Ave, Maria, Mater Dei!

The Feast of the Queenship of Mary

Happy titular feast day to all members of our home parish here in Omaha and to all our Religious friends whose congregations are dedicated to and protected by Maria, Mater Dei!

Painting, "The Coronation," by Diego Velasquez (1559-1660)

On October 11th, 1954, His Holiness, Pope Pius XII, decreed and instituted the Feast of the Queenship of the Blessed Virgin Mary to be celebrated throughout the world every year on May 31st.  Likewise he decreed that on that day "there be renewed the consecration of the human race to the Immaculate Heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

-- St. Pius X missal, intro to the Mass of the day

There has never been a time when it's been more important to recommend ourselves to the powerful care of our heavenly Queen. I'm sure, since I'm preaching to the choir here, I don't need to cite examples of the warfare we still endure, and the increased threat to our future in this Godless day... It's a hard time to save our souls, and promises only to get harder.

 The inspired wording of this prayer of consecration written by Pope Piux XII both details our danger and provides our protection.

The Consecration of the Human Race to the Immaculate Heart

Queen of the Holy Rosary,

Help of the Christians,

Refuge of the human race,

Conqueress in God’s battlefields,

To You and to Your Immaculate Heart

In this tragic hour of human history

We entrust and consecrate ourselves,

And the Holy Church.

She is the Mystical Body of Your Jesus,

Suffering and bleeding in so many parts

And tormented in so many ways,

We consecrate to You the whole world torn by bitter strive

And consumed by the fire of hatred

The victim of its own wickedness.

Look with compassion to all material and moral destruction

To the suffering and fears of fathers and mothers

Of husbands and wives, of brother and sisters and innocent children.

Look at the many lives cut down in the flower of youth

So many bodies torn to pieces in brutal slaughter

So many souls tortured and troubled

And in danger of being lost eternally.

Oh, Mother of Mercy, obtain peace for us from God!

Obtain especially those graces, which can convert human hearts quickly.

Those graces, which can prepare, establish and insure peace.

Queen of Peace, pray for us;

Give the world at war the peace for which all are longing,

Peace in Truth, Justice and the Charity of Christ.

Give them peace of the arms and peace of mind,

That in tranquillity and order

The Kingdom of God may expand.

Grant Your protection to infidels

And to those still walking in the shadow of death;

Give them peace and permit that the sun of truth may raise upon them;

And that together with us

They may repeat before the Only Saviour of the World:

Glory to God in the highest

And peace on earth among men of good will (Lk2.14)

Give peace to the people separated by error and schism,

Particularly those, who have special devotion to You

And among whom there was no home,

Where Your venerable Icon was not honoured,

Though at present it may be hidden

In the hope for better days.

Bring them back to the One Fold of Christ,

Under the One True Shepherd.

Obtain peace and complete liberty for the Holy Church of God,

Check the spreading flood of neo-paganism,

Arouse within the faithful love of purity

The practice of Christian life and apostolic zeal,

So that the people who serve God,

May increase in merit and number.

All of humanity were once consecrated to the Heart of Your Son.

All our hopes rest in Him, Who is in all times

Sign and pledge of victory and salvation.

Forever we consecrate ourselves to You

And to Your Immaculate Heart,

Oh, Mother and Queen of the World!

May Your love and patronage hasten the victory of the Kingdom of God,

May all nations, at peace with each other and with God, proclaim You Blessed

And sing with You from one end of the earth to the other,

The eternal Magnificat of glory, love and gratitude

To the Heart of Jesus, in which alone,

They can find Truth, Life and Peace.

It's All Under Control

William to me this afternoon after some goofing around together: "You can be playful sometimes!"

I winced -- because this seems to come to him as a surprise...

He continued, though, as if reading my mind,

 "I know it's hard because grown-ups have to deal with so much stress...

  

"But we don't have to worry so much because we know you've got it under control."

Dang, I sure hope so!

But check out this little guy.  William Thomas.  We named him for the Will of God, this crazy, charming, perceptive kid.

Has he got it figured out, or what?  We all have stress of some kind or another. It's the human condition.  If life on earth were perfect, what sense would there be in striving for heaven, right?  Still, I'm sorry my stress is so obvious to my nine-year-old.   But I'm relieved -- and humbled -- in his confidence.  No question in his mind that his Daddy and Mommy have everything under control.  He can play; he doesn't have to worry. Thank goodness!

That's how it should be.  We can't shield our children from everything, and we do them a disservice by trying. A nine-year-old certainly doesn't need to know the details of our bank account, or the prognoses of loved ones' illnesses, but he should know when a situation needs prayers, he should be taught compassion for others in need or trouble.  He should know that the world is not a perfect place, but that God is perfect and heaven, our real home, is perfect with no troubles, no worries. And he should know that his parents are taking care of him, as Our Heavenly Father takes care of all of us.

As --  Just as He's taking care of me, in all my stress.  I need a good dose of William's perfect confidence.  The good God has everything more under control for me than I do for anyone!

Seriously. What am I worried about?  God's got it. I can go play.

Hmmm...

Check this place out:

An expansive 7.5 (or so) acres on the outskirts of a little Normal Rockwell-esque village in NE, this property has four barns, a hen house, and a two-car attached garage.

It's also got this volleyball-court-waiting-to-happen.

And plenty of trees to climb.

The house itself is stone with recently replaced roof, furnace, etc... (You can see one of the big barns behind Anna's head there.)

All the outbuildings have been cared for particularly well.  This big barn I can see housing barn dances -- and future wedding receptions maybe?

That little "garage" just in front of the kids there?  That would be my new "summer kitchen" if I can get some kids to help me fit one out again. ;) This one is bigger, would have room for bunks and a double bed, too!

And there's this.  This beautiful tree. One of many.  I see art classes, sketching and painting this tree.
(Those are the neighbor's barns across the street in the background. His are white; this house's are red.)

And look at this.  The world's best sledding hill.  Ohmygosh.  Can you imagine??

And another view of the sledding hill. You can see the town water tower there; it's just west of the house.

So, that's outside.

We were so taken with everything we saw outdoors, we were afraid to look indoors....  But looky!  Not scary at all! We were pleasantly surprised; everything has been updated, everything looked plumb, and efficient

Only specs out at 1700 s.f. or so, but that's because the basement is only partially finished.  As is, there are three bedrooms, but room for another in the basement, plus lots of storage and a rec room.

 But, we loved this miniature "great room."

And the master bedroom was lovely, with hardwood floors -- and I would totally keep the color of these walls!

The second upstairs bedroom has the little boys' names written all over it.

Two bathrooms.  The one in the basement is a little wonky, but could be fixed up easily.  This one upstairs, is small, but modern and well appointed.  And drains into a proper septic.  (Those who understand what I'm talking about...  well, you understand what I'm talking about...)

The one and only drawback we could find in the house was this tiny kitchen.  But, there's a laundry room with pantry space and an extra fridge or freezer adjacent.  And, we figured that if you take out the wall you see below (that the oven is on), bump it out a little bit into the great room, and make a counter between the two rooms, it'd be more than adequate.

Other interesting possibilities would be converting the double garage to living space -- maybe a mother-in-law apartment? Or a rec room?  There's plenty of space in the barns to park your cars, so it's possible...

And, get this.  To the back of the house, there are miles of open land, forested hills, sprinkled with
farmed pastures and Salt Creek winding its way westward from the Platte River.  Then, to the front of the house, on down the hill, lies the tiny town of Ashland.  It's a five minute walk south to miles of forestland, five minutes north to the grocery store -- and a quick bike ride to the town library.  (Can you hear the sighs of imagined bliss?)

Best of all, the whole wonderful package is listed at a reasonable price.  I'm afraid this place is going to go before we can do anything about it... And if it does, we'll assume it's God's will. But, I'm praying on it!  Anyone who has a mintute for an Ave or two, could you send a couple up for us to know the Divine Plan on this?  And that if He says "OK," He also makes it possible?

Thanks so much!  We hate renting (You have no idea the trials we're going through with our landlord these days) and are dying to have a forever house -- and never have to move again!

Deus Vult!

Tune Fads

Since we have several pianists around here -- and those who aren't keyboard proficient are musically opinionated -- we've come to have "Tune Fads" around here.  Song obsessions.  Some melodies come and go pretty quickly -- like adaptations of pop tunes; they come and go.  But others become part of the fabric of the family -- like Claire de Lune, Mirkwood, the themes from October Sky and To Kill a Mockingbird...  But, you just never know which ones will have staying power.

In the last few weeks, the girls have gotten hold of the themes to Up and Nemo, and the lullaby from Dumbo... I'm thinking they'll be keepers!  And then there's this little ditty, which has become a frequent request around here:



How'd you like that little exchange at the beginning there?  ;) Just a little bit o' home for you big kids and far away family -- and to save for posterity.  This girlish giggling, I'm sure to miss someday...

But, the tune?  Didn't you love that?  See why this one keeps coming back around?  Were you tapping your foot like I was while she played? I love having a soundtrack to our lives!  And this one is a happy one that rather seems to describe our lives right now.  Fun with a teeny little backdrop of drama.  Or vice versa? That works for me. If I start hearing dirges or requiems I may start worrying -- but that's not likely, I don't imagine, with this crazy bunch.

Is there a "soundtrack" at your house?  What would you choose if you could?

What Are You Doing Right Now?

Whatever you're doing: drop it -- and follow Cathy.  This is what you need to be doing today.

Past the old trucks and the "Tolkien Tree"...

Under its wide generous branches. You can stop for a minute to take a climb, if you want...

Now you're back down?  Check out the little round grave marker for "Baron." (We assume Baron was a dog, but the mythology around here has developed a whole other story...)

Now, then, follow down this way -- through the meadow past the old studio...

There's Gabe up there.  Follow him down this path.  Look out for stinging nettle!

See how the nettle grows a bit thick through here?  Not a good place for flipflops and shorts!

But the path gets friendlier over the hill.  The grass is soft and green here.  

Now...  Up and around this bend...

See that dark thicket?  The creek runs down under there.

And children run down under there, too...

Because this is where the tree swing is.

 Take your turn?  If you don't make it to the other side, there's a soft wet landing underneath!

Can you think of anything better to do on a Wednesday afternoon in May, though?  Fun, free, and good for your heart.  You can have a snooze in the grass to dry off afterward.  You're welcome any time!

OK.  You can get back to work now.  Or have another swing.  :)  Your choice.

Meet "Patch"

So called because we didn't arrive in time to rescue it from the cats before it had its eye injured. (The other eye, not in the picture.)  You get the thinking there, right?  Anyway.  Looked up how to care for the little bunny, and will raise until it's old enough to safely release back into the wild -- God willing we can get it to eat and keep its eye from getting infected.  But, look. Isn't it the cutest, ever?

Just Running Around

William, who when asked what he was doing here, just answered, like I was dumb to ask such a thing: "Just running around."  Duh, huh?

But, check out how smart he is to be just running around:


 What Happens To Our Brains When We Exercise

Thirteen Mental Health Benefits of Exercise

Eleven Benefits of Spending Time Outdoors

I've gotta get me some new running shoes! I need these benefits!

Or... maybe I ought to run around barefoot like Hobbit Anna, in light of this:

Guess which feet are Anna's...

The Health Benefits of Going Barefoot Outside

Interesting, huh?

But then there's this:

Ten Obvious Reasons You Should Read Every Day

and this:

Eight Unconventional Ways You Should Totally Be Reading Books

Maybe I'll just pull up a comfy lawn chair and read a book instead.  But I'll do it barefoot.

Like this.  Guaranteed there are bare piggy toes under that denim skirt...  Doesn't get better than this. 

Picture This

Dan bought me a really good camera on our 24th wedding anniversary, my Nikon D7000, and  I love my Nikon, but it's been through the ringer.  Three times now, it's been knocked down or jostled and the (poorly designed, plastic) lens mount has snapped. (We blame Nikon, not the clumsy folks using the Nikon, of course... ;) Thankfully, it's an inexpensive piece to replace! But it's a bugger to do the actual job.  The pieces are tiny; it's precision work.  My brother, Steve (bless his heart), fixed it once -- and if I recall properly, Dominic's fixed it twice now.  Most recently a few weeks ago, as a parting gift before moving back to Denver.

Thank-you, Dominic.  We can finally picture Nebraska properly.  And share it with everyone else!

 I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed...  but it makes my heart glad to have been able to post the recent pictures of spring coming to life here in Nebraska -- because they were taken with the Nikon -- and, though I'll never be anything but a hack photographer, I'm afraid, the Nikon makes just about anything look good.  Check it out. Below are some of the first photos we took to test out the lens mount -- just random shots around the house.  They came out better than the most beautiful scenery or carefully worked portrait we took with the little camera we'd been using while the Nikon was out of commission.

Did I say thank-you, Dominic?  I really really do love having my camera back.