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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Reflections from a Poor Clare Colettine Sister on the Chaplet of Hannah's Tears
From the heart of a Poor Clare Sister
November 7, 2009
The Chaplet of Hannah's Tears immediately evokes in one the story and imagery of Hannah in the Bible. In (I Samuel 1) we find Hannah pouring out her heart, her longings, pain and suffering into God's presence, desperately pleading for a child, Hannah knew that her God was the one true source of all life. Hannah knew the place to go, she took her burdened heart and soul into the Temple, to the only one who could truly transform her, and had the power her to give her that fruitfulness, that fecundity that she longed for. Hannah was barren and she longed for life!!! She persevered in prayer and God heard her. She was granted in time the gift of a son, Samuel. Her tears became transformed into joy as she sang her Magnificat (pre-figuring that of Mary's, The Mother of God). She sang in thanksgiving.
The Lord showed her Mercy and she responded with such generosity by dedicating her son when born to the Temple
Perhaps we can also look at the Chaplet of Hannah's Tears in an even broader perspective. Whether married, single, on living the consecrated life the Chaplet is equally applicable. A consecrated Nun, a Priest, and a single person, are all called to 'parenthood ', for the Consecrated Nun she should be 'another Mary'. We are all called to fruitfulness and parenthood. The conditions of a desire for fertility, to carry life to term, are equally applicable in the life of the consecrated sister as her 'sisters ' in the world. In this way she can so understand the pain of infertility, difficult pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth and the death of a child.
A 'Spiritual Mother' also longs to 'conceive life' to nurture, and carry souls within her and pray for them to God, it is as any parenthood a great responsibility, at times intercession, the carrying of another broken person, interceding for grace and life can be a very painful process, and sometimes, despite all efforts, all the prayers, sacrifices and suffering, the person simply does not respond but chooses the path of sin or selfishness. You can say in this sense this is a miscarriage... a stillbirth, because instead of leaping to life the soul has remained against all good reason, against all attempts of prayer to remain without God. Because of this experience a consecrated nun is so able to understand the deep pain, the deep wound that exists when for some reason life at least in this world does not continue. It is for us all a path of trust, that whatever God decides that although we cannot see it is the best.... Hannah must have felt the pain of when she surrendered her only son Samuel to Temple Service
We would like to highly recommend the Chaplet of Hannah's Tears; it was born of love and Compassion. We pray for you all, holding you all and each to God, may he bless you with life!
Chaplet of Hannah's Tears Number II
After the Initial Focus on the sign of the Cross we now turn to the Immaculata, to Mary. Mary, Queen and Mother of all Life! We gaze upon the blessed and beautiful Miraculous Medal, a medal endowed with so many graces and blessings. Let us recall what Mary revealed to Saint Catherine Laboure, that there were many graces in her hands which were not asked for or claimed, rays of light emulated from Mary’s hands, streams of grace!! Let us in our own need turn to Mary and ask her for those graces that will bring us closer to God and to each other, she is waiting to give them to us, and love offered, should be love accepted!!!!
"O Mary Conceived without Sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee".
It is a powerful prayer because it takes us to a place where there is no sin! HER HEART! This simple, short prayer draws us into the very depth of her Immaculate Heart, her sinless and pure heart which finally will triumph over all evil and sin.
We offer our Chaplet with and in the presence of Mary, for Jesus, for souls, for life!!!
To request a copy of the chaplet please email us:
prayer@hannahstears.org
We will also add you to our list of intentions!
This chaplet has been approved by Bishop Frederick F. Campbell, Columbus, OH, June 27, 2008. If you are interested in a copy please write prayer@hannahstears.org subject line "Chaplet" along with your request.
The Bishops of the following Dioceses have given their blessing to promote the chaplet of Hannah's Tears, it is always a virtue to ask your Bishop or Pastor before having this used for organized prayer, we generally recommend this chaplet as a private devotion:
- Columbus, Ohio
- South Bend - Fort Wayne, Indiana
- Malta Europe
Thank you,
Hannah's Tears Ministry
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
The Dangers of Splenda
Splen.da has NO warnings on their label, so I wanted to warn you to be aware of how it may affect your health and the health of your future. Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, so take care of yourself and those that you love. <3
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Monday, August 22, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
H.T. Chaplet Beads Available
My new friend JC has offered to make chaplets for our ministry. Her work is absolutely beautiful! The picture below is the first to be made, please let her know if you have any interest in having one for yourself or a loved one.
God Bless!
H.T. Ministry
HeartFelt Rosaries Chaplet for Pregnancy, Infertility
A Chaplet for those suffering Infertility, Difficult Pregnancy, Miscarriage or Early Loss of a Child--now listed at HeartFeltRosaries.com
from their brochure:
"We offer prayer support and comfort to the brokenhearted who suffer the pains of infertility at any stage of life, difficult pregnancy, miscarriage, stillbirth, or the early death of a child. This ministry intercedes for Catholic doctors, nurses, and their supportive personnel. We also serve as a vehicle of education in the proper channels of Catholic fertility practices as well as offering information resources to those seeking fertility care and/or adoption"
This Chaplet is made using the virtually unbreakable wire wrapping technique and will last through heavy use. It is composed of sparkling Crystal and warm, tarnish resistant Bronze.
Instructions included.
See it in my shop at HeartFeltRosaries.com!
Friday, August 19, 2011
How to Preach Against Contraception
How to Preach Against Contraception
This hard-hitting “tell-it-like it is” article appeared in the July 2003 national Catholic publication “Homiletic & Pastoral Review.” The author, Dr. Fredrick W. Marks, is a research historian and essayist on religion with degrees from Holy Cross College and the University of Michigan. The author of “A Catholic Handbook for England and Newly Married Couples” (2001) he has taught courses on the fundamentals of the Catholic faith at the university level, as well as in various parishes.
Christians as dissimilar in theological stripe as Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and Knox have shared the Catholic position on birth control
“How to preach against contraception”
by: Fredrick W. Marks
by: Fredrick W. Marks
Catholic morale in the United States has been severely shaken in recent months by allegations of clerical sex abuse. But there is another agent at work in the Church that has been sapping the strength of the faithful for decades. I refer to the yawning gap between teaching and practice in the area of artificial birth control. How can any religious organization expect to prosper when most of its members live in open defiance of one of its major tenets, when, furthermore, it claims to teach the tenet infallibly, and when disregard of such teaching is viewed as a mortal sin? Continue here
Salvation and True Life ~ Saint John Eudes, priest
Saint John Eudes, Priest
Memorial Feast: August 19
From a treatise on the admirable Heart of Jesus
by St. John Eudes, priest
The source of salvation and true life
I ask you to consider that our Lord Jesus Christ is your true head and that you are a member of his body. He belongs to you as the head belongs to the body. All that is his is yours; breath, heart, body, soul and all his qualities. All of these you must use as if they belonged to you, so that in serving him you may give him praise, love and glory. You belong to him as a member belongs to the head. This is why he earnestly desires you serve and glorify the Father by using all our faculties as if they were his.
He belongs to you, but more than that, he longs to be in you, living and ruling in you, as the head lives and rules in the body. He desires that whatever is in him may live and rule in you: his breath in your breath, his heart in your heart , all the faculties of his soul in the faculties of your soul, so that these words may be fulfilled in you: Glorify God and bear him in your body, so that the life of Jesus may be made manifest in you.
You belong to the Son of God but more than that you ought to be in Him as members are in the head. All that is in you must be incorporated into him. You must receive life from him and be ruled by him. There will be no true life for you except in him, for he is the one source of true life. Apart from him you will find only death and destruction. Let him be the only source of your movements, of the actions and the strength of your life.
He must be both the source and the purpose of your life, so that you may fulfil these words: None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master. While we live, we are responsible to the Lord, and when we die we die as his servants. Both in life and death we are the Lord’s. That is why Christ died and came to life again, so that he may be Lord of both the dead and the living.
Finally you are one with Jesus as the body is one with the head. You must then have one breath with him, one soul, one life, one will, one mind, one heart, And he must be your breath, heart, love, life, your all. These great gifts in the follower of Christ originate from baptism. They are increased and strengthened through confirmation and making good use of other graces that are given by God. Through the holy eucharist they are brought to perfection.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
United to God's Will
Oh my gosh.. the Holy Spirit is really on a roll with St. Alphonsus de Ligouri! I was just sorting books that someone gave me and I found a little pamphlet called "Uniformity With God's Will" by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri. This seems to be where Our Lord wants us to be in regards to His Will versus our will. :-D don't be afraid, it's all really good, God's plans are truly remarkable!
So, if you can take a look at this site and read this when you are able to pray and meditate (especially good in the morning).
click the title above for the full version
1. Excellence of this Virtue.
Perfection is founded entirely on the love of God: “Charity is the bond of per-fection;” and perfect love of God means the complete union of our will with God’s: “The principal effect of love is so to unite the wills of those who love each other as to make them will the same things.” It follows then, that the more one unites his will with the divine will, the greater will be his love of God. Mortifi-cation, meditation, receiving Holy Communion, acts of fraternal charity are all certainly pleasing to God -- but only when they are in accordance with his will. When they do not accord with God’s will, he not only finds no pleasure in them, but he even rejects them utterly and punishes them.
If you would like to purchase this see the link below.
If you would like to purchase this see the link below.
- Amazon.com "Uniformity With God's Will" by St. Alphonsus de Ligouri
VISIT TO THE MOST BLESSED SACRAMENT BY ST. ALPHONSUS LIGUORI
Opening Prayer
My Lord Jesus Christ, out of love for us all, You stay night and day in this Sacrament, full of compassion, waiting for, calling and welcoming all who come to visit you. I believe that you are really here in this Sacrament. I adore you in your greatness. I thank you for all the wonderful graces you have given me. But I thank you especially for having given me yourself in this Sacrament, for having asked your own Mother to mother me, for having called me here to talk to you.
I am here before you today to do three things: to thank you for these precious gifts, to make up for all the disrespect that you receive in this Sacrament from those who offend you, to adore you everywhere in the world where you are present in this living bread but are left abandoned and unloved.
My Jesus, I love you with all my heart. I know I have displeased you often in the past — I am sorry. With your help I promise never to do it again. I have been weak and have sinned, but I consecrate myself to you completely. I give you my will, my love, my desires, everything I own. From now on do what you please with me. All I ask is that you love me, that you keep me faithful to the end of my life. I ask for the grace to do your will exactly as you want it done.
I pray for the souls in purgatory — especially for those who were close to you in this Sacrament and close to your Mother Mary. I pray for every soul hardened in sin. My Savior, I unite my love to the love of your divine heart, and I offer them both together to your Father. I beg him to accept this offering in your name. Amen.
Act of Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe you are really here in the Blessed Sacrament. I love you more than anything in the world, and I hunger to feed on your flesh. But since I cannot receive Communion at this moment, feed my soul at least spiritually. I unite myself to you now, as I do when I actually receive you. Never let me drift away from you. Amen.
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori - Only One Thing is Necessary
ONLY ONE THING IS NECESSARY
A Prayer of Saint Alphonsus Liguori
0 my God, help me to remember - That to gain all I must leave all, That in loving You I have all good things: the infinite riches of Christ and His Church, the motherly protection of Mary, peace beyond understanding, joy unspeakable!
Eternal Father, your Son has promised that whatever we ask in His Name will be given to us. In His Name I pray: give me a burning faith, a joyful hope, a holy love for Jesus Christ. Give me the grace of perseverance in doing Your will in all things. Do with me what You will. I repent of having offended You. Grant, O Lord, that I may love You always and never let me be separated from You. O my God and my All, make me a saint! AMEN
Resource: http://feastofsaints.com/prayersofsaints.htm
Novena Ap - Our Lady of Perpetual Help
This is one site that must be shared with all of you, the Redemptorists are offering this beautiful application for your iPod, etc. I'm not very good about all this I don't even have an I-phone but I am sure some of you will find this very helpful through your day. Speaking of Redemptorists priests, they were founded by St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori who learned to see that all things in our life can be redeemed but we all must seek Christ through Mary. I haven't read anything from Saint Alphonsus in a long time but this prayer just rang in my heart. It really makes me think about the previous post that Jen wrote about letting go. We must all learn to let go of what we think that life is supposed to be. What our plans are, what we thing they should be and how we have everything planned out. Our Lord is always showing us that we are not in charge, not even in charge of the weather. :-D Since we belong to God our plans must be His plans and vice versa. So, with this said I will leave you with this prayer from St. Alphonsus:
PERPETUAL HELP ONLINE NOVENA
“Ponder anew what the Almighty can do” is what we sing as we give “Praise to the Lord.” When you heard the angel’s greetings, you wondered what this could mean for you … and how! One reaction might have been to stress out or another to run away or even to consider an unhealthy distraction, but scripture tells us that you “pondered” in your heart. Help me, Mother, to take time to ponder. I react, kick back, and talk back. Teach me to ponder where God is in my life right now, especially the dark places. Hail Mary … Glory be …
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Adoption and Letting Go
One of my very favorite quotes from John Paul II is a quote on adoption.
“To adopt a child is a great work of love. When it is done, much is given, but much is also received. It is a true exchange of gifts.”
He was absolutely right, much is received. We are often told that our children are lucky, but we always respond that we are the ones who are blessed through the gift of adoption.
Why is it then that so many people are hesitant to adopt? It often seems to be something that’s nice for other people to do. I have to admit that I often have a hard time reading about couples who are trying all sorts of medical avenues (within the confines of the church) to conceive, while there are so many children in the US and around the world who are in desperate need of a family. My heart is burdened for these children.
I know adoption is difficult. I know there are many earthly obstacles and children don’t simply fall into our laps because we will them to do so. Finances, paperwork, and preconceived notions, pack a big punch. What if these earthly obstacles are excuses that we have put up to protect ourselves? We put so much energy into trying to conceive that it can become our job, our identity. What if we put that energy into providing a loving home for a child that God has already put on this earth?
No, I don’t think the earth is over-populated and no I don’t think women should stop seeking medical intervention to help overcome infertility. I’m only saying that God commands us to look after the orphans and the widows. Maybe for some of us that involves welcoming a child into our home as an adoptive parent.
This is where the letting go comes into play. Adoption is letting go. Letting go of our fears, anxieties, and our desire for control. Letting go of the “what if’s”. We need to let go of the thoughts that we have somehow failed, our bodies have failed, or we have done something wrong to miss this blessing of biological children. Every bit of suffering is meant to draw us closer to Christ. We need not be so focused on the perceived missed blessing of not conceiving a child, that we neglect the blessing that God is trying to give us.
We have to let go of how we have envisioned our family and embrace the family that God has called us to have. That means different things to different people. Maybe for some it means that they will never have children. For others it means letting go of the dream of having a large family, or maybe it means parenting children of a different race.
When we are open to God’s plan it doesn’t confine us or box us in, quite the contrary, it frees us to truly be the persons God created us to be. Maybe in striving so hard for a biological child we are missing the blessing God has in store for us, the blessing of simply being parents.
“For I know well the plans I have in mind for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare, not for woe! plans to give you a future full of hope” Jeremiah 29:11
Jen blogs about faith, home education, and adoption at Forever, For Always, No Matter What
Stories of Grief, Love and Hope
By Sue Elvis
Some years ago, I used to say, “I’m ready to do Your Will, Lord but please don’t send me any suffering." Perhaps this wasn’t much of an offering. I knew suffering would involve much pain and I was afraid.
Often when I try to push fears to the back of my mind, God arranges matters so that I have to face whatever I feel I can’t deal with. And this was the case in 1999 when, for the first time in my life, I was plunged into a sea of suffering like nothing I’d ever experienced before. One day I was in full control of my life, the next, my world was in pieces and I was choked with the feeling that I wouldn’t survive. Finding out that our unborn baby was unlikely to survive after birth was a very frightening, distressing feeling and I was full of panic as I looked ahead to what should have been a happy event in our lives.
The next five months were a mixture of calm as I tried to place my trust in God, and despair as I contemplated holding our dead child in my arms. How could a mother be expected to survive the death of her own child? I prayed so much during those months asking God for a miracle of healing for our child.
Thomas was born and it was soon obvious that God had not healed him. There are not enough words to describe our pain and suffering. We watched Thomas being wheeled away to the intensive care unit, seconds after his birth, and our first look at him came hours later: a tiny body hooked up to a life support machine. Thomas lived 28 hours and that time seemed like months. We arrived back home 48 hours after setting off for the hospital and it was inconceivable that we had been away for such a short time. Our lives had been changed forever and it was difficult to come home and pick up the threads of everyday life…
This is the start to one of my Thomas stories. It comes from my book Grief, Love and Hope.
I started writing my Thomas Stories quite a few years ago. At first I just wanted to record our son’s life. He lived for only a fleeting moment and I wanted to say, “I have a son. His name is Thomas. He didn’t live very long but his life was valuable. And we love him so very much.”
Later a friend suggested I share my stories so that I could connect with other bereaved parents. Grieving is such a lonely existence. Sometimes we feel we are going crazy. Does anyone else feel like we do? And does anyone survive the deep sorrow of losing a child? By sharing we can encourage each other, give hope and lessen that feeling of isolation.
I wrote my first Thomas Stories for a homeschooling newsletter. Then I gathered these stories together, and added some more: my book Grief, Love and Hope came into existence.
After the publication of the book, I was very surprised to find I had still more to say about Thomas. He might have lived only for one day but he has affected our lives forever. I am continually amazed how our son works his way into my writing. So more Thomas Stories were written and I have been posting them on my blog Sue Elvis Writes, as well as here on this blog.
But now I feel my stories need a home of their own, a blog just for Thomas. So I have created Stories of Grief, Love and Hope.
I will be gathering all my Thomas stories together and posting them on this new blog. Some you will find in my book Grief, Love and Hope. And some have been published here and some on my Sue Elvis Writes blog. I am sure Thomas will keep on inspiring new stories so there will probably be entirely new posts too.
I would also like to write about the experience of miscarriage after losing seven little souls much too early.
Maybe you have experienced the sorrow of losing a child yourself, or you might be supporting the bereaved, or maybe you’d just like to learn more about the experience of grief.
If you would like to share my stories of our precious son, please visit my new blog, Stories of Grief, Love and Hope. I would feel very honoured if you read my posts.
And if you know of anyone who is suffering and might want to connect with another bereaved parent, I would be grateful if you told them about my blog.
Please visit Sue Elvis Writes and Stories of Grief, Love and Hope
Monday, August 15, 2011
Mondays with Elisabeth
"What most people call "hope" is nothing but pleasant anticipation, which has as its reverse disappointment. It is here that the teaching of Christ again reveals its sublime and consoling features, more plainly perhaps than elsewhere. It is the great source of faith, and "no man cometh to the Father" but by Him, that is, Jesus Christ. Through charity, it gives us all our energy for good, and that peculiarly passionate love which is implied by the very word charity." ~ Elisabeth Leseur Servant of God
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