Graces from Mary QT's

Today's Quick Takes brought to you by our Blessed Mother and the School of Life!

---1---

That awkward moment when you discover that despite your best intentions, fighting against your Personality and Whims, and attempts to Do The Right Thing, people still persist in thinking the worst of you.  And maybe they don't think the worst of you; they just don't think much of you.

---2---

Now's the time for that Litany of Humility:

Litany of Humility Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me. From the desire of being esteemed, Deliver me, Jesus.From the desire of being loved... From the desire of being extolled ... From the desire of being honored ... From the desire of being praised ... From the desire of being preferred to others... From the desire of being consulted ... From the desire of being approved ... From the fear of being humiliated ... From the fear of being despised... From the fear of suffering rebukes ... From the fear of being calumniated ... From the fear of being forgotten ... From the fear of being ridiculed ... From the fear of being wronged ... From the fear of being suspected ... That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. That others may be esteemed more than I ... That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease ... That others may be chosen and I set aside ... That others may be praised and I unnoticed ... That others may be preferred to me in everything... That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

---3---

Make the extra effort to get the kids up early and off to school earlier than usual to hear a meditation on the Blessed Mother.  It was short, and just the message I needed to hear---that trust in her will bear fruit.  She is Grace personified as the bearer of the ultimate Grace, our Creator come to earth in human form to save us.

---4---

Pray the rosary for that Special Intention in addition to all the usual intentions.  (It also fits in nicely with the 33 Day Rosary Challenge.  Are you in?)

---5---

Then, for good measure, because you really are a pathetic soul who needs a great deal of help, pray Mother Teresa's ('scuse me:  Blessed Teresa of Calcutta) Flying Novena, or 9 Memorare's for your intention.

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary
that never was it known that anyone
who fled to thy protection, implored thy help
or sought thy intercession was left unaided.
Inspired with this confidence,
I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins.
My mother; to thee do I come.
Before thee I stand,
sinful and sorrowful,
O Mother of the Word Incarnate.
Despise not my petitions,
but in thy mercy,
hear and answer me.
Amen.

---6---

Now, go ahead and do That Thing that you're supposed to do, that you dread, that forces you to humble yourself.  You've hemmed and hawed enough, and the fact that you haven't done it yet is verging ever closer to being Disobedience to the Lord's will.

---7---

And it will all be okay, because Mary was there (will always be there) to hold your hand through the difficult moments.  Now we can move on with lightened hearts.  

How about you?  Is there something you're dreading?  Something you need to do?  Share, or just ask for prayers.  I'll pray for you, if you'll pray for me!

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Join the fun at Jen's for more 7 Quick Takes!

A Meditation on the Resurrection

When I meditate on the mysteries of the rosary, I often use images from The Passion of the Christ to help me stay focused.  There's not a lot to choose from when it comes to the Resurrection, but it is one of my favorites from the movie.  I see Jesus's beautiful face, as he sits up in the tomb, with Peace written on his features.  His wounds from the horrific tortures He endured and the crucifixion, with the exception of the nail holes in His hands, have healed.  He breathes a sigh of relief and resignation as He rises to begin the next and final phase of His earthly mission.

Yesterday, when I prayed these mysteries, I was struck anew by that sigh that He gives.  It suddenly occurred to me that maybe it wasn't in preparation for the work ahead, but a sigh of relief that His physical suffering was over.  He had "run the race and kept the faith" just as we must.  That thought, of torture and death, brought my thoughts to the persecution of Christians in the Middle East these days.  The deaths at the American Embassy in Libya.

The world is a crazy, sometimes very scary, place these days.  I wondered why so many people react with such violence and hatred to those who disagree with them, when I realized it's the devil.  Does the venom you see in the news, on Twitter, on Facebook, ever remind you of the curses spouted by Linda Blair in The Exorcist?  So many have forgotten God, either mindlessly letting Him slip from their hearts, or actively pushing Him away from a desire for a different idol, or no idol at all save Self.

It was quite a digression from the subject of the mystery, the resurrection of Christ, but with tears streaming, I heaped more prayer intentions on Mary's comforting shoulders, and forged on with my prayers, because that is just about all I have to offer the world at large.  In my little bubble here, my task is to raise faithful, Catholic, children in a world that needs faith desperately, and to serve in the other ways that God calls me.  And pray, ceaselessly, for all those on the front lines, so to speak, for those whose very lives (and, sometimes, souls)  are in danger.  That same image, which reminds me of the torture He endured and that others still endure, gives me great hope that on the other side of the suffering is great joy and peace.

Happy Birthday, Blessed Mother!

One of my home schooling friends sent this out, and it's too beautiful not to share.  I was expecting the Gregorian chant that I'd heard before, but not this.  Karol Wojtyla, Blessed John Paul II, had a beautiful voice, but I think the love of Mary that you can clearly hear is even more amazing.

Happy Birthday, Mary!

Pray for us sinners who have recourse to thee.
Amen.

A Lazy Day

Do you have those days where you just can't get moving?  It's not so much a physically tired thing as a mentally tired thing.  Today I have an "I don't want to be stressed about life" attitude.  I'll probably regret it later in the day when the house is a wreck and I need to get everyone to help clean it up, so my hard-working husband thinks I've been busy all day.  But I think I just spilled the beans since he reads my blog!

Often, these days turn out to be the busiest, most productive days because I'm so mentally disorganized that I can do only 2 things:  Pray and Clean.

Cleaning and getting half-finished projects finished and put away give me the feeling that I'm in control of my life.

Praying is what I do when I know I'm not in control and I don't know what else to do.  Lately, I find myself turning to Our Blessed Mother Mary more and more for help and guidance.

How do you handle Those Days?

Career Planning

I belong to a private FB group for my 30th high school reunion which is coming up this fall.  I'm not very active there because I'm kinda busy here at home, but someone posted a clipping from an old school newspaper the other day that was very interesting.  It was a list of seniors with their response to the question:  What do you want to be when you grow up?

As I scrolled down the list, not knowing if my name would be on the incomplete list, I tried to remember what I might have said.  I fully expected it to say Lawyer since I remember discussing the same question in English class that year.  Evidently, I only wanted to marry a Lawyer since, when I found my name, it said, "A Mommy."

I was honestly floored that I said such a thing, not because it wasn't true, but because it seems like such a lame thing to say to another senior in high school where we are all trying desperately to be cool.  At least, I was! I certainly never thought that I meant it times 6, either.  I can only think that the reporter who asked me must have been a good friend that I wouldn't have felt judged by.

I've been a mom for over 23 years now, if you count the months of that first pregnancy---and I definitely do---and this career of mine has shaped me in more ways than I would have thought possible.  No, we don't have to go into the physical shaping, or reshaping, that has occurred.  Suffice it to say that I'm no longer the willowy 21 year-old that I was on my wedding day!

I have learned over and over to put my own needs last, until I crashed and saw that I needed to put my needs a little higher up on the list.  I've seen how much easier it becomes to do without the things I think I need or want when the children have more urgent needs. (Easier, not easy)  Or when the needs and goals of the family as a whole dictate what we do.

Most importantly, I've learned that I don't do any of this mothering on my own.  I've been lucky enough to have an awesome husband who comes from an awesome family and has had a pretty good handle on  how a family runs.  I've also discovered along the way that the Almighty and his Blessed Mother are pretty indispensable while parenting:  someone to tell all my troubles to, someone to ask beg help from, someone to emulate.

I'm going to be leaning on Them a lot more in the coming days (and years) as the first one leaves the nest this week, and we begin the first full week of our homeschool year.  How can it be that at one time I had 6 children at home, with the oldest in 8th grade and no end to it in sight, and now I have only 2 students, and 4 years left of my homeschooling career?

I can't help but wonder what career God has planned for me next!

This is the kind of moment that makes a mother proud.  Actually, it's more than 6 moments, but you know what I mean.



This Mother's Day started off happy, but it's deteriorating into a bout of deep sadness, wishing my mom was here on earth, so I could call her and wish her a happy day and thank her for everything she ever did for me.  You know, I don't think I ever did that.  Make sure you do it.

In lieu of my earthly mother, I went out in the rain, with my feet bare, and picked all the beautiful flowers I could find on the side of my house to decorate my Blessed Mother's altar.

And now, I'm going to sit down, knit, and pray for my dear friend who has a new baby and is happy to be alive.  And I know her children are happy about that, too.

That first piece, Divenire, is a little melancholy.  Cheer up with this ensemble piece.  You can't see my son in this video.  :-(

7 Quick Takes

1.  We had our first American Heritage Girls troop meeting last night!  It was great to see all those beautiful, little faces, full of excitement.  I was a little sick to my stomach and felt like throwing up beforehand, but hey, what's a little stress?  It all went really well; the girls were attentive and so were the moms.  I think my daughter had a good time in her unit because she talked nonstop once we got home and it was time for her to go to bed.

2.  This morning, 2 of her AHG friends are coming over to work on the the Cooking achievement badge.  Pippo goes to their house to spend time with boys and work on scienc-y stuff, and I get the girls to work on badges.  Frankly, I'd prefer to lie around the house and do next-to-nothing on a Friday after a meeting, but this is still better than "real school."

3.  The weather is actually changing!  It's cool this morning, and I'm sitting here with chilly arms and a slightly, sniffly nose, drinking a cup of warm coffee, which I haven't done in ages.  Yesterday, the kids were dragging huge fleece blankets around the house to stay wrapped up in while doing their schoolwork.  (And just to clutter up the house.)

Someone asked me the other day if I had had a good summer, and my answer was 'No'.  You know why, it was just insanely busy all summer, and I'm glad it's over.  But I'm not glad the hot weather is over!  I love the heat!  Of course, yesterday was an absolutely gorgeous day---not too hot, not too cold.  Just right.

4.  We had our first choir rehearsal this week with the new director.  It was good to be back; I was ridiculously excited to get to sing again.  Frankly, I just like rehearsal, I can live without the singing at Mass!  There was a lot of talking and getting to know him, and telling him how we've always done things.  He's a very nice man; he seems open and willing to listen, and not rock the boat too much.  But it looks like we're going to be stuck with the extremely contemporary hymnals for the next year.  One of my friends who does church music and has an ensemble that she directs remarked that going from our Collegeville hymnal to Breaking Bread is a huuuge leap.  There are other hymnals, like Gather, that would be less drastic.

I'm sure I'm offending folks who prefer a contemporary Mass, and don't mind that sort of music.  There's quite a bit of it that I actually like----the problem is that it doesn't inspire (in me) the sort of reverence I feel for Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and that I feel is appropriate to the Holy Mass.

5.  Talking about church music, doesn't exactly make for a Quick Take!  I could do lots of long posts on how I feel about it all!

6.  Yesterday's AHG meeting completely overshadowed Mary's birthday.  I hated not doing anything to mark the occasion, but we'll be celebrating with our homeschool group on Saturday with a big potluck picnic.  I hope she understands!

7.  It's time to quit and go downstairs to do the Supreme90.  But it's cold and I want to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and a book.  Yep---the weather's a-changin'!

Stop by Jennifer's for more Quick Takes!  And have a great weekend, y'all!

Mother Mary

I'm stealing this from Jen @ Conversion Diary today since, as usual, I don't have time for a long post.  

"Stealing" doesn't sound like something I should be doing if I love Jesus and His Blessed Mother, but you know what I mean, and I'm doing it anyway.  ;-)

Love for the Blessed Virgin was not one of things I had a problem with when I converted.  I very easily accepted the fact that she is special and deserves our love.  Not only that, but she loves us, too, and she wants to lead us to Her Son.  I just get chills when I think about all these parallels between the Old and the New Testaments.  

Watch the video!