation, Mary learned that her kinswoman was miraculously expecting a child in her old age. Upon hearing this good news, Mary fervently desired to share in Elizabeth's joy and serve her during the last part of her pregnancy. So she went "with haste" to visit Elizabeth and remained with her for three months. Mary's first action after God had come to dwell in her was one of self-denying charity. She undertook a troublesome journey in order to visit her cousin Elizabeth. Thus, she proclaimed charity to be the virtue which above all Christ brought with Him from heaven. God made Mary's visit the occasion of a wonderful miracle. On her entranc

heart speaks unto heart: Devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus : "I'm using ' Love Peace and Joy ' by Very Rev Andre Prevot, Devotion to the Sacred Heart according to St Gertrude.( TAN publications ). Ther..."

Katharine of Aragon › Welcome This is very interesting..

Speaking personally I'm quite happy calling her the Lady..but Flossie is nice :)

God..Our True Rest This is the cause why we are not at rest in heart and soul: that here we seek rest in things that are so little there is no rest in them, and we do not know our God Who is all mighty, all wise and all good. For He is true rest. No soul can have rest until it finds created things are empty. When the soul gives up all for love, so that it can have Him that is all, then it finds true rest. For He is endless and has made us for His own self only, and has restored us by His blessed passion, and keeps us in His blessed love. And He does all this through His goodness. God of Your goodness give me Yourself, for You are enough for me! Julian of Norwich * May the God Who is enough..bless you. ..Trish

 by Jean M. Heimann, Cross-posted at Catholic Fire Today's saint is the valiant warrior Saint Joan of Arc , French national heroine, who was born in Domremy, France, 1412 and died in Rouen, France, 1431. When she was about 13 years old, Joan began to hear the voices of Saints Michael the Archangel, Margaret of Antioch, and Catherine of Alexandria, urging her to free her country from the English. Joan’s visions told her to find the true king of France and help him reclaim his throne. She resisted for more than three years, but finally went to Charles VII in Chinon and told him of her visions. After overcoming opposition from churchmen and courtiers, she was given a small army with which she raised the siege of Orleans on May 8, 1429. Carrying a banner that read “Jesus, Mary”, she led the troops into battle. She followed the famous campaign of the Loire during which the English were decisively beaten, and Charles was crowned at Rheims, on July 17, 1429. When she was capture

What a blessing to find a community of Catholic women, interested in sharing faith and life in such a beautiful and public way. This morning at Mass, I was moved almost to tear at the Psalm. This rarely happens to me. I am not one prone to public emotion, but there you have it. I am pregnant, and perhaps more hormonal than usual. What was the Psalm that moved me to tears? Responsorial Psalm: R. Let all the earth cry out to God with joy. Shout joyfully to God, all the earth, sing praise to the glory of his name; proclaim his glorious praise. Say to God, “How tremendous are your deeds!”  (R,) ... Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me. Blessed be God who refused me not my prayer or his kindness!(R.) It has not been an easy few days for me.  I have been facing family troubles, lack of sleep, a new work schedule for hubby, and pregnancy worries.  Without going into details, suffice it to say that I am emotional and exhausted.  I do not fe

This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem

Picture source The following advice was given by Saint Teresa of Ávila, to parents. She wanted them to be careful when permitting their daughters to enter certain religious orders which gave the women too much freedom*. "... Let them be prepared to allow them to marry far beneath their stations rather than put them into convents of this kind*. Unless they are very devoutly inclined and God grant that their inclinations may lead them into what is good!..." Quote source: The Autobiography of Saint Teresa of Ávila.

A Universal Prayer For All Things Necessary to Salvation (Composed by Pope Clement XI, A.D 1721) O My God, I believe in Thee; do though strengthen my faith. All my hopes are in Thee; do Thou secure them. I love Thee; teach me to love Thee daily more and more. I am sorry that I have offended Thee; do Thou increase my sorrow. I adore Thee as my first beginning; I aspire after Thee as my last end. I give Thee thanks as my constant benefactor; I call upon Thee as my sovereign protector. Vouchsafe, O my God! to conduct me by Thy wisdom, to restrain me by Thy justice, to comfort me by Thy mercy, to defend me by Thy power. To Thee I desire to consecrate all my thoughts words, actions and sufferings; that henceforward I may think of Thee, speak of Thee, refer all my actions to Thy greater glory, and suffer willingly whatever Thou shalt appoint. Lord, I desire that in all things Thy will may be done because it is Thy will, and in the manner that Thou willest. I beg of Thee to enlighten my u

The unusual bouts of rain in the dry season have contributed to the rapid blooming of poui trees across the country, creating a breathtaking sight. The poui, one of my country's (Trinidad and Tobago) most spectacular trees normally flowers a brilliant yellow or mild pink between April and May or nearer to the middle or end of the dry season. Whenever the poui tree shed its leaves in the dry season and a shower of rain occurs, usually a few days later they start to flower. When in bloom the yellow poui creates a carpet of yellow flowers especially around the Queen’s Park Savannah and on the hills of St Augustine. There are two species of yellow poui—yellow and black, while the pink specie, native to Venezuela, can be seen in abundance up the Islands.   I always look forward to my first sight of this unusual tree and the enormous pleasure it gives me. A truly splendid example of nature at its best. The Poui tree is surely a gift from God. 

Besides being blessed as a new member of this amazing group of Catholic Women, everyday as my children keep getting older and more wonderfully made, I've been taking stock in what surrounds me.  Thanks to Jackie for stopping by my blog to leave a comment and a lovely invitation to join here, blessings to all!  Here goes: Ten Reasons I Am Blessed as a Mom: 1. I, together with my beloved spouse, played a part in the future of our society 2. Being pregnant, though miserably uncomfortable, I was able to experience something beyond my control and learn patience and endurance and prayer. 3. Seeing my beloved witness the birth of our children one by one, I was able to fall in love with him all over again with every tear of joy he shed. It was beautiful and unforgettable. 4. Sharing the responsibility of another life with my beloved spouse 5. Watching the progress of growth and development of each of our children is facinating 6. Being at the receiving end of uncondition

Quite a few ladies have asked about/suggested names for the blogging regency lady pictured above. I don't know were Jackie got the picture so she may have a name already but I don't mind if you guys wish to have a little poll to see what name to use if she hasn't got one already! Sorry if things are a bit bumpy as I am not that good with the technical side of things,I'm not quite a Luddite but I am definitely ignorant of computer programming, :) Just a quick word about posts Jackie and I   decided if one person doesn't think something is truly in the spirit of charity or is felt by someone not to be, or is too much of a propaganda piece for any particular business we will remove it.We all have our own blogs for that sort of thing if we really want to post them, but here we want to be charitable, loving and supportive.

‎ "We must learn to spend more time in front of God, before the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ; we must learn to recognize in silence, within our very selves, his voice that calls us and leads us to the depth of our existence."

Picture source Aloha! I have been following this new blog with much interest. What an honor to be here with all of you. Mahalo for asking me to join. I thought I would share something from Blessed Seelos. He was truly a humble priest who was filled with joy. The following are words by Father Seelos to: -his recently widowed mother who was lonely following her husband's death: "Love these days entirely recollected in God, like holy Anne who never left the temple...Prayer is the best medicine which conquers ever pain." -a young lady contemplating the religious life: "A vocation and perseverance are special favors from God and can be obtained by prayer only. Therefore, I advise you to pray continuously not only when in church, but also when at home and at your work. But at the sacrifice of the Mass and after Holy Communion prayers are most powerful." Quotations from Cheerful Ascetic: The Life of Francis Xavier Seelos, C.Ss.R. by Michael J. Curl

Little Flower's Crown of Roses...: Morning and Evening Prayer... : "One of the things Secular Carmelites are asked to do is pray the Liturgy of The Hours, especially Morning and Evening Prayer. I have bee..."

Inspired by post below! The book of the film is excellent..

Inspired by http://domusbirettarum.blogspot.com/   which is good Catholic fun I thought surely the men didn't have it all their own way, didn't Nuns used to wear some really groovy wimples, how about sharing a few pics of traditional sisters? Here is one I found with a quick google. http://taylorempireairways.com/2009/09/sisters-of-charity/

Hi ladies...thanks very much to Marion & Joanna for helping me access this blog! My google signing in has problems..anyway I seem to be able to post now. We have 22 blog authors who all have admin permission. It seems to be working well. The posts have been amazingly inspiring. My friend Francis Phillips who posted on the Catholic Herald blog about the guild of bloggers has changed her mind about not wanting a separate blog for women. I asked her to drop by & my was she impressed! I know I keep saying I might disappear for a while! Well we move in to our new house totally on friday & won't have internet access for over a week, Maybe someone will take pity on me & invite me over! lol I am happy for you all to help Marion out...if there are suggestions to make do go ahead..it's your blog! Oh & do spread the word amongst your friends..God bless. Oh moving on from my old blog lead kindly light ...to heart speaks unto heart

Hi! I am Colleen. My first post here is one I posted yesterday on CatholicMom.com. Hope you enjoy it! You can also check out my bio there! Hearing God's Whisper Sometimes God speaks to me in whispers. Sometimes He shouts to get my attention. But I am not hearing God at all right now. My prayer life has been so dry. Desert dry. I find myself looking for other things … Read more in my column at CatholicMom.com ...

If You Have Nothing The gesture of a gift is adequate. If you have nothing: laurel leaf or bay no flower, no seed, no apple gathered late, do not in desperation lay the beauty of your tears upon the clay. No gift is proper to a Deity; no fruit is worthy for such power to bless. If you have nothing, gather back your sigh, and with your hands held high, your heart held high, lift up your emptiness! -Jessica Powers, OCD Powers was a Carmelite Nun and Poet. I believe she died in 1988. Her poems are really beautiful and if you are not familiar with them, I urge you to read a few!

Hello! Thanks so much for the invite, I am truly honored. I am in the throes of what is a pretty usual day; 67 things to squeeze in, and that's just before lunch. How to prioritize is the key. Today, as too many days of late, I did not make it to daily mass. Big sigh. But when I decided to start blogging, my inspiration was to reach other women with the message that no matter how overwhelming your life looks at any given moment, God can reach into it and give it a completely new spin. My blog title, albeit a tad long, includes the word "unconventional" because I think so many of us feel a bit on the outside if our lives include the messy situations as a result of sins and failings~ our own, others, you name it. But there is so much hope and mercy to be had at the hands of Him who died for us. So much encouragement in our present moments. He waits for us in His church, desires our prayers, our conversation, our messy lives. He looks upon us as a father looks fondly upo

Imagine someone bought you a bunch of flowers, nicely wrapped in pretty paper with a big bow, and when you unwrapped them, you found a bunch of nettles and stung your fingers... :( You wouldn't be very happy, would you? In many ways, this last week has been the equivalent of receiving a bunch of nettles as a gift. It's been fraught and tiring and full of *worry-potential*, trying to juggle work, family, grandchildren, my Mum who is in hospital and is likely to be in some kind of rehabilitation for weeks to come until she's mobile again. Plus, on top of all this, trying to keep a home, eat well, do the shopping and just generally remember a hundred and one things at any one time. Nettles... But, I learned a great lesson about nettles this week, after my eldest Grandson and I had a "discover and learn" day on Saturday. We harvested a good crop of nettles from behind the house, and turned them from nasty and stingy to really rather lovely! We made nettle soup w

Hi Everyone! I’m Cam and I usually blog over at A Woman’s Place… Since January of this year I’ve also been doing a second blog that I dubbed A Year of Dresses . It’s mostly just pictures that I manage to snap, hopefully before baby food or paint or mud go flying across my clothes, which always seems to happen at some point in the day. I’ve been meaning to do an introduction post for a few days, since I got the invitation to join the group (I was very excited to learn about this site and to be invited to join!), but things have been a bit crazy here. My husband graduated on Friday with his Master’s in Theology. Perhaps just as great an accomplishment was that he survived 3 years at a “Catholic” university that proudly claims to be “the most liberal in the country” despite his very orthodox outlook on life. Because of the graduation we spent the weekend in “The City” with the entire family to celebrate his accomplishment (and to attend graduation since he commuted around 250 mile

Please check here

Keeping Close to God, and Staying Fresh! A nice article (link above) regarding your children's Religious Education and school year winding down and how to keep fresh and close to God. My book: A Cathlolic Woman's Book of Prayers is mentioned. I'll be back soon to introduce myself to the group. God bless! Donna-Marie

This happened to me 20 years ago, I was with a group of mothers and we were organising fund raising for the secular county primary school our children all attended. This was several years before we became Catholics,but we were still a Christian family and attended a local chapel with Sunday school for the children. It was quite a lively group and that day I had my youngest child ,my daughter aged 2 with me. One of the "ladies" in fact several of them were given to colourful language, and noticing my discomfort at the effing and blinding one of the group pointed out that we had a young child present and people should watch what they said. This prompted a few apologies and some bluster which included using the Lords name in vain and I was asked how I felt.Taking a deep breath and thinking Oh well here goes! I quietly thanked them for stopping swearing and added that I actually thought that saying His name as a swear word was worse than effing and blinding and that my children

Pope blesses astronauts in 1st papal call to space - Yahoo! News

Well ladies..I'm waiting for your posts! We are in the process of moving to a lovely, big house. My son has food poisoning..stayed at his nan's last night & had a chicken burger from McDonalds! just what we don't need! I rang NHS direct..- never again! Well I did interrupt her so she said "Jesus" & when I asked her to stop blaspheming she hung up! lol Posted this first on my blog...

Well the AWCB has been here for a couple of weeks now, time to check a few things? Jackie and I would like to see that this blogg continues as it is ,so far so good, unless you think otherwise! A couple of points though we thought maybe not too many embedded You tube films ,(I know there's one below this !) and were ever possible posts should be all your own original writing, we want to share our own feelings and ideas and support each other. The GBTB have not yet got back to me about posting :( so although I had hoped to add something I cant yet do so. I should like to make it clear however that I am not a feminist nor am I anti-men (3 sons) and I don't mind the picture they have as a header, personally as a former  student art teacher i just love Medieval art and appreciate it for what it is, this lady doesn't look for token anything and I am more than happy singing hymns that use the word mankind etc and mean all of us! and here is one of my favorite pictures of t

One of our blog authors Lindy here

Recent events in my life have highlighted areas of sin , and the need to go to confession on a regular basis. I know we are only required to go to confession once a year, but if I followed that, I would spend 11 months of the year crawling on my knees weighed down by a burden of sin! I often feel I am the only one who regularly goes to confession during the Saturday slot at my parish...no one seems to go in before or after me, even though I try hard not to notice. I must look like the most sinful person in the Parish! I have always tried to make a regular communion, once a month, more often if necessary, for the good of my soul. Whilst we don't need to confess venial sin, it is ultimately worth doing so for the grace of the Sacrament, and the conferring of God's forgiveness, love and strength. Going to confession is like stepping in a power shower after a hot and dusty day. One feels clean and fesh afterwards, and resolved to make amends and turn back to God. I took this p

Wednesday, 18 May 2011 Ven. Maria Celesta Crostarosa A reader of my Blog and AWCB has asked me who the lady shown above is and why I have her picture on my side bar.   Its one of those little things that happen ,and seems to us with faith to be meant to happen for a reason, I like old books and always try and browse in junk shops, charity shops etc and I came upon a slim volume in a box of books for sale as no longer required in the resources room of St Josephs RC Cathedral Swansea while my daughter was at a meeting for her Youth Helpers at Lourdes Group. The book has a big red cross on the front and says "In Memory of Me" in big bold blue letters. inside it says Maria Celeste Crostarosa and The Redemptoristines. Now I am fascinated by religious life and I have done research while writing a pamphlet on St Robert of Newminster for my former Parish and they were new to me, the booklet bears an Imprimatur dated Nov 1948 and appears to be a first edition on typical post WWII au

Her master, seeing his goods multiply, as it were, in her hands, gave her [St. Zita] ample leave to bestow liberal alms on the poor, which she made use of with discretion, but was scrupulous to do nothing without his express authority . From: St. Zita “Without his express authority” . Saint Zita was always careful to respect and obey the authority of her master. Wise words for all of us, not least in respect to the authority of our Mother the Church. As Catholics, we are called to obey the Church. There are many who would disagree with that statement, and espouse the right of the faithful to question and sometimes even disobey. The trouble is, when we do that, we are no longer the faithful. Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with questioning, especially when we come across something we don’t understand; there is nothing wrong with wanting to know the whys, hows and wherefores of our faith, but questioning needs to be done with a supple and compliant spirit, and

LAST WELSH MARTYR: TIME FOR ANOTHER BOOK GIVEAWAY! this blog promotes St David Lewis and its a story worth knowing.

Catholicseeking: St. Louis de Montfort on The Blessed Sacrament : "'In the Blessed Sacrament God loves us so tenderly, He empties Himself completely. O, who could believe it? Withholding nothing, ..."

Yesterday, after coming back from the hospital at tea-time, picking Mum's elderly cat up on the way, I had chance to finally sit and think about what had happened and its implications, but by this time tiredness had brought with it a sense of peace. I thought of the verse in Psalm 15(16) v 6: The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage . How difficult it is at times like this to acknowledge that God has drawn my boundary lines in "pleasant places"!! But He sees this situation from above, on the beautiful side of the tapestry so to speak, whereas I see only the messy knotted threads underneath. I'm not saying that this is a pleasant place for my Mum, but it has to be God's will for me, and God's will is for His glory and my good. I have written this verse on my heart, as I have also Deuteronomy 33:12 which I blogged about last time. Once again, a picture speaks to my heart. The above is a scene of beauty, and yet the s

CatholicTV - America's Catholic Television Network

Just a brief note...we have 19 blog authors now...if you prefer not to have a link at the side you can remove it yourselves...also if you are added as a blog author & we haven't added your blog as a link or if you wish to change your link name, just go ahead & do so yourselves. Also if you change your mind you can delete your name as blog author & always come back another time. There are no rules & we aim to keep it flexible. You can contact Marion as at side link or possibly me on rosary@blueyonder.co.uk I'm very much enjoying the contributions & I think it's great we have a forum to pray for each other. God bless.

(I love to take photos of churches) I was thrilled to be asked to participate in this blog.  I have had a few days of technical difficulties, coinciding with Blogger's meltdown, but I think we are all good now.  I am humbled and honored to be here. Let me introduce myself.  I call myself a Catholic Revert.  I was a cradle Catholic.  I came from a family with two Catholic priest uncles.  I went to Catholic schools until I was in 10th grade.  As a child, I wanted to be a nun.  When I became a teenager, I hit a brick wall and turned left... I went off the deep end and stayed there for a while.  I left the church and became a detractor of most things Catholic (but kept a Rosary, and prayed it relatively frequently). At the age of 39, while going through another divorce, a friend very frankly said to me "Don't you think it is time you went back to church?"  I couldn't argue with her since my life was clearly a mess.   I was terribly afraid to go back, but I did.  

I spent 9 hours at the local hospital yesterday with my Mum , who fell off her mobility scooter and fractured her upper arm and broke her hip. Things are not good, as Mum's hip is badly broken (bone crushed) and she is having a hip replacement hopefully some time today (depending on emergencies, as it's weekend!) She's going to be in for at least 2 weeks and possibly a rehabilitation centre afterwards She's also very frightened, understandably, and was in a lot of pain, but morphine has helped. The ward staff were lovely, and she'll be cared for. I have also gained an elderly cat one-eyed cat called Rameses who is coming here to live with us until she's home! But on my mind all day yesterday was a verse I found in a Catholic Women's Devotional the other day, which really impressed upon me, this one: About Benjamin he said: “Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields him all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his sho

Its Good Sheherd Sunday. The Image of the Good Shepherd seems very masculine, but as a women and mother I think the idea is very close to my role in the family, after all what mother would not give her life for her children and always puts their best interests before her own? It is a hard road and fraught with pitfalls and nothing really prepares one for it, although watching and learning from a good role model helps! So I thank God for the role models of my Shepherdess my Mother and my Mother in Law and above all for the Heavenly Mother and The Good Shepherd.

Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the ground each morning the Devil says, "Uh oh....she's awake!" Lord, teach and guide us to be the women YOU intended us to be! Amen.

I thought you might enjoy this hymn just posted on my blog Lead Kindly Light . They talk about the bloggers "guild" being inspired by the Holy Spirit. I like to think the same Spirit is leading us ladies in true Christian fellowship & support. There is room in the world for all of us in the Universal Church! Blessed John Henry Newman of course wrote the hymn. More of him soon & his beatification, which we were fortunate enough to attend.