Pray for Us as We Join the Pilgrimage of the Restoration

Later this week part of my family will be joining a brigade from our parish, students from Thomas More College of Liberal Arts, and scores of other pilgrims in the Pilgrimage of the Restoration, a traditional walking pilgrimage modeled after the annual Pentecost Pilgrimage to Notre-Dame de Chartres, France which will take a 60+ mile route from the Lake of the Blessed Sacrament at Lake George Village, NY to the Shrine of Our Lady’s Martyrs of New France at Auriesville, NY .

The pilgrimage is now in its 27th year, and, this year, will have a theme of Restoring True Devotion to Mary, through Total Consecration of St. Louis de Montfort.  

As it has always each year, the pilgrimage will be "an exercise of penance and prayer, of contradiction and restoration, having both a personal and social character" with an intention of "restoration of the Catholic family, civil society and the specifically Roman spiritual and liturgical tradition".

Since this will be the first walking pilgrimage that anyone in our family has ever been on, we are a bit nervous about personal logistics, how to pack, and, to be honest, actually being able to complete the pilgrimage. Yet, we are also excited for this opportunity, impressed with the support the pilgrimage organizers provide on their website and blog, and confident that organizers, volunteers, and fellow pilgrims will work together to make this year's pilgrimage a successful one. 

If you would like to join us by jumping on as a last-minute pilgrim, you can register as a walk-on for the whole pilgrimage at the starting point or register as a Sunday-only pilgrim for the final day.

We would also appreciate any and all friends to participate from home and/or to join is in praying this prayer daily:

Pilgrim’s Prayer Pilgrimage for Restoration 2022

To be recited, at the request of Pilgrimage Chaplains, each day by every pilgrim: for the intentions of all pilgrims, for sinners everywhere, for the grace to make pilgrimage worthily together, and for the intentions of the Holy Father, Pope Francis & for all our spiritual Fathers & Mothers in Christ. 

My Lord and my God, take from me whatever keeps me from Thee. My Lord and my God, grant me whatever brings me to Thee. My Lord and my God, take my self, to live wholly in Thee.

~St. Nicholas of Flüe, 1447-1487

Thank you for for praying in union with us as we make our pilgrimage of penance, prayer, and singing to God for restoration.

When Your Child Goes Off to School, Pray

This past week, we moved through a milestone that most other families have experienced by the time their children are in middle and high school: sending a child off to school on a bus.

For my child, it was not that big a deal. For me, it was... hard. So hard. Even harder than dropping the same child off at school in the days prior. As I walked away from the bus stop, tears welled in my eyes and prayers in my heart. I prayed the Guardian Angel prayer, as I do every morning, but that morning I did so with far more urgency and emotion:

Angels of God, our guardians dear, to whom God's love commits us here, ever this day be at our side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

Then, I began to pray spontaneous prayers, and, when I sat down at my computer, shared the following prayer that came to me so that friends who are sending their kids off to school might pray it, too. Perhaps you'd like to join us in praying it:

Dear God, please guard the heart, mind, and body of my child today and that of all her peers and those around her. Bring them safely to, through, and from their school. Encourage them to be filled with honor and respect and to be positive influences on one another's character. Protect them physically, emotionally, and spiritually, Lord. Inspire teachers and staff to speak and act in truth and kindness. Move peers to encourage one another and build one another up academically, emotionally, spiritually... Let all of them look to do small thing with great love, be courageous when they need to be, and be filled with peace and joy. Shield their eyes and ears from anything that would lead them into harm’s way or away from faith in You. As you always do, Lord, please use all things together for good. In Jesus' name, we pray. Lord, we trust in you. Amen.

May all school children, teachers, and staff be blessed with grace and mercy.

Get A Complimentary Printable Act of Hope Copywork Set

Happy Palm Sunday!

This week, after I posted a complimentary Act of Hope copywork printable, a reader reached out to ask me if I might complete our the Act of Faith and Act of Hope sets I had shared with an Act of Charity one.

I was happy to oblige and, so, today, am sharing forward a complimentary Act of Charity copywork printable for her, her children who are working on memorizing it for Confirmation preparation, and anyone else who might be blessed by it.

As with most of my free copywork sets, the Act of Charity copywork set includes a cursive model:

A print model:

And a blank line sheet:

That way, your children can choose to practice their printing, cursive, or both as they work to memorize this prayer.

Also, as usual, to help children who have difficulty with "grounding" their letters when writing, there is a double thick line at the bottom of each line on the blank sheet, and, for those who often forget to space their words, there are spaces between words on the model as a visual reminder.

I pray that this simple Act of Charity copywork set blesses your and yours.

If you have other requests, jut let me know.

You can find more free, printable prayer copywork here!

May our Lord continually to build within each of is the virtues of faith, hope, and charity.

Get a Complimentary Act of Hope Copywork Set

A couple years ago, someone asked me to make a complimentary Act of Faith copywork printable , and I was happy to oblige.

More, recently, I was prompted to trade out the words to make an Act of Hope set and was happy to do so.

Here it is for anyone who is working on memorizing it for Confirmation preparation as well as anyone else who might be blessed by it.

As with most of my free copywork sets, the Act of Hope copywork set includes a cursive model:

A print model:

And a blank line sheet:

That way, your children can choose to practice their printing, cursive, or both.

Also, to help children remember to "ground" their letters, there is a double thick line at the bottom of each line on the blank sheet.  Plus, there are spaces between words on the model to prompt children to leave spaces between words as they copy.

I pray that this simple Act of Hope copywork set blesses your and yours.

If you have other requests, jut let me know.

You can find more free, printable prayer copywork here!

May you always be blessed with hope!

20 Prayer Ideas for Lent

Okay, I admit it: I have not even gotten all of our Christmas books and nativity sets put away and, yet, Lent is almost here.

With the way our life's been rolling, I don't think we'll embrace many of the traditions and customs which we have for Lent in prior years. I do, know, however, that I will attempt to keep my family focused daily on the three pillars of Lent - prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

Thus, I sat down and quickly brainstormed ideas to suggest to my children for for personal Lenten prayer practices as well as for our collective pray-fast-give chain this year. Although most of these are no-brainers, I am sharing them here in case they might inspire you in deciding what to focus on or add to your own Lenten journey with prayer

1. Attend Mass daily whenever possible.
2. Make a spiritual communion together on days when we cannot get to Mass.
3. Make frequent confessions.
4. Get to Adoration.
5. Spend extra time reading Scripture.
6. Get back to praying the Rosary together more often (as opposed to Mom praying it on her own.)
   
7. Read The Creed in Slow Motion together.
8. Attend all or part of a local Lenten mission.
9. Pray the Stations of the Cross.
10. Make a special prayer notebook and list all of the people in our lives that need prayers. Pray for them daily, and add someone new daily.
11. Return to doing a guided examen at nights.
12. Pray the Jesus Prayer throughout each day.
13. Reflect daily on which of the seven capital sins we have been slave to and pray for an increase in its corresponding virtue.
14. Pray together every time we get into our vehicle, not just the first time each day.
15. Pick someone new each day to offer our challenges and sacrifices for.
16. Pay special attention to the intercessions at daily Mass and choose one to pray for especially throughout the day.
17. Go to bed five to ten minutes early and spend extra time chatting with God.
18. Spend an extra five minutes a day in Spiritual Reading.
19. Notice what world event pops up on our screens at the start of each day and pray specifically for the people involved.
20. Spend several minutes in silence each day inviting the Lord to speak to our hearts,

I would love to hear some of the ways you'll be adding extra prayers into your Lenten journey.

Merry Christmas. Please Pray!

Update: Prayers were answered! Our extended family member received the Christmas miracle of stepping down from ICU during the 12 Days of Christmas and, more recently, was able to go home with oxygen and a walker. Praise be to God!

We still have other family that is quite sick and also have friends in ICU, so please keep the prayers coming.

May you and yours have a most blessed 12 Days of Christmas!

And, as you celebrate, would you - in charity - offer prayers for all who need healing.

As so many folks do, we have several extended family members and friends down with sickness right now, and one was trasnferred to ICU last night. It was not the best news to receive on Christmas night, but we trust that our Lord will make good of the situation one way or another.

We have many local friends and family praying and ask you to pray, too.  We believe in Christmas miracles!

A Few Thoughts and Prayers on This Unique (for Us) Independence Day

Happy Independence Day!

This year, my family's 4th of July is a bit different. Instead of being filled with parades, fireworks, and coming together with family and friends, it has been filled with celebrating - and, okay, for me, feeling a bit of mixed emotions about - our youngest child's growling independence.

For, for the first ever, we have dropped our boy off at an overnight camp.

For the next seven nights, we will not see nor hear from our boy in any way. That will be super tough for me. Yet, I am so excited for him.

I never had a chance as a child to go to a sleepaway camp.

I never had an opportunity to be surrounded by people of faith 24 hours a day for seven days, sharing Mass, Rosary, teachings and FUN.

I never knew what it was like to be away from my family, on my own, sailing, fishing, shooting, playing, praying, and getting an incredible taste of independence at a mere eleven years old as my boy will be.

Wow!

He's growing up so fast.

I am grateful to God for the privilege of being his Mom, excited for his opportunity to go to a Catholic boys camp this week, and praying that their is plenty of fun, faith, and fruit involved with his week.

I am also thinking about how full my heart is, but how the joy and excitement I feel for him is tempered with concern and a bit of sweet sadness, too.

It is so hard to let your child go - even if only for a week.

Witnessing a child grow - and giving that child freedom - is not for the feint of heart. Our Lord does this with us every single day. I, as His child, keep growing, keep exercising my freedom. He waits ready to embrace me every time I come near.

Praise be to God!

And happy Independence Day to all.

Please join me in praying for all children who are away from home for any reason this summer and for their families, too.

Dear Lord,

May safety, joy, and hearts for God be everpresent. May our children grow closer to you through their experiences and come home to sleep peacefully again within our grateful gazes after bubbling over with stories of their experiences.

May seeds be planted and faith and gratitude grow. Watch over our beloved children as they continue to grow in independence and in love for you.

Amen.

Spirit of God, Thank You

Spirit of God,

Thank you for granting our daughter and all confirmands

The Gift of Wisdom

so that she may see the world through Your eyes, 

exercising the virtue of charity;

The Gift of Understanding

that she may understand more clearly 

the mysteries of faith;

The Gift of Counsel

that she may make difficult decisions with prudence

and avoid the deceits of the devil

The Gift of Fortitude

that she may have the strength and courage

to live in the faith despite difficulties and disappointments;

The Gift of Knowledge

that she may discover Your will in all things;

The Gift of Piety

to be able to express her special love 

and commitment to You always;

And the Gift of Fear of the Lord

- the right kind of fear - 

that fills her with dread of sin 

 and causes her pause often 

to wonder and revere your Love.

Amen.

Here's that Wonderful Prayer Again as a Bookmark Image

 Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Last week, I shared a beautiful prayer by a holy princess, Mme. Elizabeth, daughter of a king, and sister of Louis XVI that I read in Counsels of Perfection for Christian Mothers.

Since I read the prayer, I have been wanting to pray it daily, but did not always have the words handy. So, I just made a quick bookmark image to help me - because I read something or another daily!

I am sharing the image here in case you want to print, laminate, and use it, too!

You should be able to right click the image to save it and print it in any size you wish.

Hope it blessed you.

Also, if you have not read Counsels of Perfection for Christian Mothers by Rev. P. Lejeuna, I I cannot encourage you enough to do so!

I shared links for here for different ways to access print, audio, e-book, free, and paid versions of the book.

May it inspire you to live God's will for your life well!

A Prayer Too Beautiful Not to Share

Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sometimes, you read a little prayer and it touches you so much that you feel compelled to share it.

Such was the case when I read the prayer of a holy princess, Mme. Elizabeth, daughter of a king, and sister of Louis XVI in Counsels of Perfection for Christian Mothers, a fantastic and seemingly timeless read which as I explained last Sunday is also available as a free audio on the JMJ site, as a pdf on SCRIBD, and as a free audio on YouTube:



The book said that Mme. Elizabeth made the prayer each morning of her life and suggested that readers repeat it daily if not verbatim, then, at least in its general sense.

I think that suggestion is a wonderful one, so am sharing it forward.

Please consider joining in praying regularly:

My God, what will happen to me today, I do not know; but I do know that nothing will happen to me which Thou hast not foreseen and ordained for my greater good. I accept, then, Thy thrice holy will; I submit myself to it, and desire to delight in it despite all the revolts of my reason, and the repugnances of my nature. Amen

Get FREE Printable Morning Glory Consecration Prayer (Short Version) Copywork in Cursive and Printing

Recently, I have found my memory clouded and my mouth stumbling as I go to make my Morning Glory Consecration, so I decided that to help me with (re)memorization, I would make a Printable Morning Glory Consecration Prayer (Short Version) Copywork set for myself.

I am sharing the FREE PRINTABLE set in case itFREE PRINTABLE set might help you, too.

As I typically do when making copywork sets, I have made this one with a print model:

...a cursive model...

...and a blank line sheet.

That way, your children children can choose to practice printing, cursive, or both if they use the set and you can use whichever is more comfortable for you.

I also included a blank sheet if you like to write without lines.

On the lined sheets, I used a double thick line at the bottom of each line to help children remember to ground their letters, I also used spaces between words on the model to help children remember to leave spaces between words as they copy.

I hope this simple Printable Morning Glory Consecration Prayer (Short Version) Copywork blesses your and yours as you work on practicing prayers and handwriting.

You can find more free, printable prayer copywork here!

Soul of Christ, sanctify us.

It's Time to Begin the Seven Sundays of St. Joseph

Here we are, seven Sundays prior to St. Joseph's feast day.

It's a prime day to begin the Seven Sundays Devotion - a long-standing tradition of the Church in preparation for the feast of St. Joseph on March 19.

The devotion honors the seven joys and seven sorrows that St. Joseph experienced as husband of the Mother of God, faithful guardian of Christ, and head of the holy family.

To pray the devotion, attend Mass and receive Holy Communion in a state of grace and pray the prayers in honor of the seven joys and seven sorrows of St. Joseph.

St. Joseph, pray for us.

Eternal Rest Grant Unto Papa...

You rarely know when the last time you'll be able to hug someone is. 

You rarely realize how treasured an ordinary moment can become.

You often think there will be another opportunity to sit and share love all together...

Then, between one goodbye embrace...

... and another, you blink.

A year begins to turn into two, and sickness comes. Earthly goodbyes happen in person for some and at a distance for others...

The swing stands empty.

Sorrow sweeps in. 

And smiles, too.

Smiles breaking through tears.

Memories and gratitude and love.

Love with no earthly bounds.

Today, may I ask for prayers for my extended family as we mourn the loss of our beloved Papa.
A man missed - and treasured!

We are so very grateful for times together - simple times of making paper airplanes, flying kites, sitting on the swing, him waiting in the breakfast nook for us to arrive from our looooong journeys down to visit and always having food cooked up to greet us, visiting Nana at the nursing home together, going to the park, and so much more... Times of love shared from afar with phone calls and cards - oh, how the kids loved waiting and knowing a card would come from Nana and Papa.

Special times like his surprise visits here, him hearing our girl's "hummingbird" heartbeat in utero, him coming up to see "his girl" when she had a (canceled/rescheduled) surgery, him eager to give each infant grandchild sink baths, him sharing ice cream.... Oh, Papa we wish we could serve you homemade french fries...

Sit around a fire together...

Share hugs...

Hang out in the sunshine...

Sit on your lap...

And just spend time on the swing with you...

We wish such ordinary moments of last times together could be just "ordinary" again, not "last".

But you are gone now. Still, your love, your wit, you smile, your dedication, your quiet strength, your enormous impact on our lives will always be here as will our prayers that you and Nana find eternal glory in Heaven.

We are so very grateful for having known you, for having shared so many extraordinary ordinary times together, for the love you showered on us. We are blessed.

Papa, Nana, we love you.

Eternal rest, grant unto them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon them. May the souls of Nana and Papa rest in peace. Amen.