To hear Fr. Z's homily at our parish click HERE
Do be sure to see his great post about our great priests HERE
I'd sure have liked to be a fly on the wall in the rectory.... and on the table!
October 5, 2010
October 4, 2010
Happy Feast of St. Francis
What a lovely way to celebrate the Feast of St. Francis in a special way.....The Franciscan Crown Rosary
The Franciscan rosary, or as it is properly called, The Franciscan Crown, dates to the early part of the 15th century. At that time a young man who found spiritual joy in weaving a crown of wild flowers for a beautiful statue of Mary decided to enter the Franciscan Order. After entering the community, however, he was saddened when he no longer found the time to gather flowers for his personal devotion. One evening, while feeling tempted to abandon his vocation, he received a vision of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The Virgin Mother encouraged the young novice to persevere by reminding him of the joyfulness of the Franciscan spirit. She also instructed him to meditate daily on seven joyful events from her own life as a new form of the rosary. Instead of a crown of flowers, the novice would now weave a crown of prayers. Before long, many other Franciscans began to pray the Crown and soon it spread to the entire Order, becoming officially established in 1422.
-Taken From The Franciscans
How To Pray the Franciscan Crown Rosary
1. The Franciscan Crown consists of seven decades of Hail Mary's, each preceded by an Our Father and followed by a Glory Be.
2. The Crown recalls the seven joys of Mary and how she responded to the grace of God in her life.
-The Angel announces to Mary the birth of the coming Redeemer
-The Blessed Virgin Mary visits her cousin Elizabeth
-The Savior is born of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the stable of Bethlehem
-The Magi Adore the Infant Jesus
-The Child Jesus is found in the temple
-The risen Savior appears to the Blessed Virgin on Easter morning
-The Blessed Virgin Mary is assumed into heaven and crowned Queen of the Universe
3. It begins with the sign of the cross which is then followed by seven decades, each consisting of one Our Father, ten Hail Mary's and one Glory Be.
4. At the end of the seven decades, there are two additional Hail Mary's, bringing the total of Hail Mary's to 72 years.
5. The Crown is concluded by praying one Our Father and one Hail Mary for the intentions of the Pope.
October 3, 2010
Pumpkin Smashing
I wonder what people did before cellphones were able to take pictures?
We got our first heavy frost so it is time to harvest.
Then Aragorn came up with pumpkin smashing.... real pumpkin smashing
We took it to a whole never level. I mean you can't just smash a giant pumpkin (or even our small giant pumpkins) on any old street! It really requires a little height.
Pippin does a little discus (diskus?) throwing with pumpkin pieces. I wonder how this would rate alongside the local "cow chip" throw (yes, if you can believe it, such an event does exist!)
Frodo tossing a piece of his smashed pumpkin.... just to make sure it was dead.
Poppy could not be left out.
Next...............
Yes, that is one of our small pumpkins No, I did not splice in a yellow apple.
This game isn't just for men any more, make way for the ladies. Really, they are dainty little creatures.
Heave-ho, the little ladies go.
And here is part of our harvest. And yes, they are all ours, so are the pumpkins.
The children helped Aragorn build that giant corn shock.
We ran into dinner with our smashing and shocking so we pulled out some s'more supplies to make s'mores. The down side is that we had planned to use the giant marshmallows, just for effect, but alas something ate little holes in them. No one (except me) cared what size marshmallows we had, so obviously it was only for my effect. I was able to offer it up and eat a regular size s'more... or three.
I think it might be a crime that a 1 year old gets a marshmallows but there are certain special privleges that 10th babies are entitled to.
We ate some of the giant watermelon, this one was a smaller one of course. But the seeds were huge, about 4 times the normal size.
The 10th baby privleges extend to a chocolate bar?! I would have had heart failure if this was my first baby. Please notice the leaf that is stuck to her hand, she wasn't sticky or anything.
Ok, good, now at least she is eating watermelon I can handle that.
This is my children's style of a great meal. You can just spitui the seeds any old way and not get in trouble for spitui-ing and then fling your rind. It's all biodegradable afterall.
We also baked the corn in the coals. This was not your ordinary sized piece of corn, it was at least 3 inches longer than usual.
The concensus was "Um, I don't think I want any more watermelon now."
We got our first heavy frost so it is time to harvest.
Then Aragorn came up with pumpkin smashing.... real pumpkin smashing
We took it to a whole never level. I mean you can't just smash a giant pumpkin (or even our small giant pumpkins) on any old street! It really requires a little height.
Pippin does a little discus (diskus?) throwing with pumpkin pieces. I wonder how this would rate alongside the local "cow chip" throw (yes, if you can believe it, such an event does exist!)
Frodo tossing a piece of his smashed pumpkin.... just to make sure it was dead.
Poppy could not be left out.
Next...............
Yes, that is one of our small pumpkins No, I did not splice in a yellow apple.
This game isn't just for men any more, make way for the ladies. Really, they are dainty little creatures.
Heave-ho, the little ladies go.
And here is part of our harvest. And yes, they are all ours, so are the pumpkins.
The children helped Aragorn build that giant corn shock.
We ran into dinner with our smashing and shocking so we pulled out some s'more supplies to make s'mores. The down side is that we had planned to use the giant marshmallows, just for effect, but alas something ate little holes in them. No one (except me) cared what size marshmallows we had, so obviously it was only for my effect. I was able to offer it up and eat a regular size s'more... or three.
I think it might be a crime that a 1 year old gets a marshmallows but there are certain special privleges that 10th babies are entitled to.
We ate some of the giant watermelon, this one was a smaller one of course. But the seeds were huge, about 4 times the normal size.
The 10th baby privleges extend to a chocolate bar?! I would have had heart failure if this was my first baby. Please notice the leaf that is stuck to her hand, she wasn't sticky or anything.
Ok, good, now at least she is eating watermelon I can handle that.
This is my children's style of a great meal. You can just spitui the seeds any old way and not get in trouble for spitui-ing and then fling your rind. It's all biodegradable afterall.
We also baked the corn in the coals. This was not your ordinary sized piece of corn, it was at least 3 inches longer than usual.
The concensus was "Um, I don't think I want any more watermelon now."I never heard of a dog that ate watermelon.
For dessert we ordered pizza. (that statement has absolutely nothing to do with that picture....)
For dessert we ordered pizza. (that statement has absolutely nothing to do with that picture....)Happy Feast of St. Therese the Little Flower
What Peace!What flower would you be if you died with the Odor of Sanctity?
I'd be a Lily of the Valley.
Happy Feast of St. Therese the Little Flower (that is according to the Calendar of the Extraordinary Form :)
October 2, 2010
Life is REALLY Good
I have finally met... in real life.... Fr. Z. As Aragorn said that is like meeting a Blog Star. I was blessed with the opportunity to attend a diocesan chant and sacred music workshop that he attended. See his blog for some pictures since my camera is on the blitz. And I found out he will be saying our TLM tomorrow. I have read any number of his commentaries....
Life is Good Blog Award
Life is Good... when you actually get an award in your lifetime.... thanks Lily!
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Now for the criteria:
To accept the award you must link back and thank the person who gave you the Life is Good award and answer the 10 questions and pass it along to 6 other blogs :)
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1. If you blog anonymously are you happy doing it that way; if you are not anonymous do you wish you had started out anonymously so you could be anonymous now?
Yes, because in real life I could never name my children names from Middle Earth and pretend I live there.
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2.Describe one incident that shows your inner stubborn side.
Do I have an inner stubborn side? I thought I kept it all on the outside for all to see!
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3.What do you see when you really look at yourself in the mirror?
I try not to look but when I absolutely must I see that I have obviously had 10 children.
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4. What is your favorite summer cold drink?
Lemonade
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5. When you take time for yourself, what do you do?
Take a shower.
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6.Is there something you still want to accomplish in your life? What is it?
I think an even dozen children would be nice.
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7. When you attended school, were you the class clown, the class overachiever , the shy person, or always ditching?
Class Clown.
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8. If you close your eyes and want to visualize a very poignant moment of your life what would you see?
The day Aragorn came home to say that our priest had died a martyr. And the 10 times a new baby was laid in my arms for the first time.
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9. Is it easy for you to share your true self in your blog or are you more comfortable writing posts about other people or events?
My blog is mostly for sharing pictures. Though I do add in some 2c now and again, I wouldn't be me if I didn't! I think I am the same in and out of my blog, though I might be a little more cranky outside my blog! :)
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10. If you had the choice to sit down and read or talk on the phone, which would you do and why?
Read, because by the time I sit down, the rest of my world is asleep.
October 1, 2010
The Quest
To dream the impossible dream
To fight the unbeatable foe
To bear with unbearable sorrow
To run where the brave dare not go
To right the unrightable wrong
To love pure and chaste from afar
To try when your arms are too weary
To reach the unreachable star
This is my quest
To follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right
Without question or pause
To be willing to march into Hell
For a heavenly cause
And I know if I'll only be true
To this glorious quest
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest
And the world will be better for this
That one man, scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To reach the unreachable star