just in time

Just about time to squeeze in a reminder about the Little Flower's Novena which starts today.  I know what I'll be asking ma chère amie's intercession for....

I was just thinking today how empty my life would be if I didn't believe in God. It's not the first time I've thought that of course, but it really hit me this evening as I read more of Fr Benedict J Groeschel's wonderful book The Saints in My Life. I am coming to the end of it, but don't want it to end, which is always a good sign of a book, I think! I had been savouring a little of it each night as I shared some special quiet time with the baby Toot, which itself has recently come to an end. Seventeen months wasn't bad, I suppose, but it's always difficult to let the closeness of breastfeeding go.

Anyway, the book reminded me of the immense richness of our Roman Catholic faith and conversely the emptiness that a lack of belief in God would bring to one's life.

If there were no God, no life after death, no heaven, then, to take just one example, that would mean no saints. No friends or advocates to help us here on earth, intercede for us, lead us closer to God, help us get to heaven.

When I talk about saints, I don't just mean Saints, the capital letter people whose feasts we celebrate throughout the year. I mean people that you and I have known or met in our own lives, who now enjoy being in the presence of God. People like the fella in the photo, Fr Timmy Walsh, the wonderful Augustinian priest we knew and loved in Fethard. He popped into my head recently on the feast of St Timothy. I was feeling troubled and imagined I was talking to him, asking his advice. Truthfully, I felt like I was actually talking to him and his reply comforted and helped me, just as he would have while he was alive. Of course, now that he is in heaven, he can do even more to help people.

A sunny start to the day here. Cold though, a real nip in the air now. Boots and cosy coat weather.

On this day in 2008, the parents of St Thérèse, Louis and Zélie Martin, were declared Blessed. They are the first spouses in the history of the Church to be proposed for sainthood as a couple and an example to all of us who choose married life.

Here is the prayer for their canonisation:

Prayer for the Canonisation of Louis and Zélie Martin and to obtain favours through their intercession:

God Our Father, I thank You for having given us Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St. Therese. United and faithful in marriage, they have left us an example of Christian living and evangelical virtue. In raising a large family through trials, suffering and bereavement, they put their trust in You and always sought Your will.

Deign, Lord, to make known your will in their regard and grant the favour I ask, in the hope that the father and mother of St. Therese of the Child Jesus of the Holy Face, may soon be canonised and thereby held up to the Universal Church as model for the families of our time. Through Christ Our Lord, Amen

(Here mention your request)

On a more positive note, I was pleased to come across some parenting tips from the Little Flower's mum Zélie, via Twitter.

She started praying for their holiness from the time she was pregnant. I especially love the prayer she taught them to say each morning:

My God, I give You my heart; please accept it that no creature, but You alone, my good Jesus, may possess it.

St. Therese Novena: perfect timing

I'm thinking I should devote this blog to just novenas and washing! Here comes another novena, and this one's in honour of my favourite saint....

For the next few days, when I am conscious(!) I will be joining over 2900 Catholics to pray the St. Therese Novena!

You can sign up too for handy email reminders to get the the novena prayers here: St. Therese Novena

I'm going into hospital for an operation today. If you get a chance to remember me in your prayers, I'd be ever so grateful. :)

Great parents and spouses

Today is the liturgical feast of Blessed Louis and Zélie Martin, the parents of St Thérèse of Lisieux. Happy feast day Guys! Thank you for your help in the past, help us to be more like you and please keep me well so I can stay at home with my little boys.

Just thought I'd post this link to Prayers to St Thérèse, in case, like me today, anyone needs one of her earth-bound roses from heaven. (Though she reminds us there is no need for formal prayers- we should just talk to God as if he was sitting next to us.)

Last Day of the Old Milk Market

Well, someone up there must have been listening to me yesterday because today has been a great day. I even managed to get some heavy duty washing dry without having to resort to the tumble dryer.
This morning we headed into Limerick City to do our rounds of the Milk Market : a weekly open-air market that sells much more than just milk. I'm glad we made it in, because today was it's last day in it's current incarnation. It is due to be closed for 6 months while it is refurbished and covered with a roof. Speaking to some of the traders, Theresa and Olivier, there is a mixed reaction to these changes. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out.
I am reading an anthology of short articles by Mother Teresa that sort of resolves the conflict I posted about yesterday. She writes, 'children [need someone] to receive them, to pay attention to them, to encourage them if they are sad, to share their joy if they are happy. They long for somebody to accept them, to love them, to praise them, to be proud of them.' It sounds fairly obvious and simple, of course, but if I concentrated on doing just those 'little things' as she calls them -'by kindness, by sharing joy, by sharing a smile', I would really be doing well I think. Back to Therese's Little Way. If I could just manage that, it could change our little part of the world.
On another note, if you can, pray for Fr Michael Sinnott, the 79 year old who is still being held by a gang in the Philippines.

Not enough hours in the day...

It's been a while since I wrote anything on my blog, partly because I can't send things from my phone anymore, which was so handy for quickly posting photos of what we were doing. The other reason is that I feel guilty spending time on the computer. Really there is always something that is more pressing or justifiable for me to do than blogging. Usually that involves something fairly boring like, for example, hanging washing on the airers so it can hang there limply and pointlessly for a day or two until I reluctantly have to put it into the tumble dryer. (The weather is too bad to put washing outside on the line at the moment. I must say, I love watching it dancing there on a breezy day. Especially babygros- they look like little fat babies dancing in formation.) St Thérèse's Little Way really comes into its own here: when wearisome tasks fill my time I think of her in the convent doing her chores.
Other important things include looking after the two lads of course, which is not tedious or boring because I love doing it, but is not compatible with sitting in front of a computer screen. Although I am home all day, I don't seem to have time to do all the things that need to be done and finish the day feeling as though I haven't done enough to keep the house tidy, reduce the laundry mountain, banish the dust bunnies and watch my little fellas being little fellas. In the evening I want to spend time and talk with Lee, but often we are both absorbed in something that excludes the other. Am I really bad at managing my time?
Incidentally, perceived lack of time is one reason I don't respond to the lovely comments that wonderful people leave on my blog. But please be assured, Anne, Maria, Mary and anyone else who's been kind enough to say something (and spend the time here), that I really appreciate your words and thoughts and prayers. And in turn I feel privileged to be able to follow your inspiring blogs and share our faith.

St Therese's Feast Day

Happy Feast Day my friend! And she really is a friend.
The thing is, I'm not alone in that thought. While reading the account of the visit of her relics to Ireland in 2001, (St Therese in Ireland) it struck me that people kept referring to her as a friend or part of their family. She must be such a busy little saint, speaking to and helping all those people on God's behalf!
It also occurred to me that her visit came during the Foot and Mouth crisis, when many of our friends headed to the U.K. for lucrative work. Me and Lee stayed here, missing out on well-paid work, but of course we had the opportunity to visit St Therese's relics while they were here. I think we got a better deal!

visiting a friend

Today, Mum, Roo, Lou and me went on an adventure to visit St Therese's relics. We drove up to Loughrea and started searching for a convent-y looking place. Just like the weather, there was a steady trickle of people to and from the tiny Carmelite church. As you went in, two very kind ladies handed a rose and a little prayer card to each visitor. And then, inside, lay the casket containing the Little Flower's remains. Lou, who I was carrying in the baby sling, got really excited when we went in- gurgling and jumping. I was pretty excited myself, being so close to one who I've come to consider a friend in the last year. It was very different to the last time the relics were in this country. It seemed much more relaxed and friendly. They had surrounded the casket with chairs so everyone could sit for a while rather than be rushed through as if on a conveyor belt. I found this really helpful, as it gave me a chance to collect my thoughts- so i could express my gratitude and joy for the blessings that are my little boys, and ask that we can get through the uncertainty that faces us- that we can look after those that we are responsible for, workwise, amongst other things. A gentle-looking woman, who we assumed was a nun, asked me about Louis- how old he was and what his name was. I told her he was born on Therese's birthday and was named after her Dad. 'How wonderful!' she said. And he is.

Happy Feast day!

Today is St Therese's feast day. It's raining again today here, but I bet it's lovely where she is.

On the subject of the Babycake, I found this little piece on Rollercoaster.ie. It's quite cute. BC is very bouncy and active inside my tummy at this stage. He/she can hear very well now, so I've been playing Ella Fitzgerald, although heavy drum beats seem to go down better with BC.

Sunny May days

On this day in 1883, St Thérèse was healed by Our Lady who appeared to her in a statue next to her sickbed.

St Thérèse's lovely day

On Monday, Mum, Wee and me went to Knock. It was the national day in honour of St Thérèse and this year they celebrated the 150th Anniversary of her parents, Louis & Zelie Martin's marriage.

It was a beautiful day with warm sunshine and a soft breeze: the kind of day that is at a premium in Knock, in my experience. There were huge crowds there too: we went into the Basilica about 2 o'clock to venerate her relics (one of her feet apparently) and the place was filling up already for Mass at 3. Wee isn't terribly keen on waiting quietly in very slow-moving queues, so after a little while we decided to find somewhere to sit for Mass.

For the Responsorial Psalm, they sang the Magnificat, which I really love. (So much so that we asked a good friend and angelic singer to sing it at our wedding Mass.) They also sang The Love of my Lord is the Essence, among other things. James Kilbane sang beautifully.

Unfortunately, I missed the sermon, due to tending to Babba-roo. I got back to the basilica in time for the Anointing of the sick. After Mass, they continued venerating St Thérèse's relics by getting people to line up and process in front of the altar. There was a bit of an un-Christian stampede for this, so we reluctantly left to avoid Roo getting trampled underfoot. We were disappointed and baffled that they didn't bless the whole congregation with the relics. Outside the basilica, we noticed a statue of St Thérèse (pictured) so we said a prayer there and made for home. On the way, we stopped at the bookshop and bought some beautiful children's books, including this one, by Maite Roche, which is lovely to read before bedtime. Mum bought one of her books, Je vous salue Marie, for Wee in Nevers last year and it's funny to see him 'reading' it solemnly in his cot as if he understood every word.