Coucoumellisms

... one of them looks up at the moon and says, "That looks like a Jesus's body."

I have declared war. Now all I need is an army.  And the arsenal.  If you are the praying type, please leave me a message and I will let you know what we are going to war on. I'm going to need: Scapulars Holy water Blessed oil and salt (where the heck do I get those?) Novenas lots and lots of prayer We've got some pretty powerful "heros" on our side: St. Therese (of Lisieux), Patron saint of missions Sts. Rita and Monica , patrons of impossible cases and difficult marriages/disappointing children respectively St. John the Baptist , Patron Saint of converts and French -Canadians (among many other things) St. Afra , Patron Saint of converts Elizabeth Leseur St. Mary Magdalen , Patron of converts and many others...

To you I fly for aid and for instructions, St. Monica, wondrous exemplar of unswerving prayer for children. Into your loving arms I place my ( child ) children _______, that through your powerful intercession they may obtain the graces for genuine conversion to Christ Our Lord. To you I also humbly appeal, matron of matrons, to ask our Lord to grant me the same spirit of ceaseless prayer He granted to you. All this I ask through the same Christ Our Lord. Amen. O God, Who observed the devout tears and pleading of St. Monica and granted to her prayers the conversion of her husband and the penitential return of her son, Augustine, grant us the grace to implore Thee also with earnest zeal, so that we may obtain, as she did, the salvation of our own soul and the souls of those belonging to us. Through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Because if all this had happened to me, I probably would not have reacted the same way, nor prayed so hard.  And the end result would not have been the same. Actually, I'm amazed.  I think the "power of prayer" has pretty much been, for the past 10-15 years, something that "happens to someone else".  I have been stuck in this rut, where I don't really believe in the power of prayer, and I will offer things up, out of duty, and I offer up my mass for the same intention weekly, and I pray from time to time for the same thing, just in case, you know, it might work, but I don't really put my heart into it, and most of the time I don't pray. If there is one thing that has been "taken away from me" it is my spiritual life.  I used to pray, first thing when I got up in the morning, and read the bible.  Now, I get up, get the children up, and the prayer in the morning is limited to a hurried blessing as they run out the door to catch the schoo...

I have always loved dresses.  There is just something so romantic, so flirty, so feminine and girly about a nice dress.  When I wear a dress, I'm a princess, a lady, a classy babe.  You could twirl me around a dance floor or take me to tea.  We could walk down a red carpet or take the boardroom by force. I also like my jeans.  When I wear my jeans, no mountain is too high to be scaled; no children's toy too lost to be found; no river too far to walk; no chore too hard to be done.  When I'm in my jeans, I'm your best friend, the one you're comfortable with.  We could curl up in a corner and chat or roll in the autumn leaves.  Clothes are just clothes, but they have the ability to take us places in our minds and in our hearts.  Clothes reflect how we feel about and perceive ourselves.  Clothes are fun.  Clothes can take you away from reality and inspire the imagination.  Why else is Hallowe'en (and the ensuing costume pa...

I had this old book  Minute Meditations for Each Day , published by the Catholic Book Publishing Co , copyright 1982, and I hadn't picked it up in a very long time.  In fact, I am not sure that I ever really took the time to read much out of it before. Then, this past summer, Maryssa picked the book up, from the shelf beside the computer, brought it upstairs to her room, and asked me to read the meditations at night, after her prayers. There are days when I ask myself, how can I carry on?  How will I teach my children about God and instill in them the desire to keep up a relationship with him when it seems like everyone is against me?  I feel like I am constantly fighting a battle, and every time I turn around, the enemy has closed in on me even more.  I feel like I have to sneak around teaching them in secret and even become crafty in getting them to mass and other events. There are days when I have no more hope that my children will grow u...

Nicky:  We should move. Me:  You want to move? Nicky:  Yeah, we should move to a bigger house, for when we have another baby. Me:  You want another baby? Nicky:  I want another sister.  (Pause)  Why is Elodie a girl?  Why did they have 2 girls and 1 boy?  Why not 2 boys and 1 girl or 2 boys and 2 girls? Me: I guess you get what God gives you. Nicky:  They didn't even get married before Elodie! Me:  You think you need to get married before each child? Nicky:  When you have something coming out of your belly, you should get married quick.