Category: Saints

Inspiring Me Today

franciscanmom7 Comments

Great affairs do not disturb us so much as a great number of little ones; therefore, receive these also with calmness, and try to attend to them in order, one after another, without perturbation. Thus, you will gain great merit by them. — St. Francis de Sales

I found this very timely quote over at Faith & Family Live.  While blogger Kelly Dolin was discussing life with toddlers, it’s no less true when you’ve got teens and grade-schoolers in the house.

After I found myself defeated, again and again, by the “little things” this week, I need the inspiration.  It’s not like there have been any major crises.  But it’s been a tough week, that has included:

  • Little Brother running a fever of 103.7, complete with a spell of vomiting.
  • An extended-family medical issue that culminated in a 2-day houseguest.
  • A bunch of teenagers who don’t follow the “say hello to the adult at home” rule when they show up to swim.  They also don’t bring their own towels, and they empty my porch refrigerator of all beverages.  And they leave their mess behind.
  • A teenager (yet to be identified) who thinks it’s funny to spell out one of George Carlin’s “7 words you can’t say on TV” with the ABC magnets we keep near the porch refrigerator.  (Usually those are used to wish a friend a happy birthday.)
  • Adventure Boy vomiting on the pool deck (but fortunately not in the pool itself.)
It hasn’t been pretty, and I haven’t handled all of this well.  And some of it’s not over yet.  Now we have to play hardball with a bunch of 15-year-olds until someone apologizes for his use of filthy vocabulary and lack of respect of us and our daughter.
I think I’m going to have to pull out my Francis de Sales book and see if he has any more advice for people like me, who can handle big things pretty well, but let the little things pile up and pile up and pile up until they lose it completely.  It’s going to be a long summer, and I’ll need all the grace I can get.

Jolly Old St. Nicholas

franciscanmomLeave a comment

We’re getting used to life as a family of 4 now that Big Brother has been living on campus for 4 months. Not that we don’t miss him, but we’re just getting used to the different routine.

And then something comes along and smacks you in the head. For me, this week, it was St. Nicholas.

I always get the kids a treat for St. Nicholas Day, and put it in their shoe near their bedroom doors. (Parents get a treat as well. Rumor has it that my treat this year will be a Lindt dark chocolate with sea salt bar. Yum. But I digress.) So when I was in the grocery store the other day, I remembered that I needed to get busy shopping for those little treats.

Then I remembered that one of my kids is not going to be here with his shoe outside his door. It’s almost worse than not having him here for family dinner or Sunday Mass.

Dorm security being what it is in his urban university, it’s not like I can sneak into the third-floor hallway and leave him some treats outside his room. Instead, I had to depend on the US Postal Service. So the other day I filled up one of those Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes with all kinds of yummy things–enough for him and his roommate and some friends to share–and sent it along, with a big note marked on there that said “Do not open until December 6.”

It’s not the same, but it will have to do.

Well Worth It

franciscanmomLeave a comment

It’s All Saints Day, and although the “Holy day of Obligation” was commuted in our diocese to Sunday, Middle Sister’s school celebrated the feast day with a Mass this morning.

Little Brother’s school celebrated with a prayer service this afternoon. They’re having Mass later this week as well, in remembrance of the school’s patron saint on Thursday.

So I’m a good bit off-schedule today. I attended both the Mass and the prayer service, which I would have skipped, but Little Brother’s class was in charge of it and he had a big chunk of the Litany of Saints to read.

I’m glad I went to that prayer service, because I was very impressed by the deacon’s reminders to the children that all of us are “saints in training.” The kids were asked to think about ways they could be better family members, students, friends and teammates–all in the name of “what would the saints do?”

Martha, Martha, Martha

franciscanmom3 Comments

Ever since this past weekend, I’ve been thinking about Martha. On Saturday morning’s retreat, our deacon/retreat director/fellow Secular Franciscan asked us to consider the “Mary and Martha” story, since St. Martha’s feast is this week. An interesting discussion resulted. Our wise-beyond-her-91-years senior member, whose name actually IS Martha, reminded everyone that while Jesus criticized Martha in that famous story, Martha was the one who showed so much faith and trust when she approached Jesus after her brother died.

That led me to think about Jesus’ criticism of Martha. Read the story carefully. Many times people assume that this story meant that everyone should just drop everything they’re doing and sit down at the feet of Jesus. That’s pretty unrealistic, and that’s not what Jesus told Martha to do. The problem he had with Martha was not with the fact that she was doing the kitchen work. He was an honored guest, a good friend, and someone had to get dinner on the table! Jesus didn’t criticize Martha for cooking instead of visiting. Instead, his words were, “You are anxious about many things.”

It wasn’t a problem that Martha was cooking for her guests. The problem was that she was stressing out about it.

I sure can relate to that.  My whole family has been subjected to my “white tornado moments” when I panic about having the house clean or the meal cooked before we have guests or (even worse) a big party.  I’m not pleasant to be around, that’s for sure.

So today I will try to listen to the words of Jesus and be a little less anxious.  Anxiety, after all, cancels out hospitality.

Mary, her sister, might have chosen “the better part,” but Martha’s the one who ultimately became a saint. Go figure.

Saint Martha, pray for us that we might serve Jesus better. Help us to overcome our distractions and worries to listen to his words and be present to him this day.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

franciscanmom1 Comment

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,…
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.
–from Saint Patrick’s Breastplate, popularly attributed to the saint

On the Feast of St. Matthias: Make a Splash!

franciscanmomLeave a comment

At Mass today our pastor’s homily centered on St. Matthias.

He observed that the apostles wanted to choose a good man to replace Judas, and that the 12 apostles paralleled the 12 Tribes of Israel from the Old Testament.

He also observed that we know very little about St. Matthias, the man who was chosen to replace Judas after Jesus’ death and Judas’ suicide. All we know about him is that he was picked. He’s not famous like Peter and Paul. But he was picked to carry on the ministry, to “go out to all the world and tell the Good News.”

Our pastor commented that we are very much like St. Matthias. We’re ordinary people. We’ll probably not make a big splash in the world. But we can–and should–make a little splash in our own little corner of the world. We can–and should–live our lives with the intention of doing good for others, doing good in the name of God. We can–and should–take the opportunity to perform works of mercy–both spiritual and corporal.

Corporal Works of Mercy

Feed the Hungry
Give Drink to the Thirsty
Clothe the Naked
Welcome the Stranger
Visit the Sick and Imprisoned
Bury the Dead

Spiritual Works of Mercy

Counsel the Doubtful
Instruct the Ignorant
Admonish the Sinner
Comfort the Sorrowful
Bear Wrongs Patiently
Pray for the Living and the Dead

While we have time, let us do good!

The Cap and Gown Controversy

franciscanmomLeave a comment


The American Papist shares photos of the traditional academic attire to be worn at the University of Notre Dame.

Let me tell you, there’s a lot of hoopla about the gown, which has words from a prayer to the Blessed Mother on it (Vita, Dulcedo, Spes) as well as a cross. This morning as I ran a ton of errands, most Cub-Scout-related, I had ample opportunity to listen to the hosts and listeners at the Catholic Channel as “what the President will wear when he addresses Notre Dame graduates” was discussed.

I was in the car so I couldn’t call in. (Use of cell phones in cars is a primary offense in this state.) So here’s my opinion, in case you’re interested. It’s my blog, so I get to sound off here.

Graduation speakers traditionally wear academic attire, especially when they are awarded honorary degrees. As Obama is receiving an honorary ND degree it is only appropriate that he wear the ND gown. You wear the academic garb of the institution that awarded you the most recent degree, so it would not be appropriate for him to wear the gown he received with his bachelor’s degree.

Maybe it’s a good thing that he is wearing it. Maybe bearing those images on his person will make him think, even for a second, about what he has done via all those anti-life policies he has enacted.

But if I were in charge of wardrobe for this event, I’d see to it that a green scapular was sewn inside there somewhere.

In the meantime, I believe we should pray for the intercession of St. Gianna Beretta Molla, whose feast we celebrate this week. Who better to intercede on behalf of the conversion of an anti-life president than a woman–a medical doctor–who refused any treatments that would harm the life of her unborn child? Pray also for Father Jenkins, that he may see the damage he has done to the Catholic character of the University and the scandal he has created far beyond South Bend, Indiana. And pray that the University of Notre Dame will once again be a Catholic university from the top down!

My Patron Saint

franciscanmomLeave a comment

My patron saint for the year is St. Michael the Archangel.

Go see what’s up with my patron saint at the new website LOLSaints.

There’s an awesome one of St. Barbara up there are well.

This site is fun–and has some good information about each saint pictured.

Feast of the Immaculate Conception

franciscanmomLeave a comment


Castiglione’s Immaculate Conception with St. Francis and St. Anthony of Padua

This morning at Mass, Father discussed why Catholics revere the Blessed Mother. He observed that by doing so, we are actually following the Fourth Commandment: “Honor thy father and thy mother.” Mary is truly our Mother, given to his disciple John and to all of us by Jesus just before his death on the cross.

Ave, Maria! Ora pro nobis.

Feast of All Souls of the Seraphic Order

franciscanmomLeave a comment

Lisa, sfo reminds us that yesterday was the feast of All Souls of the Seraphic Order. She has posted the Litany to the Saints of the Seraphic Order, that we may pray it on behalf of the souls of our fellow Franciscans.

Let the members (who are) fellow city-dwellers, guests or hosts convene at the funeral of a deceased member, and together recite the Marian prayers instituted by Father Dominic, that is the Rosary, a third part for the heavenly solace of the deceased. Likewise let the priests during the divine service, (and) the laity, if they can, having received the Eucharist, pray piously (and) willingly for the sempiternal peace of (their) departed brother.

Brother Pio reminds us that the Rosary would also be an appropriate prayer in this instance, as St. Francis recommended in the earlier rule of Leo XIII and Nicholas IV.

I’m sure that being a day late in beginning these prayers will not matter…better late than never, especially where prayer is concerned!