Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Sorry to have been so quiet, but I'm not long back from holiday in Berlin. And then I went to the loo in the night on Sunday and broke my toe! There is a cabinet in our bathroom which we brought over from Mum's, and it's in the way between the loo and the door. Not ideal, but it's the first time I've gone to the loo without putting a light on! Smack, I kicked it with some force. The pain didn't hit me immediately ~ I didn't even yell, so I just got back into bed, but then it really started to hurt, so I rubbed it, like you do, and the pain was unbearable, and I had this huge wave of nausea. So I turned on the light and had a look to see my toe (the one next to my little toe) was sticking out sideways...so I put it back straight, and heard a horrible click and felt it crunch. That was it then...I hopped back to the loo to be sick, groaning loud enough to wake my husband up who came running in to see what on earth was the matter. It took me a while

St. John Eudes, 1601 - 1680 Salutation to the Glory of Mary by St. John Eudes Hail Mary! Daughter of God the Father, Hail Mary! Mother of God the Son, Hail Mary! Spouse of God the Holy Ghost, Hail Mary! Temple of the Most Blessed Trinity, Hail Mary! Celestial Rose of the ineffable love of God. Hail Mary! Virgin pure and humble, of whom the King of Heaven willed to be born and with thy milk to be nourished. Hail Mary! Virgin of virgins, Hail Mary! Queen of Martyrs, whose soul a sword transfixed, Hail Mary! Lady most Blessed! unto whom all power in Heaven and earth is given, Hail Mary! my Queen and my Mother! my Life, my Sweetness, and my Hope, Hail Mary! Mother most Amiable, Hail Mary! Mother most Admirable, Hail Mary! Mother of Divine Love, Hail Mary! Immaculate; Conceived without sin! Hail Mary! Full of Grace! the Lord is with thee! Blessed art thou among women! And blessed is the Fruit of thy womb,

Well ladies I thought I'd make my comeback post interesting! I have 8 daughters & you would think I should be expert on women's problems! However.. I haven't personally suffered from painful monthlys but several of  my daughters have a terrible time. The doctors always try & prescribe the pill, which obviously is not something we would like. Have any of you any tips? Perhaps about natural remedies that could be used. Two of the girls have been up at night with severe pains... as an interim resort perhaps the Rev Frs can pray for us women & count their blessings! lol

Today I have had it!  ( Original Posting on Spiritual Lives Of Women)       My Beloved Twitter-verse has always had those of a political mind set, but today the negativity, the lack of faith; not only in the goodness of man, but in the Greatest of God, just left me heart sick. I felt as if God was whispering in my ear: "Time to do it, time to do it." But do what? Then it hit me! I asked some of my twitter-pals if they would like to start making the society we would like to see on Twitter, and well also our little corners of the world; they said yes. Of course it all made sense, God's calling me to action my own "Get up, Jesus is calling you.” Mark 10:49 moment. I am making the pledge today: Lord, I pledge to start to help bring your Kindom to earth by being more positive, living more lovingly, treating all with respect, and most of all...being more positive in all I say and do. I pledge to release from my life all those who are negative. I pledge to read

On August 15, we celebrated  the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary . It was a day for us Catholics to remember how our dear Mother played a significant role in the life of Jesus, and indirectly, in the lives of each of us today. The Gospel on that day spoke about the Annunciation, and these words really struck me:   “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.”  Luke 1:42 When Elizabeth, Mary’s cousin, said this to her, she must have felt such joy. She was actually so moved that she broke out into song – what is known today as  the Canticle of Mary . Mama Mary had no idea then just how deeply her heart would be “pierced by a sword.” (Luke 2:35) She probably did not have any inkling as to what that verse meant too, when the prophet Simeon said it during  the Presentation of Jesus  at the temple. Indeed, nothing could probably have prepared her for this: (*the song in the video is a Filipino composition and is about how great a mother

I used this video a few days ago. But I want to look at one particular part of it: a wedding 2:40 into the video. The bride is wearing a strapless dress. I have seen brides dressed in this way in different countries. It always embarrasses me because I know that most of them would never go to Mass on any other occasion wearing a similar dress. Why do they dress this way on one of the most important days in their life? Irishman Percy French, one of the first persons I hope to meet in heaven, wrote Where the Mountains of Mourne Sweep Down to the Sea in 1896, a song I have been known to sing on occasion. One of the stanzas goes: I believe that when writin' a wish you expressed As to how the fine ladies in London were dressed Well if you'll believe me, when asked to a ball They don't wear no top to their dresses at all Oh I've seen them meself and you could not in truth Say that if they were bound for a ball or a bath Don't be startin' them fashions, now

I receive emails about this all the time. It is the eternal question and a great question. The very short answer is that you can go to your local retreat centre and ask, but there are other ways of locating a director. At many Catholic Retreat Centres they have programs which provide formation for spiritual direction.  There are a few Catholic Colleges and Universities which give very formal training for spiritual direction, through one a candidate can earn a masters and doctorate in spiritual direction.  Any of these should be willing to give you names and references for a spiritual director. The "professional" journal of Spiritual Directors International I love these, filled with wonderful info! Because spiritual direction is necessary during the formation of permanent deacons, priests, and lay ecclesiastical ministers, you can ask at those dioceses offices for their list of spiritual directors. If they do not have them for some reason, your parish priest could

Fr William Doyle SJ 3 March 1873 - 16 August 1917  This account of Father Willie Doyle's death in Ypres/Ieper, Belgium, while serving as a chaplain in the British Army during The Great War is from Father William Doyle S.J. by Professor Alfred O'Rahilly and taken from the blog Remembering Father William Doyle SJ . Fr Doyle was from Dalkey, County Dublin. Fr. Doyle had been engaged from early morning in the front line, cheering and consoling his men, and attending to the many wounded. Soon after 3 p.m. he made his way back to the Regimental Aid Post which was in charge of a Corporal Raitt, the doctor having gone back to the rear some hours before. Whilst here word came in that an officer of the Dublins had been badly hit, and was lying out in an exposed position. Fr. Doyle at once decided to go out to him, and left the Aid Post with his runner, Private Mclnespie, and a Lieutenant Grant. Some twenty minutes later, at about a quarter to four, Mclnespie staggered into the Aid P

These are the logos being used by the delegates from the Philippines at World Youth Day, which begins today in Madrid. 'Pinoy' is a term that Filipinos use for themselves and has no negative connotations whatever. President Benigno C. Aquino III, whose nickname is 'Noynoy', is universally referred to in the Philippines as 'P-Noy'.  The Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines set up at website for World Youth Day 2011, wydpinoy.com .  Bishop Joel Z. Baylon of Legazpi is Chairman of the CBCP Episcopal Commission on Youth. His talk above is almost totally in Tagalog. The promo video below shows the essence of WYD - a pilgrimage of prayer, repentance, celebration of our Catholic faith. It is an occasion when young people can show their pride in their national and cultural identity while discovering their deepest identity as beloved sons and daughters of the Father, brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ and therefore of one another.  More here .

Take the echoes of my heart, Lord the words I cannot speak, the dreams I've long let go of ~ the ones that are yet to be. Teach me again- to listen for Your whisper, to thank You in.... the interlude, to trust Your melodic composition, to give You the tears the world cannot comfort. And to keep singing the anthem of the ages; From the rising of the sun to it's setting, May the name of the Lord be praised. +PAX from my blog post

The Most Blessed Virgin Mary, when the course of her earthly life was completed, was taken up body and soul into the glory of heaven where she already shares in the glory of her Son’s Resurrection, anticipating the resurrection of all members of His Body. CCC 974 For this great Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I was drawn to reread portions of The Reed of God, by Caryll Houselander. This book has been instrumental in deepening my love for Our Lady. There used to be a stout wall between me and her, constructed of my inability to appreciate her humility and generosity. The Mary I thought I knew was cool and aloof and far too perfect to be appealing. Houselander, with all the gentleness, acceptance, and humility she ascribes to Mary, took me by the hand and ushered me into the Madonna’s presence. She taught me to see the generosity of Mary in action and in spirit, and was able to show me how to imitate it... more importantly, she inspired me to desir

 I found this video on CathNews (Australia). It is a production of the Vocation Centre  of the Archdiocese of Sydney. CathNews showed the video in the context of World Youth Day, which begins tomorrow in Madrid. At the end of the video Father Michael tells us that his uncle once asked him if the priesthood was as good as he thought if would be. He answered, 'No. It's much better!' That would echo my own experience of nearly 44 years. (It gave me a bit of a shock to see that Father Mark's parents are probably younger than I am!) Being a priest has brought unexpected graces and experiences. One I never imagined during my seminary years was giving a bride away. Yet this has been something I've done three times for young women whose fathers had died. Two of them had never known their fathers, each of whom had died in an accident when his daughter was still an infant. I once fulfilled a similar role in the case of a young woman making her first religious professio

Fiftysomething: Mother : "How much of our adult self to we owe to our mothers? Very much ,I think, our mother may not have been the main carer for us when we were gro..."

But he did not say a word in answer to her. – Matthew 15:23 Silence. I sometimes get the same answer from Jesus when I pray. No answer. No response. Nothing. Just silence. I have always heard that God answers prayers in one of three ways - Yes, No and Maybe. Maybe? Is that what silence means? Or is God just trying to get my attention? The longer God is silent, the more choices I seem to have in how I respond. I can give up. I can surrender. I can persist. I can fall to my knees and beg. I can fall to my knees with my face in the dirt and I can beg for crumbs. Or I can be open to the possibility that God is calling me to a deeper level of faith. I do not believe that God ever ignores us. God may be silent. He may give me an answer I do not like. But He loves me and He knows my heart. And He knows what I need … even when I don’t know. So sometimes we will persist and question and beg for crumbs if we feel we must. But may we always believe and know in our hearts - God hears our every wor

Below I have pasted a link to a lovely hymn to Our Lady on YouTube, because today the church celebrates the Feast Of The Assumption of The Blessed Virgin Mary . To non Catholic or Orthodox, this is a strange unknown celebration for they do not have the wonderful tradition stretching back to the days of Mary and the Apostles that as her life drew to an end she fell asleep on earth and was carried bodily up into Heaven. There to be with Her Son and  to be  crowned Queen of Heaven and  she is working constantly at the bidding of God to bring us, Her children to the Father through Her Son. Is it really true? we do not doubt it! for nearly two thousand years the memory was passed down through the generations and then Pope Pious XII proclaimed it an infallible doctrine of the Church. We know that on the last day we shall be raised "in our flesh" and see God, and to illustrate ,and foretell this wonderful and terrifying event, Mary followed her resurrected Son bodily into the n

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Thom Rainer  of Life Way has identified five major trends in the faith life of America, are we ready for them? 1. Our nation will see the emergence of the largest generational mission field in more than a century.   This means that a large  proportion  of our children: those born between 1980 and 2000, will likely not be Christian.  How we will respond to this?  Our children want a faith that speaks to them, that is encouraging, gives them hope, relates to them in the here and now.  They do not feel the Church is doing enough for them.  Our children are not rejecting our faith they are rejecting the way the Church has ignored them.  Which leads directly to the next major trend. 2. The dominant attitude of this huge generation toward Christianity will be largely indifferent.    I am a huge social media fan and I remember a  colleague  of mine from the Diocese of Lansing say: "We have to be willing to present material to everyone in ways they can related to.  That means havin

Assumption Mary, women so strong, vessel of Gods loving word Whose spirit rejoiced as Gabriel’s message was heard Your life reflected hope, it was filled with trustfulness Led by the voice of your Son you embraced holiness Blest with a joyful heart yet you accepted sorrow too At the foot of the cross, strong faith remained with you You held the lifeless Word of God in a loving embrace As tears of sadness streamed down your mourning face Faithful you remained, strengthening those around you Surrendered to God’s will, you did all he asked you to do As your days on earth came to a close, God blessed you No sting of death would touch you, at life’s evening dew Frail woman, falling asleep, so gently her breaths cease She knew no corruption of ravaging decay, only peace She entered heaven’s home, redeemed flesh and blood Our goal on earth is to follow her by living as we should Mother of God, our hope, our refuge, our guiding star Help us to reach heaven too, so we can be where you are Fr