Are Poor Souls Poor?
The month of November is dedicated to the Poor Souls. This year the Commemoration of the Faithful Departed, November 2, lands on Sunday and preempts the Thirty-First Sunday of Ordinary Time. That is how important our bishops consider that day in honor of our “Church Suffering.” Poor Souls and Us When I was writing a […]
The Rosary, Interesting Info
Last week I spoke about the Rosary at our Village because October is the month of the Rosary. In preparing, I came across information that I had not known or forgotten. I pass it on to you here. What famous people prayed the Rosary? Hadyn prayed the Rosary when he had trouble composing. Martin Luther […]
Sense of Smell, a Fantastic Gift
Our sense of smell is the topic of this week’s blog. This was prompted by an addition to my home. A friend gave me a diffuser that permeates my apartment with the fragrance of a sea breeze with lemon and lavender. Every few days I invert the reeds in the oil to renew the scent. […]
Last Words, Sacred and Silly Ones
The Final Words of Jesus The final words of a person who is dying can have special meaning. Preeminent of these are what are known as the Seven Last Words of Jesus that he uttered from the Cross. To refresh your memory, they are as follows: Some Dying Words of Humans Those holy words are […]
Angels, Our Powerful Friends
Feasts for Angels Angels have feasts on September 30 (the Archangels St. Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel) and on October 2 (the Guardian Angels), so I was going to blog about angels this week. However, then I discovered I already have seven blogs about angels! These contain several fascinating stories about how they came to the […]
Sunflowers: Mysterious, Meaningful, Glorious, and Useful
Sunflowers mean something special to me. A fourth-grade project was planting a garden at our house that our teacher would judge. I recall that my garden alongside our garage boasted tall sunflowers. That was exciting in itself, but added to that, my teacher came to my home! Now I belong to a religious community for […]
A Book on Mary, Guided by the Spirit
Although May is Mary’s month, this month has a few Marian Feasts. For example, there is her birthday on September 8 and the feast of the Sorrowful Mother on September 16. So it’s appropriate that I blog about my Mary books this week. All my books came to be in various ways. My first one […]
St. Therese’s Little Way, Simple and Speedy
St. Therese of Lisieux captivated the hearts of many people because of her simple, practical spirituality of the “Little Way.” She accepted the fact that she wouldn’t gain heaven by stupendous feats. Not for her the path of the martyr, missionary, or priest. Instead, she soared to heaven by doing little ordinary acts with great […]
Carlo Acutis, A Boy Saint
Carlo Acutis will be canonized this Sunday (September 7) in Rome. Dying at the age of fifteen from leukemia, he is one of the youngest saints—the first millennial one. Originally Pope Francis scheduled this canonization for April 27, but after he died, Pope Leo inherited the job of canonizing this young boy. Carlo’s Childhood Carlo […]
Art for Enjoyment, Inspiration, and Knowledge
Most of us have grown up with art, creating it ourselves or enjoying others’ work.