Eugeniusz Kazimirowski, 1934

Have someone in your life who causes you to suffer that you feel no love for, yet you help them anyway? This wonderful passage from the Diary of St. Faustina is for you. Thanks to FlockNote’s free Divine Mercy Daily for sharing this morning:

During Holy Mass, I saw Jesus stretched out on the Cross, and He said to me, *My pupil, have great love for those who cause you suffering. Do good to those who hate you. I answered, “O my Master, You see very well that I feel no love for them, and that troubles me.” Jesus answered, It is not always within your power to control your feelings. You will recognize that you have love if, after having experienced annoyance and contradiction, you do not lose your peace, but pray for those who have made you suffer and wish them well (Diary, 1628).

*Note: The bolded portions are Jesus speaking.

Ary Scheffer – Christ Weeping Over Jerusalem – Walters Art Museum

I love this litany and need to pray it more often. Thanks to Mary’s Moms for sharing this yesterday.

Litany of Humility

O Jesus, meek and humble of heart, Hear me.

From the desire of being esteemed,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being loved,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being extolled,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being honored,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being praised,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being preferred to others,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being consulted,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the desire of being approved,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being humiliated,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being despised,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of suffering rebukes,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being calumniated,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being forgotten,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being ridiculed,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being wronged,  Deliver me, O Jesus.
From the fear of being suspected,  Deliver me, O Jesus.

That others may be loved more than I,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I,  Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be chosen and I set aside, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be praised and I go unnoticed, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be preferred to me in everything, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.

Yikes! Christmas is seven weeks away! I was abruptly reminded that the holidays are on their way as my family and I made our very first Advent Wreath with other families at our parish over the weekend. We have a few weeks until Advent begins, but we all know how fast that time flies this time of year.

I recently came across what I thought would be a great Christmas gift for any Catholic this year. The saints were, and still are, one of the most intriguing aspects of Catholicism for me as I was drawn to the Church. I love how the saints are sinful humans, just like us, who overcame their sinfulness to live a life of holiness. If they did it, we can do it!

To learn more about the saints, I would search for books that delved more deeply in the life of a particular saint that caught my attention at mass, RCIA or in another of my studies. I also made use of the saint of day feature on my favorite free Catholic app Laudate. But that feature and most of the other online resources I found about the saints were fairly academic, full of dates and fairly difficult to relate to. It was a bit like reading a history book ;-).

I could handle that, but I wanted my kids to know the amazing lives led by the saints, as well, so I found a few books geared toward kids at the local Catholic book store. However, those felt pretty stodgy to me too — not something kids could relate to, at least not in the year 2014 :).

Recently, I requested a review copy of Lessons from the Lives of the Saints: Daily Reflections for Growth in Holiness by Father Joseph Esper (Basilica Press, $12.95) to see if perhaps it offered a more relatable perspective for Catholic newbies — and kids. It does!

The book is set up as a series of daily readings and focuses on the saint whose feast day is celebrated on that date. Fr. Esper’s look at the saint is a much more personal and readable description of the lives of these saints and their key virtues. He also offers some helpful information, as appropriate, about the Church’s teachings as they relate to these saints, such as explaining purgatory on All Souls Day.

At the end of each saint description, he offers lessons to learn from these saints — a wonderful thing to share with children. For example, for St. Teresa of Avila, he writes that having a lively personality isn’t an impediment to holiness, and for St. Therese of Lisieux, he offers that we don’t have to do great things to glorify God, but rather can do so through living our daily routine faithfully and lovingly.

These are quick reads that you can complete each morning before beginning your day, at lunch or before you drift off to sleep. Keep these virtues in mind and see if you can imitate that saint’s virtue even if for one day. I highly recommend reading it as a family each evening and discussing what we could do in our own lives to live more like these saints in heaven.

Do you have a favorite saint? Please share and tell us why!

Note: This book was provided to me at no cost in exchange for an honest review.

If you are new to the Catholic church or considering joining, Mary is definitely going to be a topic that will come up again and again. Catholics’ reverence of Mary differs greatly from Protestants, and so for many, it’s a long process of understanding why this is so. While this was never an issue for me (where purgatory and contraception were), I truly didn’t have the faintest idea WHY Catholics held Mary in such high regard, and only over time have I begun to grasp the surface of the vast depths of wisdom and grace that is Mary.

My affection for Mary began once I actually joined the Catholic Church. I began to desire to pray the Rosary and the Angelus, consecrated myself to Jesus through Mary and learned more about Our Lady and she has blessed me abundantly. The more I’ve read and researched, the more astounded I am at how amazing this woman truly is and how our reverence, while solidly grounded in the fact that she is the Mother of Jesus, goes much, much deeper.

Mark Miravalle in his book, Meet Your Mother (see how you can win 1 of 4 copies below), does the best job I’ve seen of presenting a thorough, yet easy-to-read look at Mary and all the issues surrounding her, such as her Immaculate Conception, maintaining her virginity, her Assumption into heaven and more. Most of the books I’ve read on this topic barely skimmed the surface and focused more on the virtues of Mary that we should imitate (of course, good information, too :)).

“Virgo det Josef Moroder” by Wolfgang Moroder – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Dr. Miravelle really takes an intellectual’s look at the role of Mary in salvation and overcomes any possible argument you could have to the contrary. If you love to read and learn and dive deeply into a topic, this is the book for you if you desire to know Our Blessed Mother more deeply.

But don’t be concerned that it’s too theological or challenging to read. It IS theological but it’s presented in a way anyone can understand.

I absolutely loved this book and I think it should be required reading for ANYONE joining the Catholic church. Not only should you understand Mary as a Catholic, but you are missing SO MUCH not to delve deeply into the mystery of Mary. I’ll telling you … Mary is a topic I could sit and ponder the rest of my life and still not get it all :).

Thanks to the folks at Catholic Word (for more information and their selection of books, visit www.catholicword.com) and Marian Press, I have four copies of this awesome book to give away and help share the love and joy that comes from Mary whose greatest desire is to save souls for her Son. Enter to win below!

I’d also love to hear from you what questions you have about Mary. A big one for me is how it was determined she is the dispenser of all graces for Jesus. What questions do you have? And do you have a special moment to share about Mary? Please tell us!

In an upcoming post, I’m going to attempt to summarize some key teachings about Mary. I hope to do so in a way that does not diminish their greatness by my simplicity, but that gives a quick look at Our Blessed Mother so more souls may understand and be blessed by her.

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