The Catholic Nook: St. Andrew/Christmas novena...

Photo courtesy of Allison Kinyon, Rosaries by Allison

Happy Wednesday to you all! I hope that your week is going well. Me? I'm sleepy, but good. I'm certain many of you are in the same boat (Cindy - prayers coming your way, girl! ;-)).

One of my tasks this week was to attend a meeting of my parish's Worship Committee (details are in tomorrow's video post). And the main topic of conversation was planning for Advent.

*squeals*

Is there anything more enjoyable than Advent planning for Catholic nerds? I think not. We got down with the liturgical Advent talk, but it got me to thinking about my own personal Advent plans. Magnificat Advent Companion, check. Various and sundry Advent wreaths and calendars, had those since the summer.

#IAmAFreak

AND I also have this delightful new chaplet of sorts, that coincides perfectly with the Advent season. And what would that be, you reasonably ask?

It is a set of beads designed to assist in praying the St. Andrew Christmas Novena. I had not heard of this until very recently. I have prayed a traditional Christmas novena before, which includes prayers for the nine days leading up to Christmas day. This is different. And although it's called a novena, it is not in the usual nine day format. This is a short prayer that one prays each day from the feast of St. Andrew on November 30th, through Christmas Eve. So, it's using the term "novena" to indicate a designated stretch of time, rather than nine day segments.

During that time span, on each day, you pray the following prayer:

Hail and blessed be the hour and moment in which the Son of God was born of the most pure Virgin Mary, at midnight, in Bethlehem, in piercing cold. In that hour, vouchsafe, O my God, to hear my prayer and grant my desires, though the merits of Our Savior Jesus Christ, and of His Blessed Mother Amen.

This novena is also different from others in that instead of praying the prayer once per day, traditionally you pray it 15 times over the course of the day.  So, you could choose to intersperse the prayer throughout your day, to keep your mind continually focused on the season, or pray them at the same time for one intensive stretch of prayer.

To aid in keeping track, my best rosary gal pal Allison designed the chaplet that you see in the photo above. I own aforementioned chaplet, and you can get one too if you like. :) The chaplet is ideal for praying the prayer all at once, but you could also use a small clip or zipper pull to attach to the loops and keep track of where you are if you prefer to pray periodically throughout the day.

I like the thought of using this prayer during the Advent season to keep my attention focused on a contemplation of the nativity. I plan on praying it throughout Advent this year!

Has anybody else heard of this form of Christmas novena before? Do you pray a different Advent/Christmas novena? Do write in with your experiences. :)

More information on the St. Andrew Christmas novena can be found here.

The Catholic Nook: A patron saint for crafty, artistic folks?

There's been a bit of an arts and crafts theme here the past few weeks, yes? My past two video posts (here and here) have focused on getting involved in the arts, specifically dance, and I've been knitting a lot, so I've been writing crafty posts. This all got me to thinking...I am a person who quite enjoys patron saints. Whenever I embark on a project of any kind, of discover something new, I think to myself:

"I wonder who the patron saint of...(fill in the blank) (let's say Zumba!) is?"

Obviously, we sometimes have to adapt a patronage, since there isn't *specifically* a saint for people who enjoy Zumba. ;-) So, when I Googled "patron saint knitters," I found a couple of interesting people, one of whom is St. Catherine of Bologna. Want to know why I was drawn to her? She's the patron saint of the arts. Visual and performing arts, to be exact. Hello, kooky Catholic belly dancer over here! St. Catherine certainly seems like a patron that I can adapt (along with St. Cecilia, patron saint of music) for dancing. But it seems to be that a patron for artists can be a patron for all crafters, including knitters and crocheters. We're creating art too! So, what do we know about St. Catherine of Bologna?

Well, we know that she was born in Italy in 1413, to an important family in the area. She was the daughter of a diplomatic agent to the Marquis of Ferrara, and her early education included many of the arts that were prevalent in the city at that time: music, literature, painting and dancing.

Early in her life, Catherine expressed the desire to dedicate herself to Jesus. As a teenager, she entered the Franciscans as a Tertiary (a Third Order, lay member). Ultimately, she became a Poor Claire, and was appointed the superior of a convent in Bologna. During her time there, she continued to engage in her loves among the arts: painting, playing the viola, and writing poetry. She also composed a treatise detailing mystical visions of Jesus, and torturous visions of Satan.

In 1463, she became ill during Lent, and passed away on March 9th (also her feast day) of that year. Her body, later exhumed after people noticed a sweet smell emanating from her grave, was found to be incorrupt. She was canonized in 1712.

Well, well, well. A patron saint of the arts! I think that she is perfect for us, yes? Do any of you have a devotion to St. Catherine of Bologna? Do write in with your thoughts!

*information gleaned from Loyola Press

The Catholic Nook: Sacred Heart Devotion & Chaplet

Good morning all! Since today is the first day of the Sacred Heart novena, I thought it was perfect timing to discuss devotion to the Sacred Heart as part of my Catholic Nook series. If you'd like to pray along with the novena, click on the link above to join in!

But the Sacred Heart is a devotion that I've always been curious about. As a cradle Catholic, I've heard the concept bandied about for most of my life, and been somewhat familiar with what it means, but nothing official. Then a few years ago, I heard Channing talk about it on her "This Catholic Life" podcast (it's no longer available, as she's a cloistered Carmelite nun, miss her!) and she mentioned that it was her very favorite devotion, which intrigued me even further. So, what is devotion to the Sacred Heart exactly?

In a nutshell, it's based (mostly) upon visions experienced by St. Margaret Mary Alacoque in the seventeenth century. St. Margaret Mary was a French nun who described Jesus appearing to her and giving her this message:

My Sacred Heart is so intense in its love for men, and for you in particular, that not being able to contain within it the flames of its ardent charity, they must be transmitted through all means.

During the vision, Jesus showed her a human heart, aflame as if with love. He told her that he would be present with devotees to his Sacred Heart in a special way, and that their devotion would lead to peace in families, conversion of sinners, and perseverance when death was near.

The First Friday tradition that you may have heard of amongst Catholics is also tied to devotion to the Sacred Heart. Specifically, Jesus asked the following of St. Margaret Mary:

• Frequent reception of the Eucharist
• On the First Friday of each month for nine consecutive months, receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and the Eucharist.
• Attend Eucharistic Adoration for one hour on Thursdays.
• Celebrate the feast of the Sacred Heart (this year, it's June 12th). This feast will always be on a Friday, and will follow the second Sunday after Pentecost each year.
  

There is a lot of information about this devotion in a book that I reviewed last year, Sacred Fire by Phillip Michael Bulman, if you're interested to read more, as well as at the Salt and Light TV blog.

There is also a chaplet that can also be prayed in honor of this devotion.* The Sacred Heart Chaplet has 5 large beads, and then 33 beads that representing the years of Christ's earthly life.

http://michelis.shopinas.com/product/view/seed-chaplet-of-sacred-heart-of-jesus-b--michelis-8807/

To begin the chaplet, pray:

Soul of Jesus Christ, sactify me.
Heart of Jesus, inflame me with love.
Body of Jesus Christ, save me.
Blood of Jesus Christ, inebriate me.
Water out of the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.
O good Jesus, hear me. Within Thy Wounds, hide me. Let me not be separated from Thee. Defend me from the malignant enemy. At the hour of death, call me, and bid me to come unto Thee, that with the saints, I may praise Thee for all eternity.
Amen.

Before each large bead, pray:

Jesus most meek, make my heart like unto thine. We adore Thee, O Jesus, who has been afflicted in the Garden of Gethsemani, and who still in our time are outraged in the Blessed Sacrament by the impious conduct of men. O most amiable Saviour, we recognize that Thou alone art Holy, Thou alone art Lord, Thou alone art Most High.

One each small bead (3 on the drop, and then in groups of 6), pray:

I adore Thee, O most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Inflame my heart with the divine love with which thine own is all on fire.

At the conclusion of the chaplet, when you reach the Sacred Heart centerpiece, pray an Our Father, a Hail Mary, and the following prayer:

O Lord Jesus Christ, who by an ineffable miracle of love, hast deigned to give Thy Heart to men to serve as their nourishment, in order thereby to gain their hearts, graciously hear our humble prayers, and pardon us for the sins of which we confess ourselves guilty before Thee. Cast an eye of compassion and mercy upon those towards whom Thou dost condescend to direct the affections of Thine amiable Heart. And since we desire to honor Thee in the adorable Mystery of the Altar to the utmost of our power and to render Thee most pleasing Homage and for that intention, weep for and detest from the bottom of our hearts all the outrages, contempt, mockery, sacrileges, and other acts of impiety which ungrateful men in every part of the world have committed against Thee, enkindle therefore in our hearts this divine love which Thine Own is inflamed, and inspire us with sentiments like unto Thine, in order that we may be able worthily to praise for all praise for all eternity the love which which this Sacred Heart burns for us. This our prayer to Thee who lives and reigns with the Father, in unity of the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen.

I'd like to get one of these chaplets and add it to my collection, as well as make a recording of the prayers so that we could pray together. Add that to the list!

#check :)

Does anyone else have a devotion to the Sacred Heart? Do write in a comment!

*Found in Devotion to the Sacred Heart, by Fr. John Croiset

The Catholic Nook: Spy Wednesday

It's Wednesday of Holy Week, and suddenly we're on the heels of the Mass of the Lord's Supper! Time flies. Thus today, as I scrolled through my social media feeds, I noticed several mentions of Spy Wednesday. I thought to myself:

"I wonder what that means?!"

And this is one of the many things I love about being Catholic - it doesn't matter how many years I've done this thing, there are still always new and fascinating tidbits to learn!

So, Spy Wednesday. The explanation was simpler than I anticipated, but no less profound. As this is the day prior to Holy Thursday, it is the occasion on which we remember how Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus by going to the high priest and negotiating information in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. The Synoptic Gospels record this scene in Matthew 26:14-16, Mark 14:10-11, and Luke 22:1-6. Ominous music is playing in the background as we draw closer to the Last Supper. :) It is also the day the Scriptures note (Matthew 26:613, Mark 14:3-9, and John 12:1-19) that Jesus was in the home of Simon the leper, and anointed with expensive perfume by a woman who was also present. Lots of foreboding right there. As I was looking for information on Spy Wednesday, I read on several sites that this day is marked in Poland with a tradition of dragging a three dimensional representation of Judas through the streets.

We now all know what Spy Wednesday is all about, horray! For my part this Holy Week, I've been like the Little Engine That Could with my Divine Office app, trying to squeeze in Morning and Evening Prayer each day. I'm on the reference desk right now, and I forgot to pray Morning Prayer before I came down (oops!) so that will be prayed when I get back to my office at 11 am. Not exactly on a monastery schedule, but for a laywoman I do what I can. ;-) I've also been trying to think more deeply about the mysteries of the rosary as I pray them, but yesterday as I prayed in the car, I managed to get my Bl. Mother Teresa rosary entangled in my *steering column* as I drove. Right, I was turning a corner, it was REALLY bad timing, *and* was I trying to rewind the Catholic podcast I had on in the background. Is God trying to tell me that I do too much multitasking? I wouldn't be surprised. :) At any rate, I broke my rosary, and had to make a trip to JoAnn's for replacement chain to make it up to poor Bl. Mother Teresa. I've promised her that this will never happen again. :0

How is your Holy Week going dear reader?

*Photo from Patheos

The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of St. Dymphna

Good day to you all, and I hope that your Thursday after Ash Wednesday is off to a good start. :) I've been happily reading along with my Magnificat Lenten Companion, do you have your copy? If not, you can download the Kindle version for 99 cents. I'm loving mine. Today's suggested penance is to offer up your day for someone, and keep that person in mind all day. I love that! I have my person all tucked in my brain, and am offering away. :)

And with Lent turning all of our minds to prayer, I thought I'd pen a Catholic Nook post today. These posts tend to favor a discussion of chaplets, because I love them so much. :) And here we have another one!

Allison made this chaplet for me, that is in fact my St. Dymphna chaplet posing in the photo for this post. She almost always has a St. Dymphna chaplet in her Etsy store (like this one), or you can ask her to custom make one for you.

St. Dymphna is the patron saint for those suffering from mental illness. She has a rather sad story, involving her father trying to attack her, and ultimately killing her. The mental illness patronage comes into play since what father not afflicted by mental illness in some way would treat his daughter like this? St. Dymphna forgave and prayed for him, and now we can ask her intercession for matters involving mental health. For me, I've struggled with postpartum depression in the past, and so I'm very sensitive to this issue. I find this chaplet soothing to pray if I'm feeling anxious or down about something.

The traditional colors of a St. Dymphna chaplet are red (symbolizing martyrdom), white (symbolizing virginity), and green (representing mental illness). To pray with this chaplet:

• On the St. Dymphna medal, ask for her intercession and lay out your intention.
  
• On the two "drop" beads, pray 1 Our Father and 1 Hail Mary.
  
• Then, on the other beads, pray the Glory Be 15 times, in honor of the 15 years of St. Dymphna's life.

Simple and fast, and very comforting.  Has anybody else prayed this chaplet before?

The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of Our Lady of the Snows

Happy Catholic Nook Wednesday everybody. :) These posts can really be about any sort of Catholic devotion or practice, but I notice that I've devoted quite a few of them to chaplets. The reason for this is, well...I love chaplets. And I own quite a few of them. :0 OK, a LOT of them, if you must know. I have several small pouches that I keep in my purse loaded up with all of them, you know, in case of emergency and I need to whip one of them out and pray. My mom has always had the biggest purses of anyone I've ever known. She carries things around in there like snacks for the kids, water bottles, tissues, and hand sanitizer. I have chaplets. It's my contribution to the world. ;-)

I received a few new chaplets this month, and so this Nook and the next will be devoted to them. I love chaplets because they're usually small and quick to pray, but they pack a powerful punch. They also are tied to a specific saint, title of Our Lady, or devotion (the sacred heart, that sort of thing) and so in my experience, chaplets help me to focus my prayer. What do I have in store for you this month? Settle in with your tea or coffee. :)

In December, I wrote about my devotion to Our Lady of the Snows. Our Lady under this title is credited with a miraculous summer snowfall in Rome. I love asking for the intercession of Our Lady, and the reminder that prayer can work miracles is so soothing to me. I'm also a lover of beautiful snowfalls (generally :)) and so this devotion just really speaks to me. After I wrote that post, I started wondering if there was a specific chaplet devoted to Our Lady of the Snows. Hum...

*librarian zooms in!*

Why yes, there is! And you can see one pictured above, that Allison crafted for me. (and pssst! She has another one just like it listed in her shop. #ChapletEnabler ;-)). The fact that the beads are Snowflake Lapis and Snow Quartz, with a snowflake centerpiece, just adds to the perfection, in my opinion. So how do you pray this chaplet?

This chaplet configuration is very similar to a traditional rosary with five segments of prayers (albeit shorter segments), but with some customizations. To begin:

• Make the Sign of the Cross on the Crucifix.
• On the three beads of the "drop," pray one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.
• At the centerpiece, pray the Memorare:

  Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left unaided. Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother. To you I come, before you I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in your mercy, hear and answer them. Amen.

• On the white beads, pray five Hail Marys.
• On the blue beads, pray:

  Our Lady of the Snows, pray for us.
  St. Joseph, pray for us.
  St. Therese of the Child Jesus, pray for us.
  St. Eugene de Mazenod, pray for us.

• Repeat that for each of the five segments. Then, back at the centerpiece, pray the beginning of the Magnificat:

  My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked with favor on His lowly servant. From this day, all generations shall call me blessed. The Almighty has done great things for me, and Holy is his name. He has mercy on those who fear him in every generation. He has shown the strength of his arm, he has scattered the proud in their conceit. He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, and has lifted up the lowly.

• Pray a Glory Be.
• Make the Sign of the Cross, and you're done!

I've used my chaplet several times since I received it, and absolutely love it. The Memorare is one of my favorite prayers, there is something about the lilting Marian phrases that really draw me in. The beads on my particular chaplet are a bit heavier than most of my rosaries, and very smooth, and they feel so solid and comforting moving through my fingers. I just love it.

This isn't a very well known chaplet, at least it seems that way to me. Has anybody else prayed this chaplet before? Do leave a comment. :)

The Catholic Nook: Our Lady of the Snows & the Christmas Novena...

Happy Tuesday everybody! I'm so excited about our post for today. Before I talk about Our Lady of the Snows, it seemed perfect that today is day 1 of the Christmas Novena. I have a page at the top of the blog for those of you interested in praying along with me. There is a link to sign up for the daily email reminders. The Christmas Novena begins each year on December 16th and runs through Christmas Eve as a spiritual preparation for the big day. So get your intentions squared away and get started!

Ok, so Our Lady of the Snows. This has become my new obsession. :) And the image in this post? I LOVE IT. I've been searching for a similar prayer card, but no luck so far. At any rate, let's learn more about her, shall we?

This title for Mary developed from a tradition involving a Roman couple in the year 352. Both husband and wife had a dream in which Mary appeared to them and told them that she wanted a church built in a place on which snow would fall to mark the spot. Given that they lived in Rome, you can imagine that the couple was a bit curious. :) Snow doesn't fall all that often there, especially in August. :0 Well, sure enough, on August 5th snow covered Esquiline Hill in Rome. All of Rome proclaimed this a miracle, and a church was built on the hill in 358. Through the years, the church has undergone a lot of restoring and refurbishing, and is the modern day Basilica of St. Mary Major. The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, who honor Our Lady of the Snows as their patroness, run an American shrine to Mary under this title in Belleville, Illinois, which features a Way of Light at Advent and Christmas and multiple small shrines to Mary under her various titles (Our Lady of Guadalupe, Our Lady of Lourdes). Her feast is celebrated on August 5th. A special prayer for her intercession is below:

Our Lady of the Snows, Immaculate Queen of the Universe, from this privileged sanctuary, Thou has bestowed so many countless graces and pledges of love upon the hearts and souls of millions. O Mother, from this cradle of Christianity, this Mother Church of all churches, deign to shower forth the graces of thine Immaculate Heart upon the remnant Faithful throughout the world, wherever they may be, and grant them the graces of a childlike love and unwavering fidelity to the holy truths of our Faith. Grant, good Mother, to the faithful Bishops of the Church the grace to defend Her Sacred Teachings, and to persevere courageously against all the enemies of the Holy Church. Amen.

 Cool, huh?

I just absolutely love the image of Mary under this title, it just gives me such a cozy feeling. Our Lady of the Snows isn't a very well known title for her, and finding gift items bearing this image are difficult to come by.  I had her in mind when I recently asked the fabulous Allison to craft matching rosaries for me (for me and Anne) with a Frozen colorway theme. Our Lady of the Snows rosary centers are nonexistent as far as I know, so I asked her to use Our Lady of Lourdes:

Isn't it stunning? The colors are just so evocative to me of Our Lady of the Snows. The bead mix is called "Glacier," and has sparkly blue shades and Aurora Borealis crystal. The Paters are silver pearls. I LOVE IT. It's a perfect winter rosary. :) And she'll custom make you one too if you ask her!

I also see that Our Lady of the Snows has a novena that you can pray each year from July 27th through August 4th, leading to her feast day, so let's do that in 2015, yes? I'll create a page with the prayers so that we can pray along together for her intercession.

Does anybody else have familiarity with Our Lady of the Snows? I'd love to hear from you!

P.S., don't forget that book club is tomorrow! We'll be talking about Advent of a Mystery. See you then!

The Catholic Nook: 54 Day Rosary Novena

Photo credit: Allison Kinyon from Rosaries by Allison

Happy Wednesday everybody! And indeed it is a happy day, the feast of St. Therese! I am on the lookout for roses this fall day. :)

I have mentioned that I am starting a 54 day rosary novena in previous posts, but I thought I'd create a dedicated post for ease of finding it and praying along, for those who would like to. I'm going to sticky it as a separate page at the top of the blog for the duration of the novena, for quick referral.

The logistics go like this: for 54 days we pray a full five decade rosary for a specific intention(s). The 54 days (doing a little public math here) represent six novenas (which, of course, consist of nine days each). For the first half of this time period, 27 days, we pray in petition for the intention of the novena. The subsequent 27 days we pray in thanksgiving for God's will regarding the result of the novena, even if that hasn't been made clear to us yet. So, it is really a "power novena" of a considerable length of time. :)

If you're praying along with me right now (and I know at least a few of you are, yay!) we are starting on October 1st, 2014. So, our petition period is through October 27th, kind of easy the way the dates fall. Then, our prayers of thanksgiving will go through the last Sunday in Ordinary Time, which is November 23rd.

According to several articles I've read on this devotion (like this one), regardless of what day you start, you pray the mysteries of the rosary in a very specific order. If you were to do that, you would begin with the Joyful Mysteries on the first day, which aren't the traditional mysteries unless it's Monday or Saturday, but you would begin in this fashion regardless. If you want to really be "by the book" :) you can do it that way. I know myself, which is to say I know that I will not remember what mystery I'm supposed to pray each day using such a system, I will lose track. I like the good old fashioned traditional system, which for Ordinary Time is:

Monday: Joyful Mysteries
Tuesday: Sorrowful Mysteries
Wednesday: Glorious Mysteries
Thursday: Luminous Mysteries
Friday: Sorrowful Mysteries
Saturday: Joyful Mysteries
Sunday: Glorious Mysteries

So that is how I will be going about it. Since it's Wednesday, I already started the Glorious Mysteries in my car as I drove in to work.  I have one primary petition that I'm praying for, and I'm also including intentions that others have asked me to pray for on their behalf. If you would like me to include your intentions, leave a comment and indicate whether you're ok with me publishing it or not. :) If you'd prefer, I can note down your intention but not publicly publish your comment.

For the duration of the novena, I am praying with a new rosary that I broke down and purchased :) from Allison's Etsy shop. A photo of it appears at the top of this post. I was drawn to it because of the Blessed Mother Teresa centerpiece. A good reminder, in my mind, of the power of prayer and staying close to God even amidst spiritual dryness. I wish I had a photo of it in action in my hand, but alas, I left it in my car this morning since that is where I will resume praying on my commute home. I have a little nook in the drivers' side door that I tuck the rosary I'm currently praying with into for ease of grabbing. It's all very sublime. I just adore the new addition to my prayer arsenal.

I have prayed this novena in the past (relating to items in this post :)), and have seen concrete things happen subsequently that I believe are a direct result of my prayers. Has anyone else had this experience?

Happy rosary praying for the duration of Ordinary Time, everyone! I hope that you will join in if you are able. And if you can't commit to praying a rosary every single day (which I totally understand, life and responsibilities can interfere in the best of intentions) if you do it as often as you are able to during this stretch of time, keep all of us in the Catholic Librarian community in your mind and prayers as you do so. We will be united in prayer. :)

The Catholic Nook: Holy/Prayer Cards

Happy Thursday everyone, and you'll be pleased to note that my evil cold is finally dissipating.

*applause*

This is the best that I have felt in a week. Anne also seems to be getting better. She can already blow her nose, which is really helping. I seem to remember not properly being able to blow my nose until I was embarrassingly old, which Mike finds absolutely hilarious. :0 But now he's getting sick, so he's not laughing too hard, poor guy. And Henry has also been extra stuffy. He too has seasonal allergies, but I'm fearing the worst for him as well. We've navigating this wave of illness as best we can, and are all in good spirits. Hanging in there, to be sure. :)

On to today's topic. I got into work this morning, and my mind was abuzz thinking about some gift ideas for my nephews. Probably because I've been doing some knitting for them, and I finished up one project last night. :) I have 4 nephews, all of them have birthdays in the fall, and of course Christmas is only three and a half months away. I have ideas for each of them, and in a few cases, items already purchased and tucked away that happen to be of a religious nature. Then I got a bee in my bonnet for some reason today thinking about a coordinating holy card to go with the gift.

I don't know about you, but I love and collect holy cards. I wouldn't say that I'm a person that is very knowledgeable about art in any form, but the imagery that is so pervasive in Catholic churches and sacramentals has always appealed to me. I'm a cradle Catholic, and growing up the images that I'd see in church: the stauary, stained glass, stations of the cross plaques, paintings of the saints... all of those things captured my imagination when it would wander during Mass. And holy cards depicting these scenes in a smaller form were always present in the Catholic gift shops I'd go to with my mom, or receive in my religious education class. I also remember receiving a few holy cards when I made my First Communion.

As an adult, I have a stack of favorites on my desk at work, and a few pinned to my bulletin board. I use them as bookmarks, and buy them for Henry, who loves saint pictures and uses them similarly. I got him a few of his favorites for his First Communion, including St. Maximilian Kolbe and St. Dominic Savio. I pick some up nearly every time I'm in a Catholic gift store.

And so what exactly are the significance of these cards? There is always an image on one side  depicting either a religious scene from the Bible/Tradition, or a specific person. The reverse will include a prayer invoking the intercession of the featured saint, or for a cause relating to the scene in question. Their purpose is to provide a visual reminder of important events and people in our faith, and encourage us to pray. They may help us to remember traditional prayers when we want to use those, such as the Our Father or Hail Mary (very useful for young children or those new to the Catholic faith) or the Act of Contrition when we are availing ourselves of the Sacrament of Reconciliation. As well, a person struggling with a particular problem or ailment may have a holy card for a saint who is patron for those bearing this cross. For example, someone diagnosed with cancer may carry a St. Peregrine holy card and use it daily to ask for that saint's intercession and prayers for healing.

Holy cards can also provide solace in other ways. Funerals for Catholic men and women generally include holy cards with a religious image chosen by the family, information on the reverse side regarding the person's date of birth, death, and location of internment, along with a prayer.

I just love these visual cues that are a part of our faith. I find them inspiring and a perfect call to prayer.

And so this morning I ventured over to Catholic Springtime to peruse a bit. This is apparently a new offshoot of Catholic Prayer Cards, whom I've ordered from before. Their latest email had this new web address, promoting materials for the upcoming beatification of Pope Paul VI in October. And so I started adding cards to my cart. :)

Some for my nephews, some for me to add to my office collection. St. Nicholas for all of the kids for his feast day on December 6th. A few for friends. St. Isadore the Farmer for Henry, because I'm getting him a painted wooden St. Isadore for his Christmas stocking, isn't he smashing?

This is from St. Luke's Brush, on Etsy. The artist who paints these is *incredibly* talented. I bought two, and will post photos when they arrive!

So, holy cards. I'm excited to finalize my cart and place my order. :) Anyone else devoted to holy cards? Do leave your thoughts in the comments!

The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of St. Monica

Good day all! In case you were wondering ;-) we did have a better night with Anne, thank you for your prayers. :0 I'm hoping that that "sticks," we'll see. It seems that having Mike bring her up to bed is the better way to go nowadays, she knows that Mommy is a softer touch (read: can be manipulated easily), for sure.

Since I am so well rested, downright bright eyed and bushy tailed even, I thought today would make a nice day to indulge in an installment of the Catholic Nook. I'm currently praying the novena to St. Monica, leading up to her feast day of August 27th. Since she was on my mind, I wondered to myself whether or not there is a special chaplet devoted just to her intercession. I am a chaplet fiend, as you well know, and so away I Googled. And TA DA! Yes, there is in fact a chaplet to St. Monica, and I simply must have one now that I know this! I already started building my cart over at Fusion Beads to procure supplies to make one. :)

I have a deep fondness for St. Monica given that she was a wife and mother who worried and prayed over her children for her whole life. A fellow worrywart? Instant bond! I'm certain we all know the story of her son Augustine, who gave his poor mother heart palpitations for many years before settling down to become one of the greatest saints in Church history. No small feat, that. Whenever I see a wayward child, I think to myself: "does he/she know how this affects his MOTHER?!" I mean, after all we go through for these children, the least they can do is toe the line to show their appreciation. Now I sound like my *own* mother, which is a humbling thing indeed, dear reader. But St. Monica was vindicated in her decades of prayer given the results with St. Augustine. Victory is hers. :0

This chaplet consists of 32 beads (6 large and 26 small) and a St. Monica medal. Apparently, the 32 beads represent the number of years poor St. Monica labored away praying for that ingrate St. Augustine. ;-) There is a special prayer to St. Monica that we begin with at her medal:

"O holy Monica, by your burning tears and unceasing prayers, you did save your son from eternal damnation. Obtain for us the grace ever to comprehend what is most conducive to the salvation of our children, so that we may effectively restrain them from the way of sin and lead them by that of virtue and piety to heaven!"

There follow 2 beads on the "drop" of the chaplet, on which we pray an Our Father and a Hail Mary. The loop consists of 6 segments of 5 beads each. On the large beads, we pray an invocation:

"I join my tears to yours -[fill in intention in order set forth below] - St. Monica, pray for us in the Holy Name of Jesus!

(1) - against the spirit of Despair, toward the spirit of Hope -

(2) - against the spirit of Anger, toward the spirit of Love -

(3) - against the spirit of Blame, toward the spirit of Forgiveness -

(4) - against the spirit of Suspicion, toward the spirit of Trust -

(5) - against the spirit of Doubt, toward the spirit of Faith -

(6) - against the spirit of Fear, toward the spirit of Peace -

On the smaller beads, we pray 4 Hail Marys for each of the 6 segments.

In conclusion, we pray:

"Saint Monica, Exemplary mother of the great Augustine, you perseveringly pursued your wayward son not with wild threats but with prayerful cries to heaven. Intercede for all mothers in our day so that they may learn to draw their children to God. Teach them how to remain close to their children, even the prodigal sons and daughters who have sadly gone astray."

I absolutely love the idea of this chaplet to pray for our children. One of my daily intentions is that my children always, throughout their lives, remain close to Christ and His Church, and St. Monica is certainly a perfect intercessor to aid me in this endeavor. When I place my next bead order, I think that I'm definitely going to order the supplies to make this chaplet. Has anybody ever prayed this chaplet before, or otherwise have a devotion to St. Monica? Leave me a comment!

The Chaplet of St. Monica for Despondent Mothers, Composed by M. Kadala and R. Eicher.
http://www.viarosa.com/VR/StMonica/Chaplets.html

The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of St. Dominic Savio

Morning all! Via the fabulousness that is My Treasury of Chaplets, I am able to explore making special chaplets as gifts, and being the bead fan that I am, I am always on the prowl for an excuse to buy and mold more into wonderful prayer configurations. As I was flipping through the book a few months ago, I saw that it had an Appendix. Huh. Never noticed that before. The entries usually all have full descriptions and photos of each chaplet, making it easy to create them on your own. The Appendix lacked pictures, but the descriptions were still sufficient. A chaplet to St. Dominic Savio was listed in there.

Score. Henry *loves* St. Dominic Savio. Since St. Dominic is a child saint, Henry really relates to his story, and I think that it's an excellent example for young boys. I thought that if I made him this chaplet, we could pray it together at night before he went to bed.

It was tougher with no photograph, but I managed and some image searches online seem to indicate that I did it correctly. For this chaplet, what we have is a crucifix and center, 3 white beads and 14 blue beads. The white beads represent the Trinity, while the blue beads represent the 14 years of St. Dominic's life and his devotion to Our Lady.

To begin the chaplet, you pray a Glory Be at the crucifix to thank God for the graces St. Dominic Savio received during his lifetime. On each of the 3 white beads, you pray:

"St. Dominic Savio, intercede for me. As Our Lady to obtain for me a great increase in...":

First Bead: Faith. Pray a Hail Mary.
Second Bead: Hope. Pray a Hail Mary.
Third Bead: Charity. Pray a Hail Mary.

You will now move into a series of 3 invocations that begin and end at the centerpiece. You pray the invocation at the center, then move around to each of the 14 blue beads, reciting St. Dominic's personal motto on each: "Death before sin." (a little heavy for young children, but I think with a good explanation all will be well. :)) Repeat for each invocation.

First Invocation: St. Dominic, you know how hard it is to fight temptation in this life. Consider me as your friend in need. Obtain for me the grace of purity in thought, word, and deed. Help me to improve my self control.

Second Invocation: St. Dominic, you loved Our Lady and went to her with your needs. Go to her and ask the grace to help me remember to ask for her help especially when I am most sorely tempted. Obtain for me an increase in love for her, our most tender and loving Mother.

Third Invocation: St. Dominic, you prayed for your family and friends. Please go to Our Lady and intercede for my family and friends, and also for my personal intentions.

Concluding Prayer: Thank you, St. Dominic, for your intercessions on my behalf. Please pray for me every day of my life. St. Dominic, you struggled in this life with the same temptations to sin as I have, but you never gave up trying. Obtain for me great confidence in Our Lady and the grace of final perseverance, that some day in heaven we may enjoy the delights of her company and sing the praises of the Most Holy Trinity. Through the intercession of Our Lady Mediatrix of all Graces. Amen.

For Henry's chaplet, I chose a First Communion centerpiece, since that is appropriate for his current state in life, plus St. Dominic Savio was devoted to the Eucharist. And for whatever reason, centerpieces with the majority of saint images on them are very rare and hard to find. St. Joseph? You're golden. St. Anthony, St. Francis, also no problem. But St. Cecelia? Not so much. St. Kateri, for whatever reason, a snap. St. Maximillian Kolbe or St. Dominic Savio? Move along, sister! Unless you want to pay nearly $40 for a sterling silver variety, impossible to come by. Saint *medals* abound, but the rosary centerpieces are much more limited. So I procured one with the First Communion image and affixed a St. Dominic Savio medal, voila! I used large white pearls from a necklace of mine that had broken, and cobalt blue beads for the main section. I love how it turned out and can't wait to tuck it into Henry's Christmas stocking.

Any other St. Dominic Savio devotees out there? :) Leave me a comment!

The Catholic Nook: Chaplets

Hi y'all! Time for another Catholic Nook installment, and I have been feeling inspired lately by this small book pictured left, My Treasury of Chaplets, by Patricia Quintiliani. It's out of print, but available still via the Amazon Marketplace, and I bought a copy a few years ago. (reality check: Amazon is telling me that I bought this book in December 2010, that's more than "a few years ago." Folks, this is what happens when you approach 40. You start to lose brain cells and your ability to judge spans of time. You've been warned). ;-)

The reason I originally bought this book is as a reference guide for praying different chaplets. I'm a librarian, I love reference material. *halo* Chaplets are traditionally designed to invoke the intercession of a particular saint or as devotion to a certain title for Mary or Jesus. So, for instance, the chaplet of St. Therese. It has 24 beads, memorializing the 24 years of her life, and on each you pray a Glory Be. Or the chaplet to Our Lady Star of the Sea, with 12 beads representing the 12 stars on Mary's crown, on which you pray a Hail Mary with a special acclamation at the end of each prayer. There are tons of such devotions like this out there, each with (if you wish) customized prayer beads to assist you in praying that particular chaplet. St. Michael, St. Philomena, Padre Pio, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, the 7 Sorrows of Mary, the Precious Blood of Jesus, all have a unique chaplet for that specific devotion. I find it all fascinating, so I purchased this book. The author helpfully divides the book into sections for chaplets of the saints, Marian chaplets, and those focused on Jesus.

So, this book sits on my bookshelf, and I pull it out when I need it to look up a particular chaplet and how to pray it. With the novena to the Sacred Heart going on right now, I had thought about learning more on this devotion, and wondered whether there was a special chaplet. There is. For each chaplet, there is a description of how to pray it, and a photo of the chaplet, which makes this book unique as far as what I've ever seen. If I don't have beads configured exactly in the way the chaplet is described, it helps to get a sense of how many times to pray which prayers and in what order by looking at a physical item. It also makes it easier to look for such a chaplet to purchase online if you'd like to. Or to make one yourself. *exciting music crescendos* :0

I looked over the Sacred Heart chaplet. 33 red beads, representing each year of Jesus' life, plus 6 larger beads. From the photo, I could see that the arrangement was 6 sets of 5 red beads apiece, with larger beads in between, and then a "drop" with larger beads on either side of a trio of the red beads. With a sacred heart centerpiece and a crucifix on the bottom, it's a slam dunk. :0 I could make this!

I didn't, although I tripped over myself on the way to grab the tablet and load up red and yellow beads into my Fusion Beads shopping cart, simply because I wouldn't be able to obtain the supplies and get it made in time for the novena, which at that point was only about a week away. You don't need the beads in order to pray the novena, I just thought it would be nice. But certainly for the future, I will make this at some point.

As I flipped through, I came across a chaplet to St. Dominic Savio. St. Dominic Savio is a patron of young boys, and his story is a favorite of Henry's. His chaplet consists of 3 white beads on the drop, and 14 blue beads, the colors representing St. Dominic's purity and his devotion to Our Lady. There are specific prayers for each bead. Eureka! I have cobalt blue beads and white pearls in my bead stash. Yes, I now have a bead stash in addition to a yarn stash, no judging. ;-) All I would need was a centerpiece and crucifix, since Henry owns a St. Dominic Savio medal that I could hook on. I found a chalice First Communion-type centerpiece and a coordinating crucifix, ordered those, and away we go. Chaplet will be created soon! I'd like to pray it with him sometimes before he goes to sleep. Fascinating stuff, no?

Do you all have a favorite chaplet that you pray either regularly or around a specific feast day? Leave me a comment!

Just a housekeeping fyi: I'm headed to Pittsburgh this weekend with Mike and the kids, so no post tomorrow. I'll be back with you with full details on Monday. Talk to you then!

The Catholic Nook: May Crowning

Afternoon all! And a lovely day it is. I attended the May Crowning ceremony at Henry's school parish yesterday morning, and a few of my non-Catholic friends have asked me what this is. May is a time of rich sacramental and other liturgical celebrations in the Church, and so I thought the crowning was a lovely addition to our Catholic Nook.

May is traditionally (at least in modern times) a month in honor of Mary for Catholics. We celebrate her role as the mother of Jesus and as our spiritual mother. What Catholic parishes will do as a demonstration of that place of honor is a May Crowning. A statue of Mary is set up in front of the church, or outside. Usually children who recently received their First Holy Communion will process in and present flowers to Mary. One of the children will place a wreath of roses atop her head, and the statue will remain with the flowers for the duration of the month as a reminder of what we are remembering. We consider Mary Queen of Heaven and Earth.

Yesterday, as I mentioned, I attended the May Crowning at the parish affiliated with Henry's school. This was the first May Crowning that I have seen as an adult. I seem to remember my sister Shauna'h participating in a May Crowning as a child, and having the coveted role of placing the flowers atop Mary's head (cute!), but I don't recall whether my class ever did this as part of religious education. At any rate, this is how it went down:

The First Communicants (third graders, in our diocese) processed into the church wearing their First Communion finery. One little girl in Henry's class isn't Catholic and thus did not receive the sacrament, but she had a role in this ceremony just like her classmates, which I thought was wonderful. She led the line of little girls down the aisle bearing small bouquets of flowers, looking very pretty in a cream colored dress that coordinated well with the First Communion dresses. As each twosome got up to the altar, one boy and one girl, they bowed to the Tabernacle and placed their bouquet of flowers near the statue. At the end of the line came a little boy carrying the wreath of roses on a pillow and a little girl who would crown Mary with them. When they reached the altar, the final little girl crowned Mary, and everyone had a seat.

The children from the third grade class each had a role to play aside from the initial procession. Three girls read a poem to Mary, and a handful of children (including Henry! #precious) read the Litany of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a Gospel reading and a short homily. Then some of the children read prayers asking for Mary's intercession, and the entire class sang "Lady of the Roses." Henry does not enjoy singing, and usually complains at home when the class is tasked with a song for some sort of event. But this time we hadn't heard a peep of protest out of him, and I asked him about it later.

"Oh yeah Mommy, I love 'Lady of the Roses.' Did you like the poem too?"

So.Precious. He *liked* the Mary song, and hence sang it with gusto. I was so, so pleased.

I absolutely loved the ceremony, and I love that Henry is participating in these types of rituals as part of his religious education. Has anyone else attended a May Crowning this year? Leave me a comment!

*Image from www.catholicculture.org

The Catholic Nook: Laetare Sunday

This is a bonus edition of the Catholic Nook coming your way on a *Saturday* because of the 7 posts in 7 days blogging challenge. I have to admit, I'm getting a bit exhausted of blogging :0 but when I make a promise, I stick to it. You're welcome.

;-)

I wrote about Ash Wednesday this week, and thus I thought another post in this pre-Lent series I'm doing about Lenten traditiona would be a nice touch. So here we are: Laetare Sunday, what the heck is that?

Laetare Sunday refers to the Fourth Sunday of Lent. Like the Third Sunday of Advent, this is one of the rare days on the Church calendar that the liturgical color is rose pink. It refers to a day of joy within a solemn season. As opposed to the rest of Lent, flowers may be placed on the altar this day. It is a day on which we receive encouragement on our penitential journey and look forward to the feast to come. Pope Innocent III remarked in 1216 that Laetare Sunday marks:

"a measure of consoling relaxation...so that the faithful may not break down under the severe strain of Lenten fast but may continue to bear the restrictions with a refreshed and easier heart." (from The How-To Book of Sacramentals by Ann Ball)

Originally, this particular Sunday marked the practice of the traditio symboli, or handing over of the Apostolic Creed to the catechumens (those who will be baptized at Easter). Some time later, this practice was discontinued and combined with the baptismal ceremony.

Now we have RCIA and the Rite of Election and all that good stuff during Lent, as preparation for the catechumens and candidates.The Church has retained the rose vestments on this day, however, as well as the original joyful intent. Interesting, huh? I may or may not covet a pink veil just to match the vestments for *2 days* a year. I'm admitting to nothing.

Tomorrow I'm going to be putting a quick reading list of Lenten resources together for you. Do come back and visit me!

I’m writing seven posts in seven days this week with Jen at Conversion Diary. To check out other bloggers who are doing the same, see the list here.

The Catholic Nook: Ash Wednesday

It's a Wednesday, exactly one week prior to Ash Wednesday, so what perfect timing to discuss this important day on the liturgical calendar, no? I know that you're all probably making your plans for when you'll get your ashes next week. ;-) It's also day 3 of the 7 posts in 7 days challenge over at Conversion Diary, and I am on a ROLL! :)

So let's kvetch a bit about ashes! What do they mean, and where did this tradition come from? Sprinkled in with my own personal and humorous ash stories, because what would this blog be coming to without *that*?!

And so, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent for many Catholics (and those in some other Christian traditions). Interestingly, Ash Wednesday is a very western Church tradition. The Eastern rites do not have Ash Wednesday. Lent begins for them the Monday prior, with no tradition of ashes. The Eastern churches begin Lent on "Clean Monday," and they refer to this liturgical season as "The Great Fast."

Ashes have been used as a sign of penance and sorrow from the time of the Old Testament. Based upon this Jewish tradition, Christians started using ashes as a general practice around the eleventh century. During the Middle Ages, the pope would process barefoot on Ash Wednesday and receive ashes from the oldest cardinal-bishop at the Church of Santa Sabina.  He would then distribute them to the other cardinals.

As we are likely all (or mostly) familiar with, Ash Wednesday indicates the ashes that we receive, traced into a cross pattern onto our foreheads, on this first day of Lent. On that day, we attend either a Mass or a prayer service that includes the distribution of ashes, and the congregation comes forward to receive the ashes as the priest states: "Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return," or "Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel." As he traces the ashes onto our forehead, we respond, "Amen."

The ashes for Ash Wednesday come from burning the blessed palms distributed the previous Palm Sunday. The ashes receive a special blessing from the priest and are sprinkled with holy water prior to being used.

Funnily enough, I once heard a priest on our local Catholic radio station talking about this very issue. He said that one year, he was determined to make his own ashes to use at his parish, rather than ordering them the way he usually did from some sort of Catholic supplier (and apparently, the way all other priests do). So, he made a pitch for this endeavor throughout the year:

"Save your palms! After the first of the year, bring them into the parish office and I'm going to collect them all to have our very own palms burned for our ashes this Lent!"

Custom ashes for everybody!!

Everyone got excited. Little old ladies and children alike saved their palms carefully. They all brought them in, and this priest harvested them like precious gems. His congregation was so prolific with their efforts he got overconfident:

"Good heavens! We can't *possibly* use all these palms! 'We're all set everyone!'"

And then the time came to burn the palms.

*sense of foreboding*

Dozens upon dozens of palms were reduced down to...a wispy bit of ashes. There was no way he was going to get enough ashes to distribute to the entire congregation. Chagrined, he placed his ash order. :0

When I was a kid, I have to be honest and admit that Ash Wednesday was never my favorite day on the liturgical calendar. I felt very conspicuous with the ashes on my forehead, especially if we received our ashes fairly early in the day. I will say though, that growing up in western New York, non-Catholics here are very used to seeing ashes, since the Catholic population is so high here. When I lived in New York City for a spell as a graduate student, for the first time I had someone come up to me and tell me that I had something on my face. I was shocked, but thinking about it more deeply, I should not have been. New York is obviously a much more diverse city than my hometown, and as such contains a lot of people who may never have been exposed to Catholics observing this tradition.

I was always very paranoid about the ashes actually looking like a cross, kwim? There is always the danger of the "unintelligible black blob on your forehead" on Ash Wednesday, and as a child I longed for a very neat and tidy cross. This fits right in with my Type A personality, does it not? (some things with me are just SO predictable *innocent smile*) I also didn't like feeling the ashes sometimes drift down to my nose. I just had a whole face paranoia thing going on.

Happily, I have gotten over that, although I do plead guilty to peeking in my rear view mirror after leaving the church. If an unintelligible blob greets me, I ever so delicately mold the shape into a cross. :0 I hope this isn't sacrilegious, but an OCD girl has gotta do her best to cope.

Ok, everybody. I hope that you had fun dwelling on Ash Wednesday for a few moments.What were your thoughts on Ash Wednesday growing up? Adult converts, do you remember your very first Ash Wednesday? Leave me a comment!

I’m writing seven posts in seven days this week. To check out other bloggers who are doing the same, see the list here.

The Catholic Nook: Our Lady Undoer of Knots

Good day to you all! Today I wanted to write about one of my newest (and quickly, favorite) Marian devotions, the novena to Our Lady Undoer of Knots. Isn't the visual just stunning? This is a favorite devotion of Pope Francis, so it's just got a lot going for it.

The image was painted by an artist named Johann Melchior, and the original has been venerated in a church in Augsburg, Germany for centuries. The artist was inspired by a meditation of St. Irenaeus, in which he stated: "Eve, by her disobedience, tied the knot of disgrace for the human race; Mary, by her obedience, undid it."

Since then, the faithful have asked for the intercession of Mary under this title for aid in the "knots" of their life. Things that seem particularly challenging for us to deal with, and may not have a very positive outlook. Sort of like when you get a tight knot in a thin gold chain. You pick away at it with your nail, but you just know that knot isn't coming out unless someone with a pointy tool and a lot of patience comes to your aid. That's how I see this devotion.

I prayed the novena to Mary under this title about a year ago, and indeed the intention is a particularly snarly one. I can't say that the situation is *resolved*, but I have seen small changes that give me hope. I originally heard about the devotion on "The Catholics Next Door" podcast with
Greg and Jennifer Willits. I remember Jennifer saying something similar, that the intention was a tough one, things were happening slowly, but she had so much peace after praying the novena that somehow, in some way, *eventually*, things would work out.

The novena itself is very simple. For 9 days, you pray a rosary, asking Our Lady to intercede for your intention. Before you begin, pray an Act of Contrition. Pray the first 3 mysteries of the Rosary for that particular day of the week. Then, pause to read a short meditation (will come back to this in a moment). Pray the final 2 mysteries of the rosary, and pray a final prayer to Our Lady Undoer of Knots.

I have a lovely little book with all of the meditations and prayers in it, plus some history of the devotion, which you can see and purchase here.The prayers are also online here. This devotion has brought me so much peace, and I plan to pray the novena again within the next few weeks. I'll let you all know when I will be starting, so that you can pray along with me if you like. I will add a tab at the top of the blog next to "About Me" with the links to the prayers stickied in, and the applicable dates.

I even have a rosary (a Christmas gift :)) that I pray with daily that is modeled after this devotion:

This was made by the fabulous Carm at Unbreakable Rosaries on Etsy. She has a similar one currently listed if anyone else would like their very own. :)

Do I have any other Our Lady Undoer of Knots devotees? Anybody want to join in the upcoming novena? Leave me a comment!

*Historical information and image from http://www.maryundoerofknots.com/history.htm

The Catholic Nook: Candlemas

Annnndddd, we're back with another installment of the Catholic Nook! I've missed writing these posts, it's one of my favorite segments on the blog. I meant to write a few during Advent and was just too busy with other things. Pleased to be with you again, gentle reader. *beams*

Yesterday, I was brainstorming about topics, and it struck me that we are approaching February 2nd, an important day on the Church calendar. I just love the name, Candlemas! I mean, did you ever? Anything with a "mas" at the end is going to endear itself to me. So, what is Candlemas?

It is the Feast of the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple, which we all know and love as the 4th Joyful Mystery of the Rosary. Since the fourth century, the Church has celebrated this feast on the fortieth day following the Nativity.

On this day, Jesus was brought to the Temple as an infant, in accordance with Jewish law. This is where Mary met up with Simeon, who prophesied that her heart would be "pierced by a sword." Obviously, for Mary, this was a very emotional visit. We don't know what Mary said to Simeon, if anything, but one would imagine that her heart and mind were awhirl with thoughts of what the future held for her son. This is also the day that the Church observes the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, another indication of Mary's obedience to the laws of her faith which bid her to ritually cleanse herself 40 days after giving birth.

In the liturgy, this days includes the blessing of candles that will be used throughout the year, and subsequently a candlelit procession through the darkened church, representing the entry of Christ, who is the Light of the World, into the Temple in Jerusalem. As the procession makes its way through the church, the Canticle of Simeon is sung:

"Now thou dost dismiss thy servant, O Lord, according to thy word in peace; because my eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all peoples: a light to the revelation of the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." (Luke 2:29-32).

Every year my parish makes available for a minor donation beeswax taper candles that were blessed on Candlemas. I have bought some, and hoarde them in my bedside table for "when we need them." When might that be? The Apocalypse? I don't know, but it makes me feel safer having a stockpile of these candles. In fact, I should buy some more this year, I think we're down to only four. February 2nd is a Sunday this year, and I'm anxious to see the liturgy in action since I don't recall being present at a Mass on this day before. The procession may not happen at every parish, I'm reading, but I would think we would all see the blessing of the candles. Let's compare notes next week, shall we. :)

Does your parish offer blessed candles for home use after Candlemas each year? Leave me a comment!

The Catholic Nook: Chaplet of St. Therese and the "Little Way"

I've been thinking a lot about St. Therese lately. Part of it, I suppose is that my spiritual reading is currently focused on her in Shirt of Flame: A Year With St. Therese of Lisieux. When I do spiritual reading, I normally allot a specified time period in the evening to it. I'll devise a page quota so that I don't slack off. What I'm finding with this book, though, is that I'm so into it that I use it in the prime "reading as I lay happily in bed" time slot. That's pretty major for a non-fiction book, quite an achievement really. This is when I usually read a romance novel involving autumn weather, race car drivers, or cowboys.

And last night I pulled my Kindle out really hoping to see something from St. Therese that "spoke" to me. I had had, let's just say, a *challenging* day. As you can imagine, being a librarian means that I deal with people a lot. And sometimes, as we all know, people aren't so nice. I had a patron yesterday who was so rude I was forced to break out The Librarian Is Being Stern With You look. As a child, I used to be afraid of loud, obnoxious people. No longer. I don't cherish opportunities to deal with them, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. If you are going to march over and attempt to verbally abuse me, I am not going to stand for it, no sir. It only took 30+ years of life lessons to teach me that I don't have to allow anybody to treat me that way. It actually is a disservice to the abuser in question to not let them know that their behavior is out of line and unacceptable. How can they ever try to do better if nobody lets them know that they are acting like a jackass? Forgive my language, but sometimes you've got to call it like you see it. I'm not going to yell back or drop to their level by disrespecting them, but I *am* going to be firm in my response to them. And if they persist, I am going to ask them to leave.

And so yesterday morning, I had one of *those*. I'm actually quite proud of how I handled it, but the whole thing left me shaky and contemplative. This guy (who was very clearly an extreme case) aside, I've been dealing with a lot of students lately, some of them being wonderful experiences, others being quite challenging and annoying. It got me to thinking: am I doing all that I can to stay upbeat in my approach to interacting with them, to stay charitable at all times? On the latter, I can say "yes" without question. I am always charitable to people, even when they are unkind to me. But on the former, I know that I struggle. And not just with the students. I work for my state, and at times things get a bit...bureaucratic. This can lead to disillusionment and downright crotchedyness (new term: officially coined). It's easy to complain a lot about some of the things we deal with here at work, and I have become aware of the fact that the more I complain, the worse I feel about the situation.

Hence, yesterday was a good opportunity for self-reflection and it tied directly into St. Therese's Little Way. How can I do small things with great love and offer them up, the way that she did in the convent? I certainly did offer up my experience yesterday, but there are so many other small opportunities that I just internally whine about rather than try to be more spiritual in my approach. As I read Shirt of Flame, I came to this reflection of author Heather King in the chapter discussing Therese's handling of the painful physical and mental decline of Louis Martin, her father:

"I began to see the value of refraining from criticizing and complaining. The goal isn't to masochistically endure conditions that we could change, if we were willing to make the effort. The goal is to adopt a general policy of not complaining about things that can't be changed, not because we enjoy being rigidly ascetic but because complaining about our private sorrows - traffic, the cost of living, our health, our endless suffering - is not helpful. I began to notice how, when someone called me to 'vent,' I felt as if I myself needed an oxygen tank when I got off the phone."

Yep. Spoke to me. I knew that St. Therese was looking out for me. :) It was nice to have something positive to take away from a very difficult day. Hopefully I won't have to deal with Rude Guy again anytime soon, but just in the students I see and chat with each day, and in the way I view the hoops we have to jump through here at work sometimes, I can do better in my attitude.

And so this got me to thinking about asking for St. Therese's intercession more often. Obviously, she is a woman who speaks my language. :) The photo at the top of this post is a gorgeous St. Therese chaplet designed by Carm at unbreakablerosaries. The chaplet has 24 beads, one for each year of St. Therese's short life. There is one additional bead on the "drop" near her medal, and on this you request: "St. Therese of the Child Jesus, Patroness of Missions, pray for us." A Glory Be is recited on each of the other 24 beads in thanksgiving for St. Therese. It is customary to pray this chaplet for a traditional nine day novena.

This is a chaplet that I do not own. Shocking. Clearly, I need to remedy this situation.

I'll be talking more about St. Therese on October 23rd, our Catholic Book Club day, when I review Shirt of Flame. If you'd like to join me in reading, please hop on the bandwagon now, I'd love to have you. :) Heather King mentions another book that has my curiosity piqued, The Hidden Face: A Study of St. Therese of Lisieux, by Ida Friederike Gorres. Yep, that may make it's way to my Kindle posthaste.

*Image from http://patroncatholicsaints.blogspot.com/2010_02_08_archive.html

The Catholic Nook: Kateri Indian Rosary

St. Kateri Tekakwitha was patron of this blog for 2012, and is a key instrument in my family's faith story, and so I thought it would be nice to feature the sacramental devoted to her. It's a favorite of mine, and as we near the conclusion of a very emotional week, I could use an opportunity to focus even more on prayer and devotions. I'm planning a fairly detailed action-packed edition of 7 Quick Takes for tomorrow, so stay tuned for the promised anecdotes on adventures in belly dance costuming, and updates on the kids, Halloween preparations (I'm lifting my eyebrows in a frowny fashion at some of the costume catalogs I've seen), my new Nook tablet (oy, it's not going so well :)) and my emotional roller coaster surrounding the long awaited conclusion of Breaking Bad.

But first, let us focus on precious Kateri. Known as the "Lily of the Mohawks" Kateri Tekakwitha grew up in the latter part of the seventeenth century not too far from where I live in upstate New York. Her mother was Algonquin, and a Christian, her father a Mohawk. My dad is Mohawk, and St. Kateri is his confirmation saint (he is a convert). Her family died of smallpox when she was a small child, and the disease also left Kateri with scars and weakened eyesight. When she was 18, she requested to be baptized (I'm certain it was her mother's prayers that yielded this result :)), and received a lot of sass from her tribal community as a result. Catholicism was not looked upon highly by her people because of the heavy handed (and worse) tactics of some missionaries. Kateri eventually left her hometown for Caughnawaga, in modern day Quebec, Canada. She received her First Communion there, and took a vow of perpetual virginity, dedicating her life to Christ. She wanted to form a community of consecrated Iroquois women, but never got the opportunity. She died quite young, in 1680, and is known for the fact that her face cleared of the significant scarring she bore throughout her life as she lay in repose in death. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980, and canonized in 2012 by Pope Benedict XVI. She is the first indigenous person from North America to be declared a saint.

Before I talk about her chaplet, let me just interject a personal anecdote. Kateri Tekakwitha means a LOT to the Native people who have chosen to become Catholic. I live near a fairly high concentration of people of Iroquois descent, and for a time my family attended a parish (the only one in New York) that is on reservation land. Although the parish wasn't officially named after her, she WAS the community's patron and the congregation prayed for her canonization after every Mass. I think we can all understand that it's important to have someone with a similar background as a role model, and Kateri is that for the Native Catholic people in this area. As you might presume, there is not exactly a high percentage of Catholics amongst the Native population. And Kateri is controversial for many Native people who practice the traditional religion, rather than Christianity. But for those that are devoted to her and share her heritage, she is incredibly special.

I just love her chaplet, which is called the Kateri Indian Rosary. I own the one that is featured at the top of this post. You can see her image on the medal at the center, which is just lovely. So, when asking for the intercession of St. Kateri, you begin with the sign of the cross at the crucifix. There are 24 beads, one for each year of Kateri's life, separated into units of 8. The colors are significant and specific to this chaplet. The crystal clear beads represent water, and on each you pray a Glory Be. The brown are for the earth, and on each you pray an Our Father. These two colors are in tribute to Kateri's Native heritage. The red beads represent blood/love, and on each you pray a Hail Mary. Kateri suffered for and devoted her life to her Catholic faith, so the conclusion with the red beads, symbolizing a martyrdom of sorts, is just perfect.

I love my chaplet. The beads are smooth and heavy and it feels so good in your hand, a perfect reminder for a call to prayer.

St. Kateri, pray for all us that we discern and do God's will always, just as you did.

The Catholic Nook: Rosary of the Seven Sorrows of Mary (The Servite Rosary)

We recently passed the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, which I've blogged about before, and so I thought it was a fitting time to mention the special rosary dedicated to this devotion.

So, sorrows. Yes I know, it's a bit of a downer.  But I think that this devotion can speak to us in so many different ways: for women in our role as mothers, whether that be a physical role or not, and for all of us as we navigate painful times in our lives.

In a nutshell, the seven sorrows of Mary are:

(1) The Prophecy of Simeon that Jesus would be instrumental in the resurrection of Isreal, and that Mary's heart would be pierced by a sword. (Lk 2:34-35)

(2) The Flight into Egypt when Herod ordered the slaughter of all baby boys. (Mt 2:73-74)

(3) The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple. (Lk 2:43-45) 

(4) Meeting Jesus as He Carries His Cross. (Lk 23:26-27)

(5) The Crucifixion. (Jn 19:25-27)

(6) Taking Jesus' Body Down From the Cross. (Mt 27:57-59)

(7) Jesus' Burial. (Jn 19:40-42)

Her life was a bit...difficult, to be sure. And certainly these are some important moments for us to meditate on in the context of salvation history.

The Servite order adopted these seven sorrows into a special Rosary of Our Lady of Sorrows, and it became an important devotion within their communities. The rosary consisted of seven groups of seven beads, each separated by a medal depicting one of the sorrows. In recitation of this rosary, each sorrow would be announced and meditated upon, followed by an Our Father and seven Hail Marys. The rosary is concluded with three Hail Marys with a request to model our life on the faith of Our Lady. The very bottom of the rosary features a medal Our Lady of Sorrows, her heart pierced by seven swords. The crucifixion scene often appears on the reverse side of this medal.

Eventually, this became a private devotion that laypeople prayed as well. The photo at the top of this post is a single segment chaplet for this devotion, similar to a one decade rosary, which you simply reuse again and again to make your way through all of the mysteries. You can see the front of the Our Lady of Sorrow medal on the far right, and it does in fact have the crucifixion scene on the other side. It was made by the lovely Carm at Unbreakable Rosaries. 

This is obviously a nice Lenten devotion, but now in the fall, with the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows fresh in our memory (Sept. 15th) and Advent approaching on the liturgical calendar, it's a good time to reflect on the suffering before the joyful anticipation. We have some powerful saint feast days approaching, which is another nice tie in to remembering with Our Lord did for us and dedicating our lives, in whatever way we can, to Him.

Our Lady of Sorrows, pray for us and our special intentions.