Motherhood = A Calling

As a member of an on-line Catholic mother's group I am continually coming across intriguing articles about being a wife/mother/parent. I have SUCH a passion for learning about my vocation as wife and mother. Yesterday, one of the mothers in our group shared this article and I found it particularly intriguing and thought I'd share. It certainly puts my life as "mother" into perspective. Happy reading!

Theotokos - Holy Mother of God, Ora pro nobis.

Happy Mother's Day!

 She remained hidden for thirty years at Nazareth with the Savior. There her chief concern was to raise her Divine Son, to merit increasingly the confidence of her husband, and to provide her family with what they needed by working as her strength allowed. - The Imitation of Mary

Today I am thanking God for all of the beautiful mothers in my life (physical and spiritual) who, by their examples, have taught me to be a better and holier mother. My Mary, the Mother of us all, guide each one of us on our journeys toward her Son.

PAX, b

Happy Feast of the Annunciation!

"26 In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. 28 And he came to her and said, "Hail, O favored one, the Lord is with you!" 

29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and considered in her mind what sort of greeting this might be. 30 And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31 And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32 He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end." 34 And Mary said to the angel, "How shall this be, since I have no husband?" 35 And the angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. 36 And behold, your kinswoman Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37 For with God nothing will be impossible." 38 And Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word." And the angel departed from her".

 
- The Gospel according to Saint Luke, Chapter 1

Have a Blessed and Happy Feast Day!

From the Mouths of Babes...

Yesterday, as we sat down to pray before lunch, I noticed that my ten month old folded her hands when the prayer began, and kept them folded until the prayer was done. I made a comment to my boys about how lovely it was that their little baby sister was praying with us. Without skipping a beat, my "nearly three" said "Oh yes. That  makes Mary so happy".

What an awesome privilege and blessing it is to be a mother!

Praying the Rosary with the littles - Part II (How to Make Fabric Roses)

Here is a picture tutorial showing the steps I took to make the fabric rose counters mentioned in this post. It is really quite a simple project that is not so simple to explain so hopefully these pictures will give you a good idea of how to put them together. If you have any questions please feel free to write them in the comments at the bottom of this post and I'll try to respond promptly.


Step #1: Select and purchase fabric. Hint: For this project a thin cotton fabric is by far the easiest to work with. (I chose a two-toned red for added dimension. Almost all fabric comes on a bolt and is the same width so all you have to know is that for each rose you will need 2.5 inches of fabric. At the store I purchased mine, they required that I buy at least 8in. of each kind. So I purchased 8 in of the white fabric (this made 3 Our Father roses) and 12.5 in of the red fabric (this made 9 Hail Mary roses). This entire project cost me under $5.00(!)...which was less than I would have spent on yarn or cheap artificial roses).


Step #2: Mark lines on the backside of the fabric every 2.5 inches and cut along each line.

  

 Step #3: Fold one strip of fabric in half and pin all along the rough side (I prefer to place the pins perpendicular to the needle/thread path).

 Step #4: Using a running stitch, sew all the way across the rough side of the fabric.

Step #5: Pull your needle/thread to make the fabric "scrunch" a bit and then tie off and snip the thread.

Your strip should now look something like this.

 Step #6: For defined petals, sew perpendicular lines (to your original tread path), every 2 inches, all the way across the strip.

Can you see those petals?

Step #7: Start to wrap the petals around themselves and sew the bottom as you wrap (I use what I call a whip-stitch...I'm not sure what it is actually called).

 Step #8: Bravo! You've made your first rose! Give yourself a pat on the back and know that Our Lady is smiling upon you.


Here are some of the roses in our basket...

 I can't wait to get started on a yellow set for my "nearly two" and a pink set for my God-daughter!

I picked up this heart shaped basket from our local Goodwill for 99 cents! I think it is just perfect for our roses.

Our offering of love

I'll leave you with the following two quotes...


"I call upon all believers, all Christian families, all the sick, the elderly, and especially the young, to once more take up the Rosary in your daily lives. May this appeal of mine not go unheard."
                                                                                            -Pope JPII Letter on the Rosary

This image of Our Lady of the Rosary is the painting that Blessed Bartolo Longo obtained in Naples for the people of Pompei on November 13, 1875.

“O Blessed Rosary of Mary, sweet chain which unites us to God, bond of love which unites us to the angels, tower of salvation against the assaults of Hell, safe port in our universal shipwreck, we will never abandon you. You will be our comfort in the hour of death: yours our final kiss as life ebbs away. And the last word from our lips will be your sweet name, O Queen of the Rosary of Pompei, O dearest Mother, O Refuge of Sinners, O Sovereign Consoler of the Afflicted. May you be everywhere blessed, today and always, on earth and in heaven”. 
                                                                                                  -Blessed Bartolo Longo

Laundry Day

Each Thursday and Saturday are laundry days at our house. Today is Thursday...I generally dread this day but today I am inspired to take on the task and to do it with joy.

The day started out as usual. breakfast, prayer, etc...then I faced "the giant"...literally the giant pile of laundry (8 loads!) in my hallway. Daunting. I separated all of the laundry and went (mentally griping all the way) to the laundry room closet to start the first load...when who did I see peering out from between the hanging coats but Our Lady herself! Here's a picture to prove it.

It is amazing how an image can change your entire outlook. I see this image every time I open the laundry closet door but today it touched me in a new way.

I sometimes have a hard time relating to Our Lady because...well because she's PERFECT! AND she has ONE child who also happens to be PERFECT! But today it hit me...Mary had a LOT of work to do that because of modern conveniences I do not have. I mean I stress over eight loads of laundry but in order to wash her family's clothes she had to work HARD...ALL DAY...hunched over a bucket or stream...scrubbing with her bare hands...knowing she still had dinner to prepare (no fast/frozen food back then ladies and gents) and despite all of this she did not have a thought of complaint but instead said "Fiat", "let it be done to me according to Your Word". What a woman! I want to be more like her!

So today I am just grateful. I guess eight loads in my automatic washer and electric dryer aren't as bad as I thought...after all.