Inspiration and Prayers – Page 2

Category: Inspiration and Prayers

The Cord of St. Philomena

As I was creating and curating this box, a beautiful devotion revealed itself…the Cord of St. Philomena. I was immediately intrigued because I know the power of this young Saint and this devotion promises some pretty might graces. So I began researching this devotion and here’s what I discovered…

The Cord of St. Philomena is a very old devotion, created by St. Philomena’s devotees, and was approved by the Congregation of Rites on September 15, 1883. Later, on April 4, 1884, Leo XIII enriched it with precious indulgences. The cord must be made of wool, linen or cotton, and is colored white and red to indicate the virginity and martyrdom of Saint Philomena. This devotion has the following motives: A) To obtain the intercession of St. Philomena in preserving the virtue of chastity according to one’s state of life. B) To fight the growing disbelief and penetrate the spirit of faith. C) To demonstrate a love of St. Philomena and thereby deserve her special protection from diseases of soul and body. This devotion is very widely practiced, especially outside Italy, to obtain spiritual and corporal graces. A priest has the faculty to bless the Cord of Saint Philomena using the Roman Ritual formula.

Wearers of the Cord ought to have the intention of honoring St. Philomena to the best of their ability in order to merit protection against evils of soul and body, and to obtain through her prayers perfect chastity and the spirit of faith. It is also recommended that the following prayer be said daily:

Saint Philomena, Virgin and Martyr, pray for us that through thy powerful intercession we may obtain that purity of mind and heart which leads to the perfect love of God. Amen.

This extraordinary privilege of a cord is shared with other saints, such as, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas, and St. Joseph.
The devotion of the Cord of St. Philomena was adopted on account of the innumerable graces obtained through the intercession of the Hidden Saint of the Catacombs. The Cord was first distributed by the saintly Cure of Ars. It was the illustrious Leo XIII who blessed and approved the Cord and attached many privileges and indulgences to its wearing.

Many records tell of the favor granted to those who wear the Cord. We read of striking cures; for instance, when wound about diseased limbs, the Cord has driven out the pain and healed them. There is also the story of the child who fell into a pool of water, but was preserved because of the Cord of St. Philomena around his waist. The Cord itself remained perfectly dry.

Plenary Indulgences of The Cord of Saint Philomena

1. On the day on which the cord is worn for the first time.
2. On the 25th of May, the anniversary of the opening of St. Philomena’s tomb in the Catacombs of Saint Priscilla.
3. On August 11, her proper Feast.
4. On December 15, the anniversary of the approbation of the cord by the Holy See.
5. At the moment of death, under the ordinary conditions.

With the exception of the last, it is necessary for gaining the above indulgences to go to confession, receive Holy Communion, make a visit to some church and there pray for the intentions of the Sovereign Pontiff.

So, included in August’s 2018 Saint of the Month Club is the Cord of St. Philomena. This cord may be blessed by a priest and tied around one’s waist. I also read that it can be placed under a pillow, kept in a pocket, or tied around one’s wrist. But keeping with the tradition of the devotion, waist is recommended. Along with the Cord, I included a bracelet with an anchor attached as a reminder of this devotion and St. Philomena.

Here are some resources which explain further about the Saint Philomena Cord and I sited on this post.

http://catholictradition.org/Saints/philomena3.htm

http://philomena.us/devotions/

Hello St. Rose Venerini

St. Rose of Venerini has entered my life and for that I’m so grateful! She is another one of those tenacious Saints that grabs a hold of you and pulls you to where you need to go, even if you’re kicking and screaming!

I was invited to paint her back in March for the Refresh Your Faith Womens Conference in Scranton Pa. The organizer of that event, prayed to the Blessed Mother to send her a Saint that “wasn’t too busy” and Our Lady sent her St. Rose. And I said no to painting her. I think I must be the most stubborn women ever made! At the time they asked me, I was overloaded w commissions and deadlines and felt like I couldn’t take on another project. I did finally agree to graphically design something for them. But they hated the design, and truth was, I hated it too. I kept feeling this tug to paint this amazing Saint, so after a heart to heart talk with the event chair, I said yes.

And that yes has blessed me more than I could have imagined.They just had their event last weekend and over 850 women attended! They have also invited me to be one of their 2019 speakers! And I said YES again.

I started sharing my conversion story last year to women’s groups and RCIA events. I knew God was calling me to this because public speaking is one of my biggest fears and God just loves calling me to do scary stuff… maybe he’s working on my stubborn heart, ya think!!!??? But also, I can see during these talks how people are moved and that I wasn’t the one moving them. It was the Holy Spirit connecting us through our stories. And He connects us through the Saints!

We all have amazing “glory stories” because that’s what God does! He takes the ugliest parts and uses them to bring beauty and healing, if we allow Him to.

So, if you’re looking for a Saint, whose not too busy…meet St Rose Venerini! Teacher, women, servant, friend. And possibly the patron Saint of stubborn people.

SOM Club July Member Spotlight

Meet Evagrace!

As a mom myself, and owner of the Saint of the Month Club, notes and messages like the one below make me feel so grateful to do what I do. Relationships are important to me and interacting with you Club members is such a blessing to me!

Here’s the note from Evagrace’s mom…

“This is Evagrace. She is 7 years old and she loves the Saint of the Month Club because she says “it’s fun learning about the Saints, doing the fun projects, and coloring the beautiful coloring pages of the Saints!” She especially enjoyed planting the garden from St. Catherine of Siena’s SOM box. She prayed that the Holy Spirit would grow her seedling of faith into something beautiful like the heavenly blue plant! 😍
Thank you for making learning about the saints so interactive and special!”

What a sweet girl! And I love her relationship with the Holy Spirit…that is so inspiring!

Please join me in praying for Evagrace and her entire family. I love having them be apart of the Saint of the Month Club!

How to plant a St. Catherine of Siena Devotional Garden

Part 1/ Planting the Seeds of Faith

Talking with a friend last spring she mentioned that she was working a her ‘Mary Garden’ and explained that this was a devotional garden which used certain plants to represent different virtues of Mary and prayers you may need. WHAT! Why had I not heard of this? Oh wait, Im still a baby Catholic, only 9years young. Well this baby Catholic went to Pinterest and I was instantly hooked!

So this spring I wanted to do my own devotional garden, and I thought this would be a fun project to do with my Saint of the Month friends. Since Saint Catherine of Siena happens to be one of my favorite Saints, this was the perfect way for me to honor her and grow in virtue… get it? GROW in virtue!

I have never started plants from seeds, but have always wanted to try it. I reflected on St. Catherine’s life and remembered the mustard seed parable in the bible.

Matthew 13:31-32 “Another parable he put before them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed which a man took and sowed in his field; it is the smallest of all seeds, but when it has grown it is the greatest of shrubs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and make nests in its branches.”

Due to our baptism, God has planted this “seed” of faith in all of us. How and when will our faith grow? Will our faith extend outside of ourselves and grow as big a tree? Can our faith offer refuge to others? YES! This seed of faith is a great gift from God and it can’t help but grow as long as we nurture this gift. St. Catherine of Siena nurtured this seed of faith by spending time in prayer and growing in friendship with Jesus. Much like the seeds I will plant for her devotional garden, they need the Son.

I choose 4 different plants for Saint Catherine’s garden. Each flower represents a part of Saint Catherine’s life and how she cooperated with God’s grace, this gift of faith.

Heavenly Blue= represents her Mystical Marriage to Jesus. How Jesus came to her with the blessed Mother at His side and placed a ring, brought down from Heaven, onto St. Catherine’s finger.
Cosmos= represents the Divine Intervention she received by her mystical visions of Saints. She was visited by Jesus, the Blessed Mother, Mary Magdalene (her spiritual mother), Saint Dominic ( who convinced her to join the Sisters of Penitence of Saint Dominic’s Third Order and also one of her favorite Saints), Saint Peter, Saint Paul, Saint John, St. David, .
Marigold= represents St. Catherine’s love and devotion to Jesus and the Blessed Mother.
Forget-Me-Not= represents St. Catherine as Doctor of the Church. Her zeal for God, the Church and her teachings converted many people, including political leaders. She is only 1 of 4 female Doctors of the Church, which is why I only choose 4 different plant varieties.

Excited to get this project going, I wanted to support Saint of the Month members in their seed growing efforts and devotion of St. Catherine by offering them a Devotional Garden Kit in their April Saint of the Month Box.

(click on photos 2 x to see larger view)

Some extra supplies you may want on hand to make the most out of your Devotional Garden Kit.

craft paint, scissors, tacky or white school glue, paint brush and cup of water for the paint.

Take some time to get your craft on and decorate your plant markers.

Before planting a seed, we must prepare the soil. Kinda like how God prepares our soul for the seed of faith through baptism.

Soak the soil pods in water for 10 minutes.

Be sure to offer your seeds all that they need to grow. Proper sun light, temperature above 50 degrees and water ( but don’t drown your seed, just keep it moist).

Part 2 of growing a St Catherine of Siena devotional garden coming soon. Patience is a virtue…see it’s already helping me to grow!

SOM Club March Member Spotlight

Meet the Teipen FamilyThis amazing family is shining in our March Spotlight!

Let’s meet em’!

Faustina is 9yrs old and her favorite Saint is Mary! Why? Because she is the Mother of God of course:) Faustina enjoys making the activities that comes in the Saint of the Month box each month.

Augustine is up next and he is 11yrs old. His favorite thing about the SOM Club was the activities sent during the Christmas months because our family worked on it together. Augustine’s favorite Saint is St Therese because she was called the Little Flower. She did a lot of little things that helped others.

Ave Maria is 7 years old and her favorite Saint is also St. Therese of Lisieux because she was a nun. Ave Maria enjoys the Saint Story each month, along with the coloring page.

Ignatius is the little guy, and he is 3 yrs old and wanted in the picture also. He is a sweet saint in the making!

Finally meet John Paul…any guesses who his favorite Saint is?! You got it! Saint JP the Great!

Please join me this month by adding the entire Teipen family and their intentions to your prayer list. May the love of Christ continue to inspire them as they answer the call to service and sainthood, just like their namesakes.

Blessed Mother, St. Faustina, St. Augustine, St. Ignatius,

St. Therese and St. John Paul…

pray for them!

SOM Club February Member Spotlight

Meet Emarie!

This sweet girl is our February Member Spotlight!

Emarie is 6 years old and has been apart of the Saint of the Month Club since the beginning, in fact, it was her uber creative mom, who inspired me to start this little Saint Club.

As you can see from the photo, Emarie is DAR-LING! And judging by her favorite Saint, Saint Kateri, she’s got a little spunk in her too. She likes St. Kateri because she is brave.

Emarie’s favorite part of the SOM Club are the crafts and coloring pages she gets each month, so I would guess she’s a creative soul. Kinda, one of my favorite parts of the Club too! AND, speaking of creative, her favorite animal is a unicorn!!! Love that!

I pray for you all each and every month, especially as I pack up your individual boxes. My prayers for you usually go something like this…

” Saint Agatha, fill the home of Emarie with your love of Jesus. Intercede on their behalf at the feet of Our Lord. Help her family grow in their love of the Eucharist and one another. All God’s Angels and Saints, pray for them. Amen.”

Please pray for Emarie and her family this month, especially that the would have a fruitful Lent.

Thank you!

January “Live Like a Saint” Virtue Challenge

Month of January: Saint Francis de Sales supported people in their faith life with the gentle encouragement to “Be who you are, and be that well.” In fact, many Saints give us this same encouragement, yet they use different words. Saint Catherine of Siena says to “be who God made you to be and you will set the world on fire!” St. Augustine’s advise is to “love God and to do as you please.” What! Wait…do as we please, set the world on fire, be who we are?! This can sound confusing, especially when sometimes we can be grumpy, selfish, and just plain sassy! But, is that who God made us to be, or is that who we sometimes become when things aren’t going our way? Hum?

God is perfect love and He created us. In fact, He knows every hair on our head! He loves us so very much, even when we are grumpy, selfish, and sassy. What the Saints are telling us is that if we love God with all our hearts, He can help us to be like Him and become Holy. Did you know that you were created to be HOLY?! You are! Did you know that you were created to be a saint?! You are! Being holy means that you love God and want to put Him above everything else in the world. It means you want to serve Him and help build His kingdom here on Earth by loving others. When we do that, then He guides us in our life to make the right choices. When we love Him like this, we don’t want to make choices that go against His love for us.

So…now we know God made us for holiness and service. But we are all different, aren’t we? Some of us are quiet, some of us speak loudly. Some of us are silly, and some of us are very serious. Amen to that! Praise God that He made us all so different, because it’s those differences that best serve Him. When we share our unique and special qualities with others, it gives God joy and honor. So this month, that’s what we will do! Be who we are! Wait…what? You may be asking, “how should I know who I am… I’m only 9 years old!”. And that’s a good point. So, how can we figure out who we are? First, pray and ask God to help you to see goodness in yourself. That goodness is His love for you! Maybe you can also ask your parents and sibling what their favorite things about you are. Have the people who love you help you with this and together make a list. Once you have a list, gather your favorite art supplies, pull out the empty frame in this month’s box and find a photograph that you really like of YOU. On the frame write the words I AM… and using your art supplies decorate the frame with all the good qualities that best describe you.

Need a few ideas on how to bling out a “I AM…” photo frame? Check this out!

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Another fun art frame option is…

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When you’re done “blinging” out your frame, tape your photo to the inside and hang it somewhere special. Be grateful to God for who He created you to be. Celebrate your special gifts! Those gifts are what will help you get to Heaven!

These 3 Things

Happy New Year! So I’m a little late to the party…how embarrassing.

As 2016 ended, I heard many people say things like…

“I’m so done with 2016!”

“2016 was the worst year I’ve ever had!”

“2016 totally kicked my ass!”

I even heard a cashier at the store exclaim to her customer, “I didn’t have one good thing happen to me in 2016”.

Wow, I just cant help to think that’s some major bad juju to be putting out there!

We are 19 days into 2017 and I have had the opportunity to really reflect on my experiences in 2016 and pray about my journey. Truth be told, 2016 was not my favorite year. It was a difficult year, mixed with some major changes and often times I felt like things were being unearthed, and exhumed…for lack of a better word. I lost friendships, people I loved passed away (some tragically), my husband lost his job, and family members remained estranged. And this is not to mention that the state of our world, especially with the 2016 Election, caused good people to turn against one another. I think it’s safe to say we were all feeling something very raw.

But lets go back to the word UNEARTHED. What an odd way to describe a year! The synonyms are: discover, find, reveal, expose, turn up, uncover, bring to light, ferret out, root up.

And there it is… root up or better still, up root. That’s how I felt. Just when I got comfortable, God would up root me and take me into unchartered territory. I was forced to deal with emotions that had been buried and consequences beyond my control. Every synonym you see that describe unearthed is how I felt throughout the year. And then this came to me in prayer…

Colossians 3 Put On the New Self

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.
For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.”

And there it is. Raised up sounds a lot like up root to me…does it you. Im convinced, because of God’s word, that He wants us all to be ‘raised up’ and be made new in Him. It may not feel good to be exposed to light, after being in the dark, but it’s in our suffering that we come to know Jesus and are able to respond to the suffering of others.

I’ve taken these first 19 days of the new year and ive prayed and reflected. I decided to embrace what God had done throughout my 2016 and He open the door for me to enter anew.

I also did there 3 things…

I wrote a gratitude list of everything I was grateful for in 2016. I came up with 23 things/ people/ and places that blessed me.
I made a list of all of my passions, talents and gifts. I looked at the things I enjoyed as a child, I asked my loved ones what they thought and I prayed about what my gifts were. I wrote down 12, not bad.
Finally, I made a list of things that I needed to let go of. What am I holding onto that prevents me of opening my hands to Christ and put on a new self?

Oh…and I watched Good Will Hunting. LOL. One thing I learned and lived out in 2016 is if you want things to change, change your perspective. You can see many of my blog posts about that very topic. Good Will Hunting is a great example of changing your perspective and accepting the gifts God gave you. It’s about opening up that closed fist and letting God fill it with truth, love and mercy. I’ve learned how to be grateful. I’ve learned to surrender.

Keeping My Focus on LOVE

brene-brown-what-is-love

When I started a series of posts about unhealthy thought patterns some months back, I was really moving away from a long stint with negativity and I felt like I had some tools to share that may help others who were or are struggling in that place of BLAH! I had been hurt and forgotten what LOVE looked like. I love the quote by Brene Brown in the above image about her definition of LOVE. It reminds me of how love is cultivated and how love is destroyed.

I still want to share what worked for me in turning away from hurt and towards love. I hope it helps you move away from the ugly and focus on love, beauty and truth. I think a good place to get started again is from an excerpt from one of my blog post on this series…

I was in this dark place and I was dwelling on negativity, completely unaware of my feelings of hurt and rejection. So how did I get out of that dark hole? I am not an expert on feelings or anything for that matter, but I can tell you about 4 things that are working for me.

Set aside time for prayer and reflection everyday.
Identify my feelings and acknowledge why I’m feeling that way, then release them.
Intentional thinking.
Attitude of gratitude.

Let’s pick up where we left off !

Identify my feelings and acknowledging them is a good start. Most of the time what I’m feeling is a long way off from what is really going on. I know that seems harsh, but it’s true. Being an emotional being means sometimes our feeling are not reality. Brene Brown uses a great line that says, “the story I’m making up in my head is…” I love this because it immediately set the tone for more gentle and realistic self talk. Take this scenario…I am angry with a friend that does not respond to a text or email for several days. After recognizing my anger, I ask my self if anger is the correct response to not texting/ emailing someone back? Well, I’m not feeling anger as much I feel rejected. Why I am feeling rejection? Maybe my friend doesn’t care about me as much as I care about her? Is this a fact or an insecurity? Here is where Brene’s line works! ” The story I’m making up in my head is my friend doesn’t care about me.” Most likely, because she is a friend, the root of my feelings is based in insecurity because I know that my friend loves me, I see her actions towards me. Do I need to stay in this place of anger and insecurity after acknowledging this this is not a fact? No, I’m free to let go of that feeling and replace it with truth which is my friend is probably out of town or busy at work. This enables me to be compassionate towards my friend and move on. This is a powerful exercise and I have even said to my husband “the story I’m making up in my head is…” Even though he laughed, it got us to a place of truth and allowed me to be vulnerable. Hard, but worth it.

Intentional thinking is huge when trying to break the cycle of negativity. I don’t believe that critical, negative people enjoy feeling like a tyrant or victim. I believe they are stuck and this way of living has become that house guest that outstays their welcome. I do not wallow in negative thought patterns any longer. If I feel my thinking get stuck in a place of pitty, anger, negativity then I recognize that I am in that place and intentionally release the darkness ( because that is not the voice of God) and I align my thoughts with goodness and joy. My mind sometimes goes down what I call ‘the rabbit hole’. This happens when I am in that worse plane crash scenario that I wrote about and I get stuck in that. Identifying my thoughts, and moving towards intention is 2 big steps to take towards choosing LOVE.

Last, but maybe most important is to have an Attitude of Gratitude. Sounds so elementary but it’s not always easy to find gratitude in the reality of everyday life. But, gratitude is truly a lifestyle, a way of seeing that sets you on a path of freedom, hope and JOY . “Joy is the settled assurance that God is in control of all the details of my life, the quiet confidence that ultimately everything is going to be all right, and the determined choice to praise God in all things.” Kay Warren. That is gratitude in my opinion. When we can praise God for ALL things, we learn to look at our blessing and come to understand that He is in control. One thing that helps me and my family to focus on GRATITUDE is to keep an ongoing list of things that we’re grateful for. Maybe this can work for you too.

I’m making a choice, I’m choosing love over hate today! How about you?

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Free Spirit

Awww Summer! The excuse to get out of that routine and live like there’s no tomorrow. I certainly took advantage of that sentiment as I basked in the glory of late nights, late mornings, long walks and talks, painting in my studio, sitting in the sunshine and basically doing what I love to do. You know from past blog posts that I have struggled with relaxation, even felt guilty about it, but as I grow older I realize this is a prison of my own making and even God rested on the 7th day! So rest I did and it was wonderful. I hope that you all had some time to do what you love to do too!

If not…it’s never to late to embrace your FREE SPIRIT. Here are 10 ways that I let go and …JUST. BE. ME.

Take time to BE STILL and reconnect with your heart. Pray.
Discover you passions and share them with the world.
Love, just love.
Dance when EVERYONE is watching because no one else is dancing.
Be bold, speak your truth.
Have faith in what you can’t see. Let go and trust God.
Wear your feelings on your sleeve, literally! Dress funky.
Own your past, no excuses and then move on.
Explore! Try new things. Make a fool of yourself or maybe not.
Stop judging people. Not my job.

Still working on a few of these, but this is what I strive for.

Now with my teenagers back in school, the house is much quieter and I’m ready to get back into the swing of things. Although I have been taking the time to do the things I enjoy, I have also had some wonderful opportunities come my way and the timing of this has allowed my to revisit WHY I do what I do. So you’ll see some changes in my business coming this Fall and moving into 2017.

Mostly the direction of my business is moving towards more product development, branding, website design, and wholesale. This is very exciting but as usual, I’m having to learn a ton about business and marketing. This can feel overwhelming so I have to remind myself to do what I can do and leave the rest up to God. So a big change you’ll see in 2016-2017 is more information about the evolution of my art business and less workshops. I love teaching so this is a big let down for me, but needed so I can move my art into a direction that it seems to want to go. I do have some great TRY-IT classes that I will be hosting with Palette and Paper in the works, as well as plans for Art and Soul Workshop once per quarter in 2017. So, to my art tribe, I will not abandon you…ever!

I realized as I sat down to write this post that I totally dropped the ball on finishing up my series of post about how negative thinking affected my life and what I did to get myself out of that downward spiral, other wise known as “the rabbit hole”. I’m so sorry about this! I hope you’ll stay with me as I revisit the remaining 3 things I do to help me to stay focused on the good, the true and the beautiful.

After we’re done with negativity, I will share a series of post about creativity! Ha! That’s pure serendipity! So, thank you for being with me on this journey.

Pick up this sweet graphic below that I created just for you! Just a reminder that life is too short to NOT be doing the things we love.

I feel so blessed by you!

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