O Sacred Head Surrounded

O Sacred Head surrounded
By crown of piercing thorn!
O bleeding Head so wounded,
Reviled and put to scorn!
Death's pallid hue comes o'er Thee,
The glow of life decays,
Yet angel hosts adore thee,
And tremble as they gaze.

In this, Thy bitter passion,
Good Shepherd think of me,
With Thy most sweet compassion,
Unworthy though I be:
Beneath Thy cross abiding,
Forever would I rest;
In Thy dear love confiding,
And with Thy presence blest.

Lyrics: O Sacred Head Surrounded
Latin: Salve caput cruentatum, St. Bernard

Remembering Rose...

March 19

Rose's birthday...

the feast of St. Joseph...

patron saint of families...

God will wipe away every tear from their eyes,

and there will be no more death, sadness, crying

or pain.

-Revelation 21:4

A Favorite Prayer

My Lord God,

I have no idea where I am going
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.

Nor do I really know myself,
And the fact that I think I am following
your will does not mean that I am
actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please
you does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire in all
that I am doing.
And I know that if I do this, you
will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death, I will
not fear, for you are ever with me
and you will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

-thomas merton

Mother T on NFP

Mother Theresa's take on love...

"I know that couples have to plan their family and for that there is natural family planning. The way to plan the family is natural family planning, not contraception. In destroying the power of giving life, through contraception, a husband or wife is doing something to self. This turns the attention to self and so it destroys the gifts of love in him or her. In loving, the husband and wife must turn the attention to each other as happens in natural family planning, and not to self, as happens in contraception. Once that living love is destroyed by contraception, abortion follows very easily.

I also know that there are great problems in the world — that many spouses do not love each other enough to practice natural family planning. We cannot solve all the problems in the world, but let us never bring in the worst problem of all, and that is to destroy love. And this is what happens when we tell people to practice contraception and abortion."

Mother Teresa, “Mother Teresa Goes to Washington.” National Prayer Breakfast, Washington, D.C., (February 5, 1994).

God's Voice

Once, when I was on retreat in college a nun who was speaking told us to find something in nature that God could use to speak to us. At first I thought this was a little hokey but tried it. She told us not to think about finding something - to just use the first thing we set our eyes upon. Then, after we found the object we were told to reflect on what God was saying to our hearts through it. I don't remember what it was I found on that retreat but I do remember whatever it was spoke to me. So, the other day while my children were playing at our new favorite spot in town, I sat down to rest on a bench, I turned around to see a mountain laurel (my favorite tree) and plucked this leaf from it. Right away I could hear Him speaking...

broken but not completely damaged...

almost severed but still intact...

diseased and imperfect but still living and breathing...

"The will of God will not take you, where the grace of God cannot protect you." -Unknown

Friends

"The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion,
who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement,
who can tolerate not knowing...
not healing...
not curing...
that is a friend who cares."

-Henri Nouwen

Rose

Today is the anniversary of Rose's accident. Most people's worst fears in life do not come true but ours did. The terrible day of the beginning of the trauma of losing her.

Thank you our dear friends that have reminded us of how our Blessed Mother and her most perfect and loving Son were there holding Rose when she needed them.

Dearest and loving Savior,
Continue to look with mercy upon us.
Continue showering your abundant grace upon us.
Continue sending your angels to protect us.
Continue filling our hearts with Your love
to heal us.

Sweetest Rose, pray for us.