Exciting Announcement

 

Family has been visiting so I haven't had a free moment to write here. However, as you see, I have some very exciting news! I am pregnant with our third child! I am due around the end of July, which makes me about 5 weeks along. 

Dearest Mary, 

I look to you now for the help of your maternal love. You understand my trials as an expectant mother. You bore Jesus in your womb. You know the doubts and anxieties that beset me; you know the bodily suffering I endure.

Like you, may I turn all these sorrows into joy. You overcame anxiety by a loving trust in God; you overcame doubt by gentle resignation to His will.
Your motherhood lifted your mind above earth and kept it close to God.
So speak to Jesus now with me, beloved Mother, as I seek prayerfully to learn to bear the trials of motherhood with joy.
Mother of Perpetual Help, Pray for me.

Through Christ our Lord,

Amen.

7 Quick Takes (vol. 2)

1. Maybe it's because my yard is finally covered with a thick blanket of snow or maybe it's due to the fact the children and I have been listening to Christmas songs for almost a week now (!), but I am finally in the holiday spirit! It was tough letting go of my love of the warm, sunny weather, but I am definitely ready to cozy up in front of a fire and sip some steamy, rich hot chocolate.


2. I am making many of my Christmas gifts by hand this year. This summer I taught myself how to sew, so my children will be receiving some really cute crayon rolls (thanks to Lindsey @ The Pleated Poppy) among their gifts. I am also making a small ruffled purse for my 3.5 yo daughter, similar in idea to Susie Harris' ruffled purse tutorial. I am going to slip a child's wooden rosary inside, which I bought here. I know she will be delighted!


3. Peruse one of my newest discoveries in blog land: Wildflowers and Marbles. I found Jen via her post regarding the Morning Basket. She is a homeschooling mother of four and provides her readers with a real wealth of information regarding practical methods of educating at home as well as incorporating the faith into daily life.


4. Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz was elected Vice-President of the USCCB this week. Speaking on the first day of the bishops’ annual fall meeting, he said, "If you had seen Roe v. Wade coming three years out, what would you have done differently? In our Nation we find ourselves at a moment of great opportunity but also great consequence ...In a sense, today is like 1970 for marriage."


The Archbishop was directing his comments to the U.S. bishops, but his question is one that I believe every Christian should think seriously about. What can each of us as baptized children of God, who are called to be light and salt to the world, do in order to illuminate and preserve our society? Particularly now, at this crucial point where the gay marriage movement has been growing in momentum and yet 4 in 10 Americans now believe marriage is obsolete?


5. Did you catch the video of Handel's Messiah sung in a Macy's in Philadelphia? It seems like most people were delighted with the surprise performance by the incognito opera singers. As Steve Ray said in his blog, people in their heart love beauty, spirituality and God:



6. At the library's used book sale last week I was fortunate to come across an inexpensive yet perfect copy of St. Louis de Monfort's True Devotion to Mary. As a fundamentalist Protestant I feared Mary in that I believed more than a passing mention of her was to put me in danger of idolatry. It is with some embarrassment now that I admit I said my first 'Hail Mary' with a fervent plea that God didn't strike me down with lightning! It took me some time to realize that those who have true devotion to the Blessed Virgin understand that to honor and love (not worship) her is a beautiful and sure means to honoring and loving her Son, Our Lord and King Jesus Christ. Anyhow, I eagerly await a quiet moment where I can sit down and begin reading Monfort's highly acclaimed work!


 7. I am super excited about my new (volunteer) role as Newsletter Editor for a local Pregnancy Clinic and Resource Center. It is a both a full-fledged medical clinic that serves men, women, and children at low or no cost, as well as a pro-life resource center for girls and women who are facing an unexpected pregnancy. The best part about it is that it is 100% Catholic, which means that they refuse to give prescriptions or referrals for birth control and the medical director is NFP certified. The staff are all active and orthodox members in the local Catholic parish and they pray openly with all their patients (who desire it). It is a beautiful and Spirit-filled place, and I could not be happier with the opportunity to help them out!

More Quick Takes @ Conversion Diary.

Pasta: Strain No More!

Source: Bon Appetit

For years I boiled pasta, lugged it over to the sink, heaved it into the strainer (usually losing noodles down the sink in the process), and then slopped it into a waiting bowl. Sauce, naturally, was added last.

It resulted in a lot of stickiness and lackluster flavor.

There is a better way.

Toss the strainer!

Did you know that pasta in most restaurants doesn't get strained? In fact, their pots of pasta water are used over and over again throughout the night! 

They simply take tongs, or for short pasta, a scoop colander like this one, and transfer the pasta directly into the pan of sauce, allowing some healthy splashes of water to make their way in as well.

Aside from being a convenience issue -- straining, refilling, and bringing to boil pot after pot of water would be unrealistic -- it actually makes the sauces better. When pasta is boiled, its starch is released into the water. When some of that starchy water makes its way into the sauce, it helps distribute the sauce more evenly while helping it "grip" to the noodles.

I read awhile back that in Mario Batali's restaurants, the pasta is transferred just shy of al dente and allowed to finish cooking in its sauce so that the delicious flavors can infuse into the noodle. I've been doing it this way ever since. It really makes for a more "put together" dish with lovely texture and depth of flavor. 

(Not to mention that it's so much easier not to have to do all that hauling and lugging with a scorching hot pail of water!)

It what works for us --

The Lord is my Shepherd hymn

Loosely based on Psalm 23, one of my favorite poetic passages in Scripture, this hymn soothes my soul.

When I was very young in my atheist home, I had a small, orange pocket Bible with wispy pages tucked away in my bedroom. The Gideons were outside my school handing them out one day, and I hesitantly accepted one as I boarded the school bus. I remember flipping through it with great interest in the evenings when I was alone in my bed.

I must admit, looking at most of the Scriptures was as if I were reading a foreign language. I understood so very little and nothing in particular moved my heart.

Except for Psalm 23.

For nights I would pore over the psalm, wanting so very much to know if the Shepherd described therein actually existed...and if He would indeed "restoreth my soul."

It would take almost ten years until I finally did embrace His existence, His love, and experienced that sweet restoration. It would take six years after that until I was led into the fullness of what He desired for me (communion with the visible Catholic Church). But those quiet moments in my bedroom at night with Psalm 23 reassure me that He has never not been in my life and He has never not loved me.

He has always tried to make Himself known to my poor little soul. I have always been His precious, singularly unique, and uniquely loved creation.

And that is why I love this hymn. Because it reminds me of God, and His love that just refuses to go away.

Catholic Reformer St. Charles Borromeo

(Repost from my previous WordPress blog.)

"Christ summons the Church, as she goes her pilgrim way, to that continual reformation of which she always has need, insofar as she is an institution of men here on earth. Consequently, if, in various times and circumstances, there have been deficiencies in moral conduct or in Church discipline, or even in the way that Church teaching has been formulated—to be carefully distinguished from the deposit of faith itself—these should be set right at the opportune moment and in the proper way." (St. Charles Borromeo, Decree on Ecumenism, 6, Austin Flannery translation)

Today is both the feast day and 400th anniversary of the canonization of St. Charles Borromeo. Appointed Bishop of Milan at the tender age of 25, St. Charles lived during the throes of the Protestant schism and is regarded today as being one of the chief Reformers of the Catholic Church. He played a crucial role in the success of the Council of Trent, which crystallized, formalized, and preserved the apostolic Faith while also making necessary sweeping reforms. At its conclusion, he oversaw the revision and compilation of the new Catechism, Missal, and Breviary.

St. Charles restored ecclesiastical discipline and extensively instructed in the areas of preaching, education of the young, and repression of avaricious priests. He revived strict religious observance in monasteries and convents, as well as founded seminaries for the instruction of the clergy. Above all, he insisted on living the example of reform personally: he allotted most of his income to charity, shunned luxuries, and imposed severe penances on himself. During plagues and famines he visited and fed thousands of people daily, tended to and arranged their medical needs, and depleted his resources in order to clothe, shelter, and bury them.

Profound piety marked St. Charles' life. He had great devotion to the Blessed Virgin and to the meditation on Christ's Passion. He frequently spent 5+ hours on his knees in fervent prayer, at times entire days or nights. Every morning before saying Mass he went to Confession.

Pope Benedict XVI said in a written message today:

"[St. Charles] was aware that serious and credible reform had to begin with pastors". [He focused on] the centrality of the Eucharist, ... the spirituality of the cross, ... assiduous participation in the Sacraments, ... the Word of God, ... and love and devotion for the Supreme Pontiff, readily and filially obedient to his directives as a guarantee of true and complete ecclesial communion".

After surviving an assassination attempt and suffering many hardships in his efforts to reform, defend, and minister to the Church, St. Charles Borromeo died at the age of 46. His parting words were, "Ecce venio," or, "Behold, I come."

For a more in-depth treatment of this great saint, please visit his page @ EWTN.

All Saints Day activities

(Repost from my previous WordPress blog.)


Some snapshots of our day today:



I helped the kids do this fun and easy craft. We colored a few of our favorite saints and adorned them with cotton ball "clouds." My 3 ½ year old little girl loved this! We talked briefly about each of the saints as we colored, and she developed a particularly fond affinity towards St. Elizabeth of Hungary.

I found the coloring pages for free at places around the web such as Paper Dali, Waltzing Matilda, and Catholic Mom. A simple Google Image search yields great results as well!

After lunch we settled down to watch "St. Peter." It is LONG (197 minutes)! There were several moving and beautiful moments in the movie, particularly when Jesus forgave Peter for his betrayal and entrusted him to shepherd the flock of Christians. But I found that overall the movie was lacking, for a variety of reasons. It is not one I would necessarily recommend to anyone to watch. I wonder if there is a better movie out there about St. Peter and the early Church, made from a Catholic perspective?

Later in the day we made All Saints Cupcakes. The white frosting represents the saints that we honor for the holiness of their lives, while the red represents those who have shed blood for the love of Jesus Christ.

Do not be afraid to be saints. Follow Jesus Christ who is the source of freedom and light. Be open to the Lord so that He may lighten all your ways.

- Pope John Paul II

I hope your day was a blessed one!

Follow the All Saints Day Link-up to view more related posts around the blog-o-sphere. :)