Archive for Faith
New Year’s Resolutions
Posted by: | CommentsWelcome to 2011!
I hope 2010 was a good year for you…that progress was made towards healing and happiness for you and your families.
2010 was a very challenging year for me and my family. The first 6 months saw my mother’s struggle with alzheimers increase by leaps and bounds. In July, she passed on to heaven. I miss her but I’m so happy that her struggles have come to an end. My father (her husband of 68 years!!!) still struggles with his loss but he is doing really well. After the initial, overwhelming sadness and fear over being without her, he has settled into acceptance and finds great strength in his faith. Our parents continue to teach us til the end! I will be forever grateful for all my parents taught me in this life. 
During my mothers illness and after her death, my business suffered from my being away from it (physically AND emotionally) during that time. I am a Virtual Assistant – I work with small business owners and nonprofit directors, handling their administrative and online marketing needs. I’m happy to say that my clients were very understanding and stuck with me through those difficult days. (May God bless them all!) The second half of the year, I was completely overwhelmed with trying to catch up and then stay on top of their needs. It was such a challenge that I let one client go, as of the beginning of January, so that I could get back to some balance in my life. (i.e. less time devoted to client work…more time devoted to family and “down” time) This will mean a tightening of our belts around here, but it’s a change that’s worth the cost.
Due to all of the above, this blog was sorely neglected by me!
My New Year’s resolutions:
- No client work on Sundays!
- Make progress towards no “work” of any kind on Sundays!! (Remember how we’re supposed to “Keep the Lord’s day holy”…? There is a huge amount of wisdom in that.)
- Make progress towards rest and relaxation on Sundays…do only those things that are enjoyable (I enjoy working in the garden so I don’t strictly classify that as work. )
- Post to this blog on Sundays.
- Drink at least one green smoothie each day. (this is my “get physically healthier” resolution…see www.greensmoothiegirl.com for more info…I highly recommend this!)
- Keep striving towards giving God control of my life (so far so good…some wonderful and totally unexpected blessings have come my way recently. God DOES love to surprise and delight us…especially when we let him do the driving. )
- Oh…and I might actually start a newsletter this year (finally….)
So…if all goes as planned, this blog will be updated more than once every month or so! Thank you to all who have been loyal followers in my absence! I can’t tell you how much that means to me and how that motivates me to continue here.
I’m looking forward to what is in store for us this year…and to what we MAKE of this year!
A request….when you find that a post is “right on the mark”….or when you take issue with a post…or when you have something to add…please, please, please leave a comment. This can be done anonymously, so please don’t hesitate to join in here! Your thoughts will make the content here richer.
May God bless and bring peace to us all!
Manya
The First Day of Advent!
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The first day of Advent! Do you have an Advent Wreath prepared and in a place of honor? I don’t yet…but hope to correct that by this evening.
Today the new liturgical year begins AND we start looking forward to the birth of Jesus Christ…Emmanuel.
An Advent wreath helps us to keep in mind that Christmas is coming. Traditionally, it is made up of 4 candles: 3 purple and 1 rose (or pink).
Advent, like Lent, is a time of penance (I didn’t realize this until recently). That’s why 3 of the candles are purple. The rose candle falls on the 3rd Sunday of Advent (Gaudete Sunday) and symbolizes a time of rejoicing, for Christ is almost here. A good explanation of the Advent Wreath can be found here.
This time of year can be particularly painful for those going through separation and divorce…and for those who are beyond divorce but still hurting. Prayer, distraction and, finally. accepting & offering up to God the cross you’re bearing right now, all work wonders in getting you through this time. Also, focusing on others can help…for example, volunteering at a homeless shelter…
I wish you all a blessed Christmas season as we prepare for Christ’s birth…and for family celebrations..and gifts to be given to those we love…all in the name of Christ. That, of course, is the important part…all in the name of Christ.
May God bless and bring you peace.
Manya
Journey of Hope Radio – A New Show Weekly!
Posted by: | CommentsNot to harp on this subject but I want to point out this tremendous resource again and to let you know that this radio show is now taking place on a weekly basis!
Yesterday’s show topic was about dating and intimacy after divorce. This is a HUGE “issue” for us…
- Is dating okay after divorce and without having received a Declaration of Nullity?
- Is dating okay during separation?
- How about intimacy? The world tells us to be intimate with someone as soon as possible as a way of healing your hurt psyche and “get on with life.”
But IS that the best way to go?!
What about our faith?
Do I now have to be alone and celibate for the rest of my life???
But my spouse chose to throw our marriage away and divorce me…why should I be punished for that????
Yep…been there done that…and I didn’t have Lisa Duffy and Vince Frese of Divorced Catholic to help me to answer those tough questions…but YOU do!
Just click on the Blog Talk Radio box in the left column of this page and you can then click on the episode you’d like to listen to. And try to listen to the show live when you can so you can ask Lisa, Vince and their guests questions. Use this tremendous resource that is available to you…it’s truly a blessing.
May God bless and bring you peace.
Manya
A Patron Saint for Divorced Catholic Mothers
Posted by: | CommentsRecently I received a message from a woman who is Catholic but never received the sacrament 
of Confirmation. However, she’ll be receiving it soon. She was in the process of deciding what name to choose for herself and was wondering if I knew a saint who is, or could be, the patron saint for a single mother. Amazingly, I didn’t… I mean, that’s kind of a ‘no brainer’ given the subject of this blog. I even wrote a post quite a while ago about a possible patron saint for divorced, Catholic fathers…but never did one for us mothers! So, thanks to her message, here we go.
I did a google search and found one that seems to fit SO well. She’s also a very interesting woman. I’d like to find a good book on her, so if you know of one, please don’t keep it to yourself!
The following is from AmericanCatholic.org….
St. Helen (249-329) found the True Cross in Jerusalem and, for many centuries, devotion to St. Helen has been linked to devotion to the Holy Cross. It would be hard to find a painting, statue or holy card of her that does not depict her embracing the cross.
But there is another, sadder facet of Helen’s life. After 22 years of marriage, Helen’s husband, Constantius, divorced her in order to make a politically advantageous marriage with a young woman who was a member of Rome’s imperial family.
Clearly, St. Helen would be a natural choice as patron of divorced and divorcing people, so why has this devotion to her arisen only recently? For most of the 1,700 years since Helen’s death, divorce was rare, even among non-Catholics. Among Catholics it was almost unthinkable. Today, unfortunately, when divorce has become commonplace, St. Helen is offered to unhappy spouses as a heavenly patron who can truly sympathize with their anguish.
Helen was also the mother of the Roman emperor, Constantine, who was the first Christian Roman emperor. He is also a saint.
Well…who could be a more perfect patron saint for us? Not only did she experience the horrors of divorce… then go on to be declared a saint… but she raised a son who has also been declared a saint!! She sounds to me like she was an amazing woman in many respects.
I found a holy card that can be purchased from The Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa, which is in Pennsylvania. The prayer on the card is also just perfect for us:
Holy and blessed Saint Helen,
with the anguish and devotion with which You sought the Cross of Christ,
I plead that You give me God’s grace to suffer in patience the labours of this life,
so that through them and through your intercession and protections,
I will be able to seek and carry the Cross, which God has placed on me,
so that I can serve Him in this life and enjoy His Glory ever after. Amen
If you have any tidbits of information about St. Helen to share with us, please do!!
May God bless and bring you peace.
St. Helen, pray for us.
Manya
P.S. The image of a statue of St. Helen shows an old woman because it’s believed that she was in her 80′s when she found the cross! Can you imagine being in your 80′s back in the late 200′s! Truly an amazing woman…
Praying Through Divorce – Divine Mercy Novena Day 9!
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Day 9 Intention: Souls who have become lukewarm.
Today bring to Me the souls who have become lukewarm* and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. These souls wound My Heart most painfully. My soul suffered the most dreadful loathing in the Garden of Olives because of lukewarm souls. They were the reason I cried out: ‘Father, take this cup away from Me, if it be Your will.’ For them the last hope of salvation is to run to My mercy.
“Most compassionate Jesus, You are Compassion Itself. I bring lukewarm souls into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart. In this fire of Your pure love let these tepid souls, who, like corpses, filled You with such deep loathing, be once again set aflame. O Most Compassionate Jesus, exercie the omnipotence of Your mercy and draw them into the very ardor of Your love, and bestow upon them the gift of holy love, for nothing is beyond Your power.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon lukewarm souls who are nonetheless enfolded in the Most Compassionate Hear of Jesus. Father of Mercy, I beg You by the bitter Passion of Your Son and by His theree-hour agony on the Cross: Let them, too, glorify the abyss of Your mercy. Amen.”
This is a chaplet, which means there’s a series of prayers to be said and you can use a rosary to help keep track:
Recite the following:
The Our Father
The Hail Mary
The Apostles’ Creed
On the large beads (Our Father beads):
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the small beads (Hail Mary beads):
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Continue those prayers around the entire rosary, always meditating on the intention for today. Then say the following three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Done! I hope this has been helpful to you.
*By the way, here’s the definition of “lukewarm souls” directly from Jesus to St. Faustina: “There are souls who thwart My efforts…souls without love or devotion, souls full of egoism and selfishness, proud and arrogant souls full of deceit and hypocrisy, lukewarm souls who have hardly enough warmth to keep themselves alive. My Heart cannot bear it. All my graces that I pour down on them daily flow off them as off rock. I cannot bear them because they are neither good nor bad.”
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Praying Through Divorce – Divine Mercy Novena Day 8
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Day 8 Intention: The souls who are detained in Purgatory.
Today bring to Me the souls who are detained in Purgatory and immerse them in the abyss of My mercy. Let the torrents of My Blood cool down their scorching flames. All these souls are greatly loved by Me. They are making retribution fo My justice. It is in your power to bring them relief. Draw all the indulgences from the treasury of My Church and offer them on their behalf. Oh, if you only knew the torments they suffer, you would continually offer for them the alms of the spirit and pay off their debt to My justice.
“Most Merciful Jesus, You Yourself have said that You desire mercy; so I bring into the abode of Your Most Compassionate Heart the souls in Purgatory, souls who are very dear to You, and yet, who must make retribution to Your justice. May the streams of Blood and Water which gushed forth from Your Heart put out the flames of Purgatory, that there, too, the power of Your mercy may be celebrated.
Eternal Father, turn Your merciful gaze upon the souls suffering in Purgatory, who are enfolded in the Most Compassionate Heart of Jesus. I beg You, by the sorrowful Passion of Jesus Your Son, and by all the bitterness with which His most sacred Soul was flooded: Manifest Your mercy to the souls who are under Your just scrutiny. Look upon them in no other way but only through the Wounds of Jesus, Your dearly beloved Son; for we firmly believe that there is no limit to Your goodness and compassion. Amen.”
This is a chaplet, which means there’s a series of prayers to be said and you can use a rosary to help keep track:
Recite the following:
The Our Father
The Hail Mary
The Apostles’ Creed
On the large beads (Our Father beads):
Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ, in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the small beads (Hail Mary beads):
For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Continue those prayers around the entire rosary, always meditating on the intention for today. Then say the following three times:
Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
Done…til tomorrow.
