Memorial Day - Sacred Memories

God bless you and yours in His abundance this Memorial Day Weekend.

A Blessing to Read ~ new blogspot focuses on Eucharist

It always delights me to find a new Catholic blog, so I am grateful that Micki from Holy Cards for Your Inspiration, has directed my attention to the newer blog:  A Blessing to Read.  I urge you to take time to check it out as it focuses primarily upon the Eucharist and is sure to enrich your heart and soul with edifying material.  God bless this effort!

O Rainy Day!

Yes, another rainy day in Ohio indeed.  I'm trying to let it not dampen (no pun intended) our goals for the day ..or week..or the rest of the month for that matter.  We are finishing up our home school for the year; it ends with our assessments/tests, hopefully by the end of this lovely Marian month of May.  Hard to believe our daughter will be a senior in our home school next school year; I will also have a sixth grader and a first grader...this makes life ever so interesting!  Our oldest son successfully completed his first year at college landing on the Dean's list both semesters; producing close to 100 pieces of art between drawings and design projects; doing a T-shirt design for his Catholic college group and a personal portrait project.  This happened without its challenges of course - a relationship break-up and some incredibly terrible winter weather...but I am SO proud of him for holding his own and keeping up with his school work load, working two jobs, commuting, and staying Faithful and Faith-filled in the midst of being an emotional wreck on occasion.  I am grateful I see God growing in and around him in his choices and character.

So, I'm off for another cup of coffee...also determined to lose this extra 10 pounds I somehow gained last summer when my thyroid went off.....still working with my endocrinologist to get things normalized.  Isn't the whole world seem to be "off" these days.....I do think about 2012.......sometimes.....and I wonder...?  Naw!

Have a great day wherever you are...I hope the SUN is shining for you, if not in the sky....then in your heart!

A Beautiful Day for Mary in May

And a beautiful day indeed, as our parish's first communion class will be participating in a procession of flowers, hymns, prayers, praises and crowning of the image of our Blessed Mother, the mother of our Risen Lord and Savior.

Hail Holy Queen, enthroned above, O Maria!
Hail Queen of Mercy and of Love, O Maria!
Triumph all ye cherubim, sing with us ye seraphim,
heaven and earth resound the hymn!
Salve, salve, salve Regina!
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"In former times, it was the custom in many countries of Europe and America for Catholics to walk in procession through town on feast days of Mary. They carried flowers, banners, candles and a statue of the Mother of God, decorated and crowned with ribbons and flowers. The children wore the white clothes used for their first communion, confirmation or graduations, sometimes with satin capes. The youngest child often scattered flower petals along the street in front of the statue of the Virgin Mary.
In the United States, the processions were often limited to the parish property or inside the church, and only the students of the parochial school did the marching. In recent years the celebrations have become simpler, so that their purpose to honor the Mother of God during the season of resurrection and life, can be clear.
And so it is, that we at St. Gabriel’s parish, continue this tradition by way of our First Communion class; we welcome everyone here today to pray and sing hymns of praise in honor of the Most Blessed Mother of God, Our Mother, Mary."