Category: Blog

Mary Magdalene Convert and Sinner

Mary Magdalene

Mary Magdalene… the beloved sinner who experienced a profound conversion at the feet of Jesus. She is the patron saint of penitents and converts. She is a friend of women, she has been a friend to me.

When i painted Mary back in 2017, i was surprised by the love and care that the Holy Spirit took in my prayer with her. I felt a sense that the Lord protected Mary, and i was to protect her too by creating a work that would show the Spirit of who she was. The Lord kept insisting, “I want her to have a loving look of awe.” When i stated i didn’t know how to paint that, He simply repeated the request and i continued to fumbled around the canvas for many days and hours. I had not been painting icons very long, she was my 11th, and God was still working overtime on my trust issues. Mary was going to help me understand conversion in a new way! Yet i was more concerned with getting this “loving look of awe” thing down then worrying about my own conversion. Finally, The Voice inside my heart seemed satisfied w my efforts when It silenced. I must have painted her mouth 10 times over trying to quiet the Holy Spirit and i knew that His insistence came from a protective Father who was working on my obedience and perseverance. Who was working on my trust.

I have to be honest in saying i wanted to walk away a few times due to my inability to paint this icon. I could feel such a love that it left me astounded and feelings of unworthiness crept in often. After all, who was i to paint such a precious soul? and then my friend Mary spoke…” who was i to wash his feet? Who was i to be delivered? who was i to be the first at the tomb? ”

When i felt her words penetrate me, i knew her. and she knows me.

I think it’s in our unworthiness that we come to the truest mirror. and when we stare at that brokenness, that wound, that sin, we have a choice. Will we look up in with that loving look of awe at Our Redeemer, or will we sit in the defeat of our self worth? Do we stay in the pit, or rise in the Victory? No one is beyond the saving grace of God!

Many scholars believe that the 7 demons cast out of Mary represented the 7 deadly sins. This women knew sin. And where sin abounds, Grace abounds even more. So is it even a wonder to us why this sinner would be the first witness of the Resurrection? Of course she was! Because she rose in the Victory of Jesus long before He walked out of that tomb.

Saint Mary Magdalene, pray for us!

February’s Saint of the Month

Saint Bakhita!

St. Josephine Bakhita was born in Sudan, Africa, in 1869 and lived a humble and happy life with her family until at age 7 when she was kidnapped and sold as a slave. Poor Bakhita suffered very harsh treatment as a slave and for the next 12 years she would be bought, sold and given away over a dozen times. She spent so much time in captivity that she forgot her original name. The name “Bakhita,” which means “fortunate,” was given to her in sarcasm by the people who kidnapped her.

As a slave, her experiences varied from fair treatment to cruel. One of her masters left 114 scars on her body and another master beat her so badly for breaking a vase, she almost died. Finally in 1883, Bakhita was sold to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan and was treated with more kindness. Although she was not free, she was still a slave. Two years later, Callisto took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his friend and was made a babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the Catholic Church. As a little girl, she would look up at the moon and stars and knew that someone had created them and that she wanted to know this master. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name Josephine. Josephine was finally happy to address God as “Master” and carry out everything that she believed to be God’s will for her. When the Michieli’s returned from Africa and wanted to take Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. The Michieli’s didn’t want to give up Bakhita so they took her to court to try and force her back to being their slave . During the court case, the Canossian Sisters and the Church intervened on Josephine’s behalf and the judge concluded that since slavery was illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885. For the first time in her life, Josephine was free and could choose what to do with her life. She chose to remain with the Canossian Sisters.

At the age of forty-one, Josephine felt God calling her to become one of the sisters. The Canossian Sisters accepted her into their community. For twenty-five years, Sister Josephine carried out humble services in the convent. She cooked, sewed, took care of the chapel and answered the door. Her health had suffered because of all the tortures she had endured as a slave, so she was given the role as porteress ( just like St Martin de Porres and Blessed Solanus Casey!). She had a lot to do with all the local children who named her “la nostra madre moretta” which means “Our little brown mother.” During World War I, Sister Josephine helped to care for the wounded. She became known for her kindness and goodness. She was a source of comfort and encouragement to everyone who came to her in need. A young student once asked Bakhita: “What would you do, if you were to meet your captors?” Without hesitation she responded: “If I were to meet those who kidnapped me, and even those who tortured me, I would kneel and kiss their hands. For, if these things had not happened, I would not have been a Christian and a religious today”

In her later years, she began to suffer physical pain and was forced to use a wheelchair. But she always remained cheerful. If anyone asked her how she was, she would reply, “As the master desires.” On the evening of February 8, 1947, Josephine spoke her last words, “Our Lady, Our Lady!” She then died. Her body lay on display for three days afterwards. She was canonized on October 1, 2000, by Pope John Paul II and St. Bakhita’s body lays incorrupt today. Bakhita’s story is fascinating particularly because of the story of her slavery and how God was with her every step of the way, writing something beautiful from the sad chapters of her early years as a child. Unfortunately, there is still childhood slavery in the world today. St Bakhita is venerated as a modern day African Saint and is the Patron Saint of Human Trafficking and the country of Sudan.

Beautiful Saint Bakhita…pray for us!

December’s Saint of the Month

Our Lady of Guadalupe!

On Dec. 12, the Catholic Church celebrates the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, marking the day when, in 1531, the Blessed Mother appeared in Mexico to a 57-year old peasant named Juan Diego. According to the earliest reliable account of the story, Juan Diego was walking near Tepayac Hill (called Mexico City today) when he encountered a beautiful woman surrounded by a ball of light as bright as the sun. Speaking in his native tongue, the beautiful lady identified herself: “My dear little son, I love you. I desire you to know who I am. I am the ever-virgin Mary, Mother of the true God who gives life and maintains its existence. He created all things. He is in all places. He is Lord of Heaven and Earth. I desire a church in this place where your people may experience my compassion. All those who sincerely ask my help in their work and in their sorrows will know my Mother’s Heart in this place. Here I will see their tears; I will console them and they will be at peace. So run now to Tenochtitlan and tell the Bishop all that you have seen and heard.”

In trying to convince the archbishop of what he had seen, Juan Diego eventually was asked for a sign to prove what he had seen. Upon returning to Mary and sharing this with her, Mary said “My little son, am I not your Mother? Do not fear. The Bishop shall have his sign. Come back to this place tomorrow. Only peace, my little son.” Unfortunately, Juan was not able to return to the hill the next day. His uncle had become mortally ill and Juan stayed with him to care for him. After two days, with his uncle near death, Juan left his side to find a priest. Juan had to pass Tepayac Hill to get to the priest. As he was passing, he found Mary waiting for him. She spoke: “Do not be distressed, my littlest son. Am I not here with you who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Your uncle will not die at this time. There is no reason for you to engage a priest, for his health is restored at this moment. He is quite well. Go to the top of the hill and cut the flowers that are growing there. Bring them then to me.” While it was freezing on the hillside, Juan obeyed Mary’s instructions and went to the top of the hill where he found a full bloom of Castilian roses which were neither in season nor native to the region. Removing his tilma, a poncho-like cape made of cactus fiber, he cut the roses and carried them back to Mary. She rearranged the roses and told him: “My little son, this is the sign I am sending to the Bishop. Tell him that with this sign I request his greatest efforts to complete the church I desire in this place. Show these flowers to no one else but the Bishop. You are my trusted ambassador. This time the Bishop will believe all you tell him.” At the palace, Juan once again came before the bishop and several of his advisors. He told the bishop his story and opened the tilma letting the flowers fall out. But it wasn’t the beautiful roses that caused the bishop and his advisors to fall to their knees; for there, on the tilma, was a picture of the Blessed Virgin Mary precisely as Juan had described her. The next day, after showing the Tilma at the Cathedral, Juan took the bishop to the spot where he first met Mary. He then returned to his village where he met his uncle who was completely cured. His uncle told him he had met a young woman, surrounded by a soft light, who told him that she had just sent his nephew to Tenochtitlan with a picture of herself. She told his uncle:”Call me and call my image Santa Maria de Guadalupe”.

Within six years of this apparition, six million Aztecs had converted to Catholicism! The tilma shows Mary as the God-bearer – she is pregnant with her Divine Son. Since the time the tilma was first impressed with a picture of the Mother of God, it has been subject to a variety of environmental hazards including smoke from fires and candles, water from floods and torrential downpours and, in 1921, a bomb which was planted by anti-clerical forces on an altar under it. There was also a cast-iron cross next to the tilma and when the bomb exploded, the cross was twisted out of shape, the marble altar rail was heavily damaged and the tilma was…untouched!

In 1977, the tilma was examined using infrared photography and digital enhancement techniques. Unlike any painting, the tilma shows no sketching or any sign of outline drawn to permit an artist to produce a painting. Further, the very method used to create the image is still unknown. The image is inexplicable in its longevity and method of production. It can be seen today in a large cathedral built to house up to ten thousand worshipers. It is, by far, the most popular religious pilgrimage site in the Western Hemisphere.

Our Lady of Guadalupe, St Juan Diego…pray for us!

Beautiful Brokenness

Beautiful brokenness.

In a world where the broken are thrown away, our faith says something opposite. The Lord says He is close to the brokenhearted and He saves those who are crushed in spirit (Psalms34:18). There is something powerful about being brought to our personal breaking point or crushed. Sure, it’s a character builder but more so it’s where we learn surrender so that our hearts can truly be transformed. “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high” Leviticus 26:13

True surrender demands we be broken. As I prepare my heart for Jesus throughout the Advent season, my prayer is the same every year. “Lord, break my heart for what breaks Yours, so that I may be truly transformed and wrecked by Your love. Amen.” (Lent prayer too!)

Loving all my broken friends today. What a beautiful time of year to be called to surrender! Xo

December Activities for Catholic Families

December 2nd Advent begins- Display your Advent Wreath and/or Jesse Tree. Be sure to set up an in-home Nativity too, but wait until Christmas morning to put Baby Jesus in the manger. Sign up for Advent Adventure Newsletter for kids.

December 4th- Begin Our Lady of Guadalupe Novena for all the pre-born children in the world with your family and say the prayers together each night until her feast day.

December 5th- Place your shoes outside your bedroom door for Saint Nick’s feast day tomorrow!

December 8th- Feast of the Immaculate Conception Holy Day of Obligation (opportunity!)

December 9th– Saint Juan Diego Feast day- Taco Fiesta! After dinner, help with clean up and watch this movie about the life of Juan Diego .

December 12th– Our Lady Of Guadalupe Feast Day- Buy roses for Our Lady and create a table shrine with the OLG art print from your Saint of the Month Club box. Or create your own artwork of OLG using the custom coloring page sent in your box. What items will you place on this little table shrine? Novena ends, so don’t forget closing day prayers. Learn more about OLG by watching the movie below and Consider a family enthronement .

December 13th Feast Day of St. Lucy- Prepare sweet breads for breakfast. Try this fun and healthy recipe ! Short on time? Refrigerated cinnamon roll dough or store bought work just as well! Just be sure to add a few candles to recall St. Lucy’s trip to the catacombs where she feed the hungry.

December 17th- 23rd- Pray the O Antiphon. Each Antiphon is a title for the Messiah.

O Sapientia December 17 O WISDOM Who issued from the mouth of the Most High Reaching from beginning to end Ordering all things mightily yet tenderly— COME to teach us the way of prudence.

O Adonai December 18 O LORD OF LORDS And Leader of the house of Israel, Who appeared to Moses in the bush’s flaming fire And gave to him the Law of Sinai— COME to redeem us with stretched-out arms.

O Radix Jesse December 19 O ROOT OF JESSE A Standard to the peoples Before whom kings are mute, To whom all nations shall appeal— COME to deliver us; delay, please, no longer.

O Clavis David December 20 O KEY OF DAVID And Scepter of the house of Israel, You open and no man dares shut, You shut and no man dares open— COME, deliver from the chains of prison him who sits in darkness and in the shadow of death.

O Oriens December 21 O RISING DAWN Radiance of eternal light And Sun of justice— COME, enlighten those sitting in darkness And in the shadow of death.

O Rex Gentium December 22 O KING OF NATIONS And their desired one, Cornerstone who binds two into one— COME and save man Whom You fashioned from the slime of the earth.

O Emmanuel December 23 O EMMANUEL, God-with-us, Our King and Lawgiver, The Awaited of the peoples and their Savior— COME to save us, O Lord, our God.

December 24th Christmas Eve– Color your Christmas Card for Jesus which was included your Saint of the Month Club box and place it under the tree. Pray a family rosary to prepare for the coming of Jesus and show Our Blessed Mother your devotion. More information on the Rosary can be found on pg. 27 in the Apparitions of Mary book included in your Saint of the Month box.

Christmas Day– Place Jesus in the manger… He is here! Sing Happy Birthday Jesus, open and place the card you made for Him in a spot close to your families Nativity set.

Day After Christmas, color your 12 Days of Christmas poster, included in your Saint of the Month Club.

Want to learn even more about the Saints? Get your free CD! Perfect for family car rides!

November Saint of the Month

Father Solanus Casey!

Bernard Francis Casey was born on November 25th, 1870 and came from a large family in Oak Grove, Wisconsin where he was the sixth of sixteen children. He contracted diphtheria in 1878, which permanently damaged his voice and left it wispy and slightly impaired; two of his siblings died from the disease during that year.

In 1887, he left the farm for a series of jobs in his home state and in nearby Minnesota, working as a lumberjack, a hospital orderly, and a guard in the Minnesota state prison. At the age of 21, when Barney was working as a streetcar motorman in Superior, Wisconsin, he witnessed the stabbing of a woman in the street and this changed his life forever. Being a witness to this horrible sin, caused Casey to give his life over to God and he entered St. Francis Seminary in Milwaukee. He found the studies in seminary very difficult and he did not get good grades. In 1896, he left Milwaukee after hearing a message from Mary and joined the Capuchins in Detroit, taking the name Solanus, after Saint Francis Solanus because both men loved the violin. His studies for the priesthood were again very hard

On July 24, 1904, Solanus was ordained, but because his knowledge of theology was judged to be weak, he was not given permission to hear confessions or to preach. A Franciscan Capuchin who knew him well said this annoying restriction “brought forth in him a greatness and a holiness that might never have been realized in any other way.” Barney Casey became one of Detroit’s best-known priests even though he was not allowed to preach formally or to hear confessions! Father Solanus served at parishes in Manhattan and Harlem before returning to Detroit, where he was porter (receptionist and door keeper) and sacristan for 20 years at St. Bonaventure Monastery. Every Wednesday afternoon he conducted well-attended services for the sick. A co-worker estimates that on the average day 150 to 200 people came to see Father Solanus in the front office. Most of them came to receive his blessing; 40 to 50 came for consultation. Many people considered him instrumental in cures and other blessings they received. In the tradition of the Franciscans whose charism is care for the poor, Bl. Solanus also had a desire to feed anyone who came to the door of St. Bonaventure monastery. “They are hungry; get them some soup and sandwiches,” Fr. Solanus was known to proclaim to his fellow friars. In 1929 at the start of the Great Depression Bl. Solanus had the idea to start a soup kitchen down the street from the monastery, where he could send anyone who came to the door looking for food. The Capuchin soup kitchen has a long history of feeding the hungry in that area of Detroit and still feeds the needy today.

In failing health, Solanus was transferred to the Capuchin novitiate in Huntington, Indiana, in 1946, where he lived for ten years until needing to be hospitalized in Detroit. Father Solanus died on July 31, 1957. An estimated 20,000 people passed by his coffin before his burial in St. Bonaventure Church in Detroit. He was known during his lifetime as a wonderworker, for his great faith, and for his abilities as a spiritual counselor – but especially for his great attention to the sick and poor. On July 8, 1987, Father Casey’s remains were exhumed and moved inside the Father Solanus Casey Center at Saint Bonaventure Monastery; his remains were found to be incorrupt save for a little decomposition on the elbows. A range of miraculous cures have been attributed to his intercession, both during his earthly life and after his death. Fr. Casey was beautified on Nov. 18, 2017. Learn about the road to Sainthood from one of the Saint of the Month holy cards. Blessed Solanus Casey… pray for us!

Learn more about Fr. Solanus by watch this movie which tells many amazing stories about his llife.

October’s Saint Of the Month

Saint Faustina! The Apostle of Mercy!!

Helena Kowalski was born on August 25, 1905 and was the third of ten children of a peasant family who lived in Glogowiec, Poland. She was simple, uneducated, and devoutly Catholic. During her childhood she practiced acts of devotion, had a love for prayer, hard work, obedience and was very sensitive to human suffering. At the age of 7 she began to sense God’s call to the religious life. At the age of sixteen she left her family home for a nearby city where she worked as a servant to support herself and to help her poor parents. During this period the desire to join a convent was gradually growing inside her. Since her parents were against it, young Helena tried to deaden God’s call but it only grew stronger.

Finally at the age of 20, she set off to join a convent. She knocked on numerous convents’ doors, but with no one wanted Helena. On August 1, 1925, she applied to the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy, and she was accepted. Helena entered the Congregation of Sisters of Our Lady of Mercy. She took the name Faustina and was assigned to domestic service.

On the evening of February 22, 1931, Jesus appeared to St. Faustina. He wore a white robe, and two rays, one white and one red, flowed from his breast. The red rays represented the Blood of Christ which saved our souls. The white rays represent the Baptismal water that washed away our sins. In this and in over 80 visions, Christ directed Faustina to spread the devotion of the Divine Mercy. He instructed her to make a painting of his image with the words Jesus, I trust in You and He promised that anyone who honored it would be saved. Jesus also told Faustina that he wanted the whole church to celebrate the first Sunday after Easter as the Feast of Mercy. Faustina’s first efforts to share this devotion with others were very hard and not many believed her. She also had a very hard time finding someone to paint the image of Jesus and even tried to draw it herself. However, after 1933, with the aid of her spiritual director, Father Michael Sopocko, she found an artist and made good but slow progress in sharing the devotion with others.

Jesus wanted Saint Faustina to write a diary so that others would come to know and trust Him. She did this despite the fact that she could hardly write at all. The diary was later published under the title Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of St. Faustina. This Diary gives us a very good look into Faustina’s struggles in answering God’s call to this important work of mercy.

By 1935 thousands in Poland were participating in the Divine Mercy movement. In 1936 Saint Faustina became seriously ill and spent most of her days reciting the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and praying for the conversion of sinners. After a long battle with tuberculosis Faustina died on October 5th 1938. After her death the Divine Mercy devotion has grown steadily. With the support of Pope John Paul II, Faustina was beatified on April 18, 1993 and canonized on April 30, 2000. Divine Mercy Sunday is celebrated the Second Sunday of Easter throughout the entire Church. Saint Faustina Kowalski… pray for us!

This is a wonderful video about St Faustina and praying the Divine Mercy Chaplet…take a look and get out your rosaries to pray along.

September’s Saint of the Month

Padre Pio!

St. Padre Pio was born Francesco Forgione on May 25, 1887 in the small farming town of Pietrelcina, Italy. His family was devoutly Catholic, attending daily mass and praying the rosary together. Padre Pio had 4 living siblings and 3 who had passed away. Pio was a very good child and at the age of five he dedicated his life to God. He loved to pray and as a young boy he could see and talk with Jesus, the Virgin Mary, and his guardian angel. But even as a boy, St. Pio had to battle the devil and this continued throughout his life. Padre Pio was also ill most of his life, but his love of prayer and the Blessed Mother carried him though.

Padre Pio’s parents first learned of his desire to become a priest in 1897. A young Capuchin friar was canvassing the countryside seeking donations. Padre Pio was drawn to this spiritual man and told his parents, “I want to be a friar… with a beard.” At 15 years old, St. Pio entered into the Capuchin Order, where he studied to become a priest. On August 10, 1910, the twenty-three year old Fra Pio was ordained a priest and a day later celebrated his first Mass. When Padre Pio said mass, sometimes it would last for hours because he would experience a very deep love and union with God. What seemed like 5 minutes of prayer to him, would actually be hours! One day, about a month after being ordained, he was praying and Jesus and Mary appeared to him and gave him the wounds of Christ in his hands and feet, the stigmata. At first this was hard on St. Pio, because he didn’t want people to see the wounds or be afraid but soon after he accepted this special gift from God. Years later he received all 5 wounds of Christ, and claimed that the most painful was his right shoulder, where Jesus carried His Cross. Many people accused St Pio of faking this stigmata and this caused him unwanted attention and frustration, yet something more he could offer up to Jesus.

By the time Padre Pio was 33 yrs old, his piety and love of Jesus was very well known. People would travel from all over to attend mass or go to confession with St. Pio. It was reported that he could read souls in the confessional. St Pio had many extraordinary gifts and charisms including the gift of healing, bilocation, prophesy, miracles, discernment of spirits, the supernatural ability to go without food and sleep, the gift of tongues (the ability to speak and understand languages he had never studied), the ability to read souls, the gift to see angelic forms, and the sweet fragrance which came from his stigmata.

Padre Pio became a spiritual director and had many spiritual daughters and sons. He had five rules for spiritual growth: weekly confession, daily Communion, spiritual reading, meditation and examination of conscience. In explaining his spiritual growth rules, Padre Pio compared dusting a room, used or unused on a weekly basis, to weekly confession. He suggested two times of daily meditation and self-examination: in the morning to “prepare for battle” and in the evening to “purify your soul.” Padre Pio’s motto, “Pray, Hope, and Don’t Worry” is his motto into daily life. A Christian should recognize God in everything, offering everything to Him saying, “Thy will be done”. In addition, all should aspire to heaven and put their trust in Him and not worry about what he is doing, as long as it is done with a desire to please God.

St. Pio life was filled with piety, service, and dedication. All his actions were for the Glory of God! He even founded the Home to Relieve Suffering. Pio calls it “a place that the patient might be led to recognize those working for his cure as God’s helpers, engaged in preparing the way for the intervention of grace.” On Sept. 23rd, 1968 at the age of 81, St. Padre Pio died, repeating his final words, JESUS, MARY, until his final breath. Pio was canonized by Saint John Paul the Great on June 16, 2002. Today, his grave in Italy is visited by 8 million pilgrims per year, second only to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine. St. Pio…pray for us!

Learn more about St Pio and check out this video!

Just Chillin’

Being a parent for the last 19 years has taught me a TON about stress! But not in the way that you may think. Sure, being a parent is an overwhelming job sometimes, as the responsibilities of parenting and meeting the different needs of your children can be very hard to navigate. But, im a half glass full kinda girl and my outlook on situations is fairly optimistic. Not that I never feel stress, it’s just that I rarely feel it in such a way that causes me to become fixated or over run by it. Then my sweet daughter came along. This girl is smart, caring, creative and sensitive…and she’s also plagued by debilitating stress sometimes. She becomes anxious and often times can’t see beyond the challenge she’s facing. She’s the kid who after 3 days of vacation is ready to get home and into her own room. As I mom, I have said things like, “it’s no big deal”, “attitude is everything”, and the worst one… “suck it up!”. UGH! I wish I could get a re-do on some of those moments, but I can’t. Because of this dear sweet soul, I have learned that stress and anxiety is something that MANY children struggle with. Sometimes it’s due to overtaxed schedules, trauma of some kind, disorder, worldly influences (peer pressure, technology), academic pressures, over achievers who put too much pressure on themselves… the list doesn’t stop! Sometimes, they are just sensitive souls living in a suffering world and it scares them. Whatever the reason, I learned the hard way to acknowledge the stress and hold their hands in moving on. One of the mistakes I made would be to put my daughter in “time out”, leaving her to further fixate on her fears and stress. I just didn’t understand and 19 yrs ago “stressed out kids” was a joke. In her pre-teen and mid- teen days, we tried to get her counseling and that always left us with the question, “should we medicate?” Our answer was no, though I have to say that was our personal choice and every family has to discern what is right for them. Im not against meds and understand that often times they are needed and necessary for healing. What I’ve found, is when a child suffers from anxiety it shows up masked as other behavioral issues because a child doesn’t have the words to express how they are feeling.

So, this month enters St Pio! Among other things, St. Pio is the patron Saint of anxiety and since this topic is near and dear to my heart, I was excited to offer a creative option to children who may deal with stress and anxiety. Even if this is not an on-going issue, the back to school season always brings with it a fair share of stressed out families.

While looking for some good ideas in helping children handle stress, I came across this idea of a stress box. Teachers and educators are using this as another option for time-out and helping a child to re-group. I think it’s a loving and caring way to help a child self correct which builds self esteem.

So, here’s my little chill out box!

Items in the box include: prayer cards, a harmonica, a favorite stuffed animal, a looking glass ( fun to explore with ), a bouncy ball, a photo of a the child as a baby ( oh see how you’ve grown!) , gratitude journal, a rosary and a favorite picture book. Some other ideas I love are essential oils, rubrics cube puzzle, your pet, and chewing gum.

The idea of a chill box is that when I child (or adult) is feeling overwhelmed or anxious, they step back, take a brake to self comfort, by doing things that help them to feel peace and relaxation. A timer is a good idea so that a child doesn’t use this as a way to isolate and after the timer goes off, a conversation with the child is important so that they can learn how to articulate their feelings. Stress or worry boxes can also be effective for kiddos who deal with PTSD, sensory and anger issues.

Here are a few great resources I came across that may help you and your child prepare their box.

https://www.andnextcomesl.com/2016/04/what-to-put-in-a-calm-down-kit-for-kids.html

Create Your Own Anti-Anxiety Kit for Children

Having a child who suffers from anxiety is a great lesson for me in patience, compassion, perseverance and radical trust. I have many people in my life who deal with chronic anxiety and I have seen how this can led to physical issues down the road. St. Pio is really a Saint for such a time as this! Call on him to intercede and allow him to guide you to people who can help, places of healing, and radical prayers of trust and joy. God Bless you.

August’s Saint of the Month

St. Philomena’s was a young consecrated virgin whose story remained unknown until her remains were discovered in 1802 in the catacombs of St. Priscilla in Rome. Three tiles enclosing her tomb bore an inscription, Pax Tecum Filumena (i.e. “Peace be unto you, Philomena”). Along with this inscription were the symbols of a lily, two anchors, and three arrows, indications of both virginity and martyrdom.

In 1805, her relics were transferred from Rome to a chapel in the village of Mugnano de Cardinale, Italy and soon after various “favors, graces and even miracles” started occurring, including “cures of cancer and healing of wounds”. Venerable Pauline-Marie Jaricot, foundress of the Association of the Living Rosary, was miraculously cured of a severe heart ailment in 1835 at St. Philomena’s shrine in Mungano. Soon afterwards, in 1837 Pope Gregory XVI, authorized public veneration of St. Philomena and canonized her. She became the only person the Church recognized as a saint solely on the basis of her intercessory miracles and she is often times called the Wonder Worker.

Pauline Jaricot was so impressed with her cure that she brought a relic of St. Philomena to her friend the famous Cure of Ars, St. John Vianney. He enshrined it in an altar in his church, which led to numerous miracles, conversions, and cures for those invoking St. Philomena’s assistance. He himself was blessed with mystical gifts, most famously, with the ability to read souls, much like another famous confessor, St. Padre Pio. Jean-Marie Vianney nonetheless gave the credit for many miracles attributed to him to St. Philomena and handed out many Cords of St Philomena to help others become devoted to her. Other Saints who were devoted to her included St. Peter Julian Eymard, St. Damien de Vesteur, St. Madeleine Sophie Barat, St. Francis Xavier Cabrini and St. John Nepomucene Neumann.

In 1833, a Neapolitan nun reported that Philomena had appeared in a vision to her, and the Saint had revealed that she was a Greek princess, martyred at 13 years of age by Diocletian, who was Roman Emperor from 284 to 305. According to Sister Maria Luisa di Gesù, Saint Philomena told her she was the daughter of a king in Greece who, with his wife, had converted to Christianity. At the age of about 13, she took a vow of consecrated virginity. When the Emperor Diocletian threatened to make war on her father, her father went with his family to Rome to ask for peace. The Emperor “fell in love” with the young St. Philomena and, when she refused to be his wife, subjected her to a series of torments: scourging, from whose effects two angels cured her; drowning with an anchor attached to her (two angels cut the rope and raised her to the river bank); being shot with arrows, (on the first occasion her wounds were healed; on the second, the arrows turned aside; and on the third, they returned and killed six of the archers, after which, several of the others became Christians). Finally the Emperor had her decapitated. The story goes that the decapitation occurred on a Friday at three in the afternoon, as with the death of Jesus. Two other people, unknown to each other and living far apart, had what was apparently the same revelation made to them about Philomena’s life.

In the Neapolitan nun’s account, Saint Philomena also revealed that her birthday was January 10, that her martyrdom occurred on August 10 (the date also of the arrival of her relics in Mugnano del Cardinale), but the church celebrates her feast on Aug 11. The name “Filumena” means “daughter of light” and it is usually taken to be derived from a Greek word meaning “beloved”.

Learn more about this young Saint by watching this short video

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