Quote of the Day: Pope John Paul II on the Incarnation

"The Incarnation is the fruit of an immense Love, which spurred God willingly to share our human condition to the full. In becoming man, the Word of God brought about a fundamental change in the very condition of time. We can say that in Christ human time was filled with Eternity." 
~Pope John Paul II 

Catholicvote: Top 10 Reasons for Hope - 2010

Catholic Urban Project - A Wonderful Catholic Ministry - Definitely worth a look!

Quote of the Day: St. John of the Cross

"In solitude He guides her, He alone, Who also bears in solitude, the wound of love."

~St. John of the Cross
 Feast day: December 14th

Christmas Food Court Flash Mob, Hallelujah Chorus

Heaven Whispers

Thought it was about time for a poem post. :-)

Heaven Whispers

Sweet Sunsets
To Journeys unknown
Where Beauty within
Has a seed been sown

It grows in my heart
But this Path I must face
Or else the seed grows not
In this Heart He made

Trials are many
Drudgery digs Deep
In suffering and tears
Do my labors reap

Soon I am worn
I smile for Thee
Long have I toiled
In expanse of Seas

How glorious the Triumph
What Love fills my soul!
I see Him before me
My Jesus, I am Home!

An Interview with Bl. Dominic Barberi - Key Man in Blessed John Henry Cardinal Newman's Conversion to the Catholic Faith

MercyMe: Beautiful

This song really touched my heart. Remember how much He loves you, and how beautiful you are in His eyes!!

Smile for the Day: Cårven Der Pümpkîn

In honor of it being that time of year, the Swedish Chef is at it again.

Prayer of St. Augustine

A Beautiful Song!!

"Know Thyself"

I've had extra time on my hands lately, and so decided to delve deeper into who I am. I've taken personality tests/etc. before (such as the Myers-Briggs - I am most likely an ISFP if you are curious) but thought it was time to revisit where I am now, and perhaps where I've been in the past.

When we gain better knowledge of ourselves, we are better able to conquer our faults and disordered attitudes/attachments which often can cause us to sin. Having a deep knowledge of self is one of the best ways in advancing in the spiritual life and toward the perfection that Jesus calls us to; always with the help of His grace of course.

One of the ways in which to do this, keep in mind this is only one, is to study the temperments, and find out which one describes you best. There are four: The Choleric, Sanguine, Melancholic, and Phlegmatic. Most people are a mixture of two. I highly recommend taking some time to read Rev. Conrad Hock's The Four Temperments which can be found online in full text. There is a test at the end which you can take to better help you discern which temperment(s) fit you. It's also wonderful because he looks at it from a Catholic perspective.

I also found some good summaries online of the four temperaments by Fr. Antonio Royo Marin, O.P. Here is Post I on the Sanguine and Melancholic, and Post II on the Choleric and Phlegmatic.

Happy discovering. :-)

P.S. I had a curious mixture of the four temperaments, but my highest score was predominantly the melancholic.

"People travel to wonder at the height of mountains, at the huge waves of the sea, at the long courses of rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars; and they pass by themselves without wondering."
~St. Augustine

"Know thyself, or at least keep renewing the acquaintance."
 ~Robert Brault

Have you used your spiritual weapon lately?

October is the month of the Rosary.

"Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer." ~Psalm 61:1

For all of you readers out there, first, I pray God has blessed you and keeps you close in His heart. 

I have a request for all of you. I would like to ask for your prayers. I am in great need of employment. I have been out of work for three months. Please say a quick Hail Mary or Our Father for me, and ask St. Joseph to pray for me too. 

If any of you ever have any prayer requests, I would love to pray for you! Please let me know. Leave a comment on here or on my prayer requests page.

God's Peace to you.



"For I know the plans I have for you says the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope..."
~Jeremiah 29:11

"But they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
~Isaiah 40:31

"Rejoice in your hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."
~Romans 12:12

"And He told them a parable, to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart."
~Luke 18:1

"Ask, and it will be given you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. Or what man of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him?"
~Matthew 7:7-11

"Let the Waters Rise"

A beautiful video, and an amazing song. Enjoy.

Feast of Blessed Pope John XXIII

"If God created shadows it was to better emphasize the light."

"It often happens that I wake up at night and begin to think about a serious problem and decide I must tell the Pope about it. Then I wake up completely and remember that I am the Pope."

"The feelings of my smallness and my nothingness always kept me good company."

"The council now beginning rises in the Church like the daybreak, a forerunner of most splendid light."

"Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do."

"The true and solid peace of nations consists not in equality of arms, but in mutual trust alone."

"The family is the first essential cell of human society."

"What matters most to the good Christian community, and what may be taken as the measure of true spiritual fervor, is the love of Jesus in His Sacrament, the faithful attendance at His tabernacle."

"Mankind is a great, an immense family... This is proved by what we feel in our hearts at Christmas."

"I have looked into your eyes with my eyes. I have put my heart near your heart."

"This era in which we live is in the grip of deadly errors; it is torn by deep disorders...But is also an era which offers to those who work with the Church immense possibilities in the field of the apostolate...and therein lies our hope."

Pope John Paul II on Blessed John XXIII:

"Everyone remembers the image of Pope John's smiling face and two outstretched arms embracing the whole world. How many people were won over by his simplicity of heart, combined with a broad experience of people and things! The breath of newness he brought certainly did not concern doctrine, but rather the way to explain it; his style of speaking and acting was new, as was his friendly approach to ordinary people and to the powerful of the world. It was in this spirit that he called the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, thereby turning a new page in the Church's history Christians heard themselves called to proclaim the Gospel with renewed courage and greater attentiveness to the "signs" of the times. The Council was a truly prophetic insight of this elderly Pontiff who, even amid many difficulties, opened a season of hope for Christians and for humanity. In the last moments of his earthly life, he entrusted his testament to the Church: "What counts the most in life is blessed Jesus Christ, his holy Church, his Gospel, truth and goodness".
~Pope John Paul II

Do You Love Life?

40 Days for Life Campaigns are at work all across the country. If you have not participated, you still can. Say a Rosary for the Right to Life of all the unborn, from conception until natural death. Most importantly, PRAY daily for an end to abortion.

"A great prayer for LIFE is urgently needed, a prayer which will rise up throughout the world. Through special initiatives and in daily prayer, may an impassioned plea rise to God, the Creator and lover of life, from every Christian community, from every group and association, from every family and from the heart of every believer.”

~ Pope John Paul II, The Gospel of Life
(Evangelium Vitae), n. 100.

A most beautiful song: Ave Maria (Schubert) - Andrea Bocelli

Enjoy!! In honor of Our Lady!

Our Lady of the Most Holy Rosary

"The traditional image of Our Lady of the Rosary portrays Mary who with one arm supports the Child Jesus and with the other is offering the Rosary Beads to St. Dominic. This important iconography shows that the Rosary is a means given by the Virgin to contemplate Jesus and, in meditating on His life, to love Him and follow Him ever more faithfully. It is this message that Our Lady has also bequeathed to us in her various apparitions. I am thinking in particular of the apparition in Fatima...Presenting herself as Our Lady of the Rosary she insistently recommended the daily recitation of the Rosary to the three little shepherd children, Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco, in order to obtain the end of the war. Let us also accept the Virgin's motherly request, pledging to recite the Rosary with Faith for peace in families, nations and throughout the world."
~Pope Benedict XVI, Angelus Oct. 7, 2010

"To recite the Rosary is nothing other than to contemplate with Mary the face of Christ."

~Pope John Paul II

"The Rosary is the book of the blind, where souls see and there enact the greatest drama of love the world has ever known; it is the book of the simple, which initiates them into mysteries and knowledge more satisfying than the education of other men; it is the book of the aged, whose eyes close upon the shadow of this world, and open on the substance of the next. The power of the Rosary is beyond description."
~Archbishop Fulton Sheen

"Among all the devotions approved by the Church none has been so favored by so many miracles as the devotion of the Most Holy Rosary."
~Pope Pius IX

"The Rosary is the compendium of the entire Gospel."
~Pope Pius XII

"No one can live continually in sin and continue to say the Rosary: either they will give up sin or they will give up the Rosary."
~Bishop Hugh Doyle

"It has always been the habit of Catholics in danger and in troublous times to fly for refuge to Mary, and to seek for peace in her maternal goodness; showing that the Catholic Church has always, and with justice, put all her hope and trust in the Mother of God. And truly the Immaculate Virgin, chosen to be the Mother of God and thereby associated with Him in the work of man's salvation, has a favour and power with her Son greater than any human or angelic creature has ever obtained, or ever can gain."
~Pope Leo XIII, 1883 Encyclical on Devotion of the Rosary

"I myself have often encouraged the frequent recitation of the Rosary. From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life...The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns; in it I have always found comfort. Twenty-four years ago, on 29 October 1978, scarcely two weeks after my election to the See of Peter, I frankly admitted: “The Rosary is my favorite prayer. A marvellous prayer!...Against the background of the words Ave Maria the principal events of the life of Jesus Christ pass before the eyes of the soul. They take shape in the complete series of the joyful, sorrowful and glorious mysteries, and they put us in living communion with Jesus through – we might say – the heart of his Mother. At the same time our heart can embrace in the decades of the Rosary all the events that make up the lives of individuals, families, nations, the Church, and all mankind. Our personal concerns and those of our neighbour, especially those who are closest to us, who are dearest to us. Thus the simple prayer of the Rosary marks the rhythm of human life.”"
~Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on the The Rosary of the Virgin Mary


Resources on the Rosary: What is the Rosary? and How to pray it, History behind the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, Lepanto - 1874 Poem by G.K. Chesterton, Apostolic Letter - The Rosary of the Virgin Mary by Pope John Paul II, 1883 Encyclical - Devotion of the Rosary by Pope Leo XIII,

St. Faustina, Pray for us!

"God is very generous and does not deny His grace to anyone. Indeed he gives more than what we ask of Him. Faithfulness to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit-that is the shortest route."

"Let no soul fear to draw near to Me, even though its sins be as scarlet. My mercy is so great that no mind, be it of man or of angel, will be able to fathom it throughout all eternity."
~Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary 699

"If souls would put themselves completely in my care, I myself would undertake the task of sanctifying them, and I would lavish even greater graces on them. There are souls who thwart My efforts, but I have not given up on them; as often as they turn to Me, I hurry to their aid, sheilding them with My mercy, and I give them the first place in My compassionate Heart.
~Jesus to St. Faustina, Diary 59


Related Posts: Divine Mercy, On the Life of St. Faustina

An Amazing Story: Planned Parenthood Abby Johnson: "I saw the baby fighting for its life!"

Here's the link on Youtube since the video doesn't seem to work here

Reception of St. Vincent Archabbey Novices 2010

I know I've been posting a lot of videos lately, I hope to remedy that soon. ;) In the meantime, I had to share this. A friend of mine (Brother Joachim) was accepted to the Novitiate at St. Vincent Archabbey this past July. Here's some video coverage of the blessed event.

Incredible Testimony by Gianna Jessen - Abortion Survivor

Take a few minutes and listen to her amazing story. Her witness is just incredible. For more information, visit her website, or find her on twitter.


PART I




PART II

Good overall coverage of Pope's Visit to UK (World Over - Raymond Arroyo with Joseph Pearce + Fr. Siric)

In Memoriam Fr. Thomas Dubay, S.M.

Archbishop Dedicates "Aborted Babies" Gravemarker

I have relatives buried here....including an Aunt who died just after birth whose grave has been lost. Proud to have such a wonderful Archbishop!

St. Padre Pio

Today we celebrate the feast of one of my favorite saints, St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968), more commonly known as Padre Pio. Enjoy the quotes.

"I can refuse no one. How could I when the Lord never refuses me a grace."

"Pray, hope, and don't worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer."

"Bring me my 'weapon'!" (The Rosary)

"You must speak to Jesus also with the heart, besides with the lips; indeed, in certain cases you must speak to Him only with the heart."

"Have courage and do not fear the assaults of the Devil. Remember this forever; it is a healthy sign if the devil shouts and roars around your conscience, since this shows that he is not inside your will."

"If we only knew how God regards thus Sacrifice, we would risk our lives to be present at a single mass. Every Holy Mass heard with devotion, produces in our souls marvelous effects, abundant spiritual and material graces, which we, ourselves, do not know."

"Believe me, to live happily in this pilgrimage; we have to aim at the hope of arriving at our Homeland, where we will stay eternally. Meanwhile we have to believe firmly that God calls us to Himself and follows us along the path towards Him. He will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good. He knows who we are and He will hold out His paternal hand to us during difficulties, so that nothing prevents us from running to Him swiftly. But to enjoy this grace we must have complete trust in Him."

"Jesus said to me; 'How many times would you have abandoned Me, my Son, if I had not crucified you. Beneath the cross, one learns love, and I do not give this to everyone, but only to those souls who are dearest to Me."

"You should not be discouraged, because if there is in the soul a continual effort to improve, the Lord will finally reward you by suddenly making all the virtues blossom in you as in a garden full of flowers."

"Fear not, because God is with you...The longer the trial to which God subjects you, the greater the goodness in comforting you during the time of the trial and in the exaltation after the combat."

"Yes, I love the cross, the cross alone. I love it because I always see it behind Jesus' shoulders."

"It is to your advantage to commit yourself to the sufferings that Jesus will send to you. Jesus cannot tolerate seeing you afflicted and he will come to you and comfort you, blessing you with many graces for your soul."

"My heart feels as if it were being drawn by a superior force each morning just before uniting with Him in the Blessed Sacrament. I have such a thirst and hunger before receiving Him that it's a wonder I don't die of anxiety. I was hardly able to reach the Divine Prisoner in order to celebrate Mass. When Mass ended I remained with Jesus to render Him thanks. My thirst and hunger do not diminish after I have received Him in the Blessed Sacrament, but rather, increase steadily. Oh, how sweet was the conversation I held with Paradise this morning. The Heart of Jesus and my own, if you will pardon my expression, fused. They were no longer two hearts beating but only one. My heart disappeared as if it were a drop in the ocean."

Mercy: Refreshed in God's Love

"But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies never come to an end; They are new every morning; Great is Thy faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:21-23)

"His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning..." This bears repeating. How often do we wake up in the morning, thanking God for a new day? A new day? That is one of the things which mystifies me. How each day, in His infinite Mercy, God grants the gift of a fresh sunrise, and a chance to start anew. 

Today was one of those days where I got caught up in the circumstances of life, feeling as though I was stuck in a rut...with no way out, and not worthy of getting up again. As I was mulling over the events of the day..thinking, "I should have done this, I could have done that...why did I have to do that?" when God interrupted me. "I forgive you." I stopped short. What was that Lord? "You are my child, I forgive you. I died for you to wash away your sin. I love you. Start again." Whoa. Amidst my utter astonishment at my lack of trust, I felt an overwhelming sense of peace, love, and gratitude for this grace.

I think sometimes we tend to forget how real God's mercy is. Perhaps the message of the Cross becomes desensitized to our hearts, and we take for granted what a gift Jesus has purchased, for us. The mercy of God is never stagnant, old, or incapable of touching our hearts in a new way. As the psalmist says, His mercies, "are new every morning." That should give us great hope and encouragement. The God of all, who loves us infinitely, still calls out to us. He is always ready to forgive, refresh, and help us get back up again; when we turn to Him with all our heart.

*Author's note: God's Mercy is most explicitly displayed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. There He waits with open arms to forgive, and bestow graces to strengthen us. If you are Catholic and have been away from the Church, it's a great place to come and be renewed. Pray about it. For more information on the Sacrament of Reconciliation, go here.

Pope Benedict XVI in UK for historic visit, meets Queen in Scotland

I love the part where the bishop tries to slip him his glasses.     ;-D The Holy Father is like, "I'm just going to ignore this gesture, can't you see I'm not blind!!" lol :)

Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows: On the Martyrdom of Mary

"At the Cross her station keeping, stood the mournful Mother weeping, close to Jesus till the last...Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, she beheld her tender Child, all with bloody scourges rent...Oh how sad and sore distressed, was that Mother highly blessed, of the sole-begotten One!...Can the human heart refrain, from partaking in her pain, in that Mother's pain untold?" (Stabat Mater Dolorosa)


"The martyrdom of the Virgin is set forth both in the prophecy of Simeon and in the actual story of our Lord's passion...[Simeon to Mary:] 'And your own heart will be pierced by a sword.'...

Truly, O blessed Mother, a sword has pierced your heart. For only by passing through your heart could the sword enter the flesh of your Son. Indeed, after your Jesus - who belongs to everyone, but is especially yours - gave up His life, the cruel spear, which was not withheld from His lifeless body, tore open His side. Clearly it did not touch His soul and could not harm Him, but it did pierce your heart. For surely His soul was no longer there, but yours could not be torn away. Thus the violence of the sorrow has cut through your heart, and we rightly call you more than martyr, since the effect of compassion in you has gone beyond the endurance of physical suffering.

...For if He could die in body, could she not die with Him in spirit? He died in body through a love greater than anyone had known. She died in spirit through a love unlike any other since His."

(From a Sermon by St. Bernard)

Related Posts: The Stabat Mater

The Glory of the Cross

"We adore You O Christ and we bless You, for by your holy cross You have redeemed the world."

"Anyone who wishes to follow Me must deny self, take up the cross, and follow Me." 

(Mt. 16:24)

"May I never boast of anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!"
~St. Paul

"Jesus said to me; 'How many times would you have abandoned Me, my Son, if I had not crucified you. Beneath the cross, one learns love, and I do not give this to everyone, but only to those souls who are dearest to Me."

~St. Padre Pio

"One cannot desire freedom from the Cross when one is especially chosen for the Cross."
~St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein)

"The cross is honorable because it is both the sign of God's suffering and the trophy of His victory."

~St. Andrew of Crete

"We are co-redeemers of the world. And souls are not redeemed without the Cross."
~St. Teresa of the Andes


‎"Apart from the cross there is no other ladder by which we may get to heaven."
~ Saint Rose of Lima


"Yes, I love the cross, the cross alone. I love it because I always see it behind Jesus' shoulders."
~St. Padre Pio


Related Posts: On Suffering, Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross 2009, More on the Cross

Tested in the Fire: How God Grows our Hearts

"Behold I have refined you...I have tried you in the furnace of affliction." (Isaiah 48:10)

It is certainly true that the Lord tests and refines those He loves. At each point I've come to the threshold, the breaking point where I will surely perish, and then, "wham!" I am pushed further. I realize how shallow and frail my faith is at these times...when the circumstances of my life seem to shatter all I once knew. But I am not without hope, not yet.

The Lord has not left me alone. In showing me how weak I am, Jesus reveals how powerful His grace is if I am willing to receive it. As the Lord reveals to St. Paul: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness." (2 Corinthians 12:9) The key though, is allowing the Lord to do so. Much of this lies in surrender and accepting the cross; a daily struggle for me.

When I look at the lives of the saints though, I can only be encouraged. How much they suffered! Lives fraught with pain, uncertainty, and tremendous obstacles...but they were able to persevere. In the end they triumphed because they knew what awaited them. The Lord has already won, taking on all of human suffering to open the door to Heaven for His Beloved.

I see that I must seek God's love through the cross...and not miss this opportunity to show my Love for Him while I yet have the chance. Jesus died for me. What I am suffering, is but a small trial...and through it, Jesus is growing my heart. No other way to salvation exists but the way of the Cross. And so I will press on! I will fight the good fight and not grow weary. The Lord is my strength.

"...now for a little while you may have to suffer various trials, so that the genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold, which though perishable is tested by fire, may redound to praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 1:7)

"I see that God never tries us beyond what we are able to suffer. Oh I fear nothing; if God sends such great suffering to a soul. He upholds it with an even greater grace, although we are not aware of it. One act of trust at such moments gives greater glory to God than whole hours passed in prayer filled with consolations." (St. Faustina, Diary [78])

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters; He restores my soul...Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil; for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff, they comfort me....surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever." (Psalm 23)

Feast of the Nativity of Mary: Happy Birthday Mother Mary!

St. Augustine, Pray for us!

"On Your exceedingly great mercy, and on that alone, rests all my hope."


"Faith is to believe what we do not see; and the reward of this faith is to see what we believe."


"God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering."


"There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future."


"To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement."


"Thou hast made us for Thyself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in Thee."


"God has promised forgiveness to your repentance, but He has not promised tomorrow to your procrastination."


"God loves each of us as if there were only one of us."


"Late have I loved You, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved You! You were within me, but I was outside, and it was there that I searched for You. In my unloveliness I plunged into the lovely things which You created. You were with me, but I was not with You. Created things kept me from You; yet if they had not been in You they would have not been at all. You called, You shouted, and You broke through my deafness. You flashed, You shone, and You dispelled my blindness. You breathed Your fragrance on me; I drew in breath and now I pant for You. I have tasted You, now I hunger and thirst for more. You touched me, and I burned for Your peace."


Go here for more on the life of St. Augustine.

Feast of St. Monica

"Nothing is far from God." 


"Son, nothing in this world now affords me delight. I do not know what there is now for me to do or why I am still here, all my hopes in this world being now fulfilled."
(At the conversion of her son, St. Augustine)




Read here for more on the life of St. Monica, patron of mothers and married women.

Laugh of the Day: Swedish Chef: Meat-Loafers

"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit." Psalm 34:18

HAPPY FEAST OF THE ASSUMPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY!!!

"Your stainless and wholly immaculate body has not been left on earth; the Queen, the Mistress, the Mother of God who has truly given birth to God has been translated to the royal palaces of Heaven...For just as her virginity remained inviolate while giving birth, when she departed her body was preserved from destruction and only taken to a better and more divine tabernacle..."
~St. John Damascene

“In the bodily and spiritual glory which she possesses in heaven, the Mother of Jesus continues in this present world as the image and first flowering of the Church as she is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise, Mary shines forth on earth, until the day of the Lord shall come (cf. 2 Peter 3:10), as a sign of certain hope and comfort for the pilgrim People of God” 
~Dogmatic Constitution on the Church

St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe, Pray for us!

"No one in the world can change Truth. What we can do and and should do is to seek truth and to serve it when we have found it. The real conflict is the inner conflict. Beyond armies of occupation and the hetacombs of extermination camps, there are two irreconcilable enemies in the depth of every soul: good and evil, sin and love. And what use are the victories on the battlefield if we are ourselves are defeated in our innermost personal selves?"


"For Jesus Christ I am prepared to suffer still more."


Go here for more on St. Maximilian Kolbe.

St. Jeanne Francis de Chantel

"Hold your eyes on God and leave the doing to him. That is all the doing you have to worry about."


"Fidelity toward God consists in being perfectly resigned to his holy will, in enduring everything that his goodness allows in our lives, and in carrying out all our duties, especially that of prayer, with love and for love. In prayer we must converse very familiarly with our Lord, concerning our little needs, telling him what they are, and remaining submissive to anything he may wish to do with us… We should go to prayer with deep humility and an awareness of our nothingness. We must invoke the help of the Holy Spirit and that of our good angel, and then remain still in God’s presence, full of faith that he is more in us than we are in ourselves. There is no danger if our prayer is without words or reflection because the good success of prayer depends neither on words nor on study. It depends upon the simple raising of our minds to God, and the more simple and stripped of feeling it is, the surer it is. We must never dwell on our sins during prayer. Regarding our offenses, a simple humbling of our soul before God, without a thought of this offense or that, is enough…such thoughts act as distractions." 


For more information on St. Francis de Chantel, go here.

St. Clare of Assisi, Pray for us!

‎♥ Love God, serve God; everything is in that. ♥ 


♥ Gaze upon Christ. Consider Him. Contemplate Him and desire to imitate Him. ♥ 


♥ Love totally Him who gave Himself totally for your love. ♥ 


♥ Go forth without fear, for He who created you has made you holy, has always protected you, and loves you....♥ 


Go here for more on the life of St. Clare.

St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross - Better Known as Edith Stein

On God's Providence: "Things were in God's plan which I had not planned at all. I am coming to the living faith and conviction that - from God's point of view - there is no chance and that the whole of my life, down to every detail, has been mapped out in God's divine providence and makes complete and perfect sense in God's all-seeing eyes." On why she came to Carmel and on the Vocation to Prayer: "I keep thinking of Queen Esther who was taken away from her people precisely because God wanted her to plead with the king on behalf of her nation. I am a very poor and powerless little Esther, but the King who has chosen me is infinitely great and merciful. This is great comfort." Commenting on the state of Germany and the oppression of the Nazi's she experienced firsthand during WWII, she said:

"I never knew that people could be like this, neither did I know that my brothers and sisters would have to suffer like this. ... I pray for them every hour. Will God hear my prayers? He will certainly hear them in their distress." For more information on the life of St. Edith Stein go here.

Happy Feast Day St. John Mary Vianney!

"My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of Heaven and something of Paradise comes down upon us. Prayer never leaves us without sweetness. It is honey that flows into the soul and makes all things sweet. When we pray properly, sorrows disappear like snow before the sun." 


St. John Mary Vianney, Pray for us!

Photo of the Day

Do you see Me?

I recently traveled to Chicago. This poem was inspired by what I encountered there. There have been many other times too that I have had similar experiences...for some reason I cannot fathom, Jesus keeps showing me and giving me such an overwhelming love for His people, His body. I see them, and I see Jesus in each one. We are truly all one in Jesus. Maybe this poem will better explain what I mean.

Do you see Me?

I was walking through the city streets

Looking at who was passing by

An old ragged man with a beard, so white

A woman begging, close to tears...I sigh

A young teenager, all in black

Tattooed and wearing dark glasses

A mother holds her infant close

A young man looks for another smoke

I wondered...why are we afraid?

Why does no one look into another's eyes?

For not a soul looked up

Busy with their own lives

And if their gaze fell upon me,

Whom would I really see?

On the train now, I see more

All types of people come through the door

Some look harried, and others tired

Many just sit, with a blank sort of stare

What are they thinking? 

And does anyone care?

Then sits down, a young little boy

He LOOKS at me...what is his story? 

I look all around...thinking some more

The train stops...they head out the door

I was walking through the city streets

Looking at who was passing by

I never expected that on my journey,

I would see the face of Christ.

Quote of the Day

"If the devil reminds you of your past, 

just remind him of his future."

When God Speaks....

"In the silence of the Heart,
 God speaks"
~Blessed Mother Teresa

I've often seen the workings of God in my daily life...lately, it seems as though my spiritual life has been somewhat stagnant. Never a good thing. I know without a doubt, the fault is mine. More than anything else, it seems as though I have forgotten the importance of silence. If I know God is speaking, why can I not hear Him? Because I have ceased to listen.

When you sincerely wait, seeking His voice, Jesus will not disappoint. "Whoever seeks shall find. Whoever knocks, the door will be opened," as He said. It takes practice, to be sure; that is why the more you come before Him, seeking in silence, the easier it will be to hear Him.

There are many ways to practice silence, and truly listen to be attuned to God's voice...but onne of the best is in Eucharistic Adoration. Since the Eucharist is truly Jesus, Body, Blood, Soul, & Divinity, what better way to hear Him than when you can be directly in His presence?

Many Catholics, sadly, either do not know He is really there, or do not believe in His real Presence. I'm here to tell you, HE IS REALLY THERE. It is Jesus who longs for us in the closed off churches of the world, waiting to be loved. It is Jesus present on the altar during mass, Him who we meet in Adoration, and He who we receive at Holy Communion. This profound mystery at it's heart cannot fully be known, but revealed in faith and trust into the depths of the heart of the believer.

I had a profound experience of this today at Daily Mass; another great place to experience silence and listen to God. I came to Mass tired physically, and somewhat spiritually exhausted. However, God used this to His advantage, since all my defenses were down, my heart was more open.

Most of the Mass I was attentive, but when it came time and I received Him in the Eucharist, His Body and Blood, God awakened my heart anew. Interiorly, I felt as though I had somehow come to an intense, deep, newfound realization that Jesus had just come within me; and it was all I could do to hold back tears. When and how God chooses to reveal Himself to us, often baffles me. But there I knelt, aware in a completely new way of the closeness of Jesus, and that He was truly ALL I WANTED, AND ALL I NEEDED. Period. That was it. For that moment in time, I was drawn into the mystery, and absolute LOVE, of Jesus in the Eucharist.

Though I have been raised a Catholic, it was years before I finally found out that the Eucharist was not just a symbol, but truly Christ. Since then, Jesus has made this truth known in my heart, and I have often had experiences of the Presence of Jesus during Adoration, but never as much in receiving Him. It is difficult to describe the inner peace and joy that Jesus blessed me with today.

Above all, I want to continue to know Him more. To love Him more, and know more deeply of His love. I am willing to wait for Him, in that profound silence of Love within my Heart, when God speaks.

I challenge you, how will you hear God speak? And, will you Listen?


*Click HERE for more information about the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist.

A French Foreign Legion chaplain in Afghanistan jumps out of planes