3 Priests, A Deacon and 4 Eucharistic Ministers

This will be the shortest blog post you will ever see from me.......

Why on Earth, would there be a Sunday Mass on the feast of the Epiphany that had Three Priests on the Altar and a Deacon and have not one, not two but four Eucharistic Ministers administering the Most Blessed Sacrament and only one Priest? No one is entitled to handle the Most Blessed Sacrament but the priest unless extreme circumstances have presented themselves.


This is when one would be OK but not great.....

As this very brief section of Fidei custos had not proved sufficient to settle all doubts and questions that were stirring in regard to the permissibility of laymen distributing Holy Communion, the same Congregation four years later issuedImmensae caritatis, which places this topic first among the matters it considers. Here we get a more detailed picture:
There are various circumstances in which a lack of sufficient ministers for the distribution
of Holy Communion can occur:
1.  during Mass, because of the size of the congregation or a particular difficulty in which a
     celebrant finds himself
2.  outside of Mass, when it is difficult because of distance to take the sacred species,
     especially in the Viaticum, to the sick in danger of death, or when the very number of
     the sick, especially in hospitals and similar institutions, requires many ministers.
Therefore, in order that the faithful who are in the state of grace and who with an upright and pious disposition wish to share in the Sacred Banquet may not be deprived of this sacramental help and consolation, it has seemed appropriate to the Holy Father to establish extraordinary ministers, who may give Holy Communion to themselves and to other faithful under the following determined conditions:
3.  Local ordinaries have the faculty to permit a suitable person individually chosen as an
     extraordinary minister for a specific occasion or for a time or, in the case of necessity,
     in some permanent way, either to give the Eucharist to himself or to other faithful and to
     take it to the sick who are confined to their homes. This faculty may be used whenever:
     a.  there is no priest, deacon, or acolyte;
     b.  these are prevented from administering Holy Communion because of another
          pastoral ministry or because of ill health or advanced age;
      c.  the number of faithful requesting Holy Communion is such that the celebration of
           Mass or the distribution of the Eucharist outside of Mass would be unduly
           prolonged.
4.  Local ordinaries also have the faculty to permit individual priests exercising their sacred
     office to appoint a suitable person who in cases of genuine necessity would distribute
     Holy Communion for a specific occasion. ...Since these faculties are granted only for
     the spiritual good of the faithful and for cases of genuine necessity, priests are to
     remember that they are not thereby excused from the task of distributing the Eucharist
     to the faithful who legitimately request it, and especially from taking and giving it to the
     sick.
When we read of "the size of the congregation or a particular difficulty in which a celebrant finds himself," it would fly in the face of common sense to say that the document had anything other than unusual situations in mind—massive gatherings where it would take an hour for a lone priest to distribute communion to everyone, or a health-condition that would make it nearly impossible for the priest to stand long enough to distribute hosts to all of the faithful receiving. It is taken for granted that if another priest or a deacon is available (at the rectory, for instance), he will assist at the appropriate time, and that when no such person is available, it can only be an undue prolongation of the length of Mass that might justify lay involvement. It is difficult to maintain that five or ten extra minutes of silence or good sacred music constitutes an undue prolongation. The liturgy is not, after all, an assembly line in which the chief aim is efficiency, making sure the gadgets move along as quickly as possible. A Mass that once in a while spilled over the clockwork sixty minutes might break the spell of utilitarianism under which almost everyone in the modern West is enchanted. Immensae caritatis also seems to take it for granted that a layman appointed to the role, after all other possibilities have been exhausted, will usually have it only temporarily, for some occasion(s) when his help is desperately needed. "These faculties are granted only... for cases of genuine necessity."
Holy Communion and Worship of the Eucharist (1973)
Issued in the same year by the Congregation of Divine Worship, this instruction repeats the teaching of Immensae caritatis in slightly different words.

It is primarily the function of priests and deacons to distribute Holy Communion to the faithful who seek it. It is eminently fitting, therefore, that they should devote a reasonable part of their time, in keeping with the needs of the faithful, to this exercise of their ministry. Acolytes duly appointed, moreover, may, as extraordinary ministers, distribute Holy Communion when no priest or deacon is available, when neither priest or deacon is able to distribute it on account of ill health or advanced age, or because of the pressure of other pastoral duties. Acolytes may similarly distribute Holy Communion when the number of the faithful approaching the altar is so large that the celebration of Mass or other sacred ceremony would be unduly prolonged. The local ordinary may give to other extraordinary ministers the faculty to distribute Holy Communion whenever this seems necessary for the pastoral good of the faithful, and when no priest, deacon, or acolyte is available.²

http://www.ewtn.com/library/Liturgy/EXTRMIN.HTM

So truthfully there IS NO EXCUSE for Eucharistic Ministers in my Church on the Feast of the Epiphany, because absolutely NONE of the criteria were met.

Comments welcomed.

This is why I have found a Tridentine Mass to attend on Sundays.

I Am A Wife and Mother, That Is My Vocation

Before I was married, my vocation was to be single and to do that to the best of my abilities. My job was service adviser at a car dealer, well several dealerships. Then I got married. My vocation was to be a wife, to serve my husband and on the flip side, for my husband to serve me and in doing so for us to serve God together as one flesh. My job was still a service adviser. Then 3 years later, I got pregnant, my vocation was to be a wife and mother, my job was still to be a service adviser. So you see over the past 9 years my vocation has shifted, my job has since melted into my past but my vocation has gotten bigger and more occupying, being a mother is a vocation. 

You can never turn off parenthood, at 1a.m. you are still a mother or father. Being a parent is a vocation, it is a lifetime dedication that never gets turned off, no vacations are given, no overtime paid and there is absolutely no sick time. Even if you are blessed with some time away from your children, they are always there, on your mind, in your heart. It is a vocation to be a mother, it is not a job, you serve your children, their needs are not annoyances, but as a mother, they are your main purposes. 

My husband (another vocation) is a mechanic, or as we like to call them now, auto technician. When he goes to work, he punches in, he works hard all day, if he ever took a lunch, he would punch out, when he comes home he punches out, and no one expects him to be a mechanic after he leaves work unless he wants to or he sees an old man stranded on the street, then he would try to help. He is a mechanic, that is his job, but he never gets to take off the husband hat or the daddy hat. If one of his children need him at 2am he is getting out of bed and taking care of it, because it's a vocation. 

Wife, mother, husband, father, single, priest, deacon, nun, sister or brother (both in religious life and in family life), daughter and son, are all vocations. Positions in life that never go away, that are always a part of who we are and how we function. I am a lay person in the church, I realize that the jobs of a priest are many, they are exhausting, taxing and at the end of the day probably lonely, I know it is a hard job, especially today, to be a priest, except, it's not a job; it's a position in life God has called you to, just like wife and mother are the life positions God has called me to. I know it is a hard vocation, but a priest is a priest every day of his life, all day long from sunrise to sunset and all the time in between, there is no day off, contrary to what some might think. It's unfortunate that some priests think they get days off, I don't understand the mentality behind that, because I, as a mother, don't get a day off and as a father, my husband doesn't get a day off, and God forbid either or us think we get a day off from marriage. In my estimation, it is shameful to think anyone gets a day off from their vocation. 

Vocations are the hats we can't take off at the end of the work day. They define us as individuals. There is no retirement from a vocation, a nun is a nun for life, she is cloistered and in a monestary in a life that she has given her will over to. She can't just decide she wants to go to the mall, or I guess she could but then why would she have chosen a cloistered life, it was her choice, I can't see a nun rebelling from this life she has chosen for herself to glorify God with. She has given up those trips to the mall for a life of prayer behind a wall, for the betterment of our society. She chose to be a nun, it is her vocation, it is a hat, more then likely, she will never take off. Those beautiful sisters who teach and nurse and minister to the needy, they will remain sisters every day of their lives, tending to the poor and marginalized, this is the vocation they have chosen, that God has called them too, there is no day off for the sisters and their tireless work for the young, the old and the marginalized. The same goes for priests. 

A time ago, sisters and priests would wear habits, so you would know who they are, now they wear what they want. It's very sad, their habits are gone and they are now in the crowd incognito. The incognito effect has allowed them a day off, they can do as they please. We don't want to over work them, we don't even know who they are anymore. Priests used to wear clericals, it is an honor to be a priest, these beautiful men who belong to our Holy Mother Church, should be identifiable in public, whether it is their scheduled day off or not. Clericals should be worn so we can pay them the respect that they deserve, and if they get spit at because there is such a hate for the church of Christ, well then I would refer them to the beatitudes, St.Matthew 5:11 Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: [12] Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you.  

If nothing else is taken from this, I would simply like to say, a vocation is not a job. There is no days off, sick time or vacation. The time clock started the day you decided to be the person God has called you to be. There is no punch out, no retirement and the uniform is one to be worn daily. You'll get a day off when you have finished the race and  you meet our Creator.

St.Paul to the Hebrews 7:1  For this Melchizedek was king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him: [2] To whom also Abraham divided the tithes of all: who first indeed by interpretation, is king of justice: and then also king of Salem, that is, king of peace: [3] Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but likened unto the Son of God, continueth a priest for ever.

A Christmas Prayer and New Year Resolution

I'm not a very even temper. I'm the mood swinging sort, apparently. I have tasks in my own mind that I've GOT TO GET DONE! My mood is constantly changing; my mind always going, planning and working. It's a daily vicious cycle. It has plagued me, so far, my whole mommy life. It's my most important job. I'm missing a few beats. My estimation of mommy is flawed. My own mom was the best; a tender shepherdess, gentle, creative, soft in her demeanor, a great teacher, very patient. My shortcomings are apparent. I want to be my mother, for all her meekness and humility. I have so many flaws.

My kids bear the brunt, of course, everything I do is for them, and I have to get it done. We have to go here, there and everywhere. Angelene must learn to read, I don't want her to be behind, the house must be cleaned. All the kids need teaching. The laundry needs washing and folding. Someone said it only takes 15 minutes to keep the house up once clean....Ah yeah right! It is a vicious cycle and I've got to get it done. I need to do the shopping, the library, the bank, the gas station, dance, I've go to get it done. I STRESS about not getting it done with the heavy feeling in my chest and my 5 minute prior peace is shattered with the stress. Coloring, reading, manners, laudry, cleaning, shopping, repeat. Yet I still stress. We are in the routine now, and yet, I'm still worried, I have to get it done........IT ALWAYS DOES!

I SURRENDER! Here is my prayer, to have more faith, to give more love, to be meek. To emulate that quality I see so prevalent in my mother. My Christmas intention, my New Year resolution, I give up control. I have none anyway, it's all an illusion. I will not be disturbed about to day or my future. God has the control. I am giving my anxiety and effort to God. I'm no longer going to push. If the bible really tells us 365 times, it at least says it once "Do not be afraid". Everything will get done, God is in control.

This is my Christmas prayer. To succeed in my resolution. To give it up to the good Lord, as all the good Irish Catholics say "offer it up". Let the effort be His. What I have to do will be accomplished when it needs to be, in His time. This anxiety needs self mastery. I can only do what God allows me too. That should be sufficient for today.

Pray for my success, please.

Merry Christmas

Blessed New Year.

My Boys Will Be Boys

When I was in the seventh grade, the smartest girl in school (happened to be my good friend) wanted to be my partner for the Science Fair. I was so excited, I might finally receive a ribbon. She thought gender identity would be a good topic and so we presented it to our teacher and after receiving her OK, we set about doing the research. At that time, it was all beyond me; I really didn't understand what exactly we were supposed to be doing. My partner made a board with pictures of toys and just general interests items, of what girls and boy would like, to conduct our experiment. We researched brain, size and aptitude for both male and females and then we did our experiment. 

Our experiment consisted of calling a few boys and a few girls from Kindergarten and up to 8th grade study the board for about a minute and then report back what items on the board they remembered. It was fun! All the results from every one who participated were logged and then we did our report on gender identity based on the results of our experiment. It wasn't anything overly groundbreaking; I believe we won second or third place (We got a ribbon!!). The boys reported remembering boy items! I know unbelievable, right? The girls remembered the girl items. Both boys and girls remembered gender neutral items like a school bus. Our hypothesis was gender identity was hardwired into the brain. We should've won first place, in my opinion. Amazing a seventh grade science experiment placed boys and girls in different categories. Boys liked different things then the girls did. Not one boy remembered the hair brush or ribbon, they all remembered the football helmet and the firetruck. It was very interesting, I didn't even realize how compelling this was then, but I do now.  

We have made the decision to homeschool our children.  A lot of our reasoning is due to the definite blur of gender lines in public schools and the curriculum issues that have cropped up in the past ten,fifteen years. My son, Michael, is all boy from the first noises he made, boy noises, grunting, car sounds. Francis is still too young to really judge his disposition, but I'm guessing he will be right in line with Michael. If you sit on the floor for even just a second, Michael comes right over and tries to take you down. He may even be a great wrestler someday. He truly has a sweet disposition, he tends to gaze at everyone under his super long eyelashes. He is shy and sweet but loud and obnoxious all at the same time. I wouldn't change him for the world. He loves planes, trains, helicopters and automobiles. He is a boy, energetic and amazing. He doesn't have energy issues, he is just a boy. He is always on the move, and very destructive. He loves to rip apart his train table, I think it brings him joy to rip it apart and watch me put it back together again. He has an appetite neither of his older sisters can touch. He is predisposed to love junk food, the girls would never think of touching. He is all boy. 

I know if I sent my sons to school the boy would be taken right out of them. That's what they do now, they put our boys on meds because they have too much energy. They say they are discipline issues because they like to rough house, they're boys, it's hardwired into them. He would be told not to wrestle, play tag, or make gun shapes with his fingers and say bang bang. He'd be told he can't play cops and robbers or God forbid, cowboys and Indians, someone could get hurt.

 I feel it is very important for Michael and Francis to be boys. I can't wait to encourage their play. To watch them be superheros and GI Joes. I can't wait for them to bring me home a frog or even worms just because they're boys and they like slimy things. I can't wait to see them evolve into men. Men who need a woman to smooth out their rough boy edges, because I'm going to let my boys be boys. I think more parents should encourage their boys to be real, Peter Pan style boys........Have you seen that movie lately?

The World Is Going On

I frequent Facebook, daily. I enjoy reading my friends updates and I love the posts on the Catholic Faith. I love my never ending supply of Catholic opinion blogs and Pro-Life news. I enjoy chatting and getting to know people, without Facebook, I wouldn't have the pleasure of knowing at all. Regularly, my news feed is bombarded with images of violence, or parents who did or are doing horrific things to their children, animals starved or beaten, war torn areas of the world, plane crashes with bodies strewn about, agenda's that I am neither for or against. The images that I see are forever etched in my mind and heart. Some of the stories I've unsuspectingly read have caused me to all out cry daily about the state of our world in general. I want to surround myself with beautiful images, stories of courage and bravery but yet monsters and monstrous images cloud my news and make it hard to see the beauty.

I am the proud mommy of 4 beautiful children on Earth and a few in Heaven. These beautiful kids drive me crazy,  brighten my day, give me a huge purpose and make me want great things both in their lives and in the world for them. I don't think my kids will ever know the world as it was even just 20 years ago, things are changing so fast. There was a time when kids just played without play dates, or could eat chips and drink a coke and think nothing of it. Those days are gone. There was a time when people sat down to a meal both at home or out and there were no cell phones in sight, they weren't even a thing yet, and people would talk to each other. Those days are gone. There was a time when you wouldn't be bombarded with horrors, wondering where the beauty was, because we didn't have hand held computer systems continuously feeding us these awful visions and stories that can't be unseen or unread. Those days are gone. It's hard not to incur a jaded view of life when you see these things so clearly and continuously. Sick curiosity causes you to click open a news story better left unread due to the sad, sick and most times gruesome subject matter. Most of us know and understand that our media, both left and right, is playing a role in brainwashing or leading us astray from real truths. Is it any wonder we sickly click on a story that really doesn't need be read by a wholesome soul, because we are looking for the information our news media doesn't say, won't say and are paid to keep hidden from us.






Getting back to my 4 beautiful babies, well each one of them is the sunshine on my soul. They show me the light of Christ, every day. They haven't yet invested in that jaded view coming from social media. They don't even understand the purpose of it at all, except that mommy posts pictures to it. I had a discussion with a friend after Mass the other day, she was talking about the horrors being faced by Israel, how Tel Aviv is burning, all the sins committed daily in our world, and acceptance of all sorts of atrocities, she wonders what is going to happen because something has got to give. I looked over at my little son, Michael, happily running around and I said to her, that all will glorify God in the end. That eventually, a mass awakening will bring about a global change and that good will conquer. I feel this way because God has given me so many beautiful blessings, especially since I wasn't supposed to have any children and here I am with 4 beauties. Things will change, and it will change for them. They may even be a part of that change, but regardless of how much worse it gets, all will glorify God in the end. I can't control what comes across my news feed. I can control what I choose to allow my senses to take in. The less violent and horrific the better. I want to look for the beauty today and I find that reflected in the eyes of my children. God blessed me with them. The world is surely going on.

Motherhood: Who I am, How To Overcome my Shortcomings

A new friend of mine recently posted a link and I was completely enthralled by the article, The Four Temperaments, which list them out and give characteristics, both strengths and weaknesses from each one, sanguine, choleric, melancholic and phlegmatic. I had never actually heard much about this subject, I've heard of personality types and all that, but temperaments fitting into a neat little box made me wonder exactly who I was. So after reading the article and finding myself identified quite well in all the temperaments but not really matching one in particular, I was curious where I would be placed if I took a test of some kind. I went searching and found a The 4 Temperaments Test and The Four Temperaments (pen and paper test). The first identifies your main temperament, the second helps you to pick out your underlying temperaments that add to who you are. No one is a pure temperament, we all have characteristics that come from these four temperaments but one of them will be our most predominant temperament. After taking these two tests I found out I am of a choleric temperament. This predisposition makes me aggressive and angry, prideful and vain and a whole lot of not so wonderful. It sounds so great when you read about it in a secular sense. For some reason the secular only gives you the positives, like this one, taken from Wikipedia, 

Choleric[edit]

The choleric temperament is traditionally associated with fire. People with this temperament tend to be egocentric and extroverted. They may be excitable, impulsive, and restless, with reserves of aggression, energy, and/or passion, and try to instill that in others. [14][15] They tend to be task-oriented people and are focused on getting a job done efficiently; their motto is usually "do it now." They can be ambitious, strong-willed and like to be in charge. They can show leadership, are good at planning, and are often practical and solution-oriented.[14] They appreciate receiving respect and esteem for their work.[16] Pedagogically, they can be best reached through mutual respect and appropriate challenges that recognize their capacities.

There is nothing majorly wrong with being choleric according to Wikipedia or to any other secular source. We live in a perfect world, with perfect people and there is no room to improve or repair any part of us. Right? Well, when you read about a choleric temperament on a religious site such as, Catholic Family News, there is a lot that needs improving, as does all the other temperaments. For instance this is the choleric temperament from the Catholic Family News Site 

3) Choleric temperament. Persons of a choleric temperament are easily and strongly aroused, and the impression lasts for a long time. Theirs is the temperament which produces great saints or great sinners, and while all the temperaments can be utilized as material for sanctity, it seems that the largest number of canonized saints possessed a choleric temperament.

The good qualities of the temperament can be summarized as follows: great energy and activity; sharp intellect; strong and resolute will; good powers of concentration; constancy; magnanimity; and liberality. Choleric persons are practical rather than theoretical; they are more inclined to work than to think. Inactivity is repugnant to them, and they are always looking forward to the next labor or to the formulation of some great project. Once they have set upon a plan of work, they immediately set their hand to the task. Hence this temperament produces many lead ers, superiors, apostles. It is the temperament of government and administration.

These persons do not leave for tomorrow what they can do today, but sometimes they may try to do today what they should leave for tomorrow. If difficulties or obstacles arise, they immediately set about to overcome them, and, although they often have strong movements of irascibility and impatience in the face of problems, once they have conquered these movements they acquire a tenderness and sweetness of disposition which are noteworthy. The saints who possessed a choleric temperament are numerous, but we shall mention only St. Paul, St. Jerome, St. Ignatius Loyola, St. Francis de Sales.

The tenacity of the choleric temperament sometimes produces the following evil effects: hardness, obstinacy, insensibility, anger and pride. If choleric persons are resisted, they may easily become violent, cruel, arrogant, unless the Christian virtues moderate these inclinations. If defeated by others, they may nurture hatred in their hearts until they have obtained their vengeance. They easily become ambitious and seek their own glory. They have greater patience than do the sanguine, but they may lack delicacy of feeling, are often insensitive to the feelings of others, and therefore lack tact in human relations. Their passions, when aroused, are so strong and impetuous that they smother the more tender emotions and the spirit of sacrifice which springs spontaneously from more sympathetic hearts. Their fever for activity and their eagerness to execute their resolutions cause them to dis regard others, to thrust all impediments aside, and to give the appearance of being heartless egoists. In their treatment of others they sometimes display a coldness and indifference which reaches the point of cruelty. The only rights which they acknowledge are the satisfaction and attainment of their desires. It is evident from the foregoing that, if the choleric person pursues the path of evil, there is no length to which he will not go in order to achieve his goal. 

Choleric persons can be individuals of great worth if they succeed in controlling and guiding their energies. They could arrive at the height of perfection with relative facility. In their hands even the most difficult tasks seem to be brought to an easy and ready solution. Therefore, when they have themselves under control and are rightly directed, they will not cease in their efforts until they have reached the summit. They must be taught to keep themselves under the reins of self-mastery, not to act with precipitation, but to mistrust their first inclinations. Above all, they need to cultivate true humility of heart, to be compassionate to the weak and the uninstructed, not to humiliate or embarrass others, not to exert their own superiority, and to treat all persons with tenderness and understanding. In a word, they should be taught how to be detached from self and to manifest a generous love toward others. 

                                            St.Ignatius Loyola, a choleric personality, just like me 

St.Ignatius of Loyola, also a choleric personality type, cultivated the virtues so well, he was thought to be a phlegmatic temperament instead of the fiery one he was blessed with. I wonder how he accomplished overcoming his failings so well with so many hard traits to get passed. Ugh! There is so much of me that needs improving. All the temperament faults listed for the choleric temperament I exhibit, except for the hatred and vengeful part, I am neither of those. I'm quick to be angry, I'm hard and obstinate, I'm arrogant (I like to pat myself on the back for a job well done) just ask my husband who regularly listens to me toot my own horn in the kitchen when I cook. So I exhibit all these awful character flaws and I need to work on changing them. 

I look at myself as a mother, and I wonder what I project onto my children. Today, as we do everyday, I prayed a Rosary with my babies at three thirty in the afternoon. I was very irritated by my daughter, Angelene. We had a series of issues today with her behavior, she wouldn't clean up her room. She was mean to her baby sister and brother, criticized how I made her bed even though she should've made it herself and then criticized how I changed the baby because he almost fell off the now very high changing table. That last little dig was in the middle of the second Joyful Mystery and was enough to push me over the edge. I sent her, very angerly, to her room and told her she would be there for the rest of the day but she'd better continue to pray that Rosary loud enough for me to hear her. She complied. She sat nicely in her bed and said each and every Hail Mary for the rest of the Visitation and of the Birth of our Lord, very loud and very beautifully. My heart was still feeling hard toward her, as I stood in the door and listened and prayed with her. My intention was that something would touch me and soften my very cruel feelings toward my little girl. When we got to the fourth Joyful Mystery, the Presentation, I asked my 2 year old, Christine, to lead it. Angelene, sat in her bed quietly as Christine prayed her decade aloud, she made no answer to the Our Father or Hail Mary and my blood was boiling! Then I looked at her little face sitting there in her bed, she was sobbing, she was so upset that she wasn't able to lead the Hail Mary. My whole being was filled with the love for her. Such a beautiful child, my little girl is! For all her misbehavior today, are the most important part of the Rosary for her, at this point. She adores the Hail Mary! I never noticed this before, and it was exactly what I needed to soften my heart. It came to me just when I needed it, in the prayer that I rely on the most in my day, aside from the Mass. 

Needless to say, I have a lot to work on. Angelene, after this epiphany was allowed to leave her room after we finished the Rosary. I might've been a bit hard on her, but in prayer I asked our Lord to soften my heart to her and right away it was granted. I'm a firm believer in ask and you shall receive! I really have received so much from my prayers, especially the Holy Rosary. Today's post wasn't going to be focused on me and my family, but how to overcome my shortcomings and failings. I have so many defects that I should learn to start asking with more fervor to overcome them. I have not yet been denied any of my requests when asking through the Holy Rosary. Some of my intentions take longer to achieve, but I have yet to be denied a single request. I really do exhibit almost all the evils of the choleric personality type, but in truth overcoming them is just a Rosary away. 

There are no perfect people, not me, not my kids, not my husband or anyone else. We all have shortcomings and failings. We all have defects, some are more predominant then others, but we all have them. There were only two perfect people created, our Blessed Lord and our Blessed Mother and her perfection stems from the child she bore. Every time we call on her, she calls on Him. He denies her nothing! Figuring out your temperament is the hard part. Trusting in God to help us overcome our shortcomings is the easy part if we let it. Use the Rosary, pray it daily, it works.

Meditating on the Rosary, My Journey from the Secular to Religious and the Our Mother's 15 Promises

I always see young men and some girls walking around with Rosary beads hanging from their necks. They are unschooled on what it is, unchurched individuals who have picked up a beautiful Christian weapon and placed it as jewelry around their necks, but if they only new the power that resided in praying the Rosary, their lives would change.For a brief history of the Holy Rosary, view here http://www.theholyrosary.org/rosaryhistory. Our Blessed Mother gave promises for those who meditate on her Rosary faithfully.

FIFTEEN PROMISES OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN

TO CHRISTIANS WHO FAITHFULLY PRAY THE ROSARY

1. To all those who shall pray my Rosary devoutly, I promise my special protection and great graces.
2. Those who shall persevere in the recitation of my Rosary will receive some special grace.
3. The Rosary will be a very powerful armor against hell; it will destroy vice, deliver from sin and dispel heresy.
4. The rosary will make virtue and good works flourish, and will obtain for souls the most abundant divine mercies. It will draw the hearts of men from the love of the world and its vanities, and will lift them to the desire of eternal things. Oh, that souls would sanctify themselves by this means.
5. Those who trust themselves to me through the Rosary will not perish.
6. Whoever recites my Rosary devoutly reflecting on the mysteries, shall never be overwhelmed by misfortune. He will not experience the anger of God nor will he perish by an unprovided death. The sinner will be converted; the just will persevere in grace and merit eternal life.
7. Those truly devoted to my Rosary shall not die without the sacraments of the Church.
8. Those who are faithful to recite my Rosary shall have during their life and at their death the light of God and the plenitude of His graces and will share in the merits of the blessed.
9. I will deliver promptly from purgatory souls devoted to my Rosary.
10. True children of my Rosary will enjoy great glory in heaven.
11. What you shall ask through my Rosary you shall obtain.
12. To those who propagate my Rosary I promise aid in all their necessities.
13. I have obtained from my Son that all the members of the Rosary Confraternity shall have as their intercessors, in life and in death, the entire celestial court.
14. Those who recite my Rosary faithfully are my beloved children, the brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ.
15. Devotion to my Rosary is a special sign of predestination.

When I was a kid my family would pray the Rosary together. It had a lasting effect, I believe that combined with the prayers of my parents, brought me back to the Catholic Church. My life in my teen years was filled with all sorts of debauchery. I remember when I was just about fourteen, I sat on my bed wishing to fit in and had a conversation with God. I was just going to put Him on the shelf for a little while (my exact words, until I get married and have a family) so I could finally make some friends and have some fun. Up to this point I was pretty devout child. I did put Him on the shelf, funny, He was always there when I wanted Him but my prayer life was silent. His beautiful grace fell from me because I willed it away. Looking back, I'm very blessed that I made it through those years. My sins were numerous and in them I had a series of pretty terrible relationships, I smoked cigarettes and pot, I drank, I didn't go to Mass or Confession and very seldom would utter a Hail Mary or an Act of Contrition, although every now and again I did (windows of hope). My parents had no idea just what road I was going down, not because they didn't care but because I was pretty much on top of the temporal things. I had a job, I had friends, I paid my bills, got excellent grades in school. I was well rounded in school, I had a full time job in high school and was a member of peer mediators, we helped people who were in physical fights to work out their problems non-violently. I looked really great on paper. Only God could see the holes being created in my soul. I had a long relationship with a boy while in high school. We were going to get married, but God had other plans and even though I was far away from Him, my will posed the biggest threat to my relationship with this young man. I cheated on him all the time, I couldn't help myself and didn't want to. I realize now if this boy valued me for the person and bearer of life God created me to be, I would've valued myself more. Men have no idea how important it is to respect the body, mind and soul of their women . He ended up finding out and our relationship ended. I ended up in another bad relationship with a man who was into all sorts of heavy drugs, that ended with him coming to my work and trying to steal my jewelry right off my wrist, but not before he helped to create great wedges between myself and my family. After this relationship, I had been offered a well paying job and was on the cusp of my life changing, I was going to the orientation for it and this once I turned my radio off. I prayed a complete heartfelt prayer, Oh God, just send me a nice man, that wants to love me and marry me and I will change my life and live right. I met my husband that day.


Bob and I met on my first day of work. I got his name wrong on several meetings, I never liked the name Bob. I called him Mike, we now have a son named Michael. I couldn't figure out why I liked this guy so much. He wasn't my type, I usually went for Irish boys, he is Italian. I liked my men clean cut, he had a long mullet and facial hair. Truly, this man was stuck in the 80's and I couldn't figure out my attraction for him, to top it off he is eleven years older then me. Lucky for us, relationships were encouraged by our work, several employees met their spouses there and so we started seeing each other. We fell in love, it was real, and it was great. Although when I started this job I uttered that little prayer, I hadn't prayed since, Bob and I got along great and we got engaged eight months after we met. We were planning our wedding, I was still smoking, I was still away from the Sacraments, I was still far away from God. Bob had some funny symptoms, he always had a runny nose, got night sweats and was losing a LOT of weight. He had a tumor that had grown out of nowhere on his neck. He refused to go to the doctors, everyone said, don't worry Bob, it's probably nothing. I didn't accept that, it was definitely something. I threatened to leave him if he didn't go to the hospital. It turned out he had stage 4 Hodgkin's Lymphoma. We consulted with the woman who would become his oncologist, she said that had he waited he would've been pushing up the daisies. He needed to start Chemo right away. She told us we wouldn't have children unless we did IVF, that sent up a big red flag for me. I knew, even though I wasn't practicing my faith, Catholics don't believe in that. I didn't fully understand the teaching at the time but knew we couldn't do that. We talked about it, Bob and I, and we declined. That was when I started to pray the Rosary, that was when I found myself sitting in the back of church at Mass.

The Rosary was easy for me, I remembered it all because my father and mother had us pray it as a family often. My dad is a daily Mass goer and always has his Rosary beads in his hand. Regardless of what he's doing, he prays the Rosary constantly. I never understood it, at times I was embarrassed by it, I totally get it now. So I started praying the Rosary again. I prayed to St. Pio for intercession as well, being that I had made a pilgrimage to his monastery with my mom when I was a kid. I asked for healing for Bob in my prayers. At first it was just me reciting the prayers, but something drew me deeper and deeper into the Mysteries. I found myself reflecting on the events in the life of Christ, I did this mostly in the car. My rides never had the radio on anymore, instead I would pray the Rosary, out loud and in the words I found my mind wondering over the Joyful, Sorrowful and Glorious Mysteries. I was away from praying for so long I had no idea there were Luminous Mysteries to reflect on. In saying the words I found myself really meditating and truly contemplating on the events I was announcing at the beginning of each decade. I started to grow an understanding of the mysteries that had eluded me my whole early life.








I prayed, and finally like I said I decided to go to Mass. I was actually really excited the Sunday I was going to Mass for the first time after being away for so long. I got all dressed up, I still do for Sunday Mass. I got to church, I knew how to go to Mass, bless yourself with Holy Water when entering, genuflect to the Tabernacle, enter the pew and kneel down and say a prayer. I did all this, I was feeling like a pro! Then Mass started and although I remembered all the prayers and maybe my heart prayed them, I remained silent and observed everything. The Gospel was the Prodigal Son, how fitting for me, I sobbed. I really hoped no one noticed. At the preparation of the gifts, I had this epiphany of what was about to take place. After the Hosanna I knelt down with everyone else, I was bawling my eyes out and was feeling very sheepish, I really hoped no one would notice. I was in the pew crying my eyes out, filled with understanding of the Mass and overwhelming sadness, I couldn't receive the Blessed Sacrament! I wanted to so badly but I couldn't. I just knelt there and prayed. I prayed for myself, for healing for Bob, I made a spiritual Communion, it was the most moving experience of my life to that point. I knew I needed Penance. That is a blog all by itself. I went to confession the very next day. I received absolution, I did my penance ( the penance was small in comparison to the massive sins I had committed, again that is a blog all by itself). I went to Mass the following Sunday, I received Communion, I wept. It was awesome.


That is my journey home to the Catholic Church. I never formally left, I never joined any other religion, I always knew it was the truth and honestly for a long while I was guilty of the sin of presumption. Until that diagnosis for my fiance was given, my life was material, cold and very secular. Our Blessed Mother and the Holy Rosary has been a practice of mine for the past several years. I pray it everyday, for all sorts of things. Fifteen minutes of meditation has brought me inner and outer peace. I have overcome vice, sexual vice, smoking and biting my nails. I don't have any of these vices anymore. I don't have any vices at all to speak of. I have a huge understanding of the the life of Christ that my family marvels at. I have an understanding of His life in such a way that it is completely infused. I can quote the Bible in context with that infused understanding even though I have never been a theologian or a Biblical scholar. If my conversion wasn't enough, coming back to the Sacraments so fully is a testament to our Mother's promises, that is truly the most merciful part. I know without the Rosary and the Sacraments my marriage wouldn't have lasted. Our honeymoon was a pilgrimage to Italy. Many unexplained events have happened to us since then. My husband has fully recovered from cancer, we have 3 beautiful babies on Earth, one inutero,and 3 in Heaven interceding for us. I am a stay at home mom, my husband is a mechanic. We make ends meet even when it seems impossible. I even have a better understanding of the tapestry God is creating of my life. His will is most important to me. I regret the years I was away, but know that if I had been devout my whole life, I wouldn't be the person that I am today. Everything, even our poorest decisions happen for a reason. I am walking proof the Rosary works. Meditating is scientifically proven to bring peace, what's better then meditating on God and His earthly life. My Mother in Heaven I converse with everyday. I can't sleep without our daily conversation about her Son. She has brought me closer to Jesus. Every prayer I have prayed since coming back to the church and praying the Rosary has been answered and I am so totally undeserving of God's graces and favors. I would encourage everyone to pray the Rosary. It changes you. I worry about nothing. I have some of the best friends in Heaven anyone could have, St.Therese the Little Flower, St.Anthony, St.Michael, St.Francis, St.Elizabeth Seton, St.Dominic Savio, St.Pio (he keeps finding me), our Blessed Mother and our good Lord. I have intimate relationships with all these. They are always coming to my aid. I can't wait to make more friends in Heaven. So far, they are the ones who hear and answer me regularly.

Pray the Rosary, our Mother keeps her promises. I am walking, talking, blogging, living proof. My conversion is daily and ongoing. Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you, save souls!