Reviewing a Beautiful Book

 Recently I received the beautiful new book Praying to Holy Angels:  Angel of God and St. Michael the Archangel Prayers in Sacred Art for Young Children by Kerri Davison for review from Holy Heroes.  When the book arrived, I was so excited to write this review.  It is a stunning book!  My five year old son immediately asked me to read it to him when he saw the cover.  As we read through Praying to Holy Angels, he soaked it all in: the simple, but thorough, explanation of angels at the beginning of the book, the beautiful illustrations on each page, and the two familiar prayers included--the St. Michael Prayer and the Angel of God.  As soon as we finished reading, he asked me to read it all over again.

I am very glad we have been able to add this book to our home library.  If any of you would like to purchase this beautiful work of our Faith from Holy Heroes, they are offering 10% off the book for my readers.  Simply use the code Angels10.  I hope your family enjoys it as much as we did.

God bless!

+JMJ+

Blessed Lent

 I pray you have a very holy and fruitful Lent!  What do you have planned for your Lenten season?  I feel more prepared this year than many past years, but we will see how it goes.  :)  Our family has created a Lenten calendar, incorporating the ideas and images from Jessica's calendar, to keep us on track with extra prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.  Matt, the older 5 children and I will also be reading two religious books each:

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• Seamus--  Humility of Heart by Fr. Cajetan Mary da Bergamo and Searching for and Maintaining Peace (by Fr. Jacques Philippe)
• Riley--  Humility of Heart and The St. Gemma Galgani Collection
• Liam--  Humility of Heart and The Great St. Joseph by Dr. Remi Amelunxen (who was a parishoner at our parish who recently passed away)
• Finn-- The Secret of Mary by St. Louis de Montfort and The Secret of the Rosary by St. Louis de Montfort
• Moira-- St. Collette  (Along the Paths of the Gospel)
• My selection--  Searching for and Maintaining Peace and Imitation of the Sacred Heart of Jesus by Fr. Peter J. Arnoudt
• Matt--  The Mystical City of God by Ven. Mary of Agreda

I hope to post new Lenten prayers for you this Lent, but I wanted to start with one of my favorite prayers:  the Litany of Humility.  

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Litany of Humility

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed, deliver me, Jesus. (**Repeat each time.)
From the desire of being loved,**
From the desire of being extolled,**
From the desire of being honored,**
From the desire of being praised,**
From the desire of being preferred to others,**
From the desire of being consulted,**
From the desire of being approved,**
From the fear of being humiliated,**
From the fear of being despised,**
From the fear of suffering rebukes,**
From the fear of being calumniated,**
From the fear of being forgotten,**
From the fear of being ridiculed,**
From the fear of being wronged,**
From the fear of being suspected,**
That others may be loved more than I, Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. (**Repeat each time from this point forward.)
That others may be esteemed more than I,**
That, in the opinion of the world, others may increase and I may decrease,**
That others may be chosen and I set aside,**
That others may be praised and I unnoticed,**
That others may be preferred to me in everything,**
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should,**
Amen.

--Composed by Rafael Cardinal Merry del Val (1865-1930), Secretary of State for Pope Saint Pius X

God bless!

+JMJ+

Current Reading and a Project

 I just wanted to share the books I am currently reading.  I have a habit of reading multiple books at the same time, so usually it takes me awhile to get through them.  It seems to work well for me though.

Each morning I open the book on my nightstand.  It is titled Small Steps for Catholic Moms by Danielle Bean, Elizabeth Foss, and Lisa Hendey.  This book provides a daily meditation, prayer, and item to work on that day.  It is grouped by a new topic/virtue for each month of the year.  For me, the greatest thing about this book is that it helps me stay focused; it gives me one thing to try to improve each day, rather than trying to tackle all of my weak areas at once.  One page per day to read...I can handle that.

Danielle Bean, editor of Catholic Digest, and Elizabeth Foss, an award-winning blogger, team up to offer daily doses of inspiration, wisdom, and hope for Catholic moms. Now back in print in response to high demand, Small Steps for Catholic Moms gives busy mothers a year's worth of sustenance, in the form of brief daily challenges about which to think, pray, and act. 
Small Steps for Catholic Moms offers daily prompts and suggestions--small steps--for every day of the year to encourage Catholic moms to attain that elusive balance between action and contemplation in everyday life. Each day's entry includes a short prayer from a saint, a personal prayer composed from the hearts of two mothers, and a small call to action, making this the perfect prayer companion for the busy mom looking for bite-sized spiritual nourishment.

• Explanation of the Holy Mass by Dom Prosper Gueranger  

I have been slowly working my way through this book, and it is excellent.  The explanations are based on the Traditional Mass, but many of them also pertain to the Novus Ordo Mass.  I have already learned much about the Mass that I did not realize before.

There has never been a book that so well elucidates how the active participation in the Holy Sacrifice, which is the duty of all the laity, can best be accomplished. This was written after the Liturgical Year and was the last book translated by Dom Laurence Shepard, Guéranger s disciple, before his own death.

• The Virtues by Pope Benedict XVI  is a book I have just begun, but it seems like it will be a great read.

One of the greatest teachers of our day, Pope Benedict XVI has frequently spoken about the pursuit of virtue. In these selections from homilies and addresses, the Holy Father draws on the lives of saints, the Catechism, and common experiences to bring us into a deeper understanding of the virtues and how to cultivate them in our own lives so that we can grow closer to the Lord.
Allow Pope Benedict XVI to instruct you on nurturing all the basic Christian virtues: Faith, Hope, and Charity, called the Theological Virtues and Prudence, Fortitude, Justice, and Temperance the Cardinal Virtues.

• Blessed are they that Mourn by Mother Mary Loyola  is a book I was introduced to from Jessica at Shower of Roses.  I ordered it shortly after my miscarriage, and so far I am impressed.
  

***By the early years of the twentieth century, Mother Mary Loyola had cemented her reputation as one of the best Catholic writers of her generation, but the First World War prompted her to write a book of consolation for the innumerable mothers, wives and others who had lost loved ones to its ravages. Her intimate knowledge of the subject matter gave her unique insight, for she had lost so many in the course of her long life, beginning with both of her parents and two siblings when she was just nine years old, and recently including several of her own beloved students who were fighting in the trenches of the Great War. She knew only too well the need for a strong faith in these times of intense suffering and loss, and this she amply illustrates in Blessed are they that Mourn.

I also wanted to tell you that I am working on a homeschool project.  When it is finished, I will give you all the details about it.  At that point, it will be available for purchase to anyone interested.  I am very excited about using it in my own homeschool and offering it to all of you.

Coming soon...
Meanwhile, God bless!